In the Qianyuan Teahouse, a large piece of tea fluttered in the wind outside the building. The teahouse was lively, but it was much less joyful than the usual atmosphere.

The first month of the 267th year of the new Ming Dynasty was quite happy, the siege of Jiannu was explained by the imperial court to be repulsed, and the Shengshang invaded the Jiannu country was a great joy, and then the new emperor ascended the throne to add a lot of joy to the city.

However, this kind of joy somewhat covers the old illness of Daming's body. So much so that when it swept back in, everyone seemed flustered and frustrated.

"Shopkeeper, business is not good. I came late today, and I was able to find a seat on the second floor. "Zhou Renrong is a man in Beijing, and his name is not small. This name is not a meritorious name, although in the Ming Dynasty, a person has also reached the minimum qualification to be an official. But what makes Zhou Renrong famous is his other identity: Shaoxing grain merchant. When a well-known scholar becomes a businessman, it is naturally a sensation.

The Qianyuan Teahouse is the first-class teahouse in Beijing, and although it is a popular pastime, it also has many locations. On the first floor, there are public seats with open tables around the table, on the second floor there are private seats around the atrium, and on the third floor, there are private rooms higher up.

As a shopkeeper here, his status is not light, and his ability is greater. The shopkeeper's Liang She smiled and arched his hand: "It's a good day for business, so you have to reserve a place for Zhou Ye." Master Zhou, but I haven't been here for a long time! ”

"Well, it's a bit busy. I took time today, and there was another matter, so I remembered to go to the teahouse. The two of them were gossiping while walking, Zhou Renrong looked at the second floor, but there were many empty seats on the first floor, sighed lightly, and said: "I'm afraid that there are a lot of people in Nancheng, and they will be carried out and burned, there must be thirty or fifty." ”

"Zhou Ye is insightful, that's the case. A plague, thirty or fifty people are already considered to be few. In previous years, the epidemic was launched, but it did not give up without losing the number of three or five hundred. Of course, Liang She knows that the first floor has the most ordinary people, and although the place is large, many people who have spare money like to come here to sit. Not to mention pastime, the teahouse is also a distribution center for news, so you may be able to see opportunities.

Even the expeditionary company of the Holy Shangkai sent people to preach here, and no one took it seriously at first, but only an hour later, those who knew how to sell the limited shares of the future were sold out.

It's a pity that a plague started in the south of Nancheng, everyone panicked, and of course there were fewer people who came to the teahouse.

Saying this, they died not far from themselves, and even though they were used to life and death, they couldn't help but sigh for a long time.

"All kinds of fruits and melons, let's prepare them. After a while, someone with a Shanxi accent called my name, just come over. Zhou Renrong said and sat on the seat.

Liang She smiled and left quietly.

This is a screen partition, and if you look to the right, you can see the crowd on the first floor by holding on to the railing.

Zhou Renrong lay lazily on the chair, only feeling unprecedented comfort.

Zhou Renrong, who was born in Shaoxing, was a man who became a businessman, which caused a lot of discussion. Everyone else said that Zhou Renrong didn't know what to do, but it was a pity that he became famous. However, in Zhou Renrong's opinion, how much hardship has he endured for more than 30 years of studying, isn't it just for the sake of fine clothes and food? When a person is over twenty-five, his energy and memory decline rapidly. Zhou Renrong knew that he was not the material for the imperial examination, and when he saw that the situation was becoming more and more chaotic during the Chongzhen period, and there was no future as an official, he immediately became a businessman. It is a grain merchant who does it.

At this time, the fame of people has become an unimpeded golden signboard. In addition, Zhou Renrong's wrist and IQ are first-class, and after 12 years, Zhou Renrong, who is in his forties, is bringing a caravan into Beijing, and he is also called the No. 1 person.

This time, Zhou Renrong responded to the invitation of many wealthy businessmen in his hometown to sell southern goods into Beijing together. They all understood that after the siege of the Great War, there were countless business opportunities in the capital and even in the entire northern land, just waiting for the discerning people to dig into them.

Thinking about the goods store outside Tongzhou City, thinking about the business of the Beijing division back and forth, Zhou Renrong also had the heart to listen to the discussions of the people on the first floor.

It is said that with Zhou Renrong's identity, not to mention that it is just a private room on the second floor, it is no problem to wrap up the entire Qianyuan Teahouse. But Zhou Renrong prefers to find a secluded place on the second floor, looking at the crowd by the railing, which makes people sigh in their hearts: weirdos.

"Alas, it's really unpredictable, and it's a pity to be born. The battle Tartars attacked Shengjing, and Jiannu's Jingshi were all defeated. But when you encounter the plague, you are still blind! I heard that the report has been reported on the 37th, and all of them have been diagnosed with epidemics, and those who have hidden it in private do not know how many miles. Downstairs, a poor scholar in a long shirt said, shaking his head.

"In this way, this world-famous army...... Can't go on the expedition? A tall and thin man who was a little neatly dressed asked: "This Shanhaiguan is still in the hands of Wu Sangui's dog traitor!" ”

"Shanhaiguan is fine. A while ago, didn't the famous Flying Bear Battalion accompany the second assistant Wu Fu to supervise Jizhen? This is the place where Grandpa Qi trained the invincible army back then, and now there is also a strong army stationed. After the first battle of Wu Sangui's general soldiers, he no longer had the courage to make trouble. At this time, Dr. Tea Jin Dongsheng interjected and bowed to everyone.

"Dr. King is here! You have to tell us about it! ”

"That's it, the last time the prince fought in Seoul, I haven't finished talking about the prestige of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Doctor, come on!"

……

Everyone was gossiping, and they all greeted each other.

At this time, a rich man with an accent slightly different from everyone else sighed lightly and said, "What do you say, even the good man Chen Yongfu who repelled Dolgon, isn't it their part that was recruited this time?" followed, as well as the new entry into Beijing of the Guards Regiment Hu Zichen and the legendary Red Lady Li. The army of tens of thousands of new forces was defeated by this plague. Without the protection of strong soldiers, when Shanxi is defeated, those mud legs will enter Beijing City! ”

No one recognized this rich man, but what he said made sense, which gradually cooled the atmosphere.

Dr. Tea looked at this rough-skinned man who didn't look like a rich businessman, and rolled his eyes a few times, but found that the tall and thin man and the poor scholar in a long shirt were all looking at him with blank eyes, and said one after another: "Is that so? ”

"Naturally not. Didn't I say it, Jizhen is training an army. Counting the history forward, Grandpa Qi's army was stationed in Jizhen, and with the strength of the Mongolian Tartars, wasn't it cleaned up? Jin Dongsheng said in a slow tone.

The rich man looked worried about the country and the people: "The Qi family army is the Qi family army, how many years have they been ancient, and the last one was defeated in the hands of Jiannu ten years ago." No matter how much the Flying Bear Battalion can fight, it will only be the backbone of the 2,000-strong army. ”

"Your Highness has agreed to expand the army, it is a new guard regiment, and I heard that there are 8,000 people in the tenth month!"

"That's to put Hu Zichen's battalion in, and this recruitment notice is plastered all over the Beijing Division, to recruit those homeless people who are not afraid of death. Learn the method of the Great Song Dynasty to quell the chaos, but I don't want to think about it. The new expansion of 6,000 can only be fought by 2,000 veterans. Moreover, the soldiers of Jizhen have to take care of Shanhaiguan, and they will be content if they don't let Wu Sangui rush in, where will they have the spare strength to return to the Beijing Protector? ”

……

Dr. Tea was dumbfounded by this, and sat down in his chair, and even he himself couldn't help but doubt: "This Da Ming, is it really going to be over?" ”

The poor scholar in the long shirt said at this time: "More than two hundred years have passed in the Ming Dynasty, which year is not hard, and it has not been a year after year?" I really wanted to ignore that fame and apply for the Nancheng Police Bureau, and I heard that they were going to accept a literate official like me......"

"Can you cure the plague?" The rich man seemed to be smiling.

"I ...... I did. A while ago, a new yamen came out. What is it called the Environmental Health Department, I heard that it can be managed. A silly man said.

"This office is quite famous." The rich man was interested: "What are you doing?" You're going to apply? ”

"Yes. Give the silver of eight dollars a month, and the dog is a big man, a little lady, and two babies chew the grain. The naïve good man sounded the second half of the rich man's sentence, thought about it, and said, "I heard that it is street sweeping, digging ditches and ...... Pour out the manure. ”

"Haha...... Pour...... Dump manure. This dirty work is worth eight dollars a month. But...... Ha ha...... Can this cure the plague? This Da Ming, pills! As he spoke, the rich man shook his head, causing a lot of long sighs.

"Ahem......" A light cough sounded, and the shopkeeper walked in and said, "Don't talk about state affairs, don't talk about state affairs." In case it attracts Jinyi Weidong Factory, it is not a good match. ”

"The East Factory has long since declined, Jinyiwei ...... Where can I manage the small people? The rich man finished with a smile and said, "Shopkeeper, these seats, each add three pots of good tea, and the melon and fruit snacks are each ......."

"Take me to see Zhou Renrong!" The rich man walked to the corner and went up to the attic with him.

The rich man just left everyone's sight, and everyone called this man arrogant. No one paid attention to the rich man, under the guidance of Liang She, he walked to Zhou Renrong's seat.

"Please ......," Liangshe whispered, quietly leaving.

"Brother Fan is still as reckless as ever, and in front of everyone's eyes, he dares to say such a rebellious thing. Have a seat. Is the old man okay in Jiexiu? Zhou Renrong got up and greeted him with a smile.

"Brother Xian is worried, the old man is in good health. As for spontaneity...... Haha, how about talking bluntly. However, Brother Zhou Xian has not seen him for a few days, and he is even more dazzling. This rich man obviously knows Zhou Renrong.

And Zhou Renrong knew the identity of this man, and he couldn't help but be amazed by the courage of these Shanxi veterans.

This person's name is Fan Sanba. The name is inconspicuous and a bit vulgar. But this name has entered Shanxi, especially in Shanxi Jiexiu, which must be famous to everyone.

Because, the father of this Fan Sanba is the famous Fan Yongdou.

Fan Yongdou, the so-called head of the eight imperial merchants who became famous for thousands of generations and left a reputation for thousands of years!

"Own land...... Zhou Renrong's eyes shrank, and he was slightly surprised in his heart. He didn't expect that this Qianyuan Teahouse turned out to be the property of the Fan family. You know, he fell in love with this place at random.

Quietly refreshed the impression of these Jin merchants in his heart, Zhou Renrong smiled and said: "Let Brother Fan see it." Let's get down to business. Not long ago, I sent someone to spread the news, Mr. Fan should have understood, right? ”

"I understand. Trading and trading, each takes what he is good at, and each gets what he benefits. This is the duty of a businessman, and Zhou Xiandi's conditions are not excessive. Fan Sanba said slowly: "It turns out that the condition that Brother Zhou said is that this time Zhejiang businessmen will gather in Beijing to solve the problem of Zhejiang businessmen entering Beijing and sitting in Beijing, and not let the tooth people get in the way." In this way, the first batch of 400,000 stone grain sold into Beijing by Zhejiang merchants will leave Beijing and be transferred into Jinjin, of course, the price is negotiable. ”

"That's true." Zhou Renrong felt an abnormal aura in his heart. This is indeed the condition that Fan Sanba talked with Zhou Renrong earlier.

Zhou Renrong is a Zhejiang businessman, and it is quite convenient to do business in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It's just that although there are many officials in Beijing, Zhejiang people can't stand up to Beijing as the heart of the world, and all parties gather, not to mention Gyeonggi local, that is, Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi are all strong dragons. Therefore, Zhejiang businessmen in Beijing are not considered to be advantageous.

This time, Zhou Renrong took advantage of Zhu Cihong's new trade routes, especially after the sea routes were unblocked, which greatly facilitated the trade routes, so that he smelled the opportunity of the imminent development of commerce, so he attacked in a big way, taking advantage of the post-war demand to buy a large number of materials into Beijing, including not only traditional southern goods, but also a large number of daily necessities such as grain, rice, silk cloth, sauce, vinegar, tea and medicinal materials.

It's just that the businessmen from all sides smell the business opportunities, and the local businessmen feel the sweetness of the smell.

The merchant sits on Jia, and Zhou Renrong is a merchant and a dragon who crosses the river. But the dragon didn't dare to force the head snake of the land, and the head snake of the land was the tooth line.

In later generations, many real estate agents had a bad reputation, and this was the same in the Ming Dynasty.

Yaxing is an intermediary merchant who introduces transactions between buyers and sellers, and evaluates the quality and price of goods. Supposedly, in an environment of mutual distrust, it is very convenient to have a tooth dealer as an intermediary to bridge the relationship and facilitate trade.

But the bad thing is that if this tooth line relies on the power of the snake on the ground, and eats Party A and eats Party B, this bad thing will come.

Most of the time, the tooth people of the Ming Dynasty are talking about the official teeth, and these tooth people have the tooth cards and account books issued by the household, and they are naturally intermediary merchants with legal authority. That is to say, ordinary merchants will go all the way through five levels and cut six to transport the goods to the destination with the intention of making a lot of money, but they will find in vain that they can't sell it when they are finally transported!

Because, according to the law, merchants can only sell goods to the tooth people, and the tooth people will sell them.

Such a monopoly position will naturally make the tooth people scramble to manipulate prices, monopolize the market, buy low and sell high, and hoard. Unless Zhu Cihong's wartime state in Kaifeng made the tooth people useless and allowed others to slaughter, otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for the merchants to manipulate prices even if they wanted to, unless they were like Zhou Renrong now...... Get the tooth man.

Fan Sanba looked at Zhou Renrong in deep thought, chuckled, and couldn't help but think of the Qing envoy who had just cut off the tail of the money rat who had entered Beijing. (To be continued.) )