The gentry present couldn't sit still at this time, and got up one after another, and even Chen Zizhuang stood up with a chair and glanced into the box.

"Oh my God, this gold must cost four or five hundred catties." Old Man Huang stroked the huge golden winter melon and couldn't help but ask.

Tang Mu smiled and said, "Master Huang is wrong. ”

"Oh, what's wrong?"

Tang Mu said: "This is a piece of metal weighing four or five hundred catties, but it just looks like gold." ”

Master Xu was surprised: "Could it be that this is not gold?" You're here to trick us! ”

But half of Master Xu's anger was gone, and he felt wrong: "No, if you lie to us, you shouldn't expose yourself." ”

Tang Mu said with a smile: "A few months ago, the big shopkeeper ordered someone to send a dog's head gold of gold melon stone, a piece the size of a fist, I remember in the restaurant in Guangzhou City, everyone present saw it, and many people said it was fake." ”

Master Huang smiled and said, "That's all a misunderstanding before." ”

Master Huang is most familiar with the things that are yellow, and when he saw the dog's head gold that day, he was the first to doubt it, and he didn't believe that there was such a big dog's head gold in the world. Master Xu is the second, because he likes antiques, and he likes to start from the subtleties when looking at things, and he feels that the dog's head gold seems to show signs of sticking.

But it turns out that no matter whether the dog's head gold is real or fake, the Jinguashi gold mine is real, and in the past few months, I don't know how many people have made a fortune panning for gold there.

Tang Mu said: "Whether this gold is real or fake, you don't need to guess." Ladies and gentlemen, get out of the way. ”

Everyone took half a step back, but they still surrounded the box, for fear that they would be far away and their losses would not be compensable.

When!

Tang Mu suddenly pulled out his waist knife, everyone remembered his murderous name, and retreated in fright, Tang Mu stepped forward, first unfastened the lock, let the side panel of the box fall, and then slashed at the golden winter melon inside.

The gold was originally softer than the steel knife, and the power of Tang Mu's chopping was great, and it didn't take long for the golden winter melon to cut out the gaps one by one, and the inside was still golden, much brighter than the outer skin.

With a ding, a piece of gold was cut down and hit on the teacup on the side, Master Huang stepped forward, picked up a small gold nugget from the teacup, put it in his mouth, bit it, and said with a smile: "Gold, it's really gold." ”

"This piece of gold is more than six thousand four hundred taels!" Tang Mu said, and had already put away his waist knife.

The gentry gathered around again, some looking at some and some touching, all with greedy faces, and some reluctant to leave the nugget.

But where can they see that it is a flaw, because half of this golden winter melon is real gold. When Liu Mingde ordered the craftsman to recast, he added a piece of copper to it to make it much bigger, and deliberately made the gold above thick and the gold below thin, so that no matter how Tang Mu chopped it on it, he couldn't cut the copper inside.

According to the current price comparison of gold and silver in Guangzhou, this piece of gold can be exchanged for no less than 90,000 taels of silver, and this piece of gold alone can make up for nearly half of everyone's losses.

"Good, good. The old man has long said that Li Zhaoji and Li are a person of faith, and what he sees today is indeed worthy of his reputation. Master Huang jumped to his feet and cheered.

The rest of the people also nodded, just from this gold nugget, it can be seen that the Oriental Trading Company has both the ability and sincerity to make up for everyone's losses, and everyone is at ease at the moment.

Not only these gentry, but Chen Zizhuang's face also improved a lot. If someone compensates for the losses of the gentry, they will not be unable to get along with the Chen family. As for the reputation of the Chen family, it was because of Chen Huaiyu, and it was self-inflicted, and Chen Zizhuang had no other way than to feel humiliated.

Master Xu smiled: "Everyone, since the little brother Tang entered the door, he didn't even have to drink saliva, this is not our way of hospitality, and let the little brother drink saliva, eat something, and talk about the aftermath slowly." ”

"Yes, Tang Mu can run, can this gold still fly!" Master Huang was also joking, and his chubby and smiling eyes were invisible, but the tears left by the sadness just now were still clearly visible, and it looked quite funny.

Chen Zizhuang also beckoned someone to bring refreshments, and after Tang Mu used some of them, Master Xu took the lead in asking the question that everyone was puzzled about: "Tang Mu, is the Jinguashi Gold Mine so rich that it can produce so much gold?" ”

"It's not gold from a golden melon." Tang Mu said.

The gold mines of Jinguashi were shared by the trading company and the Kaidagran tribes, and the Kaidagran people accounted for the majority, and the two sides were sitting on the fishing profits and collecting tribute taxes. Of the gold panning, six were sold by the mines, and forty percent were kept by themselves.

Of the proceeds from the mines, part was left for expenses, and the remaining 60% went to the Kaida Gran people and 40% to the trading company.

It seems that the proportion of gold owned by trading companies is relatively small, but in reality, most of the gold goes to trading companies. Because of the rules of the mine, no grain of gold is allowed to be taken out of the mine, even if it is the gold digger's own share, it must be handed over to the money bank run by the trading company, and after refining, melting, casting, and weighing, it will be exchanged for silver at a ratio of 1:10.

And in Guangzhou, the same tael of gold can be exchanged for at least twelve taels of silver. The food, clothing, and tools needed for the mine were all run by the trading company, and a considerable part of the gold was handed over to the trading company because the miners bought the necessities of life.

But even so, the trading company's monthly income in Jinguashi is around 20,000 taels of silver.

This money is an important source of expenses for trading companies, and it is often exchanged for silver in Macao and Guangzhou for the expenses of trading companies.

"Then this gold still fell from the sky?" Master Huang drank tea and asked.

Tang Mu smiled and said, "Didn't our Nagasaki trade fail, and we also clashed with the Japanese people because of this. In order to save the fourth prince, he not only used Zheng Sen to blackmail the Japanese officials and the Zheng family, but also sent troops to arrest many soldiers of the Japanese State and robbed many merchant ships.

Because of this, it made a complete break with the Japanese state. However, Nagasaki is the richest port, far surpassing Manila and Batavia, and the loss of Nagasaki is not good for trading companies.

Fortunately, the chief treasurer knew that in the north of the Japanese kingdom, there was an island called Sado, which was a treasure island with 55 .......gold and silver mountains on it. ”

When there was a loud bang, the tea cup in Master Huang's hand fell to the ground, shattered, and the hot tea poured him on the crotch of his pants, he slapped it while saying: "How much, fifty-five gold and silver mountains, my God!" ”

"Master Huang, do you want to clean up first." Tang Mu watched Master Huang slap his crotch, and he couldn't be heavy, so he said.

Master Huang waved his hand: "No, no, you continue." ”

Now is the most important time, Master Huang is a person who loves money, how to be willing to leave, it is a shame, and he must listen to it.

Tang Mu said: "At that time, the Japanese side had a tough attitude, refused to release the people, and refused to return the goods. And the widow official was the initiator of the collusion with the Zheng family, and it was useless to talk about it. The big shopkeeper thought to himself that since the trade could not be completed, he simply did not do anything and occupied his gold and silver mountains, but he could not let the trading company and his partners in Guangdong suffer losses. ”

Everyone nodded, and said in their hearts, no wonder it is obviously not his responsibility, Li Zhaoji still has to bear everyone's losses, and he feels that he occupies a gold and silver mountain overseas, doesn't that mean that there will be as much gold and silver as he wants in the future.

"Then you robbed it........ No, how much gold and silver was seized? Master Huang asked.

Tang Mu smiled and said, "Master Huang, this is a secret of the trading company, I am with me, how do I know." But the gold is here, and the silver is still in Sado. ”

Master Huang nodded, and said in his heart that he was in a hurry. Master Xu asked again: "Although Na Sado is rich in gold and silver, but the Japanese country belongs, and the Japanese people will not give up if they want to come, and they will definitely send troops to attack." The old man wants to ask, are you sure to hold on? ”

Tang Mu pointed to his face, then pointed to his buttocks, and said, "In your old eyes, the kid is a milky child, and my ass is sitting in the position of the big shopkeeper." What I said, where did Master Xu believe it?

This is not just now, I can't come up with evidence or witnesses.

But there is one thing, the big shopkeeper said, there is no possibility of a boiled duck flying. As for whether it can be kept, Master Xu will do it and see, if after a few years, Sado is still owned by the trading company, then it will be kept, if it is not in the hands of the trading company, it will not be kept. ”

The gentry were amused by Tang Mu's words, but they also understood Li Zhaoji's attitude. The Oriental Trading Company wants to defend its gold and silver mountains with all its might, but it is difficult to say that it will win against one country with one trading company. It is to dare to speak, how can people dare to believe it?

"But there is one thing I can guess, although the Japanese people detained our boat, but this trip can occupy their Treasure Island, and the big guy will definitely not pay for it." Master Xu didn't blame Tang Mu for speaking without giving face, and said jokingly.

Tang Mu said: "Yes, what Master Xu said is reasonable, if you have time, the kid will talk about the regulations of the big shopkeeper after the aftermath, and you will listen to it quietly, how about it?" ”

"Oh, it's easy to say, it's easy to say." The gentry, of course, had no opinion.

Tang Mu took out the list of the loss of the Lingding Island and said: "This indicates how much cargo each family has lost, and when they board the ship in Macao, each family also quoted the price of the goods. How much was lost on this list, our trading company bore all of it, and we bought out these goods as if we were in Macau.

And in the fleet, the big shopkeeper means that after returning to the ship, sell the goods to the big man or Manila, although the profit is less, but there is always a profit. In this way, October will be able to make up for the losses of each family.

If everyone thinks that the profit is low, it is easy to do, the big shopkeeper is ready to organize a merchant fleet south to Batavia in October, sell the goods there, and the profit can be increased by two percent, how to dispose of it, everyone chooses for themselves. ”

When the gentry heard this, they nodded their heads one after another, but Master Huang's face was not very good-looking.

The reason is very simple, the price of the goods at the time of loading in Macao was to extract the shipping price, that is, the charter fee. For different goods, the trading company will draw half to 20% of the price of the cargo as the shipping price.

Because of this, many people quoted the price of goods at that time, or quoted the quantity of goods less. After all, everyone has their own shopkeeper on the ship, thinking that this will reduce the cost. And Li Zhaoji also knew this, because the amount was not large, and he didn't want to be unhappy with the Guangdong gentry because of this trivial matter, so he simply pretended not to know.

But now, to compensate according to the price of the goods, Master Huang is obviously still at a loss.

What's more important is that the Chen family and the Huang family are good friends, so when Chen Huaiyu was playing his own small abacus, he transferred all the goods of the two families to the Lingding Island and lost them. As for the rest of the people, they all have their own goods and have no losses, but as soon as the aftermath plan comes out, everyone can make money, but they earn less, and Master Huang can be regarded as capital preservation at most.

Master Xu nodded slightly and said, "The shopkeeper Li is really benevolent and righteous, I think this is good." ”

"Well, the old man thinks it's good, in the end, it's a disaster, and the big guys should bear it together."

"Yes, this is already God's blessing. When the shopkeeper Li came back, the old man had to visit in person to meet this heroic and righteous man. I didn't see it last time, which made the old man very unwilling. ”

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