Chapter 467: Economic Warfare

"You're saying the court is sending people to Dengzhou and Laizhou to investigate, and they're all Eastern Depot runners?" Song Wenxian, who had just rushed to the capital, looked up. "Has the Guanning Army's impeachment report against our Dengzhou garrison arrived yet?"

Zhang Dahui said in a deep voice, "It only arrived one day later than our impeachment report."

Song Wenxian nodded. "That fits. I deliberately arranged a time with them to send them together, then quietly sent ours a day early. Since the court has received both, why are they still sending people to Dengzhou and Laizhou?"

Song Wenxian frowned and lowered his head in thought. Zhang Dahui said respectfully, "According to the person who tipped me off, His Majesty gave Cao Huachun and Luo Yangxing a thorough scolding and insisted on forcing them to go to Dengzhou and Laizhou. The primary thing they're to investigate is whether the two garrisons are colluding. Also, these past few days Wang Chengen has suddenly stopped seeing me. I had men watch his residence and clearly saw him go in, but when I went to request an audience, the gatekeeper said he wasn't home."

Song Wenxian raised his head and looked at Zhang Dahui. "Wang Chengen is the person closest to the Emperor. His attitude shows that this time, our joint action with the Guanning Army has truly drawn His Majesty's attention. This is something I did not anticipate."

"Mr. Song need not blame yourself. In my view, His Majesty's attention alone is useless. Isn't Zu Dashou also under His Majesty's attention? He's still doing just fine."

"That's not how it works." Song Wenxian waved his hand. "Back when I discussed seizing Lvshun with Lord Chen, one of our considerations was that Liaonan borders the Later Jin. With examples like Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng, the court dares not push us too far. But it's always better to have a more relaxed relationship with the court. Otherwise, it might be fine in Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Shandong, but things would become difficult elsewhere."

Zhang Dahui laughed coldly. "The Emperor may wish it, but investigating us won't be so easy."

"Wang Chengen won't see you. What about Cao Huachun and Luo Yangxing? How are they behaving?"

Zhang Dahui chuckled. "That's why I say the Emperor won't find it so easy to investigate. Although Cao Huachun won't see me, his steward is willing to meet with me. Though he didn't explicitly discuss palace matters, he gave some hints. Then the very next day, Cao Huachun convened a meeting of the senior supervisors at the Eastern Depot. He knew full well that half of them have dealings with me, and used this method to pass me information. Luo Yangxing is even more so—he simply won't let me visit his residence, but instead meets me at the separate courtyard where he keeps his mistress. Luo Yangxing even asked for my understanding and requested that I give Lord Chen advance notice: he will absolutely not do anything detrimental to Dengzhou Garrison, and asks that Dengzhou Garrison not take action against the men he sends."

Song Wenxian shook his head and smiled. "This is how the court does things. But this time, each Eastern Depot supervisor is traveling separately, and there are many of them. It's hard to guarantee there won't be some stubborn ones among them. We still need to notify Zhou Shifa and the others to stay vigilant. Those who absolutely cannot be bought off—send them to feed the fish in the sea."

Zhang Dahui laughed coldly. After Song Wenxian finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Zhang Dahui. "Dahui, you must be careful. Have there been any runners lurking near you these past two days?"

"Not yet. The Intelligence Bureau's contact points will be moved elsewhere. This place will only serve as my residence for public appearances." Zhang Dahui let out a long breath. "The Embroidered Uniform Guard has many experts in tracking. Many of them have been in this line of work since the Wanli reign. If they were well-funded, dealing with them would be quite difficult. But as you've seen, in recent years even the clumsiest Jianzhou Bandit spies have been able to establish themselves in the capital. The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot... are not what they once were."

"It's always good to be cautious. Prepare more safe houses. The one you prepare for yourself—tell no one. Only you alone can know of it. And it must have a hidden cellar for refuge. The capital is vast; the Five Wards Military Command and the Embroidered Uniform Guard don't have the ability to search house by house."

"Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Song. This junior will remember it."

Liu Minyou looked at the frowning Chen Xin and said in surprise, "The Shanxi merchants are that rich? We're going to make a fortune this year."

Chen Xin shrugged, expressionlessly went to pour water, then returned and sat down on the drunken-chair.

"The three main Shanxi merchant houses—one million seven hundred thousand taels in gold and silver." Chen Xin sighed. "Compared to the grand ministers in court, it's not that much money. But it's all ready silver and goods, which is more useful to us than those jewels. The message Zhang Dong sent back says that in the cellars of those three houses in Zhangjiakou, there was quite a lot of silver, coin, and jewelry with bloodstains still wet. According to his preliminary interrogations, after Manggultai's eastern route campaign plundered Baoan and Yanqing Prefecture, a lot of silver was first sent beyond the pass, then traveled outside the frontier to the outskirts of Zhangjiakou. That plundered silver was directly exchanged for goods, which were then transported back to Liaodong by captured Great Ming commoners. They did the same thing the last time the Jianzhou Bandits invaded Xuanfu and Datong."

"Zhong Laosi did well to kill them!" Liu Minyou slapped the table and stood up. "I think Zhong Laosi did a fine job. What use is there in keeping these Han traitors alive if not to kill them?"

"It wasn't actually Zhong Laosi's decision. It was Song Wenxian's. Killing some merchants is nothing, but he was worried that someone in court would act against our Dengzhou, so he dragged Liaodong Garrison into it as well, hoping to make the court wary of acting. Instead, it enraged the Emperor. Song Wenxian was a bit rash this time. Could it be that this sort of thing is contagious?" Chen Xin shook his head. "Wu Xiang gave us two hundred thousand taels, and You Shiwei also gave us one hundred thousand. We didn't earn little silver, but this matter of our two garrisons jointly striking Zhangjiakou has drawn the Emperor's attention. The old trick of impeaching each other won't work anymore. The Emperor is sending Eastern Depot men to investigate us. This three hundred thousand taels will probably only be enough to shut these people's mouths."

Liu Minyou lowered his head and thought for a moment. "With this silver, our funds will be ample this year. The court's few hundred thousand taels are just pocket change. The court can't do anything to Zu Dashou, so naturally they can't do anything to us. But this reputation is never good."

Chen Xin agreed. "Indeed. When these Eastern Depot men arrive, we'll just pretend we don't know. Let Song Wenxian handle it privately. In recent military reports, we'll be more restrained and also curse Liaodong Garrison a bit. Have the Propaganda Department tell the story of Liaodong Garrison's defeats a few more times in the fortified villages. The commoners will naturally curse the Liao army in the teahouses."

"Just letting the Eastern Depot runners move freely in Dengzhou and Laizhou like that—won't that be too..."

Chen Xin waved his hand and smiled. "Of the Eastern Depot's ten senior supervisors, four have already made private contact with Zhang Dahui. Luo Yangxing has also spoken. That cuts the number we have to deal with in half. When they arrive in Dengzhou and Laizhou, we'll have Song Wenxian do some public relations work, find some places for them to see. If there are any truly blockheaded ones, we'll have Zhou Shifa deal with them. They're just runners—not worth spending too much thought on. Leave this matter to the people below. We should just keep doing what we do."

Liu Minyou nodded. He picked up a booklet from the table. "This is the Trading Company's economic warfare plan against the Later Jin. Since last year, we and Lu Zhi's group have jointly controlled the Liao Sea trade. The Trading Company has established outposts on every island in Dongjiang, directly purchasing Liaodong specialties on the spot. Now that we have these conditions, I plan to lower the purchase price of ginseng, sable pelts, and Dong pearls by thirty percent. The price for Korea will also be lowered by thirty percent. There's profit in the middle. Many people will take risks for it, so we'll need the navy to strengthen patrols."

Chen Xin picked it up, flipped through it, and put it back. "Better not to lower prices. These few items are all high-value and small in size, very easy to transport. There's not much difference between sea and land routes. If we don't buy, Liaoxi will. Right now we can't blockade the Later Jin, so this kind of economic warfare won't do much. I actually think our economic warfare could target those people in Liaoxi."

"How would we target them?"

"The Guanshan-Ningyuan region has limited output, yet every year it receives a great deal of Liaodong military tax funds. Prices there have always far exceeded other places. This year, both Wu Xiang and You Shiwei made a profit. The officers and soldiers of both garrisons certainly helped themselves to quite a bit of wealth in Zhangjiakou as well. Zhang Dong said that once the Liao army started looting, they plundered Xuanfu quite thoroughly along the way. Unwilling to transport the goods they seized, they sold them cheaply to the Trading Company halfway. That means Guanshan-Ningyuan will suddenly have a lot of ready silver this year, but the supply of goods remains at the same base level. Liaoxi's prices will certainly rise this year. The second aspect is the Later Jin. Zhangjiakou has been smashed, and with our deterrent effect, its supply capacity cannot recover in the short term. The Jianzhou Bandits can't spend the silver they plundered in Xuanfu and Datong for a while, so they'll likely turn to the Kalaqin and purchase supplies through Liaoxi smuggling. The third aspect is that the Mongols also plundered money in Xuanfu and Datong this time. Silver from all these directions may flow toward Liaoxi. Since the Guanshan-Ningyuan region was ravaged after Yongping and Luanzhou, the area has been desolate, and goods have never flowed smoothly. Overland transport costs are also extremely high. To ship goods in bulk, they must rely on Tianjin and Liao Sea transport. We can help a little in both these directions. Taking advantage of this opportunity of rising prices, how about we help the Guanning Army drive prices up even further?"

Liu Minyou pointed at Chen Xin. "Devious. You want to deal with both the Guanning Army and the Jianzhou Bandits."

Chen Xin chuckled. "Have the Trading Company stop supplying cotton cloth, ironware, and grain in Tianjin, and switch to bulk purchasing to drive up the prices of these items. On the Liao Sea side, have the navy strictly investigate smuggling and double the tax collection. The Trading Company will stop supplying Wu Xiang with goods and switch to large-scale stockpiling."

"Expert Chen, think this through. With that price gap, goods from the Grand Canal will naturally concentrate in Tianjin. Our financial resources aren't enough to buy that much. And we'd also be giving up a source of income."

"No, they won't. After Liaoxi prices skyrocket, Tianjin's prices will also rise further. Many merchants will be buying at high prices in Tianjin. We'll then release our Tianjin goods at those high prices and make a profit on the Tianjin side."

"And then?"

"And then, after they've shipped the goods to Liaoxi, we suddenly supply Wu Xiang with goods in bulk, crushing Liaoxi's prices and causing those merchants to suffer catastrophic losses. They'll have nowhere to recoup. What we earn in Tianjin, we can afford to lose a little here. Once these merchants who normally operate in Liaoxi are ruined, other merchants will wait and watch for a while, then slowly develop business in Liaoxi. There will be a commercial vacuum period in Liaoxi. We'll seize the opportunity to control Liaoxi's commerce. Once we also control freight, prices will be in our hands. We'll drive Liaoxi's prices up again and easily earn back all of Guanshan-Ningyuan's silver. Once Guanshan-Ningyuan's prices rise, combined with our strict inspection of these smuggled items on the Liao Sea, prices on the Jianzhou Bandits' side will also skyrocket."

Liu Minyou asked, "What if Wu Xiang won't buy our goods?"

"We'll give him a low price. He has no reason not to buy. After buying, he can also make a profit off the Later Jin and the Mongols. He absolutely lacks the vision and integrity to use his own silver to protect those merchants. Wu Xiang will even have to thank us."

"Alright, it's worth a try. Coincidentally, we can use this silver from Zhangjiakou for this. I'll also mobilize a batch of funds from the bank. But the timing needs to be a bit later. The time the Later Jin lacks grain most is the one or two months before the autumn harvest. It's now the third month. We'll slowly increase grain purchases along the Grand Canal, reaching a peak in the fifth and sixth months, and let grain prices hit their highest point in the seventh month. Your Liaonan Brigade must also launch corresponding offensives then, forcing the Later Jin to mobilize, affecting the Jianzhou Bandits' autumn harvest and exacerbating their grain shortage. Keep prices high until after the Later Jin's autumn harvest. Once the Jianzhou Bandits have grain and some relief, their purchase volume will drop. We'll then seize the opportunity to crush Guanshan-Ningyuan's prices."

Chen Xin lay down on the drunken-chair he used for resting and sighed comfortably. "This is the power of a commercial network. What are the Eastern Depot or the Embroidered Uniform Guard compared to the Trading Company? Nothing. When Liaodong's prices skyrocket, let's see what Huang Taiji uses to feed those bondservants and how he integrates the Eight Banners. As for that one in the capital, I don't even need the Trading Company. If he truly provokes me, I'll cut off any section of the Grand Canal in Shandong, and the capital will become a dead city."

Liu Minyou smiled. "Your dream of becoming Emperor draws ever closer. But you still need to remember Zhu Daichun's force. Huguang is the empire's granary. Whether we can control Huguang is what matters most."

Chen Xin immediately sat up. "We need to send an urgent letter to Zhu Daichun. They are an isolated force. Although the Trading Company has set up outposts along the way, there are countless bandits throughout Henan and Huguang. It's extremely difficult for the Trading Company to operate alone. The Trading Company's mission this year: they must advance up the Yangtze River and establish a waterway route with the Central Plains Brigade. They must control their own ports. Also, they need to guard against the local government troops. Recruit refugees on the spot to farm and garrison. The enemies there are all weak, so use the old square formation organization. Protect the grain-producing areas around Wuchang, and step by step control the Han River line. In any case, no matter what happens, the Fifth Battalion is not leaving. If the court wants to turn hostile, then let's turn hostile and see what happens."

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