The lobby of the city was full of people, and a group of businessmen looked at the 'cooks' who cut the carpets, not knowing what tricks to do.

After a while, a complete carpet was cut into countless square pieces, which were held up by messengers on trays and divided into several pieces in each basin, and silence was no exception.

After everyone had something on their plates, Shen Mo said with a flat expression: "There are no dishes for you today, so please try Mr. Badawi's Persian carpet." ”

Everyone was in an uproar, and they all laughed dryly: "Adults are really joking...... but something happened that made them lose their eyes, and they saw Shen Mo pick up a piece of carpet from the bowl, put it in his mouth and chewed it.

Is this kind of carpet really edible? Seeing that the adults made a demonstration, all the merchants had to follow suit, and they all put a chopstick into their mouths, trying to chew it, but the next moment they spit it out one after another, and many people shouted: "Water, water......"

There was no water on the table, and the water bottles were all in the hands of the waiters, but no one dared to give them a drink without a silent order.

Shen Mo also spat out the carpet in his mouth and asked everyone, "What do you think of the taste?" ”

"Mouthful of salty!" Everyone gossiped and said, "It's still bitter to death!" Finally, someone suddenly said, "This carpet can't have been soaked in the sea, right?!" "Only then did everyone understand that the prefect was inspecting the goods on the spot, but in this way, hey...... Why do you want everyone to suffer with it?

Silence is to kill chickens and set an example for monkeys, so that these 'chickens' can always remember this bitterness!

As soon as he waved his hand, the waiter offered water, and everyone was busy rinsing their mouths, but one person did not rinse his mouth, he just spit out the carpet in his mouth and sat there without changing his face...... Undoubtedly, it is Balawi.

Shen Mo spit mouthwash into the copper basin, looked at him and said, "Mr. Balawi, what do you think it tastes like?" ”

"My lord," said Balavi, laughing, "I would say it tastes great, but that's against my will, and to tell you the truth, I don't taste anything other than authentic Persian cashmere." ”

"You're lying!" Huang Jin was angry and screamed: "Everyone sings bitter and salty, why do you feel tasteless?" ”

"Dear Huang Gonggong, I didn't say it tasteless." "I've already said that authentic Persian cashmere tastes like this. He grinned and said, "If the adults blame us for the poor taste of our carpets, then I will never accept it, because in our place, this thing is for stepping on, not eating." ”

Everyone couldn't help but look at this Balawi with admiration...... It's really a daring hob meat!

Silent but not impatient, he smiled: "It turns out that the taste of Persian carpets is so unique, I wonder if wool can be eaten instead of salt in your place?" ”

"Of course not," Baravi shook his head, "just a unique taste, still wool at heart." ”

"Alright, let's see." Clapping his hands silently, the waiter brought out another cauldron, lit a fire in the courtyard, poured water into the pot, and then boiled the carpets in the pot for a while, and at the same time brought a bowl of steaming soy milk in front of each person's table.

Shen Mo picked up the bowl, took a sip, and said with a smile: "Let's try it, how does it taste?" Seeing the hesitation on everyone's faces, he assured: "This is indeed ordinary soy milk." "Everyone tasted it, and it was really a light and tasteless real soy milk.

"Don't drink it all." If Shen Mo shouted too late, the soy milk would be drunk by the hungry merchant, so he said, "There will be a big meal for you later, now please let the waiter add some water." ”

Everyone put down the bowl unsatisfied, and watched the waiter scoop the water from the pot to cook the carpet in the bowl, scooping it into the bowl of the guests, only to see that the soybean milk in the bowl suddenly condensed into bean curd!

At the same time, a saying came to everyone's hearts: 'Brine and tofu, one thing drops one thing!' Everyone knows that in order for soy milk to solidify, you must order marinade. The method of marinating in coastal areas is to boil seawater, and after the concentration is increased, it is added to soybean milk.

"What else do you have to say, Mr. Balavi?" looked at the dead fat man silently with a smile.

Balawi can't deny it now, even if he is shameless, he can't say that our wool can still be marinated. Because he knows that in the face of the facts, no one will believe his nonsense anymore. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, knowing that this game was a lost.

Originally, Balawi thought that Shen Mo would treat himself very roughly, just like those local officials who only seized and arrested people. In this way, he can portray himself as a warrior who is not afraid of power, so as to incite a group of unknown merchants to resist the city. I believe that the other party can get out safely under this pressure.

But who knows that silence overcomes rigidity with softness, convinces people with reason, and convinces everyone - who will follow him to coax? If you continue to carry it, you can only make yourself a laughing stock and let others laugh at it, and if Lord Shen wants to deal with him at this time, there will be no trouble.

Balawi obviously understood what it meant to be 'a good man does not suffer immediate losses', and as soon as his little eyes blinked, he got up with a painful face and saluted Shen Mo: "It seems that it is really sea water, but I, Balawi, swear to Allah, that I did not know it in advance...... Everyone knows that I am honest and reliable, and I am not deceitful, and I will never pass bad for good. ”

"Your goods are soaked in water," Huang Jin asked sharply, "Don't you even know it?" ”

"Eighty percent of them are the people in charge of the warehouse, and they are afraid that I will punish them and hide them." Balawi picked up a small piece of carpet and said, "Father-in-law, you can't see it, you can't touch it, and I don't have the wisdom of an adult to come up with a way to test it, so I don't know at all." "As soon as you push three, six or five, you will clean up the responsibility, it is really a pity that such a talent is not an official.

Shen Mo didn't entangle with him, took out the contract from his sleeve and said: "This is written in black and white, if there is a problem with the quality of one party, it must be returned and refunded unconditionally, and double the price paid to the other party as a fine...... If it's malicious, double it again. As he spoke, he laughed and said, "It's not that Mr. Balawi is malicious, please hand over 1,260,000 taels of silver to the city, and then take your goods back." ”

Balawi has his own calculations in his heart, he will sell the Daming goods that come in, and he can probably earn 600,000 taels of silver, if he pays the compensation, I am afraid that not only will there be no balance, but also a small loss.

Fortunately, there wasn't much to lose, he comforted himself...... Because the situation is stronger than people, this cup of self-brewed bitter wine must be drunk no matter what.

Heartache like a knife to agree to the silent request, Balawi was very angry in his heart, he said in his heart: 'I can't run in vain, since there is a clause in the contract to protect the buyer, then I can't take advantage of it, come to a lost corner, and reap the mulberry.' Thinking of this, he said to Shen Mu: "The contemptible person completely accepts the punishment of the adults, because you strictly inspect the cloth, as a matter of course. "He sneered and said, "So we decided that the batch of porcelain exported by the Ming Dynasty will be doubled after it arrives in Persia, and if it is shoddy at that time, the fine will also be doubled!"

The hearts of the people say, "Isn't this a revenge?" Lord Shen would definitely not agree.

But Shen Mo just agreed...... Of course, he can deal with Balawi in a simple and brutal way, but he has high expectations for the city, hoping that it will prosper as soon as possible. To do this, it is first necessary to dispel the doubts of the merchants about the government, because since ancient times, officials have regarded merchants as slaves, fat sheep, and enemies, who are driven when they need it, exploited when they lack money, and eliminated when they become big. Therefore, although the merchants and the government use each other, there is never real trust at all.

And what he has to do is to establish his own prestige among the merchants, and this prestige does not depend on power alone, because the merchants have no power, so they will only be unconvinced; He also had to rely on reason to convince people, because businessmen can also be reasonable, so if he was convinced, that is, he was really convinced.

Shen Mo wanted everyone to be convinced this time, and when he mentioned him Lord Shen from now on, he couldn't say half a 'no'. So he agreed, and didn't ask for anything more.

Balawi said in his heart, you don't know the power of the Indian Ocean, and when you encounter a series of undercurrents, no matter how much you explain it, you have to break it into pieces.

So he paid the fine, took back the carpet, and prepared to sell it to the American continent, and make it back from the stupid and wealthy Francos. Then he set off overnight, and the next day he joined the large team in Shanghai and drove back to China.

To make a long story short, in January of the following year, after a long journey of more than three months, he finally reached Persia. Although there were no major storms along the way, the bumps were worse than usual...... Of course, there is an element of intent in this. Bharavi said to himself: 'I guess I have to fight halfway. I couldn't help but jump up in my heart, not only for the sake of gas, but also for the huge profit - how expensive the porcelain of the Ming Dynasty is! If it is broken by half, the people of the Ming Kingdom will have to pay him a million taels, which is not only enough to make up for the loss, but also makes him a lot of money.

As soon as he was proud in his heart, he invited familiar businessmen to inspect it together, and specially invited a group of bands to blow it up, obviously wanting the Ming people to lose an adult, in order to vent their hatred.

When the basket of porcelain was opened, a miracle happened, and after such a long time of turbulence, not even a single dish was broken in the basket, let alone anything else.

Balawi's eyes went dark, and he fainted...... didn't get revenge in second place, the key is that this trip is far from earning back, and you have to lose tens of thousands of taels of silver.

What the hell is going on? Didn't you see silence and do it again? Because he had already moved...... When Balavi insisted on adding that 'compensation clause', he was worried that the other party would make a fuss about it, so he pondered how to solve the problem. At first, I couldn't think of it, but one day when I was eating, I saw a bean sprout, and I had an idea to come up with a solution.

When he ordered people to wrap porcelain, in addition to packaging it as it used to be, he also ordered people to fill the gaps with mung beans, and then sprinkle a small amount of water, cover the lid, and wrap it tightly.

In this way, during transportation, the mung beans slowly sprout and eventually become bean sprouts...... As long as it does not see light, it will never grow leaves, and as long as it retains moisture, it can always survive, which is the conclusion of the experiment in the previous life of Shen Mo, when he was in elementary school...... He told those who followed the boat to eat and live by the porcelain, on the one hand, to prevent the other party from vandalism, and on the other hand, to secretly water to maintain the nutrition of the bean sprouts.

As a result, the pervasive mung bean sprouts almost filled all the gaps in the basket, and despite the wind and waves on the way, the porcelain had such a seamless protection of moderate softness and hardness, and it was naturally safe and undamaged.

Of course, by the time Shen Mo knew about it, it was almost the summer of the following year, so he should set his sights on Suzhou and go back to the day when the eldest son pressed Balawi to return to the city.

That day, Shen Mo actually saw the eldest son at a glance, who let this guy sit half a head taller than a person? Resisting the urge to recognize each other, he fought back against Badawi step by step, and waited for the merchants to open their meal before facing his eldest son who was smiling and looking at him.

I haven't seen him for a long time, the eldest son has changed too much, his figure is more burly, he has a short beard, and he is much calmer and older. Shen Mo walked up to him, and wanted to give him a bear hug, but when he stretched out his hand, he slapped it heavily, and laughed: "The scholar has grown a beard!" ”

"Don't you either." The eldest son said with a smile. Although the movements of the two are not as enthusiastic as before, the feelings in their eyes are deeper and more lush, which is the long-lasting friendship between men.

After a short greeting, Shen Mo knew that he would follow Badawi back, in other words, he couldn't even spend the night in Suzhou, so he hurriedly took his eldest son back to the house, let Ruohan come out to meet, and let Rou Niang fry a few good dishes.

After the uncle and younger siblings met, the couple led their eldest son to the inner room, Ruohan held up an obviously bulging belly, and took the maid and the old mother to take care of it, even if Hu Zongxian came, he did not get this kind of treatment.

The eldest son was naturally very moved, but he didn't dare to drive his younger siblings, at this time there were four cold dishes on the square table, two pairs of cups and chopsticks, and when they sat down, Ruohan used a clean hand towel and wrapped a wine jug to pour wine for them, and the eldest son hurriedly thanked him, and said in his mouth: "Hurry up and rest, don't be busy." ”

"Madam," said a silent smile, "you have given your brother's wine, and then go into the house to rest, so as not to be polite to your brother and restrained." ”

Ruohan said with a smile while toasting: "Uncle will definitely bring his sister-in-law next time, we women have something to talk to." "The eldest son has married in the summer, and his father did it, and Shen Mo took the time to go back to his wedding. I saw the bride, she was a quiet and delicate girl, and after the newlywed Yan'er, she stayed in Shaoxing to take care of her in-laws, but she didn't follow her eldest son.

The eldest son laughed and said, "I know." After drinking, Ruohan went out, leaving only the waiter.

As soon as she left, Shen Mo's eyebrows fluttered: "I'm amazing, right?" ”

"What month was born?" The eldest son asked quietly.

"At the end of April next year." Shen Mo said with a smile, and his pride was beyond words.

"I'm in early April." The eldest son sandwiched a chopstick dish and said very calmly.

Shen Mo's mouth suddenly opened wide, and he couldn't help but say, "Impossible, right?" You only got married in June. ”

"I hit the starter!" The eldest son looked forward to his own self-righteousness.

"You're amazing......" Shen Mo said deflated, and said happily: "Great, let's get married and have a family." ”

"You are a civil official, I am a military attaché." The eldest son said a little gloomily: "Aren't you afraid of people's criticism? ”

"Is there a difference between civilian officials and military generals?" Shen Mo's eyes widened and said, "Of course there are," he said, pointing to his chest and the 'black bear' on the chest of his eldest son: "I am a flying bird, you are a beast, together we are beasts, and neither of us is more noble than the other." ”

Rao is eldest son did not move like a mountain, and he couldn't help laughing: "That's really the case." ”

"That's why I said, in the future, your daughter and my boy will be a match made in heaven." Shen silently raised his glass and said, "Come, in-laws, let's do one." ”

But the eldest son did not clink glasses with him, and said, "I will give birth to a son, and if I get married, I should marry your daughter." ”

"You're still so dead-eyed," Shen Mo scolded with a smile: "You're going to have a girl sooner or later, right?" Even if it is Yang Jiye, there are eight sisters and nine sisters. ”

"That's right." The eldest son nodded and said, "You will definitely give birth to a son too." The two of them had a drink with He Meimei.

"What if you give birth to a girl?" The eldest son asked.

"Cheap, you stinky boy." Shen Mo waved his hand and said, "You guy, don't suffer a loss!" ”

The eldest son was satisfied, and smiled and did not speak.

After drinking for a while, after finishing the parents' shortcomings, he asked silently and softly, "I heard that General Yu's words are very sad?" ”

"Yes," the eldest son didn't keep it secret from him, and nodded: "Isn't it the water army that is making trouble?" The general hoped to keep the enemy out of the country and go all out to develop the naval army, but shipbuilding was too expensive, and a local shipyard could not afford it at all, so it could only be dispersed to various coastal prefectures and counties. Our general repeatedly wrote to the marshal, applying for unified management and unified accounting of the shipyards in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian, which annoyed the officials in various places, saying that our general was smashing people's jobs, from conscription to supply, and gave us the Yu family army stumbling blocks everywhere. ”

(To be continued)