After Zheng Haizhu took Li Zhizao and Mrs. Li to Songjiang, he handed over the last 1,000 taels of silver tickets to Wang Yuesheng.

Wang Yuesheng's former mother-in-charge in Nanjing was actually a thin horse in Yangzhou when she was young.

Yangzhou raises thin horses, and the way out is mostly to be concubines for people with status, so they not only cultivate piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but also how to manage family finances. Skinny horses that can use abacus and keep three-legged accounts sell for a higher price.

However, Wang Yuesheng's mother is too outstanding, and the wealthy housekeeper who came to buy a thin horse did not dare to ask for it, for fear of taking it back, the lord liked it, but his skin had to be stripped off by his grandmother.

A good-looking woman who can settle accounts, she had to go to the Qinhuai River to break through, and was promoted from a red man to a mother, and after suffering a few losses in the account room, she simply took care of the money in and out herself.

Among a group of girls with the name of "month", only Wang Yuesheng will watch his mother learn to keep accounts in his free time without tickets.

Zheng Haizhu thought about it, such a penetrating person, and he had already made tens of thousands of silver "Turquoise Stone" piano as a contribution in kind, and the financial boss of the firearms workshop gave up who else.

Wang Yuesheng happily accepted the order, and also took the initiative to ask Ying, saying that she could also contribute to the account office of Zheng's Insurance Trading Company.

Zheng Haizhu politely declined, and she had left the latter's position as the chief financial officer to Shi Yuelan.

Tang Ayuan and Shi Yuelan were originally Yan Siqi's stewards in the Daishan Salt Factory.

Now that Yan Siqi has been recruited by the imperial court, his subordinates can arrange for the mainland openly, and the son of the Tang family and his wife is no longer an ignorant child, so the couple intends to return to the land of Jiangnan Wenhui and let their son study and take the exam.

Zheng Haizhu couldn't ask for it.

After all, Zheng Shoukuan is not yet fifteen years old, too young, Wu Bangde is a person in the shadows, it is impossible to come forward, and the branch of shipping insurance in Zhenjiang does need a more experienced shopkeeper.

So it was decided that the shipping insurance headquarters in Songjiang, the "young owner" who came forward was Zheng Zhilong, and the shopkeeper was Tang Bo of Nanhui. In the branch of Zhenjiang, the "young owner" who came forward was Zheng Shoukuan, and the shopkeeper was Tang Ayuan. The accounts on both sides are made by Shi Yuelan.

As the elder of Tang Ayuan and Shi Yuelan, Tang Bo also came forward to excuse himself at first, saying that the collection of premiums and the accounting office were all done by the family, and he was afraid that he would not be able to say it clearly at that time.

As a result, Zheng Haizhu smiled and said, "How many years has it been since Brother Yan asked your family to take care of the salt works and the contact with VIPs. ”

These words were full of trust and affection, and the Tang family listened comfortably, so Tang Bo urged Tang Ayuan and his wife to follow Zheng Haizhu to work in Zhenjiang.

……

In the guest room of the trading company, Zheng Haizhu introduced Tang and Shi to Wu Bangde.

Since we want to make money and do things together, we no longer hide each other's details.

The two sides explained their backgrounds, Wu Bangde was not as hostile to the seafarers as Qi Jin, and said to the Tang family and his wife: "Although Wu is wearing a handkerchief bought from Guozijian, he is actually just a rough person, and Miss Meng Zheng can afford to help the trading company drive away flies and mosquitoes." ”

As he was talking, Zheng Shoukuan's greeting voice came from outside: "Brother Zhou is here?" ”

Zheng Haizhu hurriedly made a "silence" gesture to the people in front of him.

But a man with a Jiangbei accent said, "Have your guys followed the boat boss to see it?" ”

Zheng Shoukuan said: "I've seen it, the boats on both sides hit quite badly, and the testimony of the boat boss is also hello." ”

The man said angrily, "Huh? Those who support the ship, who are willing to share this matter, repairing the ship is a good sum of silver. However, not all of our owner's goods were turned over in the canal. ”

Zheng Shoukuan shook his head helplessly: "Then I have turned over more than a dozen sacks, almost a hundred taels of silver." Brother Zhou, your owner is in the medicinal herb business, if it was the owner of the goods last time, how good it is to make cotton cloth, and it can be fished up to calculate the residual value. ”

The man surnamed Zhou said with a few flattering smiles: "Boss Xiao Zheng, you have to think so, although it is a medicinal material, fortunately, there are only some Beidi medicinal materials of Qi Baizhi and Qi Ai, if it is a noble commodity from Nanyang, don't say more than a dozen sacks, only a small bag, but only a hundred taels of silver." ”

Zheng Shoukuan saw that the man was talking, and at the same time looked straight at the small wooden box guarded by the two men in the store, so he took out a document stamped with the seal of the trading company and pushed it in front of the man: "You press the handprint, take away the silver money, ten taels of spindles, eight, five taels of spindles, three, a total of ninety-five taels." ”

The man complied, and cheerfully picked up the wooden box, joined his two companions, who were guarding outside, and walked away.

Zheng Shoukuan lifted the curtain and walked in, and asked Wu Bangde first: "Brother Wu, have you seen this person's face clearly?" ”

Wu Bangde nodded: "Well, our people nearby must have seen it clearly and will follow them." ”

Tang Ayuan and Shi Yuelan, who were present, looked at Zheng Haizhu inquiringly.

Zheng Haizhu said suddenly: "After arriving in Zhenjiang, Shoukuan told me this list. The owner of the goods was receiving medicinal materials in Nanjing, this one named Zhou Hu, who claimed to be the brother-in-law of the owner, went to Suzhou to deliver the goods, and listened to the recommendation of his peers to buy our insurance. The payment of premiums, the inspection of the wharf, and the inspection of the seaworthiness of the ship were all done by Shoukuan himself, and there was no problem at that time. As a result, in the Bingyin section, it collided with another boat, and a lot of medicinal herbs were turned over in the river. ”

Tang Ayuan didn't understand and asked: "What is the Bingyin segment?" ”

Wu Bangde said: "It's what Miss Zheng meant, our people have been taking boats in groups in the past few months, and they are familiar with the waterways from Zhenjiang to Suzhou and then to Songjiang." The heavenly stem records whether the waterway is dangerous and accident-frequent, and the earthly branch indicates whether the waterway is usually congested. Shoukuan, take the picture we drew to the shopkeeper Tang to see. ”

The picture was taken, Zheng Shoukuan pointed to a river bay to the south of Zhenjiang: "The hydrological conditions of the Bingyin section are okay, but there are many boats. We immediately inquired with other boaters, and they did see collisions and bags. However, when I looked at the boat, I noticed that the bow of one boat hit the sidechord of the other. A closer look at the damage to the two boats shows that the wood is clearly rotter than the others, but the tenon is quite new. While the other planks are made of hard wood, the tenons are old. ”

Zheng Haizhu took over the conversation and said to the Tang family and his wife: "Therefore, we suspect that this Zhou Hu colluded with the shipper to defraud the compensation. Although the two shipowners could share the benefits, they still wanted to make the ship repair less silver, so they temporarily replaced it with a rotten shipboard. Wu Gongzi's people have good water nature, and when he went to the bottom of the river and tore open the sack, he saw that it was full of grass wool. Just now, I looked at Zhou Hu's appearance through the curtain, picked up the silver and left, and didn't look at it carefully and count it clearly. Obviously, because this silver is a windfall in his eyes, he doesn't care about a few taels. I guess the original medicinal herbs have been resold by him. ”

Tang Ayuan suddenly realized and said with emotion: "This business is indeed easy to be cheated. ”

Zheng Haizhu smiled: "Which line of money is easy to earn?" Which pond doesn't have a king? Just catch it. There will be more to come, and you will slowly touch the doorway. As for this Zhou Hu, there will continue to be people from Lao Wu Gongzi. ”

Wu Bangde got up and arched his hand: "I'll go first." ”

……

At night, the city of Zhenjiang is not as beautiful and prosperous as Nanjing and Yangzhou, but it is also very lively.

With a hint of stupidity, Zhou Hu walked out of the crowded gambling house.

He was taken by his brother-in-law, who was a pharmacist, to do business a few years ago.

The brother-in-law is cautious, does not engage in prostitution and gambling, and restricts him very strictly.

This time it coincided with my sister's birth, and my brother-in-law was staring at home in Nanjing, and the medicinal materials of hundreds of taels of silver were bought and sold, and Zhou Hu took the two guys to run alone.

When they arrived in Zhenjiang, the two boat bosses told Zhou Hu that a new Zheng's shipping insurance trading company had been opened in the city, which was named a tooth shop, but it could actually collect wool.

Zhou Hu listened to the idea of the boat boss, and marveled at where this is wool, and after some twists and turns, he can get dozens of taels of silver, which is obviously a leg of mutton.

He was immediately moved, and went to the Zheng family to exchange the premium of five taels of silver, inspect the goods, sign the deed paper, but after the boat left, he turned to a hidden river bank and asked the two men to replace the medicinal herbs with thatch.

Then he continued to drive to many parts of the boat, and acted in a scene of colliding with the boat boss's accomplices, and the thatched sacks stacked on the side of the boat fell into the water and sank to the bottom in full view of everyone.

When I went to settle the claim, the young owner of the trading company, who didn't have any hair on his mouth, was stupid, and said "We are based on good faith and should pay all the compensation, but we must investigate first", but as a result, I looked at the ship and asked the witnesses who came and went, and I didn't honestly offer the silver with both hands.

According to the previous agreement, the captain of the boat was twenty taels per person, ten taels per man, and thirty-five taels for himself.

For Zhou Hu, who has two taels of silver per month, it is really a huge amount of money.

The two guys were strong-blooded, and they hadn't married their daughters-in-law yet, so they took the silver and went to Yingying Yanyan's place.

Zhou Hu, who has been married for several years, has no interest in visiting the kiln, but he entered the gambling house without hesitation.

About the deception used up his luck, Zhou Hu output ten taels of silver in most of the hour, he was angry and panicked, and hurriedly got off the gambling table.

Just a few steps out of the casino, a man wearing a green turban came up: "Master, are you having fun?" ”

Zhou Hu knew that in Jiangnan, this kind of dress was either a turtle in a brothel, or a pimp for the warbler.

He said angrily: "Get out." ”

The green turban that sounded like a Shandong accent smiled more flatteringly, followed behind and said, "Do you want to change casinos and change your luck?" Listen to me, the best way to change your luck is to see a red. ”

Zhou Hu was stunned: "What is red?" ”

The green turban crossed over Zhou Hu, trotted a few steps, and scolded "Hey" in his throat.

In the shadow of the eaves in front of her, a woman with her shoulders hunched on her shoulders flashed, looking frightened.

The green turban pulled her over, took off the hat of the windbreaker, and said with a smile: "Master, this is a chick, sixteen this year." Open a bag and see a red, the custodian tomorrow's luck will be so red that the dealer will cry. ”

Zhou Hu understood now, and was a little moved.

"How old do you think she is? Sixteen? How do you look eighteen or nineteen! Zhou Hu pretended to be disgusted.

The green turban said thoughtfully: "Ye is just a change of luck, why spend more money, this is only one or two silver." The girl in the countryside, who used to farm in the past, was exposed to the wind and sun, how can she compare with the red people in Hualou, but it is more than a little cheaper than them. Take a look, big eyes and good body, and the appearance is actually good. ”

Zhou Hu stretched out his hand to hold up the woman's chin, and looked at it in the light and moonlight, with thick fat powder, gorgeous rouge, and a birthmark on the forehead to the eyebrows, only a pair of eyes were shiny, and they were quite good-looking.

But this kind of wandering warbler of unknown origin, he is a foreigner, afraid of the immortals jumping, and even more afraid of encountering robbery, so he said coldly: "I will not go to the inferior kiln." ”

"That's nature, doesn't there be an inn to rest? She can follow the master. ”

……

Mu Zaohua followed Zhou Hu into the inn near the Confucian Temple.

Four months ago, she was a slender man by the canal, and in order not to starve to death, she was doing the errand of mules and horses.

After Miss Zheng recruited them, Wu Gongzi became the person they usually met.

Wu Gongzi taught them the skills of literacy and hand-to-hand combat, and also taught them how to stalk, probe, deceive, and get out of pursuit. He called them intelligence officers, and he was going to follow him and Miss Zheng to do something interesting in the future.

The slender man is more knowledgeable, and Dripping says that this is not a spy, but everyone is quite happy. The identity of a spy, in their opinion, means that he has got rid of the hardships of the grass and mustard at the bottom, and he is a follower to the powerful.

Of course, Mu Zaohua also wants to perform well, not only to stay and serve this rice bowl, but also to get Wu Bangde's approval.

When Wu Gongzi asked the intelligence officers to act in the scene of the shipwreck and promote the reputation of the insurance trading company, Mu Zaohua did not have his turn and was uncomfortable for a while.

This time, Wu Gongzi finally sent her a job, and she was determined to win.

Mu Zaohua has experienced fleeing famine, eating people, and competing for fiber turf, and at the age of eighteen, she has two strong arms, and she is not afraid of a man like Zhou Hu, who is neither tall nor strong.

She followed Zhou Hu into the room under the surprised gaze of a guy on night duty at the inn.

When Zhou Hu ripped off her coat and was about to press her on the couch, Mu Zaohua suddenly stretched out her right arm and punched Zhou Hu's chest hard, then jumped up, turned over, and restrained the back of Zhou Hu's neck with her knees, making his whole face suffocated in the futon, and the screams he let out were also silenced.

Mu Zaohua took out a hemp rope from her arms, tied Zhou Hu's hands, took out a strip of cloth to plug his mouth, and then got off the bed to turn over his blanket.

There were only two large pieces of silver left over from the gamble, and there was no paper.

According to Wu Gongzi's instructions, Mu Zaohua began to search for Zhou Hu's luggage in the house.

She finally found the kind of silver ticket with complicated lace that Wu Gongzi had taught them.

Two hundred taels, eighty taels.

Mu Zaohua smiled, and turned Zhou Hu over in the past: "Isn't your boat of medicinal materials a total of three hundred taels, how did you drip dozens of packets, and exchange it for almost three hundred taels of silver." ”

Zhou Hu said "woo" in his mouth, and his eyes were frightened.

Mu Zaohua took out a piece of paper with a few lines of ink written on it.

She doesn't know much about words, and the paper was read to her by Wu Gongzi, and the content is very simple, that is, Zhou Hu's tone admits to cheating insurance.

Mu Zaohua took out the rouge box, pulled Zhou Hu's fingers, and pressed the handprint on the paper.

Then he said, "Our boss asked, did the boss of the ship teach you to make it bad?" Our owner has been going to do business in Zhenjiang in the future, and we must deal with the ship boss who cheats the shipper, so we must ask the prefect to punish him severely. If you testify against them, the punishment will be much lighter. ”

Zhou Hu's face was full of panic, he was stunned for a moment, and nodded desperately.

Mu Zaohua saw him with a cowardly look, and couldn't help but think of Wu Gongzi's words: "This kind of person is not a ruthless character, in fact, Miss Zheng can also detain him in a trading company and force him to interrogate, but in that case, you will have one less drill of tracking, setting up traps, and intimidating people." ”