"No wonder!" Madam Ning sneered, "It turns out this was the idea all along!"
Shen Cha looked at Mrs. Ning, then at Sister Ning Cheng, thought for a moment, and said, "Sister Ning Cheng, we'll talk about your business later. I want to hear from Mrs. Luan and Liu's family in Jiangnan." The thing is, the rumors they spread to the outside world say that they are very powerful in Jiangnan and the business they do in Jiangnan is not small. I’m afraid that’s not true, right?”
"Indeed, but it's not too much of an exaggeration. Their business is doing well, and they are considered the best among second-rate merchants!"
"Second rate?"
"Of course, with their level and strength, they will never be able to squeeze into the ranks of first-class merchants in their entire lives." Mrs. Ning nodded, took two sips of tea, and moistened her throat. "When exactly did the Luan family and Liu family move?" I don’t remember exactly who came to Gusu City. When they moved here, I was probably still learning business from my elder brother. Sometimes I wasn’t at home. I didn’t care much about who came over there. Unless someone from my family or someone like Qin Xie comes to visit, I will be interested in listening, taking a look, and making inquiries." She looked at Shen Haolin and smiled, "I happened to be in the Duke's house before. I bumped into the uncle of the Qin family on the road, and I thought I had admitted my mistake, but I didn’t expect..."
"Does the old lady know my master?"
"Oh?" Mrs. Ning looked at Shen Cha, "That uncle of the Qin family is the master of the general? That's really fate!"
"Old madam, what do you mean...?"
"Don't worry, I don't have any thoughts about your master. If I had, I would have had it a long time ago, and it wouldn't be the Ning family's turn." Mrs. Ning showed a faint smile and said, "When I was young, I had Several encounters. You may not know that the big families in Jiangnan have always had a tradition. There are about two opportunities for young people to meet each other in a year, one in spring and one in autumn. In spring, Several big Pianwen families will hold several flower viewing banquets and invite young people from each family to the banquets. In autumn, the big Pianwu families will hold hunting parties and invite some young people to participate. I was invited to participate in the hunting party of the Qin family and met the uncle of the Qin family. I originally thought that he would follow the family's tradition and continue doing business. Unexpectedly, he followed the tradition of his ancestors and joined the army. Quite unexpected.”
"This kind of banquet is probably for the ladies and gentlemen of various families to get to know each other and understand each other, right?" Shen Cha looked at Mrs. Ning happily, "I didn't expect that a serious person like my master would attend such a banquet. "
"How could the Qin family's uncle not participate in the hunting party held by the Qin family as the head family? However, I heard that he ran away from home the next year, and there was no news again. I didn't expect to see him at the border. He, he is very different from before." Mrs. Ning looked at Shen Haolin, then at Shen Cha, and blinked at them, "Let me tell you a secret. Don't tell it to the Qin family uncle. In fact, During the hunting party back then, the two families were interested in bringing us together, but I had a marriage contract with the Ning family and I was too embarrassed to trick anyone. The uncle of the Qin family didn't seem to be interested in this, so the two of us just sat there for a while. , got to know each other for a while, drank a cup of tea, and then parted ways."
"Really?" After hearing Mrs. Ning's words, Shen Cha bared her teeth at Shen Haolin and showed a wicked smile. They could use this small threat to threaten her master if her master didn't listen to them next time. "Okay, we won't tell Master."
Seeing her look like that, Shen Haolin shook his head helplessly, that is, Shen Cha dared to deal with these old men like this, and the old man was manipulated by her, but he would not get angry and would cooperate obediently.
"Then again, the Luan and Liu family made a name for themselves in Jiangnan, probably about ten or twenty years ago. Counting the days, they should have arrived in Jiangnan twenty or thirty years ago, when the incident involving His Highness happened. It was about that time when he was punished to guard the imperial mausoleum, right? When he was still young, he was imprisoned in the imperial mausoleum and wasted his best years. Compared with the empress dowager and those under her I absolutely do not believe that people have nothing to do with each other." Madam Ning sneered, "I know the methods of the Empress Dowager better than you. But anyone who may be harmful to her will be eliminated, even if they have been Someone who has really cultivated him with all his heart.”
"Mom, be careful what you say!" Sister Ning Cheng
Hearing Mrs. Ning's words, Ning Cheng and Ning Cheng all became nervous, fearing that Shen Haolin and Shen Cha would be unhappy, "We can't say anything wrong about the Empress Dowager."
"There's nothing that can't be said." Shen Cha sneered, looked at the two of them, and waved his hands gently, "Don't be so nervous, we won't blame the old lady for telling some facts." She looked at her Looking at Mrs. Ning, "They themselves have said that the first few years after arriving in Jiangnan were actually quite hard. After all, it is not easy to establish a foothold in Jiangnan. They are not local merchants, even if they have With a little connection, he is only slightly better than other foreign merchants."
"That's right, many businesses back then were actually monopolized by the big Jiangnan clans. Their shops were at least two to three hundred years old. Compared with them, newcomers like the Luan Liu family were in the sky. , it is absolutely impossible to snatch a piece of the pie from these people just by relying on a trivial relationship. However, after they became successful, I also inquired a little bit, and I found that they are indeed very conscientious in doing business. It can be high-quality, low-priced, and safe.”
"I have nothing to say, but they can still be so conscientious about business matters." Shen Cha shook his head gently, "Looking at their behavior, it seems a little inconsistent."
"Hey, this is why you don't understand. When doing business, you also have to look at who is serving the dishes. You can't just generalize about what people say or do when you meet them." Mrs. Ning smiled, "When you open a shop, especially when you are on the counter. The goods on display are meant to be sold to ordinary people. Their family's first business was a cloth shop. They had coarse cloth and linen that ordinary people wanted, as well as silk and satin that everyone wanted, including young ladies, young masters, masters, and ladies. They also Different prices will be set for different customers. Besides, Wu Nu Qian Bu Business actually originally referred to transactions between businessmen. If you are kind to your colleagues, the only one who will be cheated is yourself."
"Understood!" Shen Cha nodded, "The reason why their business was able to establish quickly is because they can deal with any kind of people and formulate any kind of sales strategy, right?"
"That's right!" Madam Ning nodded, "I usually don't pay attention to such a family, but aren't I related to the Ning family? I heard that people from the Ning family have contacts with their family. It was relatively frequent, so I paid a little more attention, and unexpectedly, I discovered that their business is not very clean, and the people they come into contact with are not very clean either."
