All people born in the Huayu Continent, regardless of their status and wealth, have a very strange commonality: everyone likes to arrange the 'business' to discuss together during the meal; and the more important the event, the later the 'meal' is chosen. Even the Holy Prophet once had the teaching of 'not saying a word when you eat and not talking when you sleep', but even the students and scholars of Beiyan, once they left the shackles of the academy and the supervision of the teacher, would often find a restaurant and make an appointment with a few confidants and fellow believers, and they would drink and talk about the past and the present together at the wine table.

Tonight's appointment at Anhua Building, although it was made by the fourth prince Zhou Chang'an, the dishes at the banquet were very ordinary, but fortunately, the taste was quite authentic; The fresh and salty taste of Ludong cuisine, coupled with the Xinghuafen wine produced in Sanqin Province, can really be called a 'real meal' that can really fill the stomach.

"Brother Taichu came from afar, and Zhou should have prepared precious delicacies and wines to fulfill the friendship of the landlord; However, recently my father advocated the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military practice of 'diligence and frugality', and the foolish brother, as the prince of the Northern Yan, should naturally appreciate his father's painstaking efforts; Again, the foolish brother will punish himself with three cups first......"

Speaking of which, Zhou Changan used his thumb-sized wine cup to drink three cups of 'dust washing wine' in a row. And Shen Gui also filled the wine glass in front of him, and also returned the other party's three cups of 'thank you wine':

"What did Brother Baili say?" Success is due to diligence and thrift, and defeat is due to luxury', which has been said since ancient times. His Majesty the Emperor of your country can be diligent and self-denying, and there is no slack and no waste, which is really a blessing for the Northern Yan Dynasty and the people of Northern Yan! ”

Thousands of wears, but sycophants don't wear. Shen Gui didn't want to use the scene to grind his tongue with him, so he directly stopped the conversation by touting the words of the other party's father. Sure enough, when the matter of the Northern Yan Dynasty and the people was mentioned, the four princes, who had just put down the wine cup, made a hesitant look and asked:

"Brother Taichu, the foolish brother has something unclear now, I don't know if I should ask ......"

"Brother Xian, please speak ......"

"Brother Fool has heard that the three roads in Youbei are cold and bitter, but I have heard my father mention it a few days ago, wasn't the virtuous brother just now crowned as the King of Zhongshan in Youbei by the newly enthroned Emperor Xingping of Youbei? One more thing, Taichu, your old mentor is still the head of the Dongyou Li family, Qi Yuangong, who 'feeds through the world', so no matter what aspect you look at, Brother Taichu should also be a person who is extremely rich...... Brother Kexian is dressed like this today...... Forgive the foolish brother for being dull, but I don't know what the meaning is? ”

As soon as Shen Gui heard what he said, he pulled out two dirty lumps of cotton with evil taste, threw them out of the window, and then shook one of the chopsticks in his hand, and said to the four princes with a sly face:

"The Youbei Dynasty, which is rich in the four seas and controls the eight wildernesses, still pursues a diligent and thrifty court atmosphere; Our small family on Youbei Third Road, of course, will be even more stingy! ”

Shen Gui's reply was a bit yin and yang, and the four princes who were squeezing stood up directly, and were about to leave the table......

"Brother Baili, Brother Baili, don't take jokes seriously! … That's it! … Since you and my brother are both disciples of the saints, although we belong to two schools, we can be regarded as familiar with each other at first sight! Shen's temper has always been straightforward, let's stop talking in front of the Mingren! Therefore, the foolish brother wants to ask his brother for a few sincere words first! ”

Often during negotiations, the party that takes the lead will be three points weaker in momentum; But Shen Gui is now in the Northern Yan Dynasty, and he has already been occupied by others, so these trivial 'psychological tactics' are not so important.

As soon as Zhou Changan heard Shen Gui's words, he immediately slapped the table:

"Just waiting for your words! Since the foolish brother is a few years older than you, you should show your sincerity first! Let's put it bluntly, now your life is not easy on the three roads in Youbei, and the situation of our Northern Yan Dynasty is not as comfortable as it seems to outsiders! And this proposal for the mutual trade between the two norths is also a shallow view of the foolish brother! If there is anything missing in it, I hope you can teach me at the beginning! ”

Shen Gui, whose face was reddened by the mellow Fen wine, also stood up with a fluttering face after hearing Zhou Changan's so-called 'heartfelt words', and paced repeatedly on the Anhua Tower......

On the surface, Shen Gui seemed to be moved by Zhou Changan's 'sincerity and sincerity', but in fact, his heart was extremely cold.

The negotiation methods on the Huayu mainland can be roughly divided into two factions: the north and the south:

Anyone who makes good use of the 'Southern School Technique', even if he is already a wealthy businessman with a lot of money, will negotiate with the other party on a very small amount. In the eyes of outsiders, this matter naturally brings out a feeling of stinginess of 'petty family'; but once the two parties reach a consensus on the distribution of interests and sign the contract documents, they will act meticulously according to the 'rules' in accordance with the previous agreement. Such a person does not covet his share of interests that do not belong to him; But if there is a dispute outside the contract, even if it is just a loss of copper plate, he will never accept it. To put it simply, such a person speaks solely of interest, and the agreement of the written contract is the criterion.

For example, Li Deng, who once traveled the world to study, although he was a native of Youbei, according to the Li family's habits and ways of doing business, he belonged to a typical southern businessman.

However, when the northern merchants talk about business, they rarely touch on the key issues related to interests. To outsiders, what they are talking about is not business at all, but human relations. Although during the negotiations, both sides seemed to be extremely heroic and amiable; But once there is any problem in the accounts, it will instantly become an inexplicable 'muddy account'. This is because most of the merchants of the northern faction are not businessmen in the traditional sense, they are either imperial merchants who resell monopoly commodities such as 'tobacco, alcohol, sugar, tea', etc., or 'clerks' of certain individuals or groups, and they are often implicated in a wide range of things; your family is the east of a certain person in the DPRK, and behind his family is the tree of the general of the border pass; so once the two northern merchants are on top of the bull, the final result will also depend on whose power is greater. As for the cause of the dispute...... It doesn't matter at all.

The typical merchant of the Northern School is now the 'Salt and Iron Bureau' of the Northern Yan Dynasty!

Although it seems that the southern businessmen have a more reliable way of doing business, after all, the national conditions are different, and no matter how good the method is, it will not be able to pass through the Huayu Continent. If you blindly copy it, you can only end up with the result of following the example of the East and misleading the country and the people.

And today's Four Princes and Shen Gui vividly staged a 'Northern Negotiation Method': the scene was touching, and both sides were also people who valued love and righteousness, but in fact, everyone had their own small scale in their hearts! Neither of them had half a word of truth in their mouths.

So negotiating business with northern businessmen is often like a big gamble! The difference between losing and earning depends on who can accurately guess what hole cards the opponent is!

"Brother Baili, I won't tell you! In the past two years, we have suffered extremely heavy losses! Whether it was the previous border friction with the Mobei Grassland, or the 'misunderstanding' with your Northern Yan Dynasty...... have pushed the people of Youbei to the point of dire straits; Moreover, presumably the civil strife in our Youbei, even if my brother is far away in Beiyan, he can hear about it; To this day, our Youbei Imperial Court still owes Huinan Qianzhuang millions of taels of silver in foreign debts! Therefore, Brother Xian's proposal to reopen the commercial markets of the two countries is really a good policy for the benefit of the country and the people! If Brother Xian's policy can be put into action, it will not only be a blessing for the people of Beiyan; For our Youbei Third Road, it is also a rain that falls after a long drought! ”

After listening to Shen Gui's words, Zhou Changan seemed to have met a confidant in his life, and couldn't wait to 'ask' for advice

"Then at the beginning, I thought that how should the detailed rules of the two northern trade and mutual markets be formulated? After all, this matter is just a flash of inspiration on the fool's mind, and I haven't had time to think about it yet......"

"In the following opinion, the two northern sides should work together to quickly rebuild the East Customs, and build this world's most fierce light into a 'trading city' between the two norths, but in order to show that the strong friendship and trust have been re-established between the two norths, so that merchants from all walks of life can trade and sell goods with peace of mind, neither of us should increase our troops to the East Customs......

"This ...... I'm afraid something is wrong, right? According to our conception, the future East Customs will be a big business city; Without the protection and protection of the garrison government, then for those merchants who come and go, there will be no security at all? ”

"No, no, no! You and I just don't want to send more troops to garrison! As for the security of the city and the safety of the merchants...... Our Northern Yan Dynasty can send a 'patrol' of about 100 people to maintain daily order in the Eastern Customs. ”

Hearing this, Zhou Changan forcibly suppressed his excitement, and wasted a lot of strength before he suppressed the slightly upturned corners of his mouth, but his face was furrowed, and he said to Shen Gui with hesitation:

"Originally, our previous agreement was that Beiyan completely ceded the East Customs; But after all, we are in the Northern Yan Dynasty...... Hey, you can't save the superficial effort...... According to Brother Yu, it is not as good as this: Donghaiguan is still the city of your Youbei Third Road; But this 100-person law enforcement team, can you replace half of them with the sergeants of our Northern Yan Dynasty? …… In fact, this is also a helpless move by us in order to save our face; Of course, if you can agree to our request, the fifty Northern Yan sergeants will naturally all be under the control of the guards sent by Youbei......"

Shen Gui fell into contemplation on the surface, but in his heart he was frantically cursing Zhou Changan:

"The whole world is a fool, just you Zhou Changan is the best! This hand of yours is clearly trying to be a white wolf in an empty glove! What is the face problem? You clearly want to completely cut off the freight channel between Youbei and Nankang! If you really let your little tricks go around it, what kind of Jianghu is Lao Tzu? ”

So, Shen Gui, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke...

"In my opinion, then neither of us is allowed to send troops to the East Customs; How about letting those big businessmen form a 'joint group' on their own and hand over the entire Eastern Customs to the local businessmen to take care of themselves? ”

Shen Gui's 'proposal' can be regarded as a solid stab in Zhou Changan's heart!