Chapter 85 Hot Spring Villa 2◇

Because they had invited several rounds of guests before the opening, on the opening day, those invited guests naturally wanted to come and show their support, and also let their families come and have fun...

Some who loved their wives and children paid for their children's dinner on the day Zhu Xi invited them to a party. Their families reserved the hot spring garden and asked them to come and experience it after the villa opened...

Therefore, before the hot spring villa opened, orders were already scheduled for seven days later!

After discussion, Zhou Yu and his friends divided the hot spring garden of the villa into three levels for reservation, just like the resort hotels in later generations.

The first level is that each member can book one or several hot spring gardens to entertain guests. The fee is 200 taels per hot spring garden per day. A 20% discount is available for booking three or more hot spring gardens.

After booking the Tangchi Garden, the kitchen of Tangchi Villa will provide all guests with free meals a day, as well as free massage, pedicure, ear cleaning and other services...

Of course, the villa also has a limit on the number of guests that can be hosted at a banquet in each garden. The maximum number of guests at a banquet in a garden cannot exceed thirty.

The second level means that members do not have to book the entire garden, but only one or two hot springs and the corresponding rest rooms. Because each hot spring pool in the hot spring garden is independent and private, it is equivalent to a large suite. If only three or five friends come over, booking one hot spring pool is enough.

This level of accommodation costs 50 taels per day, and also includes three meals a day and various services. The number of guests is limited to seven, so please pack more if you wish to accommodate more guests.

The third level is based on the second level, but with three meals a day and various services omitted. You are only given a hot spring bath, and you have to bring your own food and drinks. The cost of this level is thirty taels per day.

…

For ordinary people, two hundred taels is almost their income for six to seven years or even ten years, but for wealthy nobles, two hundred taels is sometimes just the cost of a meal.

What's more, in the hot spring villa, two hundred taels can not only allow them to eat meals that are not inferior to those in the major restaurants in Kyoto, but also enjoy hot springs and various services. The key is that compared to other restaurants, the space here is more private and comfortable, unlike those restaurants that are always messy.

It's all about spending money, so why not come here!

Furthermore, this hot spring resort had a rule that non-members could not make reservations, and they only had 300 members. Every one of these 300 members was a figure who could shake Kyoto with just a stomp of their feet. Being able to bathe in the same garden or eat the same food with them would be a real honor, wouldn't it?!

Therefore, gradually, when the powerful circles in Kyoto entertained guests, they considered it an honor to be able to rent out the garden of a hot spring resort as the venue for the banquet...

Suddenly, more and more people from various prefectures in Kyoto were asking for favors and giving expensive gifts, just to borrow a membership card. The hot spring resort was almost full every day! Zhou Yu and his friends naturally made a lot of money!

According to Zhou Li, the general accountant of the villa, the daily turnover of the villa is as high as four to five thousand taels. After deducting the labor costs, the net profit is more than two thousand taels!

In just two months, they not only earned back all the money they invested, but also had more than 10,000 taels left!

Faced with such a huge profit, even Zhu Xi, who had played with pearls as marbles since childhood, was stunned! This is too lucrative!

A business that cost tens of thousands of taels of silver could actually earn back one million to eight hundred thousand taels of silver every year!?

You know, even if all the businesses her mother left him were added together, he could only earn this much in a year!

The national treasury of Dayan only has an annual income of more than 20 million taels, but their small hot spring villa can actually earn nearly 20% of the entire national treasury's silver every year!

That's the entire national treasury! If his grandfather heard this, wouldn't he be furious?

Zhu Xi thought silently, and couldn't help but glance at his grandfather beside him.

Ayu said that jealousy can often make people unrecognizable and even crazy.

In the past six months, his grandfather had been in a very good mood because of the bumper potato harvest on the imperial farm. He was imagining that in the next two or three years, the potatoes would be popularized throughout Dayan. Then he would no longer have to worry about the people of Dayan not having enough to eat...

In order to prevent his grandfather from going crazy, Zhu Xi decided not to tell him about the huge profit of their hot spring villa!

Alas! Thinking of his Ayu, Zhu Xi couldn't help but sigh again. It was a good thing for the villa to make money, but if it continued like this, wouldn't his Ayu become richer and richer?

I'm afraid you'll look down on him even more by then, right? !

well!

"Why are you always sighing?! Can't you learn from your second brother? He can now help me with some official business. And look at you, you can't even be patient enough to grind ink! You've made my handwriting crooked because of you!"

Emperor Cheng Qian was sitting at his usual large desk handling official business while he cursed Zhu Xi with disdain, "Really? This kid has been absent-minded since he came in. He can even splatter ink everywhere while grinding it!"

…

Now, Zhu Xi and his half-brother Zhu Chi both lived with Emperor Cheng Qian, so they were often compared by Emperor Cheng Qian.

Because of the Crown Princess, Zhu Xi was not close to his second brother at all.

When he was young, the Crown Princess wanted to spoil him, so she doted on him and was unusually harsh towards his second brother, her biological son. This led his second brother to believe that his mother preferred him to him, and he was extremely jealous of him. Because he was compared to his second brother, he was often scolded by his grandfather and father, who also hated him to the core!

When he grew up, he knew that the Crown Princess was a sinister person. She plotted against him because of his second brother, her biological son. This made him dislike his second brother even more. His second brother also treated him in the same way...

Gradually, the gap between the two grew deeper and deeper, and they became more and more like strangers...

Therefore, although they all lived with his grandfather, they only met for the sake of courtesy...

However, Zhu Xi felt that after all, they were brothers, and as long as Zhu Chi did not provoke him, he would naturally not take the initiative to cause trouble.

For example, even though he knew in his heart that his second brother still had fantasies about the position he missed, and therefore acted very hardworking and diligent in front of his grandfather, he turned a blind eye and pretended not to see it!

Alas! I really don’t know what’s so good about that position. Compared to the freedom of flying high in the sky, what’s the point of fighting for that tiny chair?

…

Bang!

Zhu Xi was just thinking when a memorial flew towards his head. He instinctively dodged it and it landed on the bluestone ground at his feet with a thud...

Then his grandfather's scolding came again:

"Hey! I'm scolding you, how dare you be distracted? Are you thinking about that girl from the Zhou family again?

You're a grown-up now, why is that girl the only one on your mind all day?

What's so good about that girl? She's from a humble family, shabby, and a good girl wandering around in men's clothes all day! Compared to those famous ladies in Kyoto, she's worlds apart..."

Because he was really curious about what the girl his grandson had been thinking about for more than two years looked like, when he was in Fuzhou City, Emperor Chengqian specifically asked Zhu Xi to point out Zhou Yu to him...

At that time, the Battle of Fuzhou had just ended, and Zhou Yu was busy treating the wounded! How could he have a good image?

His head was swollen, and he was wearing a large men's leather coat that was covered in blood. His face was chapped and black from the cold, his lips were chapped from exhaustion, and his eyes were red...

When Emperor Cheng Qian took one look at her, he almost cried because of her ugliness! Naturally, he didn't have a good impression of her!

No matter how he thought about it, he felt that the ugly girl was not worthy of his beautiful fifth grandson.

But, this guy is like a possessed person and just likes her!

Zhu Xi couldn't stand hearing anyone say bad things about Zhou Yu, even his grandfather, so he immediately retorted:

"What's wrong with Ayu? She looks dark because she's been running around, busy treating patients and saving lives, and she got tanned! Naturally, she can't compare to those fair-skinned ladies who hide in their rooms all day and are served by eight maids!

And she is not ugly at all, she is actually very pretty. Don’t say anything nonsense if you didn’t see her clearly that day. Anyway, I think all the ladies in Kyoto put together are not as pretty as my A Yu!

Also, didn't you always teach us that our Zhu family was once a poor tenant farmer, and that we should always remember our roots and consider the common people our breadwinners? Why are you the first to look down on Ayu's humble family?

If you despise Ayu's background so much, then don't want the potatoes she grows!

I don't know who was so happy that they couldn't sleep because the imperial farm harvested over 40,000 kilograms of potatoes! They shouted that potatoes were a gift from God to the people of Dayan!

If it weren't for Ayu, you wouldn't even know what potatoes look like! ? "

Really, he got the advantage but still acts ungratefully. He got the potatoes grown by Ayu, but he still looks down on his Ayu... Zhu Xi couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Emperor Chengqian...

"What do you mean by not wanting the potatoes that girl planted? I spent five thousand taels of silver to buy those potato seeds, didn't I?!

You haven't even married that girl yet, and you're already defending her against your grandfather. What if you marry her?! Won't you be the one to start a war over her and play tricks on the other princes?!"

Emperor Cheng Qian pretended to be angry and cursed, but in his heart he wanted to hear what his grandson would say next.

"Grandfather, what are you talking about? You shouldn't put accusations on people like that!"

Zhu Xi was immediately annoyed when he heard this.

"Your grandson is only the grandson of the emperor, not King You of Zhou. How could he have the power to light a beacon fire? Even if I could, with Ayu's personality, she would have put it out with a basin of water! She is not some Bao Si!"

You old man, you saw how exhausted she was during the defense of Fuzhou City.

She was a doctor who always took saving lives as her duty! She was a good girl who risked her own life to treat the wounded during the siege!

Besides, she's very busy every day, and when she has time, she has to study her medical skills. She wouldn't be like that Bao Si, always making a face and asking people to make her laugh!

Emperor Chengqian...

From what you said, it seems that you don't want to light a bonfire to entertain the beauty, but your Ayu is not good at this?

But after hearing what my grandson said, my impression of Zhou Yu improved a bit...

"Then let me ask you, what do you think an emperor should do? Or, in other words, to what kind of person do you think I should pass the throne?"

Emperor Chengqian suddenly asked Zhu Xi.

Zhu Xi...how could he dare to answer that?!

"Uh, Grandfather, you have a lot of ideas, you have your own..."

He wanted to fool around, but Emperor Chengqian interrupted him.

"Don't keep talking nonsense to your grandfather. We're just the two of us here, there's no one else here. What can't we say? Just say it. No matter what you say, grandpa won't blame you. I want to hear your true thoughts!"

Seeing his grandfather suddenly become serious, Zhu Xi didn't dare to joke around anymore. He thought seriously for a while before saying seriously:

"My grandson feels that now that Yunnan, Guizhou, and Liaodong have been pacified, your successor only needs to strengthen the defenses, station capable generals there, and appoint the right people. He doesn't necessarily need to have exceptional military talent. After all, you've already conquered everything he needed to conquer!"

But in terms of people's livelihood, my grandson feels that we must choose someone who can maintain the status quo, who knows how to let the people recuperate, and who is personally concerned about the interests of the people. Only when the people of Dayan have enough to eat can our Zhu family's kingdom be stable.

But we can't rush into improving people's livelihoods. If we rush into it and threaten some people's jobs, even the most desperate rabbits will bite, and some people might even risk everything for it.

So the person you choose has to be patient! Patience is needed until he secures his position and wins the support of the people. Then, talking about reform will be much easier!

Then there's the issue of talent cultivation. Right now, Dayan still has your veteran subordinates supporting it, but if the younger generation can't rise to the occasion, then it's all over...

Uh…I can’t think of any other grandchildren! …”

Facing the sudden question from Emperor Chengqian, Zhu Xi could only bring out the principles of governing a country that Zhou Ge Lao had taught him when he was a child, and add some of his own thoughts and reflections over the past few years, while thinking and speaking...

Emperor Chengqian...

"You thought of all this yourself?!"

"Not all of them. Some of them were taught by Lord Zhou in the past, some of them were learned slowly from you, grandfather, in the past few years, and some of them were thought up by me myself..." Zhu Xi said honestly.

"Hahaha, good! You have really improved! Haha, then tell me, who among your uncles and brothers is capable of taking on the important task?" Emperor Cheng Qian asked with sparkling eyes. He really wanted to hear who his fifth grandson would recommend.

"That's not for sure," Zhu Xi said. He wouldn't fall for his grandfather's trick. What if he nominated someone, and that person didn't get the position? And the one who got the position knew that he didn't nominate him. Wouldn't that be courting death?!

So he said nothing, and took advantage of his grandfather's good mood to run up to him, show his courtesy and pretend to be pitiful, while patting his grandfather's shoulders, he said:

"Grandfather, since I'm so filial to you, could you please make arrangements for me before you pass the throne to my uncles?

I don't ask for anything else, just a decent piece of land and a golden medal of immunity from death! ! "

Emperor Chengqian...