The Frenzied Slave Trade

On the 18th day of the sixth month in the third year of the Great Qian era name, Guchang County held a grand memorial ceremony presided over by Song Yong.

The eulogy, the proceedings, and the rituals were all single-handedly arranged by that old pedant, Song Yong.

Gao Yuan brought all his female relatives, including Zhao Xiyao, Zheng Wan, Song Yao, and Mu Qing, as well as Wu Xu, to attend the ceremony.

After Song Yong finished reading the eulogy, Gao Yuan led the way in offering incense and then kowtowed to the spirits of the heroes.

Finally, the spirit tablets of everyone were welcomed into the Shrine of Loyalty and Martyrdom, allowing them to enjoy the incense of ten thousand households.

This act brought great comfort to the families who had lost their loved ones.

From then on, this memorial ceremony became a regular practice, not only held annually but also after every battle.

With this task completed, Gao Yuan completely lost his freedom; the women ordered him to recuperate at home, forbidding him even from going to the military camp.

Gao Yuan could only take advantage of the time when the women were working each day to drag Wen Pin to the estate's training ground for some sparring.

Although his Spearmanship had improved to B+ rank, compared to Wen Pin, Gao Yuan still felt like a weakling.

Seeing Gao Yuan looking a bit discouraged, Wen Pin quickly comforted him: "My Lord, do not be discouraged. This humble general's Spearmanship was practiced from childhood. Given time, I believe My Lord's Spearmanship will surely surpass This humble general's."

Gao Yuan sat down, wiped the sweat from his brow, and took a big gulp of water before saying regretfully: "I know, but I just think that if my martial arts were stronger, perhaps I could have saved a few more brothers in this great battle, and I wouldn't have been injured myself."

Wen Pin suddenly felt a warmth in his heart, feeling that he had followed the right person in this life: "To be able to follow My Lord, I believe those brothers who sacrificed themselves have no regrets."

Seeing Wen Pin's burning gaze, Gao Yuan knew his words had been effective. He stood up and patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, go and rest as well. There is still very important work to be done next."

"Understood, This humble general will take his leave."

The recruitment, training, and screening of new soldiers were all very tedious and complicated tasks.

With Liu Rengui away, Gao Yuan handed all these tasks over to Wen Pin to manage.

Bayinnaung had retreated, but the toungoo people, having suffered a great loss, would sooner or later make a comeback.

The Central Plains had already begun to fall into chaos, and if he wanted to contend for the Central Plains, he would need a powerful army.

Therefore, after returning this time, Gao Yuan made up his mind.

He would use his six thousand cards to expand the Beiwei Army to four divisions, totaling ten thousand men.

The Xuanjia Army also needed to expand from its original twelve divisions and thirty thousand men to fourteen divisions, totaling thirty-five thousand men.

At the same time, his direct Personal Guards Cavalry had also suffered heavy losses this time and had to be expanded.

Having just captured many warhorses, he prepared to expand it to three hundred men in one go.

Although three hundred armored Cavalry were not many, in this south, Cavalry itself was a rarity.

As a special force, they could often play an unexpected role.

The largest scale recruitment drive since Gao Yuan arrived in the Southwest began in full swing.

Counting those captured enemy soldiers, this time they would recruit nearly ten thousand troops.

It was fortunate that his territory was large enough now; otherwise, he would never have been able to recruit so many men.

While Gao Yuan was enthusiastically expanding his strength, Gao Zhong's fleet arrived in Yangzhou.

Looking at the coolies queuing to disembark, Liu Dacheng, who was beside Wan Sanqian, could not stop grinning from ear to ear.

"Hahaha, Shopkeeper Wan really has the ability, to actually be able to get so many slaves."

"This isn't because I have the ability; it is because my master has the ability."

"Yes, yes, yes. Commandery Duke Gao is brave and skilled in battle, invincible and ever-victorious, making the foreign tribes tremble with fear."

Liu Dacheng flattered Gao Yuan from afar before lowering his voice and saying: "Then, Shopkeeper Wan, the price this time..."

Wan Sanqian held out his hand to gesture a number: "These are all prisoners captured on the battlefield, every single one a strong laborer, so I intend to sell them at this price."

When Liu Dacheng saw the number Wan Sanqian gestured, he immediately beamed with joy: "Then thank you very much for your generosity, Shopkeeper Wan."

According to the Great Qian market conditions, these foreign slaves could usually be sold for eight to ten guan each.

However, in the past, foreign slaves were mainly nomadic peoples from the north, so they were naturally supplied to the north first.

The landlords and Powerful Families in the south could not get any benefit at all.

Unless they bought them at a high price through some merchants, or had familiar Powerful Families willing to share some.

Usually, the price would rise to fifteen to eighteen guan.

Now that Wan Sanqian only wanted ten guan each, for Yang Qianli, that was practically handing over profit for free.

Turning around and reselling them for twelve guan each, he estimated they would be snapped up in less than three days.

More than thirty thousand slaves, earning two guan each—that would be a profit of nearly one hundred thousand guan.

Of course, for such a big piece of fat meat, anyone who touched it would get some grease on their hands!

The fleet made several trips before all thirty thousand-plus slaves were transported to Yangzhou for sale.

Returning, the ships were naturally not empty; Wan Sanqian left behind a portion of the money to maintain the operations of the Secret Guards.

The rest was all exchanged for grain, draft oxen, and servants and maids bought from various agencies.

These Powerful Families and landlords in Jiangnan loved these high-quality, inexpensive slaves dearly.

The fleet was almost emptied as soon as it arrived at the dock.

Wan Sanqian, this slave trade ringleader, also became a capable person in the eyes of these people.

This left Wan Sanqian laughing and crying, almost wanting to write a letter back to ask Gao Yuan when there would be more supply.

Yangzhou provincial inspector Yang Qianli made a fortune this time, so he turned a blind eye to Wan Sanqian's layout in Jiangnan.

In his view, it didn't matter who became emperor; in the end, it was still people like them who were officials.

Without scholars like them from the Powerful Families, how could the emperor govern the world?

With the chaos in the north, the 'supply' of agencies in Jiangnan became sufficient, and the prices of servants and maids also dropped.

Wan Sanqian, this big customer, became a god of wealth in the eyes of the agencies; as long as he appeared, it meant big business was coming.

"Oh my, Shopkeeper Wan, you've come again. Come and take a look, I have quite a few newly arrived young girls here today."

"They wouldn't be those crooked melons and cracked dates like last time, would they?"

"Absolutely not, they are all young girls."

Wan Sanqian came out less than a quarter of an hour after entering; he had bought everyone in this agency.

After visiting a dozen or so agencies like this, Wan Sanqian spent his last bit of money.

The thirty thousand-plus slaves ultimately earned Gao Yuan over five thousand people, more than half of whom were young girls aged ten to fifteen.

Gao Yuan got a headache looking at this; such young children couldn't be married off, it was too inhumane.

In the end, Zhao Xiyao made the decision to place them all in the school and the newly established technical college.

Allowing these girls to read and write and master a survival skill would be beneficial for the future.

Gao Yuan highly approved of this; an educated woman could influence an entire family.

After reading Wan Sanqian's letter, Gao Yuan had new ideas about satisfying 'market demand.'

In the past, reading history books and watching movies, it was always foreign tribes invading the Central Plains and capturing commoners as slaves.

Couldn't he go to Toungoo and Khmer to capture prisoners as slaves and sell them to the Central Plains?

"It can weaken the enemy, strengthen oneself, and increase the country's labor force—what a great method that kills three birds with one stone. I am truly too smart!"

After praising himself thoroughly, Gao Yuan began to write a letter, preparing to hand this task over to Liu Rengui.

Zhongnan Circuit was located between Khmer and Toungoo, truly a good place for capturing prisoners.

If he could take the opportunity to incite war between the two countries, he might even be able to reap the benefits like the fisherman.

The more he thought about it, the more excited and smug he became.

Regarding foreign tribes, no matter what he did to them, Gao Yuan truly felt no psychological pressure at all.