Be a master through ancient times

Master Wang's face sank like water, and he said: "Although you are an official farm and I am just a businessman, you must be reasonable in everything. In the past, I would collect the sugar. Whether it is a peaceful year or a disaster year, I will pay for it." It was all settled at one time, and there has never been arrears. This year, I came here all the way, and you turned me away with one word, Chen Tou, isn't it appropriate?"

Old man Chen was really a little embarrassed. He said: "Master Wang, I know that you have always done business fairly, but this year this brown sugar really can't be sold. How about this, I will take you to the houses of those farmers, No matter how much it is, you take some back first, and make up for it anyway.”

"Did someone come to collect it before me? Chen Tou, we have been in business for many years. What kind of person I am, Wang Wanwan, you should know what kind of price they can offer, and I am not unable to offer it. Chen Head, you know, those people don’t know the details, and they may not be as happy as I am when they pay!” Seeing his sincerity, Mr. Wang’s anger has also subsided a little. Pulled out and replanted sweet potatoes.

It used to be a big sugar-producing province, and at least three to four tenths of the brown sugar in the southern market came from them. This year, the production of brown sugar dropped immediately, and it was almost half of what it was in previous years.

After receiving the news, Mr. Wang immediately set off for Nanfu Province, hoping to buy the brown sugar at the original price before the news spread.Unexpectedly, someone actually intervened, but compared to being taken away by others, a little more money is nothing. As long as it can be shipped out, the profit here is still very large.

Old man Chen was a little dumbfounded: "Where are other people coming from, our place is remote, if it is not a familiar merchant, who would come to us?"

"What's the reason? If it's the price, it's easy to say, I'm willing to raise the price by [-]%, how about it?" Master Wang said in a negotiable tone, Zhangzhou Mansion is very suitable for growing sugar cane, whether it is a Both the head and the sweetness are better than other places, and the brown sugar squeezed out is also top-notch.If it weren't for the remoteness here, there must be a lot of people who came to bid.

Old man Chen shook his head: "Master Wang, it's not a question of price. To be honest, all the brown sugar we produced this year has been made into frosting sugar, brown sugar and brown sugar. Even if we want to sell it to you, there is no more."

Master Wang's pupils dilated rapidly, what did he hear?

"Tou Chen, are you kidding me? You made frosting sugar? The white frosting sugar?"

Old man Chen proudly raised his chest: "Exactly! It's piled up in our warehouse now. I know, Mr. Wang, you have always been in the brown sugar business, so you won't be able to sell it this year."

"Brother Chen, you are prejudiced. Who said that we can't buy frosted sugar if we are in the brown sugar business?" Wang Wanwan suddenly changed his smiling face and said cheerfully. "Take me to have a look, if it's good, I'll take it all!"

His blunt words made old man Chen a little at a loss, the price of frosting sugar is much higher than that of brown sugar, can you ask for it?

"Master Wang, this little old man can't make the decision, and the frosting sugar here looks better than the ones on the market, and the price will not be lower." If you want to lower the price, you can't do it!

"Brother Chen, please invite someone who can make the decision. I'll discuss the price after seeing the quality of the candy. If it's really top-grade, then I won't treat you badly." Speaking of Bingde, the reason why he has been in the brown sugar business is because he can't get this frosting sugar?

Almost all the frosting sugar on the market comes from the Zheng family in Huainan and the Yang family in Jiangyin. The two shops are everywhere, and they are the only ones who eat meat, and others can't even drink soup.Even Wang Wanwan, who runs the sugar business by himself, spends several thousand taels every year to buy their frosted sugar to make his own face.

Old man Chen saw that he really wanted him, so he didn't hesitate any longer, and asked someone to take a bullock cart to the Tixue Division to find someone, while he took Wang Wanwan into Zhuangzi, opened the warehouse and let him check the quality of Frost Sugar .

Before Wang Wanwan saw the frosting sugar, he was dubious in his heart. He himself tried to make frosting sugar, but no matter whether washing or sifting, it was just a waste of brown sugar and could not be successful at all.

"This... this fineness..." Wang Wanwan stepped forward a few steps, trying to put his hand into the jar to feel it, but old man Chen quickly stopped him, and then scooped up some sugar with a wooden spoon and poured it on his hand .

Wang Wanwan first inspected its color, and found that the fruit was as white as snow in Tianshan Mountains, and the tentacles were dry, like fine sand on the seashore.He stuck out his tongue, licked the candy into his mouth and sipped it, and found that the sweetness of this candy seemed to be better than that of the outside, it really was top grade!

Observing his expression, old man Chen smiled triumphantly and said, "Master Wang, is this candy considered high-grade?"

Wang Wanwan didn't make a sound for a while. According to the habits of businessmen, it is their instinct to belittle the goods, otherwise how can they lower the price?

Fortunately, Old Man Chen didn't ask any more questions, and after seeing the frosting sugar, he invited him into the house, and then asked his wife to make a sugar cake, and made a cup of hot tea to greet him.

This thing was made by Chu Ci. According to his words, it is "the visitor is the customer. No matter whether it is sold or not, the business is not righteous. At least let them leave a good impression on Zhangzhou Mansion, so that future businessmen There will be more people."

Wang Wanwan is a wealthy businessman, and he has never eaten anything good, so this candy cake is nothing at all.But he just had a blast of cold wind all the way, and now sitting here comfortably drinking tea and eating the sweet, soft, white and tender sugar cake, he feels a strange sense of satisfaction.This made him feel more fond of the frosting sugar in Zhuangzi.

After eating, the two of them sat for a while, and the person who proposed the education department arrived.It was Wang Ming who came, Wang Wanwan didn't dare to treat Old Man Chen the same way when he saw him.Since ancient times, officials and people have been different. Even if he is just an academic official, his status is much higher than that of a businessman.

"Master Wang, this is Mr. Wang from the Department of Education." Old man Chen introduced them.

"Master Wang? What a coincidence, my surname is also Wang, maybe we were still the same family 500 years ago." Wang Ming smiled very amiably, and his attitude was like gossip, without the arrogance of a superior.

Wang Wanwan felt flattered. As a businessman, dealing with officials is common.Not to mention these high-ranking officials, even those who work as a servant in the yamen, their heads are held up higher than others, how has there ever been such a talkative one?

"My lord is joking, how dare Xiaomin's king be compared with yours."

"You can't write two Wang characters in one stroke, everyone is the same." Wang Ming smiled, "Okay, I won't gossip, but Master Wang really wants to do this sugar business?"

Wang Wanwan nodded quickly: "My lord, Xiaomin really wants to do this business. But, I don't know how much this icing sugar will cost? If the price is right, I'll take it all."

Wang Ming felt a little worried. He had sent out the letter asking for the price and hadn't responded yet. He also went to those shops to find out in the past few days, and the prices of each shop were different.What he buys at home is the one in the middle here, one tael is about 63 or four, and a catty costs about one tael of silver.

He didn't understand these trivial things before, but now he can't help but be a little speechless. If his family has no real estate, with the monthly salary of more than ten taels, he might not even be able to afford sugar.

If you want to quote, it must not be at this price. How much is appropriate?

Wang Wanwan couldn't help feeling a little uneasy when he saw the adult frowning in dissatisfaction.What if the opponent's lion opens his mouth and makes another strong buy and strong sell?

In the end, Wang Ming didn't quote first, but checked his tone, and then spoke about the quality of his own candy.And this Wang Wanwan is also familiar with the way of bargaining, from the difficulty of making a fortune to the difficulty of transportation, and finally settled at a price of 57 yuan per tael.

Wang Ming was quite satisfied with this price, after all, someone else came to collect it, so they didn't need to waste time and effort to transport it outside.Wang Wanwan was also quite satisfied, although it was a penny more than his psychological price.

This year, the production of brown sugar has been reduced in major provinces, and this kind of frosting sugar is bound to be less than before.Rare things are more expensive, and now the frosting sugar outside has reached about [-] yuan per tael, and it must be even higher when the new year is approaching.After buying this batch of frosted sugar, after deducting the cost and the round trip money, it should be more profitable than he bought brown sugar.

The old man Chen, who was watching them talking about the business, was very excited. In the past years, he worked hard to boil brown sugar, and the purchase price was only fifteen yuan and one tael. This year, with the help of cattle, there is only one more process than before, and the price can be doubled. How many times!

After the business was settled, Wang Wanwan asked to be weighed immediately for fear of having long nights and dreams.There is a large scale in the village, and the old man Chen called the people in the village to move out the frosted sugar in the warehouse one by one and weigh it.

After weighing a tank, write the weight on a note and stick it on the mouth of the tank. These five Zhuangzi add up to a total of more than 800 mu of land. Excluding the construction area and the area for planting rice and other fruits and vegetables, sugarcane is almost 200 mu. left and right.

In ancient times, there were no kinds of fertilizers. Unlike modern times, the output per mu of land is about three to ten tons. Here, one mu of land is about one or two tons. Converted to ancient catties, one mu of fertile land can produce about two thousand About 500 catties, while lean land can only produce more than 1000 catties.

Some of the people in charge of the village in the Tixue Division were diligent and some were lazy, so in the end, a total of 200 catties of sugar cane were harvested from the 41-odd acres.One hundred catties of sugar cane can produce three catties of white sugar, one catty is 910 Erwen, and three catties is more than two taels of silver.

Wang Ming called a few of his subordinates to settle the accounts, and they moved the abacus quickly, and finally calculated the price of sugar in the yard.The accountant Mr. Wang Wanwan invited was also doing the calculations. Finally, the two sides reconciled the accounts and found that the figures were just right. The total price of the candy was 120 four taels of silver.

Wang Ming generously stated that the change can be erased, so the six coins were erased.

This amount is relatively large, and Wang Wanwan only has a few thousand taels of silver notes with him.Fortunately, the banks here were accepted nationwide, so Wang Wanwan hurriedly invited Wang Ming, took his seal, and went to Tianxia Bank to exchange the banknotes together.

On the second day, Wang Wanwan boarded the big boat carrying more than 1 catties of frosting sugar and left Zhangzhou Mansion.

With the money in the account, Chu Ci walked like a wind, and he was very happy to think that he could squeeze another batch of sugar in January and February next year.

However, it wasn't this that pleased him the most.He flipped through the old almanac, looking at the circled time, a sweet and sour taste filled his heart.

In three to five days, Kou Jingjing will be here!

Chu Ci couldn't forget how he felt when he received the letter and saw the news.Remembering when he left the capital, he coaxed Kou Jing that he would be able to go back in a year. Now it has been more than three years, and he is still ups and downs in Nanfu Province, but the person who said he would wait for him in the capital has come here.

In the past few days, Chu Ci always looks in the mirror when he has time, as if he has changed back to the person who attached great importance to his appearance.Since coming to this Zhangzhou mansion, he has been busy with official duties all day long, he doesn't know if he is still the gentle and handsome man he was back then.

……

Kou Jing was also a little uneasy. His uneasiness did not come from his appearance, but from certain people on board.

In the past, Kou Jing still had a good impression of civil servants, unlike other military officers, he always thought that civil servants were cunning and treacherous, and had a bad stomach.But being tricked by Mrs. Wen, he couldn't help but have some opinions on the group of civil servants.

That time Mrs. Wen came to him and said that he wanted to bring a few children with him, he thought that they might be the accompanying family members, so he agreed.Unexpectedly, on the eve of his departure, he returned to the General's Mansion, and as soon as he stepped into the hall, he saw Mrs. Wen sitting in the hall chatting with Steward Xu.There are a few people sitting beside him, one is already a teenager, and the other two are still children, one of them turned his head when he heard the voice, Kou Jing saw that round face at a glance, and he recognized it in a blink of an eye Man, this is clearly the current Sixth Prince Yu Qiu!

Although this little Highness is a few years older, the outline of his face has not changed much. From this point of view, the one next to him who is a few years older than him should be the third prince Yu Ren, and the one who is younger than him should be the seventh prince Yu. spike!These people have the same eyebrows and eyes as the Holy Majesty, it's hard to mistake them!

Kou Jing was mentally and physically exhausted for a while, so he invited Mrs. Wen aside and asked the reason in a low voice. When he learned that it was the secret decree, he fell silent.Although he didn't know the reason why the Holy Majesty did this, he knew that he couldn't ask any more about it.But, did Sheng Sheng say to let them set off with the team?

"Lord Wen, there are many people accompanying you along the way, if someone meets a few young highnesses, wouldn't the news leak out?" Kou Jing pointed out possible hidden dangers.

Wen Bing said with a smile: "I will have to trouble General Kou to arrange a carriage for us alone, and then I will ask the little highnesses to stay away from going out." Seeing that Kou Jing still had a serious face, he became emotional "General Kou, it's not that I want to trouble you, it's just that we are old and we are young. Isn't it more suspicious to go out alone? If we encounter a strong man along the way, I am afraid that I will fail the entrustment of the Holy Majesty!"

Kou Jing sighed inwardly, which was one of the reasons why he did not sternly object.

"Since that's the case, I would like to ask Mr. Wen not to let the young highnesses go out alone. They should avoid it when there are many people, and the officials will try their best to make arrangements."

Wen Bing stroked his beard and smiled with satisfaction.He had inquired before that this General Kou was Chu Ci's brother-in-law, and his character was definitely not a problem.

Because they were leaving tomorrow, Kou Jing left them at the mansion to rest.

It was night, butler Xu saw that the light in Kou Jing's room was always on, so he asked him what was bothering him.Kou Jing trusted Steward Xu very much, so she told him about it.

Butler Xu thought for a while, and then said: "Master, you want them to disguise themselves so as to avoid people's eyes and ears? When I was with Young Master Chu, I heard something..." Butler Xu exposed Chu Ci's disguise He told me about the Japanese, "After I heard about it, I was very interested, so Young Master Chu showed me the prescription of the medicine powder, and now I still remember it."

When Kou Jing heard it, it seemed that this matter was mentioned in Chu Ci's letter, so he and Butler Xu formulated the disguise medicine powder overnight according to the prescription.

The ones who set off with him the next day were a frail old man and a few unattractive grandchildren beside him.

It is strange to say that when they left the capital by car, someone lifted the curtains and inspected each car carefully. Later, when they went to Haiping Mansion to take a boat, a team of people carefully inspected them before letting them board the boat.

The time on the ship is hard to pass, Kou Jing not only took her hands to the deck to practice skills, but also sometimes sat down and had a hand-to-hand chat with Mrs. Wen.

As time went by, they got closer and closer to Nanfu Province, and finally, on the morning of September [-]th, their boat arrived at the pier outside the provincial capital!