Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 142 Business Layout
Beijiwu was mainly in Tongzhou to handle business, not to spend time with his wife and children.

"How's business in the Northwest going? How much silver have you bought on credit from the other side?"

Beijiwu stood on the city wall of Tongzhou, asking a group of kneeling merchants in front of him about the progress of their work.

Qiao Guozhong knelt on the ground with his hands on the ground, wearing a wool coat made by grassland women, kneeling on the dry, cold rock.

"Reporting to my master, this year I have done business with the Shatuo and Turkic people in the west, and the Kereit tribe in the north along the Tula River. Although I have sent a lot of things, I think they probably won't pay me back."

Beijiwu laughed and said, "Just remember that. I can free up some time next year, and the year after that, I can basically put some effort into the north."

"When you do business, the main thing is to find out where they are, learn their language and culture, and also tell them our rules and customs."

"Those who wish to trade normally can trade; those who do not wish to will be met with swords and spears."

Qiao Guozhong knew that it was enough for Beiji Wuken to stand behind and help.

"Yes, I understand."

Looking at the dozen or so Jinzhou merchants in front of him, Beijiwu continued to talk about the arrangements for this place.

"The title of commander of a thousand households that I gave you is not just for farming and hiring servants. You should also arm yourselves when necessary. I also have the job of going out to collect debts. Without any strength, you can't collect debts."

Qiao Guozhong immediately replied, "Yes! This servant obeys the decree!"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "I don't care if your men swagger around in your thousand-household territory, and it's fine if they show some strength outside, as long as they don't use their bad habits in the commercial district and the territory I govern."

Qiao Guozhong dared not offend the might of Beijiwu, and quickly kowtowed, saying, "Master, rest assured, this servant would never dare!"

Arctic Martial didn't mean to scare these people; he was just telling the truth and had no intention of intimidation.

"I allow you to arm a thousand men, only your commanders. These men can be equipped with crossbows, iron armor, warhorses, sabers, and shields, but not siege weapons. Arm your own men and buy them from the workshop at the original price. You can only buy three thousand sets a year. Private casting is prohibited."

"besides……"

Arctic Martial paused for a moment, "I won't rely on you for the war for now. Just give the local garrison one-fifth of the land's output as tax. Give me the commercial tax as usual. The more people handle it, the more losses there will be. As agreed, give me 70%."

Qiao Guozhong was extremely nervous, but still said in a trembling voice, "Reporting to my master, this servant earned eleven thousand taels of silver from business this year, and paid eight thousand taels in taxes..."

Beiji Wu smiled and said, "That's too much. Just hand over three thousand taels, and the rest can be considered as this year's tax refund. I know that the Khitans in the north dare not do business with us this year, and the Guihua Department is under the jurisdiction of Tongzhou. You can only be responsible for a small part of the area and the hundreds of thousands of poor people in Wuzhou."

"I asked you to buy on credit. Once it's recorded in the books, we'll split the profits. It's not that I don't understand human relationships or how to be considerate of my subordinates."

“Those who work with me know that I am a generous person and not greedy. I ask you to share the lion’s share of the profits with me because I am thinking about the safety of your lives.”

"Making money is easy, but finding a powerful backer is not. If you don't want to work with Jinzhou merchants, there are Huizhou merchants. If you don't want to work with Huizhou merchants, there are Qinzhou and Qingzhou merchants."

The merchants hurriedly replied, "Your servants wouldn't dare!"

Many of Beiji Wu's men were displaced people, including many former landlords and merchants.

The nation is based on agriculture, with military, industry, commerce and education developing in tandem.

Because if merchants are not suppressed, it is easy for all kinds of speculators to emerge and form groups based on their place of origin.

Local handicrafts were emerging, and during the off-season from spring planting and autumn harvest, the trade in wool products and livestock provided by the Tatars was also carried out by a large number of temporary workers.

Temporary workers and those employed by the public sector all received wages. Even the women of Beijiwu earned some pocket money by making baskets, cloth shoes, and combs at home. Shanxi merchants were mainly responsible for exporting salt, tea, and iron, and purchasing warhorses, cattle, and sheep.

Beijiwu felt that this year was almost over and said, "From now on, we shouldn't buy cattle from outside anymore. There are a large local population, and we need to find something to do. After two or three years of breeding, the number of cattle has increased a lot."

"Mongolian cattle are only suitable for grasslands and arid regions, not for the heavy physical labor in the Central Plains. Warhorses can be bred better in the Central Plains. In the future, foreign trade should only include furs, medicinal herbs, gold and silver, and slaves."

Arctic Wu doesn't need warhorses or grassland cattle; those are left for the grassland people to handle themselves.

Because of the extremely small population, the entire North China Plain was suitable for raising and running horses. The population of Huanghuai Province was mainly concentrated in the western part near Luoyang, while the eastern Yellow River flood plain was full of water plants and wild grass.

Arctic Army is not in a hurry to attack the grasslands; it can raise a million-strong army at any time in two or three years.

The current focus is still on protecting agriculture, followed by water management, and restoring the damaged ecosystem in the Qin region.

Now that there are fewer people in Qin, the wild grass and crops will recover on their own. The most important thing is to popularize coal as soon as possible and reduce the consumption of wood.

"I'll give you another task. I need draft horses that can pull heavy loads. You need to acquire some large, heavy horses, introduce Persian horses and Ferghana horses from the Western Regions for crossbreeding, and breed cold-resistant and drought-resistant heavy draft horses."

Mares conceive twice every three years, while cattle conceive once every three years, resulting in faster expansion of horse herds.

Most importantly, horses are more efficient, making them a better fit for Arctic Wu, which has vast plains and wheat fields.

Ordinary horses are faster than oxen, and since oxen are slow, heavy machinery such as harvesters needs to rotate as fast as possible, so heavy horses must be used to start them.

Merchants knew that Arctic Wu valued agriculture and that it was used for plowing and harvesting wheat.

After the meeting ended, the businessmen breathed a sigh of relief as they walked away from the Arctic, and slowly got up and stood up.

Qiao Guozhong wiped the sweat from his forehead, which had already dried, and said to the others, "We can rest this year. Let the guys go back and have a good New Year. We'll set off again after the spring planting next year."

The people nearby are all partners. The Qiao family alone couldn't gather a thousand people. It was only by bringing together fellow villagers that the original gang was formed.

As he led a group of people down the city wall, Qiao Guozhong looked at Beijiwu, who was talking to the Tatars in the distance, and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions.

Although Beiji Wu could decide his life or death with a single punch from the very first meeting, it still seemed absurd to hear that Beiji Wu had become emperor in just two or three years.

No one could have imagined that the man who almost beat someone to death when buying a pot would become the emperor.

Qiao Guozhong recalled the past, remembering when many members of the Shan Nong tribe were begging Wu Ye not to make a move. If he had said a few more harsh words back then, the time when Beiji Wu rebelled and became emperor would have come a few months earlier...

Thinking of this, Qiao Guozhong became even more frightened.

If I had said a few harsher words to Beijiwu back then, he would be buried with a long, lush grave by now.

When everyone was a subservient servant, some people dared to advise King Wu not to take action. Now that everyone is a slave, no one dares to advise King Wu not to take action.

If the Yang family hadn't provoked Beijiwu when they went to collect their debts, Wenchao might have been able to hold out for a few more years.

Beijiwu bought a truckload of cloth for his family and gave them a new spinning wheel to use for work. He also gave them soap, toothbrushes, tooth powder, and shampoo. After replenishing his stock for more than half a year, he said goodbye to his wife and children the next day and went out to work.

After a long journey, he returned to Luoyang, where he had worked, and became emperor.

(End of this chapter)