Phoenix Villa has a special ice cellar, which not only stores ice, but also stores a large amount of fresh fruits, vegetables and meat. The fresh lychees of Phoenix Villa are somewhat famous among the gentry circles in Hangzhou. Although the price is ridiculously expensive and there are purchase restrictions,
If you want to buy it, you still have to make a reservation.
The guests were slurping lychees and tasting fine wines and delicacies, and they were all intoxicated. Cai Shi saw that the gentlemen were already in a good mood, so he quickly went down to call for the singers to come up and serve them.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, drama was very popular, and the rich and powerful Jin gentry often maintained theater troupes for themselves. However, Zhao Yingong disliked the expense of raising a theater troupe. Just preparing the "outfits" and asking for advice was a huge expense. If the Senate knew about it, it would be another disaster.
There was a turmoil. When a few people at Leizhou Station got a few extra maids, they were beaten and killed.
However, he did not own a troupe, so it was a bit inconvenient to deal with the gentry. "Australian stuff" was still relatively weak in entertainment. Zhao Yingong raised a team of musicians.
These musicians were all carefully selected from the refugees who had sold themselves, and each of them practiced a traditional musical instrument. The Senate did not object to this matter. After all, there was an excuse to cultivate traditional music talents, which made some people interested in
It is even more attractive to seniors who "express their love for tradition". The maid training class also intends to include musical instruments in the maid training courses.
Zhao Yingong also wanted to please the general office, and he spared no effort in hiring famous teachers in the academy to teach him. Although his skills are still immature, the gentlemen who listen to music only use it as a pastime - the drunkard does not care about drinking.
I saw a maid in green clothes, leading six girls over, and they all bowed to the table. They were all girls with double hairdos. They were thirteen, forty-five, sixteen or seventeen, and they were all wearing the same color of sky blue.
Wearing tight-sleeved shirts and light red armor, they looked elegant and refined. Each person held a musical instrument in their hands and bent their knees in front of the banquet. Their postures were graceful. No matter how well-informed the gentlemen were, their expressions could not help but change.
"This blessing gift is quite different. Is it Brother Zhao's family gift?" Wen Huai said happily.
"This is a new custom in Guangli." Zhao Yingong said with a smile, but suddenly frowned and asked: "Why? Only six people were brought here?"
The maid seemed a little uneasy, lowered her head and reported back: "When I replied to the master, Miss Xihua said that they had taken too many classes to practice music these days, and they were afraid of delaying their homework, so they stayed."
Zhao Yingong showed an unhappy look on his face. He slowly put down the cup in his hand, stared at the maid and said, "Did she say that?"
The servant woman could no longer stand under his gaze. She barely managed to keep herself from kneeling down and said in a trembling voice, "I don't dare to lie."
Zhao Yingong was silent for a moment and said: "Go down."
The servant girl hurriedly retreated. Twelve round stools had been placed under the tree beside the banquet. Now only half of the people were sitting there, which seemed a bit empty. Wu Zhixiang felt that Zhao Yingling was embarrassed. She hurriedly said: "Let's listen first.
Let’s play a tune.”
Zhao bowed his bow for a moment and tapped the dental plate a few times. The pipa and zheng started first, and then someone played the flute and flute, slightly tuning the strings, and a soft, gentle and smooth tune came out leisurely like flowing water and clouds.
.
However, among those present here, apart from Wen Huai, who comes from a well-off family, there are at least a few female musicians in the family. Upon hearing this, they felt that the level of these little girls from the Zhao family was "just average" at best.
I couldn't help but be secretly surprised. Mr. Zhao was well-known in Hangzhou for his high-end and high-end entertainment. He didn't expect that the female singer at home was just like this - he couldn't help but have a disappointed expression on his face.
Although the female singer was not good, fortunately, it did not affect the leisure and elegance of the gentlemen. After some entertainment, the already tipsy gentlemen were helped down, and someone arranged for them to go home in sedan chairs.
Only Wu Zhixiang was unwilling to leave - he had another purpose for coming here.
Shortly after Zhao Yingong's silk reeling factory was put into operation, the raw silk produced had quietly flowed into the market. In order to see the market's reaction to this kind of raw silk, Zhao Yingong quietly sent someone to anonymously sell a batch of raw silk to the "machine room" to collect users' information.
Reaction. As a result, this batch of raw silk received great praise as soon as it appeared. This silk is not only a high-quality "fine silk", but also whiter and smoother than the best "Qili silk" on the market.
The key is that the price of this kind of silk is quite low, only 10% more expensive than locally produced "fat silk".
Both the boss of the silk shop and the owner of the machine room were immediately attracted by this cheap and high-quality raw silk. They asked everywhere where this raw silk came from. But this kind of raw silk disappeared - in the market.
Although the price of raw silk in China has begun to slowly rise after the sericulture farmers were completely exploited, the price is still low. Furthermore, Zhao Yingong's purpose of reeling silk is for export. It is enough to take a look at the general market reaction.
But Wu Zhixiang immediately guessed where this raw silk was produced - unlike other Jiangnan gentry who had close contacts with Zhao Yingong, Wu Zhixiang had much more dealings with "Australians" in Guangzhou and had seen many more Australian products.
, I also visited the construction sites of Great World in Guangzhou and went to several newly opened "factories" in Guangzhou Station. I know that the "skills and tricks" of Australians are far superior to everyone else. This is mostly done by Australian factories.
Yes. The fact that Cihuitang runs a silk reeling workshop has also been filed with the prefect’s Yamen, so it is not a secret. Wu Zhixiang understood it completely after thinking about it for a while.
Although Wu Zhixiang was regarded as a playboy, he actually had a lot of ambition to do a career. However, he was not born to study, and it was always very difficult to pass the imperial examination. Although there was progress in seeking an official position in Jiangnan this time, it seemed that he would eventually
Or he could only join the official career as a graduate of the Imperial College - this kind of background was very looked down upon in the official circles at that time. Therefore, Wu Zhixiang was no longer very enthusiastic about becoming an official.
Wu Zhixiang was attracted to the Australians at first as a plaything of those "ingenious and obscene skills". Gradually, Wu Zhixiang became very interested in the Australians as a whole. In particular, the Australians used their skills to seize the power of nature to create more beautiful things than ever before.
With much more wealth, he has done things that were difficult for his predecessors to do - this particularly shocked Master Wu.
Australians are also human beings, and I am also a human being. We are all of the Chinese ancestry. If they can do it, I can do it too. Wu Zhixiang doesn’t know when she had this thought in her heart.
Wu Zhixiang has lived in Guangzhou for a long time and wants to start a foreign business. He knows that the sericulture industry in the Pearl River Delta is also quite large, but the quality of raw silk is not as good as that of Jiangnan, and the export price is not as good as that of "Nanjing silk". If he can get help from Australians, in the Pearl River Delta
Raising silkworms and reeling silk may create a new situation!
"Do you want to visit the silk reeling field of Cihuitang?" Zhao Yingong was a little surprised - he had never met an "upper-class person" from the Ming Dynasty who was interested in the workshop, not to mention ordinary people.
No interest either.
"Exactly! Please ask Brother Zhao to help me!" Wu Zhixiang said with a sincere face, "I know that the latest raw silk on the market is Cihuitang. I will tell you the truth: I also want to set up an industry in Guangdong!"
"Easy to say, easy to say." Zhao Yingong's mind quickly turned around a few times. Wu Zhixiang was a "pro-Australian person". From the past when she took risks to call the police at Guangzhou Station, to this time she took the initiative to sell rice to Hangzhou Station and became a shareholder of China Merchants Group.
It fully illustrates that this person’s “heart is devoted to the Senate.”
Of course, his intention is nothing more than to rely on the Senate to establish an industry and make a fortune through business. But if he can realize the advancement of the Senate in technology and productivity, it is already valuable, and it is an "object that can be transformed and united." And the Senate
He also intends to spread private light industry in the Pearl River Delta region. If people like Wu Zhixiang are willing to invest, they will have a huge impact on the overall social atmosphere.
"It's okay to watch it with you - it's just that if the inside story of this silk reeling factory spreads out, I'm an outsider here after all, and I'm afraid the people are ignorant of some things and have outrageous opinions..."
"My little brother swears to God that nothing here will be revealed to outsiders." Wu Zhixiang said solemnly.
If it were anyone else, Zhao Yingong would not believe such an oath, but Wu Zhixiang was an indigenous person who had gone through the test of the Guangzhou Incident and the second counter-encirclement and suppression campaign. Although he was not considered a "comrade", he was at least a "fellow traveler". He agreed immediately.
Wu Zhixiang's request.
This time when they went down the mountain, Zhao Yingong did not call for a sedan chair. The two of them walked down the mountain together. The location of Phoenix Villa is not high and there is a stone trail. The walk down the mountain only takes about twenty minutes. Zhao Yingong deliberately did not use the sliding pole of the sedan chair because he wanted to see it.
See if this young master is not diligent.
A lazy person cannot do practical things. No matter how much capital and sincerity he has, he can only be a "shareholder" who contributes money. Only those who can do practical things can become a "collaborator" of the Senate.
Wu Zhixiang was in high spirits on the way, wandering around the scenery along the way from time to time, and talking to Zhao Yingong about her thoughts from time to time. When they came to the foot of the mountain, they walked for a long time under the unobstructed scorching sun, and they still showed no sign of fatigue.
He has a lot of vitality that many local young scholars don't have. This makes Zhao Yingong admire him quite a lot.
When the two arrived at the factory gate, they could already smell the smell of coal smoke and wastewater. A strong odor hit them, and Wu Zhixiang couldn't help but frown and cover her nose with her hands.
"The smell is indeed unpleasant," Zhao Yingong said with a smile, "The smell inside is even stronger. If you are feeling unwell, it is better not to go in..."
Wu Zhixiang shook his head: "It's okay, I can hold on."
The last batch of silkworm cocoons in stock is being processed in the workshop of the factory. The water is boiling in the huge cocoon cooking pot, and steam is rising from the gap between the tightly closed pot lid and the barrel. Although the roof of the cocoon cooking workshop has an openable and closable roof. There are large skylights to facilitate ventilation and heat dissipation, but the temperature in the workshop is still as high as 50 degrees under the scorching sun in midsummer. The workers inside are wearing full sets of overalls and are all black with sweat. (To be continued, please search Piao Tian Literature, The novel is better and updated faster!