After visiting the grave, we went to Secretary An’s house for lunch.
Secretary An has put a lot of effort into preparing for this invitation today.
Yesterday afternoon, as soon as I woke up, I went up to Jiulong Mountain to set up traps to catch pheasants. The work was not in vain, so the banquet was quite decent.
Young people are active and adventurous, so they are naturally interested in how to catch wild animals.
After asking more questions, Secretary An said that we might as well go up the mountain in the afternoon. I will teach you how to set the trap myself, and if we bring the guns, we might be able to shoot a few rabbits.
In this way, the young people looked at their elders eagerly. Although they did not dare to speak, their eyes revealed real expectations.
Wang Yunlin was soft-hearted and wanted to compromise when she saw the behavior of Hong Yanru and Hong Jun. Shou Jingfang was in trouble. He had already suspended the clinic for two days. For the sake of the patient, it was really difficult to stay longer.
Unexpectedly, at this time, Hong Yanwu volunteered and expressed his willingness to send his cousin back to Beijing first and then come back to pick everyone up tomorrow.
He said that if the eldest brother in the family knew about the situation, he would take an extra day off for his mother, and Shouzheng wouldn't have to rush back with his father. How great would that be.
So in this way, if everyone stays and plays for one more day, there won't be any problems.
After lunch, Hong Yanwu and Mei Meier went to take a nap. At three o'clock in the afternoon, after avoiding the worst of the sun, he got up again and washed his face before pushing out a tricycle and asking Shou Jingfang to get on.
The young people had already gone to Secretary An to report. At this time, only Mr. and Mrs. Hong Lucheng and Mr. Yuntai were seeing them off.
Wang Yunlin kept telling Hong Yanwu to be careful on the road and not to be too impatient and bump into his cousin.
In fact, Yuntai didn't have much to give, so he brought some fresh fruits from his home to Shou Jingfang. He felt very sorry.
"You, a doctor, must have suffered the most losses this time in your life. You didn't get a penny and you traveled such a long way..."
Shou Jingfang interrupted him with a haha.
"It's boring for you to be so polite all the time. I'm going to ask Xiao Wu to deliver the prepared medicine to you tomorrow. Then next time you see me, why don't you thank me like this? If you do this again, I'll have to
I'm avoiding you..."
Seeing this, Yuntai swallowed back his gratitude.
"Brother, we don't have to say anything. From now on, everything is in our hearts. By the way, do you still like birds? In autumn, I will ask Zhaoqing to get you some "blue-spotted chins" (scientific name: lusciniasvecica, also known as blue-throated birds)
How about playing with the songbird (commonly known as the blue indigo-chin) and the "red-spotted chin"? There are many birds here."
It was hard for Shou Jingfang to refuse this offer from his son, not to mention that he really liked it, so he agreed.
"To tell you the truth, my bird cage has been empty for a long time. I'm not polite to you. I've been feeling more comfortable recently, and I'm really in the mood. Well, I'll put the cage in when it's empty when I get back.
I have packed up the bird food cans, and I would like to thank you first."
Just like that, Hong Yanwu carried Shou Jingfang and finally embarked on his way home under the attention of everyone.
The journey back to Beijing is not short. Even if Hong Yanwu pedals faster than when he came, he will probably have to go back home at seven o'clock.
After such a long journey, the uncle and nephew couldn't just sit around and chat. Of course they couldn't help but chat.
Within a few words, Hong Yanwu started to talk about the matter of visiting the grave today. Unexpectedly, as soon as he mentioned this, Hong Lucheng could see what he was thinking.
"Third brother, tell me what you have to say. Don't be tempted by me. I have a pretty good idea of what you want to ask about. Just tell me. Is that the purpose of why you came to see me off?"
Hong Yanwu saw that Shou Jingfang was so shrewd, so he stopped trying to hide it.
He immediately admitted that he really wanted to ask about the past between his parents and uncle. Because no matter how he looked at it, he felt that there were some unusual stories about these people. What's more, Zhaoqing's marriage was about his mother, which made him even more worried.
Interested.
But since his parents and uncle deliberately avoided this kind of thing, he would definitely be asking for trouble if he asked. Taking advantage of such a good opportunity, of course it was like asking Shou Jingfang, an insider.
He also said that he knew that his cousin might have some concerns and might not want to talk about it, but he didn't dare to force it.
But now that his mother and uncle have been reunited, some things should be put in the past. Besides, Zhaoqing already knows about it, so it probably won't be difficult for him to get the words out of Zhaoqing later.
Shou Jingfang laughed when he said this.
"You kid, you should be honest when you should be honest, and be happy when you should be happy. You have completely figured out my temper. What you think is reasonable. There is something you said is really right. Since the matter has already passed,
It won’t be a big deal if we look at it today. Your parents and uncle avoid talking about it just because they’re afraid of embarrassing each other. There’s no real need to hide anything. So since I’m free today, I’ll tell you everything and save you the trouble.
I feel bad for taking me back for nothing, and I feel upset..."
Just like that, Shou Jingfang began to tell the story of the past that he knew while the tricycle was bumping along.
And listening to Shou Jingfang's words and looking at the endless country road ahead, Hong Yanwu's thoughts were also taken to the very distant past...
It all starts with the friendship between the ancestors of the Hong family and the Shou family, the cooperative relationship between the Hong and Shou families and the Wanyan family, and the acquaintance of Hong Yanwu's parents.
And all of this actually involves the Hong family's pastry shop outside Donghua Gate - "Jin Lan Zhai".
This "Jinlanzhai" is really extraordinary.
Not only is it the only pastry shop under the name of the Hong family that is not under the "Yan" brand, but it is also the first place where the Hong family, Shou family, and Wanyan family established a cooperative relationship. It can be said to be the origin of the Hong family's real fortune.
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It turns out that because the imperial medicine landlord’s pharmacy is close to Donghua Gate, during the Daoguang period, the seventh-grade imperial physician Shou Yuan, who worked in Donghua Pharmacy Gongzhi all year round (known as the medical officer of the Taiyuan Hospital on duty in the inner court), naturally became the Hong family’s Donghua Gate.
A frequent visitor to "Yan Mei Zhai".
The fifth generation descendant of the Hong family was named Hong Ding. When he saw that Shouyuan, a regular customer, lived far away from the Forbidden City, he took the initiative to lend Shouyuan an empty room in the backyard of the semicolon. Over time, the two became good friends.
, often drink tea and chat together.
As the two of them stayed in contact for a long time, Shouyuan would sometimes talk to Hong Ding about the situation in the East Pharmacy. When Hong Ding heard this, he was extremely surprised by the huge profits from royal medicinal materials, so he and Shouyuan started a ginseng and antler business together.
idea.
However, although Shouyuan was also tempted, he said that ginseng was a royal tribute and could not be bought or sold privately. Moreover, the imperial pharmacy was under the management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and must have a backer to operate it.
In this way, after the two of them combined, Shouyuan came forward as a guarantee and recommended, and Hong Ding promised to repay 40% of the dry shares, and finally found their way to the Wanyan family with a yellow flag under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In the end, the three families reached a consensus and jointly established the ginseng and antler shop "Yanshoutang", thus monopolizing the ginseng and antler offerings in the two imperial pharmacies in the east and west of the palace.
After that, Hong Ding took advantage of the Wanyan family to take over a large amount of outside work in making ancestral offerings from the internal and external bakery houses under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Then he opened Yan Ying Zhai in Beixinqiao and Yan Ying Zhai in Xisi.
Xiangzhai.
Since then, the Hong family's pastry shops have spread all over the four cities in the east, west, north and south, and the sales of the baked goods have greatly increased because of the royal aura attached to them.
By the time Wanyan Linqing's son Wanyan Chongshi became a member of the imperial court, Hong Ding had already formally established a partnership with Wanyan's family. Subsequently, they successively established Tianbao Gold Store, Sanyang Gold Store, Wanqing Pawn Shop, antique shop Jubaozhai, etc.
Fanzhuang Yanqingtang and Yanxitang.
Since ginseng shops, gold shops, and pawn shops were all high-end businesses that could not be opened privately, the Hong family skyrocketed and became the most famous official businessmen in the capital and one of the most powerful super-rich people.
Later, Hong Ding and Shouyuan also became brothers. It was to commemorate this friendship that Hong Ding deliberately changed the name of the "Yanmei Zhai" outside Donghua Gate to "Jinlan Zhai".
Since then, the Hongshou and Shou families have worked closely together, and the affiliation between the Hong family and the Wanyan family has continued steadily.
But things are fickle, and even the best banquets will come to an end. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing court ended its rule that lasted for more than 200 years. Yuan Shikai became the president. The Wanyan family also lost its power and was no longer qualified to be a protective umbrella.
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As a result, not only is it difficult to recover the palace's debts, but parting ways is inevitable.
It should be said that the Hong family is quite kind. Hong Yanwu's grandfather, Hong Xiaoru, was not like many businessmen, who relied on the "full queue" trend and refused to admit the accounts as soon as they closed the accounts and did not mention the black and white.
He was a very moral person. He remembered the kindness of his ancestors. Not only did he not let the Wanyan family share the losses caused by the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he also spent a huge sum of money to buy out all the shops owned by the Wanyan family at a reasonable price.
shares, and continues to undertake the task of providing free "honey supply" to the Wanyan family every year.
You must know that the bannermen's cakes are used for sacrifices. The cake table used for offering them is a golden dragon embroidered set. There are 200 cakes in each section on the table. They are stacked 13 layers up, which is five or six meters high.
You also have to use fruits and silk flowers to make the top. This alone means a huge expense every year.
Therefore, the dissolution conditions of the Hong family could not be more kind, which allowed the Wanyan family to maintain the last dignity and maintain the dignity and quality of life of a certain noble clan.
Contrary to the declining Wanyan family, the Hong family still did not stop after regaining their freedom. Soon, Hong Xiaoru used Peking Opera as a matchmaker to first get in touch with Yuan Kewen, the second son of Yuan Shikai. He lost power in the Yuan family.
Then he quickly caught up with Duan Qirui.
Relying on this one of the "Four Young Masters of the Republic of China", the "old man" of the Jinmen Youth Gang. Relying on this "Tiger of the North".
Hong Xiaoru not only opened Hong Shoutang, a drug store co-founded by the Shou family, throughout the northern provinces, but also successively invested in Yue Qianzhai's Salt Bank, Huang Yizhu's Zhongnan Bank, Wang Zhaofu's Danfeng Match Factory, and Zhu's founded by the German James.
Nuo Hotel, as well as the joint-stock Jinmen Northern Steamship Company and Jinmen Lizhong Acid Plant.
In just over ten years, the Hong family has completely reached the pinnacle of its career.
It can be said that at this time, the Hong family, whether in terms of business performance or total assets, is not ranked first or second among the northern provinces, but it is still ranked among the top three.
But it was precisely because of the Hong family's flattery with the Beiyang warlords that the Wanyan family, who was originally very grateful to the Hong family, developed a lot of resentment.
It was not for anything else. At that time, the heads of the Wanyan family, Yuntai and Wang Yunlin's father, were opposed to Yuan Shikai's "constitutional government", "new official system", "patrol department", etc. Later, Yuan Shikai regained the title of emperor.
I hate him even more deeply, to the point of hating him to the point of death.
Ever since, when he saw that the Hong family was fawning over the new wealthy people in Beiyang, he became more and more indifferent towards the Hong family. He soon handed over his "honey donation" work to the "Yongxingzhai" in Chaoyangmen, preferring to spend a lot of money to no longer be involved in the Hong family.
The light of the family means that the two families have completely severed contact with each other.
But history moves forward in circles like this. I don’t know when, people will step on yesterday’s footprints again.
Although it stands to reason that the next generation of the Hong family and the Wanyan family have become strangers to each other.
Hong Lucheng was a young proprietor of a well-known businessman who visited shops all the year round, and Wang Yunlin was a young lady from a well-known family who basically stayed at home. Their life circles were far apart at this time, and they were originally completely incompatible.
Son's.
But by chance, these two people who had no connection with each other met. It was fate.