Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 176: Vision
Chai Meng originally planned to go back and discuss it with his sister to see if she was willing to accept this arrangement.

But the Zhang brothers kept urging him, so he had no choice but to sign a hastily-written contract and then officially "join the company".

They just ate something in the teahouse, and Zhang Yanling even kindly asked him to pack some food to take back for his sister to taste. However, he did not let him go home, but asked him to go out with him, saying that they had to go to an important place first.

After walking for a while, Zhang Yanling pointed to a tall building on the side of the road and said loudly, "It's right here."

Chai Meng looked up and saw that it was a warehouse.

There was a square plaque hanging on the lintel with the words "Huizhou merchants travel around the world" written in large letters. I was a little nervous at the time. Isn't this the Huizhou Trading House?

As a son of a Shanxi merchant who was born into a scholar family, he was very disgusted with the Huizhou merchants. Although the business world emphasizes fair trade and honesty, by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the competition between Shanxi and Huizhou merchants had penetrated into all aspects of society. The two sides were simply incompatible in many areas, which was emotionally unacceptable for a while.

"Why are you here? Master Zhang, your father was a student of the Imperial Academy, and now your sister is the Crown Princess. Isn't it a disgrace to you to come here?"

Chai Meng was the first to express his dissatisfaction, as if he was going to turn around and leave if you don't explain clearly.

Zhang Yanling shrugged and said, "I want to do business, but I don't have any capital, so I have to come here to raise funds. Think about it, apart from the Huizhou merchants, who else has money to lend to us?"

Chai Meng was stunned. Does this kid really want to do business?
You said before that you would give me a share of the profits, were you kidding me?
But you are making money now to do business, and outsiders can tell at a glance that it is a trick to get something for nothing. This is too ridiculous. Who will be fooled?

And the eldest son of the Zhang family, you are several years older than your younger brother, and you are almost an adult. Why don’t you try to persuade your younger brother?
Is it nice to have a reputation as a swindler?
Your Zhang family has finally produced a Crown Princess. Do you have any shame left?
It seems like this eldest brother is just following your younger brother?
Chai Meng had a lot of questions in his mind, but he suggested: "If we really need money, we can go to the Shanxi merchants. There is no need to find the Huizhou merchants right away, right?"

"Yeah, I've thought about it, but unfortunately I'm not familiar with him and there's no one to introduce him to me, so it's hard to do it."

Zhang Yanling smiled bitterly and shook his head, "But... As the saying goes, shop around. When it comes to financing, we also need to see who is more sincere and who offers more discounts. However, since Mr. Chai said so, after visiting the Huizhou merchants, we will go to the Shanxi Guild Hall to see if we can successfully raise money."

Chai Meng felt ashamed after hearing this.

You are not here to raise funds, you are here to blackmail someone, right?

In your current situation, begging for money, who would give you money?

It’s better to wash up and sleep!

……

……

A group of six people.

In addition to Zhang Heling, Zhang Yanling, Chai Meng and Qin Yun, there were two Jinyiwei following behind, and they broke into the Huizhou Trading Company in a menacing manner.

When the shopkeeper saw the Jinyiwei coming, he hurried inside to call out the boss.

Zhang Yanling recognized the person who came out. He was Li Wuwei, a Huizhou merchant in the capital who had been to his home once and had accompanied Manager Qin to visit his home.

"Hey, who are these people...?"

Li Wuwei didn't remember a young man like Zhang Yanling, and thought that he was a member of the Jinyiwei who came to him to extort money.

When doing business in the capital, naturally all government offices need to be in place, and ordinary Jinyiwei cannot go door to door to extort money. There are rules for which place to be under the jurisdiction of, to whom the protection money is paid, how much silver to pay per year, and how much additional salary to pay. If you cross the line casually, you will definitely be in big trouble.

Zhang Yanling stepped forward and greeted him with a smile: "Master Li, right? Don't you remember me? You and Manager Qin have been to my house before. My father, Zhang Luan, was a student of the Imperial Academy and is now the Minister of the Honglu Temple."

After Zhang Yanling's suggestion, Li Wuwei suddenly remembered. After taking a closer look, he asked curiously, "You are... Second Young Master Zhang? What are you...?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "You remembered? That's great. I don't want to waste my breath... I'm here to raise funds, and I hope you can give me more advice."

After these words were spoken, except for Zhang Heling whose eyes widened into bells, the others were all ashamed.

This is the first time I hear someone talk about borrowing money in such a high-sounding way.

financing?

Melt your grandma's legs!
Li Wuwei roughly understood what Zhang Yanling meant, but he pretended to be confused and asked, "What is financing?"

Zhang Yanling patiently explained: "It's like this, I want to do business, but I lack capital, so I want you Huizhou merchants to invest in it, and if it's suitable, we can run it together.

"Don't worry. I will provide the technology, be responsible for sales, and provide some official channels... and you will be responsible for providing the capital and assigning some manpower to me. No one will suffer any loss... What do you think?"

After hearing this, Li Wuwei's heart began to beat fast.

In the past, I always took the initiative to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy. Now, the Zhang family, who are not yet powerful and wealthy, and are at most considered to be in the position of being powerful and wealthy, actually came to me to ask for money?

He also described the matter of asking for money in such a fresh and refined way.

Li Wuweixin said, why am I so unconvinced?
……

……

More than an hour later.

When Manager Qin heard the news, he hurriedly took a car to Huizhou Trading Company. At this time, Li Wuwei was sitting in the hall, seemingly still sulking.

"Master Li, what's going on? Are you saying that Zhang from Hejian Prefecture has sent people to our place?" Shopkeeper Qin was not quite sure about the situation.

Li Wuwei said angrily: "They are the two boys from the Zhang family."

Xu Gong introduced: "Boss, Zhang Honglu does have two sons, one older and one younger, both of whom are the younger brothers of the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace. You have seen them with your own eyes." Shopkeeper Qin frowned and asked: "What if they come?"

Li Wuwei was so angry that he jumped up high: "They came to ask me for money! They asked for five thousand taels right away, saying that they wanted to do business together. They also said that they wanted to take the lion's share, and only asked us to provide the money and manpower, and then distribute the money according to the proportion after making money. It's simply... unheard of."

Xu Gong smiled and said, "Partnership in business has existed since ancient times, whether it's between brothers, relatives, or friends. Master Li, have you never heard of it?"

"I've never heard of someone asking for money so blatantly!"

Li Wuwei said angrily, "Do you know how arrogant they are when they come? They are accompanied by fully armed Jinyiwei, just like they are here to negotiate the silver that our merchants give to the government. Their momentum is simply so arrogant that it makes people angry just by looking at it."

If you can't defeat the other party with reason, start with his attitude.

Shopkeeper Qin frowned, his face looked gloomy, and he said unhappily, "I know that it is not in accordance with the rules for them to come and ask for money so rashly, and it even seems abrupt... But, have you asked them what specific business they want to do?"

"This one……"

Li Wuwei said helplessly, "I was almost mad at them at the time, how could I have the energy to ask this?"

Shopkeeper Qin was not annoyed and continued, "We have worked so hard to establish a good relationship with the Crown Princess's Mansion in the East Palace, what is the purpose?
"Now that we have finally established a relationship, they came to us to ask for a sum of money, saying that they want to do business together. This is actually in line with the overall interests of our Huizhou merchants. Why don't we agree to it?

"With the East Palace as our backer, our business in Beijing will have an extra layer of protection. Why not do it?"

Facing the three questions from Shopkeeper Qin, Li Wuwei had a different opinion. "Master Qin, don't you know what the status of the Eastern Palace is now? To put it bluntly, the Eastern Palace is noble in name, but in terms of power in the court, it may not be as good as a head of the six ministries. What's more, the Zhang family is just a relative of the Eastern Palace. Why should they be afraid of them? Is it worth it to curry favor with them in every possible way?"

Xu Gong looked at Shopkeeper Qin without saying anything.

Obviously, in Xu Gong's view, Li Wuwei's statement was not unreasonable.

The prince is still alone and powerless, and it is a bit unrealistic to expect the prince's father-in-law to support the Huizhou merchants.

Shopkeeper Qin smiled faintly and asked, "What if you have the support of Li Shilang from the Silver Table Department?"

Now, Li Wuwei didn't know what to say.

Now the Huizhou merchants have found out that Zhang Luan is very close to Li Zisheng. There are even rumors that Li Zisheng did everything he could to help Zhang Luan's daughter be chosen as the Crown Princess.

In the future, Zhang Luan may not have to rely on the power of the crown prince. He only needs to rely on Li Zisheng's huge influence in the court, and he may be able to walk all over the capital.

Shopkeeper Qin asked again: "Where did they go after they left the trading house? Did they go straight back home?"

Seeing Li Wuyi's bewildered face, Xu Gong interrupted, "I just asked the people who were sent to follow them. After they left the Huizhou Trading House, they went directly to the contact point of Shanxi merchants in Beijing. I heard that they walked straight in with a swagger. The receptionist of the Shanxi merchants greeted them with a smile and showed no resistance."

"What!?"

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Qin could not help but glare at Li Wuyi fiercely and said quietly, "In this world, in addition to the merchants from Huizhou, there are also merchants from Shanxi. And those Shanxi merchants also need the power of the East Palace or Lizi Province. This time, Mr. Li made a mistake!"

Li Wuyi said with disdain, "They asked for five thousand taels of silver right away. Even if we have mountains of gold and silver, it won't be enough for them to squander! I don't believe that those rough guys next door are so blind."

Xu Gong sneered and said, "Master Li, I just checked and found that among the people brought by the two young masters of the Zhang family, there is a Shanxi merchant named Chai Meng, who is a student. I heard that Master Chai brought his sister to the capital with full confidence to participate in the selection of the Crown Princess, but before the palace selection, he was suppressed by someone hired by Minister Li."

"what!?"

Li Wuwei suddenly felt that his brain was not enough. After thinking for a while without any answer, he asked again: "A Jin merchant's younger sister participated in the selection of the Crown Princess and was eliminated early? Then...how could such a person get together with the Zhang family? Is there any hidden story behind it?"

Xu Gong smiled and said, "It is difficult for me to find out the specific reason at the moment, but it is possible that the Shanxi merchants wanted to use this as a go-between.

"Or maybe the Zhang family felt that although the Shanxi merchants had expressed their intention, it was reasonable for them to ask our Huizhou merchants for their opinions first. After all, we had contact with them first, so they came to visit us in person."

"What? Shopkeeper Xu, you mean to say that the Shanxi merchants offered five thousand taels of silver to do business with the Zhang family? The Zhang family specifically came to negotiate with us with equal conditions? Why is this so hard to believe?"

Of course Li Wuwei would not accept this explanation.

Those who do business naturally know how valuable five thousand taels of silver are.

During the Hongzhi period, silver from South America had not yet flowed into China in large quantities, but its purchasing power was very strong.

Shopkeeper Qin said, "Mr. Li, you started from scratch and are very decisive in doing business. You are honest and trustworthy, and you are able to do nothing but cheat everyone. But in the world of fame and fortune, you always act short-sightedly. Don't interfere in the relationship between my Qin family and the Zhang family in the future."

"Master Qin, what do you mean by this?"

Li Wuwei became anxious after hearing this.

The Qin family has a huge influence in Huizhou, and the official background they rely on is also very strong, which has been accumulated for three generations.

Although in this generation, because a woman is in charge, outsiders say that the Qin family has declined, but the Li family is still a new elite and still hopes to make a lot of money by cooperating with the Qin family in business.

Shopkeeper Qin said helplessly: "We will send someone to the Zhang Mansion to apologize on behalf of our Huizhou merchants. Since we want to do business together, we must be more rigorous. If we really can't cooperate, we must not hurt the relationship. Even if Zhang's two young masters come here, we must treat them with courtesy, understand?"

"Yes."

Xu Gong smiled, then looked at Li Wuwei with a look of mockery and disdain.

(I have a cold and a fever, so I will only write two chapters today, so I won’t ask for votes!)

(End of this chapter)