Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 51 The choice of ministers

Zhao Guangmei's hint was so obvious. Pan Mei and Yang Ye naturally hit it off and kowtowed to each other. Pan Mei was 35 and Yang Ye was 28. Therefore, Pan Mei became the eldest brother and Yang Ye became the second brother.

Since the Five Dynasties, sworn worship has become a common practice among soldiers. After all, dynasty changes are normal, and generals also need to stick together to protect themselves. Zhao Kuangyin himself is a sworn maniac. The most famous one is the ten brothers of the Yishe. And besides these nine, how many more are there? But even Zhao Guangmei couldn't figure it out. There were so many of them anyway, with the Forbidden Army all over them.

Therefore, although it was only the first time for the two of them to meet, they did not reject the idea of ​​sworn sworn friendship. After all, they were both hanging out with Zhao Guangmei. Kowtow your head to the ground, stand up, you call me big brother, and I call you brother. He said "Second Brother" and immediately felt that this person was friendly and pleasing to the eye.

"Your Highness, what are we doing now?"

"Now, we have to raise funds first."

"Fundraising?"

"Just making money."

"The reason for making money is..."

"Build a pergola. That stingy Zhao Pu only gave me 10 guan. How can I build a awning with [-] guan? That's a pergola for [-] people. If he doesn't give me the money, then naturally I can only I went to find the money myself."

Yang Ye and Pan Mei looked confused.

Isn't it enough to build a pergola with four thousand strings?

This is you. If it were someone else, Zhao Pu would be fine if he could give you two thousand guan.

Sure enough, you are not building a pergola at all.

With these two people following him, Zhao Guangmei simply didn't bring any guards with him, and the three of them wandered onto the street. Zhao Guangmei also bought some breakfast along the way. The two of them didn't know what he was going to do, and they didn't dare to ask. , just followed silently.

When they arrived at Ma Fang Street, Zhao Guangmei saw a signboard for "Sun Ji Silk and Satin Shop", and Zhao Guangmei walked straight in.

"Sir, do you want to buy silk?"

"Is Shopkeeper Sun here? Please let me know and ask him to come see me. My name is Zhao Guangmei."

"Qin... King Qin?"

The little worker was startled, and then he quickly passed the message. After a while, a fat man wearing a silk scarf trotted down the stairs. When he saw it, he uttered an ouch and gave a hurried gift. And worship.

"I didn't know that His Highness was coming, so I missed you from afar. I apologize, I apologize."

He had actually met Zhao Guangmei. He was the one who took the lead when they forced Han Tong to surrender a few months ago.

While talking, the workers in the store were also discerning and quickly asked other customers in the store to leave, and a sign indicating that they were temporarily closed was hung on the door.

"What is the name of Shopkeeper Sun?"

"My dear, Sun Liancheng."

"Okay, good name." As he spoke, Zhao Guangmei took out a piece of paper from his arms, asked the shop worker to sharpen the ink for him, then picked up a pen and wrote Sun Liancheng's name on the paper, and said with a smile: "I am now opening a government office to take an official position. I think you are a talented person, Shopkeeper Sun, and I intend to recruit you to be my secretary. This is a document. It is up to you whether you can do it or not."

Sun Liancheng's eyes popped out: "Me? Secretary Zhang? Ah this...this...I am a silk seller!"

Pan Mei and Yang Ye who were following him couldn't help but turn pale in shock. They looked at each other in shock, feeling unreal for a moment.

The secretary in charge.

He is not a high official, but he is not an absolute confidant. Let's put it this way. Zhao Pu used to be Zhao Kuangyin's secretary-general.

The two of them really couldn't figure out why they wanted to be Zhao Guangmei's minister, but Zhao Guangmei didn't want it, but they actually gave this precious opportunity that many people could not grab, to an unknown shopkeeper.

Aren’t you going to fight for savings? !

"What? Shopkeeper Sun thinks that the junior official I gave you is not good enough? Are you not willing to do it?"

Sun Liancheng calmed down and said repeatedly: "Ah no, I don't dare, I don't dare. Your Highness can fall in love with a villain. It's an honor that even the ancestral graves of villains are smoking. It's just that villains can't do it." As a merchant, I really don’t know, Your Highness, what do you see in this villain? How can a villain help His Highness?"

Zhao Guangmei smiled and said: "First of all, I naturally took a fancy to your ability. I heard people say that you were a clerk in this silk and satin shop. Because you were good at what you did, you were recruited as a son-in-law by the old shopkeeper. Later, you slowly gained control. With the power of this silk and satin shop, in ten years, a grassroots man with no background actually developed this silk and satin shop into the largest silk and satin shop in Kaifeng. Moreover, no one in Kaifeng knew that you could get a lot of goods from this silk and satin shop. Shu brocade and Tang brocade show that you also have connections in the Southern Tang and Later Shu. Isn't this your ability? In the past few decades, the world has been in chaos, but you have been able to guard this silk shop through several dynasties. This ability , is it really worse than those ministers in the DPRK?"

"Secondly, what I want to do is different from ordinary people. Alas, my eldest brother is partial. He gave the official positions of Kaifeng Prefecture and Yuhou in front of the palace to my second brother, and he didn't give me any real power. , If I want to do things, I can only rely on my own strength, so I need money and want to make money. Is there anyone in Kaifeng City who is better at making money than you, Shopkeeper Sun?"

"Ah... I dare to ask Your Highness, specifically, what do you want the villain to do?"

Zhao Guangmei smiled and said: "Tell me the truth, how much cloth can you get on hand now, and how much money can you get?"

"In terms of silk, I can get about 30 pieces. If you give me some time, [-] pieces should be about the same. In terms of money, maybe [-] to [-] yuan, but most of them...most of them are southern coins."

Zhao Guangmei smiled when he heard this and said, "If I asked you to lend me all your silk and money, would you be willing to do so?"

"Ah this..."

Sun Liancheng hesitated slightly when he heard the words, but then he gritted his teeth and nodded: "As long as His Highness needs it, how can we negotiate for a loan? I am willing to donate all my family wealth, as long as it can help His Highness' great cause, this is also My whole family is lucky.”

Zhao Guangmei couldn't help laughing when she heard this. She pointed at him and turned around and said to Pan Mei and Yang Ye: "Look, I'm just talking about his talent, right? His decisiveness alone is probably better than most in the world." He prides himself on being a smart person, and everyone knows that rare things can be a good place to live, but he is willing to spend all his wealth in just a moment. This kind of courage is really rare."

He said with a smile: "When I say borrow, I mean it is a loan. Lend me the money and silk. I will use it for business. If I make money, I will naturally return it to you. If the business is not good, I didn't make any money, um... Although my eldest brother is quite stingy, and I don't seem to have a decent restaurant, but with my status, there is absolutely no reason for me to default on your debt. Of course, this business, I'm just the boss, you have to be the shopkeeper."

"Business? You... do business? I wonder, Your Highness, what kind of business do you want to do?"

I thought to myself, isn’t this nonsense? What kind of business is the Crown Prince doing?

Besides, you borrowed my money and became your boss, and also asked me to be your shopkeeper. You are worthy of being Your Highness!

"Are you just starting? Just practice your skills. For this first business, I want to build a pergola, a silk pergola."

(End of this chapter)