Yokoyama Takuma was at the back of the store, looking at the account book in front of him with a sad face, every winter is his most difficult day, not that the weather in Kansai is extraordinarily cold, but every winter comes, those merchant ships coming and going by sea are becoming less and less, and his shop, which relies on sea trade transshipment and sales, is naturally bleak to death.

When his father ran this shop, he didn't think it was difficult for his father to run this shop, although at that time the Tokugawa shogun had not yet opened the government, and the whole of Japan was full of daimyo fighting me and I beating you, but for these big merchants, these daimyo went around to fight and fight, and the impact on them was simply minimal, and even, because they were businessmen, they were able to get the military supplies and luxury goods that these daimyo needed from many channels, and they became the guests of honor of these daimyos.

It's a pity that when he became an adult and took over his father's burden, he found that the feeling of being valued everywhere could never be found again, and his Yokoyama family's shop, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't get out of Kansai. Those merchants who were richer than him and more connected than him seemed to have sprung up from all over Kansai overnight, and even those merchants of the Ming Dynasty could bypass time-honored merchants like him and go directly to trade with those samurai masters, and they were no longer needed.

"If this continues, the Yokoyama family will fall into my hands!" Yokoyama Takuma felt a little frustrated, and looked outside the door, which was as deserted as ever, in such weather, except for a few southern barbarians and a few drunken ronins strolling around the town, there were really not many people to see.

"What about Akijiro? Going to the port again? He walked out and asked the guys who didn't know if they were really busy or fake.

"Yes, Boss Yokoyama, didn't you tell Akijiro to go to the port every morning to wait to see if any new ships are coming?" One of the guys replied, "Akijiro went out early in the morning and didn't even eat?" ”

"Oh!" Yokoyama Takuma nodded, this is also a way to do it, although most of the sea ships now have a fixed trade object, but, there are no trade objects of the sea ships are also there, if it really hits the Yokoyama family, as long as the other party is not too greedy, Yokoyama Takuma is still very willing to establish trade relations with the other party, now there is no war in the country, everyone's life seems to be slowly getting better, and there are more and more good things needed, there is such a fixed trading partner, Naturally, this means that a large amount of wealth is coming in.

He nodded, and was about to go to the back, only to hear the guy who had just spoken shouting behind him: "Boss Yokoyama, Akijiro is back, it seems that he still has a few people with him!" ”

He turned around, only to see that the guy in his shop, Akijiro, really came over with a few people, and while talking excitedly to those people, he pointed his hand at his shop from afar. And those few people, even if Yokoyama Takuma is separated by such a distance, he can tell that those people are wearing Tang clothes, that is to say, these people are from the Ming Dynasty.

Could it be that Akijiro really hit the big luck? Thinking of this, Takuma Yokoyama felt that his heart was beating slightly, and he stopped at the moment and looked at the people from this line with a smile.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is our shop, and this is our boss, Mr. Yokoyama!" Akijiro led those people in, introduced them, and then, turned his head to his owner, and said loudly: "Boss Yokoyama, Master Xu is a wealthy businessman from Daming, just came from Daming, I heard that our Yokoyama family's business is doing a lot, so I came here to take a look!" ”

After speaking, he looked at Yokoyama Takuma with a look of hope, Yokoyama Takuma promised him at the beginning, if he could lead the maritime merchants to the store, no matter whether the business was successful or not, his share of the reward was indispensable, and if he didn't think about this reward, he wouldn't go to the harbor to drink the sea breeze every day without even eating a rice ball.

Takuma Yokoyama nodded approvingly at him, and sent a look, Akijiro was immediately relieved, and flashed aside happily.

"Welcome, all of you come to the shop, it really makes the shop shine!" He actually arched his hand at those Ming businessmen and said a few words of Ming official words!

"It turns out that the boss of Yokoyama will also speak our Ming official dialect, so it really makes me feel at home!" The leading Ming merchant returned the salute with a smile: "Contemptible Xuchang, bother the boss of Hengshan!" ”

At this time, a small muttering came from the people behind him: "Why does this dwarf speak more official words than me, Velasco is like this, this dwarf is like this, do I also have to learn this official language seriously?" ”

Xu Chang frowned slightly, he really didn't speak, just looked at Yokoyama Takuma, with a lovely smile on his face.

At the beginning, Xuchang, who colluded with the Zheng family and the Japanese in Fujian to attack and disturb Yu Feng's salt fields, was subdued by Yu Feng after the defeat, and when he came to Yu Feng's command, he has been in charge of this overseas trade. At first, Yu Feng threw him to the Four Seas Trading Bank, and later asked for someone from the North Korean side, so Yu Feng asked him from the Four Seas Trading House and threw him to Long Salary.

People like Xuchang have severed their ties with the original master, and the family has been living in Lingshan, and the rest of the wind is used, but the most reassuring thing is that the first batch of copper coins minted has come out, and the dragon salary will sit in the new city and coordinate the overall situation.

Of course, even if you are at ease with him, there will be no restraint, let alone something involving this large amount of money. Like the guards behind Xuchang, except for a few who are real servants and serve him, those fierce guards, but the manpower in the army, Xuchang may be able to use it in peacetime, but when it comes to the critical time, it is difficult to say.

Xu Chang naturally knows the trick here, and when it comes to those guards, he is naturally always cautious, the main family uses him and guards against him, he thinks this is a normal thing, at least, it shows that he is still useful. It's just that he regrets that he can't fully integrate into this group, but he believes that as long as he is conscientious and concentrates on doing errands, one day, these guards around him will really become his subordinates.

For this General Yu who is now guarding Dengzhou, he is now completely convinced in his heart, whether General Yu can rise to the top, he doesn't know, but from his businessman's point of view, this General Yu's means of collecting money is no worse than his killing methods, following such a master, as long as General Yu does not fall, as long as he does not make mistakes, he will definitely have the day when he has his own rich side. He was sure of that. Especially what he saw and heard after arriving in Xincheng, he was more confident.

Takuma Yokoyama welcomed the group in and sat down in priority. Xuchang asked about the business project of the store in Hengshan.

Before coming here, Xuchang actually had a rough idea of the larger merchants in Nagasaki, and even in his heart, this time he mainly contacted those shops, and he had a list, and this Yokoyama Takuzhen's shop happened to be in this list, since he was on the dock and met their little girl, he naturally had no objection to coming to this store first to take a look and talk to each other.

In addition to some Korean specialties used as a disguise, he had a basket of golden copper coins on his ship, and he didn't dare to be cautious about such a big deal, don't look at the few people who got off the ship, and there were a whole hundred musketeers on the ship, from this point of view, you can see how much General Yu attaches importance to this matter.

Yokoyama Takuma carefully considered the choice of words, and carefully answered Xuchang's words, although he could speak Chinese, after all, he was not as proficient as his mother tongue, in order to cater to these Ming merchants, he tried to use Chinese, of course, he didn't know, even if he spoke Japanese, Xuchang didn't sound difficult.

"Silk, porcelain, medicine, gold and silverware, Ming books, calligraphy and painting, all kinds of curiosities, our store has channels to sell, Xu Jun can rest assured, my Hengshan family hundred years of reputation, will not let our friends suffer!"

While speaking, he secretly thought, these Ming people, what goods will they bring this time, it seems that they do not seem to have a fixed store cooperation in Nagasaki, even if they don't make money this time, they will be co-opted, this time the Ming maritime merchants who came from the sea, I am afraid that they are not ordinary maritime merchants. If the first cooperation is pleasant, are you afraid that you will not make money in the future business?

Xu Chang casually asked about the price of some goods, and Takuma Yokoyama answered honestly. Xu Chang secretly compared his price with the price on the market, this price is moderate, and even a little low, and he can't help nodding secretly, it seems that this Hengshan really wants to do their business, not the lion opens his mouth.

"If Xu Jun returns, the goods he needs can also be handed over to our Hengshan store to buy, the price dare not say that it must be lower than the price on the market, but it will definitely not be higher than the market price! Plus, we don't charge a penny! Seeing that Xu Chang groaned slightly, Yokoyama Takujin was a little anxious, and threw out another bargaining chip, he knew very well that as long as this Ming merchant had goods in his hands, as soon as he walked out of the door of his shop, some people would pull them over, and he would take over the deal, and generally take out some benefits that others could not give.

The servant behind Xu Chang coughed lightly, looking like he wanted to speak and stopped, Yokoyama Takuma got up very interestingly, excused himself to get the price list for Xu Chang, and walked out.

"Steward Xu, this shop is only so big, can you eat such a large amount of business?" It was a big man who hadn't spoken since he entered the house, and compared to the Japanese figure, he was a little burly, and even if he sat on a tatami mat, he wasn't necessarily much shorter than Takuma Yokoyama.

"General Mu, don't worry, Japanese stores are like this, the strength of the store has little to do with the size of this face?" Xu Chang explained with a smile, he didn't dare to snub this question, don't look at this big man dressed as a guard, but he is a real Tianji battalion general, responsible for the safety of this trip to sea.

"The owner of such a big business generally has a bit of identity, why is it like a small shopkeeper, standing in front of the counter, isn't this a bit evil?"

"The masters of the Ming Dynasty, of course it won't be like this, but in this small island of Dongying, it has to be like this, the first time I came, I also despised them!" Xu Changle said.

"No problem?" General Namu asked, "No problem! Xu Chang Zhengse replied, he knew General Mu's concerns, although he didn't know what General Mu's position was now, but there was no doubt that he was a close confidant of Lord Yu, the other party asked so, he must have an obvious attitude, you know, this business negotiation is his duty, if something goes wrong, he can't run away, this General Mu is afraid that he will also be involved.

General Namu stared at him for a few seconds, and said slowly: "Okay, then I'll have no problem, you can continue to talk!" ”