Previous scholarship has shown that merchants from Shaanxi and Gansu provinces established a significant presence in Xinjiang following Qianlong’s conquest of the region. By examining murder cases, scholars have unveiled how the poor made a living in this new territory, while studying jade enabled scholars to see how wealthy merchants connected the region to the rest of the empire. This study aims to show how these merchants formed their own networks and how they provided quintessential assistance to enhance Qing rule in Xinjiang. Evidence shows that Hui merchants were able to form close ties with the local begs and participated in the transportation of Muslim cloth from Altishahr to Ili and Tarbaghatai for sale. Han merchants, by accomplishing tasks outsourced by Qing officials, not only enhanced Qing rule in Xinjiang, but also made fortunes themselves. This study uses stele inscriptions in temples and Manchu memorials to reveal the networks of these merchants and their role Qing state-building.