Chapter 683 I, Mi Zhen, am both beautiful and intelligent!

Miss, do you know where my fiancée is?

Luo Qi's gentle words were like a gentle breeze blowing straight into Mi Zhen's heart. It was not the first time she met Luo Qi, and she had never thought that there would be a day when she would be so at a loss.

Her fair and soft cheeks turned red almost instantly. She bit her lips lightly, raised her eyes to look at Luo Qi's handsome face, then lowered her head to look at her plain dress. Only then did she realize that she was still not wearing any makeup.

"Sir, please ask Rongzhen to go and dress up."

After saying that, she walked quickly into the house. She opened the door and was about to close it when she found a slender hand with well-defined muscles resting on the door frame. The breath coming from behind made Mi Zhen know that Luo Qi was behind her.

"He walks so fast!"

This is what Mi Zhen was thinking at this moment. If Luo Qi knew it, he would definitely be in tears and amused.

"Miss, you haven't answered my question yet. Is it inappropriate to leave like this?"

Luo Qi's voice reached Mi Zhen's ears again, "Besides, Miss is more beautiful than spring flowers and autumn chrysanthemums, and her blushing face is interesting in itself, so why should she add some rouge?"

Mi Zhen's face was already red as if water was about to drip and she was about to get angry, but she was, after all, a very strong-willed woman.

Moreover, in the past, within the Mi family, after Mi Zhu turned to politics, she took charge of the family business and had her own prestige.

Mi Zhen turned around suddenly. She knew Luo Qi was very tall, so she tilted her head back with amorous glances in her eyes and a charming face. She could even feel Luo Qi's breath at such a close distance.

Although Mi Zhen and Luo Qi had not met often, they knew each other somewhat. This young master of the Luo family was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He appeared to be calm and gentle on the outside, but inside he seemed to have a fire that could melt all the coldness.

Although she was extremely shy, she suppressed it and said calmly, "Sir.

I have heard that women dress up to please themselves, and I am attracted to you, so I want to dress up and make you happy. Are you willing to let me in?"

The smile in Luo Qi's eyes became more and more intense. This was Mi Zhen's personality. She was always very shy, but she could pretend to be calm and do things in a graceful manner, which made him like her very much.

Luo Qi did not withdraw his hand, but fiddled with Mi Zhen's hairpin and said softly, "Zhen'er, have you forgotten what we said when we parted last time?"

Mi Zhen recalled briefly and could no longer remain calm. She could only hear her own heartbeat. She didn't know how she walked to the dressing table. She just sat there blankly, with Luo Qi beside her.

It was a glass mirror that reflected people very clearly. It was one of the betrothal gifts sent by the Kingdom of Ying when getting engaged. It was produced in a distant country in the Far West.

This luxury product has always been an important source of income for Rockwell.

In recent years, Zhaocheng has been trying to break through this process that relies purely on material manufacturing, hoping to manufacture glass mirrors at a lower cost to make up for the family's declining business income in recent years.

Luo Qi looked at the beautiful face in the mirror and couldn't help but exclaimed, "So beautiful."

As he spoke, he took out a thin eyebrow pencil from the dressing table and gently tapped the corners of Mi Zhen's eyebrows. His expression was very serious, as if he was painting a picture.

Or perhaps Mi Zhen's face was the most beautiful painting. With just a few strokes, he made Mi Zhen's phoenix eyes look even more noble, like a flying phoenix.

Mi Zhen's eyelashes were trembling slightly, proving how restless she was. She held her breath to avoid the blending of their breaths appearing too ambiguous, but from time to time the fragrance still lingered in Luo Qi's nostrils.

An unknown amount of time had passed. Luo Qi carefully examined Mi Zhen. They both looked at the wonderful person in the glass mirror. "Zhen'er, I didn't deceive you. I am not only good at making plans and making adjustments, but also good at drawing eyebrows in the boudoir. I am also the best in the world."

Mi Zhen stretched out her hand with a look of surprise, sliding it down her face from the corner of her eye, with a hint of obsession in her eyes. She was actually somewhat impressed by her own beauty, and couldn't help but say, "So beautiful!"

After the eyebrow-painting incident, the strangeness that hadn't seen each other for a long time had completely disappeared. The two of them sat on the couch, Luo Qi leaning on the edge of the couch, and Mi Zhen snuggling in his arms.

Luo Qi smiled softly and asked, "Zhen'er, I came to Xuzhou this time to marry you. Is there anything you want to do after marriage?"

Hearing Luo Qi talking about this, Mi Zhen naturally knew that Luo Qi was not being polite to her, so she said with a smile: "Of course, I will give birth to children for you first.

If I still have the energy, I want to set up a guild organization among merchants so that we can communicate with each other."

Luo Qi originally just wanted to hear Mi Zhen's thoughts, but when he heard the last sentence, he froze for a moment, his mind raced, and he immediately realized that this thing seemed very unusual, so he asked softly: "Zhen'er, how did you organize this guild?"

Mi Zhen, nestled in Luo Qi's arms, could naturally feel Luo Qi's arms tightening around her body. She immediately knew that Luo Qi was very serious now, and a slightly proud smile appeared in her eyes. She was not a woman with only good looks. If it came to her appearance alone, she might not be the most beautiful in the world, but in terms of matching ability, she was confident that she was not inferior to any woman in the world.

Mi Zhen said softly: "Sir, although business is not as fundamental as agriculture, it is also very useful in communicating what is available.

It is said that those who have business are rich, and those who do not have business are poor.

In the old days before the Han Dynasty, from Emperor Xiaowu, Emperor Xiaoding, Emperor Li, and Emperor Xiaoxuan, for dozens or even hundreds of years, the imperial court was able to send large armies to attack all directions, relying on the imperial court's control over the trade routes.

Most merchants are merely tentacles of the powerful and wealthy, doing nothing more than hoarding goods and having no effect on worldly affairs.

There are very few wealthy merchant families like our Mi family who can use their business skills to become the governor of a state. In the whole world, only a few families like the Zhen family in Hebei can compare to us.

According to historical books, the Mohist school had organized guilds in the past, but they were limited to handicrafts and small vendors.

The model followed by businessmen in the world today is all learned from Rockefeller, which is all-encompassing and all-inclusive from top to bottom.

But Zhen thought to himself that what Luo did was not something that ordinary businessmen could learn. Merchants all over the world competed with each other. The winners made a fortune while the losers lost everything. There were too many accidents that could cause merchants to go bankrupt.

In one place, grain is sold at a low price, in another place, there is money but no grain. One family encounters a sudden change and has to abandon their home and sell their business, so much so that they don't know the market price and pile up goods randomly. Then there are merchants who hoard goods and disrupt the world.

The key to business is the word "flow"!

If we could now integrate the commerce of one state, or even several states, the word "flow" would no longer be like a stream, but a river or even the flow of the ocean!

If the members of the Chamber of Commerce communicate with each other and even work together, Xuzhou will surely be greatly prosperous.

And the founders of the chamber of commerce will have a lot of room for maneuver.”

Luo Qi looked at his fiancée deeply, and there was more than just a lot of room for maneuver!

Once this chamber of commerce is formed, it will be a situation where those who follow me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish. You either join the chamber of commerce to survive, or pray that the chamber of commerce does not target you, or you will be squeezed to death.

But at the same time, as Mi Zhen said, there are many benefits to joining the Chamber of Commerce. The mere fact of working together is quite valuable to many businessmen who are not very resistant to risks.

If there is a chamber of commerce, borrowing and lending will also be much more convenient. Many small businessmen can even get support as long as they are obedient, and some scraps that big businessmen find unappetizing to eat and are reluctant to throw away will fall into their hands.

The most important thing is that this can protect Xuzhou's local businessmen to a great extent. Once Xuzhou begins to implement it, those forces that see the benefits will follow suit. However, this thing is not easy to do, and it requires a talent for economics to understand it.

Luo Qi thought for a moment and said, "It is not possible for the people to spontaneously organize such a guild. It still needs to be affiliated with the government. However, once the government intervenes too much, it will become the equalization and equalization bureau of the pre-Han Dynasty, and it will follow the old path of the pre-Han Dynasty.

I will bring this up with Lord Xuande later. You private merchants will organize it on your own initiative and then accept government supervision. Especially the circulation of large-value goods must be reported to the government."

Although the imperial power had been weakened since the Later Han Dynasty, it was certainly impossible for the common people to run such a large guild on their own. However, the Equalization and Distribution Bureau of the Early Han Dynasty had been almost criticized to pieces over the past hundred years.

Except for the emperor who wanted to enjoy unconditionally and the corrupt officials, most Confucian scholars did not want to go back to the old path of the Price Equalization and Transport Bureau.

Luo Qi mainly studied Qi Law and Spring and Autumn Annals, and was not very supportive of restoring the Stabilization and Equalization of Transport Office and returning to a situation where the government controlled all materials.

He has always believed that it is enough for the government to supervise the hoarding behavior and mobilize these forces at critical moments. There are countless talents in the society who can self-regulate the system.

For example, the little fiancée in his arms, at such a young age, had such insight. No wonder Mi Zhu always said that if Mi Zhen was a man, it would be Mi Zhen who prospered the Mi family.

There is really no falsehood!

…

The banquet in the main hall was in full swing, Liu Bei and Mi Zhu were having a pleasant conversation. The Mi family was extremely wealthy, and in this era when Confucian classics came first and military merit came second, ordinary powerful people did not even have the chance to become a governor or a prefect.

Mi Zhu was able to become a Beijia as a businessman. The difficulty can be imagined. As Mi Zhen once said, "What is the difference between a wealthy family and a feudal lord?"

The reason why Mi Zhu was so powerful was that he was too rich. He was so rich that he was powerful without the power of the government. He had more than ten thousand servants and retainers in his house. You can imagine how terrifying this number was.

He was willing to donate one-third of his wealth to provide Liu Bei with food and military supplies, and then recruit strong men in Xuzhou to make up for previous losses, guard against attacks from other princes, and recruit talents.

Liu Bei returned the favor by appointing himself as the governor of Xuzhou. Naturally, Lu Shen was still the deputy governor, but Mi Zhu was appointed as the governor, a position that was no less senior than that of the deputy governor and was the position Mi Zhu wanted most.

Both sides were quite generous and they hit it off right away and started talking.

After Luo Qi and Mi Zhen had a tender moment, they walked into the main hall, where Liu Bei was accepting gifts from the people of Xuzhou with Madam Lu.

These heroes of Xuzhou all came with their wives. Lady diplomacy has existed since ancient times, and especially in cases like Liu Bei's where the wife's family was very powerful, lady diplomacy was particularly useful.

As soon as Luo Qi walked into the hall, Liu Bei waved and said, "Zi Qi, come here!"

Everyone in the hall was a little curious about Luo Qi before they saw him, but after seeing the stunningly beautiful woman beside him, they all smiled knowingly.

Everyone greeted Luo Qi warmly, and Luo Qi responded one by one. Then he took Mi Zhen and quickly walked to the first seat on Liu Bei's left hand. He knelt in the middle of the table, and Mi Zhen followed him and knelt down. She reached out to lift her hanging hair and tucked it behind her ears, revealing her slender swan neck, as white and smooth as mutton-fat jade.

Madam Lu looked at Mi Zhen and exclaimed, "Is this your fiancée?

When I was in Qingzhou, I heard of the reputation of "Xuzhou has the Mi family, which is full of goddesses and wonders". Seeing her today is indeed believing. Her beauty is truly beyond description. My brother and I are a perfect match made in heaven."

The three states of Yan, Qing and Xu are too close to each other. Madam Lu and other noble ladies have their own circle. A woman like Mi Zhen, whose reputation is unrivaled in the state and county, is quite famous in their circle.

This is different from the two Qiao sisters of Jiangdong. Yangzhou seems a bit remote to people in the Central Plains. In addition, scholars from Jiangdong rarely travel abroad, so the publicity of the two Qiao sisters of Jiangdong is naturally insufficient.

Mi Zhen was very concerned about everything related to Luoqi. She knew that Liu Bei's wife was the legitimate daughter of Linzi Lu. If nothing unexpected happened, this would naturally be an ally standing on the same front as Luoqi.

And regardless of the relationship between Luo and Qi, Mi Zhen felt that he had an obligation to maintain good relations with Liu Bei's wife and Lu's legitimate daughter.

When Luo Qi saw the two women talking, he stood up and walked to Liu Bei. Liu Bei knew as soon as he saw that Luo Qi had something to say to him, so he asked the person who made the offering to leave first. Luo Qi then came to Liu Bei and whispered to him everything Mi Zhen had just said.

Liu Bei looked at Mi Zhen in surprise. He had never thought that this extremely beautiful woman had such talent. After looking away, he whispered to Luo Qi, "Zi Qi, come inside later!"

————

At that time, Xuanlie visited Xuzhou and stayed in Tan County, Donghai. Mi Zhu went to greet him. They all joined the banquet and drank and chatted. Halfway through, Luo Qi brought Mi in.

Luo Qi went to Xuan Lie's ear and told him that Mi had talent in economics. Although she was a woman, she had the ability to make plans. So she presented her business strategy to Xuan Lie, who was quite surprised.

After the banquet, Luo Qi brought Mi into the room. Xuan Lie asked her about the economy. Mi described the plight of Xuzhou. Xuan Lie sighed and said, "I drank a lot of wine. I was half drunk and half awake. When I heard your words, my drunkenness disappeared. Isn't your words more powerful than three armies?

I will be the governor of the state, so that your wife can gather the wealthy and powerful people in Xuzhou to accomplish great things."

Soon, the whole state said: "Mi is a woman of integrity and talent. She is the source of all the ministers' plans and consultations." - Biographies of Extraordinary Women in the Chronicles of the Late Han Dynasty

(End of this chapter)