in spring

Chapter 322 The first step of making a fortune

I don't know if it was because of Chun Ying's words that Lu Yougui suddenly fell silent, shut himself in the room for a whole day, and did not appear in front of everyone until noon the next day.After dinner, he said to Li Jing: "Eldest Young Master, if you have nothing to do in the next few days, I would like to go to the towns near Suzhou, Songjiang, Huzhou and other places to see if there are any good things. Take some back."

Although Li Jing already had a small official position, this kind of business of buying and selling goods was often done when he was young, and now he has separated his family to support himself. If you want to go, you might as well go with me, so that we can take care of each other."

Lu Yougui had a smile on his face, but he didn't nod his head: "Why bother, Elder Young Master? Just send someone to take care of something. You are an official now. If people in Beijing know about it, it will be bad for your reputation."

Li Jinglue pondered for a while and felt that it made sense, so he put the matter aside for the time being, turned to look at Lu Yougui again, and said with a smile: "It's not easy for you, you are not too young now, and you still have to travel outside. I heard that You have leg wind, so don’t get tired. Even if this disease is bearable now, you should be more careful, so as not to suffer in a few years.”

Lu Yougui wiped his sweat secretly, smiled dryly and walked over.When she was packing her luggage, Chunying broke into a cold sweat when she said this to her daughter, and she said in shame, "It's because I wasn't thoughtful enough. Now our family has come out, but lies will always be exposed one day." It’s okay if you don’t go back to the East Mansion or the Back Street, but if you keep going back, you’re afraid that people will see it.”

Lu Yougui sighed: "At that time, this method was indeed effective, but now it's just a little bit of pretentiousness. Could it be that they find out that you have lied, can they still beat us? Just put it aside and handle our affairs well." It's important." Then she asked Chunying a few words, telling her to stay in the residence as much as possible, not to run around, and then she took Mohan out the door.

Chunying was a little depressed, without Mo Han, she couldn't trust the other male servants, and there was only one Mrs. He, and it was hard to go out all the time, so she had to be patient, wait for her father to come back, and think about her plan by the way.

In my memory, Jiangnan is a land of fish and rice. The surrounding areas of Suzhou and Hangzhou, as well as the Songjiang area, are very prosperous and will become more and more developed.The history of this time and space has changed a lot. Although she is not sure which stage of the Ming Dynasty she is in now, judging from the information collected over the years, it is estimated that it is at least the end of the Ming Dynasty in the history books, and may even enter the Ming Dynasty. Early Qing period.The emperor of the Qing Dynasty who was supposed to sit on the throne of the Forbidden City is still nesting in the small Qing Dynasty in the north.The national strength of the Qing Dynasty is not considered strong, and it has provoked border chaos several times without success. Every year, it depends on Ming Dynasty for food, salt, sugar, cloth, tea, etc., and it will not be able to invade the Central Plains for a while. Jiangnan should Peace can be maintained for quite a long time.

In this case, if she buys fixed assets in a more ideal area around Suzhou, there will definitely be a good room for appreciation.Such assets can be houses, shops, or fields.According to the price she inquired about, the land here is generally only four or five taels of silver per mu, which is much cheaper than in the capital, and the price of good paddy fields is six to eight taels. If it is a remote village, the price may be even lower to be lower.Moreover, the food here is harvested twice a year, and the climate is suitable for growing melons, fruits and vegetables, and there is no need to worry about the way out when growing cotton.In addition, there are dense river networks and many lakes here, so it is very convenient to engage in aquaculture.Thinking of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law who lived near the entrance of Hu Fei’s farm, combined with the gossip I heard in that area, it turns out that women in Jiangnan, rich or poor, basically know how to weave, and the amount of weaving per person per day is enough to feed own up.According to this, if she organizes a weaving workshop, or buys cloth from ordinary people and sells it elsewhere, it will not be difficult.I heard that the fleet going to Nanyang buys a large number of silk fabrics every year, and it is related to the Houfu. Maybe this is another way.Thinking about it this way, Jiangnan is full of business opportunities!

Chunying became even more excited, and hurriedly wrote down the things that came to her mind one by one, considered them one by one, filled in the loopholes, estimated the cost, and then figured out how to deal with various emergencies. The paper is carefully put away.

At this time, in the house where they lived temporarily, the people of the Li family had already started to pack their luggage. They only waited for the young master Li Jing to do something good before returning to Beijing by boat. Some people also went out to see the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River and buy gifts for their families. , or like Lu Yougui, buy some goods and sell them back to Beijing, so as to earn a few taels of pocket money.

On the other hand, Li Xu took care of the housework and started to pack his bags.He planned to take a ride back to Beijing so that he could face his aunt and brother who had always been at odds with each other, but he was still a little uneasy.Although he didn't want to spend money, how could he refuse?After all, I still have to donate a sum of money to go up. On the bright side, there is an elder brother who is an official, and their family also has a support.

Seeing his worried face, Li Xu's wife knew what he was worrying about, so she sighed.Chunying met and asked what was going on. After hearing about the reason, she suddenly thought: My family really has no relatives in the local area. If I really want to settle down in Jiangnan, I still need a few familiar people to help Well, before Hu Fei came back, Li Xu became the best candidate.

So she smiled and said to Li Xu's wife: "Young Mistress Xu, since Young Master Xu has returned to Beijing, he should go to the elders everywhere to say hello to him. The entire Dongfu family has lived in Jiangnan for several years. The second old lady is nothing but the pickles and balsamic vinegar here, but the young masters and ladies have long been accustomed to the food here. Even after returning to Beijing, they still use the Jiangnan food. If the young master Xu can tell them something about Jiangnan today They will be very happy with the news and some Jiangnan scenery.”

Li Xu's wife was a little surprised, thought for a while, and said with a smile: "It's easy, you can tell them."

"I'm only talking about the scenery of the past few days, but I don't know anything about the past few years. Naturally, it can't compare to the fact that Master Xu and Mistress have lived in Suzhou for several years."

Li Xu's wife thought about it too, so she responded with a smile. When she got home and told her husband, Li Xu said, "She is reminding us! Why can my mother and elder brother overwhelm me in the clan? Isn't it because They are acquainted with the Hou's mansion. Does the elder brother have a concubine who was the old lady of the Hou's mansion? Now that the East mansion is up, his family has been away for a long time, and they are not familiar with us, and they are not familiar with the elder brother. I took this opportunity to get close to them. With Dongfu as my backer, even if my mother forces me to take money, I dare not go too far."

Li Xu's wife hurriedly said: "Since that's the case, I'll go back with you! In Dongfu, whether it's your uncle or your aunt, it's not good for you to talk to them directly, but we women don't have this taboo."

The couple packed it up right away, not forgetting to give Chunying a thank you gift.Chunying was a little frustrated: Why did the couple have to leave?It's good to keep one... What about Hu Fei's Zhuangzi now? !

After seven or eight days, Li Jing had already purchased enough goods, loaded them onto the ship, and prepared all his luggage. Now he only needs to wait for everyone to arrive before he can set off back to Beijing.

However, Lu Yougui has not come back yet.

Chunying was a little anxious, no matter how good Jiangnan was, it was still a strange place, maybe some youngsters were after her father, what if there was something good or bad?
Fortunately, Lu Yougui came back on the tenth day, bringing more than 100 bolts of silks and satins of various colors, plus [-] bolts of Songjiang cloth, and other items such as Jiaxing's plain silk, flowered silk, damask silk, and Qingguangwangdian. Silk, pu silk, straight yarn, patterned yarn, interwoven yarn, veiled yarn produced in Huzhou, as well as Hualuo, Suluo, Daoluo, Hexiluo, Qiuluo, etc. produced in Suzhou, and even four horses of makeup. There are all kinds of brocades, and there are five or six carts loaded.

Chunying stared straight at her, and quietly pulled her father over: "Why are there so many? Could it be that you have spent all the money?" But even if you spend all the money, you may not be able to buy so much material, right?

Lu Yougui didn't say anything, but said, "It just happened to happen."

It wasn't until he returned to his room that he said to Chunying: "I walked around the area, and sure enough, I saw a few dental shops specializing in this silk fabric business, which is similar to what I do in Beijing, but their capital Bigger ones require more materials. I originally sold a batch of high-quality label cloth in Songjiang, and the boat left Songjiang not long ago. I had dinner in a small town at noon. After eating, someone came to me to talk about buying cloth. Yes. I saw that the price he offered was not low, so I sold them all to him without saying a word, and immediately went back to Songjiang to sell another batch. Later, I bought silk and satin, and I did the same. As a result, within a few days, I made a profit It cost dozens of taels of silver. Since it was transferred in Jiangnan, the price was not as high as in Beijing, so I simply bought some more, shipped them back to Beijing, and sold them to various silk and satin shops. Take half of it! It’s really the right time to come back to Jiangnan!”

Chunying was happy to hear that, and hurriedly said: "According to this, it is indeed easier to make a living in Jiangnan than in Beijing!"

Lu Yougui nodded, with a bit of complacency between his brows, but also a bit of resignation: "It's a pity...do you remember Wu Di?"

Chunying nodded: "The cloth merchants in the south of the Yangtze River look dark, don't they? His family seems to be in the Songjiang area."

"That's right. I met him by chance, and only then did I know that his father had been ill for several years and couldn't bear it. He passed away at the end of last month. Before he died, he was told to go back to Xuancheng to inherit the family business. Therefore, he is looking for someone to take over these days. His shop and goods. He sells them in a hurry, and the price is kept low. There are a total of [-] to [-] pieces of cloth, all of which are first-class Feihua and Youdun, and they only cost eight cents a piece!"

Chunying was taken aback, made a calculation in her mind, and shouted: "Then what are you waiting for?! Why don't you buy it quickly?! Even if it is a few hundred horses! If it is still at this price, we can make a net profit of seven dollars per horse." Eight cents of silver! Where can I find such a good deal?! Almost half the price!"

Lu Yougui sighed helplessly: "Originally, even if the quantity is smaller and the price is higher, it is very cost-effective, but these cloths are now stored in other warehouses, and it will take three or four days at least to wait for them to arrive. .I thought that maybe I was in a hurry to leave here, and I didn’t have much money, so I just reluctantly gave up.”

Chunying bit her lips: "How much money can you buy with the money that Dad has?"

"It's just a few hundred pieces. Because it's cloth, it's not worth more than silk."

"How is the quality of his cloth? I remember that he used to transport goods to Beijing to sell, and some cloth had been soaked in water, so he still sold it."

"That's not true. I've seen some, and they are all good. Even if they are a little damaged, the price is not bad. When you really want to buy them, you will have to inspect them one by one." Lu Yougui looked up at his daughter, "Why? gone?"

"Father." Chun Ying leaned closer to her father, "How about... let's just buy it?! Since it is a good cloth, it can be resold in Suzhou. We don't need to buy it all at once, but buy it in batches. Come in batches. If that Wu Di cheats, we won't lose too much."

Lu Yougui frowned: "I'm afraid he won't be able to wait, besides, the young master has just sent a message, and he has to leave tomorrow."

Chunying took a deep breath and smiled at her father: "I'll stay."

Lu Yougui was stunned, and Chunying took a step forward: "I'll stay, I've done all these businesses, I'm familiar with the fabrics, I've seen Wu Di, my father left Mohan to help me, and Mrs. He Take care, I will have no problem here. When the cloth is received, I will contact the buyer immediately. When I came back, I had already made a lot of money here.”

"You are a girl..."

"Although I'm a girl, I can do it." Chun Ying looked at her father, "I can't trouble myself. You know it."

Lu Yougui fell silent.He does know, it's just...

"Besides..." Chunying gritted her teeth, "I am here, and I can also help take care of Brother Xiaofei's Zhuangzi. It is close to the port, and it is easy to inquire about his news. Father, if I came so far, it was just to take care of him. It would be too uneconomical to drive Xiao Fei's brother away. Since you know that the tooth shop has a good development prospect, you must have the same intention? Simply... let's take the first step!"

(End of this chapter)