Chengdu is full of flowers and tourists in April. In this city that has become the key to the central part of the Sichuan Shogunate, more and more changes are taking place.

A series of military residences inside and outside the city are being repaired or newly built. The city is naturally the military residence. Since Liu Zhonggui controlled Sichuan, he has been fighting in the north and north. The shogunate funds are relatively short. This time, he snatched a large number of gold, silver and treasures from Yunnan and returned to repair the idle houses for a long time to reward the meritorious officials in the battle. In addition, many of the officers and soldiers of the Tooth Army who had followed him for many years were also rewarded, but the size of their residences naturally cannot be compared with that of the officers.

As for the residential areas outside the city, they are brick houses with uniform styles, which are not big and not beautiful in appearance, but they are better at cheapness. The Sichuan Shogunate learned efficient wheel kiln brick making technology from the East Coast people, and at the same time purchased a batch of joint brick making machines. Of course, some of them are now in a vague way. Because the lack of necessary parts, the output of bricks and tiles has increased greatly. In addition, there are a lot of wood in Sichuan, these brick-concrete structure houses were quickly built in large quantities and distributed to elite veterans who were beheaded to a certain number of battles.

It can be said that as a semi-autonomous regime, the Liu Zhonggui shogunate has really achieved the ultimate in his own foundation (army). Not only did he guarantee more than 80% of the military pay in financial difficulties, but he also built houses for them. This was probably only in the early years of the founding of the country or the pattern of vassal states.

Of course, Liu Zhonggui robbed a lot of money from Yunnan, greatly improving his financial situation. At the same time, thanks to technological progress, his productivity has been greatly improved, otherwise he would not be able to accomplish such a feat. Don’t believe it? Please see how many city walls or forts were built during the Wanli period of the previous dynasty, but how many people still built bricks? Why? The technology is not good, and the productivity is low!

Liu Zhonggui had also sent someone to Ningbo before, hoping to learn techniques such as lime kilns and cement kilns. Unfortunately, most of the companies on the East Coast are located in Denglai, and the people he sent eventually returned in vain. But no matter what, the spirit of others who do whatever they want to make for technological progress (this can be applied to the military) is indeed worthy of praise.

When Li Nanxian and Zhang Shaozong came to the outskirts of Chengdu, they saw this scene. Looking at the rows of standard houses, they were also quite emotional. Looking at the rows of standard houses, they were also quite emotional. These martial artists are very good to the soldiers below! The people's livelihood is so difficult, but you all turned a blind eye to them and kept increasing taxes to help military supplies. This time, they finally grabbed a lot of money from the south, but didn't want to develop the place. The first thing was to improve the treatment of soldiers. Liu Zhonggui really couldn't say.

After entering the city, the two of them first found a place to settle down, and then asked someone to inquire. As a result, they learned that the commander of Jie Liu Zhonggui had gone south with the Ya soldiers, which disappointed them. A while ago, they found out that Liu Zhonggui had generally agreed on the terms with the court, and had left Kunming and returned to Chengdu. But after a while, they had reorganized their troops to go south again. It is said that they were dealing with the chieftains who took advantage of the empty troops in Sichuan to make trouble. They really had no time to spare.

At this time, Li and Zhang couldn't help but complain about the chieftains who didn't know the current affairs. Their knowledge, vision and strategy were all messed up! When the incident in Yunnan started, why didn't you cause trouble? The Ming Dynasty was almost wiped out, and you guys jumped out one by one. What's the fool? You were rushing to give away the heads!

After confirming that they could not meet Liu Zhonggui, they turned to meet Liu Qi, the chief secretary of the shogunate. This time it went smoothly. Liu Qi, who had just returned from Chongqing, met the two in his mansion. As the number one figure in the Sichuan shogunate civil servant system, Liu Qi is definitely familiar with Li Nanxian and Zhang Shaozong. Not only have they met before, but Liu Qi also learned about these two famous wealthy businessmen in China from many other channels.

To say that they are famous is not that they are the most famous rich people in China. That is not a fact. There are many low-key rich people in China who are richer than them, and many of them are deeply rooted in large families. This is difficult for Li and Zhang to compare with each other. The reason why they are famous is that they are compradors of Dongguo people, and they can manage their businesses, and invest the commissions accumulated by compradors into business, gaining huge benefits.

Now, Zhang and Li not only have considerable industries under their name, but also have connections throughout the provinces, and even the Qing people in Shatou City, Xiangyang and other places have people who know them. In addition, they have the export channels of domestic bulk commodities such as tea, medicinal materials, textiles, grain, and import channels of many commodities that are only available to the East. This is the main factor for their prosperity and development, and it is also the main reliance for their standing in Shunguo to this day.

After meeting Liu Qi, Li Nan, who had a lot of assets, spoke first. He formally asked Liu Qi to request to manage Sichuan tea, and was willing to reimburse military supplies for this. It was not Shunyang, which was cast by Shunguo himself, but the East Coast silver dollars. Moreover, in order to convince Liu Qi, he also expressed in a confident tone that he would find a way to import tea making and transportation equipment from the people of the East, especially the latter, which would have a great effect on reducing costs.

Some people may ask, "Li Nan first wants to do the tea business in Sichuan directly, why do you have to donate money to the shogunate? The reason is actually very simple. In order to raise military expenses, the Sichuan shogunate ordered the big merchants in their jurisdiction to serve military funds and then engage in business in a certain industry, which is equivalent to buying a license. Because of his reputation, Li Nan first bleeded 20,000 silver dollars and obtained the qualification to enter Sichuan to operate tea farms, tea roasting workshops and foreign trade. It is also very deceptive, but this is a hurdle that the big merchants in mainland China (whether the Qing, Shun or Ming) cannot avoid when doing business, and they are even used to it.

Liu Qi was not very satisfied with the quotation of 20,000 silver dollars given by Li Nanxian, but he knew that this was the only way to do this. If it was too much, it would be too much. Li Nanxian is now running the Dafa Yong Shipping font. Although he mainly does business in Hubei, it may also expand to Sichuan in the future, which is of great significance to the Sichuan shogunate. After all, they are located in the inland area and foreign transportation is always a big problem. If Dafa Yong can solve this problem for them, it would have really helped.

In addition, Li Nanxian's East Coast background always made Liu Qi a little afraid. As a semi-separatist regime in Dashun, the Sichuan Shogunate has always paid great attention to maintaining relations with the East Coast. At that time, due to the southern expedition to the Ming Dynasty, the Sichuan Shogunate did not make any trouble for the East Coast people in their jurisdiction. Not only did they treat them with good wine and food, but they also sent troops to send them out of the country along the way, and they also bought gifts from the merchant stations, so that they would not suffer major losses.

From these measures, we can see that they do not want to and dare not offend the East Coast people. The machines they need to develop the economy and the weapons and military resources they need to develop military needs must be purchased from the East Coast people. Therefore, as the comprador of the East Coast, Li Nanxian, in Liu Qi's eyes, is a person who needs to be treated with caution, rather than other merchants in Sichuan who can be kneaded at will. The two are not at the same level at all. Therefore, after thinking about it over and over again, he finally recognized Li Nanxian's donation of 20,000 yuan. Of course, this still requires the approval of Liu Dashuai, but Liu Qi believes that the problem is not a big deal.

Similar to Li Nanxian, Zhang Shaozong wanted to get involved in the raw silk and brocade business in Sichuan. Chengdu was called "Jinguan City" in ancient times. Sulai is famous for its exquisite silk products and marketed to several provinces in central Sichuan and surrounding areas. The East Coast culture is rooted in Chinese civilization, so he is naturally very enthusiastic about these things. A piece of brocade in Chengdu is sold in Ningbo and Denglai, and the market prospects are very broad.

Unfortunately, after Liu Zhonggui occupied Sichuan, due to busy strife and confrontation, the export volume of brocade in Sichuan did not increase significantly, and even declined slightly due to excessive taxes and poor governance, which was a sharp contrast with the booming Suzhou-Hangzhou brocade. In view of this, after the joint venture textile factory with Huang Bochao was on track, Zhang Shaozong, the comprador, planned to start enriching his product line, that is, increasing the export of silk. In this regard, Sichuan, with a good foundation, is undoubtedly the best investment location.

Zhang Shaozong had already thought about it and opened a silk reel factory and a silk factory in Chengdu. The former produces raw silk, and the latter weaves silk. At the same time, he also purchases finished products from farmers and weaving households. As long as the quality is compliant, he will buy them openly. He has already inquired about it. Not only does this thing have a lot of consumer demand, but it is also in the eastern country, and the demand for this kind of product is also very large. People from Taiwan Bank have clearly stated to themselves that it is easy to say how much you buy, the price is easy to say!

The sales route has been determined, so Zhang Shaozong is just a fool if he doesn't know how to do it! Therefore, he came to Chengdu in a daze, intending to obtain the permission of Liu Zhonggui, the actual ruler here, and officially start the business of raw silk and silk. For this reason, he was willing to serve the military 20,000 yuan, all of which were minted by the finest Dabo coins. The purchasing power was strong, which should be satisfactory to the shogunate?

To be honest, Liu Qi was quite satisfied with receiving 40,000 silver dollars. Although the amount was a little small, what were these two people? Can they be treated as ordinary businessmen? Besides, they are willing to run factories here, so this is a long-term business. In the future, not only can they pay commercial taxes, but they can also pay some money when there is a levy. The overall benefits are still great.

Of course, the most important thing is that these two people are also quite sensible. Not only did they prepare generous gifts for Lord Jieshuai, but they also had one. Liu Qi took a look just now. It was a bearer certificate of deposit issued by a Taiwanese bank, worth 2,000 silver dollars. This is a big gift, worthy of their activities for them.

After discussing business matters, Liu Qi took the opportunity to ask about the current situation in Ningbo, that is, whether the relationship between the people of the Dongguo and Shunguo means a complete thaw, and when will war horses, weapons, armor, machinery and equipment and other commodities be re-exported to Dashun. To be honest, Li and Zhang are not easy to answer this question, because they are not of high level enough to be exposed to such important military affairs. They can only judge vaguely based on their own vague impression that if Dashun can satisfy them in some conditions such as population, perhaps things may have a turning point.

To be honest, this judgment lacks practical evidence to support it, but Li and Zhang subconsciously felt that the top priority of the Ningbo government of the Dongguo people had changed again, because the content of the report of "King" and "National Daily" was different from the previous ones, and this may not be a sign of the policy shift, so they boldly made the above guess.

Liu Qi was also half-believing and half-doubted about their words. The situation in the Sichuan shogunate is not very optimistic now. Although the Nanming conquest successfully won half of Yunnan, Changsha's vigilance and suppression of them has also further strengthened. It is difficult to say whether it was a profit or a loss. Moreover, after a large number of surrendered troops of the Ming Dynasty were incorporated, the total number of troops under Liu Zhonggui's command has reached nearly 100,000, which is extremely majestic. But the problem also exists, that is, the newly recruited personnel are generally poorly equipped and need to be improved urgently. As for the old troops, the equipment has been damaged in a series of battles, and many of them cannot be repaired or supplemented by their own side, so they can only purchase them from outside.

Recently, Liu Qi was very worried about this. The Changsha Guns and Cannon Bureau will definitely not give them equipment or will not give them priority. They can only rely on their own reliance before the Chengdu Guns and Cannon Bureau was officially established, all their military weapons could only rely on the East Coast people, which was impossible. Not to mention, even the Chengdu Guns and Cannon Bureau, which is in the process of building, wouldn’t the many mechanical processing equipment needed by the Chengdu Guns and Cannon Bureau rely on the East Coast imports?
Chapter completed!