In the south of Jiangning City, on the bustling Jiyang Street, there is Yiyuan.
Yiyuan is built along a stream. It is a winding place with lush trees and countless pavilions and pavilions.
This place was once a property purchased by Chen Jin, a member of the Jiangnan Province Rural Examination Committee in the 17th year of Tiande's reign, but the current owner is a well-known wealthy businessman in Jiangnan Province, ***.
The reason why *** is so rich is not only because he has extensive land and estates, but also because he is a big businessman.
The so-called negotiators refer to merchants who are engaged in the transaction of specialty goods, such as salt, iron, wine and other state monopoly goods.
Although these commodities are nominally monopolized by the government, various problems arise in the government operation. Therefore, it is now common practice for certain individuals or firms to accept the government's entrustment and exercise the monopoly rights on their behalf.
These entrusted businessmen are the businessmen.
If you want to become a consultant, you must have a strong background, and ***’s background is Liu Xun, the governor of Jiangnan.
***'s sister was Liu Xun's favorite concubine. *** also relied on hugging her brother-in-law's lap to become one of the only government-run wine merchants in Jiangning Prefecture.
Last night, *** gathered a group of friends to drink and have fun at home. They slept with prostitutes until midnight. If he hadn't been woken up by something, he would have stayed asleep all day long.
*** yawned, crawled out of bed sadly, and washed and dressed under the service of the maid.
When *** came to the front hall, he saw one of his best friends, Mr. Huang from Futai Yamen, already dressed and making breakfast.
"Brother Huang is really full of energy and gets up really early..."
*** smiled and sat down next to Mr. Huang, taking a bowl of bird's nest porridge from the maid.
This Master Huang is also an old man who follows Governor Liu. However, he is not very capable and loves petty gains. He has never been reused and can only do menial jobs such as running errands and doing odd jobs. He is quite neglected in the yamen.
It was by chance that *** met Mr. Huang. The two had a similar affinity and soon became sworn friends. They colluded internally and externally and committed many evil deeds in the name of Governor Liu.
"I had something on my mind and couldn't sleep well, so I just got up early."
Master Huang said with a pair of dark circles under his eyes: "I didn't expect that Sheng Hong would be soft when pinched, but his cousin Sheng Wei was like a piece of meat!"
*** exhaled a breath and said: "I thought that a little scare would make Sheng Wei surrender, but who would have thought that this guy has survived until now. I even showed him my brother-in-law's seal, but he still made excuses to delay."<
/p>
If they want to eat the fat meat of amber wine, Master Huang and *** naturally cannot avoid the official backer of Shengjia Trading Company, Yangzhou Tongpan Sheng Hong.
Originally, *** thought that it would take some effort to subdue Sheng Hong. Unexpectedly, Sheng Hong showed no resistance at all and surrendered directly.
But Sheng Wei has been working hard to support it, which is beyond *** expected.
As for the seal mentioned by ***, it is naturally not the large seal of the governor's office, but the private seal of Governor Liu, which has been kept by his concubine, ***'s sister.
It is common for *** and Mr. Huang to secretly take the seals out and pretend to be a tiger. They just need to put them back after using them. With ***'s sister helping to cover it up, Governor Liu didn't find any clues.
Master Huang went to threaten Sheng Wei this time and brought this seal with him beforehand, but the result was not satisfactory. Two days have passed and Sheng Wei still has not relented.
*** snorted coldly: "There are a few stubborn people like this everywhere. We must give them a taste of their power!"
"Well, with our power, it wouldn't be a big deal to run a small wine merchant."
Mr. Huang's face was filled with uncertainty as he said: "But the decree only requires the tribute of ten bottles of amber wine, not to mention the original wine..., and the purchase price has also shrunk by 70%..."
"What's wrong with this? I finally managed to get the advantage of buying tributes for you in front of my brother-in-law. Isn't it just to take the opportunity to make some money?"
*** said confidently: "Besides, I don't want to occupy the wine shop named Sheng. I just see that his amber wine is selling well, and I want to spend money to invest in it. Let's make money together. What's wrong with that?" p>
"I know all this..."
Master Huang said with a bitter face: "But who knows if the Sheng family has any backers. After all, the governor doesn't know about the things we do. If we are exposed, the consequences will be disastrous!"
"What are you afraid of! I have already inquired about it. The Sheng family's official support is just Sheng Hong."
*** said nonchalantly: "You know Sheng Hong's virtues, how dare he provoke my brother-in-law?"
"I hope so."
Master Huang was just about to stop talking and eat breakfast when he heard footsteps coming from outside. When he looked up, it was his own boy who had arrived at the door.
"What happened?"
The boy of the Huang family reported truthfully: "This morning, Lord Shen Dushen, the prefect of Jiangning, sent someone to our house. He said that he heard that our amber wine from Jiangning was honored as a tribute, and the whole house was honored. Shen's mansion ordered someone to be there.
Celebrating banners have been hung on the major colorful buildings in Jiangning City, and I specially invite you to come and watch the ceremony."
"Bitterness means something bad is going to happen!"
Master Huang and *** felt their hearts sink at the same time.
If Shen Du makes such a fuss, won't it make the whole city aware of the amber wine tribute?
In this case, how can they attack the Sheng family's winery?
The two couldn't sit still anymore, so they came to the front yard wall, climbed up the ladder, and looked outside.
On the street, I saw bright and eye-catching red banners hanging on the tall colorful buildings built with colorful silk.
"The fine amber wine is famous all over the world, waiting for the imperial edict and tribute, the whole family will be happy!"
"My mother!"
Seeing this joyous scene, Mr. Huang felt dizzy and almost fell off the ladder. Fortunately, the boy on the side held him up.
"If you want to hide it now, you can't hide it..." *** also didn't expect that Shen Du would do this.
"Is this Shen Du a reinforcement invited by the Sheng family? I haven't heard of any relationship between the Sheng family and Shen Du?"
***I was a little confused for a while. Is this Shendu an accident, or is it intentional?
Not long after, the disciple of the Song family came to report again: "Sir, someone from the government office just came. They said that a flowing banquet was set up at Shenfu Terrace to celebrate the tribute of amber wine, and I specially invited you to come over."
"Go to hell!"
When *** heard this, he jumped down from the ladder angrily and fell to the ground.
Just ask Mr. Huang. After all, he is an official and is in charge of tribute matters.
But what does it mean to make a special trip to invite ***?
In the eyes of outsiders, *** has nothing to do with this wine tribute thing!
At this time, no matter how slow *** is, he can see that Shen Du is trying to control his army!
"Brother Song, what's going on?"
Master Huang pulled the policeman up from the ground and said in panic: "Could it be that Shen Du was really a reinforcement invited by the Sheng family?"
"I still underestimate the Sheng family!"
*** patted the dust on his body and said with a gloomy face: "Sheng Hong must have found Shen Du secretly and asked Shen Du to help him. After all, they were all hanging out in the official circles of Jiangnan Province, and they were always going around. I can get some connections. Oh, this group of scholars has always been like this, a den of snakes and rats, working together in collusion!"
"Are you saying that Sheng Hong is pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger, deliberately retreating in order to advance, and then suddenly taking advantage of us when we are not prepared?"
Master Huang's eyes widened and he was shocked: "This Sheng Hong has such a forbearing character and such a vicious strategy!"