Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 78: Fishing First

Hwanghae Province is located in the central and western part of North Korea, bordering Pyongyang Province and Hamgyong Province to the north.

To the southeast, it borders the wealthy Gyeonggi Province and Gangwon Province, and its geographical location is unique.

Early in the morning, hundreds of ships slowly docked at the shore of the Yellow Sea Province through the mist and against the sound of the waves.

The patrolling coastal soldiers on the sentry tower were shocked when they saw this. One of the leaders shouted at the top of his voice, "Go and send a signal! The Japanese are coming! The Japanese are coming!"

"Boss, they don't look like Japanese." A skinny soldier pointed at the people getting off the boat and said with reason, "Look, most Japanese are short and walk with bow legs. These people are all tall. They don't look like Japanese at all."

After hearing this, everyone calmed down, looked around with eyes wide open, and then felt relieved.

It’s good that he is not Japanese. It’s good that he is not Japanese.

Since they are not Japanese and have such a big ship, they must be the adults from the suzerain country.

Thinking of this, the leading soldier called a subordinate and ordered, "Now, report the news here to the prefect."

"Yes." The soldier responded respectfully.

"The rest of you, follow me out to welcome the envoy from the Celestial Empire." After saying this, the soldier led the soldiers and civilians in the fortress out and respectfully waited for the arrival of the envoy from the Celestial Empire.

On the other side, someone had already informed Zhang Yunxiu that a large group of soldiers were standing in front of a garrison ahead.

"Hehe. These guys are dogs. They wag their tails when they see their masters." Han San grinned and said sarcastically.

"This is what they say, if a dog doesn't wag its tail, its master won't reward it." Hao Ren raised his eyebrows and teased, then looked at Zhang Yunxiu and introduced, "Sir, I have been to Korea several times. This place is called Hwanghae Province, and the government is in Haizhou. In addition, there is another big city called Huangzhou."

“Hwanghae-do was named after these two places.”

"To the north, you can go to Pyongyang in Pyongyang Province. To the south, it's not too far from the old capital of Korea, Kaesong, and the new capital, Hanseong."

Zhang Yunxiu nodded slightly, gave Hao Ren an approving look, and said with a smile: "Boss Hao is indeed a smart guy, no wonder he has built such a big business. I only regret that I didn't know you, Boss Hao, earlier."

"You are too kind, sir." Hao Ren was proud in his heart, but he continued to be humble on the surface, "Now that we are here, let's not delay. Sir, tell me where you point us and we will go."

"Okay, now you take your people to spread the news, saying that Japan is going to invade Korea, and then buy up a large amount of salt." Zhang Yunxiu smiled and gave orders directly to several people.

"Sir, we have more than enough salt to eat, why do we need to collect this stuff? Don't forget, if we fail to make money for the emperor, we will have to pay for it ourselves." Han San was anxious and tried to persuade him.

"Have you ever fished?" Zhang Yunxiu did not give a direct answer, but asked Han San with a smile.

fishing?

Why are you asking this, sir?

Han San shook his head. Zhang Yunxiu smiled. Seeing that everyone was still confused, he explained to them proudly, "For fishing, you have to make a nest first to attract the fish. When the fish are eating happily, I will throw a thunder bomb in, which will definitely blow them up."

"Aren't we just fishing? We also blew it up." Han San muttered in a low voice.

"Ah! I get it!" Hao Ren's eyes rolled and he suddenly slapped his thigh and shouted loudly.

"What do you know?" Han San asked suspiciously.

Hao Ren laughed strangely, swallowed hard, and then stared at Han San and asked, "We have 50,000 salt primers, which is 20 million kilograms. If the price of salt can be multiplied several times, who can make more money?"

Han San suddenly realized what was going on and clapped his hands, saying, "Ah, now we're going to make a killing."

Zhao Dazhuang, who had been silent, twitched his lips and reminded, "What if we raise the price and end up not being able to sell the salt we have? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?"

"Your consideration is totally unnecessary." Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand and grinned at him. "Why?"

"Because of humanity."

"Human nature?" Zhao Dazhuang's thick eyebrows were twisted into a knot, obviously not knowing what Zhang Yunxiu meant.

What a big fool.

Zhang Yunxiu complained in his heart, and then said: "Once panic spreads, how can these ordinary people think? Think about it, if the price of salt soars several times in half a month, can they still remain calm?"

Zhao Dazhuang was still in a daze, and Hao Ren said, "I'm afraid that by then these people will have to sell their houses and land to catch up with this wave."

After several people discussed, only one hundred people were left to guard the boat, and the remaining boatmen, merchants, and Jinyiwei strongmen headed into the interior of Korea together.

Excluding the soldiers, the rest of the civilians totaled more than a thousand people.

The sight of two thousand people marching with valuables attracted people along the way to stop and watch.

Pointing fingers at Zhang Yunxiu and others.

"Look, that's the nobleman from Ming Dynasty."

"As expected of an envoy from the Celestial Empire, he is really tall and mighty, many times stronger than that short Japanese man."

"How dare you compare the Japanese with the Chinese."

"Ah, I just spoke too quickly."

Amid the discussions of the crowd, Zhang Yunxiu ordered his men to take out silver and money to buy the salt from them at a price half higher than the market price.

Now, the people on both sides were in an uproar.

Originally, a pound of salt cost about one cent of silver (equivalent to ten copper coins), but it increased by half, to five cents, which is fifteen cents.

If he could sell two more kilograms, he could earn back the money for one kilogram of salt.

Who wouldn't do this business?

Before long, the news that Zhang Yunxiu had purchased salt spread from this place to Haizhou.

At the same time, the price of salt in other places also began to rise gradually.

In Changlian County under the jurisdiction of Haizhou, more than a hundred Korean people, carrying sacks, crowded in front of a salt shop.

A dark-faced man slapped down a piece of silver, pointed at the frightened clerk, and urged him loudly: "Hurry up and bring me two hundred kilograms of salt. Move quickly, or I will make you pay if you are late!"

"Look at how shabby you are. You have the nerve to talk nonsense here with only 200 kilograms. Waiter, give me 1,000 kilograms. It's only ten taels of silver. I still have this little money!"

"Give me 500 kilograms, too. 500 kilograms."

In an instant, the previously deserted shop became lively.

Several guys were overjoyed. They shouted and asked their companions to weigh the salt for these gentlemen.

After being busy for a while, the number of guests outside not only increased, but increased.

Just as the clerks were puzzled, one of them shouted at the top of his lungs, "It's rising again. We're going to have a war. The officials in the Celestial Empire are offering 17 coins to buy our salt."

(End of this chapter)