Wu Cheng and Liu Hai came out of the silk hall and followed the guy towards the rows of teahouses where they came from. There were hundreds of teahouses in these rows of houses, and they were quite large in scale. Because of this, this
The tea room seems a bit cramped, barely able to accommodate four people.
Except for a small screen, four stools and a table, there was not even a window sill, but there was a small table next to the table. On the table were pens, inks, paper, inkstones, and an abacus and other items.
Wu Cheng and Liu Hai sat down, and the waiter stood beside them, smiling and saying: "Two guests, this is the elegant room."
To be honest, if a restaurant like this was just a tea shop, Wu Cheng and Liu Hai would never be able to come to such a place with their wealth. However, what they had just seen and heard told them that this tea room must not be simple.
.
Wu Cheng smiled and said: "What's the secret of this elegant room?"
The waiter smiled and said: "Guests who come to our treasure house usually go to sit in the hall first, such as the silk hall, tea hall, and ceramics hall. If you find someone you can talk to, you can talk in detail here."
As for the guy, both Wu Cheng and Liu Hai understood that the so-called speculative talk actually meant that the two of them had the intention of doing business. The hall was a bit noisy after all. If they saw that the other party was sincere, they would naturally invite Lai Ya to discuss some details of the transaction.
In this way, whether this so-called elegant room is comfortable and spacious is actually secondary. As long as it is quiet enough to discuss business, if this elegant room closes the door, it will be like a secret room where you can talk freely.
It fits their cautious thoughts.
Wu Cheng asked again: "Do I have to pay extra to enter this elegant room?"
The waiter smiled slightly and said: "Fifty taels of silver an hour is not expensive."
Five taels of silver is not expensive to sit in this airtight room for an hour? Then what else is expensive in this world? Even if you stay in the Xiang Pavilion in Fireworks Alley, it may not be more than five taels of grain silver. This Treasure Building
They are asking for money everywhere, and they are all extremely expensive.
But having said that, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver may come in and out at any time when doing business. Five taels of silver is actually nothing to these merchants.
Just Chen... it's still not worth it. Wu Cheng is even thinking that if he comes here to ship goods in the future, it would be better to negotiate it in the Silk Hall. These five taels of silver can be saved as much as possible. After all, although it is quiet here, there are still some
Not worth it.
The waiter seemed to see what he was thinking and said, "Sir, do you think it's not worth it?"
Liu Hai stroked the table and smiled and said: "Your treasure gathering building is worth the ten taels of silver just to get in. You can sit in the hall with a pot of tea for ten taels. Twenty taels doesn't matter, but this elegant room seems a little...
Superfluous."
The waiter smiled slightly, as if he was already prepared to answer, and said with a smile: "Actually, there is a special service in this private room."
Wu Wei asked: "Say."
The waiter said: "As long as the guests enter the private room, our treasure gathering building will be accompanied by a special book boy to wait here."
Wu Cheng couldn't help but laugh: "What's the use of this book boy?"
The clerk said: "These bookboys have been specially trained and are familiar with the laws of the Ming Dynasty. They are personally taught by some old officials in the yamen. They may not be good at serving tea and water, but they are very familiar with contracts and the like."
"..."
At this moment, Wu Cheng and Liu Hai couldn't help but gasped. Of course they knew what the guy meant. Usually when doing business, especially when making a contract, they are mostly cautious, fearing that something might happen.
The difference in words can lead to people being deceived, and the final result is that they lose all their money. It's just that businessmen are not omnipotent after all. They have to sell goods, ship and purchase goods, inquire about the market conditions in various places, and socialize with people.
Even those who are shrewd may not be able to keep everything in detail. If there is a book boy who is familiar with the law to check on the side at this time, and even hand over the contract directly to him to draft, this is equivalent to giving them a pill for merchants.
Reassurance.
Five taels of silver for peace of mind, it’s worth it!
The waiter continued with a smile: "Because these bookboys are familiar with the law, our boss calls them lawyers. With these lawyers, we can give you a little more protection. But I am afraid it will take a month for the lawyers to come. After all, it will take a month."
I have learned a lot. Our boss hired some old officials from the Shuntian Prefecture to teach them. They have been studying for five months now, and they will be able to start teaching in one month."
Wu Cheng nodded and said: "If I come here to ship goods next time, I must come to this elegant room and let the lawyers help keep an eye on it. Be careful and sail the ship for thousands of years. Naturally, you cannot take it lightly."
Liu Hai also nodded, feeling the same as what Wu Cheng said. After doing business for so many years, he often heard stories about merchants being deceived in their contracts. Sometimes it was just a word difference, but someone gave you a silver tattoo.
A thousand taels has become you pouring a thousand taels of silver to someone else. Once you find out about this kind of thing, your family will be ruined and your wife and children will be separated.
The waiter smiled slightly and took the two of them out of the teahouse again, leading them along the path to a separate courtyard. This courtyard only allowed for a small door to pass through. It was integrated with the Jubao Tower, but it was also quite separate.
Just after passing the small gate, the depressing and crowded situation suddenly changed. There was a plaque hanging on the small gate called "Elegance of Bamboo Forest".
If the Jubao Tower just now seems mediocre, even a bit tacky, but after entering here, the scenery is different. Flowers, jungles and trees are arranged in an orderly manner, with small bridges, flowing water, and pavilions and citrus hidden among the flowers and trees.
, very much like Jiangnan Villa.
Along the path, we passed through a series of lofts and Champs. These lofts were all named, either Sizhu Pavilion or Luohua Courtyard. We found a loft and entered it. The furnishings inside were all magnificent and exquisite.
The carpet was spread on the ground, sweeping away the cold winter and bringing with it a hint of warmth. The screens, tables and chairs all exuded a different smell, much better than the most famous one in Fireworks Alley
The decoration of Yunxiao Pavilion is a bit more grand.
The waiter asked the two of them to sit down and said with a smile: "This is an entertainment place. If the guest palace has concluded a business deal, you can come here to have fun together, listen to music, play leaf cards, drink tea, and have banquets and other facilities."
, if you want to invite some girls to accompany you, you can give the order, and if you want to book a loft here for one night, it will cost roughly five hundred taels of silver."
Wu Cheng and Liu Hai couldn't help but be shocked to hear that five hundred taels, with their personal wealth, would never be affordable. But having said that, if those wealthy businessmen negotiated a huge deal at one time, come here to have fun.
, which is interesting. Five hundred taels of silver may be an astronomical figure to small and medium-sized merchants like Wu Cheng and Liu Hai, but it is nothing to some big merchants.
What's more, where is Jubao Tower? There are so many merchants coming in and out here. If you can bring your business partners to play here, it will definitely be enough for the sake of face.
Sometimes doing business is all about ostentation. Wu Cheng was even thinking that if one day he became rich, it would be good to occasionally invite a few business partners here to have fun.
Liu Hai couldn't help but laugh and said: "This place is not something that Brother Wu and I can afford. It seems that from now on we can only sit in the silk hall and the elegant room."
But the guy shook his head and said seriously: "You two guest palaces are wrong. Today is the first day of the Jubao Building's opening, so you only need to pay ten taels of silver to get in and out. But from now on, this rule will have to be changed.
Changed.”
"Oh? Why is this?" Liu Hai couldn't help but ask.
The waiter said: "To enter the Jubao Tower, you must have a membership."
"What's the point of being a member?" After entering the Jubao Building, everything here overturned Wu Cheng's impression. Only now did he know that there is such a good place to do business in the world. With his eyesight, how could he not
Do you know that in the future, as long as you traffic goods to this capital, you only need to sit here for half a day to get rid of the goods? And the price will definitely not be lower than in the past. After all, it was too troublesome to find a businessman to collect raw silk in the past.
God may not be able to find someone with such an intention, but now that we have entered here, in time there will be dozens and hundreds of merchants who collect raw silk gathering in the silk hall. By then, it will naturally be much easier to talk about money. Man
Said: "There are three types of members. We, Jubaolou, have eyes and ears all over the world. Businessmen who want to apply for membership must first report their net worth. For example, there is a mansion somewhere, a shop, or a workshop somewhere. Jubaolou collects
After applying, you will naturally send a note to the merchant's place of origin and ask the clerk there to verify. If your net worth exceeds 5,000 taels, you will be issued a membership card, which can be used to enter the treasure building in the future. If your net worth exceeds 1,000 taels or more,
, you can be issued a silver membership medal, but if your net worth exceeds 30,000 taels of silver, you will be awarded a gold medal.
Whether it is an ordinary membership card, a silver medal, or a gold medal, the monthly membership fees are different. An ordinary membership card only costs ten taels of silver per month, while a silver medal costs twenty taels. Gold medals pay fifty taels per month. To apply for a membership card
After that, you have to pay the membership fee on time. If you fail to pay it after a month, someone will be called to take back the membership card and cancel the membership." Ten taels of silver per month is not much, at least for Liu Hai, it is enough to pay the membership fee every month.
I come here often to sit and sit. Although the tea here is expensive, I might be able to find some business opportunities.
But for foreign merchants like Wu Cheng, it is a bit of a disadvantage. After all, they can only come to Beijing two or three times a year, but they have to pay twelve months of membership fees. But then again, if they can ship goods as soon as possible, then
It can save a lot of warehousing expenses and time. In the future, you can make one or two more trips to Beijing. After all, sometimes you have to stay in the capital for a month or two. If the shipment is fast, you can stay in the city for a few days.
Return to your hometown and transport some more goods. The profits here will be enough to offset the membership fee of one hundred and twenty taels of silver.
Wu Wei was just confused about what kind of membership Jubaolou wanted. He couldn't help but ask: "This membership is a bit complicated. Why do you want to do this?"
The waiter replied: "Your Majesty, I don't know. Those who can become members and enter the Jubao Building are all people with limited family resources. Think about it, sir, if you negotiate business, sign contracts, and make transactions with members here,
Doesn’t it make you feel more at ease? Moreover, our Jubao Building also provides debt collection services. People who have become members are all well-informed people. Their place of origin and family property are also recorded in the book. If you dare to commit fraud here, Jubao Building will come forward to help you.
Seek justice.”
Wu Cheng suddenly realized, and a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes. What was the most important thing to merchants like them? Safety!
You must know that the risks of doing business in this era are really high, especially in the capital, where scammers are everywhere, and the membership issued by Jubaolou means that those who can come in to discuss business with them must be wealthy.
People, Wu Cheng can guess the strength of the other party based on his membership level. It is clear at a glance whether he is a big businessman or a small and medium businessman. In this way, will he still worry about being deceived by those thugs and greasers on the street?
In fact, under the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, there were many kinds of scammers. They accurately calculated the eagerness of foreign merchants to ship goods, and most of them simply targeted foreign merchants like them. Once they were deceived, they were often
They lost all their money and countless people jumped into the canal for this reason.
But having a membership is completely different. Scammers often have no net worth and are playing tricks with empty hands. However, those who can enter the Jubao Building are serious businessmen who are willing to do business. Doing business here makes people feel at ease.
.
Wu Cheng couldn't help but said: "Can Jubaolou still stand up for us people?"
The waiter smiled and couldn't help but said proudly: "This is natural. Since everyone has entered the Jubao Tower, if someone is blackmailing them, it is of course the duty of the Jubao Tower to come forward to help. Do you two guests know who the owners of our Jubao Tower are?
"
Wu Chengdao: "May I ask who it is?"
The clerk said: "One is Liu Chengfeng, a member of Jin Yiwei Baihu. Who is this Liu Baihu? You must have heard about it, right?"
After all, Wu Cheng was a foreigner. He seemed a little disappointed when he heard that he was a Baihu. However, Liu Hai's eyes lit up and he said: "I know that although Liu Baihu is only a sixth-grade military attache, he is still in the Jinyi Guards Station."
Thousands of households must respect him. He is so popular among the capital, even those from Dongchang would pinch their noses and walk around when they see him!"