It turned out that the people Pepi was going to introduce to Guo Yi were all the descendants of the officials and gentry who often hung out in Ziming Tower. When it came to their status, they were not very high. They were either the son of the grain conquest road, or a certain general or deputy general.
The young master, the brother-in-law, or the Shaodong of a certain big business, the nephew of the shopkeeper, etc., have a lot of money in their hands, and most likely have a reputation. People who have money and leisure naturally like to be lively. Zi
Minglou is a place where there are always new things, so naturally it is a place where they often hang out.
"There are several young men here who want to meet you. They are all wealthy owners. I guess it won't be difficult for you to open some positions."
"I know about opening positions, but I didn't expect them to beg to see me. It's rare for a financial owner to be eager to see a debtor." Guo Yi is a little strange. He usually sees a lot of people, including business partners and officialdom.
There are many people in the world, but it is rare to see such a young master. Firstly, they do not do business, and secondly, they have no demands, so naturally they will not want to see him.
"I heard that you are a visitor from overseas, and I got curious." Pepi smiled and explained the reason in detail. It started from Pepi's usual chat when entertaining guests. Rich guests came to Ziming Building to sell their money, and she
Naturally, the host wanted to accompany him for a while, and with a little embellishment, he talked about various things he had seen in Australia during the chat. This kind of talk was originally approved by the publicity department of Lingao, and it mainly promoted various things about Australia.
The benefits and anecdotes, including fabricated history, are nothing more than "overseas anecdotes" and the like. However, they also contain many contents that the time travel group promoted to the people of the Ming Dynasty.
This kind of story is inherently unique. The exquisiteness of Australian goods, including all kinds of novel entertainment and enjoyment gadgets provided by Ziminglou, coupled with Pepi's eloquent and subtle rendering, many people have a deep appreciation for the proprietor of Ziminglou.
Guo Yi was deeply interested.
When a dandy makes friends, he never makes friends with ordinary upright gentlemen. He must make friends with "interesting" people, who may be eloquent, have outstanding appearance, or act strangely. These people have always been pestering Pepi, wanting to meet some mysterious people.
"Guo Dongzhu".
"I see," Guo Yi thought. It doesn't matter. Anyway, now is the time to expand your network, and it is always beneficial to build some connections.
"Don't look at them, they are just ordinary young masters. They are really rich." As he said that, Pepi flipped his wrist gently, and an emerald ring shone on his finger. "These are their hands.
noodle."
The market price of this ring is always over 800 taels of silver, so this is not a small fortune.
"Is this a heavy gift? There is no such thing as a free lunch." Guo Yi couldn't help but worry.
"Where's the waste?" Pepi looked bored, raised her orchid finger, and looked at the newly made nail decals on her finger.
"?!" Guo Yi looked surprised.
Pepi knew that he had misunderstood, and said shyly and anxiously: "You are such a person, why do you want to go to the wrong road all the time?" As he said this, he stamped his feet and was about to go inside.
"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, don't leave, don't leave-" Guo Yi quickly grabbed her, feeling that he had become the protagonist in Qiong Yao's drama.
"Humph." Pepi turned around, "They are your Dongzhu Guo's people. No matter how coquettish they are, they can't come up with this idea. Even if they come up with this idea, Lixiu can't accept it——"
"Okay, okay." Guo Yi felt cold and quickly changed the subject, "Then how did you cope with it?"
"What's the point? They want something, so I'll give in to them - and it's not difficult." Pepi smiled, "Of course I want to meet you, Mr. Guo."
There was no more talk at the moment. After a while, a maid came to report that several young masters were here.
"Invite them to meet in the bamboo garden." Pepi ordered.
"Bamboo Garden? You built a small garden?" Guo Yi was surprised that there was no order for this project.
"Actually, it's just a box. Give it a nice name." Pepi said, and went in to change her outfit. When she came out, she had already changed into a thin purple velvet dress with dark flowers, which further highlighted her tall figure.
The charm of plump skin comes.
Under the guidance of the maid, the two people walked through the corridor, went down the stairs, and turned again. Guo Yi said: "This place is like a maze!"
Pepi said: "The place is too cramped and the layout is a bit messy. If you have spare time, it would be best to renovate it."
The implication is that they are dissatisfied with the facilities of Ziming Building. Ziming Building was originally a renovation of an old building under Panxia. At that time, Lingao's industrial system was still blank, and the executive committee was unwilling to invest too many modern gadgets here.
Naturally, we could only decorate according to the capabilities of this time and space. Because we were eager to open up the situation, and the original decoration facilities were still 60 to 70% new, we did not make any major adjustments or changes.
Guo Yi deeply agreed. With Pei Lixiu's appearance and conversation, although she attracted many dandies with her temporary novelty packaging, it was not a long-term solution after all. If Ziminglou can continue to prosper for a long time, it must continue to use tricks.
Only refurbished gadgets can lead the fashion trend in Guangzhou.
Thinking of this, Guo Yi slowly said: "If you don't tell me about this, I would have forgotten about it. Lingao has brought up the latest cargo list. Take a look and see if there is anything that can be used in Ziminglou."
Yes, let’s do some accounting before thinking about rebuilding.
"If you ask me, I have to install a batch of sanitary ware first. It's too inconvenient now..." Just as he was about to continue, he saw that he was almost there in front of him, so he quickly changed to a warm tone: "Proprietor
Watch your step."
Zhuyuan is said to be a private room, but it is actually a small flower hall. It is quite elegantly decorated, but unfortunately the furnishings are still a bit old. There are two handsome maids waiting in the hall. The two guests are usually noble men in rich clothes.
style.
After the guests and hosts bowed to each other, Pepi introduced several new friends to Guo Yi. She was right, they were all typical dandy children. One was Wu Zhixiang, whose father and brother were both officials in the capital, and he was a scholar. Dong Jizhong was even more unexpected.
, is the son of a lieutenant general, and has inherited the worldly position of a commander.
"It turns out you are an adult! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Guo Yi bowed again.
"Sir, you are a hereditary official." Dong Jizhong looked indifferent, "How can a person like me really go into battle and wield a sword or a gun?"
He is frail and looks like a white-faced scholar. It is hard to imagine that the son of a hereditary general is like this. However, this person is in Guangdong, and his father must be an official in the two provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. If this line is grasped, the Ming army will be in the future.
It is much easier to get information from Fang.
They expressed their admiration to each other. Since it was already noon, Pei Lixiu had a banquet in the hall. A large round table had been put together, and twelve cold dishes were placed on the blue and white fine porcelain tableware. Guo Yi had been here for a long time.
, knowing that Ming Dynasty’s banquets, whether official banquets or elegant gatherings, did not have this routine. This typical 20th century banquet serving method, and many of the dishes, were transplanted by Pepi from the 20th century - she
I did bring a lot of cooking utensils and books.
Guo Yi glanced at it and saw that not only were the dishes common in public and private banquets in another time and space, but the way the table was set up seemed familiar, and he couldn't help but smile.
Because it was an elegant gathering, there was no fixed seat for everyone to sit at. Even if several officials invited Guo Yi, they recommended him to sit at the head of the table, and Guo Yi did not refuse.
At the dinner table, we inevitably talked about various Australian anecdotes. Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, Guo Yi had a lot of messy things in his mind, from astronomy and geography to social news. Anyway, he could use them to organize them.
I know that these words are just an introduction, and the important topic must come later.
Sure enough, after drinking for three rounds, Wu Zhixiang got straight to the point. It turned out that although these people were descendants of officials, they had been living in Guangzhou, and they had also become tainted with the style of merchants. They had "a little private money" and wanted to do some "operations"
"Growing hair" thing.
It is easy to say that business is prosperous, but it is not very convenient for officials and officials like them. They don't know much about the business world, and they dare not get involved rashly. Although money lending is profitable, it is risky and involved.
When it comes to the issue of official reputation, if it were reported to someone like "Du Laoye" or Liu Ke Shizhong, it would be at the very least a question of "competing with the people for profit", which would be very inappropriate.
The easiest and safest thing is to find a suitable large-sized deposit to collect interest, which is safe and no one will gossip. But Wu Zhixiang thinks the interest rate is too low.
After thinking about it, the most profitable business in Guangzhou is the foreign trade business. Ships of porcelain, medicinal materials, raw silk, and tea are shipped out, and what comes back is all white money. Everyone looks at it.
Jealous. Wu Zhixiang has been thinking about this idea.
However, although Wu Zhixiang's father and brother are serving as officials in Beijing, they are not popular big shots after all. Dong Jizhong's father is just a deputy general. The rank of a military attache has never been valuable, not to mention that they are officials from other places, and no one in the local area is fawning over them. They choose them to "arrange flowers" and bring goods.
Or they can make a small fortune by investing in shares. They want to go out on a boat to run the business themselves. They heard that the storm is dangerous and pirates are infested. They really don’t have the courage to entrust others with it, but they can’t rest assured...
Dong Jizhong also interjected, "You can make a lot of money selling foreign bags, but the storm on the sea is dangerous. Zheng Ni--" He paused, "--Although Zheng Zhilong just caressed, the sea was still windless and the waves were three feet high.
It's very dangerous!" He said with a wry smile, "We only have so much money, so we can't get out."
By this time, Guo Yi had already realized that these few people were just ordinary dudes who were jealous when others got rich, but they didn't want to bear the risks and hard work at all, so they came to find him -
Such a person is easy to deal with. He just nodded and said casually: "It is indeed not a good job to make a living in troubles at sea. These are the sons of wealthy people, so they cannot make a living like this."
Although he gave up the idea of doing sea trade, his idea of making money has never changed. Dong Jizhong thought that in today's Guangzhou, another profitable business is Australian goods. If a mirror is sent to Jiangnan, the profit will be doubled.
For the capital, we need to add half more. The items are small, bring good luck, and are extremely easy to sell. It is much safer than paying a large deposit and risking going out to sea.
Another advantage is that Wu Zhixiang often sends people to Beijing to do business because her father and brother are in Beijing. Every time the Wu family takes advantage of the opportunity to go to and from the capital, they carry a large amount of goods with them for trafficking along the way. This kind of trafficking business through official posts not only
There is no need to pay taxes when crossing the customs. All expenses on the road are borne by the inns. Even the porters can ask the inns along the way to undertake the expenses.
The two hit it off immediately. They had the capital. But the Gao family had a monopoly on the wholesale of Australian goods in the Guangzhou market. Trying to get some supplies from him was no different from trying to steal food from a tiger's mouth. Although Gao Ji was just a small white man.
, but it is connected to the people in the palace, and I heard that it is also connected to pirates, so how dare you provoke him. As for Guo Yi, I have heard of his name for a long time, but I have never had any contact with him, and I don’t have a suitable matchmaker, so I rashly
I'm afraid you won't even be able to see anyone if you come to visit me; even if you do, it would be a waste of money to spread the word.
After thinking about it, I thought of Pei Lixiu of Ziminglou. I heard that this is Guo Yi's property, so Pei Lixiu, who is in charge of Ziminglou's business, must be the first-class celebrity around Guo Dongzhu, the favored Ji.
I am my concubine. Let her make the introduction and say a few nice words at the critical moment, and things will be much easier to accomplish.
Having made up their minds, the two of them came to Ziming Tower every day to please Pepi in every possible way, even using heavy gifts and bribes. The purpose was to blow the pillow and meet Guo Yi, and the words "Australian God of Wealth" leaked out from between their fingers.
They won't be able to enjoy enough of these goods.
"... I can't use such a sum of money. I would like to ask Guo Dongjia for advice on how to use it to make money for us?" Dong Jizhong said. Although he said it politely, the meaning was very clear: Guo Yi's hand is guaranteed to make money.
Australian goods.
Guo Yi knew that he had encountered an excellent opportunity, so he calculated it carefully for a while. Since they had money that they couldn't use out, it was just a lot of spare money. Not only could it be borrowed in the short term, but if it was done well, it could be used for long-term operations.
I just don't know how much they have in hand. I think a person can always have one or twenty thousand silver.
However, he did not express his position at this time, trying to whet their appetites. He only responded vaguely: "Easy to say, easy to say."
"Master, what kind of wine do you want to drink?" Pei Lixiu said, "The wine is almost ready."
"Just have wine."
These days, whenever there is a banquet, Guo Yi drinks as much as he can in a country, just to advertise his wine, and he is a little scared to drink. I heard that with wine, it feels like rain after a long drought.
Wine was also sold in Guangzhou during the Ming Dynasty. One was imported from foreign countries and shipped in wooden barrels. It was no different from the wine of the 20th century. The other was just yellow wine with raisins added. A place like Ziminglou naturally used the former.
.
The wine was poured into the glass. It was dark red and really beautiful. Guo Yi picked it up and took a sip. The wine tasted not astringent, but had some sweet and sour taste of the original juice. It did have the familiar fruity aroma of wine. He couldn't help but say