"Hiss! They're all from the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce! And each of them donated more than 10,000 strings of cash! "
"Tsk tsk! Together, that's more than 100,000 strings of cash, right? "
"They're too generous, aren't they? That's more than 10,000 strings of cash! "
"Heh! What's so strange about that? The Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce monopolizes the trade of bicycles, new carriages, celestial tea, footballs, and other exotic items in the Great Tang. The members of the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce earn huge profits every year. Naturally, it's not something small shops like ours can compare to! "
"Tsk tsk! I wonder how I can become a member of the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce! "
This world was like a pyramid. Those who stood at the top of the pyramid were always in the minority. The merchants who came to the fundraiser today were the same. Wealthy people like Lin Wenyuan and Cao Wendong were in the minority after all. Most of them belonged to the category of those who had little family wealth. After the grand opening of the fundraiser, everyone couldn't help but exclaim in private!
"Wang Peng of the Treasure House donates 30,000 strings of cash!"
At this moment, when the name Lin Wenyuan read out was finally not from the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce, his next sentence caused another huge uproar!
"Wow!"
"30,000 strings of cash?! Did I hear wrongly? "
"Oh my god! It's finally not from the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce, but this person actually donated 30,000 strings of cash, the same amount as Marquis! "
"Where did this Wang Peng of the Treasure House come from? He's actually willing to donate so much money? "
The merchants sitting in the hall on the first floor of the inn were in an uproar. What did they hear? Someone actually donated 30,000 strings of cash, an amount comparable to Li Zexuan. More importantly, this person was not from the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce?
Where did this Wang Peng of the Treasure House come from?
For a moment, this question surfaced in everyone's mind.
But after regaining their senses, many people immediately reacted. After all, most of the people present were merchants from Chang 'an City or nearby Chang' an.
"This … If I remember correctly, this Treasure House belongs to the eldest son of the Wang Family of Taiyuan, Wang Renbiao!"
"Wang Renbiao? Isn't Wang Renbiao also from the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce? "
"Eh! After all this time, he's still from the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce! "
"Wang Family of Taiyuan? Did that mean that the Wang Family of Taiyuan was also participating in this fundraising event? Tsk tsk, with the Wang family's financial resources, they can really take out 30,000 strings of cash! "
"No no no! This Treasure House is the private property of the Wang Family's Eldest Young Master. It doesn't belong to the Wang Family of Taiyuan! "
"Then why didn't Young Master Wang donate in his own name, but in the name of the Treasure House's shopkeeper?"
"Yes! If I could donate that much money, I would definitely donate it in my own name! "
Soon, someone revealed the background of the treasure house. Wang Renbiao, the owner behind the scenes, also surfaced. However, many people were somewhat puzzled. Why did Wang Renbiao give this opportunity to make a name for himself to his own shopkeeper instead of himself?
However, there was no lack of smart people present. An old man explained to his companion in a low voice, "The eldest young master of the Wang family is now the provincial governor of Qizhou and represents the Qizhou officialdom. This donation drive is mainly for us merchants. It will be inconvenient for the eldest young master of the Wang family to donate money in his own name. Therefore, he can only participate in the name of his shop's shopkeeper!"
His words were reasonable and instantly received the agreement of many people.
Now, looking at the whole Tang Dynasty, it was extremely rare to see someone like Li Zexuan, who was a high official in the imperial court and openly engaged in the business of merchants among the people. Most people in the officialdom would only let their family members or subordinates engage in the business of merchants behind the scenes and would not put it out in the open!
The following facts proved that it was indeed as the old man had guessed!
"Li Jingchu of the Li Family Carriage Company of Yong County in Qizhou donates 2,000 strings of cash!"
While the crowd was discussing in low voices, Lin Wenyuan did not stop and immediately read out the next name. The reason why he was so anxious was because the 'client' of these two donations was the same person!
In the middle back row, a fat middle-aged man in luxurious clothes stood up and walked forward with two cards in his hands. Then, the old man showed the cards in his hands to the crowd. One of them had 30,000 strings of cash written on it and was signed by Ju Bao Zhai, while the other had 2,000 strings of cash written on it and was signed by Li Jingchu of the Li Family Carriage Company. After showing the cards, the old man put the cards in his hands into the cardboard box. Then, under the guidance of the venue's' staff ', he went up to the second floor of the inn to pay the corresponding donation amount!
This old man was actually the 'client' of both donations!
Seeing this, the people below could not help but discuss again.
"What is the relationship between the Li Family Carriage Company and Ju Bao Zhai? No, it should be the relationship between the eldest son of the Wang Family and this Li Jingchu. Why did they let Wang Peng donate their money? "
"Li Jingchu? From the name, it sounds like a girl! Tsk tsk, 2,000 strings of cash, this girl is really generous! "
"I … I think I have heard of this Li Jingchu. A few days ago, I sent the shopkeeper to Qizhou to deliver a batch of goods. At that time, I heard that the Governor of Qizhou, Wang Renbiao, would be marrying a commoner girl in a few days. That girl is called Li Jingchu!"
"Huh? So the two of them are husband and wife! Then why are they donating separately? They can just be combined! "
"Hehe! Who knows? "
For a moment, the crowd started to gossip about Wang Renbiao and Li Jingchu in private. Very soon, the truth of the matter was more or less restored. After all, they were businessmen. In this world, they were the ones with the most up-to-date information!
At that moment, Lin Wenyuan threw out another bombshell. "Li Cheng, the shopkeeper of the Ingenious Craftsmen Pavilion, donates 30,000 strings of cash!"
Whoosh ~!
This time, Xiao Yu, who was sitting in the first row on the left, could not help but narrow his eyes, and he looked slightly shocked. At that moment, not only were the people in the hall shocked, but even the onlookers outside the Longmen Inn were also in an uproar.
"30,000 strings of cash, another 30,000 strings of cash! What's the background of this Ingenious Craftsmen Pavilion? "
However, this time, the background of the Ingenious Craftsmen Pavilion was dug out very quickly.
"The Ingenious Craftsmen Pavilion? The Ingenious Craftsmen Pavilion in Chang 'an West City? Isn't that the shop of that person in the palace? "
"That person in the palace? Who is it? "
"It's His Highness the Crown Prince!"
"What? His Highness the Crown Prince? How is that possible? "
"Shh! Lower your voice! I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince is also a member of the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce. If that's the case, it's not surprising that he donated! "
"What? His Highness the Crown Prince is also a member of the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce?! How much money did the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce donate?! "
"Let me count, this … it's actually 190,000 strings of cash!"
The crowd discussed fervently. With Wang Renbiao as an example, everyone understood very well why Li Chengqian did not use his own name but someone else's. As they discussed, a pale, beardless old man walked up with a card in his hand. It was the shopkeeper of the Ingenious Craftsmen Pavilion, Li Cheng.
At this point, the first batch of members of the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce had all donated. The donation amount was 190,000 strings of cash!
Everyone who thought of this was shocked. Even Xiao Yu was no exception. He had expected the people from the Yan Huang Chamber of Commerce to be rich and would be the main force of this donation drive. However, he never expected the people from the Yan Huang Chamber of Commerce to be so generous. The donation drive had only started for less than 15 minutes, and they had already donated 190,000 strings of string of cash!
To be precise, it was 190,000 strings of cash (including Li Jingchu's 2000 strings of cash)!
A few days ago, he had made a bet with Li Er that the donation drive would not be able to raise enough money for the military. However, in such a short period of time, he had already raised 190,000 strings of cash. He was only 58,000 strings of cash away from the "small goal" of 250,000 strings of cash that he and Li Er had set!
There were a total of 600 to 700 people attending the donation drive today. The remaining people donated an average of 100 strings of cash each, which was enough to reach the "small goal" of 250,000 strings of cash!
The power of merchants!
For the first time, Xiao Yu realized that when merchants united, they could also exert a force that could not be ignored!
The donation drive continued. Lin Wenyuan's voice was still echoing in the hall:
"Cheng Ji Winery's Cheng Ruisong donates 5,000 strings of cash!"
"Qinji Clothing Shop's You Guangxian donates 5,000 strings of cash!"
"Qingfeng Grain Shop's Yin Shixiang donates 5,000 strings of cash!"
"Heng Li Satin Shop's Xu Hongyu donates 5,000 strings of cash!"
"Baochang Pawn Shop's Lu Yuchuan donates 4,000 strings of cash!"
"Yi Feng Ironware Shop's Zhangsun Chao donates 4,000 strings of cash!"
As Lin Wenyuan's voice rose and fell, the people sitting in the hall and outside the Dragon Gate Inn were not idle either. Everyone was amazed by the "tycoons" of the donors while secretly guessing the background of the shops. Although some of the shops had mediocre backgrounds, some of the shops had deep backgrounds. Most of the people present were merchants near the capital, so they were naturally well-informed about Chang 'an. Soon, they had "dug up" the backgrounds of some of the shops!
"Isn't this Duke Lu's winery? He also sent people to donate money? "
"Hey! Isn't this Duke Yi's shop? "
"This shop belongs to Duke E's family!"
"Eh? There's actually a shop belonging to Duke Zhao's family! "
Everyone was shocked to discover that not only did Wang Renbiao and Li Chengqian from the imperial court send people to participate in this donation drive, but other civil and military officials like Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Jingde, Zhangsun Wuji, and others also sent people to participate in this donation drive, and all of them donated a considerable amount!
Sitting on the left side of the row, Xiao Yu finally could not remain calm. His eyes widened, and his face was filled with disbelief. If Wang Renyi and Li Chengqian were to participate in the donation drive because they were members of the Flaming Yellow Chamber of Commerce, it was still reasonable. However, Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Jingde, Zhangsun Wuji, and other civil and military officials also came. That was completely out of his expectations!
Crazy! Crazy! This was clearly a donation drive that was open to the merchants of the Great Tang. Why did all the civil and military officials of the imperial court come?
"That's not right! Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, Zhangsun Wuji, and the others all donated money. If I don't donate, then wouldn't …? "
Suddenly, Xiao Yu's hand that was stroking his beard trembled violently, and he almost pulled his beard out. This was because he suddenly realized a problem — he had been scammed!
…
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