Chapter 131: The First Meeting of the Eight Great Merchants

The first stop of Zhang Zhimu and others is the location of the famous Dajing Gate in the previous life, at this time the Dajing Gate has not yet been built, and it is located between the towering East and West Taiping Mountains, although the city pass has not yet been built, but the natural terrain is also extremely dangerous. It is also justified that it has not been breached by the Mongols.

Ouyang He, Chen Yufeng, Liu Yun and others studied the topography here, and Zhang Zhimu was not very interested in these things, and looked around to see the scenery. Zhang Zhimu didn't participate in their discussion, but they were very casual, and they were all open, talking and laughing while discussing. Zhang Zhimu thought to himself, "I've been very easy-going, why are they still a little restrained with me!" It's really incomprehensible. I guess it's because of my location. ”

Yang Yulin followed Zhang Zhimu step by step, and it could be seen that she was very happy today, because those two "annoying" people finally took other cars, and she was willing to take a car alone with Zhang Zhimu. She was in a good mood along the way, if she wasn't afraid of Zhang Zhimu's jokes, she would have wanted to hum a little song.

After reading this, Zhang Zhimu and others visited Qingyuan Tower, and went to the Jellyfish Palace and Yunquan Temple to burn incense and donate some donations.

Zhang Zhimu: They are leisurely touring the mountains and rivers here. Lu Chengxiang was very busy over there.

Now Lu Chengxiang wants to laugh in his dreams at night, and he feels scared when he thinks of the desolation when he left Zhangjiakou City. If it weren't for being rescued by Zhang Zhimu on the way, I don't know what it would have been. He sometimes thinks that if he is not saved by Zhang Zhimu and is killed by thieves on the road, it is better than going home like that. When you go home like that, the whole family will not be able to raise their heads. Among these people in Yaogang, Lu Chengxiang was not the only one who was happy, he chose four assistants, and left one in Datong to help deal with affairs, and two of the three who came with him were prescribed by the unscrupulous businessman at the end of his apprenticeship in Zhangjiakou. This time they returned to Zhangjiakou, they came back with the big shopkeeper of Yaogang, and the glory made them feel that their breathing was extraordinarily smooth.

Lu Chengxiang was dressed in new silk clothes, with four bodyguards on horseback, accompanied by two assistants, and began to visit his old friends and old friends one by one in a four-wheeled carriage. These people all knew that Lu Chengxiang was tricked by the owner who stole the shop, and this was also a lot of news in Zhangjiakou at that time, because Lu Chengxiang was also famous in Zhangjiakou at that time.

These merchants that Lu Chengxiang went to visit all knew that a long, unsightly caravan of Xiurong merchant Zhang Zhimu arrived in Zhangjiakou and arranged for the personnel to stay in two large inns outside the city. These people are very hot-eyed because they don't have anything to do with such a big businessman. They never dreamed that the big shopkeeper of the caravan this time would be Lu Chengxiang, who had been laughed at by them before.

When Lu Chengxiang came to a stop in front of their shop in a four-wheeled carriage, a young man ran inside to report the news. Whether it was the proprietor or the shopkeeper, when they heard that a carriage with four wheels had stopped in front of the shop, they all came out one by one. This Lu Chengxiang is very good at doing this, he deliberately waited in the car for a while, and he set aside time for the guy to go in and inform the owner and the shopkeeper to come out.

The first place Lu Chengxiang visited was a century-old silk village named Ruifuxiang. Today, it happens that the owner of the shopkeeper is here, and the owner's surname is Qiao's name is Qiao Dewang; The shopkeeper is their own family named Qiao Zhide, they and Lu Chengxiang are old acquaintances, and they used to do business together.

After Lu Chengxiang's assistant got out of the car, he reached out to take Lu Chengxiang's hand, Lu Chengxiang lifted his shirt with one hand and got out of the car. When Lu Chengxiang got out of the car, Qiao Dongjia and Qiao Shopkeeper were waiting in front of the door. Lu Chengxiang hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Qiao Dongjia and Qiao Shopkeeper haven't seen each other for a long time, it's always been good!" ”

Qiao Dongjia and Qiao's shopkeeper hurriedly returned the salute, but before the polite words were spoken, they saw that it was Lu Chengxiang, and they were a little shocked and didn't know what to say. It was still Qiao's shopkeeper who reacted, and hurriedly said, "Oops! I didn't expect it to be the arrival of the shopkeeper Lu, you are..."

This is what Lu Chengxiang wants, "Alas! A while ago, I didn't do well, just let me go over to help him in the kiln, I thought about who the kiln gang master was, I could look at me, I passed. In the past, I was too busy, and everything was pushed to me, and now there are smelting plants, lime plants, and processing plants in Yaogang. There are many semicolons from south to north. I'm too busy to come back and see you. No, as soon as Mr. Zhang from our kiln gang came to Zhangjiakou, he went to the mountains and rivers. I'll just take a look at you sometime. After speaking, he turned around and said to his assistant, "Give the good tea I brought back from the south to Qiao's family and Qiao's shopkeeper." ”

At this time, Qiao Dongjia, who reacted, said: "Look at you, how can you talk here, please come to the house." Now the shopkeeper Lu is a rare guest. "The proprietor and shopkeeper know that Lu Chengxiang is not what it used to be, and no one can pretend to be this traveling style. I really regret that Lu Chengxiang didn't go to see it when he was unlucky, and he didn't send him off when he left.

Lu Chengxiang said as he walked into the house: "They are all old friends, what are they called rare guests!" ”

When everyone was seated, they drank tea. Qiao Dongjia said: "The shopkeeper Lu is now the big shopkeeper, and he will take more care of us if he has business in the future." ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "That's all easy to say, I came here this time to see old friends, not to talk about business." We have time to do business, so we can stay here for a few more days this time. First, there are too many goods brought this time to deal with well, and secondly, we are also preparing to open another branch here and build a station. ”

Lu Chengxiang's words made the two of them a little surprised. They didn't understand what it meant to build a station, so the shopkeeper Qiao asked, "What station did you say you wanted to see?" ”

"Ah, that's the case, now we are in Yaogang, and friends from all walks of life there give face, so we want to set up a transportation company, and now Zhangjiakou and Hukou are transporting people and goods to and from all parts of Shanxi. Therefore, stations should be built in various places along the line. This Zhangjiakou is a big station, so be sure to build a new and better station. Lu Chengxiang explained.

After listening to Lu Chengxiang's words, this Qiao Dongjia and Qiao Shopkeeper felt that Lu Chengxiang and them were too great, this kind of business is not something that ordinary people can open, how many people are needed to build such stations along the way, not to mention how much silver. Besides, the bandits along the way can't be dealt with by ordinary people. Could it be that the legends about the kiln people are true? Seeing the few bags of tea on the table, Qiao Dongjia remembered. Lu Chengxiang seemed to say that this was the tea he brought back from the south. He asked: "Shopkeeper Lu, after you left Zhangjiakou this time, did you really go to the south?" ”

"Go, it's still fake, we've been to too many places this time. This is unimaginable in Zhangjiakou. Lu Chengxiang said.

"Could it be that the legendary kiln gang people opened the siege and lifted the siege are all true?" Qiao Dongjia looked at Lu Chengxiang and asked.

"It's all true, and it can be fake. I did it all myself. We Zhang are always bold and careful, and he decides that he will never worry about specific things in the future, and we will do it specifically. Lu Chengxiang replied.

Qiao Dongjia and Qiao Shopkeeper both came to the spirit and said: "Lu Shopkeeper, can you tell us if you don't keep it secret, and let us have a long experience?" ”

In fact, Lu Chengxiang is here to talk about his five levels and six generals, "There is nothing to keep secret from old friends." ”

After taking a sip of tea, Lu Chengxiang told all these things about going south and north. The tea was repeated several times, and the shopkeeper of this owner was in a trance.

In this way, Lu Chengxiang went to a leather goods store in the afternoon, and he did the same, acting in a play.

Lu Chengxiang, who returned to the inn, said to his brothers: "Our business will come to the door soon, everyone wait." Remember, it's not a business to catch up, it's easy to do business with you. ”

An assistant said, "Are you casting bait on this day?" ”

Lu Chengxiang smiled: "How can I have time to chat with them, I finish the story, if they can bear it, it will be difficult for them not to pass it on." Soon Zhangjiakou will be like the wind, and we will be told everywhere. That's when everyone started to get busy! ”

At this time, the guy knocked on the door and came in and said, "Someone from the Shanxi Hall has come to see you." ”

Lu Chengxiang said, "Look, this is coming!" "And he came out with the fellow. It turned out that the people from the Shanxi Guild Hall sent a letter, saying that the Shanxi businessmen in charge of the Shanxi Guild wanted to wash the dust for Zhang Zhimu of the kiln gang, and set up a banquet in the banquet hall at night, asking Zhang Zhimu to give Shanxi colleagues a face.

Shanxi Guild Hall is a place for Shanxi businessmen to jointly donate funds to build a common meeting, entertainment and discussion place in the places where Jin merchants from all over the country go. The Shanxi guild hall in the narrow sense is one with the four characters Shanxi guild hall in the name, and the Shanxi guild hall in the broad sense also includes the Shanxi guild hall, the Quanjin guild hall, the Western Jin guild hall, the Qin Jin guild hall and so on. There are two common features of all Shanxi guild halls: one is that they all worship Guan Gong, related to the Emperor Temple or Guan Gong Temple; Second, there are theaters. There is a complete system for business councils and capital operations in Shanxi Guild Hall.

When Zhang Zhimu came back, he heard that the Shanxi Guild Hall had come to invite him, and said, "Okay, this is a great opportunity." I just didn't expect it to come so quickly! Let's take a good rest, and tonight we will meet our colleagues in Shanxi. ”

The banquet building is a three-story restaurant, and Li Zhi originally wanted to take people to the banquet building first to occupy a place, so as to be responsible for the safety inside. According to the division of labor, Li Jing is responsible for the outside and Li Zhi is responsible for the inside, but when Li Zhi sent someone to set a place, the banquet building no longer accepts other guests. The guy at the banquet building said that the banquet building has been chartered by the Shanxi Guild Hall tonight. It can be seen that the Shanxi businessmen in Zhangjiakou still attach great importance to tonight's banquet, and on the other hand, they also calculate that Zhang Zhimu will definitely attend the banquet today. Although they only delivered the invitation in the afternoon, they had already prepared for the banquet. If Zhang Zhimu didn't come to the banquet, he would offend all Shanxi businessmen. These people thought they had calculated Zhang Zhimu wisely, but how could they know that they were in Zhang Zhimu's arms.

In order to make the pomp bigger, this time Li Jing's 50 special forces all rode horses and carried muskets to accompany them, and a total of four four-wheeled carriages went to Yaogang. In front of the ten-man team opened the way, behind the ten-man team was behind the hall, and the rest of the people were on the left and right of the four carriages. Zhang Zhimu and Yang Yulin have a car, Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He have a car, Lu Chengxiang and Li Zhi have a car, and Liu Yun and Liu Chenghuang have a car. Zhang Zhimu's glass carriage starts.

According to the rehearsal, Li Jing's four-man team arrived at the door of the banquet building, and immediately divided to the left and right sides of the front door of the banquet building, and the people who arrived with the carriage also divided to the left and right sides of the door.

Fan Yongdou and others, who were waiting in the banquet building, heard the news that Zhang Zhimu and others arrived, and they immediately greeted them outside. A few large lanterns in front of the banquet building illuminate the front of the door.

After Yang Yulin got out of the car, he opened the car door, and Zhang Zhimu got out of the carriage with his clothes.

Fan Yongdou saw that this must be Zhang Zhimu. Hurriedly arched his hand and said, "It's Zhang Dong's house that has arrived!" ”

Zhang Zhimu hurriedly returned the salute, "It's exactly here, are you?" ”

"Fan Yongdou is the same person from Shanxi, come to welcome Zhang Dong's family." Fan Yongdou said.

Zhang Zhimu thought to himself, this is the famous Fan Yongdou, and hurriedly said: "I am a junior in the business world, and I dare not ask the Fan Dongjia to welcome you like this." ”

To be polite, Fan Yongdou introduced the other seven people who could come forward, including Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yongfa, to Zhang Zhimu. Zhang Zhimu also introduced Chen Yufeng and others to Fan Yongdou and others.

Fan Yongdou showed great enthusiasm and took Zhang Zhimu's hand to the second floor.

The second floor is also full, and almost all Shanxi businessmen with a bit of identity in the Zhangjiakou business community have come. At the staircase on the second floor, Fan Yongdou introduced Zhang Zhimu to the Shanxi businessmen in Zhangjiakou, and Zhang Zhimu also greeted everyone.

The eight people from Yaogang were divided into two parts, Zhang Zhimu, Chen Yufeng, Ouyang He and Yang Yulin were at the same table with the eight businessmen from Zhangjiakou, and the rest of Yaogang were arranged at another table. After some politeness, the banquet began. The atmosphere at the other tables soon became warm, but at Zhang Zhimu's table, the atmosphere was always a little dignified. The dishes were almost over, and I drank a few glasses of wine. Fan Yongdou began to speak, "Zhang Dongjia, why we Shanxi businessmen can do such a big business is because we Shanxi businessmen can endure hardships and work together. I'll just say a few words to you by saying a few words to you. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Please advise! ”

"Don't dare to advise, now we are not qualified to teach you Zhang Dongjia here. I mean, when you get to this Zhangjiakou, you should come to our Shanxi Guild Hall. If we hadn't heard the news that Zhang Dongjia had arrived in Zhangjiakou, we wouldn't have known that your Zhang Dongjia had arrived in Zhangjiakou. Won't we snub you? Fan Yongdou's words are very decent, which is also practiced by the perennial ushers.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Fan Dongjia and you are wrong to blame me, I originally planned to come to the Shanxi Hall to meet everyone. I have a lot of things to do when I'm new here, so I would like to ask for your attention. ”

Fan Yongdou sat next to Zhang Zhimu, and Wang Dengku, who was sitting next to Fan Yongdou on the other side, said: "We Shanxi people are miserable, and it's okay to say that people like us earn money." The Shanxi people who came to Zhangjiakou to pan for gold, the successful ones were famous all over the world, and finally returned to their hometowns. However, due to natural and man-made disasters and business mistakes, they went bankrupt and closed down due to the loss of their capital, and eventually fell into poverty, lived on the streets, and even died of cold and starvation. I don't know if Zhang Dongjia believes it or not, we Shanxi people leave home to do business, and there is one out of ten who don't know what happened after leaving home. When the people of the Jinyi Society heard that there were Shanxi people who passed away and no one asked, they took a mat to roll up the deceased, pulled it to the 'righteous land' with an ox cart and buried it, and inserted a wooden board on the grave to write down the information of the deceased as much as possible, so that the family could identify the body in the future. In order to prevent the 'wild ghosts' from wandering in a foreign land, the Jinyi Society also built a 'Lonely Soul Temple'. Every year on the days of Qingming, July 15, and the first day of October, the Jinyi Society will hold a collective memorial in the Lonely Soul Temple, and the sacrifices are donated by the Jin merchants. ”

Zhang Zhimu knew that Fan Yongdou and these businessmen had a good reputation, and it was also because they had done many practical and good things. After taking over the conversation, Zhang Zhimu said: "I came to Zhangjiakou this time to develop, and I also want to learn from you, and strive to contribute a little to my fellow villagers in Shanxi." ”

Zhang Zhimu said very sincerely, but at the same time sent a message that "I want to come to Zhangjiakou to develop, not to do a little business and leave." ”

These eight businessmen were all human spirits, and they couldn't hear the meaning of Zhang Zhimu's words, so they quietly looked at each other. How can all this escape Zhang Zhimu's eyes.

Fan Yongdou hurriedly diverted the conversation and asked: "I heard that the caravan that Zhang Dongjia came here this time is very large, and it can be dragged out for several miles. We Shanxi businessmen divide the salt gang, the grain gang and so on. , I don't know what kind of line Zhang Dongjia does?"

Zhang Zhimu knew that it was time to get to the point, and replied: "Zhimu has just set foot in the business world, relying on a little brute force to roam outside, and he doesn't know how to help. If you think you want to make money, you can do something randomly. This time I brought salt, tea, silk, porcelain, etc., there is no rule, don't laugh at me, haha! ”

"I heard that Zhang Dongjia also brought a lot of grain from the south, and also donated a lot of grain to the people of Shanxi, saving countless people! Why don't you bring some grain, this grain is a hot commodity in Zhangjiakou. Fan Yongdou went straight to the point.

Zhang Zhimu smiled in his heart, "I'm going to get some grain, this time I have already transported 10,000 stone of grain to kill Hukou, and I also know that grain can also be sold at a good price in Zhangjiakou." But once we come to Shanxi, we are still too short of food, and I want to keep some reserves. He leaned closer to Fan Yongdou's ear and said in a small voice: "Second, a few people claiming to be Jinyiwei came to me and said that it is okay to transport grain to Zhangjiakou, but it cannot be smuggled out and sold to the Manchus. The court is investigating their enemies. Let me pay attention to it, and don't live up to the bronze medal given to me by the emperor. As soon as I thought about it, I wouldn't be suspicious. So I simply didn't bring the food here. ”

Zhang Zhimu's voice was small, it was a deliberate reminder to everyone to pay attention to listening, and the people in the room heard it clearly. The sound was not loud but very lethal, and when these eight people heard it, they were all shocked. This Fan Yongdou's concentration is a little better, the older Huang Yongfa just scooped up a spoonful of soup with a soup spoon in his hand, and before he could reach his mouth, when he heard Zhang Zhimu's words, he shuddered, and the soup spoon fell on the table. Panicked, he quickly took out a silk scarf to wipe it, but the silk scarf did not take water, and the soup was a mess on the table in front of him. However, his toss was so big that Fan Yongdou and their field were rounded, and these eight people took advantage of this to stabilize their emotions. Although they were nervous, they were able to cope with it on the surface. Fan Yongdou said: "I haven't heard that we have such a bold person in Zhangjiakou!" Zhang Dongjia, you say, is there really such a thing? ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "I just don't want to be suspicious, this is a matter of exterminating the Nine Clans." How can I know. ”

Zhang Zhimu deliberately stimulated these people, and he emphasized that this was a matter of exterminating the Nine Clans. Zhang Zhimu's trick to startle the snake was prepared by him a long time ago, otherwise he wouldn't have said it. He was wondering how he could do it. I didn't expect Fan Yongdou and them to come to the door.

The next wine was a little dull, and at this time, an uninteresting owner surnamed Chen, who was a little drunk, came to toast Zhang Zhimu with a wine cup.

Yang Yulin was afraid that Zhang Zhimu would drink too much, so she got up and said: "This owner, our Mr. Zhang is not strong enough to drink, I will drink this for Mr. Zhang!" ”

This Chen Dongjia is estimated to have some strength in Zhangjiakou, although it is not as good as the eight people at this table, but he thinks it is not ambiguous. With the strength of wine, he said, "You are a little woman, and you deserve to drink with me!" We Shanxi people are not allowed to drink at the same table with men. ”

As soon as Chen Dongjia said this, the whole house fell silent. Yang Yulin's face didn't change after hearing this, and she smiled and said: "Since the Chen Dongjia looks down on the little girl as before, how about we compare it, to see if I am inferior to you in literature or martial arts?" ”

Chen Dongjia was a little angry and said, "You give me a little farther, I don't know like a woman." ”

Yang Yulin still had a smile on her face, but the murderous intention in her heart had risen, and Zhang Zhimu was a little worried that Yang Yulin would not be able to control it, in that case, this little old man would live to the end.

"Since the Chen Dong family looks down on women like this, then you shouldn't let your mother give birth to you, you should let your father give birth to you!" Yang Yulin's words are no longer good.

At this time, Fan Yongdou and others began to persuade the Chen Dong family, and Zhang Zhimu also signaled Yang Yulin not to go too far.

Yang Yulin said with a smile: "Chen Dongjia, let's not ruin everyone's interest today, this head of yours will be borrowed from you to hang around your neck first." ”

Although Yang Yulin said this sentence with a smile, everyone felt a chill in their backs when they heard it. When Chen Dongjia heard this, he didn't answer a word, and he was so frightened that he was half awake. He knew he was in trouble today.

Zhang Zhimu felt that it was time to speak by himself, and there was still half of his work to do.

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By the way, I recommend "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty", similar to this article, it is also a "technology flow" through the novel, but it takes place in the Southern Song Dynasty, Yashan, Anti-Yuan, Restoration, and European World Wars.