It is said that the year is not good, but with the presence of pirates outside the mouth of the Fujiang River under Zheng Zhilong of the Fujian-Guangdong Maritime Giant Canal, the situation in Guangzhou has eased a lot. At the end of the year, Guangzhou, as the largest metropolis in the southeast, became lively again.

Guangdong has always been warm and warm, although China is in the Xiaoice period at this time, and even Leizhou has snowed, but the cold is not normal in the south of the five mountains. As soon as the cold wave passed, the earth began to warm up, and the earth was already an early spring scene with lush flowers. From the proud family to the well-off home, this year's New Year is still spent in joy. At the beginning of Chinese New Year's Eve, firecrackers continue to fill the city, and by the fifth watch of New Year's Day, it will become more dense.

However, last year's famine in Fujian and Guangdong were also greatly affected, and the foreign refugees and local hungry people gathered in the wasteland near several temples with soup kitchens, and the hungry people begging for food every day gathered in the streets and alleys, and the voices of hunger were endless. Fortunately, the weather was mild, and there were no bones that froze to death, but the weather was warm, and all kinds of epidemics in places where the extremely poor were concentrated also became lifelines. However, this situation is not unique to this year, everyone is accustomed to it, so it does not hinder the prosperity of the city, let alone the new and righteous feelings of the big officials, eunuchs and wealthy families.

After Xinzheng, it is the annual light market. Chengxuan Street is about three or four miles long until the Great South Gate, and several streets along the road are full of light markets. As usual, the lantern market starts on the 14th day of the first month and ends on the 16th of the first month every year, and the market is the market during the day and the lights are watched at night. In the lamp market, merchants from all over the world will gather to sell various goods. Day and night, the flow of people all the time is shouting and shouting, calling and calling, like a pot boiling. Many of the nearby streets and alleys come alive during the Lantern Market, and at night, all kinds of lanterns hang in front of the shops, including roasted beads, ink silk, five-color yarn, bright corners, paper, wheat oranges, and grass. There are even extremely rare Western glass lamps and Australian soft film lamps, which only appeared on the market last year, with slightly transparent and light materials, bright and dazzling colors, and have become the new favorites of local officials and wealthy businessmen.

The particularly precious lamps are hung on the colorful buildings on the side of the street for people to see from afar. The color buildings on the side of these streets are facing each other from north to south, and the Zhumen embroidered households are carved beams. Most of the curtains upstairs are local eunuchs and gentry dependents, and the rent price of each colorful building is dozens of taels of silver a night.

The lanterns are kept out all night, and fireworks are set off all night long. The fireworks are also varied and amazing. Various bands juggle and play all night. In addition, here and there, the dragon dance team, the lion dance is late, and the men and women are crowded all night, and there are crowds of people.

The 14th day of the first lunar month is the second day of the tide of the light market. On this morning, there was a middle-aged man with a good appearance, who was close to the old age, with a sparse and bright beard, wearing a half-worn round-necked silk robe and a square scarf, with a little depression between his eyebrows, riding a donkey from Xicheng to Dongcheng, and got off the donkey in front of the gate of Zizhen on Huifu Street, and drove his feet and walked slowly inside.

This middle-aged businessman, whose real name is Shen Fan, has been an apprentice in a famous jewelry store in Guangzhou since he was 12 years old, and has worked hard for more than 20 years to become the big shopkeeper. After working in this industry for a lifetime, I just quit my boss every year, and when I go back to the countryside to buy some fields, it is time to enjoy some family fun when I am over half a hundred years old. Unexpectedly, there are unforeseen circumstances, and the only beloved grandson under his knees doesn't know what disease he has, and all he has saved up to ask a famous doctor to get is just one sentence: the cold is in the bones, and there is no cure.

This is like a bolt from the blue for Shen Lao's shopkeeper. He had a very difficult time with his heirs, and he had only one son under his knees, who had long since died, and this grandson was all his sustenance and hope, but now his life was hanging by a thread. It was a disillusionment to him.

And somehow, the news of his grandson's illness was actually known to Sun Kecheng and Sun's shopkeeper. Because of the business relationship of the dart game, the shopkeeper Sun is quite familiar with the jewelry industry. A young man who claimed to be Guo Yi appeared in front of him through his introduction, claiming that he could save Aisun's life on the condition that he should serve as the chief treasurer of Zizhen, who was preparing for the establishment. For a well-known Shen Fan, it can be said that he has committed a taboo in the industry by joining the court, but he has already retired and has nothing to do with the original owner. Although this young man seems to be strange-looking, he is good-looking and well-behaved, and he should not be a thief of chickens and dogs. Although it was a little strange in my heart, I still agreed to it at the time. After all, compared to the life of his grandson, what is his false name? So he held the mood of a dead horse as a live horse, and let Guo Yi use medicine for his grandson. However, a miracle was indeed born, and after swallowing some mysterious white pills with water according to the method given by Guo Yi for several days, the grandson's condition improved significantly. Pleasantly surprised, he asked the doctor to check his grandson's pulse, but was told that there was no major problem, and he only needed to recuperate. According to the agreement, as soon as the lamp market fell, Shen Fan fulfilled the contract and officially joined Zizhen's door.

But this Zizhen is also weird. The old shopkeeper Shen inquired about some news from his peers. It is said that this shop has been open for less than a month. It seems to specialize in buying and selling residential land. The store is heavily guarded. Everybody doesn't know much about the joints in it. Some peers persuaded him. The owner of this store has a deep relationship with the Gao family. I'm afraid it's not a serious way to come. It is not known which sea hero is backstage.

So one. It made this shopkeeper Shen muttered in his heart. But when I thought about it, Sun Kecheng has always been known for being old and reliable. He would never introduce the owner to him. I decided to go to the Qiwei Dart Bureau first to have a look, and by the way, I touched the ground of the new owner.

Sun Kecheng is not taboo. 1510 told Guo Yidi where he came from. It is nothing more than Australian maritime business. There are some strange goods in hand. I thought of Daming to make money and so on. As for what are the oddities. Shen Fan knew without asking: All kinds of Australian strange goods sold in Gao's shop were probably in the hands of Guo Yi. This was really unexpected. Originally, I only thought he was a rich man from other provinces. I thought of Guangzhou, a treasure of feng shui, to earn a vote. It turns out that there are really some good things in my hands. Shopkeeper Shen knows that the so-called Australian goods are not only extremely exquisite. And outsiders can hardly imitate it

His original owner had invited him back to study all kinds of Australian curiosities on the market. The skilled craftsmen in the jewelry shop all said. If only to imitate the appearance and structure. But it can be done almost perfectly. It's just that some of the materials in it are unknown.

Shen Fan was originally indispensable to serving as Zizhen's shopkeeper. Know that they are the outflow of Australian goods. He was curious about the treasures he had done all his life

The matter of becoming the treasurer was settled. I'm busy visiting the house these days. Initially established the business relationship of Zizhendi.

The two young men in front of the door, when they saw the shopkeeper coming, hurriedly lost their brooms and came to greet the hand.

"Is the proprietor there?"

"Talk to Qiwei's shopkeeper Sun in the back account room." One of the young men replied respectfully. This is the son of Guo Dong's family, and he is very clever. Shen Fan knew that his brother's family was on an errand in the house, and they were the so-called family members who were close to meat, although they were just a young man, they were very much used by Guo Dong's family in private, and he was also running in contact with the Qiwei Dart Bureau.

In fact, the senior brother is not just being reused at the moment. Shen Fan never dreamed that he would be a teenager like a child, but now he is one of Guo Yi's main eyes and ears.

During the time when Wen Desi left, in addition to practicing martial arts in the dart bureau and collecting the market of various goods every day, he also continued to pass the materials of the small collection of Gao Jujia that he had met when he played in the Gao family in the past. He was quite scheming, knowing that Shopkeeper Wen and the Gao family were inseparable and guarded against each other. Later, Shopkeeper Xiao came and looked at the materials he had collected. The shopkeeper Xiao smiled and said nothing, but he was happy for several days by rewarding him with silver, not for the silver but for his own work to be recognized.

After Shopkeeper Xiao left, Shopkeeper Guo Gao Qing and Gao Xian were very puzzled and a little uncomfortable with the frequent changes of Australian maritime businessmen, but Gao Di somewhat understood that Shopkeeper Wen and these Australians were not one or two people, and Shopkeeper Xiao was just the leader inside. Their family is not a slave of anyone's family, but a minion of Australians.

For this reason, he became more and more active under Guo Yi's instructions, and in addition to being a buddy and learning how to undertake the work in the shop, the senior brother also continued intelligence activities. He had now drawn three or four men from his former childhood friends, and each of them received two hundred taels of silver from him every month, which was paid for from the activity funds that had been prescribed to him by Wen Deji one tael a month. Guo Yi believes that an intelligence leader must not only be good at collecting intelligence, but also have good management skills, including the management of his subordinates and finances. So I don't give my brother more money.

Facts have proved that the senior brother who is only fifteen years old is still quite talented in some things, and now not only Guo Yi's actions are clear about the Gao family's actions, but also the streets and alleys of Haopan Street and even Guangzhou City, Guo Yi can know in time.

Yi's next goal was to establish a rudimentary intelligence and trade network throughout Guangdong, and now he relied on the Wei Dart Bureau. Under his planning and financial support, Mr. Sun expanded the scale of the outer cabinet of the Qiwei Dart Bureau, and placed various industries in the province's main water and land wharves, major roads and commodity distribution centers, and purchased granges, opened inns, and car dealers. Sun Kecheng is both happy and worried, happy that now the countryside is withered and dilapidated, his disciples, grandchildren, fellow villagers and fellow villagers can't get along in the countryside, and there are many people who defect to him. The first brand doesn't know if it can make money, the second and third are opened one after another, and this momentum, I'm afraid that the whole of Guangdong will be clothed with a name, and the money spent makes him frightened just for the layout of Leizhou, before and after spending a thousand taels of silver, Guo shopkeeper also repeatedly ordered: buy more land granges and mills, how much can you buy and buy as much as you can toss, that is, the Wen shopkeeper has gold and silver mountains are not enough.

He has been muttering in his heart for several days, and as soon as the New Year is over, he is in a hurry to discuss with Guo Yi whether to reduce the pace of expansion

Shen Fan walked through the front yard and the main hall, and passed through a moon cave gate guarded by a dart master. Inside is a fresh and elegant courtyard, and there are three main rooms in the courtyard, which is Zizhen's account room. The long windows were open, and I saw that Guo Dongzhu and Sun Shopkeeper were talking in it, Sun Kecheng was full of sorrow, and he nodded again and again. Shen Fan, who has been a friend for more than 20 years, slowed down his pace and coughed lightly.

When Guo Dongzhu saw him coming, he hurriedly greeted him, and when the shopkeeper Sun saw him coming back, he also got up and said goodbye and left.

Shen Fan reported to him the situation of visiting customers and peers in the past few days. It stands to reason that such a business problem does not need to be reported to the proprietor, but Zizhen is very different from other stores, one is that Shen Fan still doesn't know what the store is going to sell. The only thing he could do was to take the name tags and folds of the store and go around visiting the big families in the city.

"Proprietor, this is the list of places I want to visit." Shen Fan took out a fold from his sleeve and handed it to Guo Yi. Guo Yi has now completely become the dress of the Ming Dynasty, and even the bun has been retained.

Open the fold casually, on the plum red paper, there are many names written in upright small block letters one by one, and there are small notes next to it, what is the proprietor of Baixian Building, the staff of the Governor's Yamen, the shopkeeper of Chen Ji Grain Store, the proprietor of Gongxingdian, Zhao Jinshi of Panyu, and the eunuch of Maxiang in Nanhai...... is either rich or expensive, and then it is not the big housekeeper of a wealthy family, the aunt and wife of a certain official, and so on. A cursory look shows that there are always as many as ten.

"So much?" Guo Yi was a little surprised, because Shen Fan had told him that most of the people he was going to post excerpts were among the top two in the city. The money spent on jewelry toys every year can be as little as tens of thousands, and as much as hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands.

"Back to the proprietor, these are still the biggest households, and there are some slightly smaller ones who haven't visited." Colgate brought tea and hand towels. Shen Fan took off his hat and wiped the fine sweat on his forehead, "It's just a matter of the past few days, but there is one thing that I have to ask the owner for instructions." ”

"Say it."

"The owner's sales are all priceless treasures, and at the same time to do so many big accounts, is there a problem with the turnover of capital?"

Since Zizhen is in the business of the house. It is necessary to follow the practice of the house business. According to the rules, this kind of large family does not pay cash to buy jewelry, only in the jewelry store to make a fold, what you like, on the fold to register and stamp the goods can be picked. Checkout is on the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year's Eve every year.

In this way, the cost requirements for the store are very high, and the jewelry toys are not comparable to other things, and there are thousands of silver at every turn, even if there is a large capital, it is difficult to do so many customers at the same time. Shen Fan is afraid that this overseas person does not understand the key to it, and blindly greedily seeks more and bigger, and will be defeated in the future.