As a salted fish, I was forced to become the teacher of all ages

"want!"

"After the Shangyuan Festival, we have to develop artillery, are you going?"

"go with!"

Hearing the conversation between the two, Xiaodong, who pretended to be a little transparent, couldn't help touching his forehead and sighing: just now, he still felt like he was getting better, why did he suddenly enter the rhythm of brothers in his life again?

But she didn't notice that Miss Qi's current style has gradually changed from arrogant to charming...

227. Everything is possible

To a certain extent, Qi Wanrong was right. Hua Manlou came to see her at Ying Guogong's mansion today as a matter of chance, and his main purpose was about the navy—after Hua Manlou had comforted Miss Qi, he would After clarifying the matter with Ying Guogong, although Ying Guogong seemed to be absent-minded, at least the contract was signed.

The amazing thing is that, for some reason, after signing the agreement, Ying Guogong talked in front of Huamanlou for a long time that this investment will be used as Qi Wanrong's dowry in the future, even though the latter emphasized several times that the risk of this investment is a bit high But in return, the super high-ranking Duke Ying did not change his mind, and even gave him a double stare...

This made Hua Manlou very puzzled. In the end, he could only think that this was because Ying Guogong didn't see the money in return and didn't know how profitable shipping was, so he was so unwise--Don't you see? Did Mr. Xu's eyes light up when he heard the word Haiyun?

All in all, after the three princes were settled, Huamanlou's plan could be implemented almost as well: on the [-]th day of the first lunar month, Gu Dakaizi was invited to the Huai'an uncle's mansion.

As I said before, Gu Xinghuai’s family is a big tea crocodile in the south of the Yangtze River, so although this guy is a scholar on the surface, he is actually a businessman in his bones-for example, the purpose of his funding for the poetry meeting is to gather Some reputation, that is, spending money to buy fame, so that the businessman's atmosphere in oneself can be slightly diluted.

In this era when only students are educated, even if merchants have a lot of money, the attitude of the upper class towards them is actually not friendly. A scholarly family, isn't it?

Therefore, not only do they attach great importance to their children's education, but they also sponsor some poor families, such as Gu Xinghuai, who has a big family and a bit of qualifications, and will do everything possible to expand their influence among scholars—although he The two poetry meetings were a failure.

But what Huamanlou values ​​is not Gu Xinghuai's ability to study, what he wants is that Gu Xinghuai undertakes ocean trade affairs after the navy opens up waterways, such as building a fleet, importing and exporting goods, etc.——it's not that Huamanlou looks down on him Mr. Xu, it’s really because, it’s okay to let Xu Dacheng engage in infighting or lead the fleet, but let him do business...

Ha ha.

In addition, the Gu family is a family of merchants after all. Although their trade is spread all over Dazhao, they have not expanded overseas. I said earlier that this part of the trade is monopolized by the coastal tycoons. Without much background, the Gu family, How dare you get involved in such a deadly business?

So the Gu family was followed by Hua Manlou's evil eyes, and the second round of deception started.

It has to be said that when Gu Xinghuai stepped into the Huai'an uncle's mansion, he was really a little apprehensive.

Although Hua Manlou had invited him to the previous Fanshi Contest, he never dared to come, after all...

Although I don't know if Hua Manlou took the matter of the first poetry meeting to heart, but logically speaking, the two of them should have some minor festivals. Who asked his classmate Xiao Gu to be Nie Yuantu's "accomplice"?

So today when Huamanlou sent someone to invite Xiao Gu, he immediately wanted to leave the capital immediately. He didn't want to stay for a while, but he remembered that Huamanlou was from Xuanwuwei. If he really wanted to deal with him, he wouldn't even run away. run around, and...

The person Huamanlou sent was none other than Peng Guang. From the way he sent a speech official to the brothel, he knew his attitude towards scholars, so...

"Brother Gu, you are... you are being polite, you are too polite..." Hua Manlou looked at the gifts all over the courtyard, and was a little bit dumbfounded.

Gu Xinghuai laughed along with him, nodded and bowed his waist and said, "A little bit of courtesy will make Boss Qian laugh."

Hua Manlou glanced at the gift list, and said in a daze, "You call this a small gift? Why don't you give me a decent gift next time, and open my eyes?"

"This..." Gu Xinghuai hesitated, and then immediately said: "Next time, there will be a great gift on the Dragon Boat Festival..."

At this time, Gu Xinghuai wanted to scold his mother, but he was under the eaves, would he dare to challenge Huamanlou?

Although the title of Uncle Huai'an is not high, he is an old nobleman of the capital after all. He secretly has a lot of energy, and Hua Manlou is the most popular person in the capital recently, and Gu Xinghuai saw him and the Qi family and the Zhang family in person. His nephew hooked his shoulders, so how dare classmate Gu provoke Huamanlou?

So he only dared to slander a few words in his heart, but on the surface he was even more humble-after all, if he was really a scholar, he might not be like this, but Gu Xinghuai is not a typical scholar. He can break his brows and bend his waist to serve the powerful, but he doesn't have a whole body of righteousness...

So Gu Xinghuai was very timid at this time.

Seeing this, Hua Manlou patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "It's just a joke, why are you so sincere? Sit down, I have something to ask you today."

Gu Xinghuai breathed a sigh of relief, sat down with half of his buttocks next to the chair, and said: "Mr. Qian has questions, and the students know all the answers."

Hua Manlou smiled and said, "Since that's the case, then I'll cut to the chase. Have you heard of Amway?"

Gu Xinghuai looked blank: "What is Amway?"

"Oh, I'm sorry for the wrong word, I just want to ask, do you, Gu family, want to expand the sales scope of tea?" Hua Manlou smiled and threw out the first bait.

After all, Gu Xinghuai is Gu Xinghuai. Although he has a strong sense of defense against Huamanlou, he is the nephew of a merchant family after all. When he mentions business, he can't hold back: "What does Mr. Qian mean?"

Hua Manlou slowly spit out two words: "Wala."

Gu Xinghuai was taken aback for a moment: "Mr. Qian said, sell tea to Wala? But..."

Hua Manlou continued with a smile: "But there is no mutual market in the court, right? And even if it does, it should be Shanxi merchants who do business in this area, and it has nothing to do with you, does it?"

"Uh... huh?"

"Then if I tell you that everything you worry about doesn't exist, the Gu family can directly deal with me, and don't worry about anything else?"

"This..." Gu Xinghuai was overjoyed, but still asked cautiously: "Is there a channel for Qian?"

Hua Manlou smiled and said: "Channel? You don't need that. To tell you the truth, after the battle with Wala, Wala will pay tribute to Zhao on the surface, but in fact they opened a mutual market to handle this part." It happens to be me, Xishanwei... Don't look at me like that, I don't need to lie to you about this kind of thing. So I said whoever I want to give this part of the business to, then the business belongs to whom, do you understand what I mean?"

Gu Xinghuai was stunned for a long time before saying: "I...I understand."

Hua Manlou said again: "It's not just about Wala, there may be news from the Tatar side in recent days, and if there is no accident, this part of the market is also handled by me. So the first thing I came to you today is to ask Let me ask you, can your Gu family eat up the entire grassland market?"

Gu Xinghuai was stunned again: "The whole grassland? This... is this possible?"

Hua Manlou looked proud: "Anything is possible."

228. I'm afraid I wasn't a fool back then, right?

Hua Manlou was not at all afraid to tell Gu Xinghuai the truth about the tribute matter, nor was he afraid that he would leak the matter.

The reason is very simple. From the perspective of Emperor Guangxing, the matter with Wala itself is a tribute, and it is a tribute decision that the cabinet was forced to make after the courtiers voted. It is also called tribute—the final right of interpretation rests with Emperor Guangxing, so even if Gu Xinghuai leaked the matter with a lax tone, no one will take what he said to be true.

From Gu Xinghuai's point of view, Hua Manlou's ability to tell him about this is an opportunity for the family to rise -- a business opportunity, can the real business opportunity be told to others?Moreover, a successful businessman is inherently cautious, so why would he spread the word about it?

Freedom of speech is not valued these days. Although it is not like Manchu playing literary prison, one must be responsible for talking nonsense. Otherwise, wouldn't Xuanwuwei lose face?

In the end, Yu Huamanlou is actually playing a flower gun, because although Mr. Hua Qian is in charge of the mutual market, except for firearms, Xishan does not produce daily necessities such as grain, cloth, and salt, so these things need to be mass-produced of procurement.

That is to say, Huamanlou is just a second-hand dealer with an official background, and Gu Xinghuai is just a manufacturer. The "channel" Huamanlou gave him is nothing more than removing the bidding process and directly placing orders from the manufacturer, and it is only an order for tea. other...

Other things will be handed over to Gu Xinghuai unless Huaman Loutou is broken, because, apart from the consideration that the Gu family can’t eat, the capital has to pass through Shanxi when going to Wala—after all, the north of the Great Wall is the territory of Tatar , the situation in Tatar is still unclear at the moment, wouldn't delivery from here be a sheep in the mouth of a tiger?

So, this matter can't get around Shanxi merchants at all. It's not that Shanxi merchants have to, but to maximize their benefits by cooperating with Shanxi merchants. Therefore, Huamanlou's bluffing is nothing more than making Gu Xinghuai more panic, so it's good Fudge is not it?

And speaking of Tatars, the latest news Huamanlou received was that Uncle Huai'an had started to stir up flames on the grasslands. Seeing that the Tweeting Order was about to be completed, Tatars followed the example of Wala to engage in a mutual market... paying tribute Isn't it logical?

So Huamanlou's words shocked Gu Xinghuai's heart so much that his little heart was beating wildly: Mr. Gu knew that because of their eating habits, grassland people flocked to tea, and Shanxi merchants often purchased tea from Jiangnan where the price was low and the quality was good. Not-so-good tea is smuggled to the grasslands as high-quality goods to make money, but although his Gu family is a tea crocodile in the south of the Yangtze River, they can't do business across the border, so...

Do you think the Gu family can't be greedy?

"You can eat as much as you want!" After being stunned for a while, Gu Xinghuai immediately made a promise to Huamanlou: "As long as Mr. Qian wants it, my Gu family can just fill up the rice fields and grow tea!"

Hua Manlou casually picked up the teacup and took a sip: "Really?"

Seeing his expression, Gu Xinghuai suddenly felt a little unconfident: "Even... even if my house doesn't have so many, I can buy some from other places. The price... the price is easy to say..."

From the point of view of doing business, Gu Xinghuai said that the price is true as soon as he opened his mouth, which is a bit too weak, but in fact he only has this bargaining chip-it is not only his Gu family who make tea in Jiangnan, it has already become a trend in the Dazhao market. Under the situation of saturation, the allure of the new market is not built, so how can Gu Xinghuai allow himself to miss the bus of Huamanlou?

What's more, in terms of identity, Huamanlou is a strong party, and in terms of standpoint, Huamanlou is also a strong player in the market. How can Gu Xinghuai have the qualifications to challenge?

"That's good." Hua Manlou put down the teacup and said with a slight smile, "Then from now on, I will hand over all my Xishan tea orders to your Gu family, but I have one condition."

After hearing Huamanlou's first half sentence, Gu Xinghuai almost jumped up happily: The rise of the family!Although my family has always wanted to open the route from the scholars, it would be nice if I could get on the line with Da Zhao's famous veteran Xungui!

So when he heard that Huamanlou had conditions, he immediately said, "President Qian, but it's okay to say it!"

Hua Manlou said calmly: "My request is actually very simple. To put it bluntly, it is a difficulty of my own. Because of the special nature of the grassland, most of the transactions in the mutual market are barter, so the cattle in exchange I need to sell the sheep, horses and hides for cash, do you understand this?"

"Understood." Gu Xinghuai nodded hastily: "Qian always wants our Gu family to be in charge of sales?"

Hua Manlou smiled and said, "No, I expect you to take charge of this, not your family."

Gu Xinghuai was taken aback for a moment, but then he figured out the difference between the two: if the Gu family was in charge, then there would be more room for manipulation, and in the end it would be equivalent to the fact that the Gu family only needed to pay Huamanlou a channel fee to get it. If Gu Xinghuai himself is in charge, then his role is roughly equivalent to that of a hired manager who is only employed by Huamanlou.

So Gu Xinghuai was a little hesitant - he was expecting to be able to climb up the line of honor, but in this way he got too close to Huamanlou, and it can be said that he became the person in charge of the Xishan sales department in an instant. There are both opportunities and dangers in it, which really makes him a little embarrassed.

Seeing Gu Xinghuai's hesitation, Hua Manlou smiled and said, "It's just selling some things for me and dealing with some complicated and trivial matters. Then you don't have to say that those things are from Xishan, and you even just need to sit behind the scenes to direct, why are you so nervous?" ?”

Gu Xinghuai breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this: "This...willing to serve Mr. Qian."

Hua Manlou's smile grew stronger when he heard the words, and he picked up a stack of papers from the table beside him and handed it to Gu Xinghuai: "Then we have a happy cooperation, this is a contract, you can sign it if you see that there is no problem."

Gu Xinghuai read the contract word by word, but under the guidance of Hua Manlou, he didn't notice that there were actually some problems with the wording and sentence construction in the contract, such as "all tea orders in Xishan are delivered to Gu's family", or "Gu Xinghuai Will handle all the material transactions of Xishan outside Dazhao' this pit...

These two 'all', Gu Xinghuai thought that they were Wala and Tatar, but he didn't know, how old are the grassland people when it comes to the demand for tea?Not to mention those people in the West, even Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the East Ocean have a high demand for tea, and they are much richer than grassland people...

The young Gu Xinghuai signed the contract that he complained about in the future as a contract of selling his life. Many years later, he couldn't help but smile wryly when he thought of his youthful and frivolous today: Knowing that Hua Manlou is a wicked person, he is so stupid that he didn't have much defense. Was I a fool at the time?

229. Have you misunderstood something?

When Huamanlou half-coaxed and half-deceived Gu Xinghuai to sign the contract, more than half of the preparatory work for the construction of the navy had been completed, and the rest was to persuade Emperor Guangxing to accept it.

I have to say that this matter is estimated to be the most difficult step, but also the most critical step.

If Emperor Guangxing refuses to agree, then all the preparatory work in the early stage will be in vain—even if Hua Manlou seems to have done nothing, just fooling a few people, but fooling people...isn't it a lot of brainwork? ?

In order to increase the possibility of Emperor Guangxing's approval and strong support, Hua Manlou felt that he needed to wait for a better opportunity, and first use some achievements as bait—don't think that you don't need bait to fool the emperor. Compared with ordinary people, the emperor has more things to consider, so he is more likely to see rabbits and not scatter eagles.

Even if Huamanlou's trust with Emperor Guangxing is very high at this time, the sea transportation not only involves the ancestral system, but also involves Emperor Guangxing's reserve, and judging from Emperor Guangxing's character, if he is not fully sure And how can faith act easily?

After thinking about it again and again, Hua Manlou felt that it would be better to start with the artillery.

Because firstly, the artillery matter involved the air defense issue that Emperor Guangxing was worried about, and secondly, the newly built navy will be equipped with gunboats that have never been seen before. If the artillery is not in compliance, what kind of gunboat is it?

Therefore, Hua Manlou decided that it would be better to go to Xishan for a while, and he had to personally supervise the casting of the cannon.

But before that...

"Miss Yanran, aren't you tired of being bored in the house these few days?"

Early in the morning, Huamanlou came outside Miss Baimao's door to make noise.

It's been a while since I returned to Beijing, but Wan Cheng Yanran's mood was not right all the time, and she almost locked herself in the house.

Speaking of which, after escaping from the White Lotus Sect that day, Wan Chengyan looked gloomy in Tianjin's manor that already belonged to Huamanlou. He overturned the car and messed with a lot of things, he was really not in the mood to comfort and persuade, and secondly, he felt that some things had to be figured out by Yanran himself, so he didn't pay much attention to them.

But it's been a few days, and the saintess hasn't adjusted it well yet, which makes Hua Manlou feel a little unbelievable: I have accepted such a big thing as crossing, you are nothing more than selling a white lotus sect Forget it, what can't you figure out?

So Huamanlou came to open (tiao) solve (xi) Miss Sister.

After being quiet for a while, Wan Chengyan's voice came from the room: "What's the matter?"

Hua Manlou replied: "There is nothing to do today, how about going for a walk?"

"not in the mood."

"How do you know if you're in the mood if you don't come out?"

There was no movement in the house, and it seemed that Wan Cheng Yanran was too lazy to talk to her, Hua Manlou said again: "Okay, okay, I won't tease you, I have something to see you."

"Say."

"I'm going to Xishan tomorrow, I just want to ask you, do you have anything to bring?"

The room was quiet for a while, Wan Qiyan opened the door and said, "Come in and talk."

In the past few days since returning to the mansion, this is the first time that Wan Cheng Yanran is willing to let Hua Manlou into the house to chat, which is really a big improvement.

But Hua Manlou smiled and said, "Since you've already come out, why don't you just go out and relax?"

Wan Chengyan frowned and looked at Hua Manlou: "I won't go."

Hua Manlou directly pulled her away, ignoring her protests: "Let me tell you, you can easily get sick if you stay in the house all the time, do you know that? If you are depressed, you will hurt your liver..."

Wan Chengyan said angrily: "Is this how you explain it? Let go!"

"What are you going to do? Well, well, if you don't want to go out, you can walk around in the courtyard, right?" Hua Manlou smiled and pulled Wan Cheng Yanran to the only small garden in the Huai'an uncle's mansion. Seeing her sitting at the stone table in the corner of the garden, he smiled and said, "How about sitting here for a while and chatting?"

Wan Cheng Yanran gave Hua Manlou a hard look, but she didn't get up and didn't answer.

Hua Manlou didn't care about this, she smiled and sat beside her and said, "I said before that after you helped me out of trouble, I would protect you from the White Lotus Sect's revenge. Now it's time for me to fulfill my promise, so how do I arrange it?" You also have to see what you mean, don't you?"

Seeing Hua Manlou talking serious things, Wan Cheng Yanran no longer kept a cold face, but she still mocked: "Oh? I thought you were going to keep me locked here forever."

Hua Manlou looked innocent: "Speak with conscience, you don't even go out these days, when did I restrict your freedom? Qin'er said yesterday that she asked you to go to the lanterns, but you said you were unwell , Is this also my fault?"

Wan Chengyan couldn't help being speechless, but then retorted: "But at that time it was agreed to go to Xishan, what's your intention in bringing me here?"

To be honest, Wan Cheng Yanran's mood recently is really very complicated, almost to the point of insomnia every night.