Dressed as a young lady, she became rich by relying on Pinxixi

Starting a caravan to the southwest is a grand dream.

How grand is it?

Let me put it this way, throughout the dynasties, few people except the official team were willing to take this path.

This road is not easy to travel as it is full of endless mountains and steep cliffs, as well as foreign territories and banditry.

The two positive young people knew that their dreams were big, but also understood the principle of eating one bite at a time. After analyzing the post roads and docks of Heqing Prefecture, they first discussed a set of goals. Lin Yiqing went to carry them out, while Xu Siyu continued with her annual goals.

Reclaiming 500 acres of land is not an easy task.

Xu Huaishan's ability is limited and it is hard for him to manage the situation, so Xu Siyu naturally has to help him deal with farm tools, water sources, and even water conservancy projects.

The curved plow, oxen, and iron towers were all matched according to the people and the land. As for the drawings of well exploration, well drilling, and water wheels, Xu Siyu not only asked County Magistrate Hong to introduce the best craftsmen, but also secretly copied the engineering drawings bought by Pin Xixi and asked them to build several water mills.

After drawing the picture of the water mill, Xu Siyu suddenly had an idea to draw a mixing tank. With the power of water, a washing machine or blender was made, which was really an extra bonus.

Xu Siyu gave Xu Huaishan a goal of 1,000 dan of grain, and Xu Huaishan was very nervous.

If it were fertile land, this number should be fine, but this is mostly wasteland. Xu Huaishan has already used the composting method Xu Siyu instructed to fertilize the land, and he is worried about the unknown result.

But what he didn't know was that the rice seeds Xu Siyu gave him were guaranteed to produce 1400 kilograms per mu on Pinxixi. Xu Siyu calculated countless possibilities. If Xu Huaishan couldn't even achieve an output of 250 kilograms per mu, then he really didn't know how to farm.

After finishing the work in the fields, Lin Yiqing also came back.

There is a lot of bad news about business, but there is also good news.

"The southwestern trade routes are mostly controlled by the imperial court for transporting salt and grain. Ordinary merchants are not allowed to use them unless..."

"Unless what?" Xu Siyu was impatient and couldn't stand being teased like this.

"Unless you can transport a thousand dan of grain per month to support the border, the imperial court will issue salt permits. Those holding these permits will not only have the right to draw on them for salt trading, but will also be able to travel freely through the four southwestern regions."

Paying grain to support the border areas was a military grain supply policy devised by the Li Dynasty. After being widely promoted in the north, some border areas in the south also followed suit.

"Is that all?" The amount of donated food was not large, and Xu Siyu could afford it.

"Isn't this a difficult task?"

Lin Yiqing thought she didn't understand, so he continued to explain, "Currently, there's only Guangshun in the southwest. To get there from Changjia County, you have to cross over ten mountains and ridges by land. Besides the official road, you also have to go through the Bozhou Xuanwei Division, which means you'll have to pay at least double the price along the way. There's a smooth water route, but it has to go around the Qinglong River, which is seriously infested with bandits. If the food can't be safely delivered, it won't be worth anything."

The difficulty Lin Yiqing mentioned was the difficulty of transportation.

During these three months, he visited various places as well as officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Transport stationed in the southwest of the capital. The regular post roads no longer issued pass tokens, so he only had this place that was despised by dignitaries.

As long as he takes it, all the southwestern post roads will be opened to him.

But such a good thing must be accompanied by extremely high risks.

Just think about it and you will know that this good thing may ultimately be just a mirage.

The land routes are controlled by local chieftains, the water routes are plagued by bandits, and it is difficult for the army to pass through. Anyone who goes there will be fined a few pounds, and may even leave with nothing.

Therefore, all the other grain-bearing lands in the border areas were occupied, and this one was the only one that no one was fighting for.

Lin Yiqing was a little depressed. "Opening trade routes and expanding circulation" had always been his business dream.

Starting out now is a difficult hurdle, which seems to confirm what his father and uncle said: is he too naive about business?

Seeing his surprise, Xu Siyu quickly tried to comfort him, saying, "Mr. Lin, if we get the salt permit, we'll have a lot more options. This won't be easy. Use your clever brain and figure out how to break the impasse."

People are sometimes so strange. If it is your own business, you can just let it go; but if it is your lover's business, you will always think of countless ways for him and help him get everything he wants.

For so many years, the imperial court has not shipped any cargo to Guangshun?

There must be.

They must have used some methods to make this smooth, but there are some methods they can't use.

Their identity is civilians, so they cannot go the same way as bandits. The mountain road seems to be a more rational choice.

But if this waterway can be opened, although it is a detour, it will be much better than crossing mountains and rivers in terms of transportation efficiency.

Lin Yiqing took out the southwest map he had drawn and showed the road to Xu Siyu.

The Qinglong River winds eastward from the Heqingfu Wharf and then turns west. The bend in the river is due to the Qinglong Mountain.

The road is dead, but people are alive.

There are people on both roads, so you can't choose the easy road. As long as the people on this road are recovered, there will be no risk.

The bandits in Qinglong Mountain are obviously blocking the way to wealth, and there are always people who want to destroy them.

"Doesn't the Bozhou Xuanwei Office want to take down the bandits in Qinglong Mountain?" Xu Siyu asked, pointing to the mountain peak.

"Qinglong Mountain belongs to the Pingnan area. The chieftains of Bozhou and Pingnan each govern their own territory."

"That means Pingnan allowed the existence of Qinglong Mountain, so there must be some profit sharing between them."

"It should be." Lin Yiqing said affirmatively. This is not difficult to guess.

"If... I say if, Xu Bozhou offers peace to Nanli, will they..." Xu Siyu made a gesture of wiping his neck.

"You want to provoke a war between the two chieftains? Why would Bozhou do this? They have lived in peace for so many years."

"Isn't Bozhou short of money? Or doesn't he want to be richer?"

"Of course I do. But the water route to Pingnan is blocked, so we can only give it to him via the mountain road through Bozhou. He can still make money."

"Tell me, will he gain more if we go once or a hundred times?"

"What do you mean?"

"If we cross mountains and rivers, it will take at least forty days to go back and forth. The journey is difficult, so there are naturally fewer caravans. Even if we give him 50% profit every time, how much can he get at most? If it is by water, we give him 10%, but the water route is only two or three hundred miles, and a shipload of goods can be delivered within three days. We will give him 20% profit, what do you think?" Xu Siyu did not calculate in detail, but just gave an example. Lin Yiqing just needed to understand.

"Also, there's never been a court that didn't want to eliminate banditry. It's just that the price is too high. Is there any way to get the Guangshun guards to join forces with Bozhou to eliminate the bandits, or to overthrow a chieftain whose inaction is hindering their prosperity?"

Xu Siyu just said whatever came to mind? Just treat it as a brainstorming session.

To conquer the natural barriers is as difficult as climbing to the sky in this era.

Occupying high-quality resources has always been the purpose of war, and Xu Siyu believes that there is value in disrupting the situation.

There is always a way to reshuffle the interests of the chieftains and the welfare of the border guards and residents.