Jian'an Fort in Yulin, under the quiet moon in the desert, the Bald Tail River flows slowly. It naturally forms a pass on the Great Wall, and it is this big river that merges into the Yellow River, which becomes the most convenient water passage from the mainland of Shanxi and Shaanxi, along the Yellow River, and into the Bald Tail River, and then goes out of the Great Wall to Mongolia. Bulk goods in the mainland can be transported through river boats to the Mongolian Red Salt Pond on the Great Wall Road, unload the bulky cargo, load it on Mongolian trolleys to distribute it in various places, and then ships ships will ship some Mongolian fur and other materials, and then return to the mainland of Ming Dynasty.

The fat Jian'an Fort defender Qian, when the sun had just set, came to the water gate and looked at Nan anxiously. He was looking at the white silver, and at the same time he was uneasy.

The troops around the world were all thin, but Qi Qing, the guard of Jian'an Fort, was full of energy and became an alien.

The reason for this is that he grasped the channel where silver flows every day. The normal tax on trade between the Ming and Mongolia was a jealous silver. But it was all ordinary goods, and the quantity was controlled by the government, and it could not fall much in his hands. However, the banned smuggling goods, which were twice as many times as normal trade, were the real treasure pot. The thousand-household fort owner he bought for a total of 10,000 taels of silver the year before, had earned back his capital in such a short time. Now, what he got was profit.

The day before yesterday, a manager of the Fan family informed him that a 100,000-stone grain flatbed fleet would come out of seclusion here, and first promised him two thousand taels of silver to buy money. This was a huge amount of money. After deducting the filial piety from the superiors, he could at least 500 taels of money.

However, money is good money, but it also makes him nervous. The reason is that the guard Wang Jinzhong from the neighbor's house always comes out to make trouble. Today he must not come out to make trouble for himself, so he can make this big money.

When the moon was in the sky, the personal soldiers standing on the high ground lay down and reported to him softly: "General, here we are here, what a large fleet."

Looking along the Bald Tail River, sure enough, in the hazy moonlight, a flat-bottomed river boat that could not see the tail was slowly coming. Looking at the tall grain piles on the boat, Qi Qing cursed inwardly: "Greedy guy, this fleet is definitely not the 100,000 stones they have reported to him, which is definitely half the extra." Then he muttered proudly: "But it's okay, what you said to the above is 100,000 stones. I can't spare you if you have more."

On a small boat, a red light shook at the checkpoint a few times.

Qi Qing immediately ordered: "Shake the lanterns and let them come over with confidence."

The boat opposite was rowing directly to the front of the pass. A young man jumped off the boat and bowed to Qi Qing with a smile: "I haven't seen each other for many days, General Qi has gained more weight."

Qi Qing stepped forward and said guiltily: "Shopkeeper Fan, you are too heartbroken. Just come over like this. If you alarm that bastard Wang Jinzhong, it will be a big deal."

The young shopkeeper is Fan Wendou's second brother Fan Wenjie. When he heard Qi Qing's words, he laughed relaxedly: "General is worried too much. Now Wang Jinzhong is being questioned by the imperial envoy. Where can I get here?"

"Really? The imperial envoy really went to do that messing stick?"

Fan Wenjie smiled proudly: "Don't worry, after eating our food, how can we not do anything for us?" Then he patted the general's shoulder with a grass-roots body, as if he was slapping his close servants: "Don't say it, open the door and let it go. Before dawn, our fleet must all come out of seclusion."

Qi Qing nodded and bowed, but just agreed timidly, but did not unlock the lock and let it go.

Fan Wenjie laughed: "Don't be treacherous with me, I'll keep this for you." Then he picked up a cloth bag from Xiao Si who followed him: "Give you and your brothers extra money to drink."

Qi Qing reached out to take it, weighed it, and it looked like a hundred taels. He was still smiling but didn't move his feet.

When Fan Wenjie saw it, he smiled and said coldly to Qi Qing: "A lot of people can't be too greedy. If we hadn't helped you walk around back then, would you have gotten this position?" Suddenly, his voice turned even colder: "You have to remember that in the northwest, we can make you stand tall, or you can make you bullshit in a blink of an eye."

When Qi Qing heard this, he nodded again: "Yes, yes, yes, I will know." Then he hurriedly untied the key around his waist and ordered people to open the water door. As the water door opened, Daming opened the passage to the outside world.

As the fleet sailed on the quiet Bald Tail River, Fan Wenjie finally breathed a sigh of relief. Entering the territory of Altan Khan, an ally of the Later Jin Dynasty, was equivalent to entering his own home. In particular, he also brought Altan Khan the most important gift - the iron pot of the Ming Dynasty. This was enough to make him smile.

Don’t underestimate this iron pot. In this era, it was the fourth most important material exported to Europe and even the world besides tea silk porcelain. European monarchs all used the capital to show off their oriental iron pots and passed them on from generation to generation.

Don’t think that the iron pot is ordinary, but it is actually the technological crystallization of the industry in the Central Plains dynasties.

Not only did he have to have a large amount of pig iron, but the most important thing was his exquisite casting technology. For the Mongolians, iron pots were even more precious, and they even used this item as a dowry or dowry. At that time, if a man had no pot at home, Mongolian girls would not want to marry.

The Mongolians often needed to cook food, and iron pots were a necessity for daily life. After all, clay utensils were not as durable as iron. However, the Mongolians were not as good as smelting technology and could not make iron pots, so they could only buy them from Zhongyuan.

However, for national security reasons, the Ming regime did not allow merchants to export iron pots to the Mongolians. Because they were worried that the Mongolians would melt the iron pots and turn them into sharp weapons. How short of iron pots were at that time? They were reluctant to throw them away when the iron pots were broken, so they must make up with cowhide and use them as much as possible.

If the brothers separate and there is only one iron pot at home, then divide the iron pot in half.

Since the Ming Dynasty did not open a trade, the Mongolians could only be tough. They plundered the Han people on the border, besides gold, silver and treasures, and the most robbed of iron pots. Therefore, you can often see such a funny scene. Some of them were armed Mongolian cavalry, some of whom were carrying a pot behind their backs, and some people were holding their heads, singing happily, and whistling past the grassland.

That's why in the Year of the Tianqi, Wei Zhongxian bought the Jurchen head policy from the Mongolians. Each Jurchen head was rewarded with an iron pot. If the Jurchen head was given to him, Wei Zhongxian generously gave him an extra spoon. For this reason, the Mongolians spared their lives to poach Jurchen heads. In the sixth year of the Tianqi period, Wei Zhongxian won 20,000 Jurchen heads, which was equal to the results of more than ten years of the Liaoxi frontline.

It’s just a pity that Wei Zhongxian fell, so his policies were all evil policies, which were abolished by Donglin. Otherwise, Wei Zhongxian’s policy was to kill Hu Ling, which would have been ten years. It is estimated that the Jurchens would be considered a nation that was protected by key countries.

Thinking about the profits of these grains and the returns of these iron pots, facing the vast grassland and quiet rivers, Fan Wenjie feels like he is in the Milky Way.
Chapter completed!