During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a merchant named Xiang Qi in Pingliang Mansion, and his ancestors relied on bringing tea, silk, and porcelain into the Western Regions of the Desert, opening a doorway, and making a lot of money.
After Xiang Qi grew up, he also took over the family business, and took his own camel team back and forth between the desert and the Guannei, and in a few years, he also managed well, and successfully beat the Xiang family's business out.
On this day, Xiang Qi was drinking tea in the store, and suddenly saw a strong man come to the door, looking at his appearance, it turned out to be an uncommon Persian.
Xiang Qi hurriedly greeted him and asked, "What do the guest officers want?"Our Xiang family has everything, tea and silk from the south of the Yangtze River, all kinds of porcelain, iron pots, pottery, and mountain goods, we can get them."
The strong man spoke fluent Central Plains dialect and said, "Shopkeeper, I heard that your Xiang family firm can send freight out of the customs, right?"Xiang Qi patted his chest and said: "That's natural, the guest officer can go and inquire, in this Pingliang Mansion, there are no more than five companies with the ability to transport goods, and the good quality and low price belong to our Xiang family's business, as long as we don't go to your Persia, we can deliver the goods."
The strong man smiled: "The shopkeeper is joking, we have our own caravan in the Western Regions, due to the large number of people, the Ming Emperor did not give us approval, we can only have a team of people to come in, but we have to buy too many things, we can only buy separately, there is really no ability to transport goods, if the shopkeeper can send, we are willing to pay an extra **".
When Xiang Qi heard this, he was determined in his heart, since Emperor Jianwen disappeared inexplicably, after King Yan ascended the throne, he has been constantly occupying the northern Tatars and Jurchens, and Pingliang Mansion is also relatively strict with foreign merchants, and the Persians can come in to do business, which is not bad.
However, if a large-scale caravan wants to enter the customs, it is impossible, and he has done this business.
He immediately said: "This is no problem, as long as the guest officer pays a deposit of 70% for the goods first, we will definitely deliver the things in place."
Seventy percent of the deposit, in the case of capital protection, you can make a little profit, the reason why Xiang Qi did this is mainly because he is worried that the other party will cheat after receiving the goods, after all, the first time he does business, they are not familiar with each other, and what should be prevented is prevention.
Seventy percent?The strong man hesitated, and Xiang Qi hurriedly said when he saw this: "Guest officer, do you want to!."We have to prepare the goods first, and then send the goods out of the customs, if we don't pay a deposit of seventy percent, we can't do this business, when the guest officer comes to us, he must have gone to other firms, and our regulations are more benevolent."
When the strong man heard this, he nodded and said, "Then according to the shopkeeper's proposal, the shopkeeper will take me to the warehouse to have a look!."If the goods satisfy me, I will set them immediately, and the amount will not disappoint the shopkeeper."
Xiang Qi was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly beckoned to both sides: "Why are you still stunned?"Take the guest to the warehouse". "Yes, shopkeeper".
An hour later, Xiang Qi sent the strong man out of the door, with a proud face, this time he can be regarded as a big luck, this person actually ordered a full 10,000 taels of silver here in him, silk, tea accounted for most of it, pottery, porcelain, and some fur, there are also a lot.
Lao Zhou, pass on my words, immediately mobilize all the supplies from Pingliang Mansion, and if it is not enough, go to Hanzhong, Taiyuan, and Datong to buy it." Xiang Qi turned around and said to a little old man beside him.
Lao Zhou said excitedly: "Yes, master, I'll arrange it, this business can top us for a year or two."
Xiang Qi said: "This time to transport the goods, I will personally lead the team, and everyone in the team will have a penny of profit, and give half of the settlement fee."
You select enough men from the caravan, and you will do all the work."
When Lao Zhou heard this, he hugged his fists and said, "Yes, master." After that, he trotted away, if he did a good job in this matter, Xiang Qi would naturally not treat him badly, full of motivation.
Two months later, everything was ready, and Xiang Qi left Pingliang Mansion with a caravan of more than 100 people.
For the sake of safety, this time he brought all the guards of the Xiang family's firm, and also hired five master-level dart masters of Weiyuan Dart Bureau with **, which can be said to be foolproof.
Not long after leaving Pingliang Mansion, everyone entered the vast Gobi grassland, Xiang Qi also cheered up the spirit, always pay attention to the changes around him, and enter the Gobi, which does not mean safety, on the contrary, the danger is everywhere, not only to always pay attention to the wind direction, observe whether there is a sandstorm, but also pay attention to whether there are horse thieves, there are many horse thieves in the Gobi Desert.
Half a month later, Xiang Qi's hanging heart can finally be put down, in front of him is the boundary of the North Yellow River, there is a big post station over there, there is a post station and a place to rest, but you can also rest for a few days first.
After leaving the station, until the exit, there was no station where you could rest, and that was when it was really difficult.
Shopkeeper Zhao, how many rooms do you have in your inn?We're all covered."
Xiang Qi dismounted, came to an inn, and saw an old man beckoning a few guests to eat noodles, and immediately said.
The shopkeeper looked up at Xiang Qi, his face suddenly softened, and he hurriedly trotted over and said, "Who should I be!."It turned out to be a shopkeeper, and there were many ...... in the room, but I think ......”
He stretched out his head and looked out, and said, "Tsk, shopkeeper Xiang, you are a big business!."Why are so many people here this time?If there were so many people, I wouldn't be able to live so many people in this small shop."
Xiang Qi waved his hand and said, "It's okay, we can live in one room for a few people, and it will be one night, and we have to go west immediately every day."
When the shopkeeper heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then hesitated a little and said: "Xiang shopkeeper, you may have to wait for a while."
Xiang Qiyan wondered, "What?."Could it be that something is happening?"
The shopkeeper nodded and said, "You come from afar, get off the horse and rest first, Xiang shopkeeper, you come over and I will talk to you in detail."
When Xiang Qi heard this, he turned around and commanded to the back: "Lao Zhou, you let the brothers all get off the horse as they are, the goods are all gathered, and the others take turns to rest, be sure to take care of the goods."
Lao Zhou nodded and said, "Master, the little one understands."
Xiang Qi said that, he entered the house with the innkeeper, and the shopkeeper first arranged a small table for Xiang Qi to think, and then sat down after telling the little guy to go to hot tea, and told the truth.
After hearing this, Xiang Qi had some doubts on his face, he didn't expect to encounter such a thing when he came here this time.
Just half a month ago, a hundred miles to the west, suddenly appeared a group of horse thieves, this group of horse thieves is not an ordinary horse thief, according to the people who escaped, they actually mixed in a lot of Tatars, picking on passing merchants, very few people can escape.
These horse thieves are also very cunning, as long as they hear that the government has sent people to encircle and suppress, they will scatter in a hurry, and it is more difficult to find these horse thieves in the desert Gobi than to find an oasis, and when the people of the government retreat, they will come out again.
It's really hard to guard, and now that the road out of the Gobi has been blocked, if you accidentally run into these people, it will be really troublesome.
The shopkeeper was also out of kindness, reminding Xiang Qi that if he entered rashly without knowing the severity, even if he brought a lot of people this time, it would not be easy to take the goods away safely.
Xiang Qi thought for a long time, and then asked, "Shopkeeper, you said that someone saw the desert wolf, is it true?"
When the innkeeper heard this, he was not sure: "I also heard from others that after these horse thieves appeared, a large number of desert wolves appeared on the Gobi, and I don't know if those horse thieves deliberately attracted them, but anyway, it is also a difficult thing to encounter desert wolves."
Also, I heard that Lan Tiancheng is among those horse thieves, I guess he is also one with those horse thieves, who is Lan Tiancheng, don't need me much, right?”
Blue Sky Cheng"?At this time, a few dart masters who had just entered the door changed their faces when they heard this person's name, it was Xiang Qi himself, and his face was not much better.
This person is known as the desert swordsman, his hands and two knives make it superb, it is said that he has not been defeated, if this person joins those horse thieves, it will be very tricky.
Xiang shopkeeper, if Lan Tiancheng is in front of us, I'm afraid we are not opponents!”
One of the dart masters said worriedly. The faces of the other people are also good, obviously they have also heard of Lan Tiancheng's name, this trip is really unlucky, but they encountered such a thing.
Xiang Qi heard this and said, "Brother Zhao, this matter has not been decided yet, you let me think of a way."
Xiang Qi is also very embarrassed, he can try both the horse thief and the desert wolf, maybe he is lucky not to encounter it?Even if he touches it, he doesn't have the ability to touch it, after all, he can take so many people out this time!
But Lan Tiancheng, this made him panic, this person had been living in the desert before, and he didn't do anything to block the road and rob, how could he mix with those horse thieves now?
If he did meet this person, none of his men could beat him.
...... then?The more he thought about it, the more chaotic his heart became, and he realized it later.
No wonder no one in Pingliang Mansion is willing to do the business of the Persians, and he dares to be one step ahead of him when he hears the news, and he knows that he can't get by here.
This time, he was cheated by the Persian.
It's no wonder that the other party is not only willing to increase the cost of one percent, but also agrees so happily, Xiang Qi secretly decided in his heart that after going back this time, he must place some of his own people in each post town, otherwise there is really something, which is too passive.
This is the difference between him and those big families, these things have been thought about by others a long time ago, and they also learned the news in advance.
Xiang Qi thought about it all night, and he decided that since it was not possible to go west, he would go north to bypass, and it was a big deal to bring a little more water and dry food, and he still didn't believe that he couldn't go out.
This business is 10,000 taels of silver, rich and dangerous, and you can't make money in vain.
Besides, he has already received a deposit from others, and once he breaks the contract, he will have to compensate a lot of silver, otherwise he will not be able to continue his business in the future.
Xiang Qi didn't want his ancestors' family business to lose in his own hands, after thinking about it, he still decided to cross the Yellow River in the north, directly into the desert and then bypass, although the road was much farther and more difficult, but at least he was not afraid of meeting those horse thieves and desert wolves.
Thinking of this, Xiang Qi discussed his ideas with a few stewards, and after the big guy learned about it, there was no good way.
Seeing that everyone was a little hesitant, Xiang Qi doubled the silver again, and everyone was ready to move, and finally agreed to Xiang Qi's plan.
In fact, Xiang Qi is just giving everyone a psychological foreshadowing in advance, and with his identity, these people will not say anything if they are directly rerouted, at most they will just complain a few words.
But the desert doesn't have to be anywhere else, he has to let everyone work together, otherwise if he wants to get out of the desert after a mess on the way, it will be wishful thinking.
After deciding on the route, Xiang Qi prepared a large amount of fresh water and dry food at the post station, invited a guide who was familiar with the desert, and added ten camels to spare, and then led a team of nearly 100 people to cross the Yellow River north and detour westward.
It turned out that Xiang Qi was a little aggressive this time. There are horse thieves on the road to the west, and the road to the north is not easy to walk, the desert Gobi is more difficult than the west out of the Yumen, and they have not walked out of the desert for ten days in a row, and this road is also the first time he has walked, and Xiang Qi has no bottom in his heart.
Uncle Agamo, how long will it take for us to get out of this desert?”
Xiang Qi rode on the back of a camel, looked behind him, and then turned his head to an old man beside him and said.
This old man is the guide invited by Xiang Qi, I heard others say that he has lived in the desert for decades and has been everywhere, in order to be able to get out of the desert smoothly, Xiang Qi invited him out and went out with the team.
Now that they have been walking for more than ten days, everyone is a little tired, and most of the dry food and fresh water they brought have been consumed.
Agamo looked at the sky, the sun was scorching on his head, Xiang Qi couldn't see any difference at all, but Agamo kept frowning.
Shopkeeper Xiang, we are still miles away from the official road, and the wind direction is a little wrong today."
The surroundings were very quiet, except for the yellow sand in the sky, and some dry grass piles, not even a tree could be seen, Xiang Qi also found that today was much quieter than before, and when he heard Agamo say this, he couldn't help but panic in his heart.
With his years of experience, this situation is generally a precursor to desert sandstorms, Xiang Qi asked: "Uncle Agamo, will there be sandstorms?"Agamo nodded and said, "There is a good chance, let's speed up our pace and find a shelter as soon as possible, otherwise it will be a big trouble."
When Xiang Qi heard this, he turned his head and shouted: "Brothers, cheer up, there may be a sandstorm ahead, we have to find a sheltered place, everyone take care of the camel goods and tie the ropes."
When everyone heard this, they immediately took action, and they also experienced a lot of Gobi sandstorms, although it was dangerous, but as long as they were properly protected, it was much safer than meeting horse thieves.
Xiang Qi and his party didn't walk long before the wind began to blow.
Seeing this, Agamo's face changed, and he immediately said: "Shopkeeper Xiang, we can't be leaving, we must wait for the sandstorm immediately, otherwise it will be too dangerous."
Xiang Qi got down from the camel and shouted loudly: "Everyone tie the ropes, lead the camels together, and the carriages are all around, ready to hide from the wind and sand."
As soon as Xiang Qi's words fell, everyone immediately took action, the camel was led to the middle to surround everyone, and the outside was blocked by a carriage, and everyone leaned closer, burying their heads and preparing to resist the wind and sand.
This time, the sandstorm was extremely violent, and when the wind and sand blew over, he couldn't see anything clearly, Xiang Qi only hoped that the loss this time would be less, and the storm would pass as soon as possible.
The sandstorm blew continuously for four hours, and Xiang Qi felt that the sand had buried himself, so he didn't dare to come out, so he could only lie on the ground and continue to wait.
Another hour passed, and the wind and sand gradually decreased, and it was not until the next morning that the wind and sand subsided. "Shopkeeper, how are you?"
Xiang Qi was detained out of the sand by several guards next to him, he shook his groggy head, and said, "Xiao Wu, count the number of people and goods as soon as possible, and see how the situation is."
The sandstorm had exceeded his expectations, and it would be a problem if the goods were lost, especially fresh water and dry food, which would be their hope of survival.
After the sandstorm, many people came out from under the sand, glad that they were still alive.
Half an hour later, Xiao Wu ran back with a gloomy face.
Shopkeeper, this time our losses are somewhat great, twenty-seven of our men are missing, a quarter of our goods are lost, especially fresh water and dry food, most of which is gone, and four of the five camels with dry food are missing."
Xiang Qiyan's face was ugly when he heard this, he didn't expect the loss to be so serious, especially dry food and fresh water, this was their hope of survival.
Xiao Wu, you take a few people, look for a circle along the neighborhood, not too far, find it if you can, and come back if you can't find it."
Xiang Qi thought about it and commanded. "Yes......, the shopkeeper's".
After Xiao Wu left, Xiang Qi found Agamo and told him about it, and the others were all flustered after learning that there was not much dry food and fresh water left, and Agamo hesitated for a long time before saying: "We can't do anything when we encounter a sandstorm, now we can only find a water source first, there are several oases in the desert, I hope we have a little luck."
Xiang Qi was helpless, so he could only do so.
Now that there is little fresh water and dry food left, we can only hope to find an oasis to replenish some fresh water first, and then think of other ways.
Xiang Qi asked everyone to organize the team, and searched out on the spot for an hour, except for the two guards, the other missing people were missing, and the dry food and fresh water were not recovered.
At this time, Xiang Qi didn't dare to delay, so he could only let everyone continue to go forward, and if they delayed, the big guys had to explain in this desert.
Three days later. Xiang Qi was completely desperate, the few dry food and fresh water left had been consumed, and they did not get out of the desert, nor did they find an oasis with fresh water.
Xiang Qi pursed his chapped lips, looked at the endless desert, felt sad in his heart, and muttered to himself: "Is it really impossible to go out this time?""There are already people who can't hold on for a long time, and they have to explain that they can't find fresh water in this desert, Agamo is also frowning at this time, he has been out of direction at this time, and the long-term hunger has made him drowsy, and he is no longer able to continue to lead the team.
That's when it happened. A young man in the team suddenly shouted, "Shopkeeper, look over there?"**There seems to be a woman".
When the person next to him heard this, he smiled helplessly: "You kid is hallucinating from hunger, right?"There is no shop in front of the village in this desert, what kind of woman is there?”
You kid hasn't gotten married yet, have you?If you can go back alive this time, I will take you to the Emerald Red Mansion so that you can see the world."
Hahaha......”
The people around laughed when they heard this, and the young man blushed, but still retorted: "You all get up and see, there are really people."
Hearing this, Xiang Qi stood up and looked in the direction he was pointing.
It was hard to see that there was actually a woman walking towards them, and he rubbed his eyes vigorously to see that it was not a hallucination.
Get up, all of them get up, and there seems to be someone ahead." When everyone heard this, they immediately got up, and then they all saw the woman walking in front of them, and they couldn't imagine that in this full desert, there were really people, and they were women.
Not long after, the woman came closer, she looked at Xiang Qi and the others, and asked, "Have you seen my sheep?"
Judging from her appearance, this woman is almost the same as the Central Plains woman, and even her speech is very similar. Xiang Qi didn't see any sheep, and he didn't care about any sheep, but asked, "Eldest sister, may I ask where this is?"We don't see your sheep."
When the woman heard this, she said, "This is Luojing Village, and our village is not far in front, you are ......."”
Xiang Qi heard that there was a village in front of him, and he was immediately overjoyed, and said: "Eldest sister, we are passing merchants, we encountered a sandstorm a few days ago, fresh water and dry food are gone, if the eldest sister can provide us with a little, we are grateful, we will give as much silver as we need."
When the woman heard this, she smiled slightly and said, "So you are a passing merchant!."It's okay, you can go west from here out of the desert to the official road, it's not very far, you come with me!Xiang Qi said when he heard this, the difference in his heart, they had already reached the edge of the desert
While beckoning everyone to follow, he turned his head to look at Agamo next to him and asked, "Uncle Agamo, we are now at the edge of the desert, aren't you still far away?"”
Agamo was also puzzled, and after thinking about it, he said: "It is estimated that it was a sandstorm a few days ago, the terrain in the desert has changed a lot, we estimate that we have gone far with the wind and sand, but we don't know, you may not know that some seas in the desert can walk dozens of miles with the sand!."”
These Xiang Qi had also heard of it, and he had to be secretly surprised in his heart, and secretly sighed that he was lucky, although he had some losses, he still left the desert.
Xiang Qi beckoned everyone to follow the woman, and after walking for a long time, they really left the desert, and they saw the barren grass and Gobi again, and even some tall poplar trees.
Not long after, Xiang Qi and his party came to a village, this village looks small, dozens of households, Xiang Qi was worried about disturbing the villagers, so he asked the big guy to stay at the entrance of the village and camp in place.
He took two guards with him, and followed the woman into the village, and Agamo wanted to go in, but he was really not fit, so he had to rest in place first.
After entering the village, Xiang Qi found that the village seemed to be a little strange, and he didn't see an adult man after walking for a long time, it was all some women with children, and when they came in, they all looked at them curiously.
Not long after, Xiang Qi followed the woman to the front of a rather large courtyard, and the woman introduced: "We have the final say in Sister Lin here, if you need anything, just talk to her!."”
Xiang Qi nodded, and entered the courtyard, but he still had some doubts in his heart, Sister Lin
Surname Lin?That doesn't seem right!
Moreover, how can the head of a village be a woman?What about the village chief?What about Lizheng?Even if it's a patriarch, you have to have it, right?
The woman asked Xiang Qi and the others to wait for us, and she went into the house to find someone, and not long after, a soft-looking woman came out of the house, judging from her appearance, it was completely different from the woman on the edge of the desert, and the woman they met was the same as the Central Plains.
You are businessmen from other places"?
Xiang Qi hurriedly said: "We are from Pingliang Mansion, we are passing merchants, we met a sandstorm in the desert, the dry food and fresh water are gone, the first time we arrived in Guibaodi, I want to buy some dry food and fresh water."
When the woman heard this, she nodded and said: "When it is difficult to go out, you need fresh water to fill casually, and dry food needs to be exchanged for things, since you are a businessman, I don't know if you have brought salt and tea?"If there is, we are willing to exchange it with you."
Xiang Qi said with great joy when he heard this: "Yes, these are all there."
When the woman heard this, she said: "That's okay, I heard Lin Mei say that there are dozens of you, and they are all men, you can change things, you can't enter the village, things are exchanged by our people and you, you take your things and leave quickly."
In someone else's village, it is natural that others say what they say, and if they ask others, he naturally has to abide by the rules.
Replenished with fresh water and dry food, Xiang Qi also breathed a sigh of relief.
He immediately clenched his fists and said gratefully: "Thank you eldest sister for helping, otherwise we really don't know what to do."
The other party waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I see that you are also from the Central Plains, and if you can help, you will help."
Xiang Qi heard this and asked, "Eldest sister, I think you are also like the Central Plains, why did you come all the way to live here?"And I don't think there are any adult men in the village, so are they all out to graze?”。
Hearing this, the woman smiled bitterly and said: "No, we all came here with our families, our men have gone to defend the city, the Tatars have been going south, and we can only live here."
When Xiang Qi heard this, he knew in his heart that since King Yan's northern expedition, there were such Central Plains people who came with their families in many places.
Some came to the northwest, some went to the southwest, and the situation there was not much better than here, and the Dun army guarding the border basically brought their families over, and slowly settled down, gradually forming a village.
Xiang Qi asked again, "Didn't you come back?"”
When the woman heard this, tears flowed out of her eyes, and she cried bitterly: "Our father and husband have all died on the battlefield, and now there is not a single adult man in our village, which is why we don't let you in."
Xiang Qi said that he was very embarrassed, and he dared to love that this was a widow's village!
It's really impolite to ask questions like this.
Then he didn't ask, but after thanking him repeatedly, he left with the guards, preparing fresh water quickly, dry food was much slower, Xiang Qi simply asked the big guy to rest in place for a day.
The people in the widow's village, except for Xiang Qi to enter, no one else was allowed to enter.
In order to thank these widows for their help, Xiang Qi left them a lot of salt, tea and cloth, and some silver.
After replenishing enough fresh water and dry food, and carrying some beef and mutton, Xiang Qi and the others bid farewell to the village.
Before they left, the entrance of the village was full of women with children in their arms or old women who were dying, and not a single adult man was present.
This surprised everyone else in the caravan.
Under Xiang Qi's instructions, no one messed around.
Xiang Qi silently wrote down the surrounding terrain, this village is kind to him, this kindness must be repaid, and it is not impossible to bring them some outside goods when they pass by here next time.
A month later, Xiang Qi finally arrived at Yumen Pass, and after contacting the Persians, the goods were successfully delivered, although there were some losses, but those Persians didn't care, they were already very satisfied.
For a part of the loss, Xiang Qi took the initiative to reduce the cost by 10%.
When they returned, they did not meet the horse thief, and they heard that they had been scattered, and the swordsman Lan Tiancheng was nowhere to be found.
A year later, Xiang Qi received a big business again, and after delivering the goods to the destination, he specially brought the prepared gifts and prepared to go to the village a year ago, intending to thank the other party in person.
But this time, Xiang Qi searched for a long time, but found no trace of the village.
For this reason, he also specially expanded the scope of searching, and accidentally ran into other villages, and after inquiry, others did not know that there was such a village full of women, and said that they had never met it.
At that time, Xiang Qi was not alone.
When the other people in the caravan learned about it, they were all surprised, whether this village had disappeared or whether it didn't exist in the first place, Xiang Qi didn't know, and the others didn't know.
In the following years, Xiang Qi would deliberately change direction to find this village every time he passed by, but he never found anything, which became a big regret for him.