Following Jinfeng Niang from the ancestral hall to the middle hall, Zhou Jun saw a middle-aged man wearing silk and satin, sitting leisurely on the upper seat with his legs crossed.
Jin Fengniang walked up to the middle-aged man and asked with a worried expression: "Jishen, didn't you go to Guangwu with your friends to do glaze business, why are you back so early?"
Jin Jishen shrugged and said, "The glaze business is no longer available."
Golden Phoenix was stunned: "What's going on?"
Jin Jishen: "You can't make much money from that business, and the profit is too small."
Golden Phoenix: "What about the money and silk?"
Jin Jishen suddenly became energetic and said to Jin Fengniang: "Although the glaze painting cannot be done, there is a new business. I think it will be profitable."
Goldilocks: "What business?"
Jin Jishen: "There is a black grass in Wuni River called ginseng. It grows on the bottom of the river. It can be dried and ground into powder. It can be used as medicine and has the magical effect of rejuvenating youth. But it is not easy to pick and requires some capital..."
Goldfeng Niang was confused after hearing this: "You spent all the money and silk? What ginseng! This sounds like some bluffing trick, why are you so confused!"
Jin Jishen said displeasedly: "Feng Niang, I am your second brother, how can I criticize my family members like this..."
Before he finished speaking, Jin Jishen saw Zhou Jun behind Feng Niang, and his eyes lit up: "It turns out to be Zhou Lang, how come you have time to come to Liangzhou?"
Seeing that Jin Jishen was familiar with him, Zhou Jun immediately understood that this body had a past life and was afraid that he had friendship with him, so he just responded lightly.
When Jin Jishen saw Zhou Jun wearing a blue official robe, he couldn't help but said with envy: "Zhou Jun is very capable. Now that he has become a high official, don't forget to support me."
Jin Fengniang interrupted Jin Jishen and said: "Don't say anything else, go and get the money back!"
Jin Jishen said angrily: "At first you said that I was idle and looking for a serious job. Now that I have found one, you asked me to ask for the money back. If I go to ask for it, where will I, Jin Jishen, put my face? To tell you the truth,
Not only will I not beg for that money, I will still ask you for money when I come back today. It doesn’t take much, as long as I get another three thousand guan, the ginseng business can be opened. With just one trip, I can get the capital and profits.
Earn it all back."
Golden Phoenix said angrily: "Don't even think about it. If you really had that magic medicine, it would have been sold like crazy. How could it be your turn?"
Jin Jishen: "After all, I still don't believe me. My ancestor was also deceived back then, so how could he leave the Jin family in the hands of a woman? Nowadays, the merchants who used to do business with the Jin family have stopped coming.
Changxing's business and the horse market business have gone awry again. In the final analysis, Feng Niang is still indecisive and unable to control the situation... If I were in charge of the Jin family, how could there be such troubles..."
Jin Fengniang felt bitter for a while, but she just pointed at Jin Jishen's nose and said the bad words that came to her lips, but she still didn't say them out.
Jin Jishen snorted coldly and walked out of the Jin family's door.
Goldilocks closed her eyes and touched her forehead, shaking.
Zhou Jun quickly supported Jin Fengniang and helped her sit down.
Jin Fengniang sat on the chair, calmed down, and said sadly: "Since the ancestor passed away and Fengniang took over the position of the head of the family, the Jin family's business has been getting worse day by day. Friends and businessmen who used to have dealings with each other now have many
The contact has been cut off; the semicolons scattered all over the place are gradually becoming disloyal; even the Changxing and Horse Markets, where the Jin family relies on for their livelihood, have experienced many changes in the past few days."
Zhou Jun heard this and asked, "What does Changxing do for a living?"
Jin Fengniang: "Liangzhou is a collection place for military supplies, cloth and silk sent to Hexi and the Western Regions. In the early Tang Dynasty, many official goods were transported by long-term transshipment envoys sent by the imperial court. Later, in order to save manpower, the government would transfer some of the supplies
Local merchants were entrusted to transport the goods on their behalf. The merchants who transported official goods had a greater reputation than other counterparts, and the people were convinced of it, so they respectfully called it Changyunfang."
"Changyunfang is the first and largest business of the Jin family. It has never gone wrong for decades. However, after Feng Niang became the head of the family, she lost a batch of official goods destined for Anxi."
Zhou Jun: "Lost? How could it be lost? Did you get lost in the middle, or did you meet a bandit?"
Jin Fengniang: "The Changyun Fang passes through the horse relays set up by various state capitals, and the route will not deviate. Moreover, the Changyun caravan has an official flag with a Tang character and is heavily guarded. Ordinary bandits will only give way when they see it. However, the Jin family transports it.
That batch of government goods disappeared silently when it passed through Guazhou."
Zhou Jun asked: "Can we send someone to look for him afterwards?"
Goldilocks: "I've looked for people, horses, and goods, but nothing was left. I can't find any traces of fighting nearby. It's like they disappeared out of thin air."
Zhou Jun wrote down this incident and asked Jin Fengniang: "Does the Jin family have any feud with other forces?"
Jin Fengniang: "In order to open up trade routes, the Jin family has had conflicts with many wealthy families and forces, but the biggest opponent is undoubtedly the Kang family of Liangzhou."
Zhou Jun: "Kang family? Kang family among the nine surnames of Zhaowu?"
Jin Fengniang: "Yes, before the Jin family entered the industry, the Kang family also made a living in Changxingfang. At that time, the Kang family had been controlling the transportation of merchants to the Western Regions. Any goods that wanted to cross the border from Liangzhou had to be transported.
Privately, he paid a valuable running fee to the Kang family. This situation was not completely reversed until the Jin family took over the Changxingfang brand."
Zhou Jun nodded to express his understanding.
Next, Zhou Jun took two days off and officially took up the post of Superintendent of Liangzhou Mutual Market.
Liangzhou Mutual Market is located in Beiguan, covering an area of more than 200 acres.
The word "mutual trade" means not only the mutual trade between Datang and other countries, but also the mutual trade between Liangzhou and merchants from other states.
Therefore, Beiguan Mutual Market is divided into two major areas: Tangguan City and Yuanbian City.
As the name suggests, Tangguan City refers to the trading market within the Tang State, while the peripheral city refers to the trading market between the Tang State and other border countries.
On the day the market opens, all goods will be registered and filed by the Exchange Office before trading.
Zhou Jun's office is located in the center of the mutual market, in a courtyard with three entrances and three exits.
On the first day he took office, before the market opened, Zhou Jun first recruited all the officials from the Exchange Bureau.
In addition to Hucao, Cangsi, city officials and other subordinate officials, two city magistrates under the ninth rank were Zhou Jun's deputies. One was in charge of Tangguan City, and the other was in charge of Yanbian City.
The mayor in charge of Tangguan City was named An Zhongze, and the mayor in charge of Yuanbian City was named Kang Yuanwei. They came from the An and Kang families of the nine surnames of Zhaowu respectively.
In the hall of the Mutual Market Department, the youngest Liangzhou officials were in their twenties, but Zhou Jun, the Superintendent of the Mutual Market, was only nineteen years old.
Looking at the young Zhou Jun, An Zhongze's face turned pale, while Kang Yuanwei's face showed disdain.
Zhou Jun first said: "I am from Chang'an. From now on, I will work together with you to manage the city administration."
Everyone bowed their hands and said yes.
Zhou Jun said a few more words of encouragement. Just when he was about to ask everyone where his ministry was, the mayor Kang Yuanwei suddenly asked: "May I ask the mayor, I heard that the business tax is going to be increased. I wonder if this is the case?"
Zhou Jun glanced at him and said, "The imperial court has its own arrangements regarding business taxes."
After Kang Yuanwei heard this, before Zhou Jun could continue to speak, he cupped his hands and left the official residence with an unkind expression.
The remaining people looked at each other in confusion, first at Zhou Jun, then at Kang Yuanwei who was walking away, and finally followed him out of the official house.