Chapter 87: Stirring up trouble, they entered the imperial city and settled down. …
After entering the imperial city, everyone settled down.
The place where Muxue lives is still the house where she once lived for a while when she was married.
In preparation for the princess's arrival, Yunqi had already led people to clean the courtyard neatly in advance. Every flower, tree, brick and stone were no different from when he left. He waited quietly.
When Mu Xue passed by the courtyard, she caught a glimpse of the long corridor in the west courtyard and her steps paused for a moment.
I wonder what Dorji is doing at this moment?
This thought flashed through her mind. Some memories of her early marriage flashed through her mind, causing her lips to slightly raise. Then she moved forward again.
Yunqi and Fan Yuqi had been waiting in the mansion since early morning. When they finally saw the princess, they hurried forward to greet her.
"Alright, no need for polite words. Tell me in detail what happened to the copper business."
Mu Xue sat down on the nanmu chair, holding a cup of tea, and listened to them talk.
Their ship is now at sea, and it is estimated that they will be able to return in half a month. However, due to the interference of Zhang Huangshang and others, the amount of copper purchased this time has been reduced, and the corresponding profits will also be reduced.
"At the end of last year, His Majesty went on a tour to the south, and all affairs in the capital were in the hands of His Majesty the Crown Prince. It was at this time that this Emperor Zhang wrote to the Ministry of Internal Affairs." Yunqi said, "We were all in Mobei at the time, so we had no idea about the news. By the time we came here in the spring, it was already a done deal."
This is the inconvenience of being in the border area. It takes some time for news from the capital to reach the border. Mu Xue cannot win the battle for this.
That Zhang Huangshang, Yunqi and the others also observed for a long time before they dared to say for sure that he had some relationship with the prince. Muxue listened to them and thought at the same time.
What was Emperor Kangxi thinking? He must have thought this was a trivial matter. After returning to Beijing and reading the approved memorial, he would not bother about such a trivial matter. Even if he knew, it would not matter. It was needless to say which one he favored, the prince's subordinates or the fourth princess's subordinates.
The prince may not be targeting him intentionally. Although the truth is not pleasant to hear, how could this man who grew up with thousands of favors compete with a princess? He never looked at her straight in the eye when he was in the palace before. In addition, strictly speaking, the dispute between the Fan family and himself was not exposed. The prince probably knew about this profitable thing and agreed to let his subordinates do it.
I understand the reason.
But? She pinched the tea lid and slowly skimmed off the foam, but she couldn't get rid of the anger in her heart.
In the end, isn't it that he doesn't take her seriously? No matter how trivial it is, as long as one is attentive, one will naturally think it is a big deal. For example, the copper business was handled by Kangxi's favorite minister, so how dare his prince be so careless and casually interfere without thinking?
Mu Xue lowered her head and took a sip of tea, then asked, "Then how do you think we should deal with this? Fan Yuqi, generally speaking, it is your Fan family that should take the lead in this matter, so you speak first."
Fan Yuqi glanced at Yunqi, who just stood there motionless, obviously not intending to speak first. He gritted his teeth and replied, "I've discussed this matter with my father and others when I got back. Because the route of copper trading involves many people, and most of them are from Jiangnan, ports, silver vaults, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and many other places. Everyone is watching, and they know that they have made a lot of money. Naturally, some people want to share the profits, and there is nothing we can do about it."
Mu Xue understood what she meant and tactfully advised her to "forget it".
Mu Xue placed the teacup on the rosewood table with a slight sound.
"Yunqi, what do you think?"
Yunqi raised his eyelids and quickly glanced at the princess's expression, and understood. If the princess agreed with the Fan family's suggestion, she would not have asked her with such a look.
So Yunqi cupped his hands and said, "As the Fan family said, it is inevitable that beneficial things will lead to disputes. However, if we are too passive and retreat when someone comes, it doesn't seem good. The business of going overseas to buy copper is just beginning. It is conceivable that more places will rely on this route to buy copper coins in the future. Maybe we can take on more copper business in other places."
Fan Yuqi lowered his head and curled his lips. It was easy to say, but the man surnamed Zhang was not a fool. I heard that he was just waiting for the ship to return this year and make a profit, and then he would ask for permission to take charge of more copper affairs in other places. How could he win the fight? He just used those beautiful words to fool people.
How could Mu Xue not think of what he could think of? It was impossible to monopolize the copper business, but it was really uncomfortable to watch the prince's subordinates take on so much.
Mu Xue lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then asked something else: "Khan Ama is going on a tour to the south, right? Who will receive him?"
"The Cao family in Jiangnan," Fan Yuqi had inquired about this clearly, "I heard that His Majesty also gave the Cao family a plaque written by his own hand, which is hung in front of the old lady's residence."
"It costs a lot to receive the Holy Lord."
Fan Yuqi was silent for a moment and said, "That money is definitely being spent like water."
Mu Xue sat back in the nanmu chair, changed to a more comfortable posture and said, "Although we are the first to explore a way to deal with copper, it is impossible for us to have exclusive rights. Originally, such a good thing that can make money should be let more close people know about it and make money together, but I was in Mobei and couldn't take care of it, so I forgot about it. Now it is an opportunity, everyone who should know knows it, and we can make a fortune together."
What did the princess mean by this? Fan Yuqi was stunned and had no idea what was going on. He just agreed, "The princess is broad-minded and kind to others."
Mu Xue said, "Harmony brings wealth. There is no way to monopolize this business, so why not let everyone make money? There will be more demand for copper in the future, right? We can also pick some close relatives and let them know."
Yunqi seemed to be thinking about something, and said tentatively: "That's true, but this copper business requires a lot of experience to be successful, and it's not something that ordinary people can do. You have to have some experience to take on this. At least you have to be as powerful as Lord Cao to make this much money!"
Mu Xue smiled.
Fan Yuqi responded with his eyes wide open: "Indeed, Lord Cao's family just received the emperor's carriage and spent so much money, so they have to find some way to supplement their pocket money. We sell silk cloth to Mobei, and we have done a lot of business with them before, which has given us a lot of convenience. Seeing that the New Year is coming soon, it is reasonable to buy some New Year gifts."
The more he thought about it, the better it seemed. Rather than making people feel disgusted, it would be better to muddy the waters. Since he couldn't monopolize this good business, he couldn't let others use him as a ladder to climb up for nothing. And among all the people in the court, weren't the ones who could resist the prince's men the emperor's own confidants?
In addition, the Cao family had spent so much money to entertain His Majesty a while ago. His Majesty himself saw it, and he loved the Cao family very much. If he saw that they were looking for something to do to make up for the shortfall, he would probably agree.
Fan Yuqi and Yunqi looked at each other and knew that they were thinking the same thing. Yunqi said, "That's true, but we should be careful when sending New Year gifts to the Cao family. We should know what to say and what not to say. We don't want to cause any misunderstandings. If you don't mind, I'd like to go and see the blessed old lady of the Cao family."
"You always do things properly. Pick a time to go. If you need anything, just take it from the warehouse. This time I brought a lot of the customs and culture of the grassland. I also happened to discuss silk with them. The borderland of Mobei is not like the grassland after all. As long as the silk is beautiful, it's fine. It doesn't have to be the most fashionable pattern. Instead, some old patterns are fine. As long as they are classic and durable, you can buy them if they look good. Although we have to negotiate the price."
As Mu Xue was talking, she thought of something else: "By the beginning of next spring, there will be more people going overseas to buy copper. We have to think ahead. They want to buy copper, right? They need to bring some goods with them? It's not cost-effective to just use silver to buy them. If someone can help them sort out some things to sell to Japan to make money and provide some sources of goods, it will also be convenient for everyone. Especially that Zhang Huangshang, isn't he said to have a strong background? We must make friends with him anyway."
"As for the copper, we need to transport it to a certain place, and we need to pay the price in silver. It is not convenient to carry a large amount of silver. Didn't we set up a bank to facilitate the Mongolian princes who came to work in the year? In fact, we can also think about how to make things convenient for others in this direction. Everyone will be helped, and we can also earn some hard-earned silver, isn't it good?"
...Is this still possible?
Fan Yuqi was really full of admiration. How could the princess think of such things at such a young age? Was she really born to be Tao Zhu Yidun?
The princess had already explained her plan very carefully, so they each took her orders and went about their business.
Then Cui Gu and Manager Hu came to report on the pawnshop, Beilaixian and the current year's business, with all kinds of bills, receipts and account books. Mu Xue was busy until late at night before she went to bed.
The next day, when I was sitting in front of the diamond-shaped mirror and dressing, I dozed off with my eyes closed.
She glanced at herself in the mirror during the break and asked him to apply powder thicker to cover the dark circles under her eyes.
After entering the palace, I went to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager first.
She and the third princess are both women who have not returned to the palace for a long time. They are women who have married far away and returned home. No matter how they were before they got married, now that they are back, they always have the opportunity to be guests of honor.
The Empress Dowager was very emotional. She held each of them by the hand and sat down to talk to them.
"It's hard for you to come back to the palace to celebrate my birthday even though you live so far away. You are really filial children. The eldest princess and the second princess also sent news. I guess they should come to the capital in the next few days. We are so happy to be reunited as a family."
He also asked how life was on the grassland, whether they were used to it, etc. Mu Xue and the third princess answered all the questions one by one.
As they were speaking, Emperor Kangxi, who had just come down from court, was escorted into Shoukang Palace by a crowd of people.
Muxue and the third princess hurriedly stood up to greet them. After Emperor Kangxi and the Empress Dowager paid their respects, they also spoke to them in a friendly manner, using similar words to those asked by the Empress Dowager.
Answering carefully, Mu Xue caught a glimpse of Concubine Yi among the crowd and was slightly startled.
But Concubine Yi smiled and shook her head, signaling her to concentrate on talking with the Queen Mother and His Majesty. Mu Xue could only perfunctorily deal with the two.
It was not until the meal was almost ready that Mu Xue finally had the chance to trot over to Concubine Yi. After such a long separation, she finally met her again. For a moment, she did not know what to say, and only called out "Mother".
Concubine Yi said with a smile and a sigh, "I finally see you. You didn't get any rest after traveling all the way. Look at your eyes."
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