rebirth first official

Gao Zhanming spent several hours visiting many shops according to the address written on the list given by Liu Da.

He used to deal with the sons of bureaucrats and wealthy businessmen in Wu County, and stayed in Zongxue for a few days. He has long been familiar with the behavior of those dandies who spend money like water, and they imitate them vividly.He was born with fine skin and tender flesh, and he was dressed very richly, so as soon as he entered the store, the shopkeepers regarded him as a distinguished guest and answered every question he had.

Gao Zhanming pretended to be here to buy goods, and after entering the store, he took a stroll around, secretly keeping in mind the size of the store and the goods sold in the store, and then pretended to be contemptuous, and asked those who were courteous beside him There are still some hidden goods in the shopkeeper who is waiting.The shopkeepers didn't doubt him, and showed him the best goods in the store one after another.He also pretended not to like it and belittled those treasures. In order to prove their goods, the shopkeepers would often tell how these treasures sold well, how many pieces they had sold in this month, or which wealthy family in Beijing visited Just ordered from them a few days ago.

Gao Zhanming had enough talk and left without buying anything.Those shopkeepers didn't dare to show him any shame, and even sent him out of the shop courteously.

In this way, after spending an afternoon, Gao Zhanming had figured out all the main businesses of his family.He was originally a businessman, so he was very clear about the price of goods. Combined with the location and customer flow of each store, he could estimate the profit and loss figures of these stores in his mind.It's not exact, but at least it has a rough range.

As he expected, the income recorded in the public account books and the surplus he roughly estimated were completely different.Even after deducting the share of helpers and shopkeepers, their family's income from outside work should be a huge figure.After all, the Gao family's identity is placed there. Gao Yuanqing is the direct son of the Gao family. Before his death, his status was extremely noble, and the family fortune he received was also very considerable. Not to mention that he only left Tang Xue and Gao Zhanming as orphans and widowed mothers. It was he who left behind a dozen concubines and children, and his family property was enough to support these people for a lifetime. If it wasn't for the villain's obstruction, how could their family be defeated like this?

Gao Zhanming wandered around for several hours, and at dusk, he finally arrived outside the Xinglong Incense Shop.

Yinhe led the horse to stop, and said, "Master, this is the place."

Gao Zhanming glanced at the shop outside, and then looked up at the signboard of the shop.Xiangpu opened three doors to welcome customers, which shows the size of the shop.There is a huge signboard on it, the words "Xinglong Xiangpu" are gilded, which is extremely magnificent.Although the store changed owners four months ago, it did not change its name, presumably to retain past customers.

When Gao Zhanming was wandering around the city just now, he also saw other incense shops.There is another Hengyuan Incense Shop which is also very large in scale, and the decoration seems to be more extravagant than this Xinglong Incense Shop, but other than that, there is no other that can compete with it.

With this point in mind, Gao Zhanming can be sure that Xinglong Xiangpu is definitely not a business that has to be sold because of poor management!

Gao Zhanming jumped down from the horse, straightened his robe, took out two gold ingots and played with them in his hands, showing a playful look: "Master, go in and have a look!"

Yinhe led the horse aside and waited, Gao Zhanming stepped into the gate of Xinglong Incense Shop grandly.

Among the few shops that Gao Zhanming inspected just now, the Xinglong Incense Shop can be said to be the largest one.As soon as he entered the room, a mixed and strong aroma flooded his nostrils.Various spices are displayed on seven or eight shelves, which can be described as dazzling.However, the first thing Gao Zhanming did when he entered the room was not to look at the spices, but to look for the shopkeeper. ——There are only five or six clerks in the shop, and the shopkeeper is not in the hall.

Gao Zhanming had no choice but to withdraw his gaze calmly and began to size up the spices.

Although Gao Zhanming is the owner of these shops, he is a Gao family after all, with a noble status. He used to disdain to deal with these merchants. All the outside business is handled by Tang Qian, and they only need to wait for Tang Qian to bring the money. That is.So the clerks in the shop had never seen him at all, and only treated him as an ordinary rich man.

The variety of spices in this incense shop is very complete, and they are arranged in shelves according to the degree of cost.

Gao Zhanming just looked at it without speaking. Every time he walked to a shelf, the store clerk graciously introduced the types of these spices to him: "Guest officer, do you want the original fragrance or the prepared spice? We have everything here. Yes, the original fragrances include clove, agarwood, stack incense, sandalwood, musk, etc., and the blended fragrances include plum fragrance, lily fragrance, Kaiyuan fragrance..."

Gao Zhanming asked casually, "Do you have everything here?"

The guy had a serious look on his face: "Of course. Our Xinglong Incense Shop is the most famous incense shop in Beijing. Whether it is a dignitary or a commoner, everyone recognizes the name of our Xinglong Incense Shop!" He glanced at Gao Zhanming from the corner of his eye. Wearing a sachet on his waist, he hurriedly said, "Oh, guest officer, didn't you just buy your sachet from our shop!"

Gao Zhanming looked down at the sachet on his waist, pretending not to know, so he said, "This is bought by slaves, I don't know. You said Xinglong Incense Shop is the most famous in Beijing? What about Hengyuan Incense Shop? Our family It seems that a lot of incense came from that house."

When the clerk heard the name of Hengyuan Incense Shop, his face froze, but then he smiled again: "Guest officer, our Xinglong Incense Shop is an old shop for decades, and Hengyuan Incense Shop has only been open for a few years." , It’s very frivolous, but it’s just a gimmick. Whether it’s reputation or supply, how can they compare with us?”

Gao Zhanming sneered and said, "I've always felt dizzy these days, so I went out for a stroll and wanted to buy some refreshing spices. If the incense here is good, the incense in our house will come from your house from now on. in."

The guy's eyes lit up, he hurriedly led Gao Zhanming to a cabinet, took a sachet and handed it to him, and said courteously: "Guest officer, you smell this. This is water agarwood, made of sandalwood, borneol, and musk It is made with horse tooth salt after soaking in high-quality green tea, although the aroma is light, the function of refreshing the mind is first-rate!"

Gao Zhanming sniffed it under his nose, and he was really refreshed.He kept his face and pretended to be disdainful, and said: "Is there really such a god? I don't feel anything when I smell it. Don't use some vulgar things to trick you. You are a man of knowledge!"

The man was anxious, and lowered his voice and said: "Master, don't look down on it, this water agarwood has a strong background! Look at those high-ranking officials, every morning before dawn, they have to enter the palace to face the holy, and they haven't come out of here." Waking up in sleep, wouldn’t it be a waste of time? That’s why those high-ranking officials bought some water and agarwood from us, smoked themselves with incense every day, and immediately woke up. The emperor is offering advice!"

Gao Zhanming couldn't help raising his eyebrows: "Really? So all the officials in Beijing buy incense from you?"

The guy laughed hard.

Gao Zhanming silently calculated in his heart.In the spice business, the profits of the loose incense bought by ordinary people are almost negligible. The best source of customers for this kind of business are those dignitaries.The mansions of these nobles are very large, at least one thousand catties of spices are burned every year, and the profits are extremely considerable.That's why this guy flattered himself so much.

Gao Zhanming picked out a few more fragrances, all of which looked dissatisfied, and asked the guy, "Apart from the ones on the shelf, what treasures do you have that you can get your hands on?"

The man asked, "What do you want?"

Gao Zhanming said arrogantly: "I don't like the things that ordinary people can choose!" This means that I want to see their collections.

The guy looked at Gao Zhanming's extravagance, hesitated for a moment, and said with a smile: "Master, come with me here."

The guy led Gao Zhanming into the inner room and said, "Master, wait a moment."

After a while, the guy came back with a box in his hands.He took off the lid of the box in front of Gao Zhanming, there are several compartments in the box, each compartment is filled with different spices, but the amount is very small, which shows how precious the spices are.Gao Zhanming used to be in the spice business, so he recognized these spices without the helper's introduction: high-quality saffron, ambergris, white wood...they are all spices that are more precious than gold!

Gao Zhanming pretended to be ignorant and asked, "Are these incenses good?"

The guy said: "It's all the best!"

Gao Zhanming was about to twist some spices, and the guy was very nervous to protect the spice box: "Guest officer, just come here and smell it, don't touch it with your hands, any damage will be a big price!"

Gao Zhanming snorted, and asked him: "Look at your virtue, no matter how much money you have, it's worth your attention! How well do you sell these incense?"

The guy smiled and said: "Master, these incenses are more expensive than gold, but not many people can afford them. Only a few families buy these treasures from us, and they are all very powerful people!"

Gao Zhanming asked unconvinced: "How powerful is it?"

The man pretended to look around mysteriously, and when he saw no one was eavesdropping, he gave a thumbs up and lowered his voice, "An Guogong who is unknown to everyone in the world! All the incense in his house is It came from us!"

Gao Zhanming picked out his ears, as if he didn't care much about the name An Guogong, and asked, "What's so great about An Guogong! How much ambergris does he buy from you every year? How many crocuses?"

The guy looked at him vigilantly: "Why do you ask this?"

Gao Zhanming said: "As much as he buys, I will buy as much!"

The guy couldn't help laughing, as if he was mocking Gao Zhanming's overreaching.But he didn't dare to say it clearly, he just said: "You are joking, you can buy as much as you want."

Gao Zhanming was furious: "Why, you look down on me? You think I can't afford it?!"

The guy hurriedly said: "What did you say! The villain would never dare to have such a meaning."

Gao Zhanming pointed at his nose and scolded: "Then what do you mean? You dog slave, open your dog eyes and take a good look at your master! Go, go and get the account book from your shop, I want to see it." Let's see how much incense the surname Gao bought from you! Show me the account book, don't try to fool your father!"

The guy didn't expect that Gao Zhanming would suddenly have a seizure when he entered the room, and there was no helper around him, so he really wanted to cry but had no tears.How could he show Gao Zhanming the account book, and he didn't dare to offend the master, so he could only coax him nicely, but he didn't expect Gao Zhanming to be unreasonable, and he would make a lot of noise if he didn't hand over the account book.

The two were deadlocked, and Gao Zhanming scolded: "Slave dog, I don't want to hear you barking, go and call your shopkeeper!"

The clerk said: "Master, our shopkeeper is not in the store today, so just tell me if you have anything. It's just that the account book is so small that I really don't have the right to show it to you!"

Hearing this, Gao Zhanming broke out violently, and vigorously swept the spice box on the table to the ground, and the precious spices were immediately scattered all over the floor!

The guy was so frightened that he yelled and threw himself on the ground distressedly trying to pick up those precious spices.Gao Zhanming pushed him away, rubbed his feet vigorously on the spices, trampled those treasures to pieces.

The guy finally got angry: "You! You bastard! What do you want to do?"

Gao Zhanming pointed at himself arrogantly and said: "Do you know who is the master? The master is the nephew of Han Hai, Minister of the Ministry of Rites! You dog slave dare to neglect the master. I will let your broken incense shop be opened in the capital again." I can't even drive it!"

The guy laughed angrily and said, "What kind of thing is Han Hai, Minister of the Ministry of Rites? Our head shopkeeper is a relative of the Gao family! You are breaking ground on Tai Sui's head, just wait and see!"

This is what Gao Zhanming waited for, and spat: "A relative of the Gao family? You're really bragging and don't write drafts! Which relative of the Gao family? It's not your nonsense! Do you think the master was scared?"

Not to be outdone, the guy said, "Our shopkeeper is the nephew of Uncle Gao's!"

Gao Zhanming was ecstatic!Sure enough, it was just as he guessed!Isn't this good uncle of the Gao family Tang Gan?He deceived Tang Xue around, and made her sell the cash cow of Xinglong Incense Shop to his nephew at a low price of 500 taels of silver, but in fact it ended up in his own pocket!He is so daring, relying on Tang Xue's trust that he will not investigate him, even the name of the incense shop will not be changed, he is afraid that Tang Xue and Gao Zhanming's names are still being used to cheat business and make money behind the scenes!It's really a good wishful thinking!

Gao Zhanming pretended to be a little scared, but stuck his neck and said: "What kind of uncle's nephew, relatives so far away dare to climb up, so shameless! I'm afraid the Gao family didn't take you seriously at all, so I just smashed you today." They don’t dare to do anything to me!” He opened the curtain and walked out while talking.

The guy was also apprehensive, he didn't dare to do anything to Gao Zhanming, so he could only swear at his ass.Gao Zhanming swaggered all the way out of the incense shop, Yin He was waiting outside leading the horse, Gao Zhanming blinked at him, Yin He immediately helped him on the horse, and led the horse away from Xinglong Incense Shop.

After a while, Gao Zhanming asked Yin He to turn into a remote alley, and then called out the servant Liu Da sent to secretly follow him, and said: "You two, immediately check the room I went to just now. Who is the shopkeeper of Xinglong Incense Shop, where do you like to go the most on weekdays, and what things you like. The more detailed the search, the better, but it must be fast. I don't care what methods you use, find out and report to me before noon tomorrow! Make this I will definitely reward you!"

The two servants got the order and went immediately.

When Gao Zhanming returned to his residence, the sun was almost setting.He hurriedly changed his clothes and went to find Tang Xue.

Tang Xue was having a meal in the room. When she saw Gao Zhanming coming, she was surprised, and hurriedly told him to sit down beside her: "Minger, have you eaten yet? Let's have some with your bridesmaid."

Gao Zhanming said to the maid who was serving at the side: "You all go down."

Tang Xue looked at Gao Zhanming in confusion, but did not object.

After everyone retreated, Gao Zhanming turned his face to Tang Xue and said with a smile: "Minger hasn't eaten with mother for a long time. Let Minger serve mother to eat this meal."

Gao Zhanming knew in his heart that the higher the status of these big families, the more rules they had.Each master's diet and schedule are different. Although the mother and son live in the same mansion, but the mansion is so big, it takes a long time to go back and forth between the two places, and it is not easy to see each other.Gao Zhanming lived in Zongxue all the year round, so he skipped the morning and evening appointments every day. I am afraid that the mother and son will have a meal together on weekdays and only have the opportunity during the New Year's holidays.Because of this, the relationship between their mother and child became somewhat estranged. Tang Xue did not discuss with her own son, but listened to her concubine brother.

After Gao Zhanming waited on Tang Xue for a meal, Tang Xue held Gao Zhanming's hand and came to the place where the candle was bright, and looked at him lovingly: "Ming'er, let mother take a good look, mother hasn't looked at you carefully for a long time. "

Gao Zhanming held Tang Xue's hand instead, and said, "Mother, Ming'er has grown up, and in a few months, Ming'er will be almost 17 years old."

Tang Xue raised her hand and gently stroked his face: "Yes, my good boy, in a blink of an eye, you have grown so big."

Gao Zhanming said: "Mother, the boy is a man now, and he is already able to shoulder the burden and take care of Mother."

Tang Xue nodded again and again: "Hey, hey." She looked at Gao Zhanming lovingly, but she was not moved.She didn't take what Gao Zhanming said to heart, Gao Zhanming was just a child in her heart.

Gao Zhanming said: "Ming'er knows the family situation in his heart. Therefore, after studying in Zongxue these years, Ming'er also learned some skills in calculating, writing and checking accounts, and wants to revive the family business."

Tang Xue said displeased: "What do you learn those things for? You just need to learn the strategy of governing the country well, let your uncles and uncles look at you with admiration, and you will be able to find a job in the court in the future. Merchants are inferior slaves Do it, no one will take you down!"

Gao Zhanming hurriedly said: "Mother, I understand. It's just that the family's property is not enough to make a living now, and I feel uneasy when I study at school tomorrow. The schoolwork is not tight, and I can handle it tomorrow, and I still have some spare time. I thought it would be good if I could do something for the family.”

Tang Xuedao: "Just let your uncle do those things, you don't have to worry so much."

Gao Zhanming thought to himself that Tang Xue was really confused, his bone marrow was almost sucked clean, and he still treated others as good people.However, he had to convince Tang Xue right now.He must ask Tang Gan to hand over all the books tomorrow. If Tang Xue helps Tang Gan, his affairs will be difficult, but if Tang Xue is willing to help him, then Tang Gan has no reason not to hand over.Tang Gan belonged to a maidservant, and the Marquis of Wu An had already been stripped of his title and relegated to Beijing. Tang Gan had nothing but Tang Xue's trust. Therefore, it was not difficult to say that it was difficult to bring him down.

Gao Zhanming said: "Mother, it's actually like this. My cousin knows our predicament, so he wants to support some of our industries. He wants to know the current situation of our family. After I return to school, I will report it to him. I know that uncle He's a capable person, but my cousin only plans to do this for my sake, I don't want to make him look down upon me by answering his questions."

Tang Xue asked, "Which cousin?"

Gao Zhanming said: "Gao Ziyi."

Tang Xue nodded thoughtfully: "It's him. He's kind-hearted. I thought it was Zi..." In the middle of speaking, she stopped talking and gave Gao Zhanming a guilty look.She also heard a little about how Gao Huachong bullied Gao Zhanming in the past two years.She is also responsible for this matter.

Gao Zhanming said: "Tomorrow I want to ask my uncle to show me all the account books. I just want to know the general situation. What do you think?"

Tang Xuedao: "Since that's the case, then I will obey you. When your uncle comes tomorrow, you can tell him yourself."

When Gao Zhanming heard Tang Xuesong's mouth, he immediately beamed with joy.As long as Tang Xue is willing to let him investigate, the matter will be half done!He took a total of three days' leave, and now he has gone for one day, and there are two days left to see how he can convince Tang Qian to clean up!