From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 424

While Zhuang Xuansu was still digesting the current information, Guan Lu had already started his narration.

"We set out on the afternoon of August 19th, and Liu Daguang led 300 soldiers to escort us out of the city and headed southwest."

"The people from the North City Military Division destroyed the official road along the way and blocked the pursuers for us. Because the team was large, Zhang Fei informed us in advance and gave money for the passage, so we encountered almost no trouble and arrived in Chang'an in six days."

"Master Su Youzi took his wife and others to live in the mountains, and Zhang Fei and I began to act separately."

"I traveled day and night and arrived in Guangzhou Prefecture in about ten days. I met up with Qiao Chaiqing. I have been picking up people these days. The 300 soldiers led by Liu Daguang have been divided into small groups. , are arriving one after another. "

"The intelligence network has not been truly rolled out yet, and we still need a lot of time, including money."

Zhou Yuan nodded and said, "Now the money has not been quickly converted into cash, I will temporarily give you 10,000 taels of silver for your short-term expenses, and then make up for it when you are short of money."

"How is Qiao Chaiqing?"

Guan Lu said, "It's very difficult. I encountered a group run by Chaozhou merchants. There is almost no room for survival. Even if the quality and output of goods are crushed, they still face sales difficulties. The main reason is that local forces want to use black means, smashing shops and burning shops, and everything else."

Zhou Yuan grinned and said, "You have a bad temper, He dared to do such a job as burning the shop."

"Qiao Chaiqing compromised?"

Guan Lu nodded and said, "He had no choice. There were too many goods in stock, and he couldn't even pay the workers' wages. Shanxi merchants have had a hard time in the past two years. It is said that there are only more than 100,000 taels of silver left, and they are IOUs from money houses."

"It's not easy to go south, and Chaozhou merchants are united. If you don't compromise, you can't move forward."

"There will be a dinner tonight, and we will have joint sales. I'm afraid the other party will also invade the technology."

Zhou Yuan snorted, "They are so bold. Let's go directly to Guangzhou Prefecture. I want to see how they plan to eat our meat."

Zhuang Xuan Su was confused, and finally couldn't help asking: "Zhou Yuan, when did Qiao Chaiqing come to Guangzhou? Do you have a lot of business here?"

Zhou Yuan smiled and said: "Is it fake? Qiao Chaiqing came here in March, went back to Shenjing in July, and came here again."

"We have three large dyeing workshops, one large kiln, and eight cloth shops here, all of which were laid out at the end of March."

"Now we have integrated weaving and dyeing, and silk fabrics are sold as a whole. We must quickly occupy the market."

The commercial layout of Guangdong is Zhou Yuan's strategic business planning, which was funded and executed by Shanxi merchants.

The core competitiveness is epoch-making, because Zhou Yuan spent a lot of money to let Qiao Chaiqing go to the Portuguese to ask craftsmen to transform water-powered textile machines, brocade machines and spinning machines, and correspondingly evolved into silk-pulling machines, hemp-pulling machines, etc., completing decades of technological innovation in terms of utensils, greatly improving productivity, and reducing costs a lot. The finished products produced almost crushed the traditional craftsmanship of contemporary Jin.

Moreover, the aesthetics and printing and dyeing have also been greatly enhanced, including but not limited to dyeing technology, embroidery technology and hot stamping technology.

Although Zhou Yuan was the one who made the plans, Qiao Chaiqing did put in a lot of effort and was able to do things so beautifully. Zhou Yuan spoke highly of him.

After making such great efforts, if Chaozhou merchants wanted to reap the benefits, Zhou Yuan would definitely not allow it.

Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were spent, and now they are about to harvest, they are talking about distribution. How can it be so cheap?

Guan Lu whispered: "Sir, many officials of Guangzhou Prefecture are supported by Chaozhou merchants, especially the weaving house, which is actually not on our side. If it really gets out of hand, it will be difficult to solve!"

Zhou Yuan scratched his head and smiled: "You are right. After all... I, Zhou Yuan, am no longer the high-spirited loyal and martial marquis, but a wanted criminal of the Jin Dynasty."

"But don't forget, Guan Lu, the Zhuang Sizhu next to us is the owner of the Nei Ting Si, so it will definitely not be a problem to help."

Zhuang Xuansu was stunned and glared: "Me?"

Zhou Yuan said: "Yes, it's you, you dare to say that Guangdong doesn't have your Nei Ting. Is he a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Is being omnipresent just an empty talk? "

Zhuang Xuansu frowned and said, "I don't understand business either. Besides, I'm not a prominent figure. How can I help you?"

Zhou Yuan said, "Put your name card there and everyone will understand."

Zhuang Xuansu said, "Isn't this partiality?"

"You said you owe me, so you have to pay me back, right?"

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan slowly said, "Of course, this is not partiality, because what we pursue is fairness, and the other party wants to cheat, you are just upholding the law, which is what the Inner Court should do."

……

Qiao Chaiqing was indeed confused by his worries., all the bets were placed on Zhou Yuan before, and more than two million shi of grain fell into the Central Plains, almost destroying the lives of the Jin merchants.

Fortunately, the business in the south has improved. Under his personal supervision, the huge technological breakthrough in weaving and dyeing made him overjoyed.

Years of experience told him that such quality fabrics and silk are enough to quickly occupy half of the market in Jin within a few years.

After ten years of nurturing, the vitality of the Jin merchants will be back.

But who knew that just after the sale, they encountered Chao merchants who clung together and did everything they could.

It was useless to report to the authorities. The other party was obviously of the same blood and wanted to suppress you and swallow you.

Originally, Qiao Chaiqing was not afraid of this thing. If it couldn't be solved, Zhongwu Hou would naturally find a way, but who knew that Zhongwu Hou became a wanted criminal, and now it was all over.

This meal was arranged three or five times before the person was finally invited out.

"Boss Qiao, you are also an old veteran who has been doing business for decades. I don't want to make things difficult for you and I will save your face."

As a representative of Chaozhou merchants, Huang Zuoyu slowly turned the ring in his hand and said softly: "To be honest, it is precisely because of this respect that we just want to cooperate, not to completely wipe you out."

"Otherwise, the government will send 20 people to you every day to search for wanted criminals. Can you bear it?"

"Any crime put on your head is enough to stop your production for several months."

"He who knows the times is a hero, Boss Qiao, let's make money together."

Qiao Chaiqing picked up the tea and said solemnly: "Huang Dong Qiao understood what the family meant, but the method of cooperation still needs to be discussed.

Huang Zuoyu smiled and said, "You produce cloth and silk, supply us, and then sell them. The profit is split 50-50. Isn't it reasonable?"

"In Huang's opinion, production is easy and sales are difficult. We bear more responsibilities. It's not too much to split half, right?"

"Besides, we have sent so many workers to help you produce."

Qiao Chaiqing sneered in his heart, bullshit, giving up sales means giving up the market. When your workers have figured out the technology, it's time to turn over the table and leave.

Qiao Chaiqing still had this point, so he said in a deep voice: "Either we also participate in sales, or you don't participate in production at all. We can't let you Chaozhou merchants take all the benefits, right?"

Huang Zuoyu narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly: "Mr. Qiao, what you said is not right. A few days ago, the government received a report that you and foreigners were smuggling, and we took it for you. You said that... that means you don't treat us as friends!"

"Then tomorrow... the government investigates and closes your factory, don't blame me."

Qiao Chaiqing was sweating profusely, and he was cursing in his heart. Damn it, if it weren't for the Zhongwu Marquis's accident, I would dare to throw tea on your face now, just look at your dead behavior.

He laughed dryly and said: "Mr. Huang, don't worry, let's discuss it slowly. Do you think this is okay? We will jointly set up a business, jointly sell, and we will also share the production technology."

This is the biggest concession that Qiao Chaiqing can make.

It is equivalent to handing over most of his achievements to others.

Huang Zuoyu narrowed his eyes and said, "We Chaozhou merchants only have the above cooperation method, no other. As for whether to agree or not, it's up to Boss Qiao."

Qiao Chaiqing was so angry that his heart was burning, but he didn't dare to turn hostile, and his hands were shaking as he served the tea.

At this moment, the door was suddenly kicked open.

A cold voice came: "Promise your mother! If you want my skills, let your mother come and learn from me!"