Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 119 0114 [There is no such a good man anymore] (for subscription)
Zheng Lan chatted with the girl for a while, and then introduced: "This is my young lady. Young lady, these two are Zhu Xianggong, Zhu Dalang and his son from Xixiang."

Of course, the young lady is not a daimyo, and daimyo and boudoir names are generally not mentioned to outsiders.

A woman from a wealthy family has a great name within a hundred days of her birth.

There is also a special thing, when you get married or get engaged, you need to choose characters. From then on, you will use "surname + character" to show people, and your own name will be kept secret.

This woman's name is Zheng Yuanyi, and she is the one who intends to promise Li Hanzhang as the sequel.

But Li Hanzhang looked down on merchant families, and his elders were already contacting scholars and women for him.

Zhu Guoxiang's talking about Li Lizhen can only be said to have a little shadow.

This girl has not yet grown up, her face is a bit fat, and she is not tall, but she has beautiful features and a pair of big watery eyes.

She put her hands clasped on her abdomen, her thumbs crossed slightly, she lowered her head and knelt down and said, "Blessings, sir, blessings, sir."

This is the Wanfu ceremony of the Song Dynasty, which is different from the postures of the Tang and Ming dynasties.

Objectively speaking, the Wanfu ceremony in the Ming Dynasty is the most beautiful and elegant.The Wanfu ceremony in the Tang Dynasty was the most simple and casual.While the Wanfu ceremony in the Song Dynasty was complicated, it also revealed a small family spirit.

"The girl is polite." The father and son stood up and returned the courtesy.

After saluting, Zheng Yuanyi leaned close to her grandfather, and her eyes fell on Zhu Ming: "I have seen Lang Jun's poems from my sister in the Min family. I have also heard Lang Jun's "Journey to the West" from my elder brother. Lang Jun came to Yangzhou , are you preparing for this autumn's solution test?"

"Maybe we can try it." Ju Ming said ambiguously.

If he happened to be in Yangzhou in autumn, he might really go to the exam and experience the atmosphere of the ancient exam room.

With Ju Ming's knowledge, even if he hasn't practiced the scriptures, he still has a high chance of winning the exam.

Because the gold content of the Juren in the Song Dynasty was very low, it was only tested in the state capital, while the Juren in the Ming Dynasty belonged to the provincial examination (one city examination, one provincial examination).

From the point of view of the examination location alone, Juren in the Song Dynasty is more like a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, but he has the qualifications to go to Beijing for the examination.

Zheng Yuanyi also seemed quite bold in the face of the strange man, and asked again: "Do you have any new poems, Mr. Lang?"

"No." Zhu Ming replied.

"You're taking the liberty." Zheng Yuanyi stopped talking, and just sat quietly beside her grandfather.

She seemed to be extremely curious about Zhu Ming, her eyes turned to her grandfather, but she always turned around, peeking at Zhu Ming and talking from time to time.

Zheng Lan continued to discuss business: "No matter what the market price is, first-class tea is 88 renminbi (per catty), second-class tea is 60 renminbi, and third-class tea is 43 renminbi. First pay the deposit and write down the contract. What does Mr. Zhu think?"

This is to order in advance, and the order contract can also be resold as "futures".

The price proposed by Zheng Lan is obviously higher than the purchase price of tea in previous years, which can be said to have given enough sincerity.

Zhu Ming put forward additional conditions: "The ship in our hand can only be transported to the county seat, and we need an old helmsman to pass through the Golden Gorge. This price is very suitable, but the Zheng family needs to send a merchant ship to transport it away."

The tea garden owner sells tea, and the freight is one of the main costs.

What Zhu Ming meant was very clear. He was not responsible for the transportation, and the Zheng family had to bear the freight.Moreover, he also implied threats, saying that he could not cooperate with the Zheng family, and if he sold the tea to merchants in Xixiang County, he could save a lot of shipping costs.

Zheng Lan has been in business all her life, why can't she understand?

He immediately said: "Fried tea is a new product. It is not well-known and not many people know it. Xixiang County is too small, and I am afraid it will be difficult to sell it. Yangzhou is different. The city is rich and there are many people who are willing to try new things. Zheng Zheng There are some famous people in the family who can help to recommend them. If you really want to send tea by ship, you can also. The purchase price of each grade of tea will have to be reduced by eight cents per catty. If the tea purchased at a time is less than two thousand catties, the price per catty will be further reduced. Five words."

This is to say that fried tea is a new product, and the Zheng family has to take risks and be responsible for marketing.However, the market capacity in Xixiang County is too small, and it is difficult to sell new products. The Zhu family can only sell them to Yangzhou.

Zhu Ming shook his head and said, "It's hard to sell new ones, so let's sell old Tuancha tea. Make less fried tea, keep it for yourself, or give it as a gift."

I don't care what your marketing is, and I don't care what your shipping costs are.The big deal is that I quit, and steamed Tuancha as in previous years, wouldn’t it be delicious to sell to the merchants in Xixiang County nearby?
Zheng Lan thought silently.

His main problem is that he doesn't know the cost of frying tea, which makes it difficult to grasp the bottom line of the negotiation.

The dangerous beach of Huangjinxia 24 is located there, and the transportation cost is still very high, and there is even a risk of ship destruction and death.It is somewhat difficult for the Zheng family to be responsible for the transportation, and they are not willing to lower the price.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "If the Zheng family is in charge of transporting the goods, and the price does not drop, I will turn [-]% of this year's tea into the production of fried tea, which can reach several thousand catties. If it increases to [-]% next year, there must be tens of thousands of catties." , and the production has been increased year by year since then, and it is only sold to the Zheng family!"

Zheng Lan asked, "Why do you only use [-]% for fried tea?"

Zhu Guoxiang explained: "Fried tea is completely different from steamed tea. I have to build a new frying stove, customize a frying pan, and many other modifications. Tea workers also have to teach them new skills. This year, four to five thousand catties of tea will be fried. It’s already too much to say, maybe only two or three thousand catties will be fried in the end.”

"I see." Zheng Lan was even more uncertain about the details.

The process of steaming tea balls is extremely complicated. If the same is true for fried tea, then there are too many things to do.

Zhu Guoxiang also said: "I want to build [-] iron pots in Yangzhou. The faster the better, this requires the help of the Zheng family. The Zheng family must also contact the merchant ship and ask me to take the iron pot back by boat as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late to fry. Make a new wave of tea."

"Yes!" Zheng Lan didn't want to waste time, after all, the tea-picking period was gone in a blink of an eye.

"This price can only be reduced by three renminbi per catty." Zhu Ming added.

Now it is a seller's market, because only Zhu's father and son master the tea-frying technique.If it wasn't for the help of the Zheng family to open up the market, Zhu Ming would not even be willing to drop the three renminbi.

Zheng Lan confirmed again: "Is it really only sold to my family?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "You can write down the contract and write down the price clearly, so that the Zheng family can monopolize it. The contract is signed every five years. After five years, the Zheng family can purchase first."

Zheng Lan thought carefully, five years is very reasonable, he only needs one or two years to open up the market.

Leave another two or three years for the tea horse department, and then the tax on fried tea will definitely be increased, and the purchase price will have to be renegotiated due to taxation.

Immediately took out a pen and paper, and the two parties signed a five-year exclusive acquisition contract.

After finishing business, Zheng Hong said with a smile: "Da Lang, the weapon you ordered is still at my house, why don't you try it now?"

Zhu Ming immediately stood up: "That's exactly what I meant."

The two bid farewell with their hands together, and went to get their weapons.

Zheng Yuanyi followed them like a little follower, regardless of the difference between men and women.

Zheng Lan glanced at it thoughtfully.

He asked Zhu Guoxiang to move to the living room to drink tea, then called his son Zheng Yu to his side, and asked in a low voice, "Did you find out clearly?"

Zheng Yu said: "I have asked people to ask, and Lu Tixue has indeed praised the father and son very much. Min Wenwei also went down the mountain these two days, and asked for some fried tea to entertain guests. Tea, and Zhu Guoxiang is highly respected. There is also Li Sanlang of the state judge, who also has a very good personal relationship with Zhu Ming. At most three to five years, Zhu Ming will be able to study in the Taixue. If it is an imperial examination, he may be admitted to Jinshi next year."

"Li Tong judged officials for generations, and looked down on us merchants, so don't think about the continuation," Zheng Lan said, "This Zhu Chenggong is not bad, and his age is also suitable for your young mother. This person is not only capable of both civil and military skills, but also has a great future. Moreover, during the conversation just now, he didn't seem like a dead book. With such a young talent, we have to start early, and we can first test whether he has a marriage contract."

"Erlang (Fatty Zheng) said that Zhu Chenggong has no engagement yet," Zheng Yu said.

Zheng Lan nodded and said, "I'll check my mouth again when I'm eating."

The ancestors of the Zheng family also had minor officials, but unfortunately they didn't have the title of Jinshi, they were recommended by local officials, and they couldn't be promoted from the eighth rank at the highest.

For several generations of descendants, they are not very good at studying. They have passed many times in the Juren examination, but there is not a single Jinshi.

They can maintain their wealth and status, all rely on marriage and bribery.

In the past hundred years, the Zheng family's son-in-law has had two Jinshi and more than ten Juren.One of the Jinshi's son-in-law was trained by the Zheng family.Another Jinshi son-in-law, but his wife died in Xingdao County, the Zheng family tried their best to marry a daughter to make a sequel.

In Yangzhou Prefecture Government and Xingdao County Government, many subordinate officials are related to the Zheng family, or are simply members of the Zheng family.

Min, Wang, Zheng, and Li, the four major families, jointly control Yangzhou.

The Min and Wang families belonged to the imperial examination family, and both had more than one Jinshi. They owned a large area of ​​land in Xingdao County, and doing business was just a sideline.

Zheng and Li belonged to a family of merchants.

The Zheng family mainly deals in tea, wine and vinegar, which need to be purchased, and they have achieved a semi-monopoly operation in the local market.

The Li family was in the money bank and jewelry business, and secretly bought gold illegally. His ancestral home was in the outskirts of Zhenfu County, and he had a huge influence on the waste gold mines and gold diggers.

But Fatty Zheng took Zhu Ming and went straight to an inner courtyard.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, a little woman came out to greet her, and said with a smile, "The official is here!"

Zheng Hong introduced: "Da Lang, this is my wife Li Xiuxiu, the daughter of the Zhenfu Li family. Although her family is in Zhenfu County, she has a gold shop in Yangzhou City, and my father-in-law is in charge of the gold shop. Xiuxiu Xiu, this is the Zhu Dalang I mentioned."

Zhu Ming made a bow and said, "I've seen my sister-in-law."

"Wanfu, my lord." Li Xiuxiu bowed and returned the salute.

Fatty Zheng led Zhu Ming into the room again, took down the bow and arrow from the wall, and pulled out the iron mace and iron gun from under the bed: "This thing is really heavy, the blacksmith said, even the iron mace of the fierce general is also there." He has never hit a [-]-jin iron mace before."

Zhu Ming said with a smile, "I have great strength, and it's hard to use a few kilograms of iron mace."

Twelve catties of iron maces, eighteen catties of iron spears, plus more than 60 catties of Heavenly King Armor.Zhu Ming could bear it, but he was afraid that the horse would not be physically strong, which would test the endurance and load-bearing capacity of the cornucopia.

Walking into the yard with the weapon in hand, Zheng Hong said, "Let's try your hand, Da Lang."

Holding the iron mace, Zhu Ming asked, "Where to hit?"

Fatty Zheng said loudly: "Hit it casually, if it is broken, replace it with a new one."

The host has already spoken, so the guests are naturally welcome.

Zhu Ming raised his iron mace and slammed it down, smashing the railing under the corridor to pieces.Then he hit the stone beside the flower bed, and with one blow, sparks flew everywhere, and penetrating cracks appeared in the stone.

Fatty Zheng said dumbfounded: "This is going to be hit on the forehead, I'm afraid my head will explode!"

Zheng Yuanyi, who had always been a follower, stared wide-eyed and couldn't close her mouth at this moment. She pressed her chest with her hand, and her heart was beating wildly.

Mr. Zhu Jialang, the poems are written very well, and his strength is unexpectedly great.

Li Xiuxiu stretched out her hand to shield her sister-in-law, slapped her hand, and teased: "You can see straight, do you want to ask someone to be a matchmaker?"

"No!"

Zheng Yuanyi blushed, her eyes were still on Zhu Ming, and she compared him with the men she had seen before.

It seems that none can compare.

Knowledgeable, strong, and handsome, there is no such a good man in Yangzhou City.

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(End of this chapter)