Chapter 141: Wind Pine Pavilion

After a while, Cao Deshun eased up, he sat down, looked at the sea salt, and lowered his head to think.

Cui Daoshu sat quietly and did not speak.

After a while, Cao Deshun said, "Brother Xian, I want to ask, where did you get the source of the goods?" ”

Cui Daoshu smiled slightly: "Don't hide it from Brother Cao, these salts were all obtained by several of my righteous brothers." I'm just a middleman. ”

Cao Deshun said suspiciously: "I have never seen such high-quality salt, and the price is so low, I can't believe it." ”

Cui Daoshu continued: "Brother Cao, we have a large amount of salt and want to sell it in the Nantang region, and I found you first. I don't know what you think? ”

Cao Deshun said with a solemn face: "This matter is not trivial, I have to consider it carefully." Salt is a monopoly of the imperial court, and if you want to operate this thing, it is absolutely impossible to operate it without the permission of the government. My family has a big business, and it is impossible to sell illicit salt, which is a business to rob the family and destroy the door! ”

Cui Daoshu said seriously: "Our salt is all licensed by the Mingzhou Thorn History Mansion, and it is definitely not private salt. You don't have to worry. ”

Cao Deshun thought hard about it, calculating the pros and cons.

Cui Daoshu decided to increase his weight, "Brother Cao, we are responsible for transporting salt to the river, you don't need to pay for gold, silver and copper, what we need is iron ore, carbon, limestone, sulfur, charcoal and other materials, you can use these to trade with us." ”

Cao Deshun was tempted, he calculated clearly, a pound of salt is thirty-five Wen, if it can be sold for fifty-five Wen, it will sweep all the markets in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and squeeze out all the high-priced and inferior sea salt out of the Southern Tang Dynasty. A pound of salt makes a profit of 20 wen, although it doesn't seem like much, but people have to eat it every day! That's a huge market!

He made up his mind and said categorically: "Brother Cui Xian, I did this business!" Let's discuss the details. ”

The two began to bargain, and before they knew it, it was noon. They reached a preliminary consensus and were ready to join forces to make the business bigger.

After lunch, the two continued to discuss behind closed doors. Throughout the afternoon, the two discussed many details, and after repeated deductions, the business process was clarified. Cao Deshun began to think about how to get through the joints, write down each link, and prepare to go to public relations one by one.

Cui Daoshu helped him analyze the situation, checked and filled in his gaps from an outsider's perspective, and the two drew up a complete plan.

Cao Deshun breathed a sigh of relief and kneaded his brows to soothe the fatigue caused by overuse of his brain.

Cui Daoshu suddenly remembered something, and he hurriedly said, "Brother Cao, I need your help with something. ”

"Oh? Let's hear it. ”

"That's right, I was on Zhoushan Island a few days ago, and I met a local bully and had a conflict with them. The bastard of this family instructed the thugs to take my life. My family's guards tried their best to protect me. ”

"Ahh There is such a thing! What happened? Cao Deshun was shocked.

"Later, my family's guards came to support in large numbers and captured the three brothers of the He family. We searched his house and found a large amount of illicit salt. The He family was the largest smuggler in the area, and they also disregarded human life and killed many people. ”

"What a bastard! They all deserve to die! Cao Deshun said angrily.

"Brother Cao, we sent all the people of the He family to the Mingzhou Assassin Mansion, many of their families were sentenced to death, and the others were exiled to the Far Evil Region."

Cui Daoshu paused for a moment, and then said: "There are four brothers in his family, and one is at large. I'm looking for your help to catch this guy. ”

Cao Deshun understood, "Is he in Jinling City now?" ”

"I don't know yet, but we interrogated his brother, and all three of them said that he went to the Jinghu area to sell salt, and to contact him, we needed to go through the He family shop in Jinling City."

Cao Deshun suddenly realized, "I know, you want to control the He family's shop, and wait for this person to fall into the net." ”

Cui Daoshu said with a smile: "That's right, that's what I plan." I want to ask Brother Cao to take action, and in the name of checking illegal salt, he copied the He family's shop. Then we can wait there, and when the third child of the He family comes back, we will immediately catch him. ”

"This is a small matter, I will immediately send someone to find an official I know well, and I can seal down this shop tomorrow."

The two of them have made up their minds, and they are all busy separately. Cui Daoshu returned to the inn, and Cui Hong had been waiting for a long time.

Cui Daoshu instructed: "Old Cui, you work hard, go buy a shop, you have to find an inconspicuous house, we have no foundation here, we have to keep a low profile." ”

Cui Hong left immediately, and Cui Daoshu said to Zhai Xiaoshan: "You send a few clever guards to monitor around He's shop." If there's anything unusual in the shop, ask them to come back and report it right away. ”

Zhai Xiaoshan agreed to come down and go out to select the person to be monitored. Cui Daoshu felt a little sleepy, so he went to bed early.

When he was sleeping soundly, he was woken up. When he opened his eyes, Cui Daoshu saw Cao Yongxian standing next to him, looking at him with a smile.

Cui Daoshu sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Brother Cui, get up. I have some friends and I will have a banquet for you at the Wind Pine Pavilion. My father has explained that he wants you to make Jinling City famous, I wonder if you are ready? ”

Cui Daoshu got out of bed and said with a smile: "You wait a while, wait for me to freshen up." ”

Cui Daoshu washed up, changed into a royal blue robe, hung up the jade pendant, and followed Cao Yongxian out.

Zhai Xiaoshan saw that he was going out, and hurriedly called four guards to follow behind.

Out of the inn gate, it was already dark. The two boarded the carriage of the Cao family, and Zhai Xiaoshan and the guards followed.

The carriage started slowly and made its way down the street. At the beginning of the lanterns, the shops and restaurants on both sides of the street are very lively, and people come and go, a prosperous scene.

The carriage moved slowly, turned a few streets, and came to the bank of the Qinhuai River, and then headed north along the riverbank.

There are many richly decorated painting boats scattered on the Qinhuai River, and the sound of silk and bamboo and singing is endless, echoing on the surface of the river.

The carriage went a little further and stopped at the door of a house. Cao Yongxian and Cui Daoshu got out of the car and looked up to see that it was a quiet courtyard with white walls and tiles, surrounded by green trees. There is a plaque hanging above the gate, engraved with the words 'Wind Pine Pavilion'.

There were a few young men dressed as servants standing in front of the door, and when they saw everyone, they hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "How many gentlemen are okay, can I make an appointment?" ”

Cao Yongxian replied: "The courtyard ordered by the Cao family, have all the guests arrived?" ”

The young man smiled and asked, "But in front of Master Cao?" ”

Cao Yongxian nodded, and the young man continued: "Several guests have already arrived, and they have all entered. Please gentlemen, come with me. ”

The young man led the way in front, Cao Yongxian asked Cui Daoshu to go first, and the two were polite and followed the young man into the gate. Zhai Xiaoshan followed closely behind with four guards, as well as a few guards from the Cao family.

Entering the gate, Cui Daoshu found that it was very quiet, and in the small courtyard, there were some scattered rockeries and strange stones, and some flowers and trees were scattered among them, giving people a feeling of winding paths.

The young man led the group on a winding path, then through several verandahs to the door of a small courtyard.

He pushed open the door and invited everyone in. When they entered the courtyard, they saw a small pond with a few strange rocks arranged next to it, and some carefully planted flowers and plants.

The room opposite was brightly lit, several doors were wide open, and the sound of silk and bamboo could be heard inside. The young man led everyone through the courtyard and into it.

The room was elegantly decorated, with a dozen or so desks, and there were already five people sitting there, listening to the four women next to them playing music.

Seeing everyone coming in, the five people got up one after another and nodded to Cao Yongxian.

Cao Yongxian said to Cui Dao: "These are my classmates and friends, please get to know my brother." ”

Then he said to the five young people: "Everyone, let me introduce to you, this is the head of the Cui family in Mingzhou, and his name is the following from the upper path, everyone knows each other." ”

The five young people all came over to give a salute, Cui Daoshu hurriedly returned the salute, and said: "Cui is not talented, it is an honor to meet all young talents." ”

Several people were humble, and Cao Yongxian informed Cui Daoshu of his name one by one. Then asked Cui Daoshu to sit down, he excused himself, and sat down.

Zhai Xiaoshan saw that the house was full of scholars, and there should be no danger, so he walked out with the guards.

After everyone sat down, a young man named Zhang Hongsheng with a strange face asked: "Let me ask Brother Cui, was the 'auction' that caused a sensation in Jiangnan last year held at your house?" ”

Cui Daoshu nodded with a smile: "Yes, it was held at my Cui family." ”

Zhang Hongsheng asked again: "Brother Cui, we all love those three lyrics very much, I don't know who the author is?" Can you tell us a little bit about it? ”

Several other people echoed the voice, hoping that Cui Daoshu could solve everyone's doubts.

Cui Daoshu thought about it and said: "Don't hide it from you, these three pieces of music and lyrics were composed by the ancestor of one of my righteous brothers. His name is 'Nalan Xingde', and his character is Ruo, and he has been dead for many years. ”

"Oh? Listening to what Brother Cui said, this Nalan Xingde shouldn't be Han, right? How can you make such a wonderful song? ”

Cui Daoshu continued to compile: "This Mr. Nalan is from the Tiele aristocracy, and his ancestor was a general in the Tang Dynasty. During the Tianbao period, his ancestor went to the Western Regions with Gao Xianzhi, was captured during the Battle of Talas, and followed the Great Cannibal to the West thousands of miles away. ”

Cui Daoshu took a sip of tea and continued: "This general married a wife and had children in the West, settled down, and then multiplied for generations, and gave birth to the amazing and brilliant Mr. Nalan Xingde. A few decades ago, Mr. Nalan and some of his companions returned to the Central Plains by sea ship with Persian merchants. Then he traveled from country to country and wrote many psalms. The lyrics of those three pieces were composed when he visited Jiangnan. ”