"Haha, thank you, Boss. Long time no see … "
"Boss Chen, how have you been?"
"Let's go to Jubao Casino after today's banquet?"
"Things haven't been going well recently, not to mention today's matter …"
"Brother Li helped me with the goods in Qingzhou last time, I'm grateful …"
"We're in the same line of work, we should help each other …"
Under the lights, there was a hustle and bustle, and the voices of people gathered at Green Ripple House. There was still some time before tonight's banquet, so people came and went. When the carriage arrived, someone related to the weaving company came down from it. On the second floor, Ning Yi and the Su family had been there for a while. As they were arranged to sit down, they were also dealing with the merchants who came to greet them. Some were optimistic about the Su family, some were pessimistic about the Su family, some were business partners, and some were not. In short, none of them ignored the Su family.
However, compared to Ning Yi, Su Zhongkan, and Su Yunfang, the masters of the Su family, Manager Liao and the others received the most attention tonight. They couldn't be blamed for this. Based on tonight's situation, people originally guessed that either Su Tan'er would appear, or the Su family's Great Grandfather, Su Yu, would come. If these two came, they would naturally be the ones to make the final decision on the Su family's imperial business. Who knew that neither grandfather nor grandson would appear, so those who really cared about the imperial business focused their attention on Manager Liao and the others, who actually worked for the Su family's main branch.
As for Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang, they definitely couldn't interfere with matters related to the imperial business. However, if the Su family imperial merchant failed tonight, then the status of these two people would be completely different. Therefore, there were still many people who were speculating about this. In addition, they were considered tycoons in the Jiangning weaving industry in the past, so they would naturally receive a lot of attention at this time. Although Ning Yi was now in charge of the main branch of the Su family, he was only a symbol to symbolize that the position of the main branch of the Su family had not been taken over by Manager Liao and the others. However, it was naturally impossible for him to make any decisions.
Therefore, at this time, those who greeted and chatted with Manager Liao and the others were mostly people with real power from various families. They were either concerned about the imperial business or shopkeepers who worked for other cloth merchants, so they would come over to chat for a while. Sometimes, there would also be officials from the manufacturing bureau who had connections with them and would come over with a smile, hinting that there would be no problems tonight.
As for Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang, most of them were the big shots of the merchants who had similar status to them. For example, the heads of some medium-sized cloth merchants. Even the current head of the cloth merchants, the head of the Wu Family, Wu Chenghou, would first greet them and talk about matters related to the cloth industry.
As for Ning Yi, he had been exchanging greetings with all kinds of people. After everyone confirmed that Su Tan 'er would not be present, their attitude towards Ning Yi was very warm. Of course, the topics they talked about were different, and they did not have much to do with the cloth industry. No matter what, he was standing in the center of the stage tonight. Those whose family was weaker than the Su family would not be so reckless as to not give Ning Yi face. If the family situation was similar, some people would learn not to care about such things. The Xue family and the Su family were considered to have arrived earlier, so the two sides were relatively distinct. Xue Sheng only greeted Su Zhongkan briefly and ignored Ning Yi. On the other hand, Xue Yan came over and talked a lot with a smile. He mentioned that he had met Li Pin a few days ago and that Li Pin must invite him to the farewell banquet in the capital after the city gates were reopened.
Xue Yan and Li Pin could not be considered to be familiar. They only had some contact with each other when they were in Yan Cui House. But after Ning Yi began to manage the first branch, Xue Yan invited Ning Yi to dinner twice, and the atmosphere was quite good each time. As long as Xue Yan wanted to show his attitude, he could still do it. At this time, he also regarded Li Pin as an acquaintance. After a while, the Wu Family arrived. Wu Chenghou and his two sons came to talk to Ning Yi separately. Wu Qilong even made fun of Ning Yi for being late this morning. "I heard Shopkeeper Luo mention this today. It seems that although Liheng has always been indifferent, he is still a little nervous after all. Haha …"
As the head of the cloth industry, the Wu Family had always had a good relationship with the other families. When the relationship between the Xue Family and the Su Family was tense, the Wu Family would often act as a mediator to ease the tension. During this period of time, the two brothers, Wu Qilong and Wu Qihao, had met with Ning Yi many times. At least in terms of attitude, they could be said to be close friends. Ning Yi shook his head and smiled, feeling a little helpless. "Originally, I wanted to persist in doing these things until the last day. Who knew that I would wake up late this morning … Uh, you all know about this … Don't tell me it has spread again …"
"Haha." Wu Qilong lowered his voice and suppressed his laughter. "I'm afraid that everyone has already known about it …"
"Tsk …" Ning Yi stared blankly for a moment before rolling his eyes. Wu Qihao also burst into laughter at the side.
"Don't be afraid of others knowing about Brother Ning's matter. Nowadays, everyone in Jiangning knows that Brother Ning is muddle-headed over small matters, but he's not careless when it comes to big matters. Tonight, the imperial merchants … Ahem, to be honest, we're all opponents, so I won't congratulate you on anything, haha …" Wu Qilong laughed open-heartedly. "However, although Brother Ning is powerful, the Wu Family also has a trump card. At that time, whether we win or lose, you and I have to be convinced."
The two brothers were open-minded people, and the people around them also had a good impression of them. The three of them chatted for a while, and the two brothers turned around. Ning Yi smiled as he looked at their backs, and then turned around to deal with some other "acquaintances".
When the time was almost up, everyone took their seats one after another. The second floor of Green Ripple House was spacious. This time, the merchants who were qualified to attend had their own seats. The people from the Su family sat at a big round table, while the rest of the merchants were also assigned a round table to sit at. Some merchants didn't have many people, but they wouldn't arrange to share a table. This was because the ownership of the imperial merchants had to be decided at this banquet, so each family had to have their own seat.
The Su family, the Xue family, and the Wu Family sat at the three ends of the hall. At this time, the hall was slightly quiet, and some people were still arriving. The officials from the Weaving Bureau came over to greet them and give them some advice.
The imperial merchants' bidding list was actually not based on the usual fair bidding method. This was mainly because of the special characteristics of the imperial merchants in the past. The problem of the New Year's Cloth made everyone avoid it. If they opened a public bid and no one came, it would be a loss of face. After decades of changes, the imperial merchants' tasks were decided in the form of "offering". It was like if you had something good to offer to the imperial family, the imperial family would give you some special privileges. Of course, they wouldn't do it on the surface.
The real cloth sent to the palace would be more profitable. If the royal family wanted it, it didn't matter when it was offered. But at this time every year, the Weaving Bureau had to arrange and distribute the Lunar New Year's cloth. If a few merchants who were fixed to the imperial merchants complained too much, they would often allocate some. For example, the Su family, the Wu Family, and the Xue family would say, "Here's a batch of tasks, you have to help get a share." No one dared to disrespect them, or else they would definitely make things difficult for them in the future. Of course, the Weaving Bureau wouldn't go overboard, and they would always have a sense of propriety.
Therefore, the pattern of the Weaving Bureau in the past decades was mostly like this: Each household would take turns to show off whatever good cloth they had for others to evaluate. At the same time, they would also count their own achievements and present it to the royal family. Although the share of the Lunar New Year's cloth had already been decided in secret, it was still very beautiful on the surface. It was like an exchange of achievements and appreciation of good cloth. This year, it was still the same on the surface, but it was actually very different on the inside.
Actually, everyone was well aware of this fact.
The bystanders whispered and paid attention to the situation of the Su, Xue, and Wu families. Manager Liao and the rest were actually trying to find out the direction of the situation from the other people's mouths. When they were seated, he laughed softly to Ning Yi, "Looking at the atmosphere today, the imperial merchants should have no problems. After all, our efforts over the past month haven't been in vain. Most people think highly of our Su family …"
He paused and then sighed, "After all, it was Second Miss's foresight. She had already started a few years ago. Although I vaguely sensed it in the past, I didn't know the development of this matter. When First Master got into trouble, I really thought that the Su family was going to suffer a big setback … But after all, small tricks can't compare to real accumulation. With that cloth in hand, we can be considered to have real confidence. What happened over the past month can be considered as the so-called overt plot. "
Ning Yi pursed his lips slightly and looked around. "Is there really no problem?"
"It's not a big problem." Manager Liao also looked around, "Recently, the Lu family has a new type of cloth. It's good, but it's a pity that it's not very suitable for the royal family. It's called Smoked Tea Silk. I've already seen it. In the past, the Xue family used to have a signature Purple Huan Cloth, which has always been loved by the rich and has a relatively high price. But recently, there should be no new products. The Wu Family is the best in weaving and has strong strength. But the most outstanding thing about them is their weavers. With the Luo God Needle in their family, the cloth weavers are always better than others. But in front of the Golden Dawn Brocade of our Su family, weavers are better than others, but I'm afraid there's not much significance … "
When it came to the imperial merchants of the Su family, Manager Liao and others had done a lot of homework. At this time, he spoke with confidence and assurance, and then slightly frowned, "However, the real mastermind behind the assassination hasn't been found yet. If this person is really the mastermind of the Xue family, I'm afraid that they still have other people …"
Manager Liao took a look at the Xue family, then shook his head with a smile, and comforted Ning Yi, "The possibility is not high, and … the people have done their best. Now that things have developed to this point, let's just watch with peace of mind …"
Ning Yi nodded and said no more. Then he turned around and signaled Chan 'er to put a brocade box on the table in front of him. After a while, an official came to talk to Manager Liao. Manager Liao smiled and tilted his head to Ning Yi, "Lord Dong and others have arrived. This time, our Su mansion has the most momentum. Lord Dong wants this banquet to be good, so he arranged the Su family to be the finale."
"Is the finale very good?"
"In the past years, it's always the best cloth at the finale, and some of them are still supplied to the royal family …"
As he spoke, Manager Liao was actually a little nervous. He smiled and told this to Ning Yi, and then spread it to the surrounding shopkeepers.
"Finale …" Ning Yi murmured and sat there thinking for a while. Then he shook his head slightly and smiled, "Tonight's event has been decided …" Because his tone sounded like a question, Manager Liao beside him smiled, "It's not known yet, son-in-law. It's hard to say."
At the same time, in the hall, someone also glanced at this side, playing with a green jade thumb ring in his hand, and whispered, "Tonight's event … has been decided?" The voice was too low, like a low murmur, but also like a soft inquiry about the thumb ring in his hand. There was an indifferent and leisurely smile at the corner of his mouth.
There was still some time before the formal banquet, because it was always appropriate to eat, drink, and party after there were enough things to brag about. Almost no one expected that the event that really belonged to tonight had completely happened after almost an hour. The turn of events was so abrupt and exaggerated, and the reactions of both parties were so ostentatious and intense. The darkness hidden behind the scenes was so deep, and the various twists and turns of the inside story were mixed in. When they were revealed layer by layer, this event would become a deep scar in the Jiangning weaving industry and even the business world in the following months and years …
*****
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