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Nearly a month has passed, and the fleet that has gone deep inland has not returned. The stewards in the cities in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River have sold all their goods, and the procurement is almost complete. It has to be said that loading goods by ship is really not comparable to a horse-drawn carriage on land. A carriage can carry more than 1,000 catties of goods when it is dead, and the smallest of these ships in front of him can carry more than 10,000 catties.

Suzhou, Yangzhou, and Jiangning are very wealthy, but the merchants have to take out so many goods at once, and it is not enough to fill the ships. Like the lacquerware here in Yangzhou, there is not much inventory in the entire Yangzhou City, and the warehouses of various merchants are all emptied, and only three ships are loaded, which is far from enough. In Moon Harbor, a single ordinary merchant ship from Manila can transport all the lacquerware from these two small sea ships. It takes time to make lacquerware, and the merchants here in Yangzhou have asked the craftsmen to work day and night during this time, and it will take another half a month to complete this batch of orders.

In addition to lacquerware, the same goes for jade! The value of jade is high, and it is impossible for the fleet to purchase the whole ship, but the amount required is also quite large. These things are very valuable, and they can be sold out quickly when they are shipped back to Fujian, even if the Fujian market cannot be eaten all, there is also the Guangdong market in the neighboring provinces, and it can be sent directly to Guangzhou, which is the same big profit.

Not to mention Jiangning and Suzhou, the exquisite embroidery of Suzhou is famous all over the world, and it is also the best in the world. The most important acquisition task of the fleet in the north this time was the silk fabrics in the south of the Yangtze River, and Suzhou embroidery was the top priority. Suzhou embroidery has a unique style of beautiful patterns, ingenious ideas, meticulous embroidery, lively stitching and elegant colors, and has strong local characteristics. It has always been one of the focal points of the upper class pursuit. Any real family that does not use Suzhou embroidery products will feel inferior in front of their peers.

Since the Ming Dynasty. Suzhou embroidery has become a common mass sideline product in Suzhou, forming a "family silkworm raising." Household embroidery". Until now, in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the entire Jiangnan region has become the center of silk weaving handicrafts. Since the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Wumen School of painting represented by Tang Bohu and Shen Zhou appeared in the art of painting, which greatly promoted its development. The embroidery girls combine the painting works to reproduce zuò, the embroidered masterpieces are lifelike, the charm of pen and ink is incisive, and there is the reputation of "painting with a needle" and "ingenuity".

Whether it is the former Ming Dynasty or the current Qing court. The large number of silk fabrics enjoyed by the royal family are almost all from the hands of Jiangnan artists. Since the second year of Shunzhi, the Qing court, like the former Ming Dynasty, set up a bureau in Jiangnan to weave the silk fabrics required by the court. Four years ago, the "Jiangning Weaving Department" was established, and its status was second only to the governor of Liangjiang. However, the silk products of the current "Jiangning Weaving Mansion" are only used by the inner court of the palace and the prince's ministers, and are government-run institutions.

In the birthplace of Jiangnan, embroidery is even more colorful. It involves costumes, costumes, quilts, pillow bags, curtains, cushions, shoe uppers, sachets, fan bags and so on. These Suzhou embroidery daily necessities not only have a variety of stitches, fine embroidery, and elegant color matching, but also contain festive, longevity, and auspicious patterns. Loved by people. Among them, the "painting embroidery", also known as the "boudoir embroidery", belongs to the high-end appreciation of the product is the exclusive use of large households.

Suzhou embroidery is not all high-end goods, and there are also varieties used by the lower class people. There are three types of embroidery in Suzhou: boudoir embroidery, rural embroidery and government full-time embroidery. Thereinto. Boudoir embroidery has a high level of cultural accomplishment, embroidery is mainly for self-cultivation, the highest level of skills. His works are also the rarest, and they are basically priceless. It is often given to each other by acquaintances. Among them, there are also some down-and-out boudoir embroiderers who also specialize in selling embroidery to make a living, and are transformed into full-time folk embroiderers. Embroidery appeared on the market. The price is also high.

The skills of rural embroiderers are worse, their embroidery is mainly practical and related to customs, but the embroidery is still relatively exquisite. Many of them are employed by embroidery factories, which provide them with high-quality materials, and they are responsible for embroidery, paid by the piece, and their income is not low. The silk weaving industry in the south of the Yangtze River has a long and excellent tradition, and now there are as many as 20,000 looms in Suzhou alone, about 40,000 male and female workers, and nearly 200,000 residents who rely on the silk weaving industry for their livelihood, with an annual output value of more than 10 million taels of silver. Jiangnan is rich, which can be seen!

The prosperity of the textile industry in the Gangnam area also eased the trouble for the managers in charge of the acquisition. There is no shortage of fine silk fabrics in every city in this vicinity, and various merchants who have received the news have taken the initiative to promote their products. The amount required for the fleet is indeed large, but the total inventory of each merchant is even larger. Their silks, embroideries, etc., used to be purchased from the south to the silk and satin estates in various places, but the quantities were not large, after all, the carriages could only carry so much. However, when he went to the north, he was often exploited by the river yamen, which was far less real than selling at the door.

Basically, each manager has reached a cooperation with the merchants at a lower price, and in this way, the local merchants still make a lot of money. They thought in their hearts that if the fleet of the Jingnan Royal Mansion could come three or five times a year, their products would be even more sold, and they could also let their family's workshop start production at full capacity.

In the past month, the people of Pingtou in the south of the Yangtze River have tasted Fujian's fruits and other specialties, and the rich and noble have used high-end products such as glass products, perfumes, and pocket watches. The major merchants and the fleet stewards reached a deal and made a lot of money, the fleet sold its own goods and completed the task, everyone was happy, and only one of them was very unhappy, that is, General Jiang Ning.

In the past month, his 3,000 soldiers have been stationed in various sections of the Yangtze River, and they have been seen in every warehouse. Every day he didn't do anything, he kept a close eye on every move of the fleet, and if there was any disturbance among the people in the fleet, they would immediately report it to Echu. As soon as the fleet is found to have the slightest deviance, it must be taken down immediately and then hammered hard. It's a pity that the whole fleet has long been strictly ordered by Geng Jingzhong to never do anything that violates the law and discipline. Do business quietly, don't have any conflicts with local officials and businessmen, in a word, just follow the customs of the villagers and be honest and obedient.

The idea is good. But if you don't look for trouble, trouble will come to you. Echu waited patiently for a month. He didn't notice anything bad done by the whole fleet, and he didn't want to wait any longer. You have to take the initiative to find trouble. This fleet belongs to the Jingnan Palace, and he doesn't want to detain the fleet directly, if he does this, he is afraid that the consequences will be very strict, and his weight is not as good as that of a vassal king. You can't directly trouble the fleet, but it doesn't mean that you can't trouble local businesses.

Didn't King Jingnan's fleet want to buy goods in large quantities? Okay, I'll cut off the source channel for your purchase. Echu immediately sent someone to the merchant who cooperated with the fleet, and verbally intimidated, although he did not say what would happen to them. But how could a shrewd merchant not understand what Echu meant. However, it is one thing to understand, and it is another thing to do it or not. Since ancient times, the people have not fought with officials, let alone a first-class member. You can make money at any time, and it's not easy to get rid of this trouble. As a result, the merchants stopped cooperating with the fleet, and the part that had been shipped on the ship for delivery was forgotten, and the others were stopped and transported back to their own warehouses.

The fleet stewards who stayed at the warehouses wondered for a while, how could the business be so good that it was all suddenly cut off? There will be villains among them who will obstruct it! But which god has the ability to cut off all the cooperation between merchants and them at the same time? It must be a big official. Could it be the prefect? However, as soon as the news from several places was transmitted, it was learned that all the warehouses were the same, and the prefects of each prefecture were excluded, and the prefects were not so capable of cutting off the business of other prefectures and counties, so that. The result is clear, it must be the work of provincial officials. Count on your fingers, and there are only a few provincial-level officials. There are only three governors, the governor's palace yamen and the town guard general.

After further inquiry, the source was the town guard general Echu, who sent soldiers to wander around them every day. This matter is well understood by the steward of the fleet. The geese plucked their feathers, and Echu wanted to knock silver! Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to make this one!

"General. The steward of Jingnan Palace, asking to see! The guards of the Jiangning General's Mansion reported to Echuyu. All the soldiers were sent out by him, and Echu didn't go to the barracks these days, and he was waiting for news in the General's Mansion all the time. The people of this Jingnan palace are too good at doing things, and they don't take the initiative to come to pay their respects when they reach his realm. But he thought about it a lot, how could the merchants who came and went from the south to the north here in the past have to make offerings to the government? Just do business and pay taxes according to the regulations, besides, the government and local businessmen are intertwined, and they will not take care of this small matter. Merchants make money, and naturally they will honor them.

Lying on the chair, Chu Yixi quickly opened his eyes. "Oh! It's finally here! He sat up straight, and then said, "Let him wait in the small living room, General Ben still has something to do, and I will see him when I am done!" ”

The steward of the Jingnan Palace, who had expected this to be the case, was not in a hurry, closed his eyes and rested, and waited patiently in the small living room. After about half an hour, Echu's figure appeared in the small living room.

"You are the steward of the Jingnan Palace? What is your name? As soon as E Chu arrived in the small living room, he saw the palace steward leisurely closing his eyes and recuperating, and his heart was unhappy for a while. When he entered the living room, his tone was a little harsh.

"The villain is a general! The villain is Geng Fu, the steward of the Jingnan Palace, who is in charge of fleet affairs. Geng Fu opened his eyes when he heard the footsteps, and saw a tall figure appear in the living room, dressed casually at home, thinking that it was Echu. So he immediately stood up, and when he heard Echu's question, he immediately replied.

"Oh!" Echu walked straight to the central seat and sat down. "I don't have a relationship with King Jingnan, are you here?"

"Old fox! When a bitch also stands a torii! "Geng Fu scolded him in his heart, he has never seen such a shameless one!" That's right. My lord said that General Jiang Ning'e was a hero with outstanding achievements, so when the fleet went north, he specially asked the villain to come to visit the general. It's just that the villain is busy with the affairs of the fleet, and he actually forgot about such an important matter, and the villain came to ask for guilt, and at the same time, after returning to Fujian, the villain will ask the prince for guilt. The villain lived up to the love of the prince and did not complete the task! By the way, this is a gift from the prince to the general, please take a look! As he spoke, he took out a gift slip from his cuffs and handed it to Echu with both hands.

E Chu took the gift sheet and looked at it, there was a long list of gifts on it. A large glass mirror, two pairs of pocket watches, two hundred bottles of various perfumes, thirty pieces of glassware, and finally two thousand taels of silver. The total of these things definitely exceeds 10,000 taels, and even far more. Let's just say that the large glass mirror, although it is not the largest one, also belongs to the second gear size. Due to the scarcity of quantity, it has been fried to three thousand taels on the market.

"Good, good! I accepted the gift from King Jingnan, I know a lot about your going north, and you don't have to ask King Jingnan for guilt when you go back. Go back and ask King Jingnan on behalf of General Ben, if there is a chance in the future, General Ben will invite him to drink! Echu now swept away the previous unhappiness and said happily.

"General Xie forgives, the villain is grateful! My prince explained a lot of things to the villain, and the villain retired! Geng Fu couldn't stop scolding his forehead in his heart, and now he can finally say goodbye and go back.

"Well, there you go! Butler, send it for me! ”

From beginning to end, neither of them mentioned the supply of local merchants, and Geng Fu also knew that there was no need to mention it at all, if the big tiger was solved, the little minions below would automatically be honest. Businessmen are rightfully profit-seeking. The merchants, especially the big local businessmen, are intertwined, and they want to do business the most, and they will never smash their own jobs. The local yamen is basically full of people from local families, and it is feasible to come out for a drink and give a small gift, and the business affairs have long been taken care of by local merchants.

Geng Fu took his men to turn the corner of the street, away from General Jiangning's mansion, and looked back again. "Phew, whatever!"

(National Day Chapter 1!) (To be continued......)

PS: The first chapter of the National Day is also the first chapter on the shelves. To be honest, the mood at the moment is surging, and I am very happy to be able to write for the first time. What I didn't say, I will definitely give it in 10,000 words today!