Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 140 3.47 The so-called "Four Great Masters of Jinling" have become history

Volume Three

3.47 The so-called “Four Great Masters of Jinling” have become history

"Back to my aunt, in the late twelfth month of last year, I received a message from my wife, saying that I will come to the capital this spring. I will naturally answer that I will take the young master and the young lady with me." Zhang Dehui replied respectfully, "Other things are easy to say, but I have to make arrangements nearby. One yard was a little more troublesome, but fortunately this is Hanlin Street, and most of them are not rich, so I paid some money and bought the three west buildings."

"Oh?" Zhou Yang was really curious this time, "I remember that the three families in the west are all poor people who claim to be clean. I even asked specifically that they can live here only because of the blessings of their ancestors. If they follow their own rules, With such a salary, I'm afraid it would be difficult to eat; even so, both families are extremely poor. When I first moved here, I couldn't even get in even if I came to visit with gifts."

"If my uncle had a different approach, it wouldn't be difficult to catch up with him." Zhang Dehui said while holding back a smile, "It's true as my uncle said, these two families are poor, but they are not fools. Let's just say that you are close to this family in the west. He is nearly forty years old. , I have been in poverty for more than ten years in the Inspectorate and have not been able to get ahead. He was also a young hero with a Jinshi background. If he can survive any longer, he may not be able to survive.

The Xue family was an imperial merchant registered with both the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and had its own way of buying an official position. In addition, the old imperial envoy was originally from a major, so he helped him contact the Ministry of Civil Affairs and set up a practice of sending colleagues to the outside world. It was not difficult to find a child, but there was no one to recommend him, and the price was a lot higher. This process alone cost nearly 3 taels of silver. In the name of "seeking words and polishing his pen," he gave him 5000 taels. The yard was bought at market value. "

"Where's that house further to the west?" Zhou Yang shook his head helplessly. As the saying goes, "everything in the world is for profit." But this "profit" refers to more than just money. He was a bit naive, "I remember the house over there." He is poorer, more stinky and tougher, and he is even more 'noble' than this old imperial envoy, who is an old man from the Hanlin Academy!"

"Pfft..." Zhang Dehui couldn't hold it back any longer and laughed for a while before saying, "I'm afraid I didn't expect that this family took the initiative to contact me after hearing about the old slave helping the old imperial envoy to the west. It was also a fellow student. He didn't know much about it. Because the place was inferior and he only spent a little more than 2 taels, he impatiently sold the yard and left, even at a much cheaper price.

The westernmost household is simpler, and it is purely something passed down from the ancestors. The descendants have long been embarrassed and want to sell it for money. Originally, the two families in the middle had a long-term friendship with the westernmost household, and they have been trying not to let him go too far. ;Now these two families are gone, the young master sold them very happily, and the four households in this street are all under our name. "

Zhou Yang:.
"Master, let's have tea!" Fortunately, Qingwen brought a tea tray at this time, which relieved him a lot of embarrassment, "Listen to Manager Zhang, will Mrs. How are you?"

"It should be." Shaking his head helplessly, Zhou Yang pointed at Zhang Dehui and motioned for Qingwen to watch the tea, "No wonder for more than half a month, I have been hearing that the neighbors next door are busy with renovations. I thought that this poor man had money, but I didn't expect it. The house was sold, and no one even knows where it went!"

"Speaking of repairs, I have an idea. I wonder if I should talk about it or not?" He stood up respectfully and took the tea bowl from Qingwen's hand. After thanking him specially, Zhang Dehui only dared to take a sip and put it down, "This small street The four-jointed houses above were probably all built together when the Zhou Dynasty was founded. They are basically the same in shape and decoration, but they can be connected together."

"Oh?" Zhou Yang's heart moved, and he glanced at Zhang Dehui meaningfully, without any intention of stopping him, "Go on."

"The four courtyards are behind the inner courtyard, and there is an aisle between them and the back wall. My slave wants to connect the aisles of these four courtyards with just one arch." Zhang Dehui said with a smile, "In this way, When the wife and young master move in, although there are two courtyards outside, they will just be treated as one family inside."

"You old guy, you've tried your best." Zhou Yang pointed at him and smiled, and understood what he meant, "Okay, just do as you say, don't make too much noise, if one day my wife really Bring Brother Wenlong and Sister Bao here so that I can visit them conveniently; the yard on the far west side is also tidied up so that there will be more slaves in the future, so we won’t have no place to arrange them.”

"This old slave is a slave of the Xue family. Two generations of my ancestors have served me and my great-grandfather, so naturally I will not forget my duty!" Zhang Dehui said respectfully, "To be honest with you, this matter in Beijing, this old slave basically pays monthly At the end of the month, we all gathered together and took our own business route to report back to my wife. I guess this is why my wife was in a hurry to go to Beijing.

It was not convenient for the old slave to talk about the young master's situation behind his back, but he was grateful to his uncle for taking care of him. He just said that if he had been a bit more generous, he might have let him go, but his uncle even hesitated. Even if it didn't happen, he was killed. The old slave asked himself that he had some experience. It was the only time in his life that someone like my uncle could receive more than 200 million taels of silver without blinking an eye. "

What he said was actually vague, that is, Zhou Yang's affairs in the capital. He basically reported all details to the Xue family in Jinling, which must have included his close relationship with Dongfang Bing. Affected by this, Wang Shuying and Maybe Xue Baochai couldn't sit still and had the idea of ​​going to Beijing. This is human nature.

As for the so-called "just a family inside" when renovating the house, it actually hints at the marriage between Zhou Yang and Xue Baochai. Zhang Dehui knows how good Xue Pan is. If this uncle really has the idea of ​​denying his debt, the Xue family really has no idea. No matter what, only when the two families are bound can the Xue family truly gain a foothold.

Zhou Yang himself, on the other hand, obviously has a better choice, that is, not to mention Li Wan and Princess Yongchang secretly. Although Weiyuan Houfu only has a status, Dongfang Bing's identity is not comparable to that of Xue Baochai. After the union, as long as Hachigong reaches out casually, the worldly position of a first-class general will fall on him, which is nothing more than a bad reputation as a "brother-in-law". "Remember this duty, you will be indispensable in the future." Zhou Yang nodded, not thinking there was anything wrong with him, "If my wife brings Brother Wenlong and Sister Bao to Beijing, how will the business in Jinling be arranged? Second uncle, can you make any adjustments?"

"Back to my uncle, since the old slave came to the north, I can't get involved in the business in the south of the Yangtze River." Zhang Dehui was obviously unwilling, "But there is news from everywhere, and I can get a lot of it with the old friendship in the past. The biggest The most important thing is that the second master has developed a new sea-going ship. Although it cannot be built very big, I heard that a ship made of four to five hundred materials is actually more stable than the big ships of seven to eight hundred materials in the past.

Not only is it faster, the hull is stronger, it also resists wind and waves better. The only problem is that it doesn’t have as many installations as before, but it’s better than being safe. The business at sea is to make money, but you have to pay for it with your life. Maybe one When the waves come, the money and people are gone. The old slave can see that if this ship is built bigger in the future, it will be inferior to all the ships on the sea now. "

"Not bad!" Zhou Yang nodded. It seems that Xue Tu has developed a good product through "small steps and fast running". The new sea-going ship with an integrated keel and a knife-cut bottom (deep "V" shape) has already If it succeeds, the next step is to expand the drainage capacity. "Have you heard how my uncle's business in Jiangnan is going?"

"I met Uncle Tadou a few days ago. I heard from Xiaoquan Zhang Lu that the business at home has increased significantly, especially white goods (salt) are very popular. We have already contacted eight companies in Yangzhou. The Xue family only supplies goods, but not He joined in selling goods in various places and made a lot of money, but he also had a few fights with the original salt gangster.

Thanks to the firearms invented by my uncle, our son is sure to win every battle. Now we have opened up the situation. I heard that the second master was also attacked by an assassin. Not only did he fight back, but he also followed the clues and killed the bastard who was behind it. The Zhen family, which had had conflicts, has now become a family friend with the second master. "

"That's fine!" Zhou Yang nodded. This also means that Xue Xun has officially abandoned his original relationship with the Jia family. In addition, he no longer needs to make sacrifices for the prince. The only relationship between him and the Jia family is The connection means that [-]% of the annual profits are still sent to Ningguo Mansion, and there are historians who have long been out of the spotlight. This means that the so-called "Four Great Masters of Jinling" have become history, "Second uncle, thank you for your hard work."

What’s interesting is that Zhang Dehui didn’t mention anything about Ryukyu in the East China Sea. He probably didn’t know about it. Although his son Zhang Lu followed Xue Tu, he probably didn’t dare to tell such a big thing. The same goes for his biological father. Just as Xue Tu said at the beginning Said, this is related to the fate of the entire Xue family for a hundred years, and there is nothing to be careless about.

"There's another thing." Zhang Dehui hesitated for a moment and then said it, "The second master rarely mentioned his business in Jiangnan to his wife. He only reported the accounts once a month, and my wife didn't check them carefully. The young master was even more crazy. On weekdays, As long as I still have money, I rarely go home again. My wife is very angry, but there is nothing she can do."

"It's not appropriate for me to ask more about Brother Wenlong's matters." Zhou Yang smiled and had no intention of interfering, "As for my second uncle, I can only let him go. You only need to take care of the affairs of the North." You don't have to be polite to contact Jiangnan about the business of the number. You can't write the word 'Xue' twice in one sentence, and we can't help each other."

"..." Zhang Dehui was silent for a moment, but bowed respectfully, "I understand, I will definitely handle all business in the Northland from now on, so that my uncle and young master will not be distracted."

"It's best if you understand!" Zhou Yang nodded.

This was actually a tacit understanding between him and Xue Xun. He didn't care about the business in Jiangnan, but he took care of the business in Beidi. Moreover, after the investigation by Ba Gong Station and Xue Xun, Xue Tu followed Zhou Xun's "successor" procedure. After Yang handed it over, the Xue family had two gold pairs, one of which was also in Zhou Yang's hand. In name, he and Xue Xun were tied.

"Uncle, this time the inventory of branch numbers in various locations in the Northland has been completed, and Uncle Tao has arranged for his successors. As long as we follow the steps in the future, the business will be booming." Zhang Dehui continued, "It's just that those dogs paid more than 200 million taels this time. , plus the thirteen families that were robbed, the harvest this time is probably about 350 million taels, right?"

"Brother Tao is a sensible person. I won't cause trouble for him, and I believe he won't cause trouble for himself." Zhou Yang smiled faintly, "You just need to make a good handover then. Also, a few days ago I asked Hachigong to go to his house. Contact the Jinmen branch about the transportation of goods from south to north. You can find a way to proceed. In the future, you must make arrangements for any business dealings with these eight companies."

"Don't worry, uncle, I understand!" Zhang Dehui immediately understood what he meant.

"Go for it!" Zhou Yang nodded.

(End of this chapter)