In Shouningfang, north of the city, under the shed of a tea stall, Du Zhongxiao looked at the more than fifty fur merchants sitting in front of him, and said loudly: "How many of you are trafficking furs from the north?" And how many people are doing local business? How many people were sold to the Central Plains? ”

As soon as the words fell, the merchants began to chatter, but they could not hear what was being said.

The head of the guild on one side coughed and bowed his hand to Du Zhongxiao: "Sign the judgment, the small one is the fur leader, let's let the small one say it." At present, most of the fur business in Bingzhou City is purchased from the Northland, and only six or seven people are engaged in local business. Most of them are sold to the Central Plains, East and West, and less than 10 are doing local business. There is no way, there are many sheep in the countryside, and the fur they produce is for their own use, and it is difficult to sell the goods. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded, and asked again: "The fur you are selling now, is it raw or cooked?" ”

The cold officer said: "It's still a lot of raw skin." Although there are tanning craftsmen in this city, there are only a small number of them, and they cannot handle many skins. Merchants brought in furs from the North, where could they wait for them to be cooked? Most of them were shipped directly to the Central Plains. ”

"That's it." Du Zhongxiao sat down and took a sip of tea, "To be honest, this kind of business is not very profitable. As far as I know, one cooked skin is equivalent to several raw hides, and tanning the skins is much more profitable than selling them. ”

Leng Yuanwai shook his head: "That being said, if you go to the craftsman to make raw hides and cook, they charge a lot of money, and we don't make a lot of money selling skins, so it's better to sell raw skins directly." Besides, there are few craftsmen in the city of Bingzhou, and the price cannot be lowered. ”

"That's what I'm saying to you today. I wanted to set up a fur yard in the city of Namshu, and at the same time recruit craftsmen to tann the skins here. Honshu is rich in miscanthus salt, where can it be expensive? This has been done, and everyone has benefited a lot. ”

The cold officer listened to it, and obviously didn't believe it: "Sign the judgment, forgive the little stupidity, I have never heard of the manganese produced in this state." That thing used to be shipped from Jiangnan, and the price was very high, and it was cooked in raw hides and skins. Besides, there are not many craftsmen in the city now, and relying on us merchants, we can make a lot of money, how can we make profits? The officials' hearts are good, but this matter is a little difficult to do. ”

"Is it difficult? As long as you have a heart, you can't. Du Zhongxiao smiled. Miscanthus can be obtained from earth salt, which is not too difficult. As for the craftsmen, there are always those who are willing to work with the government and expect to make a lot of money. The key to this matter lies with you, if the yard is built, you will not be able to buy and sell the amount of fur now. At that time, you can buy the hides from the North, and then sell them after they have been matured. As for the sale to the Central Plains, the road is too far, and it is better to let other merchants take over. ”

The cold officer arched his hand: "What do the officials do, the little ones obey the orders." ”

Du Zhongxiao still didn't believe his appearance, and said to Feng Yuan beside him: "This Feng Yuanwai also sells furs from the North, and many of you should know him." Listen to him about this business. ”

Leng Yuanwai said: "Xiao has several relationships with Feng Yuanwai, he has been doing this business for many years and is a reliable person." ”

Feng Yuan stood up and said loudly: "A few days ago, when I passed by the salt field of Yongli Prison, it happened that the judge who signed the judge was also there. The officials were loved, drinking and eating meat together, and during this time they talked about my fur trafficking business. The officials said that they could make salt, but at that time, like you, I didn't believe it. Unexpectedly, it only took one day, and the official ordered his subordinates to make a lot of nitrate from the soil salt. Within a few days, I used this nitrate to tann all the furs I trafficked into cooked skins. Look—"

Speaking of this, Feng Yuan picked up a cooked sheepskin beside him and handed it to the cold officer.

Leng Yuanwai is an expert, took the sheepskin in his hand and looked at it, rubbed it, sniffed it again, nodded and said: "Yes, this sheepskin is fluffy and soft after cooking, and there is no peculiar smell, it is already of the highest grade." With this kind of quality, it will definitely sell well when it is transported to the Northland. ”

As he spoke, he handed the sheepskin to the people around him, and everyone passed it on.

After seeing the sheepskin, some people were moved. After all, simply selling raw hides and skins makes little profit, and if you can make mature skins, the profits will become greater. The current situation is that it is not cost-effective to let artisans make mature leather in the city of Bingzhou, which is too expensive.

However, some people were still suspicious and said loudly: "Official, I don't know how to build a law in the fur yard?" ”

Du Zhongxiao looked around and said to everyone: "Here in Shouningfang, there are few households and there is a lot of open space. Just like here, there are no people around, only these tea sheds and the like, and they build sheds here to do some business. The government can buy this land, build a shop, and rent it to you, and the other side will be a place for tanning skins. Across the street, there is the city's cattle and sheep market, and the location is excellent. ”

Hearing this, some people laughed: "What did the official say?" We all have our own shops, so why rent here? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Don't worry, I will do this voluntarily, and I will not force you to rent a shop." As long as a fur tanning field is set up here, there will be many conveniences for shops to open here. Once there are more shops and more people sell, more people will come to buy, and business will soon improve. It's better to make a city than to open shops everywhere. ”

In Du Zhongxiao's previous life, the government would build markets at every turn, and sometimes ask for shops to settle in. When the scale is large, an agglomeration effect is formed, and money will be collected at that time. Du Zhongxiao is the same idea, as long as the market is formed, are you worried that businessmen will not gather here?

This is something that has never happened before, and there are many businessmen who are in favor of it, but there are still many people who are against it.

The head of the line was a little embarrassed, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Officials don't have to listen to these people's nonsense, when the freight yard is opened, the small ones will bring a few big merchants over and rent a few shops to do business, and it won't be cold." ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled: "Do you think it's to give me face?" Have you ever been to the capital? ”

Leng Yuanwai said: "Back to the official, the little one was doing business a few years ago, and he ran to many places, and he has been to the capital a few times. ”

"In the capital, the fruit and fish shops are all by the Bianhe River, the Niuma Market is in the north of the Imperial City, and the South Xunmen is not far from the Pig Killing Alley, and all kinds of businesses are gathered into a market. Why do you think that's the case? Because of this, everyone's business is easy to do. It is not the street vendors who open the shops, for fear that others will steal the business. When a businessman from other places arrives in the capital, he asks where the city is, regardless of what he wants, and the business will inevitably be done there. It's the same with us here, when the fur business in Bingzhou is bigger, the world knows, how many businessmen come to Bingzhou to buy furs? At that time, as soon as they arrived in the state, they would inevitably ask where the fur business was, and then the advantages of opening a shop here would be apparent. ”

This truth is easy to understand, some people suddenly brighten up in their hearts when they hear it, thinking that they want to occupy a shop here as soon as possible, but some don't believe in this prospect at all, and they don't believe what Du Zhongxiao says.

Du Zhongxiao is not forced, as long as the fur market is opened, the merchants will naturally gather slowly. However, at that time, who will take the opportunity to make the business bigger, and who will lose the opportunity to make the business die, it will be up to each person to make it bigger.

The meeting with the fur merchants in the city did not end until the evening, and Leng Yuanwai and a few leading merchants invited Du Zhongxiao to a nearby restaurant for a drink.

Du Zhongxiao took Feng Yuan and the others to a nearby restaurant, and went to the pavilion on the second floor with Leng Yuanwai and others.

Tao Qiqi watched everyone enter the restaurant, and said to the thirteen Lang on the side: "These merchants really don't know what to do, and the officials give them a chance to make a fortune, and they are still suspicious." These birds, if they knew how many industries the officials had done in Yongcheng, they would see that it would still be like this! ”

Thirteen Lang said: "Pay attention to what these birds do!" We also went to drink bowls of wine and wait for the officials. ”

Du Zhongxiao arrived in the pavilion, sat down with the cold staff and others, and the little servant served wine.

After three rounds of drinking, Du Zhongxiao said to Leng Yuanwai: "Outside, how many days do you think it will take to build this freight yard I said?" ”

The cold officer said with a smile: "It's autumn at this time, look at it and it's winter, it's cold, it's not easy to start construction." If it is to be built, it will take a year. Rest assured, we must prepare early and come here to rent a few shops. ”

Du Zhongxiao understood that these businessmen still didn't believe in themselves, but now they were in charge of them and flattered them casually. The more this is the case, the more Du Zhongxiao wants to use extraordinary means to build this yard as soon as possible.

Shaking his head, Du Zhongxiao said: "The staff said badly, it's just a freight yard, and it will take years to become an adult, what can be done?" ”

Leng Yuanwai hurriedly continued: "How many days do the officials think it will take?" ”

"A month!" After Du Zhongxiao finished speaking, he looked at the stunned crowd and smiled without saying a word.

After a long while, Leng Yuanwai shook his head: "The officials are laughing, how can it be built in a month?" Not to mention the freight yard, even the store can't be built. An open space, how to do business! ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "How the tea shop does business, you do business." First set up a stall, and the business is done, and then slowly build various shops. It's autumn, and it's the time when the fur business is booming, so can't wait! ”

The cold officer looked at the rest of the people and was silent.

Du Zhongxiao didn't explain much, and asked again: "What do you think is the most important thing in building this freight yard?" ”

The cold clerk didn't think twice: "Naturally, it is to build a shop and attract merchants." When there are more merchants, the freight yard is also built. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "No, the most important thing should be to recruit craftsmen who tanned leather." The most important thing in building this yard is not to buy and sell furs, but to do a cooked fur business. With tanners, it is natural that there will be merchants to do business. ”

Leng Yuanwai obviously didn't believe it, and he didn't dare to offend Du Zhongxiao, so he had to nod his head in embarrassment.

As soon as the point arrived, Du Zhongxiao didn't say much, and only drank with everyone. At the heart of the yard is not the fur merchants, but the ability to process furs on a large scale. Merchants who do not recognize this will miss out on this business opportunity.