The wise words of the past have earnestly instructed you.
The collection of rhymes is expanded, and one can see and hear more.
To understand the present, we must learn from the past; without the past, there is no present.
Know yourself and know your enemy; put yourself in their shoes.
Wine is drunk with a close friend, and poetry is recited to someone who understands.
Acquaintances are everywhere, but how many are true friends?
The *Zeng Guang Xian Wen*, a collection of proverbs, contained less than five thousand characters. In just ten days, through rote learning, fifty soldiers were able to memorize it. This completely shattered everyone else's worldview.
"Brother...brother, how did you do that? It's so complicated, I can't even remember it. You got a bunch of roughnecks to memorize it in just ten days?" Yuchi Baolin stammered.
"Yes! Yes! Why don't you teach your elder brother, so that the old man won't scold me for being ignorant every day?" Cheng Huaimo nodded and asked.
"This method has its drawbacks. Although they can memorize it, they can only memorize it. If you put these characters out on their own, they need to think for a while before they can recognize them! It's like if I give them a sample, they can recognize the sample when they see it again, but if I change the regular script to running script, they may not be able to recognize it anymore," Qin Mu explained.
"Ah! No wonder it works so well, it turns out it has such big drawbacks!" Xiangli Yanran exclaimed in surprise.
“There are gains and losses. Although the shortcomings are significant, it is very suitable for them! Now that they know so many characters, it will be much easier to teach them in the future!” Princess Changning said thoughtfully.
"Yes, that makes sense, and that was my original intention. But we'll have to wait a while before we can teach them and let them get used to it!" Qin Mu nodded.
"Are there any other flaws?" Princess Changning asked, glancing at the soldiers who had just been dismissed.
"Imagine what would happen if your brain were stuffed with a bunch of things you've never encountered before?"
"What will happen?" Cheng Huaimo asked curiously.
"They'll experience dizziness and difficulty concentrating recently, but it'll be fine in a few days," Qin Mu explained.
"Brother, why don't you teach me too? I'm not afraid of these shortcomings, as long as I can read!" Cheng Huaimo asked with a smile.
“Teaching you is not out of the question! In fact, there are safer and better ways,” Qin Mu said with a smile.
"Ah! Really? Teach me quickly!" Cheng Huaimo said excitedly.
"Brother Qin, what's the method?" Xiangli Yanran asked in surprise.
"You should know what meditation is, right?"
"Of course I know that."
"My method is to enter a meditative state, empty my mind, and then I read it aloud. This way, others can remember it deeply," Qin Mu explained.
"You can do that too!" Princess Changning was also surprised.
"Yes, this method is simple and effective, but it also has many limitations."
What are the restrictions?
"First, the person reading aloud must have strong mental strength, and others must also trust him. As you all know, if I have evil intentions, I can instill some bad things and control others without them realizing it."
In addition, this method is only suitable for adults who are sensible and literate. Young children simply do not understand the meaning of reading aloud.
"This raises a question: literate people don't need to use this method to learn to read and write," Qin Mu explained.
In fact, Qin Mu didn't mention one more point: to achieve this, one also needs to be extremely familiar with the text being read and understand musical rhythm. Musical attacks require the coordination of mental strength; pronunciation and mental strength are both indispensable.
“On the contrary, it’s these kinds of fools who, although they can read, don’t know many characters. This method is perfect for them!” Princess Changning said with a smile.
"Ahem! We're not stupid, we just don't like reading. Every time we read for a while, we can't help but feel sleepy," Yuchi Baolin said embarrassedly.
"I don't know if this method will work; it's just an idea of mine," Qin Mu said. He was indeed telling the truth; he had only come up with this method recently while training his soldiers.
"Is there any danger?" Cheng Huaimo asked.
"There's no danger, of course; at most, the effect will be a little less."
"That's good! Let's give it a try." Cheng Huaimo slapped his thigh and said.
"Let's do it tonight! It's quiet at night."
"good!"
Everyone was very excited and enthusiastic about this special method. Before the sun even set, they couldn't wait to go to Rugui Tower.
"Haha! Huai Dao, you've arrived! I've been waiting for you for ages!" Cheng Zhijie's arrogant laughter echoed through the restaurant.
"Uncle Cheng! Uncle Yuchi!" Looking at the dozens of empty plates on the table, Qin Mu secretly admired their appetites.
"Sit down! Would you like something to eat?" Cheng Zhijie asked.
Looking at the messy dining table, Qin Mu had no appetite and shook his head slightly, saying, "Uncle Cheng, you're here because the partnership matter must have been settled, right? Why don't we talk about business first, and eat later?"
"Yes! Huai Dao is indeed clever. The partners have been agreed upon. Not only the partners, but the positions have also been chosen. Go and take a look when you have time. The partners are Changsun Wuji, Li Maogong, Prince Li Daozong of Jiangxia, Duke Chai Shao of Qiao, the Xie family of Jiangnan, and the Cui family of Qinghe."
"The old fox Changsun holds a high position among the civil officials; Li Maogong is your father and our brother; Li Daozong belongs to the imperial clan; as for Chai Shao, he came to us on his own, and I couldn't refuse him; the Xie family of Jiangnan, although now in decline, is still a powerful force; as for the Cui family, it's just my uncle's personal motive," Cheng Zhijie explained.
"No problem, Uncle Cheng can decide! I'll go see the shop location tomorrow so I can make the construction plans." Qin Mu nodded with a smile.
Cheng Zhijie was quite satisfied with the partners he had chosen; they had basically considered all aspects. Civil officials, members of the imperial family, and prominent clans—they provided the restaurant with a very reliable group of backers. As for Chai Shao, whether it was out of gratitude for Qin Mu writing the poem for the princess or because he valued the restaurant's development, it didn't matter; his own strength was considerable.
"Ahem! There's one more person who wants to participate," Cheng Zhijie said somewhat awkwardly.
"I wonder who it is?" Qin Mu asked, frowning. Judging from Cheng Zhijie's expression, it was clear that he couldn't refuse, and the amount requested was not small, which was why he was embarrassed to say it.
"I had already agreed to six offers, but I really couldn't refuse this last one."
"Could it be?" Qin Mu opened his eyes wide and pointed to the sky.
“Yes!” Cheng Zhijie nodded in agreement.
"It's okay, we can just open another one. But how much will that person contribute?" Qin Mu asked.
"Pay up!" Cheng Zhijie stared at Qin Mu with wide eyes.
“Yes! How am I supposed to know how much to contribute if I don’t pay? How about we split 10% among all three restaurants?” Qin Mu asked matter-of-factly.
"No, no, ten percent is too little. That person will lose face." Cheng Zhijie shook his head in opposition.
“Isn’t the Changsun family very wealthy? Let that old fox Changsun Wuji foot the bill,” Yuchi Gong suggested.
"That's a great idea!" Cheng Zhijie's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed happily.
Qin Mu lowered his head in thought, searching his mind for a solution, then looked up and asked, "Uncle Cheng, quite a few people have approached you to partner with them to open a restaurant, haven't they?"
"It's not just a few, it's a lot. I only let slip a little bit, and people have been coming to my door so much they've practically worn the threshold down," Cheng Zhijie said with a wry smile.
"Alright, I have another idea. See if they're interested in investing together."
"What method? Let me tell you, as long as the method is good, there's plenty of money." Cheng Zhijie asked, craning his neck, meaning that there was no need to ask outsiders at all.
"This method can be done by many people, but it doesn't make as much money as a restaurant."
"Tell me quickly, young Qin!" Yuchi Gong asked with great interest.
"I want to build a commercial street, but this requires the approval of the imperial court," Qin Mu explained.
"Commercial street? What kind of street is that?" Cheng Zhijie asked blankly.
"Uncle Cheng, as you know, although our restaurant's prices aren't high, they're still beyond the reach of ordinary people. What if we took each of the restaurant's dishes and opened them as individual small shops? How would the business be?"
"The hotel's food tastes good. If they switched to selling it in individual portions, most people could afford it, and business should be good," Cheng Zhijie said, stroking his beard.
"Uncle Cheng is wise. We can have people set up small shops, each selling only one or two kinds of food. This way, people can choose what they like to buy and try. Although the prices are not high, we can win by sheer volume."
"By building this commercial street, we're bringing all the shops together in one place, which will attract more people to come and enjoy the area."
After listening to Qin Mu's explanation, Cheng Zhijie suddenly realized and said, "So that's how it is. This method is good. The restaurant can be broken down into several smaller shops."
"That's not all. Others who want to open their own shops are welcome to do so, as long as they have their own unique products!"
"You mean you want to find someone to fund the construction of the commercial street?" Cheng Zhijie asked.
"No! We'll build the commercial street ourselves. We'll only announce it after it's finished," Qin Mu said, shaking his head. Real estate development is such a profitable industry; how could they let others get involved? Inviting others is just a way to squeeze money out of them.
"You want the imperial court to pay for it?"
"No! The imperial court doesn't need to contribute any money; we'll cover all the costs. However, we do need an order from the imperial court that all the houses on the commercial street belong to us!"
“Impossible! How could the imperial court give us houses? Besides, most houses in Chang’an are already owned. We don’t have that much money to buy an entire street!” Cheng Zhijie shook his head repeatedly.
"Hehe, Uncle Cheng, you're overthinking it. We only need the portion of the houses that belong to the imperial court," Qin Mu said with a smile.
“Huai Dao, we cannot force people to buy or coerce them,” Cheng Zhijie solemnly reminded him.
"Of course not, Uncle Cheng, why would you think that?" Qin Mu asked in astonishment.
"What about the people's houses?" Cheng Zhijie asked in return.
"Uncle Cheng, what do you think people will think if we build a restaurant instead of a building and move them into the new houses?" Qin Mu asked with a smile.
Cheng Zhijie understood immediately, his eyes lighting up as he said, "You mean to exchange smaller buildings for the people's current housing? Hmm! If it's built well, the people will definitely be willing. But living upstairs might be a bit inconvenient, right?"
“Living upstairs is certainly inconvenient. But what if it were a three-story building? One, two, three floors, one room for each family, one entrance and one exit. The garden is shared. Building a row like this would save a lot of space,” Qin Mu explained, arranging the bowls on the table to illustrate the layout.
"Excellent, excellent! As long as the imperial court cooperates in changing the land deeds, we can acquire a large amount of land for free!" Cheng Zhijie said excitedly.
Seeing that Cheng Zhijie hadn't grasped the key point, Qin Mu didn't care. After all, there was plenty of land available now, and they were all too aware of the profits from real estate development. Compared to real estate, commercial streets were more like speculating on land.
"I'll offer 300,000 strings of cash! I want a piece of this land too!" Even the usually stingy Yuchi Gong gritted his teeth and said this when he heard about the land.
Nowadays, people value land the most, which reflects the deepest love that people have had for the land for thousands of years.
"Uncle Cheng can tell His Majesty that we will build a large shopping mall on the commercial street and present it to His Majesty!"
"Shopping mall?" Upon hearing Qin Mu's new term, Cheng Zhijie was stunned again.
"A shopping mall is essentially a shopping center, a commercial street, which I prefer to call a food street. The whole street only sells food. So what if you want to sell other things? Then you just bring them all to the shopping mall!"
"After people have eaten, they naturally need to go shopping, so this shopping mall is their only place to shop. You can imagine how good the business will be!" Qin Mu explained.
"Of course business is good. Building such a large shopping mall must cost a lot of money, right? Won't we lose money?" Yuchi Gong asked.
"How could we possibly lose money? Without the support of the imperial court, how could we have acquired so much land? Besides, we need to change the land deeds, and there might be people in the court stirring up trouble over that! With His Majesty's support, things are much better," Qin Mu explained to him.
"Yes, the common people haven't suffered any losses; on the contrary, they've moved into better houses. His Majesty certainly won't object. It's just that His Majesty doesn't have that many properties to sell in the market, does he?"
"Of course Your Majesty doesn't have that many products. The main purpose of the mall is to sell things for others. Your Majesty only needs to collect rent! This is a sure-fire way to make money."
"A sure-fire way to make money, this is a great idea! His Majesty will definitely agree." Yuchi Gong nodded in agreement.
“Huai Dao, there’s a prerequisite: we have to make money honestly and fairly!” Cheng Zhijie reminded him.
"Uncle Cheng, don't worry, I know about this matter and I promise I won't do anything wrong! Tomorrow I'll bring out a plan and let His Majesty take a look, and he'll know!" Qin Mu said solemnly, cupping his hands in greeting.
"That's good!" Cheng Zhijie's expression relaxed, and he nodded with a smile.
"By the way, Qin boy, what are you doing at the restaurant? You're not just here to eat, are you?" Yuchi Gong asked curiously.
"Father! It's like this, Huai Dao has a way to quickly learn to read and write!" Cheng Huaimo explained excitedly.
"You can do that too!" Cheng Zhijie asked, his eyes wide, after hearing his son's explanation.
"Young Qin, do you think I could give it a try too?" Yuchi Gong asked as well.
"No! Your two uncles have powerful spiritual energy that is completely integrated with their physical bodies, so I can't affect you. But you two can help us protect the Dharma!" Qin Mu quickly shook his head and said.
"Alright! You all eat quickly! I want to see if it's really that amazing!" Yuchi Gong said impatiently.
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