Chapter 330 The Mountains Remain Unchanged
When the officers and soldiers around Ji Mansion withdrew, Gu was the first to learn the news.
As soon as the crisis at Ji Mansion was resolved, Gu Huaisheng came to visit again, with a look of worry on his face.
He came to inquire about information. Ji Wuyin told him everything he could, such as Xie Zhan's ambition. He also left out things he couldn't, such as the news about Qin Sheng and Xue Xu in the South. Qin Sheng was something he absolutely couldn't talk about, but he hinted at Xue Xu.
Ji Wuyin even mentioned his plan to evacuate the South.
At this time, Gu Huaisheng also had a strong sense of crisis.
"Uncle, can you introduce me to someone from the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce?"
Ji Wuyin: Hmm?
"Aren't they selling a pedal thresher recently? My subordinates say it's quite useful. You know, a big family like us has quite a lot of fields, so this thresher would be of great use to us."
"I'd like to meet with the head of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce to discuss this deal. Our Gu family needs quite a few threshing machines. Could you help introduce them?"
This is a big deal. Ji Wuyin knew that the price of a foot-operated thresher was not low. "Okay, I'll ask for you. If it's possible, I'll arrange a meeting between you two."
"Thank you very much, uncle."
When Gu Huaisheng left, his expression finally became a little lighter.
That night, Xie Mansion
The light in Xie Zhan's study was still on in the middle of the night.
At this moment, a figure in night clothes appeared in front of him.
Xie Zhan stopped writing and looked up at the newcomer. "You're here? Please take a seat."
He told him to sit wherever he wanted, and Xie Wei really did so. "Why did you call me in so urgently this time? What's the matter?"
Xie Zhan looked at the brother in front of him who looked about 60% like him and said, "Find a way to destroy this face of yours when you carry out the announcement."
Originally, Xie Zhan had wanted him to find an opportunity to fake his own death and leave the Southern Expedition Army. But he couldn't bear to do so. Xie Wei was now extremely well-known within the Southern Expedition Army. Furthermore, if anything happened to Xie Wei, it would appear to be a cover-up, further solidifying Lü Songli's ambitions.
His proposal still has some drawbacks and needs to be improved later.
Xie Wei got furious when he heard this, "You're dreaming!"
"If you don't want to cause trouble for yourself or your family, just do as I say." Xie Zhan said firmly.
Seeing that he was serious, Xie Wei asked, "You suddenly made such an excessive request. You have to let me know what happened, right?"
Xie Zhan had no choice but to tell the whole story.
Xie Wei pointed at his nose and cursed, "Xie Zhan, you are really great. You have caused me trouble in life, and now I let my entire family clean up your mess!" Then he turned around and left.
Xie Zhan just felt a terrible headache.
…
As for the current situation in the south, the scholars are the ones who have the most complaints about the siege of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's bookstore.
Their good times only lasted a few days? And then it was gone?
As a result, during the siege of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Bookstore, there were always scholars wandering around.
The next day, people found that the officers and soldiers of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Bookstore had finally withdrawn.
Immediately afterwards, the four branches of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's bookstore in the east, south, west and north cities all hung red cloths with the words: The bookstore is about to close due to poor management, and all items in the store are currently being sold at a discount.
One stone can cause a thousand ripples.
Countless scholars flocked into the store, surrounded the shopkeeper and asked the questions in their hearts.
"Are you closing down? You've only been open for a few days!"
"Your bookshop was doing so well, how come it's failing? Is someone forcing you?"
The old man who was speaking also glanced at the Lu family's bookstore next to him, which was still deserted.
Yet another person asked, "Is it possible that you are pricing the book paper too low and are not making enough money to cover your expenses?"
Before Wu Ren could speak, everyone suggested:
"Manager Wu, please raise the price a bit. At least it will keep the bookshop going. We can all accept that."
"Yes, yes, we can accept an appropriate price adjustment. Please don't close the store."
Wu Ren smiled in his heart, what a lovely group of people.
He then said, "The South is too unfriendly. We are going back to Liaodong County."
The scholars present disagreed with his words. What? The people in the South are obviously very friendly!
Wu Ren sighed, "We foreign merchants can't defeat the local bullies. If we're surrounded by soldiers from time to time like this, it will be very damaging to our bookstore's reputation. People who don't know will think we've done something illegal."
Scholars: I understand. They know who is unfriendly to the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Bookstore.
They all expressed their opinions.
"When the bookstore was surrounded, I said it must be the Lu family's doing, just to eliminate dissidents."
"Indeed, the Lu family has a close relationship with the government."
"How dare Lu do this? His things are so expensive!"
"Shopkeeper Wu, if you leave, will we never be able to buy books and paper this cheap again?"
Wu Ren smiled and said, "Actually, snow-white paper is cheaper in Liaodong County. We shipped it all the way here, so the cost has increased, so the price will naturally be higher."
"How cheap is it?" someone asked curiously.
Wu Ren smiled and uttered four words, "One knife, ten cents!"
Scholars:!!!
“Is this true or false?”
"Are you really not losing money at this price?"
"If they can sell it, they definitely won't lose money."
"The Lu family is not a human being!"
"Lu family profiteers!"
"What about books? Are your books also very cheap in Liaodong County?"
"Yes," Wu Ren said quickly, "Everyone, please take a look. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We're selling the books and paper in our store at a real loss this time."
Lu gave 100,000 taels of silver to allow the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's bookstore to withdraw from the south.
After Wu Ren received the money, he said he would give them two days to handle the remaining matters, and the Lu family agreed.
But the Lu family didn't expect that the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Bookstore was actually ruining their Lu family's reputation!
After Lu's steward reported the matter to Lu Fei, Lu Fei asked someone to deal with it immediately.
The person in charge of the Lu family found Wu Ren and asked him to close the store immediately!
"But we haven't finished processing the things in our store yet."
"I'll give you 10,000 taels, and you can take the things away!"
Wu Ren took the silver and immediately said, "Of course, no problem."
Then he asked the head of the Lu family to give them a chance to say goodbye and close the door. The head of the Lu family emphasized that the Lu family's reputation must not be tarnished again, so Wu Ren naturally agreed.
The next day, the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's four bookstores in the east, south, west and north cities began to give away books and study tools to old customers for free on a first-come, first-served basis.
For a moment, the four stores were crowded with people.
After sending all the things out, Wu Rencai stood on the platform and said with a smile, "Everyone, we are really going to close this time."
The scholars were quite reluctant to leave.
"I want to go to Liaodong County."
"But, in the South, the literary tradition is still more flourishing. I heard that there aren't many people in Liaodong County who can even read. The provincial schools are just for show and abandoned."
Wu Ren waited for them to discuss for a while before saying with a smile, "Everyone, the academy planned by Houcheng of Liaodong County is almost completed. Our parent official, Lord Lü Desheng, the governor of Liaodong County, will become the honorary president of our academy. I welcome everyone to visit and tour it."
"Um?"
"Lü Desheng? Is he the Lord Lü who was inscribed on the Three Wonders Monument along with the late emperor and the three mountain masters?"
"That's him."
Before closing the door, Wu Ren bowed one last time, "Everyone, the mountains remain green and the waters flow forever. I, Wu, will be waiting for you in Liaodong County."
"Lu Desheng, it's definitely worth a visit."
"Brother Yang, would you like to go with me?"
"Let's go together!"
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