The first day of August.

The genius was bright, and a crowd began to gather outside the Zhen Mansion, and many business house guys carried large boxes of copper coins to the open space in front of the door.

The merchant masters, stewards, men, and one after another big money boxes blocked the front of Zhen's mansion tightly.

At the beginning of the morning, a guard was also placed in front of the mansion, and it was not the official staff of Luoyang Guansi, but the famous black iron guard.

Seeing this posture, many people who were still skeptical began to drum again, hesitating whether to go in or not.

No matter how you look at it, it looks like a robbery!

Although the door of Zhen's Mansion was opened, the black iron guard in front of the door did not let people in, and Zhao Yuan could only wait patiently in the crowd.

At three o'clock in the morning, a young man came out of the mansion and rushed to the crowd outside the door: "I am Zhen Yao, the younger brother of Zhen Zhongqin." Those who want to enter, and pay the money to the concierge first, every 100,000 yuan is allowed to enter one person, and those who have no intention of buying afterwards will return the money. ”

After speaking, the young man turned around and went home.

If Zhao Yuan would not hesitate, after the young man returned home, he immediately asked the man to carry the box to the concierge to pay the money.

Two scribes, led by a gloomy-looking young man, carefully inquired and recorded their origins, the number of trips to Henan, and their years.

So many copper coins can be counted clearly when they are not one or two, there are only three accounts at the gatehouse, and the copper coins paid are handled simply, only ask the money owner to report the amount of money, and then weigh the weight, the estimate is roughly not bad, and then they are stacked in one place, and the paper is inserted on it to indicate the money owner, quantity and weight.

But there were too many people to enter the door, until the middle of the day began to be scarce. There are people in the house again. Tell the payer to enter.

Zhao originally paid more than 300,000 yuan. He still carried nearly eighty taels of gold in his arms, and only entered the door with the chief steward.

There were more than 300 people in the first wave who rushed into the door, and it was expected that the living room of Zhen's Mansion could not accommodate these many seats, and the door of the living room was closed, so everyone was allowed to stand in the courtyard.

Zhao Yuan sniffled, and he smelled a faint scent of ink in the crowd.

"Want to sell ink strips?"

Zhao Yuan was not the only one who smelled it, and someone in the crowd even asked directly, but no one answered him.

Outside the gate, there were still people entering intermittently. After a while, a new scent entered the nose.

Zhao Yuan made a soft noise in his stomach, and only then did he see that Zhen Yao at the gate of the courtyard led a few big men, carried two large steamers steaming hot, put them in the courtyard, and uncovered the lids, all of which were white cakes, and the people of Henan had recently begun to call it steamed buns.

Zhen Yao shouted loudly: "The people are not yet together, everyone should take food to satisfy your hunger first!" ”

I got up early in the morning until now, and the water and rice have not entered. Zhao Yuan was already hungry, so he hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed five or six breads. Turn back and give it to the old steward, and devour it together.

The big men who carried the steamers turned around and brought four buckets of warm water with honey, dropped a dozen scoops, and drank water from their dry mouths.

Zhao Yuan swallowed two steamed buns, and then drank a big scoop of honey water, feeling much better, but immediately felt that the urine was swollen again, and then asked someone to the toilet, and vented his stomach, Fang Jue was refreshed.

When he returned to the courtyard, he didn't feel any uneasiness when he looked around at the people around him, the heavy guards, and the people who were still rushing in.

Only the three people under the corridor are slightly eye-catching, and the master is a young man in the middle leaning against the railing, and a big man with a fierce face on the left sits on the ground, playing with three halberds in his left hand, and holding a dough cake in his right hand and biting on it, which seems to be the young man's guard; On the right stands a beautiful woman.

The young man on the railing, like the ugly man, was also stuffing the dough into his mouth, Zhao Yuan saw that he also handed the half-bitten dough to the beautiful woman, who stomped her feet and refused to take it, with a somewhat embarrassed look on her face.

Emperor Dayuan really wants to rob money, what can a few guards do? The merchants who entered the Zhen Mansion today are either single or leading the stewards, and there are very few people with guards like this young man.

And there are very few merchants who do not bring their families with them outside, and who carry women like young men.

The woman was so beautiful that she suddenly appeared on this occasion, and it attracted people's attention, and some of them even looked at her blatantly, and her face was flushed.

The halberd can also be turned into a murder weapon, which merchant's escort can enter this place and hold it in his hand without anyone asking? Zhao Yuan only glanced at the woman twice, and then turned his attention to the strange young man. Zhao Yuan watched it for a long time, and the young man also realized it, and raised his head and grinned at him.

The young man's smile was a little naughty, but Zhao Yuan was startled, and he turned his head sharply, not daring to continue to watch.

Finally no one entered outside, just waited like this, even Zhao Yuan felt a little impatient, and the other merchants began to talk and inquire with each other after filling their bellies, and the scene gradually dispersed. After a while, the gloomy young man who had been asking questions in the gatehouse came in from outside the door, followed by more than a dozen black iron guards.

The young man pointed out the two in the crowd, and the Black Iron Guards immediately embraced them.

One who couldn't react was instantly knocked to the ground; The other man was quick with his hands and feet, jumping up and running around the crowd.

While running, this man shouted: "Deng Mu'an wants to take away our wealth, but you still can't save yourself?" ”

The sudden change had frightened the merchants, and even Zhao Yuan began to be suspicious, could it be that this was the case?

The gloomy young man said in a loud voice: "Don't worry, Da Yuan will never have such a thing!" However, these two people have traveled back and forth to Henan several times, and it took a long time to sell some goods, and they also explored the reality of the Dayuan military and politics in many ways. ”

As he spoke, a sharp blade was found in his bosom that had been knocked over on the ground.

As a merchant, it is still possible to hide gold and silver, and the one with a sharp blade should be a guard. Hearing the gloomy young man speak and affirm that the arrester was indeed acting suspiciously, Zhao Yuan immediately put his heart back in his stomach.

The fleeing man was still scurrying in the crowd, slippery and tight, the black iron guards couldn't catch him for a while, and when Zhao Yuan saw him running past his house, he suddenly flew up and kicked him in the waist and crotch, causing him to stagger and fall out.

This person's hand is not ordinarily agile, his hand pressed on the ground, and he got up again, he had already taken out the short blade from his arms, and glared at Zhao Yuan with a fierce light, and he wanted to pounce.

Seeing his vicious appearance, Zhao Yuan suddenly regretted his guilt. Take a step back.

It's just that the man has just jumped out. There was already a cold light rushing in. right in his thigh. The man screamed and fell to the ground again, being held down by the Black Iron Guards, unable to move again.

Seeing that there was a halberd nailed to his thigh, three or four points into the flesh, and the blood stains under the robe were rising, Zhao Yuan was scared, and his heart moved. Looking back at the ugly man beside the young man in the corridor, there were indeed only two halberds left in his left hand.

The gloomy young man led the black iron guards to drag away the two suspicious authors, most of the merchants were still shocked, Zhao Yuan had already let go a little, walked to the corridor and saluted the young man, and said, "Thank you for your help!" ”

I didn't want the young man to shake his head, and he actually said, "I should have thanked me for this matter!"

Listening to his accent, it is more complicated, but it is probably mainly Nanyang accent, Zhao Yuan doesn't understand why the other party said this, so it is not good to continue talking.

Seeing that his face was confused. The young man opened his mouth again and asked, "Where is the business?" ”

Only then did Zhao Yuan say solemnly: "Zhao Yuan of the East China Sea, Zi Zi Pavilion." ”

The other party asks for a name. I thought I had the heart to make friends, but after I reported my name, the young man only nodded and stopped talking.

The young man was a little rude, but his tone was natural, and he didn't mean to despise him, so that Zhao Yuan couldn't get angry and couldn't get off the stage. Entering or retreating, when he was holding back uncomfortably, the door of the living room that had been closed in Zhen's Mansion suddenly "creaked" and opened a crack, squeezing out two people from the inside, standing side by side on the steps.

These two people are known to those who often do business in Henan, the first one is Zhen Zhongqin, the director of Luoyang Commercial Bank and the owner of Zhen Mansion; The second is the former manager of Luoyang Commercial Bank, and now Wang Wei and Wang Deliang, the waiters of the Dayuan Ministry of Industry.

After the two walked out, the door of the living room hall of Zhen's Mansion closed with a "squeak".

Zhen Yan and Wang Wei first clasped their fists and saluted the crowd, and when they saw two acquaintances come forward, the merchants finally felt at ease, and Zhao Yuan also took the opportunity to retreat into the crowd.

When he became an official, he immediately felt that it was no longer the same, and when Wang Wei stood up and looked around, the courtyard suddenly became silent.

Zhao Yuan noticed that when Wang Wei looked at the corridor, his body bowed slightly.

Who is this young man?

He was still suspicious, but Wang Wei had already spoken on the steps, busy and listening attentively.

Wang Wei said: "Dayuan's first-class meritorious people are not lightly awarded!" First of all, I would like to tell you that this time I want to sell things that are not trivial, if you are not careful, you may be killed! ”

Only listening to Wang Wei's words, many people's hearts are tight, only to remember that it is difficult to obtain a business license here, this time to give a clear award, the risk to be borne will certainly not be small, even Zhao Yuan's previous fanaticism has subsided slightly, Zhen Yan opened his mouth to answer: "Those who enter the house today, if they want to retreat at this time, they still have to be at their own convenience, and go to the concierge to collect the money and leave!" When you hear about me, you need to do what you have agreed, and if you violate it, you will not be allowed to enter the Dayuan business in the future! Think again! ”

After Zhen Yan finished speaking, someone hesitated for a while, then walked outside the door of the mansion, and sure enough, no one stopped him.

With the leader, there are people leaving one after another, and there are also people walking to the door, hesitating and then returning.

Forty or fifty people walked before and after, and there were still about three hundred left, representing more than one hundred and sixty caravans.

After waiting for a while, seeing that no one was leaving, Zhen Yanfang nodded and said to his younger brother Zhen Yao: "Close the door!" ”

Soon, the outer door of Zhen's mansion was closed, and Zhen Yan and Wang Wei personally turned around and pushed open the door of the living room.

As the hall door was pushed open and the things inside were clearly seen, many people couldn't help but let out a cry in their throats: "Woo! ”

It was a row of neatly stacked paper books, the number was huge, almost filling the entire living room, I am afraid that there were tens of thousands of volumes, and there were more than 30 black iron guards around the books with weapons.

As the hall door opened, the scent of ink in the air seemed to be much stronger.

Zhao Yuan had also read a few books, but he never thought that he would see so many paper books in person in this life.

How much of an asset is that?

Pointing to the books in the hall, Zhen Yan proudly rushed to the people in the courtyard: "In addition to the "Spring and Autumn Zuo Biography", the Confucian scriptures are collected in nine parts, each with 6,000 volumes; The rest of the ten books, such as "Zhou Ji Sutra", "Guiguzi", "Qin Cao", "Yin Wenzi", "Xinyu", "Excerpts from the Biography of the Daughters", and "Excerpts from Shuoyuan", are 2,000 copies each! You are relieved, each book or Cha Xi Ping Shijing, or the famous family carefully proof, there are few mistakes and omissions! ”

Wang Wei then spoke: "There are nine Confucian classics, and each volume sells you for 2,000 yuan; "Guiguzi" and other texts are worth 5,000 yuan each! ”

In this era, although there are scholars from the poor family, they are only scarce. Eight out of ten who are really literate are the sons of wealthy families. To really meet a favorite. Asking for a book is just an ordinary thing, and when I heard this offer, the courtyard suddenly let out cheers and shouts in unison.

Some people stomped their feet and cheered on their partners' arms, some people anxiously touched the gold and silver calculations in their arms, and some screamed.

If what Zhen Yan and Wang Wei said is true, the danger is not known for the time being, and the merchants will see the huge profits first.

The most hateful thing is that books are a luxury. The price given by Da Yuan is also not cheap, if you calculate it with the minimum cost of 100,000 yuan, you can only buy fifty books, and with so many goods in front of you, you can only buy a small part of the money you have.

Zhao Yuan noticed that several merchants in the same state who had lent him money before were constantly looking at him, thinking that he had regretted it tightly, he touched the gold in his arms, gritted his teeth and pretended not to see.

Wang Wei said again: "The price of books is high, and you may have limited funds. Therefore, the firm also has a preferential law. You only have to pay half the price for the books you buy today. The rest can be paid before June of the coming year! ”

Take the goods at half price, and the other half will come back to pay later, and there is such a good thing? There was another shout of cheer from the crowd.

Zhao Yuan was stunned, thinking that people's hearts are unpredictable, and when the villain is not trustworthy and does not repay the balance, he immediately understood that Dayuan really does not lightly award first-class meritorious people, presumably the sale of books at half price has already made a profit, swallowing up the other half price of the merchants, naturally not qualified to be granted this household registration.

The crowd cheered, Zhao Yuan thought about it, Zhen Yan had already walked into the living room, took down a book from the pile of books, and then went out to hold the book high.

The words on the cover are big, and Zhao Yuan can see it clearly, which is a collection of "The Book of Filial Piety" and "Mencius".

Zhen Yan flipped through the book from right to left in mid-air, and there were hundreds of papers, all of which were so small that he couldn't see the content clearly.

After flipping, Zhen Yan pinched the back cover at the end with his hand, and then held it high and shouted: "Everyone, look!" ”

The back cover is very normal, everyone doesn't know what he is called, and when they are puzzled, Zhen Yan will put the writing flat again, pinch the back cover and shout: "Look!" ”

At this time, several people in the front row of the crowd saw it clearly and exclaimed in surprise: "Huh! ”

Zhen Yan handed the book to the merchant in the front row, walked back to the living room and took out more than ten more books, all of which were handed out to everyone to read, reminding: "And pay attention to the back cover!" ”

When one of them reached Zhao Yuan's hand, he reached out and touched the back cover first, which was much thicker than the cover paper, and looked left and right in front of him, but only the outermost side was bound with thread, and there were gaps on both sides of the upper and lower edges, and through the gaps, he could see that there were more than a dozen pieces of paper inside.

Why are books bound like this? The book is expensive, for fear of damage, and Zhao Yuan can't open the back cover to see the content inside, although there are doubts, but guess is clueless, Zhen Yan and Wang Wei will explain later, he only casually flips through a few more contents, and sees that each of the words is slightly smaller than a small fingernail, not beautiful, but all of them are the same size and neat, about 200 words per page, not like a hand-copied one, and with Da Yuan's strange punctuation marks, the content of reading a few sentences is correct.

It seems to be like a seal, is it a seal?

Unless Zhao Yuan was not the only one, those who thought through the center of the hospital immediately figured out the key to it, and some people couldn't help but regret it -- what a simple method, if they had to come up with it earlier, how much money would they have to make? Or buy fewer books today, take advantage of the fact that the price of paper has dropped sharply, and immediately print books to sell them after leaving Henan, how much can you profit from those nerds? I just don't know how long it will take to engrave and print the letter, and after the wave of crazy sales by the Great Yuan Kingdom, is the price of the book still high?

Zhao Yuan's guess was incomplete before, but at this moment, the household registration of Dayuan's first-class meritorious people and the huge profits in his imagination are the key to making people really struggle.

Or ask again, can you have both fish and bear's paws, and after obtaining the Dayuan business registration, you can also go to the territory of Dayuan to print books?

In various thoughts, more than ten books were quickly passed through the crowd, and when they all returned to Zhen Yan's hands, Wang Wei added another fire: "The texts hidden on the back cover of each book are my Dayuan legal system, and scholars will be aware of it if they read it for a long time after they buy it, or there are those who sue the officials, or there are still outside details in the courtyard today, and it is difficult not to leak this matter." The princes of the world are forbidden to pass on the Yuan system, and when they know about it, they may think that they are guilty, or they will be hunted and killed, and they will be tortured and tortured book sellers, so they should be small wings! ”

After listening to him, Zhao Yuan and the others understood why they said that there was a catastrophe of murder before, and they inevitably speculated on the possibility of this incident and weighed the pros and cons.

It's just that the door of Zhen's Mansion has been closed, and it has been made clear before that if the merchants who stay in the courtyard want to leave, they can only pay more than 100,000 yuan to buy books first, as for buying more and buying less, whether they will sell it in the future or not, whether they will return it after selling, or they will ask craftsmen to print books when they leave the country, or they can sue the officials directly, it can only be something to consider after going out.

For those who only think about the household registration of first-class meritorious people, Zhao Yuan has already begun to think about how to make the business route safe this time.

That's already the case. Wang Wei ignored the colors on the faces of the merchants in the courtyard. Again: "Now you can go in and pick up books." Those who pay more money must enter first, and the money paid will not be returned, and if it is insufficient, it can be added again. After the selection, you can ask the black iron guard to help you go outside the gate. ”

Zhen Yan took the money account and began to read the names one by one, Zhao Yuan was ready to enter the hall to pick up books, but unexpectedly, someone pulled his sleeve and said in an urn: "Zhao Jun, wait a minute!" ”

Zhao Yuan looked back, and it turned out to be the ugly man next to the young man under the corridor before. Seeing that the young man was no longer under the porch, he stopped with suspicion.

After Zhao Yuan, the ugly man invited more than a dozen people, most of whom were familiar with each other.

Let the chief butler wait in the courtyard for a while, and after the ugly man invited enough people, Zhao Yuan and the others followed him through the corridor and the two courtyard doors, and finally entered a side hall.

The young man who was suspected of being a noble man was sitting upright on the chairman's seat, the beautiful woman kneeling beside him, and Zhen Yao and the gloomy young man who had previously arrested him in the guest seat.

When Zhao Yuan and the others entered the door, Zhen Yao was talking to the beautiful woman with his eyebrows. When I saw them enter, I stopped.

The ugly man introduced Zhao Yuan and others. The young man did not stand up to salute, and spoke freely from the throne: "I am Deng Ji." ”

Just a sound, all the merchants opened their mouths, before Zhao Yuan guessed that this young man had a noble status, but he would never have thought that he was the emperor of the Great Yuan Kingdom, let alone that his self-introduction was so direct and concise.

This is in the Zhen family's mansion, Zhen Yao and the gloomy young man who led the black iron guard to arrest the fine work were all present, and the beautiful woman should be Zhen Ji sent to the palace by the Zhen family, so probably no one would dare to pretend to be the emperor, right?

Before Zhao Yuan and the others could understand it, they hesitated and didn't know whether to make a big salute, and the young man who claimed to be the Emperor of Dayuan spoke again: "You have all been doing business in Henan for a long time, and it is worth my trust to invite you to meet." ”

Zhao Yuan and the others were at a loss, and it took a long time before they hesitated and knelt down, and the young man spoke again: "Although I am the Emperor of Dayuan, I don't like the old rites very much. ”

The gloomy young man at the guest seat interjected: "Your Majesty personally decided on the new system of Dayuan, and everyone in front of the emperor can call him Your Majesty, no need to be polite!" ”

Zhao Yuan and other businessmen are often in Luoyang, and they have also heard about the affairs of the Dayuan court, and after listening to this person's words, they trembled, bowed down and saluted, and called "Your Majesty".

The Great Yuan Emperor was not bad-tempered, and he smiled and invited a few people to sit at the table, and only after the merchants were seated did he speak again: "There are a lot of books printed this time, so half the price is allowed, and it is difficult for foreign merchants to buy them all for a while." I don't know how many books you want to buy when you enter the house? ”

Listening to his question, more than a dozen merchants who entered the table reported the principal they had prepared in turn, and sure enough, in addition to the money paid by the porter, there were still secret preparations, the most of which was more than 100,000 yuan, and the less than 200,000 yuan, Zhao Yuan's more than 700,000 yuan was not conspicuous among them.

After listening to them one by one, the emperor smiled and said: "You have been invading Henan for a long time, and you have also contributed to the Great Yuan, you can't look at the rest of the same, and then half of the price of the goods is paid in cash, and the rest will be paid off before June of the coming year, how about it?" ”

Everyone thanked them again, and the gloomy young man interjected: "When the balance is settled in the coming year, you can be granted the household registration of Dayuan, but I also have one thing to worry about!" ”

Zhao Yuan relied on the fact that he had assisted him in capturing the suspected author before, and boldly replied: "Although Your Majesty has not yet been conferred, we have already called ourselves Yuanmin, and we dare not call it tired!" The government has an order, and we are all there to follow! ”

Zhao Yuan is not stupid, all the old merchants who went to Henan were called here, and they gave benefits first, and this person said in front of the emperor that he had something to ask for, but he didn't know the degree of public and private affairs, and the degree of danger, so he only should have the word "official" in his words.

The rest of the merchants also nodded in agreement with Zhao Yuan, and the man also understood Zhao Yuan's meaning, so he changed his gloomy face and said with a chuckle: "My surname is Zheng Mingran, and the cursive characters should be known. Now there are several people who are close to you on the right and left, and they want to send you to various places to trade in order to broaden their knowledge, but it is a private matter, and I don't know if it can be allowed. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Yuan suddenly remembered the two people arrested by the Black Iron Guard in the courtyard before, and the word "fine work" suddenly flashed in his mind.

This is never a private matter!

However, the merchants who had to enter this side hall were only interested in the household registration of the first-class meritorious people, and at this time, whether they understood it or not, they all pretended to be confused and gladly agreed.

After finishing the matter, Emperor Dayuan spoke again: "You have not yet chosen a book, since you should respond to this matter, the remaining books after the purchase of the merchants can be divided into credit!" ”

After hearing this, everyone thought of the profits, and they were all ecstatic.

Merchants go out, although most of them secretly bring funds to prevent accidents, except for a few well-known businessmen, but they are only limited, and some people outside were frightened by the risks that Zhen Yan and Wang Wei said, and more than 70,000 books should not be sold out.

This is obviously sending a huge amount of money to yourself!

When he got out of the side hall, many other merchants were still waiting to select books, and Zhao Yuan found the previous creditors among them, and paid off all the debts first.

(I thought it was one chapter, but I didn't expect it to end up being written in two chapters.) This is two chapters in one, right? (To be continued.) )