Tomorrow is the Shangyuan Festival, and Kaifeng City is preparing for a carnival.

At the beginning of the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, the old customs of the five generations were inherited, and the Shangyuan Festival was lit for three days. In the fifth year of Qiande, Taizu issued an edict to increase the lighting of the lanterns on the seventeenth and eighteenth nights of the first month, and the Shangyuan Lantern Festival in Kaifeng Mansion increased to five days.

At this time, in the streets and alleys, lanterns were picked up in front of every house, and even the big girls and little daughters-in-law walking on the street had special small lanterns on their heads.

In addition to the royal street in front of Xuande Gate, the Bianhe River is the most lively place, not only the big willow tree hangs a variety of lanterns, many larger restaurants in front of it, in addition to the color building in the past, there are also several lamp mountains.

In a small wine shop by the river, Sun Wanglou looked at the lively crowd outside, and said apologetically to Xu Chang: "Director, I didn't expect that there were no vacancies in several big restaurants around, so I had to ask for wine in this small wine shop, and I was ashamed!" ”

"You are also a small broker, it is not easy to make some money, it is cheap and affordable here, just suitable for us to sit."

Xu Chang said as he sat down at a table.

Called the little guy to ask for wine and food, the two casually said a few words, Sun Wanglou said: "The director asked me to find a vacant land a few days ago, and I already have eyebrows in the past two days, and after the Shangyuan Festival, it should be settled." ”

Xu Changxi said: "So fast? This matter is entrusted to you, and it is really the right person! A few days ago, we were going to expand the mansion outside the city, and I don't know how much it cost to buy the surrounding land, which is still outside the city gate. ”

"Wanshengmen, even outside the city, is much more lively than the northwest of the city. Don't hide it from the supervisor, around my noodle shop, there are all vegetable patches, and there is not even a personal home. Buying land there, naturally, is much easier. ”

The area in the northwest of Kaifeng City is vast and sparsely populated, and it has been passed down from the previous dynasty, which is far from being comparable with the places where every inch of land is expensive in the east and south. Xu Chang knew this, but he didn't expect it to be so easy to buy land.

As the new year passed, the three divisions were to open several new shops in the northwest of the city, mainly to make the novelties that Xu Ping had brought from Yongzhou. Around these field affairs, the Xu family will also open some factory shops that are ready to make money, and this thing is what Xu Chang is doing.

At this time, the powerful people in the capital had few intentions in these industrial and commercial industries, and their main business of making money was mainly concentrated in three industries.

The first is naturally the introduction of shops and some related supporting businesses. However, the operation of this industry is quite complicated, and it is a thorn in the side of many officials in Beijing, and there are basically no powerful families who come forward directly, and they are entrusted to professional cadres, who hide behind their backs and directly eat profit dividends, and provide support in secret.

The second industry is the housing leasing industry, including the rental of private housing and the rental of commercial hotels and warehouses. There are a large number of immigrants in the capital, and this industry has little risk and stable profits, and is favored by powerful families. In Kaifeng's real estate industry, the first major practitioner is naturally the house shop under the three divisions, and the second major force is the house of these powerful people.

The third largest industry is the destocking, also known as the quality depot, but the north and south are called differently, but it actually means the same thing. The solution is basically the pawnshop of later generations, and it is also engaged in usury business. Since officials are prohibited from lending, this industry also relies on cadres, and officials' homes provide capital and sit on profits.

Xu Ping's family is already one of the richest families in the capital, but they are not involved in these three industries at all.

The main business of the Xu family is still the planting and animal husbandry of Zhongmu Manor, and the 10,000 hectares of wasteland received from the supervisor of Chunze were enough for Xu Ping to develop for a lifetime.

The second major industry is naturally the liquor and liquor sales that Xu Zheng relied on to start in the year, and there are hundreds of thousands of troops in the capital, and this consumer group alone can bring rich profits to the Xu family's liquor.

With the return of Xu Ping, the Xu family's industry will also expand, but it will still focus on industry.

Since the turn of the year, Xu Chang has been looking for land in the northwest of the city, preparing to open several workshops. These industries do not compete with other powerful families, nor do they have much to do with the government, so they are relatively unremarkable.

Sun Wanglou opened a rice noodle shop, and the noodles mainly relied on the water mill on the Wuzhang River in the northwest of the city, and the people there were familiar. The northwest corner of Kaifeng has a small population and is suitable for starting construction, so Xu Chang entrusted him to find a suitable vacant land.

After eating a few more glasses of wine, Sun Wanglou smacked his lips and sighed: "Director, your official is now the deputy envoy of salt and iron, and the salt case and tea case are all under his own control. casually pour some tea to attract salt, and turn your hand to hundreds of thousands of copper coins. It's easy to make money, but it's so troublesome, and you have to hire workers and build a house on the ground, why bother? ”

Xu Chang said: "You don't know, our family has a shallow foundation, where do you dare to reach out for that kind of money?" Our family officials are young and junior scholars, and they don't have any strong family support, and they are promoted quickly, I don't know how many people are staring at them. Besides, you just look at the ease of making money from the shop, but you don't know how much capital it takes. ”

Sun Wanglou laughed out loud when he heard Xu Chang's words: "The director said that the deputy envoy of the third division will lose money in this business?" That money is like autumn leaves, and the ground is swept casually home! ”

"Where is it so easy?" Xu Chang shook his head with a smile.

Sun Wanglou was a little drunk, and said with a glare: "Why is it not easy?" Has the supervisor heard that the tea method of the Southeast Tea Farm is going to change recently? Isn't this the chance to make a fortune! ”

"Even you've heard about it, so of course I know. Although my family officials don't talk about politics when they go home, they also talk about it in the governor's house of other ministers. This time, it was Li Xianggong who presided over the change, he was careful in his work, and all aspects were taken into account, where there is a gap to make money easily! ”

"Alas, Director, your family is all honest people, and you don't know the doorway in the middle." Sun Wanglou sighed and shook his head. After knowing Xu Chang these days, he also saw that the people of the Xu family are very well-behaved, even if they climb up to the powerful relatives like Uncle Li Yonghe, even if Xu Ping is a high-ranking official, he still doesn't do anything out of line.

Xu Chang did not speak. After returning from Xu Ping, the Xu family can be regarded as an upstart in the capital, and many of the people who come and go are the homes of high-ranking officials and nobles. Xu Chang has had a lot of contact with other people's supervisors, and seeing that some supervisors are generous and have rich family resources, it is impossible not to make a little waves in his heart. But he still likes to live a down-to-earth life now, although the income of Xuchang in the Xu family is not as good as those wealthy businessmen, it is still better than ordinary businessmen, and he lives a solid life.

After another glass of wine, Sun Wanglou put his head on the table, lowered his voice and said to Xu Chang: "Director, do you know how those Jiaoyin shops make money now?" ”

"How can I make money? Knowing that the tea law is going to change, it is nothing more than grabbing food from the mouths of the merchants who entered the middle of Shaanxi. I also know that the court's allowance is relatively cost-effective for tea merchants, and the Jiaoyin shop leads the merchants and tea merchants at both ends, and the silver money will be credited as soon as the tea is reversed. But in the end, there is a lot of capital pressed there, and it is not easy to discount the tea if you want to change the tea. ”

Sun Wanglou hiccuped and shook his head again and again: "The director is an honest man, and he can only think of an honest man's methods." Those people who intersect with shops are like ghosts, how can they use this method? ”

"What can they do?"

"I don't know what they're going to do this time, but I know it in the first year of the Heavenly Sage. At the moment of the change of the old and new tea laws, the people who handed over the introduction shop received the tea guides from the merchants who entered the middle school, and colluded with the officials of the goods to directly replace the old tea introduction with tea at the joint that had not been carried out in the new tea law. In this way, not only did they save the discount of the new law, but they also had the tea in their hands, and when the price of tea rose after the new law, they made a lot of money. ”

Xu Chang was taken aback: "This can also be made?" When changing the tea method, the goods are all suspended to exchange tea, how can they change the tea? ”

"Naturally, there are officials in the goods service to do the internal response, and there must be tea merchants to take over, so that this kind of business can be done. That's why I said, the official in charge of your family is now in charge of the tea case, how can he not do this kind of business? You don't need your official to come forward, or even need him to know, just come forward and say a word, and a large amount of money will flow into your house. ”

"Just say a word? Why? I didn't count the official family again! ”

"Those officials are under the control of your officials, and they only hope that you will have the opportunity to say a good word for them in front of the officials in the future, and they will have a chance to stand out. You know, they can't deliver the money to your officials. ”

Listening to Sun Wanglou's words, Xu Chang suddenly understood a little in his heart. Why do some subordinates of high-ranking officials with real power in the capital have such a solid net worth, it turns out that a casual sentence is also valuable.

Xu Ping is a person who makes his own decisions about major matters, but if Xu Chang deliberately says good things for a certain official, he can still affect Xu Ping's attitude towards that person. This is the trust in the family, and there is no reason for it. And this influence is everywhere, if Xu Chang is willing to exchange this for money, with Xu Ping's status, it is not a small number.

In fact, many officials in the capital don't care about housework, and those who have business are also handed over to their trusted subordinates to take care of, and they don't know that their government affairs are inadvertently exchanged for money. And the more inconspicuous the trivial, the more inconspicuous this power realization is, and the officials do not have any psychological burden.

Like Zhang Qi, when he became a privy envoy, he was careful, and every copper coin in the family was seen to death, and even the wages of the servants in the family tried their best to earn it back, but they did nothing in the business field in the capital, and it became a joke in the eyes of others. A family that really makes money, as long as it can use people, is good.

The Xu family naturally didn't need to make money with this method, but Xu Chang listened to Sun Wanglou's words, and finally slowly touched the doorway of the powerful family in the capital. (To be continued.) )