Han Shizu

Just like the rumors, Shanghai's commercial market is very hot, with large shipments of various goods and more buyers. From the north, the south, upstream, overseas, all kinds of goods from all walks of life, as long as they have circulation value, you can buy them here.

The market for cotton cloth is even hotter. The turn of autumn and winter is also the season when bulk commodity transactions are frequent. Cotton cloth is also the most mainstream commodity on the market, accounting for almost 3% to 4%. Walking along both sides of the Songjiang River for miles, it is everywhere. It was the sound of cotton trading, and scenes of loading and unloading of cotton products were everywhere.

In such a lively atmosphere, Cao Yong naturally had the urge to do something big. However, the process of purchasing goods was not smooth, and he encountered two main problems.

One is that there are so many types of goods in Shanghai that it is dazzling. They are from Xiuzhou, Suzhou, and other areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Even cloth from Guangnan East Road is shipped to Shanghai in one ship after another. In addition to patterns, we also have to face selection issues such as newness and oldness, materials, workmanship, etc. Cloths made from the same product in Xiuzhou, but made by different factories and using different textile machines, are very different.

After working in the Shanghai market for more than half a month, Cao Yong had just begun to get a glimpse of the inside track. His experience and confidence gained from working in Gyeonggi Yahang and various major markets for several years were shattered here in Shanghai. In his opinion, there is something strange about the Shanghai market. It stands out strangely, but he cannot tell where the strangeness lies. It cannot be explained by a simple "strong business atmosphere".

Of course, in the hot market atmosphere, the details that Cao Yong is worried about are nothing at all. With market conditions in short supply, cargo owners only need to be more patient to avoid being unable to sell.

Therefore, compared with being entangled in the details of the cotton goods themselves, the second problem was the most difficult for Cao Yong. He found that the 80 guan of money he had prepared for bankrupting everything and borrowing money before going south was somewhat missing, and he invested it in the Shanghai market. Not even a splash of water could be made.

In Luoyang, the price of high-quality cotton cloth is generally 270-300 Wen per piece, and even inferior ones can hardly fall below 250 Wen. Cao Yong didn't know what the price was for cloth produced in Henan and Hebei, but the price of cloth here in Shanghai, especially the cloth produced in Suzhou and Xiuzhou, was too tempting.

There are so many high-quality cotton fabrics that only cost 130-150 yuan a piece. Even if they are operated by big merchants, the price is too low. After some careful struggle and hesitation, Cao Yong finally took action.

After selecting the target, Cao Yong directly took out the life money that he had hidden along the way. They were lucky. They had been cautious and kept a low profile, pretending to be embarrassed. They were even more picky about food and accommodation, highlighting the hard work of starting a business. Being targeted by bad guys.

You must know that although the public security conditions in the Han Dynasty are good today, this good situation is basically only for towns. In places where the violent authority of the government can reach, outside the towns and in the wilderness, any accident may happen.

Therefore, in this era, those who dare to go out to do business are ruthless people. No one can develop and grow by relying on luck alone. Those successful "righteous businessmen" may have corpses at their feet and no one knows how much blood is on their hands. .

Cao Yong was engaged in the "teeth" business before, and he was very aware of the dangers behind the scenes. When I took the boat, I also took a boat under the Zhongyuan Boat Gang system, because they took a fancy to their power and "reputation" in the industry.

But even so, there are countless merchants who chose to come to Shanghai to purchase goods like Cao Yong, but encountered accidents on the way. When an accident occurs, there is usually only one ending: family and family are destroyed. Even the seemingly prosperous merchants lose their money and lives.

Just when Cao Yong was looking for the source of goods in Shanghai, a major case occurred. A spice merchant from Hubei was robbed. Not only was the payment for more than 300 pounds lost, but two of the clerks died. Shanghai police officers, Songjiang patrol officers and local gangs mobilized collectively and quickly found the robbers, a group of tough bandits from Jiangbei. However, in the end, only a dozen coins were recovered, which were still used as "hard work expenses" by the local gangs. "I smiled and accepted it, and the police officers and sailors also received awards for defeating a group of criminal thieves.

As for the Hubei merchant, he jumped to the Songjiang River and died soon after. Then a group of five people came, and only two guys returned with three corpses.

Although from an overall perspective, such situations are relatively rare and are considered low-probability events. However, when such low-probability events happen to ordinary business people, they are an unbearable burden in life, career, and family.

As the imperial court gradually relaxed its approach to business, too many people raised objections. They felt that merchants who smelled of copper were only interested in profit and corrupted the social atmosphere. At the same time, they were worried that everyone engaging in business would affect social production and be detrimental to social security. .

But in fact, doing business, especially those who are doing business outside the country, faces far more risks than others imagine, and it is really not something ordinary civilians can do. And taking such a big risk and making some high profits seems not so difficult to understand. Otherwise, who would risk the death of their family to engage in this kind of business?

When Cao Yong was in Beijing, he still vowed to gain wealth even if he risked his life. However, after this business trip, I realized that my previous considerations were still too simple.

The experiences in Gyeonggi Province are treacherous and people are sinister. The experience there does not seem to apply to the rough rivers and lakes and bloody fighting in Shanghai. The rules here are obviously different. More than 30 years since the establishment of the port, it is still developing rapidly. Everything They all exude a sense of recklessness, and everyone and everything seems to be growing barbarically.

Therefore, I have to mention again that Cao Yong and his party are really lucky.

I took out 55 pieces of money at one time and used it all to buy cotton cloth. I bought 115 pieces of cloth at the price of 480 pieces of cloth. Such a low price, even in a big city like Shanghai, is below the market price. This batch of goods is obviously special. They were not bought from the cloth shops along the Songjiang River. The source of goods was a fishery shop in the fish shop. In the store, you can smell some fishy smell from the cloth when picking up the goods.

In almost every city in the Han Dynasty, a guild system has been formed. After years of development, this system has become quite mature. The major guild forces are tightly organized and hierarchical. They act in unison to the outside world and take advantage of opportunities. Lots of profits. Of course, the "money" from the government and powerful people cannot be missing.

In a place like Shanghai County where barbarism grows, there are of course various guilds, and the cotton trade is one of the larger ones. However, the organization is much looser. If the contradiction between Su and Xiuzhou is not resolved, the industrial dispute will not stop.

In addition to the same industry, there are often various types of illegal business activities. It seems reasonable for fishermen to sell fruits and vegetables, to do transportation, to solicit customers and goods, and to sell silk and cloth. And because of the military affairs, some fights and fights between the major guilds are also very common.

Of course, here, not to mention the situation in the army, nor the place where the fish shop got the cotton cloth, but in Cao Yong's eyes, although it was all old cloth, the texture was good and the quality was good. The fishy smell is a bit strong, but there are ways to solve it. The most important thing is that it is cheap.

At the same time, there is only one requirement, no bulk goods around, which couldn't be simpler for Cao Yong.

As for the source of the goods, Cao Yong didn't care, or he didn't dare to care. He even knew in his heart that accepting this batch of goods would be taking a risk.

Maybe it came from a bad way, but if it was a regular-priced product, where would he get it, and where would he get the capital ID? And if you don't take risks and want to make huge profits, how is it possible?

At the same time, the owner of the cargo is full of charlatanism. Not only does he supply goods at a low price, but he also generously helps with unloading and shipping. Nearly 9 pieces of cloth are transported back to Gyeonggi for only guan, which is worth the low shipping fee. Take a risk.

If it weren't for insufficient funds, Cao Yong would even want to buy more. Although he didn't go to the warehouse to take a look, judging from the expression of the supplier named Sun, it was less than 500 pieces of cloth and it was just a small business. But there is no other way. The remaining money has to be used for travel expenses, freight, management, and tax at Luoyang Port.

Cao Yong and his accounting partner have carefully calculated that if everything goes well, they will sell the bulla back to Luoyang, even if it only sells for 250 yuan a piece, including the principal, loan, interest, taxes and all odds and ends. , you can also earn about 24 yuan.

250 cents is only the most conservative shipping price, and on this basis, every cent higher is nearly half of the money, a net profit!

Such an estimate makes Cao Yong particularly excited. Isn't such violence much more profitable than being a dentist in the capital? How many businesses must be introduced, and how big the business must be, to have such a high commission.

Of course, there are many reasons why such high profits can be calculated. One is of course the hardship and risk of traveling back and forth, which every businessman must bear;

The second is the purchase price of 115 yuan, which is so low that it makes people feel dreamy;

The third is the court's policy support for the cotton cloth business, which is mainly reflected in taxation. In order to encourage the development of the textile industry and strive to solve the clothing problem of the Han people, in the cloth trade, especially the cotton cloth trade, in every circulation link, only The five percent tax is already very favorable compared to other products.

Of course, the excitement cannot last long before the profits are realized, especially for people like Cao Yong who have seen the world and have further glimpsed the sinister side of the shopping mall. They dare not make the slightest move until they are safe. main idea.

Until the autumn and September of the fourth year of Yongxi's reign, when a 480-ton cargo ship named "Tie Li", loaded with spices and Cao Yong's pieces of cloth, changed its route through Songjiangkou, entered the Yangtze River westward, and embarked on its journey to Luoyang, Cao Yong just breathed a sigh of relief.

What reassured him more was that the boss of the ship and the dozens of sailors on the ship didn't look like good men. They were all extremely fierce, but that was why he felt at ease. Without these, he would always have to worry about sustenance. Goods that protect one's own wealth and life.

At the same time, Cao Yong couldn't help but wonder, that ship of spices was much more valuable than his cloth, and the cloth still took up space. Why was the ship owner willing to help him transport the goods at such a low price? It has to be said that Cao Yong still has the most basic sense of smell of a reckless businessman. Whether he is the boss who supplies goods or the boss of the ship who is responsible for delivering goods, it is obvious that his identity cannot be as simple as what he appears on the surface.

What Cao Yong didn't know was that someone on the boat had been silently observing and testing him during the journey back north.

With the rise of overseas trade, there have been frequent activities in the sea areas around Dahan. Countless ships loaded with goods come and go every year, and some of them can successfully realize Dahan's foreign exchanges.

In addition, some ships were destroyed and people died, and the wealth was buried in the deep sea, while some appeared on the market in another form. The goods purchased by Cao Yong most likely also had a "special" experience.

The barbaric development of Shanghai County is reflected in all aspects. Behind all the transactions under the sun, there are also countless black market transactions. There are too many goods, materials, weapons and even rare treasures of unknown origin that need to be dealt with.

In the underground transactions in Shanghai County, over the years, a set of import and export rules have of course been formed, but people in various links in the deep interest chain may not be satisfied with that kind of interest distribution.

Therefore, it is normal to have some actions to seek breakthroughs. It just so happened that Cao Yong happened to be a small businessman from Gyeonggi Province.

The return trip was smoother than expected. Unfortunately, we had to disembark the ship in Kaifeng to unload the cargo. There was no way. The flood season of the Yellow River had not yet passed and the water was a bit strong, which seriously affected the sailing. The ship boss was not willing to take risks.

The destination of the cargo owner is Tokyo, and he has already sent people to wait to pick up the cargo. Even though he is a ship boss, he would not dare to offend him. After all, he still wants to run this waterway.

Compared with cloth, the profits from spices are still at a high point in Dahan, especially in cities like Liangjing. Cao Yong worked hard and took many risks to sell cloth, and the profit he earned may not be as much as a fraction of someone else's shipment of spices, but the world is so unfair, and some things are unenviable.

There was no other way, Cao Yong could only unload the goods in Tokyo, find another man and vehicle, and prepare to transport them to Luoyang. People in Tongxing suggested selling the goods in Tokyo, but Cao Yong rejected it after careful consideration.

Of course, the market in Tokyo cannot be weaker than Xijing, but this is not their home field after all. Moreover, Kaifeng City has more sources of goods, more convenient transportation, and closer distances, which results in the price of cotton cloth in Kaifeng being much lower than that in Luoyang. Quite a few. In fact, many cloth merchants can make money just by running the two-Beijing route.

On the other hand, Cao Yong took into account the agreed recipient in Xijing and ran the goods for the first time. He must not break his promise unless necessary.

So, after another hard work, Cao Yong hired ten carts and set off from Kaifeng to Luoyang. Unlike other places, the security environment between the two capitals is much better. Groups of caravans are rarely robbed, and a pile of cloth like this has little value for robbery and is troublesome to deal with.

At the same time, there is a "high-speed straight" between the two Beijings. The mountains, rivers and roads along the way are connected by roads and bridges. There are almost no setbacks like "transfers", which is very convenient.

Of course, it was Cao Yong who was relatively thoughtful and did not burn out all the ammunition when he was in Shanghai County. The additional transportation cost was still enough to support it.

After a long journey, by the time they rushed back to Luoyang, winter had already entered, the wind was gradually picking up, and the chill was shrouded, but Cao Yong's heart was hot. The Luoyang cotton market in winter was even more popular than he imagined.

Even ordinary citizens, as long as they have the conditions, want to prepare a new set of clothes for their families before the winter solstice. Cotton fabrics that are "friendly to the people" are naturally popular and are in short supply.

By paying taxes in full at the Yanshi Port, his 480 pieces of cloth were transported all the way to Luoyang and almost directly put into the market. There was no need to find another buyer. The previously agreed upon stores were all covered.

On the contrary, the agreed-upon printing and dyeing shop owner was very dissatisfied and complained a little, because all he brought back were finished fabrics. However, seeing that Cao Yong was able to pull back hundreds of pieces of cloth, he was obviously capable and strong, and he had to say good things in the end. I hope Brother Cao will think more of him next time he sells goods.

Cash on delivery was a no-brainer, and when the final statistics came out, Cao Yong and his party were completely excited. The shipment situation was even more optimistic than they expected. Basically, they were successfully sold at 280 Wen per horse, and when paying tax at Yanshi Port, the "CIF" price was 250 Wen.

Even taking into account the additional transshipment costs, they made a full 33 dollars on this trip. Among them, Cao Yong can score 18 passes alone.

Needless to say what happened next, after only resting for five days in the capital, Cao Yong and his men set off again, this time with two more strong men and weapons.

With the first experience, the second time was much more efficient. In Shanghai County, it was still the same person named Sun, with the same atmosphere and the same price. Cao Yong took 80 guan of goods in one go. The return trip went smoothly

In this way, two years later, Cao Yong had accumulated nearly 400 yuan in assets and became a well-known cotton merchant in Luoyang Zhengsufang. He not only ran the business route from Shanghai County to Luoyang, but also owned his own business. With a shop and a house of his own, his clever fifteen-year-old son Cao Meng also began to help him take care of the family business, showing his special talent. Everything seemed to be developing for the better.

However, during the autumn and winter of the sixth year of Yongxi's reign, shopkeeper Cao continued to get goods from the southeast as in the past two years, but the quantity was much larger than before, with a total of 350 pieces and more than horses.

Cloths at such low prices as two years ago are not common even for people like Sun Daguan, who has "expert hands and eyes". It is normal for the purchase price to increase. However, as long as you sell it while taking advantage of the market, you can naturally make a lot of money, and your career, The family property can reach a higher level.

However, good luck could not take care of Cao Yong this time. Not only was his goods collected according to high standards when passing through the port, but on the night of being transported to the Luoyang warehouse, water was lost and burned to pieces. Then, the water Cao Yong drank was doused with arsenic again. Although his life was saved, his life was also ruined. Then creditors came to visit, his employees were separated, and even the doors of shops and houses were splashed with tung paint.

Then, the person behind the scenes appeared. It cannot be said to be one person, but a force, the cloth bosses in the north.

In recent years, with the rise of the south, the cotton industry merchants in the north have certainly felt the pressure. Before they had time to go south to capture the city, the southern barbarians were thinking of going north, and they were becoming more and more unwilling to restrain themselves. Of course, they needed to be taught a lesson.

As for Cao Yong, although he was only a small cloth merchant, as a northerner, he was doing a job of picking up the inside and outside, importing cloth from the south of the Yangtze River to attack the northern market. Such a "traitor" could not be tolerated.

Although there are not many people who do this, Cao Yong is well-known and his family property is accumulated very quickly. Before, it was just a small matter, but this time it was a shipload of goods, and it turned into a "disaster". Less surprising.

Of course, there were other small businessmen who suffered a similar fate to Cao Yong, all of whom were ruined. At the same time, the Han Dynasty's first "North-South Cotton War" also began. It was either a blessing or a misfortune for Cao Yong to become cannon fodder in such a fierce and large-scale commercial war.

The hustle and bustle from the outside world is not a big deal to the Cao family whose mainstay has fallen.

After his father was killed, young Cao Meng stood up. However, he was still young after all. Even though he desperately wanted to maintain the family business, he could only watch decline and bankruptcy in a short period of time, and even the new house he did not live in for long. It may not be possible to save it.

A friend of his father's surnamed Sun came to visit him. After a conversation, he was very optimistic about Cao Meng's talent and decisively extended an olive branch. Thus, another "legendary" business story was born in the Han Empire.