novelSusiti Chapter 120 Catching a toad and squeezing out its urine
Chapter 120 Catching a toad and squeezing out its urine
Chapter 120 Catching a toad and squeezing out its urine
Chapter 119 "Then let's—"
"Agree to his conditions."
Cheng Jiashan said calmly, "We'll pretend that we're being threatened by Lord Chen and have no choice but to raise the price. Then, we'll make up the difference as he demands, so he'll think we've given in."
Cheng Yi was stunned: "Then we've all worked for nothing?"
"How could we have worked for nothing?"
Cheng Jiashan laughed, but his laughter was cold. He said, "Yi'er, remember this: doing business isn't about acting on impulse. If Chen Boying wants to raise prices, we'll raise them too. He'll gain face, and we'll gain substance. We'll gradually reduce our purchases, by 10% each month, and by half in five months. Once all his goods are stuck in the warehouse and he can't sell them, he'll know who the real winner is."
Cheng Yi nodded thoughtfully: "But what if he uses a knife?"
"Using a knife?"
Cheng Jiashan laughed dismissively, "He's just a minor commander of the Da Ning region. There are at least eighty or a hundred officials higher up than him, and plenty of people can keep him in check."
His plan was actually very simple: "You, Chen Boying, told me to raise prices, right? I'll raise prices as you wish, but merchants need to make money. If you don't let me make money, I'll make your goods sit in your hands."
Cheng Jiashan added, "Furthermore, you should immediately send someone back to Jiangnan to contact the other merchants and tell them that Chen Boying will definitely ask them to ship his goods. Tell them not to undermine us and to shield us. Anyone who dares to accept Chen Boying's goods is going against the entire Huizhou merchants."
"yes!"
Cheng Jiashan leaned back in his chair, slowly closed his eyes, and murmured, "Chen Boying, you're good at fighting, but when it comes to business—you're still too green."
Cheng Yi had a vague feeling that something was wrong. Looking at his third uncle, who was so confident, he didn't say anything.
"Third Uncle————"
A barely perceptible smile appeared on Cheng Jiashan's lips: "This game has only just begun. Chen Boying will be begging us Huizhou merchants on his knees!"
Shuangchengwei, the office of the Da Ning Military Command.
Su Mei strode in, carrying the account books, her face beaming with joy: "Sir, the Huizhou merchants have backed down. Cheng Yi has already raised the prices of goods from the four guards of Xingzhou to the same level as Chen Ji's, just as we requested. They've also made up for the price difference they lost by lowering prices before. Commander Liu and his men are overjoyed, saying that you've stood up for them."
Chen Ying took the account book and flipped through it, but there was no joy on his face. Instead, his brows furrowed more and more.
Su Mei sensed something was wrong and asked softly, "My lord—what—is there a trap here?"
"Of course there's a trap. Merchants value profit over principle. This sum of tens of thousands of taels of silver is like a piece of fat meat they've already got their hands on; how could they possibly give it up so easily?"
Chen Ying's brows furrowed even more deeply: "These Huizhou merchants aren't small businesses; they have powerful connections. Although I am a second-rank military commander of Daning, the problem is, I have at least eighty, if not a hundred, officials above me. They have too many options: they can pressure their superiors, impeach me in court, bribe Wei Zhongxian, bribe the cabinet, ask someone to plead for me, or even try to drag me down with them. All of these things are cheaper than directly begging for money!"
"What does the adult mean?"
"A barking dog doesn't bite, and a biting dog doesn't bark."
Chen Ying tossed the account book onto the table and said indifferently, "If they had cried, made a scene, and offered gifts to try and appease my anger, this matter would have been over. But they gave in without a word and didn't even try to bargain. Don't you think that's too satisfying?"
Su Mei was taken aback: "Does Your Excellency mean—that they believe the Jurchens have already withdrawn from Shenyang, so they not only don't want to fulfill the contract, but are also preparing to renege?"
"The fact that they admitted defeat so readily shows that they never intended to admit defeat in the first place."
Chen Ying stood up and walked to the window: "They're stalling. They're trying to appease me first, then gradually reduce the amount of goods they're buying, letting my goods rot in the warehouse. Then, without them even having to lower the price, I'll have to beg them to buy them."
Su Mei's expression changed: "These merchants deserve to die!"
Chen Ying sneered and said, "They probably don't know that I'm a novice in warfare, but I've never been afraid of anyone in business. They want to drag things out, right? I'll give them a push. Send the order to Cheng Ji and tell them that the 1.5 million shi of grain and 1.2 million taels of silver must be in their accounts within a month. If they are short even a grain or a coin, they will bear the consequences."
Su Mei exclaimed in surprise, "My lord, if we rush things like this, aren't we just forcing them to turn against us?"
"Turn against them? They'd need to have the means to do so!"
Chen Ying coldly laughed, "I'm afraid they won't turn against us. If they do, I'll have a reason to send troops. Now our cannons and bullets have arrived, and we have the strength to fight another battle. If we can't get food and silver from them, then I'll ask Nurhaci. If Nurhaci dares not to give me two million taels of silver, he can expect to be sent to the northern deserts to eat sand!"
Chen Ying was actually very clear that the Huizhou merchants in Daning only had one Cheng Yi on the surface, and Cheng Yi was just an illegitimate son in the Cheng family. There were more than a dozen sons like him in the Cheng family, so even if Cheng Yi was killed, the Cheng family would not feel sorry for him.
The problem is that Chen Ying did not intend to kill Cheng Yi. Instead, he wanted to take advantage of Nurhaci's retreat to Shenyang to prevent him from celebrating the New Year. Although the Jurchen army of tens of thousands had returned to Shenyang, the problem was that Shenyang could not support so many people. Apart from the leaders of each tribe, the other tribesmen had dispersed and returned to their respective tribes. Now Shenyang was very empty. Even if he could not take Shenyang, he could wear Nurhaci down.
Su Mei said thoughtfully, "If they don't turn against us and obediently send over the money and supplies, then we won't lose out."
"That's right, if they don't send it, I'll launch a winter military training exercise!"
Chen Ying smiled faintly and said, "Nurhaci never lost a battle. The Ming army hesitated to advance against the Jurchens. I was not only able to withstand Nurhaci's attack of tens of thousands of troops, but also pursue him for more than 1,300 li. If I were to lead a large army to Shenyang, whether it's Ma Shilong of Ningyuan or Mao Wenlong of Pi Island, they certainly wouldn't let this opportunity pass. Even if they just wanted to leech off military merit, they would still come to leech off him."
"I know what to do!"
Su Mei nodded thoughtfully.
Three days later, at Yongning Port, Chengji Trading Company.
Holding Chen Ying's demand for payment, Cheng Yi stormed into the inner hall, his face ashen: "Third Uncle, Chen Boying has gone mad! He's demanding that we settle 1.5 million shi of grain and 1.2 million taels of silver within a month—this is clearly harassment!"
Cheng Jiashan took the document, glanced at it, and instead of being angry, laughed: "He's getting anxious, he's getting anxious."
"Third Uncle?"
"The more anxious he is, the more he needs money and food."
Cheng Jiashan threw the document on the table and said dismissively, "Let's stick to the original plan and delay him for a month. After a month, we'll say that the money supply in Jiangnan is tight and the grain is hard to collect. We'll give him one-third of it first, and then we'll drag it out slowly for the rest."
Cheng Yi hesitated, then asked, "But what if he doesn't agree?"
"You won't agree?"
Cheng Jiashan sneered, "Could he possibly come knocking on our door? Nurhaci has already returned to Shenyang. Does Chen Boying dare to head north to Shenyang at this time?"
"This is wrong—"
Cheng Yi thought about it and agreed.
But in the days that followed, Cheng Jiashan realized he was wrong.
Chen Ying also realized that it would be very difficult to develop industry in Nurgan unless the steam engine was successfully developed. Taking the Suifen River as an example, this river has low sediment content, clear water, large drop, and rapid current, making it the best choice for water-powered machinery.
The problem is that the Suifen River is frozen for nearly five months, which is a major headache. It won't thaw until around April, which is late February in the lunar calendar. But there's no other way. If they don't use the river, they have no other options. Relying on manpower is not only costly but also inefficient. The Daning Industrial Company plans to build fourteen large-scale water-powered timber processing plants along the Fenhe River. In addition to these fourteen water-powered saws, there are also water-powered hammer presses, water-powered drilling machines, water-powered boring machines, water-powered planers, and other lathes. Of course, most of these machine tools were brought from Shahewei.
The land reclamation task for the following year was extremely heavy. The military households had no choice but to brave the cold wind and begin construction. Faced with the frozen soil layer that was as hard as iron, they first used fire to melt the frozen soil layer, and then compacted it. On the compacted ground, they used timber to build factories and set up equipment. Hundreds of thousands of military households carried out the construction in sections.
The entire Sui River was transformed into a massive construction site. Notably, Chen Ying not only led the military households to build numerous workshops, but also mobilized the young men of the Haixi Jurchen, the Wild Jurchen, the Solon tribe, and the Xibe tribe to construct a highway from Shuangchengwei to Yongning Port. This highway was wide enough for at least twelve horse-drawn carriages to travel side by side, making it a super project of Daning. Once this project started, the consumption of grain was like flowing water, consuming more than 10,000 shi of grain every day.
The Huizhou merchants all thought Chen Boying had gone mad, but this was actually a good thing. Chen Boying did not immediately expand his army. What they were most worried about was that Chen Boying would expand his army. As long as Chen Boying expanded his army, it would be possible to subdue the Jurchens. Nearly ten million able-bodied men from various tribes, together with the military households, were working hard along the roadside, wielding hoes and shovels to level the roadbed and compact the ground.
Chen Ying's goal was actually very simple: he had to keep the more than 300,000 military households busy. When they weren't busy, these military households would definitely cause Chen Ying a lot of trouble under the instigation of certain people.
And so, Chen Ying and the others worked hard until the 28th of the lunar year. After the 28th, everyone could have a holiday to celebrate the New Year. The soldiers who had come to Daning with only one life had earned enough food for the New Year through their own hard work during this period.
On the night of December 28th, the fourth year of the Tianqi reign, the Shuangchengwei Daning Commandery held a meeting of officers of the rank of Qianzong and above. This was a summary meeting, during which Su Mei reported to Chen Ying and the other officials on the results of their work during this period.
First, the Geophysical Exploration Bureau dispatched 167 mining exploration teams. They discovered four large coal mines within the territory of Dongningbao and Funingbao, and three iron mines, two copper mines, and one gold mine within the former Sulanwei territory.
This news delighted the officials, and Chen Ying was also very pleased. He made a plan: Asujiangwei would serve as the coal resource base of Daning Commandery, and Sulanwei as the steel base. After the New Year, these mineral resources would be mined immediately, which meant that Chen Ying could achieve self-sufficiency in raw materials.
More importantly, a large amount of kaolin was discovered within the territory of Funingbao, which is a raw material for making porcelain. Chen Ying issued a task to each garrison.
After the commanders and deputy commanders of each garrison received their work assignments, Chen Ying changed the subject and ordered, "My plan is to select four thousand men from each garrison to form the New Ning Army!"
The officers were overjoyed. They envied the treatment of the Shahe and Daning New Armies, who toiled for a month to earn only five bushels of grain. Of course, this was much better than before. In the past, they were lucky to even have a bite to eat. Now, each of their families had savings and hope for the future.
But the problem is, who among them doesn't want a better life, and who doesn't want money to be a burden? Becoming a soldier in the Daning New Army means fighting on the battlefield, and in return, they can receive land as a reward.
Before they met Chen Ying, they would naturally not have dared to fight the Jurchens to the death. However, many of them had participated in the pursuit of the Jurchens and witnessed firsthand how the Jurchens were routed by the soldiers of the Da Ning New Army and the Sha He New Army. Now, no one was afraid.
"Let me make this clear from the start: you may recommend your sons, nephews, relatives, and friends to become soldiers in the Da Ning New Army, but I will conduct an assessment every month. If you pass once, your benefits will be reduced by 30%; if you fail twice, your benefits will be halved; and if you fail three times, you can get out of here. You'd better pray that the soldiers you recommend live up to your expectations!"
97
"Your humble servant obeys!"
Liu Yuan patted his chest and assured him, "If the people I recommend are unqualified, you won't need to trouble the Commander-in-Chief; I'll personally beat them to death!"
"We're the same!"
Early the next morning, the 12,000 military households recommended by Situnwei, along with the original soldiers of the Daning New Army, totaling more than 18,000 people, began intensive training. At the same time, the Shahe New Army and Shahewei, which were the military households recommended by Chen Ying himself, totaling more than 12,000 people, and the entire army of more than 30,000 people, all gathered outside Shuangchengwei City, distributed equipment, and began training.
Then, Xingzhou Situnwei began to massively recruit able-bodied men into reserve battalions, who rode out in formation outside the city every day, their battle cries deafening.
Even more frightening is that the scouts of Chen Ying's wolf cavalry have already crossed Xianping and reached the outskirts of Tieling. The whole of Daning is saying that Chen Boying is going to take advantage of Nurhaci's weakened state to seize Shenyang in one fell swoop.
When the news reached Yongning Port, Cheng Jiashan finally couldn't sit still any longer.
"He's gone mad. Why is he attacking Shenyang? That's Sun Chengzong's business. He should just guard Shuangchengwei. Why bother stirring up this hornet's nest?"
'
Cheng Yi said in a trembling voice, "Third Uncle, did he realize we were stalling him and deliberately put on an aggressive stance to force us to give him money and supplies?"
Cheng Jiashan stopped in his tracks, his expression uncertain. He knew, of course, that Chen Ying might be bluffing, but the problem was, he dared not gamble, nor could he afford to.
As Nurhaci withdrew to Shenyang, he quickly dismissed his various tribes, especially the Left and Right Banners of Mongolia, all of which returned to their original garrisons. The Khorchin tribe returned to Khorchin, the Inner Khalkha tribe returned to Inner Khalkha, and even the Lower Five Banners returned to their respective garrisons.
The entire Shenyang only consisted of the Upper Three Banners and the Chiyan Banner, which had not yet been formed into an army. Chen Boying had now actually gathered more than 30,000 infantrymen, plus more than 9,000 wolf cavalry, totaling more than 40,000 men. If he were to attack Shenyang, Nurhaci would probably not be able to withstand Chen Boying's thunderous attack. They were in Yongning and could see very clearly that Chen Boying had transported more than 200 cannons from Shahe, as well as more than 1,000 cartloads of cannonballs.
His task was to hold off Chen Ying and buy time for the Jurchens to recover. If Chen Ying really attacked Shenyang and the Jurchens were defeated, how would he explain himself to his employers in Jiangnan?
Cheng Jiashan gritted his teeth and said, "Gather up all the money and grain owed to him and send it over. One million five hundred thousand shi of grain per grain and one million two hundred thousand taels of silver, not a single penny less."
Cheng Yi exclaimed in shock, "Third Uncle, that's our Cheng Family's cash on goods! Giving it all to him at once will disrupt our cash flow—"
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Cheng Jiashan said sternly, "Give Chen Boying the money and provisions he wants, as long as he doesn't attack Shenyang, everything is negotiable!"
The silver was readily available, only 1.2 million taels, not enough to bankrupt Chengji Trading Company, which was a behemoth with assets of over 20 million taels. Of course, their working capital was only over 3 million taels, and a day later, 1 million taels of silver were delivered to Chengji Trading Company in Yongning Port as scheduled.
As for the grain, it would take five days to arrive. Most of the transactions between Huizhou merchants and Chen Ying were not in cash, but in barter. The Huizhou merchants were not stupid, and they did not dare to push Chen Ying to the brink. Chen Ying had three to four hundred thousand military households and nearly one hundred thousand Jurchen dependent tribes under his control.
If Chen Boying was truly pushed to the brink, he led his troops to attack Shenyang. Nurhaci had no choice but to abandon the city and flee; he certainly wouldn't continue fighting him.
Su Mei couldn't help but sigh, "My lord, your move has really frightened the Huizhou merchants quite a bit."
99
"To scare them?"
Chen Ying shook his head and said, "I don't have time to scare them. I really want to attack Shenyang."
Su Mei's expression changed drastically: "My lord! Didn't you say—"
"When I said I wouldn't fight, that was just for outsiders to hear."
Chen Ying said calmly, "Nurhaci is catching his breath in Shenyang, while we are farming in Shuangchengwei. Once he recovers, the first thing he'll do is attack us. Rather than waiting for him to come, we should strike while he's down and kill him."
Chen Ying didn't actually expect to successfully capture Shenyang. Instead, he just wanted to seize the opportunity and squeeze the fish out of the pond. Now that the Huizhou merchants had violated the agreement, he was going to attack Shenyang. Previously, he had offered 1.2 million taels of silver and 1.5 million shi of grain to make them surrender.
Since they breached the contract, Chen Ying naturally would not fulfill the agreement. The Donglin Party had to return all the money they had taken from the Liaodong military pay. If they didn't return it, he would show them why the flowers were so red.
Su Mei hesitated and asked, "What about the Huizhou merchants—"
Chen Ying laughed: "They gave me money and provisions, thinking they could hold me back. I accepted the money and provisions, and I can use them to attack Shenyang. This is called—using a counter-strategy."
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