There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 159 Progress in Luoyang (Part )
  Luoyang City, with a circumference of about thirty-three miles, is the top large city in the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, one mile equaled 554 meters, and 33 miles equaled 18.28 kilometers. At that time, the circumference of Kaifeng City was about 14 kilometers, and that of Xi'an was about the same as Kaifeng, about 13.7 kilometers.

At that time, the perimeter of Nanjing, the largest city in the world, was only about 35 kilometers. According to the ranking of later generations, it properly belongs to the first-tier cities of the Ming Dynasty.

During the Ming Dynasty, Luoyang City and Kaifeng City were larger than Xi'an City. After all, King Zhou and King Fu are the precious sons of the old Zhu family. Only the closest son can enjoy happiness in these two places, Luoyang and Kaifeng.

Luoyang City, West Street.

After a burst of firecrackers, a red cloth covering the plaque was pulled down, revealing the "Lee's Trading" sign. After ten days of intense preparations, Li Xiongzhen’s shop in Luoyang finally opened.
  "Shopkeeper Li, congratulations!"

Li Yongtu, a household clerk in Luoyang County under Luoyang Prefecture, and several familiar shopkeepers nearby congratulated him.

"Thank you all, please visit inside." Li Xiongzhen greeted.

The group of people walked into Li's shop and saw rows of glass products and wool products on the first floor of the store, and various antiques, calligraphy and paintings, pearls and jade on the second floor.

There are two empty mineral water bottles placed in a conspicuous place on the second floor, with a guard standing next to them. They look very precious at first glance.

"Shopkeeper Li, you are very powerful. The goods inside are all valuable." Li Yongtu praised while looking at it. He is a member of Li Fei's clan and works as a scribe in the county government office. He is the most useful relationship between Li Xiongzhen and the others. .

"Whether it's valuable or not depends on selling it, and Li Shuli needs to introduce it." Li Xiongzhen replied.

"Hey, what kind of treasure is this? Why is it so magical?" Shopkeeper Ma, the supplier of Li's Cereals and Oils in Luoyang, asked after seeing the mineral water bottle.

"This is a bottle made of special material, from the West, and the quantity is very limited." Li Xiongzhen introduced.

"Can you let me touch it?" Shopkeeper Ma asked.

"Yes, you can, but this thing is very precious. You must be careful not to press it hard." Li Xiongzhen explained.

Shopkeeper Ma received permission and carefully picked up the bottle. He looked at it and exclaimed: "This bottle is so light, seems to be soft, and so crystal clear. It is indeed a treasure."

After hearing this, everyone gathered around to watch. One shopkeeper boldly asked: "May I ask Shopkeeper Li, how to sell this bottle?"

"The quantity of this item is limited, so it is not sold at a fixed price. At the beginning of each month, we will organize an auction to bid and sell it." Li Xiongzhen replied, which was also the method Lin Feng taught him before he came.

"What is an auction?"

"It means taking out a precious commodity, such as this bottle, and letting everyone who participates in the auction bid. The one with the highest bid will get it."

"Oh, this method is so novel."

"It's already late March, and there aren't many days left until the beginning of April, so I'll wait a few days before buying again to see if I can buy it," said a shop owner.

"Yes, on the first day of April, our store will hold a sales meeting. Everyone is welcome to come and support us." Li Xiongzhen invited.

"Definitely, definitely!" everyone agreed.

In the evening, after the shops closed, Li Xiongzhen, Li Fei, Meng Xin, Fang Xiaolin, Fang Tiedan and others sat in a circle and began to take stock of the day's opening.

"General shopkeeper, today we mainly sold about ten pieces of glass products, and also sold some jade, with a total sales revenue of about 150 taels." Meng Xinhui, the third shopkeeper of the shop, reported.

"Hey, the sales today are not ideal. Even if it is 150 taels per day, it is only more than 4,000 taels a month, which is far from supporting the Zhenming Army." Li Fei continued.

"Yes, the weather is getting warmer, and wool products can no longer be sold. Now we mainly rely on colored glaze, but our shop has just opened, it is not famous yet, and the customer flow is not large. Now the business is almost normal." Meng Xin analyzed road.

"Let's talk about how to increase the popularity of the store, especially among dignitaries, so that we can make money. Ordinary people are not very interested in products like colored glaze, and even if they are interested, they can't afford them." Li Xiongzhen said.

"We can't get in touch with high-ranking officials now, but their young masters generally like to go to brothels. We can go to brothels to promote them." Li Fei came up with an idea.

"Haha, it seems that Mr. Li often visits brothels." Li Xiongzhen teased.

"My father is very strict, how dare you? I heard it from some friends in Fugu." Li Fei quickly denied it.

"But don't tell me, this is indeed a way. I also brought Yuanshan to me for washing gel. This really needs the help of a popular girl in the brothel to help promote it." Li Xiongzhen said.

As soon as they heard that they could visit brothels with public funds, several people immediately became interested and started discussing where to visit and how to visit, almost forgetting the serious business of selling products.

The business of "Li's Shop" was still sluggish the next day. Thanks to the high-quality and low-priced glass, the sales increased slightly by a few taels compared with the previous day.

Li Fei also found out that the famous brothel near the shop was the "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" on Kangle Street in Luoyang, which was half an hour's walk away.

A few people just did what they said. After all, there was nothing to hesitate about visiting a brothel.

After dark in the evening, Li Xiongzhen took Li Fei and Fang Xiaolin to "Ten Miles of Spring Breeze".

"Ten Miles of Spring Breeze" is built at the corner of Kangle Street. The whole building is made of mahogany, and the building is about seven feet high. Many red cloth lanterns are hung in front of the eaves. After one watch, the lanterns upstairs are lit up, making it really bright. Li Xiongzhen used to do business in Taiyuan, and he also went to the brothel to socialize. He was not a raw melon egg, but he went in as if he was familiar with the house.

The old bustard who was welcoming the guests saw the guests, and immediately came up to greet them and said, "The officials looked at me strangely. Is this the first time that I have come to Chunfeng Shili?"

"Haha, my friend recommended this place to be good, so I came to have a look." Li Xiongzhen said.

"So, what are your plans for the evening? Is it drinking, listening to music, or spending the night?" the madam introduced in a professional manner.

"Is there any popular girl free tonight? Please come and play a little tune and have a drink." Li Xiongzhen didn't forget that he was here to promote products, so he must find a popular girl to be effective.

"Of course there are popular girls, and Xiaojiao, the top girl in the building, is also available at night, but does the price have to be a lot more expensive?" the old madam said reservedly.

"It doesn't matter if it's more expensive, but I don't know how much it is?" Li Xiongzhen thought it was better to ask more clearly, so as not to be embarrassed if he had no money to pay the bill.

"Xiaojiao and the maid will accompany a few guests to a banquet and play a few songs. It will cost about twenty taels of silver." The madam introduced.

To have a meal with him and play a few pieces of music would cost an ordinary person half a year's income, which was indeed expensive enough.

"It's okay. Xiao Lin will give thirty taels of silver to the bustard first. When the time comes, he will give back more and make up less." Li Xiongzhen explained.

Fang Xiaolin immediately took out the money and handed it to the madam. As soon as the madam saw the cash, she smiled at the corners of her eyes, and her attitude became several times more enthusiastic as she said, "Brother, I'm so generous, I'll make arrangements for you right away."

Not long after, a maid came down and led Li Xiongzhen and the others to a private room upstairs, where a table of exquisite side dishes was already placed.

After waiting for a while, a graceful girl wearing a yellow shirt and skirt walked in with her maid Pingping.

"I've met the young master!" the girl saluted.

"Girl, please sit down. I don't know what to call you?" Li Xiongzhen asked.

"My name is Shen Zirou, and my mother also calls me Xiaojiao. Let me give you a drink first, sir." Shen Zirou made the introduction while asking the maid to pour a glass of wine, and raised her glass to Li Xiong.

So people at the table started having a drink.

After three rounds of drinking, when Shen Zirou was about to get up to play music, Li Fei pretended to accidentally get some grease from the dish onto Shen Zirou's delicate hands.

Shen Zirou frowned. The grease was quite thick and difficult to wash off. She always liked to be clean, and she felt very uncomfortable, so she got up and wanted to leave and clean up.

"Miss Shen, wait a minute. I have a magical lotion here that can easily wash away grease and never leave any odor. Xiao Lin, take a bottle of grease and wash it out." Li Xiongzhen saw the opportunity and ordered.

Fang Xiaolin immediately took out the shower gel in a glass bottle from the bag and handed it to Shen Zirou.

When Shen Zirou saw how exquisite the bottle was, she took it over and asked, "The packaging of this item is so exquisite. It seems that it must not be a mortal thing. I just don't know how to use it?"

"Take off the oil paper from the mouth of the bottle, then pick out a little bit of the liquid, put it on your hands, and spread it with a little water." Li Xiongzhen introduced while gesturing.

There happened to be a basin of water on the dressing table in the room. Li Xiongzhen motioned to Fang Xiaolin to bring it over. He helped Shen Zirou soak in some body wash and wash it off. After adding water and kneading it for a while, fine foam came out, and the oil was quickly removed. Wash it cleanly.

The back of Shen Zirou's originally white hands looked more delicate and exuded a pleasant fragrance. She touched the back of her hand, put it under her nose, smelled it and said, "It's so impressive to cleanse the skin!"

"Since the girl likes it, I will give you this bottle of Xiongzhi." Li Xiongzhen said generously.

"Really, thank you sir, but this is too expensive." Shen Zirou obviously wanted it very much, but she felt it was too expensive and was afraid that Li Xiongzhen would make any excessive demands.

"Take it, Miss Shen. This gel cleanser is very suitable for girls. If you think it is useful, please help us promote it. We will hold an auction at our Li's store on West Street on the first day of April." Li Xiongzhen introduced.

"That's it, then I'll accept it. I'll definitely introduce it to my good sisters. This is much better than saponaria and the like." When Shen Zirou heard this request, she agreed with confidence.

After the business was done, Li Xiongzhen felt relieved and asked Shen Zirou to play a few pieces of music. This girl was smart, proficient in music, played the piano well, and had a beautiful singing voice. He almost fell in love after hearing this, so he quickly said goodbye and left Shili Chunfeng. .

"Miss, this Mr. Li turns out to be a businessman." The maid said a little disdainfully.

"The things he sells are not simple. I have never seen such a good cleaning product. I have to try it again when I take a bath at night." Shen Zirou said.

"Miss, it will definitely be good for you. Mr. Li is such a fool. He only wants to sell goods when he comes to our brothel." The maid continued.

"That's because he is dedicated. Mr. Li is also very polite. He is not like ordinary vulgar businessmen. You must not be rude next time he comes over." Shen Zirou explained.

"I know." The maid replied.

　Let’s look at Li Xiongzhen’s development of shopping malls in Luoyang.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)