He Jiugong found Qiu Yizi in a secluded corner and immediately bowed again. He smiled and walked closer while exchanging pleasantries. Seeing that it was Liu Qing, the governor of Jiangnan, he also greeted him, "Oh, young master, you said there was an old friend. Who did I think it was? It turned out to be General Liu! It's a pity that this is not a government office or a military camp, otherwise I would have to pay my respects to the general."
Although He Jiugong said this politely, there was a hint of ridicule in his words. Liu Qing was in distress and didn't seem to hear it, but Qiu Yizhi and other people with sharp minds understood it and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled - businessmen pay the most attention to currying favor with the government. He Jiugong, who is well versed in the ways of business and officialdom, spoke so harshly and arrogantly today, which shows how fickle people are.
But then He Jiugong said, "It is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. It is lunch time now. I wonder if you would be so kind as to let me treat you to a meal?"
Qiu Yizi smiled and replied, "Jiu Gong is wrong. You came at a very unfortunate time. Look, isn't Liu Jiedu inviting me to dinner? You came a step late, so you can only accompany me, not treat me."
He Jiugong grinned and said to Liu Qing, "General Liu, you are just a commoner doing business. How can I invite Mr. Qiu? I am being thick-skinned today. How about I treat you to a meal and then treat you back later?"
Liu Qing was in distress, so he had no time to think about negotiating gifts with He Jiugong, so he agreed without thinking.
He Jiugong was delighted and said, "That's Liu Jiedu and Qiu Gong flattering me. Although the seats here are elegant, they are too narrow. How about we change to a bigger table?"
Qiu Yizi replied, "Jiu Gong has a point. But as the saying goes, big restaurants bully customers. There are many rules in this 'Yuanwailou'. I'm afraid that we won't be able to change seats temporarily when we are halfway through eating, right?"
He Jiugong smiled and said, "There aren't many customers here. The seats are all empty. What's the harm in changing one?" Then he called out, "Where's the waiter?"
He Jiugong's shout not only called the waiter who was serving carefully, but also the shopkeeper came upstairs and bowed to answer, "What do you want, Jiugong, to ask me to come over?"
He Jiu said: "I heard that you have strict rules here. You can't even change seats in the middle of a meal. Is that true?"
The shopkeeper rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "There is a saying. When a customer is halfway through eating, another customer comes and wants to change to a bigger seat. Or when a customer in a good seat leaves, another customer wants to move over. These guests only need to say one word, and we will be busy for a while. Since we are short-staffed in the store, we simply set this rule and don't let customers change seats."
He Jiu said: "Just now this gentleman said that you are 'bullying customers with your big store', and it is true. Now I want to treat this gentleman to a meal, can't you change seats?"
The shopkeeper hurriedly asked, "If others can't do it, why can't Jiugong do it?"
He lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "Business has been getting better these days. There is a vacant private room over there, which is quite spacious. I'll arrange for someone to go over and set up another table." With that, the shopkeeper led Qiu Yizi and the other four people into a private room.
This single room was indeed very spacious, with a round table in the middle that was big enough for a dozen people to sit on. The room was also elegantly decorated, with pens, ink, paper and inkstones specially prepared for the guests to leave a few words of calligraphy after they had a great meal.
He Jiugong was satisfied with the view and asked Qiu Yizhi: "Sir, do you think this place is okay?"
Qiu Yizi nodded: "It seems that this single room was also specially decorated by someone who knows the business. Very good, this is it."
Jiu Gong nodded and said to the shopkeeper, "Just bring me your good wine and food. I won't owe you any money."
“Where, where…” the shopkeeper said in panic as he turned and walked out of the room.
After everyone sat down, Qiu Yizhi said to He Jiugong, "What I said just now, 'big store bullies customers' doesn't seem to be comprehensive. I think 'big customers bully the store' is also true. Mr. Zhou Cijing has a big business, and even this 'Yuanwailou' has to follow his lead. The seats can be changed at will. This is a great honor."
Jiu Gong laughed loudly twice: "Although it is said that 'harmony brings wealth', the purpose of opening a shop and doing business is still the word 'wealth'. To be honest, the reason why the shopkeeper here is so polite to me is nothing else but that I have already taken over this business..."
Qiu Yizhi was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly said in surprise: "Wow! Jiugong is really generous. When did you buy this store? How much money did you spend?"
He Jiugong smiled so hard that his wrinkles trembled. "When I bought this restaurant, it was during the siege of the city by the Lingnan Army! It was a chaotic time, and a major crime happened in this restaurant. It turns out that your boss couldn't continue the business a long time ago. I only spent three hundred taels of silver, including the land, a total of one thousand taels, to buy this restaurant."
One thousand taels of silver... You should know that Zhou Cijing gave Qiu Yizi five thousand taels of silver as a commission from overseas trade every month. According to the price at that time, a restaurant like this could be sold at a very low price without any seats.
Qiu Yizi asked, "Mr. Jiu is right. The world was not peaceful at that time and blood had just been seen here. Although one thousand taels of silver is a drop in the bucket for Mr. Zhou, it is still a lot of money. It can't be wasted, right?"
He Jiugong laughed again and said, "The world must be peaceful. People are calm now and they think that the Lingnan prince will not do anything big, so it will be worth buying it. As for one or two murders... that's no big deal. Just set off more firecrackers, give alms to beggars, and sing lotus songs, and the time will pass."
Although these two sentences are easy to understand, they contain great knowledge. The insights of He Jiugong, a businessman, may not be understood by many learned scholars and successful candidates.
But then He Jiugong said, "Actually, the Lingnan prince was besieging the city tightly. I had no money and no people to spare, so I just wanted to find something to do. I just happened to feel like it, and I happened to be able to host a meal here. After all, it was not easy to survive such a big battle, so I didn't even think about the money."
Qiu Yizi said, "Remember that after we left Jinling City, it was this kid Zheng Yu who occupied the city. Lord Jiu and Lord Zhou Cijing are legitimate imperial merchants. Why didn't Zheng Yu embarrass you?"
He Jiugong shook his head and smiled bitterly, "How can it not be difficult? In order to raise money for military pay, Zheng Yu summoned merchants in Jinling City several times and asked us to donate money and food. In order to buy peace, we also paid some money to Zheng Yu." Thinking of this, He Jiugong immediately bowed and said, "Oh, it happens that you are someone who has a say in front of the emperor and the prime minister. If the emperor and the prime minister investigate, you must speak for us and don't ask about the crime of supporting the rebels!"
Qiu Yizhi rolled her eyes and asked, "How much did you give Zheng Yu?"
He Jiugong laughed and said, "It's probably about 600,000 or 700,000 yuan in total."
"Wow! This is not a small amount." Qiu Yizi exclaimed half-truthfully, "This is a bit difficult. I don't know which merchants gave it and how much each of them paid. Does Jiugong have a list?"
He Jiugong was also a smart guy. After hearing this, he hurriedly said, "How could I possibly have something like this? Maybe Zheng Yu has one..."
Qiu Yizi was still unyielding: "Although Jiugong is old, he has a good memory. I believe he can still remember most of it. Why don't you take some time to write it down, and I will send someone to pick it up tomorrow? Jiugong, don't panic. This list is just for us to know who is guilty and who is not guilty, so we can deal with it accordingly."
He Jiugong wanted to refuse, but Qiu Yizhi immediately changed the subject and said to Zhao Fuyi, "Uncle, why are you here? And with Jiugong?"
Zhao Fuyi's own life and that of his entire family were in Qiu Yizhi's hands, so he didn't dare to put on the slightest air of an elder to this "nephew". He quickly bowed and replied, "It was during the chaos of the past few months, and there were still some unclear points in the accounts with Mr. Zhou, so I came to settle the accounts with Mr. Jiu. We saw that it was lunchtime, and after we had settled the accounts, we simply came out to eat, but unexpectedly we met Yizhi here..."
What he said was reasonable. Qiu Yizi was just about to ask how much money had been earned in the past few months when he heard a few knocks on the door of the single room. Several men and women came in one after another, each holding a plate in their hands. Soon, they had filled the table with twenty or thirty seasonal delicacies and delicacies from land and sea.
Seeing all these delicious dishes, Qiu Yizhi could not finish them anyway. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind, and she said to Liu Qing: "Liu Jiedu, can I borrow two soldiers from you to pass on a few words?"
Liu Qingku sat for a long time. After hearing this, he smiled bitterly and said, "I don't have any soldiers under my command now. I am a general without any soldiers..."
He Jiugong on the side said: "I still have a few errand boys under me. If you have anything to say, I can pass it on for you, young master."
"Okay!" Qiu Yizi said, "It's not a big deal. Please send two people, one to Yanziji Wharf to invite the young captain Li Shengjie; the other to Bansongzhuang to invite Mr. Lin Shuhan and General Zhao Chengxiao to come and drink together. How about we have a good drink?"
He Jiugong said with a smile: "These people are all outstanding people. They are willing to come and let me treat them to a meal. This is an honor for me, and it will also bring honor to my Lord Zhou. I will send someone to invite them right away. I thought it was some military and national event just now..."
When Qiu Yizi heard He Jiugong mention the words "military and national affairs", he suddenly wondered if he had violated a taboo by gathering so many important people... But this thought flashed through his mind and he thought: These people are all old friends of mine, and now that the situation has settled, I can take the opportunity to get together so that others won't be able to say anything.
He Jiugong was more careful and called the shopkeeper of "Yuanwailou" to come over. He also specifically instructed him, "I want to invite a distinguished guest to dinner. You must close the restaurant now. Guests are only allowed to leave, not come in. Do you understand?"
The shopkeeper immediately agreed obediently.
Jiu Gong said again: "It will take some time for all the guests to arrive, and by then the dishes will be cold. These dishes cannot be used. You should prepare another set like this and prepare to serve it."
The shopkeeper asked, "What about the dishes now?"
He Jiugong raised his old eyes and said, "Is this your first day running a restaurant? Do you still need me to teach you these things? Has this year's new tea arrived? Make four bowls of tea first."
After being reprimanded by He Jiugong, the shopkeeper quickly called the waiter over and personally served the dishes in a whirlwind.