I'm watching the gate in the jail

At sunset, the horse market ended the day's trading with a loud gong.

It is the rule here to beat the drums to open the market and sound the gong to close the market.

This horse market surrounded by wooden railings has two entrances, north and south.The merchants of Ming Dynasty exited through the south entrance, while the foreign merchants of other ministries took the north entrance.

The soldiers of the government office who maintained order stood on the high platform and directed the two sides to withdraw in an orderly manner. After a while, the bustling horse market suddenly became quiet.

"Tomorrow morning, I will wait for you here. Boss Wan, you must come!"

Ajiga walked to Wanda's booth before the market closed, and said to Wanda who was happily counting small money.

"Then we will be waiting for your good horse tomorrow."

Wanda cupped her hands, her smiling eyes narrowed.

Today's business is very good, after he repeatedly assured Ajiga that he would bring enough "top-notch goods", and tomorrow he would bring better silk, satin, tea and porcelain, so he didn't have to worry about the supply of goods.Those merchants who had been waiting for a long time and couldn't wait simply swarmed up and exchanged them with various local specialties for these precious southern goods.

"Big... Shopkeeper, I didn't expect our products to be so popular. Today is a good start."

"Guys" packed up the few goods left, and smiled at Wanda.

"Yes, go back to the inn, let's have a good meal. Reward everyone."

It not only opened up the opening of trade, but also took the way of Ajiga, and today's work is worthwhile.

If you want to know more information, you need to come a few more times.

After all, there was no leucorrhea on these things, and after changing so many good things, it was not in vain for them to brave the wind and snow along the way, and sleep in the open.

Wanda picked up a ginseng that was as thick as a thumb, and smiled at Qiu Zijin, "If this century-old wild ginseng from Changbai Mountain is transported to the capital, a two taels of ginseng can be sold for 50 taels of silver. Going down the canal to Suzhou and Hangzhou, the price can be doubled or quadrupled at least. But we only used half a piece of silk and satin, which is not the best... No wonder those merchants are busy running around all day long. gone."

Sure enough, "No one asks about losing money, even decapitation."

The Qiu family is a big family in the south of the Yangtze River, and Qiu Zijin was used to seeing good things when he was young. He touched the ginseng's beard and said with a smile, "Although it is a 300-year-old ginseng, it's a pity that it hasn't grown into a human shape. If it's 'all limbs' Wild ginseng is priceless."

Especially the Jiangnan people who firmly believe that wild ginseng can save lives. In their eyes, human-shaped ginseng is the spirit of the mountain, which can cure all diseases and prolong life.

Hearing this argument, Gao Hui and those ordinary Jinyi guards were startled, their lifetime salary may not be as much as this thin ginseng beard.

After everyone packed up the stalls, Uncle Liu took Wanda and Yang Xiuxian to the government office to pay today's commission, paying taxes honorably.

In return, Wanda gave Lao Liu one-tenth of the commission as a commission.All of this is carried out in the government office, and there is no deceit, which shows integrity.

"Okay, Master Liu, you actually brought guests from the south. Your business avenues are getting wider and wider."

As soon as Wanda's group left the government office, they saw a group of big men with Shanxi accents walking towards them.

"Hi, Master Zhuang. Thank you for your good words."

I can hear the provocation in the other party's words, but this kind of old broker who makes a living on speculation is completely irrelevant.

Uncle Liu made a bow to him, turned around and introduced, "Master Zhuang, this is my boss these days, shopkeeper Wan from the capital. Shopkeeper Wan, this is shopkeeper Zhuang from Yuncheng, Shanxi. He often goes to Liaodong horse market. He is also my regular client.”

After hearing this, Wanda smiled like a little fox, and stepped forward to salute the boss surnamed Zhuang.

Nowadays, most of the people who trade in the north are Shanxi merchants from Datong, Shanxi.In contrast, the trade in the south was basically monopolized by the Jiangnan people represented by Huizhou merchants.

Shanxi merchants mostly sold Jiechi lake salt produced in Yuncheng and Luzhou silk and satin in Changzhi.

The exquisiteness of these goods is naturally not comparable to the products in the south, so there is no market in the south of Daming, and they are basically exported to Mongolia, Jurchen, and Koreans on the nine sides.

Most of the merchants in Nine Borders are Shanxi merchants from Shanxi.

Some of them are salt merchants, who operate commercial villages here according to the "Opening China Law" and trade with the imperial court and the army.The other part simply centered on the horse market and only traded with Fanbang people.Of course, there are also both.

Shanxi merchants have their own guilds here, the Tongxiangguan, and the companies doing business here must abide by the rules set by the guild, and even the types and prices of the goods sold have certain regulations.What I'm afraid of is that the peers will fight among themselves, and outsiders will be taken advantage of in vain.

The sudden arrival of Wanda and his group today caused a commotion in the entire market that had not been seen for a long time.

They stole the limelight and attracted the attention of these Shanxi people.

This shopkeeper Zhuang is the president of the Liaodong Guild this year.

He can wait until the market is closed before coming to them, these new merchants from the capital, Wanda can also see that this person has a calm personality, and secondly, he may be looking at "Master Liu" to some extent, and he doesn't want to be in front of him. in front of the foreigners, and quarreled with them.

"A certain surname is Zhuang, Zhuang Jian. The treasurer of Changjianhao in Datong. I don't know where the treasurer Wan made his fortune in the capital?"

Zhuang Jian took the lead and asked with clasped fists.

Wanda smiled, and reported the name of a North-South Merchant Store opened by Jinyiwei in the capital as an information collection point.

"This...Although I'm doing business in Liaodong, I have contacts with some big business houses in Beijing. As for the Guibao...with all due respect, I haven't heard of it."

Zhuang Jian said with a half-smile.

The three or five guys behind him also showed disdainful smiles, making it clear that they wanted to provoke.

Gao Hui frowned, and stopped those Jin Yiwei captains who wanted to support Wanda.

"Hehe, it's normal that shopkeeper Zhuang doesn't know him."

Wanda tucked his hands in the fluffy pockets, took a step forward, moved to Zhuang Jian's side, and said in a low voice, "Your Excellency has been in Liaodong all the year round, I don't know if you still remember, what is the surname of the chief assistant?"

After saying that, he took a step back with a smile and raised his eyebrows at Zhuang Jian.

The current chief assistant of the cabinet is surnamed Wan, and he is from Meizhou, Sichuan.

Could it be that this "Treasurer Wan" from the capital...

Thinking of this, Zhuang Jian broke out in a cold sweat.

"Disrespectful, disrespectful."

Earlier, he heard reports from his fellows that a southern merchant selling tribute satin and tribute tea came to the horse market today, which caused a lot of commotion and made them almost fail to make a sale today.

He thought about going to the government office after the market closed, and beat this newcomer in front of all the businessmen who came to pay taxes, so that he would know the rules of their Liaodong horse market.

Who knew he was actually...

Why!No wonder he had never heard of the name of the firm in the capital he mentioned just now. It turned out that someone from Shoufu secretly opened it.That's Wan Shoufu's property... Just now he almost offended a great big shot.

Seeing how frightened he was, Wanda bowed her head in satisfaction and let out a wicked laugh.

That Wan'an old thief said all day long that he and he were "good family friends".Now it's not too much to use his name to scare people.

"Father! What do you think I bought?"

At this moment, Wan Lan brought Wang Zhi and Mei Qianzhang to look for them.

As soon as Wanda turned his head, he heard the cry of a falcon, and then saw a huge black shadow falling from the sky.

The next moment, Wan Lan raised his protective arm high, and the black shadow fell straight towards him, scaring Wanda's heart so much that it almost jumped out of his mouth - he thought that the eagle was going to Wan Lan was taken away.

As a result, the huge eagle that spread its wings to cover Alan landed steadily on Alan's small arms, and rubbed its head against Alan's chin when it was done, showing incomparable intimacy.

"Father, the eagle I bought is beautiful."

This eagle is still a bit heavy, Wan Lan struggled to raise his arms at the stunned Wanda and Yang Xiuxian, "I'm going to call it 'Wonderful'. When we return to the capital, we will take it back with us." Show it to mother...show it to brother."

Wanda pointed to the "wonder woman", then pointed to A Lan, and said in a trembling voice, "Ancestor, you just bought this thing after wandering around the horse market all day today?"

During this part of the journey, they walked all the way to the northeast along the Great Wall. A Lan often looked up at the sky, attracted by the goshawks fighting in the sky.

No wonder as soon as I arrived at the inn yesterday, I wanted to grab the Haidongqing decoration that was left there. I'm afraid this kid has already calculated it.

"The young master also bought a pot of fish and a donkey."

"Wang Cai" Wang Zhi helplessly reported that he was tortured by the eldest son of the emperor today.

This child is like a runaway wild horse today. Everything he sees is new and he wants to buy everything he sees.

Alan and Mei Qianzhang were two people, as long as one raised his chin, the other would immediately reach out for money.If he wasn't there to stop them, just the two of them could buy all the messy animals in the horse market and bring them back to the capital to open a garden of beasts.

Wang Zhi fretfully tugged at the rope holding the little black donkey behind him.

Tomorrow he said that he would not take the children with him. He came to Liaodong on business.

"Fish? Donkey?"

Red carp, green carp and donkey?

Wanda was so angry that she couldn't speak well, and reached out to grab Wan Lan's collar, but was almost caught by the eagle.

Somehow, the eagle recognized Wan Lan as its master so quickly, spread its huge wings, and roared threateningly at Wanda.

Seeing the danger, Yang Xiuxian hurriedly pulled Wan Lan behind him, telling Ah Lan to put away his eagle quickly, otherwise he would stew it at night.

"Treasurer Wan, take your leave."

Zhuang Jian watched a group of them making a mess, and hurriedly led his buddies away.

"Didn't the shopkeeper come to warn them? Why did you just leave like this?"

The clerk under shopkeeper Zhuang followed behind the hurried shopkeeper and asked puzzledly.

"Shh...don't mention it."

Zhuang Jian walked a few steps away, turned around with lingering fear, and looked behind.

"Do you know what his background is... a normal person who runs a business and takes a dude out. Hey, I won't mention it."

I heard that the newly appointed Wan Shoufu is an upright official who is reluctant to change his official uniform if it is torn, and only fixes it blindly.Who knew that he actually...

It's better not to know this kind of secret!

Zhuang Jian wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and whispered to the people around him.

"Let me tell you, if you see this caravan from thousands of families in the future, you should stay away from it and don't provoke it."

"But what if he breaks our rules and makes us unable to do business?"

the boy asked anxiously.

"'Rules'? What are 'rules'? Who are the 'rules' for? Shanxi merchants! Can people from the capital keep our rules?"

Zhuang Jian saw that this guy was a bit stubborn, and he was afraid that he would do something stupid in the future and hurt himself, "Besides, he can come here several times a year. When he finishes selling the goods, shouldn't we continue to do business. Listen clearly You are not allowed to cause trouble for me! Not only can you not cause trouble, but you have to take care of it secretly, understand?"

"Yes Yes……"

Although the guys were a little confused about the situation, they still nodded.

The knowledge of doing business has grown up.

I thought I would see Ajiga in the early morning of the next day, but who knew that not long after they returned to the inn to rest, Gao Hui ran to knock on Wanda's door with an inexplicable face, saying that the Haixi businessman in the market today came. , and now I am waiting downstairs to see the shopkeeper.

"Why is he here?"

Wanda was discussing the information he got today with Yang Xiuxian, Qiu Zijin, and Wang Zhi, and before they even had a few words, who would have thought that the "protagonist" would come to him.

"Hey, Uncle Liu has already gone back, what should we do?"

Without a translator, even communication is a problem.

"It's okay, that Ajiga brought a little girl who can speak Chinese, and she was still greeting me below just now."

"Soldiers come to block the water and cover it with soil. Let's go down and have a look."

Wanda got up and said with a serious face.

Before I got downstairs, I heard the hall was very lively, and the excited screams of the children almost lifted the roof.

Wanda hurriedly quickened her pace, and saw that the eagle that was supposed to stay in the backyard was circling at low altitude in the tall and bright hall of the inn.

And amidst the sound of whistles, Fengxing's posture was constantly changing.Dive for a while, rise for a while.

Alan clapped her hands and stomped her feet excitedly, wishing she could sit on the eagle's back.

It was almost dinner time in the living room, and there were already many guests sitting around, all watching with great interest.The shopkeeper, Wang Qianhu, stood aside helplessly, and could only let the boss's son lead others to mess around.

As for the person commanding the eagle, it turned out to be a little girl who looked no more than twelve or thirteen years old. She pursed her small red mouth, put her right hand finger near her mouth, and whistled.

"what's the situation?"

Wanda went downstairs, and finally saw Ajiga standing in the corner, looking at the little girl with pride.

Ajiga also saw Wanda and the others, and he yelled at the little girl.

The little girl raised her hand, and the eagle landed on her arm obediently.

A gray feather floated in front of Wanda, he grabbed it with his hand, and then sneezed heavily.

"Master Wan, hello."

Holding the eagle, the little girl walked up to Wanda, raised her apple-like, flushed face, and squatted lazily.

Then he was hit head-on by Ajiga who came over.

It was really a "thump" - Ajiga stretched out his big hand like a cattail leaf fan, and slapped the little girl on the back of the head hard, which may have echoed in his head.

"You girl, your mother has spoiled you. He is Ama's important business partner, so you have to be polite to him."

Ajiga said seriously.

Wanda couldn't understand what they were talking about. He stepped forward worriedly, afraid that his vicious eagle would bite Ajiga just like he did to him just now.

Who knew that this hairy thing was so vicious to him just now, but it was not docile when facing Ajiga. It simply jumped from the little girl's arm to Ajiga's shoulder, and faced Wanda very provocatively. Let out a strange cry.

"Uncle Wan is auspicious."

The little girl who had been taught by Ajiga tactfully put her hands on her knees, bent her right leg a little deeper than her left, and squatted solidly.

Wanda had only seen Manchu women salute in TV dramas before, but now that their ancestor Jurchens performed live, she didn't know how to return the salute, so she nodded and smiled awkwardly.

"I am Ajiga's daughter, and my name is Duo Er. This eagle is raised by me. I am teaching him how to train an eagle."

Duo'er pointed at Wan Lan.

It turned out that the girl and Ajiga were father and daughter, and they came here to do "after-sales service"!

"You don't have to teach him, you just teach me."

Wanda said with a half-truth and half-fake smile.

After a brief conversation, Wan Lan learned that this beautiful girl was Ajiga's fourth daughter.

Her nanny was a Han woman, so she could speak fluent Chinese since she was a child.Relying on this skill, she was favored by Ajiga and often took her to various business occasions.

Since a guest came at the time of meal, Wanda naturally had to express it.

After saying hello to Ajiga's father and daughter, Wanda went to the back kitchen—there was a tub of big fish bought by Alan. From the morning to now, all the silt that should be vomited has been vomited. It would be perfect to make a big fish head with chopped peppers.

Hearing that shopkeeper Wan wanted to cook himself, Ajiga was greatly surprised—in their Jurchens, men seldom enter the kitchen, and women guard the stove and fire.

Whether it is the Jianzhou Jurchen, the Haixi Jurchen, or the more distant savage Jurchen, they all live by fishing and hunting.

The men went up to the mountains to hunt, went down to the lake to fish, and even dug up wild ginseng and mountain products to trade with the Han people.

Whether it is farming or cooking, it is only done by women and slaves.

Why is Shopkeeper Wan, such a big businessman, actually doing this kind of thing?

"My father will cook himself only when entertaining the most important guests."

After hearing Duo'er whispering in his ear, Alan shook his head and said, "You guys are lucky. My father's craftsmanship is amazing."

Duo'er turned around and translated what Wan Lan had said to him.

Ajiga was naturally very happy to hear that Wanda valued him as a guest, but he was a little dubious about saying "excellent craftsmanship".

As far as he knew, men among the Han Chinese, especially educated and wealthy men, did not work in the kitchen either.

However, this kind of suspicion completely disappeared after seeing the big fish head that Du Gaohui brought out, which was twice as big as a washbasin, smelled tangy, and exuded the scent of spices he had never smelled before.

"Come on, fill up the wine."

Wanda asked Gao Hui to pour the Shaoxing rice wine daughter red they brought from Guannei to Ajiga.

Ajiga sniffed it and said with a smile, "This is wine for women. It's too sweet and fragrant. Shopkeeper Wan, if you want to sell wine outside the customs, you can't sell this wine. We drink all A strong burning knife. One sip, the throat, stomach, and stomach are all warm. This is the wine suitable for ice and snow."

"Treasurer Ajiga, take a sip of this sweet wine first. Then have a taste of my cooking. If you can still drink Shaodao at that time, I will give you [-]% of the price for tomorrow's transaction. I will give it away for nothing. You have a set of blue and white porcelain."

Wanda said.

When Wanda cooked fish today, he also used the chili specially brought from the capital.

This is different from the "first generation" small peppers that Wanda planted in the garden of Wanfu more than ten years ago.

These peppers were planted by the imperial court in Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan and other places.After decades of cultivation, they have gradually adapted to the local climate.

These newly cultivated peppers are fatter, brighter in color, larger in size, and more fragrant and spicy than the "first generation" ones.

However, the current output is not very high, and it is mainly used as tribute to the palace, and the rest is distributed to the local army as military equipment to drive away cold and dampness.

Even in the two capitals and the Suzhou and Hangzhou areas, only a small number of officials and officials can enjoy it.Compared with Wanda's goal of using it as an economic plant to support the planting industry in southwestern Daming, there is still a long way to go.

"What is this red one?"

Ajiga picked up a piece of red and tender red pepper with chopsticks and asked, "Is it a unique ingredient in the Central Plains? It smells so good."

As he said, he put the pepper under his nose and smelled it, then swallowed hard, and stuffed the pepper directly into his mouth.

Wanda, Wan Lan and his son showed a smirk at the same time

Qiu Zijin and Wang Zhi turned their heads away helplessly.Yang Xiuxian simply stood up, grabbed a handful of clean snow outside, and put it on a plate.

"￥q#$qer!"

Ajiga, who ate a whole piece of chili and chewed it vigorously, was so hot that his eyes widened. He covered his mouth with one hand, and pointed at Wanda with the other and murmured something incomprehensible.

Just listen to the tone of voice.

"My ama said, this is poison! You poisoned my ama, bad guy! Ama who wasted my life still treats you as friends."

Miss Duo'er slapped the table hard and said aggressively.

Wan Lan laughed "haha" twice, and put the plate of ice and snow in Ajiga's hand.

Then, under Duo'er's gaze, he raised his chopsticks and pushed the chopped peppers off the fish.He picked up a piece of snow-white fish, put it in his mouth, chewed it as if in protest, and swallowed it.

"This is spice, the best spice in Ming Dynasty, it was discovered by my father."

Alan said proudly, "Poison? Do you know how expensive it is?"

Ajiga stuffed the whole snowball into his mouth, and it took him a while to "calm down" completely.

After listening to his daughter's translation, he watched everyone at the table pick up the fish slowly, hesitated for a while, and followed their example, picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth.

It was completely different from the painful feeling of the tongue just now, this silky fish bloomed in his mouth with an amazing taste that he had never experienced before.

Fragrant, fresh, salty, spicy - this kind of spiciness is better than burning knives, cornel, and mustard greens. It is different from any spiciness he has experienced before, and it is simply unstoppable.

Duo'er saw his father showing a completely different expression from just now, and saw that everyone was eating with gusto, so he also sat down and picked up a piece of fish...

"It's so delicious, I've never eaten anything so delicious."

The little girl's eyes lit up when she looked at Alan.

"Let me just say, this is the best spice in Ming Dynasty."

A Lan held his chopsticks and raised his head triumphantly, "Ask your father for me, does he still want to drink burning knives now? Haha."

"Treasurer Wan, what is the name of this spice, and how many have you brought, please sell them all to me."

Ajiga is an excellent businessman. After feeling being tricked at first, he immediately realized the value of this special spice in this extreme northern land—if this thing is brought back to the Jurchen tribe, it will definitely be welcomed by all the tribe. .

After salt and tea, it will become a daily necessities that the people of the tribe cannot do without.

Not only the Jurchen, but the Tatars will also fall in love with it crazily, just like they fall in love with tea.

Just now, my daughter said that the son of shopkeeper Wan told her that this spice is the most precious top-grade spice in the Ming Dynasty, and only the emperor and nobles of the Ming Dynasty who lived in the Forbidden City could enjoy it.

As the person who discovered this spice, his father, shopkeeper Wan, was the only one qualified to sell it among private firms in the Ming Dynasty.

This time, the shopkeeper of Wanda came out of customs to find a stable business name in Liaodong for this spice called "pepper" and to do long-term transactions.

If their Haixi Jurchen Department can monopolize this business... At that time, wouldn't those people from the Jianzhou Jurchen and Tatar tribes also beg him with mountains of gold and silver?

In this way, what are the losses at the beginning of the year?

"Shopkeeper Wan, let's talk slowly."

Ajiga held up the "Nurhong" which he disliked just now, and thought that only "women would drink it", and smiled heartily, "I, Ajiga, am willing to be the most loyal business partner of Shopkeeper Wan in Liaodong."

The author has something to say: Liaodong Horse City was an existence that can be said to be related to the fate of the country in the Ming Dynasty.

First of all, it is undeniable that its original "restraint" nature played a good role in maintaining peace.

However, in the late Ming Dynasty, wealthy businessmen in the capital and the south were blindly superstitious about ginseng, and even developed to the point where doctors were considered unprofessional if they did not prescribe ginseng in their prescriptions.

Then relying on the basically monopolized ginseng and fur trade, the Jurchen Ministry's economy has developed rapidly, and it has drawn a steady stream of money and resources from the Daming market.After he learned and mastered more advanced farming and textile technologies, and forced North Korea to open border trade...

Well, then there is nothing wrong with Daming.

Friends who are interested in this aspect can read "A Brief Introduction to Mongolian Merchants in the Qing Dynasty" written by the author Qiu Yuan.It mainly talks about the development of Shanxi merchants on this business road.