The Red Chamber: The Rise of the Lin Mansion

Lin Yun nodded and said: "The Jia family has two prefectures, Rongning and Ningxia, which occupy a street in the capital. How big do you think the area should be?"

Xue Pan smacked his lips and said, "The two prefectures occupy one street, which is really big enough."

While talking, the two came to the main hall of the back house, and saw Aunt Xue leading Sister Bao standing in front of the door to greet them.

Lin Yun quickly stepped forward, saluted Aunt Xue and said, "How dare you bother Auntie to come out to greet her in person."

Aunt Xue said with a smile all over her face: "I didn't even have time to thank you for the hasty farewell last time. Thank you for supporting the girl Yimei launched by our Xue family in the Oiran Competition."

Lin Yun hurriedly said: "This is all as it should be, you don't have to be polite, Auntie."

Baochai walked up to Lin Yun, bowed and saluted, "Baochai pays homage to Brother Lin."

Lin Yun cupped his hands in return and said, "Sister, you don't have to be polite."

Aunt Xue: "Today, someone brought some new fruits. Brother, come in and taste a few, so that Auntie can do her best."

"Thank you, Auntie."

Lin Yun knew that Aunt Xue must have something to discuss with him, so he followed the mother and daughter into the living room and sat down.

After several people sat down, a maid brought up a mahogany tray with sliced ​​watermelons on it.

Lin Yun was not surprised when he saw it. After all, the Xue family was engaged in business, and the circulation of goods must be much more convenient than that of officials.

Seeing that Lin Yun didn't show any surprise, Aunt Xue nodded inwardly. It's no wonder that Brother Yun has seen the world, and his demeanor is not comparable to that of ordinary people.

While eating watermelon, Lin Yun looked at Sister Bao who was sitting next to Aunt Xue.

Sister Bao is wearing a pink and white silk and satin double-breasted gown today, her jet-black hair is combed into a simple bun, a gold hairpin is inserted on the left side, and a cluster of curvy short bangs is combed on her forehead, making her look pretty and cute.

When Lin Yun was looking at Sister Bao, the little girl happened to be secretly looking at him, and when she found that Lin Yun was looking at her, she blushed with shame and quickly lowered her head.

Seeing this, Aunt Xue smiled and said, "Brother Yun, I heard that Uncle Lin also has a beloved daughter, who is older than our Baochai?"

Lin Yun: "Yu'er is eight years old this year, how old is Sister Baochai?"

Xue Pan: "My sister is nine years old this year, just one year older."

Baochai looked up at Lin Yun and asked, "What does Sister Lin usually like to play?"

Lin Yun said with a smile: "Yu'er usually likes to study, but she is very good at playing chess. The girls in Jia's family have all been bullied by her. Sister Baochai must not agree to play chess with her when she sees her in the future." chess."

Baochai was unconvinced and said: "How does the Lin family brother know that the younger sister will definitely lose?"

"Uh,"

Lin Yun smiled embarrassingly: "I'm sorry, I made a slip of the tongue."

Aunt Xue hurriedly complained to her daughter: "Your Brother Lin is kindly reminding you, how can you talk like that."

Then, she smiled at Lin Yun and said, "Brother Yun, our little girl is not sensible, so don't be as knowledgeable as her."

Lin Yun hurriedly said: "It's my fault, I shouldn't have underestimated Sister Baochai."

Xue Pan smiled at Baochai: "Sister, you don't know yet, I heard that elder brother Lin couldn't find a match in chess at the Imperial College, so he must have taught the younger sister of the Lin family, the level of chess must be very good. "

Baochai blinked her big eyes, looked at Lin Yun and asked, "Brother Lin, my brother didn't lie to me, did he?"

Lin Yun said embarrassingly: "Brother Xue is too famous, and my level is just average."

Baochai said with a smile: "When I have a chance in the future, my younger sister will ask Lin's elder brother for advice."

Lin Yun smiled wryly, "Okay."

Aunt Xue changed the topic and said, "Brother Yun, after this year's rural examination is over, are you going back to the capital?"

Lin Yun nodded and said, "Yes."

Aunt Xue said happily: "It just so happens that our whole family is going to Beijing in August. How about we go together together?"

Lin Yun: "Being able to travel with my aunt's family is naturally the junior's wish."

Xue Pan said happily: "This is the best. I am worried about being bored on the road. With Big Brother Lin as my companion, it will be much more lively now."

Lin Yun was secretly curious, what exactly was Aunt Xue doing when she went back and forth?

Just when he was puzzled, a servant girl came in and reported to Aunt Xue: "Madam, the second lady from the mansion over there is here."

Aunt Xue hurriedly said, "Please come in quickly."

"Yes, ma'am."

After the maid left, Aunt Xue smiled at Lin Yun: "Second Madam is Tiao'er's mother, and you met that day. I heard Pan'er say that you are interested in the business over there in Guangdong, so I asked her to come over and talk to her." You talk."

Lin Yun immediately understood when she heard the words, Aunt Xue clearly didn't want to let go of the Xue family's business in Guangdong, and wanted to run a partnership with him.

He thought to himself, "Should I agree? Or refuse?"

...

Chapter 181: The Will of the Drunkard

Xue Shang's concubine is Sophie, a Chinese-Portuguese mixed race. She can speak both Chinese and fluent English. Presumably this is the main reason why Second Master Xue took her as his concubine.

The Xue family's foreign trade business in Guangdong needs to deal with Franji, and having an honest and reliable translator is more important than anything else to Mr. Xue, who doesn't understand English.

When Xue Shang died of illness, not only Aunt Xue lost her reliable helper, but Sophie also lost her position.

She pinned everything on her husband, and once Xue Shang died, she became a rootless duckweed, with no one to rely on.

Hearing that Aunt Xue wanted Lin Yun to take over the Xue family's foreign trade business in Guangdong, Sophie began to disapprove.

When she thought about it, a 14-year-old boy, even if he had never seen Franji, why should he take over the Xue family business.

The stewards of the Xue family in Guangdong are all treacherous and cunning. They want to fool a young man who has never seen the world, and it is not as easy as playing.

...

From Sophie's perfunctory attitude towards him, Lin Yun guessed what she was thinking.

He knew in his heart that when dealing with this kind of woman, only by defeating her at her strongest point can she be convinced.

Immediately, Lin Yun asked Sophie in fluent Japanese: "Second Madam, who is the Governor-General of Franji who lives in Macau? How many soldiers does he have under his command? How many merchant ships does your Xue family have in Guangdong? Send the ship out to sea by yourself, or follow the Franji man to take a ride with the wind?"

Not only was Sophie stunned when she heard this, but even the three members of the Xue family opened their mouths in shock.

Xue Pan pointed to Lin Yun and asked, "Brother Lin, how can you speak Francine?"

Lin Yun smiled and said: "Since I want to do sea trade business, I must learn foreign languages ​​first. Otherwise, I would be a fool if I was sold out without knowing it."

Sophie quickly stood up, bowed to Lin Yun and said: "Mr. Lin, I was rude just now. You are indeed a business genius. I am willing to serve you."

Lin Yun waved his hand and said with a smile: "Second Madam, please sit down. Let's have a good talk first. I know nothing about the situation on the other side of the Guangdong Sea. Please tell me the truth."

"Okay, now I will tell you the situation in Guangdong. If you have any questions, sir, you can ask me face to face."

"Thank you!"

...

Lin Yun and Sophie both spoke English, and Aunt Xue was confused. She raised her hand and tugged at her daughter's sleeve, called Baochai to the inner room, and smiled wryly at her, "I thought I could borrow the money from the scorpion." My mother came to press Brother Yun, but who would have thought that he could speak Francine, now all my painstaking efforts are in vain."

Baochai laughed and said, "Isn't this better? My daughter was worried that Lin's elder brother was too young to restrain the stewards outside. Now it seems that my daughter is just worrying too much."

Aunt Xue: "Having said that, Brother Yun is so powerful, the help our Xue family can provide him is very limited. I'm afraid he may not be willing to partner with our family in foreign trade."

Baochai: "Daughter thinks that the elder brothers of the Lin family will probably agree."

"Oh, why are you so sure?"

"It's very simple. Even if the brother of the Lin family brings people there now, it won't take a year or so, and he won't be able to open up business routes to the outside world. What's more, he has to take the provincial examination in August, so he has no time to go to Guangdong."

Aunt Xue said happily when she heard the words: "It's still my daughter who is thoughtful, mother, I almost made a mistake."

Baochai reminded again: "Having said that, mother still has to be careful. The brother of the Lin family is obviously well prepared. Mother has to be careful that he kicks our family away and cooperates directly with the foreign woman."

Aunt Xue panicked when she heard this, and she hurriedly said: "You're right, mother should go outside and watch right now, lest they play tricks behind my back."

After Aunt Xue left, Baochai secretly blamed herself again, "Brother Lin's family takes care of their Xue family like this, but I think of him as bad, it really shouldn't be."

...

Naturally, Lin Yun was not as complicated as Baochai thought. He supported the people of the Four Seas Gang to do maritime trade simply to save a way out.

In this era when there is a possibility of family raids at any time, it is undoubtedly the most unreliable thing to pin your hopes on the emperor. In the name of making money from smuggling, secretly developing a fleet is the last resort for him to settle down.

Of course, this matter has to be done step by step. At present, the main thing is to make money. As long as you have money, other things will be possible.

To Lin Yun's disappointment, Xue's family didn't have any ships in Guangdong Sea. They just transported the goods to Guangdong Sea, sold them to Frangji, bought some foreign goods from Frangji merchants, and shipped them to the north. Sell ​​and earn the difference.

Although this profit is quite a lot, it is not what Lin Yun pursues.What he needs is a fleet capable of dominating the South China Sea, not just making some hard money.

However, he could only keep these words in his heart, and he could not reveal a word.

Facing Aunt Xue's request for cooperation, Lin Yun readily agreed.Anyway, the Xue family has its own sales channels, so he just needs someone to help supervise the foreign affairs of the Xue family in Guangdong, so that they don't dare to embezzle the owner's money.

After getting Lin Yun's promise, Aunt Xue was secretly happy, so she asked her concubine named Sophie to accompany Lin Yun for dinner.

Although Aunt Xue is half-mature, Sophie is also beautiful and has an exotic style, but with Xue Pan, a big light bulb, Lin Yun feels awkward. After a few drinks, he excuses that he still has to study at night, Can't drink too much, take the initiative to say goodbye.

Aunt Xue's wish had already been fulfilled, and she didn't do much to keep her. She asked him to come to the house as a guest when she was free, and let him go.

...

As soon as Lin Yun returned to Rongguo Mansion, he heard good news that members of the Four Seas Gang brought Xiangling's mother here.

After Pearl got acquainted with Xiangling, she offered to help Xiangling find her family.

Lin Yun was trying to find an excuse so that Xiangling's mother and daughter could meet each other, and now with Pearl's help, he was naturally happy to see it happen.

Therefore, he revealed Xiangling's life experience to the members of the Four Seas Gang, and asked them to help find the whereabouts of Xiangling's mother.

The members of the Four Seas Gang are naturally familiar with doing this kind of thing. It only took them six days to find Xiangling's mother and escort her to Jinling to meet her daughter.

The reunion of mother and daughter was naturally a mixture of joy and sorrow. After Xiangling introduced her mother to Lin Yun, she asked Lin Yun to let Madam Zhen stay so that she could fulfill her filial piety.

Xiangling's father could not find anyone for a long time, and the wife of the Zhen family didn't want to go back to her natal family, so she offered to stay in the mansion as a maid.

Naturally, Lin Yun couldn't let her sell herself as a slave, so he proposed to let her help Miss Liu with things. This was considered an easy job, and he could spend more time with Xiangling.

After the perfume shop here in Jinling opened, Miss Liu went to check the accounts every now and then, but she had nothing to do.

Hearing that Lin Yun was going to do big business in Guangdong, Miss Liu took the initiative to ask to go to Guangdong to help open up business routes.

Lin Yun was taken aback by her request. Guangdong Hai was full of Francophones. He would not dare to let a beauty like Miss Liu go to do business. His face is gone.