As we all know, there are eight major Shanxi merchants in Shanxi, and three major Qin merchants in Shaanxi, namely Suide City-Xue Renli, Huamachi-Gao Jingtao, and Xi'an Prefecture-Hu Ruoyu.
These three people are all wealthy businessmen, but they have different personalities, abilities, and styles of doing things.
Xue Renli is well-read in poetry and books, respects benevolence and observes etiquette, has the demeanor of a humble gentleman, and has sharp eyesight and the ability to recognize people!
Gao Jingtao is smart, capable, good at planning, and extremely accurate in making predictions. He is known as the little Zhuge in the business world.
As for Hu Ruoyu, the business community has eight words to comment on him: He is just like his name, and he is as wise as a fool!
It is worth mentioning that among the three major Qin merchants, Hu Ruoyu's family property is the richest. He has a large number of caravans, shops, pastures, manors, fields... all over the northwest, so he is called a 'Qin merchant'. The reputation of "the first"!
Qin Feng had heard of this leader of Qin merchants for a long time, but had never met him in person or had any contact with him.
Unexpectedly, Hu Ruoyu suddenly sent an invitation to Qin Feng for a banquet in his mansion, and the words were extremely polite.
The two parties have no contact with each other, so why should they invite themselves to the banquet?
What's the reason for this? Is there any hidden conspiracy?
Go by yourself or not?
…
After thinking over and over, Qin Feng accepted the invitation and agreed to go to the Hu Mansion for a banquet tomorrow. He was going to meet with the leader of Qin merchants to see what medicine was being sold in the gourd. If possible, it would be best to ask the Hu family to donate it. Some money and food came out.
There was no way. After the war, there were many people in the disaster, crying for food and in urgent need of relief. As the richest man in the Qin Dynasty, the Hu family was undoubtedly the best blood bag!
……………
The fifth year of Chongzhen - the fourth day of September, a sunny day.
At noon, Qin Feng, dressed in black uniforms, led Xiong Da, Xiong Er and a group of soldiers on horseback to the gate of Hu Mansion on the east side of Changle Street in Xi'an City!
When a distinguished guest comes to the door, the servant in Qingyi who is in charge of the door immediately goes inside to report.
After a while, a large group of people poured out from Hu's mansion, including tall, short, fat and thin, handsome and ugly.
The first man was about sixty years old, short in stature and unattractive in appearance. He was wearing a set of ordinary navy blue clothes. There was no gold or jade in his body. Coupled with his simple and unpretentious temperament, he looked like an ordinary old man.
"Haha, General Qin has arrived, and his humble abode is filled with splendor. Hu Ruoyu, an old man, has seen the general. I am late to welcome you, so I hope you can forgive me for being late!"
"Senior came out to greet me in person, which is really embarrassing for junior. Junior Qin Feng has met senior Hu!"
Unexpectedly, this simple old man was the famous leader of Qin merchants - Hu Ruoyu!
After learning the opponent's identity, Qin Feng immediately dismounted from his horse and saluted with clasped fists.
Qin Feng is a deputy general conferred by the imperial court. He is of the third rank and has a distinguished status. Why is he so humble to a businessman?
Of course there is a reason.
It is certainly true that merchants were the last among the four peoples, with a humble social status and were subject to all kinds of discrimination and unfair treatment.
However, there are no absolutes in this world. Even a humble person, once he achieves great achievements, will be able to transform himself, improve his social status, and gain recognition and respect from the world!
Take Hu Ruoyu as an example. After relying on his own talents to become the leader of Qin merchants, he did not eat, drink, have fun, and live in luxury. Instead, he used a lot of wealth to build bridges and pave roads, do good deeds, make friends from all over the world, and also funded many projects. A talented and educated student from a poor family can gain fame through examinations.
After many years of operation, the Hu family has not only established a huge network of local connections, both black and white, but also has many protective umbrellas and spokespersons in the court, even reaching Tianting!
Faced with such a big businessman who has great hands and eyes and does good deeds, Qin Feng naturally has to respect him a little more, not to mention that he is here to suck blood today, so there is no harm in keeping his posture lower and saying a few more polite words!
"General Qin, please come in!"
"Senior Hu, please go first!"
"Together, together!"
…
Qin and Hu exchanged a few polite words with each other, and then, surrounded by everyone, they entered the gate side by side, passed through several floors of courtyards, and came to the reception hall. The guests and hosts took their seats, and there were more than a dozen members of the Hu family. Important members sit nearby.
Next, following Hu Ruoyu's instructions, the banquet officially began, with rows of maids serving wine and food... chicken, duck, fish, and vintage wines were all available, but there were no such things as leopard fetuses, orangutan lips, and bear paws and bird's nests. The delicacies give people a feeling of richness but not luxury.
Looking at Qin Feng again, he was enjoying the food and wine, chatting, and secretly thinking about how to get this leader of Qin merchants to donate money and food to relieve the victims.
The plan hadn't been fully thought out yet, so Hu Ruoyu didn't want to speak first.
"Previously, more than 200,000 rogue bandits besieged Xi'an. The city defense was tight and crumbling, and it was in danger of being destroyed at any time. Fortunately, the general led his troops to the rescue and showed his power to defeat the rogue bandits. The city of Xi'an was able to turn the corner. It was old and incompetent and could only represent the inner city of Xi'an. Hundreds of thousands of people sincerely thank General, this kindness and kindness will never be forgotten!"
"Senior, I'm serious. As a military general, Qin is responsible for eliminating thieves and rescuing the people. He doesn't dare to claim kindness... It's just that after the war, the countryside was severely damaged and the number of victims was large. Relief was urgently needed, and the government The treasury was extremely empty and it was difficult to raise money and food. The governors of the three sides were worried about this and had trouble sleeping and eating. They really lost a lot of weight.
The senior is the leader of the Qin merchants and has a very rich net worth. If you can be generous, donate money and food, and help the victims, you will be truly meritorious! "
"Haha, what General Qin said makes sense. As an old businessman, he has nothing but a rich net worth, so he should donate money and food to help the victims!"
"Oh, senior, are you willing to donate money and food to help the victims?"
"certainly!"
"How much do you donate?"
"Thirty percent of the family fortune!"
"Hey, are you serious about this?"
"As a gentleman, a horse cannot be chased... Butler Xu, please carry the things out!"
As soon as Hu Ruoyu finished speaking, an old man who looked like a housekeeper walked in, followed by two sturdy servants, working together to carry a mahogany box.
After opening it, it was filled with account books, house deeds, land deeds and other things.
"All the family property that I want to donate has been registered. When the general leaves, he can take it with him.
In addition, I have already ordered caravans and merchants everywhere to provide full assistance in disaster relief. If the general needs it, just give him the order directly! "
…
Most businessmen are stingy, and they thought that asking the Hu family to donate money and food would definitely require a lot of effort, or even some shameful means of coercion and inducement, in order to achieve their goal.
Unexpectedly, in just a few words, the matter was settled.
What's more, I didn't expect that Hu Ruoyu would be generous and directly donate 30% of his family property. This was no longer just bleeding, but cutting his own aorta to bleed!
Qin Feng couldn't believe it. He quickly stood up and went to the box. He took out a few account books and looked at them carefully. After confirming that there were no problems, he couldn't help but look at Hu Ruoyu again with sharp eyes like a falcon, looking up and down carefully.
Then without saying anything else, he turned around and returned to his seat, poured a large bowl of wine, bowed and drank it all!
Everything is left unsaid!
Next, Qin Feng stood up to say goodbye, left the Hu Mansion, and ordered his soldiers to carry the box and prepare to send it to Yang He, the governor of the three sides, for relief of the victims.
Hu Ruoyu led a group of people and walked out of the gate in person, hugging his fists to say goodbye. Then he returned to the hall and ordered the others to leave, leaving only a young man in his early twenties.
The young man's name is Hu Qingze, and he is the eldest grandson of Hu Ruoyu. He has a smart and exquisite mind. He is the most favored among the descendants of the Hu family, and he is also the appointed successor!
"Grandpa, my grandson strongly agrees with donating money and food to help the victims, but donating 30% of the family property at once is too much, right?"
Hu Qingze's tone was full of complaints, but he knew that his grandfather never did stupid things, and there would definitely be a reasonable explanation.
But what kind of explanation is worth donating 30% of the family property?
