Chapter 463 Shen Pan'er

On the morning of the second day, Wu Zhirong, the prefect of Yangzhou, came to the Yanxunyan Censor's Yamen very early and invited Jia Lian to come to the reception banquet.

He also prepared a very luxurious two-wheel carriage. The carriage alone looked at least three times the size of an ordinary carriage. It was said that it was specially prepared for Jia Lian by his colleagues in Yangzhou. Let him travel conveniently while supervising the salt administration in Yangzhou.

Taking advantage of the time when Jia Lian was talking to Wu Zhirong, Zhao Sheng and others arrogantly pushed aside the government officials around the carriage. After checking the carriage inside and out, they replaced the government officials and guarded the carriage. . This scene undoubtedly made Wu Zhirong and others' eyes flicker, but they did not dare to say anything.

"In that case, I would like to thank Mr. Wu and all my colleagues in Yangzhou."

Of course Jia Lian will not be polite at this time. He does not need to maintain his reputation anyway. There is no need to advocate frugality in this gentle and wealthy land. But after getting on the carriage, he was still a little surprised by the luxury inside.

The spacious carriage is fully equipped with tables, chairs and other utensils, making it even more luxurious.

The most important thing is that there are two young and beautiful maids sitting on their knees, wearing only thin and beautiful clothes in the cold weather, looking delicate and endearing.

Jia Lian was wondering why Zhao Sheng and others did not drive the two women out, but when he saw Aqi and Aqin following him in, he knew that they probably knew that there was someone else in the carriage, so Come in and escort.

In this way, Jia Lian didn’t do anything. He sat in the seat, sipping tea, feeling the stability of the car, and admiring the beauties. Soon he came to the Yangzhou government office that had been prepared for him. The imperial envoy traveled to the palace.

A large group of people were waiting outside the camp to greet him, and Jia Lian couldn't tell who was who. They were probably just Yangzhou officials and representatives of more than 20 salt merchants.

"What do you think of this garden, sir?"

As a local official, Wu Zhirong had no one to compete with him for the first position next to Jia Lian at this time, so he walked in the row, Wu Zhirong asked with a smile when Jia Lian was most interested in viewing the scenery in the garden.

"Yes, I have long heard that Suzhou gardens are the best in the world, and I have been lucky enough to see them. Unexpectedly, when I came here today, I felt that these Yangzhou gardens are no better than Suzhou. Poor.

"This is the first Jiangnan garden I have ever seen."

Chairman Zhou has long heard of your reputation. When he heard that your Majesty was coming to supervise the salt administration, he voluntarily took out this garden and prepared it as a palace to receive your Majesty."

Wu Zhirong briefly introduced the origin of this garden, he took the opportunity to introduce to Jia Lian the leader of the salt merchants, Chairman Zhou.

Zhou Boru, the president of Yangzhou Salt Bank, is a man in his fifties, of medium build, and looks very shrewd.

Seeing Jia Lian's eyes glance at him, he quickly showed his attentive expression. After complimenting Jia Lian's glorious past deeds, he smiled and said: "This garden was passed down from the hands of my old father. Not only has no one lived in the garden over the years, but a lot of manpower and money have been spent on repairing and guarding it every year.

It is rare for adults to think it is not bad. If adults do not dislike it, the old man will donate this garden to To your Majesty, on the one hand, I can reduce the burden on my Zhou family, and on the other hand, I can have a simple place to stay when visiting Yangzhou in the future."

The salt policy was an important tax policy of the imperial court, and the entire country Wei had a total of four salt patrol censors.

The presidents of the four most important salt banks were not only built by the private sector, but were supervised by the court. Among them, the president and vice president are all people with official titles from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Although the rank is low, there is no need to call oneself a commoner when meeting an official.

At this time, hearing that he wanted to send Jia Lian to the garden as soon as they met, even the officials of Yangzhou Prefecture were stunned.

The garden that can be selected by them as a garden to welcome the imperial envoys is first-class in terms of size and scale.

Such a garden is, first of all, worth at least one hundred thousand taels. This week, Zhou Boru actually gave it away as soon as they met?

Even if the Zhou family were the largest salt merchants in Yangzhou and even the entire world, they wouldn’t be so arrogant, right? For a time, Wu Zhirong and others were envious of the Zhou family's strong financial resources, and at the same time they also admired the old man's courage. It was true that the courage of the old man was not comparable to that of several other salt merchants. No wonder the Zhou family was able to stand at the Yangzhou Salt Store for several days even when the emperor got up early. Ten years without failure.

Jia Lian was naturally stunned.

According to him, this garden, both in terms of size and beauty, should be the best among gardens in the world. Are you going to give it to the Zhou family as soon as they meet?

You must know that the construction of such a garden is a huge burden for any family in the world. Just look at the fact that the royal family sometimes wanted to build a garden for enjoyment, but it was easy to be blocked by the courtiers on the grounds of excessive consumption of the treasury.

Not to mention, the Jia family almost spent all their money to build a Grand View Garden.

Of course, although the beauty of this garden is no worse than that of the Grand View Garden, its cost is certainly much lower than that of the Grand View Garden.

The gardens in the south of the Yangtze River focus on elegance, while the gardens in Beijing focus on splendor and grandeur. Take the Grand View Garden as an example. It is just the main hall of the Grand View Tower - the future palace of Yuanchun. It alone is enough to build a palace in the south of the Yangtze River.There is such a garden.

But no matter what, this garden is at least one hundred thousand taels, and may even be above two hundred thousand taels.

I believe no one in the world would dislike such a good thing.

Jia Lian couldn't help but feel a little moved at the first time, and even had some unintended affection for Zhou Boru. However, after thinking about it, Jia Lian still shook his head.

Your altitude determines your horizons. Although the value of this garden may be higher than his current net worth, it is not enough to make him crazy.

With his current status, if he is serious about making money, he will have many opportunities in the future.

The key is to ensure your position first, stand tall and sit firmly.

He didn’t want to give people such a huge handle as soon as he came up. This is a bright garden, and it is not as simple as money entering with the left hand and money coming out with the right.

After taking over this garden, even if he was a shameless person, he still dealt cruelly to the Yangzhou salt merchants. I was afraid that Emperor Ning Kang would also doubt the fairness of his affairs. In the court, there will be people who will impeach and criticize him for this.

In other words, this time he went south under the orders of Emperor Ningkang. If he was bribed by a garden as soon as he came up, then his style of Zhenyuanhou would be too low.

Seeing Jia Lian shaking his head and smiling, not answering anything, obviously not agreeing, Zhou Boru did not dare to pester, but he had a high opinion of Jia Lian in his heart.

I arrived at the spacious central hall of the garden, which had a total of five tables.

Jia Lian was sitting at the main table. In addition to the prefect Wu Zhirong, there were also two or three officials of the fifth rank such as Fu Cheng. Among the salt merchants, only the president Zhou Boru and the vice president Wang Shanxiang barely had Qualified to accompany you.

The other salt merchants were sitting on both sides.

After serving the first glass of wine to Jia Lian, Zhou Boru clapped his hands, and music immediately began to play. Then some beautiful dancers with long sleeves and narrow skirts slowly walked into the lower hall in front to dance. .

Whether it was bribery with property or beauty, Jia Lian had already expected it, so he didn't find it strange. He just pretended to be lazy about eating wine and watching a show, quietly watching this rare Jiangnan scene. dance music.

Regarding the stunning beauty and extraordinary dancing skills of the leading dancer, Jia Lian only secretly praised her inwardly, without any expression on her face.

After finishing the song, Wu Zhirong and others naturally asked how the dance was and how the beauty was waiting. Jia Lian naturally praised it slightly, saying that Jiangnan dance music has a unique flavor, and in terms of freshness and elegance, it is better than those in Beijing. .

Jia Lian’s evaluation certainly made Wu Zhirong and others feel quite proud.

Jiangnan is prosperous and prosperous with singing and dancing, so most of the officials in the world are willing to take up their posts in Jiangnan. This also caused most of the people and officials in Jiangnan to have a sense of superiority.

But this superiority is only compared to other poor provinces and places. It is still a bit complicated when facing people from the capital.

In terms of wealth and the reputation of scholars, Jiangnan is not inferior to the capital. However, the power in the world comes from Kyoto. A word from the powerful people in the capital can even change the entire pattern of Jiangnan. Therefore, they were very happy to have Jia Lian, an authentic dignitary in Beijing, praise the customs and culture of Jiangnan.

"What do you think, the lady who just led the dance? Can her singing voice and dancing skills still impress your ears?"

Jia Lian smiled and said: "Wu Nong said softly, She has a sweet voice, graceful and graceful, and dances like a fairy. She is a rare one among ten thousand. I am afraid that such a woman is rare in the entire Jiangnan area. I hope you are interested."

As soon as Jia Lian finished speaking, a clear and sweet voice came from the outer corridor.

"My lord, you are praising me. I am just an ordinary geisha from Jiangnan Jiaofang. If your lord praises me so much, the sisters in the geisha will be jealous of me."

Jia Lian looked up and saw that it was indeed the dancer who had just performed. At this time, she had taken off her dance skirt and put on a gorgeous lady's skirt. She was half holding the pipa.

"Shen Pan'er, my servant, has met the imperial envoy, all the officials and gentlemen."

This girl is worthy of Jia Lian's praise. She walked to the atrium and had a simple banquet. The person above had seen this gift and attracted the attention of many powerful and wealthy officials. Some of them could not help but show greed.

Wu Zhirong said with a smile: "Miss Shen Pan'er is the treasure of Jiangnan Jiaofang Division. Her dance skills are the best in Jiangnan, and she has the reputation of being the best dancer in Yangzhou. I usually wait to see you. She is also hard to find, so today you are here, and Xiaguan and others have spent a lot of money to invite her to sing and dance for you."

The name of "Fangzhenfangzhibao" is not worthy of being called the best dancer in Yangzhou."

Shen Pan'er could see that he had experienced such scenes many times, so in the face of everyone's His comments were very natural, and he could still answer the questions with a smile.

After Wu Zhirong finished speaking, no one dared to answer because Jia Lian, who was in charge, did not speak. The scene was quiet for a while. She turned her eyes, bowed towards Jia Lian, and asked with a smile: "Is this your first time in Yangzhou, sir?"

Jia Lian is still very friendly to beauties, so he doesn't put on airs to embarrass the other party.

　“It’s not the first time."

"Oh, I wonder what music adults like to listen to? "

"I'm not very familiar with Jiangnan's famous songs. Miss Pan'er, just pick out two of the ones you like and play them. "

Jia Lian laughed casually, and smiled at Shen Pan'er after speaking.

The power displayed by the rich and noble men in the hall did not make Shen Pan'er show timidity, but it did Jia Lian's smile almost made her lose her balance.

After finally calming down, she smiled: "In that case, I will play the song "Spring Breeze" for the adults and gentlemen. "Song", let's sing "Leave Yuqing". "

Shen Pan'er has been told to come here today. She just needs to do her best to please Jia Lian.

As a famous oiran in Jiangnan, she has attracted countless money for the church. , aside from other things, he still has a certain status in Fengyue Chang. Even senior officials from various governments are polite to him.

However, this does not mean that she dares to neglect Jia Lian. Character. Even in Yangzhou, it is rare to see an imperial envoy come down in several years, and she has only been out for a few years. This is the first time she has performed for a special imperial envoy, so she has also prepared carefully.


As she and Jia Lian got together, As soon as she heard this, the waiters had moved a round stool for her into the hall. Just seeing the waiters placing her next to Jia Lian, she understood the situation at the table better, so she took a slow breath, bowed to Jia Lian, and then Walking to the round stool, she sat sideways, put down the pipa, and while plucking the strings, the sandalwood mouth opened slightly, and a beautiful song like an oriole came from between her lips.

Main table They are all elegant people. Seeing Jia Lian quietly listening to famous music, they are naturally happy to accompany them.

The people at other tables have lower status and dare not disturb them. There was nothing on the table, except for listening to the wonderful sounds quietly.

After singing the two songs, Shen Pan'er only stepped forward to toast Jia Lian with a glass of wine, and then left the room.

Wu Zhirong looked at Jia Lian's face and found that there was no trace of nostalgia. He felt a little puzzled and frowned, but didn't think much about it.

The atmosphere was heightened by this. Now, it’s time to talk about business.

So he waved away the waiter, raised his glass and said to Jia Lian: "My lord, you traveled all the way south to Yangzhou to run errands for the imperial court. Your hard work is of great merit. I would like to offer you a drink first, as a low-ranking official and others." . "

After drinking, he said again: "I just don't know if your lord has any embarrassment about the salt affairs in Jiangnan? Today, I specially sent all the salt merchants in Yangzhou and the salt transportation department to your lord." Several colleagues have gathered here to help you sort out the salt policy.

Therefore, if you have anything you need to ask, just ask. If there is anything they do that is not in line with the court’s wishes, they can also I beg your lord, please give me your best advice."

At the beginning of Wu Zhirong's words, everyone knew that the topic was coming, so they all sat upright and looked at Jia Lian with burning eyes.

Jia Lian’s attitude is related to the fate of the entire Yangzhou Salt Bank, and no one here cares.