The next morning, as soon as Gu Yuzhi woke up, he heard from Granny Xu that Chief Secretary Xie was waiting outside the door. His little face lit up with joy: "Chief Secretary Xie must have come to tell me good news."

Before Xu Mama could finish putting on her outer clothes, Gu Yuzhi hurriedly put on his boots and ran out of the inner room, saying, "Thank you, Chief Secretary! Thank you, Chief Secretary!"

Gu Yuzhi ran ahead, with Xu Mama chasing after him, holding an outer coat in her hand: "Your Highness, Your Highness, hurry up and put on your outer coat. It's chilly in the morning, be careful not to catch a cold."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yuzhi immediately stopped, turned around and walked towards Xu Mama, muttering to himself, "I can't catch a cold, I can't catch a cold, otherwise Judge Qin will make me drink that smelly and awful Chinese medicine again."

The thought of traditional Chinese medicine made Gu Yuzhi's face scrunch up. She couldn't help but groan, and after putting on her coat, she continued running, saying, "Chief Secretary Xie, Chief Secretary Xie, did you come to tell me good news?"

Chief Secretary Xie bowed slightly: "Yes. Yesterday, I discussed it with Guard Qi, and Guard Qi has agreed."

Gu Yuzhi smiled upon hearing this, his eyes crinkling: "Then we can get started right away." He silently asked Manager Wen, "Manager Wen, Manager Wen, what should we do next?"

Manager Wen hadn't expected things to go so smoothly; he thought that given Guard Qi's status, there would at least be some resistance.

He coughed lightly: "The escort agency needs more than just strong escorts; it also needs a powerful backer..." Manager Wen smiled as he said this, "Of course, our Prince is the strongest backer. However, what I mean is that this matter needs the support of Prefect Qi."

Gu Yuzhi was puzzled as to why opening a security escort agency required such a powerful backer.

He scratched his head: "Since I have the strongest backing, why do I still need Prefect Qi's support?"

"As the saying goes, a local official is more powerful than a distant one. Although Your Highness is a prince, in the northern desert..." He coughed a few times, not explaining himself clearly, "Escort services generally protect two types of people and goods. Often we come into contact with valuables, and often we encounter disputes. For example, some people might try to pass off inferior goods as superior ones and then cause trouble for the escort agency after arriving at the destination. Or, for example, the escort service protects people, but after arriving at the destination, they might refuse to pay the final payment on the grounds that the person was injured. That's when Prefect Qi's role becomes apparent."

He waved his folding fan and said, "As long as the people of Mobei know that this escort agency is acquainted with Prefect Qi, then ordinary people will not come to cause trouble. If a dispute really occurs, as long as our escort agency is not at fault, we don't need to worry about the government not handling it fairly."

When it comes to the word "fairness," Gu Yuzhi thinks of the time when his father was still alive. Because he had no one to support him, whether it was his father or his mother's family, he, as an unfavored prince, rarely left the palace. After all, no matter which of his brothers he argued with, no matter who was right or wrong, it was always him and his mother who were punished.

He felt it was unfair at the time, but later he understood that it was because they had no one to back them up.

Manager Wen said he wanted Prefect Qi to know that he was the person behind the escort agency, which simply meant he wanted Prefect Qi to back them up.

Upon reflection, he quickly understood.

He nodded and said in a light tone, "I understand that. Anything else? Anything else?"

Manager Wen smiled with satisfaction and continued, "Besides the support of the government, we also need experienced managers. As I mentioned to His Highness before, there are two types of escort services: people and goods. Especially the goods, which require a very experienced manager to have a keen eye and to be able to assess the goods accurately and price them reasonably. In addition, there are also the most basic errand boys and accountants."

Gu Yuzhi's eyes sparkled, and she felt very complicated: "I thought that as long as a security escort agency had bodyguards, that would be enough."

Wow, there are so many aspects involved!

Manager Wen smiled and took the opportunity to impart knowledge to Gu Yuzhi: "Your Highness should know that no successful business can be accomplished by just one or two people. Take the Northern Desert for example. The restaurants, inns, jewelry stores, and pawnshops that Your Highness will see are all run by many people. Each has its own responsibilities and tasks. What Your Highness needs to do is find a reliable and experienced manager to oversee all these matters."

As a prince, it's best to remain a behind-the-scenes boss and never show your face in public. Otherwise, if your wealth accumulates to a certain level and the emperor finds out, the nature of the matter will change.

As a former imperial merchant, Manager Wen was well-versed in this matter.

Gu Yuzhi repeated Manager Wang's words in his mind several times, and whispered, "Just like in the palace, each palace has maids and eunuchs who do odd jobs, and there are also head maids and eunuchs like Granny Xu who manage these maids and eunuchs, but they are managed by the empresses of each palace, and the empresses of each palace are managed by her sister-in-law, the empress."

He looked at Manager Wen: "Is the Empress Sister-in-law the reliable and experienced manager that Manager Wen mentioned?"

Although the Empress's status was noble, it doesn't seem wrong to say that...

Manager Wen could only nod and say, "Your Highness's business in the future will not only be limited to the escort agency, but will also involve many other aspects. At that time, it will be necessary to establish a trading company, with the head manager of the trading company managing all the managers of these individual businesses. The head manager of the trading company will have a position equivalent to the Empress in the palace."

As for His Highness, his position in the business is equivalent to that of the Emperor in the palace.

These words were somewhat disrespectful, but Manager Wen only thought about them silently in his heart and did not say them aloud.

Gu Yuzhi was a little confused by all the talk about this shopkeeper and that shopkeeper, but he understood the general meaning.

He wanted to ask more details, but then he heard Chief Secretary Xie say, "Your Highness, today we are going to see Prefect Qi. The escort agency is no small matter and we need Prefect Qi's help. We also need to see these bandits and find out why they robbed the imperial gifts."

Gu Yuzhi looked at Xie Changshi's bright eyes and thought Xie Changshi was really amazing.

He was trying to figure out how to approach Prefect Qi when Chief Clerk Xie had an idea. He felt like he had stumbled upon a great treasure.

Xie Changshi felt a little flattered by the admiration in Gu Yuzhi's eyes, and silently straightened his back: "I will report to Your Highness after I understand the bandits' intentions."

Gu Yuzhi puffed out his cheeks. He had never seen a bandit before. Were they like the ones in the stories his mother told him—big, strong, and with thick beards?

He was about to say that he wanted to go too, but then he thought that he couldn't, he still had to go to school, so he waved his hand and said, "Alright, Chief Secretary Xie, go and get busy. Let me know when you have the results. I'll go to school after I've had my meal."

He took two steps to the side, then looked up at Chief Secretary Xie, his voice trembling slightly: "Chief Secretary Xie, is it possible that it will be Consort Chen giving the lesson again today?"

My good mood is ruined!

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