Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1647 You're Out!
August 5, Yijing Houde Street

In the evening, Xinkangji Restaurant
As several wealthy businessmen in fancy clothes walked into the restaurant, some of the more alert diners in the lobby began to whisper.

"Mr. Li, what day is it today? Why are Liu Maocai, the shopkeeper of Daxinchang, Wang Kui, the boss of Dadekui, and Jiang Cheng, the shopkeeper of Yiyuan Pavilion, all here today? Is there something going on?"

"Manager Liu, Boss Wang, and Manager Jiang are all top-notch merchants in Yijing. They do tens of thousands of business transactions every day. Why are they all here at Xinkangji today?"

"These guys are all people who will not do anything without profit, especially Wang Kui, who is as smart as a monkey. I feel that they are gathered here to make a big deal!"

Just as these people were discussing secretly, a tall old man and a short and fat middle-aged man, accompanied by their respective followers, walked into Xinkangji and went directly to the second floor.

When they saw the appearance of these two people, the discussion immediately increased.

"Grandpa Cao Xiang from the Cao family and Zhang Ding, the shopkeeper from Xinyi Hall, are here. Could they be here with the three people above?"

"If these five people are having a meal together, what kind of dinner party is that? The combined wealth of these five people must be one million taels of silver, right?"

"Definitely! The Cao family has been one of the imperial servants over the years, and has prepared a lot of food and fodder for the court. They have at least 300,000 taels of silver, and the remaining families have at least 200,000 taels of silver. Adding them all together, I estimate that their wealth is at least 1.5 million taels of silver!"

“Fuck! Who is so prestigious that he can invite these five people to dinner…”

While people were discussing in the lobby, in the private room on the second floor of Xin Kang Ji, five business tycoons from Yijing were sitting quietly, as if they were waiting for something.

After waiting for about a cup of tea, footsteps were heard outside the door. As the footsteps got closer, the five business tycoons all stood up and looked towards the door. Under the gaze of the five people, Ren Hai walked into the box.

"Excuse me, everyone, are you all waiting impatiently?
"I was about to get off work today, but Minister Cui asked me to go to the Ministry of Revenue, so I went to make a report to Minister Cui. It took me a while, so I will drink three cups as punishment later!"

As soon as these words came out, the five people in the room all had different expressions. Zhang Ding from Xinyi Hall spoke first:

"Master Ren, we just arrived too, we didn't have to wait long!"

As soon as Zhang Ding finished speaking, Mr. Cao Xiang took over the conversation and said:

"What Manager Zhang said is correct. We just arrived. Master Ren is entrusted with important tasks by the court. We have nothing to do anyway, so it's okay to wait for a while!"

Amid the compliments from several people, Ren Hai greeted everyone and then sat in the main seat.

As everyone arrived, Ren Hai began to order food.
Although there were only six people at the table, Ren Hai ordered twelve dishes, including abalone stewed with pearls, fish maw stewed with ham, sea cucumber chicken soup and other delicious dishes.

After ordering the dishes, Ren Hai asked the waiter:

"What good wine do you have at Xin Kang Ji?"

"Your Excellency, we at Xinkangji have Nv'erhong, three-year and five-year old, all of which are authentic Jiangnan Nv'erhong. In addition to Nv'erhong, we also have Yunbing Fenjiu, which has three-year and five-year old. I wonder which one you would like to order?"

Ren Hai frowned slightly and said:
"The wine you have at Xin Kang Ji is a little young. Don't you have any wine that's a little older?"

Facing Ren Hai's question, the waiter looked a little hesitant. Seeing this, Ren Hai didn't waste any words with him and directly ordered:

"Go call Shopkeeper Wang! Tell him that I, Ren Hai, am looking for him!"

"Yes!"

At Ren Hai's request, Manager Wang quickly came to the box.

"Master Ren, do you have any instructions?"

"Manager Wang, do you know me?"

"Of course I know you, Master Ren!"

"Since you know me, why are you still using these three to five years of wine to fool around? Didn't you see that I'm going to treat these shopkeepers to dinner today?"

"Why are you hiding those good wines? Are you worried that I, Ren Hai, can't afford the money?"

"Oh! Sir Ren, you are joking. Everyone knows that you are the God of Wealth of Daqian. If you can't pay the money, who else can?"

"Manager Wang, you finally said something sensible, why don't you bring out the good wine quickly!"

"Mr. Ren, to be honest, we do have a few bottles of good wine in our restaurant. It's not that I don't want to give them to you, but they are already owned by someone else!"

Ren Hai, who looked arrogant, was stunned at first, then looked at Shopkeeper Wang with some scrutiny, and Shopkeeper Wang nodded imperceptibly, as if to indicate that Ren Hai was right. Seeing this, although Ren Hai was a little reluctant, he could only speak:

"A gentleman does not take away what others love. Since it already has an owner, forget it. I'd like to give you a jar of five-year-old Fenjiu and a jar of five-year-old Nv'erhong. Is your wine authentic?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Ren. Our Xin Kangji wine is absolutely authentic and we guarantee that you will be satisfied..."

"Okay then! Send it here quickly!"

"Yes!"

After Manager Wang left, Cao Xiang looked at Ren Hai, who looked somewhat reluctant, and after a moment's hesitation, he said:

"Master Ren, we finally got together here today, let's get drunk. I have a jar of twenty-year-old girl's red wine stored at home. I'll have someone fetch it now. How about we drink it today?"

Ren Hai immediately became interested when he heard this, and confirmed with some surprise:
"Twenty years of daughter's wine?"

"That's right! When General He Jingyun pacified Jiangnan, I was responsible for transporting grain and grass and also went to Jiangnan. I bought this wine from a wealthy family. It has been two or three years since I got it, but I have always been reluctant to drink it. Today, we have finally gathered here, so let's use this wine to cheer everyone up!"

Although he was very interested in this jar of twenty-year-old daughter's red wine, Ren Hai pretended to be reluctant and said:

"This twenty-year-old daughter's red wine is not easy to come by. You can enjoy it slowly at home. This five-year-old daughter's red wine from Xinkangji is also good!"

Following Ren Hai's refusal, everyone else at the table began to decline as well. Seeing this, Cao Xiang knew how hypocritical these people were. He knew even more clearly that if he really gave in and didn't give in, he would definitely offend Ren Hai!
So although Cao Xiang felt a little pain, he still pretended to be generous and preached:
"As the ancients said, happiness alone is not as good as happiness with others. What's the point of drinking alone? We have many distinguished guests here today, and you, Lord Ren, are here too, so we naturally need some good wine to go with it!"

"Stop talking! I'll ask someone to go home and get it now..."

The smile on Ren Hai's face was becoming increasingly difficult to conceal, but he still tried to decline. A moment later, the food and wine from Xinkangji were served, and the people at the table began to toast each other. Although everyone was eating very happily, Ren Hai, who always loved wine, behaved in a relatively restrained manner.

About an incense stick of time passed, and Cao Xiang's family brought over the jar of twenty-year-old girl's red wine. As Cao Xiang opened the jar with his own hands, the room was immediately filled with the aroma of girl's red wine. Although everyone had seen the world, they were all tempted at this moment.

Cao Xiang poured a glass for Ren Hai. Ren Hai raised the glass and tasted it. Then he closed his eyes and said intoxicatedly:
"Twenty-year-old Nv'erhong is really a good wine! I have drunk twenty-year-old Fenjiu and ten-year-old Nv'erhong, but this twenty-year-old Nv'erhong really has a different flavor!"

"Come on! Everyone try it!"

After hearing what Ren Hai said, everyone became more interested in this daughter's red wine, and after tasting it, they all praised it. At Ren Hai's suggestion, everyone raised their glasses to toast Cao Xiang.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, everyone put down their chopsticks and looked at Ren Hai who was sitting in the host seat.

After Ren Hai finished his last glass of Nv'erhong, he also spoke in a drunken state:
"I called everyone here today because I have something good to tell you!"

"I have two hundred thousand taels of silver in Dadongsheng bonds, which I need to mortgage to you guys!"

As soon as these words came out, the five big merchants at the table all had different expressions, and at this time Ren Hai continued:
"The specific operation is that the Dadongsheng bonds worth 200,000 taels of silver will be mortgaged to Zhang Ding's Xinyi Hall, and then the few of you will go to Xinyi Hall to take over the bonds!"

"What do you think?"

After hearing what Ren Hai said, Liu Maocai hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively:

"Master Ren, I wonder what the interest rate for this bond is?"

"The term is five years, and the interest will not have anything to do with you!"

Liu Maocai was a little surprised when he heard this, but at this moment, Zhang Ding from Xinyi Hall spoke first:

"Since you are hiring my Xinyi Hall, you think highly of me, Zhang Ding. I, Zhang Ding, am willing to accept a bond of 50,000 taels of silver!"

As Zhang Ding finished speaking, Cao Xiang on the side said:

"Manager Zhang is right. Since you, Lord Ren, have come to us for such a good thing, you are giving us face. We should take it. My Cao family is willing to take the bond of 70,000 taels of silver!"

"Very good! There are still 80,000 taels of silver in bonds left. What do you three think, Manager Liu, Boss Wang, and Jiang Cheng?"

Faced with Ren Hai's questioning, the three people who were named looked at each other in confusion.

All three of them were very shrewd businessmen, and their businesses were very large, otherwise they would not be qualified to appear at Ren Hai's dinner party. But it was precisely because of their shrewdness that they realized that this business did not make any money at all, and would even occupy their working capital of tens of thousands of taels of silver!

Although they have hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels of silver for business, most of these silvers are fixed assets. It is very difficult for them to take out tens of thousands of taels of silver at once to buy bonds...
But precisely because of this, the three people were very surprised that Zhang Ding and Cao Xiang were so willing to take out tens of thousands of taels of silver to take over the bonds. After all, this was tens of thousands of taels of silver, not a few hundred taels of silver.

Seeing the three people hesitant, Ren Hai said calmly:

"Three of you, I won't force you. If you are willing to accept it, then accept it. If you are not willing to accept it, it doesn't matter. However, this good thing will only happen once. If you miss it this time, don't regret it in the future, and don't say that I, Ren Hai, don't take care of you!"

Seeing Ren Hai repeatedly emphasizing good things, and then looking at Zhang Ding, Cao Xiang looked confident. Wang Kui, the boss of Da De Kui among the three, also seemed to realize something, and immediately asked tentatively:
"Master Ren, I wonder which nobleman this 200,000 taels of silver bond belongs to?"

After Jiang Cheng said this, Liu Maocai also seemed to suddenly realize something and they all looked at Ren Hai. As businessmen, their first priority is definitely to make money, and the good thing that Ren Hai mentioned, from a purely business perspective, is definitely not a good deal!

Even if the Dadongsheng Bank had a good reputation and could return the principal in a few years, it would still take up tens of thousands of taels of working capital in the next few years. For businessmen like them, the cost was too high...

Cao Xiang and Zhang Ding must understand this principle. They knew they could not make any money, but they were happy to take over the bonds. It was definitely not for the purpose of making money!

If merchants do business not for money, then what are they looking for?

Under the gazes of the three people, Ren Hai smiled slightly and said:

"Wang Kui, no wonder people say you are as smart as a monkey. You really have a quick mind. Don't you know the saying that goes, don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. If you are willing, buy it. If you are not willing, leave!"

After saying this, Ren Hai glanced at the three people and said with some interest:
"I will only mortgage the remaining 80,000 taels of silver bonds to two of you!"

When Ren Hai said this, Wang Kui's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, and before Jiang Cheng and Liu Maocai could react, he spoke:

"Since you are willing to give me this opportunity, Master Ren, Wang Kui will definitely not let you down. Although my business is not big, I am willing to accept the bond of 30,000 taels of silver!"

"Very good! Who of you two will take the remaining fifty thousand taels of silver bonds?"

Liu Maocai and Jiang Cheng looked at each other. Just when Jiang Cheng was hesitant, Liu Maocai gritted his teeth and said:
"I'll take the remaining fifty thousand taels of silver in bonds!"

Ren Hai nodded slightly and said:
"These two hundred thousand taels of silver bonds have been mortgaged, and I have completed my mission!"

"I'll give you ten days to hand over the silver to Xinyi Hall within ten days!"

After Ren Hai finished speaking, he looked around at everyone and said:

"Everyone, let me be frank. I am not forcing you. If you don't want to do this, you can raise it now. I can find someone else. Don't regret it when I report it. By then, the matter will be irreversible and the consequences will be unpredictable!"

"So you all should think it through!"

Hearing Ren Hai say this, everyone's expression became serious, and they repeatedly said that they would not regret it. At this time, Jiang Cheng, who had just hesitated and did not accept the bonds, spoke up:

"Master Ren, can you let me take on some more bonds?"

"Manager Jiang, if you missed it, you missed it. You are out now..."