The spring is warm, and the two rows of willow trees on the bank of the east Bashui in Xi'an City are full of tender green at this time. The breeze came slowly, bringing up the catkins in the sky, making the surrounding scenery hazy for a while. This dream-like scenery has attracted countless dignitaries and wealthy families to come to the city. And one or two painting boats also sail past from time to time in the clear water, sparkling waves, chasing the laughter and laughter of tourists, and gradually rippling into the distance.

One of the painting boats is carrying several people slowly in the center of the river. The stern captain barely uses a penny, just letting the boat go down the river. And two young people stood on the bow of the boat, pointing out the beautiful scenery on both sides of the strait, talking and laughing; The three of them leisurely enjoyed tea and chess in the cabin. It's not enviable.

These two young men are none other than Zhu Youzhen, the king of Qin, and Han Zhen, a Korean businessman. The three people in the cabin are Lin Youkun, Li Zicheng, and an entourage of Han Zhen.

"You Gongzi is so interested!" Han Zhen praised sincerely, "Xiao Ke originally wanted to choose the biggest and best restaurant in the city to entertain Gongzi, but Gongzi was ingenious and brought Xiao Ke here for a boat. The scenery here is really pleasant, and it is difficult to see in the city. In comparison, Xiao Ke's proposal is too vulgar. ”

"Hey, hey!" Zhu Youzhen also smiled in a very good mood, "This 'Baliu Wind and Snow' is known as one of the eight scenic spots in Guanzhong, but in fact, the younger brother has never seen it, so I invited Brother Han to travel with him." However, the younger brother is not all vassals and elegant, he really thinks that eating and drinking in a restaurant, spending dozens of taels or even hundreds of taels of silver, is just showing off his wealth, and it does not make much sense, it is not as good as eating coarse tea and light rice. Especially those greasy and fishy things that eat too much, it is easy to cause the 'three highs', and the gains outweigh the losses. ”

"What are the 'three highs'?" Han Zhen asked in surprise.

"What's that, the three highs, that is, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high blood lipids." Zhu Youzhen said embarrassedly, "This is when the younger brother was in Beijing, I heard a Western monk say it, and the specific meaning is not very clear, in short, it is not good." ”

Han Zhen was surprised: "You Gongzi has also been in contact with Westerners? ”

"Yes, they're here to spread Catholicism." Zhu Youzhen suddenly remembered the appearance of the old man Tang Ruowang, and couldn't help laughing, "But at the same time, it also brings a lot of good things." It's a pity that in order to prevent 'heresy', the imperial court also forbade contact with Westerners, which is a bit of a waste of food due to choking. ”

"You Gongzi Gaojian!" Han Zhen quite sympathetic, "In terms of 'sea ban', in the Song and Yuan dynasties, maritime trade was extremely developed, such as Quanzhou, Hangzhou and other ports, there were more than tens of thousands of people in Fanbang, and the court and the people benefited a lot.

"But since the Hongwu period of this dynasty, the imperial court has always pursued the principle of 'no piece of board can go to sea', and strictly prohibited private maritime trade. A foreign merchant like Xiao Ke had no choice but to smuggle incognito and risk killing his head. Although the 'switch' was implemented during the Longqing period, it was limited to Yuegang in Zhangzhou, Fujian. When we do business, we are still sneaky, and there is always a sense of anxiety in our hearts. ”

"Brother Han doesn't have to worry about this." Zhu Youzhen said with a smile, "Aren't your merchant ships often anchored in Dengzhou?" Dengzhou counselor Qi Meifeng and the younger brother have an old relationship, as long as the younger brother repairs a book, Qi Shenjiang will definitely open the door to convenience, maybe he can also send sailors to escort merchant ships. ”

"You Gongzi is really powerful!" Han Zhen was overjoyed and said, "In that case, let's get down to business and talk about the matter of shareholding!" ”

The two returned to the cabin, leaving Li Zicheng behind, while Lin Youkun and others withdrew from the cabin. This is also one of the reasons why Zhu Youzhen arranged the meeting place on the ship, because after all, he was going to do a shady smuggling business, and he was always afraid that there would be ears on the walls in restaurants and other places, but the ship was foolproof.

Li Zicheng first said: "Although the two sons discussed, the contemptible only the sons of the horse were the first. ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and smiled: "Otherwise, since it is a partnership, it is still necessary to use the amount of capital contribution as the standard, and whoever has more funds will have more right to speak." And let's do overseas trade next, and it's a bit too small to call it 'Jingyang Merchant Gang'." Brother Han is a North Korean, and Daming and North Korea face each other across the Yellow Sea, so it is better to call it 'Yellow Sea Business Gang' to show that our cooperation is an equal and mutually beneficial relationship. What does Brother Han think? ”

"It's a shame to be small!" Han Zhen said excitedly, "North Korea is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and Xiao Ke is also a Fanbang person, how dare he be on an equal footing with Gongzi You?" ”

"Brother Han, don't be polite, it's decided!" Zhu Youzhen said boldly.

Next, it is necessary to negotiate the amount of investment. In the previous Jingyang Business Gang, Zhu Youzhen invested 100,000 taels of silver, and Li Zicheng contributed 30,000 taels. As for the antiques used in the opening of the Champs-Elysees, Zhu Youzhen did not buy shares at a price, but only sold them to the Jingyang Merchant Gang, and the selling price was relatively low, and the profits earned were shared with Li Zicheng according to the amount of capital contribution.

After Han Zhen understood this situation, he couldn't help but be surprised: "Two, please forgive Xiao Ke for being blunt, in this way, Gang Leader Li has taken advantage of Gongzi You. ”

Zhu Youzhen said with a smile: "The account can't be calculated like this." The Jingyang Merchant Gang is still running a porridge factory, and at the moment it is losing money and not making money, and compared with the income of the antique shop, it can only barely be tied. This porridge factory was opened by the younger brother, and Gang Leader Li agreed without saying a word, which is equivalent to losing a large piece of the business before it is done. Therefore, the younger brother can be regarded as compensating for the Li gang leader, you must know that no matter what kind of cooperation, you must be able to 'win-win', otherwise the cooperation will not last long. ”

"Win-win!" Han Zhen silently recited this word several times, looked at Zhu Youzhen suspiciously, and said, "You Gongzi's statement is very novel. Shopping malls are like battlefields, either you win or I win you, where does this 'win-win' begin? ”

"Ahem, we're not competitors, we're partners!" Zhu Youzhen laughed and said, "The so-called win-win situation actually means that everyone earns money, it doesn't matter if we win or lose, but for the opponent, we take it all and let them all lose!" ”

Several people laughed heartily, and finally agreed that Han Zhen would invest 70,000 taels of silver and become the second shareholder of the Huanghai Merchant Gang. As for the porridge factory, it adopted a similar approach to the previous antiques, spun off from the Huanghai merchant gang, and became Zhu Youzhen's personal assets. If the porridge factory buys grain and rice in the future, Zhu Youzhen will have to pay out of his own pocket.

Li Zicheng and Han Zhen still felt a little embarrassed, but Zhu Youzhen insisted on doing so, and smiled mysteriously: "Don't look at the porridge factory losing money now, the future profits may exceed the other businesses of the Huanghai Business Gang." So don't think I'm at a loss, I think I've picked up a big bargain! ”

Li Zicheng and Han Zhen couldn't believe it, but when they saw Zhu Youzhen's words, they couldn't insist anymore.

Han Zhen also proposed that he was a native of Fanbang, and in order to prove the sincerity of the cooperation, he set up a mortgage agreement of 50,000 taels of silver in addition to the capital of 70,000 taels of silver. If there was a huge loss in the maritime business, the silver would be automatically filled into the Yellow Sea Merchant Gang to make up for the losses of Zhu Youzhen and Li Zicheng. Zhu Youzhen saw that he insisted on this, so he had no choice but to let him.

After that, the charter of the Yellow Sea Merchant Gang was established. There is no objection to the terms such as the three parties sending people to jointly supervise the accounts and the profits being shared according to the proportion of capital contribution. Zhu Youzhen specifically proposed: "There are some businesses that we can't do, and this point must be said in advance!" ”

"What kind of business is it?"

"The Jurchens, the Mongols, and the Japanese must not do business with these three types of people, and no matter how much money they make, they can't make money!" Zhu Youzhen is categorical.

"But why?" Han Zhen was puzzled and said, "Mongolian horses, Japanese Oriental swords, and Jurchen ginseng mink are all extremely sought-after goods in the market, how many people can't grab them, why should we take the initiative to give up?" ”

"A gentleman does something and doesn't do something." Zhu Youzhen sneered and said, "These three parties are enemies and not friends with the Ming Dynasty, and they have long had the heart of killing China, slaughtering my people, and occupying my great rivers and mountains. Han Gongzi, if you can't do this, you don't have to talk about it. ”

"You Gongzi, please rest assured!" Han Zhen hurriedly said, "The Jurchens have repeatedly violated the Korean border for decades, and Japan even invaded on a large scale during the Wanli period. Even if the son doesn't say it, Xiao Ke will never do business with the enemy, and when he asked just now, it was just a temptation. Gongzi You understands righteousness and is by no means comparable to ordinary businessmen, which is why Xiaoke is willing to cooperate with Gongzi! ”

"Good!" Zhu Youzhen stroked his palms and laughed, "Our Huanghai Merchant Gang, today is a good opening!" Brother Han is a veteran of maritime trade, what do you think we should do first? ”

"Xiao Ke thinks you can start with the specialties of Wu Sizang first!" Han Zhen said confidently, "Snow lotus, musk, cordyceps, yak bone, these are extremely precious medicines, and they are extremely sought-after in Jiangnan, North Korea, and Ryukyu. These goods can be bought in Xi'an, although the price is more expensive, but it also saves the pain of trekking to the plateau. If the goods swept through the city, it would cost about 80,000 taels of silver, and the profit would be more than 200,000 taels. ”

"Good!" Zhu Youjian said, "This business is in charge of Han Gongzi, not only to buy out the spot, but also to contact the source of goods, and we will buy it ourselves in the future!" ”

A few people were talking about sex, and suddenly heard someone on the shore calling vividly: "You Gongzi! You Gongzi! ”

Zhu You checked out the cabin and took a look, and saw that it was Princess Rui'er who came to look for it herself, but she didn't know what was going on, so she hurriedly ordered the painting boat to dock.

Rui'er is also dressed as a merchant, and after greeting Han Zhen and others, she said to Zhu Youzhen slightly: "Son, the family is busy, you and Yaxing are here to enjoy the mountains and rivers!" ”

Zhu Youzhen knew that the so-called "busy mess" was actually a happy event to marry Bao Yulian, so he couldn't help blushing and introduced Han Zhen: "This is the younger brother's insider." ”

Han Zhen hurriedly said, "I've seen Madame!" You Gongzi, since you have something at home, please go home. Xiao Ke and Gang Leader Li returned to the city for a little cooking, and then escorted the goods to Dengzhou, let's say goodbye. ”

"That's too hasty!" Zhu Youzhen said busily.

Han Zhen didn't answer, broke off a wisp of branches from the willow tree and handed it to Zhu Youzhen, and said affectionately: "Willow, stay also." Acquaintance with the son, Xiao Ke is fortunate to have three lives. Today's farewell, the road is far away, I don't know when I will see you again. This willow is still in the air, and I ask the son to put it away, and when I see this willow branch in the future, I will be able to think of Xiao Ke. ”

After that, he went away with Li Zicheng and others.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Han Zhen's back and pondered, but Rui'er said narrowly: "Lord Wang, do you still like male style?" ”

"What a joke!" Zhu Youzhen was startled and said.

"Okay, are you really stupid?" Rui'er sneered, "Haven't you seen it for a long time, this Han Gongzi is a daughter!" ”

"What!" Zhu Youzhen was shocked and said, "I also feel that something is wrong, but I can't tell that she is a woman!" ”

"Looks, voice, and temperament can all be disguised, but there is one thing she can't pretend. The weather is so warm, but this Han Gongzi is covered tightly, don't you think it's strange? Saying that, Rui'er smiled and gently smashed Zhu Youzhen's chest with a pink fist, "She's here to cover up!" ”