Chapter 476: Commercial Opening
Only half an hour later, the people from Xiajiazhuang left the city in two carriages.
It was already dark on the grassland. Standing on the high platform behind the city wall, Song Liyun watched the horse lantern disappear into the night.
Three steps away from her, Jian Fangtong bowed his head and waited for instructions.
"Wait until we cross the Zab River before taking action, and don't let anyone die!" A faint female voice was heard in the wind.
The trade route now belongs to Mida City, and it is not appropriate to cause any more casualties and affect other caravans.
Jian Fangtong was delighted and responded immediately, quickly calling his two brothers to the side to discuss the matter.
After following this young lady for a few days, he was always worried, not knowing what he, who only knew how to wield guns and sticks, could do.
When he received the task, he immediately understood.
Five days later, Jian Fangtong quietly returned: "Master, Xia Pu's leg is broken, and the others haven't moved!"
He didn't say much and hid by the Zab River with his three brothers.
When the people from Xiajiazhuang came over, he broke Xia Pu's legs with just one stick. Even if they were reconnected later, he would not be able to travel long distances.
Although there were dozens of tenant farmers in Xia Village, they were so frightened by the masked bandits that they knelt down and begged for mercy.
Following his master's orders, he did not hurt anyone again, but only threatened them.
Song Liyun nodded: "That's good, they are innocent too, they just followed the wrong master."
After finishing his official business, Jian Fangtong took out the money box, which contained more than two hundred taels of silver, not a penny less.
Song Liyun took out five ingots and threw them back to him: "Let the brothers who work on you share. As long as you are obedient, you will get a lot!"
Jian Fangtong was overjoyed holding the silver. Here he had food, shelter, and money to spend, and there was no risk of being wiped out. It was much better than being a horse bandit.
All of Xia Pu and his companions' money was recovered, so their trip was not in vain.
The two carts and four horses that were taken away from Mida City could not be returned, and they were worth a hundred taels in total.
Qin Huai, who stayed in Mida City, did not see Song Liyun pay him wages. Instead, Song Liyun arranged for him to build roads in the city. He immediately realized that his group did not need to leave.
Song Liyun had only been in the city for a few days when she encountered the monthly market in Mida City.
From the moment the new city was built, the surrounding tribes set up their markets here. For nomadic people who basically live a self-sufficient life, the largest commodity traded is livestock.
The grassland outside the city was full of cattle, sheep and horses sent by various tribes.
In the city, several grocery stores and fur purchasing shops were crowded with people from various tribes. They were all using the livestock they sold to exchange for daily necessities, tea, salt, cloth, and fodder brought by the tribes to trade in order to survive the last days of winter.
Lin Qingyuan opened a shop early on, and several fur shops opened in the city as well.
Risks always coexist with benefits. If the low-priced livestock received in Mida City can be sent to Hecheng in batches, the price will increase several times.
The current Mida City has not been truly completed yet. Apart from Lin Qingyuan and the Wan family, there are few caravans coming here.
Song Liyun's arrival brought new goods to the shop. Apart from the new fabrics, the most rare items were probably the scented soaps and cosmetics.
Unfortunately, nowadays only men come into the city, and no one comes to look at perfume.
But the cigarettes and alcohol that Song Liyun brought were sold out.
She had no intention of making money from perfumed soap and cosmetics. This was just to increase the diversity of products. She also hoped to bring subtle hygiene habits to the Di people.
There is also a special place in Mida City, which is the big bath.
This place is close to the Mida River and has abundant water resources. In addition, the surrounding tribes send a large amount of cow and sheep dung as fuel, so hot water can be used day and night.
The first to benefit were the garrisoned Lei Camp and the migrant workers like Song Erlang.
After a tiring day, take a dip in the big hot pool to eliminate all fatigue.
Spring on the grassland comes silently, yet seems to be coming with great fanfare.
Overnight, the gray and yellow turned green, but the grass leaves were sparse, reflecting the saying: the grass looks green from a distance but seems non-existent when you get close.
Following the spring breeze came caravans.
In addition to five or six large carts and more than a dozen large carts, each caravan also had at least fifty guards.
They no longer have to guard against horse bandits and robbers, but they have to guard against wolves.
When we set out from Hecheng, we received news that it was spring now and the wolves on the grassland were hungry, making them most likely to be besieged.
These people knew that the grassland was full of dangers, but the brave ones would die of overeating, while the timid ones would die of starvation.
Seeing the sudden appearance of the live cattle and sheep that Wanjia Fur Shop had brought back throughout the winter, merchants in the whole city were already anxious with greed.
Wan Jia told everyone that there was a city in the grassland where they could buy and sell things directly without having to risk going to each tribe and trading with the chiefs who spoke Di language.
The small merchants kept in touch with each other, and several families joined together to form a caravan to go to the grassland to make money.
In the past, when the Qi family monopolized the Di tribe's goods, ordinary merchants like them had no chance to enter the grassland.
Every time a caravan arrived, a wooden house needed to be built immediately.
Song Erlang, Qin Huai and their colleagues had to stop working and return to the city to build houses.
The board walls had already been brought over and piled up in the city lord's mansion, so it was easy to build a house now.
Moreover, the size, location, and even style are selected according to the needs of each caravan.
Under the caravan's noses, houses grew out of thin air overnight like mushrooms after rain.
Those who come early can build houses in open commercial areas, while those who come late can only build one by one on the edge.
As the commercial district gradually became full, and as Di people from the outside tribes came in groups to choose goods, the streets of Mida City became noisy and lively.
Although the sparrow is small, it has all the organs.
There are wine shops, bathhouses, restaurants and jade shops next to each other in Mida City.
The guards brought by the caravan can spend silver here or get discounts on goods.
The Wan family's fur business is booming. With the participation of Song Liyun and Hecheng Garrison, they basically trade in live cattle and sheep.
Lin’s Department Store sells grains, oils and groceries, and they do not conflict with each other.
Song Liyun monopolized the consumer industries such as bathhouses and hotels.
Some horse bandits who surrendered to Liang and the personal soldiers of the Wuda tribe were responsible for security in the city.
If they encountered Di people who were drinking and not behaving properly, they would beat them up.
Everything on the grassland has a minimum wholesale price set early on.
Mida City was equally ruthless towards Wu Dynasty merchants who tried to cheat and dominate the market, and sent them directly to the City Lord's Mansion for beatings.
Song Liyun's methods were somewhat violent. She attacked ten Wu Dynasty merchants in one day at most, and was able to control price fluctuations for a short period of time.
Outside the city is Zhao Tingduo's territory. He leads the Lei Camp to patrol the Mida River Valley within a hundred miles. Whenever he encounters bandits who harass the tribe while they are relocating in the spring, he will kill them all.
The Mida Valley was unprecedentedly peaceful.
In the City Lord's Mansion, Song Liyun was counting on an abacus.
Some time ago, she was short of money due to the construction of the city and the transportation of prefabricated houses.
But as soon as the caravan arrived, the wooden houses were immediately exchanged for silver, and now the account balance began to improve.
Just as she was feeling dizzy from calculating, rubbing her forehead and closing her eyes to rest, the maidservant in the mansion called out from outside the door: "Young Madam, a merchant named Lin Qingyuan wants to see you!"
(End of this chapter)
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