Suzhou and Yangzhou are not only the inevitable places of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, but also adjacent to the Yangtze River, and both have a well-developed waterway transportation network, which can be described as natural commodity distribution centers.

Yangzhou is also a salt profit and a salt profit, because the merchants of Yangzhou want to seek benefits from Huai salt, but ignore the industrial management, resulting in Yangzhou's handicraft industry has been far behind.

On the other hand, Suzhou is not only the largest production base of silk, but also Suzhou embroidery, Suzhou carving, Su mounting, Su lanterns, Su fans, Su gongs, Su drums, Su architecture, Su style paintings, Su furniture, Su style bonsai, Suzhou silk, Suzhou antique bronzes and so on.

It is precisely in this way that the merchants of Suzhou not only accumulated a large amount of wealth, but also owned many workshops, but the influence they had in the business world was not comparable to that of Yangzhou salt merchants.

Outside the city of Suzhou, the Humble Administrator's Garden.

This top-level garden house, which was built by Wang Xianchen, the former Gaozhou Governor, took more than ten years, and soon after his death, his son lost to Xu Shaoquan, a wealthy merchant in Suzhou, and the current palace has become Xu's mansion.

Vast more than 200 acres, Maoshu Quchi, Shengjia Wuxia. In the middle of this place is a lake, many gaps are planted with flower beds, fruit trees, etc., and there are 31 scenes such as halls, buildings, pavilions, and pavilions in the garden.

A conference hall near the lake, where you can not only bathe in the spring breeze from the lake, but also enjoy the lake and mountains, which is very pleasant, and is indeed an ideal place for deliberations.

Today's conference hall is a little lively, and a group of wealthy businessmen wearing silk and satin gathered in the hall, but the person sitting in the first seat is not Xu Shaoquan, but Wang Youyin, the president of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce.

Wang Youyin was born in the famous Wang family in Suzhou, the ancestor Wang Kui was good at business, was the grain chief in the early Ming Dynasty, his grandfather Wang Wanguan went to the Hanlin Academy to study for a bachelor's degree, and his grandfather Wang Weiguan went to the prince Taifu and Wu Yingdian University scholar.

Although his grandfather has been dead for nearly 40 years, and the Wang family has not produced any more important ministers of the court, the Wang family has a very high reputation in Suzhou City, and it is also sitting on an extremely rich industry.

Xu Shaoquan first observed Wang Youyin's face, and then smiled at everyone and said: "A few days ago, the shopkeeper of United Money Village found a contemptible person again, and the price has been directly adjusted to seventeen taels, hehe!" ”

"Let's all say it, we can't sell any horses to them, otherwise who is the grandson, don't blame me Shi Yongan for spitting in his face!" Shi Yongan in Suzhou City immediately echoed.

After Gu Siding of Kunshan County was the former first assistant Gu Dingchen, he responded: "Don't worry!" My 5,000 horses of silk are still in the warehouse in Kunshan, and I haven't sold them a single one! ”

When the other silk merchants saw their statement, they naturally would not easily turn their backs, but nodded their heads one after another, or said: "It should be so" and "advance and retreat together".

"Their wishful thinking is loud, but they just flip their hands, and they actually earn many times more than us!" Xu Shaoquan looked at everyone's reactions with satisfaction, and said again with a strange yin and yang atmosphere.

Shi Yongan snorted heavily, and said loudly to the people present: "The people I sent to Xiangshan, Guangdong have inquired clearly!" They signed a contract with the merchants of the country of Franco, a horse...... Twenty taels! ”

When it came to the final price, he looked excited and gestured with two fingers, his eyes both resentful and envious. After all, the usual price on their side is only ten taels, and the contract between Guangdong United Trading House and Franc Jiren is actually twenty taels per horse.

Over the years, they have been in close trade with Guangdong, and the large orders in Guangdong have made them not worry about sales at all. However, as merchants, they naturally want to make greater profits, so they want to kick out the United Trading House and sign a contract directly with the Franc Machine.

Wang Youyin took a sip of tea and said with a rather regretful expression: "I was a step late last time, and I didn't know the consul of Franco, and the local officials obstructed it. Otherwise, the old man can sign that share on behalf of everyone...... With the signing of 200,000 horses, we will no longer have to be controlled by others in the future! ”

As soon as these words came out, even though someone silently converted, their eyes couldn't help but widen, and it turned out to be a full four million taels of transactions.

"My good boy, where are these Francophiles, they are really rich, I'm afraid they are even richer than our Suzhou, right?" Kunshan's Gu Siding secretly calculated and asked dumbfounded.

It's just that no one is destined to be able to answer his question, and everyone now only knows that these Franc people are stupid and have a lot of money, and as long as they bypass the United Trade House, they can grab huge profits from it.

"Huh...... Let's let them hurry up with the contract now! When they can't hand over the goods when they expire, those Francophone people will definitely no longer cooperate with them, and they will definitely take the initiative to contact us to arrange people in Xiangshan! Xu Shaohua laughed dryly, gloating with a calm face.

"Yes, let's not sell any of us now, keep all the silk in our hands, and then the Francophone will definitely take the initiative to find us!" Wang Youyin put down the teacup and swept the crowd with sharp eyes.

A staff member surnamed Xu had been listening in the last seat of the hall, and then said cautiously: "It's just that many partners from all over the country are in a hurry to get the goods now, and they have been blocked at the door, so we can't keep stuck with them, right?" ”

"What are they asking for for themselves! Before, some of you didn't block it, they took the goods at this end, and when they arrived at the dock, they gave it directly to the people of the United Business Group! Shi Yongan looked angry and blamed.

Xu Yuanwai said with a bitter face: "There is such a situation!" However, several of them are business partners who have cooperated for decades, and people come over from Shaanxi, so they can't not give no goods to others, right? ”

"It's not good for us to really cut off business with the domestic silk trading houses, but you have to prevent the silk from being resold to the United Business Group, so you can only give them at most 30% of the quota in previous years!" Wang Zaiyin hesitated, but said with a slight relief.

Although Xu Yuanwai is indeed too little, seeing Wang Zaiyin's firm attitude, he mentioned another thing and said: "It's not just that! Due to the reduced production of my family's silk workshop, a large part of the female workers have not worked, and now they are very emotional! ”

This is the case with many things, the so-called: kill a thousand enemies and lose eight hundred. They refused to sell the silk to the United Merchants, who did not get the silk they needed, but they did not have a good time.

A huge fortune like Wang Zaiyin is naturally irrelevant, but all the money and silver of merchants like Xu Yuanwai are staked on silk, and without liquidity, they are simply unable to maintain the full operation of production.

"I know that the present day is definitely not as nourished as before, and there will be some trouble! But have you thought about it? Wang Youyin looked a little angry, looked at the businessmen present and said solemnly: "As long as we hold out for another three months, the overseas silk market will be ours in the future." Let's not be as black-hearted as the United Trading House, and sell every piece of silk to the Francophone at a discount, and sell it to ...... Eighteen taels, how much profit does this have? ”

But I have to say that this is very rendering. They immediately thought of the huge overseas market, and the attractive price difference of each piece of silk, and many people seemed to see mountains of gold standing in front of them.

Even Wang Youyin's own heart was already excited, and he wanted to take this opportunity to bring the Wang family back to the top and become the richest family in the entire Ming Dynasty.

"President Wang said it well! As long as we survive this time, the overseas silk interests will be ours in the future! One order is four million taels, what do you say is a more profitable business in the world, and what is the trouble between partners and female workers in various places? What's the point of losing some now? Let's look forward and take a look at the many orders of four million taels! Xu Shaoquan responded and followed the agitation.

For this big plan, in order to hoard more silk, he not only poured out his family wealth, but even mortgaged this Humble Administrator's Garden, which he had won so hard, and gambled almost everything on this contest.

"Okay, let's do it!"

"Those partners only have that little profit a year, and if they lose it, they will lose it!"

"If it weren't for us, would those female workers be able to eat handiwork? It's just that they are hungry for a few days and cry bitterly, they are really a bunch of white-eyed wolves, what do you do with her? ”

……

Everyone present was moved by the huge money-making opportunity in front of them, and they also put aside all their doubts and expressed their support for the authenticity.

They want to force the damned United Merchants to their knees and beg for mercy, and let them sign orders directly with the Franc Robot to do business, sitting on this huge overseas silk market and staggering profits.