On the streets of the capital, a carriage was walking slowly. In the carriage, the British Duke Zhang Mao looked at Liu Jin carefully and couldn't help but praise him.
At this time, Liu Jin had dressed up very well. He looked at Fengshen, who was handsome, elegant and indifferent. His eyes were as dark as the stars in the sky, with a faint smile on his lips. He was confident but not arrogant, showing off his appearance.
of.
"Ahem, Mr. Zhang deserves the prize."
Liu Jin seemed very uncomfortable being stared at by the British Duke Zhang Mao.
"We will be visiting Duke Dingguo's Mansion later. Xu Guangzuo will take you around Duke Ding's Mansion to take a look. Whether you are lucky or not depends on your own luck."
British Duke Zhang Mao also smiled and said to Liu Jin.
"Dong Guo?"
Liu Jin was frightened when he heard this. Lao Zhang, you must be too proud. Duke Ding is one of the few wealthy families in the Ming Dynasty, but Liu Jin himself is dressed in commoner clothes and can't even think about it.
"Yes, there is a small gathering at Duke Dingguo's Mansion today. Some of us who are close friends will bring their families to attend. It is also an opportunity for the younger generation to get to know each other, so you should behave well."
"It's also the right time for you to come back. If you miss this time, you won't have the opportunity to choose."
Zhang Mao said with a smile.
"It seems that I came back at the right time."
Liu Jin couldn't help but smile and said.
"It's indeed the right time. We are only about a month away from the Autumn Festival. There are also many talented people from North Zhili gathered here in the capital. There are many various poetry conferences. After the Autumn Festival, it will be until the Spring Festival next year.
At that time, talented people from all over the Ming Dynasty will gather here, and it will be really lively at that time, but it also means that your competitors will increase."
"By the way, how are you preparing?"
“Do you have the confidence to go to high school?”
Speaking of Qiu Wei, Zhang Maocai remembered that the Liu Jin in front of him was still a scholar, and he was also going to participate in Qiu Wei. If he could get into high school in one fell swoop, he could participate in Spring Wei again next year. Once he passed in Chun Wei again, he could become a disciple of the Emperor.
If you pass the imperial examination, your title on the gold medal list will be prestigious.
"Let it go."
Liu Jin replied perfunctorily. He really didn't have any confidence. That is to say, he has been practicing calligraphy continuously for this period of time. This calligraphy can at least be used by servants. Otherwise, he really didn't even dare to take part in the imperial examination.
Already.
The only thing I can count on now is my golden finger. Let's see if I can use my golden finger to cheat. No matter what, it is still very useful to get the identity of a juren.
"Also, this is your first time to participate in Qiuwei. The important thing is to participate. The result is not important."
After hearing Liu Jin's words, Zhang Mao also smiled and said.
Of course he knows how difficult the Qiu Wei Examination is. As the old saying goes, thirty old Ming Jing, fifty young Jinshi, this imperial examination is definitely not an easy task. There are many people who will never pass the exam.
Liu Jin is only nineteen years old now. If he fails the Qiuwei exam for the first time, it is normal. There are many people who can pass the exam in their teens, and even some geniuses pass the exam at thirteen or four, but most of them
People who want to win the exam in their teens still need talent.
While the two were talking, the carriage they were riding in arrived at the gate of Duke Dingguo's Mansion. Liu Jin got off the carriage and looked carefully at the gate of Duke Dingguo's Mansion in front of him.
The threshold is really high. The copper ingots above the door are arranged neatly, shining with golden light. There are two rows of soldiers guarding the door. There is a huge plaque in the middle, with dragons and phoenixes dancing on it saying "ding".
"Guogongfu" has four characters.
"As expected of the Dingguo Palace, this facade is impressive enough."
Liu Jin knew that ordinary people could not enter or exit through the front door of Duke Dingguo's mansion. The servants in the mansion basically used the back door to enter and exit. As for ordinary guests, there were other doors beside the front.
There is a small door. You can enter and exit through the small door. Those who can enter and exit through the main door are those with status and status.
They are very particular about this aspect, especially those from wealthy families.
Originally, it stands to reason that Liu Jin is not qualified to enter and exit from the main entrance, and can only use the small door next to it. However, this time the British Duke Zhang Mao brought Liu Jin to visit the Dingguo Duke's Mansion, so he followed Zhang Mao into the main entrance.
Dingguo Gongfu.
"I've met Uncle Zhang~"
A few minutes after Zhang Mao and Liu Jin sat down in the living room, Xu Guangzuo came over with a smile on his face, and first saluted Zhang Mao very respectfully.
Then he smiled and said to Liu Jin: "Brother Liu~"
"Brother Xu~"
The last time Xu Guangzuo, Zhang Mao and Zhu Fu went to Tianjin to find Liu Jin to buy a ship, they had a great chat that time. Xu Guangzuo and Liu Jin were both young people, so they treated each other like brothers.
Moreover, Liu Jin and the three princes' governments also funded and opened a cement factory together, and they also had close business contacts.
"Haha, I thought you didn't want to go back to the capital, Brother Liu."
There was no one else, Xu Guangzuo also said to Liu Jin with a smile.
"This brat has lived a happy life here in Tianjin. Of course he doesn't want to go back to the capital."
Zhang Mao also said with a smile, and then thought for a while and asked Liu Jin: "Bad boy, how is the whale business?"
Yesterday, the whale's entry into Beijing caused a huge sensation. Almost no one was in the crowd, and a whale was sold for a sky-high price of more than 50,000 taels of silver. This also made the powerful people in the capital see huge business opportunities, and Zhang Mao naturally did the same.
Following Liu Jin, he invested in many businesses, including buying fishing boats to go out to sea for fishing, buying seagoing ships to go out to sea to do business in North Korea, and setting up cement factories, briquette factories, etc.
These businesses are very profitable, and he has tasted the benefits, so now he is very interested in investing in various emerging industries, especially if this industry has something to do with Liu Jin, it will definitely cost him a lot.
.
"This whale is full of treasures. The oil produced by one whale is equivalent to the oil produced by thousands of pigs, and the meat produced is equivalent to the meat produced by hundreds of cows. And there are many legends about whales.
A whale can be worth thousands of taels of silver."
"This business is no worse than fishing boats. If you have a few whaling boats, it is not difficult to make a million taels of silver a year."
Liu Jin replied without thinking.
"Great, brat, remember to leave me a few whaling ships, and remember to leave me a few hundred from the Tianjin Maritime Academy's graduate school."
As soon as Zhang Mao heard this, he grinned happily and said, his eyes narrowed, as if he saw a huge amount of money coming towards him.
"Yes, yes, keep it for me, too. You can't miss such a good deal."
When Xu Guangzuo heard this, he quickly spoke.
"The ship is not a problem, but I can't force them to keep these students from Tianjin Maritime Academy. If you want people, you have to show your sincerity. If you have more money, why don't you worry about having no one?"
Liu Jin smiled and nodded.
"You brat, you're so happy. It's not in vain that I worked so hard to introduce you to my wife."
When Zhang Mao heard this, he naturally laughed happily, and then winked at Xu Guangzuo. Xu Guangzuo immediately understood and said to Liu Jin with a smile: "Brother Liu, I just have a small poetry gathering here.
, we are all enjoying ourselves, why don’t we go over and have a look together?”
"Okay~"
When Liu Jin heard this, he immediately understood and replied with a smile and a nod.
