Chapter 28

"Xiaomi wheat, four cash per dan, all kinds of grains and beans are accepted, and we will pay according to the market price, no one will be turned away." In the branch of the Fan family in Xinping Fort, Li Mingda looked at the copied note and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.

During the time before the New Year, He Yusheng started to buy grain, and they were buying at the market price of four cash per dan, including grains and beans, which were slightly cheaper but still in line with the market price. There were at least a hundred shops on the entire North Street that dealt in grain, including some large shops with capital of over ten thousand, and even branches of huge merchants like the Fan family with assets exceeding a million. He Yusheng's capital in Xinping Fort could only be considered medium-sized. When the news of buying grain at market prices spread, it surprised many people.

Li Mingda was also puzzled.

A few months ago, his distant nephew Li Yuchun had approached him, requesting to buy grain from the Fan family at a price lower than the market rate and hinting that he wanted to take over a shop to do business himself. Who would have thought that in such a short time, the situation would change dramatically. Not only did He Yusheng not collapse as the Fan family's owner had predicted, but they also started a mule and horse business and began buying grain throughout Xinping Fort. This was no small move.

"We'll give it to them. We still have over ten thousand dan in our warehouse, we'll give it all to them."

Although Li Mingda did not fully understand He Yusheng's intentions, his nephew was the manager there. Since they were buying at market price, this deal would not be a loss, and he, as the branch manager, could make this decision.

There was still over a month before the next small market opened. Before the Lantern Festival, many shops might not open, and the market would be closed until the end of next month. With the Fan family's strength, by then, a large amount of grain would naturally be transported over.

"Have you heard they also started a mule and horse business?" Li Mingda smiled at a bookkeeper. "The young master of the Zhang family has quite the ambition."

"Let them have their fun," the bookkeeper said with a look of disdain. "Business isn't that easy. I don't know why Old Zhou and the others are following this young kid around."

Li Mingda smiled, agreeing with the bookkeeper. He had already found out how He Yusheng's crisis was resolved and wrote a letter to Fan Yongdou explaining the matter. The owner of the Fan family was very concerned about changes in the various branches and other news. Li Mingda had accompanied the owner to many places and delivered a lot of silver. The owner had grand plans, but Li Mingda was not yet clear on the specifics. He vaguely felt that there was some connection between He Yusheng and the market changes, but he could not yet figure out the exact details. He wrote in great detail about the actions of the young master of the Zhang family, but Li Mingda felt that the success of this matter relied on the influence of the Zhang family from Puzhou. What could a half-grown boy like Zhang Han do? It was probably Liang Hong who was handling the specifics. However, he did not write these details in his letter, as the owner would make his own judgment. As a manager, he only needed to convey the information.

...

There were only two days left until the New Year. Many clerks and managers from other places had already left Xinping Fort, and the entire fort had become quiet. Only the two stores of He Yusheng were still bustling. The main store was still buying grain, and by now, they had nearly fifty thousand dan, which was almost six million pounds. This amount of grain was already considerable, and the value was close to the total trade volume of a small market.

He Yusheng's capital was only a bit over ten thousand taels. In the last small market, they had almost sold all their goods and had nearly ten thousand taels in hand. Adding the ten thousand taels Zhang Han had brought from home, they still had some surplus after buying the grain. However, the expenses for the mule and horse business were high, and the main store's expenses were also significant. Although they were no longer buying cloth, silk, and rapeseed, the daily pressure was still considerable.

"Stop buying before the New Year. Say that the counter will be closed for the New Year until the Lantern Festival, and we'll discuss it after the holiday." In the quiet room, Zhang Han was sitting in the main seat, and Zhou Fengji and others were listening below. No one objected, and Zhou Fengji and Li Yujing even felt a sense of relief.

Zhang Han was already teaching the bookkeeper Li Yujing the Longmen accounting method. This method was divided into four categories: "Income," "Expenditure," "Assets," and "Capital and Liabilities." It was an improvement on the traditional four-column ledger and had some elements of early double-entry bookkeeping. It was supposed to appear several decades later, but Zhang Han had learned about it from some leisure reading. Compared to double-entry bookkeeping, the Longmen method was much simpler, and compared to the original four-column method, it was more detailed and appropriate. The four categories corresponded to "Total Income," "Total Expenditure," "Total Assets," and "Total Capital and Liabilities" for the day, making daily expenses and expenditures clear. Recently, the market had not opened, and most of the goods from the last transaction had been sold, so it was only expenses and no income. Li Yujing, the bookkeeper, was taking out large amounts of silver every day, which was a huge pressure.

More importantly, the grain bought at market price was piled up like mountains. The original warehouse of He Yusheng was not enough to store it. Fortunately, there were many empty houses in the mule and horse business, which were cleaned and used to store most of the grain. They also borrowed empty houses from a few neighboring shops, and all the places were filled to the brim.

Zhang Han was extremely satisfied with this amount. In other places outside Xinping Fort, it would be impossible to collect so much grain in such a short time. The small market trade was mainly about grain, with cloth and miscellaneous goods as secondary. Therefore, many shops mainly dealt in grain, and there was plenty of it.

As for buying at market price, it was not about selling at market price.

Whether it was the large market or the small monthly market, they could only barely meet the needs of some Mongols. The right-wing Mongols, the Tumet, and the Khorchin Mongols, who were the former Doyan Three Guards, still raided the border every year.

If trade could really solve the food problem for millions of Mongols, why would they still cause trouble?

Now, not only the Mongols, but the Jurchens had also secretly joined the trade. The Liaodong horse market would soon be unsustainable. Where would the tens of thousands of Jurchens and the land they seized get their supplies from?

This smuggling business was highly profitable and had a huge demand. The amount of grain collected now was nothing.

"Master, the mule and horse business has a customer." Liang Xing did not see Zhang Han at the counter and called out in the shop. Fortunately, there were no customers in the shop, so it was fine. Liang Xing's face was full of joy, and the usual sinister look was gone. At this moment, Zhang Han realized that the guy was actually quite handsome.

Zhang Han's mule and horse business was a bit of a hybrid.

It was called a mule and horse business, but it did not rent out mules and horses. Instead, it had porters who helped transport goods and charged fees.

During the Ming Dynasty, the transportation industry was already well-developed. In the south, there were boats, and in the north, there were horses. In the north, mules and horse-drawn carts were the main means of transportation, and there were porters in every city. For short distances, they used human power, and for long distances, they used mules and horses. The porters also acted as mule drivers, helping to drive the mules and load and unload goods.

The legal system of this era was far inferior to that of later times. There were not enough local officials, and the three classes of clerks in the government offices, along with the idle and idle, were not enough to maintain order. Their main job was to collect taxes, and the daily security was mostly handled by clans. Cities were more chaotic than the countryside because clan power was weak, and people mostly lived scattered.

The porters in the porter shops were mostly bankrupt farmers who had become vagrants, and there were also a few urban poor. These people were mostly of poor character. Stealing while helping to transport goods was a minor issue, and extortion and robbery were common. Even murder of the cargo owner during long-distance transport was not uncommon.

Because the quality of the porters was so poor, merchants rarely hired them directly. Instead, they sought reliable porter shops, negotiated with the head porter, and paid a large sum to the head porter, while the porters received a small amount. This way, although there was still some loss, it was better than losing both goods and money.

There was a saying at the time: "Carriers, boatmen, innkeepers, porters, and brokers, even if they are innocent, they should be killed." There was some truth to this.

Mule and horse inns provided lodging and mules and horses. Those that also rented out carts were called carters. For short-distance trade, carters were the preferred choice, while for long-distance bulk goods, mules and horses and porters were necessary.

"Traders on the road are continuous, traveling in groups of ten or more. They ride donkeys or mules, and large carts are pulled by ten or more, or five or six, or eight horses or mules. Small carts are pulled by two or three oxen or donkeys, or a single wheel, and one person pushes it, carrying as much as a horse or mule can carry."

Carts were of various types. Large carts had four or two wheels. The four-wheeled large carts could carry fifty dan, pulled by horses or mules, or twelve, or ten, or eight horses or mules. According to Song Yingxing's records: "Large carts stop at rivers, mountains, and narrow paths."

Ordinary two-wheeled carts had lower road requirements but much lower carrying capacity. The large four-wheeled carts that could carry several thousand pounds had high requirements and were difficult to transport. They were mainly used for short-distance transport. In more complex terrain, two-wheeled carts or small carts, or even single horses or human carriers, were used.

Zhang Han's mule and horse business was a combination of a porter shop, a mule and horse inn, and a carter. However, it did not stop there. The business also provided services for storing and withdrawing money. The main store in Xinping Fort was the headquarters, and Zhang Han planned to set up branches in Tiancheng, Zhenlu, and Yanghe, covering a radius of about three hundred miles, which was the current limit of He Yusheng's reach.

Before the New Year, there were fewer traders. The main store of the mule and horse business in Xinping Fort was already well-established. Zhang Han planned to go out with Liang Hong after the New Year to select locations for a few branches. The branches did not need to be large, just a few rooms to keep some horses, mules, and donkeys, a few carts, and a few people to rotate. The key was to set up a few sturdy warehouses, with some guards and bookkeepers to manage the storage and transportation of goods and money.

This combination of a mule and horse business, a porter shop, and an early bank was one of Zhang Han's two-pronged strategies. Smuggling was the other. With these two businesses, becoming a millionaire was easy, and even ten million was possible.

Zhang Han did not care who would rule the country. Whether he smuggled or ran a mule and horse business, his first priority was to make money, then to strengthen his own power. Smuggling could help him form good relations with the Mongols and the Jurchens, who would rule the country in twenty years. With money from business, he could also bribe officials on the Ming side, ensuring no one would dare to touch him. As long as the bandits did not come, he had nothing to fear.

=============

Today, I would like to specially thank a few readers:

Luo Meimei

Sisuo

Timqiucd

Da Xia Xiaoguai

Y200622

Crazy Xiaowei

Thank you all.

I have been reading the book reviews, and I hope everyone will leave more comments, whether it's a question or a request to appear in the story. I will take note of them. Regardless, thank you all.

No 6 Crazy Xiaowei

Previous page AD starts

Previous page AD ends