Han Shizu

Chapter 1922 Big businessman

Helping the army transport military supplies is not a profitable business, especially for the early Han army operations, it is only a loss, and there is even a huge risk. If the loss exceeds the regulations, or it is overdue for no reason or even loses the luggage, it is also necessary. If he is dealt with by military law, he will lose his head.It can be said that in the early days, Kang Ning fully supported the front line with his "loyalty" to the imperial court.

At that time, the imperial court was very poor, and there was no way to spend much extra money for material transportation. The army's material transfer guarantee was mostly through free labor, corvee service, and auxiliary soldiers who were eliminated from the army's reorganization.

Those who took the initiative to join in like Kang Ning were really rare at the time, and many people even made a joke of it, thinking that this person was out of his mind.But Kang Ning didn't care about these things, just like a gambler, he put his wealth and fate on the precarious Han court, which was still in internal and external troubles at that time.

Not only the Battle of Pindu, but also the counter-insurgency in Hezhong, the two counterattacks against Shu, and even the support for Youzhou. Kang Ning took his servants and participated in it, running between the front and the rear. The overall proportion is not large, but it still played a supplementary role in the transfer of the imperial court's luggage, and it was an active support for the officers and soldiers to conquer the east and west.

A loss, a real loss, the part of the transshipment funds allocated by the Ministry of War (initially the third envoy) was simply beyond the means, and part of it was withheld.

However, the east side is not bright and the west side is bright. Taking the opportunity of transshipment, Kang Ning can walk on the traffic line of the Han army in an open and honest manner, holding the approval document issued by the imperial court, and the various places he passes are naturally unimpeded. Most of the troubles that can be encountered have been avoided. After all, the court under the wartime system stands behind it, and the army is the backer. In the general environment that has not yet stepped out of the martial arts era, there is no more solid backer than swordsmen.

In this process, it is normal, even reasonable, to carry some private goods while completing the military supplies transfer task.And this part of the goods, on the one hand, does not need to pay taxes, and on the other hand, it can avoid the exploitation of checkpoints in various places. No matter how bold the local officials are, no matter how arrogant the governor of the feudal town is, they dare not draw blood from the "military supplies" of the imperial army.
As for Kang Ning's private actions, it is not that he did not report them, but they were all suppressed. Of course, the court should protect such "loyal and upright people".

Of course, the great development of Kang Ning's career and the explosive growth of wealth had to follow the expansion of the imperial court after the imperial court suppressed internal strife and ended foreign aggression.

The Battle of Huainan can be seen as a beginning. Transporting food, grass and supplies for the army is still the main business, but the accompanying various "sideline businesses" have increased significantly. After all, the previous wars were basically based on the country, and many methods cannot be used. from.

But Huainan was different. At that time, it belonged to the "Tang soil", which was the enemy's country and the people. Although Emperor Liu regarded it as his own territory from the beginning, the soldiers below, especially those at the bottom with "simple" cognition Officers and soldiers do not have such a high awareness.

At that time, the big men, from high-ranking officials and aristocrats down to traffickers and pawns, were all hungry and thirsty. The Han army who went out to fight, called the king's teacher, was ordered to fight for rebellion, but in fact it was a wolf with green eyes. Huainan is a big piece of fat.

Although the Han army has been conscientiously restrained, it is only a major aspect. It is impossible for Qiu to commit no crimes. Even if Zhao Kuangyin's army, which took the lead in attacking Yangzhou, did not plunder under Zhao Kuangyin's strict restraint, there were still some The action of "grazing the valley" was learned from the Khitan people.Some rules of war cannot be easily challenged, otherwise chaos will easily occur.

Small people have no money, merchants and rich peasants can always "borrow" some; prefects and virtuous people are inconvenient to move lightly, and those diehards who refuse to accept the king's will always ransack their homes and exterminate their clans; They always want a piece of the action.

Therefore, all the gains made by the Han army in the Huainan War can basically be divided into three parts. The imperial court occupies the majority, the army occupies a small portion, and the remaining part is reserved for Huainan Road, which has newly become the territory under the jurisdiction of the Han Dynasty.

And people like Kang Ning, who followed the court and the army to eat some leftovers and drink some leftover soup and water, but even so, it was enough to eat and drink, and even burst their stomachs.

Take a look at what Kang Ning did during the battle of Huainan for more than half a year. In addition to transferring supplies, he "organized" Ding Zhuang's reinforcements on the spot, raised military supplies, and even killed the defeated pawns of the Tang army and guarded the prisoners. Maintained law and order in the city
On the one hand, war is costly, but on some levels, it is a profitable business.As the victorious party, everyone who participated in it had a full meal, and those who suffered losses and injuries were the miserable Jiangnan court and tens of thousands of people in Jiangbei and Huainan.

And Corning only collects various "trophies" from the officers and soldiers. After all, even if the handed-in part is excluded, the amount of things in the hands of the grassroots officers and soldiers is huge. When the Han army was in Huainan, not to mention scraping the ground, half After all, there is.

For the soldiers, compared with floating wealth such as gold, silver, and silk, there are many things that are inconvenient to carry and are a burden on the march. It is best to be able to cash them out, and Corning just meets the needs of some officers and soldiers.
In this process, it is reasonable for him to make some profits, while ordinary Qiu Ba doesn't care about the twists and turns behind the transaction, and only cares about the money he gets.

At the end of the Battle of Huainan, the army returned triumphantly, and the officers and soldiers who returned to the capital alive had pockets full of pockets. Similarly, many merchants in the capital took a fancy to those "trophies", and even the third envoy had to sell part of the spoils to make up for it. Finances, prepare pension rewards.

And this kind of business, smart people like Kang Ning have already done it in Huainan.

With the experience of the Battle of Huainan, it will be more handy to do these things in the future.Taking Jingxiang, accepting Hunan, and destroying Mengshu are all common patterns. Even Hunan, which was already in decline at that time, allowed Corning to produce a lot of "special products". A gluttonous carnival feast, the soldiers of the Shu Han Dynasty made great achievements in suppressing the rebellion, and "official businessmen" like Kang Ning ate the rotten meat left over by the army like vultures.

Until the time of the first Northern Expedition, the big Han’s finances were already a lot better, and they began to fight for wealth. At that time, in order to meet the transfer needs of the Northern Expeditionary Army, the pressure was shared by private caravans and caravans, and the scale was also larger. It also made a profit.

But at that time, it was no longer possible to participate casually. Except for those who got on the car early like Kang Ning, those who were qualified were caravans composed of some backed by dignitaries or simply retired officers and soldiers. , It's just working through these people.

Of course, this is still only a supplementary capacity, they are more efficient and have less loss.It’s just that it is impossible for the imperial court to entrust key supplies and army logistics to these merchants and caravans. The most important thing is the supply troop, as well as tens of millions of local civilians. According to the situation, a certain amount of compensation will not be issued until after the war.

What is different from making war fortunes in the past is that during the first Northern Expedition, Kang Ning was very restrained, so he avoided the fate of hoarding, collaborating with the enemy and treason like some unscrupulous businessmen. The family will be ruined and the people will perish, and will perish forever.

Corning made efforts to help clean up the battlefield after the war, especially the big battlefields such as Nankou and Jinzhou. Among them, there are many good things that are left or missed. Sensitive things are afraid to touch, but military and civilian ones can be used Organize with confidence.

After many battles of the Han army, some ordinary surplus materials were directly distributed to the soldiers and local people, not to mention the damaged grain, wood, clothing, iron, and dead and injured horses and livestock.

After 30 years of ups and downs, after the great Han ruled the north and the south, chased Khitan from the north, and the world gradually settled down, Kang Ning's accumulated wealth was already considerable.

So Corning began to try to transform. In Wang Yansheng's impression, "sell fur goods" was operated by Corning later, specializing in collecting all kinds of high-quality fur and making various leather goods. For this purpose, several large ones were specially established. Manual processing factory.

Most of the leather goods produced are sold to the military workshops and the army under the Ministry of War. This is a big consumer of leather goods, while for civilian use, it mainly focuses on the high-end market. After more than ten years, it has become the leader in the high-end leather goods market in Dahan City.
(End of this chapter)