The arrival of Qin Yuhe made the nonglu couple excited. They hadn't seen each other in a while, and they missed each other very much.

After taking his seat, Qin Yuhe said: "Let's discuss, how to open a new tea market in Hankou?" ”

Nonglu said, "Well, we've been thinking about this lately. ”

Wu Qing added: "Some time ago, Han Zhinan mentioned this matter, you are here, and today it is just time to settle this matter, what do you think?" ”

Qin Yuhe estimated it and said, "Okay, one is the funds, the other is to choose the tea varieties, and the other is to go to Hankou to choose the point, that's about it." ”

Wu Qing said with some confidence, "In terms of funds, everyone can join shares, and then choose a point, as for the tea varieties, the key is the first two." ”

Qin Yuhe continued: "I agree to join the shares, how do you determine the candidates?" You can start by mentioning a general direction. ”

Wu Qing said, "Just make four shares, no more, no less, our two families account for two shares, Qian Shusheng and Han Zhinan each have one share, do you think it's okay?" ”

Qin Yuhe thought about it for a while, and then said, "Okay, it's decided, there are many people who are easy to do, so what should I do if I choose a point?" ”

"Otherwise, you and Nonglu will go to Hankou and join Han Zhinan in Hankou, Han Zhinan is familiar with Hankou, and it is easy to do things, here I will ask Qian Shusheng to send a letter to Han Zhinan first, this matter will be fine."

When Qin Yuhe heard this, he smiled and said, "This method is good!" ”

Nonglu then said, "Then I'll go and contact the ship first, and then I'll inform you." ”

Qin Yuhe nodded.

At this time, Wu Qing hurriedly asked someone to send a letter to Qian Shusheng, asking him to write a letter to Han Zhinan in advance to explain the reason.

After Qian Shusheng got the message from the farmer, he rushed to the teahouse the next day to inquire. Wu Qing introduced him one by one, and Qian Shusheng was quite satisfied after listening to it.

It's the tea that binds them together.

Nonglu and Danxia and his wife explained the matter of the tea garden, and in the third day, early in the morning, Nonglu and Qin Yuhe boarded the boat in Hankou together.

Han Zhinan has been waiting in Hankou for a long time. On this day, when he came to the dock, he saw that they were getting off the boat, so he hurriedly stepped forward and said excitedly: "Welcome, welcome, you have worked hard all the way!" ”

Nonglu was very pleased, and while saying "good", he introduced Qin Yuhe, Han Zhinan said: "The little brother has heard the name for a long time, and I am glad to meet it!" Qin Yuhe hurriedly shook hands with him and greeted each other.

The two of them came to the inn arranged by Han Zhinan by the river, and Han Zhinan said: "Stay first, don't worry, it's good to familiarize yourself with the environment." ”

They nodded yes.

Han Zhinan pointed to a long wharf by the Han River and introduced that these boats that came to Hankou from all over the country formed gangs with the relationship of fellow villagers and peers, and from the mouth of the Han River to Yongning Lane, there were fishing boat gangs, Huangzhou gangs, Jingzhou gangs, Jiangning gangs, Huizhou gangs, Baoqing gangs, and so on. The wharf anchorage by the Han River is the first to come, and whichever gang occupies a piece of land is the wharf of which gang, and ships from outside are not allowed to dock.

When they heard this, they felt a chill hit them.

Han Zhinan continued, those ships that did not occupy the wharf in Hankou could only dock at Hanyang on the other side, but the main trading place of goods was in Hankou, and after unloading the goods at Hanyang, they had to hire people to transport them to Hankou, which cost money and labor, so the ships were reluctant to dock in Hanyang, and they all wanted to compete for a place in Hankou.

In fact, the competition for the wharf is the competition for the market, and it is also the struggle for the right to survive for those merchants, boat people, and porters, and its fierceness and cruelty can be imagined.

After hearing this, they sighed for a while. But I think the actual situation that Han Zhinan said is very important.

Nong Lu said: "I am a redneck who entered the city, and my eyes are black, and it depends on my brother's trouble." ”

"Don't worry, we're a family."

They both love to hear what Han Zhinan said. In the evening, Han Zhinan was in the Zhongshan Avenue Restaurant to pick up the wind and wash the dust for the two of them, and talk about friendship and tea. Han Zhinan specially prepared Shanxi famous wine Xinghua Village, and they chatted while drinking, but mainly listened to Han Zhinan's introduction to the early tea market inspection.

Han Zhinan said vividly that the Qingxiang Tea House at the intersection of Liji South Road, close to Zhongshan Avenue, is a shoulder hawker. When they traded in the teahouse, they did not speak clearly, and replaced the numbers from one to nine with the nine words Bin, Wen, Shan, Zuo, Cheng, An, Shu, Ke, and Qing. Sell tea during the day, sing Chu opera, Han opera or play shadow puppet play at night. It is said that the veteran artist Zhu Ruiqing often performs here and is very popular with tea guests.

Nong Lu said with a smile, this is exquisite. Qin Yuhe also found it quite interesting.

Han Zhinan talked eloquently, the Jianghanle Tea House upstairs in the vegetable market on Jianghan Road has a general seat and an elegant seat, and most of the tea customers are chess lovers. The Yixin Tea House on the Hanzheng Street is a three-story large tea house with complete equipment and 60 or 70 tea tables. Half of the tea guests are the people and passengers who come and go from the Han River. After they docked the boat, they went ashore to this teahouse to drink tea and rest. In addition to selling tea, it also operates pastries and stir-fried vegetables from time to time for tea customers to "pass through" (i.e., eat lunch).

Nonglu and Qin Yuhe believe that these teahouses belong to the high-end ones and should be the first choice.

It seems that Han Zhinan has done his homework, and he gushed that in the Hanquan Tea House on Stadium Street, most of the people who drink tea are coolies, such as rickshaw workers and handicraft workshop employees. After work, they go to the teahouse to wash their faces, drink tea, or lie down on bamboo chairs to rest and relieve fatigue. When you go to work, you go back to work. In the Huiben Tea House in Yicheng Likou, Baocheng Road, half of the tea guests are made of mahogany furniture in the mud and wood workshops of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Gangs, and the workers who make the houses are hired after work.

Nong Lu said that most of these people are low-level coolies.

Han Zhinan said "um", and then continued to introduce, Dongtianchun Tea House at the intersection of Jisheng Road, upstairs along the window set up bamboo chairs for tea guests to rest, and concurrently operate rice noodle restaurants and buns for tea guests to eat "in the middle". The Canghai Teahouse on Sanmin Road, which leads to Liudu Bridge in front and Qiaojia Lane in Tudang Street in the back, has been traveling continuously and has a prosperous business.

Qin Yuhe said that this place should be good. Nonglu nodded yes.

Han Zhinan's mouth was dry, but his interest was still undiminished, and then said that Chen Yuji opened a Baoshouquan teahouse at the mouth of Baoshou Lane, Mindi Street, and most of the tea customers were small handicraft workshops, toothbrush factories, dyeing workshops, wood workshops, and small handicraftsmen in the copper and iron industry. The teahouse business is continuous all year round, and this teahouse sometimes comes with mahjong and so on, from which it makes a profit. The Fengtai Tea House on Dajia Street, after the Wanshou Palace, there are many stack numbers nearby, there are many street vendors, and the business is thriving. In addition to selling tea, it also runs a hostel.

After listening to this introduction, it can be seen that Han Zhinan's tea market homework has been done quite sufficiently. They both nodded in praise!

Qin Yuhe said, my brother has worked hard!

Han Zhinan said, it's okay, this is what I should do. Then, he changed his words and put forward his own opinion: I thought that we would open a mouthpiece by the river, which is more suitable for us to do tea business, what do you think?

Nonglu and Qin Yuhe glanced at each other, and Qin Yuhe said, Okay, let's go over tomorrow to look at the façade, how about it?

Han Zhinan said, okay.

The next day, they came to the driver's mouth, and the pedestrians, merchants, and shops along the street were densely weaved, which was indeed a treasure of feng shui.

Han Zhinan said, "You see, it's this façade. ”

The two of them followed Han Zhinan, and at a glance, the store was facing the street, bustling and lively, and it was convenient to enter and exit the goods, which was really good. They both nodded.

Han Zhinan pointed to the wharf on the Han River and said, you see that the riverside is full of wharves, such as Hankou Wharf, Aijiazui, Guan Sheng Temple, Wusheng Temple, Laoguan Temple, Jiejiazui, Da Wharf, Siguan Hall and Hualou Wharf.

The farmer looked at the river and said, it is indeed prosperous, the boat is full of rivers, and the goods are piled up like a mountain.

Qin Yuhe recited a poem: "There are eight wharves on Twenty Miles Long Street, and there are many cars and boats on land." ”

This poem was written by Ye Tiaoyuan in the Qing Dynasty when he described the Hankou wharf in "Hankou Bamboo Branches". In particular, it is worthy of being called the "Chicago of the East" because of its developed river transportation, smooth flow of goods, and the gathering of businessmen.

In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, with the development of the economy, more and more commodities were transported to Hankou by water for sale, which led to a large increase in the number of ships coming to Hankou. From the Yangtze River into the Han River, there are many river bays, which can avoid the wind and waves on the river; It is also close to Hanzheng Street, which is convenient for trading, and is a good place for ships from all over the world to load and unload goods and dock.

Subsequently, Han Zhinan took them to the teahouse to taste tea to deepen their personal experience of the operation of the Hankou teahouse.

It is said that the number of teahouses in the three towns increased from more than 600 in 1909 to more than 1,400 in 1933. Hanzheng Street has the reputation of "Three Towns Teahouse".

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, teahouses mostly used fine porcelain gaiwan tea bowls made in Jiangxi, and there were tea seats under them, and then teacups were used. All tea leaves are mostly hairy tips and the like. Tea money, four to eight Wen per cup at the end of the Qing Dynasty (Gu Long money). The tea money will be paid first, and the tea customers will be at their own convenience. If you pay in advance, use a smooth teacup as a sign. Hankou teahouses are mostly distributed in Hanzheng Street, Jianghan Road and other places.