Although he muttered in his heart, since Lu Renjia had come to the door, he naturally needed to meet him, after all, there was a relationship of interest here.

In the past two years, Lu Zhen and Lu Renjia have not met again, but there is a lot of correspondence. Often within a month or two, Lu Renjia would send the accounts during the period to the capital for him to see, and let him know how big the business of exchanging grain for salt has been done now.

Relying on the care of Hu Sui and Miao Guangtai, Lu Renjia has indeed done a very prosperous business in the past two years, and the ultra-high profits of exchanging grain for salt have made him a rising star in the local shopping mall. And during this period, his extraordinary business skills were also thoroughly excavated, even if there were competing opponents later, almost no one could shake his position, and now half of the military food business related to Shanxi was related to him and Chu Xiangyu, and the income of this trade alone was enough to be seventy or eighty thousand taels of silver per year.

And this is still in the spirit of the long-term thought of doing things, Lu Renjia and because of his own importance, he arbitrarily raised the price of grain, thus gaining the recognition of the local government, and now as a businessman, he has become a guest of the two Datong officials.

As for Chu Xiangyu in Suzhou, he also relied on holding salt in his hands and selling grain to make his business prosperous. As far as Chu Yunrong said after he came back, although the current Chu family cannot be compared with the Yan family that collapsed a few years ago, it has also become one of the prominent families in Suzhou, and the people who come and go are either rich or expensive.

Of course, Lu Jin, the real major shareholder, also made extremely high profits in this matter. Otherwise, relying on his little third-grade official's income, it is completely impossible to feed a large family of dozens of people, even if there is a reward from the Son of Heaven, it can only last for a while. However, because he was worried about his reputation and was afraid of being impeached, Lu Zhen has always kept a low profile in this matter, so until now, no outsiders know the fact that our Lu Shilang is still a big businessman.

When he came to the front hall, Lu Zhen saw at a glance that Lu Renjia, who was very different from two years ago, was sitting on a chair. At that time, he looked thin, and his whole person was sick, and he was full of spirit when he came to find him. But now he is full of red light, and he has gained weight more than once, obviously this life is really good.

Seeing Lu Jin's arrival, Lu Renjia immediately bounced up from his seat, his face was also full of flattering smiles, and he arched his hand again and again: "The little one is going to congratulate the owner, at such an age, to be my Ming military squire, but it is an unprecedented honor." ”

"Hehe, it's just a fluke, the Son of Heaven is trusted." Lu Zhen smiled, and then came to the main seat above and sat down. Lu Renjia then returned to his guest seat, only half of his fart and strand on the chair, and the whole person looked full of flattery.

Seeing his appearance, Lu Jin's heart moved, it seems that this person really has nothing to do today, and this flattering appearance is too obvious. This is still because he doesn't know how Lu Renjia dealt with Hu Sui and them during this period of time, if he knows that Lu Renjia can now talk and laugh with Miao Prefect and other officials, I am afraid he must be even more vigilant.

"Owner, this is the income and specific accounts of our firm's various businesses between the north and the south in the past two years, and I would like to ask you to take a look." Lu Renjia said, and gently pushed a ledger in front of Lu Jin.

Lu Zhen was stunned for a moment, but he still took it casually and looked through it hastily. However, his mind is not on this, since the other party dares to take the account book to himself, then there must be no problem on this. And every year, he also obtains a large amount of silver from Shanxi, which will not be fake. As for whether the other party took advantage of the situation to seek benefits for himself, Lu Zhen didn't want to delve into it, after all, he still understood the truth that when the water is clear, there are no fish.

After a while, he raised his head, looked at Lu Renjia and said, "Yes, Uncle Lu, you really didn't let me look at the wrong person, but in the past two years, I have worked hard for you." ”

"Don't dare, it was the owner who gave me this opportunity so that I can have today." Lu Renjia hurriedly smiled modestly. Although Lu Zhen called him Uncle Lu, he didn't dare to call himself an elder, after all, the other party had nothing to do with the Lu family at all.

Lu Zhen didn't dwell too much on this matter, just fiddled with the account book in his hand casually, and then asked, "I wonder how much silver is available in the business now?" ”

"This ...... If you count the silver that had to be purchased from the south for two months, there must be about 150,000 taels of silver. Lu Renjia carefully reported a number, and at the same time looked at Lu Jin with some puzzlement, not understanding why the other party asked such a question.

Lu Zhen groaned slightly: "That's it, after you go back, you will take out 80,000 taels of silver from it and don't touch it, and then I will tell you how to use it." ”

"Huh?" As soon as he heard that he was going to move nearly half of the cash, Lu Renjia suddenly panicked. But as soon as the doubtful words came to his mouth, he swallowed them again, so he could only nod and agree. After all, Lu Zhen is the de facto owner of the entire business, and he is also a high-ranking official in the court, how can he be a small businessman who can fight against him? What's more, if I came here today to ask for something, I can't refuse his request.

After Lu Zhen glanced at him, he smiled again and said, "Okay, now let's talk about what you did when you came to Beijing from Shanxi to see me this time." You're not really here to congratulate me on my ascension, are you? ”

Lu Renjia smiled a little wryly, and then said: "Of course, the villain made a special trip to congratulate the owner of the promotion, but in addition, there is also something I want to ask for help from the owner's helper. ”

"But what?" Lu Jin unconsciously became a little curious. How could a businessman have a relationship with such a court-central waiter as himself, especially the soldier's waiter?

After a little hesitation, Lu Renjia said: "In the past two years, the business of our firm has been really good, and the reason for this is not only because the owner's layout is early enough and we are one step ahead, but also because we have to rely on the many cares of Hu Zongbing and Miao Prefect. It's just that this autumn, the term of office of the two adults is coming, and their stay is up to the imperial court, so the villain wants to ......"

"It's not that you want to, but those two adults don't want to leave their positions in front of them, right?" Lu Zhen immediately understood, and asked with a smile.

was told the truth by his words, Lu Renjia's face suddenly turned red: "After all, I can't hide it from the eyes of the owner." Yes, the villain was entrusted by the two adults to come to the owner to think of a way. In fact, Master Miao is okay, if he can be promoted, it is not a bad thing to leave Datong. But Mr. Hu has been there for more than ten years, and his home is there, so he is really reluctant. ”

I'm afraid they are reluctant to give up the profits and benefits they have gained from their dealings with our firm. Lu Jin added in his heart, but he remembered clearly that these two also had shares in the firm, otherwise how could they have been so dedicated to helping each other in the past two years?

However, what they have in the business is only dry shares, and if they are no longer local officials in Datong, then the benefits of tens of thousands of taels a year have nothing to do with them at all.

You must know that even if he is a military attache like Hu Sui, the amount of money in a year is only a few hundred taels of silver, even if he eats empty quotas and drinks the blood of soldiers, he can't easily get 10,000 yuan a year, let alone the Miao prefect who has a lower status and less income, so it is reasonable that they don't want to leave.

In fact, Lu Zhen is not too disgusted by this. After all, these two officials are not bad, and they can be regarded as helping themselves, and letting them continue to stay in Datong is actually good for the imperial court and for themselves. If you change officials, you are a dead-eyed or insatiable person, but you will ruin your own good deeds.

So after a deep groan, he nodded lightly: "I understand." It's just that the two of them have also served in the DPRK for many years, so there should be another way to think about this matter. ”

"Of course, the two adults have other things to do in the court, but the owner, you are now a squire of the military department, so naturally there is a way to help General Hu continue to stay in office. As for the Miao Governor's Mansion, I heard that you are also very close to Hu Butang of the Ministry of Officials, so ......"

"Hey, your news is well-informed, and you actually hit Hu Butang with your ideas." Lu Zhen chuckled and shook his head. After groaning, he said: "I can help talk about this matter in the court, but the result depends on their performance on weekdays." If people find some means to impeach some crimes, then I, the squire of the military department, will not be able to excuse them. ”

Seeing that he agreed, Lu Renjia finally put his mind at ease, and nodded hurriedly: "This is natural, after all, your own future is the most important thing, and this point can still be distinguished." ”

The two then gossiped for a while, mainly because Lu Zhen asked the other party about the next development of the business, and it was not until the sun set in the west that Lu Renjia said goodbye and left. However, when he left, he also had a question in his heart, what did Lu Zhen want to do with all this amount of silver?

If it weren't for this magnificent Imperial Mansion, there would be an explanation. But now, Lu Zhen seems to lack nothing, how could he suddenly need to prepare such a large sum of money by himself? But since the matter was ordered, he could only do it if he didn't understand it, but fortunately, Lu Zhen was not a random person no matter how he looked at it.

Of course, Lu Jin's request for the 80,000 taels of silver was not to live a luxurious life, but to use this silver to prepare, and when the Ming Dynasty opened the sea ban, he could also earn some benefits by the way.

Yes, his goal now is to reopen the sea ban. This point had an idea as early as when he was the general judge of Hangzhou, but he didn't have the ability at that time. But now it's different, both the identity and the timing seem to make him feel that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change everything.