Chapter 14 Planning

After Fang Ling sat down in the room, Hao Tieniu went out to find Lu Bei. After a while, Lu Bei came back. Dong Canghai and Shen Huantian also came to the room, while Hao Tieniu was out to let go.

Fang Ling asked, "Brother Lu, is it still safe for everyone to live now?"

Lu Bei bowed and replied: "Your Highness, please rest assured. The soldiers are all living in two inns. They each have different identities and the way of delivering messages is very secretive. It has not aroused any suspicion yet."

Fang Ling knew that he was cautious in his work, so he felt relieved. The Imperial City Guards had a special training method, especially when hiding their identities and inquiring about information. From Hao Tieniu, you can clearly feel that the former guardian of the city has now become a bit professional. He said, "Then you will tell me in detail about the current situation in Heimu City."

Lu Bei replied: "The city lord of Heimu City is Yuan Ba. This man used to be a deputy general at an important border border of Cai. Because he was found to have withheld military pay and private equity military funds, he led dozens of subordinates to escape here before he was dismissed. This man was not only cruel, but also liked to make money very much. He came all the way to recruit his subordinates and established this Heimu City. Now there are more than 100 soldiers under his command, either soldiers or wanted criminals from both countries. Many of them were sued for death."

Fang Ling nodded slightly and said, "Where are the residents in the city?"

Lu Bei replied: "There are about two hundred residents in the city, and these people are also soldiers, bandits and wanted criminals. Unlike soldiers, the residents are doing black market transactions here. According to the information we have found at present, most of these residents did not go out to rob in person, but became intermediaries, that is, the property robbed from various places was sold through them."

Fang Ling narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "So, these people are really a bit like businessmen. They don't have to go out to rob, they only need connections and venues to collect money."

Lu Bei nodded and said, "According to the city's rules, only the residents of Heimu City can rent every shop in the black market, so the thieves have no way to sell things themselves, so they can only entrust them to the residents of the city to sell them."

Fang Ling asked, "Then how should Yuan Ba ​​make money? It should be based on taxes, right?"

Lu Bei replied: "That is, there are several types of taxes in the city, including the fees for renting shops, transaction taxes, etc. Although it is quite expensive, these are all stolen things. Whether it is the buyer, seller or Yuan Ba, they all have their own profits."

Fang Ling thought, "Have the buyer's identity progressed?"

Lu Bei took out a list and said, "There are many buyers in the city and their identities are very confidential. However, we still found out the identities of some buyers from some clues. Among these, in addition to the powerful people in the local prefectures and counties on the border of Cai State, there are of course some powerful people in our country."

Fang Ling took the list and looked at it. He found that it contained the identities of more than a dozen buyers, and the names and numbers of goods he bought and sold, the dates of entering and leaving the city, whereabouts, etc. He secretly praised him. He was worthy of being a guard of the imperial city. He could find so many people in a month. After carefully reading the list, he smiled and said, "As a matter of fact, they are all local powerful people. It seems that there are people in several prefectures and counties around my fiefdom. Collecting these information may be useful in the future, but remember to be careful and never expose your identity."

After he put the list away, he said, "According to the regulations of Kuroki City, outsiders cannot sell them personally, so there must be a middleman in the items robbed by the Thirteen Evils. Are there any clues about this?"

Lu Bei shook his head and said, "There is no news yet, and it is not easy to hear more news. The population here is very tight. If someone suspects it, all your efforts will be wasted."

Fang Ling nodded clearly and said, "Safety is the first priority. The more you are at this time, the less you can't be eager for quick success or instant benefits."

Dong Canghai asked, "Your Highness, what should we do now?"

Fang Ling bounced his finger and said, "If you want to ensure the safety of the fiefdom, it is not only necessary to solve the problem of the stone city. The existence of these small border cities has always been a hidden danger. However, what we have to do now is to get more reliable news. To get these news, you must have some channels. To obtain the news, then the best identity is to be a black merchant."

"Your Highness means we also pretend to be buyers?" Dong Canghai said suddenly.

Fang Ling shook his head and said, "No, the buyers are all local powerful people. These people are not on the same line as Yuan Ba ​​and local residents, so they must become sellers. Moreover, what we need to contact is not ordinary middlemen, but preferably official people. Brother Lu, is there any way to directly contact some of the leaders under Yuan Ba?"

Lu Bei said: "There is a trading venue that is directly managed by Yuan Ba's subordinates, and anyone can sell goods, but it must be something quite expensive."

"Oh, is there such a place?" Fang Ling asked with great interest.

Lu Bei nodded and said, "That place is called a pum store."

Fang Ling then understood and continued to ask: "How is the price of medicinal materials here?"

Lu Bei thought for a while and said, "The prices are much cheaper than those on the outside market. If you talk about them, you may be able to buy them in 50 or 60%."

"Fifty or sixty percent? That's really cheap. Will it make a big profit after replacing it here and selling it in China?" Dong Canghai said in surprise.

Fang Ling smiled slightly and said, "This is normal. Many industries in those prominent families have special purchasing channels, so that they can earn a lot of money. So, what if there are more expensive medicinal materials?"

"The same is true, because the things here are all through improper channels, and they can be said to be a business that is stable and profitable. Therefore, even if it is a rare treasure, the price of selling is much lower than that in the market." Lu Bei replied.

Fang Ling thought about it, picked up the paper and pen and wrote a list, then took out a few silver notes of 1,000 taels, and handed them to Lu Bei to buy some things, leaving the extra fee for being a soldier here, and then returned to the room.

After a while, Lu Bei bought the items on the list, which were eight 30-year-old ginseng. In order not to arouse people's suspicion, the eight ginseng were purchased from three places.

When Fang Ling heard the price of medicinal materials, he sighed that it was worthy of the black market. The things were so cheap that it was unbelievable. Ginseng, born in 30 years, can be sold at 60 or 70 taels of silver on the market outside, but only sold at 30 taels here, and eight trees bought less than 300 taels. However, if you buy them at the market price, you will have to pay twice the amount of money. No wonder local forces are rushing to it and become a veritable seller of stolen goods.

More than 300 taels of silver, or a few thousand taels of silver bills, were only a small part of the money brought by Fang Ling. He asked Dong Canghai to sell some jewelry and get 100,000 taels of silver bills long before he set off.

Although the styles of silver notes in each country are slightly different, the same point is that they are issued by the state and managed by the Ministry of Revenue. They can be exchanged for real money and silver at any time by local official institutions. Therefore, in the border areas between the two countries, the silver notes of Chu and Cai can be used for common purposes.

The silver notes circulated in various countries are generally divided into two types, one is small-denomination banknote, which is divided into one liang, three liang, five liang, ten liang and fifty liang, and the other is large-denomination banknote, which is divided into one hundred liang, three hundred liang, five hundred liang, one thousand liang and five thousand liang.

Whether it is a small or a large or small, in addition to the number written on the bill, the year names of various dynasties are also printed on the bill. The printing method is special. Whether the formula or technology is completely in the hands of the central organization, it cannot be forged in the local area.

So, although 100,000 taels of silver bills sounds like a lot, in fact, 5,000 taels per bill is only 20.

After Fang Ling was left alone in the room, he began to fuse the medicinal materials. Since his cultivation level entered the Rugged Power Realm, Fang Ling's technique of sun-fusion and moon-resolving has become more proficient, and the increase in the Sun Fire Power naturally strengthened the ability to fusion, thus reaching the realm of three fusions.

Three fusions are the ability to superimpose the degree of fusion of matter three times. It sounds like one more than a secondary fusion, but the effect achieved is very different.

Take 30-year-old ginseng as an example. First divide the four ginseng into two groups and fuse them one after another, so that two ginseng plants with 60-year-old ginseng can be obtained. Then, the obtained 60-year-old ginseng can be combined twice, and a ginseng plant with more than one hundred years can be obtained.

However, three fusions require the use of eight ginseng plants at the same time, and the number is twice that of the second fusion.

First divide the eight ginseng into four groups, each group is fused once, so as to obtain four ginseng that are 60 years old. Then, divide the four ginseng that are 60 years old into two groups for secondary fusion, and obtain two ginseng that are 120 years old, and then merge the two three times to obtain - 240 years old ginseng.

You should know that the superposition of medicinal materials is not just a simple price superposition. For example, ginseng born in 10 years is only 6-10 taels, while 20 years are priced at 25 taels to 35 taels, and high-quality ones can even be sold at 50 taels.

Fang Ling made a lot of money by relying on the difference in the price, thus opening up the joints in the palace.

The higher the age of medicinal materials, the greater the price difference. According to the market conditions, the price of ginseng born in 30 years is about 60 to 70 taels, while the price of 100-year-old ginseng is about 15 taels of gold. However, ginseng for 200 years is at least 45 taels of gold, or 4500 taels of silver. Its age is twice that of ginseng, but the price is three times, which is more than 70 times higher than that of ginseng born in 30 years!
Chapter completed!