Palace Flower as Employment [Red Mansion]

Half a year passed quickly, and on the appointed day, a large group of blond-haired and blue-eyed, black-haired and brown-eyed, or brown-haired and green-eyed overseas businessmen with high nose bridges and white skin sat in the lobby of the Shipping Department in Songjiangkou City. There were whispers and whispers in the waiting hall.

In terms of overseas colonies, the British started relatively late, and they are not as good as Portugal and Spain, the two current maritime overlords, or the Netherlands, which is known as the sea coachman. Even because they are Protestant countries, they encountered The unanimous rejection of businessmen from several other countries.

At least, the other merchants present were exchanging messages in twos and threes, leaving the British merchants aside.

To be honest, every businessman present today is feeling guilty. Many of them have heard that there is no glass in the East, and a few small glass marbles can be exchanged for many Oriental specialties. Glass can even be exchanged for high-quality silk!

So every businessman present, more or less, brought glass products and glass mirrors.

However, this waiting hall is actually inlaid with huge floor-to-ceiling windows. Large pieces of glass are placed between the exquisitely carved window edges on the two floors, and some of the glass has complicated carvings. The craftsmanship made everyone present Everyone was dumbfounded.

It is indeed a country of craftsmen!

Everyone present has mixed feelings.

They knew that the glass in their hands might not be able to afford the price.The only thing they are fortunate about is that the ancient empire has not noticed India, which is close at hand. When they return, they can still sell the glass to India and recover a little of their capital.

It was at this time that Lang Shining entered the waiting room.

Almost every businessman is very surprised to see a Catholic priest here.When they heard that the priest had served in the court of Wei, they all hoped that Lang Shining could introduce them to the emperor of Wei.

Castiglione shook his head again and again: "My friend, 60 years ago, this land treated us very friendly, but unfortunately, the Holy See did a stupid thing. They angered the emperor of this country, and Catholicism was expelled. Similarly, those of us who brought Foreigners with obvious western features have been implicated. There is no way, just as it is difficult for us Westerners to distinguish these Easterners, they cannot recognize our nationality and religion, so, We can only be expelled together. Although I was lucky enough to stay in the court, I was forbidden to preach."

Immediately, there was a burst of exclamation around, and someone asked: "Do they believe in Protestantism?"

"No, they don't believe in religion, whether it's Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish."

"My God, what do they do for a living then?"

It's not just one or two who are confused, there are also those who don't care about faith but only care about business:

"Dear priest, although I am not a Catholic, I still need your advice. I mean, is the oriental nobleman who sent us the invitation really a nobleman? Aren't these noblemen very arrogant? Why? Give us an invitation letter? I mean, officials in the East are not easy to talk to."

Lang Shining said: "My friends, you must remember that the person who is going to see you today is a great noble from the East! His grandfather was a duke, his father was a marquis, and himself, he is his The father's youngest son was already an earl a few years ago!"

"My God! That's really a great nobleman!"

In view of the closure of this land, the difficulty of entering the inland, and language barriers, these Westerners are not clear about the political system of the Great Wei, or they do not know the difference between the nobles of the Great Wei and the Western nobles. There is a big difference. Among other things, the nobles of Wei Dynasty did not have the concept of territory.

Instinctively they use the dukes, marquises, and earls of their own country as a reference, and by this they modify their attitude.

"One thing, everyone here must know that this country has a very vast area, almost as large as the entire Europe, so in Europe, it is enough for a country to have one prime minister, but in this ancient eastern country, their emperor needs The four prime ministers work together, and at the same time, they also need the assistance of six deputy prime ministers. In addition, the emperor also has a huge secretarial group. The earl who is looking for you today is the emperor's confidant. His status in this country , is equivalent to the confidential secretary of France."

He is an earl himself, and he also served as a confidential secretary by the emperor's side?

The Western businessmen present here and these captains immediately understood what kind of officials they were going to face.

Therefore, when they were seated in the conference hall and saw Jia Qi coming in from the front side door, none of them was rude, and no one blurted out that Jia Qi was a dwarf.

Under Castiglione's introduction, Jia Qi looked at the twenty or so Western businessmen sitting on both sides of the conference table, but he wondered in his heart, are these people maritime merchants?Or a smuggler?Or pirates, opium merchants?

However, if it is the last one, then he has the responsibility to eradicate it!

After Jia Qi sat down, Fangcai said: "Just now, the priest has already told you, so let's make a long story short. Of course, I will repeat some important things. I know, you are all brave adventurers, you will I came to the East because of my desire for money. Oriental silk, tea, and porcelain are all priceless treasures for you. As long as you bring them back to your hometown, you can exchange them for a lot of money. I have the best silk here , tea and porcelain. It depends on whether you can afford it."

Western businessmen immediately began to whisper.

Someone said: "Is this what you said to us as an official of Wei, or as a lord?"

Jia Qi pondered for a while, and then realized that the other party asked whether he was negotiating with them in an official capacity, or based on the principle of fair business.

Jia Qi said: "There is one thing, I think you know better than me. Your ships cannot enter the waters north of Jinling, and likewise, you cannot enter our interior. You can only rely on a few coastal cities to understand us. Great Wei. Perhaps among all of you here, there are people who once begged to meet the officials of our Great Wei, but they were turned away, and even had to stay for several months. The last person they saw was just a little person who was basically unworthy .”

Immediately, someone nodded, indicating that such a thing had indeed happened.

Jia Qi said: "Just now, the priest should have told you that my country, inland, had a very large flood. Millions of people died in the flood, and tens of millions of people died in the flood. Displaced..."

"Oh my God!"

These Westerners all drew the cross on their chests to express their condolences.

Jia Qi waited for them to finish drawing the cross before saying: "This is also the reason why the emperor of our country appointed me as the first chief of the Songjiangkou Shipbuilding Department. We need money and a lot of supplies. We know that you like our silk, Tea and porcelain, so our emperor brought some silk, tea and porcelain from the court to see if you can afford the price."

These Westerners immediately became excited.

"You mean to say that the silk in your hands is exclusively for the royal family?"

More people are whispering below.

They knew very well that the silk they had obtained before was nothing more than ordinary things, and it was that kind of silk that could make a lot of money.If it was replaced with silk exclusively used by the oriental royal family, it would definitely be more valuable.

It's just that in this way, the money in everyone's hands must not be enough.

Now, more people's hearts are covered with a haze.

Are they really going to do that business?

Jia Qi looked at the people present, and waited for them to calm down a little, before saying: "I think you should be very clear that many countries in this world are strictly hierarchical, France has three levels of parliament, and Britain has the House of Commons. , and we in the East as well.”

Hearing that the other party knew the three-level parliament and the upper and lower houses, everyone present was shocked.

Obviously, this is an official who is very proficient in Western affairs, and he is definitely not so easy to fool.

Everyone cheered up and only heard Jia Qi say:

"In our east, some things are for the emperor's exclusive use, which we call Shangyong, and some are for officials and nobles, which we call official use. Whether it is for Shangyong or official use, these products are all It will not easily flow into the market, that is to say, the commodities you could get before were all for civilian use. In our Great Wei Dynasty, there were very strict ratings for various products such as silk, tea, and porcelain. Different grades of goods have different prices. I think this is what you lack. The reason why I have gathered you all is to tell you that in my Songjiangkou City Shipping Department, there is such a specialized agency for all Export commodities are graded, then price standards are set, and corresponding taxes are collected. In the next few days, I will also show you different grades of tea, silk and porcelain. Now, please follow me, and I will show you Show what you care about most, silk."

These Western businessmen were stunned.

They knew very well how inefficient and procrastinated the officials of Wei were.But the confidential secretary next to the Great Wei Emperor was so straightforward, he even said a few words and took them to see the products!

They thought they were dreaming.

Seeing Jia Qi standing up, getting up and walking towards the side door, these people reacted.

At this moment, the door was knocked open again:

"Oh, my good lord! I am late! Excuse me, but I have just come down from the boat with the wood you asked for!"

Louis rushed in, sweating profusely, shouting in French as soon as he entered the door.

"Louis?"

"Yes, my lord, do you remember me?"

Jia Qi nodded and said: "Your wood, after you unload it in a while, there will be officials from the Shibo Department to check and grade it. The type of tree and the age of the tree will directly affect your quality. The price of the wood." As he spoke, Jia Qi frowned suddenly, and said, "Excuse me, did you do anything to the wood? For example, you did rough processing on it."

"Oh, my lord, there are no such talents on my ship."

"That's good. Our country has different processes for different woods. If someone has processed these woods in advance, it is likely to cause these woods to depreciate. So, let him keep the appearance of being just felled with skins. it's the best."

Jia Qi nodded as he spoke.

This sounds like saying: I don't guarantee that you Westerners will understand our craftsmanship.

If someone else, or a person from any European country, said such a thing in front of a person from another European country, he would definitely get punched, but in this world, Great Wei, this ancient empire, has always been respected as The country of artisans.

Louis nodded in public: "Yes, my lord. I watched you turn a field into a city! Oh, my lord, I'm really curious, how much silk can be exchanged for those woods."

Jia Qi took these guests from far away and walked forward. Along the way, he had to explain to Louis again what is for public use and what is for official use, and then said: "Now, we are going to look at silk. Your trade is dominated by smooth silk fabrics, what you call taffeta."

At the door of room No. [-], two servants slowly opened the door, and there were eight Eight Immortals tables in the room, put together two by two, with silks and satins of various colors arranged side by side.

Jia Qi said: "I remember that in your past sales, taffeta accounted for the majority. Of course, what you can get is basically produced by private workshops, so there are basically no labels. However, Shangyu and For official use, all have special markings."

Louis' eyes lit up immediately.

"Really? Is there a sign?"

Jia Qi nodded, and the two maids standing in the corner came over immediately, stretched out their neatly cut hands, and opened one of them with palace silk, Jia Qi pointed to the edge of the silk and said: " Presumably, you have heard that our Wei Dynasty has a special organization that manages the production of high-end silk across the country. This organization is called the Weaving Government Office. The silk and satin used in clothing has been supervised by the Weaving Government Office from the beginning, so , on the edge of these satins, you can see these square, picture-like patterns, these are the birth certificates of these satins, like this piece of satin, "

Jia Qi pointed to the edge of the silk and satin, which was less than the width of the little finger, and said: "The first square pattern represents the Suzhou Weaving House, and the second square pattern represents the officials in charge of the production. For example, , the last part of this figure is a square character, and the last deputy chief of the Weaving Mansion in Suzhou, he stayed in the Weaving Mansion for 12 years, and was transferred to another post seven years ago. You can see from this that this horse The satins are at least seven years old."

Seven years of history?

In other words, after seven years, this piece of silk is still so glamorous, as if it is brand new?

These Western businessmen all exclaimed.

Jia Qi said: "The third decoration is the logo of a certain workshop under the Suzhou Weaving Mansion, and the fourth is the logo of the responsible weaver. If the silk and satin used in the clothing are unqualified, either The weaver re-weaves a new one within the specified time, or the superior will be punished. As a result, the official in charge of supervising the production may be fined, and the weavers below may die. Therefore, the Weaving Mansion The related workshops of the subordinates have always been rather lacking than excessive."

"Then it's for official use." Jia Qi ignored the few Westerners around the table, walked to the other side, and said: "There are two types of official use, one is from the workshop under the Weaving Mansion, and the other is The best ones are selected from folk workshops, and the qualifications for this workshop and corresponding weavers are awarded. This is also very obvious on the edges of these silks and satins, for example, this piece of silk and satin, this first The pattern shows the Jingshi Weaving Mansion, that is to say, the origin of this piece of silk and satin is within the jurisdiction of the Jingshi Weaving Mansion, and then there is the second pattern, which is not square but round. This pattern is for official use and The difference is that the upper one uses a square pattern, and this one uses a circle, which represents official use. Then, this is the logo of the workshop, and the logo of the weaver."

Jia Qi said: "The workshops directly under the Weaving Mansion usually have square signs, while the private workshops generally have round signs. As for the weavers' signs, it is a bit more complicated. I won't go into details today. These silks and satins are samples. You can take a look at the cloth strips sewn on them. These cloth strips are their quotations, product information, and their store in Songjiangkou. If you are interested, you can Take a document and go there."

Following Jia Qi's fingers, everyone discovered that there was a small shelf next to the door, and there was a large book on the shelf.

Jia Qi said: "This is the information of the taffeta suppliers that I have sorted out and registered with me, as well as the address of their shop in Songjiangkou. Of course, the silk and satin used in clothing, and the information from the palace You can only buy silk and satin from this official."

Louis suddenly exclaimed: "My lord, your clothes are so unique."

Just now, Louis’s attention was always on those silks and satins, but he didn’t pay attention to the clothes on Jia Qi’s body. Now, Jia Qi walked to the door, and there was a corridor outside the door. It was a very ordinary light green robe, but with the change of light, a green bamboo forest appeared, as well as bamboo leaves falling with the wind.

Louis' exclamation attracted everyone's attention, and the merchants who had been attracted by the taffeta raised their heads.After seeing Jia Qi's robe clearly, he exclaimed again.

Jia Qi said: "Now you are looking at smooth silk fabrics, but what I wear is Kesi."

Kesi?

These merchants have heard of the term Kesi, and they have only heard of it. Many of them have never seen the real product, let alone traded it.

Hearing that there were all kinds of silk in the back room, the merchants immediately got up and followed Jia Qi.

Taffeta is just a very common fabric. What can really embody the charm of oriental silk is all kinds of exquisite Kesi, makeup, jacquard...

Not to mention all kinds of resplendent silk and wool blended bird gold and duckweed in the last room.

Dazzled by these exquisite silks, the Western merchants from all walks of life were amazed in various ways, but they were all disheartened because they only had one thought, that is:

can not afford.

Among the many Western businessmen, only Louis was uneasy, feeling up and down in his heart.This is what Louis said to Jazzy: "My lord, these silks of yours are really good. I don't think most of us can afford them. However, if you can give me an estimate of the value of my goods, I will Maybe I can take some with me.”

Jia Qi thought for a while and said, "Let's go, where are your goods."

Louis was surprised.

In his impression, nobles are arrogant, like Jia Qi, who changed his itinerary after hearing his reasons, he has never seen it!

No, maybe there are no aristocrats who are kind and easy to talk to in this world, maybe he has never seen one before.

In fact, he left the youngest son of the baron's family instead of doing it, and instead became a businessman, and his father was very dissatisfied.Because his father had arranged a way for him to go to the army to be plated with gold.As a result, the youngest son turned out to be a businessman!

It can be said that the baron drove the youngest son out of the house. Only the mother of the youngest son loved her son and gave her private money to the beloved son. Otherwise, Louis could only be like those gamblers. The poker skills I practiced earn bread and whiskey for myself at the poker table.

Jia Qi and his team soon moved to the pier. At this time, Luis's Santa Maria was unloading wood, and several old carpenters and old court officials immediately stepped forward to inspect and enthroned.

The Santa Maria is not very big, and it can only hold about [-] crew members when it is fully loaded. In fact, the current sailors on the Santa Maria are only about [-] people, and the rest of the space is filled with wood. .Louis was worried that the wood would be sawn off and could not be sold at a price, so he could only pile the wood on the deck. He wanted to load more wood, so he used a lot of stones to make ballast stones.

Jia Qi looked at the stones, then suddenly turned around and gave a few orders.

His little servant, Yu Mo, immediately turned around and left, and after a while, a few people who looked like old farmers arrived.

The reason for saying that these people are old farmers is that they are all wearing bunts, their hands have thick joints, their faces are covered with weather, and the folds of their faces are covered with dust.

Seeing these people beating those stones, Louis was even more confused.

These people seemed to know that Louis was the owner of these stones, so they immediately pulled Louis aside, and under Castiglione's translation, they bought all the stones for 300 taels.

Louis is stupid, and those businessmen are stupid.

Unfortunately, Castiglione is only a missionary, they can only ask Jia Qi for advice.

Jia Qi said: "That is rough jadeite. Mr. Louis, you are very lucky. These rough jadeites are in good condition, so these jewelers are willing to bid. Otherwise, they are only willing to pay for ordinary rough jadeite. Buy it at a price of one tael of silver."

Holding the thick stack of bank notes, Louis suddenly slapped himself hard.

It seems, as if I picked the big luck?Those woods are valuable, and these stones picked up by oneself to make ballast stones are more valuable?

Not only Louis was stunned, but even the rest of the Western businessmen were extremely surprised.

Immediately afterwards, those carpenters and court officials quickly counted the wood.It has to be said that there are treasures everywhere in Nanyang, and Louis looked for them according to Jia Qi's fan, and what he found was the top lobular red sandalwood.The largest one is 50 years old, and the rest are 20 years old, 30 years old, and 15 years old.

Jia Qi quickly took out a booklet and said, "This is a list of all kinds of wood that my Dawei needs, as well as market reference prices. Are you going to sell it to me directly, or find a buyer yourself?"

Louis said: "If I sell it to you, can you let me buy your silk?"

Jia Qi nodded and said, "Yes. You can match the quantity and type yourself."

"Of course! I'll sell it all to you!"

Time is money, and Louis knows very well that if he can get the goods one step earlier than others and ship them back to France, he will get the most lucrative profits.

"Very well, then, please pay 30.00% tax. For foreign trade, you must pay 30.00% tax."

There was an accountant long ago who settled all the payments for Louis' wood and rough emerald stones.

Louis didn't react until he saw the taxes he had to pay.

He was both happy and sad.

Sadly, the tax he had to pay was too much, even more than 4 taels of silver. Seeing that the bank notes in his hand had shrunk by nearly one-third, Louis' heart ached.

But what makes him happy is that since he has to pay so much tax, it means that he will get twice the goods, and they are still high-end goods.

Louis happily followed the officials below to the warehouse of the Shibo Department to select silks and satins for official and royal use.

As a businessman, he knew very well that those silks with royal and aristocratic logos would be more popular than those before, and he would cause a sensation in France and Paris!

With the first person to eat crabs, there will be second ones.

The British businessman standing at the back said: "My lord, I am from England, which is just a small country. My goods are cotton cloth. Excuse me, would you be willing to condescend to have a look?"

"cotton?"

"Yes." The British businessman was obviously quite embarrassed. When he saw the surprise in Jia Qi's eyes, his face was even more ashamed: "I'm sorry, you have so many excellent craftsmen in your hands. To have that silk. I, maybe I shouldn't bother you with that."

Jia Qi asked, "Are these cotton cloths produced by your own country?"

"Yes, it is."

Holding the three-cornered hat, the businessman was even more uncomfortable.

"From far away Europe all the way to Great Wei?"

"Yes, it is."

"Then you find that people here would rather use lower quality, more expensive homespun cloth than your well-made cotton cloth."

"Yes, it is."

"And then, if the cotton doesn't sell, you're going broke?"

The other party was shocked, as if discouraged, and said: "You, you know?"

Only then did Jia Qi show a clearly visible smile: "Please don't worry about it. This is a difference in the concept of the two countries. In the Great Wei, the way of life of men farming and women weaving has lasted for thousands of years, and the home of common people , if the family already has a mistress and goes out to buy cloth, others will gossip behind their backs, saying that the daughter-in-law of this family can’t live a life and is a prodigal daughter-in-law. Therefore, even if the mistresses of those families are not good at weaving, they will not Buy your cotton, for that is evidence of their incompetence and virtuousness."

"My God! It should be like this!"

Obviously, this is not the first time these Western businessmen have encountered such a situation, but no one has ever told them that there are cultural and traditional reasons behind this.

Jia Qi said: "Let me see your cotton cloth. Although the silk is good, it is not wear-resistant enough. And the wear-resistant silk is too expensive. If your cotton cloth is of good quality and the price is right, I will consider buying it. , in my personal name. By the way, what is your name?"

"Charlie, Charlie Granger."

"Then, Mr. Charlie Granger, bring me all your cotton cloths."

"But my lord, I have a lot of cotton cloth, a whole boatload."

"My subordinates have more than 500 million people. If your cotton cloth is of good quality, I would be happy to give it to my subordinates as one of the New Year's gifts."

Upon hearing this, Granger turned and ran, even staggering.

God!There are more than 500 million people under his rule, he is simply a king!He met a big customer!

With this good start, someone followed up immediately:

"My lord, I have something good for you."

"Huh? What? So mysterious?"

"This is the one that can make adults|desire|immortal|desire|death."

The brown-haired, green-eyed businessman whose name he didn't know immediately held a black object in front of Jia Qi.

opium!

Jia Qi snorted, and You Ruo, who was behind him, rushed out immediately, raised the knife in his hand, and chopped off the businessman's head on the spot.

Flying heads, splattered blood, and fallen bodies.

The few businessmen who were able to stand were splashed with blood all over their faces, and they were dumbfounded at the time.

The Western merchants screamed, and some of them immediately took out guns, but were shot away by an arrow flying from the side.

Only then did the Western merchants realize that at some point, they had been surrounded, surrounded by dense crowds of archers who had drawn their bows, and they might be shot into a sieve at any time!

"My lord! You, you, what are you doing?"

Jia Qi said with a gloomy face, "Don't think I don't know anything. In Europe, in your own country, selling and smoking opium is a death sentence. Do you think that this ancient oriental society knows nothing about opium? "

Western businessmen begged for mercy one after another, and Castiglione also helped to speak.

Jia Qi said: "Forget it, I also need you to help me spread the word, so I will let you off this time. Listen, opium, in our country only doctors who have obtained franchise rights and special medical records are eligible. Possession, other people, whether it is buying, selling, or smoking, is a capital offense. In addition, "

Jia Qi's eyes also swept over these merchants: "Our Great Wei Donghai Navy has encountered pirates again and again recently. Let me tell you this. It was because of the famine that Long Live sent them overseas to find food and copper. Mines! Yes, food and copper mines! This is because our people use copper coins as the main transaction currency, and gold and silver are only used in large transactions. And we lack copper mines in Wei Dynasty, so we will There is a story about Donghai Navy going out to search for copper mines. But."

"Don't even think that someone will accept the copper mine you shipped. In fact, the copper mine is always in the column that prohibits trading."

These Western businessmen were dumbfounded: "Why, why?"

"This is to prevent you from attacking our navy! There will be supply only when there is demand. If Shibo starts buying malachite and copper mines, you may form a team to rob our navy!"

The merchants of Spain and Portugal blushed.

Their minds were guessed by each other.

The Netherlands used to be known as the "sea coachman", but this is already an old calendar. The current maritime overlords are Spain and Portugal, and they really thought that they could save money by attacking the navy transporting copper mines in Wei. Half of the time, it can also attack Wei's naval forces and kill a potential enemy in its infancy.

They never expected that the other party had been guarding against them for a long time!

The officials at the Bureau of Shipbuilding in Jinling City are very bureaucratic and not easy to talk to, so they hardly ever meet with them; Jia Qi, the top official of the Bureau of Shipbuilding in Songjiangkou City, is easy to talk to, but his methods are very tough.

Lang Shining quickly helped to say good things: "My lord, these people didn't know the laws of Wei before, so they were running amok. Now that they know, they will definitely act according to your wishes." He turned his head and said: "You only know Opium makes money, but I don’t know that the wood in Nanyang is the real treasure! The wood has such a fine standard, because the wood is very valuable, and the craftsmanship related to Dawei is very good, so there are so many standards! In the capital of the Great Wei Kingdom, nobles spend tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy wood and furniture for their girls. That is a tradition! Furniture! Most of the wood used for these furniture is of the same genus or exactly the same species as the trees in the woods that you burned in Nanyang to grow poppies!"

You are not burning trees!It's gold!