On the same day that Xie Lingyun and Hong Feiyun gathered, the hall of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce was also very lively. Zhou Zhong sat on the main seat, and in front of him, five old or steady merchants were sitting there, talking and laughing with Zhou Chong.

"Uncles, the kid has just arrived, and he has just taken over the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, some things are not well thought out, and he has never had the opportunity to visit you, I hope the uncles don't blame it!" I saw Zhou Zhong raise his wine glass and say to the five people in front of him.

Zhou Chong's eyes of these five people are the old customers of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, and the personal relationship with Zhou Hai is also very good, after Zhou Hai's accident, the Chamber of Commerce owes a lot of arrears, many people have come to urge to repay the money, these five people in front of them are also the creditors of the Chamber of Commerce, but they have never urged, and even took the initiative to lend Sanniang them a sum of money to repay the debt, so Zhou Chong is also very grateful to these five people, and took the initiative to call themselves juniors after meeting.

"The virtuous nephew is too polite, we are old friends with your father, and we are all very sad that he had an accident some time ago, but fortunately, there is now a virtuous nephew who has taken over the business of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, and it can be regarded as a successor of Brother Zhou Hai, if there is anything that needs us in the future, as long as the virtuous nephew says, we will try our best to help!" I saw an obese old man in gorgeous clothes sitting diagonally opposite Zhou Chong speak.

The identity of this old man is not simple, his name is He Xian, he is a well-known silk merchant in Suzhou and Hangzhou, with countless mulberry gardens in Suzhou and Hangzhou, monopolizing nearly half of the silk business in Suzhou and Hangzhou. In addition, he also has a large fleet on the Yangtze River, specializing in the purchase of silk and other commodities along the Yangtze River, most of which are smuggled overseas, and was the largest silk supplier of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, and is also one of Zhou Hai's best friends, and he is also very enthusiastic about Zhou Chong.

"Brother He is right, Zhou Xian's nephew can now take over the business of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, and I heard that the Xian nephew just arrived at Shuangyu Port, and he destroyed the two major chambers of commerce of Jeolla and Shangquan, it's really relieving, come, uncle toast you!" At this time, the thin old man sitting opposite Zhou Zhong raised his wine glass and toasted Zhou Chong. This thin old man looked a few years younger than He Xian, with an elegant appearance, a gray beard that was very neatly groomed, and a light blue robe on his body, with a strong bookish atmosphere, if he saw him for the first time, I am afraid that the other party would think that the other party was a teacher.

In fact, this thin old man's name is Li Mo, like He Xian, he is also a very famous businessman in Suzhou and Hangzhou, but he is not in the silk business, but specializes in the porcelain business, and there are several caravans in his hands to and from various porcelain producing areas in the Ming Dynasty, and the porcelain transported is also smuggled overseas, and the wealth in his hands is not less than He Xian.

Seeing Li Mo toast himself, Zhou Chong also hurriedly stood up and raised his wine glass, and then drank it all with the other party. Li Mo also worked as a smuggler in Shuangyu Port for a while, but was forced into desperation by a group of Japanese people, and finally had to withdraw from Shuangyu Port, so he has never had a good impression of the Japanese people.

"Nephew Zhou, I'm a rough person, I don't know what kind words Lu Dao said, I received the favor of Boss Zhou back then, so I should repay him now, but I'm a straight temper, I don't know what you have to discuss with us today?" Just as Zhou Chonggang sat down, the burly man sitting on the left opened his mouth and asked.

I saw that this burly man looked to be in his forties, and his appearance was very vicious, wearing a mink coat, several red or blue gemstone rings on his carrot-thick fingers, and even a piece of jade the size of a pigeon's egg was inlaid on his hat.

This burly man named Hu Lei, a powerful timber merchant, not only supplied most of the timber needs of Shuangyu Port, but also purchased a large amount of valuable timber from Nanyang Chamber of Commerce from Nanyang, relying on these two businesses, he jumped from a poor boy to one of the famous businessmen in Jiangnan, but unfortunately he didn't know what to read, and his own recuperation was also poor, whether it was clothing or words and deeds, there was a smell of outbursts.

"Uncle Hu doesn't have to worry, the little nephew invites all the uncles to come today, naturally there is a big matter to make a fortune to discuss with everyone, otherwise the little nephew will not dare to celebrate the New Year here, and it will be troublesome for the uncles to come." I saw Zhou Zhong say to Hu Lei with a smile.

"Rich?" As soon as Zhou Chong's words fell, he saw the short middle-aged man sitting next to Zhou Chong's right head, his eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly, "Zhou Chongxian's nephew, what do you mean by making a fortune, have you found a new route with abundant oil and water?" ”

This short-lived middle-aged man is named Chen Wufa, don't look at him and haven't spoken, in fact, among the five people seated, he has the most financial resources. Chen Wufa is not engaged in silk or porcelain and other valuable goods, but in the cotton cloth business, don't look at the unit price of cotton cloth is not as high as porcelain and silk, but the quantity of silk and porcelain these goods is limited, sometimes it is impossible to buy goods at all, but cotton cloth is a huge output, and overseas demand is also very strong, so in the smuggled goods, cotton cloth accounts for a considerable share. And Chen Wufa happened to be one of the largest cotton cloth merchants in Jiangnan, and with the huge profits from smuggling, his net worth was enough to overwhelm the other four people present.

Uncle Chen laughed, and the little nephew also wanted to find a new route with abundant oil and water, but this kind of thing not only required huge manpower and material resources, but also relied on a bit of luck. Besides, everyone knows the situation of the Chamber of Commerce now, and there are not even a few sea ships that carry goods, where can we find any new routes? When Zhou Zhong talked about the worst of the world, he couldn't help but show a wry smile on his face, if it weren't for the fact that the situation in the Chamber of Commerce was so bad, he wouldn't have invited the five people in front of him to come here.

"Nephew Zhou Xian, what kind of money-making business is just tell me, I'm dying!" At this time, Hu Lei, who had the most impatient personality, shouted loudly, he was a straight man who had one thing to say and two things to say, so naturally he couldn't stand Zhou Zhong going around in circles here.

"Hehe, when will Brother Hu's urgency be changed, although Brother Zhou is young, but since taking over the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, which time has he not done a major event that has caused a sensation in the entire Shuangyu Port, not to mention anything else, just the reform of the Beigang Teahouse, so that Beigang can still be kept so prosperous during the Chinese New Year, it is enough to make Xu feel admired!" At this time, sitting next to Hu Lei, he looked the youngest and most shrewd middle-aged man.

It is a bit inaccurate to say that this person is middle-aged, because the other party looks like he is only in his early thirties, and like Chen Wufa, he is the kind of person who is short in stature, and his appearance is very ordinary, and the only thing that attracts attention is the pair of triangular eyes, which turn around in the eye sockets from time to time.

This shrewd guy is named Xu Xuan, don't look at him as the youngest of the five, but he is the one with the widest path, in the official and business circles of the Ming Dynasty, they are very open, most of the goods shipped from overseas by the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce in the past were purchased by him at a high price, and whether it is pepper, spices, or coral, pearls, as long as it is something that can make money, he almost accepts it, and I don't know where he got so many ways to sell the goods?

Hearing Xu Chu mention the reform of the Beigang Teahouse, He Xian, Li Mo and others were also full of praise, originally when they came, they were still a little skeptical about whether Zhou Chong could take over the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, but after hearing that Zhou Chong did a few things after his arrival, especially the business talent shown from the reform of the teahouse, they were immediately full of confidence in Zhou Chong, and even unconsciously enthusiasted.

Hearing the praise of He Xian and others, Zhou Chong immediately said a few words of modesty, and then finally began to talk about the reason for inviting these old customers here today.

"Uncles, before I tell you why I invited you to come, I have a question for you." Zhou Zhong said this, looked around at the five people seated, and then asked, "All uncles must also know that smugglers like us can earn ten times or even dozens of times the profit every time they go to sea, and many people are jealous of such profits, but unfortunately they have no way out, and they can't be smugglers at all, but the little nephew wants to ask here, are your uncles interested in directly participating in smuggling?" ”

Whether it is a supplier of goods such as Chen Wufa and Li Mo, or a buyer of goods such as Hu Lei and Xu Su, they are all indirectly involved in smuggling, and they are not real smugglers.

"Zhou ...... Brother Zhou, you ...... What do you mean by that? Hearing Zhou Chong's question, Xu Xuan, who was the most shrewd, was the first to react, but he couldn't believe the information revealed in Zhou Chong's words, so he stammered a little.

"None of the outsiders here, the younger generation will tell you the truth, now the situation of the Chamber of Commerce is also clear to all uncles, the Chamber of Commerce's smuggling fleet has suffered heavy losses, and the little nephew lacks property to restore the strength of the Chamber of Commerce, so I thought of a way, I plan to change the Chamber of Commerce to a joint-stock system, and then let everyone become a shareholder, in the future, you are all shareholders of the Chamber of Commerce, everyone works together to develop the Chamber of Commerce, I don't know if your uncles are willing to join the shares?" Zhou Zhong confessed very frankly, and he always had a sincere smile on his face.

"This ...... This ......, you won't be joking, will you? Li Mo, who looked elegant, also lost his original demeanor at this time, and asked with an incredible face on his face.

"Uncle Li, do you think I'll joke about the future of the Chamber of Commerce?" Zhou Zhong said very seriously, and after speaking, he looked around at the five people in front of him again, if these five people are shared, the Chamber of Commerce will inevitably have strong financial resources in a short period of time, as long as there is money, it is easy to restore the original fleet strength. In addition, letting these people take shares is only the first step in his reform of the Chamber of Commerce, and there is a big meal waiting for them later.