The Bookish Scholar of the Red Mansion

As soon as Yin Jiu finished speaking, Liu Xianglian, who was sitting on the chair, smiled awkwardly. Although he is talkative, he is also as thick-skinned as Chen Heng. But to think that a eunuch also knew that he was known for his love for singing operas made him feel a little awkward.

Fortunately, Liu Xianglian was a smart person. After laughing, she picked up the teacup with a normal expression. Ji cleverly said: It seems that you are also a person who loves drama.

This really touched Yin Jiu's itch. A rootless person like him had some weird hobbies besides loving money. In the palace, you can only follow the nobles and listen. Now that I have come to Suzhou City, when I have free time, I have to invite the team to come to the bureau to do three or five games.

Fortunately, Liu Xianglian's reputation in Liyuan was not as shocking as the whole world. As the eunuch in charge of the Suzhou Weaving Bureau, Yin Jiu had no shortage of actors to perform, not to mention that Liu Xianglian came from the Duke's mansion.

Yin Jiu looked at the two of them and handed the words to Bao Qin, who was sitting opposite Liu Erlang. Xue Ai was once one of the top figures in the imperial business, and he was in charge of errands for more than 20 years. An old man like Yin Jiu naturally knows him, and the two have had some friendship. When it comes to relationships, Yin Jiu is more familiar with Xue Ai than Duke Li.

Bao Qin agreed with a smile, and continued Yin Jiu's conversation about family matters. Yin Jiu's move was not to confirm the authenticity of the two people. There is the invisible endorsement of the Suzhou government office, and Liu Xianglian's face is deeply remembered. He actually believed that the people in front of him were descendants of famous families.

After a few casual chats about friendship, Yin Jiu asked about the purpose of their visit. The steward of the government office only told him that there were two distinguished guests who wanted to buy some cloth to go home. There was no detail about what Liu and Xue wanted to buy.

The time is right and the atmosphere is right. Xue Baoqin said on the spot that he would buy some good silk and satin cloth and plan to take it home for his family to use.

This is very common among wealthy families. Yin Jiu nodded nonchalantly and said, Didn't you go to Changmen to have a look?

Changmen is equivalent to Qiupu Street in Suzhou, with dozens of cloth shops opening on the street. It is full of vendors and crowded with people, and there are so many varieties that it is impossible to list them all.

Here, of course they went shopping last night. Bao Qin shook his fan and replied: I have been there. Liu Xianglian added, Who doesn't know that the best silk cloth in Suzhou City is in the Weaving Bureau. Forgive me, father-in-law, but we are itching. , that’s why I wanted to come and take a look.”

As soon as they finished speaking, a faint smile appeared on Manager Yin's face. This is indeed true. Most of the raw silk produced in Songjiang Prefecture and other places must be shipped to the Weaving Bureau first. After they select and purchase it, the rest can go to the vendors.

Chen Heng, who was standing behind Liu Xianglian, saw the two singing and harmonizing, and successfully settled the game. The tension in his heart relaxed a little. He had told Brother Xue before that Baoqin might be more useful than his brother, but it was just empty words to ease his mind. Now it seems that he really got it right.

Okay. Yin Jiu nodded. He kept his word in the weaving bureau. He just picked up the tea and raised his eyebrows, and a purple-clothed eunuch from the inner palace ran forward to listen and said, Take them to have a look.

When it comes to accompanying someone to look at the goods, it's naturally not the top leader's turn to come forward in person. Liu and Xue's status was not high enough. Only the elders of their families could make this possible.

The purple-clothed eunuch agreed with a smile and led the four of them towards a larger and wider courtyard. This courtyard is larger than the previous one, with countless silk cloths hanging on bamboo poles, letting the autumn wind blow.

When the four of them walked to a certain place, the little eunuch introduced them. Today's fabrics are mostly three-shuttle cloth and white cotton. The former has exquisite workmanship and smooth and fine cloth surface, which is very suitable for dyeing and needlework. Most of the clothes worn in the palace were woven from this material.

The latter is commonly known as coarse cloth and is the cheapest. The so-called out of three, one refers to the relationship between the two. The eunuch showed the four people mostly expensive three-strip cloth.

The three shuttle cloths hanging in the venue are of different colors, some are bright red, some are purple, some are red apricots hidden on the wall, or some are green banana leaves. Baoqin took a rough look and chose Xie Qinglan, who was the most famous. This color is unique to Suzhou, it is the best in the world and dominates one place.

When Baoqin picked the pattern, everyone was led to the warehouse to look at needlepoint. The room here is also spacious, with a large number of cloths folded on the shelves, and various samples hanging in the air, with a dazzling array of ingenious needlework painted on them for people to appreciate and read.

It was the first time for these four people to see such a scene, and they were all dumbfounded. Chen Heng shouted in his heart: Brother Su is Brother Su. This craftsmanship and quality are amazing.

The accompanying young eunuch deliberately behaved and introduced the needlework skills of the finished product to Xue and Liu in turn. From Feihua, Youdun to eyebrow weaving, there are also three-color jieqinglan that are only used by the royal family. The price of this cloth alone can even be quoted as fifteen taels per piece to those foreign merchants.

It's a pity that these merchants can't buy much at all. Most people can only settle for the next best thing and buy twelve ounces of two-color jieqinglan.

The annual output of the three-color Jie Qinglan is only 6,000 horses, and all of them are sent to the palace. One is for His Majesty's daily use, and the other is to reward the princes and ministers. But not many people can be rewarded with such cloth, and most people get second-class goods.

Most of the other pieces of cloth range from six to twelve pieces. Produced by the Weaving Bureau, the cost is naturally very high. You must know that the raw silk that Chen Heng wants to sell costs only about five to seven yuan in the market.

And white cotton cloth woven from raw silk only sells for eight yuan in the market. Don't think it's too little, one qian is equal to one hundred wen, and ten qian is equal to one tael.

These huge quantities of coarse cloth need to go through dozens of processes such as selection, weaving, dip-dying, embroidery, etc., to get the style laid out by the weaving bureau. Among them, we have to accept the constant loss of cloth, so the finished product is naturally rare and precious.

Bao Qin had checked the steps with Chen Heng before. Except for the three colors of blue and blue, most of them bought one or two pieces of cloth of various colors. This amount is just the reason why they want to buy some to take home to their elders.

Chen Heng, who was holding the banknote in his hand, took out one hundred and twenty taels rather painfully and gave it to the servant who handed over to him. Not to mention Yin Jiu, not even the young eunuch in purple would look down on a transaction of this amount. The little eunuch just chatted with Xue and Liu, showing his kindness to the landlord.

Yin Jiu looked down upon these juniors, for the little eunuch. As long as he is a son of a prince, he is a well-known figure. Is it possible that the other party will become prosperous?

After buying the goods, Chen Heng glanced at Bao Qin subtly. The latter understood the idea, folded his fan behind his back, smiled at the eunuch and asked: Eunuch, I wonder if there are any better leftovers in the bureau?

The young eunuch laughed when he heard this and asked: Young master, do you want to buy it back to make clothes for your servants? Seeing Baoqin nodding, he immediately said: Of course there are, and there are many more. These things are piled up in the back warehouse all day long. Here. Those who can afford it can’t afford it, and those who can afford it can’t afford it.”

There are so many things, so we don't notice any tribute items mixed in. Even if they are scrapped and defective, it would be disrespectful to spread them out. The little eunuch sighed with emotion. These things are only for the servants of high-ranking families to wear. , the most suitable. Firstly, it takes care of the owner’s dignity, and secondly, the craftsmanship is really good.

Baoqin smiled and listened silently. Chen Heng, who was on the side, came up rather shamelessly, put up his sleeves and stuffed ten taels of silver into the eunuch's hands.

Oh, I can't do it, I can't do it. How can we, the servants, have the nerve to accept the young master's things?

When Chen Heng heard this, he secretly added another ten taels.

It's necessary. Let the father-in-law know. The younger one will definitely be blamed.

Baoqin then smiled and said: It's okay even if I know. I have my father-in-law to accompany me all the way. If you have some mundane things, just treat me as a cup of tea for my father-in-law.

When the young eunuch heard this, he dared to accept it with a smile. With a little more enthusiasm on his face, he pulled the four of them to the next warehouse. The place here is a bit messy, with many discarded fabrics due to poor dyeing and unqualified stitching piled up here. The sheer number made Chen Heng excited when he saw it.

There is nothing to introduce these things. Xiao Huan only mentioned a few things, some of which were due to workmanship issues, some to cutting issues, and so on.

After several people listened, Bao Qin smiled and asked about the price. The eunuch couldn't say clearly on this matter, so he only speculated that it ranged from one to five taels. The implication is that it depends on how much face the buyer has.

When the young eunuch turned around, Chen Heng walked to the corner of his sight and made a downward three and then a five gesture to Bao Qin. Baoqin nodded secretly and asked the young eunuch who turned around: I'm afraid five taels is a bit high. I wonder if my father-in-law can do it for me.

Liu Xianglian said at the right time: If the price is right, I will buy some for my family. When I get back to the capital, it will be an explanation for my family. He did not say whether what he said was true or not, he only needed to mention the name of the elder in the family. , is there really anyone who dares to come and ask?

Of course there is. As soon as he collected the money, the young eunuch said in a negotiable tone, Mr. Liu, Master Xue, what price do you want?

Bao Qin followed Xue Ai to do business everywhere since he was a child. Under the influence of his ears and eyes, in the spirit of repaying the money after landing, he tried to quote: My father-in-law, how about two taels of silver a horse?

When the young eunuch heard this, he thought it was nothing. Rich people often buy them back and forth, almost always at the same price, and it's just a matter of sentiment. Then he asked the two of them how much they were prepared to pay.

After hearing Bao Qin say that he wanted to buy five thousand taels, the young eunuch was shocked and said, Master Xue, how many servants are you going to make clothes for?

With this amount, even if there is a royal palace at home, it may not be enough for the servants.

There are many relatives at home, so it is inevitable to have more. Bao Qin replied with a smile.

The young man couldn't make up his mind. At first he thought the other party was just buying twenty or thirty taels. He immediately hesitated and said, Master Liu and Master Xue, please wait while I go to report to our ancestors. What do you think?

Baoqin was self-righteous, so the young eunuch left them behind and ran to Yin Jiu's room in a hurry to explain the whole story. Yin Jiu also found it strange that someone would spend so much money on these useless things.

His first reaction was to refuse. He was on an errand in Suzhou and couldn't cause trouble. But just as he was about to speak, he thought that the loss of these defective leftovers would not be recorded in the accounts of the Weaving Bureau.

After all, it was the five thousand taels that fell from the sky, and Yin Jiu was still a little moved. If it were less, he might simply refuse. If it were more, it might be a scam. This five thousand taels, no more or no less, really scratched Yin Jiu's itch.

The steward, who was slightly moved, pointed to the eunuch standing in front of him and said, Please tell me what they said in detail.

After his men finished repeating, Yin Jiu asked again: Have any of the people in the capital recently come to buy things? Seeing that he couldn't help but shake his head, Yin Jiu immediately guessed that it must be the New Year's Eve, and the family named Xue wanted to rely on him. Make some good connections over small things like this.

In fact, it doesn't matter whether the reason is correct or not. What Yin Jiu wants is just a reason to convince himself. This matter is just a piece of cake for him. After all, there is no need to fill in the accounts of the Weaving Bureau after the matter is completed, so he can be said to be invisible.

There are also elders from the Liu and Xue families standing in front of him, so he can enjoy the shade under the big tree. With these noble people around, someone would be found reading a book. You don't even need to take action yourself, the Liu and Xue families can naturally settle things.

The door here means that those who have a heart will have no wealth, those who have wealth will have no means, and those who have wealth and means will not have this heart.

Yin Jiu thought excitedly for a while, then waved his hand and said: Go ahead, let them choose, you know the taboos.

When the young eunuch was about to run out, Yin Jiu felt something was wrong again and chased after the servant and shouted, Let that little girl from the Xue family raise the price further.

It took Yin Jiu a long time to see through Xue Baoqin's true identity. I was only thinking about the reputation of the Xue family and my small friendship with Xue Ai, so I didn't expose this matter. Yin Jiu has been in the palace since he was a child and is most familiar with women. Others found Baoqin's appearance difficult to distinguish between male and female, but he could tell at a glance that this was a girl's house.

It's hard to say, Miss Xue family sneaked out with the Liu family boy this time, intending to get some benefits and go back to be a good boy and persuade the elders to calm down.

Hey, I obey, ancestor.

The young eunuch received the order and ran back to the warehouse happily. After Chen Heng gave him one hundred taels, the deal was finally settled at two taels and five cents. Both parties were very happy and immediately invited someone to come over and write down the purchase and sale documents. But this thing can only be reserved for private use.

Before going to see Yin Jiu, the young eunuch who had made a lot of money today kindly pointed out Baoqin and said: Master Xue, please don't mention it in front of our ancestors. Take this document to the government office for filing. Otherwise, I will miss you. My own business.

I'd like to give you some advice, sir. I'm in Xia Province.

Baoqin knew that he meant well and immediately nodded in agreement. Without this step, there is indeed a risk of default. But if it were to be done openly, Yin Jiu would definitely not be able to agree. Chen Heng had already told her about this, and Bao Qin agreed simply.

The group returned to the front hall again, and this time they were warmly received by Manager Yin. They chatted in general for a few words, and indeed the official matter was mentioned in a vague way. Bao Qin only laughed and didn't mention it. Yin Jiu was immediately overjoyed and looked even better.

The manager had made a fortune and wanted to treat the two juniors to a casual meal, but Liu and Xue said they were going to Hangzhou for a visit soon and wanted to take advantage of the day to spend more time in Suzhou. Yin Jiule was happy to let them go and ordered the young eunuch in purple to escort them out.

To do all the drama, Chen Heng accompanied Xue and Liu around the city for another half a day before returning to the inn. As soon as everyone sat down in the room, Chun Yan, who was left in the room in a daze, quietly asked the lady about today's experience.

Brother Chen, what kind of medicine is in your gourd? Liu Xianglian couldn't figure it out. Everyone was obviously out to sell goods, so why did they come to Suzhou and spend five thousand taels first.

Chen Heng put away the purchase and sale documents of the Weaving Bureau like a baby, and just smiled and replied: Pack it up, we will go to Hangzhou tomorrow!

Seeing that he still refused to reveal anything, Liu Xianglian could only go back to the house out of curiosity.

Others were also very curious, but Xinda and Bao Qin trusted Chen Heng and did not want to ask more questions. Only Chun Yan heard that they spent more than five thousand taels on one trip, and she looked at Chen Heng with a somewhat strange look.

Isn't this kid here to defraud our family of money?

…………

…………

The next day, the weather was beautiful.

Chen Heng and others boarded a passenger ship in the morning fog and arrived in Hangzhou in the evening. Qiantang has been prosperous since ancient times. It is the so-called Three Wu City, with smoked willows and painted bridges, and hundreds of thousands of households.

Visiting a new place again, everyone can't help but compare Suzhou and Hangzhou. In comparison, the city of Suzhou is soft in water and affectionate in softness. The color of orioles and swallows is the spring song in April and the moon under the bridge in May.

Qiantang is different again. It has the best tide in the world and the willow trees by the West Lake. It can be said that the combination of hardness and softness is unique in heaven and earth.

Arriving a little late, Chen Heng thought about running around all the way without stopping for a moment. Just choose the inn by the West Lake so that everyone can relax and prepare for tomorrow's decisive battle.

Zhejiang Province is mountainous. There are buildings outside the mountains and lakes outside the buildings. Everyone who arrived at Guibao Land for the first time put away their things and decided to start swimming in the lake before nightfall.

Of course Baoqin and Chunyan are going, and Liu Xianglian is also indispensable. Chen Heng, however, stayed in the house thinking about tomorrow's events, and only asked Xinda to accompany Bao Qin on the trip. The three of them were protected by Liu Xianglian, so nothing major would happen.

As soon as these people left, the room immediately became quiet. Chen Heng was sitting in the house. There was a window on his left hand side, facing the West Lake. After he thought about the details and made sure they were correct several times, he turned back and looked out the window, only to see one or two boats moving slowly forward on the lake. On the willow tree between them and himself, there were still birds chirping softly.

Chen Heng was also moved by this situation. He had visited here many times in his previous life. The West Lake now has a bit more tranquility and beauty than it did in memory.

The hazy beauty brought by time and space travel makes the bright moon on the water have a sense of past and present life. A hundred years later, there will be busy traffic, but now there are only two or three lanterns on Sugong Embankment. Comparing the two, each becomes interesting.

People today don't see the moon of the past, but this moon once illuminated the ancients. He sighed with emotion. Apart from himself, no other person in the world could have such complicated emotions.

After Bao Qin and others came back from playing, everyone gathered together for dinner. At the table, everyone was talking enthusiastically about the interesting things about Qiantang. Chen Heng just smiled and listened, letting them share interesting things with him.

The beauty of Qiantang is especially poetic. It would be a pity to miss it. After everything is done, let me go and have some fun.

Bao Qin sincerely suggested.

Okay. Chen Heng smiled and nodded.

This is to make up for yesterday. As the holidays are approaching, there is suddenly more work. It’s such a headache that I’ll finish writing the next one at night. Forgive me.