Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 501 Countermeasures
The next day, after Pei Yuan woke up, he thought about the subtle progress of yesterday. After a simple wash, he left the yard eagerly, wanting to go and see Han Qianhu again.

As a result, as soon as I pushed open the gate, I saw three dejected guys standing at the gate of the next yard.

Hearing the sound of the door knocker, the three of them looked over here.

Then, the three of them showed expectant looks on their faces.

As if to say, "Come on, come on."

Pei Yuan silently complained, three stupid birds.

Then he decisively closed the gate.

Pei Yuan called the personal soldier guarding the gate and asked him to prepare food, and also called Kong Xu to eat together.

Kong Xu had been running around for some time in order to fulfill Pei Yuan's promise.

Unfortunately, things with Nanyou have not been going smoothly.

The whole person looked darker, thinner and more haggard.

When Pei Yuan saw Kong Xu for the first time, he took the initiative to say, "It's not easy for Governor Kong to travel so much. When things in Nanyou are on the right track, I will raise some merits for you and let you move up in rank. At the very least, I will choose a good state for you to be the governor, so that you can start a proper career in the government."

Kong Xu was overjoyed when he heard this, and all the fatigue in his body seemed to disappear.

He is passionate about his career, otherwise he wouldn't have tried so hard to gain promotion.

Although he had been appointed as the chief clerk of Shangyuan County because of his merits, he was considered to have touched the edge of an official career.

But what does a small clerk under the city of Nanjing count for?
Not only did he have to work hard on paperwork every day and had little power, but he could only live in Nanjing, a city full of high-quality products, and had to keep his tail between his legs.

So after Pei Yuan offered the price of the sixth rank, He Ru resolutely abandoned his previous identity and lived his second life under the alias of Kong Xu.

But being a pacifier in the Jinyiwei, neither civil nor military, was a bit inappropriate after all.

In Kong Xu's opinion, if he didn't hold court, he would feel that there was something missing from the life he expected.

I didn't expect that right now, when Captain Pei had given me instructions and there was still no outcome, others would happily let me see the future.

The governor of a big state is of the fifth rank.

Moreover, the states of the Ming Dynasty were all located in strategic locations and had some military attributes.

Within the jurisdiction of a state, there is either a garrison or a thousand-household garrison.

For example, Jining Prefecture and Dongping Prefecture.

These military states have a lot of things that require dealing with garrison troops, which is particularly suitable for Kong Xu, who is neither civil nor military, in the promotion sequence.

Moreover, there is the example of Cheng Leixiang, and the fact that when Kong Xu came, he was directly promoted from the ninth-rank chief clerk to the sixth-rank pacification officer, which made Pei Yuan's words very convincing.

Kong Xu was so moved that he fell to the ground and said, "I will do my best and will never let you down."

Pei Yuan personally stepped forward to help him up, and then invited him to sit down at the table.

While eating, the two talked about what was happening in Huai'an.

Kong Xu tried hard to let Pei Yuan know his efforts, and told him as much detail as possible about what had happened in recent days and his responses.

The general situation was similar to what Pei Yuan had expected.

Kong Xu complained helplessly, "I have already raised the price very high, but the Yangzhou prefect Sun Lu still refuses to agree to pass. The people working under him don't dare to accept the money either."

"Later, I promised to sell oil to the Jiangnan region at a discount. In this way, they don't have to do anything, just increase the price and sell it, and they can take advantage of the current high price and get income that is no less than before. But they would rather have affordable soybeans and press the oil themselves than accept discounted soybean oil."

"I also heard that if they agree, it won't just be them who will fall out."

Pei Yuan listened with a sneer, then asked, "How much oil have been squeezed from the beans shipped from Henan?"

Kong Xu estimated it and replied, "There will always be a small amount."

Pei Yuan immediately gave a suggestion, "Okay, let's sell the oil we squeezed out slowly. The remaining soybeans must be shipped to Yanggu as soon as possible."

Kong Xu was greatly surprised when he heard this. "Qian Hu, the soybeans in Shandong should be harvested soon, right? At this critical moment, why don't you transport the soybeans southwards? Instead, why are you transporting the beans that you worked so hard to transport back?"

Pei Yuan sighed, "How can I care about this?"

After saying that, he knew it was time to give Kong Xu a heads-up, so he said, "You said they would rather have affordable soybeans and press the oil themselves than have discounted soybean oil. This shows that they are determined to squeeze us out of the oil pressing market no matter what."

"Since others want to cut off my financial resources, I cannot just sit there and wait for death."

"There is no chance of luck now. Whoever realizes this first and takes the initiative to kill them all will take the initiative."

"Now, while they have the upper hand and are still dreaming of forcing us to sell soybeans to the south at a fair price, we should quickly transport the stored soybeans back. If we wait until they realize this, I'm afraid it will be difficult to transport these soybeans back smoothly."

"As for the oil that is squeezed out, I will try to see if I can sell some of it."

The price of soybean oil in the south has risen sharply, but so much cheap soybean oil is stuck in Baoying Lake and cannot be transported.

Pei Yuan didn't believe that they were so united, nor did he believe that no one was interested.

The main reason why no one comes to contact us now is not that the relevant interest groups are united, but that the powerful people who are tempted are unfamiliar with this side and dare not risk betraying their allies and trading with opponents.

As long as Pei Yuan can find a suitable target and a reliable middleman, he still has hope of selling the oil that has been squeezed.

The price of soybean oil has now risen to more than 100 wen per catty.

In comparison, the price of soybeans during normal years is around one hundred coins per forty kilograms.

When Chen Toutie was in Henan, he collapsed the soybean market in Henan by buying discounted soybeans from the Huguang front.

As a result, a large amount of soybeans were stored at an extremely low price, which was far below the market price.

At that time, because the amount of soybeans purchased was too much to transport, they had to rely on heavy letters to borrow the government warehouse to store them.

Although there is a little default loss during storage.

However, in the end, as much as 200,000 shi of soybeans were shipped to Huai'an.

If Pei Yuan had not taken the gold, silver and jewelry that the Bazhou army used to buy his life, he would not have been able to gather so much silver at that time.

Not to mention the soybean oil squeezed out of nearly 80,000 shi of beans, the soybean meal left over from squeezing the oil can be mixed with grains to make soybean cake, which also has a good market and a good price.

If Pei Yuan can successfully ship these finished products, not to mention the soybeans shipped back to Yanggu, it will be enough to make a fortune.

As for who to ask to do this matter, Pei Yuan already had a candidate in mind.

That is Zang Xian, the super political broker roaming around Beijing!
Zang Xian is a typical broker who is willing to risk his life to make money.

He even dared to take on such a big job as restoring the Three Guards for King Ning, and was able to get things done through excellent political manipulation, which was enough to prove his courage and ability. Pei Yuan wanted to sell, and someone wanted to buy.

With Zang Xian's help, things should be a sure thing.

Moreover, Zang Xian himself is an excellent middleman. Pei Yuan can entrust this matter to Zang Xian and let him operate this batch of soybean oil.

Even though he would be given a considerable share of the profits, it would be enough for Pei Yuan to make a substantial profit.

Kong Xu said worriedly, "It cost a lot of money to transport this batch of soybeans from Henan. If we transport it north from Huai'an, even if we use the canal, it will probably cost a lot of manpower and resources."

"If we really do this, I'm afraid the gains will outweigh the losses."

Pei Yuan said firmly, "We have to do it even if the cost outweighs the gain."

He was already preparing to burn the cotton ships heading north, so how could he expect the other party to be polite to him?

Rather than having the beans stolen, Pei Yuan would rather take the trouble to transport them back.

Kong Xu thought about it and asked tentatively, "Qian Hu, if our oil pressing plan doesn't go well, should we continue to stockpile soybeans from Shandong?"

Pei Yuan said without hesitation, "Of course."

Kong Xu reminded, "Although Shandong and Henan are major soybean-producing provinces, it is not impossible to produce soybeans elsewhere. Henan did not plant soybeans this year because of the sharp drop in soybean prices, so this can be ignored. However, we may not be able to eat all the soybeans produced in Shandong this year."

"By then, there will still be some soybeans flowing into the south."

"Besides, there are also a small number of bean-producing areas in Shanxi and northern Zhili."

"It is foreseeable that even if we try our best to stop it, it will only push up oil prices in the south in the short term, causing complaints, but will not pose any fatal threat."

"But if the difficulties we are facing cannot be alleviated in a short period of time, then as long as time passes for a few months, in the spring of next year, all provinces will inevitably plant a large amount of soybeans due to the rising soybean prices."

"Once there is a large amount of new beans, our old beans will be in vain!"

"That's a lot of money!"

Kong Xu made a plan for Pei Yuan, "We haven't even cashed in the soybeans we bought from Henan yet, and we have to buy new soybeans from Shandong. Based on the current scale, we will have to invest nearly 200,000 taels of silver."

"If we can't reconcile with the South in the shortest possible time, as long as the other side drags on, all our money will be wasted!"

Pei Yuan looked at Kong Xu with appreciation and said, "Yes, you have really considered it carefully. I made the right choice by letting you take charge of this matter."

Pei Yuan gave Kong Xu some reassurance.

"Don't worry, the person I'm looking for is very powerful, and it shouldn't be a problem for him to digest that batch of soybean oil. Besides, it's just a matter of finding someone both parties trust to act as a link, which is not a big deal."

"Once we sell that batch of soybean oil, we will have enough money to operate."

"Besides, Sect Luo also has some silver and money reserves, which should be enough for this purchase."

Kong Xu said carefully, "I am just afraid that this money will be wasted."

Pei Yuan shook his head and said, "Not really."

The silver spent was used to buy soybeans from the people who believed in Luoism. Even if it was wasted, it was equivalent to spending money to support those Luo believers.

To some extent, it is like the meat rotting in the pot.

Besides, even if Pei Yuan didn't use the soybeans he had accumulated to press oil, he could still find a market for them.

According to Pei Yuan's memory, the border has not been very stable in recent years. After Zhu Houzhao implemented the policy of advancing the army first to the Ming Dynasty, he also wanted to intimidate the Rong and Di peoples.

Once something happens in the north, a large amount of horse feed will be needed.

In particular, if some people really want to drain the silver in Taicang, they might take the opportunity to take out the money to purchase supplies on a large scale.

At that time, Pei Yuan could sell it to the purchasing broker of the Ministry of Revenue at a low price and leave with a small loss.

Pei Yuan didn't tell Kong Xu about this, but said, "I remember that Cheng Leixiang wrote to me before, saying that he and the two commanders of Tianjin Zuowei and Tianjin Youwei were working together to get a batch of salt from Lijin Salt Field to sell."

"In a few days, when Cheng Leixiang comes, I will ask him about the situation. If he succeeds, it will be easy to deal with. Since it is difficult to sell the private salt anyway, it is better to transport it to me and make some of the soybeans transported back into soy sauce and sauces."

“If we make it saltier, it won’t be hard to find enough buyers.”

"Once we make a profit, we'll subsidize Cheng Leixiang first. As long as we can make back our investment in beans, it won't be a loss."

"After all, it feeds so many people."

Kong Xu was relieved to see Pei Yuan's thorough consideration. He agreed, "The thousand households have considered everything. These things will take time to ferment. We can do it first."

Pei Yuan remembered what Kong Xu had mentioned, about smuggling soybean oil to the south and being attacked repeatedly.

This reminded him of an old friend.

Pei Yuan then asked Kong Xu, "Have you found any clues about those who attacked us?"

Kong Xu said ashamedly, "No. Those people are very skilled and come and go without a trace. Our people have suffered losses a few times, so no one is willing to go."

"After all, in this kind of situation, there is only a thief who can steal for a thousand days, but there is no such thing as a thief who can guard against thieves for a thousand days."

Pei Yuan responded, but thought in his heart, if these were thugs hired by the powerful, perhaps he could ask his good brother Lu Dahua.

That guy also works on the surface, and his responsibility is to connect with those underworld forces.

Although those little gangsters are more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything, they still have their own ways, and they can also be a good channel for bulk goods.

I can negotiate and I can make an offer.

To ensure everything is safe, Pei Yuan said to Kong Xu, "When you go back, don't reveal anything to your own people."

"The people below may not understand the big picture, so it's easy for the news to leak out."

"Right now, people from the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple are all in Shandong. If the opponent is alert, they might ask the three courts to intervene directly nearby."

"You should prepare secretly first. When the matter here is over, I will coordinate enough manpower to transport the beans back to Shandong as quickly as possible. Even if they want to deal with it, it will be too late."

"Once the soybeans are transported back to Yanggu, we will have the help of the Shandong governor and the eunuchs guarding Shandong. No one can touch us."

Kong Xu heard this and responded immediately.

When Pei Yuan said this, he thought to himself that he already had the governor of Shandong and the eunuch who was stationed there. If he could capture Shi Yong, the commander-in-chief of the Shandong Defense Forces, he would be able to get half of the military power in Shandong.

Coupled with the rural markets controlled by Luojiao, Shandong's territory was considered stable at that time.

(End of this chapter)