The Xu family on Chongming Island is a much more low-key family than the Songjiang Xu family not far away.

The Xu family in Songjiang, who made a fortune during the Jiajing period, went through the Longqing and Wanli dynasties, and relied on only Xu Jie. But since him, the Songjiang Xu family has not been able to take on a great responsibility, so now it has gradually begun to decline. However, the Xu family on Chongming Island, although it is not famous, and there are not many ordinary people who know about the existence of such a family when they are near Chongming Island. But it is such a family, but it is an inextricable link with Jiangnan officialdom, and there is the figure of the largest gang in the Ming Dynasty behind it.

That's right, the largest gang in the Ming Dynasty, a deformed monster that can gather gangs openly and honestly, and even freely enter and exit the prefecture, county and state government-Cao Gang. The predecessor of the Cao Gang was to serve the government and the imperial court, and specially escorted the Cao Yun households who transported grain from the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River to the inland and the capital. Since the Ming Dynasty, since the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, there has been a Cao Yun Division, which is in charge of Cao Yun matters; Since the Yongle Emperor ascended the throne and moved the capital to Beijing, it has become more distant from the grain-rich Jiangnan area, and in order to feed the increasingly large population in the north, he has to pay more attention to the development and strength of Caoyun.

Therefore, it also caused the number of Caoyun's troops to increase exponentially, and by the 43rd year of Wanli, the Yunjun had developed into a behemoth with a population of more than 100,000 troops. They are neither military nor ordinary households, running between the canal and the river all the year round, and have no fixed residence. In order to manage these personnel, the Ming Dynasty initially set up the Gyeonggi Capital Caoyun Division, and then set up the Caoyun Mansion Chief Officers and Soldiers, and in the second year of Dejingtai, the post of Cao Yun Governor was added.

The problem lies in the fact that the personnel of the Cao Yun movement are mixed with each other from the south to the north, and there is also a lot of friction between the officials and the transportation army. In order to protect the interests of the Yunjun army and unite forces to fight against the government, the Cao Gang, which is equivalent to the guild of later generations, was born.

The Xu family on Chongming Island, it is said that the ancestors were born in the Cao Yun Army, and naturally have a good relationship with the Cao Gang. And the Cao Gang also needs a business house that stands on the bright side to purchase all kinds of materials they need, but the Cao Gang has only been transporting the team and has no qualifications to buy materials, so they need someone to serve them.

Over the years, Li Tianyang has found a partner who is this Chongming Xu family.

Of course, with the strength of the Xu family, the small business house raised by Li Tian is not in the eyes of others at all. Even Li De and others, who have made a great reputation in the waters of Qiongzhou, may not be able to make the Xu family look at them differently, they may be just small pirates who have always been quite powerful, and they are not in the eyes of others.

Today, Li Tianyang is about to leave for Quanzhou Yuegang, and what he wants to see is a shopkeeper of the Xu family in Chongming Yuegang Commercial Bank.

The camp has begun to get on the right track, in addition to the reclamation is still continuing to extend outward, the camp is now focusing more on building various living facilities. Blacksmith shops, tailor shops, grocery stores, these facilities seem to be a little redundant in the eyes of the camp boys, because everyone now eats and lives together, and basically does not need these functions. However, Li Tianyang, in this situation of insufficient human resources, has drawn out a lot of personnel to build these buildings.

Of course, Li Tian is indispensable to support their old professions: breeding, papermaking, and various workshops. In addition to the fact that because only a few girls came, it was impossible to operate a textile workshop, which made Li Tianyang delay the plan, and Li Tianyang did not leave any of the other workshops behind, and planned a camp area exclusive to these workshops in the east of the camp, instead of like Tanmen Qixintang, many workshops were located in the camp, which seriously affected the lives of the young people in the camp.

It seems that the situation is very good, but in fact, Li Tianyang and a few of their upper echelons have begun to worry.

What's the problem??

Half of the food consumption has passed!!

When he went out, Li Tianyang almost emptied all the food stocks in the camp, because he was worried that there would be no source of income for a while. Unexpectedly, it has been more than three months since I came to the island, and I have no income at all, and I am all supported by the grain of a few hundred stones. Nearly 200 teenagers, who work hard every day, and are at the age of growing their bodies, when they eat, their stomachs are a bottomless pit, and they can't eat enough. In addition, those young people of the tribe who came down from the mountains to fight the autumn wind not only ate and drink in the camp, but also packed and took them home after they were finished, these expenses are not a small amount.

A batch of wheat and potatoes were planted outside the camp, but even if the land was really as fertile as Li Tianyang had hoped, and could produce grain without extra manure and maintenance, the yield in the first year would certainly not be too high. Now that it is the beginning of winter, the weather has cooled down, and Li Tianyang raises their fastest growing and least land-picking ace crop, sweet potato, which is not suitable for planting in this season.

Therefore, Li Tianyang and them must start their pirate life as soon as possible, and this time they drove a cargo ship to Moon Harbor, which is to start their pirate career.

The Xu family's business name in Yuegang, called Defuxuan, operates a project that not only prepares various exquisite items of the Ming Dynasty in batches for the maritime merchants who go to the South Seas, but also buys all kinds of Fanbang gadgets shipped by the maritime merchants in the South Seas. Relying on the huge sphere of influence of the Cao Gang and the convenient water transportation, the objects prepared by their business are also the most complete in the Moon Harbor, all kinds of ceramics, jewelry, tea and silk are readily available, so the business is also quite good.

If it weren't for Li Tianyang's energy and time spent on the shopkeeper of Yuegang over the years, he finally established a good friendship, just by virtue of his status in Yuegang, Li Tianyang, a little pirate who has not yet debuted, people really don't look at you seriously.

The shopkeeper's surname is Lu, his name is Bingyan, he is forty and three this year, and when Li Tianyang and them first dealt with him, he was just a big shopkeeper who had just been promoted from Nanjing to Yuegang. With no foundation, he urgently needs to gain a firm foothold in Yuegang and make some achievements, so that the Xu family can see his ability. At that time, it was the time when Li Tianyang and their toothbrushes went out of Qiongzhou and entered the royal family and the famous chef.

Seeing this novelty, the discerning shopkeeper Lu personally bent down and ran to the small Tan Gate, found Li Tianyang, who was only 11 years old at the time, and talked about the cooperation of Qixintang toothbrushes and other items. After Li Tianyang knocked on the side and learned about the origin and background of the Xu family, he made a decision on the spot, and squeezed out half of the shares of the products produced that year and handed them over to Defuxuan as an agent for trading.

Subsequently, 1/3 of the annual share was handed over to Defuxuan for trading. In the past few years, it can be regarded as a contribution to his Lu shopkeeper and gaining a firm foothold in the treasure land of Yuegang.

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, when capitalism was born, as the big shopkeeper of a place, their wages were linked to local sales and profits, such as the Xu family's Defuxuan, and there was a shopkeeper who prepared a dry share, and at the end of the year, he received different shares according to the amount of profits. And Yuegang, the only seaport banned by the people of the Ming Dynasty, the profits in it can be imagined; And the struggle of more than ten big shopkeepers above and below Defuxuan for this position can also be imagined.

Therefore, Shopkeeper Lu owes Li Tianyang a lot of favors, and now, it is time for Li Tianyang to take back this favor.

(End of chapter)