In front of Desheng Gate in the north of the city, Zhang Zhou spent two fortifications and traveled to two places before he saw Zhu Feng standing at the gate of the city.
"Brother Zhang."
The smile on Zhu Feng's face was still so kind.
Zhang Zhou's journey from the east to the north of the city was a bit unbearable for him.
Therefore, Zhang Zhou's expression was not so good. He said coldly: "Why are we meeting at the city gate? Do you want to meet someone?"
Zhu Feng said: "That's right. I just received the news that my wife's ship has arrived at Xiya today."
Xiya, later known as Jishuitan, is just outside Deshengmen. It is also the transportation terminal of the canal connecting the capital. If you come by boat from Tongzhou, you will disembark at the ferry here.
Zhang Zhou frowned: "You brought me all the way here just to see your wife? Will her arrival be of any help to you and me on our errands in Beijing?"
Zhang Zhou almost wanted to say that there was nothing wrong with Zhu Feng, right?
"No, Brother Zhang misunderstood. In fact, the person I really want to introduce you to is the second young master from the family of Lin Shilang at the Imperial Academy. Didn't we meet him during the poetry competition that day? He asked someone to contact me and said he wanted to I will agree to meet you...hey."
Zhang Zhou felt a sense of "malice" from Zhu Feng's smile.
It may be that Zhu Feng was willing to meet Lin Ting, or because Lin Ting would introduce the white-faced scholar to him. Otherwise, Zhang Zhou would not have imagined that meeting Lin Ting would make Zhu Feng smile so ambiguously and obscenely.
"Aren't you here to split the accounts?"
Zhang Zhouxin said, do you really think that I am relaxed every day?
I, Mr. Zhang, am very busy every day. Just being summoned to enter and exit the palace at short notice is unbearable. I almost forget that I am a candidate who came to the capital to take the examination, and I am different from other students.
"My wife will be here as promised. She said she had disembarked before, why haven't she come yet? Just wait a moment."
"Can't you go to the ferry and wait for her?"
"No, I'm seasick and I don't know how to swim. I fell into the water when I was a child, so I'm most afraid of seeing water in my life!"
There are many problems.
…
…
Zhang Zhou was most bored while waiting for his wife with others. After waiting for a long time, he finally saw the carriage of Ning Tong and his entourage.
Ning Tong got off the carriage, probably due to the bumpy journey, and looked very haggard, but after seeing Zhang Zhou and Zhu Feng together, her eyes widened instantly.
"Tong'er, you're here, look who I brought to you? Brother Zhang, you have seen my wife."
When Zhu Feng introduced her, his tone of voice was a little different.
Zhang Zhou was speechless when he saw Ning Tong's guarded look.
You, Second Young Master Zhu, don’t think that others don’t know about your preferences, right? Who would you think would be an honor to be with someone else?
"Mrs. Zhu."
Zhang Zhou saluted politely.
Ning Tong just bowed slightly and saluted, not even saying hello to Zhang Zhou.
Zhu Feng didn't seem to notice anything strange about his wife, and continued to introduce enthusiastically: "...I have been taking care of you recently thanks to Brother Zhang. I am doing well in the capital. Is your journey going smoothly, Tong'er?"
Ning Tong said: "My husband is now working in Jinyiwei, why should someone else take care of him?"
really……
There is ambiguity.
"Uh." Zhang Zhou also quickly explained, "We just take care of each other when doing business or doing things."
"Yes, yes, that's it. I usually discuss things with Brother Zhang, and sometimes I go to the palace with him. By the way, Tong'er, I originally thought that when I came to the capital, I would just be a royal guard with a salary to direct the affairs. Who knows that His Majesty will reward you My actual Jinyi Guard Qianhu has to go to the palace to accompany the prince about ten days a month..."
Zhu Feng started nagging.
Typical chatterbox.
Zhang Zhou was impatient and said to himself that if you and your wife want to say goodbye, can't you wait until you get home?
Can you settle my bill first? I have to catch up with the next show.
Listening to your boy's words, the description is getting darker and darker. There was nothing wrong at first, but when your wife overheard it, she might have thought it was something dirty.
"Ms. sir, I have to go back home first. Can you send someone to accompany me?"
Even Ning Tong was too lazy to listen to Zhu Feng's nonsense.
Zhu Feng didn't feel embarrassed at all and said with a smile: "What's the rush? I've arranged a table at a nearby restaurant. Let's go together."
"No, I'm a little tired."
Zhang Zhou also saw that everyone has his or her own ambitions. Ning Tong married into the Chengguo Palace just to be a young mistress. The idea of entering a noble family and being as deep as the sea probably did not exist in Ning Tong.
But she had no intention of going out to accompany her husband in public.
Zhu Feng put her hot face on her cold buttocks and said with a smile: "Then find someone to take you back first. We will discuss it in detail later. Brother Zhang and I still have something to do."
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Yes, brother and sister, Zhijie and I do still have something to do. We are talking about business matters, there are no private matters to discuss. Don't worry!"
When Ning Tong heard Zhang Zhou call her "younger brother and sister", she couldn't help but frown.
But when he heard Zhang Zhou's words behind him, he couldn't help but ask as if he was ridiculing: "What are you worried about?"
Zhang Zhou smiled.
Madam, you understand in your heart why I am telling you. It is good that everyone is aware of it.
"I mean, Madam, please feel free to leave him to me. After we have discussed the matter, I will definitely let him go back to accompany you. I still have my wife and children at home waiting for me to go back. There are too many things going on recently. I have to enter the palace when I have nothing to do. It is too cumbersome. I don’t even have time to prepare for the exam, so I’m going to take all the trouble.”
Zhang Zhou's words sounded like bragging.
Even Ning Tong didn't understand.
You are a juren, even if you once helped the emperor with prescriptions to treat acne and plague, you wouldn't be in and out of the palace often, right?
But she still understood some of the meaning.
Zhang Zhou was also telling her that he had no interest in her husband at all, and that Zhang Zhou was only cooperating with Zhu Feng on official matters.
…
…
Ning Tong's entry into Beijing was just a small episode in Zhang Zhoulai's settlement with Zhu Feng.
When they arrived at the nearby restaurant, Zhu Feng handed the account book to Zhang Zhou.
"Uncle Chang Ning is responsible for the Zhou family's purchase of wood and stone. I mainly provide the wood. The cost is 20,000 taels. They also have to make a little profit. The total is 24,000 taels. They are all flat silver. The palace purchases them. Brother Zhang, you know that all settlements are made in silver, so no copper coins are given."
"Here are six thousand taels to your account. Four thousand taels are what you deserve, and there are two thousand taels that I gave as a gift."
Zhu Feng pointed to a line on the account book.
Zhang Zhou frowned and said, "You still keep track of the accounts when you go out without anything? Who else has seen this account book?"
It was originally a matter of earning kickbacks. Zhang Zhouxin said, "Are you stupid? You actually wrote down the accounts?"
"No one has seen it. This is my private record." Zhu Feng said.
Zhang Zhou said: "Destroyed! You should know what the result of Li Guang's accounting is in this ready-made case, right?"
"I didn't write it down... OK, I'll tear it up when I turn around, but I sometimes forget things. A good account is worse than a bad writing. If I don't write it down, I'm afraid I won't be able to remember it later..."
Zhu Feng looked aggrieved.
Zhang Zhou didn't bother to comment on this second-rate behavior.
"Take back the two thousand taels and do whatever you agreed to. The twenty thousand taels are your capital. You don't need to use capital to satisfy me."
There are no banknotes these days, so there will be no delivery of money on site.
Ming Dynasty banknotes have long been worthless. By the Hongzhi period, there were no longer any banknotes in circulation on the market. They were all cash silver and copper coins. However, court purchases and tax calculations were all done in silver, and bulk commodities were also valued because of silver. Convenient and became the main currency in circulation.
At this time, the silver from South America had not yet flowed into the Ming Dynasty, and the price of silver was still strong. The court's net tax revenue was less than three million taels a year when it came to silver.
Zhu Feng said: "You have helped me so much. I give you two thousand taels as a token of my gratitude. I made a lot of money from selling grain before."
Zhang Zhou shook his head: "One code means the other. I don't like to take advantage of my business partners."
"oh."
Zhu Feng's admiration for Zhang Zhou deepened.
Zhang Zhou actually wanted to say, I don't care about taking advantage of you. You should take advantage of others. After all, this is a long-term deal with you. Besides, what's the benefit of taking advantage of you?
A clear settlement is better than anything else.
Otherwise, the two thousand taels will be regarded as your bribe!
"Then I'll send the money to your house later." Zhu Feng said.
Zhang Zhouyi waved his hands and said: "No, my house is not a warehouse. Heaping so much money will easily attract thieves' attention. I will keep it in your hands first."
"Ah? You don't want it for now?"
"Yeah, there's no place to spend it."
Of course, Zhang Zhou couldn't accept it right away. First of all, the purchase of wood and stone materials has not yet been completed. What if the court comes back to settle accounts later? It was better for him not to have any direct connection with this matter.
Secondly, and more importantly...
He can't spend so much money now.
Now he has a lot of property in his hands. Excluding the real estate, he gave the money given by the emperor, Chiang Kai-shek, Yingtian Mansion to buy medicinal materials, Chengguo Gongfu and Zhu Feng gave it in batches... After discounting, the value is at More than one thousand taels.
The businesses he manages are all of the small-scale type used by time travellers, relying on epoch-making products to make money, with small capital and big profits.
"Then I'll leave first!"
After the account was settled, Zhang Zhou was about to leave.
"Farewell, Brother Zhang, give some face to that Mr. Lin. I have already gone to inform him. He is probably on his way here. He is the son of Mr. Lin after all. He does not look at the monk's face to see the Buddha's face. Deshengmen is about 30 kilometers north of Yong is not far away.”
…
…
Zhang Zhou had no intention of staying.
Lin Han seemed to be his direct superior, but the problem was that Zhang Zhou had no plans to go to the Imperial Academy to be a "class room", so he didn't need to look at anyone's face.
But before he could go downstairs, he was notified that Lin Ting and someone else had arrived downstairs.
"Please come up quickly."
Zhu Feng sighed.
Probably because he agreed to someone else's business and didn't want to break his promise.
When he saw Lin Ting and the pretty boy behind Lin Ting, Zhu Feng went over to say hello, but couldn't take his eyes away from the pretty boy's face.
That infatuated look... Zhang Zhou instantly thought of Duan Yu's deep love for "Miss Wang".
It's just a little weird.
"Brother Zhang, it's been a long time. In the competition at Beiyongwai a few days ago, after you left, there were some people present who were scornful on the spot, but unfortunately, both the articles and the poems were admittedly inferior, so you won that competition. "
Lin Ting seemed to have some objections to Zhang Zhou, but he seemed to be very principled.
Zhang Zhou said: "You are here to inform me of this? Who loses and who wins, is there such a big difference?"
Lin Ting didn't expect Zhang Zhou to be so "open-minded" and didn't know how to continue.
Zhang Zhou just wanted to chat to death so that he could leave easily.
But the pretty guy on the side couldn't help but retort: "If you don't want to win, why are you comparing yourself to this?"
This opening sounded no different from Zhu Feng's.
But for Zhang Zhou, it was a bit exposed.
Although the voice was deliberately lowered, it was deliberately made loud.
Zhang Zhou thought to himself, after all, I am also a "master" who has experienced thousands of episodes of TV series where women dress up as men. No matter how good your makeup is, can't you tell that you are a woman?
Of course there is another explanation - you are a eunuch who has been purified since childhood.
This female classmate, you are very bad!
(End of chapter)
