Uncle Hong Lou Rong

Chapter 199 The sisters are all married
Although everyone in the hall was eating and drinking, the atmosphere was weird.The voice of speaking is getting lower and lower, just like the students of later generations when facing the teacher pointing out someone to answer the question, one by one, they lower their heads and discuss softly with the people next to them.

Seeing this situation, Duan Lang, the county magistrate, was helpless, so he found two acquaintances to toast with Uncle Rong.Those who were named and saw the expressions of others next to them also hid their enthusiasm, and awkwardly toasted with Uncle Rong.

Jia Rong drank slowly, only to hear one of the old men say with a bitter face: "My lord, please clarify the purpose of gathering here today, everyone is not at ease drinking this wine at the moment."

He remembered this old man, whom Duan Lang had introduced emphatically before, saying that he was the patriarch of the Chen family in Xuyi.

This Chen family is amazing. Among the big families in Xuyi County, although it is not the most prosperous.But the Chen family has the largest industry and is a well-known silk merchant in Jiangnan Province.Chen's silk is not only supplied to the three major weaving bureaus of Jinling, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, but also sold throughout the country along the Huaihe River and the Canal, and even exported to Ryukyu, Dabazhou, Annan, Li Dynasty and other countries.

Brother Rong replied softly: "Since the old man said so, we will not play charades with everyone."

After hearing Jia Rong's voice, everyone at the same table fell silent.Seeing that the main table was quiet, the people at the next table also looked sideways.Uncle Rong said, "I invite everyone to come here today to discuss the future development of Xuyi."

Everyone at the table heard it and had different expressions.

Some people laughed secretly, this imperial envoy is really too young, after all, it is still for the construction of dams and gates for the Huaihe River.It is absolutely impossible for several big families to pay for it.

Someone whispered.

He whispered: "I guess it's the meritorious deed monument again. Which one of us knows better than this little imperial envoy how to coax people to donate money? These people from the imperial court only have a few ways to go back and forth."

"Isn't it? We have erected a few stone monuments in our town, what's the use? What year was the disaster hit, and our big families donated a lot of money?"

"These officials don't take money themselves, they always think about us lowly businessmen giving money, how can it make sense. In the past, the Jia family in Jinling was a wealthy family, and they made millions of taels of silver when they built ships in Jinling. 10 taels is nothing difficult."

"Have you heard about the recent incidents in Yangzhou? Their Jia family's relatives, the Lin family, have worked in Yangzhou for a few years as the inspecting salt censors. Even if Yangzhou pays 250 million taels of salt lessons every year, how much can the inspecting salt censors earn if they don't talk a year?" 10 taels. Those officials don’t know the hardships of the people, so they don’t pay for it themselves, and they always calculate the wealth of us small people.”

The head of the Li family in Xuyi smiled lightly and said: "Extremely, extremely. There is someone in our clan who is on duty at the Ministry of Water Transport, and he said that he earns tens of thousands of taels of silver a year. Can these imperial envoys be worse than this? Anyway, our king The clan has no money, everyone is very poor, and the whole clan can only scrape together 1000 taels of silver."

The patriarch of the Xuyi Wang family heard this, and felt envious.Said: "The descendants of our Li family are not up to the mark. Although there are many who work in the Hedao Yamen, they haven't bought much family property for the clan. Now they come to persuade me to donate money to the county government. It's really a waste of money."

Behind Jia Rong, Xiao Que'er repeated the voices of these important figures in a low voice.

The more he listened, the colder the smile on his face became.There are many wealthy people in the south of the Yangtze River, and Xuyi is located between Huai'an, Yangzhou, and Fengyang, and it is a land and water transportation fortress.

Jia Rong said: "To date, Xuyi county magistrate has received a total of 200 taels of silver from the patriarchs, clan leaders, and squires of various ethnic groups. After a few days of calculation, I will build a monument on the bank of the Huaihe River with this list of money, so that future generations of Xuyi can know about the various ethnic groups. Gentlemen and old people have the heart of the people."

Once Brother Rong said this, the discussion became louder.More of it was ridicule, and some people even said contemptuously: "It's nothing more than that."

Duan Lang's face was dark, and he wanted to reprimand but was afraid of offending these elders.Duan Yu watched the fun with a smile on his face.

A guard next to him asked, "Brother Yu, isn't he worried that Brother Rong will make a fool of himself?"

Duan Yu said with a smile: "Look at how confident he is, it's no wonder he can make a fool of himself. Businessmen pay more attention to profits, if Brother Rong is not prepared to make a fool of himself, why would he call this group of people?"

Jia Rong didn't care about the discussion of the crowd below, and asked the old man next to him, "How about Chen Laojue?"

Patriarch Chen chuckled twice, with deep meaning hidden in the corner of his eyes, he watched the crowd and shook his head secretly. "Since your lord has made a decision, we have no objection."

Jia Rong nodded and smiled and said, "Mr. Chen is polite. Xuyi has always been an important place for water and land transportation. Harnessing the Huaihe River is not only good for the court, but also for the people of Xuyi. The days are ahead."

Old Chen heard it strange, and asked doubtfully, "Your Excellency already has the 10 taels of silver for water control?"

Uncle Rong laughed lightly: "The clans in Xuyi are also suffering, so I can't be ashamed to ask you to pay more. So I thought of a way, rich businessmen from Huai'an, Yangzhou and other places will pay."

"Would they like it?"

"Yes, how can you not want to." Uncle Rong laughed loudly, so that everyone in the hall could hear clearly.He said again: "How could they not agree to something that can make more money? Maybe it is far more than the 10 taels that Xuyi County needs."

"Really?" Everyone showed disbelief on their faces.

There were also people hiding in the corner who snickered and mocked, "This imperial envoy has no choice but to comfort himself here."

Someone listened and laughed too.

"Actually, it's not that we don't want to take any more money. What if the imperial envoy tells us that we can donate some more money? After all, the imperial envoy is still a little young and not stable in his work."

"Yes, yes, although our family is poor, we can still afford one or two hundred taels of silver."

"..."

Duan Yu sneered, and asked the guard next to him to sit quietly.He said politely: "Husbands in the countryside, merchants and sluts, only have such a small vision. What are you doing with these people, and wait for Brother Rong to make moves later."

The patriarchs of the various clans in Xuyi and the gentry became more lively, and laughter filled the entire hall.

Jia Rong also smiled and asked everyone to drink more, and walked around with wine glasses from time to time.Only in this way can the guests enjoy themselves, so lively.

A few country gentry even proposed to take advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival to enforce a drinking order.

Brother Rong gave Duan Lang a wink, and asked the servants to serve good food and wine, and then called the singer and dancer who had prepared to come to the courtyard to dance under the moon.

"it is good!"

Jia Rong was drinking, her eyes were fixed on the graceful figures of the dancing girls, it would be better if she shouted a few times.

The patriarch of the Li clan frowned and said, "It's not right."

The patriarch of the Wang clan nodded. "It's so wrong."

Others also saw the problem.Now that he had drunk three rounds, the imperial envoy actually kept silent about the matter of money.

"Could it be possible that he can really ask for 10 taels from Huai'an and Yangzhou?"

"Who will pay the money?"

"What did he say exactly?"

The head of the Zhang family walked up to several people at some point, and said doubtfully, "It is said that they can earn more money."

After hearing the words of the head of the Zhang family, everyone fell silent immediately, looking at each other and their thoughts kept turning.

Can you really earn more money?
Jia Rong had a panoramic view of everyone's expressions in the hall, and listened to Xiao Que'er retelling the conversation of these guys, and the smile on his face became even wider.He laughed loudly and said: "This wine is specially bought from Shaoxing. These beauties are also the most famous girls from the Twelve Band in Yangzhou. It cost a lot of money to invite them from Yangzhou. Everyone should have a good time."

Jia Rong's appearance of not short of money made everyone even more confused.Although they also knew that tonight's wine money was not linked to the donation money, but Jia Rong's unconcerned appearance still made them feel drummed.

Especially that sentence can earn more money.

How should I make money?

Xuyi is close to Huaiyang and Jinling, and many people in the county are doing business outside.Silk from the Chen family, tea from the Wang family, and lacquerware from the Zhang family are well-known in Quan Dayan, not to mention Jiangnan.

Now thinking about that sentence that can make more money, I feel uncomfortable no matter how I think about it, and occasionally watching Jia Rong staring at the dancing girl shining brightly makes me feel uncomfortable.

The patriarch of the Li family bewitched: "As far as the big families in Xuyi are concerned, the Chen family is the richest. Our Li family only relies on rent collection and does not do business. Your Zhang family and Wang family can go to the imperial envoy with the Chen family to ask Ask, how to make more money."

After hearing this, several people glanced at the head of the Li family.Although the Li family does not do business, it is one of the largest families in Xuyi.In addition to the officials in the Ministry of Water Transport in the Li family, there are also one or two masters who are officials in Shenjing.Who dares to underestimate the Xuyi Li family.

The tea business of the Wang family is not small. The head of the Wang family sighed, and the head of the Zhang family dragged him back to the main table.

Seeing them coming, Jia Rong deliberately walked away and went in front of a group of female concubines who were playing, playing and singing.Seeing, hearing, and feeling at a close distance is really different.

Brother Rong thought about it, but couldn't figure out what those guys in Shenjing were thinking.Isn't it better to raise such a group of singers and dancers than to raise a troupe of actors?It would be nice if the dancers wore less clothes, just like the dancers of Li Chao in the previous life, the trousers were short to the thighs.

Jia Rong watched enthusiastically, while Xiao Que'er behind her was very dissatisfied with her puffed up face.Full of resentment: The front of this group of dancers is not big, huh...

"Pretty!"

Jia Rong didn't look like a kid from a big family at all, making everyone in the hall look sideways.

At this time, the elderly Chen clan head came over and said softly: "The management of the Huaihe River is related to the safety of the people of Xuyi. Your Excellency, don't ask us to do it. If you really don't want money, you can make the people of Xuyi happy."

When Jia Rong heard this, she secretly rolled her eyes.Do you also know that it is about the safety of the people of Xuyi?I don't want to pay any more.

He said: "Mr. Chen is right to be worried, but please don't worry, old man. If you really want to not return the money, it will also be a loss for the merchants in Huaiyang and Yangzhou. They have wasted such a good opportunity."

Mr. Chen asked puzzledly, "What kind of opportunity is it?"

Jia Rong chatted with the patriarch of the Chen family, and the squires, the patriarchs of the Wang family, Li family, Zhang family and other families, surrounded him curiously.They are really curious about the things that will make more money.

Uncle Rong pretended to be mysterious and said: "This matter has not been announced to the public, it should be kept secret."

"..."

Seeing the regret on Old Chen's face, he chuckled lightly and said: "If you really want to know, I can reveal a little bit. There should be adults who are officials in the old man's family, but I heard that today's war with Zhongshun Wangying According to the land policy, each locality can be awarded a real official of the fifth rank, the lower rank, and the upper rank of the ninth rank according to the number of acres of land changed from drought to water."

"This……"

Jia Rong didn't wait for Mr. Chen to speak, and said again: "Of course, donating silver has nothing to do with being appointed as an official. It's just that those who donate the most silver can give priority to buying celestial tribute ashes for camping. Next year, the number of acres of camping land can be used as a farm. Report to the state capital, and you can receive the imperial uniform after verification."

Is this actually true?

The heads of several families were silent after hearing this.Only they know how difficult it is to be a real official at the fifth rank and the ninth rank. Although the wealthy family can spend money to donate an official, but when there is no better way to donate an official, there is only an official body but no official position.

Jia Rong chuckled, knowing that this was not enough to attract them. After all, there are only a few places that can choose to be officials.These words were completely prepared for the Li family.

He continued: "I specifically asked the governor of the river channel and King Zhongshun to sell the naming rights of the newly built dams and sluices of the Huaihe River. Any businessman or family can participate in the purchase. There is a silk merchant in Yangzhou City who is very interested in this. It is planned to spend money to buy the name of a water storage reservoir and name it the Xiaojia Silk Reservoir. As a report, a monument will be erected on the reservoir and the banks of the Huaihe River to promote the Xiaojia Silk and Satin.”

"Promotion?"

"That's right, publicize it through stone inscriptions. Let all merchant ships and passers-by passing through the Huaihe River see the advantages of the Xiao family's silk and satin. This monument was erected by the imperial court and cannot be damaged or altered for ten thousand years." Brother Rong laughed.

When Mr. Chen heard this, his old eyes widened, and the heads of the families behind him were even more stunned.

Can you do this?

After a long time, Mr. Chen almost lost his breath.He knows about the Xiao family. It is said that the Xiao family has produced a talented servant surnamed Lin in recent years, and married all the Xiao family sisters at the same time.Now under the care of the servant, the silks and satins of the Xiao family have crushed the silks and satins of the Chen family in Xuyi.

Seeing Chen's old appearance, the others felt sad for the Chen family.The Xuyi section of the Huaihe River is an important place connecting the east, west, north and south. When the introspectors from Huainan saw this monument erected by the imperial court, they probably chose to buy all the silks and satins from the Xiao family.

Mr. Chen took a deep breath and calmed down.Asked: "Do you sell all the sluices and dams along the Huaihe River?"

"It's not selling sluices and dams. It's about exchanging donations for the naming rights of a sluice and dam. At the same time, the river governor's office wants to thank you by engraving a stele on the Huaihe sluice to advertise it."

Brother Rong laughed, and took out another sluice design drawing.

Pointing to one place, he said: "This is the place where the inscription is engraved, and all ships passing by here can see it. I also think about everyone, for fear that others may not see clearly, I also specially thought of something like 'silk and satin is better for the Xiao family'." Words of the same kind are engraved on the back. Not only that, but all the content has to be painted with paint that is not easy to be washed off by rainwater in order to be more conspicuous."

Everyone was like a wooden chicken, foolishly did not come back to their senses.

Jia Rong spoke with gusto, as if showing off.Tell me a few highly targeted advertising slogans you have thought up one by one.

only……

None of them are from Xuyi County.

"Is this inappropriate?" Old Chen asked with a wry smile.

　Ask for a reward, ask for a monthly ticket
　　
　
(End of this chapter)