Although everyone in the hall was eating and drinking, the atmosphere was strange and abnormal. The voices of the people speaking were getting lower and lower, just like the students of later generations when the teacher asked someone to answer a question, each one lowered his head and whispered to the person next to him.

Argument.

Duan Lang, the county magistrate, was helpless when he saw this situation. He found two acquaintances to toast to Uncle Rong. Those who were called by name hid their enthusiasm when they saw the expressions of others next to them, and toasted to Uncle Rong in embarrassment.

Jia Rong drank slowly and then heard one of the old men say with a bitter face: "Please make it clear the purpose of everyone gathering here today. Everyone is not feeling at ease drinking this wine right now."

He remembered that Duan Lang had previously introduced this old man as the patriarch of the Chen family in Xuyi.

The Chen family is amazing. Among the major families in Xuyi County, although it is not the most prosperous, the Chen family has the largest industry and is a famous silk and satin merchant in Jiangnan Province. The Chen family’s silk is not only supplied to Jinling, Suzhou, and Hangzhou

The Great Weaving Bureau, along with the Huaihe River and Canal, is widely sold throughout the country, and even exported to Ryukyu, Dabazhou, Annan, Li Dynasty and other countries.

Brother Rong replied softly: "Since the old gentleman said so, we won't play charades with you anymore."

After hearing Jia Rong's voice, the people at the table immediately became quiet. Seeing that the main table was quiet, those at the next tables also looked sideways. Uncle Rong said, "I invite everyone here today to discuss Xuyi's future."

The path to development.”

Everyone at the table heard this and had different expressions.

Some people laughed secretly. This imperial envoy is too young. After all, he is still building a dam and gates for the Huaihe River. It is absolutely impossible to ask several big families to pay for it.

Someone was whispering to each other.

He whispered: "I guess it's the trick of setting up merit monuments and coaxing people to donate money. Which one of us doesn't know better than this little imperial envoy? These people from the imperial court only have a few tricks to come and go."

"Isn't that right? There are several stone monuments erected in our town, what's the use? When there was a disaster in which year, we big families donated a lot of money?"

"How can it be justified that these officials don't take any money themselves and always expect us humble businessmen to provide money? In the past, the Jia family in Jinling was a very wealthy family. It is said that they made millions of taels of silver when they were building ships in Jinling. They took out from it

One hundred thousand taels is nothing."

"Have you heard about the recent events in Yangzhou? The Lin family, relatives of the Jia family, have been salt patrol censors in Yangzhou for several years. Considering that Yangzhou pays 2.5 million taels of salt every year, the salt patrol censor can take less than a year.

They can earn hundreds of thousands of taels. They are officials who don't know the hardships of the people. They don't pay for it themselves, and they always take care of the family wealth of us ordinary people."

The head of Xuyi Li clan chuckled and said: "That's right, that's right. There is a man in our clan who is on duty at the Water Transport Department. He earns tens of thousands of taels of silver a year. Can these imperial envoys be worse than this? Anyway, our king

The clan has no money, everyone is very poor, and the entire clan can only scrape together a thousand taels of silver."

The clan leader of the Wang family in Xuyi felt envious after hearing this. He said: "Our descendants of the Li family are not up to par. Although there are many people working in the Hedao Yamen, they have not bought much family property for the clan. Now they are here to persuade me to give money to the county."

Donating money to the government is really a waste of money."

Xiao Queer whispered the voices of these important figures behind Jia Rong.

The more he listened, the colder the smile on his face became. There were many wealthy people in the south of the Yangtze River, and Xuyi was located between Huai'an, Yangzhou, and Fengyang, and was a land and water transportation fortress.

Jia Rong said: "To date, the magistrate of Xuyi County has received a total of 3,200 taels of silver from the clan chiefs, clan chiefs, and squires. I will calculate the amount and build a monument on the bank of the Huaihe River after a few days to let the descendants of Xuyi know each other."

The gentry has the heart to serve the people."

As soon as Brother Rong said this, the discussion became even louder. There was more ridicule, and some people even said disdainfully: "It's nothing more than that."

Duan Lang's face was dark, and he wanted to reprimand but was afraid of offending these gentlemen. Duan Yu watched the fun with a smile.

A guard next to him asked: "Brother Yu, aren't you worried about Brother Rong making a fool of yourself?"

Duan Yu said with a smile: "Look at how confident he is, it's strange that he can make a fool of himself. Businessmen are very profit-oriented. If Brother Rong is not prepared to take advantage of him, how can he call these people here?"

Jia Rong ignored the comments of the crowd below and asked the old man next to him: "How is this matter with Chen Laojue?"

Patriarch Chen chuckled twice, with deep meaning hidden in the corner of his eyes. He looked at everyone and shook his head secretly. "Since your Excellency has made a decision, how can we have any objections."

Jia Rong nodded and smiled: "You're welcome, Mr. Chen. Xuyi has always been an important land and water transportation place. Managing the Huaihe River not only benefits the court, but also benefits the people of Xuyi. In the past, Xuyi was often affected by floods. With the money from the court and various ethnic groups, the people of Xuyi benefit

The days are still to come.”

Mr. Chen heard this strangely and asked doubtfully: "Sir, you already have the one hundred thousand taels of silver for water control?"

Uncle Rong chuckled lightly: "The clans in Xuyi are also suffering. How can I have the nerve to ask you to contribute money again. So I thought of a way to have wealthy businessmen from Huai'an, Yangzhou and other places contribute money."

"Would they like it?"

"If you are willing, how can you not be willing?" Uncle Rong laughed loudly, allowing everyone in the hall to hear clearly. He then said: "How can they not agree to something that can make more money? Maybe it will be far more than Xuyi.

The county needs one hundred thousand taels of silver."

"It's true." Everyone's faces showed disbelief.

There were also people hiding in the corner who snickered and taunted, "This imperial envoy has no choice but to comfort himself here."

Some people also laughed when they heard it.

"Actually, it's not that we don't want to take any more money. What if the Imperial Envoy just talks to us and we donate some more money? After all, the Imperial Envoy is a bit young and not steady in his work."

"Yes, yes, yes, although each of our families is poor, we can still afford one or two hundred taels of silver."

"..."

Duan Yu sneered and asked the guard next to him to sit quietly. He said calmly: "A country man, a businessman and a bitch, only have such a limited horizon. What are you doing to get angry with these people? Wait for what Brother Rong will do next.

stop."

The atmosphere among the heads of major clans and squires in Xuyi became more and more lively, and laughter filled the entire hall.

Jia Rong also smiled and asked everyone to drink more, and walked around with wine glasses from time to time. Only in this way could the guests enjoy themselves and it was very lively.

A few squires even suggested taking advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival to have a drinking party.

Brother Rong glanced at Duan Lang, asked his servants to serve more delicious food and wine, and called the prepared singers and dancers up to dance under the moonlight in the courtyard.

"good!"

Jia Rong drank wine and stared at the graceful figures of the dancers with her eyes. She might as well scream a few times.

The head of the Li clan frowned and said, "Something's wrong."

The head of the Wang family nodded. "It's so wrong."

Others also saw the problem. Now after three rounds of drinking, the imperial envoy actually kept silent about the money.

"Is it possible that he can really get one hundred thousand taels from Huai'an and Yangzhou?"

"Who will pay for it?"

"What were his exact words?"

The head of the Zhang family didn't know when he walked up to a few people and said doubtfully: "It says he can make more money."

After hearing the words of the head of the Zhang family, everyone fell silent immediately, looking at each other with thoughts in their minds constantly changing.

Can you really make more money?

Jia Rong had a panoramic view of the expressions of everyone in the hall. Listening to Xiao Queer retelling the conversation of these guys, the smile on his face became even brighter. He laughed loudly and said: "This wine is specially bought from Shaoxing, and so are these beauties.

The most famous girls from the Twelve Bands in Yangzhou. It cost a lot of money to invite them from Yangzhou, so everyone must have a great time."

Jia Rong looked like he was not short of money, which confused everyone even more. Although they also knew that the money for drinks tonight was not related to the money raised, Jia Rong's unworried look still made them feel nervous.

Especially that sentence can make more money.

How to make money?

Xuyi is close to Huaiyang and close to Jinling, so many people in the county are doing business outside. The silks of the Chen family, the tea of ​​the Wang family, and the lacquerware of the Zhang family are quite famous not only in Jiangnan, but even in Dayan.

Now I am thinking about that sentence about how to make more money, and I feel uncomfortable no matter how I think about it. I occasionally look at Jia Rong who is staring at the dancing girl shining, and I feel even worse.

The head of the Li family said bewilderedly: "Among the big families in Xuyi, the richest is none other than the Chen family. Our Li family only relies on rent collection and does not do business. You Zhang family and Wang family can go to the Imperial Envoy with the Chen family to ask questions."

Ask, what is the way to make more money?"

After hearing this, several people glanced at the head of the Li family. Although the Li family is not engaged in business, it is one of the richest families in Xuyi. In addition to those who are officials in the Water Transport Ministry, the Li family also has one or two officials in Shenjing. Who is it?

How dare you underestimate the Xuyi Li family.

The Wang family's tea business is not small. The head of the Wang family sighed, and the head of the Zhang family took him back to the main table.

When Jia Rong saw them coming, he deliberately walked away and went to the front of a group of female concubines who were playing and singing. He watched, listened and felt the music at close range. It was indeed a different feeling.

Brother Rong thought about it and couldn't figure out what those guys in Shenjing were thinking. Raising a group of singers and dancers like this is not as good as raising a group of actors? It would be better if the dancers wore less clothes, like

Like the dancers of the Li Dynasty in her previous life, her pants were so short that they reached her thighs.

Jia Rong looked at it with great interest, while the little bird behind her was extremely dissatisfied with her little face. She was full of resentment: The front of these dancers is not big, huh...

"pretty!"

Jia Rong didn't look like a child from a big family at all, which made everyone in the hall look at him with suspicion.

At this time, the old patriarch of the Chen family came over and said softly: "The management of the Huaihe River is related to the safety of the people of Xuyi. Sir, don't ask us to do it. If you really don't want the money, the people of Xuyi will be happy in vain."

When Jia Rong heard this, she rolled her eyes secretly. Do you know that it is related to the safety of the people of Xuyi? You are not willing to pay for it.

He said: "Mr. Chen is right to be worried, but please rest assured, sir. If the money is not returned, it will be a loss for the merchants in Huaiyang and Yangzhou. They have wasted such a good opportunity."

Mr. Chen asked in confusion: "What a good opportunity?"

Jia Rong chatted with the Chen family chief. Behind him, the squires who were the heads of the Wang family, Li family, Zhang family and other families also gathered around curiously. They were really curious about things that could make more money.

Uncle Rong pretended to be mysterious and said: "This matter has not been announced to the outside world, so it should be kept secret."

"..."
To be continued...