The Crown Prince Chases His Wife

Qin Xiangfu, the front hall.

Song Mei sat in the chair, her brows were slightly wrinkled, her eyes were a little lost.

She was holding a tea cup in one hand, and wearing a jade bracelet with excellent water color in the other.

As the heat was approaching, Li's mother gently shook the fan for Song Mei, but the cool breeze couldn't blow away the dullness in the room.

At this moment, a middle-aged man stepped into the hall door. Dressed in azurite brocade robes, this man was tall and thin, elegant yet shrewd.

"Fourth Master Qin." Li's mother saluted him and said.

Song Mei recovered, put down the tea cup, and hurriedly got up and asked the man:

"Fourth Uncle, how's it going?"

Fourth Master Qin took the tea cup handed over by the maid, took a sip of tea, sat down on the chair opposite Song Mei just now, took a deep breath and said:

"Opened another one."

This is an endless answer, and those who don't know will not know what they are talking about. Song Mei was discouraged after hearing this, and returned to the seat.

"What store is this time?" Song Mei asked with a sigh.

"The restaurant is still across from our shop." Qin Siye took another sip of tea, no matter how good the new tea was, he was not in the mood to taste it at the moment, he just took two sips to relieve his irritability.

Putting down the tea cup, Fourth Master Qin sighed heavily and said again:

"Even with the silk and satin shop, the garment shop, the tea shop, the pharmacy, the jewelry and jade shop, the inn that opened a few days ago, to today's restaurant, the shop in our hands, the other party has not let go, all of them are opened again, live together already."

The two were silent for a while.

------

This fourth master of Qin is the uncle of Qin Xiang.

Although the two uncles and nephews are in different generations, Qin Siye is only six years older than Qin Xiang. The two have similar interests and have had a deep friendship since childhood in Yangzhou.

Because Song Mei is Qin Xiang's little green plum, and the Qin and Song families are family friends, after Qin Xiang entered the capital, the fourth master of Qin also took care of Song Mei, who lost her parents and fell into the family path for a period of time.

At that time, Fourth Master Qin did not embark on an official career, but did some small business in Yangzhou. Later, after Qin Xiang and Shen Shiying got married, Qin Xiang invited Qin Siye to Beijing and arranged for him to enter Shen Shiying's shop to help with the business.

In order to avoid suspicion, Prime Minister Qin, at the beginning of Shen Shiying's shop Zhuangzi, got Song Mei's name after several operations. Now the person in charge of these shop Zhuangzi is Qin Siye.

------

Mother Li couldn't understand what the masters were talking about. She only found that the atmosphere seemed a little depressed. The maid shook the fan in her hand and sighed as she watched the two masters sip tea.

After a while, Qin Xiang returned from the government office and entered the main hall.

The men and women who had just sat on the chairs frowning stood up together.

"Master Xiang." The two said in unison.

"Fourth Uncle is here, sit down." Qin Xiang smiled at Qin Fourth Master. Fu supported Song Mei, who was still hunched over, "Madam, sit down."

Qin Xiang stepped into the upper room, sat down, and took the tea cup handed over by the housekeeper Zhang Quan. The tea soup was clear, and the rich tea fragrance filled his nose instantly. Qin Xiang tasted it, and the taste was sweet.

"Good tea." Qin Xiang put down the tea cup with satisfaction.

Zhang Quan on the side said, "Master Xiang, this is the Dragon Well before the rain that was bestowed by the imperial palace on the Dragon Boat Festival."

"Well, what's the matter with the fourth uncle coming today?" Qin Siye usually takes care of the complex affairs of the shop and Zhuangzi, and seldom comes to Qin Xiang's mansion. Today, he suddenly came, which made Qin Xiang a little puzzled.

Qin Siye and Song Mei looked at each other and said embarrassingly:

"Master Xiang, there have been some problems in the shop recently. We didn't care about it at first, but..."

"Fourth uncle, but it doesn't matter." Qin Xiang said.

The fourth master of Qin's business talent is not too high, otherwise in those years in Yangzhou, he would not have made his own business either dead or alive. However, Fourth Master Qin was the only relative in the Qin family who was engaged in business, so Qin Xiang could only rest assured that he could only leave the business to him.

In the past few years in Beijing, those shops that were originally owned by Shen Shiying have never encountered any trouble in the business field because they are backed by the Duke of Zhenguo and the Prime Minister of Qin, and they can be regarded as smooth sailing. Therefore, Qin Xiang didn't think that something big could happen to the shop.

------

Fourth Master Qin gritted his teeth. It was impossible for him to deal with this matter by himself, so he could only inform Prime Minister Qin and make plans.

"Master Xiang, in recent days, a lot of new shops have opened in the West City and East City. Since the opening of these shops, every day, various discounts and gifts emerge in an endless stream, crowded with people every day, and business is booming. People are flocking to In the end, it has attracted the envy of others, but it is hard for the peers, for example, our shop has a bleak business."

"At first we thought it was just a common situation when he was competing with his peers in the business field, but later we found out that these shops opened one after another, all on the same side of our shop, or on the opposite side, diagonally opposite. . They opened a shop next to us, the business is exactly the same as what we do, even the signboard name is similar."

"If these are just coincidences, or competition from peers, it's just a matter of making discounts to attract customers. They also blatantly cut off our customers. The other party's products and services are first-class, and the discounts are so strong that it can be said to be insane. "

"There are so many shops, making such a big profit, and they are all open next to our shops, besieging us with a big fanfare to grab business. Mr. Xiang, these actions can't be done to make money from business, just like looking for hated."

"And the shop of Wenxuan's daughter-in-law, the second room of the Qin mansion, has not had any of these problems. There is such a big movement here, but they are calm there. Therefore, we suspect that they are targeting Qin Xiang's mansion."

Indeed, after the other party made such a big noise, the second room was also worried, but the other party has never targeted them. It is almost certain that this matter is aimed at Qin Xiang's room and has nothing to do with them. in this way. Otherwise, with their wealth, they would not be enough for each other to stick their teeth between their teeth.

Seeing that Qin Xiang's brows were wrinkled, Qin Siye stopped and said again:

"Master Xiang, to say something unpleasant, when we found something wrong, the first thing we suspected was that your eldest daughter, Qin Yan, the master of Zhaoren County. She has been blatantly targeting Qin Xiangfu, and she has also run the business. Such a large horse farm with strong capital, there is this force to fight against the Prime Minister Qin's mansion, but after checking, the news that came back made us find more serious problems."

Qin Xiang raised his eyebrows and waited for the next paragraph.

Fourth Master Qin then shared the more troublesome news he found.

"When the other party intercepted the supply of our silk and satin village in the south, we found out that the owners of those shops were also from Yangzhou. The owner of the Wen's firm was named Wenluo, a name not well known in Beijing, but in the south The shopping mall is familiar to everyone. Wen Luo is from a wealthy businessman in Yangzhou.”

Qin Xiang's eyes widened, as if shocked.

Qin Siye then said:

"That's right, Mr. Xiang is the Yujia in Yangzhou where the second daughter of Zuo's Prime Minister is rumored to have grown up since she was a child, and this family has close contact with the Zuo-xiang's mansion."

Prime Minister Qin frowned. If Qin Yan did this, he could explain it, but if Prime Minister Zuo...

"Master Xiang, is it because the last time the Guozijian took the water, Zuo Xiang was dissatisfied with us because of Ming'er, so he started to attack us?" Song Mei asked worriedly.

Qin Xiang was skeptical about this, and it stands to reason that Zuo Xiang would not go to war for that matter. The case of taking the water from the Imperial College was originally a breach of the Zuo Prime Minister's house. Although the Zuo Prime Minister's youngest son was locked up and banned from taking the test for two years, those punishments were considered light. Then Wang Jingyu doesn't seem to be able to pass the scientific examination to enter the official position. In the future, he will at most seal an idle position as a literary official, and the left minister should not care about the ban on his son's examination.

The Zuo Prime Minister's family has a great career, and there are two generations of Saisuke. Although there have been conflicts between the two prime ministers in the court over the years, and each has its own faction in the court, the prime minister of Qin still has self-knowledge. His Right Prime Minister Qin Mansion is completely incomparable with the Zuo Prime Minister Mansion, which has deep roots in Shangjing. It can be bluntly said that the left minister may not regard him Qin Wenzheng as an opponent at all.

But this time, it was only found that it had something to do with the Zuo Prime Minister's mansion.

The people in Shangjing are happy to see these shops offering so many discounts in order to compete. They only care about cheap and high-quality goods and services. It would be better if more shops like this were opened.

------

While the Wen's Firm and Song Mei were in full swing for resources, another force quietly entered Shangjing.

Yu Qingfeng's bank and **** shop, which had never appeared in Shangjing, opened in an unremarkable house in the West City.

As soon as the news spread, it spread in Shangjing. Whether it was an individual or a major firm, they were all delighted by the news, because the bank's reputation was unparalleled in Daxia.

There are four or five hundred large and small banks all over the capitals of Daxia, and some of them have no assets, fake names, accept deposits, and make loans. After issuing a large number of money bills and defrauding a certain amount of property, they suddenly closed the store and went out of business, making it impossible for the bearer to cash out or only a few percent of the claim. As a result, many people were deceived and some went bankrupt.

This kind of behavior of escaping overnight regardless of reputation is commonly known in the industry as "running a night boat". This situation is not uncommon, causing frequent concerns for businesses with deposit needs.

However, Yuqingfeng Bank has a high reputation in various prefectures. They implement a five-guarantee system, and in the bank branches of each state capital in Daxia, whether it is a new store or an old store, they promise five guarantees. For the five banks that jointly guarantee, their guarantees and seal styles shall be submitted to the government for the record.

If the bank owes the deposit or borrows money and closes the store and hides, in addition to prosecuting and arresting the manager of the bank for theft, the other four guarantors will also be prosecuted and responsible for compensating for the unsettled money. Therefore, over the years, Yuqingfeng Bank has never run away and defaulted on its debts. 【1】

Moreover, the loan interest of Yuqingfeng Bank is low in the same industry, which is very different from the high interest rate of other banks.

This bank has donated funds to local prefectures over the years for disaster relief, water conservancy construction, official roads, etc. It has an excellent reputation in the eyes of the prefectures and common people.

It is said that the surname of the owner of Yu Qingfeng's firm is Ji. There are money shops, **** shops, jewelry and jade shops, tea houses, grain houses, etc., and branches all over the capitals of Daxia, but Shangjing was not involved before.

Yu Qingfeng suddenly entered the capital this time, and people with a heart still smelled an unusual signal.

The author says:

[1] In this article, "there is no asset...running away from the debt." Adapted from the data, the source is unknown.