The rise of the prince

Chapter 251 Ding Yi's Ambition + Transformation Before Leaving

"Nephew Ding, our Wang family is playing a caravan heading south." The little old man smiled flatteringly.The wind blowing from the top of the city made his gray hair smear on his face, and the scorching sun at noon happened above his head. This small town is called Linyang, and it is a county under Suzhou Prefecture. The county magistrate here is the current great general Zhong Daoyu Nephew Zhong Li.

When he was humiliated by Li Xingzhou at the Plum Garden Poetry Conference, he saw his beloved fall into the arms of others. After receiving Ding Yi and the others, he became more and more angry. To do such a big thing in the capital!
Assassinate the current Holy Majesty!

After the incident, he lived in fear and couldn't sleep day and night. Although he didn't know it, he was always suspected of being an accomplice, and never dared to return to the capital.

Ding Yi, Zhong Li, the heads of the Wang family and the Fen family all stood at the top of the city.

After passing Linyang City, go northwest about ten miles, pass through a forest of paulownia and elm, and cross a small river called Lengfengqing, which is the boundary of Luzhou.

Looking from the top of the city, one can vaguely see the Suzhou Xiang army camp on Lengfengqing's side, and even the city wall of Luzhou farther south.

Ding Yi deployed heavy troops in this small town, just in case, if Luzhou was in trouble, he had to go through this small town, he was not a fool, he was only scared, but he had to be prepared.

Seeing him looking into the distance with his hands behind his back, without answering, the Patriarch of the Wang family hesitated for a moment, and cautiously said again: "Nephew Ding, our Wang family"

"Uncle, I am the magistrate of Suzhou now. I hope you pay attention to your words and address. You must know that relatives return to relatives, but the law will not be merciful." Ding Yi said lightly, even if he has a head.

The Patriarch of the Wang family was stunned for a moment, his dry lips trembled, the words stuck in his throat paused, his eyebrows drooped, his forehead was wrinkled, his eyelids moved slightly, then he cupped his hands and bowed his head and said: "Master Zhifu, I would like to ask you about The matter of our Wang family's caravan"

Ding Yi then nodded: "I understand that mobs are everywhere recently, the roads are blocked, bandits are rampant, and the roads are not peaceful. Uncle Wang's family does most of their business with Luzhou. Going to Luzhou is also dangerous. As the official of the parents of the state of Xu, I naturally have the responsibility and obligation to shine light on the people of the state of Xu."

"Yes, yes, Master Ding Ding is right." The Patriarch of the Wang family nodded quickly.

"Master Ding understands righteousness deeply, and it is my view to understand the people's sentiments, no, I am the blessing of the Xu country!" Seeing this situation, the skinny Patriarch of the Fen family quickly praised it.

Ding Yi turned his head, smiled slightly, then waved his hands and said: "Don't worry, you two, I haven't finished my official words, but even so, the army is not the army of any family. There is no reason for the two uncles to say that my army of Xu Guo It will be sent by the two to escort your two commercial vehicles."

"This..." The two Patriarchs were taken aback for a moment, looked at each other cautiously, and then lowered their heads.

"But your Ding family's commercial vehicle will be escorted by the army." The head of the Wang family muttered in a low voice, but few people could hear clearly.

The Patriarch of the Fen family cupped his hands and directly pointed out: "Master Zhifu, as long as you are willing to send troops to protect our two families across the border, how about we pay you ten taels of silver for each car."

"Uncle, what are you talking about? I'm doing things for the state of Xu. I'm working as a messenger for the state of Xu. I'm protecting the people of the state of Xu. How can you tell me?" Ding Yi said seriously.

The two of them seemed to have suddenly realized, and quickly apologized, "Yes, yes, look at what we said, my nephew. Oh no, my lord, don't get me wrong, our ten taels per car is to reward the sergeants, and to relieve the country's worries and problems. , Now that we, Xu State, are in constant trouble, it is time to spend money, and as a citizen of Xu State, I should do my part."

Ding Yi then nodded, "The two uncles understand from the bottom of their hearts, but since they are exhausted from the country, I don't think a cart of ten taels is enough sincerity. After all, our Xu country has a large number of people and a vast territory, so we need the army to protect us everywhere, right? Look at 20 taels, 20 taels is a cart, the width is no more than ten feet, and it can be pulled by a horse."

The faces of the two Patriarchs became ugly. The Patriarch of the Fen Family seemed to want to say something, but was gently pulled by the Patriarch of the Wang Family and stopped talking.

"Then thank you, Mr. Ding." The little Patriarch of the Wang family bowed his hands in thanks, Ding Yi just nodded casually, and the two left immediately and hurriedly left from the top of the city.

Before that, Zhong Li had been standing by Ding Yi's side without saying a word.

"Brother Zhong Li, how are you?" Ding Yi asked after the people had finished walking.

Zhong Li nodded, then quickly greeted him with a smile, cupped his hands in admiration: "Haha, when I was young, I also had many ambitions and expectations. I wanted to do a lot of things, and I didn't bother with the ignorance of the dudes in the capital. Although I was born in a famous family, I didn't like walking dogs and fighting cocks , sensuality.

He was low in the imperial examination at a young age, and became a county magistrate. He thought he was a dragon and a phoenix, with both fame and fortune. I didn't expect to meet Brother Ding later. Compared with Brother Ding, those things are not worth mentioning. I am ashamed.

Brother Ding has become so young at such a young age, not to mention young talents, even in terms of heroes in the world, there are few people who can match Brother Ding. "

"Hehe, hahahaha" Ding Yi laughed against the spring breeze at the top of the city, "Brother Zhong thinks who in the world can be considered a hero."

Zhong Li rolled his eyes, and replied: "In the current dynasty, no, the general of the Jing Dynasty, the privy envoy Zhong Daoyu, the grandfather of the elders, defeated Baiyi, defeated Xixia, conquered the Liao Kingdom, beheaded the king of Wu, everything is true. A thing that will go down in history."

Ding Yi nodded: "Yes, he is a character, but unfortunately he is already old."

As he spoke, he patted Zhong Li on the shoulder, "Brother Zhong is a hero, and he has the blood and bones of the Zhong family, but Zhong Daoyu is old, he can't cross the river, he can't come to Suzhou, this world is always the world of young people .

Manly man, don't indulge in regretting the glory.Birth, old age, sickness and death, and the replacement of old age, this is a number of days, destined, and no one can change it. "

As he spoke, his eyes gradually became hot, as if he was scornful of everything in front of him, he slowly opened his arms: "Brother Zhong, look at me, I can hold the world in my arms!"

Zhong Li was shocked and almost lost his voice in shock. Seeing Ding Yi looking back at him, he quickly covered up his panic and pretended to be calm, "Naturally, Brother Ding is far more talented than others, and he is extremely talented, yes."

Ding Yi was overjoyed, took his hand and said: "It's so good!
If Brother Zhong is planning great things with me, I will never treat Brother Zhong badly.Besides, don't you like the girl Wang Lianshan in the capital? Don't you have no choice but to be the noble son of Prince Xiao and dare not contend? If one day, when our army enters the capital, the head of Li Xingzhou and Miss Wang are all under the hands of Brother Zhong What is within reach, comes easily."

Ding Yi spoke slowly, every word was full of temptation, Zhong Li was stunned for a while, the fear in his eyes gradually dissipated, and then nodded slowly.

"Huh, shameless little thief! Who doesn't know that the army of Ansu Mansion is his Ding's army, and he sent troops to station at the border of Luzhou to block the way, but now he asks us for toll, what's the difference between this and robbers!
At the beginning, we agreed that all of us would be in charge of the Ansu Mansion, but once the Su family died, the little thief would not accept it." The Patriarch of the Fen family, who did not say much in front of Ding Yi when he stepped down from the tower, was furious, and started rambling, but he was the one who talked the most. On the contrary, the head of the Wang family was much quieter.

In the small city of Linyang, there are armored soldiers coming and going everywhere, and many people are too scared to go out.

After repelling the imperial army last time, many volunteers returned to their hometowns one after another under the appeasement of the prefect of Suzhou. In fact, Ansu Mansion didn't have [-] troops, nor could it afford to support so many.

However, more than [-] of them were still selected to stay, and they were incorporated into the Xu Guojin Guards, which were divided into two parts.

The other is called the Guangwu Army, which guards various fortresses in Ansu Prefecture, among which the most troops are stationed in Linyang City to guard against Luzhou.

Because Su Ban'an, the titular king of Xu State, went on an expedition to Luzhou and was not in Suzhou City, the military power of Xu State was actually in the hands of Ding Yi, the newly appointed prefect.

In fact, the senior executives of several major businesses understand that not only the military power, the military and political power of the Ansu Mansion has completely fallen into the hands of the young man of the Ding family in just a few months.

Its methods are terrifying and its wisdom is so far-reaching that it sends chills down the spine.

The head of the Wang family walked quietly, without complaining, or chattering like the head of the Fen family.

"why do not you talk?"

The short Patriarch of the Wang family glanced at him, and replied calmly: "Dogs that bite people don't like to bark."

Over time, the business of Zhenbao Pavilion has gradually changed.

It all stems from a chamber of commerce held in the capital a few days ago.

The West Beijing Chamber of Commerce is the largest chamber of commerce in the north, where many big businessmen gather together to keep warm, unify rules, help each other, and exchange information.

This chamber of commerce is headed by the Jingxi Tian family, not to mention the great achievements of the Tian family, and the concubine Tian in the palace, who is very powerful.

And the brothers of the Tian family monopolize the copper mine business in the west of Beijing because of their status as relatives of the emperor. Copper was also called gold in ancient times, meaning yellow metal, and it was used to make money. With Concubine Tian's relationship, it is not surprising that the Tian family controls the copper mine.

In addition, the Tian family is also engaged in the fur business. The Military Weapons Supervisor makes a lot of armor every year. Most of the various animal leathers used are provided by the Tian family. He is a good shooter.

There are many tiger skins, bear skins, and mink skins in Jingxi. Many ordinary Orionists will sell animal furs to Tian's family, so Tian's family is an imperial merchant.

The reason why Li Xingzhou knew the Tian family was because the Tian family also sold saltpeter, which was used as medicine.

What is commendable is that the saltpeter sold by Tian's family is not the kind of ore with many impurities sold in pharmacies in Beijing, but almost pure natural saltpeter, which is precipitated from sudden rocks under certain natural conditions.

There are not many such things, except in the harsh environment of the Gobi Desert, or in dark natural caves.

Tianjia is a natural cave discovered by accident during mining exploration, which is full of natural nitrate.

They were only sold as off-the-shelf medicines before, and they were not easy to sell, and they were not expensive, so few people wanted them.

However, it is a loss if the things that are put out with great effort are not sold. In short, it is tasteless to eat, and it is a pity to discard them.

As a result, Li Xingzhou's cousin, Li Yu, moved out of the prince's mansion a few days ago to the south of the city, not far from Prince Xiao's mansion.

When Li Yu came to the palace to play, he showed off the translucent, thumb-sized crystals, and also demonstrated strange phenomena such as burning in case of fire, and the color is blue.

Li Xingzhou could tell at a glance that the thing was relatively pure potassium nitrate crystals. After questioning him, he said that it was given to him by the emperor's uncle Li Yu. After many questions, he realized that it was actually something that the Tian family accidentally discovered when they opened the copper mine.

The mine has been open for several years, but this thing is not easy to sell at all. It is only used for playing and having fun. Sometimes Taoist priests around the capital will buy some, but there are not many.

Li Xingzhou was overjoyed after hearing that, saltpeter is the raw material with the largest proportion of black powder, and it is also the most difficult to obtain, precisely because the output of saltpeter limits the output of black powder.

On the spot, he dragged Li Yu to find their uncle.

Uncle Li Yuhuang was also very surprised after hearing it. Although he didn't understand why he bought these useless things, he still said that he would go back and talk to his uncle.

It turned out that Tian Qiwen, the Patriarch of the Tian family, happened to be in the capital, and he came to visit with gifts the next day. Just like every person who saw the palace for the first time, he was also shocked by the noisy and rigid industrial atmosphere of the palace.

Tian Qiwen was very happy when he heard that Li Xingzhou wanted to buy a large amount of natural saltpeter. He couldn't close his mouth. It has been several years since their Tian family discovered the ore source in the west of Beijing, but this thing is useless. Now that someone wants to buy it, it can still win the relationship Of course the palace is happy, no matter what aspect it will be beneficial to their Tian family.

At the dinner table, they even promised on the spot that the Tian family would send the saltpeter from Jingxi Road to the capital, and they would pay for the freight themselves.

Li Xingzhou understood that this was only for the face of his uncle Li Yu, so he quickly thanked him. It is not far from the west of Beijing to Kaiyuan, but it is not a small sum of money to have too many things, and then asked Yan Yan to pick two bottles of General Brew as a gift in return.

Before leaving, Tian Qiwen invited the Wangfu to attend the regular meeting of the West Beijing Chamber of Commerce in the capital.

He was also very careful in his words, after all, businessmen were always looked down upon and inferior to others, so he invited rashly for fear of offending others.

Li Xingzhou was very happy, the chamber of commerce meant a lot of business information, more partners and so on.

However, as the eldest son, he naturally couldn't go by himself, otherwise his status would be left there, and everyone would have nothing to talk about.

So he sent the tactful Yan Kun and Shiyu to represent the Wangfu to participate in this month's chamber of commerce meeting hosted by the Tian family.

What I didn't expect was that as soon as the people from Wangfu arrived, they immediately became the protagonists of the venue. After all, the perfume of Wangfu and the general brew have gradually occupied the high-end market. Suddenly, it was as pale as clear water, which paled in comparison.

With the fame of Jiangjun Niang and perfume, the market of spices, incense, and high-end wine was quickly occupied by Xiaowangfu.

Many merchants have been jealous for a long time, but they are anxious to get in touch with the Wangfu. The Wangfu is not an ordinary merchant, and they dare not use any insidious means. Now that they finally have the opportunity to win over, they naturally have no hesitation.

After all, a mall is like a battlefield, it's a life-and-death struggle, and if you're half a step too late, you might lose everything.

Shiyu and Yan Kun also became the center of the banquet in surprise. Even Shiyu was a little caught off guard by the courtship of many big businessmen. Many people expressed their desire to buy perfume and general wine. Fortunately, Yan Kun was cunning and tricked him.

After returning home, the two found Li Xingzhou in the middle of the night, and he agreed to sell it as soon as he heard it.
Li Xingzhou knew in his heart that if he wanted to open up a big market, he couldn't just become a distributor.

Production and wholesale are the biggest interests, and the minutiae interests are given up to use others to strengthen themselves.

For example, perfume, he wholesales to merchants, and sells a bottle for 100 taels.

The merchant will ship it to a place far away from the capital for sale, because the capital cannot be sold in the capital. He may sell a bottle for 110 taels, 120 taels, or even 200 taels a bottle.

That is all the money he earned by his ability. For the Wangfu, some merchants buy ten bottles, some buy twenty bottles, and there are more merchants. This kind of increase in sales is a surge, and it is not a petty profit. It is definitely not comparable to the sales of the third floor of Zhenbao Pavilion or Tingyu, Zhiyue, and Zhiqiu.

What's more, by using the spread of merchants, the Xiaowang Mansion will become famous and have a brand effect.

This is the case for those who do big things without sticking to the small details. If you care about petty profits and tiptoe, then the palace will only become a bigger retail store.

But Yan Kun and Shiyu didn't understand. After all, in their view, this is the exclusive secret of the palace, and it is the foundation of the palace's wealth. How can it be easily sold?

Li Xingzhou understands their concerns, but he has more far-reaching plans and strong confidence. Even if someone researches distilled alcohol, it will not have an impact on the palace. He just has no time for the time being, and the first thing to solve is the waterway problem.

With graphite refractories, he has so much to do and no time now.

"Do you believe me or not?" Li Xingzhou asked.

Yan Kun nodded.

"I don't believe it." Shiyu didn't show any face.

Li Xingzhou supported the forehead, this woman was always arguing with him, he asked Yan Kun to go back first, and told him that he was going to hold a banquet in Zhiyue Tower, to entertain all the big businessmen in Beijing, and the palace would select some merchants to sell perfume and generals in batches wine.

Yan Kun took a meaningful look at Shiyu after listening, and then left.

"Okay, now my son (shui) convinces you." Li Xingzhou smirked.

(End of this chapter)