On the spacious concrete road leading from Tianjin to the capital, there is an endless flow of people.
Since this cement road was repaired and Tianjin became the first city to impose a sea ban in the Ming Dynasty, Tianjin has developed extremely prosperously with many industries in the Tianjin Port.
This also makes this concrete road extremely busy.
The amount of marine fish transported from Tianjin to the capital every day is extremely large. Four-wheeled carriages are running on the cement road at extremely fast speeds. It takes less than two hours to transport fresh marine fish from Tianjin to the capital.
In addition to marine fish, the most shipped items to Beijing are barrels of cement. Tianjin has a large number of cement plants with large output. They can not only meet the local demand in Tianjin, but also start large-scale external sales. Beijing is currently the largest one.
Client area.
There are also a lot of people traveling to and from Tianjin from the capital. The dignitaries, officials, businessmen, etc. in the capital have more or less industries in Tianjin.
For example, fishing boats going out to sea, and currently only merchant ships going to North Korea, these are profitable businesses, and naturally they have attracted these predators in the capital early.
And as Zhang Mao, Xu Yongning, and the Zhang brothers, the first batch of crab eaters, made a lot of money, more and more people began to invest in Tianjin.
Every day, there are dozens of luxurious carriages followed by dozens of carriages, and there are also well-armed escorts or some strong domestic servants escorting them to Tianjin.
These fleets are carrying a large amount of money to invest in Tianjin, or to buy fishing boats to go fishing, or to buy sea-going ships, and to do business in North Korea, or to invest in some other projects in Tianjin.
industry.
In short, Tianjin is now becoming more and more a cornucopia. Wealth is constantly gathering here, and more wealth is also beginning to be continuously transported out.
Silver is only silver when it circulates. Otherwise, it is just a piece of metal buried on the floor of a cellar, with no value at all.
At this time, Tianjin is constantly interpreting this famous saying of Liu Jin.
The cement road is very spacious and very busy. Some people have even built sheds or thatched houses next to the cement road. They sell tea, food and the like here. The business is also very prosperous because of the people coming and going.
There are simply too many.
Aunt Fan is one of many people who do business on this cement road.
She is from a village near the cement road, and her home is not far from the cement road, so she also took a fancy to the business on the cement road early.
She is also quite smart, and the land beside the road belongs to her family, so the family worked hard for more than ten days to level the land, and then paved it with cement from Tianjin, right on the roadside.
A tea shed was set up, selling tea as well as some noodles, steamed buns and the like.
"Boss, here are ten steamed buns, a pot of tea, and a bowl of noodles, the kind with soup."
"Okay~ Sir, please wait a moment."
"Boss, I want a pot of tea and Longjing~"
"Okay~"
Aunt Fan's shop was very busy. From time to time, customers would stop by to drink tea, eat something and rest. Aunt Fan couldn't handle it by herself, so she also brought her whole family over.
Aunt Fan’s son became the waiter in the shop and was responsible for doing miscellaneous tasks. Her boss became the owner of the shop and was responsible for settling accounts and collecting money. As for her daughter-in-law, her unmarried daughter was responsible for helping make steamed buns, lighting fires, making tea, etc. in the kitchen. , the whole family has to be busy from morning to night, and the business is extremely booming.
"You don't know, a few days ago, a fishing boat in Tianjin caught a whale."
"This whale is as big as a house, and it's several feet long. I was right here at Tianjin Port at the time, and there were more than a dozen butchers on site working to dismember this big whale."
"The whale's oil is cut off in barrels. The oil on one whale can be as much as the fat of thousands of fat pigs. And the meat of this whale is like beef, bright red, bright red. This one The meat from a whale is equivalent to the meat from hundreds of cows..."
In Aunt Fan's tea shed, a customer was telling about the big whale he saw at Tianjin Port in a lively and vivid manner. His voice was loud enough for everyone in the tea shed to hear.
Hearing that there was such a huge whale, it immediately became the focus of dozens of people in the entire tea shed. Everyone couldn't help but look over and pricked up their ears to listen carefully.
"The oil of one whale is equivalent to the oil of a thousand fat pigs?"
"This meat is equivalent to the meat of hundreds of cows?"
"Just brag, how could there be such a big fish in the world?"
People who have seen whales expressed their doubts. Everyone has seen a lot of marine fish. Many of the four-wheeled carriages coming and going are specially used to transport marine fish to Beijing.
From time to time, we can see some big fish weighing hundreds of kilograms or even thousands of kilograms. Sometimes when we encounter some particularly large fish, we can even attract a microcosm.
"That's right, here is the lead pig, and hundreds of cows gathered together before and you couldn't even see the side. You are exaggerating a bit."
People who had never seen a whale also nodded and said.
"Ha~"
"My name, Chen Laoshi, has the word "honest" in it. I never lie. If you go to Tianjin Port and ask around, do you think I, Chen Laoshi, can brag or lie?"
Some people doubted him, Chen Laoshi's eyes turned red with anxiety, and he kept saying.
"Haha~"
When everyone saw it, they immediately laughed, not knowing whether they were laughing at Chen Laoshi or something else.
"Mr. Chen, I wonder if I could trouble you to tell me more about this whale. I'm very interested."
At this time, a middle-aged man, wearing brocade clothes and a jade belt with a jade pendant, followed by several servants, came over and greeted Chen Laoshi very politely.
When Chen Laoshi heard this, he looked at the other party, quickly stood up and said in return: "I don't dare to be a gentleman. You can just call me Chen Laoshi, noble man."
"Speaking of this whale, people here in Tianjin say it is the Kunpeng in the sea. There is a poem saying that there is a fish in the dark north, and its name is Kun. Kun is so big that I don't know how many thousands of miles away it is. It turned into a bird, and its name is It is a Peng. A Peng's back is unknown for thousands of miles; it flies in anger, and its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky. It is a bird, and the sea will migrate to Nanming. The one in Nanming is the Tianchi."
When Chen Laoshi saw that this noble man was willing to listen to him talk about whales, he became more energetic and began to talk slowly.
When everyone else heard this, they suddenly became quiet. There are not many entertainment projects in this era. Teahouses and restaurants in the city often hire storytellers to do business. Often, a powerful storyteller can make the business extremely prosperous. Hot.
Naturally, there is no storyteller in Aunt Fan's teahouse. Now that Chen Laoshi is telling new things about this whale, everyone naturally becomes more energetic and listens attentively.
Hearing Chen Laoshi reciting a passage from Zhuang Zhou's "There Are Fishes in the North Dark", everyone present couldn't help but nod their heads. It really sounded like a storyteller.
As for the nobleman who just stepped forward to ask Chen Laoshi to take the whale, he also sat down at the table next to him, listened quietly, and nodded slightly from time to time, seeming to be extremely interested in the matter of the whale.
"This whale is the Kunpeng in the sea. It is naturally huge. Its backbone is like a neem, its ribs are like rafters, its hair is like a bun, its eyes are like two suns, its spray is like rain, its breath is like clouds, and it rolls over the waves.
, this is the whale I’m talking about.”
Chen Laoshi vividly described the appearance of this whale to everyone. The key point was that this whale was very big.
"When the whale returned to port, because it was so big, hundreds of people at Tianjin Port used ropes to pull the whale ashore from the sea."
"Tianjin Port hired more than a dozen butchers to dismember the big whale on site. This whale skin is completely different from ordinary fish skin. It has extremely fine velvet and feels more like animal skin.
Fur, this whale skin is extremely sought after, and the first whale skin was bought for five hundred taels of silver."
When he said this, everyone couldn't help but be slightly surprised. Five hundred taels of silver was a sky-high price. Only the middle-aged man in extraordinary clothes smiled slightly.
"The person who bought the whale skin said that this whale is a Kunpeng. Sitting on the whale skin is like sitting on a Kunpeng. Whether you are an official or a businessman, you can skyrocket to ninety thousand miles. It's amazing.
It’s auspicious.”
After hearing Chen Laoshi's words, everyone nodded again. In this era, everyone believes these things.
"Guess what's the most valuable thing on this whale?"
Chen Laoshi saw that everyone was listening with great interest, even the waiter and the owner of the teahouse were fascinated, so he smiled and asked.
"Is this whale oil?"
Someone thought for a while and asked.
"No, although there is a lot of whale oil and the price is not bad, it is still very average."
Chen Laoshi smiled and shook his head and replied.
"Then it must be this whale skin. It can be sold for five hundred taels of silver. It must be very valuable."
Someone else said.
"No, whale skin is very valuable. The skin that can be peeled off from this whale is very large and can be cut into many pieces. The skin of that whale was sold for several thousand taels of silver in total."
Chen Laoshi smiled and shook his head.
"Chen Laoshi, why don't you stop showing off what the hell is going on?"
Someone said impatiently.
"The most expensive thing on this whale is the whale's baby~"
Chen Laoshi smiled and said.
"Hahaha~"
Everyone in the tea shed couldn't help laughing when they heard this, and the middle-aged man in unusual clothes also smiled slightly.
"This whale is very big, and its baby is also huge. It is two to three feet long and as thick as a bucket. It is said that this whale's baby can make men become more powerful. It is even said that it can make all the father-in-laws in the palace.
It was brought back to life, so this thing aroused fierce competition on the spot, and was finally sold for a sky-high price of five thousand taels of silver."
Chen Laoshi looked at everyone and kept making gestures so that everyone could clearly understand the size of the whale baby, and then even boasted about the magical effects of the whale baby.
"It may be true that this will make people proud, but it will bring all the father-in-laws in the palace back to life. Is it too much?"
Someone thought for a while and said.
"Who knows, maybe it can really be done. No matter how big the treasure is, this whale is probably the only one in the world. Maybe it can really bring the father-in-law back to life in the palace."
"Isn't it possible? It is said that the father-in-law in this palace has been cut off. Can he still be regenerated?"
"This is a whale. Maybe it can be pointed out."
"Do you think this whale's baby can really make people proud?"
"Do you need this?"
"Of course, as a man, the more powerful the better, right?"
"Haha, yes~ yes, but this thing is precious, five thousand taels of silver, we ordinary people have no chance to enjoy it."
"Yes, it's too expensive."
After everyone listened, they also discussed with each other, and they all vaguely felt that it seemed to have such a miraculous effect.
"Does this whale's treasure really have such miraculous effects? Five thousand taels of silver is not expensive at all. I don't know how much silver it will cost when it is shipped to the capital."
"The father-in-law in the palace and the dignitaries in the capital will buy some at all costs."
The middle-aged man in unusual clothes thought the same thing when he heard this.
Then he thought about it and asked Chen Laoshi again: "Mr. Chen, are these whales also caught by fishing boats?"
"Let me tell you, this whale hunting requires a special whaling boat. Normal sea fish are caught with nets. This whale is hunted with a harpoon gun. Ordinary fishing boats have no way to hunt this whale.
Yes, the whale is too big.”
Chen Laoshi asked with a smile, then looked at the carriage that the noble man came with and said: "If the noble man is going to invest in Tianjin, it is also a good deal to buy a few whaling ships to go out to sea to hunt whales. It is said that the whale finally
It was sold for 30,000 pieces of silver."
"This is just a whaling ship, with hundreds of crew members going to sea in less than three days."
"Thank you Mr. Chen for your suggestion. I will consider it carefully."
The middle-aged man in unusual clothes nodded to express his thanks. He actually went to Tianjin this time to look for opportunities to make a fortune, so he brought a lot of money with him.
Because when I heard Chen Laoshi talk about this whale, I also saw a business opportunity, so I kept listening.
"You're welcome, you're welcome. There are many profitable businesses in Tianjin. In fact, the most profitable business is to set up a fleet to go to North Korea. It is said that a round trip costs one million taels of silver. Even if it is not enough, the ship to North Korea is also very expensive.
, they can only be purchased here at Tianjin Shipyard.”
When Chen Laoshi saw that the other party respected him, he also smiled and told the situation in Tianjin.
"Earning a million taels of silver from a round trip?"
When everyone heard this, their eyes widened again, even this middle-aged man. Such a huge profit was really amazing. It felt like the money was as good as copper coins.
"Heyyo~Heyyo~"
At this moment, a burst of neat chanting came from a distance. When everyone heard it, they immediately followed the sound and looked over.
I saw an extremely large team trudging forward on the road from Tianjin to the capital. There were hundreds of shirtless people in front of them, sweating, struggling to drag a huge thing.
This behemoth is very big, like a house, and looks like a big fish from a distance.
"This is the whale, this is the whale~"
Chen Laoshi widened his eyes, and then said excitedly to everyone in the tea shed.