The next day they got up in the morning and acted separately according to yesterday's discussion. When Xiao Zhuo, Lu Yu, and Wang Rende came back in the evening, three of their subordinates were waiting at the door. When they saw them coming back, they hurried

He stepped forward and said, "Sir, Mr. Duan left a message saying that today we are entertaining the Zhao family and the Li family at the newly built Zhiwei Building outside 'Nanshi'. It is said that the banquet will be held at the beginning of Xu Shi, so please hurry over."

At this time, the place where merchants conducted transactions was called "city", so according to the location, the place where merchants of Ming Dynasty sold goods was called Nanshi, and the place where merchants of Fanguo sold goods was called Beishi. Then it was called Shanghai County.

People in the past called the market inside Shanghu County the inner market.

The three of them looked at each other, and Xiao Zhuo said with a smile: "Brother Wang, second brother, it's getting late, let's go there."

Of course, the two of them had no objection and both headed towards Zhiwei Tower.

Wang Rende stood at the door of the sedan, and when he was about to get up, he saw Xiao Zhuo and Lu Yu leading people, as if they were going to go all the way to Zhiwei Building, so he hurriedly greeted: "Brother Xiao, Brother Lu, are you here?"

Why doesn’t Hu County buy a sedan?”

Then he turned around and told the butler Wang Fu: "Hurry up and carry the two sedans over. I'm calling the oldest bearers to come over and carry the sedans."

Xiao Zhuo said: "Brother Wang, there is no need for this. We are not used to riding in sedan chairs. If there are horses, let us ride them. If there are no horses, we can just walk over like this."

Wang Rende really doesn’t have any horses to ride at home, only two steeds, and one of them went out to haul goods today. Wang Rende usually doesn’t ride a horse, he just walks or rides in a carriage when he’s conspicuous in the city, and he rides in a sedan chair outside the city.

.It was quite a distance to Nanshi today, so he took a sedan chair.

Wang Rende said: "You two brothers just walk around on weekdays?"

Liu Yu smiled and said: "We usually deal with maritime merchants. If we come and go in sedan chairs, I'm afraid they won't do business with us."

Although Wang Rende felt that it was not good for him to sit in a sedan alone, he had never traveled a long distance, so he had no choice but to sit in a sedan.

Wang Rende felt uncomfortable going there with the two walking people, so he first went to Zhiwei Tower in a sedan chair.

When he arrived at Zhiweilou, it was already You hour. Wang Rende asked his servants to park the sedan in a special place. The waiter from Zhiweilou, who had been prepared, came up and greeted: "This master,..."

Then he noticed that the person who came down was Wang Rende. He quickly changed his name and said with a smile: "Why did Mr. Wang come to our place for dinner today?"

Wang Rende said: "It turns out to be Manager Meng. I made an appointment with guests today. But a person named Duan He has made a reservation?"

The man heard the words and said with a smile: "So he is Mr. Wang's guest? I really don't know. The location that Mr. Duan has chosen today is not very good. It is also because we have already reserved the pavilion with the best view on the third floor for the afternoon.

out."

"But it happened that another guest left the pavilion again, so I immediately arranged for him to stay in the pavilion on the third floor."

Wang Rende knew that this was a common tactic of restaurants like this, and they all reserved good places, so he didn't take it seriously and walked towards the building, with Manager Meng following him.

Wang Rende said: "I must say that your proprietor Mao Yongzhi is also very decisive! There are many people who learned that this place is going to be a place to open up the sea, but only your proprietor immediately ordered the construction of buildings outside."

"As of now, you are the only one who has such a good dining place nearby. The other restaurants in the city can only buy space to repair this place first. It will probably take a few months before the repairs are completed. During this period, the business is at a loss.

It belongs to your family."

Manager Meng smiled and said: "I don't dare to take it. Our proprietor is much more reckless than other restaurant proprietors. He started doing it before he had any confidence at that time. What if it was false news or he would have postponed it for a year or two?

Yeah, we all have to drink the northwest wind."

Wang Rende said: "To do business, you have to be a little enterprising, otherwise you can only do small business and not big business."

Manager Meng did not speak further, but his expression did not seem to agree too much.

Wang Rende didn't say much more. Before entering the restaurant, he said to Butler Meng: "There are two more people coming over. One is Xiao and the other is 6. Remember, they are my guests."

Manager Meng nodded and said, "I will definitely never forget it."

Wang Rende was led by his waiter to the pavilion. When he walked in, he saw Duan He and two strangers sitting inside.

When Duan He saw Wang Rende coming, he smiled and said: "Brother Wang still has face in Shanghu County. In the afternoon, I tried to say that there was no attic room on the third floor, but as soon as Brother Wang came, there was one."

Wang Rende said: "If we are in Jiaxing or Ningbo, I'm afraid Duan's words will work!"

Duan He smiled and did not speak further.

After a while, Xiao Zhuo and Lu Yu also came. Lu Yu didn't feel it yet. When they heard Xiao Zhuo's name, one of the Zhao and Li families who were sitting stood up and said, "It's Pinghu (County)

)’s Yum Knife King Xiao Zhuo?”

Xiao Zhuo said: "Yum dare not say, but this is Xiao Zhuo." Hearing his admission, even the other person on the side was a little moved.

Wang Rende then remembered that in addition to being a businessman, Xiao Zhuo was also a famous figure in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu. Legend has it that he had excellent swordsmanship and no one had ever been able to defeat him.

Even people from local bureaucratic families have heard of this nickname, but they just don't know who it is. That is to say, when people like Wang Rende see Xiao Zhuo, they first think of him as a businessman. Most people first think of him.

He regarded him as a knight-errant.

Duan He whispered to Xiao Zhuo: "The person you are talking to is from the Zhao family in Huzhou. His name is Zhao Dechen. He is a very important figure in the Zhao family. The one over there is from the Li family in Suzhou. His name is Li Taiyuan.

.I don’t know the details of this person. I asked a friend to introduce him.”

Xiao Zhuo said with a smile: "I just have a love for swordsmanship and I don't have any knack. And I'm here today to discuss business."

Only then did Zhao Dechen let him go.

At this time, a waiter walked in and said: "Guests, can we serve the dishes?"

Duan He said: "Come on."

The waiter left. Not long after, a dozen waiters filed in and put the dishes on the table.

A person who seemed to be in charge said: "There are still two soups that have not yet been served. They need to be simmered over low heat. The rest of the dishes have been served. Please take your time." Then they left.

Xiao Zhuo opened a pot of wine, poured himself a glass and drank it in one gulp, saying, "Brother Zhao, Brother Li, it's the first time we meet today, I'll do it first as a token of respect."

Li Taiyuan and Zhao Dechen are not ungrateful people. People with no eyes in the big family circle around the house and dare not let them come out to embarrass themselves and do bad things. They also poured themselves wine and said one after another: "I, Li Taiyuan (Zhao Dechen), have the first time today."

I met a few people and did it too." The two of them also did it one after another.

In this case, Lu Yu, Duan He and Wang Rende could only accompany him.

After a glass of wine, the relationship between the few people suddenly became more harmonious, and both parties were able to accept each other, and the conversation started to open up immediately.

None of them were polite people. Except for Wang Rende, they all had some boxing training, so there was no politeness on the field, which made Wang Rende shake his head.

However, Li Taiyuan and Zhao Dechen had a very tight rapport and said nothing when faced with the temptation. They even avoided talking about drinking today until tomorrow. Wang Rende had to arrange for them to go back to their place in a sedan chair.

On the way back, Lu Yu said: "These two people are really tight-lipped and didn't ask anything."

Xiao Zhuo said: "That's natural. Why would the Zhao family and the Li family send wine bags and rice bags to discuss things with us?"

Duan He asked: "Brother, did you gain anything from those "sea merchants" today?"

Xiao Zhuo shook his head and said: "There is nothing to gain! They are all slippery people. But with our power in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they can still get the goods as long as our price is not much lower than others."

Yes, I just make less money.”

Duan He said: "What about Xinlin? He threw a half-blind man here with us and didn't show anything?"

Xiao Zhuo said: "I already expressed my gratitude at that time. I'm helping to take care of someone, and I'm not an important person. How can I keep thanking him?"

Duan He said: "It is said that the half-blind man is good at martial arts, but I have never seen him take action. I guess it was Xin Lin who deceived us."

Xiao Zhuo said: "You are not allowed to call someone half-blind. And that person must be a martial artist, and his martial arts skills are not low. You can tell by looking at his hands."

Although Duan He also practiced martial arts, he mainly spent his time studying. His martial arts skills were mediocre, and he didn't know whether what Xiao Zhuo said was true or not.

So he changed the topic and talked about the discussion with Li Taiyuan and Zhao Dechen tomorrow. Lu Yu and Wang Rende also joined in, and the four of them discussed for a while.

The next day, when Li Taiyuan and Zhao Dechen officially got up, negotiations finally began.

The negotiation took place in a small pavilion of the Wang family. The six people sat down separately. Wang Rende waited for the servants to bring everything up and let them all go down.

Xiao Zhuo said with a smile: "Brothers, you know very well what we have invited you to do. We were already polite yesterday, so let's get down to business today."

Zhao Dechen from Huzhou said: "Let's get down to business."

"Since the four of you found our two families, they probably want to take a big share of the raw silk."

"I just don't know how many of the thirty shops selling raw silk can be occupied by the four of them?"

Wang Rende said: "It can occupy at least fifteen rooms."

Zhao Dechen said with some doubt: "Can you get so much? Can Zhang Tiju agree?"

Wang Rende said: "This is Shanghu County. My family is the only one in Shanghu County who currently serves as an official in the court, and the servants are all our locals."

"And I won't be stupid enough to buy it all from one family. Brother Xiao, Brother Lu and Brother Duan will all be at the 'auction' this afternoon. Our families are all together. The Zhao family and the Li family

Members of the family can do it too! Each family only has three shops, and we don’t occupy other industries. Magistrate Zhang won’t say anything, let alone know that we are in the same group.”

"As for other comrades, they will not expose it to the court." It has not been twenty years since Shen Wansan's incident, and everyone still remembers it.

After listening to Wang Rende's words, Zhao Dechen felt that it was quite reliable. The people who came this time were all big businessmen from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In addition, there were only a few people from Huguang and Yong Jian who could compete with them for shop space.

Other small businessmen are thinking about collecting some goods to sell back, but they dare not compete with this: firstly, it is not their own territory after all, and secondly, it requires a lot of money, which most businessmen cannot afford.

Therefore, there are not many businessmen who are capable of competing. As long as they are not greedy for other goods, no one will fight for it in Bale.

Zhao Dechen asked a few more questions, and Wang Rende and Xiao Zhuo answered them one by one. Zhao Dechen then nodded and said: "It seems this can be done." This was an agreement.

He won't pretend to be unwilling to cooperate with you. There's no need for that. Since he's already here and had a drink, he's willing to cooperate. There's no need to pretend to be unwilling to cooperate.

Li Taiyuan, who had been silent just now, now said: "Our Li family also agreed."

Only then did everyone realize that the Li family hadn't said a word just now. They suddenly felt very strange, but they couldn't ask and could only hold it in themselves.

Next comes the most difficult stage of the negotiation - the members of the negotiating parties.
To be continued...