In late April in Xuancheng Prefecture, it is mid-spring. Walking up from the lower reaches of Longchuan Creek, you will see black tiles, white walls, horse-head walls, and fish-scale tiles lined up in rows, with the Jingting Mountain in the distance as a backdrop, and a green willow leaf swaying in the wind.
The owner of Chengdong Baiweitang poked his head out of Fang Shengge's window, stroking his chin and looking at the door opposite. He said thoughtfully, "... Is this the nth boss to enter Chenji Hall?"
The apprentice beside him looked over and said, "Twenty-one."
"Wow, so many!" Baiweitang's boss praised the apprentice, "You have a good eye. You can remember all of this!"
The apprentice rolled his eyes silently as he fished out the mushrooms and frogs from the casserole, "Because you have to ask the total number for every one that comes..."
No wonder he gets along so well with the third master of Chen Ji.
In addition to the geographical advantage of being close to the water, the similar train of thought is of course indispensable.
The residence of Chenji Xuancheng Mansion is a very typical Huizhou-style architecture. Passing through the patio where four streams flow into the hall, there is a hall that is nearly eleven meters long. The hall is a bright room with three open rooms and two corridors on both sides, facing the patio. There is a screen door in the middle with movable partitions that are all opened. The two corridors are filled with flying chairs and small side tables next to the chairs, covered with red cloth with gold thread, and on top are uniform celadon imitation Ru kiln gourds, each of which contains a willow branch pointing upward and a more brilliant golden jasmine.
Thirty flying chairs and thirty small side tables were all occupied at one o'clock in the morning.
For a while, people were talking and socializing, it was very lively, and there were scattered words everywhere, most of which were "Good luck to Boss Qiu! Where are you going to make a fortune this year?", "Boss Cui, I haven't seen you for a long time, I still remember you were a big shot! A big shot!", "There is less rice straw in Shatian this year than in previous years. Our manager said to buy one from Jingde, so I asked him to go to Shatian to plant it for me!" and other similar business slogans.
At the end of the night, a young girl in a gray-brown straight-collared and straight-sleeved outfit and a moon-white horse-faced skirt with dark patterns walked out from behind the corridor of the Ming Hall. The girl had her long black hair tied up with a rough and primitive wooden hairpin. She had a clean and fair face, a slender and upright figure, rosy lips and bright eyes. Compared to her appearance, the first thing people saw was an invisible, neat and decisive temperament.
There were three people following the girl.
They all look familiar.
One is Zhao Dezheng, the manager of the former mulberry paper workshop in the east of the city, now the "Fubai" shop, one is Li Sanshun, the only one in Xuancheng who is in charge of the curtain and makes the six-meter-long Xuan, and the last one has a respectful look and a humble attitude, and is obviously Dong Wubo, the former manager of Chenji.
Mr. Heng, who was sitting at the lower left, was the first to stand up. He bowed and made way for him, "Boss He."
Heng Wu Niang, who was standing next to Master Heng, had rosy cheeks and a pair of eyes that were frighteningly bright - the Heng family was the only business with two seats on the spot.
Everyone glanced at the configuration behind the young girl, and then saw that Master Heng was the first to bow. Some people who knew how to handle things immediately followed suit, cupped their hands, and shouted, "Boss He!"
Some people didn't even stand up. They looked up, sneered, and turned to drink tea to hide their gaze.
Xianjin stood in front of the armchair at the top and looked down. In the 11-meter-long hall, there were two rows of flying chairs neatly arranged, fifteen in each row, thirty in total. There were eight empty seats, thirty invitations had been sent out, but only twenty-two people came.
In fact, only twenty-one families came.
Most of those present were middle-aged men in their early forties. Occasionally there were two or three young faces, but they all looked hunched over and looked like the heads of the family rather than the stewards or second in command.
Xianjin lowered his eyebrows and knelt down to greet Master Heng with the courtesy of a junior, "Hello, Boss Heng." Then he slightly turned his body, half-knelt down to the people present, and performed a more standard greeting than he had in his two lifetimes, "Everyone, good luck this morning."
Xianjin stood up, smiled, and asked everyone to sit down. Then, Mother Zhang, with a face as smiling as a sunflower, led the team to serve tea, cakes, and steamed towels for wiping hands.
The middle-aged man with a square face and round eyes below Hengji said loudly, "Boss He! Although those present here are not as good as Chenji and Hengji, they are all well-known figures in the Xuanchengfu paper industry. The money they earn in an hour is much more valuable than your tea and cakes! If you have something to say, just say it, don't waste everyone's time with useless things!"
Zhang's mother immediately put away her fake smile: Damn it, you are shameless! My mother Zhang hasn't come out to serve tea and water for several years!
Xianjin lowered his head and took a sip of tea, then smiled and said to Master Heng, "...Fuding white tea, awarded by the academician Wang of Yingtian Prefecture, it's really good tea, you should try it."
Master Heng held the tea with his side hand.
Xianjin then turned his head, his brows full of smiles, "Others may not know that our Chen's profit is about ten taels per hour. I still have three accounts of seven hundred taels to check, and two businesses of two hundred and thirty taels to discuss. What did you just say? Am I wasting everyone's time?"
Who are you wasting your time with?
The middle-aged man's throat choked and his face flushed instantly: Well, their family can earn about 400 coins per hour...
The middle-aged man stopped talking.
Xianjin smiled unchanged, turned his head and looked at everyone present, "As the saying goes, sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. Every one of you is a well-known figure in the paper industry within the jurisdiction of Xuancheng Prefecture, including the Zhou Workshop in the west of the city, the Fenjian Shop in the south of the city, the Red Star Shop in the north of the city... and Boss Wang in Jingde, Boss Liu in Dingzhuang, Boss Xiao, Boss Zou, and Boss Huang in Jingxian..."
"Chen Ji has invited everyone to come. Xianjin knows that you are not giving face to me, He Xianjin, but to this piece of rice paper and the rice paper business."
Xianjin placed his hands on the handles of the armchair and said calmly, "The Xuan paper business has been passed down from generation to generation. It is easy to maintain a business of a hundred years, but it is difficult to create something new. How should Xuan paper move forward? How to make it bigger? How to sell better and further? These problems cannot be solved by me, He Xianjin, or by you, Boss Wang. They can only be solved by all of us working together."
The people off the field looked at each other, some were whispering to each other, and some were gossiping.
Chen sent out the invitation five days ago, saying "sincerely invite you to a meeting to discuss major issues in the paper industry." This was the first time anyone had seen this kind of thing, but it was not the first time anyone had heard of it. It was said that the canal gangs, escort agencies, silver banks, etc. at the docks had close contacts and would gather together every once in a while, and no one knew what they did.
Most of the paper makers make two sheets in the east and three in the west. Each makes their own paper, earns their own money, and has their own mother. They are independent in form, and even have a strong competitive relationship.
It's the first time I've seen more than a dozen paper-making workshops sitting together.
People off the field were gossiping among themselves, but no one stood up and spoke openly.
Xianjin deliberately prolonged the time, and when all the gossips were exhausted and the audience was as quiet as a chicken, he spoke again, "One tree cannot make a forest, and brothers are in the battle to fight tigers. Today, Chen Ji has set up a hall to invite all the bosses to come, for only three things——"
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