Chapter 722 - A new deal (1/2)

The railroad linking the Qing Consortium and the Northwest was still under construction, but the trade between them had already started.

When Qing Zhen appointed the person to take charge of this matter, he did not consider anyone but Xu Man. Only he was the most suitable candidate for the job.

It had to be known that Xu Man oversaw the growth of the bandit forces in the valley, and it could be said that many of Qing Zhen’s plans had always been executed perfectly whenever he handled them.

In the Qing Consortium, it would not be enough if it were only Qing Zhen alone who had to deal with this chaotic world. His farsightedness still required strong executioners.

Therefore, Xu Man could be said to be the Qing Consortium’s principal person who oversaw their Northwestern strategy.

One of the more important matters in recent days was that Wang Fugui had brought back with him a group of merchants from the Central Plains. The amount of goods he hauled back to the Northwest made the other merchants extremely envious.

One of Xu Man’s subordinates suggested they make contact with Wang Fugui and groom him to become an agent of the Qing Consortium.

However, Xu Man rejected the suggestion with an astounded expression. Others might not know about Wang Fugui, but how could he not know? That was not someone he could nurture.

Another important thing was that a batch of fur hides had suddenly appeared in the market.

Logically speaking, it was just a bunch of fur hides and not some strategic resources that appeared, so it should not have raised any concerns.

But Xu Man still personally made a trip over. When he saw the corsac fox fur hides, he immediately realized these goods must have come from the steppe.

NO

When normal people heard about the steppe, they would only get reminded of groups of nomadic tribes and barbarians. However, Xu Man deeply understood Qing Zhen’s concerns. The steppe meant a great deal to the Qing Consortium.

Just like how Wang Shengzhi had specially made a trip to the Northwest to persuade Zhang Jinglin to help him suppress the Qing Consortium, Qing Zhen needed someone to suppress the Wang Consortium! Although the steppe was thousands of kilometers away from the Qing Consortium, the nomadic tribes there could get to the Wang Consortium immediately by passing through Stronghold 176.

If such geography were consolidated, it would create the same banditry situation as the valley that had annoyed the Yang Consortium back then, and annoy the Wang Consortium as well.

Just as Xu Man had said, Zhang Jinglin would definitely not allow something like that. That was because too many people would die if it ever happened.

But Qing Zhen had always been an unscrupulous person. The only people he wanted to protect were the Qing Consortium’s people in the Southwest. The lives of others had nothing to do with him.

Therefore, Xu Man found and approached Su Lei instead. He wanted to send firearms to the steppe to help one of the major powers there consolidate the territory!

Xu Man got straight to the point. “The business you’re running now is too small. I also know full well that you aren’t satisfied with just reselling some daily necessities. However, you definitely can’t get any help from Fortress 178, so you can only rely on us.” “Where exactly are you from?” Su Lei asked hesitantly.

“It’s not difficult to guess.” Xu Man said with a smile, “If you can’t even guess that, I might have to find someone smarter to work with.”

“The Qing Consortium?” Su Lei asked. To be honest, he really did not expect the Qing Consortium would approach him.