At three o'clock the next day, in the back hall of the Champs-Elysées antique shop, Zhu Youzhen met with two special merchants at the same time.

The reason why they are special is because they are not from the Central Plains. One of them, with a black and red face and a high nose, was Tsering Wangjie, a Tibetan merchant in Wusi; The other one with a ruddy face and a pair of small eyes shining brightly was Yili Merchant Aru Buhua.

Zhu Youzhen gave the two merchants a high-standard reception, and also gave them several exquisite jade pieces as gifts. The two businessmen were overjoyed on the one hand, but also a little apprehensive on the other. Because in their minds, Han businessmen are profiteers and will never suffer a loss. And this gang leader of the Yellow Sea Merchant Gang is so generous, he must not have low requirements for himself, and no one dares to speak for a while.

Seeing this, Zhu Youzhen smiled and said: "You don't have to worry too much, we Han people have an old saying, saying that buying and selling is not benevolent and righteous." Doing business needs a win-win situation, and both of us need to make money, so that this business can be done. If you think something is inappropriate, even if you say it, we in the Yellow Sea Merchant Gang will never force it. ”

Tsering Wangjie was a little settled in his heart, so he said in blunt Chinese: "Gongzi You, a few days ago, your gang purchased a large number of Tibetan goods, and we already know about it. However, there are several Tibetan businessmen doing business in Xi'an, and the relationship between these two companies is very bad. If Gongzi You wants to cooperate with me, I can definitely reduce the price to the minimum and guarantee the supply. But I hope that Gongzi You will not cooperate with those companies again, this is my only request. ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled when he heard this: "Although it is said that peers are enemies, some competition is not all bad. I don't know what kind of big contradiction you can't solve with those collectors? ”

Tsering Wangjie sighed and said, "Actually, it's not about business, it's about sectarian strife. Our family is a Gelug sect, while several other Tibetan merchants are Karma Kagyu sects. Now that the Karma Kagyu sect is gaining power, the Tsangpa Khan, who supports them, has repeatedly persecuted the Gelug followers and forced us to convert to the sect. We certainly won't agree, so the contradictions on both sides are deep. ”

Zhu Youzhen was confused when he heard this, and thought to himself, isn't this Tibet Tibetan Buddhism, that is, Lamaism? How can there still be so many denominations? It just so happened that he also wanted to know more about the current situation in Tibet, so he tentatively asked: "Doesn't the imperial court have a capital in Tibet?" With sectarian strife so serious, why don't they ask? ”

Tsering Wangjie smiled bitterly: "You Gongzi doesn't know anything. Although there are capital divisions in Tibetan areas, their positions are concurrently held by local aristocratic families, and the imperial court is only canonized, and no officials and soldiers are sent to govern it. Nazangba Khan was also the capital secretary, but now he claims to be the 'king of the upper part of Houzang', which is actually a rebellion. ”

Zhu Youzhen listened silently, thinking that this was another trouble caused by the "restraint" policy. It is precisely because of this unclear policy that local separatism always tries to divide the country and cause all kinds of disasters in the future. In fact, for a sovereign country, the most powerful and direct way to assert sovereignty is to send troops. It's a pity that the imperial court is now too busy to take care of itself, which has led to chaos in Tibetan areas.

Then it occurred to him that since Zangba Khan had set himself up as king, he would be similar in nature to Nurhachi. And this Tsering Wangjie is the opposite of Zangba Khan, and he happens to be the object with which he can unite.

So Zhu Youzhen said happily: "This is no problem, as long as we sign a contract between the two sides to ensure our supply, our Huanghai Merchant Gang is the most reputable in doing business, and we will definitely not find anyone else." But we also have a small request. ”

Tsering Wangjie untied the biggest knot in his heart, and finally smiled at this time: "You Gongzi just mentions, even if it is a big request, I will definitely agree!" ”

Zhu Youzhen was almost amused by his lame Chinese tone, and finally managed to control it: "Actually, it's nothing, it's just that in addition to the previous goods, we still have to buy Tibetan horses!" ”

Tsering Wangjie said suspiciously: "Tibetan horses were born in the bitter cold land of the plateau, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to survive in a different environment, I don't know what is the use of You Gongzi?" ”

"It's just a personal favorite!" Of course, Zhu Youzhen would not tell him that he was going to form an army. And for the adaptability of animals, Zhu Youzhen also considered. If purebred Tibetan horses may have problems adapting to their environment, then crossbreeds will be much better. I think that the Tibetan mastiff in the previous life bloomed everywhere, and I have never heard of the symptoms of soil and water adaptation.

Moreover, what Zhu Youzhen has to solve now is the problem of "starting from scratch", and as for the quality of the horse, he cannot be too demanding. Since Mongolian horses are difficult to obtain, they can only bloom more, and all that can be brought are brought.

Zhu Youzhen and Tsering Wangjie chatted enthusiastically, and Yili put the businessman Alu Buhua in a hurry but couldn't interject. At this time, he could count an opportunity, and hurriedly said: "You Gongzi, we also try our best to have a Dawan horse in it, it is a good horse that travels thousands of miles a day!" It's just that purebred Dawan horses are expensive, asking for a hundred taels of gold each. ”

"It's not expensive, I can accept it." Zhu Youzhen said with a smile, "There is a story among us Han people, saying that Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty heard that the Dayue clan has a bloody horse, so he cast a golden horse of the same size as it to exchange. Compared to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, my deal is a lot cheaper! ”

In fact, he had already scolded this Aru in his heart for not spending a lot of money to ask for a price, but now he was begging for horses, and he could only let the family slaughter him. He secretly decided to buy a few dozen horses at a high price at most, but later he would breed them himself. After all, horses are also important equipment, if you only rely on procurement, not only is it a matter of spending money, the key is that you can't afford to consume, and you can't replenish it if you really fight.

The three of them discussed carefully for a while, and at last they were all happy. As soon as he sent them away, Li Zicheng suddenly ran in in a panic and said, "Lord Wang, those three major merchant gangs really did something against the Shaanxi merchant gang and our Huanghai merchant gang!" ”

Zhu Youzhen was shocked when he heard this: "Speak slowly, what's going on?" ”

It turned out that early this morning, the three major merchant gangs were like a good discussion, and at the same time reduced the price of several bulk goods such as tea and salt, and sold them at prices lower than the cost. The price of rice was raised at the same time, and it was raised to six taels and one stone.

These goods are the traditional business goods of the Shaanxi merchants, and in the past, these major merchants had a tacit understanding with each other, and the selling price was always not much different. But this time the price movement is very sudden and violent, and when the Shaanxi merchants react, the big merchants have already shipped a large number of goods, and it will be difficult for the Shaanxi merchants to sell the goods again.

The price increase of rice is even more strange, it seems that those few companies do not want to sell rice at all, but deliberately hoard goods. Within half a day, a large amount of grain stocks of the Shaanxi merchant gang were also purchased, far exceeding the usual level.

Zhu Youzhen gasped and said, "His uncle, they want to buy out the spot and then indulge the market price!" ”

Li Zicheng also said worriedly: "After my father heard the news, he reprimanded the villain severely, saying that it was because of the villain that the Shaanxi merchant gang would be excluded. He also said that in the next few days, he would invite the leaders of several other merchant gangs to see if there was room for maneuver. ”

"The tree wants to be quiet and the wind does not stop." Zhu Youzhen said calmly, "The old man is too honest, in fact, those merchants want to take this opportunity to bring down all the Shaanxi merchants and the Huanghai merchants!" ”

"yes!" Li Zicheng said angrily, "In addition to the goods, some of the stores opened by the Shaanxi merchant gang have also been harassed by unknown people. Some customers deliberately found fault and beat up the guys, and more than a dozen of them were injured this morning. ”

"What!" Zhu Youzhen said angrily, "You dare to beat someone!" Have you reported to the official? ”

"It's useless to report to the officer." Li Zicheng smiled bitterly, "The troublemakers are all local ruffians and hooligans, obviously hired by those merchant gangs. But they are all hob meat and will not admit the truth at all. And they have more or less something to do with the yamen, even if they are caught, they will be released quickly. ”

As he was talking, he heard a commotion outside. Not long after, Shopkeeper Sun screamed.

Zhu Youzhen and Li Zicheng hurriedly went out to watch, only to see more than a dozen angry people in the antique shop, and the ground was a mess, and many pieces of porcelain and jade were smashed to pieces.

"Helper, you're just in time!" Shopkeeper Sun covered his high swollen cheeks and said with a crying voice, "In the name of buying antiques, they deliberately broke things and beat people!" ”

"Hey, I said shopkeeper, these broken things can't be sold, and you can't deliberately break them, and rely on us!" One of the leading ruffians rolled his eyelids and said, "There are so many people in the store watching, who saw that I broke something?" ”

In fact, the customers in the store had already scared them away, and the rest were all hooligans who came to make trouble. They also added fuel and vinegar and said: "It turns out that the Yellow Sea merchants are forced to buy and sell, as long as they pick it up and look at it, they must buy it, and if they don't buy it, they will break it and rely on the customer!" What else is this kind of black shop to open, brothers, smashed his signboard! ”

Immediately afterwards, they couldn't help but say, the ping-pong smashed all the time, smashed the signboard of the Champs-Elysées, and damaged a lot of goods in the store, and then shouted indiscriminately: "To do business, you must understand the rules, and if you don't know the rules, this is the end!" After shouting, they dispersed in a hurry.

Zhu Youzhen trembled with anger, and pulled out the traceless sword with a "cangchang", and was about to catch up and fight these ruffians. Li Zicheng hurriedly persuaded him bitterly and said: "The prince is angry, they are just the little minions at the front desk, even if they are all killed, the mastermind behind the scenes will not damage half of the hair, but we will suffer a lawsuit because of this!" ”

Zhu Youzhen calmed down for a long time, returned the sword to the sheath, and said coldly: "That's right, these dog thieves are not worthy of defiling these three-foot Qingfeng!" But I won't suffer in vain, no matter what he is in front of and behind the scenes, as long as he dares to find something to find us, I will make him pay a hundred times the price! ”

Li Zicheng said depressedly: "This must also be the mastermind of those merchants." But we don't have evidence, what can we do to others? ”

"What do you want evidence?" Zhu Youzhen sneered, "To deal with hooligans, you have to use hooligan methods!" ”