Chapter 116 The Prosperous Rouge Studio
"Jun Yanqing's taste in other things is fine, but his taste in personal guards is terrible! The big black guy is annoying, and this new guy is even more annoying!"
Yan Shiyilang rubbed his bruised face and spoke to Yan Shierniang while eating an orange peeled by his maid.
Seeing several bottles of new ointment on the table, he picked up one and sniffed it:
"Look, Jun Yanqing even knows about rouge and powder. I heard that this perfume is very popular. The young men in the city who came to participate in the treasure competition had their servants line up to buy it."
"Nowadays, when you go to Yihonglou for a drink, the girls there don't want gold or silver jewelry, they just love this perfume and lip balm."
Yan Twelve Niang put down the account book in her hand, her eyes sharp, "Second brother went to Yihonglou?"
Yan Shiyilang was startled and waved his hands quickly: "I heard that. I won't go. If my elder brother finds out, I will be put in solitary confinement."
"I've been running to the border town all day recently. It's hard to even have a cup of tea, let alone a glass of wine."
Yan Twelve Niang really wanted to find out about King Li's recent situation, but was afraid of being laughed at by her second brother.
I thought about quickly settling the accounts for this month and personally delivering a portion of the dividends to the border town. Then I would have the opportunity to meet the King openly.
During the annual Mid-Autumn Festival Treasure Competition in Yanzhou City, young men and women from all states in Yan area gathered in Yanzhou, making her Yanzhizhai's business very prosperous, and many items were sold out.
In particular, the high-end ointment containing red ginseng and pearl powder was said to be a secret recipe from the palace, and was coveted by the noble ladies in Yan.
There is also the lipstick in a white porcelain tube. Just twist it gently and the red lip balm will come out. Just apply it on your lips twice and your lips will be rosy and attractive.
It is much easier to use than lipstick, and it is not troublesome to touch up your makeup in public. Nowadays, the ladies in Yanzhou are proud to collect all the lipstick colors.
Yan Shier Niang had the help of the Yan family's old steward in managing the business. Relying on these new products, she quickly turned Yanzhizhai into the most popular rouge shop in Yanzhou.
Goods are always in short supply, and the profit for this month alone is tens of thousands of taels of silver! Yan Shier Niang never cared about money before, let alone looking at the account books.
But now she knew that King Li was short of money and rebuilding the border town would require a lot of money. What she could do to help King Li was to make their business prosperous.
She knew very well that she and King Li had no future, but she just couldn't help but want to see him, even if it was just to help him do something.
When she heard her second brother mention the Prince of Li, she pretended to ask casually, "What do you think happened to the Prince's personal guards?"
Speaking of this, Yan Shiyi gets angry: "A pretty boy who claims to be an old guard from Chang'an. He is very arrogant and even more aggressive than Jun Yanqing. I just made a joke and he started beating me."
"You should call him Prince! The Prince is a good-tempered person, you can't just call him by his name. What did you say?"
Yan Shiyi laughed and said, "I am not talking nonsense. They go out together, eat and live in the same house. This Jun... Prince, who can't marry a woman, is so close to a man."
Yan Twelve Niang glared at him fiercely again, and Yan Eleven shrank his neck: "Just kidding, just kidding! I heard that Long Yang is popular in Chang'an, what if the King of Li likes it too."
Yan Twelve Niang was furious: "Second brother, if you keep talking nonsense, I will report you to my eldest brother! Can you say such things in front of your sister?"
Yan Shiyilang was busy trying to comfort others. If he really told his elder brother, he would definitely be beaten. It was not that he was speaking without restraint, he just wanted to dispel his sister's unrealistic fantasy about the King of Li.
Seeing that Yan Shiyilang hadn't come to the border town for several days, Jinsui didn't take it to heart. This guy said he came to watch the Yan family work and wanted to listen to Cheng Yu talk about the Thirty-Six Stratagems, but it seemed like he was only interested for a short time.
In the past two days, Jinsui's leg injury has healed and she can ride a horse. She took some time to go to the East China Sea to see the salt fields, and took Captain Liu from the Tuntian Camp with her.
She thought about it and decided that it would be better to hand over the salt fields to the Tuntian Camp. The Black Feather Camp was an army and had to train, suppress bandits, and fight. It would be inappropriate for them to be distracted by managing the salt fields.
After the joint battle to defend the border town against the Tartars, the Tuntian Camp and the Heiyu Camp became closer like brothers. With Gu Changxiao's men also arriving in the border town, Jinsui no longer had to worry about management omissions.
She felt that she could safely and confidently entrust such an important and confidential matter as the salt fields to the Tuntian Camp.
Gu Changxiao naturally came along as well, and Jinsui also wanted to let him see the fields in the Tuntianying.
After all, I burned down someone else's border town, so I have to let him see what I did after I came to the border town.
All the way to the East China Sea, Jin Sui introduced him from time to time:
"The fields under the riverbank are newly reclaimed. We can plant our new crops there in the future. They are very productive. After two or three years, the border town will not be short of food even if its population increases."
Captain Liu took the opportunity to say, "Your Majesty, speaking of this, there is one more thing I have not reported to you. Half of our experimental field for growing seedlings was burned by the war."
Jin Sui was shocked: "Which half? Potato seedlings or tomato seedlings? Hurry and plant them while the weather is still warm!"
She did not blame Captain Liu for not reporting it in time, because ever since the battle at the border town, everyone who was still alive had been so busy that they wished they could do the work of ten people, especially Captain Liu, who was in charge of all matters at the Tuntian Camp.
Besides, there was no point in reporting the burning of the seedling field to her, so she could understand the delay in reporting it.
Captain Liu said hurriedly: "We have already replanted and built a greenhouse, so we don't have to worry about the seedlings being damaged even if there is a sudden frost.
The burned half of the field has potato, tomato and sweet potato seedlings. I calculated that the surviving seedlings are enough to plant five mu of land. We will plant on a large scale next spring."
Gu Changxiao heard them talking about three new crops, which he had never heard of before coming to the border town. Our King Li told the people in the border town that these were seeds that were tributed to Chang'an by the Western Regions, and he brought them from Chang'an.
Everyone in the border town believed it, but Gu Changxiao knew very well that Chang'an did not have such things.
So, Taoist Xiao Ji, where did you get these new crop seeds?
He did not want to delve into it further, because the imperial court attached great importance to new crops, as had been the case throughout the dynasties. Once, the Boling Kingdom paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty with Boling vegetable seeds and received generous rewards from the Tang Dynasty.
All countries strictly monitor their own crop seeds. They all know that Goryeo has good cotton seeds, but whether through official channels or smuggling by merchants, they cannot get large quantities of cotton seeds back from Goryeo.
If Taoist priest Ji wanted to ask for something from the imperial court, these three new crops could be presented as tribute in the Taoist way. It would be fine whether he wanted a Taoist temple or a title for Taoist priest Ji.
But he didn't ask for anything and just gave it directly to the border town farming army.
Gu Changxiao looked at Jin Sui with more and more admiration and appreciation for his talent. He must keep Taoist Xiao Ji in the border town!
Just then, they passed by a green beet field. Jin Suixi said happily, "This field was still being cultivated when I came here last time. You guys are moving very quickly!"
Captain Liu laughed and said, "When the Zheng family was here, we cleared the land overnight and planted the vegetables that the prince mentioned before the frost fell."
Beet is mainly used to extract sugar, but looking at the large vegetable fields at this moment, Jinsui suddenly had an idea and thought of another thing.
He hurriedly asked Captain Liu, "Are there cabbages and turnips in this vegetable field?"
(End of this chapter)
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