Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 313 Huge Profits
A few days after Master Sangge left, Elbegji Taiji and his people also said goodbye and left. He would return to the tribe to prepare the goods and transport them from the tribe as soon as possible for trade, so as to obtain the supplies they needed from the Ming Dynasty through the Tenger tribe.

As for Burigude, he had already gone south the day before Master Sangge left. The Ming Dynasty was almost ready, and as the trade was about to begin, he had to go there as soon as possible. This had been arranged long ago. Burigude set off after participating in the top-touching ceremony, and he had almost arrived at Zhenlu Fort.

Zhu Shenzui stayed in the tribe and paid close attention to the situation in Zhenlu Fort. He also sent people to transmit information between the tribe, Zhenlu Fort and Weiyuanwei.

Because the preliminary preparations were complete, and Zhou Anmin and Kang Youfu were in charge of trade in Weiyuanwei, and the grassland also had Zhu Shenzui's people, to put it bluntly, this time the trade with the Ming Dynasty was handled by Zhu Shenzui's people on both ends, which was actually a transfer from left hand to right hand.

Although on the surface, this type of trade makes less profit than direct smuggling, but in fact, with the Ming Dynasty on the front line and the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard operating in the middle, the mobilization of materials and the volume of goods are much larger than caravan smuggling.

Because the previous smuggling process required a lot of connections to be opened up, among which the border exit channels required silver to pave the way. In addition, the purchase, mobilization, transportation, and storage of materials also required a lot of money and manpower and material resources, which were also considerable costs.

Now, with the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard coming forward, channels are naturally not a problem. Although Emperor Tianqi and Wei Zhongxian will get a share of the profits in the trade, plus the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard also intercept some at the border, but all of this added up is actually not much.

With the increase in the volume of goods and the resolution of a series of other problems, the overall trade profit is much higher than before. In addition, the Tenger tribe can also cooperate with other tribes in this way to integrate the distribution of grassland goods and benefits, so that they can be integrated into the means of trade. From any point of view, it is a good thing for Zhu Shencui and the Tenger tribe.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, a month has passed.

During this month, with the development of bilateral trade, a large amount of goods were transported from the grassland through the Tenger tribe to Zhenlu Fort and then to Weiyuanwei, and then exchanged for an equally large amount of supplies from the Ming Dynasty and returned to the grassland.

The profits from such trade were extremely astonishing. According to preliminary calculations, the profits obtained in just this month exceeded the total amount of smuggling trade in the previous year. That was not all, because Zhu Shenzui directly controlled the bilateral trade. In the trade, he directly intercepted the gold, silver, and jewelry used for trade in cooperation with other tribes, and replaced them with materials from the Tengger tribe or other channels, and the profits from it were even greater.

In other words, Zhu Shenzhui controlled the pricing power and currency power in trade. He didn't even need to earn more from ordinary goods. He could get huge profits just from this aspect. Seeing countless wealth pouring in like water, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't stop smiling.

In the big tent, Tenger was running around with his short legs, waving a wooden sword made for him by Zhu Shenzui in his hand, yelling something in his mouth, looking like a little warrior.

Tana was lying on the side, with one hand on her bulging belly, smiling as she watched her son play. Not far away, Zhu Shenzhui was flipping through the account books like an accountant, with an abacus in front of him. He would fiddle with it from time to time, and then pick up a pen to write down the numbers on the paper beside him.

In just one month, the profits from trade were really unexpected, which made Zhu Shenzhui extremely happy.

A large amount of trade in goods brought huge wealth, and the influx of this wealth also helped Zhu Shenzhu solve the big problem of insufficient funds. As his stall grew bigger and bigger, the money he spent also increased. Although he had income from smuggling before, this income made Zhu Shenzhu absolutely no problem in becoming a rich man, but it was still not enough to complete his plan.

Among them, the expenses for mines, workshops, and maintaining troops were extremely huge, and even if they were supplemented by other aspects, they were still insufficient. In addition, the stockpiling of materials was also an important factor. As time went on, Zhu Shenzhui felt more and more urgent.

Even though he had established military farms in Zhaowuling, Yangtoushan and Wangjiacun, there was not much grain left to store in these places. Because of the climate changes in recent years, farming depended on weather conditions, and the abnormal weather made the effect of military farms not very good. Moreover, there were so many people to feed, and food shortage was an even more serious problem.

Now, by utilizing the channels of the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zhu Shencui can legally obtain a large amount of grain from the Ming Dynasty during the trade process, and these grains that are "lost" during transportation actually fall into Zhu Shencui's hands.

Apart from the part that was lost, one third fell into the hands of Zhu Shenzui, and was intercepted as material reserves before it was even transported to the border.

The grain that was actually traded was only the initial two-thirds. Most of this grain was given to the Tengger tribe, and the rest was the share of other tribes.

As for other tribes, they had no idea about the specific distribution, nor did they know that the bulk of the food was actually taken by Zhu Shenzhui. However, for the Mongolian tribes, being able to exchange scarce food from the Ming Dynasty and having reserves to survive the next cold winter was a blessing for the tribes.

The Ming Dynasty was short of food, but it was also rich. The lack of food among the people was real, especially in the northwest region, where there had always been a shortage of food due to climate and land annexation. But in fact, there was no shortage of food in the southern provinces of the Ming Dynasty. Although the weather has been abnormal in recent years, don't forget that the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, stretching from north to south. The drought in the north does not mean that the south will not be able to survive. Moreover, the south has always been a grain-producing area, and some large landowners and wealthy businessmen have no shortage of food at all.

Border trade has the background of the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so it is natural to purchase grain from the south. Moreover, before the border trade started, Zhu Shenzhui also attracted many merchants, including merchants from Shanxi, as well as merchants from other places, such as those from the Central Plains and the south.

Merchants pursue profits. As long as there is enough profit, it is not difficult for them to transport grain from the south to Shanxi. Although the grassland is poor in materials, it also has its own specialties. Not to mention cattle, sheep and horses, even fur is a rarity in the Ming Dynasty. Using the not-so-valuable grain from the south to exchange for these profitable goods, the resale can bring several times or even higher profits, so merchants are naturally willing to do so.

"Have you finished the calculation?" Tana asked with a smile when she saw Zhu Shenzhui finished reading the account book and put away the abacus.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and nodded, came and sat down beside her, and put his arm around her shoulders.

“Guess how much we made this month?”

"How much?" Tana asked.

Zhu Shenzui whispered a number in her ear. Tana, who hadn't taken it to heart the moment before, was suddenly surprised. She widened her eyes in surprise, as if she wondered if she had heard it wrong.

"So many? Did you calculate correctly?"

"Haha, how could it be wrong? These accounts are all done by the bank's accounting office. I have just confirmed it, and the numbers cannot be wrong." Zhu Shenzhui said with a little pride. This result was much better than he expected. To be honest, he also had doubts when he saw this number for the first time, but after careful checking, he found that it was all true.

"Great!" Tana couldn't help clapping and laughing. "It's only been a month. If it's a year... two years or even ten or twenty years, how much profit will it be? If this continues, our tribe will become the strongest tribe in Tumed in a few years. By then, not to mention Bu Shitu, even the Khan..."

At this point, Tana suddenly covered her mouth, as if she realized that she had said the wrong thing. After all, Ligdan Khan was the leader of the Mongols, the Tengger tribe was his subordinates, and Ligdan Khan was a moody person. It would be bad if some of her words reached Ligdan Khan's ears.

"Hahaha!" Zhu Shenzhui laughed and reached out to touch Tana's forehead. "It's not that easy. It will take ten or twenty years. To put it bluntly, this is just an opportunity. It will be great if we can do it for two or three years. Who wouldn't be jealous of such a good deal after a long time? Not to mention Mongolia, the same is true for Ming Dynasty. Money can attract people's attention. It won't be long before someone jumps out to cause trouble."

"Looking for trouble? Didn't you say that this was approved by the Emperor and Eunuch Wei? And it's handled by the East Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. How could anyone look for trouble?" Tana asked puzzled.

Zhu Shenzhu shook his head and sighed, "You don't understand the affairs of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Emperor can't do whatever he wants. In fact, the principle is the same as that of the Khan as the leader of Mongolia. In the past few years, the Khan conquered many tribes and annexed many tribes with the intention of unifying Mongolia again, but what is the situation now?"

Tana nodded thoughtfully. Zhu Shenzhui was right. The same was true for Ligdan Khan, the co-leader of Mongolia. Ever since Ligdan Khan inherited the throne, he had been trying to unify Mongolia again. To achieve this goal, Ligdan Khan did not hesitate to use force, but the effect was not good.

Although Lindan Khan annexed many small tribes by force and defeated many tribal leaders and taijis who opposed him, the long-term war not only failed to unify Mongolia, but instead caused huge conflicts between the Mongolian tribes and Lindan Khan. As a result of disloyalty, more and more Mongolian tribes broke away from Lindan Khan and established their own regime, or defected to the Later Jin.

If Lin Danhan was like this, then the emperor of the Ming Dynasty would probably have had this or that kind of trouble. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu was not only a Ming person, but also a member of the Ming royal family, so he naturally knew more about the situation of the Ming Dynasty than himself. If it was really like what Zhu Shenzhu said, such trade could only last for a few years, it would be a pity.

"Things will work out when the time comes. There's no need to think too much." Zhu Shenzhui comforted Tana, "If we can maintain the trade for a few years, it will be enough. We can't be so greedy and take all the benefits, right? Besides, the profits in these few years are enough to bring about earth-shaking changes to the tribe. By then, as long as the tribe has enough strength to protect itself, we won't have to worry about anything anymore. In this way, we can also put a lot of burdens on our shoulders."

Tana thought about it and felt that Zhu Shenzhui was right. This was indeed the case in the world. She was just a little greedy. As long as the tribe was stable and its strength was enhanced, what else mattered? Subconsciously, Tana cast her eyes on Tenger who was playing in the tent. She stroked the unborn child in her belly with her right hand and smiled again.

(End of this chapter)