Chapter 112: Kill Hukou and go to the banquet

After talking to the garrison Wang Shichang about other things, he started to get down to business.

Wang Shichang asked Zhang Zhimu: "Now is a good time to buy horses, how many horses can you buy this time?" ”

"How many horses can you have now?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"It's autumn and the horses have just hit the market. There can be five or six thousand horses. Wang Shichang said.

Zhang Zhimu said: "This time, I want to open a branch in Killhukou. When I have finished selling the goods, I will see how much money I can have, and then I will buy as many horses as I want. But this time, I will have to buy at least two or three thousand horses to go back. Zhang Zhimu didn't say at once that he wanted to buy 5,000 horses.

"Haha, I said you're not an ordinary person. It's getting bigger and bigger. That's great. It's great that you have a branch here, so try to get as much food and salt as you can. There is a shortage of food and salt. Wang Shichang said.

"I brought 10,000 stone of grain and more than 500 stone of salt this time," Zhang Zhimu said.

"That's great, you've done Hukou a great favor." Wang Shichang was very happy to hear this.

Zhang Zhimu said: "You are going back to the capital." After you return to Beijing, there is one thing I want to ask you to help me think of. Let's see if we can get a picture of the Ming Dynasty. This time we went south, and we suffered a lot from going around without a map. ”

"It's not something anyone can get. That's what you need to do is have someone in the military department and let them figure out a way. Wang Shichang said.

"It's a little more money. But no matter how much money you have, you're going to have to find a way to get this map for me. The money will be left to you when we go. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Alright! I'll figure it out when I get back. In the capital, as long as there is silver, there is nothing that cannot be done. Wang Shichang said.

After looking at the chatter for a day, it's almost over. Yang Yulin asked to bring in all the things she brought. As soon as Wang Shichang saw it, he let him carry it directly to the inner hall. The things brought this time included various silk fabrics, tea and other items in the south of the Yangtze River, and what interested Wang Shichang the most was the several beautifully decorated glass mirrors brought by Zhang Zhimu. I was startled when I first saw it, and then I couldn't put it down. Lian said: "This thing is too precious. Oops, it's too much of a waste to make you guys. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "No way, you go far to the border to be an official." When you go back to the capital, you don't have to work around, and those adults can arrange a good errand for you. The money you used to go back to Beijing. We'll send it back when we're gone. ”

The three of them said goodbye to the garrison Wang Shichang, and just after leaving the yamen, they saw Li Jing waiting in front of the door.

It turned out that Liu Yun led Lu Chengxiang to the Yuelai inn where they lived last time, and wrapped up the small courtyard where they had lived again. The innkeeper saw that the big customer from last time was back. The joy of serving tea and pouring water was terrible. The guest rooms were cleaned and all the beds were replaced with freshly washed bedding. Business has not been good these days, and there are not many people who can charter a small courtyard as soon as they come up. Now the two brands of Yaogang and Huwei Dart Bureau are very hard, and these guests can stay in their inn, which can bring them a good reputation.

Lu Chengxiang arranged the inn, so he sent someone to the garrison yamen and told the door army that when Zhang Zhimu and they came out, he would tell them and let them go directly to the Yuelai inn where they stayed last time.

However, Lu Chengxiang, who was busy with his landing, felt that something was wrong. It's past noon, why hasn't Zhang Zhimu come back yet. He immediately discussed with Mr. Ouyang, and felt that he should send someone to guard the yamen and wait. Mr. Ouyang said: "It stands to reason that the relationship between Mr. Zhang and the garrison is not an ordinary relationship. Nothing will happen. But it's okay to send someone to pick him up. Send someone who is careful. Liu Yun said, "Li Jing go." ”

Zhang Zhimu only remembered when he saw Li Jing that the three of them only cared about chatting with Wang Shichang and forgot the time, Lu Chengxiang and they must be in a hurry. "Oops. We forgot to ask people to go back and report the letter, and this time it must have made everyone anxious. ”

Li Jing said: "Not really. How can anyone like you go to the yamen to do business, and there are still people who take care of the food? We thought we were being detained by the garrison. ”

Back at the Yuelai Inn, Lu Chengxiang and the others said, "Oops." If you don't come back, you won't report it. Zhang Zhimu said in the coming year: "It was my inconsiderate thought that made everyone worry about it." Guaranteed not to be an example. ”

After Zhang Zhimu washed up, he was also in a lot of energy. Lu Chengxiang came over and said, "The two shopkeepers took away 1,500 stone of grain. The price is paid according to the market price first, and as for the final amount of money, we will wait for us to go through the market, determine a price, and then refund more and make up for less. They told us to leave them another 1,500 stones. The rest of the grain went into storage. The rest of the goods all went into the small courtyard behind us. This small courtyard can barely fit. ”

"The following work is a market." Zhang Zhimu said.

"We can wait until now. Transporting things here, our people and Li Zhi's people have gone out to explore the market. As soon as we know that we are in town, the market will definitely fluctuate. So before they fluctuate, we have to touch the market almost. Lu Chengxiang said.

"Haha. It's like going to war. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Doing business is like going to war. This time, Mr. Zhang, you listen to me. Let's take a day and take a look. Wait for the market to stabilize and we will make a move. Lu Chengxiang said.

"Okay. We'll listen to Mr. Lu about this. Zhang Zhimu said.

Lu Chengxiang said: "There are still ah." You're not here. Yang Erdong's family of Dexingcheng Company and Jiang Dongjia of Shengdechang Company came and said that they would like to invite you to Shengxinglou for a drink tonight, and if it is convenient, I will give you a reply. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "The news is so well-informed. My ass isn't hot yet. And they all moved. ”

"No, we're here, and this killing is like the New Year. I heard from the innkeeper that as soon as we arrived outside the city last night, everyone in the city knew about it. It's been a long time since Hukou had such a large caravan. Especially the wagons and wagons in which we carried grain were surrounded by people. Lu Chengxiang said excitedly.

In fact, when Hu Kou heard that Zhang Zhimu's caravan had arrived, not only the merchants were happy, but the people outside the city were even happier, because the caravan could bring daily necessities such as food and salt, which were urgently needed here. Those merchants knew that the purchasing power of such a caravan was amazing. Whoever can get their hands on it has money to make, so every business will find a way to try their luck. Those big firms like Dexingcheng and Shengdechang will naturally not miss such an opportunity.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Let's drink the wine of Shengxinglou." Regardless of the reputation of these two companies, we are in business. And they are the big ones who kill the nonsense. Last time they behaved reasonably. Bring our wine tonight, and I'm going to let the shopkeeper of the restaurant taste what good wine is. We also advertise our own. ”

"Then I'll let the shop guy inform them." Lu Chengxiang said.

"Mr. Lu, you can try the dishes of Sheng Xinglou tonight. Their charred humps, steamed lamb, and braised venison are a must. A few of their specialty dishes are definitely no worse than those made by the chefs in Huai'an. Zhang Zhimu said.

Yang Yulin just came in and said, "Don't talk about it, listen to you." I'm hungry right now. Everyone laughed.

Lu Chengxiang said: "Mr. Zhang." I have a suggestion, don't talk about business today, just about friendship. ”

"Today I don't talk about business, and tomorrow I won't talk about it. Let's talk about these things, let's talk about it. It's your specialty. Ha ha! Zhang Zhimu said with a smile.

When going to the banquet in the evening, Zhang Zhimu and others went to two four-wheeled carriages. Zhang Zhimu sat in one with Yang Yulin and Chen Yufeng, and Yan Boju, Lu Chengxiang and Ouyang He sat in one.

These two carriages were out of the limelight. Especially Zhang Zhimu's glass carriage, which made many people on the road point their fingers. They've never seen glass before. A few people who greeted outside the door of Shengxing Tower saw Zhang Zhimu's carriage arrive, and they could see the people in the car through the glass. These people who have traveled from south to north and seen the world are also shocked. The two sides met after a period of greetings. Yang Erdongjia said: "Zhang Dongjia will surprise us every time he comes. The steel-reed carriage you left behind after you left last time made me out of the limelight in Killing. Once I went to the grassland, a prince actually wanted to exchange a hundred horses for my carriage. The baby you brought today can open our eyes too? ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "No problem, everyone can get in the car and run a lap." You can eat a little more upstairs. ”

A few laughed and were not polite, and they all got into Zhang Zhimu's carriage. Zhang Zhimu asked the coachman to pull a few people to run around. These people came back and got out of the carriage after a turn, and Yang Erdong's family said, "Zhang Dong's family is too bullying. You went to the border of this bitter cold land, and drove such a beautiful carriage to chill us, and this time you did not leave a few. We're not going to say yes. He turned around and said to the people who got out of the car together, "Did you say that?" Of course, they should say, "Yes." Not a few left. We can't let Zhang Dongjia go. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Since everyone likes this kind of carriage. I don't think so. What kind of what you need, what color, etc., we can customize it for you, isn't it more in line with everyone's wishes. As for whether we can keep a few cars, we can't say yet. However, a few steel-reed carriages for the transport of goods can be left this time. Today's steel spring carriages are completely welded, and the quality of the steel is much better than before. ”

The proprietor said, "We have passed the addiction to the carriage, so let's go upstairs and talk about the rest!" ”

Today, in addition to Yang and Jiang, there are three others who came with them. These three are also powerful businessmen who kill Hukou.

Everyone went upstairs and sat down. The wine and food were not served, but the tea came first. Zhang Zhimu took a sip of tea, turned back to Yang Yulin and said, "Give the tea we brought to a few owners." ”

Yang Yulin took out a few bags of tea leaves from her bag and divided them with a few people who killed Hukou.

Jiang Dongjia said: "The tea given to us by Zhang Dongjia must not be wrong. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "What I give you is this year's best Longjing, everyone have a good taste." Yulin asked the guy to change to a good tea. ”

One of them was a tea connoisseur, and one said, "Oops." It's been a long time since I've drunk the Longjing of the year. Thanks to Zhang Dongjia, he opened up the trade route. Now this Longjing is a treasure, thanks to Zhang Dongjia. ”

Wait for the guy to change the tea and bring it up. Pour it on everyone, and the aroma of this dragon well will fill the room. Before they could drink it, these people began to praise it. He said, "With this aroma, this tea is the best." ”

As soon as this tea is drunk in the mouth, it is really fragrant and refreshing.

It's almost time to wait for the tea, and the guy came over to ask if he could serve the food. Yang Dongjia said: "Come on." ”

Zhang Zhimu saw that the food was starting to be served, and said, "I have a proposal, today is to eat your food and drink our wine." What do you think? ”

Jiang Dongjia said: "How can you drink so much? I'm afraid that we won't have enough wine for you to drink? ”

"That's right, the last time I drank here, I had an agreement with the shopkeeper here that the next time I came, I would let him know what good wine was. So this time I'm going to bring a little wine, and we'll all make a judgment on whether it's good wine or not. When Zhang Zhimu said this, everyone was also excited, they are all veterans at the wine table, who doesn't want to taste good wine. Especially this can also witness such a very elegant agreement.

all said: "Zhang Dongjia's suggestion is good. We'll make a judgment. ”

Yang Yulin went downstairs and asked the guy to help carry up a jar of wine.

Sheng Xinglou's specialty dishes were brought up one by one. Zhang Zhimu asked the guy to open the wine. As soon as the lid of the jar is lifted, the rich aroma wafts away. As soon as these people smell the wine, they blurt out the words "good wine".

In his previous life, Zhang Zhimu had been to many places in China that produced a lot of wine. There is still some research on wine. This time, the wine he brewed in Shanxi was mixed with Sichuan koji, which was to combine the strength of Fenjiu with the aroma of Sichuan wine. In the process of inspecting wine, he also learned more about it.

In the past, some people said that so-and-so wine is not good, and if you drink it, it must be the right alcohol. It was a mistake that was made. In fact, drinking edible alcohol is not good at all. Of course, counterfeit liquor made with industrial alcohol is excluded due to the lack of purity of industrial alcohol. In fact, what makes people go up is some of the things produced in the process of brewing, such as fusel oil, aldehydes, methanol and other substances. The boiling point of azeotrope formed by fusel oil and water (95 degrees) is higher than that of azeotrope formed by ethanol and water (78 degrees), while the boiling point of aldehydes and methanol is low.

Since the kiln has made a thermometer, when steaming wine, Zhang Zhimu personally came to the scene and told those wine-making masters that your wine-making skills should be retained. But add my new technology to it. Especially for this steamed wine, you should control the temperature of the flowing wine, distill it slowly, pinch the head and remove the tail, pinch off the head of the wine before the distillation begins until the alcohol reaches 70°, and pinch off the tail of the wine when the alcohol content drops below 50°, pick the wine while tasting, pick out the unqualified wine, and store the wine with a peculiar aroma as a high-quality wine or flavored wine separately. The resulting wine has a special aroma and is not on the top.

After everyone had filled the wine, Zhang Zhimu said: "Today, everyone testifies that the wine I brought has the strength of Fenjiu and the fragrance of Sichuan wine. It's not guaranteed to go up, so you can drink as much as you like today. After a while, the shopkeeper of the restaurant came to add food, and everyone gave justice. ”

"Good!" Everyone agreed.

Then everyone started drinking. They all say that's good. It's both energetic and flavorful. After drinking a few laps of wine, they inevitably exchanged a few toasts.

Later, Yang Erdong's family couldn't hold back. After a glass of wine, he said, "While you haven't drunk too much." Zhang Dongjia, we have something to say to you. Those of us are among the top few in terms of strength in killing Hukou. But why doesn't the Zhang family want to do business with us? Did you listen to some gossip outside and misunderstand us? We admire you very much, although we are here in the border area, but Zhang Dongjia led the kiln gang people, this period of feats, we have always heard of it. I look forward to you coming to kill Hukou again, and being close to you. Jiang Dongjia and I were fortunate to meet Zhang Dongjia last time. These three, Li Dongjia, Fan Dongjia, and Chen Dongjia, because they didn't take them to see Zhang Dongjia last time, have been complaining about us afterwards. Today, Zhang Dongjia testified, how did we meet Zhang Dongjia that day, did you already drink it, and we caught up later. Otherwise, they just don't believe. ”

Zhang Zhimu smiled and said: "If I am not willing to do business with you, will several of our kiln gang members come to your banquet today?" As for what outsiders say, it doesn't affect my judgment. After the last time we met, I think you can still socialize. What you said, I will testify to Yang Dongjia and Jiang Dongjia. Last time, we and a few other friends were drinking here, and the two owners of Yang and Jiang came in a hurry, and we happened to meet, so we had a drink together. ”

Jiang Dongjia said: "To be honest, Zhang Dongjia. You are here, and what you bring are all sought-after goods that kill Hukou, and we all want to do business with the Zhang family. But before Zhang's family entered the city, the grain was snatched away by two small traders. Let us who think we are big families lose face. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Jiang Dongjia originally said this matter. Actually, we had a drink with both of them last time. Those two were the friends we made when we first came to kill Hu Kou. Therefore, friends can't be divided into big and small merchants. This time, these two friends went out of town to pick us up. Of course, we have business to do with our friends first. To tell you the truth, until now, we don't fully understand the market of Hu Kou. They didn't settle the account yet, they just estimated the price, and we will calculate it when we have determined the price. I can also tell you that these two men were indeed small merchants, and they had to work hard to get 1,500 loads of grain. But I will give them another 1,500 stone of grain, and when they have finished selling it, I will give us silver. Just because they're my friends, we think that's how friends should be. ”

After Zhang Zhimu's words were finished, these people didn't know what to say for a while, and they were a little cold.

Yang Dongjia said: "This business seems to be unruly." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "This is our rule. As for all of you, we all know the sincerity of wanting to do business with us. In the future, you will have to contact our Mr. Lu more. In the future, he will be responsible for all business matters. We're just going to kill Hukou. The last time we left here, we almost walked to the southernmost point of the Ming Dynasty when we headed south. The goods brought back can be said to be countless. There's always something for us to do. ”

Yang Dongjia had a little smile on his face and said, "Zhang Dongjia, it's really generous. We can't even think of what you're doing. I heard that you wiped out King Li Chuang's army before you left Shanxi. What the hell is going on, can you tell us about it? ”

Zhang Zhimu thought to himself, just shocked them, and said: "We are businessmen, who is willing to go to war with blood and sacrifice." But we don't beat them, they beat us. These trolls have blocked the trade routes for a long time. No one can get by without fighting, and if we hadn't killed them that time, we wouldn't have been able to drink together today. ”

Then Zhang Zhimu talked about how to fight Li Zicheng's navy that time. As a result, these people forgot to eat and drink all the good wine and food. They listened to Zhang Zhimu talk about these things, and they felt that it was more enjoyable than listening to books. Because these big living people are right in front of them, they are the witnesses of the event.

Zhang Zhimu said: "As soon as King Li Chuang's naval army is destroyed, the road from Shanxi to Tongguan will be opened. It's worth paying a little bit. Although we sacrificed several good brothers. ”

Yang Dongjia said: "Tell me again, is it okay for you to open the siege?" ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Of course." But let's drain the glass first. Don't let this food and wine down to it. ”

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By the way, I recommend another good book "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty". This book tells the story of how after Yashan in the Southern Song Dynasty, he used the knowledge of later generations to establish a complete scientific and technological system in the Great Song Dynasty, completely drove the Yuan army out of China, and eventually caused a world war centered on Europe.