Don't wait for the east wind or tide, cross the river and stop for nine miles.
I don’t know which bridge the Qinhuai River will reach in Yangzhou tonight.
Taking a leisurely ride on the lucky boat, looking at the lanterns and boats on both sides of the way, and the small Qinhuai River where even the ripples were telling the story of centuries of romance, Jia Lian couldn't help feeling that Yangzhou was worthy of being a thousand-year-old city, rich and prosperous, in this small The two sides of the Xiao Qinhuai River have been perfectly reflected.
Not long after, a rather majestic five-story restaurant appeared on the bank of the increasingly open river ahead. Its tallness and splendor completely outshone all other buildings around it. On the plaque hanging high above the gate, the three clear gold-painted characters "Wangjiang Tower" looked extremely bright when surrounded by bright lanterns.
This is the most famous restaurant in Yangzhou City, and it is also a place where wealthy businessmen and powerful people from all over the world will almost come to have fun when they come to Yangzhou.
It's a pity that tonight, this huge restaurant is not as lively as it used to be, and seems very quiet.
After getting off the Chuanbu Pavilion, Jia Lian laughed when he saw Zhou Boru and others waiting on the corridor in front of the restaurant's door: "I'm late. It's rude to keep Zhou Hui waiting for a long time."
Zhou Boru hurriedly bent down and said he didn't dare. When he introduced Jia Lian into the restaurant, he introduced the history of Wangjiang Tower and the characteristics of the place. He also said that the building had been booked by them tonight and no one would come to disturb him. , so that Jia Lian can enjoy Jiangnan wine and delicacies tonight with peace of mind, and listen to a few Wunong tunes.
Although Jia Lian felt that it was a waste to book the entire restaurant for him, he didn't say anything. Anyway, it was not his money that was wasted.
For these salt merchants, if they don't spend more money on him now, they will feel uneasy and worried that he will miss their family's treasury.
"Welcome to you, your Majesty the Imperial Envoy!"
Arriving on the third floor, we entered a ridiculously large private room, and sure enough, all the remaining salt merchants in Yangzhou City were in it.
"You don't have to be polite, please take a seat."
Jia Lian's politeness and friendliness exceeded the expectations of the salt merchants. Looking at Jia Lian, who was smiling and casually sitting on the throne, it was hard for the salt merchants to believe that the smiling young man in front of them was the imperial envoy who acted decisively and ruthlessly, and often killed people and ransacked homes.
Is it that the preparations made by President Zhou and the others these days are effective, or is Jia Lian not a greedy person at all?
The reason why they raided the Zhao family and the Wang family was actually just because they sent people to assassinate him and made him really angry? Then the Feng family was really punished because they had committed too many crimes?
If this is the case, then things tonight should go smoother than expected.
They really couldn't stand the days of having a knife held to their necks and having their lives taken away by others at any time. So as long as the matter can be solved, it doesn't matter what the price is.
It’s not that I didn’t think about resisting, it’s that I just couldn’t resist anymore. The Zhao family and Wang family that tried to resist have all disappeared.
This is not because they are too weak, but because Jia Lian is too strong.
Above, Jia Lian is the imperial envoy who came to investigate them on orders, and he has great righteousness at hand.
I, Jia Lian, had already calmly controlled Yangzhou City with absolute force. Even the doorsteps of their respective homes are strictly controlled by officers and soldiers, so their every move is under Jia Lian's surveillance. ….
Under such circumstances, the only result of resistance is to follow in the footsteps of the Zhao family and the Wang family.
Therefore, after the banquet started, more than 20 middle-aged or elderly salt merchants acted as diners with caution. Only when Jia Lian raised his head and ordered them to do something, did they dare to move a little.
Jia Lian himself was very comfortable. To be honest, it was the first time for him to attend such a luxurious and standard banquet.
When he was in Beijing, before Xi Jue, he was just a stubborn boy. After becoming a noble, he was eligible to enter the palace to receive state banquets, etc., but he missed it due to various errands.
In fact, in Jia Lian's opinion, even a state banquet in the palace may not be as luxurious as the table in front of him.
There is no need to talk about wine, let’s just talk about dishes, such as shark fin and bird’s nest, if you can’t make them in any way
Come on, you’re not even qualified to serve.
All kinds of rare and eccentric dishes, which looked extremely exquisite and expensive at first glance, were served in turn. As long as the three dishes were passed after the introduction, and Jia Lian did not touch the taiko, the waiters would withdraw under Zhou Boru's eyes. Go down so that new dishes can be brought up...
In just half a stick of incense, dozens of dishes have been passed around, and they are still being served in a steady stream. I don’t know when they will end. At this time, even Jia Lian, who was somewhat predictable, couldn't help but feel that this was too extravagant, so he put down his kuaizi and asked with a smile: "How many dishes have you prepared tonight?"
"No more, no more, there are only 108 Jiangnan famous dishes... If you feel that this is not enough, I have also prepared a list of famous dishes from all Jiangnan provinces. Sir, please take a look and if you want to try it, The adults just hook up, and I will go down and arrange the cupboard doors in the restaurant."
The old man from the Xu family, one of the five major salt merchants, stood up and presented the booklet.
Zhou Boru also smiled and said, "Sir, you don't have to worry that the chefs in Wangjiang Tower can't cook it well. Wangjiang Tower receives wealthy people from all over the world every day, so it recruits famous chefs from all over the world.
Wangjianglou even once said that in the entire Jiangnan area, there are only dishes that others have mentioned, but there is nothing they can't make. "
Jia Lian took the book, opened it and took a look, but did not take his order seriously. Are you kidding me? One hundred and eight dishes are already the standard for the legendary Manchu-Han banquet, right?
To be honest, these salt merchants were already suspected of overstepping their bounds by entertaining him with such specifications.
In this era, the crime of transgression is ubiquitous, and it is difficult to have a fixed standard for how to define it.
But it can be summarized in one sentence: if the emperor does not enjoy it, the ministers cannot enjoy it; if the ministers cannot enjoy it, the common people cannot enjoy it.
At least Jia Lian was sure that Emperor Ning Kang would not eat more than a hundred dishes in one meal!
Putting the booklet with countless dishes in his arms, thinking that it might be useful in the future, Jia Lian ordered the next dishes not to be served.
Zhou Boru and others didn't say anything. They noticed that Jia Lian was somewhat satisfied with the dishes, so they clapped their hands calmly.
"哐啷啷~~"
The two maids pushed open the partition door next to them, revealing another world inside. ….
Jia Lian turned his head and looked, and saw that the light in this separate hall, which was smaller than the main hall, was much brighter than the main hall.
There was not much else in that compartment, only about a dozen beauties.
It's not surprising that there are beauties in a place like this. What made Jia Lian look at him was that each of the more than ten beauties standing together and dancing were so beautiful and charming.
Glancing over them one by one, there was not a single one with a slightly worse appearance.
Even Shen Pan'er, who had disappeared after getting off the boat, changed into a dance skirt and joined them. When he saw Jia Lian's gaze, he remained motionless, but quietly gave him a wink with his eyes.
Seeing the admiration in Jia Lian's eyes, the old man Xu smiled and asked, "What do you think of these women, sir?"
"Yes, they are all very good."
It is pleasing to the eye to gather all the best beauties together. Even Jia Lian is embarrassed to say anything against his will.
"Hehehe, it's fine if you think it's good, sir. These women are all famous courtesans in Jiangnan, and the minimum fee for each of them to appear is at least twenty taels of silver.
You adults may not know that among brothels all over the south of the Yangtze River, the general appearance fee can reach two taels of silver, which can be regarded as the top of each brothel. Those who can reach twenty taels of silver are rare everywhere. Even in our city of Yangzhou, there are only a few oiran ladies who dare to quote twenty taels of silver or more for their appearance fees..."
Jia Lian naturally also knows that in brothels, appearance fees are the most important indicator of an oiran's worth.
After all, only if there are so many dignitaries willing to pursue him can he get a higher appearance fee.
Although there are brothels all over the south of the Yangtze River, there are also countless courtesans.
But not many can spread their reputation.
It's really rare to find a naturally beautiful woman, and it's even rarer to have someone with extraordinary sexual skills. With two taels of silver, he can be called the leading figure in the general flower house, which is reasonable.
Even though two taels of silver is not much, a young lady from the Jia family and the Duke Hou Men's family only earns this amount a month.
And these top oirans just come out in front of the guests, dance and sing a song, and easily get a few taels of silver. Of course, if you go out to a banquet and perform for a distinguished person, the appearance fee will naturally be higher.
It can be seen from this that how rare the courtesan is who dares to set the minimum appearance fee of twenty taels of silver, and how confident he is in his own beauty.
I'm afraid most brothels in the south of the Yangtze River wouldn't be able to get such an oiran lady, right?
This also made Jia Lian feel emotional. He was indeed a wealthy salt merchant. Are you inviting all the famous oiran ladies from all over the south of the Yangtze River?
No wonder these salt merchants decided to hold the banquet today. I'm afraid these few days are just the time to prepare these tricks for them!
Of course, Jia Lian would not honestly think that an courtesan with twenty taels of silver would be more beautiful than one with fifty taels of silver. Jia Lian still understood the benefits of celebrity. For example, for later generations of female celebrities, it does not mean that whoever has a higher appearance fee is necessarily more beautiful.
At least it's a metric.
Sure enough, Zhou Boru also added at this time: "Xu Yuanwai is right, these oiran ladies can't be hired even if they have money...
If it weren't for the fact that the adults are famous all over the world, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to invite them to perform for the adults even if they were paid a hefty reward. "
Jia Lian half believed this.
No matter how highly valued they are, they are nothing more than playthings. As long as you're willing to pay the price, it's hard to get someone you can't really please.
Taking the current situation as an example, they clearly stated that there are only a few people in Yangzhou who can meet the minimum appearance fee of twenty taels or more, but there are more than ten here, and most of them are obviously invited from other state capitals. If based on his reputation, these pampered courtesans came all the way to perform for him, Jia Lian would not be so sentimental.
Of course, Jia Lian also believes that oiran ladies who have reached this point have a certain degree of freedom and a certain right to choose their clients.
Not caring much about this, Jia Lian just asked: "May I ask President Zhou, how much was Miss Pan'er's appearance fee before?"
Zhou Boru also thought that Shen Pan'er was already having an affair with Jia Lian, so he politely introduced: "Miss Pan'er used to pay one hundred and fifty taels for an appearance. Of course, this refers to the price for Miss Pan'er to pick up guests at the Jiaofang. There are more than this number of people who are invited to perform like tonight.
Sir, you know that Miss Pan'er has the status of being the number one dancer in Yangzhou City, so she can reach this level of wealth. In fact, the most famous oiran ladies in Jiangnan, even the top four oiran ladies in Jiangnan every year, only earn this amount for their appearance.
Of course, there is also a surprise..."
Having said this, Zhou Boru deliberately let it slip and turned around to give him a look.
As the music of the piano suddenly sounded, Shen Pan'er and others, who had been posing for a long time in the next hall, began to dance leisurely.
From this, Jia Lian noticed that in the next hall, behind the dancing postures of Shen Pan'er and others, there was a gauze curtain hanging down from the beam. Behind the gauze curtain, a beauty can be seen faintly playing the strings of the piano elegantly.
The sound of the piano also came from behind the gauze curtain.
From the way Shen Pan'er and others danced quietly to the music, Jia Lian could understand that the protagonist of tonight's performance was the person behind the scenes.
Thinking of the expressions of Zhou Boru and others, as well as the current encounter on the Xiao Qinhuai River, Jia Lian had roughly guessed who the person playing the piano was.
Perhaps influenced by the discussions of the Confucian scholars he heard on the blessed ship, Jia Lian, who originally thought the sound of the piano was pleasant, actually felt that the sound of the piano was extraordinary after he calmed down and listened.
It's as quiet as the morning rain in the mountains and forests, and as clear as the chirping of hundreds of birds.
Jia Lian laughed at himself. Sure enough, he was arty.
It is a human habit that for a moment, when he listened to the other person's music, he felt as if he had become the other person's close friend.
This is a disease and must be cured.
When the song ended, the dancers filed away, leaving only dozens of eyes staring straight at the hanging gauze curtain.
After a while, Fang heard the sound of people inside getting up, and a tall and beautiful woman walked out of the room.
It was indeed the beauty I saw on the boat.
At this time, under the bright light in the hall, Jia Lian could see the other party's face even if the other party was still covered with a gauze as thin as a cicada's wings. ….
Although Jia Lian had been mentally prepared for a long time, when he saw it suddenly, he was slightly shocked.
What a beautiful face, what a cool orchid temperament.
The beauty of this woman was as expected by Jia Lian. What was rare was that her facial features and the temperament she exuded all over were very similar to Miaoyu.
The ages are also similar.
Even in every move she makes, there is a natural and extreme elegance that is unmatched by women in the world. This point is incomparable to Miaoyu, who purely relies on her coldness to express her "innocent elegance".
To be fair, at first sight, this woman was even more beautiful than Miaoyu.
This is really hard not to surprise Jia Lian. Because ever since he met Miaoyu, Jia Lian had never felt that anyone could beat Miaoyu in terms of appearance and temperament.
Perhaps only the longer Baochai and the Queen Mother in the palace can compare. It's just that Baochai has a plump figure and doesn't follow the same route as these two girls.
And the Queen Mother is over thirty after all. Jia Lian found out the Queen Mother's true age from Princess Zhaoyang.
"My dear Qingyi, I would like to pay my respects to the imperial envoy and all the gentlemen."
The beauty's voice is as clear and beautiful as her temperament, just like the gentle call of a nightingale, which makes one's ears and heart feel numb at first hearing.
At this moment, Jia Lian finally knew why those people on the Xiao Qinhuai River were so excited when they guessed that the person playing the dongxiao was this woman.
When Zhou Boru saw that Jia Lian's eyes were all on this woman, he felt relieved, and it was not in vain that he hastened to invite her back from Suzhou.
For people like Jia Lian, a truly stunning beauty is more useful than any other means!
So he laughed, waved to the beauty and said, "Qingyi, why don't you come over and pour wine for the imperial envoy, and then sit next to him and serve him well."
"yes."
When the beauty calmly took the jug and walked to Jia Lian's side, Xu Baoan on the other side couldn't help but smile and said, "Do you know the name of the girl in Tsing Yi?"
Jia Lian shook his head.
He was well aware of the eager attitude of these security guards. The Wang family was defeated. In terms of popularity among the big salt merchants, apart from the Zhou family, it was the Xu family.
He must want to take over the original position of vice president of the Wang family's salt bank, and maybe he also wants to get more of Yanyin's share from him.
After three salt merchants were defeated, their share of salt would naturally be divided up by others.
"This girl in green is definitely the number one among the many brothels owned by President Zhou.
It can even be said that she is the number one among all the courtesan ladies in the south of the Yangtze River.
You must have heard of the annual oiran competition in Jiangnan, right? That was sponsored by Nanjiofang, and the girl in Tsing Yi was the first place winner in the previous two Oiran competitions, and was also commonly known as the No. 1 Oiran. "
Xu Baoan said, deliberately giving Jia Lian some time to digest. He was also a little surprised that the Zhou family took out this trump card, and he was happy to see the results.
Jia Lian also cooperated and showed surprise.
"Hahaha, and what President Zhou just said, the court ladies in the whole Jiangnan have the highest appearance fee, which is only one or two hundred taels. Even if someone occasionally offers more than two hundred taels, they are rare, or they are not at all. Not worthy of the name, deceiving oneself and others.…
Only the girl in Tsing Yi, sir, do you know that if the nobles from all the major capitals in the south of the Yangtze River want to see her, they need to pay a price?
How much? "
Xu Baoan wanted to wait for Jia Lian to answer the question, but he saw that Jia Lian had already turned aside to take the wine glass handed over by the beauty. He didn't pay attention to him at all, so he could only smile to himself and said: "Five hundred gold! A full five hundred gold. This is a lot of money." Since the Ding Dynasty was established, looking at the north and the south, there is no such thing!
Moreover, this was not decided by the girl in Tsing Yi herself, but was spontaneously recommended by the girl in Tsing Yi's countless suitors.
It can be said that in the land of Jiangnan, even the dignitaries are proud to meet the girl in green.
Today, the little people have benefited from the adults. Otherwise, we don’t know how many years and months we would have to wait before we can see the girl in blue. "
As Xu Baoan said, he couldn't help but glance at Qing Yi, who was unmoved by his praise and was just quietly adding wine to Jia Lian.
What he said was true. In fact, the biggest purpose of these Jiangnan wealthy businessmen who devoted themselves to opening brothels and cultivating stunning geishas was to win over truly powerful people.
This Gu Qingyi is a seedling that the Zhou family finally found. She usually takes good care of it and is absolutely on guard against those who are not worth investing in.
To others, salt merchants like them are very wealthy, but to the Zhou family, they are obviously not worth investing in, and they are the kind who refuse to see anyone even if they are given money. Otherwise, if they shamelessly forcibly defile someone, the Zhou family would suffer great losses.
When Jia Lian heard this, he also quietly glanced at the beauty beside him who was quiet and completely different from Shen Paner's eager expression.
What those people said was actually true. Five hundred gold is equivalent to five hundred taels of silver, and it’s also the minimum appearance fee? It's indeed outrageous.
Because throughout the history of famous prostitutes, the redemption of famous prostitutes ranged from a few hundred to a few thousand taels of silver.
Doesn't it mean that Gu Qingyi can make as much money as a famous prostitute by just appearing in a few casual appearances?
Then how much money should be paid for her redemption?
However, since a famous prostitute has reached the time of being sold, it probably means that her glory is no longer, that is, the curtain has come to an end, but it cannot be completely compared to this. Just like this beauty in front of me, I'm afraid that even if Xu Baoan and others offer a hundred thousand taels, the Zhou family won't let her go.
Such a beauty, if used well, is of immeasurable value. .
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