"Where's the cleverness?" Zuo Houde looked at the more than 100 parts in front of him and said.

"I've seen the head of the house!" Gao Ming suddenly ran over.

"Follow me to take over the gates!" After Zuo Houde spoke, he walked to the city gate with more than 100 of his own parts.

Dingcheng is not ordinary, Dingcheng is not only a military fortress, but also a connection between the north and the south.

As long as there is no war, the caravans here can be said to be endless, so the city gate is also strictly guarded.

Of course, in Zuo Houde's view, this is a business opportunity, which is just like the customs of later generations.

As soon as he arrived at the city gate, although he had long known that the caravans in Dingcheng were endless, Zuo Houde couldn't help but be surprised when he saw this long line with his own eyes.

"Clever!" Zuo Houde shouted

Gao Ming suddenly came to Zuo Houde and replied, "Family master!" ”

"Take your brother and close the gates!" Zuo Houde gave an order, and immediately Gao Ming led his subordinates to take over the defenders of the city gate, preparing to prepare the city gate.

At this time, the caravan that was entering the city immediately came out of a steward, walked up to Gao Ming, and smiled at Gao Ming: "General, why is this happening?" Let's go in first. ”

After finishing speaking, he took out a gold ingot and handed it to Gao Ming in front of him, Gao Ming immediately glared at him and said loudly: "Get out!" This is the order of the general of my family! ”

Gao Ming's face was evil, and the steward suddenly didn't dare to say any more, and he could watch the city gate being closed.

At this time, Zuo Houde went up to the city wall and said loudly: "In order to prevent the spies of the Ming Dynasty from entering the city, from today on, the city gate must be strictly controlled!" ”

After finishing speaking, Zuo Houde instructed Gao Ming to take his troops to guard the city gate and return to the general's mansion by himself.

Zuo Houde sat in the lobby and summoned his subordinate Yao Ping.

"Master, I've found a good place!"

"Good! Do you know the big merchants in the city? ”

"Family master, there are twelve big merchants in the city, and four of the generals in the army are from these twelve families, and the rest also have their own backgrounds!"

"Good! I didn't expect the generals in the army to participate, but it's normal, without people in the army, the trade between the two countries is not easy! ”

Yao Ping didn't speak, just silently listened to his family master.

"Yao Ping, you go and inform these twelve families, I will hold a banquet in the mansion tonight, so that they must come."

……

Of course, even if Zuo Houde didn't invite them, these twelve would take the initiative to come to Zuo Houde.

At this time, these twelve families had already gathered together, and on the Huiming Building, the people of these twelve families were discussing.

"Mr. Li, what do you mean by General Pingdong? How do we do business when the city gates are closed?" asked a white-faced man beside him.

"That is, if I delay for a day, I will lose a lot of profit!"

A man in Luo Yi smiled, looked at the white-faced man who spoke before, and said: "Master Wang, you are not confused with understanding, General Pingdong must also want to intervene in this trade route." ”

"The twelve of us in this city can be said to have divided up the big and small businesses cleanly, which of you is willing to give up a hand?"

A middle-aged man with a goatee asked with a hint of mockery.

"General Pingdong wants to intervene, we can't stop it, after all, without General Pingdong opening, we can't do this business." The old man in the green robe said

At this moment, a white-haired old man stood up and said, "All right, everyone! Why don't we go and visit together and see what General Pingdong really wants, how about it? ”

Everyone nodded.

At this time, a few little guys ran over and said something to their master.

After listening, the white-haired old man smiled slightly: "Everyone! General Pingdong invited me to the banquet, and we went with him. ”

……

The sun set, and the cars and horses in front of the Dingcheng General's Mansion continued.

From time to time, people visited the general's palace.

Zuo Houde looked at the twelve representatives at the banquet, smiled and said: "You are all the gentry in the city, and you are also the beneficiaries of this north-south trade route. ”

Everyone didn't expect this General Pingdong to be so direct, and the banquet was quiet for a while.

After that, someone finally spoke, and a white-haired old man stood up and said, "I wonder how the general wants to intervene?" ”

Zuo Houde looked at the white-haired old man and asked, "But Mr. Zhao." ”

The old man arched his hand and said, "The old man is Zhao Pingde." ”

Zuo Houde stretched out three fingers and said slowly: "I want a thirty-percent share of the family." ”

As soon as Zuo Houde finished speaking, there was a lot of noise at the banquet for a while, and Zhao Pingde before Rao was not expecting Zuo Houde's tone to be so big!

Zhao Pingde could only stand up and say: "The general wants too much, I will forgive my fate!" ”

Seeing that someone started, the other eleven families also followed and objected.

Zuo Houde looked at them with a smile, and then said: "Inevitably, the city will enter Nanming's fine work, and the city gate may be difficult to open!" Moreover, there have been many thieves near Dingcheng recently, and I am afraid it is not easy to do business! ”

Zhao Pingde showed a wry smile, he also knew that this was completely a threat, so he could only say: "The general wants too much, after all, the business house I am waiting for is not just the one I am waiting for." ”

Zuo Houde drank a glass of wine, and then said, "Oh? Too much? So how much are you willing to pay? ”

Zhao Pingde glanced at the eleven families around him, and then said, "I am willing to give 100,000 taels of silver a year." ”

Zuo Houde glanced at Zhao Pingde and stretched out two fingers: "Each family is 200,000 taels a year, and at the same time, in order to really have spies into the city, the merchants who enter the city must live in a specific restaurant, and they are not allowed to walk around!" ”

Zhao Lide looked at the other eleven again, and then nodded with difficulty in agreement.

Full of wine and food, a group of people retreated to Zuo Houde.

Zuo Houde recruited Yao Ping and said: "A family of 200,000 taels, these twelve families are quite wealthy. Yao Ping, from tomorrow onwards, you will cooperate with Gao Ming to bring all the merchants who have entered the city to our restaurant, and at the same time tell your brothers to watch and listen more, and pay attention to the situation in various parts of the world for me. ”

"Family Master, Yao Ping understands! By the way, how does the restaurant price? ”

"You don't need to overcharge, just collect according to the standards of the city." Zuo Houde didn't want to overcharge.

"Master, we only have seven restaurants, and the merchants can't live in them every day."

"It's okay, I remember that among the twelve in the city, there is a restaurant specialised, you go to him to cooperate, we bring him business, ask him for a share, he will agree."

……

From this day on, the merchants who entered the city found that they had to be taken to a specific restaurant as soon as they entered the city, and the price of these restaurants was relatively expensive, in fact, Zuo Houde set the average level in the city before, but Zuo Houde stipulated that these merchants could not stay in other hotels at will, and the price of other hotels naturally dropped a lot, so it seemed that Zuo Houde collected more.

Of course, most of the other restaurants have lost their business and even had to close their doors. The only harvest is the Li family, the Li family gave Zuo Houde a share of Yicheng, and it has also become a restaurant where merchants can move in, so naturally the business is booming.