Compared with last year, Dinghai County today has changed a lot.
The roads in the county town are smoother and wider than before. The area on the west side of the city was originally a slum. The roads inside are complicated, the houses are low and cramped, and a piece of broken tiles and cold kilns have been demolished and all of them have been converted into warehouses.
Not to mention the county government office, and now at Dinghai county government office, the most eye-catching is not the archway in front of the county government office, but the big house built where the original express delivery shop was located.
This is where the Dinghai Trade Union and the warehouse management office are located, where labor recruitment and warehouse rental are handled.
Originally, Xue Tingxiang just randomly found a few people to take care of it first. Last year, Zhao'er gave him advice, why should the gate clerk block the city gate to collect money from passing by? When the goods are put into the warehouse, the money is collected together.
The well-known cargo management, charges according to the quantity of goods, as for the warehouse rental, it is regarded as delivery. In this way, it will not make those businessmen feel conflicted, but also save manpower and material resources.
Xue Tingxiang tried to implement it, and it was more convenient than before, so he set up a warehouse management office. There are a number of clerks and a number of accountants, which are arranged by the yamen here.
He even negotiated with Xie San to conduct 'investment promotion', Xie San came forward to win over some local wealthy clans in Zhejiang, and Dinghai County provided channels for foreign trade.
However, all of this was done in secret, and on the surface, I only saw more and more businesses and goods coming to Dinghai County.
Fang Shisi, the warehouse management office is busy here.
The yamen came in and out, and many people dressed as businessmen were waiting in the hall. In a short while, a yamen will come out from the inside, leading a businessman in, and when they come out again, both of them have smiles on their faces, it is obvious that the matter has been done.
Different from the previous secrecy, now under the leadership of Xue Zhixian, trading with the barbarians in Dinghai County has become a matter of the table. So from time to time, you can hear them talking about business matters, and of course, it is inevitable to sigh that it is now more convenient and time-saving than ever.
Xie San stepped into the lobby and saw such a picture.
He was a familiar face, so no one stopped him and let him in. Standing in front of the hall for a while, looking at the situation here, he sighed a little, but frowned slightly.
Now Xie San seems to be excluded from the core of the Xie family. The owner of the family is getting old and has become seriously ill. Now the Xie family is in charge of his eldest son, so it is normal for him to be suppressed.
For more than a year, he has spent more time in Dinghai than in Fucheng. He hadn't seen Sun Gang for a long time, so he was a little surprised that Sun Gang was looking for him this time. After he went, the thing that he had been worrying about in the depths of his heart really happened.
"...You are also a junior of this official. This official has always admired you very much, so even if the Xie family has come to look for you many times, this official will ignore it and only recognize you... If it was before, this official can completely ignore that He Wei. , but now you also know that the new governor of Fujian and Zhejiang has just taken office, the county officials are not as good as the current ones, and the officials still have to worry about one or two..."
"Third Master, the lord is waiting for you inside." A yamen came to him and whispered.
Xie San went to the county government office before, but unfortunately he couldn't find Xue Tingxiang. The official said he was in the warehouse management office, so he looked for him.
Xie San nodded slightly and walked inside.
"What's wrong, is something wrong?"
Xue Tingxiang sat in an armchair in casual clothes. There were two cups of tea on the flower table beside his hand, one was for him, and needless to say, the other was for Xie San.
Xie San was not polite, and sat down beside Xue Tingxiang.
"Yesterday, Sun Futai found me."
Xue Tingxiang held the bowl in his hand and paused: "What did you say?"
"He Wei found him and let us stop."
Xue Tingxiang laughed a few times.
While laughing, he brushed the foam on the tea, until he took a sip of the tea and sighed comfortably, he said: "Enough is enough, how to stop?"
Xie San did not speak.
"These people are all old and eat more salt than I eat rice. Why are they so naive?"
Following Xue Tingxiang's words, Xie San looked at him, and saw that his young face was full of irresistible mockery, with a hint of condescending contempt.
Sometimes Xie San would be very confused about Xue Tingxiang's attitude. He is a person who is very good at observing, and it is because of the various things that Xue Tingxiang inadvertently revealed in his words that he gradually made up his mind to bet on this place.
Being in his position and his own experience make him less likely to trust anyone easily.
Maybe the first stretch of hand was just out of some kind of obscure thought, and then he was expelled from the Xie family. Others thought that he would be in a mess, but it was not.
The reason why Xie San can stand in the world is not because of the Xie family, but because Xie San is Xie San. Everyone thought he was exiled to Dinghai, but in fact he was just here to look at his own things.
At that time, he was still in a state of observation for Xue Tingxiang, and the subsequent dumping was due to the confidence this person gave him.
He always felt that this person must have a lot of trump cards to do these things that are destined to cause an uproar. Xue Tingxiang is a very smart person. Will smart people seek death on their own? Obviously not, so he must have a hole card.
It's just that this hole card is out of a very vague tacit understanding, and he never asked.
The two are neither masters and servants nor subordinates. At best, they are in a cooperative relationship, and the relationship is not to a certain extent. Such words are not suitable for questioning.
Last year, he learned that the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang had been replaced, and his situation became extremely difficult. He still did not ask for an exit. But now he wants to ask, because he has been under too much pressure recently.
"You..." Before you could say the word, Xue Tingxiang interrupted suddenly.
"If it were you, would you spit out whatever you ate?" Xue Tingxiang looked at Xie San with a smile in his eyes.
Xie San subconsciously shook his head.
The first time you vomit, there will be a second time, and one day there will be no food left for you. So either don't open your mouth. Once you plan to open your mouth, you can only go into your own belly and don't think about it.
"That's fine!" Xue Tingxiang laughed again and patted Xie San on the shoulder: "So, ignore them."
I don't know when, Xue Tingxiang left, and when Xie San reacted, there was no one in the room.
Xue Tingxiang returned to the inner ya, and did not see Zhao'er, only after asking Xiaohong, did he know that Zhao'er had gone out.
Zhao'er has been very busy recently. In fact, the pressure from all aspects of the obscure Chinese has already come. The area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is a major province of silk production, and raw silk and various kinds of silk cloth are the favorite things of the barbarians.
As early as Xue Tingxiang and Xie San cooperated before, he officially put his own business on the table. It is better to buy and sell by force than to do business by himself, and sell it to others with an ugly name, but only If you earn three times, you can sell it to the barbarians and double it again.
But if you want to do business, you must first solve the source of goods. Where does the goods come from? These goods are not radish and white song, just buy them on the street.
The big silk households in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have long been monopolized by the big business houses. People like them who suddenly entered the market can only get some goods from the small weaving workshop. They are all very fragmented, and they have to travel around to make up enough goods.
As the waterway was dug, more and more barbarian merchants came to Shuangyu, and the volume of these goods was long enough.
Now, Gao Sheng, Xue Qinghuai, and Jiang Wu are all running on the supply of goods outside, so the business here in Dinghai is managed by Zhao'er.
Seeing that his daughter-in-law was not there, Xue Tingxiang went to the study to see Honger. Now Hong'er is studying with her husband during the day, and both breakfast and lunch are served in the study, and only come back at night.
No one accompanies him to lunch, so Xue Tingxiang ate some casually.
After taking a nap for half an hour, I went out to the county office. When I came back in the evening, it was already twilight.
Zhao'er came back long ago, and it was rare to cook and cook.
Xue Tingxiang has been eating Zhao'er's food for many years, so he can smell it only by smelling it.
The father and son ate very well, and the Xue family did not have the rule of not eating or sleeping, so the family of three talked while eating, and Xue Tingxiang also took the time to ask Honger's homework.
After using the meal, Hong'er went back to his room.
After enlightenment, he changed the habit of sleeping with his parents earlier. The son is getting more and more sensible, in fact, being a mother is not used to it, but in the end every child has to grow up slowly, and there will always be such a day.
After the couple washed up, they got on the kang. Zhao'er and Xue Tingxiang said that they wanted to go to Nanzhili.
In order to find sources of goods, Gao Sheng and others have been running around outside for many years, like Gao Sheng is in the Nanjing area. Zhao'er now understands that if you want to make money, you have to be willing to spend money, so a few people go out, and they bring a lot of money with them. They look like big businessmen wherever they go.
No, Gao Sheng got on a relationship made by Jiangning Weaving.
At any rate, the other party was relieved that there was no shortage of money, but the other party was not stunned. Knowing that Gao Sheng was not the master of the family, he had to meet the family.
Gao Sheng had already handed back the letter, but Zhao'er had been hesitant.
As she followed Xue Tingxiang, the market became wider and wider. Now she also understood that as a family member of an official, she should know how to avoid taboos. Besides, she was afraid that Xue Tingxiang would not be willing.
She dragged on like this until she had done everything at hand, and Gao Sheng received another letter, and Zhao'er would not mention it today.
"You don't have to worry about my safety. Ask Hu San to find a few people to follow, and I'll bring Xiaohong. There are Shengzi over there who will take care of them, and nothing will happen." I didn't dare to see Xue Tingxiang.
Seeing her, Xue Tingxiang laughed a little: "Do you want to go?"
There is meaning in these words, Zhao'er looked up at him uncertainly.
"Do you want to go because you want to do this? Or is it because you want to go?"
Zhao'er understood now, thought about it in her heart, and said, "It's because I want to accomplish this, and I also want to go, I want to see what the outside world is like, every time I listen to Shengzi and the others Description, I always feel like looking at flowers in the fog, and finally there is a layer. When I went to the sea with you that day, I felt that the sea was very majestic. There must be all kinds of beautiful scenery and all kinds of people in this world.
"Also, don't think that if you laugh every day and don't tell me, I don't know your situation. You are very short of money now, and you need a lot of money to accomplish the big things you want to do. You have to watch If you can’t go here, then let me go, and let me come to make money.”
The smile on Xue Tingxiang's face became even bigger.
His smile is actually very good-looking, his eyebrows and eyes are curved, his temperament is suddenly soft, and he is a little childish. Usually, Xue Tingxiang always pretended to be somber because of the appearance of 'Master Xue'. Only when he laughed, did he echo the vigor of his current age.
He pulled her into his arms, patted her, and sighed with a smile, "You're such a silly girl, just go if you want."
Zhao'er leaned against his neck, suddenly not knowing what to say. She could only use her arms to strangle his neck, and kept scolding Xue Tingxiang that she wanted to murder her husband. Only then did Zhao'er change direction and tickle him hard.
"Then, Mrs. Magistrate, you will not return for a few months after you leave. Can you take pity on Xiaosheng to relieve Xiaosheng's suffering of being alone in the empty boudoir?"
Zhao'er was lying on top of him, and he said, "You are poor!"
Xue Tingxiang grabbed a piece of clothes, and used it as a veil to cover his face and cried: "You unconscionable, when Xiaosheng doesn't know that you are going back to deal with the dead ghost in your family. I miss my seven-footed man, but it's just because of a momentary business trip. Wrong, I have since fallen into your pink den, and I will never be able to turn over again. The two of us are clearly in love with each other, but we can only be this underground couple. Now you abandoned me in order to deal with him. My heart is sour, but Nowhere to tell."
Zhao'er laughed so much that his stomach was about to burst, and when he saw him singing while choking his throat, he also pretended to be full of grief and frowned, stroked his face in disappointment, and said, "You know that he is my husband, you know that I am In fact, I still love you in my heart.”
"How to love?"
"How do you want to love?"
"Then you are up there today."
Saying that, Xue Tingxiang changed his tone and put on Zhao'er's lips.
The cold thin lips had a slight bitterness of tea leaves, and the warm tongue greedily grabbed the breath that belonged to her, not letting go of every corner. Between the entanglement of lips and teeth, Zhao'er felt that he could hardly breathe, and his breath was full of his unique smell.
In a trance, I felt a chill, and suddenly Xue Tingyan opened his mouth, and Zhao'er was about to take a few breaths when he was knocked out of breath.
He leaned against the side of her neck, bit her earlobe, and said, "Madam, do you think that the dead ghost of your family makes you satisfied, or Xiaosheng can make you satisfied?"
Uh…
Seeing that she didn't answer, he tortured her, and Zhao'er could only do what he wanted.
"It must be you." She said unsteadily.
"Really?"
Seeing him laugh like a mouse that stole lamp oil, Zhao'er rolled his eyes and sang in a big voice, "My dear son, you don't know my master, but he is only a strong man and a silver gun. So you still have my heart."
"Dare you say my silver wax gun head?"
…
The next day, Zhao'er quietly set off.
After hesitating for a long time, she still didn't tell Hong Erniang what she was going to do, but only said that she would go out and come back in a few days.
Hong'er was very sensible, and asked her mother to go and return early, but Zhao'er got into the carriage but secretly cried.
Zhao'er's departure did not cause any disturbances, and Dinghai County on the coast of the sea was still as quiet and noisy as before.
The only difference from the past is that as Shuangyu Port gradually became known, more and more barbarian merchants came to buy and sell here. It is no longer the same as before, it is an agreed time to trade, but people often take the initiative to find it.
Hidden beneath the calm surface is the growing coldness of Zhoushan Island and the anger of Commander He.
So half a month after Zhao'er left, Master Sun, the prefect of Ningbo Prefecture, personally recruited Xue Tingxiang to go to Fucheng.