Chapter Seventy-Three: Huizhou Merchant

Lu Chengxiang and the others chose two kiln factories and ordered porcelain. Most of the ordered porcelain is in stock in the warehouse of the kiln factory; A small number are still in the kiln. However, the kiln has stopped firing, and when the kiln slowly cools down, the kiln can be opened and shipped. Because the kiln can't cool too quickly, otherwise the porcelain will be fried and it will be easy to produce scraps.

Lu Chengxiang and the others were relaxed, and they walked around again, seeing that there was silk cheaply and some silk was in. On this day, a few people were drinking tea in the teahouse, and they heard a businessman from Fujian at the next table say that rice was too expensive here. Lu Chengxiang originally thought that the rice here was already very cheap, and he was about to wait for Zhang Zhimu to come back and decide whether to buy some rice here. Lu Chengxiang took the initiative to go over and talk to him and asked why Fujian rice was so cheap. The merchant said that Fujian originally produced rice, but those merchants in Nanyang shipped porcelain and silk from our Daming, but nothing came back. The area of Annam produces three crops of rice a year, and rice is very cheap. When the rice arrives in Fujian, it can't be shipped. Fujian is full of mountains, the road is not easy to walk, one is too high to transport out, the other is too high to collect taxes at the checkpoints. Moreover, the mountain here is high and the emperor is far away, not only is the tax collection not accurate, but the slightest dissatisfaction is to beat up and confiscate the goods. Over the years, these trade routes have been somewhat deserted. If the rice can't be shipped, it will naturally be cheaper. Lu Chengxiang asked, why don't you transport it to the north, the rice is expensive over there. The man said that among these goods, rice is the cheapest, and it is not worth shipping further north, and it is not worth it if you add the freight. People transport more porcelain and silk back to have everything, that is, it is sold cheaply in Fujian, and it is also profitable, and I don't know how much cheaper it is than an empty ship, so people don't have to do that.

When Lu Chengxiang heard this, his heart jumped with joy, and he came back to talk to a few people. Yan Boju said: "When Zhimu comes back to know this letter, he may not be happy. Now, we can also go to Fujian for a visit. ”

Looking forward to Zhang Zhimu's early return, several people were anxious, and sent people to wait for Zhang Zhimu at the dock every day.

Finally waited for Zhang Zhimu's fleet to come back, and the people on the dock saw it from afar, so they rushed back to inform Lu Chengxiang and others. Several people came to the dock to take a look, and Zhang Zhimu brought back a batch of stones, and they were puzzled. Lu Chengxiang said: "Hey, you just went all the way to get these stones." Zhang Zhimu said: "Don't underestimate these stones, I'd rather lose the porcelain you ordered than lose these stones." ”

They hired trucks to transport the stones to a storehouse. Lu Chengxiang said: "The porcelain is all ordered, and it can be packaged in these two days." But once there is an urgent matter, it will be hard for you to wait. ”

After Lu Chengxiang finished speaking, Zhang Zhimu heard that there was such a good thing. After thinking for a while, he said, "Can you invite that Fujian businessman out?" , I want to treat him to a meal. Lu Chengxiang said: "This is easy to do, I know where he lives, and he hasn't left now." ”

Zhang Zhimu ordered again to repack these stones and scatter them on the road.

In the evening, the Hokkien merchant also brought two Sulu merchants and a Chinese who was doing business in Sulu. It turned out that this Fujianese accompanied the three of them to Jingdezhen. When a few people saw the grade of Zhang Zhimu's treat, they knew that Zhang Zhimu was not an ordinary businessman. After three rounds of wine and five flavors, everyone is not restrained. Zhang Zhimu was polite and inquired about the situation of rice in Fujian. However, Zhang Zhimu asked in more detail about the rubber tree. None of them had heard of rubber trees in Sulu. Zhang Zhimu further explained, saying: "It is also called a tree that sheds tears, that is, the bark of the tree will flow out of white sap. This juice is very elastic when it dries and can be pulled out for a long time. At this time, a few people understood. The two Sulus said that they had a lot of these trees there. Locals build houses and paint their roofs with juice to keep them out from rain. I heard that this tree was brought by Francos many years ago. Zhang Zhimu was very happy when he heard this. I was glad to hear about the food.

Zhang Zhimu made a decision, and now the personnel are divided into two ways. Liu Chenghuang led ten people to transport the porcelain and stones ordered here to Li Mao in Yangzhou. On the way, I took all the goods and people there with me in Nanjing. Zhang Zhimu took the rest of the people straight to Fujian. Zhang Zhimu said: "We can't go to Fujian empty-handed, according to the style that the Western merchants like, we will set 50,000 porcelain, and 50,000 silk fabrics. Tomorrow I will go to Huizhou, and Mr. Lu will go with me after ordering the goods. Liu Chenghuang also has to wait for us to come back and then go separately together. ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "This is easy to do, the merchants of the West have a large amount of orders, this kiln manufacturers have inventory, they order few high-quality products, mainly a large amount of line." When you go to the kiln factory, you will know what they like. ”

After ordering the porcelain, Zhang Zhimu, Lu Chengxiang, Yang Yulin and Yan Boju went to Huizhou together. This time, Liu Yun went with ten people. Fortunately, Jiangnan is good, there are ships everywhere, slow is slow, but it is stable. Along the way, the mountains and rivers are beautiful, and these northerners have melted between the green mountains and green waters again this time. Zhang Zhimu, who was excited, stood at the bow of the boat and sang a song "On the Water Side" to everyone. "The grass is green, the white fog is boundless, there is a beautiful woman, ...... on the water side" was sung, and everyone was silent for a while, and even the boatman almost forgot to rock the oar. This tactful and beautiful melody, where have people in this era heard it. Coupled with this situation, especially Zhang Zhimu's singing "I am willing to swim against the current and snuggle up to her." , thinking of his wife and son in his previous life, he was full of tears and very emotional. It was Yan Boju who spoke, "I said, Zhimu, don't sing in the future, if you sing again, our souls will fly away, and who else will accompany you." "It's easy for everyone. Yang Yulin said: "Sing again, it's so good." Zhang Zhimu said: "In the future, we will set up a art troupe to sing for everyone, and then with musical instruments, it will be even better." The boatman over there, because of the language, although he couldn't understand the lyrics, was deeply moved, and he tried to recall the melody and hummed softly.

Hui Shang is definitely a strange merchant group, and Zhang Zhimu was very interested in them in his previous life. In the entire Huizhou region, seventy percent of the men went out to do business, and many of them left home as young as a child, and their black hair went back to white hair. They are hard-working and well-known for their camels. In its heyday, Hui merchants once owned four-sevenths of the country's total assets. Zhang Zhimu thought to himself, the amount of money we have now is less than a fraction of that of Hui merchants. After living in Huizhou, Lu Chengxiang asked Zhang Zhimu: "What are we going to buy in Huizhou?" Zhang Zhimu said: "The four treasures of Huizhou's study, paper, ink, pen and inkstone should be more. Especially paper, Chengxintang paper should be more in. Zhang Zhimu knew that in the future development of production, drawing should use a lot of paper, and the small paper used to draw in the kiln was really inconvenient.

"Also, you have to buy some lacquer, tung oil, and tea."

Lu Chengxiang said: "In this way, in the past, Huizhou businessmen went to the north to sell goods to us, and I have seen some of them, and now I go out to see the goods and see if there are any old customers." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "You go, but you don't have to force any old customers, it's better to have it, and there's nothing if you don't have it." Everybody knows silver. ”

Lu Chengxiang led the people out, and Zhang Zhimu also led the rest of the people out for a walk. It's really another emotion. It is full of deep mansions left by generations or even dozens of generations of Huizhou merchants. Thinking that most of this would be destroyed in the war in the future, Zhang Zhimu thought that I was coming, and I didn't know if I could avoid all this. If the financial resources of the Huizhou merchants are not destroyed, encourage them to develop industry and commerce, and create good conditions for them. They will surely bring a miracle to the whole country.

Back at the inn, Lu Chengxiang had already returned and brought a guest. It turned out that this was Lu Chengxiang's old customer in the past. Coincidentally, he happened to be in Huizhou and didn't go out. The visitor said: "I heard that Zhang Dongjia has arrived in Huizhou, and several of our business colleagues want to invite Zhang Dongjia to get together to show our respect." Many of our merchants can't go out at home due to the lack of business routes. The arrival of Zhang Dongjia tells us that we can set off on the road. Zhang Dongjia opened up a trade route for us. I used to just send a message, and I didn't dare to believe it. This time you are here, the entire Huizhou business community is happy! Zhang Dongjia must give us Huizhou businessmen a face. ”

Zhang Zhimu didn't expect that he had made such a big move. I had to say: "It's better to be respectful than to obey your fate." ”

At the banquet in the evening, Zhang Zhimu didn't expect such a big pomp. There were four large tables in total. Zhang Zhimu estimated that all those who came had heads and faces in Huizhou, and introduced them one by one, Zhang Zhimu couldn't help but be polite. In fact, I can't remember any of this kind of occasion. To the surprise of the Huizhou business community, Yang Yulin's arrival. In general, the business world in this era is basically a forbidden place for women, and women are not allowed to appear on such occasions. But when the introduction was finished, this was the daughter of the owner of the Huwei Dart Bureau, and these Huizhou merchants were served. I've heard of heroines before, but I've seen them today. In addition, Yang Yulin is generous and beautiful, which makes the businessmen even more amazed. In fact, the Huizhou businessmen who can be present today, except for Lu Chengxiang's old patron, who is slightly inferior in strength, are all wealthy. They feel that Shanxi businessmen are still not on the table, and their strength is not worth mentioning. These Shanxi businessmen were able to rush out, completely relying on the strength of the northerners who dared to fight hard, and broke out. Otherwise, the court can't do anything, they will do it.

After tasting the authentic Hui cuisine, a merchant next to him said, "I have been to the north, and the fish there is not as delicious as ours." So people in Shanxi don't eat fish. Zhang Zhimu heard some taste and said: "Shanxi people don't eat fish, which is caused by long-term habits. Over time, Shanxi people will not be able to make fish, and they will not be able to make fish well. But we are an exception, and we cannot go a day without fish. Just now you said that the fish here is delicious, yes. The mountains and rivers here are beautiful, and good water produces good fish. And the Hui cuisine master is also good. But one side of the water and soil raises one side of the people, and one side of the fish. The fish here is more tender and delicious than the fish in the north when steamed. But when stewed, it is not as good as the carp of our Yellow River. Especially catfish, the fish in the north can be stewed and drunk, and the catfish stew in the south will have an earthy smell. I hope to have the opportunity to invite everyone to Shanxi to eat Yellow River carp and drink Yellow River catfish soup. ”

During the dinner, everyone talked about the way of doing business. When it comes to Huizhou businessmen opening up overseas markets, they are very proud. Zhang Zhimu asked a question: "Have you thought about it?" Why before, one tael of gold could be exchanged for five taels of silver? And now a tael of gold can be exchanged for ten taels of silver? ”

Some people say that prices are rising and so on. Zhang Zhimu said: "What everyone says is not the main reason, it is because of overseas trade. We have a large outflow of goods, a large amount of silver. We are slowly getting less and more silver here, can prices not rise? Zhang Zhimu's high-level remarks were really shocked. They are all elites in the business world, and Zhang Zhimu understands this problem a little. Everyone understood it all at once.

"Does Zhang Dongjia have any high opinion on this issue?" Someone asked.

"I don't have any high opinions, so if I want to protect myself, I will save more gold and less silver, and buy land. Start a business. Anyway, if it is buried in the ground, it will depreciate more and more. If we solve this problem in the long run, it will enrich the people, and the people will have silver in their hands, so that good things do not need to be shipped abroad, and our silver will be able to maintain its value. It's not that it's bad to ship things, it's not that we have too few things to import. If there is an imbalance in trade, prices will inevitably rise and silver will depreciate. Zhang Zhimu said.

Zhang Zhimu's performance at the banquet this time was out of the limelight. It left a deep impression on the Hui businessmen. Later, after Zhang Zhimu's production started, Hui merchants were very important distributors, and it was only then that Zhang Zhimu really knew the ability of Hui merchants. There are some commodities in his factory, and in a few years, it will be as many as the Hui merchants will produce.

I really can't delay time, Zhang Zhimu and his entourage, after buying the goods, quickly hired a boat to return to Jingdezhen.

The goods purchased from Huizhou, as well as the porcelain and silk that had been packaged, were loaded onto the ship and handed over to Liu Chenghuang. The goods to be brought to Fujian were also loaded onto the ship.

Zhang Zhimu instructed Liu Chenghuang that everyone should eat better on the road, remember that people are the most important, and if there is really trouble, you must protect people first, and then protect the goods. This is the first time that Liu Chenghuang has been independently responsible for the transportation of goods, and he knows that this is Zhang Zhimu's trust in him, and said: "Mr. Zhang, you can rest assured that I will do my best to do things well, and I dare not be careless." ”

Liu Chenghuang's fleet was sent away, and Zhang Zhimu's fleet also hit the road. Zhang Zhimu: This time, they are walking the ancient road that has existed since the Qin and Han dynasties. Out of Jingdezhen into Poyang Lake, along the Fuhe River to Guangchang, after going ashore in Guangchang, through Shicheng land transport to Fujian Ninghua, then change to a small boat, along the Qingxi River to Yong'an, and then land transport to Zhangping, in Zhangping to change to a big boat along the Jiulong River to Zhangzhou, and then take the sea route to Quanzhou, the largest port in the East at that time. Along the way, all kinds of hardships, especially the northerners, were extremely unaccustomed to the humid and hot weather, but fortunately, along the way, there were people selling the heat-clearing tea boiled by the locals themselves, and the group finally did not fall. The weather was okay, but the man-made disaster made Zhang Zhimu very nerve-wracking.