After entering Zhending County, Old Liu followed the old village chief's instructions and asked a passerby for directions to Long Bao Zhai. Unexpectedly, Long Bao Zhai was quite famous. According to the directions given by the passerby, Old Liu soon found Zhao Sheng's jewelry shop.
Zhao Sheng's jewelry store was located on the most prosperous street in Zhending County. It was a two-story building with a rather large area. Each floor was about forty to fifty square meters. The words " Long Bao Zhai " were very eye-catching on the signboard.
After entering the shop, Old Liu realized that there were quite a lot of things in his shop. There were all kinds of bronze ware, which were the cauldrons, three-legged cups, lamp stands, hairpins, bronze mirrors, and so on that we could see in the museum now. However, they were all very new and did not look like what we were seeing now. They were all rusted.
There were many ceramic products in the shop. Although the quality was not very good, in Liu's eyes, they were all money. Because Liu liked collecting, there were many antiques at home, but few of them were real. Today, he saw that these things were all genuine. Any one of them could be sold for at least 1.8 million yuan. There were also some jade articles, which made Liu's eyes shine.
After looking around for a long time, Old Liu still couldn't find his stuff. There were three or four waiters in the shop and an accountant. Old Liu reached out and called a waiter over and asked,""Is Boss Zhao here?"
The waiter saw that although Old Liu was not dressed well, he did not look like an ordinary person, especially the long hammer he was holding. He looked quite scary and hurriedly replied,"The boss is upstairs."
"I'm a relative of your boss. I need to talk to your boss. Can you invite him out?”
The waiter replied and jogged upstairs.
Not long after, the waiter came down with a person and brought him to Old Liu." Sir, this is our Boss Zhao." He then said to Boss Zhao,""It's this gentleman. He said that he's your relative and is looking for you.”
Boss Zhao, who was Zhao Yun's elder brother, Zhao Sheng, hurriedly walked up to Old Liu and sized him up. He had already guessed Old Liu's identity, so he said,"Sir, you are Liu Bei, Liu Xuande from Zhuo County. When I returned home a few days ago, I heard grandfather mention you.”
Zhao Sheng looked to be less than 30 years old and looked somewhat similar to Zhao Yun. For Zhao Sheng to start such a large-scale business from scratch, it seemed that he was a business talent. Old Liu began to have ideas about Zhao Sheng again.
"This one is Liu Bei, Liu Xuande. Now, I've already acknowledged Zhao Yun's master, Old Tong, as my foster father. We're brothers. If Boss Zhao doesn't mind, I'll call you Big Brother Zhao.”
Hearing Old Liu's words, Zhao Sheng said a few more polite words before saying to Old Liu,""In that case, I won't stand on ceremony. I've been waiting for you. Let's go upstairs and talk.”
He followed Zhao Sheng to the second floor and the two of them knelt on the carpet. Old Liu was used to it now, but he still wanted to make a chair when he had the chance. Otherwise, it would be too much of a torture.
"Brother, I've already sold most of the treasures I took back from grandpa. We're a small place after all, and those things are too precious. Not many people can afford them.
The eldest daughter of the Zhen family came to my shop to buy things and bought ten of your necklaces and bracelets in one go. She even said that she had to inform her if there were new treasures.”
"Since you didn't come, I decided to make the decision for you. She paid me a total of fifty thousand gold taels for those items. In addition, Jizhou Prefecture's Herald Han Fu also bought a few necklaces and bracelets from me. Considering his status, I took 30,000 taels of gold from him. I also sold some small pendants and ornaments for a total of 6,000 taels of gold. Adding up the money, I sold a total of 86,000 taels of gold. These gold are now in my house.”
Old Liu's first reaction after hearing Zhao Sheng's words was that his brain had crashed." Brother, are you alright?" Zhao Sheng asked repeatedly.”Old Liu finally came back to his senses.
86,000 taels of gold. If placed in the modern world, it would weigh more than 5,300 catties, which was about 2.7 million grams. At 200 yuan per gram, it would be more than 500 million yuan. It seemed that there were quite a number of rich people in the Han Dynasty. Now, he had also turned from a pauper into a billionaire.
After the excitement, Old Liu quickly said," Thank you, Brother Zhao. I want to leave this money with you first. I'll take it from you when I need it. Also, I see that Brother Zhao's business is not small. I wonder if he has a branch elsewhere?”
"Brother, my jewelry store is not small in our Zhen Ding, but in Ye City and Ji County, it won't be able to be ranked at all, let alone in Luoyang and Chang 'an. Moreover, I've always been running a small business. Even if I have the heart, I don't have that much money.”
"Big Brother Zhao, we're a family now. I've been doing business overseas these few years. You've already helped me sell some of the things I brought back, but I still have a lot of them. Now that we have the capital, I want to open a few businesses, but I don't have any friends or acquaintances in this field. Now that Big Brother Zhao is here, I want to hand over these businesses to Big Brother Zhao.”
"Since Xuande has said so, I can certainly help you. But I wonder what kind of business Xuande wants to do?”
"First, continue the jewelry business. Open a jewelry store in each of the major cities in the Han Dynasty. Second, while opening the jewelry store, we should also open a hotel or inn in the corresponding city. What do you think, Brother Zhao? Do I have enough money now? Can you find all the manpower for me?"
According to Old Liu's imagination, there were 13 provinces in Han Dynasty at that time. Therefore, he just needed to set up his own jewelry stores and hotels in the administrative offices of these provinces. Old Liu's purpose was very clear. Firstly, he needed to build his intelligence system well. After having his own industries in the administrative offices of the 13 provinces of Han Dynasty, he would plant some trained spies in them. In fact, he would have his own eyes in the local areas.? This way, he could get hold of the information there as soon as possible. Moreover, he could also use his understanding of the situation to recruit those useful talents into his camp.
After hearing Old Liu's grand plan, Zhao Sheng was speechless for a long time, although…
The business that he had been doing in the past few years had developed greatly compared to the past. However, it was still okay to run a small shop like this. If he had to manage so many branches, he felt that his ability would definitely not be enough. However, since Liu Bei wanted to do this, he still had to help him. After careful consideration, Zhao Sheng had an idea.
"Xuande, if you want to open a jewelry store of my size, buy the storefront, stock the goods, hire the workers, etc., you only need 600 taels of gold. It's about the same for a hotel. However, if you want to open a store in the whole country, it's not that I don't want to help you, but my ability is limited. Although I can't help you, I know someone who can help you.”
When Old Liu heard that Zhao Sheng couldn't help him, he was a little depressed. However, when he heard Zhao Sheng change the topic and say that he could still help him, Old Liu quickly said,"Brother Zhao, tell me how you're going to help me!”
"Does Xuande know about the Zhen Family of Wuji?"
"Of course I know. Brother Zhao, do you mean to cooperate with the Zhen family?”
Indeed, in the entire Youji and Youji Prefectures, only the Zhen Family of Wuji had this ability.
Then, Zhao Sheng introduced the Zhen family to Old Liu in detail.
The Zhen family of Wuji was one of the four great business families in the world. They were located in Wuji County of Zhongshan, which was very close to this place. It was said that the Zhen family's business network was almost everywhere. The business they did included jewelry, hotels, and inns, from firewood, rice, oil, and salt to horses, cattle, livestock, silk, cotton cloth, iron ore, and weapons.
Speaking of the Zhen family, they were also a local famous family. Their ancestors used to be high officials in the imperial court. However, the current generation of Zhen family's head, Zhen Yi, was not cut out to be an official although he had also been an official and served as the county magistrate of Shangcai. After working for a few years, he was dismissed due to his fault. After returning home, Zhen Yi began to do business. Unexpectedly, Zhen Yi was not an official, but a genius in business. After decades of hard work, the Zhen family had now become the largest business in Hebei, comparable to the Mi family in Xuzhou, the Chen Liuwei family, The Qiao family of River East was known as one of the four richest merchants in the world.
Zhao Sheng had been in the jewelry business for the past few years, and many of his goods had been imported from the Zhen family. Therefore, he had a good relationship with the Zhen family. A few days ago, almost half of the necklaces and bracelets that Zhao Sheng had sold had been bought by the eldest daughter of the Zhen family, Zhen Jiang. Moreover, the eldest daughter of the Zhen family had reminded Zhao Sheng to inform her if there were any new goods. She still wanted to buy them.
Now that Zhao Sheng saw that Old Liu's backpack was full, he guessed that there must be something new in it, so he said,"I can take Liu Bei to the Zhen family and see if they can help me or cooperate with them. In this way, Liu Bei's idea can be realized.”
Since he already knew that such a good partner was right in front of him, Old Liu naturally wouldn't let it go. Moreover, he also knew that with the Zhen family's strength, they would definitely be able to help him. However, what should he do to build a relationship with the Zhen family and make them agree to cooperate with him?
According to his understanding of the Zhen family in history, the current head of the Zhen family, Zhen Yi, would die of illness in five years, which was 185 AD, the year after the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Zhen Yi had three sons and five daughters, a total of eight children. However, his eldest son, Zhen Yu, died of illness when he was five years old, and his youngest daughter, Zhen Mi, was not born yet, probably in 182 AD...
Born.
The reason why Old Liu remembered Zhen Mi so clearly was because she was the Empress Zhen who was praised by Cao Cao's talented son, Cao Zhi. She was originally married to Yuan Shao's second son, Yuan Xi. However, after the battle of Guandu, she was snatched away by Cao Cao's other son, Cao Pi, and became his concubine, who became Empress Zhen.
Zhen Yi should have two sons now, Zhen Yan and Zhen Yao. His four daughters were Zhen Jiang, Zhen Tuo, Zhen Dao, and Zhen Rong.
The Zhen Jiang that Zhao Sheng mentioned was Zhen Yi's eldest daughter. Thinking of this, Old Liu had an idea. It seemed that the key to whether he could cooperate with the Zhen family depended on Zhen Jiang.
He then asked Zhao Sheng about the Zhen family's children. As he knew, Zhen Xiong was the eldest son of the family, in his early twenties. He was in charge of many of the Zhen family's businesses. It seemed that Zhen Yi wanted to train him so that he could take over his position in the future.
Zhen Jiang was ranked second among Zhen Yi's children. He was 17 or 18 years old. However, he heard that he was also involved in the Zhen family's business. The three girls were all in their teens. Zhen Yao was the youngest, only seven or eight years old.
At that time, girls could get married after they were fifteen years old. However, Zhen Jiang had not gotten married yet. The main reason was that he had not found a suitable family. Although the Zhen family was rich, businessmen were not valued at that time. Therefore, Zhen Yi wanted to find a son of an official for his daughter. However, those officials were all concerned about matching social status. Even if Zhen Jiang had a large dowry, no official family was willing to marry him. Rich families were willing to marry him, but the Zhen family was unwilling to marry him. So, it went on and on. It was delayed.
After understanding the situation, Old Liu felt that he had a greater chance of success. Firstly, he was a member of the Han royal family. Although he had not been recognized by the royal family, as long as he fought for it, it would not be a problem. Secondly, he now had tens of thousands of taels of gold and could be considered a rich man. Thirdly, he knew how to manage. Although he did not do any big business, he knew that the business philosophy he knew could probably be used to fool the Han people.
With these points, he would definitely be recognized by the Zhen family. Coupled with his handsome appearance and his stomach full of poems and songs (of course, they belonged to others, but at this time, no one knew what copyright was. Old Liu could use it to strengthen his image), he might be able to get Zhen Jiang's favor and become the son-in-law of the Zhen family.
Seeing Old Liu in a daze, Zhao Sheng said,""Xuande, we only cared about talking. Look, it's already noon. Brother hasn't eaten yet, right? You've been in the mountains for a few months, and there's nothing good to eat. I'll bring you out now. Let's find a hotel and have a good meal.”
"Sure, I haven't eaten the food in the hotel yet.”
Zhao Sheng found it unbelievable. Didn't he do business before? Why hadn't he been to either hotel? He didn't know that Old Liu was referring to the fact that he had never eaten at a hotel in Han Dynasty.
Zhao Sheng's jewelry store was on the busiest street in Zhending County. The best hotel in Zhending City was not far from Zhao Sheng's jewelry store. It was time for dinner, so the hotel was bustling with traffic.
The restaurant was huge, a two-story building…
On the plaque in the middle of the building, the words "Drunken Immortal Restaurant" were strong and powerful. It was obvious that it was written by a famous person.
Xuande, look, this Drunken Immortal Restaurant is the Zhen family's property. However, the shopkeepers and waiters inside are all real people. There are no people from the Zhen family here.
Seeing the two of them enter the restaurant, the waiter hurriedly came forward to welcome them." Aiyo, isn't this Boss Zhao from Rong Bao Zhai? Why do you have the time to come to our Drunken Immortal Restaurant for a meal today? It seems that an honored guest has come to visit."”
Hearing the waiter's words, Old Liu knew that although Zhao Sheng had made some money from his business, he rarely came to a restaurant of this level like the Drunken Immortal Restaurant. It was because he had come today that Zhao Sheng brought him here to satisfy his craving. Thinking about how he had helped him earn so much money, he must treat him to a good meal today.
Thinking of this, Old Liu hurriedly said to the waiter,"Waiter, find us a quiet place first. Then, bring us the best dishes in your restaurant and two pots of your best wine.”
The waiter saw that Zhao Sheng was stingy, but this man was very generous today. He hurriedly led the two to the second floor. Although it was not like the restaurants now, where the single rooms were sealed, there were many small spaces separated by wooden boards. Compared to the noise in the hall, this place was indeed much quieter.
He led the two of them into a separate hut (let's call it that for now) and the waiter said,"Please take a seat. I'll make some tea for you first. I'll also go to the kitchen and prepare a few of our specialty dishes for you.”
Zhao Sheng wanted to say something, but Old Liu quickly said to Zhao Sheng,"Brother Zhao, you're welcome. You've helped me earn so much money. Today, it's my treat. Let's discuss what we should do next.”
"Alright, I see that Xuande has already come up with an idea. Can you tell me about it?”
Thinking that Zhao Sheng was no longer an outsider, Old Liu told Zhao Sheng about his background.
Victory.
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