Lu Ming

Chapter 539 Conversation ([-])

"Bullshit!"

When Zong Han heard Zong Ben's request, he was stunned for a moment, and then he flew into a rage and slapped the coffee table hard.

The good mood before was gone, and Zong Han's thin face was full of anger at the moment.Pointing at his younger brother with two fingers, Zong Han turned his face on the spot: "Daydreaming, don't mention this matter again!"

It's a long story about Zongmu's tomb.

Thinking about the birth of Zongben back then, it was originally a repertoire that was often staged by wealthy families: the master got lucky with the maid after drinking, and didn't want the maid to become pregnant right away.

The master who lifted his pants naturally regretted it for about five hours afterwards?After all, making a girl's stomach bigger is not a pleasant thing to hear.

But the matter has come to this point, the Zongfu, the second master of the Zongfu, didn't plan to renege on his debt back then.According to the master himself, he planned to promote her from maidservant to concubine after the mother gave birth successfully.

Don't want the world to be impermanent, just when Zongmu was pregnant in October and was about to give birth, Mr. Zong Er had a stroke after drinking, and died within two days.

In this way, Zongben, who was born afterward, became a standard posthumous child.

Since the master has braided hair, the mother-in-law is not a maid, and the concubine is not a concubine, and she is an embarrassing person who is hated by the big wife and seduces the master. Naturally, her life will not be very good.

However, in the eyes of everyone, and under the bullying and exclusion of various forces, Zong's maid finally dragged Zongben to 15 years old abruptly.After that, this miserable woman who had been a servant all her life died of illness in the laundry room.

Afterwards, the young Zongben couldn't bear the atmosphere in the mansion, and often went out to hang out among the three religions.Afterwards, Zongben obtained a sum of joint stock money that was intended to send him out of the house, and went to Haojingao to make a living.

If it weren't for Zong Ben's success in starting a business in Haojingao, he would bring back income to the family every year. In fact, his qualifications to enter the gate of the Zongfu today are still open to question
Seeing Zong Han, the first son of the eldest son, get angry, Zong Ben, the second son of the concubine, was frustrated, but this was not unexpected. In fact, he had already foreseen this ending.

When he returned to the mansion this time, he came here with the mentality of ending everything.Among them, after the death of the biological mother, the status and treatment of her soul in the family's yin house is the core issue today.

As the saying goes, a mother is more valuable than a child.In Zongben's view, the bonuses he has distributed to the merchants in the clan over the years are enough to elevate his current status.Because the value of these bonuses has exceeded the cost of using the "flag" of the Zongfu.On the other hand, doesn't this just prove his importance?

This is also the reason why Zongben has the courage to raise the issue of the Virgin Mary's tomb to the family for the first time in many years.Of course, the most critical reason for this is that a certain force that should not have appeared on this plane gave him courage.

So even though he guessed the ending, Zongben still made his last effort—a little reminder to the elder brother that he is actually a successful person now: "Elder brother, is there no need to discuss this matter? The younger brother is willing to pay money to repair the ancestral grave And the ancestral hall, I hope the eldest brother will raise his hand."

"Zhuzi, An dare to talk nonsense again!"

After discovering that Zongben did not give up, but was "undeterred", Zong Han, the eldest son of the Zong family, felt that his clan authority was seriously challenged, so he had a grim face, trembling and hissing, "How dare you be so mad? There is no such thing as Gang Chang and etiquette, do you want to rebel?"

With a "bang", Zong Han patted the coffee table again, this time the tea bowl jumped up on the table, and the tea splashed all over the place: "A lowly maid, the things bought for eight taels of silver are also worthy of my ancestor's grave? No need to humiliate Lie Ancestors! And you, a prodigal son, a lowly maidservant, how dare you disregard the clan's rules and regulations, and speak nonsense here! Is it true that the clan's laws can't rule you?"

Zong Ben's face was ashen, and he lowered his head deeply.At this moment, he finally fully realized that the achievement he regarded as proud was nothing in front of the clan etiquette.

"That's it, brother farewell."

Zong Ben, who was completely hopeless, raised his head after a while, and walked towards the door with dejected steps.Unexpectedly, at this time, the words from behind stopped his footsteps: "My father named you 'Ben' back then, because he wanted you to be a dutiful and modest person. Now it seems that his old man's kindness, After all, it was ruined by you unworthy son."

"The Zongfu is a place of Taoism, and there is no room for madmen without fathers and kings." Zong Han's cold words continued to float: "Zong Ben, you can do it yourself. Don't wait until the day when I correct my family style and kill my relatives with righteousness. You know, no one can save you!"

Perhaps because of the bottoming out, Zongben, who had already been out of anger and frustrated with his family, turned his back on his clan brother at this moment, and heard a series of vicious and threatening words in his ears, his thoughts drifted to other places instead What suddenly flashed before his eyes was the flow of steel and iron in the Yizhou factory, the ten thousand hectares of fertile land intertwined with silver threads, the determined young private soldiers, and the sea of ​​silver coins.

"Hahaha, brother is right."

Zong Ben suddenly raised his head and laughed twice. With his back to Zong Han, he was smiling all over his face at the moment, but his eyes were full of determination: "Yes, at that time, no one can save anyone."

After uttering the last word vaguely, Zong Ben strode out of the Zongfu with his head held high for the first time in his life.

That night, Zong Ben stayed in his small courtyard in the city with his companions.When he got rich back then, he immediately bought real estate in the city, and even arranged for his family members to come here—there was no place for him in the Zongfu anyway.

In the early morning of the second day, Zong Ben went out and went straight to Nancheng Shuiguan.As soon as the water gate opened, he had already boarded the private boat of his own company, mixed with the boat flow out of the city, and went down the Pearl River, heading straight for Macau.

The Macao Island in 1630 did not have the flavor of the later generations, with rich primitive features and natural scenery everywhere.During this period of time, the Macau Peninsula, Taipa Island and Coloane Island were still three separate islands, and the latter two were not integrated by reclamation in later generations.

Of course, the artificial islands facing the Pearl River, the airport, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and even the Friendship and Xiwan Bridges must also be invisible.

Due to the arrival of the traveler, Zongben's voyage from Guangzhou to Macau went smoothly.The most dangerous bright and dark reefs on the Pearl River have been cleared by divers.The remaining shoals, including the channel, were marked with buoys.

In addition to these improvements in infrastructure, there were so many water bandits along the Pearl River before, but now they are either sent down to the bottom of the river by high-speed patrol boats to feed the fish, or they change their minds and put down their butcher knives to carry them on.

In short, the sea route from the Pearl River Estuary to Guangzhou has reached the order in the memory of the passing people, except that the water surface is wider and the river current is more rapid.

The Ming-style wooden boat goes down the river, and the speed is still very fast when you don’t have to worry about water bandits and hidden reefs.Zongben and his party set off at [-]:[-] in the morning, and in the evening, the wooden boat had arrived at the outer port of Macau.

Macau Island is divided into inner and outer ports.This time Zongben returned to Macau, because he was in a hurry, so he disembarked from the outer port.

After disembarking, he hired a sliding pole, passed through the city gate, and returned to his business firm in Macau before dark.

The city of Macau in this period of time, if only in terms of scale, is nothing more than a small city of the Ming Dynasty with a circumference of five or six miles.However, due to the trade relationship, after entering the city, there are many foreign countries, crowded with people, and the prosperity is far more than that of the cities of the Ming Dynasty.

The company Zongben opened was called "Guangyuhang", and it was located at the southeast corner of the Grand Cross in Macau City.The main products in the line are silk and porcelain, which are special products of the Ming Dynasty. It seems that there are not many customers, but in fact the business is very big, because Yizhenghang specializes in wholesale.

Seeing his master, all the shopkeepers and buddies in the store came forward to welcome him.

It is said that Zongben has no status in the Zongfu, but it does not mean that he has no status in Macau City.After all, Zongben's banner of the Zongfu is strong enough, and other idlers don't know about the mess in the Zongfu.

In addition, because Zongben was in the market when he was young, he was very smooth and sophisticated in his dealings with people, and he also had a few loyal brothers under him, who could enjoy all kinds of teachings and tastes.So after leaving the gate of the Zongfu, he is a veritable Master Zong in society.

After entering the firm, Zong Ben first checked the inventory and accounts, and then he issued orders continuously, sent several subordinates out, and delivered messages to several houses in Macau city.

It is not known what message was sent, but early the next morning, people who looked like businessmen came to visit Master Zong one after another.

After receiving two groups of visitors, Zongben continued to sort out the inventory in addition to sending out people to check around.Until noon, the subordinates who were watching the wind outside ran in and whispered to him a few times.Zong Ben laughed when he heard the words: "Okay, the real master is here, and this is the one who is waiting for you."

The true master is naturally extraordinary.This time, the visitor group stopped outside the gate of Guangyu House. In addition to Ming people sitting on poles, there were also foreigners on horses.

Among the guests, apart from seven or eight attendants, the one dressed as a wealthy businessman, sitting and carrying a pole, and smoking a copper pipe was a fair-skinned, middle-aged man.The other two foreigners on horseback, one was wearing a black priest's gown, apparently a Jesuit monk preaching in Macau.Another black-haired middle-aged man with a full beard and a gorgeous sailor suit, from the looks of it, he should be of the Iberian Peninsula race.

Soon, master Zong Benzong came out with the shopkeeper and his subordinates, laughing loudly.

After welcoming the distinguished guests into the backyard of the firm to sit down and enjoy tea, Mr. Zong first exchanged greetings with the wealthy businessman of Ming Dynasty.The wealthy businessman's surname is Niu, and his name is Niu Xijian. He is a merchant in Macau.In addition to his daily business of dealing in various commodities and groceries, he also has a well-known occupation: a foreign broker, who is called a fat translator in later generations.

However, at Zongben's place today, Mr. Niu's translation skills are no longer needed.After Zong Ben and him spoke a few words in Cantonese, he turned his head and said to the two foreign guests in fluent Spanish: "Brother Garcia, Captain Martinez, you are welcome to visit my firm. Of course, If our negotiations go well today, you will soon become the masters of this place."

(End of this chapter)