Great Imperial Merchant

Quzhou has been prosperous since ancient times, and it has always been the intersection of several counties. Not only the roads are smooth, but the waterways have also been prosperous.The Mingchun River that runs through the entire Quzhou stretches from Muzehu to the north to Wanxi Qingyanxi, passing Lingnan, Huai'an, Quzhou, Liangzhou and Wanxi, becoming the most important transportation link in Quzhou.

Because the Mingchun River is not adjacent to the Shaluo River, this river carrying cargo ships from south to north has never been flooded. For thousands of years, the torrential river has brought countless prosperity to Quzhou.

Contrary to Danluo, most of the wealthiest families in Quzhou live in Beicheng, where the Anyuan Street of the Xia family and the Jinping Street where Yang Zhongyuan and the others are going now are located, making Quzhou the most representative Quzhou-style buildings.

In the early morning of the second day, Shang Ze asked his servants to visit the family. After breakfast, he led Yang Zhongyuan and Cheng Weizhe out together. Because they were so close, they didn't even have a carriage. No set, just go on foot.

Shang Ze has always been a person who is not good at words, he doesn't like to talk, and his face is cold, but those who know him well know that he is cold-faced and warm-hearted, and he is not a deserted person.

On the contrary, he never refuses when it is time to help his friends, and he does his best every time. He is a very reliable person.

Along the way, apart from Cheng Weizhe and Yang Zhongyuan occasionally asking him a few words, he simply answered and walked towards the destination without saying a word.

Yang Zhongyuan and the others didn't care either. He was originally a person with this personality, and he was easy to get along with as long as he got used to it.

Not long after, they turned around the end of Anyuan Street, turned around and walked into another long alley, probably because the color of the building was very light, and amidst the misty rain, there was always a sense of peace and solemnity, but Yang Zhongyuan I love it here.

"The house in Quzhou is unique, I really like it." Yang Zhongyuan sighed.

Cheng Weizhe smiled, smoothed out the broken hair around his ears, and replied, "Just as long as you like it."

After hearing this, Shang Ze glanced back at them, stretched out his hand and pointed to the front door: "It's just ahead."

Yang Zhongyuan looked carefully at the place he pointed, then looked up at the sky, and said with a smile: "It's really close to the elder brother's house, even if you walk, you can get there in a moment, which is really good."

They are unaccompanied in Quzhou, and the family can only rely on themselves. Now they can have a friend they met by chance to help, and they can find a house in no time. It is not very lucky.

While talking, they walked to the gate.

It has probably been moved away for some time, and the owner's family did not repair it when they lived here before, so the house looks really dilapidated.Not only the gateposts at the gate were mottled and decayed, but even the tiles on the eaves were chipped and damaged, which looked very shabby.

The lintel under the eaves of the simple eaves still looks very detailed and vivid. I saw two cranes stretching their wings facing each other, and cloud patterns floating beside the cranes, which looked very beautiful.

Those with cranes on the lintel must have been courtiers of the third rank or higher.

"This is a scholarly family, so it is suitable for Ah Zhe to live in." Yang Zhongyuan sighed.

Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, he saw a young man in his twenties suddenly open the mottled door, perhaps because there was no one living there for a long time, the door shaft was extremely stagnant, and there was a loud "creaking" sound as soon as he opened it.

The young man blushed and stammered immediately: "Everyone, are you here to see, to see the house?"

Shang Ze nodded, took the initiative to take a step forward, cupped his fists and said, "Hello, I am Shang Ze from the Xia family, and the person who wants to buy the house is a friend of my family."

After he finished speaking, he took another half step back so that the young man could see the appearance of Cheng Weizhe and Yang Zhongyuan clearly. After all, they were the ones who bought the house. Regardless of whether the Xia family is in the middle or not, the seller must be able to talk smoothly with the seller. .

In Quzhou, no one knows the name of the Xia family, and Shang Ze can be regarded as the second head of the Xia family.Even if the young man has not returned for a long time, he grew up in Quzhou, so he naturally knows him.

With Shang Ze present, he has gained some confidence, and he doesn't look so nervous, but relieved: "Hello, I'm really sorry, I'm not very good at talking. Oh, by the way, hurry up Please come inside."

When Cheng Weizhe saw him like that, he knew that he was the kind of scholar who had been immersed in the academy. They didn't do much big things, but they read all kinds of books. In other words, they were the kind of people who talked on paper.

Judging by his age, it is estimated that it is either the elder brother or the younger brother of the person who has just been admitted to Jinshi.

He thought for a while, then said kindly to the young man: "Hello, little brother, my surname is Cheng, this surname is Yang, we are here to see the house."

Sure enough, the young man saw that both he and Yang Zhongyuan were smiling and had a gentle attitude, so he said: "My surname is Jiang, and I am the youngest son in my family. When I come back this time, I want to sell this ancestral house in my family. "

A group of four walked in slowly, Yang Zhongyuan and Cheng Weizhe couldn't help but began to look around, only Shang Ze didn't seem to care much about this house, he just asked the young man: "How are the elders in the family? Where did they go to settle down now?" "

Although they are not on the same street, they have been neighbors with the Xia family for decades, so he has to care about it no matter what.

The young man saw that the buyer was looking at him carefully, and wanted to say a few more good things about his house, but he was very shy, and couldn't utter a word after holding back for a long time. Finally, Shang Ze spoke to him, and he immediately Found the topic: "It's all good. Now I went to Huawu with my elder brother. Because it's a little far away from Quzhou, and the elders are getting old, I'm the only one who comes back to deal with things."

Shang Ze nodded and said nothing more.

The young master of the Jiang family didn't feel embarrassed, instead he breathed a sigh of relief and secretly observed Cheng Weizhe and the others' expressions.

To be honest, their ancestral house has not been renovated for more than ten years.Someone in the Jiang family's ancestors was a high-ranking official, so the lintel can use cranes to soar into the clouds. However, from generation to generation, the once scholarly family has finally declined. By the generation of him and his brother, the entire Jiang family has left nothing but empty shelves. Simply lock up most of the backyard and live only in the main house.

But in any case, the glory of the past can still be reflected everywhere in this house.

What they were looking at now was the front yard.

The former rockery pool has long since dried up, the garden in the front yard has also been abandoned, and the main hall looks relatively new, presumably it has been hastily renovated to maintain the appearance.

The young master of the Jiang family was not sure about the attitudes of Cheng Weizhe and Yang Zhongyuan, so he just stammered: "Mr. Cheng, Mr. Yang, my house looks a little dilapidated, but it was built with great effort back then, although it has not been built in recent years. How to take care of it, but all the wood in the house is bent willow, and the foundation is also solid, as long as... just change the furniture, repaint the walls and replace the tiles, it must be very good."

The young man originally planned to live in the north for a few months before he could go north to reunite with his family. Years ago, his elder brother suddenly took office, and he was very worried about his life with his two fathers, so he decided to sell the ancestral house. can be together.

He didn't expect that someone would come to see the house as soon as he came back to Quzhou.

Because he was a little hasty, he didn't prepare anything to introduce to others, so he had to honestly speak out what was in his heart.

It is because of this that Cheng Weizhe and Yang Zhongyuan have a good impression of this family. The house is a bit old, but they have to renovate it wherever they buy it. It is better to buy this house, which is very elegant in terms of location, structure and materials. house.

With an idea in mind, Yang Zhongyuan and Cheng Weizhe looked at each other, and Yang Zhongyuan smiled and said gently: "Young Master Jiang, don't be nervous, we really like your house very much, and the family members are also obsessed with piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. Such a scholarly family is very fond of. I saw that the front yard and main hall of your house are very simple and grand, but I don’t know what happened to the back house?”

After hearing what they said, Young Master Jiang's face suddenly showed joy. He is a very simple person, so people like Cheng Weizhe and Yang Zhongyuan can tell what he likes to hear with almost a few words.

"That's easy, just follow me to the backyard to have a look. The backyard of my house is quite big, there are six in the yard alone, and there are many osmanthus trees and phoenix trees planted, which are beautiful." The young man became happy when he heard this, Lead them directly to the backyard.

He is the only one living here now, and the entire backyard looks very desolate. Although the trees have fallen leaves, it seems that there are quite a lot.On both sides of the neat cobblestone path, there are several flower beds with only soil left. Behind the flower beds are yards.The Jiang family was a scholarly family in the early years, and the courtyard was very unique.Take the main house as an example. When you go in, you will see a small bare lotus pond. There is a wooden bridge over the lotus pond, and there is a small garden beside the wooden bridge. The main house has two floors. The lower floor not only has a spacious main hall, but also a tea room and study room facing the lotus pond, which is really a home for scholars.

Cheng Weizhe has been carefully looking at Yang Zhongyuan's expression, seeing that he really likes this place, he is also happy in his heart.

They originally thought that this house was a dilapidated hut that had been dilapidated for many years, but they didn't expect that the foundation was still there. Although the house is not new, it is exquisite and unique. As long as it is tidied up properly, it must be very beautiful.

Thinking of this, Cheng Weizhe tugged on Yang Zhongyuan's sleeve. Yang Zhongyuan turned his head and saw that his face was full of inquiries, so he gave him a determined smile.

The two of them communicate, just relying on expressions is enough.

"Mr. Jiang, I'm afraid the price is not cheap for such a big place like yours." Yang Zhongyuan made up his mind to make it right.

Mr. Jiang had never done business before. When he saw that Yang Zhongyuan seemed to feel that their house was too big, he was a little flustered, and hurriedly waved his hands and said, "Our house is really not big. I don't know if you have been to Master Shang's house before, that's called it." Big miles."

His answer was not right. Yang Zhongyuan just wanted to ask him what the price of the house was, but unexpectedly he only answered the first half of the sentence.

Yang Zhongyuan was a little helpless, so he simply asked him directly: "Then, I don't know what price your family wants."

After hearing his question, Young Master Jiang blurted out without thinking: "7000 taels... can't be less."

From what he saw, it was his family's instructions.He may not have the slightest idea himself.

Yang Zhongyuan had a clue in his mind, so their family must have given back the lowest price. After thinking about it, he lowered his head, and his cheeks were a little red when he raised his head again: "Mr. Jiang, to be honest, Ah Zhe and I were kicked out by our family. Those who came out didn’t have that much silver in their hands.”

As he spoke, he took Cheng Weizhe's arm with his hand, and did not continue.

Cheng Weizhe understood, he patted Yang Zhongyuan's hand on his arm, and said in a gentle voice: "Master Jiang, your house is quite big, but you can't take any furniture. When we move in, we need to renovate and add another one." Batch of furniture, this is not a small fee, do you think it can be lowered?"

He and Yang Zhongyuan were emotional and sensible, and their attitudes were very appropriate. When did Young Master Jiang see such a scene, he was a little panicked when they told him about it, so he could only stammer: " Then... the six thousand... six thousand five hundred taels, okay?"

This... is too easy to talk about. Yang Zhongyuan and Cheng Weizhe just said one sentence, and 500 taels of silver were dropped in an instant.

Although the price was still a bit high, it was already within the scope of Yang Zhongyuan's discussion, so the two of them took a look at Shang Ze at the same time. After all, they didn't know the prices in Quzhou, but Shang Ze did.

Shang Ze happened to be standing behind Young Master Jiang at the moment, and when he saw the eyes of the two, he made a movement with a blank expression.He clenched his fist with his right hand, pressed it to the palm of his left hand, and then stopped moving.

What does he mean, can he press it again?

Yang Zhongyuan had the bottom line in his heart, but his expression was still a bit embarrassed. He tugged at Cheng Weizhe's sleeves, and said in a low voice: "It's too expensive, Ah Zhe, let's go. So much money is spent on it, and there is no money to buy it when we move in later." To eat with furniture is to drink the northwest wind."

He spoke in a low voice, but he could be heard by everyone present. Cheng Weizhe only regarded him as a whisper, patted his hand, and comforted him: "We work harder, and we can earn back in the future. Don't you like this place very much?" ?”

"But I don't want you to work so hard anymore." Yang Zhongyuan shook his head, then looked at Young Master Jiang again, "Master Jiang, let's discuss it, can you make it cheaper?"

Young Master Jiang was also very embarrassed to see them like this. He thought about the entrustment of the elders in his family, and felt that these two people were a little pitiful.

In the end, under the eyes of Yang Zhongyuan and Cheng Weizhe, Young Master Jiang gritted his teeth cruelly and said, "Six thousand two hundred taels, no less!"

200 taels, which was not much different from what Cheng Weizhe casually said in Wanxi at that time. The two looked at each other and said in unison: "Okay, deal."

So, on the same day, Cheng Weizhe and Yang Zhongyuan bought a house in Wanxi. Yang Zhongyuan didn't want to procrastinate, so he took his family to the household registration office in the afternoon. Falling under the newly acquired Yang Mansion.

On the second day of their arrival in Quzhou, they really became people from Quzhou.