Hearing Sima Qi's unabashed revelation, Lu Hong's reaction was somewhat beyond his expectation, "Oh, Sima Qi, are you doing this to show your sincerity? Or are you showing off your cleverness?" Sima Qi haha He smiled and said, "Mr. Lu, of course I am showing my sincerity I should have told you that the remuneration I receive is not low among the foreign comprador companies in Dongjiaomin Lane. However, I will never do business with foreigners. I will strive for the maximum benefit for you!" After Lu Hong listened to this guy's boastful introduction, he still had a calm expression and just looked at this guy calmly, "Sima Qi, it's better to do what you say. Okay, I'm in the jewelry business. Please tell me which foreign companies in Dongjiaomin Lane can do this kind of business and the price is reasonable!" After hearing Lu Hong's words, Sima Qi's eyes lit up. The jewelry business is a big deal, and the remuneration you can get is naturally rising. However, Mr. Lu's request seems a bit difficult to handle. He asked me to introduce foreign businessmen to him. Could it be that he wants to get rid of him Just when he was looking uncertain, Lu Hong's voice turned cold, "Sima Qi, is there something fishy in this?" This statement surprised him. He still hasn't figured out the background of this person. It seems that He was quite imposing, and the first thing he mentioned was the jewelry business. When they first met, he thought he was a young man from the capital with a yellow belt or a red belt. However, when he heard the accent, he spoke Mandarin, and he was definitely not from the capital. . Obviously he didn't want the door-to-door business to go away, let alone a big deal. He immediately said with a smile: "Mr. Lu, this question you raised is a bit troublesome. In fact, it depends on whether it is fair to do business with foreigners. There is a huge difference between a familiar face and a familiar face. If I introduce a few households to you and there is no suitable person, it will be difficult for the business to be done smoothly. " Lu Hongruo nodded with gain, and here he comes! Here we need to find a middleman. After all, it is not convenient for him to step forward in many matters. He stared at Sima Qi and thought for a moment before asking: "This is reasonable, but if you don't let me agree, "You can rest assured, Mr. Lu. I have been working as a comprador in Dongjiaomin Lane for more than ten years. I naturally have my own methods. Since Mr. Lu is in the jewelry business, this is the most important thing." It's just an appraisal. I'll make an appointment with a regular customer from Shengxing Jewelry Store to estimate the price of your goods. Then we'll go to the foreigners to negotiate the price. We won't let you suffer any loss!" After saying this, Sima Qi's attitude was very serious. Looking at Lu Hong expectantly, it can be seen that he is very serious about this transaction. Lu Hong pondered for a long time, and when he saw that the expectant expression on Sima Qi's face had condensed, he patted the table and said calmly: "Let's go now!" Seeing that the sale was made, Sima Qi immediately stood up to greet Lu. Hong went out, leaving behind a room full of compradors who started talking very curiously The city of Beijing is divided into the outer city and the inner city. The inner city is also called the imperial city. In the middle of the imperial city is the Forbidden City. After the Manchus entered the customs, the inner city They are all the residences of the Eight Banners disciples, and the outer city is inhabited by Han people. After more than two hundred years of changes, things in this imperial city have long changed. After the Opium War, foreigners occupied Dongjiaomin Alley, which is close to the Forbidden City. It was used as the embassy district. Now, many foreign companies have been established in the imperial city close to the embassy district, while other important commercial districts in Beijing are mostly in the outer city. Lu Hong He got on the carriage called by Sima Qi and soon saw the Dashengxing Jewelry Store he mentioned on the west side of Dashilan. At the same time, Lu Hong also noticed that there were at least four or five stores in this generation with different facades. Smaller than Tai Shengxing¡¯s jewelry store. Entering Dashengxing, the waiter came to greet them in the morning, calling them "Mr. Sima" and welcoming them into the side hall to sit down. After a while, a shopkeeper in his forties wearing monopods came out and greeted them kindly. The two of them clasped their fists and said, "This morning, there were magpies calling in front of the door. It turns out that Mr. Sima is here. I don't know what to call this distinguished guest?" Sima Qi laughed and stood up, pulled the shopkeeper to sit across from him and pointed. Pointing to Lu Hong, "Shopkeeper Hu, this is Mr. Lu. He has some goods on hand, please identify them. Whether we can make a deal depends on your sincerity!" He pointed to Shopkeeper Hu again, "Lu Master, this is Hu Yifei, the second shopkeeper of Dashanxing Jewelry Store. He is a top expert in the jewelry store at Dashilan Street!" Lu Honggong handed over. The appearance of this jewelry store looks good, but The reason why I don't want to do business with local jewelers is that I'm afraid of getting into trouble. There are so many officials and princes in this huge capital, and most of the industries here are probably related to these people. The business of gemstones has been going smoothly. In this era, in his opinion, domestic merchants all rely on the yamen to make a living, and those who really do business are far inferior to those foreign devils who have traveled across the ocean. "Shopkeeper Hu, I have some jewelry from Nanyang on hand. Could you please give me an estimate of the price? If you need a reward, it's okay!" Lu ??As soon as he opened his mouth, he lost his words. Shopkeeper Hu actually still had a kind face and said with a smile: "Master Lu, this is an outsider. The guests brought by Sima Qi are just passing by, so there is no need to pay But, I don't know what you are doing, Mr. Lu." How much is the quantity? Is it a long-term operation or a one-time settlement? " When talking about this transaction, Lu Hong naturally doesn't understand the rules, but the rough diamonds and gemstones he has have been evaluated by the evaluation system. Yes, I know the difference between good and bad. If shopkeeper Hu wants to fool himself, he only needs to find another jewelry store to ask the price, and he will naturally know it clearly. Thinking of this, he asked: "How about long-term business? What's the difference in one-time settlement?" "Master Lu, if it can be operated through a small shop, I, Hu Yifei, can guarantee that it will be better than selling it directly." Foreign merchants get 5 cents more profit, but there is no such benefit if the accounts are settled at once!" Shopkeeper Hu said this with a kind face that has not changed for thousands of years. Seeing Lu Hong's confusion, he explained: "Master Lu, this The price of jewelry is different all year round, sometimes high and sometimes low. As a jewelry maker, purchases are naturally calculated at par, so the one-time settlement is based on the monthly price. It can¡¯t be much! ¡± Lu After listening to this, Hong roughly understood the current valuation process in the jewelry business. This risk-avoiding approach is naturally the first choice for savvy businessmen. This is understandable. Thinking of this, he took out a deerskin pouch from his arms. He stretched out his hand and pushed it in front of Shopkeeper Hu. Shopkeeper Hu immediately reached out with a smile and took the small deerskin bag. As soon as he took it, he immediately felt the weight of the small bag. He couldn't help but feel happy. With his own words, as long as the price could be agreed upon, it would not be difficult to settle the deal. He immediately took down a wooden plate covered with deerskin from the nearby shelf, then carefully opened the deerskin bag and poured out the gems inside! When this was poured out, shopkeeper Hu and Sima Qi's eyes lit up. On the wooden plate of deerskin, more than twenty gems of various colors shone brightly. However, when they saw the raw diamonds in it, they were all the same. Stunned. This expression naturally did not escape Lu Hong's eyes, and he asked calmly: "Shopkeeper Hu, is there anything wrong with these South Sea gemstones?" Shopkeeper Hu pointed to the raw diamond mines, "Mr. Lu, these should be South Sea diamonds. Well There are very few such gems in China, and few jewelry shops do this business. But don't worry, this thing can be sold at a high price by foreign merchants. However, I am afraid that the valuation of this South Sea diamond will have to be compared with Discuss with foreign businessmen! " Sima Qi was already snickering in his stomach at this moment. He originally thought that Mr. Lu said that Nanyang Jewelry was just a gimmick. It was probably a rich man who used his family's private goods to exchange for money and waited for the raw diamond mine to come out. , but he believed it somewhat. You must know that there is no shortage of domestic jewelry shops that deal with diamonds. However, there are very few diamonds in domestic assets, and it is almost difficult to find them. This kind of diamonds are extremely bright after processing. The gems are all purchased from foreign merchants and are extremely expensive. I heard that they all come from India and Thailand. At this moment, seeing that Lu Hong was still doubtful, he hurriedly explained: "Master Lu, if it is really raw diamond ore, there will be no problem with the sales and price of the foreign merchants. After those foreign merchants sell the goods, they will continue to work as if they don't need any money." Purchase domestically and sell them back to the West. These Nanyang diamonds are definitely a hot commodity!" Lu Hong glanced at this guy. After the great powers dumped industrial products and opium in China, they naturally wouldn't want your silver coins and silver ingots from the Qing Dynasty! , that thing has no value-preserving function at all, and the cash obtained from a large amount of dumped goods has been called an accomplice of the foreign powers to plunder China's production resources, seriously damaging the domestic business environment The most famous example is that China's silk exports are not as good as The export of raw silk occurred, eventually destroying the Chinese silk industry that had been glorious for thousands of years. However, since there is a market, that would be the best. As for how to control the risks in this transaction, he has already made plans. At this moment, he just nodded and told Shopkeeper Hu to continue. Shopkeeper Hu took a magnifying glass and carefully looked at the gems one by one in the window. He quickly divided the nearly 30 gems into three piles. Lu Hong squinted his eyes and saw this, and he understood a little bit about this guy's ability. In fact, Lu Hong had tampered with this bag of gems a long time ago. Seven or eight of them were raw ore below the gem level. The rest of the gems were systematically evaluated and divided into two grades of excellent. And now the three piles that Hu Yifei sorted out are basically the same as those he sorted out, with only slight differences in individual raw ores. However, this shows that this person is quite reputable While Lu Hong was thinking deeply, Hu Yifei had already sorted out the piles. A pile of gems was placed on the table again, and he said with a smile: "Master Lu, this batch of gems is indeed extraordinary. Just these rubies and emeralds are different from the common Burmese gems in China, but they are definitely good goods! "Having said this, he took out a piece of paper with a long list of Arabic numerals written on it, which was obviously??His estimate was crackled with an abacus next to him, and then he said solemnly: "I estimate that the current shipping price should be no less than 3,600 taels of silver" [ I wish my brothers a happy National Day~~the motherland will be prosperous~~]