Chapter 62 Candidates

Chapter 62 Candidates

Chapter 62 Candidates

"I say... the Liu family incident wasn't done by you, right?" Wang Rong couldn't help but ask.

"Hahaha, uncle, what are you talking about? If I had this ability, would I drag you along to do the salt business?"

"That's true..." As an uncle, Wang Rong was of course aware of his nephew's situation. Although Zhu Shenzhui was a member of the royal family, what did royal family mean these days? There were so many royal family members in the entire Ming Dynasty. There were hundreds of royal family members in Pingyang Prefecture alone. If we count the royal family members without titles, the number would be more than doubled.

If Zhu Shenzhui was a prince or a duke, that would be another matter. Even if he was a general, that would be considered a stretch. But Zhu Shenzhui was only a lieutenant of the lower level. How could such a title have any privileges? Just as Zhu Shenzhui said, if he really had such power, could he have engaged in the smuggling of salt? He would have lived a comfortable life a long time ago. How could he still be starving like before?
Although he believed it in his heart, Wang Rong still felt that this matter might be more or less related to his nephew. Although he had such a hunch, he had no evidence. But no matter what, once the Liu family fell, the previous problems were gone, which was indeed a good thing.

"Uncle, to tell you the truth, although I didn't get involved much in the Liu family's affairs, I also got some benefits from it." When Zhu Shenzhui said this, Wang Rong's eyes narrowed, and he laughed and cursed himself in his heart that he guessed correctly. It would be strange if his nephew didn't get involved when the Liu family got into trouble.

He had been doing salt business with Zhu Shenzhui for many years, so he must know what kind of person Zhu Shenzhui was. His nephew was not an easy person to deal with, otherwise these young men in Wangjia Village would not be so obedient to Zhu Shenzhui.

The Liu family had become an obstacle to them because of the salt road in Jiezhou. When the incident in Pingyang Prefecture happened, Wang Rong, knowing Zhu Shenzhui well, would have been surprised if he didn't add fuel to the fire. Sure enough, his guess was not wrong at all. Even if the Liu family incident was not promoted by Zhu Shenzhui, Zhu Shenzhui definitely did a lot of harm in it.

Wang Rong thought this was the biggest possibility, but Wang Rong didn't know that the nephew sitting in front of him was the real mastermind. The reason why Zhu Shenzhu didn't tell Wang Rong the truth was not because he didn't trust Wang Rong. No one knew about the attack on the Liu family except for the parties involved. Even if he was acting in the name of the General's Mansion, Zhu Shenzhu was hiding behind and didn't show up.

Zhu Shenzhui understood the principle that a tall tree attracts the wind. In addition to his status as a royal family member and the exact origin of the feud between the Kang and Liu families, the fewer people who knew the true situation, the better. Even if it was his own uncle, there was no need to explain the matter in such detail.

"What benefits have you gotten, kid? Did you fall for the beautiful maid of the Liu family? Or did you secretly take Liu Shancheng's concubine back home to warm his bed?" Wang Rong asked jokingly. His nephew was not a child anymore. Although he was not married yet, it was normal for him to find a beauty to warm his bed. For a real man, what goes on in the crotch doesn't matter. If Wang Rong himself was a dozen years younger, he might have had such thoughts, but now... the tigress at home was not a pushover. Hehe, forget it.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and shook his head. Where did he get such an idea? Forget about looking for a beauty. He didn't even drink wine.

Knowing that his uncle was joking with him, Zhu Shenzhui didn't care. He laughed for a while and then told Wang Rong that he took advantage of the Liu family's misfortune to ask the General's Mansion for help and spent some money to take over a shop of the Liu family.

The shop itself is not worth much, but the key is that it is a salt shop, and the key is that it has the qualification to obtain salt permits.

When Wang Rong heard what Zhu Shenzhui said, he instantly became alert. He hurriedly asked Zhu Shenzhui if this was true. When he saw Zhu Shenzhui swearing that this was absolutely true, that the shop had been taken over, and that he had hired a shopkeeper to take care of it, and that it had reopened, Wang Rong excitedly slapped his thigh.

"Okay! Wow!"

Wang Rong wanted to dance with joy. He had been dealing in salt for so long, how could he not know what a salt shop with a salt permit meant? With this salt shop, they could sell their private salt openly and without having to be so sneaky and cautious as before.

In the future, under the banner of normal trafficking, the private salt trade will continue secretly. Not only will it be safe and reliable, but the amount of salt and the profit will also increase significantly.

In the Ming Dynasty, didn't all the big merchants in Shanxi do this? There was no such opportunity before, nor was there such a possibility, but now the pie has fallen from the sky, which is a great thing that can't be asked for!
After Wang Rong's excitement subsided a little, Zhu Shenzhui talked to him about his plans and arrangements.

This time he came to Wangjia Village for the salt shop and the salt permit. Although he had already found a manager for the salt shop, and this manager was a man with a good business sense and trustworthy. But no matter what, the salt shop business must not be done in a regular manner. With such convenience, it would be a fool not to sell private salt. This was the key reason why Zhu Shenzhui spent a lot of effort to take over the salt shop.

According to Zhu Shenzhui's idea, there must be a trustworthy person at the salt shop, and this person must be sent from Wangjia Village.

In addition, we need to negotiate the route for the remaining salt from Jiezhou and determine the subsequent shares. This matter must be done as soon as possible and all of this needs to be discussed with Wang Rong.

Apart from these, there is another more important point, that is, there is not much stock in the salt shop. This time, Zhu Shenzhui intends to take some salt from Wangjia Village and send it to Pingyang Prefecture for daily sales in the salt shop. While sending the salt, the people who are arranged to go to the salt shop will go together. This matter must be dealt with as soon as possible. After listening to Zhu Shenzhui's words, Wang Rong nodded repeatedly, indicating that these thoughts were correct and it was indeed better to do it sooner rather than later.

Then, he discussed with Zhu Shenzhui who to send to Pingyang Prefecture. After discussing for a while, they decided on two clerks. However, they could not decide who should be the second manager.

Logically speaking, Xia Dong should be the most suitable one. He has been educated and can read. He has also gained experience in the salt trade in the past two years. He is the most careful in his daily work. There is no problem for him to be the second manager of the salt shop.

But Wang Rong felt that it was not possible. There were not many people in Wangjia Village who could take charge of things on their own, and Xia Dong was one of them. If Xia Dong went to Pingyang Prefecture, what would happen to the salt business outside? Don't forget that Zhu Shenzhui would be going north in a few days. When he went north, we couldn't let other people take charge of the salt road before him, right? In addition, Xia Dong had always been in charge of Jiezhou. After taking over the salt shop, this matter would be particularly important in the future. Once Xia Dong went to Pingyang Prefecture, there would be no one to replace him.

If Xia Dong couldn't go, there were two other candidates, one was Wang Chuer and the other was Wang Yinsheng, these two brothers were also Zhu Shenzhu's old team. But the problem was that Wang Yinsheng was now in Yangtou Mountain, which would be an important transit station on the salt road in the future, and it would not work without a reliable person watching over it.

As for Wang Chuer, although he was smart and reliable, he could not read a few words. It was no problem for him to be a waiter or an errand boy, but he was not qualified to be the second manager. Zhu Shenzhui thought about it and rejected both of them.

This is not possible, and that is not possible either. Wang Rong is naturally impossible. Besides, it is even more unrealistic for Wang Jinwu to go to Pingyang Prefecture. It is no problem for this kid to use his fists, but he is not cut out for using his brain. The salt shop is not an escort agency, so he should be thankful if he does not cause trouble there.

For a moment, Zhu Shencui was worried. He could not think of any good candidates. Was he just going to settle for the second best? But thinking about the importance of the salt shop, Zhu Shencui was unwilling to do so.

"Hey! How could I forget about him?" Suddenly, Wang Rong slapped his forehead. He thought of someone who should be suitable and now seems to be the best candidate.

Zhu Shencui asked Wang Rong who it was. Wang Rong smiled and pointed in a direction, saying that Zhu Shencui was really a forgetful person. This person was brought back from Yangtou Mountain by Zhu Shencui. How come he had forgotten him in the blink of an eye?
"You mean Master Zhang?"

"Isn't it him?" Wang Rong nodded and said, "Master Zhang can read and write, but this man is quite capable, and he is just an idler in the village now. Why not let him be the second shopkeeper?"

"Uncle, you and Master Zhang...?"

"Don't get me wrong, I don't have much friendship with him." Wang Rong knew what Zhu Shenzhui wanted to say, and said openly, "Master Zhang has been in the village for several months. I see him everywhere in the village. I run into him a lot, and sometimes I chat with him, so naturally I have some contact with him."

"Although I am old, my eyesight is not blurry and my ears are not deaf. I think I have been through so much and I am quite good at judging people. Although Master Zhang doesn't talk much, he has a lot of ideas in his mind, and I can still see a little bit of that. Besides, since you brought this person back, you can't just leave him idle like this, you have to find a chance to use him, right?"

Zhu Shenzhu knew that Zhang Xijun was no ordinary person, and as Wang Rong said, Zhang Xijun was more suitable to be the second shopkeeper than Xia Dong. But the problem was that he took Zhang Xijun away from Yangtou Mountain and settled him in Wangjia Village by accident, and Zhu Shenzhu had some guesses about Zhang Xijun's true origins, but he had never really confirmed them.

From these, it is not appropriate to use Zhang Xijun, after all, Zhu Shenzhui is not absolutely sure. But Zhu Shenzhui was also moved by Wang Rong's words, Wang Rong was right, he couldn't just leave the person idle after bringing him back, he had to find a chance to use him.

To achieve great things, sometimes you cannot be too concerned with small details, and you cannot be hesitant.

There are risks in everything you do, so you can't just not do it because of the risks, right? Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzhu felt relieved and thought carefully about Wang Rong's suggestion.

"I'll talk to him first and then decide after that." Zhu Shenzhui said so. After hearing his answer, Wang Rong nodded.

(End of this chapter)