Chapter 432: Dipping the Shanxi Merchants into the Pot

In the third month of spring, the grass grows and orioles fly.

After a cold winter, this is the time when all things revive and flowers bloom in the warm weather.

The entire capital regained its vitality. The pear trees that had slept through the winter were awakened by the drizzling rain, and people who had rested through the winter began to bustle about.

Farmers began busy leveling their fields, preparing to plant; merchants began stocking goods, preparing to travel north and south; court officials began busy drafting plans for the year ahead, while also attending to the spring plowing.

As for the construction sites in the capital, they all started work as well. Whether it was houses within the city or the new city outside the walls, everything was bustling. The court did not levy corvée labor but instead began hiring workers for pay.

This time the contractor was the Imperial Household Department, and everything was held to high standards and strict requirements. The construction crews had already moved in, and for a time, the entire site was filled with busy figures.

At the northern gate of the capital, a wagon train was gathering. Judging by the number of people, there should be several hundred here; there were also several dozen carts of various sizes.

After the sun rose, people began gathering once more. There were more people, more vehicles, and more goods.

In one luxurious carriage, a young man stood on the shafts, holding a folding fan as he faced the wind. From his dress alone, one could tell his status was out of the ordinary.

On his feet were Zhang's thin-soled deerskin boots. Beyond that, everything he wore was made of Jiangnan Zhang's black silk, at an exceedingly high cost.

Looking at the great cloak draped behind him, one could tell at a glance it was fine bearskin. Looking at the color, the quality of the fur, and the craftsmanship, it reflected light even in the sun.

The jade pendant hanging at his waist was clearly Linglong Workshop's handiwork; the hairpin in his topknot, though simple in design, was obviously fine Hetian jade, certainly not cheap.

As for the folding fan in his hand, its value was even higher. There was nothing wrong with the fan itself, but the fan face was clearly an original by Shen Zhou of Jiangnan.

Just this outfit alone had already astonished many people.

As for the carriage, it was a four-wheeled grand cart with all-steel axles and steel-plate leaf springs on top. This was a novelty—just released before the new year—and its cost was extraordinarily high.

Looking at the horses pulling the cart, the two tall steeds were identical in color, clearly no ordinary beasts.

One could hardly find many like this fellow in the entire capital. Aside from the houses of the powerful and noble, no one could afford such trappings.

As for the guards around him, each was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted with sharp, piercing eyes—men who had clearly killed before.

For someone like this to go out doing business, he must be gaining experience in the world. Looking at the several dozen large carts following behind, plus the vehicles continuously arriving from all directions, one could tell this was definitely a great merchant caravan—the kind that made a grand showing when it set out.

As people kept gathering, they eventually assembled into a force of over three thousand.

When the sun was three poles high, the caravan slowly began to move, heading directly north.

The merchants heading north to do business were happy to follow along behind. With such a caravan ahead, they surely wouldn't encounter any danger on the road.

In the central large carriage, Zhu Youxiao sat inside, his face expressionless.

Beside him were Wei Chao and Chen Hong, attending him with respectful countenances.

Zhu Youxiao sat in the carriage, reached out and lifted the curtain, looking at the scenery outside. The sunlight was warm and gentle, and his mood immediately improved greatly.

To be honest, at this time of year there wasn't much real risk. The grasslands were a stretch of withered yellow, and in some places the snow hadn't yet melted, retaining the chill of deep winter—slightly cold and crisp.

Being able to leave the capital put Zhu Youxiao in a much better mood. There was a feeling of "the sky is high and the emperor is far away" that made one's spirits soar.

He had probably been stifled in the capital for too long.

After a long while, Zhu Youxiao finally withdrew his gaze, glanced at Chen Hong beside him, and asked, "You've arranged everything, haven't you?"

Hearing this, Chen Hong quickly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, everything has been arranged. The journey will be smooth all the way—there will absolutely be no problems."

Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's best, then."

The place Zhu Youxiao was headed this time was, naturally, Zhangjiakou.

Although in later ages Zhangjiakou was an unremarkable place—and perhaps in this era Zhangjiakou was also unremarkable, with everyone caring more about the capital—

things were different now. Zhangjiakou was very important. It was the key node for trade between the grasslands and the interior, the hub of grassland smuggling.

In Zhangjiakou, the great Shanxi merchants of the Great Ming and a large number of northern merchants gathered. Most of them smuggled goods from Zhangjiakou out to the grasslands.

If Zhu Youxiao wanted to investigate smuggling, Zhangjiakou was the most suitable place.

Of course, investigating smuggling was one thing—the most critical thing was making money.

Through this winter plus these three months of spring, Zhu Youxiao's money had burned away at an alarming rate.

After Bi Maokang completed his plans, he submitted the list. Under such circumstances, how could Zhu Youxiao possibly hold back?

Thinking of those weapons—which night hadn't he been scratching his head in agitation? Thinking of having those weapons in his hands, Zhu Youxiao was simply too excited to contain himself.

Under such circumstances, how could the money possibly be managed?

So Zhu Youxiao spent money like water, directly shelling out over five million taels. After also deducting the expenses of the new year, Zhu Youxiao's inner treasury was nearly drained.

Without money, nothing could be done. For Zhu Youxiao, that was absolutely unacceptable.

The key problem was that the inner treasury's money had been spent and still wasn't enough—that was the real issue. Zhu Youxiao needed to go make money.

Last time he'd wanted to go to Jiangnan to make money, but had stopped halfway in Shandong and stirred up a huge commotion, so he couldn't head south again for now. If he went south again, the south would likely be in a panic.

So this time Zhu Youxiao planned to change direction and head straight for the north.

Where in the north could he go?

It could only be Zhangjiakou—go to Zhangjiakou and catch those smuggling merchants.

From the eight great imperial merchants later ennobled when the Qing dynasty was established, one could see just how rampant smuggling was in this era.

The Jianzhou barbarians didn't yet have that much strength, and the merchants' smuggling wasn't all for them.

In Zhu Youxiao's view, it was simply a matter of whoever was in power, you did business with them.

In fact, the smuggling trade had never stopped. How large was the scale back then? How large is the scale now?

This time, with Zhu Youxiao making his move, he believed there would be a very good harvest—he could get his hands on a large sum of money, and at the same time establish official trade. Who knew, he might even make a killing.

To borrow the words of Qin Shi Huang: "Mine, mine, it's all mine!"

As an emperor, how could one manage without such a mindset?

And so Zhu Youxiao set out.

This massive caravan was organized by Zhu Youxiao himself. It included the Imperial Household Department's merchant convoy as well as convoys from other merchants—most of them cooperative businesses of the Imperial Household Department. It could be said to be extremely grand and massive.

Of course, hidden among them were many of Zhu Youxiao's guards. Some of those carts carried weapons—flintlock guns, rocket carts, and revolving-barrel machine gun carts.

Those carts covered in oilcloth were loaded entirely with ammunition—whole crates and crates of bullets. It could be said that Zhu Youxiao was armed to the teeth this time.

The main purpose of this trip was to make money. Of course, bringing weapons was to guard against contingencies, and also to conduct tests.

If there were a fight, they'd take out these weapons and test them, see what kind of results they'd get—who knows, maybe they could make the grassland peoples friendly and hospitable, good at singing and dancing.

If that day ever came, Zhu Youxiao thought it would be a fine thing. By then, everyone would love one another—the Great Ming pouring wine and boiling meat, the grassland peoples singing and dancing. How wonderful would that be?

The wagon train moved along slowly, and everyone in it was chatting and laughing, radiating an air of delight.

Everyone was fantasizing about how much money this trip would make. After all, it was the first big deal after the start of spring—surely there would be good business to be had.

The roads in winter were too hard to travel, transport costs too high, and with last year's heavy snow, they hadn't been able to do much business all winter.

Winter on the grassland was certainly hard to endure, and the pastoral tribes who had been cooped up all winter must be having a rough time right now. These goods would definitely fetch a high price when brought over—that was everyone's consensus.

Everyone was delighted this time, hoping to make a killing.

Sitting in the carriage, Zhu Youxiao listened expressionlessly as they kept talking about it, unmoved in his heart.

For Zhu Youxiao, this trip was indeed about making money—only the method of making it was different.

After all, Zhangjiakou wasn't too far from the capital, and the journey went quickly; before many days had passed, they arrived at Zhangjiakou.

A wagon train arriving in Zhangjiakou naturally drew the attention of quite a few people.

Although Zhangjiakou was a city with a strong commercial atmosphere, in truth, merchant caravans on this scale were rare; smuggling was rampant, but on the surface it wasn't visible.

Such a conspicuous arrival made the people of Zhangjiakou somewhat surprised. But judging by the look of these caravans, they weren't ordinary folk. Throughout Zhangjiakou, aside from curiosity, there was no one who wanted to try robbing them—people who looked this untouchable really were untouchable.

This was Zhu Youxiao's first time in Zhangjiakou.

Looking at the city walls before him, Zhu Youxiao's face held an unreadable expression.

In this place, the Great Ming had once driven out the Tartar barbarians and had also fought countless battles against the Mongols. Later, it gradually became a commercial city, and mutual trade began.

The group that rose to prominence here was the Shanxi merchants, and they played a very inglorious role.

These Shanxi merchants sold ironware here—after all, Shanxi and Shaanxi had abundant iron, and all the iron they smelted was sold to the grassland. Beyond that, these Shanxi merchants also sold court intelligence and even served as guides, truly achieving the ideal of "merchants have no country"—they could be considered a model example of it.

Like the merchants of Jiangnan who colluded with the wokou pirates, these Shanxi merchants were also a microcosm of this era.

But Zhu Youxiao rather thought these Shanxi merchants were now his fat sheep—it was time to eat hotpot lamb.