It was just dawn, and the cicadas outside the window were already screaming. When Liu Cheng woke up, he felt sweat all over his body, and his clothes were sticky to his body, feeling indescribable.

"This Taiwan ghost weather!" Liu Cheng twisted his body in discomfort and muttered and got up. Last night, because the weather was too hot, he fell asleep until very late. He thought it would be cooler in the morning, but he didn't expect that the sun had not risen yet, but it was already so stuffy that he lost all sleepiness and simply stopped sleeping.

Although the weather is hot, Liu Cheng is used to sleeping in small clothes. This is a habit that he has developed since childhood and cannot be changed at all. However, the weather in Keelung is too hot, so when he woke up, his clothes were all wet.

Liu Cheng put on his shoes and went to the yard, drew a bucket of water from the well and washed his face, then took it to a small shed in the corner of the wall. After taking off all his clothes, he scooped a few scoops of water to rinse it, and finally threw the clothes into the bucket to wash them, then twisted them casually and put them on his body again. Anyway, the weather is hot, and the clothes on his body will be dried soon.

This yard was rented by Liu Cheng before. Although the yard is not big and only has one main house, the price is not cheap. If he hadn't made some money at that time, he might have not rented this yard. However, calculating the days, the rent paid was about to expire. It seemed that he would have to find another cheaper yard when he arrived. Thinking of this, Liu Cheng couldn't help but sigh, but his young face was inconsistent with heavy weight.

When I entered the east side of the window in the house, there was a small table here. There were two steamed buns in the basket on the table. They were bought when I got home last night. Four pennies were spent. I ate two last night. The remaining two were his breakfast today.

Picking up two hard steamed buns, Liu Cheng opened the wooden stopper in a glass bottle on the table, picked up the chopsticks and carefully pinched a chopstick and bean paste from it, and then carefully applied it to the steamed buns. This was what his wife made for him when he came out, mainly because he was afraid that he would not be accustomed to Taiwanese food. Liu Cheng was reluctant to eat it at first, but now he has become the only dish he can eat.

After eating two hard steamed buns into his stomach, Liu Cheng brought the small table and a small chair at the door, and also brought a cloth bag with paper, ink, pen and inkstone. He is now writing letters on the dock, and his business is pretty good. He can earn more than 100 entries a day. In addition to eating and drinking, he can still spend more than two cents of money in a month. However, next month he will find a new place to live and add rent. It is estimated that it will be good to save the cents of the month in a month.

Liu Cheng is only 31 years old this year and was originally from Tingzhou. His family is poor and has land. His father wants to gain a background in his family, so he keeps asking Liu Cheng to study, intending to give him a fame and honor, and to be proud of his ancestors.

Speaking of which, Liu Cheng is really a material for studying. He was named a child prodigy at a very young age and ranked among the top in every exam in the county school. He became a tribute student at the age of twenty and went to Chang'an to take the scientific exam. Unfortunately, Liu Cheng failed the exam from his teens to his thirties, and in order to take the exam, his family's savings were almost the same.

Faced with this situation, Liu Cheng was also a little discouraged. In addition, with the development of industry and commerce, his relatives and friends, especially those who were not as good as their family in the past, have gradually improved their lives and even lived a better life than their family. In addition, he has already started a family and has both wives and children, but now he has to suffer with him. Even because he failed many times, he has many rumors about him in secret.

Liu Cheng is a very family-oriented person. He can be ridiculed by the villagers around him, but he doesn't want his wife and children to suffer any grievances with him. In addition, he has lost confidence in the imperial examination, so he gritted his teeth and simply put down his figure. After discussing with his wife, he concentrated the money at home. Then he brought the money to Taiwan, preparing to find a way to make a fortune.

Speaking of which, Liu Cheng was a scholar after all, and he also liked to read newspapers, so he was very clear about the situation in the Tang Dynasty and surrounding areas. He knew that Taiwan was now occupied by the King of Qi, and that industry and commerce were encouraged there, and businessmen were treated very favorably. In addition, there were many ports there and industry and commerce were very developed, so there were many opportunities to make a fortune. In addition, Tingzhou is not far from Taiwan, so Liu Cheng brought most of his family's money to Keelung, Taiwan.

Liu Cheng was a smart man, otherwise he would not have been known as a child prodigy since he was a child. After he came to Keelung, he soon discovered that as long as he had money, he could easily find a way to make money with money. Even if he was willing to make efforts, he would spend money to buy a large piece of land, then buy some slaves, and open a plantation to make a lot of money. However, he invested a lot in the early stage and was also slow to make money.

Liu Cheng didn't have much money in his hands, and he didn't want to make a fortune by relying on land. In addition, after a period of understanding, he finally decided to invest his money in the high-risk and high-yield industry of Hai Trade.

Speaking of which, Liu Cheng really had a talent for business. He first went to Fuzhou to contact a batch of silk, then transported it to Jimai, and sold it to a Persian maritime merchant, and immediately made dozens of taxes. Speaking of which, if he was brave enough to transport the silk to Luzon or Borneo to sell it, he would definitely make several times the money.

With the first successful experience, Liu Cheng was very excited. He went to Fuzhou and Keelung several times, earning more than 300 yuan. It was at that time that he rented such a small yard in Keelung and paid several months of rent. He even planned to make more money, so he bought a yard in Keelung and brought his wife and children to live there.

However, there are unexpected situations in the world. Marine trade is an industry with great risks. After traveling to Fuzhou and Keelung several times, Liu Cheng found that this kind of short-distance transportation was too slow to make money, and finding someone to ship it was a troublesome. In the end, he decided to make a big deal, and he packed a whole cargo ship himself, then entered a ship of sugar from Keelung, and planned to transport it to Siqian City, South Korea, which is located in the north, and South Korea is rich in Han people, and there is a huge demand for sugar. It can be said that as long as it is transported there, there will be no need for sales.

Originally, Liu Cheng's ship went to sea in September. It is said that the sea is generally calm during this season, and there are few big winds and waves. However, there are unexpected situations in the weather. No one expected that in this safer season, Liu Cheng's ship encountered big winds and waves, and was poured into the cargo hold by sea water. As a result, all the sugar in the macau was soaked in the sea water.

If it is replaced with other goods, such as porcelain, you don’t have to worry about soaking sea water. Even if it is replaced with silk, just drain it in time and then find a place to clean it. In this way, even if you lose money, you won’t pay too much. But the thing about sugar is the most afraid of sea water. After all, it is something to eat. If you soak in bitter sea water, even a fool will not eat it again, let alone sell it.

All the ship of sugar was destroyed, which made Liu Cheng, who had been smooth sailing, confused. Although he was very careful in doing business and the payment for the floc was settled, the freight for his charter was not yet completed. He originally planned to wait for the sucrose to be taken before the sucrose was taken, but now it is better. Not only is the sucrose gone, but he also owes a large amount of freight.

When Liu Cheng returned to Keelung and paid the freight he owed to others, he had less than a usual amount of money left. Even if he saved money, it would probably be enough for him to eat and drink for a month, let alone make a comeback. In the end, he had no choice but to get a letter from the dock.

Originally, scholars like Liu Cheng were in places like Keelung where job opportunities were everywhere, so finding a decent job was not difficult. Even if they were to keep accounts for others, they were much better than writing letters. However, after Liu Cheng had been in business for several months, he was no longer willing to fight with others. Besides, with his scholarly temper, he could not stand the control of others.

As for work such as going to the factory to work, he couldn't help it and his wages were not high, so he simply set up a letter writing stall at the dock. There were a lot of foreigners from Keelung who came to do business and work, and most of them didn't know how to write, so Liu Cheng's business was pretty good, at least higher than ordinary workers, and he was very free.

Of course, Liu Cheng had not thought about going home, but when he left home, he wanted to make a living by making a living by his wife and children. But now, he has not earned money and has become a living by writing letters on behalf of others. This makes him have no shame to go back, and even if he can't eat well and sleep well in Keelung, he has no plans to go back.

Liu Cheng came to the place where he set up his stall with a table and chair. It was on the pier of Keelung Outer Port, not far from where he lived, and there were sycamore trees planted on the roadside. His stall was under one of the sycamore trees, which was covered by the shade. Although it was still very hot, it was better than being shining in the sun.

There are no phone calls these days, so contacting family members can only rely on communication. So as soon as Liu Cheng's stall was put out, many businesses came to the door immediately. Liu Cheng spent the whole morning writing letters. Although there were not many contents of a letter, there were too many people asking him to write letters, and sometimes there were three or four people queuing up together.

Until noon, the sun in the sky became more and more poisonous, and the ground was lit up. Although the dock was still very busy, most of them were slaves working. As for the ship workers of the Han people, they had already started eating.

Liu Cheng felt a little hungry at this time. After all, he had been gnawing steamed buns since yesterday and hadn't eaten well. Today's business is good, and Liu Cheng thinks he should eat something good. There is a good soup cake shop behind him. The soup cakes are very good, and each bowl costs only three cents. In addition, when it's hot, he also gives away a free bowl of iced mung bean soup, which is good and cheap.
Chapter completed!