Chapter 131 Teach a man to fish
Fan Yongdou listened with a smile on his face.

Wang Dengku saw the clue and said in surprise, "Could it be that Zu Dashou accepted the small yellow croaker sent by Shopkeeper Fan?"

Fan Yongdou then laughed out loud and said proudly: "We always tell everyone that we should pay attention to the method of doing things. There is no fish in the world that does not eat fishy smells!"

"Not to mention a military family like Zu Dashou. If they don't accept money, how will they support so many children in the family?"

Hearing this, everyone agreed.

"That's exactly what it means!"

"That's right. There is no official who doesn't like money, just like there is no dog in the world who doesn't like to eat shit."

"These days, those who are loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and those who are honest and dedicated to their work all have a bad ending. How many good people can make it into a noble family!"

After everyone finished speaking, Wang Dengku hurriedly asked, "Manager Fan, tell me quickly, how did you make that dog eat shit... No, no, how did you make Zu Dashou collect the money?"

Fan Yongdou said with a smile: "Now that the nine border trades have all disappeared, only Jinzhou City is left. It can be said to be a veritable whirlpool, and countless people are watching it."

"If Zu Dashou accepted money from everyone, he wouldn't be Zu Dashou anymore."

"So we have to be careful about how we send the money. We won over Wu Xiang in advance, and also invited Zu Dashou's nephew Wu Sangui to act as a lobbyist. Only then did Zu Dashou reluctantly accept the money."

"But if there is a first time, there will be a second time. It will be much easier for us to send money next time."

When everyone heard what happened, they all gave a thumbs up and praised Fan Yongdou for his cleverness.

Fan Yongdou enjoyed the flattery of the crowd for a while, and the smile on his face suddenly turned into contempt. "But Wu Xiang's eating manners are really ugly. I gave him ten small yellow croakers earlier, but when he saw the gift list I gave to Zu Dashou, he was so greedy that he wanted me to give him silver!"

"Humph, if being an official and loving money is like a dog loving eating shit, then Wu Xiang must have grown up eating shit and has a big appetite!"

He sighed and said, "But I will need him in the future, so I can't avoid spending money on him."

"Let's discuss and decide how much to give and we can all chip in together. After all, I'm not the only one who will benefit from Zu Dashou's birthday."

Wang Dengku and others immediately echoed, "That's exactly the truth!"

Fan Yongdou laughed sinisterly again, "But people are mean. If Wu Xiang gets the money for nothing and doesn't know how to cherish it, it will be hard for him to be willing to settle things for us if something happens in the future. I think it's better to just give him shares!"

"what!"

"Just give him some shares?"

“This investment is a bit high!”

Everyone was shocked and even doubted Fan Yongdou's proposal.

Fan Yongdou snorted in his heart and said sarcastically: What short-sighted rats!

Once the distribution of interests was involved, the eight major Shanxi merchants, who seemed to follow Fan Yongdou's lead, immediately rebelled.

However, Fan Yongdou only thought about it in his mind and did not speak it out loud. Instead, he said earnestly: "Of course, this dry stock is not given to him for free. We must have a condition."

Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Fan Yongdou continued, "We are still unsure of Zu Dashou's intentions, so why not use our shares to win over Wu Xiang, and use the excuse that the grassland is not peaceful, to ask him to send his son Wu Sangui to escort us out of the border!" "If Zu Dashou really has bad intentions, or if something else goes wrong, we can drag his son Wu Sangui into the water, and I believe Wu Xiang or Zu Dashou will not dare not try their best to turn things around!"

After hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on and praised Fan Yongdou for his resourcefulness, which was comparable to that of Zhuge Liang.

However, Wang Dengku still had doubts and asked, "Although Zu Dashou's intentions are unclear, he has already accepted our money. What accidents can happen?"

Fan Yongdou sneered, "I didn't just meet Zu Dashou at the General's Mansion today. Guess who else I met?"

Everyone looked at each other, no one could guess.

Fan Yongdou simply stopped playing dumb and said, "It is the Liaodong Governor Bi Zisu!"

Everyone suddenly realized that they had heard that this person had served as Governor of Liaodong in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, taking over Yuan Chonghuan's position.

However, all people know about this person is that his brother is the Minister of Revenue, and they don't know much else.

However, Fan Yongdou had obviously heard of Bi Zisu, and patiently explained: "Bi Zisu is different from his smooth brother Bi Ziyan. He is a stubborn nerd!"

"Today, that idiot Wu Xiang was jealous of the gift I gave to Zu Dashou, so he asked me for a bribe before it even left the General's Mansion. He ran into Bi Zisu, and I don't know how much he heard. I always felt uneasy, so I had to use Wu Sangui as a shield."

After listening to Fan Yongdou's explanation of the whole cause and effect, everyone thought for a moment and felt that it was necessary to use Wu Sangui as a shield.

After all, the shares they gave were only for the open business. As for the secret transactions with the Jiannu, it was impossible to tell them about it.

The profits from the transactions that were made overtly were very limited. Although they were still huge profits for most people, they were nothing compared to armor, ironware and gunpowder.

After all, in ancient times, this stuff was considered a weapon.

Throughout history, both in China and abroad, the only things that could generate more profit than arms sales were passing the imperial examinations to become an official and selling longevity creams.

Several people dared not even think about taking the imperial examination, and as for the longevity cream, it had not appeared in this era. After much thought, treason and selling arms were the most profitable.

So everyone discussed the specific share of each family, and Fan Yongdou came forward again and found Wu Xiang's residence in Jinzhou City that night.

"Manager Fan, you are finally here. I have been waiting for you all night!" Wu Xiang smiled and pulled Fan Yongdou into the residence. Before they even sat down, he shouted for the maid to serve tea.

Under Wu Xiang's expectant gaze, Fang Yongdou hooked his finger at the butler who was following behind him, and the butler immediately placed an exquisitely crafted wooden box on the table.

Fan Yongdou pointed at Muhe and said with a smile: "This is the small yellow croaker that is a specialty of Shanxi. Please taste it, Lord Wu."

Wu Xiang was originally quite happy, but when he looked at the wooden box, he realized that it was not very big and at most it could hold a dozen "small yellow croakers". His expression immediately turned unhappy.

Seeing this, Fan Yongdou cursed in his heart, but still put on a smile on his face and said, "After I go back, the inspectors often say that it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. Instead of giving Master Wu a yellow croaker directly, it is better to show Master Wu a way to fish. In this way, the yellow croaker can be inexhaustible. What do you think, Master Wu?"

Wu Xiang's eyes immediately lit up, and he asked, "Oh, I wonder if Shopkeeper Fan has any tricks to teach me?"

"Hehe..." Fan Yongdou's eyes became meaningful.

(End of this chapter)