Above the waves of the East China Sea, there are several large three-masted ships, with their sails spread out, following the wind and breaking the waves, coming from east to west.
The turquoise coastline is already looming ahead.
Standing on the bow deck of a large ship, Yangzhou businessman Luo Houping held a telescope with a maximum 20x lens in his hand and carefully observed the coastline until he saw the twenty-mile-long sea dike and the dike.
After installing nearly a hundred white fans.
Luo Houping suddenly became excited.
Almost there.
Xujiazhuang Harbor City is coming!
His business trip to Japan, which lasted for less than half a year, was about to come to a successful end.
As for what he gained from doing business this time, he can only describe it as making a lot of money.
Five entire shipments of goods were sold out, and five entire shipments of gold, silver, and copper currency were exchanged.
Before setting off for Japan, Luo Houping spent huge sums of money to buy ships, hire sailors and crews to guard them, and purchase goods. He invested a total of more than one million taels of silver, which was considered a ruin.
Now the cost has not only been recovered, but the profit has been tripled.
There was no way, Xujiazhuang's goods were so popular that when they were first launched in the island country, an unimaginable wave of popularity started, reaching all the emperors, daimyo, businessmen, landowners, samurai, and middle-class wealthy families.
Crazy panic buying has conquered all classes except the lower class people who have no purchasing power.
Soaps, mechanical watches, glass mirrors, lighters, toilet paper, toffee, snow salt and other goods were all sold out.
There were only ten Phoenix bicycles, but they all fetched sky-high prices at auction and were bought by some of the richest names.
In short, for Luo Houping, the experience of doing business in Japan these past few months can only be described as "I didn't expect it was so easy to make money."
Of course, a big tree attracts attention, and money attracts people's envy. Luo Houping's caravan was also attacked by some wandering warriors or daimyo's private army, trying to kill people and steal wealth. Fortunately, he was prepared, a hundred caravans wearing half plate armor and alloy swords
The guards killed dozens and hundreds of island warriors, just like chopping melons and vegetables - mainly because the Japanese samurai sword was too brittle. Although it was sharp enough, when it came into contact with the alloy Yan Ling sword, it only took a few or two blows.
What happens when the blade of the sword is broken? No matter how fancy the names are or how powerful the martial arts are, such as Tenshin-ryu, Itto-ryu, Kyoshin-ryu, etc., if you encounter the alloy Yanfei sword, you will either die, be injured, or run away.
The caravan guard suffered minor losses.
However, in order to strengthen security, Luo Houping also spent money to recruit hundreds of Japanese samurai as a supplementary security force. Unexpectedly, these samurai performed their duties faithfully. Although they were hired with money, when something happened, none of them ran away or flinched.
, instead they drew their swords and fought desperately. For the salary of one silver dollar a day, more than a dozen people died in battle, achieving the four words of "loyalty to protect the Lord".
This gave Luo Houping a great surprise. He not only gave each samurai who died in the battle a pension of 100 silver dollars to his family, but also doubled the salary of the remaining 80 or so samurai. He also promised that if they perform well, they are likely to be
Hire them or even take them with you as close bodyguards.
This was extraordinary. Luo Houping's words were understood by the Japanese warriors as wanting to accept them as retainers. From then on, they changed their destiny and even hoped to develop in the prosperous Tang Kingdom (the ancient Japanese used to call China the Tang Kingdom). With such a great opportunity, they
How could they be willing to miss it? So they all began to behave crazily, and even the phenomenon of involution appeared, because the attraction of the Tang Dynasty to them was fatal. In their eyes, wealthy businessmen of the Tang Dynasty such as Luo Houping, who were bold and kind, were far more important than the famous names.
If someone who has the value of loyalty can become a retainer of the Tang people, it will be like Mount Fuji emitting green smoke to seize a rare opportunity.
After this business trip, Luo Houping fulfilled his promise and hired all these samurai for a long time, but only picked ten of the best ones in Tang Dynasty to take with him, and the rest stayed in Nagoya, because next time he
I will definitely go to Japan for business, at least once a year.
besides.
Luo Houping also realized something.
That is, we must improve our relationship with Xujiazhuang and deepen the trust and cooperation between the two parties. In particular, we must gain the favor and favor of Xu Yuan, the owner of Xujiazhuang, and improve their personal relationship. Only in this way can we ensure the long-term prosperity of the Luo family.
The reason is very simple. The best-selling goods he sold to Japan, which more than tripled his net worth in six months, all came from Xujiazhuang, and he was 100% dependent on Xujiazhuang.
Once the two parties stop this kind of cooperation, or if Xu Jiazhuang is neglected or offended in some way, and loses the qualification of overseas agent, Luo Houping will be instantly knocked back to his original shape, and he will lose his wealth and honor in a short time, and he can only sit back and live in vain. Within three generations of the family
It will surely fail.
The only way to maintain wealth for a long time is to be firmly bound to Xujiazhuang. Not only must you be absolutely obedient and loyal, but you must also take some measures to win the trust and favor of Xujiazhuang. Just being on the list of "Friendly Agents" is not enough.
Even better!
So what should be done to take the relationship between the two parties to the next level?
Please please Xu Zhuangzhu Xu Yuan!
This is the most direct method that Luo Houping has thought of and will definitely produce the best results.
So how to please?
"Money, Master Xu has a lot of money, rare treasures, and treasures. Master Xu has much more than me. He also has land, status, and power. For Master Xu, it is even more easily available. It just depends on whether he wants it or not..."
...It must not be that easy to please Master Xu."
but!
Luo Houping knew that there was one thing that would definitely have a good effect on pleasing people.
That is beauty!
Because Luo Houping was fortunate enough to be a guest in Xujiazhuang several times, attended a family banquet of Master Xu, and met the two concubines of Master Xu. Although they were both quite beautiful, according to Luo Houping's aesthetics, they could only be described as beautiful.
He may be described as mediocre, but he is very favored by Xu Jiazhuang, and he has not even married a real wife until now.
Could it be that there is something about these two concubines that is far beyond ordinary people?
Or maybe the owner of the village is pure-hearted, has no desire for women, and is not interested in beauties?
Luo Houping wasn't sure what the reason was, but he decided to use the beauty as a gift for Master Xu to enjoy.
If Master Xu doesn't like beautiful women and fails to give gifts, the problem shouldn't be big. The risk he bears is the hostility of the two concubines.
If Mr. Xu likes beautiful women and the gifts are successful, then he will make a lot of money and the goal of taking the relationship to a higher level will be achieved.
"The sage also said that food and sex are the same. How can there be a man in this world who is not fond of women? As long as this beauty is beautiful enough, even Master Xu will definitely be moved and accept her, and will not refuse."
Based on his understanding of men's nature, Luo Houping was more than 70% sure that he could successfully send the beauty to him.
At the end of his business trip in Nagoya, Luo Houping found out about a pair of famous dancers from Kyoto, Kobe, and Nara who are known as the "best dancers in the world". They are a pair of twins. They are 18 years old this year and have great dancing skills.
Chao Jue has conquered so many big shots within three years of their debut. However, their redemption fees are too high, and even some big names cannot afford the price. Otherwise, they would have been taken as concubines by big shots and retired to the world.
Luo Houping managed to meet the pair of dancers and admired their dance and performance. He was so amazed that he had the urge to take it as his own, but he restrained himself and went to the owner of the dance troupe to spend 100,000 gold.
At a price equivalent to five bicycles, the twin dancers were bought as a gift to Xu Yuan, the owner of the Xu family.
Now the pair of canaries are on the "Golden Yuanbao" under his feet, placed in a first-class cabin, and Luo Houping is trying to reduce the number of times he sees this pair of canaries, because every time he sees this pair of stunning Japanese
He can't help but have the idea of possessing a woman, which may ruin things.
…
soon.
Harbor City is right in front of you, and the fleet will be able to dock in the harbor soon.
Jin Yuanbao, inside a richly decorated cabin on the upper wooden floor.
Standing high on the deck, holding on to the wooden railing with both hands, I saw the straight sea dam in front, countless huge wind turbines erected, and countless modern high-rise buildings in the harbor city.
Dancer Ono Tamako's eyes widened and she said in disbelief: "Tang Kingdom, is this Tang Kingdom?" She suspected that she had seen the heavenly scene in the mirage, but she rubbed her eyes vigorously, and there was no change. The heavenly kingdom in front of her was even more beautiful.
It's clear.
"sister."
Next to her, her sister Ono Noriko, who looked exactly like Ono Tamako, said: "No matter what kind of person Mr. Luo marries us to, as long as we can live in this paradise, I am willing to do so."
Ono Noriko's mentality has also changed. Originally, she was very resistant to leaving her hometown and coming to Tang Dynasty. She was depressed and had many thoughts of committing suicide by jumping into the sea. But now, she only looks forward to the harbor city ahead.
And yearning, even if it was actually a hell on earth full of suffering, she still wanted to go in and have a look.
"Heaven, is this the kingdom of heaven? Mom and Dad, I have seen the kingdom of heaven. I may be dreaming, but it may also be real!"
Saburo Kuroda - one of the ten warriors selected to come to the Tang Dynasty. When he saw the harbor city, he screamed, jumped up and down, howled like a ghost, and then knelt on the deck to worship devoutly, as if he had seen a divine object.
.
"Oh my God, is this what the Kingdom of Heaven looks like? I saw it, I saw it!"
"Even the Kingdom of God that people go to after death can't possibly be so beautiful. We actually saw it with our own eyes."
"Even if I die at this moment, I, Kitaro Tamura, am completely satisfied!"
The other nine samurai behaved in the same way. They all knelt down, their faces full of excitement and fanaticism, and they babbled words that others could not understand. There was only deep shock and surrender in their hearts. It can be said that these Japanese samurai, in
The moment I saw Harbor City, my loyalty was fulfilled, and all the good things in my mind found answers and representations. It was like a steel seal was engraved on my mind, and there was no possibility of betrayal.