"Hey, look who's here, a rare visitor, a rare visitor."
As soon as Li Qi entered Fan Tower, he happened to be spotted by Fan Shaobai who was coming down from upstairs, and he hurriedly greeted him.
Li Qi said shyly: "Shaobai, please don't say that. Actually--actually, I also want to come to your place to eat and drink, but I'm really busy and can't spare the time."
Fan Shaobai rolled his eyes and said: "Eating and drinking? Then you should continue to be busy. Don't come here. This small business can't stand your troubles."
Li Qi said angrily: "Fan Shaobai, I haven't seen you for a long time, why have you become so stingy? The owner of the first floor in Tokyo is not even willing to give out a bowl of friendly meals. Oh, it hurts my heart so much.
"
"I'm already covered in bruises." Fan Shaobai complained: "You know, I already have three people here who specialize in eating and drinking. If you are a friend, you can at least share one of them."
Needless to say, Fan Shaobai must be talking about Gao Yanei and the others. Li Qi immediately cleared the air and said, "There's nothing I can do to help. If they go to Zuixianju, they must pay the bill first."
"I will do the same thing next time, especially when the guy from Gao Yanei wants to come for dinner, he calls me brother and sister. He doesn't remember my last name when he goes to Yingchun Tower. It's really unreasonable." Fan Shaobai complained for a while, and then said seriously: "
By the way, what’s the matter with you coming to my place?”
Li Qi said seriously: "I'm looking for someone."
Fan Shaobai asked: "Who?"
"Salt and Iron Envoy, Lao Huang."
Fan Shaobai was stunned for a moment. He knew that this was a matter in their officialdom and had no interest in it. He raised his head and said, "That private room in the middle of the fourth floor."
"Thank you. Oh. Are there private rooms on the fourth floor?"
"have."
"Save a room for me."
"Pay first."
"Sorry, I really don't have any money. You know, I don't like to carry money with me."
"I knew it was like this." Fan Shaobai shook his head helplessly and said, "I will have to develop this habit when I go to your store in the future."
Li Qi laughed and said, "Okay, I'll go up first and we'll talk later."
Arriving upstairs, Li Qi was just about to knock on the door when he heard someone inside say: "Everyone says how delicious the food in Zuixianju is. In my opinion, the food in Zuixianju is not as good as Fan Lou!"
Another person said: "That's not true. Ever since Li Qi took office, his apprentices have basically been in charge of Zuixianju. Of course, they are not as good as Fan Lou. The cooking skills of King Jin Dao Chef are still far better than Mrs. Song's.
Tsk tsk, that trace of formlessness is still unforgettable to this day.”
Another person said: "The economic master's cooking skills are amazing, but his mouth is even more powerful."
This voice was very familiar to Li Qi. It was Huang Xinren's voice.
"Haha. I remember, Xinren, besides Wang Fu, you are the one who has the most dealings with him in the court."
"I'd rather never have anything to do with him, and I'm not afraid of your jokes. Anyway, you know well that now I feel very cautious when I see him coming to court."
Huh! Am I so scary? It's obvious that you have a guilty conscience! Li Qi felt dumbfounded and touched his cheek. He was no longer interested in listening anymore and raised his hand to knock on the door a few times.
"Who is it?"
"Li Qi."
There was a moment of silence inside, and after a while, the door was opened from the inside, and there was an old man in Confucian uniform standing behind the door. This man Li Qi knew, his surname was Zhou, and he was the minister's admonishment doctor.
Li Qi raised his hand and said hello.
But the other party just nodded. He didn't mean to snub Li Qi, but he was very surprised and lost his temper.
Huang Xinren glanced outside and said, "Oh, it turns out he is the economic envoy. What a coincidence!"
The tone was full of hostility.
Li Qi stood in front of the door and did not rush in. Instead, he smiled slightly and said: "This is no coincidence. To be honest, I came here specifically to see the Salt and Iron Envoy."
Everyone in the room was stunned. Everyone knew that Li Qi and Huang Xinren were inseparable and had no friendship at all.
Huang Xinren himself also felt a little incredible, frowning and said: "Oh? Then I wonder if the economic envoy has anything to say?"
Li Qi chuckled and said, "I don't take advice seriously, after all, I am a junior ---."
Huang Xinren didn't wait for him to finish speaking, and said with a hint of resentment: "You don't have enough advice."
Li Qiwu smiled to himself and did not want to say more about this. He was really in a hurry and said directly: "Can you please ask the salt and iron envoy to move to my private room?"
Huang Xinren said: "Is there anything I can't say here?"
Li Qi simply said: "Money."
This is too straightforward. The other people looked at each other with a trace of curiosity in their eyes. You must know that the financial power of the Song Dynasty is now in their hands.
Huang Xinren glanced left and right a few times, then he cupped his hands towards his friends and said, "I'm sorry, everyone, I'll excuse you for a moment." As one of the three giants, he naturally understands that when talking about money, you can't talk about feelings.
Return to one code.
Although those people wanted to gossip about this news, they couldn't force it, so they all returned the favor.
After Huang Xinren and Li Qi came to the private room next door, as soon as they sat down, they got straight to the point: "Economist, if you have anything to say, just say it."
Li Qi smiled and said: "To put it simply, I'm here to give money to the Salt and Iron Envoy."
How could Huang Xinren dare to believe what he said? He laughed twice and said, "No way. When did the economy become so generous?"
Li Qi chuckled and said, "Might the Salt and Iron Envoy have forgotten that a few days ago, I sent you a big gift from the Third Division!"
Huang Xinren said angrily: "But as far as I know, your weapons supervisor also benefited from it at that time."
There is no airtight wall in this world, and Huang Xinren has been in this industry for many years, how could he not notice it.
Li Qi did not deny it. Anyway, he was greedy in the name of the emperor. Even if Huang Xinren knew it, he would not dare to say it. He said: "If you have a way, you can be happy alone, not as good as everyone. I came here today, too.
I came with this purpose."
Huang Xinren snorted and said, "That's really strange. Huang is really looking forward to the economic envoy's favor!"
The words were quite ironic. Li Qi said seriously: "I dare not say favor. I just came here to make a deal with the Salt and Iron Envoy."
Huang Xinren asked curiously: "What kind of deal?"
Li Qidao: "We, the Arms Supervisor, want to rent two smelting workshops from your Third Division."
Huang Xinren raised his eyebrows and said in surprise: "Smelting workshop?"
"That's right, but I don't know what Commander Salt and Iron's intention is?"
Huang Xinren frowned slightly. He pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said: "The economic envoy is not joking, right?"
Li Qidao: "Does the salt and iron envoy think that I came here to joke with you? Our friendship is not like this."
Huang Xinren said: "In this case, I will tell you clearly that you are talking nonsense. This iron-making workshop is not my private one, but the imperial court's. Our three companies are just managing it on behalf of you. How can we rent it to others at will?"
.”
Li Qi smiled and said: "How can you say that it is rented to others at will? Does the Salt and Iron Envoy mean that this weapons supervisor does not belong to the country?"
Huang Xinren was stunned and said hurriedly: "I didn't say that, don't try to fool me."
Li Qi smiled and said, "That's it. Your Third Division rented the smelting workshop to our Ordnance Supervisor. It doesn't belong to the country. Why should one family speak the same language?"
Huang Xinren said: "What you said is easy. If this smelting workshop is rented to your weapons supervisor, what will we use it for? How about you rent the weapons supervisor to our Third Division?"
Li Qidao: "Yes, as long as you three companies can offer a price that satisfies me."
Huang Xinren hummed: "Okay, you can also offer a price that satisfies me."
"good!"
Li Qi agreed immediately.
Huang Xinren was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that he had been tricked by Li Qi again. But the words had already been spoken and he could not take them back. He stretched out his hand and said, "Okay, you can make an offer."
Li Qi said seriously: "First of all, I will rent your smelting workshop. This will not delay the operation process of the third division. In other words, the tasks that the two smelting workshops need to complete every year will still be completed as scheduled. You three
The company does not need to open two more workshops, which is equivalent to still serving the court. I am only renting the management rights from you, not the ownership; secondly, the expenses required for these two workshops, such as the wages of the craftsmen, the replacement of equipment, etc.
etc., all of which will be borne by our Ordnance Supervisor; finally, our Ordnance Supervisor will pay an annual fee to your three divisions."
He said writing a number on the table with his finger.
Huang Xinren glanced at it. It was more or less, not surprising, but absolutely reasonable, and there was still a fee left. He thought to himself, what the hell is this guy doing? Isn't he trying to take advantage of us? Could it be that he is?
He wanted to use this to gradually weaken the power of our three divisions. After careful consideration, he still dared not agree rashly. For political reasons, he chose to refuse, shook his head and said: "Sorry, I still can't agree to you."
Li Qi seemed to have expected it, but then again, if he hadn't been impatient, how could Huang Xinren be so cheap? He said with a smile: "The salt and iron envoy refused so decisively, could it be that he was afraid that this smelting workshop would be the next military commander?"
Instrument supervisor."
Huang Xinren did not deny it, saying: "The economic master is really smart."
Li Qidao: "Actually, I came to see the Salt and Iron Envoy in person today just to show my sincerity. To be honest, the reason why I want to rent your smelting workshop is mainly because today's smelting technology can no longer keep up with the development of our weapons.
The progress has been made, so I plan to try to study it myself. Otherwise, I will go directly to the emperor. Now that the weapons business is so easy, I believe the emperor will not be stingy with these two workshops."
That's right. Aren't they just two smelting workshops? If he went to the emperor for this reason, the emperor would agree. In that case, why would he come to me? Huang Xinren pondered for a moment and suddenly smiled: "I
I understand, the reason why you don’t go to the emperor is because you are afraid that I will secretly make a stumbling block and use various reasons to delay the handover of the smelting workshop to your weapons supervisor. Moreover, I can also choose something that is not close to you."
What he said was absolutely correct. Li Qi was worried about this. This smelting workshop was very important because too many places in a country needed these metal mines. Huang Xinren could find many reasons to delay delivery and deliberately create difficulties, and
Li Qi didn't have much time to spend with him.
Li Qi smiled and nodded: "This is just one of the reasons. All in all, I have no intention of infringing on the power of the Third Division. I just want to develop more powerful weapons and make more money. That's all. Moreover,
Our Ordnance Inspector has made money, and your three divisions will naturally make money too, so why not do it."
If I don't agree to him, he will eventually go to the emperor to ask for it. If I can delay it for a while, I will finally agree to give it to him. Maybe we will have to pay for it. In this case, why don't I sell him a favor?
, so as not to lose big because of small things. Huang Xinren weighed it and said: "I have to go back and discuss this matter with others."
Li Qi knew that this matter was already a certainty, so he took out a contract from his pocket and said: "This is a rental contract. I hope we can cooperate happily. I also believe that there will be more opportunities for cooperation in the future."
Huang Xinren was stunned for a moment, then said with a half-smile: "So you've even prepared the contract. Are you so sure that I will definitely agree to you?"
Li Qi smiled and said: "I don't talk about uncertain business, and as a cook, I don't like to delay other people's eating time."