Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 258 Meeting at the Restaurant
Although Zhu Yuanfeng didn't fully understand Fan Ning's meaning, he knew that Fan Ning's words were generally correct, so Zhu Yuanfeng asked again: "Is it necessary to have a Turkic horse, or a Hequ horse?"

At present, the horses of the Song Dynasty mainly come from the Hequ horses in the Hehuang and Lintao areas. This kind of horse is suitable for pulling carts and ordinary riding, but it is not suitable for war horses.

In contrast, the Turkic horses in the Mobei Grassland are more suitable for combat horses. It was introduced in the Tang Hui Yao: "Turkic horses are extremely skilled, with well-balanced muscles and bones. They can travel far and are extremely useful for field hunting!" '

Of course, this kind of grassland horse has different names in different periods. It was called Xiongnu horse in Qin and Han Dynasties, Turkic horse in Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Mongolian horse in Song and Yuan Dynasties. The name is still in use today.

Fan Ning shook his head, "If it's a Hequ horse, it's too easy, and it won't show any credit. If there are hundreds of Turkic stallions, the Zhu family can find another small pasture in the Qingzhou area of ​​​​Hedong Road, and I can do it." Guaranteed that within three years, these hundreds of stallions will definitely become treasures that will make the emperor ecstatic."

Zhu Yuanfeng pondered for a long time and said: "The horses from Xixia to Song Dynasty are all Xixia's own horses, not Turkic horses, but it is very easy to buy Turkic horses from Xixia, the key is how to get from Xixia to Song Dynasty, only through the military. This will cost a lot of money, a horse will cost at least a few hundred strings, no matter what, I can give it a try!"

Zhu Yuanfeng got up and said goodbye. Fan Ning sent him out of the yard and told him: "This matter is very important. You can tell Zhao Zongshi, but you must never tell anyone else."

Zhu Yuanfeng smiled lightly and said: "I know in my heart that even Zhao Zongshi can't mention the matter of raising horses. The reason why business opportunities are called business opportunities lies in the word 'confidential'. Except for you and me, the matter of breeding horses will never be let the second The three know."

"Has Zhao Zongshi contacted the Cao family?"

Zhu Yuanfeng nodded, "I've already connected him with the Cao family. The day after tomorrow, Mrs. Cao will celebrate his birthday. His wife Mrs. Gao is Empress Cao's niece, so Zhao Zongshi will also go. That day is very important to him."

Fan Ning suddenly remembered, isn't Zhao Zongshi's wife, Mrs. Gao, the famous Empress Dowager Gao in history?Song Shenzong's mother, Song Shenzong Zhao Xu should have been born at this time, about two years old, I should go and see it when I have time.

Fan Ning pondered for a while and said, "Please ask the old man to make an appointment with Zhao Zhongshi for me. At noon tomorrow, I will invite him to have dinner at Tianranju Tavern opposite Taixue. I will wait for him on the second floor."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

Fan Ning shook his head, "No need, I want to have a chat with him alone, and I'll tell the old man later, the old man should go prepare for the war horse first! By the way, don't talk about Jupe's side."

Zhu Yuanfeng was more open-minded. He knew that Fan Ning was afraid of being misunderstood, so he asked him to help him make an appointment with Zhao Zongshi. This was actually an expression of trust in himself.

Zhu Yuanfeng laughed, "Okay! I'll send someone a letter to him tomorrow morning, Zhu Pei, I guess she will come to you tomorrow."

What Zhu Yuanfeng said was right. Fan Ning was woken up by Xiaodong in his sleep, "Little official, wake up, Miss Seven is here, waiting for you in the courtyard!"

The Seventh Girl is Zhu Pei. It took Fan Ning a long time to realize it. He sat up in a daze, hysterical for a long time, and asked again: "What time is it?"

"It is estimated that there is still a quarter of an hour before Chen time."

"No wonder I'm so sleepy!"

Fan Ning yawned for a long time, complaining to Xiaodong, "You woke me up before the time."

At this time, Zhu Pei's ferocious voice came from the yard, "Fan Duan, you can continue to sleep, it's fine with me, I won't be tired if I stand for another two hours!"

The sound of Fan Duan brought Fan Ning back to the days of those classmates, that fierce little lady with a sword, Fan Ning suddenly found out, when did Zhu Pei become gentle?

"How embarrassing to ask your old man to wait in the courtyard!"

Fan Ning got up tiredly, put on his clothes, tied his hair in a bun, and walked out with his shoes on. He saw Zhu Pei standing in the yard, staring at him with dissatisfaction.

Fanning couldn't help yawning again, "Juppe, when did you wake up, so early?"

"Who is like you, a big slob, who actually sleeps until Chen Shi when you become an official. My father wakes up at five o'clock every day, and it has been like this every day for more than ten years."

"I'm still young and need to catch up on sleep!" Fanning yawned.

Zhu Pei saw that he looked embarrassed, even his clothes were put on backwards, so he couldn't help but 'chick! 'Laughed out loud.

Xiaodong also found that Fanning's clothes were on backwards, and she secretly covered her mouth and laughed.

Zhu Pei held back his smile and said, "Xiaodong, help him wash up and change his clothes."

Only then did Fan Ning realize that he was wearing his clothes backwards. He scratched his head and smiled a little embarrassedly, "Actually, I can wear my clothes backwards and forwards."

After grooming and changing clothes, Fan Ning sat at the table and had breakfast. Today, he ate minced meat noodles. Zhu Pei added a spoonful of saozi to him, "Eat it quickly!"

She gnawed slowly on a piece of sesame seed cake herself, and asked again: "I heard that you were very beautiful the day before yesterday, and you introduced the overseas style to the official. I was surprised that the official gave you a gold medal for exempting you from summoning. When have you been overseas?" ?”

Fan Ning knew that she got the news from her father, which was more detailed than Zhu Yuanfeng, but Fan Ning was prepared to explain to people how he knew these things.

He ate a piece of dough and said vaguely: "As long as you have the heart, you can find out these things. Have you forgotten that I went to Mingzhou to study for a month? I met a lot of boatmen and businessmen there, and learned about overseas experiences from them. Once it’s sorted out, it’ll be accurate and credible.”

"Then tell me, what is there to do overseas? Delicious?"

"There are many uninhabited lands overseas, and many lands are countless times larger than our Song Dynasty. There are all kinds of melons and fruits that we have never seen before, such as strawberries, corns, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, tobacco leaves, etc. Wait, like sweet potato, which is a very good grain, with an yield of tens of stones per mu, and it can be planted on barren land. With it, famine will not be feared.”

"Since someone has seen it, why not take it back and plant it?"

"I also heard it from a sailor who went to sea, and I don't know if it's true or not, so I mobilized the emperor to find these strange melons and fruits, and to find these continents, the territory of the Song Dynasty will expand unprecedentedly, so the emperor gave me a gold medal, let me I often go to the palace to tell him about overseas affairs."

Zhu Pei shook his head, "I don't think you're telling the truth. How could you know so much in Mingzhou for a month?"

Fan Ning laughed, "Actually, a wandering Taoist priest told me. If you don't believe me, there is nothing you can do. Let's go! We are ready to go."

Zhu Pei naturally went to the new house to help Fan Ning tidy up. It was not troublesome to buy things, but the key was that there were two projects that needed to be done.

One is the screen wall. She originally wanted to use the Cuiyun Peak as the screen wall, but the Cuiyun Peak is not enough to cover it, so it is better to build a flower bed in the middle of the plum forest and stand the Cuiyun Peak in front of the atrium building.

After hearing Zhu Pei's advice, Fan Ning decided to look for another screen wall. In the end, shopkeeper Chen from Baocai House Repair Shop helped them find a piece of blue granite screen wall demolished from an old house in the countryside of Fengqiu County. two feet.

Of course, Zhaobi cannot be carved from a whole big stone, usually three to four stones are spliced ​​together. The previous Zhaobi was made of four Lingbi stones.

Fan Ning spent [-] guan to buy this screen wall, and then transported it to the capital by boat, and directly carried it ashore from Feiyun Bridge. The screen wall was transported yesterday evening, and the construction started early this morning. Zhu Pei was in charge of supervising the construction today.

The other project was also proposed by Baocai House Repair Shop, which is to open a back door on the north side of the house, that is, the side of the servants' room, and then build a private dock.

The government generally does not allow private wharves to be built on the Caohe River, but it is allowed on the Bianhe River and the Caihe River, but there are also prerequisites that normal shipping cannot be affected.

Behind Fan Ning's new house is the Cai River, and there happens to be an inlet. This inlet was actually dug out by the Yang family. They planned to repair the pier back then, but for some reason, the pier was never completed.

This project was contracted to Baocai House Repair Shop. They were responsible for going to the county government to apply for it, and then carry out the construction, including opening walls, paving roads, and building embankments. After all, it cost at least [-] yuan.

Fan Ning originally had [-] guan, but he spent [-] guan to buy the house. In addition, he bought and installed the screen wall, built the pier, and purchased the items in the house. He now has a lot of money. There are only more than [-] guan left.

Although there is still a Kistler shop, but the Kistler shop still needs to develop Shoushan Stone, and it will not be able to pay dividends for at least three years. Fan Ning really feels a little bit empty now.

One morning, he sat in the official room thinking about how to use his foresight to make another sum of money.

At noon, Fan Ning came to Tianranju Restaurant opposite the gate of Taixue. He had been here several times, and the bartender knew him, "Hey! Mr. Fan is here for lunch?"

Fan Ning pointed to the second floor and said with a smile, "Bring a friend to dinner and find me a seat by the window on the second floor."

"Okay! Officials, please follow me."

The bartender enthusiastically invited Fan Ning to the second floor. There were neither too many nor too few guests in the restaurant. About half of them were seated. I like to come in groups, which is why, the window seats are basically empty.

Fan Ning sat down in front of his usual seat, which was next to the window and in the corner, where his words were not easy to be heard by others, and it was the best place to talk.

Although there is an elegant room on the third floor, the conversation in the elegant room is not soundproof at all, especially in this small restaurant, which is separated by a thin wooden board. The conversation in the elegant room next door can be heard clearly, but it is not as convenient as on the second floor.

Fan Ning just sat down, when he looked up, he saw Zhao Zongshi coming up from the stairs.

(End of this chapter)