Chapter 136: The Livelihood of a Million Canal Workers

"This grain is really beautiful."

"Standard tiger-stripe golden-thread pattern."

The experts holding flashlights were carefully inspecting the huanghuali Lin Dao had brought back.

The flashlight beam fell on the huanghuali, revealing the three-dimensional texture and phantom effect of the grain.

"At least premium grade or above."

The expert sniffed his nose, smelling "a faint medicinal fragrance; this is aged material, absolutely not yinchen material."

Yinchen material huanghuali usually smells of agarwood and floral or fruity scents.

If you're not an expert, it's really hard to tell them apart clearly.

Reaching out to touch it, "smooth as silk, moderate density."

"Golden yellow and bright, aged material of at least three hundred years."

Several experts stood up one after another, signaling to their respective bosses.

"Genuine items, absolutely genuine, and all aged material of over three hundred years."

Perhaps one expert was too excited to see so much huanghuali at once.

Following his mouth came a sentence: "Many of these are beams, pillars, doors, and windows, dismantled less than a month ago."

The surroundings fell silent.

Immediately everyone acted as if they hadn't heard anything, each busy with their own affairs.

Several bosses gathered around Lin Dao, smiling kindly and sincerely.

"Boss Lin, I'll take this whole batch~"

"Take your grandpa, do you know how many cubic meters there are here? Even if you sold all your houses numbered three, four, five, six, you couldn't raise the payment."

"Boss Lin, I want fifty cubic meters~"

"Boss Lin, it's mealtime now, let's go eat first~"

"Boss Lin, I know a good place, the technique is truly amazing~"

Huanghuali with good quality and age belongs to scarce goods.

The timber bosses had red eyes, all hoping to get as much stock as possible.

Once they got the goods, processed them a bit, and resold them, they'd make multiples of profit.

Faced with a money-making business, the bosses were truly enthusiastic beyond measure.

"This batch of South African huanghuali." Lin Dao smiled, "Hard to come by; as for the price, please be fair, everyone."

South Africa has huanghuali?

South Africa is also nan!

The goods owner says there is, so there is.

"This batch of nanfei goods, 200,000 per cubic meter."

"Right, 200,000 per cubic meter is very suitable."

"Boss Lin, rest assured, the price we offer is absolutely the market price."

Market price, my ass!

Lin Dao was no longer a young newcomer to the trade.

He had sold countless valuable items and encountered all sorts of tricks.

He had never met one that didn't want to cheat him!

These few timber merchants advanced and retreated as one to press the price down, unfortunately Lin Dao didn't buy this set.

"No need to say anything else."

Lin Dao simply waved his hand, "250,000 per cubic meter."

"If you want it, go sign the contract and make the payment."

"If not willing, we'll have opportunities to cooperate in the future."

That's how a seller's market is.

I have good goods; if you don't want them, plenty of people are fighting to get them.

As for the price, of course I decide.

The huanghuali dismantled from various prefectural mansions across the Chongzhen Spacetime was finally sold at 250,000 per cubic meter.

Lin Dao had a large sum of income, his money bag even fuller.

Of course, with such a large batch of goods suddenly pouring in, market prices would fall in the short term.

The next large-scale sale would need to wait for a period of time.

Lin Dao instructed Finance, "Remember to pay taxes."

As a qualified spacetime merchant, paying taxes absolutely cannot go wrong.

With money, Lin Dao continued to open procurement.

First was to import grain on a large scale from San Ge, buy large quantities of potatoes from Teng Zhou and other places, and feed from feed factories.

Yonghe Spacetime's grain import demand was constantly decreasing; beans, radishes, and such there were gradually starting to harvest.

But Chongzhen Spacetime's grain demand was rapidly climbing.

Although Chongzhen Spacetime's grain yield far surpassed Yonghe Spacetime's.

But its population base was too large.

Moreover, most of Jiangnan's land was used to plant cash crops for export, with grain mainly relying on imports from Hu Guang.

Now that the import channel was cut off, the grain gap had to be filled by Lin Dao.

He didn't want to become a rebel; occupying a place meant holding it firmly.

To stabilize popular sentiment, the most important supply is grain.

No matter which world, grain has always been the biggest import.

Besides grain, there is fertilizer.

This is a supplement to grain, hoping to reduce grain imports in the future.

Fertilizer is likewise a hard currency needed by both spacetimes.

After that come various industrial products.

Iron tools, nails, glass products, various tools, cement, carts, cloth, dyed textiles, pressing equipment, and so on.

These basic industrial products have low added value, but huge demand.

Lin Dao's import-export company is also gradually becoming somewhat well-known.

Chongzhen Spacetime, Yangzhou.

Gazing at Yangzhou City before him, Lin Dao's first thought was the Yangzhou Ten Days three years later.

A massacre turned this prosperous city into a ghost realm.

Matters of slaughter like this, Wild Boar Skin has done far too many.

Too many to count.

Thinking of how many queues sway back and forth in later generations being whitewashed, Lin Dao feels nauseated.

At this time, outside Yangzhou City gate are all people.

The prefect, the county magistrate, the Two Huai Salt Transport Envoy, local gentry, and the Salt Merchant Guild have all come.

Lin Dao traveled east along the Da Jiang from Jinling City all the way.

Along the way, prefectures and counties basically used silver to knock down the defending troops and open the city gates.

The few that chose to hold out also fell in one battle.

The situation here in Yangzhou is somewhat special.

The salt merchants spent money, raising civilian militia and salt workers to defend the city.

But Lin Dao occupied the wharves and warehouses outside the city, and captured their salt-selling fleet.

These are the foundation of the salt merchants.

If goods cannot be shipped out, over time the routes everywhere will be cut off.

Private salt peddlers everywhere will seize the trade routes and market share.

If they want to break in later, the price paid will be extremely shocking.

The salt merchants conferred and simply chose to negotiate with Lin Dao to surrender the city.

There is only one condition: recognize their status in the salt industry, as in the former Great Ming.

Lin Dao agreed, and has already prepared a countermeasure to deal with the salt merchants.

Entering the city all the way to the Salt Administration Yamen, Lin Dao asked the people following him, "Where are your reinforcements?"

Yangzhou is a key town.

An important entrance of the Grand Canal's grain transport, and the core region of the Two Huai salt industry.

Facing Lin Dao's offensive, the surrounding Ming Army actually did not come to rescue?

This is unreasonable.

The well-informed salt merchants cleared up Lin Dao's confusion.

"The peace talks between the Imperial Court and the Slave Chief failed."

"The Slave Chief assembled a great army, splitting into two routes to break through the passes and harass the Jingji Region."

"Supreme Commander of Canal Transport Shi Kefa, and Eunuch Lu Jiude, commander of the Yongwei Camp, led Lu Feng's troops from various places northward to aid the emperor."

This is also an important reason Yangzhou opened its gates; they cannot receive reinforcements in a short time.

Lin Dao realized.

No wonder along this way, they never encountered troops heading south.

After the Songshan Battle ended, Huang Taiji wanted to negotiate peace with the Great Ming.

The Great Ming performed poorly in other respects, but still had some backbone, and in the end peace talks failed.

Huang Taiji soon launched the fifth Entering the Pass war, plundering to make up for the severe material losses of the Songshan Battle.

The movable troops north of the Jiang almost all went to the Jingji Region to aid the emperor.

The troops in the Two Lakes region went to Kaifeng to rescue the King of Zhou, and are now standoff against Li Zicheng's great army.

By comparison, the certain news that has not yet reached Lin Dao in Jing City is just a trivial matter.

"I see."

His gaze swept over the assembled salt merchants: "The great army enters the city; surely you all have something to show?"

"We have prepared a banquet at Slender West Lake, and hope the Great Commander will grace us with his presence."

Lin Dao showed pleasure on his face, but sneered in his heart.

This same old trick again; how is it that every single one of them acts as if I've never seen a beauty?

I am not Wild Boar Skin!

He replied gently, "I won't go."

Only if he were crazy would he run to the lake to drink; that is asking for trouble.

Seeing that the salt merchants were unreasonable, or rather wanted to gloss over things at the smallest cost,

Lin Dao wasted no more words, but named names directly.

"Salt Industry Guild, donate one million taels of silver, five hundred thousand piculs of grain, ten thousand piculs of salt."

"Three days from now, I want to see your donated goods."

"If there isn't any, the soldiers will go to your respective residences and take it themselves."

Having spoken, he didn't wait for the salt merchants to complain or beg for mercy, simply waving his hand.

"I haven't prepared any food here, so please return, gentlemen."

Yangzhou is different from Zhenjiang and the other places taken earlier.

This is a commercial city centered on the salt industry and Cao Transport.

The previous tactics of forcibly seizing land and distributing it to the local people (as tenants) won't work here.

Not to mention the Salt Workers — their income is high, their treatment good, and the difficulty of buying them off is very great.

Lin Dao's gaze fell upon the Cao Transport.

There is a famous saying, called 'the livelihood of a million Cao Workers depends on it.'

A million Cao Workers is certainly an exaggeration, but several hundred thousand certainly exist.

These people travel the Grand Canal year-round, pulling boats and transporting goods; their physical quality is not bad, making them a very good source of soldiers.

Right now, the Ming Dynasty's Cao Transport is intermittent; many Cao Workers have no livelihood and live in difficulty.

Lin Dao decided to select a batch from among them to train into an army.

The method is simple and crude.

He directly set up a Recruitment Point; on site were boxes full of Silver Dollars and grain bags piled like mountains.

Those willing to enlist immediately received the Installation Fee; money and grain were issued on the spot.

As for whether they would receive Full Pay in the future, that would only be known when pay was issued.

The affairs of the Ming Dynasty, put plainly, are just the affair of money and grain.

Glittering silver and grain-filled bags placed before them — the Cao Workers, long starved to the point of front sticking to back, entire families crying for food — showed extremely high enthusiasm to sign up.

Within three days, several thousand able-bodied men were recruited.

"Marshal."

On the fourth day, Lin Dao came out of the Cang Ku after transferring supplies, and a personal guard stepped forward to report.

"Our Recruitment Point was smashed."

Lin Dao was surprised. "Who's tired of living?"

Although they are a rebel army, they are still an army.

Daring to smash an army's operation — truly daring to the heavens.

"It's the Cao Gang."

"They say we robbed their people."

Lin Dao also smiled. "Brains short-circuited."

A Jianghu Gang, no matter how great its power, is still a Jianghu Gang.

To actually dare provoke an army — if this isn't brains short-circuited, what is it?

"Bingzi Battalion First Qianhu, send troops; not a single member of the Cao Gang, top to bottom, is to be left."

The Cao Gang is not a gang that fights for the interests of the Cao Workers.

Their existence has only one purpose: collecting protection money from the Cao Workers.

Manipulating the market, squeezing the Cao Workers, eating the upper household and the lower household — they are simply a tyrannical existence.

In the past, for the sake of completing the Cao Transport, all sides tolerated them; gradually this let the Cao Gang think they were somebody.

This time Lin Dao recruited soldiers, taking away the Cao Workers who paid money under their name — this cut off their financial path; naturally they couldn't bear it.

After smashing it up they were still celebrating on Slender West Lake; as a result Lin Dao's navy directly sailed into the lake.

They overturned boats; those who could be captured were captured, those who couldn't were directly beaten to the bottom of the water.

The Cao Gang's headquarters and branch offices all suffered attack; not a single person inside survived.

Early the next morning, on both sides of the Official Road outside Yangzhou City, rows of heads were hung!

(End of Chapter)