Chapter 189 President of the Chamber of Commerce
Since we can't find anyone in Dongliu Hutong, we can go to the Chamber of Commerce. If Deng Fangyuan is really doing tea business in Hangzhou, we will definitely be able to find out from the Chamber of Commerce.
Song Yuzhu and Zhao Xiao brought the mother and son to the Chamber of Commerce to inquire.
Each state has its own chamber of commerce, which is not under the management of the court but is a spontaneous organization of the people.
The Chamber of Commerce has great power. They have their own set of rules to restrain local merchants from vicious competition. Merchants must abide by these rules. If someone violates them, they will be excluded by others and eventually fail to continue their business.
Hangzhou has been a commercial capital since ancient times due to its convenient water and land transportation. The Chamber of Commerce here is also very large, located on East Street, occupying half of the street.
When Song Yuzhu got off the carriage and went in with Zhao Xiao to inquire, they were stopped by the servant at the door.
"Excuse me, do you two have a visiting card?"
"Is it necessary to bring a visiting card to come to the Chamber of Commerce?" Song Yuzhu asked doubtfully.
The servant looked the two men up and down, and seeing that they were dressed simply, they did not look like wealthy businessmen, but perhaps small traders from other places. His expression changed instantly.
"Go away, go away. How can ordinary people enter here?" He said this and was about to drive the two away.
Zhao Xiao stood in front of them and said, "Who stipulated that merchants cannot enter the Chamber of Commerce?"
"If you want to join the Chamber of Commerce, go buy a visiting card. No one can enter without a visiting card."
Song Yuzhu heard him say that he wanted to buy a visiting card, "I wonder how much this visiting card costs and where to buy it."
The servant said, "A visitor's card to see the chief costs fifty taels, a visitor's card to see the vice-chairman costs one hundred taels, and a visitor's card to see the president costs three hundred taels. You have to make an appointment in advance."
"There is an antique shop called Xingwangzhai at the end of the street. Go there and buy enough items, and someone will hand you a visiting card."
Song Yuzhu sneered in his heart. This Chamber of Commerce really dared to ask for such a high price. It wanted three hundred taels of silver just for a meeting. He wanted to see who the president of the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce was.
When he arrived at the antique shop, there were many cultural relics, calligraphy and paintings on display. Upon closer inspection, they were all worthless imitations. Song Yuzhu spent three hundred taels to buy a fake painting, and the other party really gave him a greeting card.
The two of them came to the door of the Chamber of Commerce again with the visiting card. This time the servant did not stop them and took them in.
As soon as Song Yuzhu entered the room, she was almost knocked over by the magnificent reception room.
The huge reception room has smooth marble tiles on the floor, each of which has been polished and shines.
A huge lacquered and gilded glass lamp was hung on the ceiling, with candles placed on the colorful glass. One could imagine how beautiful the lamp would be when it was lit.
Right in front of him was a gilded screen with a rich peony pattern embroidered with gold thread. This screen alone was worth tens of thousands of taels. The Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce was really rich!
"You two please wait here. I will report to you right away."
After the servants left, Zhao Xiao whispered, "This Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce really needs to be regulated. It's more extravagant than the imperial palace."
Song Yuzhu nodded, but he did not plan to deal with the matter personally. He would write a letter and send it back to Shangjing later and let Yutong find a solution.
After waiting for half a quarter of an hour, the errand boy came back and said, "What a coincidence! The president is not here today. I have already made an appointment for you. Please come back tomorrow."
Song Yuzhu returned to the carriage with the visiting card.
Madam Deng asked, "My benefactor, have you heard any news about my husband?"
"Madam, don't worry. The president of the Chamber of Commerce is not here today. We will come again tomorrow."
Seeing that the mother and son were worried, Song Yuzhu said, "Don't call me benefactor. My last name is Zhu, and my name is Zhu Yusong. The big brother outside is Xiao Zhao. Just call us by our names."
"Yeah." Mrs. Deng nodded stiffly.
"I see that Zhong'er knows quite a few words at such a young age. Has he become enlightened?"
Deng Zhongdao said: "I studied for a year last year and I can already recognize the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classic."
Song Yuzhu likes this kid very much. "Study hard and try to get into a university in Beijing in the future."
Since they couldn't meet the Chamber of Commerce President today, they had to find a place to rest first.
Zhao Xiao drove to the inn and booked two rooms.
Mrs. Deng didn't want them to spend any more money, so she and her son spent the night in the carriage.
Song Yuzhu advised: "Zhong'er is still young. If he gets typhoid fever in the cold night, wouldn't it be troublesome?"
Mrs. Deng was persuaded. Her son was her life and she couldn't let Zhong'er get into any trouble.
"Mr. Zhu, I will definitely return the money to you."
"Don't worry, wait until you find your husband."
After settling the mother and son, Song Yuzhu and Zhao Xiao went out again. They wanted to inquire around the city about the origins of this Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce.
There happened to be a cloth shop next to the inn, and Song Yuzhu asked about the cloth business under the guise of buying cloth to make clothes.
"Shopkeeper, is the cloth business in Hangzhou good?"
The shopkeeper was a down-to-earth man. After measuring the two men, he spoke in the local dialect and said, "Are you two gentlemen from out of town?"
Song Yuzhu nodded: "We are from Zhongzhou and plan to come to Hangzhou to sell cloth."
"I wonder if your business is big?"
"Small business."
The shopkeeper laughed and said, "Little brother, if you listen to my advice, don't work here anymore. Go ask somewhere else, maybe you can still make money."
"Why?" Song Yuzhu asked with some confusion.
"In Hangzhou, you can't just open a shop if you want to. In addition to getting approval from the government, you also have to go through the approval process of the Chamber of Commerce. It will take at least a year or two to complete this process."
Zhao Xiao frowned: "It's so troublesome to open a store. What will happen if we don't seek approval from the Chamber of Commerce?"
"Well, I can't say for sure, but this business may be very difficult." The shopkeeper lowered his head and calculated the price of the clothes. Both pieces were made of relatively expensive silk, and the total cost was seventeen taels of silver.
Song Yuzhu settled the bill, and the shopkeeper continued, "Before, there were a few merchants from the north who rented a shop before completing the formalities. As a result, they couldn't get approval for half a year. The rent doesn't wait. They had no choice but to open the shop privately. As a result..." The shopkeeper lowered his voice, "One night, the shop caught fire and burned all the goods in the room. Not only did they lose a lot of money, but they also had to compensate the landlord for the house. Don't you think it's unlucky?"
Song Yuzhu and Zhao Xiao both frowned. It seemed that this Chamber of Commerce did much more than just sell visiting cards.
"Shopkeeper, how long will it take for the clothes to be ready?"
"If you two are not in a hurry, it will probably take four or five days. If you are in a hurry, you can add one or two taels of silver and it will be ready tomorrow."
Song Yuzhu handed him another ounce of silver: "Please hurry up, we need it tomorrow."
After walking out of the cloth shop, Song Yuzhu and Zhao Xiao looked at each other. Needless to say, they both thought that Deng Fangyuan, who came from another place to do business, would definitely encounter this kind of thing. It was not certain whether he could make the tea business successful.
"The Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce is so arbitrary and has more power than the prefect!"
Song Yuzhu sighed: "How do you know it's not collusion between officials and businessmen?"
"Do you want me to knock one or two?"
"No hurry, let me write a letter and send it back to Shangjing first."
The two walked along the street for a while, saw a teahouse nearby, and went in.
There were not many people inside. The two of them sat in a corner and ordered a pot of tea. There was a storyteller in the teahouse, who was telling the story of how General Fuguo defeated the Jin people.
Song Yuzhu listened with great interest and clapped and cheered from time to time, while Zhao Xiao lowered his head and drank tea, his ears turned red with embarrassment.
*
The next day, Song Yuzhu and Zhao Xiao changed into new clothes and went to the Chamber of Commerce again.
Clothes make the man, and saddles make the horse. With the way they are dressed and their natural demeanor, they seem like completely different people.
The waiter at the door didn't even recognize them. He bent over and led the two of them into the Chamber of Commerce hall again.
It happened that the president of the Chamber of Commerce was here today. I followed the servant in the building to the second floor and walked to the last room. The servant knocked on the door gently and a voice came from inside.
After a while, a strange voice came from inside, "Come in." The voice sounded like a child whose voice had not changed, but also like an elderly person.
After opening the door, Song Yuzhu and Zhao Xiao were once again shocked by the luxury inside. The floor was made of valuable Huanghuali wood, which was polished to a mirror-like finish.
As you walk in, there is an indoor landscape bonsai right in front of you. The water is actually running water, dripping down from above and then flowing down through a ditch on the ground.
Behind the bonsai there is a landscape screen. A closer look reveals that the screen is made entirely of brocade. Every inch of brocade is worth its weight in gold. This ten-foot-long brocade is worth at least ten thousand taels of silver.
The two wanted to go forward, but were stopped by two maids: "Guests, please talk here."
"What do you want to see me for?" The voice came from behind the screen again. It must be said that the president of this chamber of commerce is more impressive than the emperor, but he didn't even show his face.
Song Yuzhu bowed and said, "We plan to open a shop in Hangzhou City. I heard that we need to seek approval from the Chamber of Commerce, so I came to see you."
"Open a shop." The man paused and asked, "How big a shop should it be? Have you chosen a good location?"
"Not yet. I think it won't be too late to choose after it's approved."
"Approval is easy. Small shops charge 500 taels, and large shops charge 1,000 taels. If you don't want to pay, you have to queue up."
Wow, it’s money again. No wonder a small chamber of commerce is so extravagant. It turns out that it is all exploited from the businessmen.
“How long will the queue be?”
"Then I don't know. You can go downstairs and ask the manager." When the president heard that they didn't want to spend money, he immediately asked the maid to chase the person out.
I spent three hundred taels of silver and only said a few words without even meeting the president of this chamber of commerce. His words are really "golden words and jade words!"
"Wait a minute, I want to ask someone, is there a tea merchant named Deng in the city?"
"I'm not sure. Go ask the steward." The person inside was obviously impatient and urged the maid to quickly get the two out. The maid reached out to push Song Yuzhu.
Zhao Xiao was quick to stop her, "How dare you push our Master?!"
"Are you here just to cause trouble?" the Chamber of Commerce president raised his voice.
Song Yuzhu said coldly: "We spent three hundred taels of silver to come see you, at least let us see what you look like. How can you be so secretive and show your true colors like this?"
Zhao Xiao kicked the screen down, and the two were shocked. They finally saw the president's appearance clearly. He turned out to be a short dwarf. No wonder he didn't dare to show his true face.
"Someone, come and kick these two out!" He jumped off the stool angrily, pointed at the two and cursed: "You rude people! You dare to offend the Chamber of Commerce when you come to Hangzhou to do business? I think you don't want to live anymore!"
More than a dozen thugs armed with long knives rushed in through the door and hacked at the two men.
Zhao Xiao blocked Song Yuzhu behind him, drew the short knife from his waist and fought with them. Although the other side had more people and more power, their kung fu was average, so they were no match for Zhao Xiao!
In less than an incense stick of time, Zhao Xiao disarmed him and knocked him unconscious to the ground.
Zhao Xiao turned around, rushed over in three or two steps, grabbed the dwarf's neck and lifted him up.
"Let me go. If you dare to touch even a hair of mine today, I will kill you without a burial place!"
Zhao Xiao raised his hand and slapped him in the face. He used 80% of his strength and made him spit blood and see stars in his eyes.
"Stop, stop fighting..."
Song Yuzhu said sternly, "Let me ask you again, is there a tea merchant named Deng in the city?"
"No, no." The dwarf shook his head in fear. "The tea business has long been monopolized by several big families in the Chamber of Commerce. It is impossible to let outsiders run it. There is no one with the surname Deng in the big families."
Song Yuzhu continued to ask: "Three years ago, was there a businessman named Deng from the north who came to you for approval?"
He thought for a moment and said, "It seems there is such a person, but it has been so long that I can't remember clearly."
"Think about it carefully!" Zhao Xiao pinched his hand tightly, and the dwarf's face turned red: "I, I remember now, that person seemed to have opened a tea shop without approval, and then suddenly a fire broke out and burned the shop down..."
Song Yuzhu was stunned. She didn't expect that the person the cloth shop owner was talking about yesterday was actually Deng Fangyuan!
(End of this chapter)
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