Lu Ming

This kind of "whiskey box" with uniform packaging and convenient transportation, as long as it is exported, can be exchanged for everything the businessman wants in the herdsman tribe... including stallions that can be used as war horses and young and fertile women.

This time, the Wu family also spent a lot of money and time in advance to pre-order this batch of hard goods from the "Northern Wine Group".

Looking at the green wine boxes piled up in the warehouse, Wu Fazheng nodded in satisfaction.The next moment, he casually picked up a box, opened the lid, dipped his finger in the wine and took a sip: "That's right, it's whiskey puree!"

On the side, shopkeeper Wu held his slightly round belly, smiled half-sighed and half-appreciatively, and said, "Second young master, this batch of wine really took a lot of effort... Lao Jiu, I begged my grandpa to tell my grandma, but I just gave it to you." The owner of the winery kowtowed!"

"Sigh... It's also because we were far away back then and the news wasn't smooth."

Having said this, Wu Fazheng's face turned regretful: "However, if the shopkeeper of the Tianjin branch had a little bit of courage, how could he allow such a large fortune to pass by!"

Wu Fazheng's regrets... are just regrets after all.

To this day, with the expansion of the time-traveling forces, the interests of the local aborigines in Tianjin have long been determined.Now there are a lot of local snakes waiting in line to pass through your fortune. It is no longer the situation where General Cao just went ashore to search for allies.

After checking the drinks, the inspection of several important trade items of the North Returning Caravan has been completed.There are still some daily groceries that are not ready, and it will take time to purchase, but there is no rush.

On the second day, Wu Fazheng followed Uncle Jiu to the Wu family's second property in Tianjin: a big car shop.

Yixinlong started out with caravans, so opening a large car shop in a key transportation hub became a necessary move.

When Wu Fazheng came to the big car shop, it happened that his own caravan also rushed to Tianjin from Zhangjiakou.The team was small in size, besides a batch of mules and horses, there was also a batch of leather goods.

Now, everything is going according to plan: the new caravan and some mules and horses will be repaired in the big cart shop. After the goods are ready, a large caravan will be formed on the spot and the goods will be returned to Shanxi.

Watching the livestock in the stable scrambling to lick a hanging square brick of salt, Wu Fazheng couldn't help but repeat his old habit, deducing the relationship between Cao's large-scale illicit salt trafficking and the collapse of the Ming court.

The next moment, Young Master Wu, who stopped his own thoughts, turned his head and asked, "When will the rest of the goods be ready?"

"About ten to twenty days."

Wu Jiu pinched his fingers and made the calculations, and replied affirmatively: "According to the past market conditions, in this period of time, another fleet will arrive at the port... At that time, the source of goods will be easy to find."

Chapter 679 Returning to the North ([-])

1635, early November 11.

The north wind is bleak, and all things wither.With a strange icy rain + hail in the second half of the night, a cold wave swept across the Bohai Bay area overnight.

A cold wave is no joke, it can freeze the ground and freeze the sea.The aborigines in Tianjin woke up early in the morning, and the moment they exhaled white air from their mouths, they immediately felt the cruelty of winter.

In the memory of the older generation, the solar term right now is not as rainy or snowy.

But God doesn't open his eyes.In recent years, this kind of spooky weather that has been frozen in advance has become a common disaster in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

The coming of a cold wave is a major event, especially in today's Tianjin city, which is extremely sensitive to the early arrival of low temperature.

However, the confirmation of bad news is always so timely and accurate.

At dawn, the messengers who traveled dozens of miles from the downstream Haihe Estuary, along the river pier and along the main street of the city, loudly confirmed the most important news to the aborigines: the ocean was frozen last night.

After hearing this piece of news that was accompanied by a biting chill, many people's faces turned frost instantly.

To be precise, the faces of the locals in the whole city turned frosty: it was broken, and the last large fleet before winter could not enter.

As an important node of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Tianjin was originally one of the important commercial centers of the Ming Dynasty.However, over the past few years, with the arrival of ocean-going fleets one after another, Tianjin has become the most important freight distribution center and emerging industrial city in North China.

The influx of industrial products, as well as all kinds of new workshops, new industries, and new infrastructure that followed, have made life a good life for everyone in the city.

It is no exaggeration to say that there is not a single aborigine in Tianjin today who is completely separated from Cao's industry.Anyone, more or less, directly or indirectly, eats the food of Cao Dashuai and holds the pot of Cao Dashuai.

Therefore, when the news of the cold on the ocean surface came, the complexions of the young and old fell apart in an instant.

The wealth brought by the shipping fleet far exceeds the value of the few tank ships on the Grand Canal.

The last fleet before winter usually carries a large amount of high-end winter supplies such as cotton products, coal stoves, furs, kerosene, medicines, and petroleum jelly.

The young and old in Hecheng pointed at this fleet of boats to send away the North China merchants who had gathered in Tianjin, but the ocean was frozen... MMP, what should I say?

Wu Fazheng, who was in charge of Yixinlong Company, got the news immediately.Afterwards, he discussed it with his shopkeeper Wu Jiushu, but it was in vain.

In fact, Yixinlong also has ideas about the last fleet.

Although the main goods for Beishang have been prepared, who doesn't like to do extra points?Before that, what Uncle Nine longed for most was to get a little bit of "Huang An San" from the fleet... This anti-inflammatory medicine that can be taken internally and applied externally has long been used together with vitamin pills that are most valued by southern marine merchants. It has been raised to the level of Shengsheng Huadan, and the price is comparable to gold.

Don't want to be unpredictable.

The old and young men have not finished digesting the bad news that came at dawn, but when it was time for breakfast, there was another news that did not know whether it was true or not: the fleet had actually arrived at Liuziwan yesterday during the day, and now it is trapped in Liuziwan.

Liuziwan is a small private port, located on the coast more than [-] miles south of Tianjin.

This news did not come from an "official" messenger, but from the "Uncle Party" at the Port Office.

When the clerk ran into the house panting to tell the news, shopkeeper Wu was stunned, first asked the clerk in detail, and then muttered: "It's better to believe it", and ordered the clerk to send a message to the car dealership to prepare the cart.

Then, shopkeeper Wu pulled Wu Fazheng up and walked out.

Outside the courtyard, shopkeeper Wu quickly ordered two horses to be brought in, and when they got on the horses, they rushed to the Haihe Wharf.

Along the way, Wu Fazheng, who was confused, didn't have a chance to ask Uncle Jiu carefully.However, as far as he observed, the news just now might really come true: businessmen and fellows who came out to inquire about the news were everywhere on the street, and the entire dock area showed restlessness everywhere.

Not long after, shopkeeper Wu and the two rode through the dock area, and ran forward for two miles, and finally stopped their horses on a high soil slope.

The next moment, shopkeeper Wu, who was looking around endlessly with the awning in his hand, let out a "ha" and pointed in front of him: "Look, the queue is here, the news is definitely true!"

Wu Fazheng heard the words and looked around, and found that on a large construction site full of stones and wood in the south, there was a brigade of laborers wearing blue overalls lining up.

"Go back and prepare the car!"

On the way back, Uncle Jiu told Wu Fazheng that such things as ship running aground and getting stuck on the shore would happen several times a year.Generally speaking, the Port Authority does not like "civilian" forces to participate in temporary incidents, especially when the incident takes place far away from the city.

Gein is difficult to coordinate and manage because of the scattered folk forces.

However, if the private horse-drawn carriage arrives first, the port office will not sternly refuse, and will pay the freight at the normal price.

So for today's matter, the port office will first mobilize its own team and means of transportation to transport the goods back to Tianjin at Liuzigang.However, there is no way for the Port Authority to completely block the news...more than 50.00% of the port employees are local employees, so the news will definitely leak out.

Speaking of this, Uncle Nine excitedly told his nephew: There is an unwritten rule in such incidents, that is, those who grab the goods can ignore the agency agreement and buy part of the goods on the car.

Hearing this, Wu Fazheng's eyes suddenly became sharp.After looking at each other knowingly with Uncle Jiu, Wu Fazheng whipped the horse under his crotch, turned around and rushed to the trading house.

Yixinlong is worthy of being a firm that started with the cavalry.When the Wu family's uncle and nephew came back, the five carts, including the mules and horses pulling them, were ready.

Without further ado, Shopkeeper Wu specially ordered 15 more guys, and set off with Wu Fazheng and the team.

The roads leading to other towns in the south of the city are not included in Tianjin's key infrastructure planning.So not far after leaving the city, the Wu family's cart had already started to drive hard on the old official road full of ruts.

But the good thing is that it is already winter and the ground is hard, so the wheels are not afraid of getting stuck in the mud pits that are common in spring and summer.

Sitting on the swaying carriage, shopkeeper Wu is in a particularly good mood at the moment... According to his estimation, this time the Yixinlong motorcade will most likely arrive at Liuziwan before the others.

At that time, if you are lucky, you may even be able to negotiate with the boatman and pick some goods to load first.

However, shopkeeper Wu miscalculated.

As the saying goes, Mo Daojun walks early, and even more early walkers.

After driving hard to the south for about 10 miles, shopkeeper Wu saw another convoy at the end of his line of sight.

Shocked, he urged the convoy to speed up. It didn't take long before he confirmed the banner hanging on the front of the car: Goldlion.

"This group of princes and relatives deserve to die!"

After cursing fiercely, Shopkeeper Wu told Wu Fazheng: The merchant with a light white banner full of the smell of copper in front of him is the brand name of Meijia in the north of Tianjin, and it cannot be messed with.

Having said that, Yixinlong's team has already followed behind the Meijia team.

The next moment, shopkeeper Wu jumped out of the car with a smile on his face, trotted all the way up and greeted the steward of the Mei family team, exchanged a few warm greetings, and then returned to his home team.

After that, shopkeeper Wu sat back in the car and introduced the details of Mei's business to his nephew in a low voice.

In other words, the Mei family's Jinlilai business name has only developed in recent years.

Ordinarily, this Mei family was originally just an ordinary household with a registered name in the local guard, running a fur business, which is not well-known in Tianjin City.

However, that year, Master Cao from the south went north to King Qin, and Mei Fuxi, the only son of the Mei family, was at odds with Cao Shuai's employment, and went with Cao Shuai to the North Great Wall to kill the Tartars and made military exploits.

"After that, the Mei family skyrocketed. Mei Fuxi is now the deputy general of the Feihu Camp, and he is highly valued by the Feihu Camp officers... Even the Jinlilai signboard is said to be Master Zhang, the Feihu Camp officer. A name given by Himself!"

When Uncle Wu Jiu talked about this, his eyes were full of envy, jealousy and hatred, and acid water seemed to gush out of his seven orifices: "Nowadays, Jinlilai of the Mei family sells [-]% of the Zhupolong's belts, bags and men's shoes in the south. The major shareholder of the whiskey distillery... Damn it, it's really against the sky, there is no law for the king! Sooner or later, it will be punished by God!"

"Flying Tiger Camp?"

Wu Fazheng was not very interested in the Mei family's monstrous wealth.Because of his journey, he has seen too many "non-traditional wealthy families" in the south who rely on new industries to make their fortunes.

What interested Wu Fazheng was the Flying Tiger Camp that Uncle Jiu mentioned: "But the Flying Tiger Camp that beheaded [-] Tartar soldiers?"

"Exactly!"

Hearing this, Wu Fazheng let out a sigh of relief: "Such a strong army, it's only a matter of fate."

"That's not necessarily the case." When Uncle Jiu said this, he chuckled: "Flying Tiger Camp used to go to the city for nothing. You have been here for a short time, so it's normal that you haven't seen it. But today's situation... According to the rules, there should be a battalion escort along the way, and the second young master may have seen it."

Shopkeeper Wu, who had an insight into the local situation, really predicted things like a god... Not long after he predicted, a cloud of smoke rose in the distance behind the convoy.

Any experienced old man in the convoy can guess at this moment that cavalry is approaching.

Not long after, Wu Fazheng met the legendary soldiers of the Flying Tiger Camp.

The cavalry approaching from the rear, a total of about 20 people, maintained a straight line of uniform speed.

These cavalrymen all rode tall horses, wearing square cotton caps that the natives were already familiar with, with a blue round iron piece inlaid on their foreheads... This cotton cap has a strange name, "Leifeng" cap. It is said that it is master Fahai who sits in Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou, and it was specially made for Marshal Cao to subdue demons.

The fierce-looking cavalryman wore a grass-green double-breasted woolen cloak, long black riding boots on his feet and legs, and a wide cowhide belt tied on his chest with shiny copper buckles.Behind the saddle of the cavalry, there are two short lances inserted in one color, and a long saber for cavalry is hung on the waist.

The next moment, the cavalry of the Flying Tiger Battalion, who looked extremely tough at first glance, brushed past the convoy.And when the cavalry passed by the Mei's team in front, a burst of extremely loud cheers erupted from the Mei's team.All the members of Mei's team raised their hands high at this moment, cheering loudly the word "hero".

"It has won the hearts of the people." Wu Fazheng murmured with a complicated expression when he saw the enthusiastic eyes of the young guys in the Mei's motorcade.

Chapter 680 Returning to the North ([-])

The emergency dispatched team from Yixinlong Company arrived at Liuziwan in the first batch, relying on the familiar and well-conditioned convoy.

At this time, some Port Authority employees, including accountants, had arrived on horseback in advance, and arranged the scene.

The current situation is: the fleet blocked in Liaozi Bay by the bad sea conditions in the north urgently needs to transfer the cargo to the shore... Although it has not been frozen like Tianjin Port, there have been a lot of ice floes in Liaozi Bay.It seems that tomorrow night at the latest, tonight at the earliest, Liuziwan will also be frozen.

So now is the script against the clock.If it is slower, the fleet will lose the opportunity to evacuate to the south.

Thus, from the first carriage that arrived, the emergency unloading operation began.The only two small trestles in the private port are now occupied by ships calling at the port.The boatmen opened the deck, took out various cargo packages from the inside, and passed them to the guys on the trestle.

The guys quickly carried the goods to their own carriages, and then drove away from the narrow trestle to make room for the next carriage.

Yi Xinlong's motorcade entered the field second after the Goldlion caravan.

This position has brought great benefits to Yixinlong.You must know that the cargo in the cabin, which is relatively bulky and worthless, is all in the bottom cabin.And now the priority rush shipment must be the valuable goods in the upper cabin.

This includes the "Huang An San" that shopkeeper Wu has been thinking about.

Just as Yixinlong's convoy was loading cargo, a large number of port workers in blue thick cloth double-breasted overalls arrived.

The arrival of the workers has accelerated the speed of cargo transshipment: there is no mechanical auxiliary loading tool in the material port, and all goods can only be carried by primitive manpower.

At the same time, a cargo ship washed up on the beach with thick black smoke.

In a hurry, the ship was doomed to run aground on the beach.In this way, it is equivalent to having three piers, and subsequent cargo ships that are still outside the port can use this ship to transfer materials.

With the participation of a large number of professional dock workers, Yixinlong's fleet was fully loaded with goods in an hour.

After counting all the supplies in the car, shopkeeper Wu bowed his head and received a shipping receipt with a red seal from the accountant of the Port Authority wearing wide-rimmed glasses.

Next, the convoy embarked on the road back to the city.

At this time, in order to save animal power, everyone, including Wu Fazheng, would follow the car and walk back to Tianjin City step by step.

Just as Wu Fazheng and the others were halfway there, there was a torrent of traffic in the distant sky... The Tianjin private car brigade came belatedly.

By this time, the sky had already darkened.However, today is a special situation. It is impossible for the convoy to spend the night in the field, and the goods must be transported back to the city overnight.

Fortunately, the team leader Yixinlong has rich experience in long-distance logistics, and he will rest and drink horses in time along the way, so as not to delay the combat effectiveness.Depending on the situation, they will be able to rush back to the city around midnight.

As for the bandits that ancient merchants feared most in the wild... there is no need to consider this at all.

After Master Cao Qinwang, he stayed in the Feihu Camp in Tianjin, and started a vigorous military training operation with the win-win idea of ​​actual combat training and "assisting the recruitment of the Port Authority".

Over the past few years, Feihuying has taken Tianjin as its center and wiped out all illegal armed groups in the surrounding areas, including but not limited to horse bandits, mountain bandits, robbers, private villages, rogues, refugees, etc. according to law.

Generally speaking, after Feihuying broke through a certain bandit village, it would generously distribute the seized supplies to the local poor.

In this way, Feihuying took away the construction workers urgently needed by the Port Authority, while in the local area, they left a great reputation for being eager for justice and donating money.

Therefore, in this place not far from Tianjin City, all convoys leaving the city will not have any safety concerns.

This point was quickly confirmed after nightfall: the officers and soldiers of the Flying Tiger Camp holding torches kept patrolling along the line to maintain order.