Lu Ming

Chapter 144 The Brothers of the Lin Family
The waves are rolling, the sea wind is blowing, and a small spot between the blue-black sea and the sky seems to be motionless: a 600-meter Dafu boat is sailing in the strait from west to east, and its bow is aimed at the direction of Taiwan.

The owner of the ship, Lin Baoquan, is standing on the stern tower looking into the distance.Lin Bao is nearly full year old, with a strong build, a square nose and wide mouth, and his bronze-colored face has no expression at the moment. The sea breeze blowing from behind keeps blowing the three strands of black beard under his chin, and the short brown hair on his body is also The pockets are full of sea breeze, and the sleeves are bulging.

At this time, a sentence floated from his side: "Fifth brother, it's windy outside, let's go back to the cabin."

Lin Baoquan didn't need to turn his head, he knew that it was his younger brother Lin Baoan who also went up to the stern tower: "Old Qi, the wind direction must be correct, right?"

"Fifth brother, you're stunned." Lin Baoan, who looks similar to Lin Baoquan, but with a short beard, shook his head and smiled: "The wind direction is right, even if there is land, the guys in Wangdou will see it first. Don't This is stuck, go back to the cabin, go back to the cabin." He said that he was about to go back to the cabin by holding Fifth Brother's arm.

"Oh, I'm always uneasy." Lin Baoquan was still worried, and said while getting off the cabin.

The Lin family brothers are natives of Funing Prefecture in the north of Fuzhou, next to Sanduao, which is called Fuding County in later generations.

The Lin family is a wealthy local family in Funing Prefecture, with a large family and a large family. From generation to generation, there have been some small officials and officials to support their appearance, and bullies and powerful people are often produced.

Lin Baoquan and Lin Baoan are clan brothers, one is five in the clan and the other is seven.Lin Baoan's house was sparsely populated in the early years, and the two families were close. Lin Baoan, whose mother died when he was young, was raised by Lin Baoquan's parents, and the two were like brothers.

Now their generation is at the age of carrying the top in the clan.Since the two brothers had sailed across the sea when they were still young and strong, they could be regarded as surviving the storm, so a few years ago, the clan handed over the big blessing boat named "Xing'anping" to Lin Baoquan. The two brothers are responsible for running ships and shipping goods for the clan, and the business is promising.

After Lin Baoquan took over the "Xing'an Ping", he stopped traveling to the ocean, and went north to Suzhou and Hangzhou and south to Fuguang every year, only doing stable short-distance business.

That's what family business is all about.The Lin family brothers together only account for [-]% of the shares in Xing'an Pinghao, and the rest of the shares are family property. The most taboo thing about this kind of business is recklessness - no matter how much you earn, you should, and if you lose, how can everyone forgive you?
Therefore, Lin Baoquan and Lin Baoan have not been to Nanyang in recent years. In the past year, the situation in Fujian, Guangdong and Yangzhou has not been peaceful. The sea masters and the government have been fighting fiercely. It is said that the Zhangquan area is a pot of porridge, so Xing'an is here. They didn't even go to Fuzhou, and focused their business on Hangzhou.

The reason why the Lin family brothers sailed to Taiwan this time was still in Hangzhou.

The Xing'an Pinghao is the Hangzhou prefecture that went to catch the tail of the south wind last autumn.

As in previous years, the boat was filled with indigo, dried bamboo shoots, dried lychees, iron materials, ramie cloth, bamboo utensils, and bamboo paper, which are traditional native products of Funing Prefecture.

After the ship arrived in Hangzhou, the Lin brothers contacted old customers to sell goods, and at the same time bought goods needed for the return journey. They worked from late autumn to early twelfth lunar month before they finally got all the goods ready. After talking, the brothers prepared to take the north wind and go home for the New Year.This point in time was January of 1628, just over two months had passed since the time passed by the occupants.

Unexpectedly, two days before his departure, the manager of the Liu family came to invite him, saying that he had a good deal and that he wanted to introduce a good friend to the two brothers.

Yes, the most important business partner of the Lin brothers in Jiangnan is Chairman Liu Yaozu.

For many years, the Lin family has been wholesale selling groceries shipped to the south of the Yangtze River to the Liu family, and then make up part of the return goods from the Liu family's commercial channels.Although the wholesale price is a bit lower, the Lin family generally agrees: if the goods are sold to the Liu family, a local snake, naturally there is no need to worry about the local ghosts and snakes, and it is also much easier to replenish the goods. The Liu family's business network is very good. Developed, many seasonal goods can be bought.

Under such circumstances, since the manager of the Liu family came to introduce business to the two brothers, it was naturally inconvenient for the Lin brothers to refuse, so the two sides made an appointment to meet at the Fuzhou guild hall where the brothers stayed at Sishichu the next day.

Ever since the crossing crowd took down the Hangzhou Beggar Gang, Liu Yaozu's attitude towards Zhou Tongzhou's Tuantou suddenly changed drastically.The head of the gang of beggars who commanded the 8000 beggars in Hangzhou City has passed the official status and is already a first-class figure in the world. It is completely different from the bandit leader who cuts the path. This is a serious green forest prefect!

Mr. Liu, who is well versed in the business of Ming Dynasty from north to south, is very clear about the stakes here. Liu Yaozu couldn't be more fortunate now: because the eldest son was seriously ill, he had no choice but to agree to Zhou Tong to take care of the aftermath. Luckily, after the incident of the Beggar Gang, the Liu family really did their best to maintain the situation. Now that Zhou Tong has gained a firm foothold, the benefits have begun to appear.

The Liu family's recent plan to reopen the mountain goods business in the upper reaches of Qiantang is an example.This time, if the gangsters and boat gangs on the pier outside the city dare to lure the water bandits to rob the Liu family's boat, then these bastards must be prepared to kill the whole family-as long as the Liu family throws money out, the The group leader of this kind of business week will naturally help old friends.

The beggar gang is one of the few local forces that can mobilize a large number of people without going through layers of official documents. Especially in the urban circle, the operation ability of the beggar gang is better than that of the canal gang; Even if you flatter a horse, you can't keep up with the Beggars' Clan. Liu Yaozu, Mr. Liu, is full of joy recently. The rivals who used to have a faint sense of competition in business are now full of cooperation, and their flags have died down.

Under such a situation, when the time travelers staying behind in Tangzhuang wanted to meet some business friends of the Liu family, Liu Yaozu naturally agreed: Zhou Tong’s friends on the sea road were once the focus of Liu Yaozu’s attention. After leaving, Liu Yaozu was still a little bit reluctant at the time. Chairman Liu was deeply impressed by the exquisite medical skills and ingenious gadgets of this group of strangers.

Fortunately, the cross-travelers staying behind in Tangzhuang did not die down, and the exchanges between the two families continued to deepen—after the cross-travelers took over the officials, there was a strong demand for food and groceries.For a long time, the crossing fleet returned to Hangzhou empty, and the next wave of cargo filled with cabins, many of which entered Chairman Liu's pocket in the form of silver ingots.

Liu Yaozu is also reciprocating, and usually helps organize the supply of goods in various ways: the fleet of the crossing people will eventually rest in Tangzhuang, and Liu Yaozu is actually better than the imagination of the crossing people. The Liu family also knew about killing the Hongmao pirates, and robbing Hongmao's stockade and a large amount of silver goods, and opening the gates and cabinets in the local area.

In this case, if Liu Yaozu didn't know how to make good friends with this group of overseas foreigners with great potential, then he would not be a big businessman.

(End of this chapter)