Xue Yuanwai was drinking tea and water, and he also saw Xu Mince and Li Zhi walking up the stairs. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info He looked at Xu Mince, then at Li Zhi, and smiled at Li Zhi.

Li Zhichong hugged his fist outside the Xue Yuan, which was a return gift.

The family member who led the way saw Li Zhi stop, and said again: "Two top floors, please!" ”

Led by Xu Mince, Li Zhi was unceremonious and went straight to the top.

The top floor is the gathering place of wealthy businessmen, and there are only two tables in the large space, facing a stage. At this time, the guests have basically arrived, and the cold dishes and drinks have been placed on the table, with seven people sitting at the main table and five people sitting at the secondary table.

The host of the birthday banquet sitting at the main table was wearing a big red silk round neck, full of joy, stood up and saluted Xu Mince: "Xu Gong is here!" I haven't seen it in a long time. ”

"Gong Lu, don't come unharmed!"

After saying hello to Lu Siqi, Xu Mince stood in the middle of the two tables and looked at it, as if he was wondering where to sit. The family member who brought Xu Mince up looked at Li Zhi and said, "Gong Xu, my family's official, my master, and the boss of the seven major businesses, there are only nine seats at the main table, why don't you invite this little friend to sit at the sub-table?" ”

At the main table, only the bosses of the eight major businesses and a "official" who had not yet arrived were set up. Of course, Xu Mince was going to sit at the main table, and Li Zhi was sent to the secondary table by the family.

When Xu Mince heard this, he waved his hand and said, "In that case, my little friend and I are sitting at the sub-table." ”

Hearing this, the Lu family was stunned, but they didn't expect Xu Mince to go to the deputy table to sit down.

Xu Mince gave up the opportunity to sit at the main table in order to sit with Li Zhi, obviously this is to put Li Zhi's importance above other important guests. When the seven distinguished guests at the main table heard this, they all looked at Li Zhi curiously, and secretly said whose son this is, and he was so valued by Xu Mince. It seems that Xu Mince is not here to attend the banquet today, but to bring this child to see the excitement.

However, these big businessmen are all extremely cultivated people, and after just a slight glance, they no longer cared, and let Xu Mince act on his own. Xu Mince was not polite, and walked to the deputy table and sat down.

The five people at the sub-table were all relatives and friends of the distinguished guests at the main table, and their status was slightly lower. Xu Mince just clenched his fists slightly, which can be regarded as a return salute.

Seeing this, Li Zhi also sat on the deputy table with him, sitting next to Xu Mince.

After everyone was seated, Lu Siqi was not in a hurry to start the banquet, he just sat there with his beard twisted, as if he was waiting for someone.

Seeing Li Zhi sitting down, Xu Mance introduced Li Zhi with a smile: "The seven people at that table are the eight major business owners in Tianjin today. The one sitting in the middle is Lu Siqi, who is the cousin of Chao Pichang, the chief military officer of Tianjin, who has been in Tianjin for two years, and his business is average, and he likes to make friends and watch dramas the most. Sitting on his left is Cha Yunke, the boss of Yuanxingxing, who is now the largest businessman in Tianjin, he is the nephew of Cha Dengbei of Tianjin Bingbei Dao, ostensibly doing silk business, but in fact, relying on his uncle's relationship to do Oriental business, with an annual income of 100,000 yuan. Sitting to his left was Lu Huarong, the owner of the Xianjin firm, who was the younger brother of Lu Hualin, a fellow acquaintance of the Qing Military Department in Tianjin. ”

After a pause, Xu Mance said: "It's better for this person to bully small businessmen, relying on his brother's power to buy and sell, and his reputation is very bad. Be careful when you deal with him. ”

Xu Mince talked about Lu Huarong, and Li Zhi glanced at Lu Huarong. But as soon as Li Zhi's eyes were on Lu Huarong, Lu Huarong felt it, and turned his head to stare at Li Zhi.

Li Zhi didn't dare to look at it anymore, and quickly withdrew his gaze.

Sitting in the seat, Xu Mince whispered to Li Zhi to introduce the characters at the main table, commenting one by one. When Li Zhi saw this kind of scene for the first time, he was only busy nodding his head and taking Xu Mince's words to heart.

Everyone chatted and communicated, and waited for another quarter of an hour, only then did they hear a chant from under the stairs: "Your Excellency the Chief Soldier has arrived!" ”

Hearing this, more than a dozen people on the top floor stood up and looked at the staircase in unison.

In the middle of the sound, a tall official dressed in the red military attaché's uniform came up from the bottom of the stairs. Wearing a black gauze hat on his head, soap boots on his feet, and a lion patch embroidered on his chest, the military attache looked very powerful against the backdrop of a set of clothes and crowns, although his eyes were small and his nose was flat.

Seeing the arrival of the military attaché, more than a dozen of the hosts and guests knelt on the ground and sang loudly: "Your Excellency the Chief Military Officer is above!" ”

Although the Ming Dynasty was explicitly ordered by Ming Taizu: the lower officials do not need to kneel down when they see the upper officials! But in real life, the higher position is high and powerful, and the lower status personnel kneel when they see the upper officials. These businessmen on the top floor of the Drunken Immortal Tower are wealthy in the eyes of the common people, but they are just small people in front of the chief soldiers, and they all kneel on the ground one by one.

Of course, Xu Mince also knelt on the ground, although he was a lifter, but his fame in front of the chief military officer was really nothing. He knelt on the ground, pulled Li Zhi, who was there with the pillar, and said, "Little Brother Li, you still don't kneel?" This is the second rank of the governor of the capital, the current Tianjin chief military officer Chao Pichang, in Tianjin is only listed under the governor. ”

The chief military officer was the military attache in charge of the soldiers and horses of a place and a town in the late Ming Dynasty. The Commander-in-Chief was in charge of all kinds of military affairs at the local level, and was responsible only to the governor or governor, and was of a very high position, the highest position of military attaché. Although Tianjin has become a commercial city in the late Ming Dynasty, politically, it is still an acropolis in name and belongs to the military establishment of the guard, so the chief military officer of Tianjin can stretch out his hand to manage all kinds of affairs in Tianjin, and he has great power.

Li Zhi, as a traverser, was extremely disgusted with the kneeling of the Ming Dynasty. But at this time, everyone knelt down on the scene, Li Zhi was about to get into trouble if he didn't kneel, and he had no choice but to kneel down and prostrate beside Xu Mince.

For the first time, Li Zhi saw the power of power in the Ming Dynasty.

With such a cousin backing him, it's no wonder that Lu Siqi's business can be so big.

Seeing Li Zhi kneeling down, Xu Mince breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing everyone kneeling down to greet him, the chief soldier Chao Pichang raised his hand and said, "No courtesy!" ”

When everyone saw Chao Pichang's hand raised, they stood up one after another, and saw Chao Pichang sit on the main seat. After taking a seat, Lu Siqi talked and laughed with his cousin Chao Pichang. The others at the main table interspersed a gossip from time to time, and chatted very happily. After saying a few words, everyone began to eat the vegetables, and the feast began.

One after another hot dishes were served, what tiger skin meat, Panlong vegetables, shark fin soup, donkey meat fire, Zuixian Lou is worthy of being the best restaurant in Tianjin Wei, and the dishes made are all delicious and exquisite, ingenious.

The chief military officer rewarded his face to congratulate Lu Siqi on his birthday, and today's birthday star is very face-saving. However, the big official sat here, and everyone didn't care much about the birthday star, and the stars surrounded Chao Pichang like the moon, and went up to toast him from time to time. When toasting, those merchants raised their glasses and drank them all, and Chao Pichang just drank a little to moisten his lips, which showed the difference in status between him and these merchants.

Xu Mance couldn't avoid the vulgarity, and also ran to toast Chao Pichang with a glass of wine, and then came back.