【Ticket Request】

Excavated in the Song Zhenzong Jingde period of the jade belt Hao across the new city of Guangzhou, the two ends in the city outside the bend directly to the Pearl River, the original more than 20 zhang wide Hao River is the most prosperous city ship in the south of Guangzhou, the water surface of three zhang deep and shallow enough to accommodate many large ships.

But since the construction of the new city after Jiajing, the wealthy and wealthy have stretched out their hands to fight for land, and this jade belt has gradually lost its former style. In addition, the sea ships are now bigger, so after the opening of the sea in Longqing, the larger boats can not come in directly, but have to take advantage of the rising tide to get back and forth to and from the wharf behind Haopan Street.

But the fact that the jade belt has become narrow is also a testimony to the prosperity of commerce and trade here, otherwise how can it be said that this place is an inch of land.

From the afternoon to the time before sunset, there are many merchants who have taken a nap to come out and walk around, taking advantage of the good daylight, the doors of the shops in Haopan Street are crowded. Looking far and wide in the straight streets, the flags are displayed, and the signboards are reflected with the people* who are shoulder to shoulder, and just by glancing at the market, the granite paved streets are unusually clean in this time and space.

Gaojia Inn is at the west end of Haopan Street, the closest to the Taiping Gate, the shop is as its name is the property of a merchant surnamed Gao here, because of the smooth news here, there are a lot of foreign merchants who live in it, and the Ye family cabinet and a few companions are also here.

"How much does this bottle cost you?" Ye Yiwei was in a nearby utensils store at the moment, and the glassware in his hand was repeatedly rubbed and carefully examined, and he looked at it for a long time before asking cautiously.

Except for a trick, the outside of this store is inconspicuous, and it sells all valuable utensils, and there are not many merchants who enter and exit on weekdays. Although the outside of the house looks old, the inside of the store has just been painted with white plaster, and the newly made camphor wood tables and chairs look new.

The guy in the store stood aside like a thin monkey and was silent, for fear that the customer would lose his hand, but now when he heard the question, he seemed to have finally waited for the gate to open, and his words were like water to introduce his own goods, and the little worry that he had before because he was not sure of the identity of the person who came was left behind.

This is Haopan Street, the most prosperous place in the city of Guangzhou, not only merchants from other provinces, but also many merchants.

There are many merchants from all over the world in strange costumes, and there are even more rich people who are not dressed in obvious clothes, and the Jiangxi merchants who are worth a lot but use a shabby degree have seen a lot, and judging people by their appearance has always been the style of the rich people in the countryside.

The old man in front of him seems to be like this, in terms of clothing, he is not dressed in ordinary shawls and straight bodies, the materials are not expensive, but the accent is more similar to Sichuan merchants, most of them are from the west, and there are not many such merchants in Guangzhou City. And he didn't touch the tea and snacks he was sent at all, but the style of watching the goods also made the guy feel at ease.

Seeing that the guest inquired about the price, the guy just replied: "This small one costs one or two or five dollars, and the larger one is three taels of silver, if the driver is more, it can be less, if it is to take the sea route and the shipowner and the helper on the dock can also be an agent, if you go to the mainland, you can only go to Wuzhou, and then you can't go far." ”

The guy replied by drawing inferences, and it could be seen that he had said more than one person.

Ye Yiwei held the bottle in front of him again, although it was not really visible through the somewhat turbid bottle, but it was indeed able to reflect the scene behind the bottle through the light. He had also heard of this glass bottle when he was in Guiyang, and he could know that such a utensil was only exquisitely made, but if the price of three taels of silver was concerned, even if it was made of ivory, it would be the same price.

He knows a lot, the ivory of Nanyang tribute, the official price is only 500 wen a catty, I heard that there are still a lot of money buried in the backyard of Guanglu Temple in Beijing, so it is indeed more expensive than this glassware. Glass is known to be artificially made, and it is not as good as ivory rhino horn, and now the price is only because the craftsman's secret skills are not allowed to be passed on.

But where have a few companions on the side seen this, "This bottle is actually transparent." ”

In fact, the food utensils made of natural crystal stone are not unseen by his subordinates, nephews and men, as well as hollow glazed exquisite porcelain, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province has also been sold a lot in recent years, although there are few sold to Guizhou, but it is not nothing. But compared to the simple transparent glass, it is a little more stingy, and there are inevitably a little more glass bottles in this store, and the shelves on the entire wall are actually full.

Ye Yiwei came out of Tian Shengjin's place in the morning and followed a few companions who came with him, just looking at the shop where he was looking for a meal while walking, and he was looking at the glassware shop with customers again.

Today, the shopkeeper has some things, so the two of them have to take care of it in the store, and the account room is writing on the counter, and the guy is busy and stepped forward to ask the guests what they are looking at, but it was Ye Yiwei who came up first and greeted: "The two are polite." ”

"The old gentleman is polite." Gu Ziming first recognized that the person in front of him was the old man he had seen in Tian Shengjin's mansion in the morning, and said happily.

Ye Yiwei laughed even more when he saw that the other party also recognized him, "I didn't expect to meet the two of you again today, but it was fate." ”

He can recognize each other because the two of them have different makeup and are polite, but he doesn't want the two of them to really remember him.

The two didn't know where Ye Yiwei came from, but they saw that there must be some way to go in the governor's mansion, and they were also curious, "The old gentleman also came to see the glassware?" ”

"Just take a look." Ye Yiwei replied casually, and suddenly saw the clothes of the two and asked again, "The two of them look like foreign merchants, but this official language is better than that of Xiao Lao'er, and they must often walk here." ”

Fu Xiaofei said: "We are all the first to come back to Daming. ”

Ye Yiwei was surprised in his heart, so he turned around and introduced a few of his subordinates one by one, and told each other where they came from.

"The old gentleman is polite, the two of us are just going around and playing around, it's not a serious matter. I just saw that there was glassware in this store and came in, but I didn't want you to be here. ”

The guy was tired of waiting, and when he saw that the conversation was heavy again, he immediately opened his mouth to take it, "The guest officer has good eyesight, the glassware in our store is from the Franc machine, the guest officer, you look at this glaze, you can't find a second one in the whole Guangzhou City." ”

'The glaze of the glass? ’

Hearing this, Gu Ziming almost squirted, and it was a shame that the guy dared to say it, it is estimated that the old man was bluffed by him.

Fu Xiaofei took it and said with a smile: "If you say this, you are not afraid that the old man next door will whip you." ”

He and Gu Ziming speak Cantonese Mandarin, although the meaning of the word 'pumping' is not very clear, but the five words of Master Gao next door still understand that the owner of the Gao Family Inn is not only a transaction of the inn. But he is still stubborn, "Those who open the door to do business pay attention to a child and are not bullied, but there is no reason to be afraid of anyone." ”

"But you just said that there is no second one in this glassware Guangzhou City, how did I hear that a few days ago, the Fuping of the Gao family entered a batch of mercury mirrors paid tribute by the Bo Ni Kingdom, but they are also glass."

The guy reacted quickly, flattering and smiling: "There is a way that you get what you pay for, and the mercury mirror on the Fuping is about to sell for two hundred taels, where can ordinary people afford it." ”

"When will there be a shortage of rich people in Guangzhou City, and besides, it's not expensive to say that the price is cheap." Seeing that the suppression had been done enough, Fu Xiaofei made a round and didn't want to offend the merchant anymore, so he picked up a bottle seemingly casually and said to Ye Yiwei: "The old gentleman has already asked the price?" ”

Ye Yiwei was more interested in Fu Xiaofei's previous sentence, he was ordered to come to Guangdong this time, in addition to looking for craftsmen who smelted iron and cast cannons, there was also a case that Wang Xingping asked him to look for skilled workers, this is one who makes glass, he originally thought that there were more glassware sold in this store, and he thought that he could ask what to ask so he came in. Now it seems that these two merchants seem to be more familiar with the Fuping, so they asked Fu Xiaofei: "The honorable driver said that the Fuping of the Gao family has better glassware?" ”

…………

After a while, the place had changed to a restaurant on the side of the street, and there were six people sitting around a large table of eight immortals by the window on the second floor, Fu Xiaofei and their guards stayed in the car and did not follow, and on the next table were a small rattan box and two glass bottles, one large and one small.

In the end, Fu Xiaofei was still embarrassed to come out of the store empty-handed, and taking this thing back can also give the headquarters an intuitive understanding of today's glass technology, and also used other people's refreshments, the first business place in the south of the country, this means of sales, he can be regarded as a teacher these days, and when it comes to the service consciousness of Ming merchants, there is not much difference compared to later generations.

A few dishes have been set up on the table, because of the prosperity of commerce, there are many restaurants and restaurants outside the city of Guangzhou, and many of the storefronts on the street have perennial stoves, on which all kinds of thick meat and vegetarian dishes are hot and soup is boiled, and the fragrance wafts all over the street. Because he was worried about food hygiene, Fu Xiaofei didn't dare to order these cooked foods that he didn't know how long he had been shelf, so he let the store cook them freshly, so he naturally had to go slowly.

The guy had to ask if he wanted wine every time he brought the food, as if the shochu placed behind the stairs was not selling well. It's just that after a few rejections, the guy also felt bored and stopped talking, and a few people were able to talk about it again.

At this time, a table was set up randomly, and Ye Yiwei also sighed, "This Guangzhou City is really a good place, and Guiyang can't compare with this street full of shops." ”

Fu Xiaofei also said: "It's still because of commerce, how can there be so many shops without this merchants coming from south to north, just how can the local residents consume it, a few days ago I listened to the Guan Gan in the post house and said that the daily supply of fresh fish in the city will cost thousands of catties, which sounds fresh in Nanyang." ”

The rest of the children brought by the Ye family couldn't talk to themselves, just stuffy their heads and send good food to their mouths, not that Ye Yiwei treated them poorly on weekdays, but it was really simple to eat and drink along the way when they came out to do things, and after seeing it in Guangzhou, Ye Da Cabinet made everyone cautious everywhere.

Today, these two outsiders are bold, and this table of good dishes is not less than five dollars of silver, but thinking about the glass vase they bought, they can eat it with peace of mind, and more importantly, the shopkeeper Ye already knows the identity of the two, and the reputation of Bo Ni Silver Mirror has spread to Zhaoqing.

Ye Yiwei was also surprised to hear that they were from Bo Ni, he had heard some rumors of mercury mirrors in the market before, but after all, it was not true that they were outsiders.

And Fu Xiaofei and his entourage just talked briefly, and they also felt that Ye Yiwei was a real businessman, capable but not old, and the most important thing was to treat people and be kind and sincere, which is an excellent character, especially for businessmen. Their trip was for the purpose of exploring the situation of the Ming Dynasty and opening up commerce, so they naturally paid special attention to potential reliable business partners, at least for now, this Mr. Ye seems to be a good one.

Gu Ziming was quite interested in the situation in the mainland, especially in a border place like Guizhou, so he asked a few more questions. Ye Yiwei also heard a lot about the origin of Fu Xiaofei and others, the Nanyang scenery and Taixi Yiqing. It didn't take much effort for this old shopkeeper from the southwest to have a friendship with Fu and Gu, two relics of the Great Song Dynasty.

Shopkeeper Ye understood the key to what he said, and listened carefully, and when Fu Xiaofei handed him the mercury mirror, Ye Yiwei immediately asked, "I don't know if the two envoys have brought this mercury mirror with them." ”

"Shopkeeper Ye is also interested?" Fu Xiaofei was straightforward.

"I think my proprietor must like it."

Fu Xiaofei didn't hide it either, and generously opened the rattan box, and the thing wrapped in silk cotton was a set of glasses and saucers and a smaller box. The box was the size of a child's fist, and the material covered on the outside looked like brocade. When you open it, it looks like a powder cartridge for women. And everyone on Ye Yiwei's side had already stopped their chopsticks, and their eyes were fixed on a mercury mirror inlaid in the box. When they saw the transparent and colorless glassware, everyone was just curious, but now they were shocked when they saw this mercury mirror that was so clear, not to mention the small ones, Ye Yiwei had never seen his appearance in the mirror at this age.

"It's a pity...... It's a little smaller. The shopkeeper Ye thought in his heart that this mirror had been sold for nearly two hundred taels now, so he didn't dare to take it in his hands, so he quickly returned it, shook his head and sighed to hide his embarrassment.

Fu Xiaofei looked at the words and looked at the end, and said with a smile: "Ye Chaofeng thinks badly, this silver mirror powder box is much smaller than the mirror sold on the market today, it is not one." ”

When Ye Yiwei heard this, he hurriedly asked, "Then how do you plan to underwrite this thing?" If there is no charter, the proprietor of my family must be willing to underwrite. ”

Gu Ziming continued: "I heard Ye Lao say that the owner of your house is a wonderful person, but this time we don't bring many goods, and there are already buyers, and this mercury mirror can only be made in Guangzhou in the future." ”

The implication is that although we have a good contract, this large underwriting business has to be done by local firms, and the only market company in Daming is in Guangzhou rather than Guiyang.

Although Ye Yiwei had been prepared, he couldn't help but be a little disappointed, but Fu Xiaofei said: "But it's just the same as a mercury mirror." ”

"What other good things do you have?" Ye Yiwei's eyes lit up again, kindness and sincerity did not mean that he was not keen enough on business, and naturally heard the deep meaning in Fu Xiaofei's words.

"Not now, until this time next year." Fu Xiaofei glanced at the shopkeeper Ye, "Will your proprietor let you come to Guangdong next year?" ”

Ye Yiwei did not hesitate, "If what you say is true, I can't say that I will come here in person." ”

Fu Xiaofei didn't deceive, seeing that the southward monsoon was about to start, these horses he brought with him were delayed in this port for many days, and the daily expenses were not small, and it was not easy to take these people to stay in Guangzhou for a long time. And the traverser himself is afraid that the Nanyang boys on the ship will take their temperament into the wild in this southern country, and it will be a little more than worth the loss.

They actually came here today to visit a business that has already cooperated, and as for whether to keep people here in Guangzhou in the future, it also depends on how the talks are today.

At this time, there was not much food left on the table, and everyone's attention had already been attracted to this conversation, Fu Xiaofei was about to say goodbye next year, but he heard a noise on the street below.

Just as the man came up with the soup, he asked, "What's next?" ”

The guy didn't speak well, and he stumbled back as if he was frightened, "Kill...... Person...... ......"