Chapter 250: Wind and Waves Rise Again

The 'woman' dressed as a 'woman' is Qiu Lan, who has already married Haifu, and what she calls the young master's 'milk' and 'milk' is naturally Zhuang Xinyan and Qin Tian.

The little boy they were holding in their arms was the three-year-old grandson of the Zhuang family, Zhuang Shixiu.

Hearing that it was the 'door' visit of the Jiang Governor's Mansion, Zhuang Xinyan and Qin Tian were surprised and glanced at each other.

What is the need for Governor Jiang's visit to the 'door'?

Qin Tian 'handed over' Shixiu to Qiulan to take down, and after the two went back to the courtyard to change into decent clothes, they went to the hall to see the Jiang Governor's Mansion.

Since Hu Zhifu was dismissed and beheaded, it was this Jiang Governor who took over the position of Hu Zhifu, although Jiang Zhifu is not an authentic Qing official, but fortunately it will not deliberately embarrass the banker, of course, this is not unrelated to the generosity and filial piety of the banker during the New Year's holidays.

The two sides saluted in the hall, and at Qin Tian's strong invitation, the Jiang Governor's Mansion sat in the hall. Qin Tian and Zhuang Xinyan are the two main homes.

Jiang Zhifu is in his forties, with a white face, elegant temperament, and a Jinshi background. After he sat down, he watched Qin Tian and the others open the 'door' and said, "This official came to the 'door' this time to visit, because there is a matter to discuss with Guibao. ”

Qin Tian hurriedly said, "I don't know what the adults said?" "Seeing that the prefect of Jiang's house was solemn, Qin Tian didn't dare to 'mess' and agree.

Zhuang Xinyan next to him didn't say a word, just watched the two quietly.

Over the past few years, Zhuang has been committed to learning to speak. Through his unremitting efforts, he is now able to say some short sentences, but his speech is not fluent, and there is also a defect of slurred words, because he is unable to break through the psychological barrier in the face of outsiders except for a few words of 'communication' with his family. Qin Tian couldn't bear to 'force' him, everything let him go with the flow.

Now that the affairs of the tea shop are basically handled by Zhuang Xinyan and Zhuang Xinzhong brothers, Qin Tian can have a lot of time to take care of the children at home. When encountering an occasion that Zhuang Xinzhong could not control, Qin Tian would go out. However, in recent years, everything has been going smoothly in the tea shop, and nothing major has happened.

"Since the emperor ascended the throne, the closed policy of foreign trade has been strictly restricted, and the Suzhou, Qingdao, and Yuan customs have been closed, leaving only the Sui customs for trade. Nowadays, all the 'trades' between Daqi and foreign businessmen have been completed in Suizhou, and the insurance merchants who are responsible for trade with foreign businessmen have produced a series of 'chaos' and 'chaos' because of the sudden prosperity of trade. ”

Governor Jiang looked at Qin Tian and said slowly.

"The people's 'women' are trying to report this situation to the prefect, we have cooperated with Suizhou Baoshang for several years, but since last year, the pricing there has begun to be 'chaotic', and it has also suppressed our prices for no reason, because our tea shops have no right to buy and sell directly with foreign businessmen, so we can only succumb to their pricing, which is very unfair to us tea shops" Qin Tian replied.

Governor Jiang put down the teacup in his hand and looked at Qin Tiandao: "Yes, this is exactly what this official came to mean today." ”

Last year, Emperor Jingren was mourned, and the posthumous photo indicated that the three princes would inherit the throne. And Song Taifu invited himself to guard the tomb of Emperor Jingren, and since then, he has not appeared in the court again.

After the new emperor Yu Ning ascended the throne, he degraded the adult brothers around him in various names, and closed the pass, and for a while, everyone in the court was in danger. However, because of his diligence and love for the people, he was supported by the people.

In recent years, due to the good harvest of the tea plantations they planted, in addition to supplying the desert market, the volume of 'trade' with Suizhou insurance merchants has increased year by year. Quite profitable. But since last year, the insurer began to reduce prices for no reason, which reduced Shengshi's profits all of a sudden. As for today's 'spring' tea, it is not even profitable. Shengshi is in a dilemma, don't 'trade' it, this large number of tea can't be swallowed in China, and if you put it for another year, it will be a loss for new tea to become old tea. 'Trade' it, it's really unwilling to be choked by the neck like this.

The so-called Suizhou Baoshang used to be wealthy tooth merchants in the coastal area, who often 'dealed' with foreign merchants and were more familiar with overseas trade. On the one hand, the merchants monopolized the import and export business of Suizhou, the imported goods were underwritten by it, and the export goods from the mainland were purchased by it, and they were responsible for determining the price of import and export goods and guaranteeing the payment of import and export duties to the customs, that is, the so-called "bonded tax".

So these merchants relied on the rights granted to them by the government to make a lot of profit for themselves. This situation is especially aggravated by the closure of the other three major customs.

"The Qin family should know that tea accounts for the largest proportion of all the goods we export to the outside world. However, because of the 'chaos' and 'chaos' management of the merchants, many tea merchants bought shoddy tea to foreign businessmen, causing their losses, and many foreign businessmen complained to our government, claiming that if they did not deal with this matter well, they would no longer have business dealings with our Daqi. ”

Governor Jiang took a sip of tea, moistened his throat and continued: "Originally, the imperial court wanted to severely punish those merchants, but some officials proposed that if the management system is not perfect, all the suppression will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. Therefore, the imperial court is ready to set up a public bank in Suizhou to jointly manage all the merchants, and for the first major export commodity tea, the imperial court is ready to choose an experienced and wealthy tea shop to join the public bank to check the export commodity of tea......"

Speaking of this, Governor Jiang looked at Qin Tian and smiled: "Shengshi is now the largest tea shop in our Daqi, whether in terms of scale or experience, no one can compare with Shengshi, so the imperial court intends to let Shengshi open a branch in Suizhou and join the public bank, which is not only conducive to the stability of trade in Suizhou, but also a great good thing for Shengshi itself. ”

Qin Tian and Zhuang Xinyan glanced at each other, and their faces changed slightly.

Although monopoly business is easy to do, it is controlled by the government everywhere, and I don't know whether it is a blessing or a curse. Qin Tian couldn't help but think of the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou in his previous life, and the decline of the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou later was not unrelated to the heavy pressure of the government.

However, the Jiang Governor's Mansion has already found the 'door', and it is clear that it is the meaning of the imperial court, in this era of supremacy of power, is there still room for them to object?

After sending Governor Jiang away, Qin Tian and Zhuang Xinyan came to Qingyin Courtyard to talk to the eldest lady about the matter.

"Our business has been getting bigger and bigger in recent years, and we will inevitably make a big splash." The eldest lady sighed, "But we have become one of the insurers, and we have pricing power over the tea, so that the tea merchants will be able to suffer less losses in the future, and there will be no such thing as fake tea when we watch, and after a few years, everything is stable, and then we will find a way to withdraw from the bank." Qin Tiandao: "Governor Jiang asked us to act as soon as possible, and after discussing with Nobuhiko, we decided to leave for Suizhou next month to prepare for everything." ”

The eldest lady was stunned: "So soon next month?" So what about Shixiu? ”

Speaking of his son, Qin Tian remembered the white and tender little face with a smile, and felt distressed for a while, "There will be a lot of things to prepare for when I first arrive in Suizhou, and I may not be able to take care of him, so I can only leave Shixiu at home and ask my mother to take care of it." ”

"Don't worry......," the eldest lady said, "Now, my eyes are much better, not only can I take care of Shixiu and the tea shop, but I can also help Xinzhong take care of one or two, you just have to rest assured." ”

That night, Qin Tian hugged his son until he fell asleep and refused to let go, she looked at Shi Xiu, and saw that he was sleeping heavily, his small mouth was slightly open, and a saliva bubble appeared, he didn't know what he dreamed of, he suddenly laughed twice, and there were two small dimples that were exactly the same as her, which were cute. Qin Tian couldn't help but hug him tightly, kissed him on the face a few times, and tears fell unconsciously.

When Zhuang Xinyan saw her, he went to her side, squatted down, wiped away her tears with his hands, "What ......are you crying about?"

Qin Tian choked and said: "Shi Xiu is so big, he has never left me half a step, this time I want to leave him and go to Suizhou so far away, I don't know when I will see him, if he can't see me, he will definitely cry." ”

Thinking of him crying and calling his mother, Qin Tian only felt that his heart shrank into a ball. But take him to a place where she is not familiar with life, and she can't stay by his side all the time, and she is afraid of any accidents. What a dilemma.

Zhuang Xinyan took the child from her hand, put it back on the 'bed', walked to her side again, held her in his arms, comforted her softly, and wrote: "It's better to take him over when we settle down and see the situation in the future." ”

Qin Tian nodded and snuggled in his arms. Suddenly, a childish call came from behind him: "Mother." ”

Qin Tian turned his head, only to see Shi Xiu wake up, 'rubbing' his eyes.

Seeing his son, Qin Tian's heart was soft, and he hurriedly walked over, hugged his son and said, "Is it okay for Xiu'er to sleep with her mother at night?" ”

Shi Xiu yawned, his little face bulged, he stretched out his little fat hand to hug his mother, and said in a glutinous voice: "Xiu'er wants to sleep with her father." ”

Qin Tian gestured to Zhuang Xinyan while looking at his son and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, Xiu'er and Daddy sleep together." ”

No matter how reluctant he was, Qin Tian still moved with Zhuang Xinyan. Qin Tian wanted to hide it from his son, but Zhuang Xinyan insisted on telling Shi Xiu, and he said to Qin Tian: "He is a boy, he shouldn't be so weak. Later, the two couples talked to Shi Xiu for a few days, making him understand that he would not be able to see his father and mother for a while, but it did not mean that his father and mother would miss him very much, and they would buy him very interesting gifts. However, when Qin Tian and Zhuang Xinyan left, Shi Xiu couldn't help crying, seeing that Qin Tian almost changed his mind, but he still held back after all. Later, I saw that Shixiu slowly stopped crying under the persuasion of his grandmother, and then he calmed down.

After a few days of boat ride and a few days of overland, I finally arrived at Suizhou, an important coastal town in the south.

When they got there, they were greeted by the government and brought them to the inn, and they were sent to follow them and assist them in all their affairs.

With the help of the government, everything is easy to do, find shops, build branches, and the stewards are all transferred from Yangcheng. It took only half a month before and after. Then he received a photo sticker from the ya'men and officially became one of the merchants.

On this day, the prefect of Suizhou, Lord Li, set up a banquet in Qingfeng Building, the largest restaurant in Suizhou, to celebrate the prosperity of becoming a businessman, to provide an opportunity for them to meet with the other fifteen merchants, and to take the opportunity to discuss the establishment of the bank.

Suizhou is more prosperous and lively than Yangcheng, and foreign businessmen in different costumes can be seen everywhere on the streets. The 'female' child is also more careless than other places, and the folk customs are more open.

Qin Tian and Zhuang Xinyan came to Qingfeng Building in a canopy car, and followed Xiao Er to the largest private room upstairs.

Two tables were set up in the private room, around which sat richly dressed men of all ages, as well as two officials in official uniforms.

Seeing the two of them come in, the people inside stood up one after another, saluted each other, and said polite words such as "Fortunately, look up for a long time". Among the two officials, one of them was Governor Li, and he introduced the rest of the people to the two of them, first pointing to the official in his thirties, tall and clumsy, and said: "This is Commissioner Zhu of Sui Customs, Lord Zhu."

Qin Tian and Zhuang Xinyan hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and Lord Zhu said with a smile: "I have heard the name of the virtuous couple for a long time, Zhuang Gongzi is the maker of the first emperor's favorite tribute tea and blue snail 'spring', especially Qin Dangjia, who is also a woman and a woman, and a strange 'woman' son."

Qin Tian hurriedly said humbly: "Lord Zhu has won the award"

"Qin Dangjia doesn't need to be modest, Sheng Shi was strongly recommended to the emperor by Lord Xie, the governor of Xie, if it weren't for Sheng Shi's strength, how could he get Lord Xie's favor." Saying that, Lord Zhu looked at the four seats and said with a smile: "Everyone said yes or no?" ”

The merchants laughed and said yes.

"Lord Xie?" Qin Tianqi said.

Lord Zhu said: "It's not surprising that Master Qin doesn't know Lord Xie, Lord Xie only arrived at the beginning of the month, and Lord Xie will also come later, Lord Xie is the number one celebrity around the emperor, and he has the grace of recommending your prosperous world, and then Master Qin and Master Zhuang still need to thank Lord Xie." ”

"Yes, yes" Qin Tian agreed on the surface, but secretly hated in his heart: What a mouthy Lord Xie, who asked you to recommend us? I wish you had your tongue plucked out of Hell when you died

The rest of the merchants saw that the two adults were so enthusiastic about the prosperous world, and they 'exchanged' each other's eyes, but the smiles on their faces could not hide the dark 'tide' surging between them.

Zhuang Xinyan looked at everyone's faces in his eyes and kept silent.

Here, Lord Li introduced the merchants to them, and among the more than a dozen merchants, most of them were mentioned in one sentence, but when introducing the two masters of Fenghe Bank and Qingbao Bank, he said a few more words.

It turned out that these two firms were the most powerful of the fifteen firms. Qin Tian looked at the two bosses carefully, Boss Pan of Fenghe Bank was about fifty years old, short, dark and thin, but his eyes were blazing, and his face was 'shrewd'. Boss Liang of Qingbaoxing is slightly taller, and he is also a thin figure, with sharp monkey cheeks and slender eyes, but because he has gentle eyes and an unchanged smile, he gives people a sense of intimacy.

"Fortunately, fortunately, with the participation of Shengshi, I think it will definitely be conducive to the development of our bank, and I will ask Qin to take care of it in the future," Boss Liang said with a smile.

Someone joked: "Liang Guan, you laugh when you meet people, and you gather when you meet people, are you canvassing for the position of the general merchant?"

Because the merchants are all official and businessmen, the title of the boss of all merchants will add an official character after the surname.

Liang Guan turned around, still with a smile on his face: "Liu Guan is so right, I am just canvassing for votes, Liu Guan can do this if he can't look at it, I will definitely not laugh at you"

The person known as Liu Guan laughed dryly twice and stopped making a sound.

Qin Tian understood that the general merchant in their mouth was the position of the first 'handover' chair after the establishment of the public bank, and it would be produced from the sixteen merchants, and each merchant wanted to get this position, and the competition was 'fierce' openly and secretly.

Seeing that the two of them were talking about the chief businessman in front of the officials, it can be seen that the dispute over the head merchant has reached a white-hot point.

But the two officials seemed to have seen it and ignored their dispute.

At this time, Master Li laughed and said: "There is another merchant, this official has to be specially recommended by the Qin master, because she is the same as the Qin master, she is also a 'girl', a great 'girl'. ”

As soon as the words fell, a coquettish voice sounded behind Qin Tian: "The 'woman' that Master Li admires so much doesn't mean the people's 'woman', right?"

Hearing this voice, Qin Tian's heart was shocked, and she turned back in disbelief.