The husband's son-in-law

Guangwu four years is destined to be a busy and ordinary year.

It is built in the two Zhejiang provinces with the outside of Shanghai, which is the middle coastal area of ​​the entire Dali. It connects the upper and lower, and it is easy to walk to the Central Plains Road. It is very platform, with few hills and plateaus. The yamen will first choose a small prefecture on the coast of Zhejiang and Zhejiang provinces.

This prefecture is called Haicheng, which is actually not very rich, because the Dali, including the previous dynasties, did not trade with the outside world. The vast sea is far away, and no one knows when it will go to another piece of land. Perhaps the predecessors secretly went to sea. Passed, but will return after a short journey.

No one explores the whole world and the map.

Compared with sea cities, cities slightly closer to inland waters are more prosperous.Because the internal transactions of the entire Dali are all medium-sized and small ships.This Haicheng seemed to be bustling after Zhaozhou came here.

At this time, the imperial court issued an order, and the county magistrate of Haicheng saw that he came to his site to open a maritime trade department. After thinking about it for a while, he thought it was to do business with Zhaozhou, but it was just to be built more grandly. No wonder, After all, Mrs. Gu Ge was behind the Zhaozhou business, and the county magistrate of Haicheng had a guess.

It's not uncommon for an official's family to have property and do business, but it can be said on the stage, especially Gu Ge's wife, who is a low-ranking official is not savvy and has no wink, and there is a suspicion of embarrassing Gu Ge.

After all, the businessman is low.

Boss Li of Zhaozhou Shang is very famous in the Central Plains. People know Zhaozhou Shang and Boss Li from their mouths. Officials have some insight, but no one dares to tell the truth. Therefore, Boss Li and Mrs. Gu Ge are like It is generally split.

The county magistrate thought for a while, and felt that he knew everything, that is, Mr. Gu Ge has become prosperous, and now Boss Li has changed the commercial business to an official one, because he wants to make it easier for his subordinates to take care of them, so he can't help being speechless. Really caring.

The chariot team came.

Li Zhouzhou rode a horse, and he was exhausted all the way, and he got used to it within a day, but Li Jinyi, when he saw the carriage at first, thought it was for Mrs. Gu, so he didn't dare to underestimate it and said anything, he just wanted to see Mrs. Delicate and fragile, Mrs. Gu's status is even more precious, so she can take a carriage.

But within two days after leaving the capital, Li Jinyi couldn't take it anymore. He had a burning pain in the root of his thigh, and he ate a stomach full of ashes. He was really powerless from his high ambitions to the end--then he still held on .

"Master Li, go and rest in the carriage." Li Zhouzhou said.

Li Jinyi still wanted to decline for a while, but Madam Gu said: "The road is hard, I arrived early, and I can finish my errands early."

Now Li Jinyi obediently got into the carriage, not daring to delay.When he was sitting in the carriage, he figured it out. Where was the carriage prepared for Mrs. Gu? He seldom wastes extravagance. He is already much stronger than the scholars and scholars of the same age, but no one thinks that he can ride a horse for only two days...

When they arrived in Haicheng, the county magistrate did not greet them personally——

He inquired about the new official who took office. His family’s ancestors were in business, and he was not a big rich businessman. An official of the sixth rank.

Although he is two ranks higher than him, but how many years has he been in the field, this rookie has just arrived, and they have nothing to do with each other, why praise him?Therefore, only the county magistrate and others were sent to pick him up.

Got someone.

Because of Li Jinyi's family, he is very sensitive to interpersonal communication. Whoever greets him with a smile on his face is actually a bit of contempt. He can feel it, but when Boss Li doesn't speak, he doesn't say anything.

... Presumably the county magistrate of Haicheng will give him a blow.Li Jinyi thought to himself.

But when we arrived at the place where we stayed, the master said that this is the yamen prepared by their government for Mr. Li. It used to be a yard, and it was newly built a few years ago. I heard that you are going to come to work, so I asked someone to clean it up early.

At first glance, the courtyard is new and magnificent.

It's really strange, the county magistrate doesn't think much of him, why prepare such a nice new house for him to work in?

The master also organized a banquet to welcome the wind, saying that his family was really sorry for the occasional cold, and sent him to treat Mr. Li well.Li Jinyi looked at Boss Li—since he went all the way south, everyone in the team called Madam Gu, Boss Li, and Li Jinyi also changed his name to Boss Li instead of Madam Gu.

It's so called, it looks serious and serious.

"Boss Li, do you want to use it together?"

Li Zhouzhou was a little tired, so he waved his hand, "Master Li, do as you please, I'll rest first."

After that, everyone went their own way, but after the banquet, the master went back to learn a lesson, "...the new Mr. Li is not lustful, and invited a few girls to play and sing, and he just ate and drank by himself. After eating, drinking and playing, he said goodbye. stay overnight."

"There must be an elder in the family following him, but it doesn't look like there is too much difference in age. Mr. Li called that husband Boss Li, and said yours, otherwise the younger one would really misunderstand."

The magistrate of Haicheng County, who was originally leisurely, heard this, and suddenly a carp exploded from the recliner. The master was so frightened that he didn't know that his sentence was wrong, so he heard the Fu Zun ask: "What is the name of that husband you just said?" ?”

"The surname is Li—" Seeing the expression on Fu Zun's face, the master didn't dare to be ambiguous, and thought about the theory carefully: "Master Li said: 'Boss Li, do you want to use it together?', I thought Mr. Li's accent was wrong when I first heard it. "

"It's not wrong, it's not wrong, I didn't expect Boss Li to come."

Fu Zun is very likely to be sure, which husband or businessman dares to let an official call "you" and serve him with such a cautious attitude, it must be Gu Gelao's wife, there are still people in this world Who dares to be Boss Li?

Immediately, I asked my servants to prepare a car, and I was going to visit the Xinyamen. The master also understood, stopped him first, and said: "My lord, you said that you sometimes feel cold, and now the night is passing quickly, I'm afraid that Master Li will misunderstand you. Why don't you go back early tomorrow morning, bring some things, and look more solemn."

"That's true."

The county magistrate of Haicheng gave up, and just alarmed the whole government to toss about what gift to give tomorrow.

The new yamen of the Ministry of Maritime Commerce, this yamen is not like a yamen, it is pretended to be a courtyard of a private house, but there is a plaque hanging on the gate of the house, with the words Ministry of Maritime Commerce written in large characters.

Outsiders don't know that the words on the plaque were inscribed by Rong Ye, and even the seal is a private seal.

In fact, Gu Zhao had fantasized about the business of interoperability at sea when he first came here. At that time, the diet was too light, and he was really not used to eating without chili. Remember if you haven't forgotten it first.

The mouth is talking about chili peppers.

Of course it was impossible to go to sea at that time, it was purely a dream, just think about it.

Later, when he was in Zhaozhou, Gu Zhao also had this idea. Ji Ting’s wharf was being repaired, and Lin Ge’er’s family members who were familiar with water and shipbuilders detained the two Japanese and wanted to tinker with the big boat, but at that time The situation is not suitable.

The inside of the war is not stable. Without the support of the state, relying on a few merchants alone will not go far.What's more, nowadays, if you take the sea route, you don't mention the cities in the Dali calendar, and you go outside.

After thinking about it comprehensively, Gu Zhao didn't mention it until the second half of last year, when the time came.

Li Zhouzhou already firmly believed in the statement that 'we are a round ball in this world', what Gu Zhao said, and the unfamiliar words that he didn't understand, Li Zhouzhou just remembered them in his heart without asking.

In the second half of last year, when Gu Zhao chatted, Li Zhouzhou asked, and within a few words, it was no longer a dream to do business with HNA.Afterwards, Gu Zhao drew up the document and reported it to Li Wubing. Although Li Wubing didn't believe it, he let Gu Zhao go on his own. Gu Zhao.

Although Rong Ye couldn't go there in person, he was still very curious. Later, Li Zhouzhou went to the palace to chat and talk, and the two also talked about many topics about overseas.

In the end, all ideas are being implemented, including opening a new yamen, choosing a new yamen location, and the position of the minister of the new yamen should not be too high-so that the Conservative Party in Beijing will not have to speak out for the new yamen, and will die or live.

This matter was originally planned to be handed over to Li Zhouzhou.

But in terms of official position, Gu Zhao really wanted to give Zhou Zhou an official position for his family. In terms of business, Zhou Zhou's ability to sit in this position is absolutely fine and excellent.

It is conceivable that there will be more resistance.

Li Wubing was able to draw his sword to kill the minister in the Tai Chi Hall in order to establish Rong Ye as the empress—although he didn't kill him in the end, but this matter was plainly the emperor's family matter, and it didn't touch the interests of being an official in Beijing.

And if my brother can be an official, he will be an official if he has no imperial examinations, no education, and no experience of various obvious achievements. Although he is a sixth-rank official, this interest will move the interests of men who will be officials in the future.

The nature is different.

When Li Zhou Zhouzhen sits in an official position, the people in the world don't care about your ability or not, they will only say that this is Gu Ge's old man who is using the officialdom of Dali as a joke, and let his wife sit on it for fun.

Moreover, in the matter of trade, it is best to keep a low profile in the early stage, and it is not appropriate to make too much publicity-because no one knows how the country on the other side of the sea is developing, whether it is valuable, or whether it can be brought back to Dali safely.

Li Zhouzhou said to Rong Ye: "I don't care if I become an official or not. For this, if it causes trouble and ruins the business, I have to try."

"I have no achievements, how can I convince others?"

"Xiao Rong, let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart. If I can really make great achievements and bring prosperity to Dali, the people all over the world can see and understand. I don't expect any official position. I only hope that one day in the future, Fubao can have Time to show your ambition."

Rong Ye actually understood that he used to be a man and enjoyed many conveniences, but he didn't think that those were 'conveniences', which were what he was born with, like drinking water and eating, but now he has become a brother, a queen, and his status is It is high, but there are still many restrictions, and the convenience of drinking water and eating has become impossible to ask for.

Zhou Zhou loves his son eagerly, he has become a father, why not.

Can Li Wubing kill a minister, can he kill all the mouths of the world?

Therefore, for the Overseas Trade Department, Rong Ye was actually more concerned than Li Wubing, and even personally wrote a plaque and sent Li Zhou Zhou on a trip, hoping for a smooth journey.

It really fulfilled Gu Zhao's saying, "The time has come." Originally, there was still a lack of candidates for the top of the new department. This year, Li Jinyi was selected in the palace examination. It can be said that everything is ready and the wind is coming.

The new yamen is established, and the main business is the merchant side.

The big merchants and squires in the two Zhejiang cities, as well as Zhaozhou, if Dali is now at war, they may not be able to allocate too much funds on the surface. At this time, they must rely on private merchants to share their profits.

Money is one aspect, and there are also the first things to choose when going to sea for business.

Gu Zhaowei proposed three items: porcelain, silk, and tea.Among them, porcelain is probably not easy to bring, but take it first, because rare things are more expensive.

Things and money are in place, and there are boats. Today's boats are too small, even the boats shipped by Zhaozhou merchants are small in Gu Zhao's view, and the equipment on board is not perfect, such as a device for filtering clean water, and gunpowder weapons these.

It is very important to be the leader of the merchant with the ship.

You need to be decisive, capable, smart, have experience in sea business, and have an escort team. This escort team must be good at water and able to fight. When you arrive in a strange land and bring a boatload of things, how can you sell them at a high price? How can you protect them? This boat stuff.

We can’t travel thousands of miles. The people over there have never seen the objects of the Dali and sold them cheaply. Isn’t this a waste of charity, so it is very important to be able to do business.

By the way, there is also the translation department. If you are not proficient in the language, you have to learn the language quickly and use your brain.In this regard, Gu Zhao actually thought of Zheng Hui. After the spring palace examination, Gu Zhao went to Zheng's house to find out, and happened to hear another story.

Zheng's grandfather and grandmother returned home from Beijing together with Zheng Hui's parents. The old man was not used to living in the capital, but was still used to the house and life in Ping'an Town. They just took Saburo, who was born to Wu Ji, with them when they left.

Zheng Hui has already taken a concubine. Although she is from a dancer, she is not from an innocent family, but she has a son for the Zheng family. The Zheng family is sorry for Tang Rou. At this time, Tang Rou is generous and virtuous. That was when the child was still young, and Zheng's mother was a woman in the back house, and she herself gave birth to two brothers, both of whom were born with a preference, let alone not born from the same mother.

The two boys have grown up, and mothers always have to calculate for the future of their children.

In order to prevent the child from being innocent in the future, Grandfather Zheng said to take Saburo away.

The dancer didn't dare to cry when she heard it, but she still smiled politely and said that everything was according to the master's arrangement.

Grandfather Zheng is old, so there is nothing he can't understand. The child is still young, and he took him away. It was a separation of flesh and blood. Hui'er's concubine was afraid that he might have misunderstood him, so he made it clear and said: " I have been an apprentice for many years, but the medical skills of the Zheng family have not been inherited by the blood of the Zheng family, and now this child follows me to learn the medical skills of the Zheng family, and Erlang can study with peace of mind to wait for the imperial examination."

This was said in front of everyone.

Tang Rousheng's great-great-grandson is taking the imperial examination, and will become an official in the future, taking over his father's mantle, so he has a high status nowadays.The fate of the concubine has also been decided. Studying medicine is not a noble life, but if you have a skill, you can live a worry-free life in the future. Doctors are also decent at this time.

The two brothers have different futures, so there will be less conflicts in the future.Furthermore, after the child was taken away, the dancer had nothing to rely on, so she would only respect Tang Rou, the mistress, and could not think about anything else - her own son was still holding hands in Ping'an Town.

When Gu Zhao heard about it at the time, he sighed a bit, no matter how old he is, it doesn't matter if he is a parent and a child.Later, Gu Zhao didn't say anything about the translation, because Zheng's parents were going to leave Beijing, and there were still children who were reluctant to leave, but they didn't cry. The atmosphere was not right, so he didn't say anything.

Several things in parallel, investment promotion, recruitment of workers to build ships, cargo preparation, naval drills, etc.

As for the general manager, Li Zhouzhou had a candidate in mind, but he just wanted to ask and explain the danger clearly.

In June, Li Zhouzhou personally went to Zhaozhou. The ship docked at Jiting Wharf, and the port guard asked loudly: "Who are you? Where did you get the ship? What kind of goods, what do you do? Do you have any recommendations. "

Zhong Yi replied in a loud voice: "Boss Li, the owner of the ship, is from Zhejiang—"

Boss Li?

Boss Li! ! !

Not long after the news of Boss Li's return, the news of Boss Li's return was everywhere like snowflakes. All the country gentry, lords and merchants from Jiting's family came to the scene. Seeing that it was Boss Li, tears filled their eyes immediately, and some even knelt down to salute , was first helped up by Li Zhouzhou.

The man showed a weeping and laughing face, weeping happily, and said: "Boss Li is back, is there any big deal for you?"

"It's a business. This time it's not a private merchant's business, but it's approved by the emperor." Li Zhouzhou didn't hide it, and said directly: "This matter will be discussed later. If you are thinking about it, there will be a specific regulation at that time. It is still an old saying. This matter is very dangerous, and we will make a decision after thinking about it.”

Those people didn't dare to agree immediately - Boss Li probably wouldn't lie to them by saying that.

The danger is great.

Li Zhouzhou changed into clear streamer silk again, which was the style of Zhaozhou. He was going to Zhaozhou and rode a horse to drive out of the city. It was still a cement road, washed clean by the rain. Mixed with the taste of a sea breeze.

This familiar climate.

Li Jinyi, who came from the same company, saw it and said: "This cement road is really convenient in Zhaozhou. When we first left the capital, we rode that section of the road. I said it was a good road. It ran fast and did not bump. But within a day it was dirt road again.”

The cement road construction in Dali is going well, but it’s not like Zhaozhou. The roads from the villages, prefectures and counties leading to the state city have all been repaired. In the north, the construction of the state city and the state city was first carried out, mainly to build official roads. , which facilitates the transportation of grain and grass for the war ahead.

Everyone can walk with the people of Zhaozhou, and those who carry the burden of buying and selling goods are naturally incomparable.

"It's sweltering here, Master Li, if it's hot, I'll go back to Zhaozhou City and change into clean clothes for you, this is doing as the Romans do, everyone in Zhaozhou is like this, Master Li don't have to be ashamed." Li Zhouzhou said.

Li Jinyi was still dressed neatly, but his back was drenched while riding on the horse.

But he was still embarrassed.

It didn't take long to hurry, and there was also a convoy ahead, riding fast.

Li Zhouzhou pulled his horse aside, and Zhong Yi rode over first. After inquiring, he shouted joyfully, "Boss Li, Manager Wang is here to pick you up."

Wang Jian is here.