At dusk, a banquet was held in the attic of the Li family residence.
In addition to Zheng Tie, Zheng Chao and Zhang Yun who were invited to the banquet, there were also two Han businessmen who were working with the Li family and were invited by Li Guozhu to accompany them.
Everyone sat on the floor around the low table.
Li Guozhu sat in the host's seat, picked up the wine glass, and said with a smile, "Shopkeeper Zheng and brother Zheng have just arrived in Hirado. They probably haven't eaten large pieces of meat and fresh vegetables for some time. This table in front of me is what I specially made for them." People have prepared some extra meat and vegetables.”
In the dishes on the table, except for a small amount of seafood such as fish, shrimp and crabs, most of the rest are vegetables and large pieces of meat.
Zheng Tie cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Thank you, Mr. Li, for your hospitality. We all took a boat all the way here and have been drifting on the sea for many days. We miss the meat and vegetables that we haven't eaten for a long time."
"Haha, those two should eat more." Li Guoshu said with a smile.
Zheng Tie nodded and noticed that one of Li Guo's assistants was still holding a wine glass, so he picked up the wine glass at hand and said, "I would like to propose a toast to the eldest son."
Li Guozhu did not clink glasses, but said with a smile, "You need to have a clear eye for the first glass of wine."
Zheng Tie thought for a moment, saw the food and wine on the table from the corner of his eye, and said, "I would like to pay tribute to this table of wine and food and the eldest son's warm hospitality."
Li Guozhu shook his head and said, "This first glass of wine should be a tribute to our cooperation."
Hearing this, Zheng Tie said angrily, "I am being rude. This glass of wine should be dedicated to the cooperation between our two families."
As the two people clinked their glasses, everyone else also raised their glasses, clinked them in mid-air, and then drank.
There was a maid waiting behind them, picking up the wine flask and refilling everyone's wine glasses.
Li Guozhu raised his glass again and said, "This is a toast to my acquaintance with Shopkeeper Zheng. Let's do it."
"Dry"
Everyone picked up their glasses again and drank in one gulp.
After two glasses of wine, the atmosphere on the table gradually opened up, and everyone became more talkative.
Zheng Tie came to Li Guozhu with a wine glass and said, "Thanks to the eldest master for eating this batch of goods, otherwise our ship would have to stop at the port for a few more days to take off the goods."
Li Guoshu smiled and said, "Shopkeeper Zheng, you're welcome. Even if the Li family didn't eat this batch of goods, with such a sought-after iron cargo, it would only take a day or two at most to get rid of it, and with a good helper like Zhang Yun." Now, I believe it will take less than two days, maybe one day at most."
"Zhang Yun is indeed good." Zheng Tie praised.
If it weren't for Zhang Yun, they wouldn't be able to contact Mr. Li in front of them, let alone sitting together to eat like they are now.
"I haven't been of much help. The main thing is that Shopkeeper Zheng's shipment of goods is good." Zhang Yun said humbly.
Li Guozhu said, "Zhang Yun is really good this time. Please stay with me from now on."
Hearing this, Zhang Yun stood up in a hurry, gave a deep bow, and said excitedly, "Thank you very much, the eldest young master, for your consideration. Thank you very much, the eldest master for your consideration."
"Okay, okay, sit down." Li Guozhu pressed his hand and motioned for Zhang Yun to sit down.
Zhang Yun sat down, the excitement on his face not going away for a long time.
There are a lot of people who depend on the Li family for food in Hirado Port, but few of them are really treated differently by the Li family. Being accepted by the eldest son of the Li family, he can be regarded as standing out from these people who are looking for work at the port. It is said that the future is promising.
Li Guozhu looked at Zheng Tie and said, "The owner of your company has his own iron yard and furnace. He must have no shortage of iron tools. I wonder when he will come to Hirado next time."
"This," Zheng Tie hesitated and said, "this matter still needs to be decided by our proprietor."
Li Guozhu looked disappointed when he heard this. It was different from what he expected.
If the proprietor behind Shopkeeper Zheng no longer sends merchant ships to Hirado, or if most of the ships sent carry other goods, then the tiger flag will not be of much use to the Li family.
Moreover, he had already sent someone to find out that the ship coming from Tiger Flag this time was a ship belonging to Tianjin Wei Yiqianhu, and Tiger Flag did not have its own ships at all.
Zheng Tie, who was sitting aside, said again, "Young master, don't be disappointed. Our proprietor is still willing to do business at sea. This time he asked me to come just to explore the way. In the future, our Tiger Flag will have a steady stream of merchant ships coming to sea." , Not to mention ironware at that time, there were also other goods such as leather goods."
Li Guozhu, who was originally a little disappointed, his eyes lit up and asked, "How much leather goods can your proprietor get?"
Leather goods are also common commodities at sea. Although the Li family does not need them very much, the demand for red fur barbarians in Southeast Asia is huge and the supply far exceeds the supply.
Zheng Tie said with a smile, "Our Tiger Flag is in Datong, close to the grassland to the north. My boss bribed the border generals and transported truckloads of goods to the grassland through the border fort, and exchanged a large number of cattle and sheep from the grassland. And fur.”
"I didn't expect your boss to have such great energy." Li Guoshu couldn't help but sigh.
In his mind, for such a big iron merchant, who was also engaged in the business of smuggling northern prisoners, his reputation was not much lower than that of the Li family in Hirado.
In my heart, I couldn't help but raise the status of the proprietor of the Tiger Flag in Datong to another level.
But he didn't know that the trade between Huzi Banner and Beilu had not started at all, or it had not started yet.
The reason why Zheng Tie said this was entirely because he was Liu Heng's guard and knew more about some secret things. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the Tiger Flag went north to the grassland, just like his trip to the sea.
I believe that with their proprietor's ability, they will be able to establish relationships with the nobles on the grassland and sell the goods of the Tiger Flag to the grassland in exchange for goods on the grassland.
However, when Li Guozhu heard Zheng Tie's words, he subconsciously thought that Huzi Banner and Beilu had been doing business for a long time.
Zheng Tie said, "Our ship will come to Hirado again in the future, and we hope to cooperate more with the eldest son."
Li Guozhu said with a smile, "Don't worry, Shopkeeper Zheng. As long as it's iron goods like this, my Li family will eat as much as your company brings to Hirado. Our two families can definitely cooperate for a long time."
"That's great." Zheng Tie said with a smile, "In the future, our ships carrying iron cargo will come to Hirado and be handed over directly to the eldest son. We can also save a lot of things."
Li Guozhu raised his glass and said, "Then I wish our two families a happy cooperation and make money together."
"Let's make money together." Zheng Tie raised his glass, touched it with Li Guozhu, and drank it all in one gulp.
Li Guozhu did the same and drank all the wine in the glass.
The two of them put down their wine glasses, and Zheng Tie said, "Since our two families are cooperating, we will not hide anything from the eldest son. In fact, the reason I came to Hirado this time is not only to open up the sales of our Tiger Flag iron products, but also for another matter. "
"What's the matter?" Mr. Li frowned.
He had already sent someone to inquire. It was both the first time for shopkeeper Zheng and the company behind him to come to Shanghai. Moreover, the other party's foundation was in Datong. He couldn't think of anything that the other party could ask for from him.
