"Brother, here, here." The strong man's voice was a bit loud. Although it disturbed other diners in the lobby, it also allowed the businessman who had just opened the curtain to look for someone to see where the two sworn brothers were.
He hurriedly walked to the table and sat down, picked up the wine cup that the strong man had just filled for him, and said to the short man: "My brother has been busy the past few days, so I wish my second brother to get his revenge."
After he finished speaking, he stretched out his hand, tilted his head, and drank the entire glass of wine in one gulp.
The short man gratefully drank a glass with him. After putting down the wine cup, he sighed and said: "It's just a pity that many soldiers from the death camp sent their lives outside the Great Wall. I want to pay homage to them but they don't know where they are?"
When the merchant heard this, he asked strangely: "Why, haven't you heard? The large cement ancestral hall under construction at the Meridian Gate is dedicated to the soldiers of the death camp. If you want to pay homage, go there."
"What, brother, are you serious about this?" Upon hearing this, the short man immediately reached out and grabbed the merchant's hand on the table and asked.
"Yes, the notices are out. Oh, by the way, you are illiterate, but you should also go out more. If this news spreads here, it will no longer be the latest news." The merchant put on his big brother's face
Identity advises two sworn brothers.
When the strong man heard this, he felt ashamed for a while, and then immediately asked: "Brother, what's the news recently?"
The merchant took a few mouthfuls of food and ate a little anxiously. When asked by his third brother, he casually replied: "For example, the new army organized and trained by Zhongxing Hou became an army of monks wearing strange clothes. It is said that even Zhongxing Hou
They all had their hair cut into a monk’s head.”
There was gossip about the legendary Marquis Zhongxing. The strong man was very interested and quickly asked about it.
The merchant seemed a little impatient and simply explained the cause and effect of what he heard.
When the strong man heard this, he remembered that he had not taken care of his hair for several days, and suddenly felt that his scalp seemed a little itchy.
He remembered that lice can spread the plague, and an idea came to his mind. Instead of spending more money to take care of his hair, why not learn from Zhong Xinghou?
The short man's attention was not focused here. He asked: "This is not something that the imperial proclamation talks about. What else can the imperial proclamation talk about?"
The merchant glanced at the short man and said with a smile: "The most important thing is what my brother has been busy with these days."
After saying that, he stretched out his chopsticks to take a bite of the food, which made the somewhat impatient strong man complain: "Brother, don't whet your appetite. Why are you eating in such a hurry? Let's talk first."
The merchant glanced at the strong man with dissatisfaction, simply ate a few more bites of food, then put down his chopsticks and said: "If I hadn't come over to congratulate my second brother today, I wouldn't have come over. The eldest brother will have to rush back soon to accompany his employer.
work."
After explaining to the strong man for a while, he said to his two sworn brothers: "The imperial court's road office has been established, and powerful merchants are invited to attend the meeting this afternoon to discuss the construction of cement roads."
There had been rumors about the Lu Yamen before, but it had been difficult to establish and it had not been established. Unexpectedly, it was established in the past few days.
After this was established, there was a big move, which was to build cement roads. The two people who had experienced cement roads were very concerned and quickly asked about the specific situation.
Unexpectedly, the merchant shook his head and said: "The specific situation is unknown, but the value of the attendees must meet their requirements. It is precisely because of this condition that my boss decided to go there in person."
"Why?" the strong man asked puzzledly.
The merchant glanced at the third brother and explained a business principle to him: "The higher the threshold, the fewer opponents, and the higher the profit. There is a big business opportunity here!"
After hearing this, the strong man had a look of envy on his face. He glanced at the short man and then asked the merchant: "Brother, you said before that my younger brother's status is low. Do you want to take my younger brother to see the big scene?"
Before the merchant could answer, the short man spoke to the strong man and said, "Third brother, don't make things difficult for me. He is accompanying his employer this time."
The merchant smiled at the strong man: "Third brother, I'm sorry!"
The strong man smiled, a little embarrassed, and quickly replied: "It's my younger brother who is reckless, don't blame me!"
The merchant waved his hand at him and said, "It doesn't matter, they are all members of his family."
He looked at the sky, and then said: "It's getting late, I have to rush back to wait for my boss. I'll say goodbye first!"
The strong man watched his eldest brother disappear on the other side of the swinging curtain, and couldn't help but think to himself, if you want to get ahead and have a big picture, it seems that you have to rely on yourself. But what are your abilities?"
He turned his head and glanced at the short man, and added in his mind: "Is it true that I can only rely on this figure?"
The short man had a different idea than him. He was wondering why the richer it is, the easier it is to make a lot of money. If there is such a restriction on the threshold, wouldn't it mean that the rich will become richer in the future, and the poor will never have money?
He mentioned this idea to his third brother. Unexpectedly, this topic aroused the resonance of the surrounding diners, and they also discussed this topic.
The short man had no idea that Zhong Jinwei would seize the opportunity for his momentary grievances, which would lead to the emergence of another new thing in the Ming Dynasty.
In the afternoon of that day, luxury carriages began to drive up the cement road outside the capital city one after another, heading to the auction hall of the state-owned enterprise.
The owners of these luxury carriages basically knew or heard of each other. When they saw each other, they greeted each other politely and inquired about the meeting.
However, Zhong Jinwei was behind the scenes. He just gave the order and did not explain what he was doing, so they had no way of asking.
The auction hall of this state-owned enterprise has been requisitioned by the newly established Road Yamen. The relevant personnel have been replaced by officials from the Road Yamen to maintain order. When they saw wealthy businessmen from aristocratic families invited to come, they arranged for them to sit in the corresponding seats.
.
This time it was the merchant's turn and he was not qualified to sit down. He stood on the outermost corridor and looked at the layout of the hall.
He found that basically there was no change from last time, except that there was a large wooden board standing on the stage, or it could be called a wooden wall, and it was covered with red cloth. You couldn't see what was inside the red cloth.
On one side of the wooden board, there was a long thin stick standing upright, which related to the theme of this meeting being cement road, which led the businessmen to guess that there was probably a map under the red cloth.
Zhong Jinwei was also here, sitting on the second floor, looking at the crowd through the glass window.
Xu Guangqi, Minister of Industry, sat next to him. Neither of them spoke. What should be said had been discussed before.
Now we are waiting for the agreed time to arrive, and Xu Guangqi will make the opening remarks.
Because the Road Yamen is a department under the Ministry of Industry, what happened today is the first organization after the establishment of the Road Yamen. Xu Guangqi attached great importance to it and took the job that was originally scheduled to be the director of the Road Department. However, this also reflects the imperial court's
Pay attention to.
The bell suddenly rang three times, and the crowd in the hall immediately stopped whispering and looked towards the stage, expecting the mystery of what the meeting was to be revealed.
When the bell rang, Xu Guangqi stood up from his seat, rushed to Zhong Jinwei who looked at him, cupped his hands, and went downstairs.