After explaining the contract to the merchants working with the Qianshi Chamber of Commerce, Li Yu really forced them to pay up and increase the fine by three times.
The merchants did not dare to resist. They were scared out of their wits. They were not afraid of Li Yu, but of Zhang Xiaobao. The rumors were true, and Zhang Xiaobao lived up to his reputation. A few days ago, they had been saying that the undefeated Zhang Xiaobao had lost. Now, they knew what it meant to have no empty seats.
"Lord Li, no, Marquis, you are familiar with the young master of the Zhang family. I accept the punishment. Not just three times, even five times is fine. I spoke ill of him a few days ago, so please speak up for me. Don't let him send people to open a pancake shop."
Wang Sunfeng, who owned a Shun Feng Pastry Restaurant at home, walked up to Li Yu from behind the crowd of businessmen. His face was full of regret as he pleaded with Li Yu. He was even willing to pay more, just to prevent Zhang Xiaobao from taking revenge.
Li Yu was amused. Wang Sunfeng was not afraid of a Marquis, but he was afraid of Zhang Xiaobao coming to take care of the shop. He waved his hand impatiently. "I said three times, then three times. If you do it again, five times, and you will be locked up."
"Then the young master of the Zhang family …?" Wang Sunfeng asked without a trace of joy.
"He doesn't have the time to care about you. He is someone who does great things. You are not even a chicken that is going to kill a chicken to scare the monkey. "
"Yes, yes, I am just an ant. He doesn't have time to kill me. That's good, that's good." Wang Sunfeng was relieved.
Many of the other merchants thought the same. They were afraid that Zhang Xiaobao would come personally. If he wanted to deal with them, he would not have to resort to underhanded means. He could just throw money at them.
Chairman Tian of the Qianshi Chamber of Commerce and the others were not sure when the county would catch the merchants. A notice was posted outside the yamen. It contained a portion of the contract, as well as the amount of taxes and fines that the merchants had to pay. All of it would be recorded, especially the fines, which were not taxes that had to be paid. They could be kept and used for the development of Changning County.
The continuous decrease in revenue for the past few days had already made the people worried. Now that they suddenly saw the contents of the contract and the revenue, the people who were worried about their hometown quickly smiled and spread the news.
When President Tian and the others heard the news, they took out the contract and read it carefully. It was written very clearly in the contract. Only those who cooperated with Li Yu could enjoy the tax exemption. Especially the last sentence, which made the six of them learn a new trick, but the price was not small, because they had to compensate the merchants who cooperated with them.
"One move behind, one move behind. Zhang Xiaobao, I will remember this." President Tian sighed and looked at the hazy sky outside.
The other five people were also worried. They had witnessed the legendary prowess of Zhang Xiaobao, but they had yet to discover the backup plan of Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. Were they setting up a trap, or were they not planning to take revenge? Just like the sky, it was gloomy and gloomy. It was hard to bear.
Li Yu, who had received a large sum of money from the yamen, was very happy to treat the punished merchants to a meal.
The food was not bad. The whole mutton soup was still being cleaned up. The mutton was brought up first, and there was a large pot next to it. There were mutton bones and mutton fat inside, and it was boiling. Chopped green onions, coriander, salted garlic, and pepper were all prepared. When the soup was ready, they could drink it.
Li Yu picked up a piece of mutton face and said to the merchants in the yard, "Everyone has made a lot of contributions to this county. I will thank you on behalf of the county people. Eat."
The merchants were not in the mood to eat, but they did not dare to not eat. They picked up their chopsticks and casually put some meat into their mouths and ate with Li Yu.
After eating for a while, the mutton soup was ready. Li Yu asked someone to serve him a bowl full of soup. He took two sips and felt comfortable all over. Then, he said to the merchants, "In this prosperous dynasty, the goods are prosperous and the people are peaceful. We should join forces. However, although there are only a few fools, the time is not right for everyone. Perhaps the path is unclear. Therefore, we want to gather, move together, fight together, so..."
"Lord Li, can you say something else?" More than half of the merchants did not understand what Li Yu was talking about. Someone asked in a low voice.
"Oh, actually, what I'm saying is that everyone is living a good life now. The people of Tang are in a good time. In our county, everyone should be motivated to work together. However, although there are few fools, there are many who are not. They can't find a better way. So, I think we should join forces and advance and retreat together.
Just like Lu Zhou, all the people there worked together with the merchants. The merchants had formed their own merchant associations. When they had good things to sell, they would not go to others alone to negotiate the price. Otherwise, they would be sowed and attacked one by one. It was the same when it came to buying things.
The common folk in the county can't compare to Lu Zhou, but shouldn't you merchants work together with me? When you trade, you can talk to other merchants together. That way, you'll suffer less losses and gain more benefits. "
Li Yu did not want to show off how talented he was. When he saw that many people did not understand, he immediately changed his way of speaking. He looked at the merchants, asking them if they wanted to join him.
The merchants now knew that Li Yu, the Marquis, was going to learn from the Zhang Family and the Wang Family. They hesitated. The Zhang Family and the Wang Family could succeed because they had powerful people. Could they do the same?
Li Yu seemed to have guessed the thoughts of the merchants. He continued, "Let's try it out first. If we find it difficult, I'll ask Zhang Xiaobao. What do you think?"
"We'll listen to your orders, my lord." Wang Sunfeng expressed his stance. Li Yu's last sentence had worked.
The other merchants also agreed. As long as Li Yu could talk to Zhang Xiaobao, there would be no problem.
*****
"Let's paddle ~ the two ~ oars ~ and push ~ the ~ waves ~ away …"
On the Yellow River, or more accurately, on the Wei River, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's fleet slowly moved forward. Little Bei, Little Yuan, Big Man, Little Man, and a group of little fellows sat on the south side of the ship. Their voices drifted in and out as they sang.
The human-powered propeller continued to spin in the countercurrent. There was no need for a tracker. Moreover, there were two large wheels beside the propeller. At full speed, it was very fast.
Because the ship had many levels and was too high, the little fellows couldn't see the ship below them. They could only look at the south side. The south side was relatively more prosperous. There were fishing boats and passenger boats waiting to be ferried. In the shallow waters of the river, there were naked children swimming.
Little Bei and the others sang until they stopped. They stared blankly at the shore. The ship rocked gently in the water, but it didn't make them seasick. The guards didn't disturb them either. They only set up a net below the ship to prevent anyone from falling in. Although Little Bei and the others could swim, it depended on what kind of water they were in.
While they were looking at the people on the shore, the people on the shore were also looking at them. Because the ship was moving along the north side of the river, it was far away and there were no binoculars. They could only see a group of children sitting on the side of the ship.
Only the merchants who often came and did business knew who the people on this ship were. The two rice seedlings holding hands clearly told the people who were familiar with them that this was the young master and young lady of the Zhang and Wang Families who were on the move.
"Could it be that someone has offended the Great Tang and is about to go to war?" After seeing the flags, one of the servants of a merchant from Jiannan Circuit nervously asked the person next to him.
The person next to him also couldn't guess. He said, "Who else would they fight? Could it be that there's a powerful enemy? Otherwise, why would Xiao Bao and Cuckoo move out at the same time? That can't be. The Turks have been well-behaved for a long time. Why would the two of them be sent out? "
"What are you two talking about? Didn't you see that Little Bei and the others are on the ship? You want to take them out to war? I think they're just sightseeing. It would be great if they could go sightseeing in Jiannan Circuit. Maybe I can sell some things to them. "
The master of the two servants also stopped to watch. When he heard the words of the two servants, he followed suit.
The people on the ship didn't know what the others were talking about. They were still busy with their own business.
Zhang Xiaobao was cooking, and Wang Juan was helping him.
Little Bei had eaten too many bones in the past few days, so he suggested that he wanted to eat vegetables. Therefore, Zhang Xiaobao decided to cook vegetables today. He also cooked an eggplant and cucumber scrambled eggs. Wang Juan was in charge of the main dish. She used dandelion seeds to make pies and put some dried shrimps and oil in them.
The pies were wrapped in thin layers. She only put a little oil in the first pan, and the rest were all dried. The pies were only five centimeters in diameter, making them very convenient to eat. After placing the pies on the pans, Wang Juan looked at the fire and asked Zhang Xiaobao, "Are we really responsible for all the expenses?"
Zhang Xiaobao, who was peeling the cucumber, slowed down his movements and said, "Of course. If I don't take advantage of this opportunity to make money, I won't be able to sleep at night."
After peeling the cucumber, Zhang Xiaobao only chose the most tender part in the middle and cut it for later use. He also took the eggplant. He didn't want the skin or the innermost part. He only chose the middle part without oil and blanched it with water.
After Wang Juan saw it, she said, "You spoiled it. If you eat bean sprouts, do you have to cut off the head and the tail? Have you thought of a story? "
"We didn't throw it away. The rest is just enough to make a mess of stew. The cucumber will be mixed with cold dishes. I've thought of a story. Once upon a time, there was a family …" Zhang Xiaobao said as he cooked.
Stories were prepared for meals. Children were partial to food and had eaten too much meat recently. Xiaoyuan didn't like to eat vegetables. In order to let the younger siblings take the initiative to eat, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had to think of a story every time they cooked. It revolved around the dishes they cooked. The central idea of the story was how delicious the dish was, how difficult it was for others to eat it, and what would happen after eating it.
They didn't directly tell the children what was the use of eating it, such as how it didn't have any effect on nutrition.
In this way, when the children ate, they would think about the plot of the story. If the food was not too bad, the children would take the initiative to eat it. Most of the time, when a person liked to eat a dish, it wasn't that the dish was delicious, but it was a habit in the mind.
Wang Juan flipped the pancake, took the dough, and continued to wrap it. She said, "Do you think Li Longji will agree with your idea?"
"I think that's what he wants us to do. I'll arrange for someone to go over and arrange it in advance," Zhang Xiaobao replied.
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