The Chinese New Year is an ancient traditional festival in China, deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. No matter in later generations or in the present day, at this time, people will go home to reunite, enjoy family happiness, and welcome the New Year happily. However, in this world, not everyone
Everyone can enjoy this tradition, but there are always some people who welcome the New Year by working harder.
Nowadays, almost all the people in Jiangnan are like this.
While Bianliang in Tokyo was plunged into a sea of joy, Jiangnan was as cold and windy as ever. It was rare to see people putting up lanterns and colorful decorations to welcome the New Year, because they were not yet qualified. For them, this year could
Said means everything. If they succeed, they have everything. If they fail, they will continue to live in dire straits.
Therefore, no one has any reason to waste their precious time on this annual festival. Everyone of them lives very hard and works hard for a better life.
Although they are in the same country, the people in the north and south of the Yangtze River live completely different lives. This is fate.
Hangzhou!
Along the river, I saw many workers braving the cold wind to build a dock by the river. No one complained, no one slacked off, and everyone was working in full swing.
On the river bank, a white-faced young man wearing a white cotton robe directed the workers to work. His pleasant voice seemed to have a touch of magic, making people feel like the spring breeze blowing on their face.
After a while, I saw a man in official uniform walking over. He first looked at the white-faced young man from a distance, shook his head with a wry smile, and then stepped forward and said: "Qiniang, you must be in such a hurry.
What? On this Chinese New Year day, you have to come here personally to supervise."
This fair-faced young man is none other than Bai Qiannuo, who is disguised as a man. And this official who arrived later is none other than Zheng Jiaerlang and Zheng Yi.
Bai Qiannuo saw that he was wearing an official uniform and said with a smile: "Second brother, aren't you the same?"
Zheng Yi smiled and said: "I am an official, and I am a man. This is different."
Bai Qiannuo frowned and said, "You mean, we women are not as good as you men."
"Oh, I didn't say that." Zheng Yi quickly denied.
Bai Qiannuo chuckled, then looked at the river, and said seriously: "Actually, let alone the New Year, who wants to come here to work in such a cold weather, but this river is a top priority for the entire Jiangnan. Next year
There will be many businessmen coming here by boat to do business. If there is not even a pier, it would be too insincere. Big brother said that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. Therefore, we must hurry up before those businessmen come.
Before that, let’s repair the road first.”
Zheng Yi smiled and said: "It's all thanks to you. If it weren't for your clever idea, it would have been impossible to build so many docks without any funds being allocated by the court, at least not so quickly."
Bai Qiannuo immediately said: "Second brother, you are an official and I am a citizen. Don't say this again. It sounds like we are fighting for annihilation. I only do this for our business in Zuixianju. I believe that others
The merchants also think so. We are not doing business for your government. We have signed a contract in advance. We, Zuixianju, will pay to build the dock, but the dock in front of us completely belongs to us, Zuixianju, even if it is your government's ship.
Parking must first be approved by us, and we also have the right to charge parking fees."
Zheng Yi looked depressed when he heard this, and said: "Qiniang, do you need to be so clear about the difference? Since ancient times, only the imperial court has collected fees from merchants, but in your hands, it's completely reversed."
Bai Qiannuo said cheerfully: "There is no way. Who told you that you have no money? It was you who came to beg me, so I agreed. We have one official and one business meeting. It's better to make a clear distinction to avoid being called second brother."
You take bribes. Second brother, you are the prefect of a state, so you wouldn't deceive a little girl like me, right?"
Zheng Yi rolled his eyes and said: "You don't blush when you say this. You can even take bribes. If all women in the world are like you, then the one sitting in my position will probably be what you call a little girl.
Already."
Having said this, he sighed and said: "That's all, that's all, today's businessmen are really hard to mess with. However, I have something to say first, don't teach other businessmen bad lessons."
Bai Qiannuo said cheerfully: "Second brother, you can rest assured. The other businessmen are both enemies and friends to Zuixianju. Qiniang only cares about the interests of Zuixianju, and the rest have nothing to do with me. However,
What Qiniang can think of, those businessmen should also be able to think of. For example, outside of Cai Cui Xuan, Brother Li was almost defeated by him. Fortunately, Mr. Fan came to help later, and the eldest brother often said that he was an unbreakable man.
Damn the old fox, he donated a sum of money so generously this time. If he can't get back ten times the profit, it will be very difficult for him. Second brother, you will be very busy in the future."
"I know that."
Zheng Yi let out a long sigh again and said: "After I agreed to cooperate with you businessmen, I had already anticipated what would happen. There is no other way. The court cannot allocate money now. Only in this way can we get enough money as quickly as possible.
Money, revitalize Jiangnan. However, in this way, the status of businessmen will also be further improved. Alas, the world has changed. In the past, the people asked for officials, but now it is the officials who ask for the people. I, Zheng Erlang, am not lucky enough.
It’s time.”
Bai Qiannuo chuckled and said: "I'm afraid it will take many years. In fact, the really wealthy families today are still some official families. Even those like the owner of Zhouzhuang, in the end they still have to cooperate with the silk shop under the imperial court, which is equivalent to the entire economy.
The imperial court is still in control. If not, how could the imperial court agree so easily?"
"That's true." Zheng Yi nodded and said with a smile: "I used to be the most difficult businessman to deal with in the world, and the economic envoy definitely did my part, but after this experience, I found that you are even more difficult to deal with than the economic envoy.
It’s very difficult for you to take advantage of me at all!”
Bai Qiannuo shook her head and said, "That's because you didn't meet your elder brother before you became an official. He was like that at that time---."
When she mentioned Li Qi, she couldn't help but think of the sweet smile that appeared on her lips when she met Li Qi for the first time.
Zheng Yi stopped midway through what she said. He glanced at her curiously and said, "What is he?"
Bai Qiannuo was slightly startled, and she didn't know when a blush appeared on her face, and continued: "The eldest brother at that time was really fighting for every piece of paper. He was an iron rooster, and no one could get any benefit from him.
, whether it was Sister Wang or me, the most common thing he said at that time was--'If you don't have money, you have a life.' I remember that at the beginning, for such a small amount of money, he would give long speeches and quote classics.
, I was dizzy when I said it, and I didn’t understand until the end. At that time, I thought he was just a businessman who was greedy for small profits. However, since he became an official, he has never been as happy with everything as before.
Only seeking profit, he has to take the overall situation into consideration. For this reason, he also gave up many opportunities to make money and gave them to others. It can be seen that the eldest brother is not a person who is only interested in profit, and real businessmen are by no means all businessmen.
Not only that, businessmen can still create wealth. You should be glad that you didn't meet the big brother at that time, otherwise, you would really go crazy.
But I am different. I only have one identity now, that is, the proprietor of Zuixianju. Naturally, I have to put the interests of Zuixianju first. I will only cooperate occasionally if it does not harm the interests of Zuixianju.
Big Brother's new law, now that the contract has been signed, I'm not afraid to tell you. In fact, Big Brother has written to you several times, hoping that Zuixianju can help you a lot, don't care too much about personal interests, and put the overall situation first in everything. However, I only replied to
He has seven words."
"Oh? Those seven words?"
"If we have different paths, we can't conspire against each other." Bai Qiannuo said every word. After she finished speaking, she even laughed.
Zheng Yi was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and said, "It's hard to imagine what the economic officer will think when he sees these seven words."
Bai Qiannuo said: "I thought he would be very pleased."
Zheng Yi asked curiously: "How do you say this?"
"If I were an official, everything would be easy to say. But I am not. My concessions to the government will be taken for granted by the government in the future. So, on the other hand, it will hurt the interests of businessmen. This will have a negative impact on the new law.
Unfavorable, economic construction must first protect the interests of businessmen. If I do that, wouldn’t it be the opposite? The reason why the eldest brother thinks so is because he considers the whole thing from the position of an economic envoy."
"Maybe you are right." Zheng Yi nodded and suddenly changed the topic and said: "But I don't agree. I think the new law should put the people first and protect the interests of the people, and businessmen only play a supporting role.
"
Bai Qiannuo smiled and shook his head.
Zheng Yi frowned and said, "Why are you laughing?"
Bai Qiannuo said: "I laughed at you for being deceived by your elder brother."
"Oh? I'd like to hear more."
Bai Qiannuo suddenly pointed towards the dock and said: "If Big Brother's new law was based on the common people, then they wouldn't be standing here. Don't look at how nice Brother's words are when he promotes the new law.
In fact, this is not the case, because from beginning to end, the new law was only established for the rich, not for ordinary people."
Zheng Yi was shocked and said: "This - this is what the economic envoy told you."
"No. How could eldest brother say this to me?" Bai Qiannuo shook his head and said: "But with the progress of the new law, this feature will be continuously amplified, and the money in the world will continue to increase with the arrival of the new law.
are concentrated in the hands of a few people. Take the land increase tax as an example. From the performance point of view, it is to prevent land annexation. However, I wonder if you have noticed that at the same time as the land increase tax was implemented, the eldest brother immediately started land rectification, that is, those
In the so-called economic zones and agricultural zones, for the rich, although taxes have increased a lot, the value of the land has also increased a lot. In comparison, the businessmen still made money, and the court also made money, but the common people were the smallest among them.
Beneficiaries.”
Zheng Yi nodded frequently and said, "But in this way, as the new law progresses, the people will definitely see the clues, and I am afraid they will resist the new law, giving people an opportunity to take advantage of it."
"No, at least not in the next fifty years." Bai Qiannuo shook his head and said: "A long time ago, I naively thought that if one day, everyone in the world could live a prosperous life, then
How great! At that time, I often did some good deeds, but they were just a drop in the bucket. It wasn't until I met my eldest brother that I realized that there is no such thing as fairness in this world. It was what it was before, it is what it is now, and it will be what it is in the future.
You can never prevent anyone in the world from starving to death because of lack of food. Many people may think that the increase in business wealth is all squeezed from the hands of the poor. In fact, this is not the case. Anyone can create wealth.
, Wealth is constantly increasing. Although most of it is still earned by the rich, the common people will also get some. It just depends on whether they earn more or less. Just like these workers, six months ago, they were just a group of refugees.
Although they do not live a wealthy life now, they can at least have enough to eat every day. However, because of their sweat and minimal cost, the rich will receive hundreds or even a thousand times more benefits than people imagined.
One side decreases and the other side increases. But is this fair? Of course it is not fair, but these are the rules, rules set by God, and no one can change them. However, the new law still gives more people opportunities, and anyone has the possibility
It depends on whether you have the ability to become a wealthy businessman."
Zheng Yi pondered for a long time, then sighed and said, "It seems I was wrong. But do you agree?"
"I have always been in favor of this. I didn't think about it before. I thought the same way as you. Of course I agreed at that time. After thinking about it, I agree even more. Since we can't change this rule, we can only strive for it under this rule.
More."
As Bai Qiannuo spoke, he suddenly sighed and said, "But there is one thing I still don't understand."
"What is it?"
Bai Qiannuo said: "Second brother, think about it, if economic construction is successful, there will be several times or even dozens of times more businessmen than now. In addition, there will also be more shops, workshops, and restaurants.
Many, but there are more rich people and fewer poor people, which means that both manpower and material resources will become extremely difficult. Materials will become increasingly expensive, and craftsmen will never be found as cheaply as they are now.
At that time, the expensive manpower and material resources were beyond the affordability of the rich, but cheap manpower was not available. I was afraid that the economic construction that my eldest brother had worked so hard to build would collapse overnight. I don’t know if my eldest brother had thought of this.
a little."
Zheng Yi's eyes opened sharply, but then he began to ponder again. After a moment, he said: "I think at that time, there is only one possible way."
Bai Qiannuo asked hurriedly: "What way?"
"Expansion! Continuous expansion outwards!" Zheng Yi sighed: "Only in this way can we obtain more cheap manpower and material resources. Regardless of whether the court is willing or not, the general trend is to send troops to transfer the domestic difficulties to other countries.
Only in this way can we break through this bottleneck."
Bai Qiannuo was stunned and said: "Perhaps what you said makes sense, but then some lives will inevitably be lost."
Zheng Yi chuckled: "Qiniang, I say your worries are unfounded. Now that we are still in this situation in Hangzhou, you are thinking too far."
Bai Qiannuo's face was slightly red, and she nodded: "What the second brother said is that I seem to be thinking too much. Haha, I usually just like to think about things when I'm fine."
"How can this be nonsense? But we can just talk about this kind of thing, but don't tell others, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble."
"Yeah. I know that."
Zheng Yi glanced at Bai Qiannuo and said with deep emotion: "Qiniang, you have really changed a lot in the year you came to Hangzhou. I didn't expect you to think so thoroughly. It's really rare, rare!"
Bai Qiannuo shook her head and said: "When a person devotes himself wholeheartedly to something, he will naturally understand a lot. Only in this way can I stop thinking about big brother." As she spoke, her voice gradually became smaller and her expression became smaller.
Becoming a little bleak.
Zheng Yishuang frowned and said, "Actually, you really don't need to stay here."
Bai Qiannuo still shook his head and said: "Don't look at how prosperous my elder brother is now. In fact, all this is just a mirror. My elder brother does not have the same background or foundation as Cai Taishi and others. Once the new method fails, everything will be over.
He will never be able to stand up again, and he may even be killed. And he has only been in the official position for a few years, and there are very few people around him. As a wife, I naturally have to do my best to help him. There are red slaves at home and they will take care of him.
, I feel relieved. I don’t think about him because I’m afraid that I won’t be able to help but go back.”
How could there be such a generous woman in the world? I used to think that Sanniang was already a rare woman in the world, but now it seems that Qiniang is even better. Zheng Yidao: "But this will make you suffer."
Alone."
Bai Qiannuo raised a smile at the corner of his mouth, shook his head and said with a smile: "It's not bitter, it's not bitter, second brother, maybe you won't believe it, but the fact is that I am much happier now than before I came here. Do you know why?"
Zheng Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a while, and suddenly burst into laughter.
"why are you laughing?"
Zheng Yi stopped smiling and said: "If you ask the economic envoy about this, he may not know. If you ask Chen Dong and Ouyang, they may not know either. But if you ask me, you are asking the right person, because I am with You have the same background. The reason why you are happier than before is because the economic leader is finally on the same side as Uncle Bai."
"This doesn't bother you, it's so boring." Bai Qiannuo curled her lips, and then smiled happily: "You are right, when I saw my eldest brother befriending King Yun, although I have never been with my eldest brother. But this has always been a concern in my heart, and I even had nightmares for several nights. I was afraid that one day, my eldest brother would stand on the opposite side of the Bai family. I couldn't stop that, and I had to make a choice. Fortunately, the overall situation has been decided now, and none of this will happen."
Zheng Yi nodded and said: "Yes! This is a problem that people like us may encounter. This is also one of the reasons why Sanniang repeatedly rejected me. However, this cannot be blamed on her. Madam Li is so smart. A woman, but when faced with this kind of thing, she could only choose to marry her husband and follow her husband. She watched helplessly as his parents and relatives were demoted from the capital, and even had to sever ties with them. She had never experienced this kind of pain and helplessness. People can’t feel it.”
Bai Qiannuo asked curiously: "Second brother, what would you do if you encountered this situation?"
Zheng Yi pondered for a while and said: "This has not happened. It is difficult to know what choice I will make. However, I may choose to bear it with the loser. After all, the winner has already received enough."
"What if the winner is Sister Wang?" Bai Qiannuo asked again.
Zheng Yidao: "Similarly, my relatives are also very important to me. When I was most hesitant, they never gave up on me. If they were in trouble, how could I leave them? I can't be like before. It's so selfish. Maybe I did something wrong before and hurt them, but now I will try my best to make up for the harm I did to them."
At this time, a man dressed as a servant ran over and saluted: "Sir, Mrs. Zhang asked me to tell you that dinner is about to begin."
Zheng Yi nodded and said, "You go ahead. I'll be back later. Oh, tell Run'er to bring in more bowls and chopsticks."
"yes."
After the man left, Bai Qiannuo snorted and said: "This sister Run'er is true. My elder brother asked her to come here to help Zuixianju. It's good for her. Now she will be your exclusive use, second brother." It’s really unreasonable for me to be a chef and take my wages from Zuixianju to help others. This is not okay. I need to talk to Sister Runer about it later and let her understand what the priority is."
Zheng Yi said angrily: "Qiniang, no matter what I say, I am still taking the lead for the economy. Do you need to be so fussy with me? You also said that businessmen are not all annihilators and businessmen, and they are not blushing. It seems that I This magistrate is too gentle, it’s time for you businessmen to know what the distinction between officials and civilians is."
Bai Qiannuo's eyes flashed and she said, "Second brother, why are you so excited?"
Zheng Yi was stunned for a moment, then said with an ouch, "I've been fooled by you again."
Bai Qiannuo smiled and said, "Second brother, who do you think you can hide?"
"Who said I wanted to hide it?" Zheng Yi said angrily: "You, on the other hand, always like to play tricks like these. If you want to know, just ask me directly, why are you doing this?"
"Aren't I afraid that you won't say it?"
"What's so hard to say about this?" Zheng Yi said frankly: "If you love me, you love me. Why do you need to hide it?"
Bai Qiannuo pursed her lips and looked at Zheng Yi in surprise.
Zheng Yi felt really embarrassed when she looked at her like this. His face turned slightly red and he said, "Why are you looking at me like this?"
Bai Qiannuo was suddenly startled and said, "Second brother, could it be that you and sister Runer..."
Zheng Yi rolled his eyes at her and then said: "It's not as far as you think. It's just that I thought that no man in the world could refuse a good woman like Run'er. I was indeed tempted and told her my thoughts." , she also accepted me, but that’s it, don’t think too much about it.” After saying this, a happy light shone in her eyes.
He is always upright and has nothing to say to others. Whether it was when he was pursuing Mrs. Qin or Zhang Run'er now, he has never hidden anything from anyone, including himself. In his heart, hiding things is only from the people he loves. Or maybe it's a sign of disrespect from the people who love him.
A gentleman should be like Zheng Er!
Bai Qiannuo was really happy for Zheng Yi and said, "So, second brother, you have finally let go of Sister Wang."
Zheng Yi smiled and said: "Actually, I gave up on that night, but you don't believe it. Moreover, after Sanniang's incident, I understood even more that I should cherish the people in front of me."
Bai Qiannuo said slightly worriedly: "But the family backgrounds of you and sister Run'er are very different. Your family---"
Zheng Yi didn't wait for him to finish speaking, and said: "Don't worry about it. My family still dares to care about me. As long as I can get married, no matter who the other party is, they will agree. It's you, Run'er." You are thin-skinned, don't bully her, if you want me to know, huh, don't blame me for using public affairs for personal gain."
Bai Qiannuo rolled his eyes, shook his head and said: "Second brother, why are you still so incomprehensible to the current situation! You still dare to threaten me now, you should be fawning over me."
"Why should I flatter you?"
Bai Qiannuo smiled confidently: "Have you forgotten that Run'er has a godbrother who is difficult to deal with? It's not that Qiniang is bragging. Apart from my eldest brother, there is no other person in the world who can conquer Run'er, my godbrother. If you want to marry sister Run'er, huh, her godbrother will definitely come out to make things difficult for you. Sister Run'er is a good woman who knows how to repay gratitude. Her godbrother was kind to her and her family in saving the people. If he objects , Haha, I'm afraid you will make the same mistake again, so don't come to beg me then."
"You---you mean---Gao Yanei?" Zheng Yi's tongue was a little knotted.
Bai Qiannuo nodded and said: "Gao Yanei is not an ordinary person. No one can predict what he will do. What if he wants to betroth sister Run'er to the Hong family as a concubine?" It’s not impossible.”
That person really did this well. Zheng Yi was sweating, which shows that Gao Yanei's intimidating power is not ordinary. Although he has no interaction with Gao Yanei, they all belong to the ** faction after all. How could I not have heard of Gao Yanei's glorious deeds and knew that Bai Qiannuo's words were true? "Are you trying to scare me?"
"Then let's wait and see."
"Don't, don't, don't, then you are saying that you have to ask the economic envoy for help in this matter."
"Exactly."
Zheng Yi is a gentleman. He can deal with ordinary smart people, but he really doesn't know where to start when dealing with Gao Yanei, because Gao Yanei can't judge with ordinary people's thinking at all. He immediately surrendered and said: "Then---then I
It’s okay to take back what you just said.”
Bai Qiannuo chuckled and said, "Second brother, I was just saying casually. I never thought you would be afraid of Gao Yanei."
Zheng Yi rolled his eyes and said: "It's not like you don't know who Gao Yanei is. I'm going to ask him for this. How can I not be afraid? Next time when I write to the Economic Envoy, remember to mention my second brother.
One or two words, it would be better to let the economy take measures as soon as possible."
Bai Qiannuo said proudly: "Okay! Seeing that you are so sincere, second brother, I will reluctantly help you. Haha, I really didn't expect that the dignified Erlang of the Zheng family would be scared to death by Gao Yanei.
If this is said out loud, it will definitely cause a sensation."
"Why are you sweating? It's not hot. Okay, okay, let's go back quickly. The food will be cold later."
Bai Qiannuo said calmly: "Second brother, it seems that you still don't understand Sister Run'er. Sister Run'er is the most considerate person. I can guarantee that when she calls someone to call you, she will definitely
We haven’t started cooking yet, so when you go back, the food will be just ready.”
Zheng Yi asked suspiciously: "Real or false?"
"How about we bet on another pier?"
"No, I know you are very rich and powerful, and you gamble on the docks. If you say it out loud, just think that I am afraid of you. Let's go back quickly."
PS: The 7,000-word chapter will not be available tonight, but a monthly pass is still required.... (To be continued.)