Chapter 876: Zhang Bie Jia opens a mutual market at the border

When Zhang Wenqian nailed the last boundary stake into the frozen soil, two blisters worn on his palms broke, mixing with the muddy water and seeping into the gaps of his gloves.

He shook his hands, turned his head, and glanced at the open space he had just circled behind him.

The open space was three hundred steps east and west, and two hundred steps north and south, with the flagpoles of the Xiazhou Governor's Office standing at the four corners, the flag surface flapping loudly in the north wind.

Four hemp ropes were pulled between the flagpoles, hanging wooden boards filled with rules, the ink not yet dry, seeping outward when blown by the wind.

Gu Yuci rode down from the dirt slope on the east, the horse hooves making a crisp sound on the frozen alkali ground.

"Zhang Bie Jia, the outpost three li to the east has been set up, two squads of iron cavalry rotating, incoming and outgoing merchant teams must hand over the cargo list and pass token at that place."

Zhang Wenqian took off his gloves, tucked them under his arm, and walked to Gu Yuci's horse.

"What about the west?"

Gu Yuci flipped off the horse, his boots stepping on the alkali ground, splashing a bit of white alkali flowers.

"Two outposts were set up on the west, the first one checks people, the second one checks cargo, the hidden agents of the Mingjing Si installed eyes between the two outposts, specifically watching those who want to hide contraband under the cargo to muddle through."

Zhang Wenqian nodded, took out a stack of yellow hemp paper filled with words from his bosom, and handed it to Gu Yuci.

"This is the mutual market rule set by the Pillar of State, you take it and have it carved on a stone tablet, standing in the center of the entrance."

Gu Yuci took it and flipped through two pages, reciting a few sentences in his mouth.

"Allowed goods: silk, tea leaves, millet, refined salt, cotton cloth. Prohibited goods: ironware, crossbows, fuel oil, armor pieces."

He flipped down again.

"Allowed received goods: cattle, horses, sheepskin, camel wool. Prohibited received goods: slaves, Golden Wolf Order and Royal Court documents."

He raised his head to look at Zhang Wenqian.

"The Pillar of State doesn't accept slaves?"

Zhang Wenqian put his gloves back on, his fingers curling twice in the rough sheepskin gloves.

"The Pillar of State's original words were, slaves, this thing, once accepted, is equivalent to sending a knife to the Royal Court of Rouran to stab into the heart of Great Zhou."

Gu Yuci frowned.

"How so?"

Zhang Wenqian walked a few steps toward the center of the open space, kicking an alkali stone frozen out.

"Think about it, what kind of people are the slaves sold from Rouran? Mostly herdsmen of various tribes caught by the Royal Court's conscription order, the old, weak, women, and children. Selling them to Great Zhou, the Royal Court gets silver for nothing, and also throws off the burden."

He turned his head and glanced at Gu Yuci.

"But after these people enter Great Zhou? Settlement costs money, management needs people, if spies from the Royal Court are mixed in, that's putting snakes in one's own courtyard."

Gu Yuci closed the paper pages.

"Then the prohibited received slaves written on the tablet, will people from the grassland feel that we are too picky?"

Zhang Wenqian's mouth twisted to the side.

"Being picky is to make them feel picky, only when they are picky will they bring good things up."

He picked up a broken boundary stake wooden strip from the ground and weighed it in his hand.

"The Pillar of State once said a sentence, the mutual market is not a vegetable market, it is a fishing pond, the bait must be fragrant, the hook must be hidden, and when the fish takes the hook, it cannot feel the iron piece in its mouth."

Gu Yuci tucked the paper pages into his bosom and patted his chest armor.

"What is the bait?"

Zhang Wenqian threw away the wooden strip and took out a fire-sealed secret letter from the other side of his bosom.

"The Pillar of State let the Mingjing Si release three pieces of news on the grassland."

He tore open the secret letter and recited it while walking.

"The first piece, the Great Zhou border mutual market is open, silk and tea leaves are supplied openly, whoever comes will be sold to, not asking about the tribe, not asking about identity."

Gu Yuci walked beside him.

"This piece is on the surface."

Zhang Wenqian nodded.

"The second piece is a secret line, specifically stuffed into the marginal tribes that are crushed by the Royal Court's tax collection, saying that the Great Zhou mutual market not only sells silk and tea leaves, but also winter millet and refined salt, and the price is more than half cheaper than the alkali salt distributed by the Royal Court."

Gu Yuci gasped.

"Added to the White Disaster and the doubled tax collection order, those small tribe herdsmen can't even survive the winter. Once they hear there is grain and salt, they will rush over even if they have to fight for their lives."

Zhang Wenqian folded the secret letter and tucked it back into his bosom.

"The third piece of news is even more ruthless, specifically for the remnants and bandits on the Turkic side to hear."

Gu Yuci tilted his head.

"Turks?"

Zhang Wenqian's voice pressed down by half.

"The Pillar of State said, the Turkic remnants scattered in the northwest direction of the grassland after the Battle of Gold Mountain, hungry to the point of gnawing on their own people. Release news to them that the Great Zhou mutual market accepts horses, one good horse for five piculs of millet plus ten jin of refined salt. What they lack the least is the horses snatched from the battlefield, so they might as well exchange them."

Gu Yuci patted the saddle.

"Two birds with one stone, the Turkic people's horses enter Great Zhou's stables, and the Turkic people are tied to Great Zhou's grain line. In the future, whether to kill or raise them depends entirely on us."

Zhang Wenqian glanced at him.

"Three birds with one stone."

Gu Yuci's eyebrows picked by half.

"How so?"

Zhang Wenqian walked to the boundary stake at the entrance, and stepped the alkali soil beside the stake solid with his boot heels twice.

"Turkic people come to the mutual market to exchange grain, what will the Rouran Royal Court think?"

Gu Yuci thought for two breaths, his voice lowered.

"Turkic people do business with Great Zhou, Rouran will feel that Great Zhou is supporting the Turks."

Zhang Wenqian continued to step on the soil.

"Rouran feels that Great Zhou is supporting the Turks, so it will tighten its defenses in the west, and transfer the military force that was originally intended to suppress internal vassal tribes to the western front."

He straightened his waist and patted the alkali ash on his knees.

"Once the military force is transferred, the interior is empty, and those small tribes that are crushed and unable to breathe will have a gap to breathe. What is the first thing they do after breathing? Come to the Great Zhou mutual market to exchange grain."

Gu Yuci turned a circle on the horse reins.

"Exchanged grain and had confidence, had confidence and dared to arm-wrestle with the Royal Court, arm-wrestling with the Royal Court will tear out new cracks."

Zhang Wenqian raised his head and looked at the poles still being driven into the mutual market open space.

"The Pillar of State's original words were, no need for Great Zhou to send a single soldier, let them stir the grassland into a pot of mush themselves."

His voice dragged a section in the north wind.

"The mutual market is that spoon stirring the porridge."

When the two were walking back, a piece of dust rose on the dirt slope on the east.

Gu Yuci's hand touched the blade hilt at his waist, squinting and looking in that direction.

Under the dust was a team of carts and horses. Leading were two donkey carts loaded with cargo boxes, silk wrapped in oil paper bundled on the cart boards, the corners of the oil paper blown by the wind, revealing the dark red silk surface inside.

Behind the donkey carts were four mule carts, loaded with boxes, the outer shells of the boxes brushed with a layer of thick paint, unable to see what was inside, but judging from the arc of the cart shafts bent downward, the weight was not light.

Further behind were more than ten ordinary-looking riding horses, with guards wearing leather armor sitting on them, each hanging a horizontal blade at their waist and carrying a bow bag on their back.

Riding on the horse at the very front was a man in his early forties, square-faced, with a short beard trimmed neatly, wearing an indigo-colored cross-collared long coat, the edges of the coat embroidered with a circle of inconspicuous patterns with silver thread.

He saw Zhang Wenqian and Gu Yuci, flipped off the horse, walked a few steps to the front, clasped his hands and performed a merchant salute.

"Liangzhou Wu's Merchant Firm, shopkeeper Wu Muyun, pays respects to the two lords."

Zhang Wenqian looked him over twice.

"Wu's Merchant Firm? A convoy from Liangzhou should logically take the west road, why did you take the north line?"

Wu Muyun smiled, his fingers pointing toward the few mule carts behind.

"Lord, please forgive me, this small person's goods take the west road and have to pass three checkpoints, each checkpoint requires paying an inspection fee and transit tax, which calculates to spending thirty percent more silver than taking the north line, so this small person took a detour."

Gu Yuci interjected from the side.

"The north line is not safe, aren't you afraid?"

Wu Muyun patted the money bag at his waist.

"Afraid, but silver is more expensive than life."

Zhang Wenqian glanced at him, didn't take this sentence, and walked two steps toward the few mule carts behind Wu Muyun.

"What's loaded on the cart?"

Wu Muyun hurried to follow.

"Three hundred bolts of silk, two thousand jin of tea bricks, and fifty jars of burning knife liquor from Liangzhou."

Zhang Wenqian stopped his footsteps.

"What about millet?"

Wu Muyun shook his head.

"This small person is a silk merchant, I haven't done the grain business."

Zhang Wenqian withdrew his gaze from the mule carts and returned to Wu Muyun.

"Shopkeeper Wu, have you seen the rules of the Great Zhou mutual market?"

Wu Muyun took out a piece of paper from his bosom and unfolded it to show him.

"Seen it, the outpost at the entrance copied a copy."

Zhang Wenqian pointed to the few wooden boards that had just been erected on the mutual market open space.

"Since you've seen it, that's good, silk and tea bricks can be sold, but there is a quota for burning knife liquor."

Wu Muyun's brows moved.

"Quota? The outpost didn't mention this."

Zhang Wenqian took out a thin book from under his arm, flipped to a certain page in the middle, and pointed his fingertip at that line of words.

"Each merchant firm enters the market with no more than thirty jars of burning knife liquor per month, you brought fifty jars, twenty jars over."

Wu Muyun's mouth opened, then closed, and it took a long time to squeeze out words.

"Lord, the outpost indeed didn't say this rule when this small person entered."

Zhang Wenqian closed the thin book and tucked it under his arm.

"The outpost lets you know what cannot be brought, I am telling you what cannot be brought too much, two different things."

Wu Muyun's fingers gripping the paper tightened by a fraction.

"Then these twenty extra jars, how should this small person dispose of them?"

Zhang Wenqian shook the thin book in front of him.

"Two roads, transport them back, or sell them at a discount to the Official Salt Bureau, you choose yourself."

Wu Muyun's mouth twitched twice.

"Lord, transport them back? This small person walked for twelve days from Liangzhou to get here, the foot money for one jar of wine is enough to buy half a jar again, this back and forth tossing, this small person might as well pour the wine into the river and save the cart money."

Zhang Wenqian didn't take this sentence.

Wu Muyun swallowed his saliva, his voice lowered by half.

"What is the discount price?"

"The counter of the Official Salt Bureau is over there."

Zhang Wenqian raised his hand and pointed toward the direction of the shed that had just been set up on the west side of the open space.

"Go talk to them about the price, I manage the rules of the mutual market, I don't manage the merchant's account book."

Wu Muyun glanced at the shed, the flesh on his face trembled, but he didn't say anything more, and turned to ask another sentence.

"Lord, this small person asks one more question, are there many buyers in the mutual market? Can this small person's three hundred bolts of silk sell?"

Zhang Wenqian pointed to the north side of the open space with the thin book.

"Look over there."

Wu Muyun turned his head to look at the north side.

At the entrance on the north side of the open space, a team of people was walking in, leading were two herdsmen wearing thick fur robes, leading a string of sturdy horses connected by reins, behind the horses followed seven or eight men and women wrapped in felt, driving two board carts full of sheepskin and camel wool.

The frostbite scabs on their faces hadn't fallen off clean, and their legs slipped on the frozen soil when walking, but their eyeballs had been spinning between the wooden boards and sheds on the open space.

Wu Muyun's eyes lit up immediately.

"From the grassland?"

Zhang Wenqian didn't answer.

Gu Yuci interjected.

"Today is the first day the mutual market opened, this is the third batch."

Wu Muyun rubbed his hands, his voice becoming urgent.

"Do they bring many horses? Horses are hard currency in Liangzhou, one sturdy horse can make thirty percent profit in a resale."

Gu Yuci glanced at him.

"Shopkeeper Wu does silk business, why are you so concerned about horses?"

Wu Muyun laughed.

"Lord is joking, merchants, do whatever makes money, silk is the main business, horses are the addition, earning one more wen is one more wen."

Zhang Wenqian tapped his shoulder with the thin book.

"Shopkeeper Wu, you go register first, get the stall number before looking at the goods, pay the taxes that should be paid, verify the tokens that should be verified, if the order is wrong, this official won't be polite."

Wu Muyun hurried to collect his smile.

"Yes yes yes, this small person will go."

"Wait a moment."

Zhang Wenqian called him.

"Private transactions are not allowed on the land of the mutual market, whether you sell silk or collect horses, you must go through the official market flow book, and go through the registration shed procedure for every transaction."

Wu Muyun bent down and performed a salute.

"This small person remembers."

"Also."

Zhang Wenqian's voice sank by half.

"Buyers from the grassland can do business, but you are not allowed to owe accounts, not allowed to lend, not allowed to settle with them using Great Zhou copper coins, only barter."

Wu Muyun was stunned.

"Don't accept copper coins? Then what to exchange silk for?"

"Exchange for things they have in their hands."

Zhang Wenqian flipped the thin book to the last page and pointed to the few lines of words listed on it.

"Horses, cattle and sheep, sheepskin, camel wool, felt, all accepted. If you think these are hard to transport, the official market shed side has a conversion table, according to the official price converted into piculs of millet to open a slip for you, you can also take the slip to the granary to pick up rice."

Wu Muyun pondered for a moment and patted the money bag at his waist.

"This method is not a loss, grassland people's horses are cheap, this small person uses silk to exchange for horses and then pulls them back to Liangzhou to sell, the profit of one horse is thicker than ten bolts of silk."

"Thinking quite far."

Gu Yuci's voice was flat.

"Handle your twenty jars of burning knife liquor first."

Wu Muyun laughed dryly and ran toward the registration shed.

Zhang Wenqian looked at his back, his voice lowered by half.

"The first fish took the hook."

Gu Yuci said in a low voice.

"Silk merchants from Liangzhou ran to the border to do business with grassland people, indicating that the news has already spread to the Hexi area, faster than expected."

Zhang Wenqian walked toward the monitoring shed in the center of the open space.

"Not just Hexi, yesterday the Mingjing Si sent news that several cloth merchants in Guanzhong also started to transfer goods to the north line, estimated that there will be a second wave of convoys arriving within ten days."

Gu Yuci followed behind.

"Cloth merchants from Guanzhong? That's coming for big business."

"Big business is good."

Zhang Wenqian lifted the curtain of the monitoring shed.

"The more Central Plains merchants come, the more lively the mutual market business, the more lively the business, the more tribes from the grassland will come to exchange grain."

Gu Yuci stood at the shed entrance.

"More people coming to exchange grain, horses will flow out, horses flow out, what will they use to fight?"

Zhang Wenqian sat down behind the desk, picked up a brush and dipped it in ink, and wrote the first line in a new registration book.

Gu Yuci turned his head and looked at the herdsmen leading horses entering from the north of the open space, paused for two breaths, and turned to look at Zhang Wenqian.

"Zhang Bie Jia, how long does the Pillar of State intend to keep this mutual market open?"

Zhang Wenqian didn't raise his head, the brush writing brush-brush on the registration book.

"The Pillar of State's original words were, open until the last tribe on the grassland sells their horses to Great Zhou."

The pen tip paused on the hemp paper.

"Or open until the day Nuhe Ti discovers that he has more herdsmen than horses in his hands."

Gu Yuci's fingers tapped on the shed pillar.

"Then is it too late when he discovers it?"

Zhang Wenqian put down the brush and raised his head to glance at him.

"By the time he discovers it, his herdsmen will already be unable to leave Great Zhou's millet. Unable to leave means unable to cut off, unable to cut off means they can only continue to sell horses, continuing to sell horses means continuing to rely on millet, what is this called?"

"Dead knot."

"The Pillar of State's original words were more elegant than yours, called silkworm eating."

On the open space, those two herdsmen leading horses walked to a wooden board nearby, one of them raised his finger and pointed to the words on the board, his lips moving a few times.

He was illiterate.

A political commissar of the One Heart Society walked over and read it to him in half-baked Rouran language.

"One sturdy horse over five years old, exchange for five piculs of millet, ten jin of refined salt."

The herdsman's eyeballs widened a circle, turned his head and said a few words to the woman behind him.

The woman pulled the felt wrapped in her chest, her lips trembling twice.

The herdsman turned his head back, his hand gripping the reins tightening.

"Exchange."

His voice shattered half in the cold wind, but when the word smashed onto the frozen soil, even the political commissar's soles of his feet shook along with it.

Zhang Wenqian heard this sound in the monitoring shed, and the brush in his hand paused for a breath.

He flipped the registration book to the next page and wrote a line of small words in the blank space.

First day of mutual market, four batches of grassland herdsmen entered the market, carrying thirty-seven horses, nineteen cattle, and several sheepskins and camel wool.

The pen tip drew a circle behind that number.

The sound of horse hooves and the creaking sound of cart wheels crushing alkali soil came from outside the shed, getting denser and denser.

Zhang Wenqian raised his head and looked through the curtain toward the dirt road leading to the grassland on the north side of the open space.

The smoke and dust on the dirt road were a few points thicker than a stick of incense ago, and the black shadows of new carts, horses, and herds lined up into a long line on the horizon.

His brush wrote another line on the registration book.

Pillar of State, the fish has come. ===== CHAPTER 877 =====