Lu Ming

The old servant named Uncle Ping, heard the words without saying anything, found a basket, and followed his young master off the boat to improve the food.

Not long after disembarking, the master and servant found a food street in the commercial and residential area of ​​the port based on "experience".

Sitting in the noodle shop, Wu Fazheng looked through the window, and the first thing he saw was the "security guard" standing on top of the earthen wall and patrolling.

To be honest, at first, Wu Fazheng was a little skeptical of these "private soldiers" who were dressed in black and had the word "security guard" painted on their backs with white paint.

You know, this is an era where bandits are rampant and officials and thieves are not distinguished.Wu Fazheng was born in Shanxi, lived near a border town, and heard many stories about various officials and thieves colluding to loot villages.

In his opinion, the series of earthen ports set up by the Cao family in the north of the Yangtze River are perfect for being robbed: there are no high walls, no strong soldiers, and a lot of wealth is accumulated inside.

These are real hard currencies, more real than gold and silver... For example, the grain and rice in the warehouse, the groceries in the warehouse, and the canned food in the warehouse.

However, this point of view dissipated after I accidentally saw a security guard shooting a bandit with a breech-loading gun: the bandit who had ridden a hundred and fifty steps out of the fence was easily killed on the spot by the security guard on the dirt wall .

A few days after seeing the power of the breech-loading gun, Wu Fazheng was on the sea again, and saw the high-speed cruiser fleet sailing like lightning with the flag of Cao character recognition.

While stunned, looking at the ships ahead that instantly turned into black dots, combined with the previous quick shots, Wu Fazheng didn't need much military quality to deduce that the string of earthen fences and ports seemed dangerous and safe, not at all like So isolated on the surface.

The next moment, Wu Fazheng was awakened from his memories by the sliced ​​noodles placed on the table by the waiter.

Silently looking at the bowl of "sliced ​​noodles" piled up with broken fish pieces, cuttlefish arms and legs, kelp and seaweed in front of him, and then at the cover of "authentic Shanxi sliced ​​noodles" hanging in front of the noodle shop, Wu Fazheng was helpless, and Uncle Heping looked at each other with a wry smile With a sound, he picked up the chopsticks and started to eat.

After dinner, after drinking a pot of mellow and bitter Maojian tea, Wu Fazheng, master and servant, shaved their teeth and left the noodle shop in satisfaction.

Next is the established program: bathing.

If there was anything Wu Fazheng found most satisfying about his trip to the south of the Yangtze River, it was taking a bath.You must know that in Shanxi, where water is scarce, even if he is the one who occupies the most resources in the clan, he can't just take a bath if he wants to.

But now, Wu Fazheng knew that as long as he went to places with chimneys and boilers, there was a high probability of finding a bathhouse.

It didn't take long for Master Wu to enjoy the various services provided by the state-run public bathhouse.

While the young master was in the bathhouse, the seasoned Uncle Ping had already purchased local food with a basket.

The master and servant stayed in the cabin that night and did not disembark.

The next day, the fleet was still berthed at Dengzhou Xingang without any major action.Unsurprisingly, Wu Fazheng, now knows the flow of the fleet: Every time he arrives at a private port, there will be one or two transport ships unloading all the grain carried there.

After that, the fleet will set sail.

Early in the morning of the second day, a steady stream of coolies kept carrying bags of grain from the boat.

These grains packed in canvas bags clearly marked their place of origin in ink: Tainan.Variety: Japonica.Grade: three grades.Grain Merchant: COFCO Tainan Branch.

Sitting outside the cabin, with the cold wind blowing, drinking hot tea, and counting the grain bags for a long time in boredom, Young Master Wu finally waited for the cabin to be unloaded.

Next, the young master knew that the last step before the fleet set sail was coming.

as predicted.Early in the morning of the second day, teams of special passengers who had already been waiting at the pier boarded the ship one after another.

These passengers, regardless of gender, age or age, all shaved their heads bald.They have rosy complexions and calm expressions. They wear thick linen overalls, backpacks, and flat canvas hats.

Passengers lining up are very orderly.Taking the family as the unit, they stepped onto the deck of the transport ship silently.

Wu Fazheng knew that these were refugees who had "backlogged" in the private port of Dengzhou.

Every time I went to Cao's private port before, there would always be such a finale show at the end, and it seems that this time is no exception.

An hour later, the sun rose, and the fleet set sail and pulled anchor.

Off the coast of Dengzhou, as Wu Fazheng expected, the cargo ship loaded with refugees, after three whistles, parted ways with the fleet and headed south.

At the same time, Wu Fazheng, who was sitting in the upper class cabin, stretched out his hand, lightly dipped a brush in the ink, and wrote the latest chapter of "Journey to the Southern Regions" on the white paper in front of him intently.

This time, the fleet after setting sail had no reservations.All the boilers were raised, regardless of the fuel problem, and the whole process was fully loaded. It took only one and a half days to cross the Bohai Bay and arrive at the mouth of the Haihe River.

Here, Wu Fazheng feels the same atmosphere as in Shanghai Port: a large number of ships enter and leave the Haihe Estuary, and giant ships sail out to overseas from time to time.

At the mouth of the Haihe River, a large port with steam cranes also appeared.

Arriving here, Wu Fazheng's convoy waited for the pilot boat with colorful flags, and then parted ways again... The cargo ship was unloaded at Haihe Port on the spot, while the two cruise ships plunged into the Haihe River and went up the river.

At that time, it was already dark.However, the lights on both sides of the Haihe River and the fuel light buoys on the river guided the cruise ship all the way to the dimly lit place in the distance.

Early the next morning, when Wu Fazheng stepped out of the cabin, what he saw was the bustling wharf.

The terminal station, Tianjin has arrived.

……

Although he has never been to Tianjin in his life, since Wu Fazheng was born in a rich family in Shanxi, he must have a foothold in Tianjin.

So when the master and servant arrived at the port, they didn't take any luggage, but hired a carriage on the spot and reported the name of a place.

Not long after, the coachman familiarly parked the carriage at Wu Fazheng's destination: Surabaya Street, in front of Yixinlong Company.

The next moment, after Wu Fazheng got off the carriage, before he could enter the door, a middle-aged man who looked like a shopkeeper rushed out from the quaint Yixinlong: "Oh, Second Young Master, you have finally arrived. Ah, let Old Wu wait a long time for me!"

Chapter 678 Returning to the North ([-])

After two days of solid rest in his own firm, the young and healthy Wu Fazheng recovered from the fatigue of the long-distance sea voyage.

The benefits brought about by the development of science and technology are often subtle and silent.In the past, "land people" like Wu Fazheng dared to take an old-fashioned sandboat from Shanghai to Tianjin rashly, and they fell apart before they could land on the shore. How could they recover in two days?

It is precisely because of today's "large-tonnage" ships, as well as advanced ship types and navigation technology, that the shaking of the cruise ship has reached an acceptable level for ordinary people.

Young Master Wu, who was walking in the side courtyard early in the morning, did not know the huge technological content behind this HNA trip.He now has only a hazy view of this new type of logistics: the sea route is acceptable, and he can consign one or two.

"Second Young Master!"

Just as Wu Fa was stretching his arms and legs to do morning exercises, shopkeeper Wu walked in from outside the courtyard gate.

Shopkeeper Wu's real name is Wu Yinquan.He is short and stout, wearing a six-in-one hat and a thick gray cotton robe.

It is no different from the shopkeeper in the public perception: Wu Yinquan has a kind face, with a professional smile on his chubby face anytime and anywhere.

"Uncle Jiu, here we come."

The Wu family is a rich family in Weizhou, Shanxi.According to the traditional Chinese feudal family structure, the Wu family also divided several houses under one general account.

Wu Fa, a young scholar, is the best of the younger generation, and he belongs to the big house and the second row.And shopkeeper Wu, who is forty years old, is a generation taller than Wu Fazheng, belongs to the fifth house, and works as nine, so acquaintances call him Wu Jiu.

For Shanxi, which is mountainous, lacks water, has difficult transportation, and has been barren since ancient times, it is an important social activity in the province to connect with the outside world and communicate with various trade activities in the inland.

The Wu family is no exception.As early as a hundred years ago, the idle children of the Wu clan who had no land to grow organized caravans and walked out of the border with their heads in their hands to buy cattle, horses and furs on the prairie.

Today, Yixinlong Company, headquartered in Zhangjiakou, has been operating for a hundred years and is already a well-known large-scale commercial chain organization inside and outside the mouth. Its branches are located in major cities in Hebei, Shanxi and other places.

In other words, the Yixinlong branch here in Tianjin was originally just an ordinary distribution point for shipments, and it is not outstanding in the business territory of the Wu family.

However, things are impermanent.A few years ago, all kinds of southern industrial products began to land from the sea, which made Tianjin's importance roll upwards.

Therefore, Wu Jiu, who was originally the No. [-] shopkeeper in Zhangjiakou, who was in the prime of life, was transferred to Tianjin.

Yixinlong Tianjin Branch is located on Sishui Street next to Haihe River.Earlier, the scale of the semicolon was not large, but since Wu Jiu came to Tianjin, the first thing he did was to expand the fixed asset list.

Through Wu Jiu's continuous investment, Yixinlong Branch has gradually turned a quarter of Surabaya Street into its own site, and renovated it... This is not counting the mules and horses near the small teaching field in the south of the city.

After meeting and exchanging greetings, Wu Jiu waited in the courtyard for the second young master to enter the room and change his clothes, and then led him to the business store to "see".

This is what should be in the title.After all, Wu Fazheng's status in the clan is unusual, and he has a bit of an "imperial envoy".It's hard to come to Tianjin once, and I must check the daily work of the firm.

The real reason is simple: Wu Fa is the second son of the eldest son, and his father is the head of the Wu clan in this world.

Wu Fazheng's eldest brother has been weak and sick since he was born, so in the eyes of the tribe, Wu Fazheng has a high probability of taking over as the patriarch in the future.This is also the reason why Shopkeeper Wu waits carefully... There are many young people in the clan, but those who can be greeted by Uncle Jiu can be counted on one hand.

Next, under the guidance of the shopkeeper, Wu Fazheng checked the daily operation of the store.

Yixinlong's trading method is not complicated: it transports the Manmont products purchased by its own caravan outside the export to Tianjin for sale, and then purchases local "special products" in Tianjin and ships them for export.

In this closed trade loop, since the contacts are all wholesalers, on the bright side, there are not many customers in the store.

However, fewer customers does not mean that the business is deserted.

When Wu Fazheng passed through an alley and then through a wide courtyard door covered with pedals, what he saw was a busy scene: laborers with towels around their necks and rattan boxes on their shoulders; The accountant with tortoiseshell glasses, writing ink and singing numbers; and a large number of guys who are handling the goods behind the account.

"This No. [-] Hospital is the South Warehouse. Most of the goods we want to send out of the country are stored here."

Hearing Uncle Jiu's introduction, Wu Fazheng nodded, and came to Tiao'an with his hands behind his back.

On the opposite side of the case, a young and strong man with thick eyebrows and a simple and honest face was concentrating on handling the goods in his hand.

The goods that reflect the dazzling light, Huo Ran is an 8-pound thermos bottle liner that is common in later generations.

The arm-length thermos liner has a clear blue spray-printed square trademark on the tail: Shanghai Insulation Container Factory.

The next moment, the clerk picked up a small chapter dipped in ink pad and lightly rolled and printed Yi Xinlong's personal note next to the trademark.

Next, the buddy picked up the liner and began to stuff the wool into the mouth of the pot.

Bundles of machine-made colored wool threads tied with cardboard strips clearly marked the place of origin: Shanghai No. [-] Cotton Spinning Factory.

The sharp-eyed young master Wu couldn't help showing a little smile when he saw the small words of No. [-] Cotton Spinning Factory: He thought of the spectacular scene of two thousand girls pouring out of the factory.

After stuffing the liner with wool, the man with thick eyebrows picked up a soft cloth to wrap the liner, and then carefully tied the spout with cotton thread, avoiding the vacuum seal at the end of the liner during the whole process.

Seeing this, Wu Fazheng turned his head and looked at Shopkeeper Wu with approval.

The next process is packing.

The special rectangular cork box is just one size larger than the bottle, and more than half of the box has been filled with pure white reed wadding.After the buddy put the bottle in, he first shook it up and down to test the elasticity. After feeling that the degree of shaking was enough to adapt to the driving of the cart, the buddy covered the bottle with more reed wadding.

After all these processes are completed, it's time to package.

After lightly sealing the lid shut with a claw hammer and machine-made nails, the man did the final touches: wax and seal.

"Yes, Not Bad."

After observing the packaging of the bottle, the second young master nodded in satisfaction, and asked the serious guy in front of him, "How old is it, and what's your name?"

It wasn't until this moment that the guy with thick eyebrows was freed from his state of concentration.Stretching out his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead, the young man grinned honestly, and replied in Shanxi dialect shyly: "Master Hui, his name is Huogui, he's 22."

Shopkeeper Wu saw that the young master was quite satisfied, so he also explained a bit playfully: "It's from Lingqiu. It just so happens that this kid fled to Tianjin, and he picked it up from the market at the cabinet."

Weizhou, Shanxi, where the Wu family is located, was under the jurisdiction of Guangchang County, Guangling County, and Lingqiu Counties in the Ming Dynasty.The Wu family's family is in Guangling, and Lingqiu is a township party, so there is no difference in accent.

Hearing the shopkeeper's explanation, Young Master Wu suddenly understood.The township party is an important link in this era, if the guy in front of him hadn't been for the township party, no matter how hard he worked, he would not have been taken in by Yi Xinlong to work.

"Work hard. Work hard, you can see it on the cabinet, and you won't lose money."

Although Wu Fazheng has the hope of taking the path of becoming a Taoist through the imperial examination, he is also very likely to be in charge of the family business in the future.So he had been exposed to the business content of the family early on, and he was actually quite familiar with management and procurement: "Uncle Jiu, give me a reward."

"Silly boy, hurry up and thank the boss!"

Hearing that there is a lot of money in the red envelopes, he reacted foolishly, and then thanked the boss awkwardly.

Young Master Wu laughed, and then, accompanied by Uncle Jiu, he continued to inspect the rest of the thermos bottles that were being packed.

This time, Yixinlong purchased [-] thermos bottles locally in Tianjin.Among them, there are only three pairs of Double Happiness with complete iron packaging, and the rest are bottle bladders, which can only be repackaged as before.

There is no way, although the Double Happiness Pair of Bottles has become a must-have dowry for wealthy families in Shanxi two years ago, just like the three major items of sewing machines and bicycles in later generations.

However, this kind of iron shell packaging is very easy to break the bottle liner during long-distance cart transportation, and it is also easy to deform when carried separately, and the cost is too high.Therefore, most of the current caravans only carry bottle bladders. When they reach the land, there are naturally traditional craftsmen who weave earthen shells with rattan and other materials.

After discussing the transportation of thermos bottles with Uncle Jiu, on the other side of the yard, Young Master Wu saw another batch of goods being repackaged: leather goods.

The Wu family started their business by relying on the leather goods business outside the mouth, so this aspect is the top priority, and there is no sloppy in the slightest.

With a solemn expression, he picked up a pair of leather boots on the case, and Wu Fazheng looked at them carefully.

The leather boots that caught the eye, light yellow outer skin, half-waisted Martin boots shape, the brand name that is very appetizing for gentlemen: Hermès is printed on the insole.

Except that the soles are made of multi-layer cowhide, the rest of the boots in Master Wu's hands, including the shoe strings, the metal rings at the eyelets, and even the pigskin lining inside, are no different from the hiking boots of later generations. .

He reached into the shoe and pressed it around, and then lifted the insole to look. Wu Fazheng took off the soft shoes on his feet, stretched his feet, put on the boots and walked a few steps.

In the end, Young Master Wu who took off his boots stroked the surface of the boots, felt the strange fur-like texture, and asked puzzledly: "The inside is not the same as the second-hand one, but the surface has changed?"

"Hehe, the young master doesn't know. These are sanded boots newly produced by Tianjin Leather Shoe Factory. There is a name called sanded boots."

"Oh...that's...a bit apt, it's just a cover-up, haha, what a clever idea."

Wu Fazheng quickly figured out the benefits of the brushed style - merchants and herdsmen who walk in the desert all year round are actually more suitable for this so-called brushed style.

Compared with the black and brown leather shoes that everyone has become accustomed to in the past few years, those smooth leather surfaces need to be oiled and maintained frequently, and it is difficult to ensure the brightness when going outdoors, but it is not as good as this.

"Okay, okay, how many of these new models have we bought?"

The goods of the Wu family will eventually be sold out of the mouth, so most of the ones lying on the table at the moment are half-waisted or even high-waisted suede boots.

Young Master Wu inspected the leather shoes, belts, bags and other leather products purchased from the market in Tianjin, and then left the No. [-] Yard after watching the assistants affix private seals on the surface and packaging of the goods one by one.

Next, in Courtyard No. A and No. [-], the gate with the four white words "Strictly No Fireworks" was pushed open, and Master Wu checked another important commodity that was going to be transported out of the mouth this time: wine.

The 55-degree standard whiskey (actually Erguotou) filled in a green tinplate box has already become a real hard-selling commodity outside the desert and even in the nine border towns of the Ming Dynasty.