Walking into the study, Zhou Jun opened the locker where his father kept the slave slips. After some searching, he found stacks of thick papers tied with ropes in the double-sliding door cabinet on the bottom shelf.
Untying the rope, Zhou Jun looked over and found that Zhou Dinghai had accumulated quite a lot of "sink orders" over the years.
Among these sinking orders, some were half completed, but unexpected changes had no choice but to abandon the order; some were just drafted private contracts, and the buyer was dissatisfied with the slave mark and broke the contract; and some were concluded by Zhou Dinghai just after meeting the buyer.
The order cannot be continued.
Zhou Jun spread out all the purchase order documents on the ground in sequence.
First of all, the Shen orders that are too old have no value in trying again and are simply discarded.
Secondly, if the buyer breaks the contract due to his own reasons, the variables are too high and it is not suitable to continue.
Finally, it is not good to contact buyers who ask for credit or are fussy about the price.
After screening, Zhou Jun finally selected sixteen sinking orders.
Zhou Jun brought these sixteen Shen orders to Zhou Dinghai.
After reading them one by one, the latter helped sift out six copies, leaving only ten.
Zhou Dinghai looked at these ten Shenyang orders, recalled them, introduced the situation at that time to Zhou Jun, and also informed him of some precautions.
Zhou Jun carefully wrote down what Zhou Dinghai said, took the dry food prepared by Luo Sanniang, took the documents, mounted the horse prepared by the servant, and went out to officially start his career as a slave.
The buyer of the first heavy purchase order, located on North Street of Shengpingfang, was a Nanzhao tea merchant whom Zhou Dinghai negotiated with in a Shiguan wine shop three months ago.
At that time, the other party proposed to buy a young and beautiful Silla maid to take care of daily food and daily life.
Zhou Dinghai asked the Nanzhao tea merchant about his budget for purchasing slaves. After getting a figure, he immediately told the latter that the price charged for Silla maids in the slave market was very high, and the money was probably not enough.
The Nanzhao merchant settled for the next best thing and wanted to buy a Lingnan maid, but he still emphasized the words "young and beautiful".
Zhou Dinghai found some slave labels and showed them to buyers.
Unexpectedly, the tea merchant checked it several times without giving any confirmation, and there was no more news.
Zhou Dinghai thought that the tea merchant had changed his mind, so he did not contact him again.
After listening to his father's introduction, Zhou Jun believed that the tea merchant's purpose of purchasing maids was very clear (young and beautiful), and that when the budget was insufficient, he was self-aware and willing to lower his standards.
Such customers have a strong willingness to buy, less difficulty in communication, and a higher probability of success.
Zhou Jun rode to the tea merchant's house and knocked on the closed door. After waiting for a moment, Zhou Jun opened the door a crack.
A middle-aged man with bruises on his face stuck his head out, looked at Zhou Jun and asked, "What's the matter?"
Zhou Jun first sang a song and then said: "Three months ago, the head of this household went to Zhongshi to buy a maid. He first asked the Silla maid, and then met the Lingnan maid. I wonder if he still wants to see other slaves now.
Standard?"
When the middle-aged man heard this, his eyes widened and he shouted with a distorted face: "I have never wanted to buy a maid, you must have mistaken me for the wrong person!"
Zhou Jun was stunned and said: "No way, I still have documents here. Look at it, it says, I want to buy a young and beautiful maidservant..."
Suddenly, a thick arm grabbed the middle-aged man's hair from behind the door panel and dragged him into the courtyard.
A strong-backed, broad-shouldered, muscular woman dragged the tea merchant to the ground, rode up on him, and punched him hard.
While beating him, the fierce woman also cursed: "What a bastard, you are going out to the brothels behind my back, how dare you secretly buy a maid?!"
Zhou Jun listened to the tea merchant's screams that were like killing a pig through the door panel, and quietly took two steps back.
Zhou Jun took out the charcoal pen and made a big cross on the tea merchant's document. Zhou Jun knew clearly that this heavy transaction was completely ruined.
A bad start.
Next, Zhou Jun visited several buyers based on the addresses of Shen orders.
Buyers either no longer need slaves, move away, or simply stay away for other reasons.
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, Zhou Jun visited seven buyers with heavy orders, but all returned without success.
Zhou Jun, who was riding on his horse and had not eaten since morning, first randomly stuffed some dry food into his mouth, and then opened the eighth Shen'an document.
The eighth buyer lives in Sing Yip Square.
Where is Sheng Yip Fong?
Shengyefang is located in the northeast of Chang'an City, bordering Dongshi to the south and Xingqing Palace to the east.
Then where is Xingqing Palace?
Xingqing Palace is one of the three major palaces in Chang'an (Taiji Palace, Daming Palace, and Xingqing Palace), and is called "South Nei". It was the residence of the current sage Li Longji when he was the vassal king, and where he and Yang Yuhuan lived for a long time.
place.
Going back to Shengye Square, there are two royal palaces in the square, namely Wang Xue's Yezhai and Ning Wang's Xianzhai, located in the northwest corner and southeast corner of the square respectively.
The attitude of today's sage Li Longji towards his loved ones can be said to be the most thorough implementation of the term "double standards".
To his sons, he was as cold as the cold winter and never gave up. But to his brothers like King Xue and King Ning, he was as warm as the spring breeze, loving his brothers.
Therefore, from this point of view, it is not an exaggeration to say that Shengyefang is the most powerful place in Chang'an.
Zhou Jun went to the gate of Shengye Square and read the notice and found out that not only was riding horses prohibited in the square, but also that there was a search warrant.
After leaving the horses in the stables and spending some time checking his identity, Zhou Jun finally entered Shengyefang.
Walking on the bluestone corridor of this high-walled compound, listening to the Buddhist bells coming from Shengye Temple, Zhou Jun even slowed down his steps, for fear that a single mistake would cause trouble.
Following the address on the document, he came to an inconspicuous courtyard. Zhou Jun took out the document and took a few more glances.
The buyer of the eighth Shen Dan was actually a chamberlain. His official rank was the third rank, and he was the general of the Shouzuo Prison Gate. His name was Pang Zhonghe.
Pang Zhonghe was a refugee in Guanzhong when he was young, and was later adopted as a domestic slave by Wu Youzhi (nephew of Wu Zetian), the governor of Jiangzhou.
After Wu Youzhi died of illness, the daughters of the Wu family were sent to the palace to be raised as usual, and Pang Zhonghe went to the palace to serve the Wu family's daughter.
When Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty came to the throne, Mrs. Wu was well-behaved and good at flattering people. She quickly won the favor of the saint and was later named Concubine Wu Hui.
After Concubine Wu Hui died of illness, she was posthumously named Empress Zhenshun by Xuanzong. Pang Zhonghe was also transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a eunuch in charge of cases because of his loyalty to his master.
Originally, if Pang Zhonghe continued to stay in the palace, his future would be unlimited.
Unexpectedly, at this important moment, he suddenly asked Xuanzong to become an official and begged to guard the mausoleum for Concubine Hui.
Xuanzong felt his loyalty and agreed to the appointment. He promoted Pang Zhonghe to the third rank and made him the general of Zuojianmen.
After that, Pang Zhonghe stayed at Jingling, the place where Concubine Wu Hui was buried, and guarded the mausoleum for three years.
After the period of guarding the mausoleum expired, Pang Zhonghe returned to Chang'an Shengyefang and lived a low-key life.
When Zhou Dinghai first talked about this heavy order at home, he said to Zhou Jun: "Back then, this slave order was extremely expensive, and everyone wanted to make it, but no matter what slave bid was brought, Pang Gong looked at it.
Not even satisfied."
Zhou Jun asked why.
Zhou Dinghai touched his chin, hesitated for a long time, and said this: "No one can guess what Mr. Pang is thinking."