581 sky-high trading, brush prestige

[Today's chapter is presented, please collect and subscribe! ] 】

At the beginning of October of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, in a secret courtyard in Yangzhou.

No one knew that there would be a red-haired ghost locked up in this mansion, and at this time, Han Lushan was meeting this red-haired ghost inside.

"Walter? You guys are simply taking advantage of the fire, and the price of these things is already six or seven times higher than the ones on the market, and I can't agree to it. ”

Andre was indignant at this time, and shouted angrily at Han Lushan, who was sitting opposite him.

Andre was the envoy secretly sent to Yangzhou by the Dutch in southern Taiwan this time to try to purchase supplies and weapons from Li Zixiao.

This guy speaks fluent Chinese, although he has a serious Hokkien accent, but if he doesn't have yellow hair and green eyes, no one will recognize him as a foreign devil.

The Dutch also had a heart this time, and in order to make a deal with Li Zixiao, they had to choose a red-haired ghost who could speak Chinese.

Han Lushan, who was on the opposite side, was sitting on a chair at this time, holding a cup of tea, tasting it slowly, listening to Andre's roar in front of him, and didn't care at all.

"Finished?"

After Han Lushan drank half a cup of tea, he put down the teacup before raising his head, looking at Andre, and said coldly.

"You can't do this, we are sincere to do ...... with you"

"Alright, stop talking so much nonsense. Let me ask you, are you still doing this deal? ”

Han Lushan directly interrupted Andre's words, looked too lazy to listen to him BB, and said coldly.

"Yes, of course, but the price ......," Andrei said immediately.

He didn't dare to make up this deal, they must buy this material and weapon, it would save their lives.

Now the only thing Andre is counting on is to let Li Zixiao drop the price.

After all, you must know that the price Han Lushan offered them, whether it was food, medicine, cloth and other materials, they were generally five or six times more expensive than the normal market.

As for the price of guns, ammunition, and even artillery, it is even more scary.

Although before Andre came, their governor had already told him that no matter how expensive it was, he would get a batch of weapons from Li Zixiao this time.

Otherwise, they Dutch will soon lose to Zheng Zhilong, and then they will have nothing left, and they can only cheapen Zheng Zhilong if they keep money.

It's better to spend it at this time, buy a batch of supplies and weapons, and maybe defeat Zheng Zhilong.

But at this time, Andre still hopes that Li Zixiao and their price will be lower, after all, spending a penny less is a penny!

"This price is set by our general, if you agree, you will buy it, if you don't agree, forget it, I have no right to change it.

In addition, I want to tell you, if you really want to make this deal, you'd better hurry up, and we generals don't agree to a deal with you.

Otherwise, as you can see, everything with you is going on in secret.

Once the Zheng family notices something, the Zheng family sends someone to our general to lobby for a while, maybe my general will change his mind.

At that time, you didn't talk about so many supplies and weapons, it was just a grain of food, and you were also trying to pull it away from us.

So, if you still have the heart to bargain with me here and waste time, then you can continue to grind. ”

Han Lushan looked like you can do whatever you want, you can do it as you like, and said to Andre.

"Oh, my God, you guys, ......, well, I agree to trade at this price, the sooner the better."

In the end, after listening to Han Lushan's words, Andre completely 'disarmed and surrendered' like a defeated attack, and agreed to this outrageous price.

"Haha, very well, you have made a wise decision, you send a message to your people, let them prepare the gold and silver, and in three days, we can go to sea to trade."

Han Lushan was also in a good mood when he saw Andre confessing, stood up and said to him, and then left here directly.

For Han Lushan, being able to see these commanding red-haired ghosts bow their heads was a pleasure for him.

This time, all the materials that Andre purchased in Jiangbei included more than a dozen tons of grain, several truckloads of medicinal herbs, a large amount of alcohol, cloth, etc., as well as more than 3,000 guns, more than 80 artillery pieces, and a number of ammunition.

The total value of these materials and weapons was actually only three or four hundred thousand taels of silver, but in the end, the price offered by Han Lushan was as high as more than two hundred thousand taels.

It's madness! It's no wonder Andrei was so angry after reading the price.

At this time, there was a financial crisis in Jiangbei, and Li Zixiao was originally ready to cut down on food and clothing, but he didn't expect the red-haired ghost to come to the door at this time to deliver this big gift.

This is also one of the reasons why Li Zixiao is willing to take risks and make a deal with the red-haired ghost.

At the same time, for the Dutch, after the deal was completed, they would consume at least a third of the wealth they had accumulated over the years in the two castles of the Ryukyu lords.

These riches were supposed to be shipped back to their home countries, but now in order to save their lives, they can only accept Li Zixiao's 'sky-high' materials.

Because, the Dutch had already studied it carefully, and at this time, they had no other place except for the opportunity to buy supplies and weapons from Li Zixiao.

First of all, the Zheng family had already preliminarily defeated the Dutch fleet at sea at this time and gained sea supremacy.

This also means that whether it is from the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty or the South Seas, the Dutch have no chance to buy supplies.

Even if they bought it in the end, most of them would be cheap for the Zheng family, because it would be difficult for them to break through the blockade of the Zheng family's fleet at sea.

Therefore, the Dutch could only turn their gaze to the north, where the Zheng family's fleet was the weakest link in the naval blockade.

To the north, they had only four targets, the Wa Kingdom, the Tartar and the Ming Dynasty, and the last of them, Li Zixiao, the general of the Zhenguo State, who was entrenched in Jiangbei.

The Dutch didn't know much about the situation in the north before, and after they had collected the most detailed information about the northern seas.

They found that the only person they could trade with was actually only one.

That is the White Dragon Army that now really controls the northern seas of the Ming Dynasty, that is, Li Zixiao, the general of the Ming Dynasty.

Because Li Zixiao and the Zheng family were similar to each other at this time, they completely controlled the Yellow Sea in the northern part of the Ming Dynasty, as well as a small part of the East China Sea.

If the Dutch want to smoothly transport the purchased materials and weapons back to Taiwan, they will definitely not be able to avoid Li Zixiao.

Therefore, in the end, the Dutch sent André over to take full charge of the deal with Li Zixiao.

André was a major, and his status was not inferior to that of the Dutch, otherwise the Dutch would not have put him in charge of the transaction.

Andre didn't have the time and opportunity, so he kept sending people to ask for instructions from the Taiwan officials, so he could only make his own decisions.

Once the deal between him and Li Zixiao was reached, that is, Li Zixiao agreed to sell them supplies and weapons, and Andre also agreed to the price.

André would then go to sea and get in touch with one of their small fleets.

In order to cooperate with Andrey's procurement operation in Jiangbei, the Dutch sent a small fleet to cooperate with him, and at this time, the small fleet roamed the waters of the Yellow Sea, in order to avoid the discovery of the Zheng family.

At the same time, the main fleet of the Dutch did not hesitate to take the initiative to launch a fierce counterattack against the Zheng fleet in the waters south of Taiwan during this period.

In order to attract the attention of the Zheng family and cover Andre to successfully complete the procurement of materials.

"What the hell, these greedy Ming people."

After Han Lushan left, Andre was still complaining, it was really this 'sky-high' material procurement that made Andre very dissatisfied, but he had to buy it.

In fact, the Dutch on the side of the Taiwanese were most lacking in food, alcohol and medicinal herbs at this time, and they were really too wounded.

Of course, weapons are also lacking, and this battle has caused them to consume a huge amount of weapons and ammunition.

Although they also produced their own firearms, cannons, and ammunition in the two castles of the Great Commander, their production speed at this time was far from keeping up with their consumption rate.

In particular, two months ago, after the Zheng family purchased a batch of guns from Jiangbei again, they began to comprehensively suppress the Dutch.

Fortunately, the Zheng family sent 20,000 troops to land in Taiwan and attack the two fortified forts of the Dutch, which was considered a failure.

Otherwise, at this time, the Dutch would probably have been wiped out by Zheng Zhilong.

The next thing, Han Lushan arranged it very carefully in Yangzhou, and even secretly used the White Dragon Army to prevent their deal with the red-haired ghost from leaking out as much as possible.

After all, Li Zixiao's focus will be on the struggle for land territory, and it will be difficult to be distracted from the sea.

Therefore, Li Zixiao's tentative strategic policy at this time is to take an offensive on land and a defensive position on the sea, in this case, they try not to have a bad relationship with the Zheng family.

At the very least, the status quo must be maintained, so Li Zixiao is not allowed to leak the news.

Fortunately, with the power of Han Lushan given by Li Zixiao, he even ordered Zhang Fugui's Intelligence Bureau, the White Dragon Army, the army and the navy to fully cooperate.

Han Lushan made even more careful arrangements, and three days later, a small fleet composed of five White Dragon Army naval warships secretly left the port overnight.

Two days later, they successfully met with the three ships of the red-haired ghost in the eastern waters of the Yellow Sea, and finally completed the transaction.

After the deal was completed, both parties left quickly.

"Yes, that's good! Han Lushan did a good job this time. Tell Han Lushan to divide the silver into two, take out one million taels, and give it to Qian Guangyuan.

In addition, as a reward for him, he could leave 100,000 taels as a reserve expense for the Yangzhou Mansion.

The other 1.5 million taels will all go into the 'China Money Bank', and this money will be used as the military expenditure of the White Dragon Army next year. ”

Li Zixiao soon got the news in Xuzhou and immediately gave instructions.

'Zhonghua Money Village', in fact, is a new money village jointly established by Li Zixiao at this time to let Qian Guangyuan integrate various money houses in Jiangbei, and jointly establish a new money village with Jiangbei Patrol Mansion, Bai Longjun, his Li family, and other businessmen in Jiangbei.

At this time, the 'China Money Bank' was actually the prototype of a bank, and it was also the first step for Li Zixiao to ask Qian Guangyuan and them to formally establish a bank.

"Husband, we're ready, let's get out of the city!"

At this time, Lin Wan'er also dressed up, hugged Li Zixiao's eldest son Ugly Baby, and walked out of the backyard.

"Alright, let's go."

Immediately, Li Zixiao took Lin Wan'er and his eldest son, got into a carriage, and was protected by a team of guards and soldiers to go outside Xuzhou City.

Today, Li Zixiao is preparing to go out of the city to give porridge to the more than 300,000 displaced people gathered outside Xuzhou.

To put it bluntly, Li Zixiao is purely to brush up his prestige this time, to be close to the people, and to expand his influence, which every leader must pay attention to.

For brushing up his prestige, gaining the hearts of the people, and expanding his influence, it is particularly important for Li Zixiao at this time.

Because, in line with Li Zixiao's way of doing things of 'taking one step, counting one step, and looking at one step', he is now thinking about how to receive the huge legacy left by Daming after the destruction of Daming.

The so-called 'one step, one step, one step', is to put it bluntly.

It is to do a good job of the present, plan for the next two years, and bury the chess pieces in advance for what may happen in three or four years.

Only by doing this can Li Zixiao keep himself ahead of everyone and have the confidence to defeat Tartar, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and even the remnants of the future Ming royal family, the enemies one by one.

And Li Zixiao went out of the city to do good deeds and help the homeless, and he didn't forget to bring Lin Wan'er and his son.

Because, Li Zixiao felt that although he went out of the city to personally give porridge to the homeless people this time, he was suspected of putting on a show, but it was undeniable that this was indeed a good thing to accumulate virtue and do good.

For this reason, Li Zixiao wanted Lin Wan'er and his son to also participate.

In this regard, Lin Wan'er was also very happy, so there was a trip for their family of three today.

Lin Wan'er, as Li Zixiao's official wife and the wife of General Zhenguo, with the image of a loving mother, is actually more suitable for such an occasion.

Li Zixiao knew that it would be impossible for him to do such a show often in the future, but Lin Wan'er could completely replace him in the future, after all, Lin Wan'er represented him Li Zixiao.

Soon, the carriage that Li Zixiao and Lin Wan'er were riding, under the protection of the White Dragon Army guard battalion, left Xuzhou City and went straight to the five homeless camps in the west of Xuzhou.

At this time, the displaced people gathered outside Xuzhou City, according to Qian Guangyuan's preliminary statistics, there were more than 300,000 people.

However, at this time, the land of the three provinces in Jiangbei was almost divided, and it was difficult to digest so many foreign refugees.

On the other hand, because of the limited manpower of the officials of Jiangbei Prefecture, it is impossible to resettle these displaced people in a short period of time.

Therefore, they had no choice but to follow Li Zixiao's order to build five camps of displaced people outside Xuzhou City to temporarily resettle these displaced people.

Every day, the five camps of displaced people will give porridge once during the day and a sweet potato in the evening to ensure that these displaced people will not starve to death.

After all, the food under Li Zixiao is not sufficient, and there are so many displaced people, he can only do this.

If it weren't for it, Li Zixiao saw that these homeless people were all Chinese people, and after he expanded his territory next year, these homeless people would still be useful, and he would really not waste so much food for this.

Although Li Zixiao only provides these homeless people with a meal of porridge and a sweet potato every day, it seems that it is such a simple food.

I can't stand the fact that there are so many of these homeless people, and they add up to a lot.

The food eaten by these 300,000 displaced people every month is enough for Li Zixiao to launch a medium-scale war.

Even, there are such homeless camps not only in Xuzhou in Jiangbei, but also in Huai'an and Yangzhou.

On weekdays, these homeless people do not produce anything, as long as they ensure that they do not starve to death, it is already good.

And for these displaced people, they are already lucky, because many of them have fled from Shaanxi and Huguang.

Along the way, they had never seen a government give them a grain of grain.

Along the way, it would be very good to be able to make it to Jiangbei alive for five or six out of ten.

Therefore, at this time, these homeless people outside Xuzhou City have long been grateful to Li Zixiao.

Hearing that today, General Zhenguo and his wife, who they were grateful for day and night, were going to give them porridge in person, and these homeless people had been waiting for them for a long time.