one
"Master, what should we do with these women?" The old housekeeper Tang Xingzhong asked Tang Tong. The old housekeeper was not originally called this name. He used to be a scholar who fled from Shanxi. After being taken in by Tang Tong, he became the housekeeper of the Tang family and changed his name to Tang Xingzhong.
"Let me handle this." Tang Tong took the gift list from the housekeeper, glanced at it and said, "Call those women over here. I have something to ask them."
After the housekeeper Tang Xingzhong responded, he went downstairs and brought the dozen girls to Tang Tong. Tang Tong took a look and found that all the girls were as beautiful as flowers. It seemed that those who sent the gifts had put a lot of thought into it. However, what Tang Tong didn't know was that these people who sent the beauties actually had another idea in mind, which was to hope that Tang Tong could take the girls they sent as concubines. In that way, there would be someone in the Tang family who could speak well of them in the future. In this way, the benefits they could get in the future were imaginable.
If one wants to win the favor of Tang Tong, the woman chosen must naturally be very outstanding. No one would be stupid enough to use an ordinary woman to fool Lord Tang. As long as Lord Tang takes care of her a little, the benefits she will gain will be huge.
"What are your names? Tell us yourselves." Tang Tong sat down on a chair. Now he was a master, so he had to enjoy all kinds of comforts. A beautiful maid served Tang Tong a cup of tea, then glanced at the girls, with a hint of envy and jealousy in her eyes.
Now, among the maids in the Tang Mansion, as long as they think they are good-looking, they would all dream of becoming the concubine of Master Tang. The maids look at these girls and see that they are all very beautiful. Maybe one of them will become Master Tang's concubine in the future, so they will naturally feel envious and jealous.
"My name is Xiao Hongying." After the first girl spoke, the others followed suit: "My name is Xiao Yueniang," "Zhao Feiyu," "Shulan," ... "Tang Qi," "Xiao Xiangjun," "Dong Xiaowan," "Kou Qimen."
When Tang Tong heard the names of Xiangjun and Dong Xiaowan, he couldn't help but look at them in surprise, because their fame in the history of the late Ming Dynasty was no less than that of Liu Rushi and Chen Yuanyuan. However, he didn't know that the last little girl, Kou Qimen, was also one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai. Thinking that the most famous of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai were in his hands, Tang Tong felt a little incredible for his good fortune.
The Eight Beauties of Qinhuai were all famous prostitutes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and Tang Tong now controlled almost 90 percent of the brothels and gangs in these two places. In business, except for the big salt merchants, other merchants had more or less business relations with Tang Tong, so it was not surprising that Tang Tong could get Xiangjun, Dong Xiaowan, and Kou Qimen.
Xiao Hongying, Yu Yueniang, Zhao Yufei, and Shulan were all from the skinny families of Yangzhou, and were trained at great expense in their respective brothels. Although they were all young, they all had their own charming charm. However, Tang Tong had just taken a concubine and had not yet had a wedding night, so naturally he would not have any other ideas at this time. He arranged these girls to be personal maids for Chen Yuxian, Hong Niangzi, Liu Rushi, Dayuer, and Hai Lanzhu. The twelve-year-old Ye Xiaoqian and the ten-year-old Tang Qi were arranged for Liu Rushi. As for Yu Xiangjun, Dong Xiaowan, and Kou Qimen, they were all nine years old, a little younger than Yuan'er, so Tang Tong arranged them to be Yuan'er's playmates.
After Tang Tong dealt with this matter, he went back to find Bu Yuyuan to spend his bridal chamber with Hong Niangzi. As for Liu Rushi, Tang Tong would not touch her for the next two days. After all, it was difficult for a man of his rank to lay hands on a young girl.
Not to mention that people in Changzhou were reveling in the glory of Lord Tang taking a concubine, but there was one person who was somewhat disappointed about it. This person was called Yan, and his original name was Xin. Yan was from Henan. After coming into contact with the "Na Han Bao" newspaper founded by Tang Tong, he was influenced in his thoughts and left home to study in the school founded by Tang Tong.
As if it was fate, Yan met Hong Niangzi at school, and from then on Yan fell in love with her. However, Hong Niangzi already considered herself a member of the Tang family, and because her horizons had been broadened by following Tang Tong, she did not fall in love with Yan, who also had some talent, as she had in history.
After watching Hongniang enter the Tang family, Yan felt very uncomfortable. To be honest, Yan already had a wife at that time. Due to traditional reasons, he got married early and had children. However, family could not stop the passion in his heart, whether it was in career or love.
Yan had a strong desire to stand out from the crowd, but fate made him frustrated. However, because of Tang Tong's arrival, he, who was supposed to rebel, came to the school run by Tang Tong.
After the crowd of onlookers dispersed, Yan, feeling somewhat depressed, found a pub to drink. Fortunately, he was a relatively self-controlled person and did not go crazy even when drunk. However, his desire to stand out became even stronger.
The next day, Tang Tong was at home with Chen Yuxian, Hong Niangzi and the others. At this time, Yan came to the door and wanted to introduce himself. When Tang Tong heard the gatekeeper say that someone named Yan was looking for him, he was slightly stunned.
Speaking of the name Yan, he has some fame in history, but he is not as famous as Yan Zicheng and Wu Sangui. It is not big enough for Tang Tong to remember this name. Tang Tong asked his family to bring Yan to the front hall. After tidying up his clothes, he also went to the front hall to see if this Yan was the capable Yan in history.
Although Tang Yan was a scholar, he was quite strong, with a confident gleam in his eyes. He was a very confident person, and he always thought that he was a talented person who was not appreciated. Tang Tong's actions in the past few days had a great influence, and Tang Tong's reputation was very good now. Names like Tang the Great Good Man and Tang the God of Wealth were names that the people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were happy to hear. In order to strengthen the ideological education of the students in the school and cultivate their national pride and patriotism, every victory of Tang Tong's army outside would be widely publicized in the school. This also made Tang Yan suffer a lot in this environment, and made Tang Yan realize that Tang Tong's men had become a powerful army with advanced weapons and advanced ideas.
Of course, Tang Yan learned about terms like advanced weapons and advanced ideas from the "Call to Arms" newspaper. However, Tang Yan had a good political and military mind, and he saw from these propaganda that Tang Tong had the potential to become a wise man in the chaos.
In this era, most people who claim to be talented still hope to serve a wise man. Yan also thinks so. He clearly sees that this Lord Tang is a person worth serving. Although Tang Tong's theories advocating the development of industry and commerce are not agreed by people of this era, Tang Tong's views advocating nation and country are easy for most people to accept. Not to mention young scholars, even some older scholars in the century have some who accept Tang Tong's concepts of nation and country. As for those businessmen, most of them support Tang Tong's theory. After all, the theories of industry and commerce development advocated by Tang Tong have benefited the most from these businessmen and craftsmen.
When a person's theory has many supporters, there will be some die-hard radical members who will form a force for this theory. This force is much more earth-shaking than the so-called peasant uprising of Zicheng and others.
Although Yan was a little depressed because of the matter of Hong Niangzi, he was generally a relatively traditional person. When he decided that Tang Tong was his Mingmi, he did not regard this depression as a hatred. The traditional education of monarch, minister, and father-son relationship made Yan a relatively loyal person.
Qi Yan had met Tang Tong yesterday. When he saw Tang Tong walk in, he quickly stood up from his seat and bowed, saying, "Qidi Qi Yan, greetings to Lord Tang."
Historically, Tang Tong was from Qi. He was somewhat impressed by this. He carefully examined Tang Tong and saw that he was a handsome man with a strong sense of confidence in his eyes. He immediately waved his hand and smiled, "Alright, no need to be so polite. We're in our own home. There's no need to be so restrained as outside. You're from Qi, so why are you here?"
"In reply to your question, Yan was deeply moved after reading your article in your newspaper The Shout, so I came to study in the school run by you." Seeing that Tang Tong was very easy-going, Yan was not so nervous anymore.
"So you came here this time to seek refuge with me, is that what you mean?" Tang Tong sat down, took a cup of tea from the maid, and took a sip casually.
Seeing Tang Tongwen's indifference, Yan felt a little embarrassed, but he quickly recovered. He had made some mental preparations before coming here this time, and replied calmly, "Yes, sir. Yan believes that you have great ambitions. Although I don't have any talent, I am willing to support your ideals."
"Haha, have you ever read military books?" Tang Tong had thought about conquering Qiyan before, but he didn't know the specific location of Qiyan, and his power was too small before, so few people were willing to join him.
"Yes, I have indeed read some military books before." When Yan saw Tang Tong asking this, he knew that he was going to test himself.
After Tang Tong asked Yan some questions about military matters, he was basically certain that the Yan in front of him was the Yan who served under Yan Zicheng in history. After asking the questions, he said to Yan, "Now I have something to ask. I wonder if you are willing to do it, Brother Yan?"
;
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com