Chapter 417: What does it mean to overestimate ones capabilities?
Tianzihao elegant room in Jufeng Building.
The most prominent thing here is the word "hao".
The white jade screens, mahogany tables and chairs, and the whole room are covered with gold foil patterns. The mahogany tables and chairs, and the finest ceramic tableware are all made of ivory.
The table is full of dishes, let’s not talk about the taste. The ingredients alone are astonishing, and all the land and water delicacies are served.
Bear paws, humps, bird's nests and shark's fins. Even if the cook's skills are not very good, as long as they can be made, the taste of these things will not be too bad.
But at this moment, the group of people in the private room were sighing at the delicacies of the mountains and seas, and no one touched the kuaizi.
"Isn't Shen Wansan here yet?" This man has a unique Sichuan accent, and his clothes are also made of fine Sichuan brocade. He looks very noble.
"What will happen if he comes? I think your efforts are all in vain. Who doesn't know how Shen Wansan's business became so big? It's just a daydream to have him unite with us." The person who spoke
Wearing mink fur and looking rough and bold, he felt out of place with most of the people present.
"No matter what, we have to give it a try. We can't just go on like this, right? The workers under me are becoming more and more disobedient to discipline." A man with a southern accent at the table complained somewhat depressedly.
"There is no other way out there, what's there to try? If you ask me, we'll just go on strike. Since the King of England won't give us businessmen a way to survive, there's no need for us to ask for trouble here."
"I also think this is a good idea. We have about 60% of the projects in Yanjing. If we quit, His Royal Highness may not be able to find so many people to replace us for a while."
A businessman in the corner sneered triumphantly: "This is not the most important thing. Doesn't His Royal Highness keep saying that he is for the common people? Once we let go, how many people in Yanjing City will lose their livelihood. By then, I will arrive
Let’s see how His Royal Highness the King can fill these people’s mouths.”
"Besides, we can still do this..."
These businessmen talked to each other, and in their mouths, Zhu Han seemed to be a lamb to be slaughtered by them.
Not everyone was echoing, there was also one person at the dinner table who never said a word from beginning to end.
The mavericks quickly become the outcasts.
"No matter what Boss Zhang talks about on weekdays, he always speaks eloquently. Why don't you say a word today?"
"Haha, Boss Zhang is where he is today thanks to the promotion of His Royal Highness. He is not from the same group as us."
"Who sent the invitation to Boss Zhang? Isn't this intentional to embarrass others? If you find it inconvenient, Boss Zhang, you can leave now. We will never embarrass you."
The person who was irritated by these people was naturally Zhang Fengnian.
The previous cement formula sold for more than 500,000 taels in one fell swoop. Even wealthy businessmen like them were filled with envy and jealousy.
Even though all of them are wealthy, a business of five hundred thousand taels is not too unusual for them.
But the problem is, a business of 500,000 taels and making a profit of 500,000 taels are completely different concepts.
Even if there is such a huge benefit, how much manpower and material resources will be used, and how much money will need to be invested in advance to open up the relationship.
Moreover, even if you do your best in every aspect, it will not take a year or two to earn so much money.
During this time, they also put a lot of effort into patents.
Although there are benefits, compared with Zhang Fengnian, they pale into insignificance.
Therefore, many people are very unconvinced with Zhang Fengnian, thinking that he just got lucky.
Normally he wouldn't say anything, but on today's occasion, Zhang Fengnian was the one who was forgotten.
Being ridiculed by so many people openly and covertly, Zhang Fengnian still looked as normal.
He picked up the wine glass and took a sip: "Since you all want to hear my advice, Ruixue will be brave enough to say something."
Everyone was shocked at the same time.
Damn it.
Is there something wrong with this guy's mind?
Couldn't he hear that we were mocking him? Did he really think that we wanted to ask for advice?
Don't think that just because you make a little money, you feel how great you are.
None of you here have been in the business world for half your life.
Regardless of family background or experience, he is countless times better than this young boy like you.
You are just a nouveau riche. I invited you here just to slap you in the face. Do you really think you are qualified to be equal to us?
The corners of Zhang Fengnian's mouth turned up. How could he not know what these people were thinking?
Before he came, he could already imagine what these guys were thinking.
However, he still came without hesitation.
He raised his fist towards everyone on the table: "Seniors, your name Ruixue has long been known to the public. When I was just a clerk, I heard about your deeds a lot."
Even though these people had almost broken up with him, Zhang Fengnian's attitude still did not change.
Before speaking, I put a high hat on these people.
Everyone likes to hear good words. Even if all the people present dislike Zhang Fengnian, their attitudes have softened a lot.
"As long as you know."
"When I was doing business, you were still in your mother's womb."
"Since you are so sensible, I will teach you a lesson today. Don't think that His Royal Highness is helping you out of any good intentions. He is just doing it to promote his so-called patent law. If you do this, think of yourself as the King of England
People, that’s the most stupid idea.”
"We are the real people of our own. In the eyes of those in the court, we are just a group of animals waiting to be slaughtered. Whenever they are hungry, they will directly attack us."
Zhang Fengnian seemed to be listening respectfully, but he was sneering in his heart.
These people seemed to treat him with all their heart, but in fact they were all sweet-talking guys.
At that time when he had just figured out the secret recipe for cement, the King of England had not yet granted him a patent.
I don’t know how many people are trying every possible means to find out the secret recipe of cement. Some people even offered Liu Shitou a high price of 10,000 taels of silver for this purpose.
I don't know how many people bribed Liu Shitou, but they were sent by these guys.
After they finished speaking, Zhang Fengnian solemnly said: "I accept the wishes of the seniors. It's just that I can't agree to this matter."
"The reason why I am where I am today is because of the support of His Royal Highness. Otherwise, my friends and I would be just unknown people in Yanjing City."
"This junior also understands what you all think. The reason why I came here today is just to say something from the bottom of my heart. I won't say it out loud."
"The seniors feel that His Royal Highness is aggressive and will not hesitate to harm the interests of our businessmen for the sake of ordinary people."
It's a good thing that Zhang Fengnian didn't mention this matter. When he mentioned it, everyone present looked aggrieved.
"Isn't that guy a bit stingy with his money? He only took four coins and he was killed in the street."
Another person was also indignant: "If that's all, that's it. It's money that you asked for. But the guy who killed the person was acquitted. This is so unreasonable."
"Those of us who are doing business, although we have a little money, can invest more money. Sometimes we can't turn over money for a while. Can't we be considerate and considerate?"
"That's right, who doesn't have enough money to spare? If it's not illegal to be killed just because of a temporary default, how can we continue to do this business?"
"After all, the King of England is just trying to take advantage of us for his own reputation. This kind of thing has been common throughout the ages."
There are many people on the other side, and each person's words seem to be a mess.
Under this situation, Zhang Fengnian could still clearly hear what they were saying.
"Seniors, no matter how difficult it is for us, we are still thousands of times better than ordinary people." He said, pointing to the delicacies on the table.
"Just this table of food is enough to pay hundreds of workers, right?"
Before they could refute, Zhang Fengnian continued in a flurry of words: "Besides, His Royal Highness the King of England does not just protect ordinary people."
"Just over an hour ago, someone falsely accused a businessman of deducting his wages. His Royal Highness found out and sentenced the falsely accused worker."
"It can be seen that His Royal Highness the King of England treats businessmen and people equally as long as we abide by the law."
Businessmen who are doing business will naturally know this.
If they didn't even know this, they wouldn't be able to earn such a family fortune.
But even so, they still sneered at Zhang Fengnian's words.
"It's just a slap in the face. It doesn't hurt at all to those unscrupulous people."
"This kind of thing is just a show for us, just to appease us, but you actually believe it."
"I don't care what the person who made the false accusation is like. I only know that someone was killed in the street, and the murderer is still at large. If you can't give us an explanation, absolutely not!"
"Okay!" Zhang Fengnian said in a deep voice, "Let's not talk about money for now. We are all businessmen. As long as there is benefit, we can discuss anything."
"Then I would like to ask you seniors, do you really think you can defeat His Royal Highness?"
"Your Highness, the King of England, together with the current Holy Emperor, drove away the ancient man who established the Ming Dynasty in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, and led troops to fight without defeat. Do you really want to be an enemy of such a person?"
The businessmen in the middle of the private room were stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter.
It was as if Zhang Fengnian said something that was a particularly funny joke.
"I say Zhang Fengnian, even if you are flattering the King of England, you must have a limit, okay?"
"When it comes to leading troops in war, we admit that His Royal Highness is indeed a remarkable person."
Another businessman wiped his tears: "I have also heard that His Royal Highness is a genius and has extraordinary abilities in miraculous tricks."
After that, everyone's attitude gradually became unified.
"But when it comes to doing business, His Royal Highness may not be that powerful, right?"
Although there are two examples: Shen Wansan and Zhou Gushan.
However, in the eyes of these businessmen, it is people like Shen Wansan who really matter.
As for Zhu Han, the British king, he only provided some conveniences.
If it were them, he would definitely not be much worse than Shen Wansan.
Seeing these people being so arrogant, Zhang Fengnian sighed secretly: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, it's because I, Zhang Fengnian, am incompetent and can't convince them."
Different road non-phase plan.
Since these people were determined to go against Zhu Han, Zhang Fengnian was too lazy to make excuses with them.
Just about to stand up and leave.
The door to the private room was suddenly pushed open.
A businessman, covered in silk and satin, with a slightly plump figure and a smile that resembled that of Maitreya Buddha, pushed open the door and entered.
"Everyone, Boss Shen and Boss Zhou are here."
Although at this moment, Boss Shen and Boss Zhou in Yanjing City have only eight hundred if they don't have one thousand.
But when it comes to this occasion, everyone knows who they represent.
Naturally, he is one of the two richest businessmen in Ming Dynasty.
Shen Wansan, Zhou Gushan.
Zhang Fengnian was about to leave, but stopped again when he heard the names of these two people.
"Why are they here? Is it possible..." When I thought about it, Shen Wansan and Zhou Gushan might also do something unfavorable to Zhu Han.
Zhang Fengnian felt that he could never leave so easily.
"Boss Shen is here to make us shine!"
"I've met Boss Shen."
"I've met Boss Zhou."
The people in the elegant room were smiling brighter than the others, just like a room full of chrysanthemums.
Shen Wansan didn't put on airs and returned the favor with fists raised. In comparison, Zhou Gushan's attitude was much more arrogant and he just nodded slightly in response.
Zhang Fengnian also mingled with the crowd and clasped his fists, losing the enthusiasm of the past.
Although he is very grateful to Shen Wansan, if he really hangs out with these people, it will only represent Shen Wansan's personality and nothing more.
If Shen Wansan was unlucky because of this incident, he would help within his ability to repay his previous kindness.
"Sit, everyone, sit down!" Shen Wansan took the main seat as a matter of course.
Zhou Gushan, who had always been at odds with Shen Wansan, rarely disagreed with him this time, but sat silently next to him.
This time, Zhang Fengnian finally got to see Shen Wansan's style.
Since he entered the private room, the entire banquet was almost under his control.
No matter who he was chatting with, he seemed to be very open-minded and knew everything about everyone present. He even knew what difficulties the other party was having.
Moreover, Shen Wansan is not just talking. If he can help easily, he will use the resources at hand to help the other party solve their difficulties.
If you can't solve it yourself, you will ask Zhou Gushan for help, or give him an idea.
It feels like you are giving your heart and soul to everyone.
Zhang Fengnian was dumbfounded when he saw what he saw, and he felt terrible in his heart.
No wonder Shen Wansan became the richest man. The ability to control people's hearts alone was enough for him to learn.
And the most important point is that since Shen Wansan entered the house, he has never mentioned anything about the King of England.
The merchants in this room were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, and they couldn't open their mouths because every topic Shen Wansan talked about was closely related to their business.