~~~~~~

"hehe."

Li Yuanqing smiled lightly and said, "Brother, maybe things are not as complicated as you think."

As the saying goes, "People go to higher places, and water flows to lower places."

Everyone wants to make their lives better, and this is understandable.

Zhang Pan, Mao Chenglu, Chen Jisheng, Chen Liangce and others were really forced to have no choice but to rely on their ability to get out of the predicament, so they focused their attention on Li Yuanqing.

However, due to various reasons, Li Yuanqing could not blatantly reach out to the Dongjiang headquarters, so he could only use some cleverness.

Chen Zhongdao: "Yuan Qing, I know your temper. If you do this, in the short term, it is indeed righteous. But Yuan Qing, you have to understand that people are very complicated. Once they develop a habit of reaching out, we

I'm afraid it will be difficult to do it with brothers like them."

Li Yuanqing nodded, but smiled, "Brother, so, I need your help."

Li Yuanqing said, briefly describing his thoughts to Chen Zhong.

At this time, Dongjiang is in such a poor material situation, with few people and few people on the land, that it is simply impossible to achieve industrial development.

As Chen Zhong said, once Zhang Pan and the others developed the habit of "reaching out", it would be fine for a short time, but as time goes by, or Li Yuanqing encounters some difficulties, it is very likely that they will not be able to do it even as brothers.

This is like a double-edged sword.

If he does it well, Li Yuanqing will win over the hearts of the people, and he can firmly control the lifeblood of these officers in Dongjiang, and gain both fame and fortune. But if he doesn't do it well, not only will he do his best, but he will cause a lot of trouble, which is difficult but thankless.

Following Li Yuanqing's explanation, Chen Zhong gradually understood what Li Yuanqing meant, and his eyes lit up, "Yuan Qing, you mean, let them eat their share of us?"

Li Yuanqing smiled and said, "Brother, that's pretty much what I mean. But I can't come forward in this matter. I need your help for the specific operation."

Although Li Yuanqing had a good harvest in the north this time, with the distribution of merit rewards, although Li Yuanqing still has a lot of material reserves, his finances are already in deficit, not to mention that he still owes Qu Mingrui 500,000 yuan.

Two silver coins.

Now, developing ways to make money is also the top priority of Li Yuanqing's mission.

At this time, the best, most effective, and most direct way is to initiate maritime trade.

Although Liao land is barren, there are still many local products.

In particular, luxury goods such as deer antlers, ginseng, mink skins, bear bile, and bear paws were still very popular among the aristocratic class of the Ming Dynasty, including Japan and Nanyang.

In this regard, because southern Liaoning is almost an uninhabited land, the Jin Dynasty was very wary of this, and the roads were not smooth.

Danpi Island, because of its geographical advantage, is adjacent to North Korea, and Chen Jisheng has been operating in Kuandian for many years. As long as Li Yuanqing can come up with money, they will definitely have a way to collect the things and transport them to Li Yuanqing.

inside.

Even if these treasures are not exported, Yang Jiao's mother has already paved the way in the capital. As long as Li Yuanqing transports the things to the capital, the profit will be at least several times higher.

Moreover, the biggest risk has also been passed on to Zhang Pan and others.

Even if Mao Wenlong noticed the private business and property, it would be difficult to find fault with him and Li Yuanqing.

The worst outcome is that Mao Wenlong himself gets involved personally.

But in this matter, because he wanted to avoid suspicion, Li Yuanqing did not want to face Mao Wenlong's sharpness now, so Chen Zhong was the best candidate.

At this time, Chen Zhong fully understood what Li Yuanqing meant and couldn't help but smile, "Yuan Qing, how did you get this brain? That's fine. I will handle this matter. I will go to Pi Island tomorrow."

Li Yuanqing smiled and said, "Brother, you have to eat your food one bite at a time. Don't be too anxious yet. Come on, let's have a drink first."

…………

Chen Zhong headed to Pi Island in a hurry early the next morning.

Li Yuanqing did not stop this.

As the saying goes, ‘Everything is difficult at the beginning’.

It is destined to be very difficult for Zhang Pan and others to take the first step.

But for the long-term plan, Li Yuanqing could only watch the fire from the other side and wait for their reaction.

According to the discussion with Chen Zhong last night, Li Yuanqing and Chen Zhong decided to establish a trading company, temporarily called Liaonan Trading Company.

Li Yuanqing ruled with absolute funds and was responsible for a series of operations, occupying 80% of the shares, while Chen Zhong contributed money, people, and efforts, occupying 20% ​​of the shares.

Originally, Li Yuanqing was planning to give up some elements to Zhang Pan and the others, but Chen Zhong decided against it.

Chen Zhong's meaning was very clear. Things were not on track yet. Everything had to be analyzed based on the facts. Only by ensuring that the entire line was operating could this opening be opened to Zhang Pan and the others.

Li Yuanqing thought for a long time and finally agreed to Chen Zhong's plan.

Good brother, the accounts are clear.

First the villain, then the gentleman.

This way, even if there are any accounting disputes in the future, the brothers can sit down and talk about it.

In the morning, he discussed with Wei Liang the matter of reporting merits to the court, and decided on a broad strategy and a low-key reporting of merits. Li Yuanqing directly ordered Shang Laoliu, Ma Guanjia, Guan Canghai and Xu Heizi to take charge of the detailed details and complete them.

After clearing it up, write it down, implement it, and then give it to him for review. After he nods, it will be sent directly to the capital.

At noon, after having dinner with his wives and children, Li Yuanqing, accompanied by Duan Xiliang, Huang Guoshan, Wang Hai, Kong Youde, Li Sansheng, Shunzi, Liu Dadou, Yang Xiaochuan and other generals, came to Nanxinkou Pier for inspection.

Ten days after returning to Changsheng Island, after handling all the complicated and complicated government affairs, Li Yuanqing finally had time to inspect the construction of Changsheng Island's defense system.

Nanxinkou Pier was already quite large at this time.

The wide dock is filled with warships of all sizes, large and small. Not far from the dock is the station of Duan Xiliang's 1,000th Corps, which is like a sharp knife, firmly guarding the safety of the dock.

On the other side, the men and women have also built more than a dozen watchtowers, but if there is any disturbance, the island will receive the news and respond as soon as possible.

But at this time, Li Yuanqing was not inspecting the dock, but came to a newly built barracks next to the 1,000th Corps station.

The barracks are all made of wood and look a bit crude, but they are quite spacious, the terrain is flat, and the conditions are pretty good.

As soon as they reached the door, a dozen soldiers guarding the door quickly knelt down on one knee and saluted Li Yuanqing, "For lower rank, please see General."

Li Yuanqing smiled and nodded to them, "Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen." He strode into the courtyard.

In the open space in the yard, a large piece of oilcloth covered a large area of ​​unknown objects. A dozen white-haired ghosts, wearing the bright red mandarin duck war jackets of the Ming Dynasty, were chatting boredly in the shade of a nearby tree.

.

Seeing Li Yuanqing and his entourage coming in, he reacted quickly and nimbly, a harsh whistle sounded, and soon, forty or fifty white-haired ghosts wearing bright red mandarin duck jackets hurriedly came out to line up.

Not long after, Joseph ran out of a house in disheveled clothes, licking his smile, and quickly ran to Li Yuanqing, "Oh~~! My dear general, why did you come to this humble place in such a hot time?

Camp. This is really. Come on, please come and sit in the room. Beizhi specially brought back some delicious coffee beans from Jakarta this time. You must try Beizhi’s craftsmanship."

Li Yuanqing smiled and said, "Brother Joseph, I can see that you are living a good life these days."

Joseph laughed and said hurriedly: "This is all thanks to your grace, General. Without you, I would be just a little gangster selling little black girls for a living."

Li Yuanqing couldn't help laughing. This damn foreign devil still had some self-awareness.

However, Li Yuanqing felt very disgusted with these white-haired ghosts. He glanced around and thought for a moment.

Joseph quickly lowered his head respectfully, not daring to breathe.

The white-haired ghost 'mercenaries' around him also straightened their bodies and did not dare to say a word.

They had been watching the rewards from the past few days.

Before, when they heard that Joseph and Yang Xiaochuan were calling them to come to Changsheng Island to serve, many of them dismissed it.

However, Joseph and Yang Xiaozhou later offered a high price and promised each of them an annual salary of 50 taels of silver, so they reluctantly boarded the ship.

But at this time, after experiencing the military appearance of Changsheng Island, how could they still dare to be disrespectful to Li Yuanqing?

Now even in their homeland of Europe, it is extremely rare to see such an elite team as the Changsheng Battalion.

Li Yuanqing glanced around and nodded to them with a smile, "Everyone, I originally planned to come over earlier to see you foreign brothers, but I have been busy with worldly affairs, so I have postponed it until now. I hope you won't blame me!

"

Joseph thought to himself: "With your current power, who dares to blame you?"

But he said with a busy smile: "The general is in charge of Changsheng Island, a land nearly a thousand miles away in southern Liaoning, and must be busy with government affairs. To be honest, I thought it would be at least a month before you would think of us."

Li Yuanqing laughed loudly, "Brother Joseph, you are getting more and more slippery! Not bad, very good! Foreign brothers, welcome, welcome to Changsheng Island!"

In these last few sentences, Li Yuanqing spoke English.

These white-haired ghosts were all stunned.

They really didn't expect that this arrogant intellectual nobleman could actually understand English. This...

After a moment, someone finally reacted.

"Distinguished general, it is my honor to meet you. Thomas, my humble servant, is sincerely willing to serve you."

"The humble Peter Luo is willing to serve you."

"..."

These white-haired ghosts saluted Li Yuanqing one after another and expressed their opinions.

Li Yuanqing smiled, exchanged a few words with them, turned his attention to the large piece of oilcloth, and said with a smile: "Brother Joseph, I'd like to trouble you to open them yourself."
To be continued...