"Brother Lu's business is in Zhongnan," Qin Lei muttered: "The sky is high there, the emperor is far away, it should be better." ”

"Hehe, Brother Qin, if you sneeze in the southeast, it will rain in Zhongnan for three days, if the southeast is sad, Zhongnan will not be much better." Lu Kun smiled and said: "And I am dissatisfied with Brother Qin and said that I will not be able to go back to the southeast this time." ”

"Oh" Hearing that the matter involved family secrets, Qin Lei didn't ask much, just nodded: "It's okay if you don't leave, there's no place to compare to your homeland." ”

"Brother Qin is really a wonderful person." Lu Kun smiled: "Don't talk about me, what are your plans to go back?" ”

"Let's rest in Shanghai first." Qin Lei said: "Then take a look around." ”

"That's great." Lu Kun smiled: "I will also live in Shanghai for a while, so we can get closer and closer." ”

"Glory to the top."

One...... One...... One...... One............ One...... A day or three later, the Ningbo slowly sailed into the Huangpu River, and the guests said goodbye to each other on deck, leaving their addresses for future contact. Qin Lei has no address, and others don't force it, there are two worlds on the ship, and people will return to their original position from artificial intimacy, and they will naturally not be as interested in this kind of character as they were before, even if they have some charm, but they have no power and power.

But a big man like Lu Xianggong will not be neglected because of the transformation of space, people still surround him, warmly invite him, be sure to come to his place as a guest, and guarantee to give him the warmest hospitality.

Qin Lei didn't care either, and stood quietly aside. Nachu was beside him and whispered: "It seems that identity is really important, without identity, you will become an ordinary person." ”

Ignoring this gloating fellow, he looked at the prosperous scene on both sides of the river, but saw that the smoke and water were vast, the masts were like forests, and the five-masted galleons of various styles were densely covered on the river. Overlooking the distance, the pavilions on the river bank are magnificent, outside the ethereal clouds, the flying painting building, the blue threshold is cheap. Compared with him when he came to Shanghai more than ten years ago, I don't know how many times it is prosperous.

After the boat docked at the pier, the gangway slowly descended. Qin Lei raised his hand towards everyone: "Everyone, there will be a period later." He disembarked and left, with two bodyguards carrying his luggage, and Nachu carrying a backpack and following closely behind.

As soon as he went down to the shore, he was stopped by someone, and he saw that it was the long-term follower of Lu Xianggong. The chief followed Qin Lei and said: "I have seen Master Qin, a small cheap name Lu Zhi, a native of Shanghai.

My lord is worried that you are not familiar with the place, so he asked the little one to follow you for a while, and when you settle down, one small one will bring your address back, so as not to lose contact. "The domineering care makes it impossible to refuse.

The bodyguard looked at Qin Lei, Qin Lei nodded and said, "There is this little brother Lao." ”

"You still call me Lu Zhi." Lu Zhi's politeness was impeccable, and there was no meaning of dogs fighting people. When he heard that the other party was coming to Shanghai for the first time, he enthusiastically and not too diligently introduced: "Shanghai is a great place, it was still a small fishing village during the Jiajing period, and it has only been more than 20 years, and it has developed into the most famous metropolis in the southeast and even in the Ming Dynasty, and Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou, it is really a miracle." And the birthplace of this miracle is the Bund where we are. ”

"The Bund, what does that name mean?" Nachu interjected.

The locals call the upper reaches of the river "li" and the lower reaches of the river "outside". The Huangpu River is bounded by Lujiabang, and its upstream is called "Li Huangpu", and the downstream is called "Wai Huangpu", and the Bund is the river beach of Wai Huangpu. "The servants of the big family are indeed different, they speak clearly, eloquently, and clearly. "When the villain was a child, it was a barren shoal, and there was a narrow dirt road along the beach for the boatman to walk on," he said.

To the west of the beach is farmland, and between the ditches are dotted with huts. Later, in the 36th year of Jiajing, Shanghai was founded, and Shen Gelao, who was still the prefect of Suzhou at that time, first demarcated the river surface around the Bund as the "lower bell section" for ships, so the locals said that "there is Waipu Port first, and then there is Shanghai City." ”

Qin Lei walked and looked, the dock here is twice as large as that in Manila, so many passengers and goods up and down, but not as chaotic as Manila. If you look closely, you can see some clues, the original wharf will be separated from passenger and freight, after the passengers get off the ship, they will go directly to the bluestone paving,

The road departing from a port for the fence. At the same time, the ship's sailors and porters on the dock worked together to move the cargo from the cabin to the unloading deck. He saw that they did not carry the goods on their shoulders, but with some cargo carts, which were very efficient and labor-saving to complete the transfer of goods.

The work of moving cargo from the ship to the shore is done by rotating boom cranes driven by human and animal power. I saw the people on the boat put the bag on a large net and hung it on a hook. The people on the ground moved ten mules and horses to slowly lift the heavy bag. At the same time, turn the winch to transfer the bag to the upper end of the cart, and then slowly lower it. Workers hold on to the bag and make it land firmly on the rail car.

Qin Lei found out that there were still railroad tracks laid on the ground, and the four of them were divided into two groups, like sitting on a seesaw, driving the rail car to start slowly, and then driving to the stack hundreds of zhang away for temporary storage. Each berth, with two tracks and two cars, is just enough to keep up with the unloading speed of the crane.

This unloading method not only saves manpower, but also greatly improves efficiency, the unloading speed can reach more than five times the original, plus each berth corresponds to a stack room, no one grabs with whom, so it can be so orderly, busy but not chaotic.

Lu Zhi told him that after the Shanghai Port was paralyzed at every turn for several years, there were too many ships and too many goods, otherwise the traffic in the river would be paralyzed, the goods on the shore would be piled up, and the entire port would be a mess. Therefore, it is true to say that the development of the commodity economy is the source driving force for the innovation of production technology and methods.

Even the government has accommodated to this high efficiency. If the traveler is not a merchant, even if he carries five or six chests and many other goods with a servant, the city department in charge of customs and taxation will not open and inspect it, let alone collect taxes. They have only one object of taxation, and that is the bulk goods that are imported and exported to the customs.

Qin Lei saw that next to each huge crane, there was an official of the City Department wearing an official uniform.

The crane lifts the load while its weight is displayed on the dial, completing the most time-consuming weighing procedure in the past. Lu Zhi told him that there was another official in the store, who would check the goods according to the books reported by the merchants, and if it was true, he would affix a tax bill to the bag, and the owner of the goods could pay the tax at the city port located outside the wharf within a month after picking up the goods. No cargo owner will evade taxes, not only because of the regulations of the Municipal Department of Shipping, which will impose a late payment fee, but also because the tax evasion will be divided by a penalty of ten times. Also because of the credit record of the businessman concerned, any commercial illegal acts, including tax evasion, tax evasion, fraud, etc., will be publicized in major local newspapers once reported and verified. It doesn't matter how big a card you have before, as long as you have such a hand, it will be completely stink. Not only will the ticket number not give you a loan again, but others will no longer do business with you, and there is only a dead end waiting for your business.

"So, when the goods arrive at the storehouse, the owner can take them away?" Qin Lei said with great interest in this.

"As long as you have a bill of lading in hand, of course you can." Lu Zhi replied: "However, in many cases, the purpose of the cargo owner to come to the wharf is to sign the bill of lading, and then paste the tax stamp after the tax is paid, and the bill of lading becomes a securities."

Those who are in dire need of money for the purpose of reselling can sell the bill of lading to the buyer or list it on the stock exchange. The goods are delivered directly to the warehouses in the city, often changing hands several times before they are picked up. ”

"Shanghai's development is indeed not comparable to Luzon Annam." Qin Lei sighed.

"You are telling the truth," Lu Zhi said with a smile: "There is only one Shanghai in the whole country, and other places want to learn, but they always can't learn." He asked again: "Master Qin, what are your plans next?" ”

"I'm going to buy a house to live in first, and then make plans when I have a place to stay."

"Do you think that's going to work? You go to the inn to stay first, and then ask Ling Gongzi and the little one to go to the tooth shop to see the house. Lu Zhidao.

"It's fine, but let's let Hua go with you." Qin Lei pointed at his tall and black bodyguard.

So Lu Zhi took a group of people out of the wharf, only to see a six-zhang wide stone and brick road, divided into two-way carriageways, east of the Huangpu River to the west radial extension, leading to all corners of the city. There was a black carriage parked on the side of the road, and as soon as Qin Lei and the others came out, coachmen with various accents stepped forward to solicit business.

Lu Zhi said that these are all cars that pull guests not only in the city, but even to Suzhou. He called a car and asked the Qin father and son to go up, and he and the two bodyguards only put their luggage in the car, and said a place in Wu, and the carriage slowly left the dock and drove slowly on the wide but bustling streets, and Lu Zhi and the others could keep up on foot.

Qin Lei was not in a hurry, opened the car window, and leisurely looked at the street scene outside the window. I saw that the buildings facing the street are generally four or five storeys high, and the style is five or eight doors, and the walls alone are colorful, with baroque clear water red brick walls: red brick and white walls alternately and Indian-style lateral colonnades: walls with relief decorations and sky blue domes, but the traditional flying corner heavy eaves, pink walls and tiled buildings have disappeared. In addition to these distinctive buildings, street lamps, signboards, banners, trademarks, advertisements and other commercial outlets are also readily available, decorating the street scene like a stage curtain, Lu Zhi introduced through the car window: "This Jiangnan Street is the first-class feng shui treasure in Shanghai. Not only is the Yamen of the City Department located here, but also the major commercial houses and ticket numbers have also set up their headquarters here. Owning a piece of land here is not only a symbol of wealth, but also a symbol of fame. Don't look at the city of Shanghai for a short time, but most of the buildings here have been rebuilt, and some buildings have even been rebuilt two or three times. ”

"This is for Mou," Nachu asked curiously.

"After some large Chinese conglomerates occupy a place, they will definitely build a large number of buildings and build business buildings.

With so many businesses crowded together, there is no need to take care of subtlety, and how to press others is the right thing to do. At first, everyone cleared the water with flying corners, heavy eaves, red walls and blue tiles, all of which were the same, and they couldn't tell who and whom. Later, the Connecting invited French craftsmen to build one that you see as the one. ”

Following the direction he pointed, everyone saw a tall building in the form of a flat roof standing in the south of the Yangtze River, with a pure European style, but abandoning the most popular Baroque style in Europe at the moment. It looks upright and majestic. At the upper end of the outer wall, there are marble statues, which are beautiful and lifelike. On the plaque of white marble, "Huilian, three brilliant big characters shine brightly."

Huilian is known as the "mother of all merchants", and adopting such an architectural style will naturally affect other businesses. Lu Zhi introduced: "And this style is indeed dignified, especially because it is made of all stone, and there is not a single piece of wood on the outside." It seems indestructible, immortal for thousands of years, and compares other buildings as soon as it comes out. Therefore, other businesses have followed suit, hoping that their own businesses can be as solid as this building and will last for a long time. ”

"You're such a good tour guide." Nachu quipped.

"That's what my lord said." Lu Zhi smiled embarrassedly: "1 villain is just a retelling. ”

"What else did your master say?" Nachu asked with a smile.

"My lord said that the reason why this Jiangnan Road is complicated but not chaotic is because of the good rules.

For example, the commercial lines on this street are stipulated by the prefect's yamen that they must all be at the lintel under the eaves, and the distance between the walls is also strictly limited. Banners of businesses can cross the street, signboards and banners are allowed to be picked up from afar, and all of them are strictly enforced, so it is so pleasing to the eye. ”

According to what he said, Nachu found that it was indeed the case, and no one would break the rules.

I couldn't help but admire: "Why are these merchants so obedient? ”

"These are all the faces of major businesses, of course, we have to act like we are abiding by the law." Lu Zhi said with a smile: "Over time, I also led the merchants in the city to abide by the rules. Because people say that if they don't even follow this superficial rule, they still expect businesses to operate with integrity? ”

After driving out of the bustling Jiangnan Road, the road surface was much looser, the speed of the carriage accelerated, and Lu Zhi couldn't speak, and trotted all the way to follow behind. Fortunately, it didn't take long for him to arrive at the inn, settle Qin Lei, and hit him up, and he went out with the bodyguard to look at the house.

In the guest room, Na Chu asked Qin Lei, "You are really so relieved, aren't you afraid of what Lu Kun has to do?" ”

"What's not to worry about" Qin Lei smiled: "He treated me like this, which shows that he is not suspicious of my identity." Sending a family member to help me is just a gesture, and it can be regarded as a good fate, and there is no other meaning. ”

"It's true, I can't recognize you like this now, I really don't get used to it."

Nachu nodded.

In the afternoon, Lu Zhi turned back and said that the house had been decided and that he could move in the next day.

…！