"Mr. is famous all over the world for his poetry, and he acts like poetry, imaginatively, without a trace. Mrs. Fang said, Liu Han shook her head slightly: "Madam misunderstood, Wang Bo is Sheng Huai's long history, holds Sheng Huai's secrets, and ,..."

Liu Han pondered before saying: "Actually, I recently got a piece of news that Wang Bo's seventh uncle, the seventh master of the Wang family, is called Wang Ze, who came to Yangzhou recently, and I am very curious about what he came to Yangzhou to do." ”

Mrs. Fang nodded lightly, frowning slightly: "A few years ago, I went to Jizhou with my late husband, and went to the Wang family to see the ancestor of the Wang family, although I haven't seen this Wang Qiye, but I have heard that he has a loose personality, likes poetry and books, and is not keen on family affairs, Mr. Liu, I don't know why I am interested in him?"

Liu Han shook his head: "I and Wang Xu fought fiercely in the imperial capital, maybe it was because the grass and trees were all soldiers, Wang Ze came to Yangzhou at this time, I always felt that it was not so simple, so I wanted to meet this person, however, this is not a task, it is my private matter, please ask Mrs. to help." ”

Mrs. Fang was slightly contemplative, then nodded and said, "Okay, I'll inquire." ”

Liu Han picked up the teacup and thanked him: "Thank you!"

Mrs. Fang smiled: "My lord is too polite. ”

After two cups of tea, Mrs. Fang got up to say goodbye, Liu Han didn't send it, still looking out of the window, looking at the dock, the dock was slightly depressed compared to the previous days, and some porters were chatting boringly on the dock.

Gazing intently, he suddenly felt that Changchun Lake in winter had a unique flavor, the cold wind, the lonely geese, and the small boat, constituting a beautiful picture.

There was another burst of laughter from next door, Liu Han frowned slightly, got up and stood up to open the door, just as the door next to him also opened, Saiyim's huge body led the way out, and bumped into Liu Han head-on, Saiyi was slightly stunned, looked at him, and said with a smile: "Isn't this Wu Kun, Brother Wu." ”

"I'm afraid the shopkeeper has recognized the wrong person, in Wu Xiong, not Wu Kun. Liu Han hugged his fists and laughed happily.

Saim was slightly stunned, looked at it again, slapped his head with his big hand, and said with a smile: "Blame me, blame me, Brother Wu, although you don't know me, but I have been famous for Brother Tai for a long time, and I have always wanted to know Brother Tai. ”

Liu Han smiled bitterly, and scolded in his heart, is Lao Tzu very famous in Yangzhou? This guy is getting better and better at talking, he pretended to be enthusiastic and smiled: "The name of the shopkeeper, no one in Yangzhou knows, Xiao Ke also wanted to get acquainted with him, but he didn't want to meet him today." ”

Saim laughed and patted him on the shoulder: "Let's be fated, go, go, mellow Xianglou, I invite you to drink, I heard that Brother Tai and the Gu family Jin family cooperated to open a salt number, and the business is prosperous, and Brother Tai has to take care of the trumpet business." ”

Saim didn't shy away at all, he went straight, his voice was loud, and he could be heard all over the teahouse, and many people looked up and looked at Liu Han's expression a little embarrassed.

"What the shopkeeper said there, Huitong Money Bank is all over the world, I just do a little business, and I ask the shopkeeper to take care of it. Liu Han replied helplessly.

"Hehe, it's easy to say, it's easy to say. Saim smiled and pulled him downstairs, Liu Han had no choice but to follow, a few people went all the way out of the teahouse, Saiim's carriage came, Liu Han broke free from Saiem's hand lightly.

"Brother, please!" Saim said, Liu Han hesitated a little and got into Saiem's carriage, but Saim turned to another person who was traveling with him and said, "Brother Qi, Brother Chu, let's say goodbye, Ming'er will come to the store, let's sign the contract." ”

"Good! good!" the two of them also clasped their fists and saluted, and Saim stood still and watched the two go first.

Although Saim was fat, his movements were clumsy but very flexible, and he climbed into the carriage and sat next to Liu Han, this carriage was not a four-wheeled carriage like the imperial capital, but a two-wheeled carriage.

Commanding a mellow Xianglou, the coachman shook the reins lightly, the carriage started slowly, and after walking out of the road, Saim said: "How about it, the business is still going well, I have heard, then Jin Liang went around to buy coarse salt, can the silver still be together? I can give you a point." ”

Liu Han smiled, and only said after half a sound: "The shopkeeper has such a big business, why don't you even have a carriage." ”

"The northerners ride horses, the southerners walk boats, this is the south of the Yangtze River, it is Yangzhou. Saim laughed, "What I said, it's doable." ”

"The shopkeeper is well-informed enough," Liu Han said in a deep voice: "However, this has to be agreed by Jin Liang, and he is responsible for the operation of the salt number." ”

Saim smiled: "Of course, but I talked to him, and he said that he wanted to get the consent of you and Brother Gu, Brother Wu, you can talk." ”

Liu Han laughed dryly twice, did not answer, and Saim was not in a hurry, the two were silent, as if they were trying to see whose patience was better.

Mellow Xianglou was not very far from the dock, and in silence, the carriage had already arrived.

Saim felt a little surprised, stretched out his head to take a look, and then slowly came down, Liu Han followed behind him, and the two of them Shi Shiran walked into the restaurant, and Saim called the private room very angrily.

"Steamed sea bass, lion's head, tofu soup, boiled dried shreds, fried two side dishes, two jars of twenty-year-old daughter red. ”

Saim ordered food aggressively, Xiao Er went out quickly, Saim looked at Liu Han, Liu Han also looked at him, and the two of them showed a smile almost at the same time.

"How's it going?" asked Saim in a low voice.

Liu Han sighed softly, and then asked, "I saw a guard by your side last time, why haven't you seen it today?" ”

"Oh," Saim was slightly stunned, and then smiled: "He has something to go to Xuzhou." ”

Liu Han frowned slightly: "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," said Saiem, "I transferred a sum of silver from Yangzhou to Chang'an, and this silver was asked for by the imperial court, and he went to escort it." ”

"How much?" Liu Han asked, Saim smiled, and was about to speak, Xiao Er came in with a teapot and brought tea to the two of them, and only after Xiao Er went out, Saiyi said, "Eight hundred thousand taels." ”

Liu Han nodded slightly, thought about it and asked, "It doesn't matter, right?"

"It's okay," Saim said with a smile: "The Lu family's Yu family has invested a total of three million taels of silver, and now I'm worried about how to use this silver." ”

Liu Han sneered, and then asked, "I heard that Sheng Huai has also become a shareholder?"

Saim shook his head: "He wanted to, but I didn't dare to accept it, originally I didn't accept anyone to buy shares, but Jiangnan people were xenophobic and could only accept the shares of the Lu family's Yu family, and the king of Huainan also wanted to buy shares, but I didn't accept it." ”

"Clever!" Liu Han gave him a thumbs up, Saim smiled, and he leaned in front of Liu Han: "I said, palm... , Brother Wu, you need silver, what I have is here, we can cooperate. ”

Before the words fell, the door opened, and the two little two came in with a plate of dishes, put the dishes down, and soon a third guy came in the back, bringing two jars of daughter red.

"Brother, this altar belongs to you," Saim boldly lifted a jar of wine and put it in front of Liu Han, Liu Han hurriedly excused himself: "The shopkeeper, you are too polite, this meal..."

"Don't fight with me, although we meet for the first time, I am very optimistic about your salt number, I hope we can establish a long-term cooperative relationship, you can rest assured, in terms of interest, I will definitely give you a discount." Saim was very enthusiastic, Xiao Er didn't say a word on the side of the dishes, and then turned around and went out, Liu Han was just about to speak, the door opened again, and two more dishes were sent, and then Xiao Er respectfully said that the dishes were ready.

"Okay, go down. Saim happily threw out a silver ticket, and Xiao Er happily put the silver ticket away.

"This Yangzhou restaurant," Saim said in a low voice: "Although the Defu Building is good, but the Gu family, the others, either the Gu family, or the Yu family, just this mellow building, no one's, just a restaurant, brother, you want to treat in the future, just come here, clean!"

Liu Han smiled and arched his hand: "Understood! Thank you, thank you." ”

"Try this, steamed sea bass, it's a must in this restaurant. Saim said and sandwiched chopsticks and fish meat for Liu Han, and then pinched a large piece for himself.

Liu Han smiled, and when he mentioned the wine jar to pour him wine, Saim hurriedly said, "That's yours, let's drink each." ”

Liu Han smiled and poured himself a few glasses of wine, Liu Han asked, "Do you have any business in Shenghuai?"

"Why not, he took more than 300,000 taels of silver before and after me. Saim said.

Liu Han was slightly stunned, and Saim smiled: "It's all returned, and there is only one last sum left, 30,000 taels of silver." Saim said.

Liu Han gave a thumbs up: "The shopkeeper is arrogant, and even his business dares to do it." ”

"What don't you dare, I'm not afraid to tell you, there is no business in this world that I don't dare to do, I have a strong reputation, besides, let's do fair business, clear real price, no one will deceive anyone. "Saim is very arrogant and doesn't care at all.

Liu Han nodded, and was about to speak, Sai Yimu suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Besides, who is afraid of whom, Gu Wei spent a lot of effort and failed to drive Sheng Huai away, but if Sheng Huai owes me money, let him get out of the house in three days." ”

Liu Han suddenly became alert, staring at him, and Saim smiled proudly: "The strength of the contempt is strong, if you want to give silver, who of us is afraid of whom." ”

Liu Han shook his head slightly: "The shopkeeper has always been careful, how could he do such an unwise thing, I shouldn't have heard this." ”

"Yes, yes. Saim said repeatedly, smiled and said, "Drink some wine, talk nonsense, nonsense." ”

"I heard that the palace is very dissatisfied with Sheng Huai, if it weren't for Taishi Pan's obstruction, the emperor would have removed him from his post and put him in the Tingwei Mansion for punishment. Liu Han said in a low voice.

"I know this," Saim nodded, "With Taishi Pan in Shangshutai, Master Sheng is as stable as Mount Tai." ”

"Not necessarily. Liu Han shook his head and said, "However, the shopkeeper of the race has a wide range of contacts and knows a lot more than me." ”

Saim smiled and nodded immodestly: "That's it, brother, let's join forces to win a place in Yangzhou's salt industry." ”

"Thank you, thank you. Liu Han smiled and said, "However, let's talk about it, one cent per year, okay?"

"Annual interest?!" Saim's small eyes widened, and he drank three glasses of wine in a row, and his head shook like a rattle: "Brother, brother, this is not good, do you know how much the interest rate in Yangzhou is? One cent, five to two cents a month, I will give you one point, which is already very low." ”

"One cent a month!" Liu Han was so surprised that his hair almost stood on end.

Black! It's so dark! It's fucking black!

Looking at Saim's chubby face, Liu Han smiled bitterly: "Shopkeeper Sai, I really don't dare to call the shots about this interest." ”

Saimu laughed and said: "It's okay, you can inquire all over Yangzhou, that family has such fairness as me, those usury, all of them are three or four cents per month, this Yangzhou economy is prosperous, much stronger than the imperial capital, the circulation speed of silver is much faster, and whether it is salt or silk, the profit is forty to fifty percent." ”

Liu Han was shocked again, the profit of salt is actually four or five percent, the profit of silk and cloth is as high as three or four percent, in the imperial capital, the profit of cloth is only three percent, this is still his use of a new technology and new loom, reducing the loss, this is the profit, I didn't think this Yangzhou is higher.

"Shopkeeper Sai's good calculation," Liu Han said indispensably, he guessed that Saim's business was probably mainly short-term loans, at most a month, and more than a month was rare.

Liu Han opened his mouth to persuade, but after thinking about it, forget it, let them worry about other people's business, as long as they can bring their own down.

"Shopkeeper, our profits are very thin, at most two percent of the profit, one percent for you, we drink the northwest wind." ”

"Don't you still have a percentage? Saim replied without the slightest shame, Liu Han smiled bitterly, put down the wine glass, and said: "Brother, if you do this, what else do we earn, I can bring it, but whether it can be done, I don't know, thank you for the wine and food of the shopkeeper, in the next..."

Liu Han got up to leave, but Saim hurriedly got up to stop him, and said with a smile: "Brother Wu, let's talk again, talk again." ”

Liu Han sat down helplessly, Saim stopped talking about business, and frequently persuaded to drink, Liu Han did not refuse, a jar of wine was quickly wiped out, and the dishes on the table were also seventy-seven, eighty-eight, but most of the delicacies on the table were packed into Saimu's big belly.

After a full meal and wine, Saim mentioned it again, and he obviously wanted Liu Han and their salt to borrow money from Huitong Bank.

"I said, shopkeeper, we are just a small salt number, this Yangzhou has more salt numbers than us, why do you have to find us?" Liu Han asked rhetorically.

Saim said with a smile: "Brother, I am very optimistic about your salt number, Brother Jin buys coarse salt all over the world, but what can be sold is refined salt, and those coarse salts are gone, hehe, Brother Wu, we discerning people will not tell lies, what is the price difference between this coarse salt and refined salt? More than ten times, even if there is some loss in it, at most it is only thirty percent, brother, this is a piece of fat." ”

Liu Han didn't speak, the two of them stared at each other for two minutes before Liu Han shook his head: "Shopkeeper, this business is very difficult, making money is our ingenuity, besides, we don't necessarily need silver." ”

Saim shook his head: "No, no, brother, you need it, Jin Liang has come to me twice, and it was originally negotiated, two points of interest, but I don't know that the leakage of that dog day, Huaiyang will find him, and only give one and a half points of interest, however, Huaiyang will ask for the underwriting of your salt, the price, hehe, I won't say it, you go back and ask Jin Liang to know." ”

Liu Han couldn't help but be secretly shocked, why didn't Jin Liang tell him about such a big thing, they only met a few days ago, and Jin Liang didn't say a word.

"No way, I saw him the day before yesterday, no, three days ago. Liu Han shook his head and said.

"Three days, it's been a long time," Saim sneered, "Dude, you better know more about the situation." ”

Liu Han was silent for a while, nodded and said: "So, thank you, in return, this time it is one point, and next time it will be returned within a month, eight cents, three months, one point, six months, one point and two points, how about it?"

Saim blinked his eyes, seemed to be in pain, and sighed: "Well, man, you can't find any cheaper interest than this." ”

Liu Han smiled: "Deal." ”

Saim sighed and stretched out his hand, and kept saying, "I'm still too soft-hearted, I can't do this in the future, I can't do this." ”

Liu Han couldn't help laughing, the two of them came out one after the other, Saim paid the bill, and when he arrived outside the restaurant, Saim recovered, as usual, smiling, saying goodbye to Liu Han, the two smiled knowingly, and then turned around and got into the car.

Liu Han watched the carriage leave, and then Shi Shiran walked to the river, called a boat, and left unhurriedly.

After the two of them left, a middle-aged man came out from the side of their private room, the man took a piece of paper to the back, handed it to the shopkeeper, and after the shopkeeper looked at it slightly, he copied it again, and then called a small servant, who took it, turned around and left.

Liu Han sat cross-legged on the bow of the boat, his expression was very leisurely, there were not many boats on the river, not many people were willing to come out on this cold day, the boat rowed hard, and the oars made a rattling sound in the water.

Turning a corner, a small boat came over, there were two women standing on the boat, a woman in front, holding a pipa in her arms, wearing a red fabric and white fox fur trimmed with a big fu, the woman's face was white and pretty, but there was a faint gloom between her eyebrows;

The two boats staggered by, Liu Han couldn't help but look back, and asked with a slight contemplation: "What a beauty! This is the woman from the Qinglou? ”

"The guest officer hasn't been in Yangzhou for a long time, this is this year's new science and technology exploration flower, the purple smoke girl of Jinselou. Zhouzi said with a smile.

"Oh, it turned out to be her!" Liu Han remembered and couldn't help but admire: "It's really worthy of the name." ”

On that day, Ziyan hung out three couplets at the door of the Qinglou, Liu Han secretly helped Gu Heng to pair two couplets, as for the third couplet, it looked at Gu Heng's literary talent, but in hindsight, Gu Heng probably didn't cross that door.

"Let's have a beauty in Yangzhou," Zhouzi said: "That's it for this Xie Yuan, the guest officer hasn't seen Oiran and Bangyan yet." ”

"This Oiran and Bangyan belong to that Qinglou again?" asked Liu Han arrogantly.

"This Oiran is the Yunxia girl of Xiangmanlou, this Xiangmanlou is one of the best green buildings in Yangzhou, it is said that it costs ten taels of silver to go in and drink tea, obediently, ten taels of silver, enough for us to live for half a year. ”

Zhouzi smacked his tongue, Liu Han didn't bother him, let him continue: "This fragrance is all over the building, the beauty is like a cloud, every girl is ashamed of the moon, like a fairy in the sky." ”

Zhouzi digressed as he spoke, and Liu Han didn't correct it, so he let him continue.

(End of chapter)