The next day, Zhang Siyuan came looking for him. The two of them met at Baiweilou. Zhang Siyuan was very happy to see him and asked, "When did Xiuzhi arrive in the capital?"
"A few days ago, it snowed just as I arrived, so I didn't look for you." Wang Yu changed his tone and said jokingly, "Second Master Zhang?"
Zhang Siyuan knew what he meant but didn't care. He said casually, "The Marquisate was also conferred by the late emperor. I didn't tell you because I didn't inherit the title."
Wang Yu knew that he was telling the truth, and seeing that he really didn't care much about his identity as the second son of the Marquis's Mansion, he didn't continue to tease him.
"The heavy snow these past few days has caused a snowstorm. Some houses on the outskirts of the city have collapsed. I wonder what the situation is like further afield." Zhang Siyuan sighed and said, "I was busy with this matter yesterday when I was not at home."
Wang Yu also knew that natural disasters were merciless, so he asked what he could do. When Wang Yu was in the provincial school, he had read the policy questions on how to deal with snow disasters in previous years, and he had also read the answers to such questions.
He discovered that people of this era already had a relatively complete set of plans for dealing with post-disaster issues. When Wang Yu saw it, he felt that the ancients were indeed smart, and this was not much different from modern disaster relief.
Zhang Siyuan smiled and said, "What can you do? Why don't you spend money to buy some disaster relief clothing and food?"
Wang Yu didn't think much about it and said directly, "Okay, this year's wine distribution."
"Haha, Xiuzhi, do you know how much the profit is this year?"
"I'll give it to you no matter how much it is. Since we know about the snowstorm, I can't just do nothing. Just help me exchange it for clothes and food. You also said that we don't know how far this snowstorm will affect, so I can only do my best."
It was indeed as Wang Yu said, no matter how much it was, he could just donate it. What he lacked the least now was money. The income from liquor in the past three years and the income from wine last year was almost 20,000 taels.
He didn't have anything big to do, so the money had never been touched. Cheng Chen's shop had made a profit of about 4,000 taels in the past two or three years, which was enough for his family.
"Good, Xiuzhi is very magnanimous!" Zhang Jin praised.
He knew that Wang Yu had always been such a person. Although he was a scholar doing business, he really didn't care much about money. Except for the first few times when Wang Yu would look at the accounts, he would take whatever was given to him without looking or asking. He trusted Wang Yu very much, but he would not deceive Wang Yu on this.
Then he continued, "The current emperor is my cousin, and our family's business is the emperor's money bag. In fact, our family's business was built by my aunt, the empress dowager, so I have to contribute money and effort to this disaster."
Wang Yu was even more surprised when he heard this. He didn't expect it to be such a relationship. The aunt he had been talking about before was the empress dowager. She was really an extraordinary woman. Then the Zhang family was an in-law. Wow, Zhang Siyuan had powerful connections. He thought so in his heart but didn't show anything on his face.
Zhang Siyuan looked at Wang Yu without being too surprised. He thought this man was indeed interesting and very patient. He had been like this since their first meeting. He explained, "I'm telling you this because I don't want to hide it. You'll know it eventually."
Wang Yu nodded. "Well, that's fine. That's not why I want to be friends with you."
Then he added: "No wonder you have always admired your aunt."
When talking about his aunt, Zhang Siyuan's face would reveal an expression of nostalgia and admiration. "My aunt always followed the late emperor to conquer the world. Wherever the late emperor conquered, my aunt's business was also there. I really admire her."
Upon hearing this, Wang Yu also admired this woman very much. She is as capable as any man and would be a strong woman in the business world in modern times.
The two chatted for a while and then parted ways. Zhang Siyuan was very busy recently. Apart from his business, the most important thing was the reconstruction work after the snow disaster. He was not an official, but he was the emperor's cousin, and he could not refuse when he was needed to help.
The wine business has been very good in the past two years, and the white wine is also being sold farther and farther. Just as Manager Zhang said at the beginning, Yuxi wine has become famous in Dali. Last year, Brother Cheng also said that many people come to the winery to get wine, including the winery in Xilin Village. People from several nearby towns also come here to buy wine, and the winery has hired two more people to help.
After meeting Zhang Siyuan, Wang Yu had nothing to do, so he just stayed at home and studied, occasionally meeting with the four people next door to discuss academic matters.
Later I heard that many states and counties were affected to varying degrees by the snowstorm. Fortunately, the national treasury was still relatively wealthy, and post-disaster relief and reconstruction were proceeding in an orderly manner, with no major casualties or disasters.
In December, he received a letter from home, which told him to take good care of himself. The words between the lines revealed his husband's longing for him. Wang Yu missed him very much after reading the letter. He wondered what Cheng Chen was doing at the moment. Dabao was two years old, and he didn't know if he had grown up. He missed him so much after being away for more than two months.
On this day, Wang Yu and his friends made an appointment with their neighbors to exchange knowledge. There were four of them in total, two of them were from Xingyang County, and the other two were from Liangzhou. They were all classmates who studied together. They lived closer to the capital and arrived in the capital half a month earlier, so they rented the courtyard next door together.
Several of them were well-educated and had a very lively exchange. They were still reluctant to leave after the meeting. When Chen Yanwen left, he was still sighing that there were hidden dragons and crouching tigers everywhere. Although they seemed to be well-educated in the provincial capital, there were too many people like them in the entire Dali period, especially in the capital.
Wang Yu heard him sigh and said, "There is another way to stand out."
"What method?"
"Fame." In this era, in addition to the level of knowledge, fame is also important to a person. If the test papers are similar, the one with greater fame will have the advantage.
Su Xun failed the imperial examinations many times. He went home and studied hard, writing articles such as "On the Six Kingdoms" that have been passed down through the ages. Later, his name was spread by Ouyang Xiu and became famous in the capital. The emperor issued an edict to appoint him as an official based on his reputation without considering his test results. This shows the importance of fame to scholars. Of course, you must first have talent, and then you need to spread your talent.
Chen Yanwen: "How did it get its name?"
"Writing articles and poems. I know there is a place that holds a student exchange meeting every month. It will start in a few days. We should go and take a look then." Wang Yu knew about this matter because he mentioned it to Zhang Siyuan when he was chatting last time. He told Wang Yu that it would be helpful to go and take a look when he was free.
The two of them were looking forward to it after hearing this. The student exchange meeting was very important to them. In addition to standing out and gaining fame, they could also get to know other people and find out some information.
In fact, there were many gatherings of scholars in the capital, and people would post messages from time to time to get together to discuss academic matters. However, Wang Yu and his friends were unfamiliar with the place, and of course no one would post messages to them since they didn't know anyone.
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