Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather

In simple terms, the position of the chief is both an official and a businessman. If you manage the industry for the Imperial Merchants Department, you are equivalent to a manager of a state-owned enterprise. If you provide or sell goods to the Imperial Merchants Department, you are equivalent to a partner of a state-owned enterprise.

The establishment of the Imperial Merchants Department still brought a great shock to the merchants of Dayong.

After the memorial from the Ministry of Personnel was submitted, many merchants in Kyoto began to take action.

Even Luo Shang, who had just moved to Kyoto, came to Yang Zhengshan.

In the tea room in the back hall of the Marquis's mansion, Luo Shang poured tea for Yang Zhengshan, "My Lord, the matter of the Imperial Merchants!!"

He looked at Yang Zhengshan with expectation.

The chief of the Imperial Merchants Department, even if it is just a nominal position, is fatally attractive to merchants.

Yang Zhengshan took a sip of tea and smiled, "There is no rush for this matter. The decision is in the hands of His Majesty. There is no point in being anxious."

"But~~"

Luo Shang wanted to say something, but Yang Zhengshan interrupted him and said, "Your advantage is the glass business. His Majesty will consider this. You can't do anything else, and I can't help!"

What is the foundation of the Imperial Merchants' Office?

Glass industry!

Glass workshops and six major agents.

There are only two glass workshops at present, one in Kyoto, which is in the hands of His Majesty, and one in Chongshan Town, which belongs to the General's Mansion.

The advantage of the six major agents is that they have complete sales channels. Glass can be sold to every mansion in Darong.

It is a bit inappropriate to say that channels are king here, but if it is replaced by other merchants, it will take at least a year and a half just to establish a complete sales channel.

Emperor Yanping can't wait for a year and a half, and the Ministry of Households can't wait either.

"Then I'll wait?" Luo Shang asked.

"Wait! There should be news soon!" Yang Zhengshan said with a smile.

Luo Shang was relieved, and the two chatted for a while, and then Luo Shang left.

Yang Zhengshan sat in the tea room and thought about it, and still wrote a memorial.

He was not doing it for Luo Shang, of course, but for Chongshan Town.

The General's Mansion in Chongshan Town cannot lose the income of the glass workshop. Without the income of the glass workshop, the General's Mansion will go bankrupt next year.

Emperor Yanping should understand this, but Yang Zhengshan still has to make a memorial to mention it, so as not to be ignored by Emperor Yanping.

On the other hand, after Luo Shang left the Marquis' Mansion, he was ready to go home.

Their Luo family has moved to Kyoto, but they are businessmen and are definitely not qualified to live in the West City, so the Luo family's mansion is in the East City District.

Just as Luo Shang was on his way home, four warriors in black tights blocked their way.

"Is it Mr. Luo in the car!" The leading warrior asked calmly.

Luo Shang lifted the curtain and looked at the other party with some doubts, "Who are you?"

"My master wants to see Mr. Luo, please come with me!" said the warrior.

Luo Shang's expression changed slightly. This was obviously not a gesture of inviting someone, but more like kidnapping.

"May I ask which noble person wants to see me?"

"Mr. Luo will know when he goes!" The warrior's eyes became sharp.

Luo Shang got off the carriage. These people dared to block the road, so they were naturally fearless.

There are many nobles in Kyoto, and any one of them is someone he can't afford to offend.

Faced with this situation, he had no other choice but to obey obediently.

"I will follow you, but it's okay to let them go home and report their safety!" Luo Shang winked at the followers around him.

The two followers behind the carriage had quietly stepped back a few steps.

The warrior looked at the followers and showed a disdainful look.

"Okay!"

Then, Luo Shang sat on the horse field they prepared and left.

Several followers looked at each other and turned around and ran towards the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion.

In the study of the Marquis's mansion, just as Yang Zhengshan finished writing the memorial, Wu Hai knocked on the study door.

"Come in!"

"Marquis, Mr. Luo was asked to leave!" Wu Hai said.

Yang Zhengshan looked up in surprise, "Who asked him to leave?"

"I don't know, the followers around Mr. Luo said that the other party was four warriors, and they didn't look good." Wu Hai said.

"They asked people to leave in public!" Yang Zhengshan felt a little incredible.

Kyoto is indeed a place where the powerful and the rich gather, but if you say that the security in Kyoto is not good, then the 12th Battalion of the Imperial Guard and the Shuntian Prefecture will probably be anxious with you.

The other party dared to ask for someone in public, so his status must be not low.

After all, everyone knows that Luo Shang is his Marquis of Jing'an.

Is this for Luo Shang, or for me!

Yang Zhengshan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Let Wu Zheng find out who took Luo Shang away!"

"Yes!" Wu Hai responded and hurried to find Wu Zheng.

Money can move people's hearts!

Yang Zhengshan knew very well how much profit was involved in the glass business.

It was normal for someone to set his sights on Luo Shang.

But who could this person be?

...

Chun Man Lou is a famous brothel in Kyoto. It is a proper brothel, not a place of smoke and willows.

Although brothel is an elegant name for the business place of prostitutes, not all prostitutes can be called brothels.

At least there must be a star standard to be called a brothel! Those places commonly known as brothels or even brothels that only provide flesh and blood business are not worthy of being called brothels.

The girls in Chunmanlou are all prostitutes who sell their art but not their bodies. Each girl has been trained since childhood and has a unique skill. Her skills in music, chess, calligraphy and painting must be beyond ordinary people, and she is also a talented woman with stunning beauty.

These girls with talent and beauty will naturally attract many literati and elegant guests to come and listen to music and dance, and discuss poetry and songs.

So this Chunmanlou is a place full of talent and art.

Well, that's it!

Chunmanlou is elegant, and it emphasizes the word "elegant". It is a place with vulgarity but no vulgarity.

Luo Shang entered Chunmanlou under the coercion of four warriors and came to a wing room on the third floor.

The veil in the wing room is low, and the walls are covered with brocade. Even the ceiling is separated by embroidered felt, creating a hazy atmosphere.

Behind the veil, there are a few figures vaguely visible on the finely carved jade bed and brocade quilt.

A man was lying on a jade bed, with two slender women serving him with a sweet smile.

Outside the gauze curtain, there were three graceful women, with fair complexions and white shirts, black hair, sometimes raising their wrists and lowering their eyebrows, sometimes stretching their hands lightly, with jade sleeves fluttering in the wind, and their manners were full of orchids.

Next to him, there was a woman with fine eyebrows and fine eyes, as thin as a willow, playing the piano. The beautiful and lively sound of the piano flowed out from her fingers, like a thin stream flowing through the heart, soft and peaceful, soft and comfortable.

It was obviously an extremely erotic scene, but in this melodious piano sound, it seemed elegant and empty.     Seeing this scene, Luo Shang lowered his head quickly and stood there honestly.

He was also a person who had traveled all over the country. Apart from other things, he didn't know how many times he had been to the flower boats in the south of the Yangtze River.

So he was not unfamiliar with such scenes, and he was quite familiar with the doorway.

Among all the women in this room, the most popular one should be the one playing the zither. I wonder how many literati and talented men will be attracted by her zither music.

The poorest ones are the women serving behind the veil, because they serve men with their beauty.

The brothel women are like this. If you are elegant, you are noble.

"Sir, Mr. Luo is here!" The warrior stepped forward and said.

The young man who closed his eyes and listened to the music behind the veil opened his eyes slowly after hearing this, and his eyes fell on Luo Shang through the veil.

"Mr. Luo!"

"I dare not, I have seen you!" Luo Shang hurriedly saluted.

"Hehe~~"

A mocking laugh came from behind the veil, and then the veil was opened, and a handsome young man in a moon-white long gown walked out.

"This young master invited Mr. Luo to come here today because I have a request!"

"Sir, just tell me what you want, as long as I can do it, I will not refuse!" Luo Shang replied carefully.

The young man looked at him with admiration and said with a smile, "You are quite sensible!"

Luo Shang lowered his head and looked at the embroidered patterns on his body, not daring to breathe.

Python pattern!

The nobility of the python robe is second only to the dragon robe. In the early days of Darong, only the prince and the prince could wear it. However, since the emperor granted the meritorious officials the python robe two hundred years ago, many dignitaries in Darong have been able to wear python robes since then.

Like Yang Zhengshan, he only has the Qilin robe, not the python robe, but because he is a third-class marquis, the children of the Yang family can use the Qilin pattern as the decoration of their clothes.

Similarly, those who can embroider python patterns on their clothes must be from a dignitary family who was specially granted the python robe.

There are many people who can wear python robes in Kyoto, but not too many.

But no matter which one, Luo Shang, a businessman, can't afford to offend.

"I want all the glass businesses of your Luo family in Longnan, Nanyun, and Jiangnan, including the shopkeepers and clerks in the shops. What do you think, Shopkeeper Luo?" The young man said softly.

Luo Shang's heart skipped a beat. Damn, this is going to take away all the glass business of the Luo family.

Yang Zhengshan had set up six major agents, each of which had two provinces, one border town, and one prefecture in Jiangnan.

The Luo family got some benefits from Yang Zhengshan's care and had two prefectures in Jiangnan.

But the border town allocated to the Luo family was Chongshan Town.

The man in front of him wanted to take away the glass business in Longnan, Nanyun and Jiangnan, which was almost equivalent to cutting off all the business of the Luo family in the glass industry.

"This, this matter is beyond my control!" Luo Shang could only say so.

"Oh!" The young man's eyes became cold, "I can't make the decision! Why do I need to ask Jing'an Hou to make the decision?"

Luo Shang's heart shook violently.

Since the man in front of him mentioned Jing'an Hou, it means that he is not afraid of Yang Zhengshan.

But now that things have come to this, he can only bring up Yang Zhengshan.

With his status, he is not qualified to bargain at all. Only by bringing up Yang Zhengshan can there be room for easing.

"That's right!"

"Haha, I will talk to Marquis Jing'an. As for you, you just need to hand over all the shops!" The young man said nonchalantly.

Luo Shang's heart sank immediately. Even Yang Zhengshan couldn't stop this man. Then their Luo family might really have to give up the glass business.

Just when Luo Shang was about to agree, the door of the wing room was suddenly pushed open.

The four warriors in the room suddenly became alert.

The young man frowned and looked at the door.

At the door, a man dragged two gatekeepers and threw them directly into the room.

Seeing this, the young man's face became extremely ugly.

That was his follower, and the man in front of him actually threw his follower in!

"Who are you?"

He asked coldly.

The person at the door glanced at him, then stepped aside and waved.

With a crash, a group of warriors in powerful attire rushed into the room. Without waiting for the young man to react, they immediately surrounded the box tightly.

Seeing this, the four warriors quickly protected the young man.

Luo Shang was shocked at first, but after he saw the face of the visitor clearly, his heart suddenly dropped.

The person who came was none other than Ding Qiu and the Yang family's guards.

At the same time, there was a familiar voice outside the box.

"Haha, I'm sorry, I'm here to do something and disturb everyone's enjoyment. Shopkeeper, give each guest a pot of good wine and charge it to my account!"

Yang Zhengshan walked upstairs with a smile and apologized to the guests who had disturbed him.

"Dare you ask this gentleman's name?"

As soon as he climbed up to the third floor, a gorgeous and charming woman came up to him and said with a smile like a flower.

"I am Marquis Jing'an, hehe~~"

Yang Zhengshan chuckled his whole life.

When the madam heard this, the smile on her face became even brighter.

"If the Marquis wants to listen to music, I can help the Marquis choose some girls!"

"No, no, I have a treat for you today! You want to help me serve wine to everyone!"

"Wu Hai, give me some money!"

Yang Zhengshan ignored her, left her alone, and walked directly to the side room next to her.

Wu Hai, who was behind him, stepped forward and took out a stack of banknotes and handed them to the madam.

The madam looked at the banknote and finally took it.

Opening a brothel in Kyoto is still very risky.

Children of powerful people have bad tempers, fights are common, and even the slightest carelessness can lead to lawsuits.

As a madam, she had a humble status, but she did not dare to be disrespectful to a marquis.

Yang Zhengshan was willing to offer money to apologize to the guests. Although she was a little reluctant, she could only accept it obediently.

But when she saw the box Yang Zhengshan entered, her face suddenly turned pale.

Not having time to care about what was going on in the box, she hurriedly found a boy and said, "Go find the eldest son quickly!"

Chunmanlou naturally has a backstage. Without a backstage, Chunmanlou would not be able to open in Kyoto.

Yang Zhengshan didn't know that the madam had asked someone for help, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care.