Daming Yinghua

Chapter 122
After Zheng Haizhu took Li Zhizao and Mrs. Li to Songjiang, he handed over the last 1000 taels of silver bills to Wang Yuesheng.

Wang Yuesheng's former mother in Nanjing was actually a thin horse in Yangzhou when she was young.

Yangzhou raises thin horses, and the way out is mostly to be a concubine for someone with status, so not only cultivate piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but also how to manage family finances.A thin horse that can use an abacus and keep a three-legged account will sell for a higher price.

However, Wang Yuesheng's mother was so outstanding in appearance that the wealthy housekeeper who came to buy a skinny horse didn't dare to take it, for fear of taking it back. The master liked it, but his own skin would be peeled off by grandma.

The good-looking woman who knows how to settle accounts had no choice but to go to the Qinhuai River, and was promoted from a celebrity to a mother in charge. After suffering a few losses in the account house, she simply took care of the money in and out by herself.

Among the girls of the "Yue" brand, only Wang Yuesheng would watch his mother learn to keep accounts in his spare time when he had no tickets. Over time, he became proficient in abacus and filled out the account books smoothly.

Zheng Haizhu wanted to come to think of it, such a clever person has already invested tens of thousands of silver in the "Songshi Jianyi" piano as a kind of investment, who else can be the financial manager of the firearms workshop.

Wang Yuesheng gladly accepted the order, and even volunteered, saying that she could also contribute to the accountant of Zheng's Insurance Company.

Zheng Haizhu declined, and the latter's position as chief financial officer had already been reserved for Shi Yuelan.

Tang Ayuan and Shi Yuelan were originally Yan Siqi's stewards at the Daishan Saltworks.

Now that Yan Siqi has to be recruited by the imperial court, his subordinates can be arranged in the mainland in an open and honest manner. The son of the Tang family couple is no longer an ignorant boy, so the couple intends to return to the place of Wenhui in the south of the Yangtze River, so that their son can study for a scholar.

Zheng Haizhu couldn't ask for more.

After all, Zheng Shoukuan is not yet 15 years old, too immature, and Wu Bangde is a person in the shadows, so it is impossible to come forward to sit in charge. The branch of Shipping Insurance on the other side of Zhenjiang really needs a more experienced shopkeeper.

So it was decided that for the shipping insurance head office in Songjiang, Zheng Zhilong would be the "young boss" and Tang Bo from Nanhui would be the shopkeeper.In the Zhenjiang branch, Zheng Shoukuan was the "young owner" who came forward, and Tang Ayuan was the shopkeeper.Shi Yuelan is responsible for both accounts.

As Tang Ayuan and Shi Yuelan's elders, Tang Bo refused at first, saying that the insurance premiums and bookkeeping were handled by the whole family, and he was afraid that he would not be able to explain clearly at that time.

As a result, Zheng Haizhu said with a smile: "Brother Yan asked your family to manage the saltworks and contact important customers for many years."

The Tang family felt comfortable hearing these words, so Tang Bo urged Tang Ayuan and his wife to follow Zheng Haizhu to work in Zhenjiang.

……

In the living room of the trading company, Zheng Haizhu introduced Tang and Shi to Wu Bangde.

Since we want to make money and do things together, we no longer hide each other's details.

Both sides confessed their backgrounds, Wu Bangde didn't hate Haike like Qi Jin at all, and said sincerely to the Tang couple: "Although Wu is wearing a veil bought from the Imperial College, he is actually just a vulgar person. Ms. Zheng thinks highly of it. Help me Trading companies drive away flies and mosquitoes."

Just as he was talking, Zheng Shoukuan's greeting came from outside: "Brother Zhou is here?"

Zheng Haizhu hurriedly made a "silence" gesture to everyone in front of him.

But a man with a Jiangbei accent said: "Have your guys followed the boat boss to see it?"

Zheng Shoukuan said: "I've seen it, the boats on both sides collided quite badly, and the testimony of the boss of the boat has also been greeted."

The man said in a low voice, "Is that so? Who would want to share this matter with the punters? Repairing the boat is a lot of money. However, not all of our owner's cargo was overturned in the canal."

Zheng Shoukuan shook his head helplessly: "That's more than a dozen sacks, almost a hundred taels of silver. Brother Zhou, your boss is in the business of medicinal materials. If the owner of the goods was like last time, how good is the cotton cloth? It can be picked up and counted as residual value.”

The man surnamed Zhou said with a few flattering smiles: "Boss Xiao Zheng, you have to think this way. Although they are medicinal materials, fortunately there are only some northern medicinal materials from Qi Baizhi and Qi Ai. If they are expensive products from Nanyang, don't worry." There are more than a dozen sacks, but only one small bag costs a hundred taels of silver."

Seeing the man talking, Zheng Shoukuan pointed his eyes at the small wooden box guarded by the two clerks in the store, then took out a document with the company's seal on it, and pushed it in front of the man: "After you stamp your fingerprint, just take the money." Let's go, one ingot for ten taels, eight pieces, five ingots for one tael, three pieces, a total of 95 taels."

The man did so, happily picked up the wooden box, joined the two companions who were guarding outside, and walked away.

Zheng Shoukuan lifted the curtain and walked in, first asked Wu Bangde: "Brother Wu, have you seen this person clearly?"

Wu Bangde nodded: "Well, our people nearby must have seen clearly and will follow them."

Tang Ayuan and Shi Yuelan, who were present here, looked at Zheng Haizhu inquiringly.

Zheng Haizhu said indifferently: "After arriving in Zhenjiang, Shou Kuan told me about this list. The owner of the goods is collecting medicinal materials in Nanjing. This brother-in-law named Zhou Hu, who claims to be the owner of the goods, went to Suzhou to deliver goods. He was recommended by his peers to buy us. Shoukuan personally went to pay insurance premiums, inspect the goods at the dock, and check the seaworthiness of the ship, and there was no problem at the time. As a result, he collided with another ship on the Bingyin voyage, and turned over a lot of medicinal materials in the river. inside."

Tang Ayuan didn't understand, so he asked, "What is the Bingyin section?"

Wu Bangde said: "It's Miss Zheng's idea. Our people have taken boats in groups in the past few months, and are familiar with the waterway from Zhenjiang to Suzhou and then to Songjiang. The heavenly stem records whether the waterway is dangerous and accident-prone, and the earthly branch indicates whether the waterway is usually crowded. Shou Kuan, show the shopkeeper Tang the picture we drew."

Taking the picture, Zheng Shoukuan pointed to a bend in the south of Zhenjiang: "The hydrological conditions of the Bingyin voyage are not bad, but there are many boats. When Zhou Hu brought the boss of the boat to report the incident, he said that the collision happened at the beginning of the day, in broad daylight. We immediately inquired with other boat owners, and they did see collisions and falling bags. But after I looked at the boats, I found that the bow of one boat hit the side string of the other boat. Looking closely at the damage of the two boats, the wood is obviously bigger than the other boats. A few pieces are rotten, but the tenons are quite new. The other planks are very hard, but the tenons are old.”

Zheng Haizhu took over the conversation and said to the Tang family: "So, we suspect that Zhou Hu colluded with the boat owner to cheat compensation. Although the two boat owners could share the benefits, they still wanted to save money for repairing the ship, so they temporarily replaced it with bad ship planks. Mr. Wu is a good swimmer. He went to the bottom of the river and tore open the sack to see that the inside was full of grass. Just now I looked at Zhou Hu through the curtain, picked up the silver and left without even weighing it. The count is clear. Obviously, because this money is a windfall in his eyes, he doesn't care about it. I guess the original medicinal materials may have been resold by him."

Tang Ayuan suddenly realized, and said with emotion: "This business is indeed easy to be cheated."

Zheng Haizhu smiled: "Which line of business is easy to earn money? Which pond doesn't have bastards? Just catch them. There must be more in the future, you take your time to figure out the way. As for Zhou Hu, there will continue to be people who can help Mr. Wu."

Wu Bangde got up and cupped his hands: "I'll take a step first."

……

At night, the city of Zhenjiang, though not as glamorous and prosperous as Nanjing and Yangzhou, is still very lively.

Zhou Hu walked out of the crowded gambling hall with a hint of resentment.

He was brought by his brother-in-law, a drug dealer, to do business a few years ago.

The brother-in-law is very cautious, and he doesn't engage in whoring or gambling, so he is very strictly controlled.

This time, my sister was giving birth, and my brother-in-law was watching at home in Nanjing. The purchase and sale of medicinal materials worth hundreds of taels of silver was handed over to Zhou Hu alone with two assistants.

When they arrived in Zhenjiang, the two ship bosses told Zhou Hu that there was a new Zheng's shipping insurance company in the city, which was named as a dental firm, but in fact it could be used for profit.

Zhou Hu listened to the idea of ​​the boss of the boat, and exclaimed that this is no way to gather wool, and after a few twists and turns to perform a show, he can get dozens of taels of silver, which is obviously a leg of lamb.

He was immediately moved, and went to Zheng's merchant to pay five liang of silver for the insurance premium, inspect the goods, and sign the contract paper. After the boat was dispatched, he turned to a hidden river bank and asked two fellows to replace the medicinal materials with thatch.

Then we continued to drive to many places on the boat, and staged a collision scene with the boat boss's accomplices. The sacks with thatch piled up on one side of the boat fell into the water and sank to the bottom under the eyes of everyone.

When I went to settle the claim, the young owner of the trading company, who had no hair on his mouth, was so stupid that he said, "We are based on honesty, and we should pay all the compensation, but we need to investigate first." The result, after reading The boat, asked the witnesses who came and went, and still honestly offered the silver with both hands.

According to the previous agreement, the boss of the boat will get 20 taels per person, the crew will get 35 taels per person, and they will get [-] taels for themselves.

For Zhou Hu, who earns two taels of silver per month, it is really a huge sum of money.

The two fellows are full of blood and have not yet married a wife, so they took the money and went to Yingying Yanyan's place.

Zhou Hu, who has been married for several years, has no interest in visiting brothels, but entered the casino without hesitation.

Probably used up all his luck in defrauding the insurance, and Zhou Hu exported ten taels of silver in most of the hour. He was angry and panicked, and hurriedly got off the gambling table.

Just a few steps out of the casino, a man wearing a green turban approached: "Master, are you looking for fun?"

Zhou Hu knew that in the south of the Yangtze River, this kind of dress was either for the Gui Gong of the brothel, or for the pimp of the wandering warbler.

He said angrily, "Get out."

The green turban that sounded like a Shandong accent smiled even more obsequiously, followed behind and bowed and said, "Do you want to change your luck to a casino? Master, listen to me, the best way to change your luck is to see a red man." .”

Zhou Hu was taken aback for a moment: "Why are you so popular?"

The green turban passed Zhou Hu, trotted a few steps, and shouted "Hello" under his throat.

From the shadow of the eaves ahead, a woman with hunched shoulders flashed out, looking shy and terrified.

The green turban pulled her over, took off the hat of the wind robe, and said with a smile: "Master, this is a baby, sixteen this year. It will be popular when it is opened, and the custodian will be so lucky tomorrow that the banker will cry."

Zhou Hu understood now, and was a little moved.

"How old do you think she is? Sixteen? Why does she look eighteen or nineteen!" Zhou Hu pretended to be disgusted.

The green turban thoughtfully said: "I just want to change my luck, why spend so much money, this kind of money is only a tael of silver. A country girl, who used to farm and was exposed to the wind and sun, how can she compare her beauty with the red lady in Hualou , but it is more than a little cheaper than them. Lord, look, you have big eyes and a good body, and you actually look pretty good."

Zhou Hu held up the woman's chin with his hands, and looked at it under the light and moonlight. There was thick makeup, gorgeous rouge, a birthmark growing from the corner of the forehead to the eyebrow, and only a pair of eyes were shining, which was pretty good-looking.

But this kind of wandering warbler of unknown origin, as an outsider, was afraid of being jumped by immortals, and even more afraid of encountering robbers, so he said coldly: "I won't go to low-level brothels."

"That's natural. Is there an inn for me to rest? She can follow me."

……

Mu Zaohua followed Zhou Hu into the inn near the Confucian Temple.

Four months ago, she was a tracker by the canal, working as a mule and horse in order not to starve to death.

After Miss Zheng recruited them, Mr. Wu became a person they often saw.

Mr. Wu taught them how to read characters and close combat skills, and also taught them how to stalk, probe, cheat and get rid of pursuit.He called them intelligence agents, and he wanted to follow himself and Miss Zheng to do some interesting things in the future.

The more knowledgeable trackers murmured that this was a spy, but everyone was very happy.The identity of a spy, in their view, means that they have got rid of the miserable life of the grassroots, and they are servants of the powerful.

Of course, Mu Zaohua also wanted to perform well, not only to stay and serve the job, but also to get Wu Bangde's approval.

When Mr. Wu asked the intelligence agents to play the shipwreck scene to promote the reputation of the insurance company, Mu Zaohua didn't get his turn and felt uncomfortable for a while.

This time, Mr. Wu finally gave her a job, and she was determined to win it.

Mu Zaohua has experienced fleeing from famine, cannibalism, and scrambling for stretching land. She has two strong arms, and she is not afraid of a man like Zhou Hu who is neither tall nor strong.

She followed Zhou Hu into the room under the nonchalant gaze of a clerk on duty at the inn.

When Zhou Hu tore off her coat and was about to press her down on the couch, Mu Zaohua suddenly stretched out his right arm and punched Zhou Hu's chest heavily, then jumped up, turned over, and The knees restrained the back of Zhou Hu's neck, so that his whole face was stuffed in the quilt, and the screams he made were also eliminated.

Mu Zaohua took out a hemp rope from her bosom, bound Zhou Hu's hands, took out a piece of cloth to stuff his mouth, then got off the couch, and went to look through his bag.

There are only two large silver coins left from gambling in the bag, and there is no paper.

Following Mr. Wu's instructions, Mu Zaohua began to search for Zhou Hu's luggage in the house.

She finally found the bank notes with complicated lace that Mr. Wu taught them to recognize.

200 taels, 80 taels.

Mu Zaohua chuckled, and turned Zhou Hu over: "Your ship of medicinal materials was 300 taels in total, why did you drop dozens of packs and get almost 300 taels of silver in exchange?"

Zhou Hu said "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" and his eyes were terrified.

Mu Zaohua took out a piece of paper with a few lines of ink on it.

She can't read much, and the note was read to her by Mr. Wu, the content is very simple, it is Zhou Hu's tone of admitting that he has cheated the insurance.

Mu Zaohua took out the rouge box, took Zhou Hu's finger, and stamped her handprint on the paper.

Then he said lightly: "Our master asked, did the boss of the ship teach you to do bad things? Our boss has been doing business in Zhenjiang from now on, and we must deal with the boss of the ship who tricked the shippers into cheating money, so we ask the magistrate to punish them severely. If you testify against them , the punishment must be much lighter.”

Zhou Hu's face was full of panic, he was stunned for a moment, and nodded desperately.

Mu Zaohua saw his cowardly look, and couldn't help but think of Mr. Wu's words: "This kind of person is not a ruthless character. In fact, Miss Zheng can also detain him in the business company for questioning, but in that case, you will lose one tracking and set up a trap." , Intimidation practice."

(End of this chapter)