Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 121 Confidence is more precious than gold
Just as Chongzhen was teaching his two sons, a large double-decker ship with rich decoration sailed past the Yanziji Wharf and slowly entered the Qinhuai River from the mouth of the river.

I saw that the second floor of the big ship was surrounded by curtains.

The windows on the first floor are hung with ordinary bamboo curtains, some of which are rolled up.

Through the open window, one could see two rows of burly men standing with their hands behind their backs in the cabin. These big men were all wearing black straight jackets, leather wrist guards with copper nails on their hands, and waist knives hanging from their waists.

Just by looking at this posture, one can tell that it is the private boat of a rich family.

There happened to be a painting boat going down the Qinhuai River, and two scholars on the bow were drinking and reciting poems against the gentle wind of the river.

Behind the two scholars, there was a prostitute from the Qinhuai River playing the qin by the window. The river wind blew, and the sound of the qin and chanting was sent to the shore, and also to the luxurious big boat going up the river.

When the two ships crossed each other, one of the scholars on the bow of the painting boat accidentally turned around, just in time to catch a glimpse of the curtains on the second floor of the big boat next door being blown by the river wind, and then saw a girl with picturesque eyes sitting behind the window. The girl combed a simple haircut, obviously Yunying is still unmarried.

After seeing this young girl, the scholar was shocked and froze for a moment.

"Dengtuzi!" The girl yelled lightly, and pulled down the curtain, so that Jiaodi could no longer be seen.

However, the scholar's soul had already drifted away with the girl, and he was completely dumbfounded.

"Brother Zifang? Brother Zifang?" Another scholar shouted several times, but the scholar didn't realize it until his companion came up to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Brother Zifang, what happened to you just now?" the companion asked.

A scholar named Zifang sighed softly and asked his companion, "Brother Ciwei, whose boat was it just now?"

"Just now?" The scholar named Ciwei looked back, and then said, "It seems to be a word for Kang, it should be the boat of the Yangzhou salt merchant Kang Wanwanjia, and no other Kang family in the eight prefectures and one prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River has such a big boat." .”

"The Kang family?" Brother Zifang said quietly, "This girl should only exist in the sky, and it is rare to see her in the world."

"This woman?" Brother Ciwei said in surprise, "Did you see Miss Kang's family just now? I heard someone mention that Miss Kang's family is beautiful, but she is a bit old."

Brother Zifang: "A little old? What's going on?"

Brother Ciwei: "My little brother also heard from hearsay. It is said that the eldest lady of the Kang family was smart since she was a child. She was proficient in calculating at the age of six, followed her father to manage money at the age of nine, and managed the accounts of the Kang family in an orderly manner at the age of thirteen. Once, Kang Wanwan encountered a huge crisis in selling raw silk, and finally resolved it with the help of this woman's ingenuity. Delay, this year is already in the [-]th year."

According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, a woman can marry at the age of thirteen, and she is indeed considered an old girl at the age of twenty-nine.

Brother Zifang was inexplicably surprised after hearing this: "Twenty-Nine Years? It's wonderful, it's simply wonderful!"

"Why, brother Zifang, are you interested in a daughter from the Kang family?" Brother Ciwei said, "Although the Gu family in Wuxi is also a famous family, they may not be able to afford the bride price of the young lady of the Kang family."

Good guy, this brother Fang is Wuxi Gu Gao, the nephew of Gu Xiancheng, the founder of Donglin Party.

And the other second brother is also from a famous family, the fourth son of the Wu family in Guichi County, Nanzhi, Wu Yingji, both of them are sons of a well-known family in Nanjing, and they have always been friends with Chen Zhenhui, Maoxiang, Hou Chaozong and others.

These sons of aristocratic families are the benefactors of the dreams of many prostitutes on the Qinhuai River.

"Bowry gift?" Gu Gao said in a sneer, "Where do I, Gu Gao, need a dowry gift for concubines?"

"That's true." Wu Yingji slapped his folding fan and said with a smile, "With Brother Gu's talent and learning, Kang Wanwan not only won't accept the dowry, but it's unknown that he will give Brother Gu a dowry of [-] guan."

Gu Gao smiled and said, "The central matchmaker will go to Yangzhou later."

Wu Yingji smiled and said, "I heard that Kang Wanwan has arrived in Nanjing."

"Really?" Gu Gao was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately ordered the boatman, "Turn around! Hurry back to Nanjing."

Seeing Mr. Gu with a happy face, and the prostitute playing the piano by the window with a resentful expression on her face, it seems that her lovesickness will be paid by mistake after all.

……

"Ha chirp ha chirp!"

Kang Wanwan, who had just got off the carriage, sneezed twice.

"Master, can you do something?" the accompanying health servant asked with concern.

[Note: Since the Southern Song Dynasty, the word master has been widely used among the people]

"It's okay." Kang Wanwan waved his hand and said, "I just got caught in the rain, it's okay."

While speaking, the master and the servant had already entered the Shexian Guild Hall, and a waiter immediately came forward to greet them, just about to ask the two guest officials if they wanted to stay overnight or eat, but when they looked up, they found that it was Kang Wanwan.

The waiter immediately greeted him warmly: "So it's Yuanwai Kang."

Kang Wanwan hummed and asked, "Is Zhang Yuanwai and Fang Yuanwai here?"

The waiter replied with a smile all over his face: "Mr. Zhang went out to visit friends and has not returned yet. Mr. Fang collapsed."

"Thank you." Kang Wanwan signaled the servant to give him a piece of broken silver in the hall, and then he went straight to the second floor. He, Zhang Han and Fang Wenzhen, the rich merchants of Shexian County, have been close friends for many years, and it is not once or twice to come to the Huizhou Guild Hall , so it is very clear that if Zhang Han and Fang Wenzhen come to Nanjing, they will definitely live in the upper room of Tianzi on the second floor.

"Brother Fang? Brother Fang!" Kang Wanwan shouted as he went upstairs.

The door of the upper room of Tianzi No. [-] opened quickly, and a middle-aged man came out.

This middle-aged man is Fang Wenzhen, a wealthy businessman in She County, who can be regarded as a prominent figure among Huizhou merchants.

Seeing that it was Kang Wanwan, Fang Wenzhen smiled happily: "Brother Kang, you are really outrageous. You called me and Zhang Han from She County to Nanjing from a long distance, but you haven't arrived yet."

"I'm really sorry." Kang Wanwan apologized again and again, "I went to Suzhou to collect a sum of money, so I came late, but don't worry, I will be the host to welcome you and Brother Zhang tonight, and you can choose any place."

"Really?" Fang Wenzhen asked with a smile, "Then what if I choose Meixianglou?"

"Then Meixiang Tower." Kang Wanwan said proudly, "Isn't it just five hundred taels?"

"Brother Kang is proud." Fang Wenzhen laughed, and let Kang Wanwan into the room.

Tianzihao Shangfang is a set of two guest rooms, with a living room and two bedrooms inside.

The loyal servant who had followed Fang Wenzhen for many years also lived in the upper room, and made a pot of black tea for the two of them.

"Brother Kang, try it." Fang Wenzhen said with a solemn hand, "This is picked by Zen Master Huiming, the abbot of Yungu Temple, from the two century-old tea trees on the Guangming Peak of Huangshan Mountain. There are only two cakes in total."

Kang Wanwan took a sip of the black tea, and after a moment of aftertaste, he praised: "Good tea, when I tasted this tea, I seemed to be able to see the Huangshan sea of ​​clouds on the top of the light, and even smell the moist water vapor on the tea tree!"

"I'll give you a cake later." Fang Wenzhen smiled, and said with a straight face, "Brother Kang, this time you called me and Zhang Han to Nanjing so solemnly, what is the reason?"

Kang Wanwan didn't answer and asked instead: "Brother Fang, haven't you heard of it?"

"I've heard a little bit about it." Fang Wenzhen looked serious, "But I don't believe it."

Kang Wanwan's expression also became serious, and he said, "Brother Fang, the rumors are true."

"The rumors are actually true?" Fang Wenzhen was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't believe it, unless the sun comes out from the west, otherwise I absolutely don't believe in the character of the old Zhu family, believe it or not!"

"However, the Yangzhou government did refund some of the tax money that had been forcibly collected in the previous seven years."

Kang Wanwan said seriously: "Brother Fang, which emperor have you ever seen refund tax money?"

"Yangzhou government really refunded the tax money?" Fang Wenzhen was stunned for a moment and asked again, "How much will be refunded? Don't just have a small part of the original amount? It's just a show and bluffing."

"Five million taels have been refunded!" Kang Wanwan stretched out five fingers.

"Five million taels?!" Fang Wenzhen opened his mouth wide enough to swallow a goose egg.

"Yes, a total of five million taels! One cent is not a lot!" Kang Wanwan nodded and said, "In the past seven years, our Kang family has been forced to tax more than one million taels by three Yangzhou garrison eunuchs. [-] back at once!"

"You Kang family will return [-] yuan?" Wen Zhen finally believed it.

"So, the Holy One is really not bluffing, but really wants to make a big deal with us?"

Kang Wanwan said: "There is no doubt that the Holy Majesty wants to make a big deal with us. The only question now is how big is this deal?"

Fang Wenzhen asked, "How big do you think it will be?"

"I can't guess." Kang Wanwan shook his head and said, "But one thing is for sure, this big deal from the Holy Majesty can at least achieve white mountains and black waters!"

"White mountains and black waters?" Fang Wenzhen's eyes widened again. "Brother Kang, you mean that the Holy Spirit has the ambition to restore Liaodong and wipe out Jiannu? Is this impossible?"

Kang Wanwan smiled and said, "Brother Fang, you always know about the great victory in Xuzhou, right?"

"Great victory in Xuzhou? I've read the Tang newspaper a long time ago." Fang Wenzhen said, "But it must be a lie. Since the Ming Dynasty, the biggest victory report has been the beheading of more than [-] real slaves. But in the first battle, more than [-] real slaves were beheaded, and more than [-] Han soldiers, Baoyi, and rebel soldiers were captured alive, who would dare to believe this?"

Kang Wanwan said: "But it's true. The Holy Lord gave [-] taels of silver to Xia Zhen's frontier army alone, and there are more than [-] Jiannu captives who will soon go to Nanjing."

"It's true too?" Fang Wenzhen's eyes widened again.

In this moment, Fang Wenzhen's world view has been shattered four times in a row.

Kang Wanwan said with a smile: "So, this time the business can be very big. To be honest, I am a little worried. If the business is really too big in the future, will I be like Shen Wansan and the Shen family? Mistake?"

But Fang Wenzhen waved his hand and said, "If everything you said is true, we will never repeat the same mistakes of the Shen family, because the behavior of the current emperor is completely different from that of Emperor Taizu Gao."

Kang Wanwan nodded: "Don't tell me, their claims are indeed very different."

PS: The previous seven chapters are more than [-] words, which is almost the same.

(End of this chapter)