288: Chapter 288 Establishing a Caravan of 5,000 People

"The Shang family is willing to submit to His Majesty the Head of State."

Shang Ziling made the decision very decisively.

"Very well!"

Zhao Fusu looked at Shang Ziling appreciatively; this woman was indeed a clever person, saving him a lot of words and effort.

Zhao Fusu told Shang Ziling that he would dispatch a Huaxia Party branch to the Shang family to conduct ideological and political work, and be responsible for educating, managing, and supervising them.

Shang Ziling nodded and agreed.

She was not surprised at all by Zhao Fusu's move.

To control the Shang family, Zhao Fusu would inevitably plant his people within it.

Zhao Fusu asked, "How many caravans do you have now? How many people are in each caravan?"

"Three."

Shang Ziling said, "Each caravan consists of five hundred to one thousand people."

"One caravan travels year-round between the coast and Southwest Bashu, transporting seafood like salted sea fish, dried kelp, seaweed, and dried oysters to the Southwest Bashu region for sale, then buying specialties like cinnabar, medicinal herbs, and tea from Southwest Bashu to sell in the coastal regions."

"Another caravan travels year-round between the Xiongnu and Baiyue."

Baiyue includes many tribes and regions.

Wuyue is mainly distributed from southern Jiangsu to northern Zhejiang, including Juwu, Yuyue, and others.

Dongyue is in the southern Zhejiang to northern Fujian region.

Minyue is located between northern and eastern Fujian.

Nanyue is distributed around Guangdong.

Xiyue is mainly in the Guangxi area.

Luoyue includes northern Vietnam, southern Guangxi, and Hainan; under the jurisdiction of Luoyue, there are 15 divisions such as Jiaozhi, Zhuyuan, and Wuning.

Yangyue is distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the region between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers.

It is clear that the land of Baiyue is vast.

Shang Ziling said, "The caravan obtains unique Baiyue items like ivory, pearls, rhinoceros horns, and kapok flowers, transporting them north and selling them along the way."

"Then they buy ceramics, tea, silk, and other goods along the way to sell to the Xiongnu."

"After His Majesty the Head of State deregulated grain, the two caravans also began transporting grain."

"Additionally, we formed a new caravan to transport rice and glutinous rice from Jiangnan to Guanzhong, bringing back steam threshers, steam rotary tillers, Wool Sweaters, glassware, and other goods."

Zhao Fusu nodded slightly.

Commodity circulation in ancient times was not as convenient as it is now, where you can just place an order on a phone and have a courier deliver it.

The flow of goods between regions relied on caravans traveling across the land.

Every caravan was very large; besides transporting more goods, it was also to prevent bandit attacks.

Prefectures and counties also welcomed caravans passing through because they would collect customs duties, resulting in significant tax revenue.

"In that case..."

Zhao Fusu said, "I plan to establish a West India Company. Help me organize a caravan of five thousand people."

"West India Company?"

"A caravan of five thousand people!"

Shang Ziling was shocked.

The size of this caravan was comparable to the armies of some small nations!

"Yes."

Zhao Fusu said, "The primary purpose of this caravan is to transport large amounts of silver to the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions to buy potassium ore and salt from salt lakes, as well as to purchase wheat, soybeans, barley, millet, broomcorn millet, rice, raisins, and wine from the common people."

"Goods such as Magic Box Napkins, Xishan Jade Paper, A4 Paper, Wool Sweaters, milk, ramie clothing, and glassware will also be transported to the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions for sale. We will not accept silver; only potassium ore or the grain crops of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions will be accepted in exchange."

"Understood!"

Shang Ziling agreed.