Lao Xiongtou's sky was gray. He left his hometown and went north to work. After a few relatives from his mother's family finally came, they were blackmailed!
Mr. Xiong asked again in disbelief, "Tell me, how much silver do you want?!"
"Three thousand taels." Xianjin smiled happily, "The country is established by issuing Xuan paper banknotes. How can the Grand Princess still use the cash from the Zhaode period when she is in power now? The style and material of the Jiaozi cannot be changed? Hey! Don't tell me! The Grand Princess thought of you as soon as she thought of it - hey hey hey! The old Lord Xiong of Xuancheng Mansion is good and does a good job. This task should be handed over to him..."
Mr. Xiong felt a sharp pain in his head. "Stop it, stop it, don't flatter me! You want five or six hundred taels, I'll approve it immediately. You want three thousand taels! Do you think my life is worth three thousand taels?"
Xianjin smiled and said, "Don't lower your own value. You are worth at least ten thousand gold."
Wanjin, I think you are a divine gold!
Lord Xiong was not happy: since he had taken over Yingtian Prefecture for the past few dozen days, he knew that the accounts were difficult. Although Jiangnan was rich, there were many scholars, and scholars were exempt from taxes and corvée. In addition, Emperor Zhaode liked to visit Jiangnan, and the three tours in the past few years had almost emptied the treasury of Yingtian Prefecture. Three thousand taels were indeed not a lot, but now with a lot of mess, he had to support the students who came to Beijing after the spring examination, dredge rivers and other expenses. He wished he could break every penny into a tael of silver.
Xianjin took out another piece of paper and listed a table with every account clearly stated. "Payroll buyout means these twenty people will do nothing but make Jiaozi. In ancient times, people paid high salaries to maintain integrity, and now people pay high salaries to support craftsmen. If the wages are low, they are easily bribed and lose the secret skills of Jiaozi. Workshop expansion and transportation guarantee are also the big items. Transportation guarantee is one of the waterways, and the other is to build land routes. After the news of using Xuan paper to issue banknotes is released, our Xuan paper will no longer be limited to Northern Zhili, but will be exported to all parts of Kyushu."
Xianjin smiled, but his eyes were sincere. "If you want to be rich, you must first build roads. With these three thousand taels, I promise to build at least two roads from Xuancheng Prefecture to Nanchang Prefecture and Wuchang Prefecture on the basis of satisfying the development of Jiaozi."
If you want to be rich, build roads first...it sounds simple but it is the truth.
Lord Xiong's eyes flickered, "Did the Grand Princess say this?"
Xianjin said, "Ouch!" "Look at my little head! I really can't remember what the Grand Princess said—" As he spoke, he flipped open the thick plan book and went straight to the last page, "Look, I wrote down everything the Grand Princess said!"
Xiong Ling saw clearly that the last page of the plan was stamped with the Grand Princess's private seal and handwritten comments.
Xiong Ling: "..."
If you had told me earlier, I would have approved the five thousand taels for you. Why would there be all this preparation?
Xianjin happily took the silver note and set off for the return journey to Xuancheng. After a tiring journey by boat and carriage, the three of them said goodbye to each other. Xianjin went back to the orange garden first. Chen Fu was not there. Mother Zhang and Suo'er were picking vegetables in the yard. Zhou Ergou, the Zheng brothers, Qiqiqi, Manager Dong and Aunt Zhong went to the Chuanji workshop. Brother Haixing was reading a picture book in the house. When they heard the news that Xianjin had returned, several people at home hurried out to greet him. Suo'er hugged his left leg, Haixing rubbed his right shoulder, and Mother Zhang patted his back, as if he had returned triumphantly from the octagonal cage.
Mother Zhang was very excited. "...I dreamt about the birth of a Pixiu yesterday, and you came back today! Your father went to Shatin for a banquet the day before yesterday, forget about him! I'll make you some pork intestines!"
Qiao Hui, who was forgotten behind him, poked his head out and said, "Let's roast a chicken. We'll eat loaches in May. Let's stew a sauerkraut loach soup with some noodles in it, and stir-fry some leek sprouts and beans."
Mother Zhang nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay! I'll cook them all!"
Suo'er narrowed his eyes and watched Qiao Hui carrying his suitcase and heading straight for the east wing naturally. He frowned, not knowing what he was thinking about.
Just as Suo'er was about to say something, Qiao Hui turned back from the east wing and poked his head out, "Auntie Zhang! Please get me a basin of bath water! Put some flower petals in it - you have washed all the clothes in my room for me, right? Sure enough, there is a clear smell of soapberry!"
"What, no petals? Are there any floral oils or cold incense? None of those? Try to buy some next time you go to the market..." Qiao Hui muttered and retracted his head.
Suo'er looked at the wide-open door of the east wing, then looked at his boss who looked accustomed to it, and seemed to be thinking about something.
Qiao Hui went to Juyuan purely for vacation, as Xianjin could not take a vacation. Princess Bai'an did not leave her much time - or rather, good opportunities do not wait for anyone, so she had to make arrangements as soon as possible and go to Beijing quickly to prevent someone from getting there first.
Xianjin allowed himself a good night's rest, and had a lively meal with everyone. The next morning, he notified everyone in the Xuancheng Paper Industry Chamber of Commerce to gather at Wuxu Hall, and specially asked Aunt Zhong to send an invitation to the Heng family, specifically requesting Henglian's wife and Hengxi to attend.
Just after noon, Xianjin walked to Wuxu Hall as usual, listening to the endless compliments from people coming and going. He looked at the eldest son's widow, Boss Duan, sitting in the seat of the Chen family, looking calm and composed. He gently pressed his hands down, and when the hall was quiet, Xianjin spoke, "...Everyone knows that I don't like to talk nonsense."
Xianjin paused and said directly, "We have successfully seized the Japanese imperial edict paper and the school teaching paper."
After everyone in the hall had digested the speech, the owner of a small workshop raised his fist and shouted with great excitement.
Xianjin smiled and successfully suppressed the excitement with one hand, "There is one more thing. The court plans to issue banknotes with rice paper, which requires three hundred thousand yuan of production in three years."
When this news was released, everyone in the hall was stunned! After the shock, there was ecstasy! Three or two of them shook hands and discussed! Some excitedly stood up and paced back and forth at a loss. No, no, no, not pacing, but jogging!
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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