If she is really a man, why is it difficult to see the scenery of the world? Lin Zhaoqing smiled, thinking a little sadly, but she wasn't. Then again, if she was really a man, she might not have taken the path she is down now, right? So, how could he have the opportunity to meet someone like her?

When I arrived at the wharf, I saw that Yongxing's fleet was slowly approaching, and after a while, the wharf was already crowded with people. The people on the boat were docking the ship in an orderly manner, and although there was a shouting from the shore, it did not affect the people on board. Almost all of them are doing their jobs according to the command of the fleet.

Lin Zhaoqing said to Banniang: "Eighth brother of the Zeng family, you wait here for a while, and I will go forward to ask." ”

There were too many people, there was a lot of chaos on the dock, and Lin Zhaoqing was also afraid that something would happen to her, so after speaking, he nodded at Cang'er. Cang'er understood and drove the horse to protect Banniang's side.

Looking at the appearance of the fleet, although there is no panic in doing things, just looking at the situation on the ship, people with a heart can still find a lot of problems.

The reason why this fleet was late was that the appearance of the ships at sea almost certainly met with something at sea. From a distance, there are even some traces of being burned by fire, but it is not serious.

Banniang was worried about her wood, and when she saw that Lin Zhaoqing was going to inquire about the situation, she naturally would not object: "Brother Lin just go, I'll wait for Brother Lin here, and I won't go away." ”

Seeing Lin Zhaoqing's figure disappear into the crowd, Banniang looked anxiously, and Cang'er comforted her: "Eighth sister, don't worry, since the fleet can return safely, our wood is ballasted, and there will definitely be no loss." ”

Sure enough, it's a fan of the authorities.

Banniang smiled and nodded. He counted the ships of the fleet again, and said to Cang'er: "I remember hearing Brother Lin say that there are a total of fifty-eight boats in Yongxing going to sea this spring, but I counted them just now, and there are only fifty-two, and it seems that the other six boats still have an accident." And these ships are also burned and damaged, but fortunately, the people on board do not seem to be in good spirits. However, if something really happened to those six sea ships, Yongxing's loss this time would be not small. ”

Begging for a living at sea, there are things that go and never return every year. But with the strength of Yongxing Commercial Bank, it lost six sea ships at once, which makes people have to sigh.

After waiting for a full hour, Lin Zhaoqing squeezed out of the crowd in embarrassment, wiping his sweat, while waving his hand at Banniang from a distance, when he got closer, Banniang didn't see anything from his face, and his heart was a little bottomless for a while.

Because she didn't prepare when she came out, Banniang looked around, there was a small tea shop not far away, and she didn't wait for Lin Zhaoqing to speak, so she said, "Brother Lin must be thirsty, right?" It's too noisy here, and it's not a place to talk, so why don't we go and sit in the tea shop? ”

At this time, although there are many people, most of them gather around the pier to watch the excitement, and the more anxious people are eager to rush on the boat to find their relatives, so the dock is a mess, and you can faintly hear the crying of the crowd. Banniang already had a bad feeling in her heart. Someone cried, which proved that the fleet did have casualties. Those who cried were undoubtedly the families of the crew members of the merchant ships.

Lin Zhaoqing also nodded solemnly, and the three of them drove to the tea shop, but fortunately, there were not many people drinking tea inside.

The three of them found a place where they could see the dock outside, and sat down in a secluded corner.

Cang'er called the guy from the shop to come and order tea, and the guy seemed to know that today was different from the past, so he didn't recommend Dr. Tea to come over and order tea as usual, so he just sang and walked away quietly.

"Brother Lin? Yongxing's fleet, something must have happened, right? ”

Lin Zhaoqing smiled bitterly: "You can also see it?" Yes, I also have business dealings with Yongxing, and there is a familiar steward there, and I finally found someone just now, but it was too noisy, and some words were not easy to say in front of so many people. Only the steward secretly told me that Yongxing had some losses this time, reminding me that if I was a foodie, I would have contacted the firm earlier. ”

At that time, when the steward said this, he already knew in his heart, and it seemed that Yongxing was bound to graft the loss of the fleet to some customers who went offline. But it's nothing, it's not for him after all, the goods are tight, the price is naturally going to rise, and the price is expensive, everyone is expensive, and it does not affect his personal profits, the purchase is high, the price is naturally high, and even the sales volume may not have an impact, just he has a stock in the warehouse, so that the price of the goods in his original inventory has also been speculated, and his Qingrui firm can be a blessing in disguise this time, and make more money.

Lin Zhaoqing asked the person in charge of wood again.

The steward smiled: "Fortunately, this time the ballast is wood." ”

In the eyes of the pirates, wood is simply useless, they rob the most direct wealth, real money, jewelry and jade crying is their key target.

Even the pirates do business occasionally, and it is impossible to do business inland, can they still gather all the people to carry the wood on the ship back and chop it as a fire? Even if there is an inland business, they also make goods such as gold, silver, jade, medicinal materials, and leather that are easy to trade, so what is the use of asking for something like wood, which is not convenient to transport and requires a lot of manpower?

Therefore, although Yongxing also had some losses this time, it was really not big, and although Li Yongxing did not go to sea in person, his reputation at sea was that the pirates had to scruple about three points, and they did not rush to kill them all.

What's worse is that Yongxing encountered not only pirates this time, but also a storm, and the six ships that did not return were not lost to the pirates, but to the great storm they encountered.

Lin Zhaoqing waited for the steward to speak, waited for a long time, and he knew that only four of the six sea ships had timber, so for the Zeng family Banniang, the loss of timber was not much, Lin Zhaoqing thanked the steward of Yongxing, and rushed over to tell Banniang about the situation when he came back.

However, while Lin Zhaoqing was rejoicing, his mood was a little heavy, pirates and storms, no wonder that only Yongxing's fleet returned to Hong Kong safely among the caravans that went to sea now. The rest of the fleet, I'm afraid it's more than lucky...... can only resign themselves to fate. Encountering such a thing is definitely a fatal blow to the development of Quanzhou's commerce.

Banniang listened to Lin Zhaoqing's words, thinking about 100,000 pieces of wood, less than the volume of the four ships, about 10,000 or 20,000 goods, such words would not have much impact on her. Eventually, he breathed a sigh of relief, but in the end, due to the storm and pirates, several fleets were still missing.

The risk of going to sea, she didn't know, but she didn't think that it would be so serious that a natural disaster and man-made disaster, the loss of property or a trivial matter, and even her life could not be saved.

According to the worst-case scenario, this blow would be almost fatal for the maritime trade of the whole of Quanzhou. This time it was not only tens of millions of dollars of wealth and ships that were lost, but more importantly, the caravanserai who knew the sea very well. Without people, even if there is a ship, it is not easy to go out to sea.

"Brother Lin, in fact, this time may not be an opportunity for you."

Lin Zhaoqing's eyes lit up, and he originally had a heavy expression, but after glancing at Banniang, he also smiled.

In the end, other people's losses belong to others, although he also worries about those who have eaten and worked together at the same table, but when he thought that this was also a great opportunity for himself, Lin Zhaoqing couldn't help but be happy after listening to Banniang's words: "You're right." ”

But Banniang remembered something else,

It's a good thing for Lin Zhaoqing, but not necessarily for her.

She also planned to use Lin Zhaoqing's timber business with Yongxing to make a good profit in the timber business for a few years. In her cooperation with Lin Zhaoqing, she has timber, and Lin Zhaoqing provides transportation and channels, and each other takes what they need, which is a win-win situation.

But what if Lin Zhaoqing goes to sea by himself?

So he can get timber at a lower cost with his own fleet, and he has ready-made channels in his hands, and what is the matter with her Zeng Baniang?

That's not all.

The point is that Lin Zhaoqing has done the timber business, and in terms of strength, she has no way to compete with Lin Zhaoqing. So the five-year contract between her and Yongxing, does the wood really have to be digested by her own woodsmith shop?

If this is really the only way to cut off the path of wood raw material sales and only rely on their own consumption, how much money will be backlogged? This is simply not what she can afford now.

said to Lin Zhaoqing, "Brother Lin, in fact, this time may not be an opportunity for you." In fact, she also wanted to test Lin Zhaoqing's attitude.

With Lin Zhaoqing's cleverness, he should be able to understand what she means, and then understand her temptation.

But Lin Zhaoqing's happiness was only fleeting, and he said, "You're right." After that, he did not say another word.

If you sit down any longer, you just watch the flow of people outside the tea shop. Lin Zhaoqing still had a lot to prepare, so he asked Banniang: "Let's go back now?" ”

It's not interesting to stay here, and after Yongxing finishes unloading and putting the goods into the warehouse, she should also go to visit Li Yongxing.

In the past few days, because the fleet has not returned, Banniang just handed Li Yongxing a post, letting Li Yongxing know that she was ready for money, came to Quanzhou, and where to find her in the future. She knew that a few days ago it was when Li Yongxing was anxiously waiting for news from the fleet, so she naturally wouldn't scratch it.

After entering the city, Banniang and Cang'er returned to the hospital, and Lin Zhaoqing went to be busy with the next business with Yongxing.

Seeing that Banniang had been silent since she returned to the small courtyard, Cang'er said: "Eighth sister, since the fleet returns safely, our timber can be transported back as scheduled, but why do you look unhappy at all?" ”

Banniang sighed: "Misfortune and blessing depend, blessing and misfortune come." Sister Cang'er, things in the shopping mall are changing rapidly, sometimes it seems to be a good thing, but it may not be a bad thing, and sometimes a bad thing is not necessarily a good thing. ”

What Banniang lacks most now is a really capable assistant, Cang'er has become more and more stable in character in the past two years, and she is a very smart person, Banniang intends to cultivate her, and Cang'er and herself are both women, working with each other, and it is also much more convenient, if Cang'er has to use, how much effort does she have to save.

Therefore, he said: "You see, if the caravans of Quanzhou are greatly damaged because of this storm and piracy, the maritime trade of the various caravans in Quanzhou and even the entire Quanzhou will be immeasurable, and it will affect the prosperity of the commercial activities of Quanzhou City for at least four or five years." However, for Lin Zhaoqing, who was originally only engaged in inland sea business, it was the most rare opportunity. In the past, if he wanted to meddle in the business of the open sea, first, it was a matter of his own strength, and second, other caravans would also suppress him. If he wants to make achievements in the open sea, he has to work many times more than others. But now, because of the loss of the Quanzhou caravan, although it is far from the extent of the annihilation of the whole army, but the strength of the entire Quanzhou maritime merchants is not even half of what it used to be, at this time, it is necessary to join the new force, and Lin Zhaoqing is undoubtedly the most powerful person to participate in it now, not only will he not be suppressed again, on the contrary, other caravans will give him some help to varying degrees, and even those merchants who have suffered heavy losses and are unable to return to heaven are likely to become his vassals and rely on his breath to survive, so, Lin Zhaoqing can get the fastest development in the shortest possible time. That's what I call a blessing in disguise. ”

"According to what you say, Lin Zhaoqing is our partner, he is good, and it is beneficial to us, this is a good thing, why are you unhappy?" Cang'er Qi said.

Banniang smiled helplessly and shook her head: "Sister Cang'er, have you ever thought that Lin Zhaoqing has the strength to go to sea, and as far as the wood raw materials are concerned, he still needs to obtain them through Yongxing Commercial Bank and me?" Now that he has a source of goods that he can obtain at a lower cost, why should I cooperate with him in the wood raw material business? In the past, he wanted my raw materials, and I wanted his transportation capacity and offline customer channels, but now, what I need from him is still the same, and he is no longer profitable on me. How can this kind of cooperation continue? ”

"But in my opinion, Lin Zhaoqing is not such a person who can cross the river and break the bridge, right?" Cang'er couldn't help but worry, but with her understanding of Lin Zhaoqing, she couldn't help but think about a good place.

Banniang said: "This has nothing to do with character. In business, it is cooperation, and both parties need to be profitable, otherwise, how can we talk about cooperation? In fact, this is not the point, the point is that the contract I signed with Yongxing is for five years. In the past five years, since my timber can't be used to sell raw materials, I can only use it all for furniture making, and can only digest it in my own shops and workshops, but how can I have so much money to accumulate a large amount of timber inventory now? ”

Banniang smiled bitterly again, when she signed the five-year contract, she wanted to take the lead, but now it seems that she has lifted a stone to shoot herself in the foot.

If it weren't for her cooperation with Lin Zhaoqing, Lin Zhaoqing would not have interfered in the timber business, if Lin Zhaoqing did not know so much about the timber business because of her, and naturally would not have the idea of selling timber raw materials, then without Lin Zhaoqing intervening in the field of timber raw materials, she would have been ridiculously proud of the timber market of the Song Kingdom with the precious timber that Yongxing brought in for her overseas. Why is she worried about the lack of sales, why is she worried about the backlog of funds?

But now, because of Lin Zhaoqing, her entire previous plan has come to naught, not only has it come to naught, but it has also brought consequences to herself that she can't bear with her current strength.

Cang Er listened to her words, thought for a while, and was dumbfounded: "Then what should we do now?" ”

What to do? Cold!

At this point, it is useless to think too much.

After all, there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, and people can still be suffocated to death by urine?

Business cooperation has always been divided and combined, but profit is the goal. Without Lin Zhaoqing, she may not be able to find others.

Cang'er said with a bitter face: "If Li Yuanwai knew that we had encountered such a thing, he might be so happy." ”

The Li family originally had its own timber line, otherwise it would be impossible to kill the source of Banniang's timber raw materials, Cang'er mentioned, Banniang's eyes widened, yes, there are no eternal friends in this world, just like she and Lin Zhaoqing, who were originally partners of a match made in heaven, but because of the changes faced by the Quanzhou business district, this match made in heaven has become the biggest stumbling block on her way forward.

In the same way, there are no eternal enemies in this world.

Although the Li family cannot be compared with Lin Zhaoqing's strength in sales channels, the Li family also has his own strength and channels, so why can't he get up and cooperate?

Seeing that Banniang was overjoyed, Cang'er said, "Have you thought of a solution?" ”

Banniang said: "It may not be a way, but it will not be difficult to sit in the city." We have to stand up and act to minimize losses. ”

Cang'er has always trusted her, and when she sees that she doesn't say more, she doesn't ask, as long as the matter can be solved. Besides, the things that Banniang can tell her clearly, she will always explain in detail, Cang'er knows that she is teaching her, so she learns very hard. Therefore, Cang'er thinks that with Banniang's style of not opening his mouth if he is not sure about everything, if he doesn't say it now, it is probably because Banniang is not sure yet.

It wasn't until the evening that a steward of the Lin family came over to reply, saying that Lin Zhaoqing still had something to deal with in the evening, and I was afraid that I would not be able to accompany her to dinner today.

But Lin Zhaoqing was quite thoughtful, knowing that the food made in his kitchen could not get into the eyes of Banniang, so he asked the steward to book a table in the best restaurant, and the steward asked Banniang: "Does Bagongzi go to the restaurant to eat, or does the villain ask the restaurant to send the table noodles to the house?" ”

After sitting in the house for a day, Banniang also wanted to go out for a walk, and said that Quanzhou, which relied on commerce to survive, now almost all the fleets that went to sea were missing, and so far only the fleet of Yongxing Commercial Bank had returned, and now the city was talking about these things, and she also wanted to go out to see, maybe she could hear some useful news.

When the steward saw that she was going to the restaurant, he ordered the carriage to be set up. Banniang felt that it was not interesting to be only herself and Cang'er, so she simply took two dart masters and Xu Thirteen and went to the restaurant.

It's a pity that what I can hear is just all kinds of speculation, and there is no definite news, and there is no detailed information that Banniang listened to what Lin Zhaoqing said during the day. Everyone is now worried about the supply of goods this year. The price rise, is already an undoubted thing, so they have been accepted calmly, and even these people now feel that the price is not a problem, now the problem is that you have money in your hands, but you may not be able to purchase goods, a total of only Yongxing's goods, and this time Yongxing also lost a lot, which means that even Yongxing's goods are less than in previous years, porridge is less monks, and the goods cannot be purchased, which means that the business in the next year will be affected, and it is no wonder that these people's faces are anxious.

Now those who can gather in the restaurant to talk are probably those who have no way to think about it, just resign themselves to fate, and wait to see if there are any businessmen who have returned from the fleet. I've been thinking about it for a long time.

Banniang laughed while having dinner with Cang'er and a few people: "In this way, I am glad that I was idle shopping a few days ago and bought all the things I wanted to buy, otherwise, if I want to buy it again in the past few days, the price will not rise by one or two points." ”

Everyone laughed and said, "No! ”