This Northern Song Dynasty is a bit weird

Chapter 237 The Awakening of the Merchants

Lu Huiqing is very proud, but he is also very smart, knowing that his pride is to be served by others.

Among his peers and colleagues, he was so proud that he was boundless, but in front of Lu Sen, he was not so exaggerated, and even a little humble.

The reason is simple, he feels that he is still human, and Lu Sen is no longer in the category of human beings, even the other party is much more handsome than himself.

There is nothing comparable to this inhuman thing.

He thought so and did it.

Therefore, Lu Huiqing, who has always been more jealous, has never compared Lu Sen, or any negative emotions.

Because of this, he put himself in a relatively low position and kept paying attention to Lu Sen's facial expression. Seeing his frown now, he asked, "But these wines and dishes don't suit Lu Sen's wishes?"

Lu Huiqing is not considered to be familiar with Lu Sen. His impression of Lu Sen is mostly from hearsay.

For example, those rumors when Lu Sen was still in Bianjing.

Back then when Lu Sen and Yang Jinhua got married, they invited some acquaintances into their home for a wedding banquet. Later, rumors about the 'Xianju' came out and spread slowly in the officialdom, becoming more and more different.

Although it is not too exaggerated, it is very different from the 'original'.

For example, Lu Huiqing heard that Lu Sen was at home eating wind and drinking dew.

So this mundane meal, probably Lu Zhenren doesn't like it?
At this time, everyone's eyes fell on the two of them, but the wealthy businessmen below all looked up at them.

Seeing the two talking, even the voices of the musicians subconsciously lowered.

Lu Sen pointed to one of the meat dishes and said, "This dish is poisonous!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked, especially Lu Huiqing, who stood up in fright on the spot and stared angrily at the meat dish on the table.

Big and big beads of sweat flowed down his forehead, and his face was even more ugly.

He presided over the banquet, and any problems in it had something to do with him.

At this time, a standing guard jumped down from below. He was very good at light work. From the perspective of temperament, he also fit the cold personality of a master. He had a straight face, as if everyone owed him a million and 80. of.

The man walked up to Lu Huiqing, bent over and clasped his fists and said, "Governor, please give me an order."

"Block the entire Fugui Building." Lu Huiqing looked around the crowd and said coldly: "No one can be let go, no matter if it is a guest or a worker here."

Lu Huiqing came with private soldiers, and was on standby outside the painting boat.

At that moment, more than a dozen men with knives blocked the entrance of the painting boat.

At this moment, Lu Huiqing looked back at Lu Sen. He cupped his fists and said, "Really Lu, I will definitely explain this matter to you."

"It doesn't matter." Lu Sen sat down and said, "Although it is poisonous, it has no effect on me. I am afraid that you will have an accident after eating it. I found that besides our table, other people's tables also have one or two. A poisonous dish."

Lu Sen's voice was not loud, but to other people's ears, it sounded like Jinglei.

Especially the wealthy businessmen below, after hearing this, they all became frightened.

Those who ate food before Lu Sen came were scratching their throats desperately, trying to get the food out of their stomachs.

Lu Huiqing wiped the sweat from her forehead, her slightly green face was full of fear!
Not only Lu Sen can eat these dishes, but he can too!

In other words, someone really wants to harm them, but they don't know who they want to harm.

It's him?Is it Lu Sen?Or someone present?
Looking at the messy hall, Lu Sen sat down, and just as he put the wine glass in front of him, someone poured him a glass with a wine jug.

Lu Sen turned his head and found that it was Liu Qingqing.

Although the woman didn't look scared on the surface, her hands that were pouring the wine were trembling.

Lu Sen didn't think much about it, because no matter who encountered such a thing, his mood would not be too calm.

Even a senior official like Lu Huiqing is extremely nervous now.

Lu Sen carefully observed Lu Huiqing's expression. The other party was terrified and angry. He thought it was not the poison he had poisoned, so he said calmly: "Mr. Lu, I'm not in a hurry. You can check slowly. Later we Keep talking about things."

Lu Huiqing was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "Really Lu, would you like to continue talking?"

"If it's that easy to leave, I feel like those who poisoned me." Lu Sen sighed and said: "It's rare to come out, so naturally we have to do things, otherwise it's a waste of time."

Lu Huiqing sat down and said with a smile: "Why, even a god like Master Lu would feel that time flies by?"

"I haven't become a fairy yet, so the only things I can do now are longevity and longevity. I can't achieve eternal life." Lu Sen took a sip of the Fenjiu that everyone in Liu had poured for him just now, and told the truth.

Lu Huiqing seems to understand, he seems to have grasped some key information, but he seems to have grasped nothing.

Then Lu Huiqing made some arrangements, and soon his private guards mobilized more officers and soldiers to surround the entire painting boat, and even brought disobedience.

Wu Zuo was an old man, he came in front of Lu Sen and Lu Huiqing, bowed again and again and took out the dishes, and at the same time went downstairs to ask the apprentices to take out the dishes from all the rich merchants' tables.

After about half a stick of incense, Wu Zuo came back. He clasped his fists and said, "I report to Governor Lu that the dish is indeed poisonous. The villain tested the poison with a big rooster. In less than ten breaths, the big cock screamed and vomited blood and died. After the dissection, the rooster died. The blood turned black and thickened, and at the same time, the poison burned a big hole in the chicken's stomach."

Lu Huiqing's scalp tingled when she heard it: "What kind of poison is it, it's so overbearing."

Wu Zuo shook his head helplessly.

"That's all." Lu Huiqing said with a sigh: "Throw away all the ingredients and wine in the painting boat, and replace it with the cook of this mansion."

As a local sheriff, Lu Huiqing's family also has a 'professional chef team'. Now that they are pulled over, within half an hour, the food and wine are served again, and the taste is even much better than before.

This is normal.

Chefs also have pursuits. Cooking for a young landlord is better than being a cook for a high-ranking official.

Therefore, those who are really good at cooking at this time are not working outside or opening a shop, but are being raised by senior officials.

There was no system prompt for the re-arranged dishes. Lu Sen looked at the colorful dishes in front of him and said with a smile, "It smells delicious. Governor Lu obviously knows how to 'eat'."

"Thank you." Lu Huiqing picked up the drink and said to the people below: "There have been some accidents just now. Thank you, Master Lu, for looking down on me and giving me face. I am very grateful. Here, Lu Mou and everyone on behalf of him, respect Master Lu has a cup."

After finishing speaking, Lu Huiqing raised her head and drank it all in one gulp.

The wealthy merchants below also followed Lu Huiqing's example and finished their drinks first.

Lu Sen also took a sip, gestured to everyone, and then put down his glass.

Seeing this, everyone was really relieved.

Holding the chopsticks, Lu Sen was about to pick up a certain piece of chicken in front of him, but someone next to him brought the chopsticks over, helped him pick up the chicken, and put it gently into the bowl.

It was made by Liu Qingqing!

If you don't have some vision, you can't become a "everyone".

Liu Qingqing is naturally not bad in this regard.

Lu Sen picked up the bowl of chicken, chewed a few mouthfuls and swallowed it, and asked, "Mr. Lu, we can chat while eating. Now you can tell me why you invited me to dinner this time."

Lu Huiqing took a sip of wine, calmed down, and said, "Actually, it's not a big deal. I just want to ask Master Lu to give me some advice."

Ok?
Seeing Lu Sen's unclear expression, Lu Huiqing explained.

It turned out that almost all the people who invited Lu Sen to the banquet this time were "land merchants", and almost all the people in the Nanshan Club at Bitian Pavilion were sea merchants.

In this era, businessmen are also very particular about 'connections'.

There is no problem if you want to do business, and no one cares about you.But if you want to become stronger and bigger, you must first prove your strength, enter a certain circle, and pay a certain amount of "favor fee" before you can "help" each other in business.

That is the so-called circle.

Land merchants have circles of land merchants, sea merchants have circles of sea merchants, and they don't have much contact with each other.

Because inquiring about other people's 'ways' of making money is a taboo in itself.

And it is the "Shanxi merchants" who have been corrupted in later generations who carried forward this "circle characteristic".

This happened after the Northern Song Dynasty, so let’s not talk about it for now.

At this time, the Lu merchants were obviously envious.

In the past, land merchants had their own ways of making money, and they even earned more comfortably and easily than sea merchants.

Especially the salt merchants, they are really the richest merchants among the richest merchants.

But now with the Spice Islands, things are different.

Salt is indeed a must, but spices can't stand the 'expensive' price. The price of spices of the same weight is more than [-] times that of salt, and some rare spices can even be sold for hundreds of times.

In the past, the cost of obtaining spices was relatively high, but now there is a route, and as there are more sea-going ships on the round-trip route, and they 'ventilate' each other, the hydrological characteristics and climate changes on that route have been compared. Clear.

And there is a small port there that is suitable for a rest, and it is also clear.

It is not too difficult to transport a large amount of spices to the Spice Islands, and the cost has plummeted.

So now selling salt...it's really not as fast as selling spices.

These land merchants are jealous and want to get involved, but they can't find a chance to intervene. Now that the Nanshan Association is established, the sea merchants are almost monolithic, extremely xenophobic, and they can't intervene at all.

Don't dare to think too hard, after all, the matter of the Spice Islands was 'revealed' by Lu Zhenren, if he acted recklessly, would he bump into Lu Zhenren?
This is something they have to consider.

After Lu Huiqing finished speaking, she smiled and said: "So, these people found me, and hoped that I would have a dinner, and invite Lu Zhenren to come over and have a chat. It doesn't matter if it succeeds or not."

Lu Sen first looked to the lower hall on the right, where a group of businessmen stared at Lu Sen, all with longing in their eyes.

Lu Sen turned his head, looked at Lu Huiqing again, and asked, "Then what kind of benefits did these businessmen promise Lu Junshou?"

"If I can invite Master Lu, they will donate a large amount of food and salt to the imperial court." Lu Huiqing smiled proudly: "If the negotiation is successful, they are willing to pay twice the amount."

"Is it a lot?"

"It's very big." Lu Huiqing thought for a while and said, "Even if things don't work out, the salt and grain they donated is enough to supply Xi'an City and the Xixia people for another five years."

This is indeed a lot, no wonder Lu Huiqing, who is so proud, is willing to match these businessmen.

Then Lu Sen thought about it again, and felt a little disappointed.

This is just the grain "donated" by the merchants at will, which can be enough for more than 30 people for several years. If the net worth of these people is really counted, it is estimated that they can support the entire northern frontier for more than 30 years.

One can imagine how rich these businessmen are.

No wonder later generations say that the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties had the soil for a budding capitalist society.

These people are just too rich.

"Since they are so rich, why do they still want to call me to show them the way?" Lu Sen sighed, "Didn't you earn enough money?"

How can it be possible to earn enough?This is the inner thought of all the businessmen present.

But no one dared to speak out.

Lu Huiqing is not critical, anyway, he has invited Lu Sen over, and the salt and grain promised by the merchants must be given.

He has already got the 'guarantee', so naturally he doesn't panic.

But the merchants sitting in the hall below panicked.

They looked at Lu Sen eagerly, hoping to get an affirmative answer.

Lu Sen ate wine and delicacies leisurely, no one dared to rush him.

Liu Qingqing watched from the side, and saw those wealthy businessmen whom she had to be careful with before, they were like minions in front of Lu Sen.

Looking at the 'sky' of Hangzhou City, the Governor of Lu Jun, whom he respected like a god before, performed the gift of his subordinates.

Then she became fascinated, and looked at Lu Sen's side face with fiery eyes.

For an extremely good-looking and powerful man, there are not many women who can't help but be attracted to him.

After drinking for a while, Lu Sen said slowly, "Even if I know where there is money to be made, would they dare to go?"

Lu Huiqing asked, "Is there any danger?"

"If you want to do big business, there is no risk." Lu Sen said with a smile: "The first time I went to the Spice Islands, the sea merchants also carried their belts on their lives, and they went there with an attitude of not caring if they lost money. Quite heroic. After going there a few more times and getting familiar with the road, I gradually felt that there was no danger. However, there are always risks when going to sea. It depends on the sky. Before the wind and waves, few people dare to say I will definitely be able to come back.”

All the merchants were talking about it. Some people thought that what Lu Sen said made sense, while others thought...the sea merchants just need to fight against the sky and the sea.

Unlike them, they have to fight with others. No one knows what kind of people and what kind of things they will meet when they are doing business outside.

Human hearts are much more unpredictable than accidental disasters.

Immediately someone shouted: "Really Lu, we are not afraid."

There are many responders nearby.

There was a slight sneer at the corner of Lu Huiqing's mouth... Jokes at these businessmen who don't spare their lives for their profits.

But it has nothing to do with him... To get so many donations, just report it to the imperial court is another great achievement.

Lu Sen smiled and said, "I do know that there are still some places where I can make money, but... tell you, what can I get?"

(End of this chapter)