Chapter 79

When Wangcai and Fugui said they would take him to the most important place in the port, a place that every visitor must go to, Zhou Chong was extremely curious. He immediately asked them to lead the way, and the three of them headed east. They soon arrived at a bustling area of the port.

This place was already the easternmost point controlled by the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce. Beyond this point, other chambers of commerce controlled the port areas. At this intersection of port territories, a very prosperous area had formed. Here, taverns and inns lined the streets, and various small vendors filled the area, their cries of hawking goods rising and falling, vying for the attention of the merchants walking on the street.

Compared to other parts of the port, the area in front of Zhou Chong was not only more prosperous but also had taverns and inns that were clearly of a higher class. Even the courtesans sitting by the windows of the brothels were more beautiful than those in other areas. The pedestrians on the street were mostly well-dressed, clearly indicating that this was the prime location of the entire port.

Wangcai and Fugui led Zhou Chong through several taverns and inns, quickly arriving at the center of this area. What surprised Zhou Chong was that at the heart of this prime location, there was a large, flat open space, which was actually a square. More surprisingly, at the center of the square stood a three-story teahouse.

Zhou Chong looked at the teahouse in the center of the square and then at the surrounding taverns and inns. He found that the nearest building to the teahouse was over twenty zhang away. The surrounding buildings formed a circular layout around the teahouse, as if they were stars surrounding the moon. This无形的衬托使得茶楼本身具有一种难以言说的威严，让人一见就心生敬畏。

“这……这座茶楼是干什么的，怎么如此……如此特别？”Zhou Chong couldn't think of any words to describe the teahouse. From the architectural environment, the teahouse was quite dominant, with no other buildings within dozens of zhang. However, no matter how dominant it was, it was still a teahouse. A large "茶" (tea) character was written on the tall flag in front of the main gate, and although the facade was large, the decoration was quite ordinary, making it look like a regular teahouse, just larger.

"Hehe, Young Master, this Beigang Teahouse is not an ordinary teahouse. However, it's not something that can be explained in a few words. Let's go inside and take a look, and then you will understand!" Fugui said. The two brothers looked similar, both ugly, and their personalities were not much different. The only way to distinguish them was that Fugui was darker than Wangcai.

After hearing this, Zhou Chong looked at the teahouse again and noticed some differences from ordinary teahouses. He saw that there were several guards standing in front of the Beigang Teahouse, and they looked familiar, likely members of his own chamber of commerce. Additionally, the teahouse was bustling with guests, and the people entering and leaving were mostly distinguished and well-dressed, clearly not ordinary people.

Seeing that the teahouse had guards from his chamber of commerce and so many people coming and going, Zhou Chong was also curious. He then led Wangcai and Fugui forward, wanting to go inside to see what was happening. The chamber members guarding the door quickly recognized him and were surprised. They were about to salute him, but he waved them off.

As he entered the teahouse with the crowd, Zhou Chong saw that the main hall was very spacious, with hundreds of tables, almost all of which were occupied. People were either drinking tea or chatting, which looked no different from an ordinary teahouse.

At first, Zhou Chong didn't pay much attention. He entered the hall and found an empty table in a corner, so he walked over and sat down. However, before he could call a waiter for tea, a middle-aged man in his forties, who looked composed, turned around and bowed to him, saying, "Greetings, young sir. May I ask what you are looking to purchase? I have Songjiang cotton and Suzhou silk, all of the highest quality. Are you interested?"

"Purchase goods?" Zhou Chong was taken aback and then said with a puzzled look, "I don't want to purchase any goods."

"You don't want to purchase goods?" The middle-aged man looked at Zhou Chong strangely for a moment and then laughed, "Young sir, you must be joking. If you're not here to purchase goods, are you here to drink tea?"

"Isn't this a teahouse? Why can't I come here to drink tea?" Zhou Chong was even more puzzled and couldn't understand what the middle-aged man was talking about.

However, as soon as Zhou Chong spoke, the middle-aged man looked at him as if he were an alien, as if he had seen something very strange. But he quickly realized that this was impolite, so he forced a smile and bowed, saying, "I see, young sir, you are here to drink tea. My apologies, my apologies!"

After saying this, the middle-aged man turned around and ignored Zhou Chong, leaving him feeling puzzled. He turned to ask Wangcai and Fugui, but found that the two were covering their mouths and laughing.

Seeing this, Zhou Chong immediately understood that Wangcai and Fugui must know the reason. He glared at them and said, "What are you laughing at? Tell me what this teahouse is for and why that man asked me if I wanted to purchase goods."

Hearing Zhou Chong's words, Fugui and Wangcai immediately stopped laughing. Wangcai stepped forward and secretly pointed to a nearby table, saying, "Young Master, look at that table. Is there anything different about it?"

Zhou Chong followed Wangcai's finger and saw three people sitting at the table, all dressed like merchants. They were chatting and drinking tea, and from the content of their conversation, it seemed to be about business, nothing unusual.

"What's different? They're just three merchants talking about business," Zhou Chong said, still puzzled.

"Look more closely, Young Master. The key is what's on the table," Fugui added.

"On the table?" Zhou Chong looked again and this time noticed something different.

In a teahouse, a table for drinking tea should only have teacups and pastries. However, on this table, in addition to the teacups and a plate of pastries, there was also a small, uniquely shaped dish containing some crystalline sugar.

If this were in Europe, having sugar on a tea table wouldn't be strange, as they often add sugar to their tea. However, this was the Ming Dynasty, and the people at the table were clearly Ming merchants who had no habit of adding sugar to their tea. Therefore, the presence of a dish of sugar was very unusual.

Noticing the strange dish of sugar, Zhou Chong listened more closely to the conversation of the three men. He soon realized that they were discussing a sugar transaction. The two men without sugar in front of them were planning to sell their sugar to the man in the middle, who had the sugar dish. The two men were proposing their terms, and the man in the middle was considering them.

Seeing this, Zhou Chong seemed to understand something but still had many questions. Before he could ask, Wangcai finally explained, "Young Master, this Beigang Teahouse is actually a place for merchants to conduct business. As you can see, the merchant in the middle is here to buy sugar. According to the unwritten rules of the teahouse, he placed a dish of sugar in front of him. When someone has sugar to sell, they will sit down and negotiate with him. If several merchants want to sell, they will sit together and discuss who offers the best price and quality."

"I see!" Zhou Chong nodded and then looked around the teahouse. He noticed that almost every table had someone displaying the goods they wanted to purchase, such as porcelain, silk, and cotton. There were also many people who were not sitting but were walking around the teahouse, looking for buyers for their goods.

However, Zhou Chong soon had another question. "That's strange. When I sat down, I didn't say I wanted to purchase goods, and I didn't display any goods to purchase. Yet, that middle-aged man immediately asked me what I wanted to buy. That doesn't seem normal."

"Hehe, Young Master, there's another unwritten rule in the Beigang Teahouse. When there are empty tables, only those who want to purchase goods will sit down first and display samples of the goods they want to buy. They wait for sellers to come and negotiate. Sellers who enter the teahouse and find buyers will sit down to negotiate, but if they don't find buyers, they can't sit at a table to drink tea. Instead, they must leave information about the goods they want to sell, and the teahouse will help them find buyers," Fugui explained.

Now Zhou Chong finally understood. By sitting at the table, even without displaying any goods, he was considered a buyer according to the teahouse's unwritten rules. No wonder the middle-aged man had asked him what he wanted to buy.

Understanding the rules of the Beigang Teahouse, Zhou Chong found it quite interesting. He then asked Wangcai and Fugui for more information about the teahouse. They told him that there were three such teahouses in Shuangyu Port, one each in the West Port, South Port, and North Port, with the North Port teahouse being the largest and having the highest volume of transactions.

Zhou Chong realized that the Beigang Teahouse was essentially a trading center for goods. Most of the goods arriving at the port were traded here, and the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, which managed the area, took a cut from the transactions. The larger the volume of transactions, the greater the profit for the chamber.

However, Zhou Chong also noticed that the trading methods at the Beigang Teahouse were quite primitive. The merchants had to find business opportunities on their own, and the teahouse did not actively participate in the transactions. This was inefficient, and he decided he needed to find a way to improve the trading methods at the teahouse.