The three of them came to Liu Taoran's side according to my instructions, and greeted Liu Taoran, they and Liu Taoran were also acquaintances, and when they went to deposit silver, they were also received by Liu Taoran, and after several people greeted each other, they came to Wang Benyu's living room surrounded by everyone.

The living room is full of tables and chairs, and the living room, which used to be large, is now crowded. Under the guidance of my family, Liu Taoran and I came to the top two chairs to sit down, in order to do a good job in this election, Wang Benyu has invested a lot of money, many family members are waiting, each table is placed with tea and fruit plates, paper, ink, pen and inkstone, and the family members who guide everyone to sit down, this seat is not casual to sit, but also depends on the size of the strength, like Wang Benyu The three of them have relatively large strength, just in the front row.

After everyone sat down, Wang Benyu stood up as the host, that is, the host of course.

"Today is a good day for our grain merchants in Beijing, we all know that our industry is the most important industry, but we have always been alone, not in the form of the climate, and there are many people, what malicious competition, everyone's profits are not good. Thanks to the "Meng" cabinet Zhang can afford to let us form an association, today we are also honored to invite Lan and Liu to witness the establishment of our grain merchants association this great moment, from then on, we are a family, we should share the difficulties and blessings. Now, please say a few words for me. ”

Not to mention, Wang Benyu's words are really incendiary, and there was warm applause below, one is to welcome us, and the other is to have an association in the future, so that you don't have to worry about the exclusion of your peers, and someone will come forward to solve the problem, such a good thing, but it is rare in a hundred years.

"Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, on behalf of our ya'men', I would like to thank you for the support of the grain merchants in the capital this time, especially the three shopkeepers, who have saved a lot of silver. Although this silver trumpet is a good thing, and it was also set up by the emperor for the convenience of the people, but when most people don't believe it, you can take the lead in depositing silver, which is a trust in us and a trust in the emperor. The establishment of the grain merchants association is a good thing, so that a force has been formed, just like this strike in the capital, if there are 'traitors' in the back, it will not be so simple, because your association will also have the support of Shuntianfu, and you are not afraid of being oppressed. If you have something, you can inform the Shuntian Mansion, and our ya'men will also help you in time, although the official is not big, but the official can still speak in front of the emperor. Everyone may know that this official is still a student of Lord Zhang in the cabinet, and this time you set up a grain merchant association is also proposed by Lord Zhang, so everyone can rest assured, with the emperor as the backing, Lord Zhang will support you, no one will dare to threaten you, as for a few grain merchants have not joined, we don't care about him, this is a voluntary thing, if someone is unwilling today, you can also quit, but, if something happens, don't look for us. ”

"Lord Lan has a saliva." Wang Benyu poured me a cup of tea and handed it over.

I took a sip and continued: "I should come here today with a few shopkeepers, just to let you elect the president of an association, there should always be a leader, after all, a person's 'essence' is limited, and then elect two vice presidents, so that there is anything to discuss, as for the constitution or something, you can draft it yourself, and then everyone raise your hand to pass it." First of all, Lord Liu and I will not interfere in your election, and you will send me a copy of the draft charter, and I will take it back and report it to the emperor and Lord Zhang. It's just that this president must be a person with a certain strength and prestige to take charge, but the president is elected every three years, if the former president is incompetent, he can be replaced in the next election, my words are over, the king is in charge, you see that it is time for you to elect next. ”

Wang Benyu continued: "Now we elect the president, the election method is secret ballot, you may not know what's going on, that is, give each of you a piece of paper, write down the president and vice president in your mind on the paper, and then unify the 'handover', someone will sing the vote, and Lord Lan and Lord Liu will supervise our election, which will start now." ”

As soon as Wang Benyu's words fell, there was a sound of 'handing over to the ears' below, and everyone was also discussing to see who was the right president. In order to increase the chips for Wang Benyu, I beckoned him to my side and asked, "Shopkeeper Wang, are you sure that you will sit in the chairman's seat in today's election?" ”

"My lord, is this one, almost, it depends on your help."

"This official still wants you to be the president, after all, you and I are acquaintances, but this is an election vote, not something we can '' ourselves, so it still depends on your prestige."

I have an intimate 'exchange' with Wang Benyu here, and of course the voters below are in their eyes, and they are all thinking in their hearts, this Wang Benyu is not simple, he is so familiar with that Lan person, and he is so familiar with that person's affection, it is not an ordinary relationship, that Lan Da is a student of Zhang Daren, no, it is better to choose the Wang shopkeeper as the president. My action invisibly pulled a lot of votes for Wang Benyu, Wang Benyu is also a smart person, of course, he can also see the meaning of my action, so he seems more affectionate.

Of course, for the two who helped, they were also the best candidates for vice president, especially which Han shopkeeper also helped a lot, and he couldn't let the family suffer.

After a while, the following was written, and the family collected all the ballots and put them together on the table in front of us.

"Lord Lan, the tickets below have been put away, how to sing the tickets now, please show them to Lord Lan."

"Well, if you believe in this official, you can choose two from the official's 'guards' to sing the vote, and find a few people from below to help record."

Lao Liu's father and son both knew how to read and wrote, and they were responsible for recording tickets, and they picked two more from the grain merchants below, and then they began to sing tickets.

In the end, Wang Benyu got the most votes, a total of 115 people, and 80 people voted for Wang Benyu as the president, among which the vice president Ye You fell on the other two largest grain merchants, Sun Shopkeeper and Han Shopkeeper.

After the results came out, I stood up and said: "After voting, now the official will announce the election results to everyone, the shopkeeper Wang ranked first with 80 votes, and was elected as the first president of the grain merchants association, and the vice president of the shopkeeper Sun and Han, even if the grain merchants association is established, wait for you to discuss the constitution, and ask the three shopkeepers to go to Shuntianfu and our ya'men for the record." In addition, there is also a big announcement from the official, for you, this is a good opportunity to make a fortune. ”

Speaking of this, I deliberately paused, picked up the teacup and drank water, hundreds of people below were looking at me, I saw that it was almost there, and then I continued: "This time this official went to Xuanfu, and he has reached an agreement with the 'Mongolian' ancients to set up a large-scale mutual market, which is an opportunity for you. In the past few years, because of the war, no one has been going to Xuanfu, so there is a blank, and now the ancients are in urgent need of food, everyone is running this business, if you are interested, you can go to Xuanfu to expand it. Our silver number is about to open a branch over there, if you have silver taels to use, you can exchange them here, and you can exchange them in Xuanfu with a silver ticket. Also, if your strength is not enough, you can form a team, everyone invest in shares together, go to Xuanfu to open a big commercial house, and ensure to make money, this is the latest information, in order to thank you for your support to my silver number, so I am here to tell you for the first time. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, the grain merchants below began to get excited, this can be a big business opportunity, Xuanfu is not far from the capital, they also know that they do business with the 'Mongolian' ancients to make money, but they don't understand the Tao, plus the restrictions of the imperial court in the past few years, so there is no chance, now this opportunity is in front of them, who doesn't want to make the business bigger, some have a good relationship to get together and discuss, the three major grain merchants are no longer entangled in who is the president and who is the vice president, and they also abandoned their previous suspicions, and discussed together to see if they can go to Xuanfu to make a fortune.

This news works well, almost all grain merchants are interested in this, after all, the market in the capital is limited, and the profits are also known, if there is no natural disaster, it will not make a fortune, and now there is a ready-made opportunity, who doesn't want to get a piece of the pie.

Seeing the excited businessmen below, Liu Taoran said to me: "Lord Lan, it seems that the saying that businessmen seek profits is not wrong, you look at their appearance, alas. ”

"Lord Liu, this is normal, scholars are fortunate to be officials, farmers are happy to have a good harvest, businessmen are of course profit-oriented, this is the way to survive, we are beyond reproach, as long as they keep to their own business and make money from the ancients, we still have to support it, you can also tell them about it later, we can also support it financially."

"Lord Lan is right, I look at this matter with the same set of scholars again, and I still can't change that bad 'fault', a gentleman loves money and takes it in a good way, as long as it is operated legally, I still support them." Liu Taoran has followed me for a period of time, and his views on businessmen have changed a lot, and he has rarely had the pedantic atmosphere of a scholar.

After the businessmen below discussed for a while, they all gathered around the three major grain merchants, or Wang Benyu stood up and said: "Everyone, today is the first day of the establishment of our grain merchants association, as the first president, I invite everyone to go to the restaurant, we will discuss after drinking if there is something, now Lord Lan and Lord Liu are still here, don't 'mess' up, let the two adults laugh." ”

As soon as I heard that we went to the restaurant, everyone calmed down, and I asked: "Shopkeeper Wang, I just had a meal not long ago, and I can't eat when I go to the restaurant. ”

"How can it be, two adults, I have already booked this banquet, can we drink it for a longer time when we go?"