During this period of time, Zhang Lei has been trying every possible means to exchange gold and silver. The official price is one tael of silver to exchange for one yuan, and one tael of gold to exchange for ten yuan. Although the exchange price is relatively fair, this price also means that ordinary people cannot exchange gold and silver from the official price.
.
Ordinary people can only go to the black market to exchange. The official gold and silver are either taken away by the powerful or flow into the black market. In the black market, one tael of silver is exchanged for 1,200 yuan. Similarly, one tael of gold is exchanged for twelve guan.
Zhang Lei was very careful, he would not throw away hundreds of thousands of copper coins at once to exchange for gold and silver, which would definitely trigger a shock in Chang'an.
Every once in a while, he tossed a sum of copper coins, and the money flowed smoothly, and he did it very covertly, so that the other party would not know who was exchanging gold and silver.
At noon that day, shopkeeper Yang Da from Jubao Pavilion hurriedly found Zhang Lei.
"Proprietor, proprietor Li finally relented, and he agreed to rent the warehouse."
How to transport the exchanged gold and silver is also a big problem, even more troublesome than exchanging gold and silver. Zhang Lei thought about it for many days and finally decided to take the water route, which has fewer interrogations and is safer. More importantly, the ship transportation volume is large, and several Qianshi ships
Cargo ships can transport all the money away.
Zhang Lei has also finalized the transportation route. It is best to go out from the East Market. Of course, you can also go out from the West Market. His Meishou Wine Shop is backed by the Cao River. Gold and silver can be stored in the cellar, but there are three ways out of the West Market.
The checkpoints are strictly inspected and it is not easy to leave the city. However, there is only one checkpoint in the East City and it is controlled by the military. Compared with the professional and meticulous inspection in the West City, it is much easier to get out of the East City.
Zhang Lei finally decided to take the fleet out through the Cao River in Dongshi. There was a row of warehouses along the Caohe River in the south of Dongshi. Zhang Lei took a fancy to one of them. It was the warehouse of Zhuyutang, another large jewelry shop in Dongshi. They were all made of large bluestones.
It is built of bricks, the ground is also paved with large bluestones, and there are two iron doors. It is a treasure house level of a jewelry store.
This warehouse is close to the Cao River and has its own dock, which can berth thousands of stone cargo ships. It is the most ideal storage warehouse and transfer warehouse.
In fact, it is safer to store it outside the city, but the problem is that the river has frozen now, and transporting it out by mules and horses will be easily seized. It is better to store it in a warehouse in the city and transport it out at once.
The owner of Zhuyutang is called Li Changwen, and he is a competitor, but they have a good relationship with him. They often eat and drink together. A few days ago, Zhang Lei proposed to him that Jubao Pavilion wanted to rent this warehouse near the river, but he refused.
Although the warehouse is temporarily vacant, it does not want to be rented to other companies.
Just when Zhang Lei was at a loss what to do, Manager Yang brought good news. Li Changwen actually agreed, making Zhang Lei overjoyed.
However, Zhang Lei knew that Li Changwen must have additional conditions, so he quickly asked: "What conditions does he have?"
Shopkeeper Yang scratched his head and felt a little confused: "He wants half of the batch of jade we just bought."
When Zhang Lei came back from Zhangye, he brought back a batch of beautiful jade, which was brought back from Anxi by the Ganzhou Army. The quantity was quite large. This batch of jade caused a sensation in the Chang'an jewelry industry. Various jewelry stores asked for goods from Jubao Pavilion, and Zhang Lei was
Lei refused, but Li Changwen actually had this idea in mind, and even asked for half of it, which was an obvious robbery.
Zhang Lei was very angry and said to shopkeeper Yang Da: "I'll give him 20% at most, and the price will be doubled. He wants it or not!"
Shopkeeper Yang Da smiled at Zhang Lei and said: "I understand what the proprietor means, but you can't say it like that. He doesn't know how much goods we have, so we just said we would give him half. A war broke out in Shazhou, and our imports
The price is also very expensive, so it’s good to have it in stock now.”
"It's up to you to take down the warehouse as soon as possible. I'll rent it for one year first."
Shopkeeper Yang Da hurried away, and in the afternoon, the two parties reached an agreement. Jubaoge sold a batch of jade to Zhuyutang at a friendly price, and Zhuyutang rented a warehouse along the river to Zhang Lei.
Zhang Lei took Yang Jun and more than a dozen soldiers to the warehouse. This warehouse is located in the southernmost part of Dongshi, next to the high wall of Dongshi. The warehouse is made of heavy bluestones, with a ventilation opening only half a foot wide at the top.
There is no back door, and you have to go through two large iron doors to get in.
The warehouse is tall and spacious, and the floor is paved with large bluestones. It is very dry and suitable for storing valuables.
Zhang Lei was very satisfied and said to Yang Jun: "Let's start tonight and transport all the big wooden boxes from the Jubao Pavilion warehouse. I want to change the locks on these two doors, and then each of us will have a key. We usually arrange a few more people on the opposite side.
Guard, I also rented the house opposite."
Opposite the warehouse, about twenty steps away, is the backyard of a shop, which has been rented by Zhang Lei at a high price and is used to monitor the warehouse for his soldiers.
Yang Jun nodded, and Zhang Lei asked with concern: "How are you, brothers? If you need anything else, just ask."
This time Zhang Lei came to Beijing and brought a hundred of Guo Song's soldiers. Some of them lived in the garden outside the city, and some lived in Zhang Lei's mansion. They usually stayed dormant in the mansion and rarely went out to avoid being caught by the Hidden Sword Pavilion.
focus on.
Yang Jun nodded and said with a smile: "Thank you, Boss Zhang, for your hospitality. The food, clothing, and accommodation are all of the best. Everyone is a little flattered."
Zhang Lei chuckled, "You're welcome, it's just a little effort. I'll give you some money tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so you can go out and relax."
He lowered his voice and said with a lewd smile: "You can visit a brothel or something."
Yang Jun shook his head quickly, "This won't work. Before I left, I made a strict order. You are not allowed to drink outside or look for women. Those who are prone to problems can only go shopping at most."
"Why bother with him? Don't listen to him when you come to my place. I will make arrangements for you."
Yang Jun still shook his head, "Thank you, Boss Zhang, for your kindness. The military orders are overwhelming and we dare not disobey them."
Zhang Lei also knew that these soldiers were the most elite soldiers, and they were not comparable to ordinary people like himself. He could only say angrily: "Forget it then, I will prepare more good wine and food for you. If you don't drink outside, we
Drinking with the door closed is not against military discipline, right?"
"This is okay, thank you, Boss Zhang!"
.........
As another snowstorm swept through the Hexi Corridor, the New Year of the third year of Jianzhong finally arrived. At dawn, a boy's cheerful laughter came from the Guo Song Mansion. This was the laughter of Zhang Lei's son Zhang Qingshan.
Zhang Lei has three children, the eldest daughter Zhang Yuer is thirteen years old, the second son Zhang Qingshan is seven years old, and the youngest daughter Zhang Miner is three years old.
Zhang Qingshan is tall and fat, with a chubby face and small eyes. He is completely a smaller version of Zhang Lei.
Zhang Qingshan was having a snowball fight with a few maids in the atrium. Zhang Yu'er was very sensible and quickly called out to his brother, "Qingshan, you can have a snowball fight, but don't shout so much that it affects your aunt's rest."
Zhang Qingshan stuck out his tongue, but took advantage of his sister's unpreparedness and hit Zhang Yu'er on the neck with a ball of snow. The snow powder sprinkled into her neck. Zhang Yu'er became angry and joined the snowball fight group.
Several little maids beat Zhang Qingshan until he fled in panic.
Guo Song's mansion is very lively now. Not only Zhang Lei's family lives there, but also Yang Yu's wife Zhao Xuan and his posthumous son Yang Xuanwu. Yang Xuanwu is only a few months old and he can't go out in such a cold weather.
Xue Tao was already pregnant, her belly was slightly bulging, and she was wearing a very large fur coat. Her daughter Guo Weiwei, who had just turned one year old, was holding Li Wenyu's hand. They stood in front of the living room, watching a group of children having a snowball fight from a distance.
At this time, Butler Wang walked in and said with a smile: "The bamboo tube has been sawed, let's light the firecrackers together!"
"Let's light the firecrackers!"
Zhang Qingshan shouted loudly and slipped out first. Everyone ignored the snowball fight and ran outside to light firecrackers. Even three-year-old Zhang Min'er held her sister's hand and ran outside like a little follower.
The firecrackers of the Tang Dynasty were not the later firecrackers. They simply lit a fire and threw the bamboo tubes in. After a while, the bamboo tubes were burned and exploded, making a loud noise. They were firecrackers in the true sense of the word.
At this time, Guo Song came out of the inner study and said with a smile: "Why did the snowball fight end?"
Today is the second day of the first lunar month, and the government offices have a seven-day holiday. It is rare for Guo Song to be so relaxed all year round.
"They went outside to light firecrackers." Xue Tao pursed his lips and smiled.
At this time, Xiaowei saw her father and quickly stretched out her little hand. Guo Song held her in his arms. At this time, a huge sound of firecrackers sounded outside the door: "Bang!" Xiaowei was frightened and turned her head quickly.
Climb into daddy's arms.
Guo Song gently patted his daughter on the back and said with a smile: "On the eighth day of the lunar month, our Xiaowei will be one year old. Daddy is going to arrest Zhou for you. I wonder what you will catch?"
"It's better to grab rouge, paintbrushes, etc. Never grab the sword." Xue Tao said at the side.
"This is not up to us. She wants to grab the sword, and I have no choice."
Li Wenyu next to him laughed and said: "Speaking of catching Zhou, when the boy in my family was one year old, his father asked him to catch copper coins. In the end, he grabbed a sword, which disappointed his father. But later it was discovered that what he caught was actually a gold sword.
He didn't even look at the wooden and iron swords that were closer to him, and everyone said that what he liked was actually not swords, but gold."
"It's true that a tiger father has no dog son!" Guo Song couldn't help laughing.