"Five million taels? What is she doing when we are in Kang's family? O hen that can lay silver! After appeasing Mo Jing and his party, Kang Yanjiang found a little donkey in Linfen and hurried to Kangjiabao, and reported Mo Jing's borrowing of silver to the head of the second generation of the Kang family, Kang Yuanshuo, the third son of Kang million. As a result, when Kang Yuanshuo heard this, he immediately jumped up.

"Third grandfather, what can I do? That woman is not small at first glance! Kang Yanjiang bowed his body, looked at the third young master of the Kang family, who was almost forty years old, but he was a grandfather-level figure in terms of seniority, and asked anxiously.

"Come, come...... Damn, these officials don't have a fucking good thing! was a governor of Shanxi before, but now a woman has also deceived her! Kang Yuanshuo shouted hatefully.

"What's it called? Your boy's hair has been gnawed by rats? As soon as Kang Yuanshuo finished shouting, a louder voice pressed him back, and then, an old man who looked to be only in his fifties, slightly short and fat, wearing an ordinary silk coat and holding a very ordinary brass cigarette pouch walked out of the back of the hall.

"Dad, why did you come out?" Kang Yuanshuo took three or two steps and went to the pro-Laozi, known as "Kang Million", beside Kang Siding, and said respectfully.

"I'm not coming out? If I don't come out, you're going to find someone to fight hard! …… How many times have you been taught to be a kid? Why are you so breathless? Well? Kang Siding picked up the copper cigarette pouch and knocked it on the eldest son's head, knocking Kang Yanjiang next to him with a strong heartbeat.

"Dad, five million taels. Can I not be in a hurry? That woman is clearly here to blackmail our family! Kang Yuanshuo covered his head and shouted.

"Slander our family? Hmph, on the ground of this Great Qing Kingdom, even when Suo Etu and Mingzhu were there, they didn't have such a big appetite when they were stacked together. Erroneous? Tell you, boy, you're doing business! Kang Siding picked up the copper cigarette pouch and aimed it at Kang Yuanshuo's head and knocked it again.

"Doing business? It's the official family who came! What business do they know? Kang Yuanshuo was knocked twice in a row, and he didn't complain of pain, but just argued!

"What do you know? You kid just don't have much knowledge, so the official family can't do business? Kang Siding asked rhetorically.

"Officials do business? Could it be that in addition to those eight, there is now a ninth family? Kang Yuanshuo was unconvinced.

"The eight? What are those eight things? You rabbit, don't mention those bastards to Lao Tzu! Kang Siding said angrily.

"Yes, yes, if you don't mention it, you won't mention it!" Seeing that the old man was angry, Kang Yuanshuo hurriedly said.

He knew why Kang Siding was angry, because the "Eight Families" he was referring to were the "Eight Great Emperor Merchants" of the Han nationality sealed by the Qing court! At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Shanxi merchants Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Fan Yongdou, Wang Dayu, Liang Binbin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, Huang Yunfa, etc., ignored the Ming Dynasty's ban on borders, and privately carried out commercial and military transactions with the Manchus, providing materials, intelligence, and even arms for the Qing soldiers to enter the customs. After the Qing army entered the customs, these eight Jin merchants were awarded the title of imperial merchants and given various privileges. Relying on economic strength and political privileges, the eight imperial merchants are holding dragon posts, and their business is naturally getting bigger and bigger. However, due to their integrity, many Shanxi people scoffed at them. Most of the Jin merchants also deliberately or unintentionally excluded them, and now, the power of the eight imperial merchants has been squeezed aside by the emerging Kang, Hou, Cao, Qiao, Qu, Chang, Liu and other Jin merchants, only on Zhangku Avenue (Zhangjiakou to Kulun, that is, now Ulaanbaatar, Outer Mongolia, known as the Northern Silk Road) can still see their shadows calling for wind and rain, and the others, only one Fan family can also earn some silver elsewhere. However, despite this, Kang Siding and others still couldn't get used to these eight imperial merchants, thinking that they had lost the face of Shanxi merchants. Moreover, in turn, many Jin merchants such as the Cao family, the Qu family, the Chang family, and the Qiao family also began to squeeze towards Zhangku Avenue. is constantly squeezing the living space of these eight families.

"Little growl, come here!" Kang Siding taught his son a lesson again, and shouted at Kang Yanjiang, who had been standing next to him and didn't dare to say anything.

"Alas, old lady, what do you have to ask?" Kang Yanjiang hesitated twice, and after making sure that Kang Siding did not mean to knock people with a copper cigarette pouch, he came over.

"The woman I heard you say just now is surnamed Mo, her name is Mo Jing, right?" Kang Siding asked.

"That's right! Old lady, do you know that woman? Kang Yanjiang asked.

"Hmph, of course I do! …… Moreover, I knew about this woman half a year earlier! It's just that I didn't expect her to find our Kang family! Kang Siding "hummed" and said.

"Half a year earlier? Dad, who is this woman? Kang Yuanshuo asked.

"Who is it? …… You know Mukden's glass, right? Kang Siding asked.

"Yes! Things are good, they just are too expensive. Moreover, we ordinary merchants are not allowed to sell it. Not even those eight, only the internal affairs government's own merchants are allowed to sell, it's not easy to get! Kang Yuanshuo replied.

"The Chang family has been selling tea into Mongolia in recent years, do you know how their business has been in the past two years?" Kang Siding asked again.

"It's okay! It doesn't seem to be as popular as it was two years ago! Kang Yuanshuo said again.

"That's right. Do you know who is making these troubles? Kang Siding asked.

"I heard that the internal affairs office of the imperial court sent a powerful person to do it. The family is powerful, and has the status of an official family, bought a lot of tea mountains in Fujian, and used sea ships to transport tea, which is faster and more numerous than the Chang family's carriage and horse transportation method, of course the Chang family can't compete! Kang Yuanshuo replied.

"Absolutely. Do you know that in recent years, there have been more Changbai ginseng on the market, as well as various medicinal herbs and furs? Kang Siding also asked.

"Yes! Many people thought that the imperial court had lifted the ban, and they were anxious to think of Manchuria to hire people to dig ginseng, but as a result, they were almost arrested! Kang Yuanshuo replied again.

"Hmmm! Then do you know that Cao Sanxi's old boy (the Cao family started by growing vegetables, raising pigs, and grinding tofu; It's true! And he suddenly started selling vegetables and tofu to Mongolia? ”

"Yes! I heard that the Cao family spent several large sums of money to prepare for this! In order to get close to the convenience, I also bought a large piece of land in the Rehe area to grow vegetables! ”

“…… You bastard, since you know all this, why don't you know who this Mo Jing is? Yes? Kang Siding suddenly shouted a loud lesson to Kang Yuanshuo.

"Dad, why should I know who this Mo Jing is? Our business has always been to the south, and the northernmost has not exceeded Rehe...... Besides, there are eldest brothers and second brothers in the family, and I usually don't have anything to do, so it's normal to not know. Even your old man, isn't this woman who only found out half a year ago? Kang Yuanshuo retorted.

"Then you can't know nothing!" Kang Siding's eyes widened, "This Mo Jing is one of the big bosses in the background of these things, do you know?" ”

"Wouldn't it? She...... She's an official! Kang Yuanshuo shouted.

"Officials can't do business? You kid is a brainkiller! can force the Chang family to be unable to do it, and lead the Cao family to start buying land and growing vegetables, this is ability! People have official backgrounds, if you don't pay attention, it won't be good to take a bite one day, and it will be enough for you to bear it! Kang Siding said.

"I see, Dad!" Kang Yuanshuo replied.

"Old lady, then what do you guess this woman came to our money house for this time?" Kang Yanjiang couldn't help but interject and asked.

"Why? Hmph, naturally, it's for business. I heard that this woman understands the rules of the mall quite well, and she is much bigger than the eight families, but she is more harmonious than the eight families, so there is nothing to say about Chang Wei's kid if he loses. When she comes back to us, it is estimated that she will not be too bullying. Kang Siding said.

"So are we really going to lend her money? That's five million taels, Dad! We can't take it out for a while! Kang Yuanshuo said.

"Let's just say you can't do it! She will ask for a price, so we won't pay it back on the spot? If you can't take it, take less! …… Little growl! Kang Siding shouted at Kang Yanjiang again.

"Old lady, you command!" Kang Roaring Jiang bowed his body in response.

"You immediately go find a few people, go to Yuci, Qi County, Taigu, and call me the Chang family, the Qiao family, the Qu family, and the old boy Cao Sanxi, and say, I have a big business to do with them!" Kang Siding said.

"Dad, you're going to bring the big guy with you?" Kang Yuanshuo asked.

"That's right! Five million taels is definitely big business. Moreover, the Chang family and the Cao family both know a little about that woman, and they can find the big guy together, so they can have a discussion, if this business can really be done, it is convenient to pay together. Kang Siding said.

"I'm afraid these people will have to wait a few days for Linfen. Otherwise, Dad, I'll go and invite that woman to our Kangjiabao to live first? What do you think? Kang Yuanshuo asked.

"You?" Kang Siding pretended to look at the third son, "That woman didn't come to Kangjiabao, but she went to Linfen, she must have taken her identity and asked my old man to greet him personally, which onion are you?" ”

"......" Kang Yuanshuo was speechless, choked by his own pro-Laozi, and couldn't say anything.

"Come, prepare the carriage and horses, the old man is going to greet people!" After Kang Siding finished teaching his son, he shouted loudly outside the hall.

******

As the leader of the Jin Shang group, Kang Siding's energy is amazing. Within three days after he invited Mo Jing to Zikangjiabao, several leaders of the Jin merchants had also arrived after receiving his message. Among these people, there are Chang Wei, the head of the Chang family in Yuci, Qiao Guifa, the head of the Qiao family in Qi County, Qu Yuanzhen, the head of the Qu family, Cao Sanxi, the head of the Cao family in Taigu, and Hou Qinglai, the head of the Jiexiu family, who occupies the second position of the Jin merchants. Among these people, Chang Wei rushed back from Zhangjiakou, Qiao Guifa rushed back from Baotou, and as for Cao Sanxi, he was even cooler, and he simply rode back from Rehe.

And everyone in this is a character who can shake a party by stomping his feet.

Take Qiao Guifa as an example, Kang Siding is about the same age, but he is not as lucky as Kang Siding, his parents died when he was a child, and his family was poor, so he had to send food to his uncle's house. Due to the discrimination of his aunt, Qiao Guifa returned to his hometown Qiaojiabao Village to live independently when he grew up. Once, when someone in the village was married, he went to help, but when he was a step late, he was sneered at by the steward. Qiao Guifa was at the age of blood and strength at that time, how could he bear this breath, and in a fit of anger, he went to Guanwai and Baotou, which was a full thirty years. In the past 30 years, Qiao Guifa has grown from a single boy with no clothes and no food to a careful budget, painstaking management, from operating tofu, baked cakes and sporadic groceries, to the establishment of the "Fusheng Gong" firm, step by step to become the number one merchant in the entire Baotou, and now his business has spread all over the money village, business, pawnshop, tea house, grain store, almost everything.

Cao Sanxi of the Cao family is also similar to Qiao Guifa. Cao Sanxi was also poor earlier, and belonged to the group of people who broke into the eastern part of the country in the early days. He first went to Santa Village in the northeast, and lived a very difficult life by growing vegetables, raising pigs, and grinding tofu. It has gradually become one of the leaders of the Jin merchants, and its influence among the merchants of Rehe is second to none.

The Chang family originally made a living by shepherding sheep, but Chang Wei of this generation, because he was dissatisfied with the status quo, went to Zhangjiakou with a blanket on his back. This person started from scratch, starting from selling the "Yuci Dabu" in his hometown, then buying tea from Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province to Kulen in the Mongolian steppe, and then selling tea to Russia, becoming the leading "foreign trade family" of Jin merchants. Now the Chang family has thousands of camels alone, monopolizing two percent of the tea trade between China and Russia, if it weren't for Mo Jing and their side of the back, with his development speed and the warming up of trade between Russia and China in recent years, I am afraid that more than forty percent. Chang Wei is different from several other Jin merchants, he attaches great importance to education, although he was born as a sheep herder, but he is a Confucian businessman. Now, Chang Wei is also a first-class figure among the Jin merchants in Zhangjiakou.

There are also Qujia and Houjia......

Although their respective histories are different, these people all have one characteristic, that is, absolute shrewdness. In addition, among these people, except for the Kang family and the Hou family, they are all among the Jin merchants who eat "northern rice".

……

Kang Siding didn't hide it from these people, as soon as the people arrived, he told these big businessmen about Mo Jing's loan money, and then, with these people to discuss it secretly, you argued and I discussed it all night, and the next day, he invited Mo Jing out.

"Madame will ask for five million taels at once, but it's really a big deal, and all of us here can't come up with so much money even if we all pour out our family wealth!" First of all, Qiao Gui said to Mo Jing in a loud voice, but as a result, Mo Jing just smiled and said nothing.

"Madam, compared to your identity, we are actually not even ants, you want to borrow so much money from us at once, at least, you should tell us what you want to do, right?" Cao Sanxi also asked Mo Jing. He is the only one of these Jin merchants who lives in Rehe and is closest to Mo Jing. In the past few years, Mo Jing has done so many things from Heilongjiang to Jilin, if he doesn't do more to understand, he will earn such a large share of the family property in vain. Therefore, among these Jin merchants, he was the first to know and the first to understand Mo Jing. And Kang Siding also learned about Mo Jing because of a chat with him.

However, after Cao Sanxi finished speaking, Mo Jing still just smiled and said nothing.

"Ma'am, don't you want to talk?" Hou Qinglai, the head of the Hou family, was a little displeased, but he didn't dare to show it. This Mo Jing's identity is not much worse than that of the original Shanxi governor Ge Li.

Mo Jing just smiled and drank some tea by the way...... Not to mention, although this is Shanxi, Kangjiabao supplies VIPs, but they are all first-class Biluochun!

……

Mo Jing behaved like this, and they were convinced, and they already understood what Mo Jing meant, that is: either borrow money or don't borrow, go straight and don't talk about anything else!

In that case, let's spread it out.

First of all, Chang Wei, the boss of the Jin Merchants in Zhangjiakou, opened his mouth, and he asked directly to Mo Jing: "Mrs. Yu, although the amount of five million taels is large, we can also get it together." However, we would like to ask what you can use as collateral! ”

"I've got a mortgage!" Mo Jing finally spoke. However, several leading figures in the Jin merchants still couldn't understand it. …… Mortgaged? What is mortgaged?

"I mortgaged a chiming bell in the Kang family's bank! The big shopkeeper of the Kang family bid 1,500 taels! Mo Jing added.

"A chiming bell? Mrs. Yu, we don't understand what you mean! Hou Qinglai frowned.

"Five million taels of silver, with interest, within three years, I will use 5,000 chiming bells as collateral, what do you think? According to the bid of the great treasurer of the Kang family, the total value of these self-striking bells can be as much as 7.5 million taels! Fifty percent of the interest should be a lot, right? Mo Jing asked with a smile at the few people present.

"Mrs. Yu, you ...... Are you kidding? Qu Yuanzhen looked at Mo Jingqiang and smiled.

"Nope. When I talk about business, I never joke! Mo Jing replied.

"Hehe, Mrs. Yu, you are really amazing. No wonder you wanted to mortgage a chiming bell in my Kang's house that day, it turns out that you are waiting for us here! Haha, good! I'm so sorry that someone has planted it. However, Kang Si Ding arched his hand to Mo Yan, "Madam, what kind of person are you in four days, we have already inquired about it." Cao Sanxi, this kid started in Rehe! We all know that you have not used coercion in business, so let's not beat around the bush and just talk about our hole cards. What do you think? ”

"Master Kang is really bold! Don't know what your hole cards are? Mo Jing asked with a smile.

"Haha, madam, you are a debtor, what exactly do you want to mortgage, naturally you have to say it first!" Kang Siding said with a smile.

“…… Good! Mo Jing glanced at a few Jin merchants, thought for a while, agreed, and then said, "I have a method for making a chiming bell here." I would like to use this as collateral to sign a contract with you, and within three years, if the five million taels of silver I borrowed cannot be returned to you in full with interest, this method will be yours from now on, and you can make your own clocks and watches for sale, but I will no longer operate this business, how about it? ”

"Madame is joking! Your mortgage is not worth anything! Cao Sanxi said.

"Oh?"

"Madam, it's not that we can't trust you! The point is, it's just too hard to believe. You can't just make a piece of paper! It has to be a craft. If you don't make it, someone else can make it. How do we know that others don't know about this craft? Besides, even if other people don't know it now, maybe there will be more clocks and watches in the future. Isn't our money just thrown away in vain? Cao Sanxi said.

"Not bad. Makes sense. However, you are all shrewd, how to make money with this thing, and how to prevent others from stealing the craft, you can naturally think of it as long as you use your brains a little, so why bother with me? Mo Jing said.

"Huh. Mrs. Yu, it's not for us to embarrass you. We're really not interested in your watches. Chang Wei smiled.

"Not interested?" Interesting! Mo Jing thought in his heart. These Jin merchants, who left home with their own hands, went home after making a fortune and built houses and courtyards, and constantly collected all kinds of treasures to fill them, and did whatever they could make money, even running grocery stores, but they didn't expect to be uninterested in clocks and watches. She really didn't expect this.

……

"Madam, we can lend you five million taels, but you have to do us a favor! As long as you help us, when the time comes, there will be no interest, and we only need you to repay the principal three million taels! Kang Siding saw that Mo Jing was a little silent, smiled secretly, and spoke again.

"Oh? What's busy? Mo Yanqi said. These "old Xi'er" usually don't even bother to donate an official position, how can they suddenly be so generous? Two million taels of silver to buy a help, this is the first time I have heard of such a thing.

"Hehe," Kang Siding smiled at several other Jin merchant leaders, and said, "We want to ask Mrs. Yu to help us open a road in Liaodong and North Korea!" ”

"Liaodong, North Korea?"

"That's right. These are the two places! Hou Qinglai nodded and said.

"These two places are not small, and North Korea has nothing to do with me, how can this road be opened?" Mo Jing asked rhetorically.

"Madam, don't worry, we don't really want to open the way, we just need to be able to park the boat in these two places!" Chang Wei said again.

"Mooring the ship? …… Liaodong, North Korea, seaports! Mo Jing muttered for a while, and then, she slowly raised her head, "You want to go to Japan!?" ”