I saw Fu Xiaofei in the backyard of a warehouse in the southeast outside Tianjin, different from the bustle of grain transfer from north to south at the mouth of the Sancha River, the land on the west bank of the Weihe River (note: Haihe) still looks very desolate. Even though the open water level of this section of the river is quite deep, it is a place where large boats can dock, but the tidal difference of about ten feet formed by the sea water flowing from the mouth of Dagu to this place is somewhat inconvenient for the small boats on the Wei River.

Originally, there were only three or five households here, not even a village, Fu Xiaofei only spent a very small amount of silver to include all the surrounding wasteland, and also used the red deed in the Qing Military Hall, and with the endorsement of the official, it was much easier to build a house and port on it.

After a few months, the thousand-foot-long wharf was built, although there was only a wooden trestle bridge and a rough embankment made of stones, but it also looked neat from a distance, if it were not for the people who were interested in it and could still see the original location of this place from a purple bamboo forest behind the wharf, I am afraid they would not dare to recognize it.

Because of this drastic construction, Wantong's Tianjin branch now has a decent face, but because of the location, it is still quiet.

Only those merchants with some background in Beijing and Weizhong will know that this place is the source of the Australian strange goods that are now popular in the northern land of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, the idle people in the backyard of the warehouse had already been sent away, and even Su Zhen and Cui Xian were not around, and Wang Xiaoliu naturally only had the treatment of eating snacks and drinking tea in the side hall.

However, in the safe house in the backyard, all kinds of food and drink are available, and outsiders may be shocked just by looking at its display.

Two dollars of silver for a bottle of Australian pomelo even if it is a three- or four-grade Beijing official who does not rely on filial piety can not afford to eat, but here there are a few that have been peeled, and a bottle of Australian soda for three dollars and silver is a full dozen. In addition, there is no shortage of crabs and watermelons that are common in local autumn, and you can know that the owner here has a good business just by looking at the food and drink.

Wang Xingping glanced at the back of the girl who hurriedly retreated after serving the soup, and quipped: "What? Did you really rob someone else's wife? ”

"What do you call someone else's wife? Marrying Tian Chuansong as his wife was agreed by the Senate, and his stepfather didn't have a word, so far away he followed me to Daming, and he couldn't be abducted. Fu Xiaofei raised his eyebrows, not showing weakness, "Besides, are you embarrassed to talk about me?" I heard that there is a woman named Zhang Yan who has been with you all the way this time, and she seems to have a rather unusual attitude towards you. Tsk, there is still a mixed-race Lori at home. ”

Wang Xingping was stunned when he heard this, and immediately understood that the mixed-race Lori was talking about Wei Qilan, and the woman's eyebrows and eyes did have a bit of official blood.

And Fu Xiaofei's wife Tian Chuansong is the adopted daughter of Emperor Weng Yi, Fu Xiaofei fell in love at a glance that day, and both of them had meanings, and the Senate also wanted to use this to envelop Emperor Weng Yi and his fellow villagers in Fujian, this matter was naturally done, and Gu Ziming gossiped about him in the telegram.

As for Ping Qiusheng, after hearing about the Taiwan strategy, he took the merchant ship of Hirayama Changchen to the Ryukyus, and it seemed that he was planning how to deal with the affairs with the Satsuma Domain, and the copper mines of Shikoku had been built, and it became important to transport copper to the Ryukyu Sea, but if it was rashly used, it would inevitably arouse the vigilance of the shogunate, after all, it seemed that it was a little too hasty to invest troops against the shogunate on Shikoku Island.

Listening to Fu Xiaofei chattering about Japanese affairs for a while, Wang Xingping deliberately diverted the topic and said: "You are leisurely here, but you don't see what has become on the other side of the Sancha River." ”

"I still don't know? Isn't it for this reason that I was temporarily sent to Tianjin, is it true that I am here to sell fruits? ”

Fruit is indeed a sought-after commodity sold by the Senate to Beizhili at this time, after hundreds of years of improvement of the varieties of the later generations is not the seasonal fruit at this time can be compared, take this watermelon as an example, although it is also a seasonal taste, but in the seventeenth century, whether in the Ming Dynasty or Europe, the watermelon has not been improved enough, there are many white flesh, if the people of later generations see most of them think that it is not ripe, let alone there is no such kind as childless.

The first batch of pomelo sent from the south was because of the convenience of transportation, but the excellent taste and full red flesh have become a new thing for the princes and nobles of the Ming Dynasty, and the price has caught up with the prawns sold in Zhejiang.

Although Fu Xiaofei went to Tianjin this time because he needed a veteran to sit in charge after all, the more important thing was to be able to intuitively monitor the Jingshi and even understand the situation in Liaodong, after all, the bulk grain transactions in the north are now concentrated here, including the procurement sent by the Liaodong Jiangmen, which can be regarded as a business traveler. Of course, it's not enough to just do business and collect intelligence, after all, Su Zhen and Cui Xian have done well on their own before, and they don't need the endorsement of the elders. But Fu Xiaofei obviously has a more important purpose here, but there is no veteran and Wang Xingping about what the task is.

"This soup is good, you brought it from Japan?" Wang Xingping took another sip of soup, and praised him left and right.

Fu Xiaofei said with a smile: "Even if you have some knowledge, these are all serious Jibin dried abalone, but they are not as bad as those traitors here who use conch meat to fake rags." ”

Wang Xingping had already seen a hundred Wenzhou dried abalone on the market in the capital, which was less than 30% of the price of genuine Zhejiang abalone, and it was said that they were all passed off with snail meat, which also made him sigh that this trend of counterfeiting really has a long history.

After tasting the various delicacies, the topic finally returned to business.

"You mean you want to form a special investigation team too? Do you still want to go to Liaodong to experience experience? ”

"I really have this intention, I also thought that if there are too many people to Liaodong with the new army, it will not be easy to use, and it will inevitably be used as cannon fodder. But if you only bring a few family members to the front, you won't be remembered, and even if you can't catch something, it's easier to withdraw to the gate. ”

Of course, Wang Xingping's idea is premature, and there are still many things for him to do in Beijing, not to mention the construction of an intelligence network. Naturally, he can also rely on the Senate's site in the north, but after all, he still wants to have some breakthroughs, relying on Li Kezhuo alone is not his best choice, he still needs more folk news, but this draft has already been formed in his heart.

"What does that require me to do?" Fu Xiaofei said in his heart, didn't you bring this person to Beijing? If you want to go to Liaodong, you should find the military department or the 'Lian Chen' Xu Guangqi who is close to you, I am just a businessman on the surface, and at most I will provide you with some ships, but now although the customs outside the border are erosive, there is no situation where the land route is cut off, which is better than the risk of sailing at sea. As for whether it is worth going to Liaodong or not, he didn't care, he had to have someone really go there for a field trip, after all, for various reasons, the Senate still has a knot in Houjin.

"The equipment is still a little unlucky, anyway, you will have a ship here to go north, I am not in a hurry, as long as I give me some more things suitable for special operations, and I also want to see the emperor's condition."

I see, this is true, Fu Xiaofei came all the way from Guizhou, even if Wang Xingping has the status of a living member, it is not good for the people around him to carry too many taboo things, and the products produced by the Senate must be more advantageous than his own 'research and development', but after listening to the words, a trace of surprise flashed on his face, and he lowered his voice, "Emperor? I'm afraid that in the past few days, you should have returned to Beijing earlier, maybe something will change. ”

"I've heard a lot about the emperor's illness, but do you also say that you have received any definite news?"

"It's just that an internal official who happened to get acquainted with bought food for the forbidden middle school, and listened to what he said nonsense."

Fu Xiaofei relied on the silver money offensive, and he has won over a lot of relationships with Jingshi in Tianjin these days, and Su Zhen was not idle before, although the internal officials who buy food and drink have little power, they can find out the important news of Da Nei.

"I didn't expect that the Senate's hands are still stretched out so long now, and even the palace has made friends."

"It's not about making friends, it's just a pawn in charge of the Jiashu Department, and like the two in Baohe Shop, they can't even be considered eunuchs."

Fu Xiaofei is talking about one of the Shanglin Yuan prisons, Liangmu, Fanyu, Jiashu, and Lin Heng are all in Nanhaizi, and they are responsible for buying and supplying fresh fruits and vegetables and poultry eggs for the palace on weekdays.

As for the Baohe store he said, it is the common name of the six imperial stores, which began in the Zhengde period and is a serious heavenly industry.

Now the two heads of the Royal Store, Zhang Long and Qi Dong, are also friends with Fu Xiaofei earlier, and in addition to some of the northern luxury merchants in Australia, the biggest buyers are these Royal Stores. After all, just Baohe, Hexing, Shunxiang, Fude, Fuji, and Baoyan six stores used to sell 1.4 million pieces of cloth from Jiangsu and Zhejiang every year, and the internal officials did not have many scruples in such commercial matters, as long as Fu Xiaofei gave him a lower price, and the quality of the cloth was not too far behind, they would dare to eat a large amount of Australian cotton cloth, anyway, it was to make money for the emperor, and there was no bigger backstage than this in the Ming Dynasty. These officials are not afraid of the royal shop, and it is because of this that in such a short period of time, Australian cotton cloth has made a great reputation in the north.

And through the relationship between Bao and Liudian, Fu Xiaofei also expanded the source of information, after all, the six imperial stores have main stores in Jiumen, Mingyu and Jiqing Erfang in the capital, and the two Baohe head offices are located on the crowded Rong Government Street. Outside, there are also outer cabinets in the Lugou Bridge and the traffic arteries along the canal, such as Zhangjiawan, Hexiwu, Linqing, etc., as for the military towns in the north such as Xuanfu, Datong, Shanhaiguan and Guangning, they also have their own semicolons, which is really a traffic network that can hide people's ears.

Originally, the income of these imperial stores was collected under the name of the Empress Dowager Li, and after the death of the Empress Dowager Li, it has been returned to the internal treasury, and now the emperor is seriously ill and can not take care of things, and he asks less, and the eunuchs in the palace are not less than the middle and bottom of his hands. Although this Zhang and Qi have to be sent by the master, they actually have no full-time job, so they have always wanted to have a 'right way' of a 'admiral eunuch', they also see Fu Xiaofei know how to advance and retreat, and they are willing to make friends, and in business, the two have greater profit margins to share, so they quickly became acquainted.

As for the large and small officials in the Najia Vegetable Department, it is easier to deal with, as long as the exclusive right to supply Australian fruits and vegetables is firmly bound, no one can resist this temptation.

With such a network of relationships and the dredging of the Haidao Yamen, the form of Tianjin Railway Station linking Bohai and overseas has been stabilized.

Wang Xingping has such a back hand from the Senate, so he naturally feels a little more stable in his heart, but he can't let go of Fu Xiaofei's purpose after all, so he still asks his doubts.

Fu Xiaofei was also simply, this was not something worth hiding in the first place, he said lightly.

"Fishing for people."

[References]

1, "Daming Huidian"

2, "Records of Emperor Mingshen Zongxian"

3, "History of the Late Ming Dynasty" Fan Shuzhi

4, "Wanli Ye Ed" Shen Defu

5, "Imperial Scenery and Scenery" Liu Tong, Yu Yizheng

6, "Chronicles of the Middle" Liu Ruoyu

7, "History of the Ming Palace"

8, "Jin Ao Retirement Notes" Gao Shiqi

9, "Jingdong Archaeological Record" Gu Yanwu

10, "Shenzong's Living Note"

11, "The Palace, the Court and the Frontier" Qi Chang

12. "Research on Folk Literature in the Ming Dynasty" Zhang Bo