Zheng Haizhu saw that Qi Jin and Wu Bangde were both interested in shipping insurance, so he increased his confidence in lobbying.

"Mr. Qi, Wu Gongzi, I went south to Yuegang this time, and I came into contact with many businessmen, and I had the opportunity to learn that this kind of shipping insurance has been available for two hundred years in Frankie, Venice, and Batavia, and it is indeed profitable. That kind of marine insurance, there are great variables, we can start from a certain section of the canal, slowly explore, in the future to do both marine and inland waterways, it is not impossible. ”

The old general Qi Jin was also cheerful, and said bluntly: "The old man was born in war, so he likes ambitious children. As for how to handle this business, the old man doesn't understand, and you young people have to do it. I only ask two things, first, how much net worth do you want the old man to invest? Second, will this transaction be participated in by the old men of the two capitals? ”

Qi Jin's frank attitude in the first half of the article makes people respect.

The ensuing worries are embarrassing.

Old man, this is afraid that he will be worn by the civil official and the imperial history at any time.

Before Zheng Haizhu came to talk about cooperation, Zheng Haizhu thought about answering these two questions.

"Mr. Qi is refreshed, and I must also give the truth. During the voyage to test the waters, I took a fancy to the canal from Songjiang to Zhenjiang. I have connections in Songjiang, and I have black eyes in Zhenjiang, so it all depends on Mr. Qi to take care of me. Therefore, the capital of the trading company, I come out first, Mr. Qi not only does not have to invest money, but also can take dry shares, at the end of the year we will pay dividends according to the proportion of shares. If this deal is really done, Mr. Qi wants to pay to increase the share of his shares, and then discuss. ”

Qi Jin said with a smile: "The girl understands the rivers and lakes, your guy wants to collect premiums at Zhenjiang Wharf, there will be green-skinned thugs who want to ask you to collect protection money, and there are old man's soldiers who often go to sit and sit, such trouble, you will not find a girl." The old man is not sorry to take this dry stock. In the future, if there is no need to raise soldiers, the old man will definitely vote for the girl with real money. ”

Zheng Hai's face was full of joy: "With Mr. Qi's words, our aunt and nephew are not afraid." Here in Zhenjiang, Shoukuan will be stationed in the store to receive insurance policies, and I have another godbrother surnamed Zheng, who is nicknamed an official, and will run at both ends of Zhenjiang and Songjiang. The head office of the insurance cooperative, located at the end of Songjiang, one, in case of a dispute, I am familiar with the government and the officials, and it is convenient to fight lawsuits, and the second, and more importantly, Shanghai County in Songjiang Prefecture may be like Haicheng County in Zhangzhou Prefecture to open and allow sea sellers, and the first hot soup of shipping insurance will also be drunk by us. ”

Listening to this methodical discussion, Qi Jin already really liked the girl in front of him who claimed to be from a mustard background.

If she were a male doll, she would follow herself to fight and use it when strategizing, which should be good.

The old general nodded with satisfaction: "Both ends of the business are in the name of your Zheng family, think about it, the imperial historians will not be idle enough to even take care of the old man's soldiers and eggs to eat tea, right?" ”

"Yes, we come from Songjiang and send business taxes to Zhenjiang, just like Hui merchants pay money and money along the way, what can the imperial court not be satisfied with? Besides......"

Zheng Haizhu paused deliberately, pursed his lips and said: "Besides, now the imperial history of the left capital of the Tianfu Metropolitan Procuratorate, Wang Yinglin and Wang Zongxian, not only the former prefect of Zhenjiang, but also with our Songjiang gentry Dong Qichang Dong Gong, and our young lady's aunt is a closed disciple of Dong Gong. ”

"Okay," Qi Jin clasped his palms in praise, "then hurry up, Bond, you first help Miss Zheng go to the government to inquire about whether to open a trading company, whether to pay industrial and commercial taxes to the imperial court or tooth money." This is a new business, if the people in the yamen don't react, you will go to the tooth line to lean on, in this way, once a year to pay the tooth post silver, for Miss Zheng is the most cost-effective. ”

"Yati" is a business license issued by the imperial court to private intermediaries.

When a new license is renewed every year, a sum of money is collected, plus a little benefit fee is given to the clerks, and the burden on the business is not too heavy.

If it is like the bamboo and wood tax on the tax, the tax on sales and transactions, and the tariff on transportation banknotes, and constantly pay according to the batch and category estimates, it is difficult to say how much the bosses will have to suffer in the turbid world of the late Ming Dynasty.

Zheng Haizhu said in his heart, the old general can, he only knows how to fight, but in fact, he has a sense of compliance in business, and he is very good at reasonable tax avoidance.

It is much better than those local gentry in the late Ming Dynasty who only want to rely on all kinds of taxes, and some Donglin Party members who raise their arms and shout "Lao Tzu just doesn't want to pay taxes".

Zheng Haizhu struck while the iron was hot, and said to Wu Bangde with a smile: "Yes, yes, there is Lao Wu Gongzi, if you can help you go to the wharves in Zhenjiang to ask, in recent years, the number of shipwrecks, salvage, cargo damage and other situations of passenger and cargo ships will be better." ”

The information Zheng Haizhu said is very important to the actuarial science of insurance.

The general rate of freight insurance in later generations is 8%, but the safety of transportation in later generations and the security of the Yangtze River Delta region are incomparable in this world.

In the late Ming Dynasty, in the Jiangnan Dynasty, the design of terms such as rates, carrier liability, subrogation, exemption and other clauses and the prevention of insurance fraud must rely on actual research.

Now that Qi Jin has nodded to take the dry stocks, and slapped his chest for playing the role of a good head snake, Zheng Haizhu wants to spend money and use his godson Wu Bangde as a mule.

……

On the way back to the post station, Wu Bangde held back for a long time, but still asked: "Miss Zheng, how much money do you have to pay first to open this insurance company?" ”

"At least five thousand taels."

"So much!" Wu Bangde was surprised.

In the past few days, he has seen that although this woman has a very simple appearance, and she does not even have a golden hairpin on her head, she should hold more than one big business in her hand, but he did not expect that this new business called shipping insurance will cost thousands of taels of silver as soon as people make a move.

Zheng Haizhu said suddenly: "No way, playing insurance, unlike playing and selling goods, you can borrow goods on credit, and when the money from the downstream arrives, it will be settled to the upstream." The cost of the opening of the insurance trading company, renting a shop, salary, and various points of affection, is actually not too much, and the majority is called a compensation reserve, which is used to settle claims for the owner of the goods in distress, because at the beginning, the premium collected may not be much, and the reserve is not enough to withdraw from the premium. ”

Wu Bangde digested these words, which were full of fresh terms, and said clearly: "Therefore, it is better to let the shippers buy them as soon as possible to increase the silver accumulation of the trading company." ”

Zheng Haizhu suddenly stopped, Wu Bangde was stunned, and also stopped.

Zheng Haizhu stared at him: "Wu Gongzi, I have an idea, I don't dare to tell the old man directly, you can help me weigh it." I want to pick a pier in Zhenjiang and act in a play. ”

Wu Bangde's eyes flashed: "What play?" ”

Zheng Haizhu said: "It's very simple, overturning a tea boat, the tea merchant happened to ask me to buy insurance and get compensation." Of course, the tea merchant and the ship boss are actually all dressed up by our people. ”

Wu Bang carefully tasted it for a while, and then understood, and said knowingly: "In order to shout that insurance is a good thing, it does not harm others, but it is self-interested, what is there not to dare?" ”

Zheng Haizhu sighed: "Yes, acting is also a last resort." We are not like Fanren, we are timid, and we are most suspicious and deceived, and we don't like to accept new things. ”

The corners of Wu Bangde's mouth twitched slightly. He thinks that even if Zheng Haizhu pretends to complain, he pretends to be quite interesting.

He looked at her very highly, and began to ponder her "tricks" deeply.

"Miss Zheng, you can't use tea for acting, you still need to use your Songjiang cotton cloth. The cotton cloth sinks, scoops it up to dry, and can be sold at a discount, we lose the residual value, not the total value. In this way, first, it is necessary to avoid those cargo owners who wait and see, thinking that as long as the ship sinks, they will pay all the losses, so that they will neglect to rescue the goods in the future. Second, the cotton cloth is not a total loss, and you can save a lot of money on acting. The money I earned hard-earned is just acting, and I have to save it, right? ”

Hahaha......

Zheng Haizhu couldn't help laughing.

This Wu Gongzi's brain is too good, wise, wise.

It was a pleasure to deal with these wise ancients.

Zheng Haizhu was happy for less than three seconds, and his heart suddenly moved.

Although Wu Bangde has a good temperament, his facial features are not outstanding, he is of medium height, his skin is neither black nor white, if he changes into a civilian cloth and trousers, he can't find it in the crowd.

His mind is quite bright, and his comprehension and on-the-spot reaction are very fast.

He also speaks with a northern accent, thinking that he lived in the Jiliao area with his grandfather Wu Weizhong when he was a child.

If he doesn't go to Liaodong to be a spy, isn't he a little sorry for his awesome name "Bond"?

When Zheng Haizhu was thinking so secretly, he heard Wu Bangde ask: "Miss Zheng, listen to your arrangement, Ling nephew is ready to be a girl's arm, go into business directly, and not take the road of career?" ”

Zheng Haizhu sighed: "I have a academy in Songjiang, which is his name. I thought that he would not be a small servant, but he would practice hard in the academy, write a good eight-strand essay, and one day be able to enter the scholar and the first, and I am worthy of my brother and sister-in-law. But now it seems that he prefers to run the rivers and lakes. But now, you have to be famous in business, otherwise you can't enter the circle of those officials and gentry. ”

Wu Bangde's face was filled with a layer of disdain: "Bagu is written in a frenzied manner, and it is also a fur article, which is useless in self-cultivation and serving the country." ”

But instead of amplifying such whining emotions, he began to share his path.

"Actually, you can spend some money and go to Nanjing Guozijian to donate a meritorious name. The first year means that he will sit in prison for a few days, nod and bow his hand to the doctors, and if they don't dislike it, invite them to go to the Qinhuai River to drink a few meals of flower wine, so that the famous female envoy can recognize his face, and since then he has been half a literati. Ordinary scenes are not ugly. Don't really think that you can be on an equal footing with those gentlemen who are serious Jinshi. ”

When Zheng Haizhu heard this, he immediately showed a look of "what you said is so reasonable".

She was in Songjiang, and she also wanted to inquire about this way, just because from Huang Zunsu to Han Zhongwen, they were all Jinshi and Juren who took the test based on their ability, and they respected the upright style of Nanjing Guozijian, so asking others about this by themselves is like asking those proud first-degree alumni of the Northern Qing Dynasty, "Hey, how much does it cost to buy a degree in your school", looking for scolding.

At this moment, Wu Bangde saw that Zheng Haizhu was quite interested, and said briskly: "I'll just find a broker for the girl to buy, and this Confucian scarf on the lower head was donated by the Guozijian last year." ”

Ah......h

This Wu Bangde is really honest and opens the door to Frank and honestly arrives home.

Looking further, that is to say, this person is not interested in being admitted to the sergeant to become an officer?

"Then, what is the picture of Wu Gongzi's future?" Zheng Haizhu asked.

"If the world is peaceful, I will be Tao Zhugong, and if the wolf smoke rises again, I will go into battle with my father-in-law to kill the enemy."

Wu Bangde's tone was not at all the kind of anger that hung his throat, but was calm and unwavering, just like when he took Zheng Haizhu to the General Military Mansion today, he said, "Girl, please go this way".

It seems that in his mouth, the road to do business in the four seas, or to fight in the bloody field, has already been paved under some future time and space, waiting for him to step on it, and then go down steadily.

Zheng Haizhu's idea of igniting the fire just now burned more and more fiercely.

This young man, when he first met Beiguting, Zheng Haizhu thought he was an introverted social terrorist. Later, when he took a large number of people to visit the famous places in Zhenjiang, he made the tour guide interesting and not greasy. When he was talking at the General Military Mansion today, even General Qi couldn't help but sigh emotionally, his face was still calm.

When he talks to himself alone at this time, many of Wu Bangde's reactions can be switched in an instant, but there is no complacency or boasting.

He is different from heroic men like Yan Siqi and Ma Xianglin, an awe-inspiring gentleman like Huang Zunsu, a chic Tanlang like the Zhang brothers, and a civil and military all-round talent like Lu Xiangsheng.

He has a multi-faceted transfiguration talent, permeated with a gloomy feeling like a lead cloud in the air, but unintentional passers-by may not pay attention to it, just as an ordinary background.

Perhaps, what a God-chosen intelligence officer.

Zheng Haizhu stopped for the second time, looked at the position of the sun, and said to Wu Bangde: "I, a foreigner, now I want to go back to the east and invite my son to a place to drink soup." ”

……

By the canal outside the old city.

In the distance, Guazhoudu, which once had a highlight moment in Wang Anshi's poems, has become an abandoned barren beach due to the new construction of waterways by the Yuan people.

The nearby section of the canal is in full swing at this time.

Almost naked, with only flat pants covering their private parts, the slender men looked like prawns, with red backs, stretching their heads and bending over, and pulling the boats with a difficult but uniform gait in the hoarse sound of the horn.

A few tea stalls by the river.

When a stall owner saw Zheng Haizhu, he greeted him courteously: "The Bodhisattva girl is here again?" ”

Glancing at Wu Bangde's gaze, he was a little embarrassed, as if he didn't know how to greet him, but he obviously didn't know that this was the righteous son of Qi Jin, the chief soldier of Zhenjiang.

Zheng Haizhu said generously: "I'm tired of giving me and this friend two bowls of mung bean soup, and a few buckets for the slender men, and I'll still pay for it." A few of you tea stalls, each of you will send a bucket, and I will take care of everyone's business. ”

"Well, just blink. When will the girl return to her hometown? ”

"In a few days. The scenery of Zhenjiang Mansion is really good, and I am afraid that I will be reluctant to leave it. ”

Zheng Haizhu spoke softly, sat down at the simple wooden table, and served a bowl of mung bean soup to Wu Bangde.

Wu Bangde said: "Girl, in the past few days, after sightseeing, have you come here to do good? ”

Zheng Haizhu smiled: "It's just a few bowls of mung bean soup, where can I afford the word 'do good'." ”

Wu Bangde's gaze was meaningful: "Wu took the liberty to ask, you picked up here, could it be that you used to have a relationship with the slender man's business?" ”

Zheng Haizhu smiled more clearly: "There was no origin in the past, and there may be a story in the future." I want to recruit some family members from these people to raise. ”

As soon as she said this, Wu Bangde's suspicions dissipated a lot.

"Miss Zheng, the slender man on both sides of the Nanzhili Canal, many of whom fled from Shandong, are willing to endure hardships and are honest. Carefully pick the young and strong, it is really good to be a nursing home. If the girl can be trusted, I will help you slap your eyes. ”

The corners of Zheng Haizhu's eyes shrank: "I just want to ask someone like Gongzi from the Qi family army to help me see my face and bones." However, the ultimate purpose of raising them is not just to be a nursing home for our aunt and miss. ”

Wu Bangde's stunned look rose again.

Zheng Haizhu continued: "Wu Gongzi, you just said that if the wolf smoke rises again, you will go into battle with General Qi to kill the enemy. In fact, to kill the enemy, it is not necessary to be in front of the confrontation between the two armies. Behind enemy lines, and even in enemy nests, there is also a lot to be done. ”