Chapter 119 0114 [There is no such a good man] (please subscribe)
Zheng Lan talked with the girl for a while, and then introduced: "This is my young lady. Young lady, these two are Zhu Xianggong and Zhu Dalang and his son from Xixiang."
Of course, "Yoniang" is not a given name, and one's given name and maiden name are generally not told to outsiders.
A woman from a wealthy family will be famous on the 100th day of her birth.
There is also a special emphasis on choosing a character when getting a hairpin or getting engaged. From then on, you will use "surname + character" to show others, and your name will be kept secret.
This woman's name was Zheng Yuanyi, and she was the one who planned to be Li Hanzhang's second wife.
But Li Hanzhang looked down on merchant families, and his elders were already contacting ladies and gentlemen for him.
What Zhu Guoxiang talked about about Li Lizhen can only be said to have a little shadow.
This girl has not yet grown up, her face is a little fat, and she is not tall. She has beautiful facial features and a pair of big watery eyes.
She clasped her hands on her abdomen, folded her thumbs and raised her thumbs slightly, lowered her head and bent her knees and said, "Blessed be to you, my husband."
This is the Wanfu ceremony of the Song Dynasty, which is different from the gestures of the Tang and Ming dynasties.
Objectively speaking, the Wanfu rituals of the Ming Dynasty are the most beautiful and elegant. The Wanfu rituals of the Tang Dynasty are the simplest and most casual. However, the Wanfu rituals of the Song Dynasty are complicated and also reveal a petty atmosphere.
"Girl, you are polite." The father and son stood up and returned the courtesy.
After the salute, Zheng Yuanyi leaned against her grandfather, her eyes falling on Ju Ming: "I have seen Lang Jun's poems from the Min family sister. I also listened to Lang Jun's "Journey to the West" from my brother. Lang Jun came to Yangzhou.
, are you preparing for the exam this fall?"
"Maybe we can take a test." Zhu Ming said ambiguously.
If he happened to be in Yangzhou in the fall, he might actually have to take an exam and experience the atmosphere of an ancient examination room.
With Ju Ming's knowledge, even if he has not practiced the classics and meanings very much, he still has a high chance of winning.
Because the examination in the Song Dynasty was very low-level and was only conducted in state capitals, the examination in the Ming Dynasty was a provincial examination (one city examination, one provincial examination).
Judging from the examination location alone, the candidates of the Song Dynasty were more like the scholars of the Ming Dynasty, but they had the qualifications to go to Beijing to take the examination.
Zheng Yuanyi also seemed quite bold when facing a strange man, and asked again: "Does Mr. Lang have any new poems?"
"No." Ju Ming replied.
"I'm presumptuous." Zheng Yuanyi stopped talking and just sat quietly next to her grandfather.
She seemed to be extremely curious about Ju Ming. Her eyes turned to her grandfather, but she always turned back, peeking at Ju Ming from time to time.
Zheng Lan continued to talk about business: "Regardless of the market price, first-class tea is 88 Wen (per catty), second-class tea is 60 Wen, and third-class tea is 43 Wen. Pay the deposit first and write down the deed. What does Zhu Xianggong think?"
This requires ordering in advance, and the order contract can also be resold as "futures".
The price proposed by Zheng Lan was significantly higher than the tea purchase price in previous years. It can be said that he has shown his sincerity.
However, Zhu Ming put forward additional conditions: "The ship in our hands can only be transported to the county town, and we lack an experienced helmsman to cross the Golden Gorge. The price is very suitable, but the Zheng family needs to send a merchant ship to transport it."
When tea garden owners sell tea, freight is one of the main costs.
Ju Ming's meaning was very clear. He was not responsible for the transportation, and the freight had to be borne by the Zheng family. He also implicitly threatened that he could not cooperate with the Zheng family. If he sold the tea to businessmen in Xixiang County, he could save a lot of shipping costs.
cost.
Zheng Lan has been in business all her life, why can’t she understand?
He immediately said: "Fried tea is a new thing. It is not well-known and not many people know it. Xixiang County is too small, so it may be difficult to sell it. Yangzhou is different. The city is rich and there are many people who are willing to try the new thing. Zheng
I still have some names and can help recommend it. If you really want me to send tea by ship, the purchase price of each grade of tea will be reduced by eight cents per catty. If the tea purchased at one time is less than 2,000 catties, the price per catty will be reduced further.
Five articles."
This means that fried tea is a new product, and the Zheng family has to bear risks and be responsible for marketing. The market capacity in Xixiang County is too small, so it is difficult to sell new products, so the Zhu family and his son can only sell to Yangzhou.
Zhu Ming shook his head and said: "It's hard to sell new things, so sell Tuancha tea, old things. Make less roasted tea, keep it for yourself, or give it as a gift."
I don't care about your marketing or your shipping costs. The worst I can do is quit. Isn't it delicious to steam Tuancha as in previous years and sell it to the nearby merchants in Xixiang County?
Zheng Lan thought silently.
His main problem is that he doesn't know the cost of roasting tea, which makes it difficult to grasp the bottom line of negotiations.
The 24 dangerous shoals of Huanghuang Gorge are located there, and the transportation cost is still very high, and there is even a risk of shipwreck and death. The Zheng family has to be responsible for the transportation, and they are not willing to lower the price. This is somewhat difficult.
Zhu Guoxiang said: "If the Zheng family is responsible for transporting goods, and the price does not drop, I will convert 20% of this year's tea to the production of fried tea, which can reach several thousand jins. Next year, if it increases to 40%, there must be tens of thousands of jins.
, since then the production has been increased year by year, and only sold to the Zheng family!"
Zheng Lan asked: "Why only use 20% to make fried tea?"
Zhu Guoxiang explained: "The techniques for frying tea and steaming tea are completely different. I also have to build a new frying stove, customize the wok, and make many modifications. The tea-making workers also have to teach them new techniques. This year, I will fry four to five thousand kilograms of tea.
It’s already too much, maybe only two or three thousand kilograms will be sold in the end.”
"That's it." Zheng Lan was even more unsure of the details.
The process of steaming tea balls is extremely complex. If fried tea is also like this, there will be too much to do.
Zhu Guoxiang added: "I want to build eighteen iron pots in Yangzhou, and the faster the better. This requires the help of the Zheng family. The Zheng family also needs to contact the merchant ship and let me take the iron pot back by boat as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late to fry."
Make a new batch of tea."
"Okay!" Zheng Lan didn't want to waste time, after all, the tea-picking period was over in a blink of an eye.
"This price can only be reduced by three cents per catty." Zhu Ming added.
It's a seller's market now, because only the Zhu family and his son have mastered the tea-frying technology. If the Zheng family didn't need help to open up the market, Zhu Ming wouldn't even drop the three cents.
Zheng Lan confirmed again: "Are you really only selling to me?"
Zhu Guoxiang said: "You can write a deed and write down the price clearly, so that the Zheng family can be the exclusive owner. The deed is signed every five years. After five years, the Zheng family can have priority in purchasing goods."
Zheng Lan thought carefully and found that five years was very reasonable. It only took him one or two years to open up the market.
Leave another two or three years for the Tea Horse Company. Then the tax on fried tea will definitely be increased, and the purchase price will have to be renegotiated due to the tax.
He immediately took out a pen and paper and signed a five-year exclusive acquisition contract.
After the business was done, Zheng Hong smiled and said, "Da Lang, the weapons you ordered are still at my house. Why don't you go and try them now?"
Ju Ming immediately stood up: "That's exactly what I meant."
The two of them said goodbye and went to get their weapons.
Zheng Yuanyi ran with them like a little follower, not caring about any differences between men and women.
Zheng Lan glanced at it, thoughtfully.
He invited Zhu Guoxiang to move to the living room to drink tea, then called his son Zheng Yu to his side and asked in a low voice: "Have you inquired clearly?"
Zheng Yu said: "I've asked people about it. Lu Tixue really praised the father and son very much. Min Wenwei also went down the mountain in the past two days, asked for some fried tea to entertain guests, and said to everyone he met that he was a gentleman.
Tea, and he admires Zhu Guoxiang very much. There is also Li Sanlang, a state magistrate, who also has a good personal relationship with Ju Ming. At most, in three to five years, Ju Ming will be able to enter the Imperial College to study. If it is an imperial examination, he may be admitted to the Jinshi next year. "
"Li Tong has been an official for generations and looks down on us merchants. Stop thinking about the renewal of your marriage," Zheng Lan said. "This Zhu Chenggong is good, and his age is suitable for a young lady. Not only is this man good at both civil and military affairs, but he also has a great future.
And from the conversation just now, he doesn’t seem to be a bookworm. With such a young talent, you have to start early, and you can test him first to see if he has an engagement."
"Erlang (Fat Zheng) said that Zhu Chenggong has no engagement yet." Zheng Yu said.
Zheng Lan nodded and said, "I'll check your mouth again during dinner."
The ancestors of the Zheng family also had minor officials, but unfortunately they did not have the title of Jinshi. They were recommended by local officials and could not be promoted from the eighth rank at the highest.
For several generations, descendants have not done well in school. They have passed the imperial examination many times, but have never received a single Jinshi.
They can maintain their wealth only through marriage and bribery.
In the past hundred years, the Zheng family has had two Jinshi sons-in-law and more than ten Jinshi people. One of the Jinshi sons-in-law was trained by the Zheng family themselves. The other Jinshi son-in-law was a magistrate of Xingdao County. His wife died. The Zheng family tried their best to
Find a way to marry a girl to have a second marriage.
In Yangzhou Prefectural Government and Xingdao County Government, many subordinate officials were related to the Zheng family, or were simply members of the Zheng family.
The four major families, Min, Wang, Zheng, and Li, joined forces to control Yangzhou.
The Min and Wang families belonged to a family of imperial examinations, and each produced more than one Jinshi. They owned large areas of land in Xingdao County, and their business was only a sideline.
The Zheng and Li families belong to a family of merchants.
The Zheng family mainly deals in tea, wine and vinegar, all of which need to be purchased, thus achieving a semi-monopoly in the local market.
The Li family is engaged in banking and jewelry business, and they also secretly purchase gold illegally. Their ancestral home is located on the outskirts of Zhenfu County, and they have great influence on scrap gold mines and gold prospectors.
But it was said that Fatty Zheng took Ju Ming and went straight to an inner courtyard.
As soon as I stepped into the courtyard, a young woman came out to greet me and said with a smile: "The official is here!"
Zheng Hong introduced: "Dalang, this is my wife's Li Xiuxiu, daughter of the Zhenfu Li family. Although her family is in Zhenfu County, they have a gold shop in Yangzhou City, and my father-in-law is in charge of that gold shop. Xiu
Xiu, this is the Zhu Dalang I am talking about."
Zhu Ming bowed and said, "I have met my sister-in-law."
"Long blessing, sir." Li Xiuxiu bowed and returned the greeting.
Fatty Zheng led Ju Ming into the room again, took down the bow and arrow from the wall, and dragged out the mace and iron gun from under the bed: "This thing is very heavy. The blacksmith said that even the mace of the fierce general is also there."
He has never hit a hammer weighing less than ten kilograms, and he has never beaten a twelve kilogram iron mace."
Zhu Ming smiled and said: "I am very strong, and I can't use a mace weighing several kilograms easily."
The iron mace weighed twelve kilograms, the iron spear eighteen kilograms, plus the Heavenly King Armor which weighed over sixty kilograms. Ju Ming was able to carry it, but he was afraid that the horse would not be strong enough. This would test Cornucopia's endurance and load-bearing ability.
Walking to the yard with the weapon in hand, Zheng Hong said, "Da Lang, let's try it."
Ju Ming held the mace and asked: "Where to hit?"
Fatty Zheng said angrily: "Hit it as you like. If it's broken, replace it with a new one."
The host has spoken, so there is no need for guests to be polite.
Ju Ming raised his mace and slammed it down, smashing the railing of the corridor into pieces. Then he hit a stone next to the flower bed, and with one strike, sparks flew out and cracks appeared on the stone.
Fatty Zheng exclaimed, "If I hit you on the head, I'm afraid my brain will be damaged!"
Zheng Yuanyi, who had always been a follower, now had her eyes wide open and her mouth couldn't close. She pressed her hand on her chest and her heart was beating wildly.
Mr. Zhu Jia Langjun wrote excellent poems and had great strength.
Li Xiuxiu put her hand in front of her sister-in-law's eyes, waved her hand, and said jokingly: "My eyes are straight, do you want to ask someone to mediate?"
"No!"
Zheng Yuanyi blushed, her eyes still glancing at Ju Ming, comparing him with the men she had seen before.
It seems that no one can compare.
He is knowledgeable, strong, and handsome. There is no such good man in Yangzhou City.
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