The next day, it wasn't until almost noon that Wang Yuesheng finally woke up from his hangover.
She asked Cui Yuer how Miss Zheng looked when she left last night.
Cui Yu'er said: "Miss Zheng just sighed a few times and asked me to guard you. Don't choke when vomiting filth."
"Isn't she annoyed?"
"Last night? No. Not today either. I saw her just now. She was very happy. She was with the man pulling the cart. She must have bought a new iron knot."
Wang Yuesheng hurriedly dressed up, put on no makeup, no hairpins, and wore plain clothes and skirts, and went to the blacksmith shop in Fuyuan to find Zheng Haizhu.
But still only Lu Xiangsheng and the masters from the Ge family were there.
"Mr. Lu, where is Miss Zheng?"
"She put down the iron and left, saying she was going to see Magistrate Zhuang and Mr. Huang. To make firearms, no matter what style they are used, gunpowder and lead bullets are needed. Folks can still make iron, but if they make pills, Miss Zheng said, the government will not agree. , she didn’t dare to try it.”
Of course, Lu Xiangsheng immediately noticed that Wang Yuesheng's eyes were swollen and his face was tired, but he did not want to show too much concern. He only tried to talk to her with a warm voice and a gentle tone, hoping to make her feel more comfortable and relaxed.
Only six or seven days have passed since he first met Miss Wang, but Lu Xiangsheng has begun to realize that on every new day, being able to see Miss Wang seems to be more joyful than seeing the collector's edition of The Art of War.
Early in the morning, amidst the sound of Master Ge's forging iron, he worked diligently on two hexagonal pieces of wood.
If Miss Wang is satisfied after acceptance, he is willing to take over the remaining more than 100 pieces of wood, without Miss Wang lifting a finger to do such rough work.
How could Lu Xiangsheng not realize that something was wrong with him?
If it were in the past, he would have looked down on the haggard tone of his peers who were obsessed with Yin. Even if he occasionally went to a brothel to socialize with literary friends in the same year, he would just go there reluctantly, click the knot, and then find an excuse to go back home. I went to read a book, not to mention despising those people who sleep in flowers and willows.
Now that I have really met a graceful beauty, I realize that no matter how many poems, lyrics, and songs, I can't express the inexplicable love that is burning in my heart, I want to talk about it but still give up, and I am still trying and afraid.
However, when Wang Yuesheng faced Lu Xiangsheng, his eyes were still as rippleless as a still pool.
After listening to Lu Xiangsheng's narration, she looked past the two excellent wooden lumps on the lathe in front of her and landed on the iron lumps piled up outside the red-hot ironworks.
That should be the iron material Zheng Haizhu just bought.
Wang Yuesheng remembered every moment he lost his composure in front of Miss Zheng last night.
A former Qinhuai celebrity husband and wife has escaped from the quagmire, but she recounts the love and hate in the past to a busy woman from a good family like Miss Zheng. Naturally, it is out of the desire to complete the task assigned to her by Shangfeng. .
However, Wang Yuesheng also sincerely lamented that Miss Zheng's world was completely different.
Miss Zheng has already done so many things this early in the morning.
After Wang Yuesheng was briefly lost in thought, he walked to the lathe and said, "Thank you Mr. Lu for your help in cutting the material."
He counted the time on his fingers again: "After the seventh month, you can play the piano in the shade room." The Bainaqin has many bonded sections, and it takes about a month for the top and bottom panels to be completely closed, depending on the weather in Songjiang. Then it’s time to put on the gray tires, which takes a long time. You have to scrape them a dozen or twenty times, and then go into the shadow room. They will come out during the Dragon Boat Festival next year to grind, polish, and fix the emblem. It will be quick. So, in one year and two months, if the materials I have hoarded can produce four qins, and I ask my old friends to shout and shout, I can exchange them for more than two hundred taels of silver, and I can make thirty muskets for you, right? "
Lu Xiangsheng was stunned for a moment, and then he was greatly moved.
Miss Wang is indeed not a fan of vulgarity.
When they meet by chance, they can fully support their ideals.
Mr. Lu was greatly moved and decided to cut the materials carefully before leaving Songjiang to take the provincial examination in Yingtian Mansion.
This feeling of running in both directions with people of the same mind is great.
Until one day not long ago, Miss Wang, who had been promised to mix the lacquer, did not appear in the Fuyuan. However, from the Qingyuan in the east, the sound of the piano and flute ensemble came from the Qingyuan.
Lu Xiangsheng followed the sound and left
, seeing from a distance, beside the pond where he once took the children to experiment with water, fire, thunder and boat collision, Miss Wang was playing the piano, and beside her stood a man in Confucian scarf holding the flute.
After the song ended, the man picked up the thin book again and began to sing:
"It's two o'clock in the moonlight on the railing. It's easy to see someone else, but it's hard to see someone else.
A letter came from the dynasty, asking me to reconnect with Feng Jing. I couldn’t see it before my eyes, and taught me how to remove the stains from my tears.
This raised a red flag and read the return date in the book carefully. The plan should mention Changshan. "
The man had only sung a few lines, and Wang Yuesheng, who was listening sideways, seemed to have found inspiration, and began to play the strings of the piano, playing a tune that was completely different from the one played by the piano and flute just now, but that fit perfectly with this folk song.
Lu Xiangsheng stood blankly.
Behind him, Zheng Haizhu, who was buying reed root juice from a vendor outside the door to cool down, could see clearly.
Zheng Haizhu stepped forward and said softly: "This is Mr. Zhang Dai from Shaoxing."
Lu Xiangsheng's stiff elbows relaxed and his forearms hung down.
He couldn't help but laugh at himself.
When he met Zhang Yanke's "Mr. Zhang" more than half a month ago, he naively believed from Wang Yuesheng's distant politeness that even if Wang Yuesheng's origins were ambiguous, he had nothing to do with Zhang Yanke.
Perhaps Zhang Yanke's ancestors were related to Miss Wang's ancestors, and Mr. Yanke just came to save Feng Chen because of their friendship.
Little did they know that Mr. Zhang in front of him was the "rightful owner".
Those who sing in harmony with each other, but who only envy the mandarin ducks and not the immortals, are the true masters.
Lu Xiangsheng sighed deeply in his heart. He turned to look at Zheng Haizhu.
This young lady, who had met for some legendary reason and had known each other for a long time, handed over a bottle of fragrant reed root juice.
Lu Xiangsheng asked himself that he could not blame Zheng Haizhu for not disclosing Mr. Zhang's existence to him from the beginning.
This woman is like this. She is very flattering when making money, but in front of the vague signs of changes in human relations, she waits and watches indifferently and does not get involved. It seems that no matter what the outcome, she has no intention of nodding or shaking her head.
In fact, in a sense, this performance of opposing the moralists made Lu Xiangsheng more and more adaptable.
Lu Xiangsheng smiled at Zheng Haizhu and said, "Sister, this is the first time I know that the piano can accompany folk songs."
Zheng Haizhu also looked at him with a smile: "Everything is like this. Whether it is done well or not depends on the person doing it and whether it is suitable. Well, would you like to come with me and say hello?"
Lu Xiangsheng nodded.
…
This summer, most of Zheng Haizhu's energy will not be focused on the emotional story of the male and female partners in the school.
She only spared a little time and led Zhang Dai to visit Huang Zunsu and his wife.
After all, in the eyes of most people, the Yuanpei teacher and the outer teacher are on the same level, let alone working together as colleagues.
Yao's grandmother, who is the legitimate wife, is now the de facto second-in-command of the school. Zheng Haizhu arranged Zhang Dai's aunt in the school, so how could she not say hello to the Huang family's grandparents.
Fortunately, Zhang Dai has a good emotional intelligence. He kept his attitude very low at first, but he was also honest, emphasizing that Wang Yuesheng was originally from a family of official craftsmen who worked for the court, and lamented that lovers cannot overcome the shackles of fate.
After such a bitter experience, Mr. Yao spoke first, saying that things often go wrong in the world, so leave a good relationship or two in Miss Zheng's school. You are soft-hearted, and Miss Zheng is not a cut-throat person. As long as Miss Wang lives in peace, it will be good for her.
This time the relationship was straightened out, Zheng Haizhu immediately jumped up and hurried to Zhenjiang.
In order to implement the business of shipping insurance company as soon as possible.
In this era, more than 90% of the people were illiterate. The ship bosses and sailors were naturally illiterate, and the men sent by wealthy businessmen to transport goods may not even know a few words.
Therefore, Zheng Haizhu decided not to be too bookish and make a lot of insurance clauses at the beginning, but to learn Liu Bang's down-to-earth model of entering the customs and making a three-chapter contract. In the early days of the insurance company, the promotion was simple.
"First estimate the value of the goods, and then consider the distance of the journey to get an amount of money. If anyone accepts this amount, if the ship capsizes and the goods are damaged, Zheng will pay for it."
The slogan is so popular
In an easy-to-understand manner, when a cargo owner came to inquire, Zheng Haizhu would take Zheng Shoukuan and talk to each other one by one.
For example, small boats or old boats are risky and require extra money.
Shipwrecks and fires are covered, and you have to pay extra.
If the goods are damaged by water and it is impossible to recover the residual value, you will have to pay more.
Robbers stole the goods along the way, so adding money is useless and is not covered by insurance.
At the same time, Wu Bangde, who did not appear in the trading company, followed the previous discussion with Zheng Haizhu, trained and recruited male and female trackers, disguised himself, and performed a scene of capsizing a ship, fishing for goods, shipping at a discount, and Zheng's compensation, in Zhenjiang Word spread among the owners of the delivery.
After about half a month of this, some clever Huizhou merchants and cargo owners began to inquire about underwriting, and then Huaiyang merchants also followed.
What Zheng Haizhu is most worried about is not that people will imitate this model immediately. After all, people in this era are still a little nervous about the business of spending so much money, and they are more willing to use the money to buy real goods.
What she is wary of is insurance fraud. A reckless and evil ship boss may collude with the cargo owner's men, lie about the accident, and secretly swallow the cargo. Anyway, the insurance company will pay the money.
Zheng Haizhu talked with Wu Bondang about this hidden danger, and Wu Bondang answered directly that this is not a hidden danger, this is an obvious danger.
"Miss Zheng, there is a saying among the people that cars, boats, shops, legs and teeth should be killed even if they are not guilty. We must not believe in the saying that the most ruthless people are those who slaughter dogs, and the most ruthless people are scholars."
Zheng Haizhu nodded and said: "The good and evil in the world are crowded and emerge in endlessly. When we do business, we only see evil, so we don't dare to open the business. What we have to do is to control evil with ruthlessness. Those you brought with you The spies are just practicing. If danger occurs later and the cargo owner comes to claim compensation, the spies should go out to find out what the scene of the shipwreck is like, and whether there are any changes in the lives of the shipowners and sailors after the accident. If there is really a fraud, for our trading company He who restores his losses will be greatly rewarded.”
After thinking about it, he said: "Hey, the word spy is not good, but the word scout is not good enough. The ten men and three women we raise are called intelligence agents."
Wu Bangde laughed: "It would be better to set up an intelligence bureau like the Military War Bureau, Sewing Industry Bureau, and Leather Works Bureau in the capital."
Zheng Haizhu didn't smile, but just stared at him: "Mr. Wu, what you said is exactly what I thought. Birds can also have great ambitions. I believe that one day we will build this secret guard-like organization. It will definitely be of great use, not just for investigating insurance policies for us."
Wu Bondang's heart moved slightly when he heard the word "we two", but there was nothing strange on his face. Instead, he said straightforwardly: "Then the leader of this bureau must be me, right?"
Zheng Haizhu showed his face: "Yes, but the heads of the War Bureau, Needlework Bureau, and Weaving Bureau are all internal officials, and they are named admirals. How can Mr. Wu be compared with them? The people in our hands are called Take your seat."
Wu Bond looked very satisfied: "This is a good name, it sounds like the owner."
The atmosphere was relaxed, and Zheng Haizhu finally decided to ask a question that had not been asked before.
"Master Wu, why haven't you started a family yet?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Bondang softly said "hmm" with a rising tone.
Zheng Haizhu has paid great attention to his modalities since she dealt with him.
Based on her limited experience in getting along with each other, Wu Bondang was accustomed to using a somewhat stunned tone of voice to cover up the state in which he was considering his answer.
This often means that the answer is not as common as going to the Imperial College to buy a Confucian scarf, such as "A real man should establish a career first and then start a family" and other slogans that can't go wrong anyway.
Wu Bangdang paused for a moment and said: "Originally, I should have married three or four years ago. She was the matchmaker of General Qi. She was the legitimate daughter of a general in Fushun. The general escaped from battle and many soldiers died. Li Yongfang gave He was convicted and beheaded. His wife and daughter were sent to the capital and were not made official slaves."
Zheng Haizhu guessed that the answer was not very good, but he did not expect to hear the words "Li Yongfang".
There was a sudden change in her eyes, which made Wu Bond think that she was apologizing for his reckless inquiry.
Wu Bondang then took the initiative to add a few details about Qi Jinzeng's rescue attempt to show that he was not disgusted with answering this question.
.
Zheng Haizhu realized that when dealing with the right group of civil servants and generals, opportunities like today often come unexpectedly.
She then squinted her eyes, showing an expression of "I don't believe those nonsense," and said very bluntly: "How could I know that Li Yongfang wasn't afraid of fighting on his own, and asked his subordinates to block the gun afterwards?"
Wu Bond did not answer immediately.
Zheng Haizhu intercepted the other party's gaze sincerely: "I think it's very simple. The old man treats you as his own son, so how can he be careless about getting married? The in-laws he chooses will definitely not be of the rat race. As for Li Yongfang, I don’t know who he is, is he a civil servant sent by the imperial court to lead the troops?"
Wu Bang raised his eyebrows: "He is a military general. Your uncle, Mao Wenlong, has never told you about this person?"
Zheng Haizhu shook his head: "No."
A weird smile appeared on Wu Bondang's lips: "Then I'll tell you the same thing, he is a rat."
Zheng Haizhu gave Wu Bondang a thumbs up from the bottom of his heart and thought to himself, yes, this Li Yongfang is not only a rat, but will also be the first senior general of the Jin Army after the surrender of the Ming Empire. Many of us in future generations will know that.
Zheng Haizhu continued to ask: "So, is this person still in office?"
"Yes, still guarding Fushun."
Zheng Haizhu said: "If I remember correctly, is Fushun located to the east of Shenyang? Is it blocking the entrance to Houjin?"
Wu Bangde said: "Yes, not far to the east of Fushun Pass, there is a place called Sarhu. I heard that it is actually controlled by Nurhaci."
"So," Zheng Haizhu said with a frown, "How can you ask a rat to guard Fushun Pass?"
Wu Bondang sighed noncommittally.
Zheng Haizhu suddenly said coldly, half jokingly and half seriously: "If Li Yongfang has a precedent of being timid in fighting, Bao Buqi will offer the city to the Japanese."
Wu Bondang also expressed a similar tone: "There are too many things that can't be guaranteed in the future. If we can't guarantee it, we will be in Liaodong by then. Didn't Miss Zheng say last time that charging into battle is also killing, and assassination is also killing?"
Zheng Haizhu said sternly: "Master Wu, I really think that if such a general is allowed to guard Fushun Pass, it will be a big disaster. There is famine in Shandong, and those farmers who were originally honest and honest and only know how to use hoes will rebel. Now what if? There is a famine among the Jurchens in Jianzhou, and they come directly to Fushun Pass with their bows and horses, what should we do?"
Wu Bangde stared at Zheng Haizhu and said meaningfully: "It's a pity that the place where you and I are sitting now is Zheng's Insurance Company, not the cabinet of the capital."
"Well, if we can't change people, why can't we kill people?" Zheng Haizhu smiled lightly, without a fierce tone.
Wu Bondang stood up: "It's too early to say this now. By the way, if you have any goods later, go to your Mao Shibo, I can help you escort them."
Zheng Haizhu pursed his lips: "That's a good idea. Bring a few intelligence agents. The accent of Yanzhou in Qingzhou is not too different from the accent of Jiaoliao."
