Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

131 Chapter 3.38

Volume Three

3.38 The capital also needs to tidy up.

On March [-]th, a small banquet was being held in the conservatory in the back garden of the Duke of Qi's Mansion. It was really small. Except for the six children from the Ningrong and Ningrong families among the Eight Dukes, there was only one "outsider" named Zhou Yang, who even served as a waiter. There was no arrangement. After the banquet was set up, the host Chen Yejun was entertaining.

"Okay, Junior Brother Zhou doesn't have to be so formal." Seeing everyone sitting down, Chen Yejun, who was in charge of the escort position, smiled and patted Zhou Yang, who was the deputy attendant, on the shoulder and said, "We are all brothers here. If you really want to talk about official status, you also You are the tallest. Even if you compare the empty titles on your body, you can only have three deputy thousand households, Brother Niu, Brother Liu and me.

Brother Ma, Brother Hou and Brother Shi are all just [-] households. You had great merits at the beginning. If you raise the level of reward, it is a bit difficult to get a real job of [-] households. If you get the title of [-] households, it is a sure thing to serve as deputy [-] households. Regarding things, no matter which camp in Beijing I join, is it possible that I can still wrong you?What's so prudent? "

"Speaking of which, I'm really envious of you!" Niu Ben said with a smile, "These three days of people praising officials and parading around the streets really caused a sensation in the capital. I'm afraid I will never be so glorious in my life, let alone In the spring of this martial arts competition, the top three are just rewards from His Majesty, and those with real strength are only after the second place.

Although you were only ranked No. 15, it was only because you deliberately hid your abilities during mounted shooting. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have achieved a mere ‘five out of nine shots’. Even when you were parading, you were in the limelight. It's almost covering the so-called 'top three', right?Regardless of anything else, you are over eight feet tall and cannot be covered no matter where you put it! "

"Brother Niu is so complimentary!" Zhou Yang smiled and raised his glass and drank it all as a thank you. "My little brother has only gained a little strength. How can I dare to compete with you big brothers? Not to mention that no matter what I do in the future, Don’t you still have to make a living under your uncles? I’m just a temporary charmer, how can I surpass your elder brothers?”

"It's worthy of my father's special explanation of the arrangements!" All the Eighth Prince's children nodded with satisfaction. Finally, Chen Yejun smiled and said, "You also know what will happen next. You will be conferred soon. Now the three major universities in Beijing camp, plus several large camps around it, it is not difficult to find a place for a thousand households anywhere.

How are your skills? Everyone here knows that if there is any war in the future, your work will not be in vain no matter what, how about it?You should understand the situation in Shenji Camp, right?How about coming over and being your deputy?As long as the world's war is a little bigger, how can it be separated from the cannons of the Shenji Battalion? "

What he said was really impeccable. Although the Zhou Dynasty did not take individual firearms such as fire blunderbuss very seriously, it valued artillery quite a lot. The number of general cannons in the Shenji Camp increased from more than 3000 kilograms to [-] kilograms. The Francophone fast guns, with hundreds of guns at full capacity, basically cover all the scenes that require fire support.

This is the most advanced and only heavy artillery unit in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty. Generally, local troops, even in the nine-border towns, can only have cannons of two or three thousand kilograms. Only workers in the world can cast heavy artillery of more than three thousand kilograms. In the Ministry of Military Weapons Supervision, absolutely no one here would dare to hand out such weapons to protect the country at will.

No matter how great achievements you can make in the Shenji Camp, whenever there is a war, any military leader has to come and say a good word. Anyone who knows a little bit about war knows that whether there is artillery support during the battle, the outcome is likely to be two different things. This makes it easy to accumulate connections and help save trouble for future growth and promotion.

The other five people didn't say much when they saw this, they just smiled cooperatively and let it pass. Because Chen Ruiwen was Zhou Yang's master, and Chen Yejun expressed his attitude so directly, any more they said would seem to be incompetent; What's more, although a Wu Jinshi who can fight is of great value, it is not big enough to compete with the Chen family.

"Thank you for your respect, senior brother, but" Zhou Yang hesitated and said, "I still want to be able to be released. After all, this Beijing army has its own affiliation. If I interfere, I will definitely cause trouble to my mentor; and then Even my little brother has received instructions from the noble man, asking me to prepare."

"Oh?" The six princes looked at each other with strange expressions on their faces. Finally, Niu Ben said with a rough smile, "I didn't expect Brother Zhou to be so lucky. We thought it was an Eastern girl, but now we see Isn’t it more than that? Although no one dares to gossip about the matters in the palace after the Qionglin Banquet, they can’t hide it from their own family!”

"This." Zhou Yang looked "embarrassed". With his current status, he couldn't refuse Chen Yejun's solicitation, so he could only endorse Princess Yongchang, "I can't help it, after all. "

"Hahaha!" Seeing Zhou Yang's "admittance", the six people said no more. Princess Yongchang's status was special, and there was no need to offend her just for the sake of a martial arts scholar. What's more, if she was released to the outside world, she would not be out of control, and she might still be able to use it in the future. Get. "Speaking of which, I feel sorry for troubling you brothers for so long. It just so happens that this time it is a little bit of gratitude." Since it is going to be released, the capital also needs to clean up. "My relationship with the Jinling Xue family must be Brother Chen also said that all uncles are the leaders of an army, so there is probably a lot of pressure on money, right?"

"Oh?" Shi Meng, who was the last in Hachigong's ranking, was the first to ask, "Uncle Chen has been so relaxed for the past six months. We have all seen it. Why, Brother Zhou is still there?" Can the Xue family pay for it? Let’s agree first, even if it’s not as good as Uncle Chen’s place, we should still have half of it, right?”

"Brother Shi, how is this possible?" Amidst the roar of laughter, Zhou Yang looked at Shi Meng speechlessly and said, "No matter how rich the Xue family is, they can't afford two camps, right? What I mean, Xue Since we are doing business, it is easy to bring convenience to everyone. At least all the big brothers know about the profits from transporting goods from the south to the north, right?"

Zhou Yang's words made all six people present's eyes brighten.

Traffic in feudal society was terrible. Most people might not be able to leave their towns or villages in their lifetimes. A visit to a county town was regarded as well-informed. Naturally, logistics was very poor. Often things that were common in one place would not be transported to another place. It has become a treasure, such as the corals in the sea. If it can be fished out and transported to the capital, it will become a high-quality treasure.

"Junior brother Zhou can make the decision?" After laughing, Chen Yejun got down to business and asked seriously, "Brother, I don't doubt the ability of a good brother, but after all, your surname is not Xue, and some things can be done just because they are beneficial. "

"Senior brother Chen, don't worry. Since my younger brother dares to speak, he is naturally confident." Zhou Yang said with a smile, "You also know the situation of the Xue family. Now that the first family is in decline, the second family is in charge. Uncle Xue Xun was always in charge of the Xue family. Regarding shipping and maritime trade, I am not sure how much business talent he has. But when it comes to shipping and maritime trade, only the Thirteenth Bank of Guangdong Province is qualified to talk about it!
The Xuezihao Jingcheng Branch is actually divided into two parts. One is the various shops headed by the Jingcheng Branch, which is the property of the Xue family’s main house. There is nothing to say about these; the other is the Jinmen Town Branch, which is the Xue family’s branch. The second house is located in the north. From now on, whenever goods from the south are shipped over, I will be able to make the final decision and give each family a share! "

Modern people can understand this kind of routine immediately. They are just general agents and distributors. Everyone knows which one is more profitable. But if it were placed in a feudal society, most businesses would be eager to control everything from upstream production to downstream distribution. , Zhou Yang’s current approach is equivalent to giving money to various families!
"Hahaha, since Brother Zhou is so open-minded, I would like to say one more thing here." The six Eighth Princes looked at each other for a moment, Niu Ben laughed and picked up the wine glass and drank it down, "From now on, the Snow Brand name will be used throughout the entire Gyeonggi Province. This matter is a matter for our six families. Even if Brother Zhou lets go of his duties, he can rest assured!"

"In that case, I would like to thank you all brothers!" Zhou Yang picked up the wine bowl without hesitation, gestured to the six people and drank it all in one gulp!

"As for Brother Zhou's whereabouts, there is no need to worry." Liu Dong, who had not spoken much until now, said calmly, "Just submit the report after you have chosen it. Uncle Niu and my father are the ones at the Ministry of War who can make the decision. They can't let you go!"

Liu Fang, the heir to Duke Li's title and a first-class son, is currently the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War. He is in charge of personnel affairs such as military discipline supervision and personnel merit promotion. Regarding the deployment and appointment of personnel, his words are no worse than Niu Jizong, the Minister of War.

After talking about the business, all kinds of fun followed naturally. The guests and hosts enjoyed a meal of wine. As the one with the lowest status, Zhou Yang naturally drank the most, so that when he left the Duke of Qi's mansion, his figure was rare. Staggering, the Li brothers who had been waiting hurriedly took it.

A moment later, the study room in the main courtyard of the Duke of Qi's mansion.

"Father, this time my son made the decision privately," Chen Yejun was reporting.

"You did a good job!" Chen Ruiwen nodded with a smile, "I still underestimate this kid. On the surface, today's incident shows that he did send a large amount of money to everyone, but he also completely solved the problem of Xue Zihao in the north. The problem of unstable foundation; with various shops helping to distribute goods, the Xue family actually earns more!
It doesn't matter. Since everyone benefits, we should give him some convenience. Since Her Royal Highness Princess Yongchang has already made arrangements, we just need to follow them. But don't ask too much. Her Highness is not as simple as she appears. ! "

"Don't worry, father, don't worry, son!" Chen Yejun bowed respectfully.

(End of this chapter)