Entering June, the rainy days in Fuzhou are finally coming to an end. The sky remained mostly dark and cloudy, but the rain was not as heavy as it used to be. The wind is quite cool, but anyone who has lived in Fuzhou knows that from this time on, the weather in Fuzhou will get hotter day by day.

In the Great Hall of the Nautical Guild, summer has arrived. Half of the room was dressed in silk and satin, and the other half was dressed in cotton. Either way, it's not for the poor to wear. In addition to the staff in Flying Fish suits, the attendees of the investor meeting each had a stool to make, and each person held a small fan in his hand. The fan is very delicate, with a picture of a lady on it, and the withdrawal is the text of 'The First Nautical Guild Investor Conference'.

Sima Kao fanned the small fan while taking out a towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Towels have nothing to do with wool, and the so-called 'hair' is not animal hair, or human hair. The 'hair' here refers to the fluff. The general technical essentials of the towel is to intersperse cotton threads with cotton threads on the woven towels, and the total amount of cotton threads exposed to the outside is much more than that of the cotton cloth as the base surface, which increases the water absorption, breathability, and softness of the towel.

The weaving technique of the towel is in the same vein as the velvet technique of the Great Song Dynasty. In addition to having a very good weaving technique, the labor required to achieve such a process is much more expensive than weaving. So as soon as the towel appeared two years ago, it shook Fujian Road, and this object could not even be exported. It's not because no one buys it in foreign countries, but because the rich people on Fujian Road buy out the towels.

Sima Kao is one of the rich people, his family has a business in Gusu, and Sima Kao also has income as a teacher. Now Sima Kao awaits his latest income, the profits from investments in the nautical industry. Sima Kao was surrounded by similar fellows, and they were all anxiously waiting for the meeting to officially convene. The meeting is meant to decide how much these people earn.

The only person in the venue who did not wear a worker flying fish suit and was not an investor was probably Xu Yuanzhi. One eighth of the people in the entire venue were Jinshi, Xu Yuanzhi, as a member of Jinshi, as a guest of Zhao Jiaren, he and Sima Kao participated in this investor meeting.

Holding a fan in his hand, Xu Yuanzhi took an investor brochure in his hand and read it carefully. There are four large chandeliers with dozens of candles hanging above the auditorium, and the wooden shed on the roof is painted with white ash, and the light in the auditorium is still bright. After watching it once, Xu Yuanzhi watched it a second time. This made Sima Kao, who had read the manual more than a dozen times, a little impatient.

"Uncle Shi, is there anything you don't understand?" Sima Kao was a little speechless. You can give some explanations to others, and you can also kill some time.

Xu Yuanzhi didn't raise his head, so he said, "Sima Kao, don't be impatient." It's useless to be in a hurry, and when it's time to have a meeting, you naturally have to have a meeting. If you feel uneasy, go to the toilet, or wash your hands and face. When it's time for a meeting, you're afraid you don't have time to do that. ”

Sima Kao didn't expect his uncle to teach him a lesson, and he felt very unhappy at that time. If you are not happy, Sima Kao also knows that what Uncle Shi said is right. Anyway, his heart was as uncomfortable as a dried flower, so Sima Kao simply got up and went to the toilet. There were also quite a few people in the corridor outside the auditorium, chatting in low voices, occasionally probing to see if a meeting had begun in the auditorium, probably the same as Sima Kao.

When he saw someone who thought the same way as himself, Sima Kao felt very comfortable. When these gangs even shared their impatience with themselves emotionally, Sima Kao felt as if he was seeing his relatives. He couldn't help but step forward and strike up a conversation.

Since they couldn't help but run out, the brothers outside easily accepted Sima Kao. One of them was interrupted from his ongoing speech, and as soon as Sima Kao entered the circle, the guy hurriedly continued: "In the early years, I saw that these big cannibals were all commanding, and they looked invincible. Now that all these people are wilting, I feel that the words of Hedong for thirty years and Hexi for thirty years are indeed wise words. My family used to farm for generations, and I never thought that I would one day be able to make money from the sea. ”

It was very pleasant to taunt the previous powerhouse when he was proud, not to mention that the Great Food Merchant was completely excluded from the Sailing Guild at this time. To be more precise, the maritime trade, which had been monopolized by the Great Food Merchants, completely changed hands, and the maritime merchants of the Great Song Dynasty mastered all the shipping routes. Now it is the turn of these big food merchants who stayed in the Great Song Dynasty to become bystanders.

As soon as such a topic opened, the follow-up followed, and someone in the circle asked: "There are 100,000 big food merchants in Fuzhou and Quanzhou, and you said that they have basically no business in the past two years, why haven't they left?" ”

Immediately, someone arrogantly explained: "Cut." What is our Da Song place? If the Great Song Dynasty is poorer than the Great Food, will they travel thousands of miles to the Great Song Dynasty to suffer? ”

Sima Kao felt that this was very right, and when he was nodding slightly, he saw a brother leading a waiter over, and the waiter was holding a large wooden plate in his hand. Just getting closer, Sima Kao smelled a sweet feeling. Turning his head, he saw a number of small trays on the wooden plate, each with a cream cake on top of it.

This is a new dessert launched by Zhao Jiaren, and the price is not cheap. The brother who made people come over saw Sima Kao at a glance, and he hurriedly said, "I counted one less person, but fortunately I asked for a few more." ”

Sima Kao hurriedly stood up and explained that he just couldn't stand the inside of the house, so he came out to breathe with everyone. As he spoke, he asked about the price of the cream cake, and the person who bought the cake was also arrogant, and he smiled: "I can afford a cake today!" When you meet, you are a guest, and this brother doesn't have to be polite, just eat. ”

It's not all a scene, for an ordinary family, a quick cream cake is not cheap. For those who attend this conference, a piece of cake is just a pleasant dessert. And the cream cake is really delicious, and everyone thinks that the money is not unjustly spent.

After eating other people's things, Sima Kao introduced himself. Hearing that Sima Kao was a teacher in Zhao Jiaren's school, the investors immediately showed envious expressions. After a little exchange, they learned that Sima Kao was still a genuine jinshi, and the eyes of these people instantly turned into admiration.

So these people began to introduce themselves, they are all Fujianese, or Fujian's coastal people. If I have to say that they have anything in common, they all had dealings with Zhao Jiaren when Zhao Jiaren established the Fujian coastal lighthouse group, and then carried out business cooperation with Zhao Jiaren. Because of this relationship, they become the lowest level of investors, that is, they can only invest in the whole cargo, and the dividend ratio is the lowest. Moreover, the amount of money invested by these people is on average, more than 300 copper coins per person. He is not poor, but he can't compare with the internal investors of the Navigation Guild led by Zhao Jiaren.

Immediately after this brief introduction, someone tried to continue the previous topic, "Sima Guanren." Do you think we're going to get rid of all those big food merchants? ”

Sima Kao has no interest in the big food merchant, and he has no idea about the going or staying of the big food merchant. So his answer was full of doubt, "Get rid of them?" ”

After hearing this, the others couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Haha, Sima Guanren, you don't want to be like him." This guy wants to buy a shop in Fuzhou, and he is going crazy. But now where is there land in Fuzhou to buy a shop for him. Come to think of it, the only one who can sell the house is probably the big food merchant. ”

Even if Sima Kao's mind was bright, it took him a while to think about it before he could barely straighten out the logical relationships inside. The nautical guild established by Zhao Jiaren developed greatly, and a large number of people poured into Fuzhou, resulting in a shortage of local real estate in Fuzhou. The thriving maritime trade of the Great Song Dynasty gave birth to the prosperity of local commerce in Fuzhou. If you want to engage in business, you need commercial land, and you can't just get a small house and use it.

Sima Kao worked as a teacher at Zhao Jiaren's side and visited the Mawei area, which had been bought by Zhao Jiaren. The largest buildings in the Mawei area are not schools or shipyards, but warehouses. Wood, ironware, and all kinds of things need to be stored. Moreover, the warehouse needs a lot of space to be effectively managed, and after seeing this, Sima Kao can finally understand why these guys who want to open a shop in Fuzhou want to buy land and real estate.

"I don't really know about that. But even if we are relatively big food merchants, there must be a reason. Sima Kao followed the words of those people. After speaking, Sima Kao found that there seemed to be something wrong with his rhetoric logically. What do you mean by 'there has to be a reason'? As long as you find a plausible reason, you can do whatever you want to the big food merchants?

Without waiting for Sima Kao to adjust his words, the faces of the brothers who participated in the discussion looked bright. The most anxious person nodded repeatedly, "That's right! That's right! It's good that there has to be a reason, if you do it indiscriminately, the government is afraid that it will not agree. ”

Sima Kao felt that he might have made a bad start. In the midst of a dilemma, an idea suddenly came to him to explain himself. That is Zhao Jiaren's words, 'The fundamental reason for the development of things is not on the outside of things but on the inside of things, and lies in the contradictions within things. There is this contradiction within everything, and therefore gives rise to the movement and development of things. This contradiction within things is the fundamental cause of the development of things, and the interconnection and mutual influence of one thing and other things is the second reason for the development of things'.

In other words, in order to be able to achieve their purpose of being able to open a store in Fuzhou, these people don't care about doing a lot of things. Now Sima Kao's words are at most external factors, not even incentives. If these people do something, it only means that they have the urge to do it in the first place.

Just when Sima Kao was seeking an explanation for his guilt, he listened to the group continue to discuss, "The big food merchant has always been very close to the Pu family, and I remember that Zhao Zhizhou started because the Pu family ordered the big food merchant not to sell to us!" ”

"That's right! The Pu family colluded with the Mongols, because there were many big cannibals on the Mongol side. ”

"I have heard Zhao Zhizhou let people give a lecture in the city, and the class said that our ancestors have long said that if they are not of my race, their hearts will be different! Those big cannibals must be close to them in their hearts, and our Huaxia is just a place for them to make money, not the motherland that they want to fight to the death! ”

"Those big food merchants don't even love their own motherland, although our fleet is out, the purpose is to return to our Great Song Dynasty. But those big food merchants don't know how to eat at all, they just stay in the Great Song Dynasty. People say that when the disaster comes, they fly separately. They don't even love their motherland, and they don't even love our Great Song! ”

Sima Kao listened to the words of these investors, and his whole person fell into a state of blindfolding. At this moment, there was some commotion on the side approaching the door of the Great Hall, and a group of people chatting there hurried into the Great Hall. There are also people who know each other who wave to this side, signaling that the meeting has begun. The people here immediately got up and hurried to the inside of the auditorium.

Looking at the backs of these people, Sima Kao felt that his brain was still a little unfavorable. Judging from Fang Cai's mutual introduction, these people actually haven't read much, but what these people just said is not as elegant as the literati in the court, and there is no difference in substance. To sum up, these people are all 'justifying that certain people are evil', and it doesn't matter at all whether those people are characterized as bad people or bad people.

In officialdom, if you kill your political opponents and seize political resources and political status in the hands of your political opponents, you can start to promote your own political ideas and try to realize your political ambitions. It can be seen that the purpose of these people trying to solve the problem of the Big Food Merchant is only for those commercial resources in the hands of the Big Food Merchant. In other words, these people have taken a fancy to the commercial land and commercial buildings in the hands of the big food merchants.

Maybe Sima Kao himself was the target of political attack, so Sima Kao couldn't help but have the idea of 'the husband is innocent and guilty'.

With such emotions, Sima was admitted to the auditorium. Xu Yuanzhi, who was sitting steadily in his position, saw that Sima Kao sat in his position without excitement, and calmly waited for the person above to start speaking. Xu Yuanzhi took the lead and began to ask, "Did you see anyone outside?" ”

Sima Kao nodded, "There must be my teacher in the threesome!" ”

Xu Yuanzhi didn't continue to ask Sima Kao what he had encountered, he said in a relaxed tone: "That's what it is. I don't want to learn, just because I can't wait. After educating his teacher and nephew like this, Xu Yuanzhi fell silent, fanned his fan lightly, and waited for the people on the rostrum to speak.

However, it was not the people in charge on the rostrum who spoke, these people sat down, and a master of ceremonies strode to the front desk, and said loudly to everyone in the audience with a somewhat exaggerated atmosphere: "Investors, the investor conference we are looking forward to has finally begun!" Now you can see that the officers of our Navigation Guild are in place under the leadership of the Secretary-General Mr. Yuan Hongjie, and now, please welcome the speech of Secretary-General Yuan Hongjie with warm applause! Come, everyone, applause! ”

Under such guidance, warm applause rang out instantly, and the auditorium was extremely lively. In such an atmosphere, Yuan Hongjie stood up. Seeing that the dividends he was going to receive were about to be revealed, the applause naturally became more intense.