Chapter 78: Fishing Requires Baiting the Hole First

Hwanghae Province is located in the mid-west of all of Joseon, bordering Pyongan-do and Hamgyong-do to the north.

To the southeast, it borders the prosperous Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do; its Geography can be described as exceptionally advantageous.

Early this day, hundreds of ships passed through the thin mist, facing the sound of the waves, and slowly docked on the shore of Hwanghae Province.

Upon the watchtower, the coastal soldiers responsible for patrolling saw this and were immediately startled. One of the leaders pulled at his throat and shouted loudly: "Quickly go send the signal, the Woguo have come, the Woguo have come."

"Boss, they don't seem to be Woguo." A lean little soldier pointed at the people disembarking and said with sound reasoning, "Look, most Woguo are short and have bowlegs when they walk; these people are all born tall and sturdy, they don't look like Woguo at all."

Hearing this, the crowd finally calmed down, widened their eyes to scan the area, and only then felt at ease.

It is good that they are not Woguo, it is good that they are not Woguo.

Since they are not Woguo and have such large ships, they must be the lords from the suzerain state.

Thinking of this, the leading soldier called over a subordinate and ordered: "You go now and report the news here to the Prefect."

"Yes." The little soldier respectfully complied.

"The rest of you, follow me out to welcome the envoys of the Celestial Dynasty." After saying this, the soldier led the military and civilians within the fortress out together, respectfully waiting for the arrival of the Celestial Dynasty envoys.

On the other side, someone had already reported to Zhang Yunxiu that in front of a garrison fortress ahead, a dense crowd of soldiers was standing.

"Hehe, these fellows are like dogs; they wag their tails when they see their master," Han San grinned and mocked.

"This is called: if the dog doesn't wag its tail, the master won't give a reward." Hao Ren raised his eyebrows, followed up with a tease, and then looked at Zhang Yunxiu to introduce: "Young Master, I have also been to Joseon a few times. This place is called Hwanghae Province, its prefectural seat is in Haeju, and besides that, there is another large city called Hwangju."

"Hwanghae Province takes its name from these two places."

"To the north, one can go to Pyongyang in Pyongan-do, and to the south, it is not too far from Joseon's former capital, Kaesong, or the new capital, Hanseong."

Zhang Yunxiu nodded slightly, cast a look of approval at Hao Ren, and smiled: "Boss Hao is truly a shrewd person; no wonder you can make your business so big. I only regret not knowing you, Boss Hao, sooner."

"Young Master, you flatter me." Hao Ren felt proud inside, but on the surface, he continued to be modest: "Since we have arrived, let us not delay. Young Master, you say it; wherever you point, we will strike."

"Good, you now take people to spread the news that Woguo is about to invade Joseon, and then buy up salt on a large scale." Zhang Yunxiu smiled and issued orders directly to the few of them.

"Young Master, we have more than enough salt of our own, why buy this stuff? Don't forget, if we don't finish the task of making money for the Emperor, we will have to pay out of our own pockets." Han San was anxious and hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"Have you ever fished?" Zhang Yunxiu did not answer directly, but instead asked Han San with a smile.

Fishing?

Why is the Young Master asking this?

Han San shook his head. Zhang Yunxiu smiled, and seeing that everyone was still confused, he proudly explained to them: "This fishing, you have to bait the hole first to lure the fish over. When the fish are eating happily, I throw a Heaven-Shaking Thunder in; I guarantee it will blow them up until they float belly-up."

"Isn't it fishing? We're even blowing things up." Han San muttered in a low voice.

"Ah! I know now!" Hao Ren's two eyeballs rolled, he suddenly slapped his thigh hard and shouted loudly.

"What do you know?" Han San asked suspiciously.

Hao Ren gave a strange laugh, swallowed hard, and then stared at Han San and asked: "We have fifty thousand Salt Permits in our hands, a full twenty million catties. As long as the price of that salt can double a few times, tell me, who earns more?"

Han San also suddenly realized at this moment, clapped his hands and exclaimed: "Ah, this time we will surely earn a fortune."

Zhao Dazhuang, who had not spoken until now, twitched the corner of his mouth and reminded: "What if we drive the price up, but end up unable to sell the salt in our own hands? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?"

"Your concern is completely unnecessary." Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand and grinned at him. "Why?"

"Because of human nature."

"Human nature?" Zhao Dazhuang's two thick eyebrows twisted into a knot, clearly not knowing what Zhang Yunxiu meant.

What a silly oaf.

Zhang Yunxiu muttered to himself, then said: "Once panic spreads, how could these ordinary commoners possibly think? Think about it, if the price of the salt they eat skyrockets several times in half a month, can they still remain calm?"

Zhao Dazhuang was still stunned, and Hao Ren added: "I'm afraid that by then, these people will sell their houses and land just to catch this wave."

After the group reached an agreement, they left only one hundred men to guard the ships, and the remaining boatmen, merchants, and Embroidered Uniform Guard warriors headed into the interior of Joseon together.

Excluding the soldiers, the remaining commoners added up to over a thousand people.

Two thousand people marching with wealth and goods caused the commoners along the way to stop and watch one after another.

They pointed at Zhang Yunxiu and the others.

"Look, those are the nobles from Great Ming."

"As expected of envoys from the Celestial Dynasty, they are indeed tall and mighty; compared to those short Woguo, they are countless times stronger."

"You have such great courage, daring to compare Woguo with people of the Celestial Dynasty."

"Ah, I just spoke without thinking."

Facing the discussions of the crowd, Zhang Yunxiu ordered his men to take out silver and buy the salt in their hands at a price half higher than the market rate.

At this, the commoners on both sides were stirred up.

Originally, one catty of salt was about one fen of silver (approximately ten copper coins); raising it by half, an extra five coins, made it fifteen coins.

One only needed to sell two more catties to earn back the money for one catty of salt.

Who wouldn't do this business?

Before long, the news of Zhang Yunxiu buying salt spread from this place as the center, first through Haeju.

At the same time, the price of salt in other places also began to rise gradually.

In Changlian County under the jurisdiction of Haeju, over a hundred Joseon commoners, carrying sacks, crowded in front of a salt shop.

A dark-faced man slapped down a piece of silver, pointed at the nervous shop assistant, and urged loudly: "Quick, quick, give me two hundred catties of salt, be quick about it; if you're late, I'll make you regret it!"

"Look at your stingy attitude, two hundred catties and you have the nerve to brag here. Assistant, give me one thousand catties, isn't it just ten taels of silver? I still have that much money!"

"Give me five hundred catties too, five hundred catties."

In an instant, the once quiet little shop suddenly became lively.

Several assistants were overjoyed, shouting while calling their companions to weigh the salt for these masters.

After being busy for a while, the customers outside were not only not fewer, but were becoming even more numerous.

Just as the assistant was puzzled, one of them stretched his neck and shouted: "It's gone up again, it's gone up again, there's going to be a war, the officials from the Celestial Dynasty are paying seventeen coins to buy our salt."

(End of chapter)