The world was bustling for profit, and the world was bustling for profit!
There were merchants everywhere who were not afraid of death. In order to make money, the Jin merchants of the Daming Dynasty did not hesitate to make a detour to Mongolia to transport materials for wild boar skin. Wasn't it the silver that the Jurchen Zhenren plundered from Liaodong? As for whether the silver was stained with blood or not, who cared?
Zhou Qingfeng occupied Yingkou and intimidated the two prefectures of Haigai, forcing the commanders of the two prefectures to plunder land and people for him. He even acted as a guarantor to hire civilian ships from Dengzhou to help with transportation. In order to run through this sea route, Chief Wang Kai of the Revolutionary Army's Administrative Department's Trade Section had no choice but to go to Dengzhou with the ship and bring the silver to purchase the cloth and medicinal materials urgently needed by the Revolutionary Army.
It was profitable to do business with the rebels.
Wang Kai made several trips. At first, there were very few fleets willing to come, and the merchants were very cautious. But after a few trips, everyone tasted the sweetness, and the ships that came later became bigger and bigger, with more and more goods.
When it was October, the weather in Liaodong Bay began to turn cold. Wang Kai didn't know how many times he went to Shandong. He spent all the 50,000 taels of silver he brought with him and hired more than 20 large and small cargo ships to Yingkou. When these cargo ships unloaded with the help of the pulley crane at the dock, the ship owners who came with the ships gathered around to watch.
"A group of bumpkins." Wang Kai laughed at those ship owners, but he sighed in self-pity. When he escaped from Fushun, he also brought more than 100,000 taels of silver and thousands of subordinates. As a result … Zhou Qingfeng confiscated all his assets with one sentence. Even the manpower was disorganized and incorporated into the Revolutionary Army, and there was nothing left.
Zhou Qingfeng clearly said, "Old Wang, your power is too great. I'm not willing to let you go. If I let you go, I'm worried that you won't be able to escape. I'll give you an IOU, and your people and goods will belong to me. You can be at ease as the chief.
Bah … decades of hard work in exchange for an IOU. Robbery was indeed the most profitable.
The moment he received the promissory note, Wang Kai was so angry that he wanted to leave. But his wealth and goods had all been swallowed. Where could he go?
Thinking back to the time when Zhou Qingfeng had just arrived in Fushun, he had caused a lot of trouble for Wang Kai. Now, he had swallowed Wang Kai whole, leaving nothing behind — he had really met his natural enemy!
"Chief Wang, Chief Wang."
Just as he was worrying, Wang Kai heard a cheerful voice shouting. A rich old man dressed in silk and satin lifted his robe and ran over, waving at Wang Kai as he ran.
"Ah … it's Old Master Lin." Wang Kai cupped his hands towards the old man. It was a rich merchant from Shandong who sold silk and satin. It took him a lot of effort to do business with this rich businessman. This time, the other party had come personally, and he had also brought along more than ten thousand bolts of cloth.
Along the way, Old Master Lin was extremely worried. If it weren't for the guarantee from the commanders of the two prefectures of Hai and Gai, as well as the deposit that Wang Kai had given him, he wouldn't have come to the camp so easily. But at this time, he was in a good mood, because after the goods arrived at the shore, the finance department of the administrative department happily paid the rest of the balance.
When doing business, merchants were afraid that the goods would die when they arrived. It was too common for them to not receive the balance after selling their goods, and many merchants even lost their lives. But when Old Master Lin arrived at the camp, he found that there were business opportunities everywhere.
The 'Revolutionary Army' had plundered the two prefectures of Hai and Gai, and they had a lot of silver in their hands. This group of rebels also had a huge demand for goods, and they could sell anything they brought. What made Old Master Lin most satisfied was that this group of rebels was quite trustworthy — credibility wasn't just words, but deeds. The 'Revolutionary Army' had a special trading department, and they were extremely professional in doing business.
When he arrived at the camp, Old Master Lin was prepared to be troubled, and there was even the possibility that he wouldn't receive a penny. Anyway, the price of this batch of goods was extremely high, and just the deposit alone was enough to cover his costs. He came to the camp to look at other things, to investigate the future of the 'Revolutionary Army'. And when he arrived at the dock of the camp, he immediately noticed that this place was different — these weren't ordinary rebels.
There were more than twenty trestles on the dock, and on each trestle were four pulley cranes, and under each crane were more than ten large trailers pulled by horses. Just the complexity and efficiency of this dock equipment surprised Old Master Lin — he had been to many ports, and he had never seen a place where a dock would spend so much money to increase the efficiency of loading and unloading.
It was normal for coolies to load and unload goods at the dock.
"This set of equipment is good, really good." Old Master Lin deliberately calculated the efficiency of this dock equipment, and a crane could directly lift a thousand kilograms of goods. If it was a coolie carrying this, it would take a few hours for a dozen people to carry it. During this period, there would be bumps and bumps, and accidents were inevitable. But the crane only needed a quarter of an hour, and only three or four people were needed.
The pulley on the crane had been changed from wood to iron, and it was sturdy and durable, and it could also withstand a lot of force. Old Master Lin secretly paid attention to this thing, and this set of equipment gave him a deep impression — these rebels were definitely not a motley crew. A motley crew couldn't do such a professional thing.
As expected …
After unloading the goods, Old Master Lin brought his own accountant to collect the remaining payment. Zhou Qingfeng personally received him, and first paid on the spot, and then pulled Old Master Lin to chat for a while. In total, it was less than a quarter of an hour, simple and efficient, and no nonsense. The relationship between the two sides wasn't deep, and their identities were awkward, so Zhou Qingfeng didn't make any promises, and only talked about their attitude towards trade, supply and demand.
More than ten thousand pieces of the cheapest coarse cloth sold for seventy to eighty thousand taels, which was twice the price of selling in Shandong. Old Master Lin returned to find Wang Kai after getting the money, and he was naturally proud of himself. He pulled Wang Kai's hand and couldn't help but thank him, "Wong Yuanwai is really a capable person, with such a big backer behind him, he will definitely prosper in the future."
Wang Kai could only smile bitterly, and think to himself, "I only have an IOU now, how can I prosper? Why don't we swap, I will give you the IOU, and you give me the money? " He could only cup his hands and say, "If Old Master Lin wants to earn money, you can transport goods to the camp. Our Young Marshal's credibility is even higher than those officials in Daming. The goods sold here are not bad, like horses. "
Zhou Qingfeng had five thousand horses, and as there wasn't a pasture, it was too troublesome to raise them. Apart from using them for internal transport, he decided to sell half of them, otherwise, he would have to kill them and eat them.
Speaking of horses, Shandong also raised horses. However, the Daming Dynasty's horse policy cheated many people. Zhou Qingfeng was willing to sell the horses, and Old Master Lin was also willing to buy a batch, so that the return trip wouldn't be a loss.
"This time, I want to sell five hundred horses, but unfortunately, Young Marshal is only willing to sell a hundred." Old Master Lin sighed.
Wang Kai just smiled, and didn't wait for him to explain. Suddenly, an army came to the dock, ready to board. Behind the orderly formation of the army was a large number of supplies, and behind all kinds of supply vehicles were Liaodong refugees carrying packages and looking uneasy.
Shouts of "get on the ship" and "get on the ship" came one after another, and the army spread out the cordon, guiding the refugees to board the ship. There were also a lot of food and tools on the ship. Seeing this, Old Master Lin understood why Zhou Qingfeng wasn't willing to sell too many horses — because he needed to occupy the transport capacity of the fleet going south.
"Brother Wang, what are you …?" Old Master Lin looked around. The occupied ships were all big, and there were about a hundred people on each ship. There was also a fully armed platoon of spears. From the looks of it, they were not going for an outing. Obviously, they were going to long-distance transport.
Wang Kai knew what they were going to do, but he deliberately didn't say it. "My Young Marshal has the world in his heart, and he doesn't want to be trapped in Liaodong."
Old Master Lin didn't know that he was at the beginning of history. Zhou Qingfeng finally gathered enough ships to go south, and immediately decided to set off for Lushun. An infantry company, a cavalry company, a combat engineer company, 1,500 refugees, more than 300 tons of accompanying supplies, and more than 20 ships of various sizes. Led by the Navy Commander Zhu Chengxiu, they set sail and set sail.
Before going out to sea, the royal painter Cai Zhiwei was called to draw the expedition map. There were also a few "Crouching Tiger Cannons" set up by the seaside, firing 21 shots in a row to boost the morale of the Revolutionary Army.
When the sound of cannons continued to ring on the seaside, Old Master Lin felt that he had never been so excited in his life. Obviously, the scene in front of him, the Revolutionary Army, and Zhou Qingfeng didn't have much to do with him, but he felt that the scene of leading a thousand people out to sea, followed by tens of thousands of people, crossing the boundless waves, and going to the battlefield of life and death was too incredible!
His reputation was outstanding, and his life was not in vain!
It made people yearn for it.
"The Young Marshal of the Revolutionary Army is really amazing." Old Master Lin sighed, and he really couldn't think of any words to describe it. "The magnificent appearance of your army and the high morale will definitely be able to subdue the waves and stabilize the distance, and be famous all over the world!"
Wang Kai stood at the side and watched Xu Bing and Li Shuwei send off Zhou Qingfeng. When both sides parted, they were solemn and solemn. Together with the rumbling sound of cannons, it made people tremble and goosebumps appeared on their skin. A kind of power that couldn't be seen or grasped, but could be felt filled the hearts of everyone present. Behind this power was the powerful power that could dominate the fate of the nation.
Compared to it, what were the gold and silver, big houses, and beautiful maids that ordinary people pursued?
Old Master Lin stood at the dock for more than two hours until the expedition fleet disappeared between the sea and the sky. When he turned back, he grabbed Wang Kai's arm and kept shaking it, trying to please him, "Brother Wang holds an important position in the Revolutionary Army, so you must be someone that the Young Marshal trusts. Now that Liaodong is in chaos, your side has great achievements, so please take care of me in the future. "
Being able to make Old Master Lin say these words seriously, Wang Kai instantly felt a rare sense of pride. His whole body was numb and sour, as if he had a bucket of ice cold drink in the hottest days of summer. When he was a businessman in the past, he was the one who had to be thick-skinned to flatter others. It was rare that someone came to flatter him like this today. This change in status was inexplicably exciting!
After Zhou Qingfeng went out to sea, he sailed on the waves and took out the Wind and Cloud Streamer that Guo Jiao gave him. With the continuous supply of spiritual power from the tens of thousands of prayers, he made a strong wind blow on the sea. The three large ships carrying the vanguard troops sailed south at a high speed of ten knots without stopping day and night. In less than ten hours, he would appear at Huangniwan, north of Lushun.
Before, Zhou Qingfeng and Guo Jiao had flown the triplane to Huangniwan to investigate and determined that it was a relatively deserted beach. A dock could be built by the seaside to dock the ships. There were no villages nearby, nor were there any Ming Army guards, so it was suitable for the initial stage.
The three troop ships set off before the sky turned dark. With the help of the sea chart, compass, simple sextant, accurate mechanical watch, and the Wind and Cloud Streamer that could explore the surrounding sea, they did not slow down at night. Before dawn the next day, they turned around the famous Longevity Island, and their destination was 50 nautical miles ahead.
Zhou Qingfeng stood at the bow of the Lushun for the whole night. When he saw the sun slowly rising in the sky, his legs were numb from standing. When he subconsciously looked to the southeast, trying to see land, the lookout on the mast grabbed the bronze telescope and shouted, "Young Marshal, Lushun is in front."
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