Chapter 740: Unlimited Business Opportunities

Foshan is in the southwest of Guangzhou Province, the two places are only more than 20 miles apart, and it only takes more than an hour for a fast horse to gallop. Due to the prosperity of the trade in Guangzhou during the Tang and Song dynasties, Foshan near the water adjacent to Guangzhou was once a famous silk and porcelain town in Lingnan. Although it was depressed for a while in the early Ming Dynasty due to the ban on the sea, the market was reopened during the Yongle period, and there was a prosperous scene of weaving households and merchants everywhere.

Although it is not the first time he has come here, strolling along the largest weaving street in the town and listening to the shrill sound of looms on both sides, Zhang Zuo can't help but think of the scene when he passed by Suzhou Mansion before. Naturally, it is not as good as the scene of Suzhou where the weavers are lined up one after another, and the dignitaries and dignitaries are embroidering in Suzhou, but it is already very surprising that the land of Lingnan can have such a large scale. And by the time he had just seen the authentic Guangxiu with Chu Fatzi, he had already realized the huge business opportunities.

With this embroidery alone, it is enough to compete with Ningbo Bosi! His son is still a little more knowledgeable, and he is an old connoisseur of the shopping mall, and because he has never been to Lingnan before, he greatly underestimates the embroidery here. According to Chu Fatzi, tide embroidery is also famous, and most of the embroiderers are men, and when embroidering large works, it often takes several months to stand. With such effort, why worry that there is nothing to sell on the ships that Guangzhou Bosi went out this year?

At this time, the fat man Chu next to him looked at his face, and said loudly: "Boss, there is a lot of noise here, and there are some weavers doing work here, so let's go forward." I've already made an agreement with those people before, from silk to porcelain to Chinese medicine pills and powders, they have everything here! ”

Although he was already shouting loudly, Peng Shisan, who was on the side, listened for a long time before he figured out what this guy was talking about, and quickly nodded as if he had been amnestied. It wasn't until he left the noisy Orido Street that he let out a long breath: "Fortunately, it's only for a while, if I stay in this place any longer, my ears will be overwhelmed." How many looms are there? ”

"There are at least a few hundred bars on this street alone, and there are many more in the town, and there are many looms in the village outside. After all, if the women of the family are good weavers, they will earn much more money here than the men who work in the fields! Chu Fatzi said with his eyebrows fluttering, and said with a smile, "If the old man is free when he turns around, you might as well follow me to Shiwan to have a look." Foshan's porcelain mainly came out there, although it is not as good as the official kilns in the north, but the craftsmanship of the craftsmen is also first-class. But whenever the boat arrives, it will always bring back a lot of porcelain. There is a good saying, Shiwan porcelain, Lingnan is a must. Both Guangzhou and overseas, all pointing here! ”

For Zhang Zhuo, who has always been in Kaifeng and North and South Erjing, this kind of talk seems to be boastful, but at the moment he really hopes that Chu Fatzi is not exaggerating. After all, silk and other things alone could not fill the cabin, and Zheng He's treasure ship had to carry a lot of ballast things. What is worrying is that the south has not heard of any good kilns, and the porcelain brought down by the treasure ship in the past is all official kiln products.

You know, many of those bosses think that the word is the root of all corruption.

Zhang Zuo walked slowly all the way, looking left and right at the shops and houses on both sides of the street, and saw raw silk shops, gold and silver shops, miso soup shops, and salt shops...... If so, there is everything, and I am more and more determined to spread the industry here as soon as possible.

This group walked on the street with many entourage guards, which naturally attracted the attention and curiosity of pedestrians on the side of the road. When they arrived at the intersection, a steward who had been waiting here for a long time hurriedly greeted him, and when he was about to kneel down and salute, he saw Zhang Zuo shaking his head slightly, and he hurriedly said respectfully: "The four largest weaving mill owners in Foshan Town, the two largest porcelain kiln owners in Shiwan, plus the two proprietors of the medicine store in Foshan, are all waiting in front. Because of the boss's orders, only the younger one came to greet him. ”

Zhang Yue has been busy with business these days, and he still has to stare at Gu Xingzu, the Marquis of Zhenyuan, who was killed in the middle of the road, so Zhang Ju picked up this business that he was best at, and arranged everything intensively. At this moment, he followed the steward who led the way, and came to a rather spacious mansion. As soon as he entered the door, he saw that all seven or eight people waiting in the courtyard had gathered around, and the old man kept screaming. Rao is Zhang Zuo is now accustomed to this title, and he still listens to it secretly helpless.

This compound is the mansion of the Liang family, the largest weaver in the town, because there is no official body, the main hall has only three rooms, but the height is not inferior to the official residence, and the interior furnishings are also magnificent. invited Zhang Zhuo to sit down, and Liang Zhou, as the master, cleared his throat, and then said with a smile on his face: "A few days ago, we received a post from the Chief Secretary and the Shibo Mansion, and we were all very happy. It's just that what is the clear path that the adults are referring to? The things of our companies are all bought by the merchants on the street of Fangshi to trade with the merchants, after all, they are all regular customers for many years, and it may be difficult to do business in the future if they are offended. ”

Zhang Zhuo knows that businessmen pursue profits, and they are not angry that others make a big buck and make a small head, and he thinks that he has persuaded his son to change the original method, which not only reduces the risk, but also has big profits, and now it seems that it is really right. Therefore, seeing that everyone was looking at him expectantly, he deliberately asked, "In that case, why don't you try to find a place in the street?" ”

"Where do we have so much capital!" A short man in the center glanced at Chu Fat, and then sighed and said, "Among us, there are generally five or six hundred looms, where can we compare to those merchants who have business all over Guangdong, and even Fujian and other places!" Therefore, knowing that the profit we get from these silk porcelain medicinal materials is only a fraction of the profit, we can only sell them to them. After all, how many people in this Guangfu can afford to buy silk and are qualified to wear silk? ”

"Within Quang Fu, there will soon be more people who can afford silk."

Zhang Zhuo remembered that Zhang Yue said yesterday that he would gradually try out the two-cropping system in Guangdong and even three-cropping a year, and couldn't help but smile slightly, but no longer explained this sentence, and went straight to the point: "Gonggong Zheng's ship will arrive in Guangzhou in about December, because the Jiangnan Weaving and Dyeing Bureau will not be able to supply silk for the time being, and there will not be much porcelain, and the bosses of the imperial court are also afraid that the treasure ship will cost too much, so they will wait for the last batch of goods to stop at Huangpu Port in Guangzhou." When you arrive in Western countries, you must know what price these things can be sold for. Moreover, unlike those ordinary merchant ships, the treasure ships of the imperial court were sturdy and tall, and the sailors on them had all sailed to the Western Ocean before, and they would never suffer from capsizing at every turn. What I came here today to pick up is this shipment. ”

The crowd nodded as they listened. Although they were in Guangzhou, they couldn't see the majesty of the giant ship going to sea, but they had heard those people and ships mention the hundreds of Western treasure ships. When they heard Zhang Zhuo's last sentence, many people were shocked in unison, and then they completely understood what Chu Fatzi meant by the big profit he sent before.

A plain silk is now the price of one stone and two buckets of rice, which is equivalent to about 1,000 yuan, if it is a good silk jacquard silk, it is worth at least 4,000 yuan, but if it is sold abroad, the price of jacquard silk is at least 12 taels to 16 taels of silver! As for other silk fabrics in the Central Plains, they also have their own prices according to the variety, but they are several times higher than the domestic profits. Thinking of this, someone finally couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, and asked again: "What does the old man mean, to use the treasure ship to transport our things here?" ”

"Not bad!" Zhang Zhuo glanced at the overjoyed faces, and then explained, "It's just that the treasure ship is safe, but the cost of going to sea is huge, so if you take your goods out, part of the profits will be used for future ship repairs, some will be handed over to the imperial court, and some will be used to deal with the officers and soldiers of the treasure ships, and the rest will be your benefit." ”

All of you here are human spirits, and after hearing this, you don't understand that some of the parts that are not mentioned are from the Shibo Mansion and the Political Secretary. However, it is still a great temptation to be able to get much more money than at home without having to bear the risk of buying a ship and hiring people or losing both money and money. So, they didn't care that this was in front of Zhang Zhuo, they glanced at each other, and someone proposed to consider it. Zhang Zhuoda didn't expect them to agree on the spot at the beginning, so he agreed. After talking for a while, Zhang Zuo mentioned the matter of the Shiwan private kiln, so the two kiln owners immediately stood up and politely invited him to Shiwan to have a look.

Foshan has the Fen River and the Dongping River leading directly to Guangzhou, while Shiwan is adjacent to Foshan, taking advantage of the water conservancy, porcelain sales throughout Guangzhou. The porcelain kiln here originated in the Tang Dynasty, but at that time, the porcelain was heavy and relaxed, and there were no good products. When the official kilns in the north of the Song Dynasty were extremely prosperous, they were still unknown here, and it was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that many craftsmen from the Central Plains moved south, and it was suddenly changed here. Although it has not formed any unique style, but it is unique in the south with the two words of good imitation, Ding kiln, Jun kiln, Ge kiln, Ru kiln and so on are imitated vividly, among which there is more mud Jun Guangjun is famous.

With Zhang Zhuo looked at the batch of porcelain that had just been fired, and Zhang Luo invited someone to sit down in the shade, one of the porcelain kiln owners explained: "Master Mingjian, our Shiwan porcelain is good imitation of two words, our kilns are all official and private, most of them are for Lingnan and other places, not much, if it is used to trade porcelain from various countries, I am afraid it is a little reluctant." However, a few days ago, a craftsman came to my kiln, and now under his leadership, a large number of tile ridges and glazed tiles have been burned, and the workmanship is very exquisite. There are few people who can afford to use these things locally, and the boss thinks that these things can be taken to sea? ”

"Ridges and glazed tiles?" Zhang Zhuo listened to Chu Fatzi boasting about Shiwan porcelain all the way, and his ears were almost calloused, and when he heard this kind of truth, he nodded himself. Hearing that even the glazed tiles were burning now, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, but after pondering for a moment, his eyes lit up, and he nodded immediately, "Why can't it?" Overseas is not as strict as our Ming Dynasty, these things are the best, and take me to see them! ”

For two whole days, Zhang Zhuo soaked in Foshan Town and did not go back. From the embroidery weaver to the medicine shop porcelain kiln, he walked and watched all the time. There are Foshan and Canton and Guangdong, and he has basically had a number in his heart, and he is deeply smacked by the huge business opportunities in this Lingnan land. When it was time to leave, the merchants in Foshan Town joined forces to send a gift box wrapped in jade satin. Because a group of people repeatedly said that it was not gold, silver, jade and other vulgar things, he accepted it, and when he opened it in the car, his eyes couldn't help but light up.

In the rosewood box, there is a blue-purple carp jumping over the dragon gate pattern. The upper part of the inkstone faintly shows a pill of emerald green cat's eyes, and the pattern of the whole inkstone is rose, purple and blue, just looking at it makes people feel pleasing to the eye. Seeing that Zhang Zhuo couldn't take his eyes off it, Peng Shisan, who had been running errands for two days and was full of inexplicability, couldn't help muttering: "These people are really good at sending things, it's actually an inkstone, why don't you just send a set of four treasures of the study?" ”

"If it can be matched with the pen, ink and paper of this inkstone, I'm afraid they won't be able to find it for a while. If it weren't for the fact that Zhaoqing Mansion was originally the place where the inkstone was produced, it would not be easy to get this. It's a pity that I, a half-hung literati, use such a good thing, even Yue'er doesn't need to make this. Go back and wait for the matter to be done, let him send it to the capital to his in-laws, that is the sword to give to the hero. ”

Hearing that this thing was so precious, Peng Shisan was taken aback. It's just that he doesn't care about gold and silver, and he is not interested in elegant things such as calligraphy, painting, brushes, and inkstones, thinking about Du Zhen's clear and cold temperament, he may not really care about this kind of thing, he can't help but smile, but he closes his eyes and never speaks again.

The group rushed to Guangzhou City at sunset, and rushed straight to the Yamen of the Political Secretary. As soon as he stopped in front of the door, before Zhang Zhuo could speak, the curtain of the car was suddenly lifted from outside, and a head wearing a six-in-one small hat poked in.

"Boss, it's not good, Lord Fantai, he'...... He was invited to the Dusi Yamen early in the morning, and he hadn't come back until now! Lord Xiang sent someone over, but he was stopped at the door of the Dusi Ya, saying that Master Hou was discussing important matters with them inside. ”

Zhang Zhuo only felt a chuckle in his heart, and immediately instinctively asked, "What about Grandpa Zhang?" ”

"Father-in-law Zhang, like the lord of the domain, is all in the Dusi Yamen!"

Peng Shisan jumped out of the car neatly, and immediately turned to the car and said, "Third master, where am I going to find someone?" ”

"Slow down."

Zhang Zhuo thought of the hand that Zhang Yue had given Zhang Qian before.

"This matter is in a hurry, you go to find out the news, you don't need to go to the gate of the Dusi Yamen, just look around."