Although Cao Gan's status has been rising over the years, because he has been opening up business routes everywhere, he has not been pampered, and his former riding skills have not been left behind, and the time to return to Beijing is half as early as Gao Shishi predicted.

Since Cao Gan rushed back, Gao Pragmatic had to temporarily cram, and carefully ask how the tribute exchange market had done in the past ten years, which was also a necessary lesson before he went to Mongolia.

Faced with the problem of high pragmatism, Cao Gan had already prepared - under the command of Gao pragmatism, he was known for his Mongolian communication at the earliest, this is his housekeeping ability, where will he not pay attention to it?

According to Cao Gan, since Longqing and Wanli, there have been as many as 10 places in the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia markets.

There are three places in Datong, namely Victory Fort, Xinping, and Shoukou; There is only one place in Xuanfu, but this place has a critical status and a large transaction volume, which is Zhangjiakou; In Shanxi, there is a place called Shuiquan Camp; In one place of Yansui, it is called Hongshan Temple Fort; There are three places in Ningxia, namely Qingshui Camp, Ningxia Zhongwei and Pingyuwei; There are two places in Gansu, namely Honghongbiandukou and Gaogou Village.

These mutual markets are under the jurisdiction of the border guards. At the same time, during the opening of the market, the Ming court and the Mongolian nobles jointly sent troops to act as market guards to maintain market order, in Cao Gan's words: "Let each of the chieftains send one person as the leader, and command 300 soldiers to be stationed outside the border." Each town has its own subordinate subordinate officer, and each has five hundred elite officers and soldiers stationed in the market."

The market of the mutual market is generally located at the side wall, surrounded by high walls, like "urn city", there are gates inside and outside the gates, and the gates can be opened and closed.

According to the old system of the Ming Dynasty, all the ministries are in the market, and the wall is built to regulate the market, which is called the market circle. High-rise buildings were set up in the "city circle" for the officers and soldiers stationed in the market to look out.

Cao Gan said: "Every time the captives enter the market, the few are forty or fifty, and the most are more than 100 rides, and they are all in the urn city, and the gate is sealed." "Then there is mutual trade. This is how the intermarket is set up.

The trading date of the mutual market is mostly January. However, Cao Gan also said that when the mutual market first opened, the trading date of each year was often less than a month.

Gao pragmatic asked about the specific situation, and Cao Gan introduced: "In the fifth year of Longqing, the date of Datong Shengbao was from May 28 to June 14; The dates of the new Ping Mutual Market are from July 3 to July 14; Zhangjiakou City, Xuanfu, is from June 13 to June 26. Later, with the prosperity of the mutual market, the trading date continued to be extended, and finally it was only a month. ”

Gao pragmatic nodded, this is very in line with Da Ming's style, at first he twisted and pinched, but later found that it was profitable, so he naturally put his face aside first - at least the nine sides of the poor dog are not to be disciplined.

Cao Gan continued to introduce, saying that in the mutual market, the price of general commodities was set by the Yu people, and the imperial court required that the Mongols should not be oppressed, but the price of horses was set by the Ming court.

The specific price is that a high-grade gelding is worth 12 taels, with a section of cloth official goods, and the actual price is more than 8 taels of silver; A gelding, priced at ten taels, with a real value of more than seven taels of silver; One gelding, priced at eight taels; The actual value of the goods is more than six taels of silver.

This price is much cheaper than back then! Gao Shishi still remembers that ten years ago, Cao Gan told him that a high-quality gelding was worth at least twenty taels or more, and it was not easy to get the goods, and only he could get it at that time.

Unexpectedly, after ten years of development, not to mention that the situation that Jingshi's beef and mutton are cheaper than pork has continued, and even the price of horses has dropped, the credit of this mutual market cannot be erased.

The principle of the imperial court setting prices is high and pragmatic, but it knows: "Make sure that the merchants are profitable, and there is no loss in the price" - that is, to make both Mongolia and Han get their benefits, and the so-called win-win situation is also.

Cao Gan also corroborated this point, saying that such as Han merchants, they all used old clothes and groceries, each worth seven or eight taels of silver; That is, to buy a horse, can be sold for more than ten taels of silver, each from the time to add or subtract, the rate of profits, far and wide.

Because the price was set more reasonably, the leaders of the tribes in Mongolia "felt more and more virtuous, went to the market more and more", which made the transaction volume of horses in the mutual market more and more.

Cao Gan even gave an early statistic: in the fifth year of Longqing, there were 6,850 horses traded in the three mutual markets of Xuanfu, Datong and Shanxi; In the sixth year of Longqing, it was 7,845 horses, and in the first year of Wanli, it directly surged to 19,103 horses, and in the second year of Wanli, it increased to 27,316 horses. In the first four years alone, the number of horses sold has almost tripled.

As for later, because Cao Gan went to the northwest to open a trade route, there is no specific data, but he is very sure that it is "growing every year".

Of course, this is only the case of horse transactions in the above three mutual markets, and it would be an even more impressive figure if the number of horses sold in other mutual markets is also included!

Gao pragmatic nodded, and said secretly in his heart: It can be seen that the reasonable setting of prices has a promoting effect on the development of mutual trade, and it is not enough to just think about slaughtering people, although the Mongolians do not study, but the business is profitable or losing, it must still be visible...... Sure enough, we must insist on "win-win" in business.

Then Gao pragmatic also drew a few discoveries from some details he asked from Cao Gan's mouth, for example, from the perspective of the composition of commodities in the inter-market trade, daily necessities and means of production began to occupy a major position, and although luxury consumer goods were also growing under his vigorous advocacy, their overall proportion has been declining.

The commodities in the market are mainly horses, grain, cloth, and of course many other goods.

The commodities imported from Mongolia are mainly grain, cloth, silk fabrics and other handicraft products; The commodities imported from the interior of the Ming Dynasty were mainly livestock products, including war horses as military supplies, horses as means of transportation, and agricultural animals such as cattle and mules as agricultural production materials, and of course, beef and mutton as food.

Cao Gan said that in the mutual market, the Han people "exchanged horses, cattle, sheep, mules, donkeys, tails, sheepskins, and leather jackets with the Mongols with satin, silk, cotton, needles, machines, comb grates, rice salt, candy, shuttle cloth, otter skins, sheepskin boxes, and other things."

In addition, he also mentioned that at the beginning of the mutual market, the Ming court banned the export of iron pots necessary for the life of Mongolian herdsmen in order to prevent the Mongols from smelting iron weapons, which caused great inconvenience and the Mongolian side complained greatly.

Later, Wang Chonggu, the then governor of Xuanda, was invited: "And the cities of Kaiyuan and Jianning in Liaodong were investigated, and the coarse iron pot of Jinghua entered the market." Cover this pot of pig iron is not subject to refining and frying, it has been practiced for a long time, and this can be effective. And find out that Xuanda is far away along the border mountain, the iron pot is fresh, and now there is this pot, that is, when the guard of Liaoyou is allowed to enter the market, the business is easy. ”

The "Jinghua coarse iron pot" mentioned by Wang Chonggu is a kind of cheap pot specially launched by Jinghua, its iron quality is relatively poor, and it is generally the kind that is eliminated when making other tools, so it is used to make an iron pot and sell it to the Jurchens and Mongolians, and the result is that this thing is unexpectedly easy to sell - for the Mongols and Jurchens, this pot can be used and cheap, and these two points are enough.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty allowed the Jinghua coarse iron pot to enter the mutual market trading, but still listed nitrate, copper and iron, armor, and blades as prohibited items, and it was strictly forbidden to enter the mutual market trading. Of course, this is normal, just as it is impossible for the Yankees to sell aircraft carriers to China.

Cao Gan also introduced that in the mutual market, there are both the "official market" operated by the Ming court, and the "private market" operated by private merchants.

The "official market" mainly trades silk and horses; In addition to the most mainstream cloth, silk, pots, and kettles, there are also needles, threads, combs, grates, rice, salt, and candy.

In fact, at the beginning of the opening of the mutual market, the "official market" exchange accounted for a larger proportion, after all, at that time, "the border hooligans were afraid and did not dare to trade, and they were not allowed to enter the market, and it was easy to provoke and resent." At this age, it is advisable for officials to dispose of it, so that the border hooligans will see the benefits, and people will be happy to obey."

An important feature of the "official market" is that the official government is "city-based" and trades with Mongolian merchants.

The "city book" of the Ming Dynasty was mainly issued by the Taifu Temple, an institution that managed Ma Zheng, and the specific quota was "more than 200,000 yuan per year for each side of the city, which is no less." ”

But what if the trading volume is too large and the "market capital" is insufficient? Then "please borrow the salary", or "please send the army to the price of the horse", and even "the dead horses of each battalion Chunpeng internal organs silver taels, full of the city".

After receiving the "city capital", the border general sent a man to buy goods with the merchants to the producing areas of various commodities in the interior, and then transported them back to the mutual market to trade horses with Mongolian merchants.

This Gao pragmatic is known, because Jinghua not only controls the private market to do business, but also is a supplier, and he has seen the "financial report" handed over to him by Gao Guoyan.

Cao Gan was very proud of the rapid development of the private market, and said that "the benefits of the merchants will come from the source."

Gao pragmatically smiled and praised him a few words - he really has a lot of credit for this matter, and he deserves to be praised.

However, this kind of private market run by private merchants, even if it was dominated by Jinghua, was still a new thing in the development of Mongolian-Han trade in the Ming Dynasty.

According to Cao Gan said: "Since the five years of Longqing Beiyu tribute, the beginning of the market, every year to the market, satin cloth from the south of the Yangtze River, leather Zhang Yizhi Lake wide. At that time, the governor used a large number of people in various ministries to trade with each other, and the money and grain in the mutual market were limited, so as to recruit merchants from all over the world to trade with each other, which was the beginning of the city for the people."

That is to say, the governors of the nine sides were originally unable to trade so many Mongolian goods because the capital of the official market was insufficient, so they had to recruit "Quartet merchants" to trade with the Mongols.

However, although Jinghua produces a lot of goods, it is not a "world factory" and cannot produce everything, so the commercial goods in the private market, such as Cao Gan, said: "Groceries such as satin fox fur come from Suzhou, Hangzhou, Huguang, and arrive from the private port of Tianjin, and my Jinghua trading company is transported to the city."

Everything in the world has a corresponding connection, and the reason why the trade volume of Tianjin private port has been rising is closely related to the growing trade between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia.

Gao Pragmatic asked the question of business tax again, this thing was first proposed by him to Gao Gong, but he only put forward an idea at that time, and did not ask in detail how to operate it.

Cao Gan said that in the current mutual trade, the Ming court levied a relatively light commercial tax on the traders of Mongolia and Han according to the prescribed tax regulations.

The so-called "use of reward" here is that after the end of the annual mutual market, the Ming Dynasty will reward a certain amount of silver taels and other items to the Mongolian city keepers who abide by the rules and regulations, and the market will be "finished", and "the banquet chieftain, the Zhuyi chieftain, a pound of beef per day, a pound of corn Wuhe, a pound of wheat noodles, a bottle of wine, a bottle of cabbage, oil, salt, sauce vinegar and horse grass silver, and two cents of rice, firewood, charcoal, and silver, all of which are taken to Jianding silver and commercial taxes."

At the same time, there are also certain rewards for Hermes-Epitek's city guards. Therefore, the market guards of both Mongolia and Han have the enthusiasm to maintain the order of the mutual market, so that the trading activities can be carried out smoothly.

As for the specific tax rate, Cao Gan said that it is too complicated, almost according to different commodity classifications, and it is too cumbersome to talk about in detail, but if it is simply said, it is the "ultra-low tax rate" that Gao Pragmatic said.

Another very important phenomenon is that after the rise of the Mongolian-Chinese mutual market trade, Mongolian herdsmen felt that the mutual market was only opened once a year, which was too long, so they often came to the entrance of the mutual market in groups and asked to open a "small market".

Especially in the spring of each year, when the poor herdsmen lack food, "they become more and more embarrassed, and those who have livestock go to the border every time to ask for official power." A cow is easy to rice and beans, and a sheep is easy to have several buckets of miscellaneous grains. There are no livestock or several buckets of salt, one or two buckets of rice beans, one load of firewood, and two or three liters of rice. Or take off the leather clothes, or hold the skin and open the ponytail, and each is easy to fill with grains. Its thin and hungry shape, poor state, and the pity of the people on the side."

Therefore, in the first year of Wanli, the imperial court decided by Gao Gong to allow the establishment of "small cities", also known as "moon markets", in Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu and other places.

Regarding the details of the "small market", according to Cao Gan, "the small market is held once a month, and each time it is only three or two days. Outside the entrance of the city where the captives are armed, and inside the mouth of the city where the officers and soldiers are armoured, the two sides are on guard, which is tantamount to confrontation. They traded with each other with sheepskins, horsetails, or planks, and the amount of grain and rice with the surplus of the army in their mouths. Originally, there were no strange goods and other products, and the annual tax of silver was no less than two or three hundred taels, and no more than four or five hundred taels.

That is to say, there are the following points: first, the opening date of the "small market" is once a month, each time only two or three days, and generally the market is opened for two or three days after the fifteenth of each month, so that Mongolian herdsmen can come to trade; Second, on the day of the opening of the "small market", both Mongolia and Han sent troops to maintain market order and ensure the normal progress of trade; Third, the commodities traded in the "small market" are mainly grain and other daily necessities of people's daily life.

In the "small market", Mongolian herdsmen exchanged cattle and sheep, skins, horsetails, felt fur, salinity, firewood and grass, timber and other commodities for grain, cloth, pots and kettles, farming tools, velvet and other daily necessities. sheep, mixed with several buckets; There are no livestock, and there are several buckets of firewood and salt, and one or two buckets of easy rice beans, and one load of firewood can be two or three liters.

There may also be a fourth, that is, Gao Gong asked the "staff officers and garrison officers" stationed in the "small city" to preside over fair trade, "collect taxes and collect silver", and "the customs officials should tax their goods to fill the reward".

Because the "small market" is convenient for the livestock products produced by Mongolian herdsmen to be put on the market in a timely manner and traded nearby in exchange for the grain, cloth and other daily necessities they urgently need, the impact on the social economy of Mongolia is more extensive and far-reaching than that of the "big market" that opens once a year.

He took out a portrait and said, "Master, please see, this is the best-selling 'Gao Wenzheng Gong Statue' in the private market, and the Mongolian folk are even called the 'Gao Bodhisattva Statue', which is often bought by Mongolians for worship at home." ”

Gao Shishi was stunned, took the portrait and opened it, the painting was indeed vaguely the appearance of the third uncle, but the majesty of the third uncle was not shown much in the painting, but the painting was kind and kind, and he was a good person with a bodhisattva heart at a glance.

This...... My third uncle became a Buddha in Mongolia?