"Today is my brother's birthday, so I'm going to prepare some small gifts to congratulate you." Fan Yubin smiled and took out a gift list from his arms.
"Oh, this is such a good thing, it costs a lot of money for my dear brother, please." Zhang Xun took Fan Yubin's arm and sat down, but he was sneering in his heart. The old Fan family relied on their wealth and power and never looked down upon us Shaanxi businessmen.
, I am so enthusiastic today, I must ask for something, let’s not tell him, let’s see what he does.
Fan Yubin laughed again, "I heard that my brother wants to buy a 'skinny horse' to be a concubine. I am very good at this. How about choosing it with my brother after the banquet?"
"Thank you so much, dear brother."
Zhang Xun is only thirty-four years old. It's just a birthday. It's not a birthday celebration. He just eats and drinks casually.
The two of them walked to the small courtyard where Aunt Liu, who specialized in raising "skinny horses", lived in Yangzhou West Street. They heard that Mr. Zhang, a big salt merchant, wanted to take a concubine, so Aunt Liu and the other women were like flies that smelled the stench.
In the end, Aunt Liu was so articulate that Zhang Xun decided to come to her house to choose first.
"Oh, the two gentlemen came to my house, they are so beautiful! Hurry, serve tea to the gentlemen, and serve the best green Yangchun."
Following Aunt Liu's sweet voice, the servants served tea. Zhang Xun and Fan Yubin sat in the main hall, sipping tea and choosing a thin horse.
After a while, Aunt Liu helped a slender girl come in.
Aunt Liu pointed out: "Girl, I'm a guest," and the girl said a long blessing.
"Girl, go up" and then leave.
"Girl turn around", turn around and face the bright place, revealing your fair face.
"Girl lend me your hand" and lift up your sleeves, revealing your slender arms.
"Young lady, sir", he turned his head and glanced secretly, revealing his spiritual eyes.
"How old is the girl?"
"Fifteen years old," a crisp but experienced voice responded. It seemed that this was not the first time that I had been selected.
Fan Yubin suddenly smiled and said to Zhang Xun: "Brother, this girl's feet must be quite big."
Zhang Xun was very surprised, "Oh, how do you know this?"
"Brother, the key to choosing a 'skinny horse' is the 'three-inch golden lotus', which is beautiful when it is 'thin, small, pointed, curved, fragrant, soft and upright'. Anyone whose skirt rings first when going out will have big toes; tall.
When wearing a skirt, if the toes come out first before the person comes out, they must be small. When the girl came in just now, her skirts rang first, so her feet must be big."
It turns out that although Fan Yubin is just in his early twenties, he is extremely lustful and a veteran in the sex industry.
The two were chatting when they suddenly heard Aunt Liu shouting: "Girl, let's walk again." He lifted up the skirt of the girl's skirt, and the girl took a few steps, and it turned out that she had big feet.
I watched one after another, six "Skinny Horses" in one go.
In the end, Zhang Xun chose the girl with big feet.
Fan Yubin was very surprised, "Everyone else chose the 'Three-Inch Golden Lotus', why did my brother choose the one with big feet?"
Zhang Xun laughed loudly: "My dear brother, I don't know. This woman with small feet can't do any work. It's better to have bigger feet. She can do housework during the day and warm the bed at night. It's very beneficial!"
This girl is very lucky. She is already fifteen. If she is not bought, she will end up being sold to a brothel. Most of the "Yangbang" singing girls on the Qinhuai River are from "skinny horses", pitiful!
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After selecting the "thin horse", Zhang Xun invited Fan Yubin to drink tea in the study room of his house. He kept silent and talked about nothing else but romance.
After all, Fan Yubin was young and could not hold his breath, so he spoke first. When talking about business, the party who speaks first often suffers, a wise saying.
"Brother, I am here to work with you to lower the price of salt and drive those Anhui people out of Yangzhou. From now on, the salt market in Yangzhou will be shared by our Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants. How about that?"
"Oh, I wonder how much you want to lower the price of salt?"
"Fifty Wen per catty".
Zhang Xun was surprised. Although the cost of making salt was only five cents per catty, but with salt classes, filial piety to officials, and various donations, the cost of salt per catty was about sixty cents. At this price, he could sell it
You'll lose a lot of money.
"Brother, this price is not good, and the loss is huge. We are not like your Fan family, who have a lot of money."
"Brother, although the short-term profits have been damaged, we have driven away those Anhui merchants. The price is not up to you, I have the final say. When the time comes, sell as high as you want. Selling for 500 Wen per catty will not be a problem!" "Good brother, it's not that my brother is unwilling to contribute, it's just that a bunch of villagers around him want me to sell it at a loss, and no one is willing to agree!"
Fan Yubin had already prepared, "If brother is willing to agree, I will hand over the business of transporting military rations to Datong this year. How about it?"
Zhang Xun remained silent.
"What about Shaanxi military rations?"
"I agree, just what a gentleman says."
"Hurry up and whip the horse".
"Pah! Pah! Pah", high-fives came from the study room.
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Mountains surround the city, and clear streams surround the city.
It is difficult to paint white clouds and green mountains.
There are wild colors hidden in every building,
Every house is lit with lights and the sound of reading.
At first glance, Jiang Guomao's Jiang Garden, the chief merchant of Huizhou merchants in Yangzhou, is no different from the local gardens in Yangzhou. It is distinguished by stacked stones, and there is a rockery at the entrance, as well as a pond and water feature, various bamboos, orchids, flowers, and grasses. The winding and deep corners are fascinating.
.There is a difference if you look carefully. The horse head wall has three sections. The middle one is very wide and the two ends are very narrow. It is simple but has strong contrast and is full of Huizhou mountain game. The local horse head wall mostly has five sections.
Divided and stacked in equal lengths, they are richer, more complex, and more ingenious. The wood carvings and stone carvings on the roofs and walls are more general and freehand; while the local carvings are more refined and rounded.
If I had to use one word to describe Jiangyuan, it would be: "elegant"!
Both Shanxi and Shaanxi are important towns with nine borders. Shanxi merchants and Shaanxi merchants all have people in the court and have profound backgrounds. In the long-term commercial war with Shanxi merchants and Shaanxi merchants, Huizhou merchants suffered all the hardships of having no one in the court. Therefore, they He attaches great importance to the education of his children. If he cannot become an official himself, he will try his best to force the next generation to study hard and take the imperial examination. In Yi County, there is a couplet on the door of an Huizhou businessman that reads: "Read well, do business well, and be efficient." It’s good; it’s hard to start a business and hard to stay successful, but it’s not difficult to know the difficulty.”
Jiang Guomao's family also has a family motto, which was left by the old lady. Although it is a bit rough, the words are not rough but the reasoning is not rough, "Raising a child without studying is worse than raising a pig."
It is precisely because of their strong awareness of studying and taking imperial examinations that Huizhou merchants are often officials and businessmen. Once they become successful, they return to their hometowns in plain clothes and carry out large-scale construction projects, building buildings, ancestral halls, roads, bridges, and guild halls to honor their ancestors. They are especially keen on opening up School, test center.
Therefore, Huizhou merchants gained a good reputation as "Jia Er loves Confucianism".
People who read too many books tend to be elegant and elegant, consider themselves to be of high moral character, and are devoted to finding leisure and fun, and to cleanse themselves from philistine habits.
Jiang Guomao is very elegant. He wears a Confucian scarf (a square scarf) and a blue shirt. Yes, blue, which is different from the jade-colored shirts of ordinary students. He was a supervisor in the Ming Dynasty.
Sitting on the four-year-old official hat chair, he picked up the tea cup on the butterfly table and took a sip. Different from ordinary businessmen who like to use coffee tables to place tea sets, Jiang Guomao likes to use saucer tables to place tea sets. This kind of table is also known as " The "tangram table" or "Kit Kat table" is creatively designed according to the shape of the tangram and consists of seven pieces with different shapes.
Only by placing tea sets like this can you be worthy of your status as a Confucian businessman.
"Father", his son Jiang Yan came in like a storm.
Jiang Guomao glared, "Yan'er, how many times have I told you as a father that when dealing with people, you must behave like a scholar and not be surprised by favors or humiliations. What's the point of being reckless?"