Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 392 The Main Course is Served
When he got to the high pavilion, Master Wu realized that Brother Fan's expression and behavior were very different from usual. He also saw Zhu Changluo sitting there with a smile on his face, and Liu Ruoyu, who was also sitting there, even in the main seat, and was serious.

"Eunuch Liu, Master Chang!"

Under the stunned gaze of Master Wu, Master Fan even approached him in a flattering manner, extended his hand to lead him forward to greet them, and introduced them to them: "This is the second son of the second branch of the Wu family in She County, Huizhou, named Yang Tao. Brother Wu, come and meet Eunuch Liu and Master Chang!"

Wu Yangtao looked puzzled, but still stepped forward and bowed in surprise: "Eunuch Liu, Master Chang..."

Liu Ruoyu just nodded, then asked Fan Yongdou: "The Wu family in She County? I remember that in the 27th year of Wanli, there was a man named Wu Yanghui in She County who reported that his grandfather owed 250,000 taels of silver for salt tax. Who was that?"

Wu Yangtao was startled, and his suspicion immediately turned into fear: "That's... my brother."

"I see." Liu Ruoyu nodded again, looked at him and stopped talking.

"We are from She County. I heard that the imperial court paid more than 300,000 taels of silver to aid Korea in its fight against Japan. Mr. Wu, nice to meet you." Zhu Changluo looked at him with a smile on his face.

Wu Yangtao always felt that the look was strange and looked at Fan Yongdou helplessly.

"...Great news, don't panic, brother Wu." Fan Yongdou pulled him to sit down first, and then tried his best to speak in a familiar manner, "Brother Wu, you know that my cousin is the Empress Shufei. As for this eunuch Liu, I can only say that he is accompanying the emperor to the south. Brother Wu, you only need to know that the eunuch Wang who is now in charge of the Imperial Household Department is the senior brother of eunuch Liu, that's enough. As for Master Chang... the palace is busy with internal affairs, so this time, Master Chang will come forward to take care of the great event."

Wu Yangtao stood in awe: "You kid didn't recognize the real talent, you just acted recklessly..."

"It's okay." Zhu Changluo still smiled warmly, "Zongminghao and Changminghao, the eunuchs still have to supervise them on behalf of the emperor. I am in charge of these two families."

Wu Yangtao shuddered: "Master Chang... is he the one who manages the Zongming and Changming ships on behalf of the palace?"

Zhu Changluo smiled and nodded.

Fan Yongdou thought that this was correct, and he was indeed in charge, so he said to Wu Yangtao: "Do you understand now?"

"I understand, I understand!" Wu Yangtao nodded repeatedly.

This makes sense.

The one who can make Young Master Fan call him Master Chang is naturally the current root of their Fan family.

The Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants had already lost their former glory in Yangzhou, and now they were able to make a comeback only because they had the support of the Changminghao. The Changminghao, in turn, had the support of the royal family and the noble relatives. The royal family and the noble relatives were all controlled by the emperor.

From a business perspective, the palace is the major shareholder. The person who represents the palace is the real manager.

The head managers of Zongminghao and Changminghao!
At this moment, the chief shopkeeper Zhu Changluo was of course too young. Although Wu Yangtao could not remember any family with the surname Chang who was so trusted by the emperor, as Fan Yongdou said: his cousin was the Concubine Shu, who knew the situation in the palace better than the families in Shanxi now?

No wonder Chief Fan invited their father to the banquet today.

"Then Eunuch Liu and Master Chang have come with me south... Is there something great that they want to help us boys with today?" He first bowed to Fan Yongdou, then asked the two respectfully but doubtfully.

"No hurry, aren't all the people here yet?" Zhu Changluo just said, "I always stay in Beijing, it's rare for me to come to Jiangnan. Huizhou is a place of outstanding people, why not listen to some music and chat first. Mr. Wu, don't be so reserved, I'm also a young man, I just got this position by chance. Since Yongdou introduced me, we are all one of us."

"Thank you, Brother Fan!" Wu Yangtao became excited. "Master Chang thinks highly of me, so I will offer my respect first... I will use tea instead of wine to thank Master Chang for his support!"

He didn't know what it was about, but he knew why his family had to give money to the court in previous years.

At that time, the people who had the closest connection to the imperial court were the tax inspectors, salt administrators, and local officials.

Their Wu family is not like the Wang family, which also originated from She County and had Wang Daokun.

Now Fan Yongdou is like a pug, and Eunuch Liu and Mr. Chang are both well-connected people.

Could it be that the people who came with the emperor to the south... are here to do things with the emperor's orders?

So he began to make friends deliberately. He first patted his chest and said that he would be the host today. He then hurriedly ordered his entourage to go home and get some treasured items as a gift to honor the guests.

After seeing that eunuch Liu was not shy about the crowd preparing to call for beauties, he asked Guanyunlou to call for someone - nothing else, today was special, although the girls in Guanyunlou were also outstanding, there were even more outstanding ones in the city! It had to be the top girls from all over the place.

Zhu Changluo kept smiling and watched him show his courtesy.

Master Wu was busy with the arrangements, so Fan Yongdou had no more work to do. Whatever he wanted to do, since His Majesty was here, he seemed to enjoy the fun.

After a while, Wang Daokun's nephew came, as well as the Huang family from She County, the Zhu and Wang families from Xiuning, and the Li family from Wuyuan.

Apparently, Fan Yongdou had invited the Huizhou Salt Gang, the most powerful salt merchant among the current big salt merchants.

The latecomers saved Fan Yongdou's energy in introducing the place, as Mr. Wu's earnest introduction made it seem like he had set up the place - and that was right, he had already promised to pay for it. After that, there was a constant stream of sedan chairs approaching the Guanyun Building.

When Shopkeeper Lin arrived at the door of his shop, he was stunned by the scene.

"what happened?"

The shopkeeper who stayed behind at the counter said helplessly, "Mr. Wu said he wanted to buy everything today so as not to disturb the distinguished guests."

"Then how..."

Before Manager Lin finished speaking, the junior manager said, "Let me show him yesterday's accounts. Check the amount according to the amount, no more, no less. In a word, don't be too busy. If you are asked to do something, we won't be able to respond in time."

"...Forget it." She shook her head. "Call Aunt Cai and the others. Miss Wang came in a hurry, so today is her turn to wash and dress up. Let's help Miss Wang wash and dress up first."

When Wang Wei heard the word "comb cage", he began to feel afraid.

But she is still young...

Shopkeeper Lin didn't care about these things. She only knew that Master Fan had spent so much money, so he must need her to do a good job.

As for what the distinguished guest named Mr. Chang was going to do, she didn't need to care.

Maybe people just like younger ones, and it's not strange. She comes from this profession and has seen a lot.

Only then did she go upstairs first, and on the one hand, she greeted the distinguished guests warmly, chatting and laughing; on the other hand, she looked at the many other Yangzhou prostitutes who did not have their shops in her own building, and she felt that money was really flowing like water today; the most important thing, of course, was to reply to Fan Yongdou, telling him that he had been invited to the shop and asked him to get ready first.

"Brother Fan redeemed a girl specifically for Master Chang? Where is she from? How much did it cost?"

Seeing Zhu Changluo also looking over, Fan Yongdou said with determination, "Madam Xu taught me. It cost 12,000 taels."

"Brother Fan is so generous!" Everyone cheered immediately, "Mrs. Xu was already famous in Huaiyang back then. She was cultivated so carefully. Now she is finally able to broaden her horizons and is worthy of Mr. Chang's status!" Fan Yongdou smiled awkwardly and secretly looked at Zhu Changluo's expression.

Zhu Changluo could only sigh in his heart: Although they don't do this every day, just by looking at the ostentatious way they spend money without blinking an eye, you can tell how much wealth they have accumulated from salt in the past and how much stable income they have maintained.

Of course, today's figures are exaggerated. Not to mention them, even Zhu Changluo himself, the entire palace does not spend tens of thousands of taels of silver every day.

However, even for these young masters who have not yet taken charge of the family, it is common to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

In the huge Guanyun Building, only Yangfeng Xiaoyue Pavilion had guests. With the face of these most powerful salt merchants, even if Manager Lin had to smile and refuse some guests who had booked private rooms for the afternoon or evening, he had to do it.

After all, these young masters are here. If you annoy them today, your business will be much worse in the future.

The entire Guanyun Tower was devoted to serving this group of distinguished guests at the top. The extravagance of fine wine and delicious food went without saying. Guanyun Tower's own opera troupe also went up there to perform specifically for them.

The five top-notch prostitutes invited by Wu Yangtao from various places, as well as the people who run Guanyunlou’s own shop, are all here.

Some danced, some sang, and some expressed real or fake jealousy. Zhu Changluo expressed his admiration: when it came to having fun, he couldn't compare to them.

Although if he were to be a tyrant, the situation would be even more outrageous than this.

Knowing that Zhu Changluo was an extremely special and important figure, although these young masters would bring beautiful women to please him, they would not treat him as a friend on an equal footing and force him to drink.

Knowing that there was a young girl carefully trained by Ms. Xu who came to accompany him today, he did not let the other "vulgar women" here fawn on him.

Zhu Changluo just chatted with them about all sorts of things. Although he didn't talk much, he made the young masters feel that the reason why he could manage the affairs of Zongminghao and Changminghao on behalf of the man in the palace was not just because of his family background.

Some people are now speculating whether he is a young member of the Huaiyuan Marquis' family and was trained by His Majesty when he was a teenager.

Since the person with the surname Chang could be responsible for this important task, he could only be a descendant of Chang Yuchun, who was granted the title by the emperor during the Jiajing period.

How could they have imagined that this was Zhu Changluo himself.

They talked and drank, the birds sang and danced, and the sun gradually set in the west.

When it was almost time for dinner, Shopkeeper Lin reappeared here, smiling and leading a little girl.

The so-called "comb-style bun" means changing the traditional braiding style to a bun. It can not only be used to decorate the head shape, but also implies meeting guests or belonging.

In Yangzhou, there are people who are good at combing hair, people who are good at applying makeup, and people who are good at matching clothes.

These are all market needs.

Guanyun Tower naturally had no shortage of these things, so Wang Wei, who had dressed up more deliberately than before, now timidly walked out from behind Shopkeeper Lin, which really made the men and women here's eyes light up.

Different people see different things. The gentlemen see the face of a girl that has not fully grown yet but is as pure as a piece of unpolished jade, and the temperament that is simple and unsophisticated due to her ignorance of the world.

The other seniors who were already famous in Huaiyang saw her beauty which was still in bud but was enough to make men fall in love with her. Fortunately, they heard that she had been redeemed.

So there was more envy in their eyes: he was so young and had never experienced any pain, but he had already completed the path that they most longed for.

Wang Wei is sensible and knows who he should serve.

Seeing that he was young and his appearance was not intimidating, she just went over, knelt down and said, "Your servant Wang Wei, kowtows to the master."

"Get up and sit aside."

Zhu Changluo sighed in his heart, in fact, he is a person who is pitiful to me. If he is filmed into a video and posted online in the future, he will be another top representative of the series of tricking me into giving birth to a daughter.

He had never heard of this name and didn't know that this was also an extraordinary woman who had lived a life of wandering.

The famous Liu Rushi was married to Qian Qianyi through her matchmaking. She herself was a poet who was considered by some literati at the time to be comparable to Li Qingzhao, and a traveler like Xu Xiake.

But now, she was just a little girl who had not really entered the sight of the Huaiyang pleasure seekers, and then she appeared here by chance.

After hearing Zhu Changluo's order, she just knelt aside and sat aside in a reserved manner. After thinking for a while, she felt that she might not be very sensible, so she moved closer to Zhu Changluo and said, "I will help the master to add more wine."

Zhu Changluo had just carefully washed and dressed, so he naturally smelled the fragrance of the breeze, and the little girl timidly poured him more wine.

If what Fan Yongdou said is true, this is what she should learn since childhood, to be obedient, to know how to read people's expressions, and to please men.

Now that she has not yet developed her own character, she is probably thinking more about Madam Xu's teachings.

Seeing such a little girl in her early teens so obedient and ready to embrace her new destiny, Zhu Changluo suddenly lost the mood to continue chatting with them.

So he spoke: "The sun is setting, so it's time to serve wine and food and talk about business. Eunuch Liu?"

When he said this, Liu Ruoyu said, "The matter is urgent, so let's be quiet. I don't care about the specifics. I came to see you just to let you know that this is a matter assigned by His Majesty. Miss, you can follow me downstairs to continue listening to the opera."

When Wang Wei heard the word "Your Majesty" and heard him call himself "our family", he was naturally shocked.

And when she heard him ask her to go downstairs with him to listen to opera, she looked at her newly worshipped "master" in confusion.

Zhu Changluo just smiled and said, "Go with Eunuch Liu."

Fan Yongdou hurriedly said, "You all know the rules, don't talk nonsense, then you all go downstairs to rest. There is plenty of wine and food for you, today you can also be the guests, just accompany Eunuch Liu downstairs to listen to the opera."

At this time, someone seemed to understand: So today we are mainly here to accompany this eunuch?
Wang Wei also had some doubts in his mind, so he became even more nervous.

However, this eunuch Liu seemed like a scholar and asked her to go first.

Yangfeng Xiaoyue Pavilion suddenly became much quieter, and then the main dishes and fine wine were served and distributed to the tables.

There were eight people in total. Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "This is great news. The palace wants to open a bank. Chief Fan said that salt merchants have more cash, and I saw it today. I will take care of this matter. If this bank is to be spread throughout the Ming Dynasty, it will be responsible for purchasing silver circulation and salary payment, and the capital required will be huge. Therefore, I asked Yongdou to invite you today to borrow money from you. In addition to the capital, the interest is what Chief Fan wants to discuss with your father."

Wu Yangtao and the others were somewhat shocked: "Responsible for...paying salaries?"

"It involves a lot of people, but those are government affairs. It's good for you to know that this is part of the new policy." Zhu Changluo said, "The benefits are mainly in the future. In the future, you will always inherit the family business, so I asked you to come first. Young people are always more energetic and willing to try. If you dare to make this decision on behalf of your elders, then you will accompany the emperor to Guangdong, and the maritime trade with the vassal states of Southeast Asia and Outer Yunnan will be yours in the future."

(End of this chapter)