The morning in Yangzhou City in the Qing Dynasty started with tea shops scattered inside and outside the city. During this period, there were dozens of famous tea shops in Yangzhou. Some are simple, some have carved beams and painted columns, and some are simply located in the garden. Some teahouses build rooms near the river and open windows to overlook the lake and mountains. The so-called pavilions, flowers, trees, bamboos and stones, cups, plates, spoons and chopsticks are all exquisite.
Because spring water, lake water, and canal water are mostly used to make tea, the tea tastes fragrant and sweet. Each teahouse has its own specialty snacks, such as various kinds of sesame cakes at Shuanghonglou, soup dumplings at Ermeixuan, Huai dumplings at Wenxingyuan, etc.; as for the meat and hot dried shredded noodles, they are even more indispensable delicacies. .
These tea shops are divided into meat tea and vegetarian tea. The so-called non-vegetarian tea means that in addition to tea, it also sells various snacks; as for vegetarian tea, it only sells tea.
In the Ermeixuan Teahouse next to the Yuanmen Bridge in the old city, Jia Wang was sitting by the window having morning tea. A big boy bought Longjing tea, a drawer of soup dumplings and a small plate of dried shredded silk.
As a dental agent, Jia Wang's recent business has not been bad. After the summer harvest, droughts and floods occurred in many places in Henan. Some farmers and their families fled to northern Jiangsu from Weihui, Zhangde, Huaiqing, Kaifeng and other places. In order to exchange for a morsel of food, many refugees in Henan began to sell Sons sell daughters.
Every time like this, for Jia Wang, a Yaman who is engaged in human trafficking, it is the best time for business. They would go north to Huai'an, Xuzhou, and even Kaifeng and other places to select the most beautiful girls from the four or five-year-old girls who were sold by vends, bring them back to Yangzhou, and then sell them to families who raise thin horses. A baby girl can be bought from refugees in Xuzhou for only one or two dans, but she can sell it for eight to ten dans when she is brought back to Yangzhou. If she sells seven or eight dans at a time, the income is not bad.
Jiawang felt that he was doing a good deed. You must know that in a year of great disaster, these female babies will often become food for the refugees. He rescued these children from hunger and brought them back to Yangzhou to train them; if they were outstanding in appearance and smart, they would be sold to wealthy families as concubines, and they would naturally be well-dressed and well-dressed.
After Jia Wang was full, he was not in a hurry to leave. He took out a square flat wooden box from his pocket, opened it carefully and took out a white cigarette. He also borrowed a light from the person at the next table and started smoking happily.
"Jia Er, you are so rich! You can even afford Tiantian cigarettes." A middle-aged man at the next table joked. Nowadays, this cigarette is becoming more and more famous in Yangzhou, and many salt merchants and officials and gentry are smoking cigarettes. But because the price is too high, ordinary people still smoke dry cigarettes.
"It's so careless. Yesterday I took a gentleman from the North to pick out a thin horse. The gentleman gave me this cigarette casually."
"Good guy! So rich. Is your business successful?"
"No." Jia Wang shook his head and continued: "The master was very generous, but unfortunately he was not satisfied after seeing it for seven or eight times."
"Whose house did you take with you?"
"The Li family in Hedong."
"The Li family doesn't like anyone. What does he want? Chang'e in the sky?"
"Who knows what these gentlemen from the north are up to!"
Since the morning before yesterday, a news began to spread among the teahouses in Yangzhou City. Several wealthy businessmen from the north planned to buy thin horses to take back as concubines.
As soon as the news came out, by noon the day before yesterday, several Yapo agents had already found the residence of the wealthy businessmen outside Gongchenmen. After asking around, I found out that this house actually belonged to the maritime merchant Shen Jingdan, and now there are several wealthy businessmen from Zhili living there.
Jia Wang came to the door yesterday morning. I originally thought that only one person wanted to buy it, but unexpectedly there were five or six people who wanted to buy it, and each of them said they wanted to buy seven or eight to take home, including concubines, cooks, and accountants.
When Jia Wang was talking to an old man named Zhao, he sounded like a banner man. Moreover, during the conversation, Mr. Zhao patted a stack of money bills on the table with an arrogant look on his face; that meant that he was not short of money.
The emperor has visited Yangzhou six times during his southern tour, and he has also met a lot of bannermen’s faction Jia Wang. At first glance, Mr. Zhao looks like a young man who has come to Yangzhou for the first time. I don’t know which family is not smart enough to send such a faction. One came out to do some work. However, there is nothing wrong with Mr. Zhao's official speech, and his words also allude to his background as a bannerman.
Jia Wang glanced at the pile of money notes while the other party turned around, and found that the top note was a three thousand tael instant pay note issued by a local bank. He couldn't help but feel relieved. Besides, when the time comes to choose someone, you won’t be able to take them away without paying enough money.
So he patted his chest and assured Mr. Zhao that the girls on his side were all first-rate in beauty, and he would definitely be satisfied with them.
Unexpectedly, he took people to Li's house in Hedong outside the city in the afternoon. Mr. Zhao saw seven or eight first-class girls in a row and was not satisfied. In the end, he actually showed some interest in a second-class girl.
Thinking of this, Jia Wang was very disdainful and secretly cursed: "These bannermen are really ignorant. They don't want a first-class girl, but they choose a second-class one. What's so good about that Shandong girl? She's tall and has big feet. Besides being able to pull, she can't do anything. I can use the abacus and beads to keep accounts, but I can’t play music, chess, calligraphy or painting at all.”
When he was thinking about whose house he should go to in the afternoon, he suddenly heard a loud woman's voice coming from the door of the tea shop. When he looked sideways, he saw that it was his colleague Chen Yapo.
"Where is the person?! I've been waiting for a long time. Where is the waiter?"
"Come here, come here. Hey, it's from the Chen family. Are you taking it home to eat again today? What do you want?"
"A drawer of soup dumplings, a plate of meat, one hot... no, some boiled dried shreds, and another steamed dumpling."
Several guests who were smoking and drinking tea on the side heard this and asked with a smile: "Chen Yapo, are you rich?"
"No way. Yesterday, I took a wealthy businessman from the North to see some skinny horses, and my leg was broken at the end of the day. Fortunately, my master saw my hard work and rewarded me with a few extra coins."
"No wonder, I said I would not eat dried shredded noodles today, but instead boiled dried shredded noodles in chicken soup."
"It's just hard-earned money."
Jia Wang understood as soon as he heard it. He and Chen Yapo were busy working on the same thing. It seemed that there were many competitors! He hurriedly took two puffs of the cigarette butt in his hand and threw it to the ground. He stood up and asked the waiter to settle the bill, then turned around and went out through the side door of the tea shop.
"Isn't that Jia Er?" While waiting for takeout, Chen Yapo saw Jia Wang's back. She knew that the other party was also helping those wealthy Northland businessmen buy skinny horses. This kind of thing belongs to the business of "quick feet and slow feet". There are many people who work for a long time but fail to make any money in the end. Thinking of this, Chen Yapo hurriedly shouted to the waiter: "Are you ready? Hurry up!"
In the house outside Gongchen Gate, Zhao Xin was talking to Shen Jingdan. Boss Shen came to the door early in the morning. There must be something urgent.
"Dong Zhao, please save me!"
"Boss Shen, what happened? I will try my best to help you if I can."
"Alas~!" Shen Jingdan sighed and told Zhao Xin the whole story.
The Wang family, a salt merchant, came to the door again. This time, Mr. Wang no longer wanted Ah Quan, but instead focused on the cigarette business and Shen Jingdan's youngest daughter, Ayu.
This Mr. Wang's name was Wang Jinglong. Ever since he fawned over Heshen's steward Liu Quan, he had paid him fifty thousand taels of silver in one fell swoop. In addition, he also presented a batch of gifts to He Shen for Qianlong's Longevity Day celebrations.
In view of how sensible Mr. Wang is, when Liu Quan came to Yangzhou a while ago, he helped him to stand up for him in a dignified way. His words showed that Wang Jinglong was from He Zhongtang. This time, Mr. Wang was even more trembling!
A few days ago, he heard that Shen Jingdan was back, and he had been looking for an opportunity to deal with him. Coincidentally, the day before yesterday, Shen Jingdan's youngest daughter Ayu took her maid to burn incense at Fahai Temple, and she happened to be bumped into by Mr. Wang. The result was shocking.
I can't have my eldest daughter, and I can't let go of my younger daughter no matter what. The subordinates then forged a 20,000 tael IOU and threatened Shen Jingdan last night; if he didn't agree, he would go to the Ganquan County government office to file a complaint. (Yangzhou City in the Qing Dynasty was under the jurisdiction of Jiangdu and Ganquan counties. The western half of the old city and the southern half of the new city belonged to Jiangdu County, while the eastern half of the old city and the northern half of the new city belonged to Ganquan County. Shen Jingdan’s family was in the north of the new city. The Dongguan Street area is under the jurisdiction of Ganquan County.)
Now that the Wang family has become the lackeys of He Zhongtang, Shen Jingdan is difficult to deal with even a native, so he came to Zhao Xin early in the morning.
Zhao Xin listened and was silent for a long time. It's not that he doesn't want to help, but he is considering how to help. Dealing with a salt merchant is nothing at all, but at the moment we are planning to lose weight, and things suddenly arise, the impact on subsequent actions is really unpredictable.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xin asked: "Boss Shen, running a salt merchant is really not a big deal. But what about your family?"
"I also have some connections in the yamen. It's just that the Wang family is now very powerful, and everyone in the county yamen doesn't dare to offend him."
Zhao Xin got up and walked around the main hall a few times, then suddenly asked: "Is the Wang family rich?"
Shen Jingdan said: "Although it is not as good as the Jiang family who 'turn commoners to the emperor', they are still very rich among shipping merchants."
Zhao Xin said: "Transporting merchants?" Seeing that Zhao Xin didn't understand, Shen Jingdan immediately explained.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the salt law followed the Ming system, but to receive salt, you must submit a voucher (merchants had to pay silver grain to the government to obtain a certain sales area allocated by the government, and the government issued a voucher, called a voucher. Merchants used this to The land has freehold rights.)
As for the so-called transporters, they have no nest roots. They must first rent the nest roots from the nest merchants and pay the "nest price" before they can engage in the salt selling business. Since the Kangxi Dynasty, the Qing government's salt shipping envoys have chosen those with strong family ties and strong capital among shipping merchants to be named general merchants. The Jiang Chun mentioned earlier is the largest general merchant today; apart from this person, the Huang family, Ma family, Cheng family, and Bao family are all general merchants.
Zhao Xin nodded after hearing this and continued to ask: "How much money does the Wang family have now?"
Shen Jingdan was stunned and replied: "I really don't know about this, but there are always hundreds of thousands of taels."
In these days, Yangzhou salt merchants generally did not keep their money at home. Except for Zisun Yin, most of their funds had to be loaned out. Thirty percent of the usury income every year is so delicious!
In the thirty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, when the Qing Dynasty was at its peak, the household deposits in the household department were only more than 78 million taels, but the total wealth of hundreds of salt merchants in Yangzhou exceeded 80 million; even Qianlong would issue "salt" Shang's financial resources are great." Sigh!
(Historically, it was precisely because of the Qing government's extreme oppression of the Yangzhou General Merchant and constant donations that Jiang Chun, who once had an annual food expense of 30,000 taels of silver, finally died in poverty in the 54th year of Qianlong's reign.)
Zhao Xin asked in a low voice: "Boss Shen, where do you think the Wang family will hide their money at home?"
Shen Jingdan looked at Zhao Xin and asked in a trembling voice: "Ah! Mr. Zhao... Mr. Zhao, what is your plan?"
"Yes, since you are going to do it, you must do it in full! Otherwise, the government will easily suspect that you paid to kill people."
"Master Zhao, what are you going to do?" Shen Jing was heartbroken and said through gritted teeth.
"You need to stabilize the Wang family first, and then you need to discuss it with your wife, and then find an auspicious day. It only lasts a few days, so I will help you. Remember, you have to draw a map of the Wang family's house for me. .”
When Shen Jingdan thought about it, it was easy. He didn't need to find anyone, he could draw it himself. So he quickly nodded in agreement.
Seeing that the trouble could be solved, Shen Jing's heart dropped. He had breakfast at Zhao Xin's place and left in a hurry. And Zhao Xin and others will continue their "skinny horse" journey today.
"I said, can I take a break today? I watched all day yesterday and had to pretend. I'm so tired!" Ding Guofeng couldn't bear it after just one day of watching.
"no!"
Liu Zheng also complained: "Mr. Zhao, Mr. Zhao, why do you think girls nowadays have to bind their feet? The ones I saw yesterday were all unable to walk on their own, and they had to be supported when they went out. . Moreover, my great-grandmother has small feet, which I saw when I was a child. When I think about it, I get goosebumps all over my body, it’s life-threatening!”
"Bear it!"
Wang Yuanfang asked: "How many more days do we have to watch?"
Zhao Xin asked Lu Shoushan: "How many locations have you memorized in the past two days? Have you checked the situation around the yard?"
"Five. Three have been identified, and Xu Dayong will check the remaining two today."
After hearing this, Zhao Xin said to everyone: "We will wait for two more days and we will take action at night the day after tomorrow."
Liu Zheng lamented: "Ah! It will take two more days, I have to see the eye of the needle!"
"Okay, just look at the tip of the shoe. If you want to see someone's little feet, I won't let you see them!"
Wu Siyu and Liu Siting on the side were whispering and muttering to each other, completely ignoring what was being said here.
"What are you two talking about? Say it and let everyone listen." Liu Sheng said at the top of his voice.
"Wu Siyu said..." Just as Liu Siting was about to say it, Wu Siyu hurriedly winked at her to tell her not to say anything. Liu Siting smiled and said, "What are you sorry for? He asked me if the little foot can be cured after it is released."
"Can it be cured?" Zhao Xin and others are also very concerned about this issue. It would be troublesome to take it back with you if you can't walk. Do we need to arrange for a maid to serve him?
Liu Siting shook her head and said: "It can be recovered in the early stage. But if it takes too long, the arch of the foot will be broken and there will be no cure."
When Zhao Xin heard this, a picture immediately appeared in his mind: a group of girls with small feet, holding crutches, standing in the classroom teaching children in Beihai Town...
But as soon as this thought passed, Zhao Xin reacted immediately. He looked at Wu Siyu with a smile and asked, "Yo~ Who are you attracted to?"
Wu Siyu said sheepishly: "Miss Chen we met in the painting boat that day."
I go! It turned out to be Chen Yin'er who sang that day! Several grown men suddenly started to gossip.
Zhao Xindao: "He is not a weakling. We can't snatch him this time."
"I know, I want to redeem her."
"Do you know how much money she needs to redeem herself?"
"I asked Lao Huang that day, and I got at least two thousand taels of silver." Wu Siyu's biggest wish is to visit Yangzhou in the 18th century, and "find a little girl" by the way... Oh no, it's to find a wife. . Although Chen Yin'er was not a thin horse, beauty was in the eye of a lover, and Wu Siyu was obsessed with her as soon as he saw her that night.
Wu Siyu is a good helper. Since people want to start a family and start a business in this time and space, then I have to help them no matter what. Thinking of this, Zhao Xin said: "The ugly talk is ahead. Whether it will come true or not is still up for debate. Is the money thing a big deal? As for redemption, I have to ask Lao Huang to ask first. If someone doesn't like you, what's the point? Money is wasted.”
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