Shen Tang selectively ignored the words "smuggling."
After all, it wouldn't sound good if the government was "smuggling."
No matter how unruly and freedom-loving she was, she still had to keep up appearances. She gave a light cough. "What, you're not interested?"
She'd done plenty of research on smuggling cloth, salt, and grain. The local strongmen whose homes had been searched had piles and piles of account books. Only after reading them did she learn that they'd kept this business firmly in their grasp. They'd bribed the authorities and Yonggu Pass to smooth the way, then had the merchants under their command handle the trade. Any outsider who wanted a share had to pay the strongmen several times, or even more than ten times, the usual price just to gain their favor.
They took their cut at every step.
Even so, a single trip could still bring in a handsome profit.
That showed just how lucrative the business was.
And now, factory-direct sales...
Ahem. The authorities were entering the field.
"No, no, no—" The merchant shook his head so fast it was like a rattle drum, his words stumbling over one another. "I'm interested! Very interested!"
Shen Tang smiled. "Then have you got a plan?"
She'd chosen him, but his ability fell short of what she'd expected. She wouldn't mind finding someone better.
The merchant before her was the salt trader Shen Tang had unexpectedly rescued on her trip to the Ten Crows. He still hadn't gone home, solely because his goods had been stolen by Ten Crows refugees on that trading trip, leaving him penniless. It was only thanks to his ancestors' protection that he'd made it back inside the pass with Shen Tang.
Once he was back inside the pass, Shen Tang hadn't paid him any mind.
He'd