Back then, Zhao Xiu persuaded Gwyneth to help the crown prince and Gao Zhen secretly return to Beijing, in exchange for helping her take revenge. After arriving in Tianjin, she and the crown prince and Gao Zhen entered Beijing successively, and entrusted Gwyneth's fleet to the prefect of Jiang, and she said everything that should be said, but later she only heard that Gwyneth returned to the south smoothly in the spring, but she didn't know what happened, and she was worried that she had promised her that she could not do it. Although she mentioned it in her letter to her grandmother, and her grandmother also told her that the matter was done, she didn't know the specific details, so as soon as Zhao Xiu saw Zhao Qixuan, she couldn't help but ask.

Zhao Qixuan also knew that Zhao Xiu had some friendship with Gwyneth, and when he saw that she was in a hurry, he replied with a smile: "Naturally, all wishes have come true." Mrs. Wells was a shrewd person, and she transported a batch of goods to Tianjin, with the help of the Governor of Jiang, all of them sold at a high price, and Mrs. Governor Jiang took care of them, and received a lot of local products from the north. I heard that she had made a great contribution this time, and there were rewards in the palace, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs also gave her family a merchant with the title of imperial businessman. After the beginning of spring, she returned to the south smoothly with a full load of goods, and immediately after she landed, someone from the government went to meet her. Mrs. Wells did not delay, and asked directly about the whereabouts of the Western merchant named Matt. It turned out that after the former prefect of Shanghai was imprisoned and beheaded, Namat lost his backer, and because he was an accomplice of the anti-party, his family property was confiscated, and the family could only hide in a hut near the pier to live, waiting for the opportunity to return to his hometown. When Mrs. Wells found him, she asked the help of the government to charge Matt with a crime, and the whole family arrested him, and rumors spread that he was going to kill the head of his family. ”

"Huh?" Zhao Xiu was a little confused when she heard this, "Is this Mrs. Wells' idea?" "If you want revenge, you don't have to preach that you get everywhere, right?

Zhao Qixuan smiled: "That's just bluffing, it's just a pretense." As soon as the rumor came out, a monk from abroad went to the government to intercede, and even the Western merchants next to him also came forward one after another, asking the government to spare the lives of Matt's family. Some people also said that Namat's family is not his own people, and since he has committed a crime, he will be deported, so why should his family die? His children were still young, and the youngest daughter was not yet ten years old, so it was unjust to die like this. The government was silent, but Mrs. Wells came forward, and she ransomed Matt's family with the money and made them her slaves. ”

Zhao Xiu's mouth opened wide, and he understood a little.

In the eyes of those foreign merchants and monks, Mrs. Wells was very dignified in front of the people of her own government, and she was willing to come forward and save the Matt family, who they could not save, which was a great deed. Even though she nominally bought the Matt family as slaves, she managed to save their lives. Mrs. Wells learned that her youngest daughter was ill, and she asked the monk Yang to come and see her. Therefore, outsiders say that Mrs. Wells is a very good-hearted person. It was not long before Mrs. Wells said that she would send her deceased father's remains home, and in April she took a few boats and escorted the Namat family out of Nanhui. Speaking to outsiders, he only said that he wanted to bring Matt's family back to England. ”

Zhao Xiu smiled slightly: "As for how the kind-hearted Mrs. Wells will deal with the Matt family during her travels, outsiders will not know?" ”

Zhao Qixuan smiled and lowered his voice: "Her subordinates told me privately that the people of the Wells family would never let the Matt family return to the West to continue to be powerful. When their fleet passed through the South Seas, they would find a larger island to drop off their people, and let them do hard labor on the island, and associate themselves with the local natives. When the fleet returned to England, it lied to people that they had dropped them down while passing through France, and the people there did not know whether it was true or not. Every year when someone in the fleet passed by their island, they would see if they were dead or alive, and if they were alive, if they were still alive, they would never be allowed to live comfortably. Torture for so many years is like cutting flesh with a blunt knife, which is more uncomfortable than killing someone with a single knife. ”

Zhao Xiu laughed when she heard this: "This method is not bad, not only revenge, but also a good reputation, others can't say that she is cruel and vicious." But then one more thing came to her mind, "Mrs. Wells has brought back the bones of her deceased husband this time, and will she not come back again?" So what about our family's foreign goods business? "Could it be that the path she just helped people build will be invalid in the blink of an eye, right?

Zhao Qixuan hurriedly said: "This is not true. After all, she is a woman, and after taking revenge, she should return to China with the ashes of her deceased husband. The Wells family left a few people down to discuss the establishment of a real trading house, and to do a serious business with the help of the imperial merchant brand of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Mrs. Wells returned to China this time, and also brought a lot of Dachu specialties, which were sold at a high price when they arrived in England, and then bought a batch of goods from there, and sent another ship to escort them back. According to the people of the Wells family, in the future, his family's fleet will travel between Dachu and England once a year, and there will be at least four ships each time. In a few years, his family was able to become one of the largest merchants in England. ”

He winked at Zhao Xiu: "I asked my uncle and grandmother what they meant, the second room has two shares in the Wells Commercial Bank, the sixth room also accounts for one share, the General Zhuguo Mansion has one share, the Internal Affairs Office has three shares, and the Wells family only has three shares, but they don't complain, but they think this business is very cost-effective." ”

Zhao Xiu smiled when he heard this: "Isn't it a good deal?" Even if most of the profits are divided, the business is stable and stable, and it is simply a monopoly. Such a division of interests is not a loss for the second and sixth rooms of the Zhao family, but it also has a relationship with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. With the face of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the newly built firm of the Wells family, no matter what they want to buy, has less expenses to deal with the relevant parties, and the cost is reduced, and the profit will naturally be more. However, the people of the Wells family can recognize the key and are willing to give up this part of the benefits, and their courage is also amazing.

However, she is also a little worried: "With so many people to share this cake, will it be too little to rely on only four ships of cargo every year?" "As soon as there are more people who share the profits, the less money they will get for each of them, I am afraid that sooner or later it will cause dissatisfaction on one of them, right?

Zhao Qixuan shook his head: "Western goods are only four ships a year, after all, the road is far away, it is already good to be able to walk once a year, maybe after a year, the ship that departed last year has not yet arrived in Dachu." The Wells family is a veteran of the business and has come up with many ways to make money. For example, in the South Seas, timber, medicinal herbs, spices and gems are all extremely sought-after goods in the country, and the trip is much closer than that of the West. If you are familiar with it, you can also run twice a year. In addition, many Western merchants went to the Nanyang island countries, and if they transported the goods of Dachu to trade with them, although the profits were thinner, they also saved a lot of costs and avoided many risks. I heard from the Wells brothers that they had already made two trips last year, that all the ports had been set up, that the supply of goods had been found, that a few ships had been sent over, and that there should be a few ships of wood and spices back next year. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has already covered sixty percent of it, and the rest will be sold in Beijing, so it must not be a sell-out. ”

It's really a good calculation. Zhao Xiu thought to himself, deciding to cooperate with the Wells family may be a wise choice. Although she only paid attention to Gwyneth at the beginning, and did not notice that there was such a shrewd businessman in the Wells family, it was a good result to have such an unexpected surprise.

She smiled and asked, "How many ships does his fleet have?" Not only to send Mrs. Wells back to this hometown, but also to go to Nanyang to sell goods, so isn't his berth in Nanhui Port empty now? ”

Zhao Qixuan laughed: "People are human beings, where would they make such a mistake?" With the token of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Wells family has a lot of face in Shanghai. The property of the foreign merchant Matt, especially a large fleet, was originally confiscated by the government, and later the Wells family only spent a few thousand taels of silver to buy more than 20 ships from the government, and even the sailors and goods were ready-made, where to find such a good deal? If it weren't for our family joining forces with him, I would have blushed when I looked at it. ”

Zhao Xiu was really surprised this time, thinking that the Wells family was originally just a medium-sized fleet, and the main reason for coming to the East was to find relatives and take revenge, and he never expected that he could make the business bigger to this scale. In this way, his family had thirty or forty seagoing ships, thousands of sailors and shipwrights, and established a fixed trade route to the West and the South Seas. With such a foundation, the position of this imperial merchant can also be secured. And for the Jiannan Hou Zhao family, once a good thought, now almost sitting at home waiting to receive money, is there a more cost-effective investment in the world?

Zhao Xiu and Zhao Qixuan were chatting happily here, and Zhang's side couldn't help but urge: "It's time to eat, what can't you say after eating?" Sister Xiu, don't just talk to your brother. ”

Zhao Xiu smiled and apologized, and the two of them sat down separately and had dinner.

After the meal, Zhao Qixuan's family went to the small courtyard house on Gulou Xiejie under the leadership of Wang Fulai to settle down. Early the next morning, Ma and the two children had their own two-room servants to go out to play, and several shopkeepers also went to the nearby commercial street to investigate, and Zhao Qixuan went to the two-room mansion to discuss with Zhang and Zhao Wei the charter of the two-room industry in Beijing in the future, and Zhao Xiu also came over to listen.

They discussed, with the industry under the name of the second house now, there is a weaving yard and a dyeing workshop, this cloth business can be done, and they can also collect the silk produced in Suzhou and Hangzhou and sell it in Beijing, so a cloth shop or silk village must be there; In addition, there is also a tea garden in the second room, and Cai Zhuocheng also has contacts in the tea industry in Hangzhou, and he does not worry about the supply and sales of goods when he opens a tea shop; As for the business that was jointly opened with the Wells family and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Zhao family only needs to check the accounts from time to time and send two more people to supervise it, but it is inconvenient to meddle in other matters, but when there are fresh goods coming, they can give priority to picking some.

Zhao Qixuan asked: "These three stores, our family can open them." Uncle and grandmother, what do you think? I thought I could open another store, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. ”

Zhao Xiu interjected: "You can open a grain store." ”

Zhang looked at her in surprise: "Sister Xiu, the grain business done by Liufang, is it difficult for you to compete with his family for profit?" ”

Zhao Xiu asked Zhao Qixuan: "Does Liufang plan to drive the grain store to the capital?" ”

Zhao Qixuan thought for a while: "Big brother does have this intention, but the brothers are still discussing. This time, there are also a few shopkeepers in the sixth room who went to Beijing, whether to open a grain store in Beijing, they have to read it and report it to the eldest brother before they can make a decision. ”

Zhao Xiu said to Zhang: "I have this idea, not to grab business with Liufang, but to think that our family now has so many granges, most of which are planted with grain, in addition to leaving enough for our family to eat, and then some of them are saved to prevent disaster years, how to deal with the rest?" Definitely going to sell. If Liufang opens a grain store to the capital, then I will be happy to sell the grain to them, which is much more worry-free, but if they don't plan to open a grain store in Beijing, then our family will simply open one by ourselves, which will also save outsiders cheap. ”

Zhang was silent, and Zhao Wei said to her: "My sister is reasonable. If Liufang wants to enter Beijing to open a grain store, it will be fine, otherwise the grain produced by our family will have to be sold to others. Haven't you heard before that there is a person in charge of this matter in a high-ranking family who fills his own pockets and sells the grain of his master's family at a cheap price, and his own family makes a profit from it, causing his master to lose thousands of taels of silver a year? If you sell to your own store, you are not afraid of being deceived. ”

Zhang looked at him, then at his granddaughter Zhao Xiu, and then at Zhao Qixuan, a little hesitant.

Zhao Xiu couldn't see what she meant: "Does grandmother have any concerns?" ”

Zhang sighed: "Our family used to have a shop, but it was so big, I really haven't tried it." There are shares of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the end of the foreign goods trading house, and our family does not participate in the operation, just waiting for dividends, and that's it. The grain shop, the tea shop, and the cloth and silk business are all clearly laid out to be profitable. Although our family has now taken back the title, it has no real power after all. Doing business in such a flamboyant way, will some people think that our family is competing with the people for profit and participating in another book? If someone else sees our family's profits and wants to snatch the property, what should we do? ”RS