Chapter 083 and Day Gambling

Goo-goo......

In the back compartment of the huge carriage, there was a small copper charcoal stove, on which was placed a pair of amphorae soup pots, which were steaming hot, and a few slices of ginger were tumbling in the boiling water.

"Huh~~" After drinking a small bowl of ginger soup, Li Jingniang's originally pale face finally had some blood, she sighed with satisfaction, and said, "Thanks to meeting the cousin of the Wang family, otherwise, our mother and son would have fallen ill on the road again." ”

Speaking of which, even Li Jingniang felt incredible, this was the first time she went out after giving birth, but she didn't expect to meet the Wang family's Qiniang on the road again.

Thinking of last year, when she was pregnant with her little brother, she went out in the carriage and almost miscarried, if it weren't for Wang Qiniang's enthusiastic help, their mother and son's lives would not be guaranteed.

She remembered that she also gave Cousin Wang a 'Deyuan' brand at that time, but unfortunately, according to the people below, this brand has never appeared.

Alas, after half a year, they met again, it's just too fateful.

"Hehe, how can it be so serious as Cousin Li said," Wang Qifang didn't expect to meet Li Jingtian's sister as soon as she went out, thinking of the fate of the two people, she also smiled and sighed, "However, my cousin and I are really fated, I don't know where my cousin is going?" ”

"Hey, it's not my father-in-law, he was appointed as the Haizhou Ship Department last year, and he has already gone to Haizhou to take office," Li Jingniang looked at her son who was gradually sleeping after drinking the decoction, and lowered her voice, "As for me, I should have taken office with him." It's just that I just gave birth to a little brother Bao last year, and my body is a little uncomfortable, and the child is small, so my parents-in-law don't let me go out at all...... Speaking of which, cousin, if I hadn't met you last year, Brother Xiaobao and I would have been—"

"Oh, everyone is a relative, so you don't have to be so polite," Wang Qifang saw her face full of gratitude, knowing that she must be thanking her next, and hurriedly interrupted, "Besides, didn't you give me a brand, hehe, it can be regarded as a thank you gift." ”

"Hehe, cousin is really, you are now a Confucian businessman of Tianzi No. 9, and my little Deyuan number can't get into your eyes," Li Jingniang mentioned her business, although she said modest words in her mouth, her eyebrows were full of confidence.

It's not that she boasts, in the territory of several major coastal state capitals, if her virtue source is called second, no business house dares to claim first.

Even the Zhao family of the Zhao family of the Confucian Business Association must honestly nest under the name of her Deyuan, and dare not be presumptuous.

Maybe Wang Qifang doesn't know the weight of the brand that Li Jingniang gave her, but Li Jingniang is still quite confident in the gift she gave.

With that brand, Wang Qifang can instruct any shopkeeper to help her with any semicolon of the Deyuan number, withdraw silver, receive goods, and don't even have to say hello.

In other words, for Deyuan, this brand is equivalent to the Shangfang sword given by the imperial court, and it is the incarnation of Li Jingniang, the big proprietor.

"My cousin was polite again," Wang Qifang really didn't know the energy of the Deyuan, but she believed in Li Jingtian's ability.

Think about it, as Li Jingtian's only sister and the daughter-in-law of the Lu family in Qingcheng, Li Jingniang's gift to thank her for saving her life is not an ordinary thing.

Well, speaking of this, Wang Qifang was really curious, thinking that when she went out this time, she also went to see the power of the Li family in Pingzhou, as well as the scene of the Deyuan.

However, at this time, she still had a bigger question, "By the way, cousin, what kind of official position is this Haizhou Shipping Division?" Is it in charge of maritime affairs? ”

Could it be that the shipping of the Great Zhou has already begun to develop?

Wang Qifang was very interested in this.

To tell the truth, when they broke the eldest brother and they discussed major matters, Wang Qifang thought of N ways to retreat, and the first thing that came to mind was to go to sea and stay away from the power territory of the Great Zhou.

It's a pity that the objective conditions do not allow it.

Although Da Zhou did not adopt a policy of closing the country to the outside world, the shipping conditions were too backward.

Of course, this is not the case with the whole world, and for now, the navigation of the whole world is still in a state of chaos.

You know, hundreds of years later, the world-wide Age of Discovery will come.

For the time being, the fleet of the Great Zhou is also wandering around several countries, going to the Wa Kingdom and visiting the Ryukyus, and no matter how far away the sea area is, it will not dare to try.

But, what does this ship division do?

"Cousin doesn't know yet," after Li Jingniang's father-in-law received the appointment, in order to understand the responsibilities of her husband, she also ordered someone to find a lot of relevant information, so she was more clear about this newly set up official office, "Since the war in the northwest, the silk trade route has been interrupted several times, which has seriously affected foreign trade, and the silk, porcelain and tea of the Great Zhou Dynasty cannot be transported, and the spices of Fanbang in the Western Regions cannot be transported in, which makes the merchants on both sides very headaches." ”

"In order to keep their business, many merchants privately organized fleets and changed from land to sea, and reopened trade routes at sea."

"Oh, I've heard of this too," Wang Qifang seemed to understand a little when she heard this, she nodded, and said, "Well, I understand, is this kind of maritime trade becoming more and more frequent, and finally attracted the attention of the imperial court, so a yamen was set up to sort out the maritime trade?" ”

"That's right, my cousin is really smart, and she can understand it at all." Li Jingniang took a sip of tea, leaned back, leaned back relaxedly, and said, "There are more ships coming and going, and the interests involved are gradually increasing, and there are contradictions and frictions between them, especially the major families behind these commercial houses have had disputes several times, and the court doesn't care about it." ”

Besides, how can there be any reason not to pay taxes when doing business on the territory of the Great Zhou?

Isn't it also necessary to land on the land of the Great Zhou by sea?

Therefore, the establishment of the Ship Division is logical.

"Well, then, the scale of the trade on this sea is getting bigger and bigger."

Wang Qifang is not a person in the officialdom, so she naturally does not care about whether the court suffers losses. After listening to Li Jingniang's description, her first reaction was the prosperity of maritime trade routes.

"This is natural," Li Jingniang didn't expect Wang Qifang's reaction to be so keen, from the establishment of the new yamen of the imperial court, she immediately thought of the development of the shopping mall, she nodded secretly, and said: "Don't hide from my cousin, my Deyuan has also formed a fleet, I went to Haizhou this time, on the one hand, to take care of the minister, on the other hand, to observe the situation of maritime trade." ”

Anyway, this matter is not a secret, and she has no reason to be humanized.

Besides, the eldest brother had mentioned this cousin of the Wang family several times in his letters to her, and had also hinted that she was an 'ally' of their Li family.

Since she can be called an 'ally' by her eldest brother, she is her own person, and Li Jingniang feels that there is no need to be dumb with her own people.

After talking about her destination, Li Jingniang turned her head and asked Wang Qifang, "By the way, cousin, are you going to Haicheng this time?" ”

"Yes, what, have you heard about my third uncle?"

Wang Qifang was stunned, and then thought that Li Jingniang's cousin Li Jingkuo and Li Jingguang were the partners of the third uncle, and they should have heard about the third uncle's current troubles.

"Well, Master Li San's trouble this time is not small," Li Jingniang couldn't help but shake her head when she thought of the letter her cousin gave her, "Gambling with the sky is originally gambling luck, alas, ......"

It's just that Master Li San's luck is a little worse this year, and he actually planted such a big heel.

"Gambling with the sky?"

To be honest, Wang Qifang doesn't know much about the trouble of her third uncle. Just listening to what Feng Tiezhu and his wife said in an ominous manner, the third uncle did a big business, but he didn't expect to lose it, and the loss was very bad, which was likely to affect the Li family's status in the Haicheng business community.

However, what kind of big business the third uncle did, Feng Tiezhu and his wife didn't know.

Now after listening to Li Jingniang's words, Wang Qifang realized that this cousin Li seemed to know more than her.

"Why, cousin, you don't know 'buy treetops'?"

Li Jingniang's eyes lit up when she mentioned business, and after she saw Wang Qifang shaking her head, she sat up straight and explained, "This treetop was invented by our ancestor Li Jueye." In the spring, when the peasants had no money to buy seeds and farm tools, the merchants who were willing to 'buy the treetops' lent money to the peasants in advance, and signed an agreement on the autumn harvest to set the price of this year's grain. Of course, this kind of price is estimated according to last year's grain price, if there is a bumper grain harvest this year, the merchant can buy a large amount of grain at a lower price, but if the grain harvest is poor, or there is a disaster year, then ......."

Then wait for the loss of money, because the merchant pays in advance for the silver that is collected, and once the grain is not harvested or the price of grain plummets, the silver that has been paid in advance will be lost.

And whether it is a good harvest or a poor harvest, it depends on the sky to eat, so Li Jingniang said that 'buying treetops' is a gamble with the sky, which is also appropriate.

"In other words, my third uncle participated in this year's 'treetops', and this year is a year of great disaster, and the grain will definitely be in arrears, so the silver that my third uncle paid in advance will also be in vain?"

Wang Qifang roughly understood, but she still didn't understand a little, "However, even if you lose the prepaid silver, it shouldn't hurt your muscles and bones." ”

"That's right, if you simply 'buy treetops', even if you lose money, you can't lose too much silver, but what if Master Li San repays a large amount of silver to many farmers," Li Jingniang Although Li Sanniang didn't know how much Master Li San had invested in this matter, but when she thought of the businessmen who had failed in 'buying treetops', she had a little guess and said, "The grain harvest is not good, and the farmers have no money to repay the loan, so the silver loaned out will become a dead account, and it will not be recovered at all...... Alas, we are all serious businessmen, is it possible that we still have to learn from the money that put in the seal, and force the peasants to death? ”

The point is, I can't afford to lose that face.

"In addition, between the major commercial banks, there will also be bets," Li Jingniang once saw between the two major commercial houses, in addition to 'buying treetops', they would also make bets on the price of grain that year, "The bets on this are generally relatively large, and if you lose, you are likely to go bankrupt."

P: One more, at the end of the month, you have emptied the little pink