Cultivation of chastity

Chapter 18 Transaction with Zheng Fengchi

Introduced by Ma Zhou, Li Tai formally met Zheng Fengchi. Li Tai looked at Zheng Fengchi. Although he was a white-haired old man over half a century old, his eyes were particularly bright. He didn't see any restraint when he saw Li Tai, but Still bowing to Li Tai, he looked quite humble and said, "A certain person is Zheng Fengchi, who met the King of Yue."

"Take a seat!" Li Tai calmly pointed to the seat, and after Zheng Fengchi thanked him, he immediately sat up straight.

"I heard from Ma Zhou that you not only spent five thousand gold to buy the monopoly of down jackets, but also opened a food and lodging store next door to our boiling water bathhouse, and bought about five hundred to one thousand catties from the boiling water bathhouse every day steadily. of boiling water."

Li Tai looked at Zheng Fengchi and said, "Should I thank you for taking good care of my business?"

"Don't dare!" Zheng Fengchi heard Li Tai's words, but couldn't figure out what Li Tai was thinking, but said quickly,

"It's all because following King Yue makes money. Whether it's the down jacket or the board and lodging, the Zheng family has made a little money!"

"You guys also made money from the board and lodging?" Ma Zhou was a little surprised. Down jackets are hard to find in Chang'an now. Ma Zhou really doesn't understand making money.

"Because boiling water is not only cheap to supply, but also available whenever you call!" Li Tai was not surprised.

After all, in the Tang Dynasty, the price of providing boiled water service and no boiled water service is not the same.

It’s okay if it’s those high-end inns, but most ordinary inns charge extra for boiling water.

It’s not that the inn didn’t make preparations, but that boiling water needs coal and labor to get in. Also, although there is a concept of a thermos in this era, there is no such thing as a modern thermos that can keep warm for more than ten hours.

Therefore, the vast majority of boiled water is not always kept, but is boiled on the spot. Naturally, it is not as convenient as having a boiled water bathhouse directly next door, and buying it directly if needed.

As long as the price of boiled water is not high, it is actually quite complementary to hotels that provide board and lodging.

After all, who can say no to taking a shower and a sauna before going to bed!
"The king of Yue is very knowledgeable. In this matter, my Zheng family took advantage of the king of Yue!" Zheng Fengchi nodded.

"After all, it's a fair trade. No one takes advantage of anyone. I just want to know what you're doing next to me!"

Li Tai looked at Zheng Fengchi and said,

"You are the richest man in Chang'an, and you used to chat and laugh with my grandfather, and there is the Zheng family of Xingyang behind you.

I, the underage king of Yue, really talk about power and wealth, compared to you, I'm afraid there is still a distance! "

Li Tai had investigated Zheng Fengchi. After all, in the ancient environment where businessmen were suppressed, any top businessman had his own political power behind him.

They are either the white gloves of a certain force, or they are a certain force themselves.

If you really think that you can monopolize everything by relying on wealth, you will underestimate the oppression of businessmen by the feudal society.

Anyway, Li Tai didn't think he could solve the problems that Zheng Fengchi couldn't solve by himself.

After all, now that I want money, I have no money, and I have no power. I don't have any cards that I can show except for the tiger skin of King Yue.

If it's something that the Zheng family in Xingyang can't solve, then don't think too much about it, and you certainly can't solve it yourself.

"It was because he was too arrogant in front of the Supreme Emperor that he is now surrounded by wolves. The life of the richest man in Chang'an is really walking on eggshells!"

Zheng Fengchi sighed and said,
"And once the Zheng family intends to give up on me, then my foundation in Chang'an is just a matter of one sentence."

"I can't interfere with the Zheng family's affairs!"

Li Tai looked at Zheng Fengchi, and said simply and simply, "And as long as the Patriarch of the Zheng family has no problem with his head, he will not give up on you, unless there is something unspeakable hidden in it that I don't know about!"

"I can control this wealth, but it is absolutely impossible for my lineage to inherit this wealth in Chang'an!"

Zheng Fengchi sighed, "If I am alive, I will be fine, but if I die, then Mingshang will not be able to keep the Chang'an family business."

Li Tai didn't say much when he heard Zheng Fengchi's words. If it was in modern times, 50 years old would still be counted as a youth.

But in this era, people in their 50s have basically begun to prepare coffins and cemeteries for themselves.

"I'm curious, what reason do you want me to protect your family business!" Li Tai looked at Zheng Fengchi and said.

Zheng Fengchi said: "There is a girl in Mingshang, I hope that her willow-like appearance can catch the eyes of the King of Yue and become a concubine of the King of Yue.

I will arrange one billion yuan, as well as the land deeds and house deeds of all the shops next to the King Yue Kaishui Bathhouse as a dowry. "

When Ma Zhou heard this, his eyes widened.

After these days, he already knew how much money it was.

I have to say that Zheng Fengchi is really courageous, directly worth upwards of one billion, I am afraid that anyone who sees it will be dizzy.

The more ambitious you are, the more you will pay attention to this money. After all, as long as you want to do something, you need money.

Especially for things like seizing the heir, money is needed to win over courtiers, and money is needed to achieve political achievements, and even to please Li Shimin still needs money.

So when a local tyrant hits you in the face with a billion, and asks you to take his granddaughter as a concubine, then how can you do it!
"I'm only eight years old!" Li Tai's face was sincere, almost filled with "I'm an honest person."

"She is 11 years old, and most people would buy a child bride to raise her. Of course, Yuxin doesn't have this blessing, so let's be a child bride!"

Zheng Fengchi was calm, and he didn't have any emotional burden for selling his granddaughter.

In fact, Li Tai said that he really wanted to refuse in his heart, but the dowry was too much.

Li Tai was silent for a while, and said:
"Exchange this one billion yuan for your Zheng family's weaving industry. From spinning to finished products, and even workers and raw materials, give me a set."

"Huh?!" Hearing Li Tai's words, Zheng Fengchi frowned slightly, Li Tai's condition surprised Zheng Fengchi.

"If the King of Yue has any cloth business, as long as you order, I will definitely buy it for you at the cost price!" Zheng Fengchi replied.

"No need!" Li Tai shook his head and said, "I generally don't participate in the market, I just want to make some gloves or shoulder pads for miners. I believe the Zheng family will not be interested in these businesses."

Hearing Li Tai's words, Zheng Fengchi really didn't understand what these things were designed to do.

But he thought about it for a while. After all, the Zheng family monopolized the silk and cloth business in Chang'an. Even if Li Tai wanted to compete with it, at least what he could do with his granddaughter's industry line.

Thinking of this, Zheng Fengchi made up his mind and said, "Thank you King Yue, I will send my granddaughter and dowry tomorrow."

Ma Zhou sent Zheng Fengchi out, and when he returned to the mansion, seeing Li Tai, he couldn't help teasing and said:

"The King of Yue's deal is quite a bargain. A concubine got such a large amount of dowry. It's a pity that you changed the textile industry. If you exchanged it for cash, how much money would it be!
One billion, I dare not even think about it! "

"It's not just that you dare not think about it!" Li Tai said, "Zheng Fengchi will definitely spread the news.

It seems that there are a lot of bad things going on inside the Zheng family, even to the point where Zheng Fengchi wants to sell his granddaughter! "

"Maybe it's not necessarily to sell my granddaughter, but to want my granddaughter to survive!"

Ma Zhou took out the jug and took a sip of the wine, and after swallowing it, he said leisurely,
"Since ancient times, which rich man has been rich for three generations, but they are no more than the pigs raised by the imperial court and aristocratic families!
As long as he is being targeted, no matter how hard he struggles, can he really escape the situation surrounded by wolves.

And he was originally raised by the Supreme Emperor, but now the one with the butcher knife may have changed!

He left his granddaughter to the prince, so he hoped that the king of Yue would treat his granddaughter better for the sake of dowry! "

"Hmm..." Li Tai narrowed his eyes when he heard Ma Zhou's words, and said after thinking for a moment,
"Prince Bin, go and come up with ten problems based on the nine chapters of arithmetic from easy to difficult, and test it with the girl from the Zheng family tomorrow."

"Eh?" Hearing this, Ma Zhou asked with a puzzled face, "What are you doing, my lord!"

"Of course I want to see how capable she is!" Li Tai said.

"Are you planning to let her take care of the weaving industry in public?!" Ma Zhou was full of disbelief.

"Otherwise, why don't you let her stay at home and embroider?" Li Tai said, "This is the money she sold herself, how can I use it?"

"Hehe!" Ma Zhou chuckled a few times, expressing his contempt for Li Tai's pretentious aloofness, and said with a bit of a joke:
"Then you still promise Zheng Fengchi, afraid that everyone will know that we have teamed up tomorrow. If you don't use this money, what are you up to, Your Majesty!"

"Money doesn't matter, but a complete textile industry can save us a lot of trouble." Li Tai said, "This is the key!"

Li Tai couldn't help sighing, if Zheng Fengchi threw him a billion dollars directly, he might not care.

But if you really give yourself such an industrial chain, to be honest, Li Tai said that this is really delicious!
"Tsk tsk!" Hearing Li Tai's words, Ma Zhou's eyes were full of joy.

"Go, go, give the question first. If a girl answers it, I'd like to know where your face is still placed!" Li Tai waved his hand and shouted at Ma Zhou.

"Let's go now!" Ma Zhou smiled calmly, but Ma Zhou straightened his face and said, "Although I agree with you joining forces with Zheng Fengchi, you have to think about how to answer the Holy Majesty's inquiry."

"...Don't worry! I can still handle this matter!" Li Tai said to himself when he heard Ma Zhou's words.

Seeing Li Tai's self-confidence, Ma Zhou stopped talking, scratched his head, and started preparing math problems for Zheng Yuxin, who hadn't met yet.

From Ma Zhou's point of view, Zheng Yuxin is backed by the Yue Palace, let alone how much ability she has, but as long as she can figure it out and not let the people below fool her, then this one billion dowry is really indispensable.

The next day, Zheng Fengchi personally sent a little girl with a jade-like orchid heart and an oval face to Yue Wang's mansion.

The eyes of this eleven or twelve-year-old girl were red, obviously she already knew what her fate would be.

But the precocious she understands that she has no possibility of deciding her own marriage at all, but she never thought that she would become the concubine of the king of Yue, instead of being married by an innocent man.

And she doesn't even know whether the so-called king of Yue is tall or short, fat or thin, but she also understands that even if she is a concubine, she can enter the gate of Yue Wang's mansion in exchange for a billion dowry.

Even if she didn't want it, she didn't have the qualifications to make a decision, and there was no room for resistance.

She enjoys the wealth of the Zheng family, but when the Zheng family needs her to take responsibility for the Zheng family, she can only bear it.

But even so, she never thought that Li Tai was only an eight-year-old child, and she was a head taller than him!
"After the first month, I will be nine years old!" Li Tai looked at Zheng Yuxin's eyes and knew what she was thinking.

"Your grandfather and I have reached a deal, and you are the bond between us. Next, you do a simple test. If you pass, your dowry will be taken care of by yourself. If you fail, then Just stay in the yard and embroider!"

"Eh?" Zheng Yuxin didn't react when she heard Li Tai's words.

And Li Tai looked at Zheng Yuxin's absent-mindedness, but smiled calmly and said,

"Simply put, the next exam will determine your destiny. If you want to control your own destiny, at least let me see that you have that possibility!"

As he spoke, Li Tai left a math test paper in front of Zheng Yuqin, and said, "There are eleven questions in total, and I will give you an hour to calculate the answers to these questions. I will prepare the pen, ink, paper and inkstone for you. Okay, what else do you need?"

"Is there any plan? I left mine at home and didn't bring it!" Zheng Yuxin couldn't help but said when she heard Li Tai's words.

"I'll give you mine!" Li Tai said, "Next, after an hour, I'll collect the paper!"

"If I did everything right!" Zheng Yuxin suddenly said to Li Tai.

"Oh?" Li Tai smiled when he heard Zheng Yuxin's words, "I'll hire you to be a math teacher at the Agricultural College!"

"Agricultural Institute?" Zheng Yuxin didn't have time to think about what it was, but Li Tai had already walked out.

Looking at the empty examination room with only her own, the only thing Zheng Yuxin can do is to lower her head and do the math test paper.

"I've already given him ten questions, why do you need to add one more!" Ma Zhou said instead.

"Six paths pass, just give him one more chance!" Li Tai shrugged and said, "However, judging by the way she confidently calculates, she should have a certain foundation in mathematics, and she should take care of her own dowry." enough."

"I still don't understand, why should she take care of this thing?" Ma Zhou said, "She is from the Zheng family."

"Tian Xingjian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement."

Li Tai replied to Ma Zhou, "If she has the ability, then give her a chance to control her own destiny. After all, it is too extravagant to control her own destiny."

Ma Zhou looked at Li Tai, and didn't say anything more, but just looked at the woman who was writing in the examination room!

In the end, the exam was over, and Ma Zhou corrected the test paper on the spot. Zheng Yuxin was worried, and got seven out of eleven questions right.

From then on, King Yue's Mansion had an extra maid named Peacock, who was responsible for taking care of the cloth industry sent by Zheng's family for Yue King's Mansion.

(End of this chapter)