With 100,000 elite soldiers at the start, what should you call me?

……

Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Commerce.

Several businessmen from the coast took their seats here, and Minister Qian Weicai personally received them.

"I am Qian Weicai, Minister of Internal Affairs of the New Army. Welcome to all of you."

Qian Weicai, sitting in the main seat, was the first to greet everyone.

"Liang Wenguang".

"Deng Yao".

"Deng Yao".

"Wu San".

"Zheng Mei".

The five business representatives then introduced themselves in turn.

"To make a long story short, the purpose of inviting you all here is to purchase grain. Our army plans to buy 100,000 shi of grain, and if the cooperation goes smoothly, we can add more."

Qian Weicai didn't beat around the bush and directly offered a huge amount.

Ten thousand bushels of grain, if consumed, would amount to hundreds of thousands of taels of silver!

This is a huge order, and there is a possibility of additional orders.

The five business representatives' eyes lit up when they heard the number.

However, the business representative named Deng Yao spoke first.

"Minister Qian, there's no need to test us. We, the five major grain merchants, each have tens of thousands of bushels of grain. We can certainly take your army's share. However, I have a question I would like to ask you. Please answer it, Minister."

In these times of war, any grain merchants who have survived must be extraordinary.

We will never lack food.

Qian Weicai said very politely, "Mr. Shen, please speak."

Upon hearing this, Deng Yao blushed; "I am not worthy of the title, sir."

At that time, the title "Mr." was reserved for those with profound knowledge, unlike in later generations when the title "Mr." had been demoted and anyone could be called "Mr."

It would be a lie to say that a vendor would be unhappy to be addressed like that.

Minister Qian respected him greatly.

"With the world in turmoil these days, even doing business requires extreme caution. We would like to know, is your army the imperial army of the court?"

Upon hearing this question, all five grain merchant representatives turned their gazes to Qian Weicai.

At that time, they heard that a large anti-Qing righteous army had appeared in the Jianning Prefecture area, so the five merchants boldly made contact.

Their willingness to actively contact the new army indicates that they genuinely support the resistance against the Qing dynasty, but they are even more supportive of the righteous army fighting against the Ming dynasty.

Qian Weicai did not intend to give an ambiguous answer, because that would be insulting to people's intelligence.

It will also affect the direction of future partners.

"No, our new army is independent and does not belong to any dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Deng Yao frowned, then sat down and remained silent.

He secretly pondered, "So this army is isolated. No wonder they need to buy so much food. Such an army can't go far. This business deal is probably not going to work out."

The other merchants exchanged glances, seemingly having their own plans.

However, at this moment, a round-faced man said with a smile;

"Regardless of which dynasty they belong to, since they are all anti-Qing righteous armies, I, Liang Wenguang, will support them. If you all don't want to take this job, I, Liang Wenguang, will take it."

"100,000 shi of grain is a bit much, Minister Qian. Can this grain be traded in batches? I can deliver the first batch within ten days, and the second batch will have to wait three months. What do you think?"

Seeing that no one else was interested in taking on the deal, Liang Wenguang offered to take it all on himself.

Unlike the other four grain merchants, Liang's shop was an overseas trading company. Their granaries were usually located overseas or by the sea. They owned many merchant ships and had close ties with the Zheng family.

The food was all sourced from Annam.

As long as it's a righteous army, Liang's Trading Company will definitely support them. They're not afraid of retaliation from the Qing government; at worst, they'll just take their belongings and flee to the sea.

Other trading companies are a different story; most of them are grain merchants from inland areas, and they must be cautious when doing business.

To support the rebels, you must do so secretly, and the rebels should ideally be powerful.

Being backed by the Ming Dynasty meant having a powerful background.

Although the Ming Dynasty was now confined to a corner of the country, it still possessed the strength to contend with the Qing Dynasty.

"Heh, Boss Liang, you've got quite the nerve. You dare to take on this order for 100,000 shi of grain all by yourself."

Shen Shi, the representative of Shen's Trading Company, spoke up.

"Our Shenji Trading Company also wants to do this business with Minister Qian, but it is a very important matter, and we need to determine a few conditions."

"Please speak," Qian Weicai said.

Shen Shi continued, "We are all risking our homes to sell grain to your army. If the news leaks out, the grain in our hands will probably be seized by your army's enemies. I'm sure Minister Qian wouldn't want to see that happen either."

Qian Weicai nodded slightly; of course he knew that.

"So I'd like to ask, will your army advance into Zhejiang?"

Shenji Trading Company mainly traded along the coast, but most of its shops were located in Zhejiang.

At this time, Zhejiang was under the control of the Qing Dynasty.

"This matter involves military secrets of our army, so I cannot disclose it to you. However, I can reveal to you that our army is determined to liberate the whole country and drive out the Manchus," Qian Weicai said solemnly.

He didn't beg these grain merchants to sell them grain. If he were to be cowardly while holding military power, it would only make these snobbish merchants think that the new army was not worth investing in and was a liability.

"Ha, you're talking big about liberating the whole country. Even hundreds of thousands of troops in the Ming Dynasty couldn't do it. With your small number of people and your small territory, you think you can liberate the whole country? You're dreaming."

At this moment, the merchant representative named Wu San made a sarcastic remark.

"I don't think I should have come here today."

After saying that, Wu San got up and left. Qian Wei sneered, not angry, but instead called someone to see the guest out.

"See this Mr. Wu out."

The others who witnessed this scene had their own thoughts.

Liang Wenguang thought to himself, "Although the phrase 'liberating the whole world' is grand, Minister Qian seems to believe it without a doubt, as if it were a matter of course. Perhaps I should meet with the general who commands this new army to see what gives them the confidence to make such outrageous statements."

"Anyway, this deal is a win-win for my business."

Deng Yao narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking to himself, "This army is indeed different. Could it be that they intend to establish a separate regime?"

Shen Shi watched all this in silence, seemingly lost in thought.

At this moment, Zheng Mei also stood up, cupped her hands in greeting to Qian Weicai, and quickly followed Wu San away.

Deng Yao also stood up at this moment; "Your army's resistance against the Qing is supported by our merchant firm, but before your army submits to the Ming Dynasty, our merchant firm will not risk selling grain to your army."

After saying that, he left.

Only two people remained: Liang Wenguang and Shen Shi. The former expressed his full support and said he could take on the order, while the latter said he needed to go back and discuss it.

In the end, only Liang Wenguang and Qian Weicai were left to discuss the purchase details.

Half an hour later, the two finally reached a conclusion, and both were very satisfied.

"In this way, Mr. Liang will transport the first batch of grain, 20,000 shi, along the Songxi River, at four taels of silver per shi."

"That's right, it's settled then. I will transport all the grain to Jianning Prefecture within ten days."

"It's a pleasure to cooperate with you." Qian Weicai smiled and stood up to shake hands with Liang Wenguang.

Because of the war, grain prices were very high at the time, with one shi (a unit of dry measure) selling for five or six taels of silver. Four taels of silver was Liang Wenguang's discounted price.

Liang Wenguang paused for a moment before extending his hand to shake hands with Qian Weicai.

The food supply is now secured.

Liang Wenguang: "It was a pleasure working with you."