A glimpse of the twelve
Since the last time she "met the parents" and tacitly acknowledged her relationship with Su Lingzhao, Su Lingzhao would bring Wang Pan'er home for dinner every few days, and he would come and go from Wang Pan'er's farm as if it were his own backyard.
Oh, except for the east and west wing rooms.
The east wing was her private room, and Su Lingzhao was not to overstep the bounds of propriety. The west wing was where the zither player lived, and she inexplicably showed him great hostility.
Su Lingzhao told Wang Pan'er about the vixen, but Wang Pan'er only said that he was overthinking it.
How could it be mere overthinking!
Whenever Wang Pan'er was away, she would put on an act, looking like she was about to tear herself apart. But as soon as Wang Pan'er returned, she would immediately become frail and weak again. She would never say a word, only look at Wang Pan'er with her watery eyes, pitifully, as if the two of them were at odds and she was the one being unreasonable.
It was too targeted! But Wang Pan'er protected Qin Nu like a mother hen protecting her chicks, and Su Lingzhao felt that every punch he threw hit cotton, having no effect whatsoever.
Thus, Su Lingzhao could only invoke his parents' wishes, saying that his father wanted the two of them to travel together to the surrounding towns to understand the business situation in various places within the Chamber of Commerce's sphere of influence. Su Yuanwai added that if Wang Pan'er was worried that the medicinal cuisine restaurant would run into trouble without management while she was away, he could send his capable assistant to help manage the shop.
Was it because she flattered him too much last time, making Master Su think that he could get whatever he wanted just because he was eager to enter the Su family?
Her medicinal cuisine recipes are unique in the country, and their value is beyond doubt. Now they are already eager to get their hands on her medicinal cuisine restaurant. They are being too hasty and their behavior is not very good.
Wang Pan'er said that Wang Xiaoyao's Qianji Wanying Pavilion was full of talented people and that Su Yuanwai didn't need to worry about it, thus giving a thorough rejection.
The fact that the Su family dared to throw abacus beads at her face also shows that they underestimated her. Either they thought she wasn't observant enough to notice, or they assumed she would have accepted it even if she had.
Since that's the case, she didn't need to go to other cities to confuse the public. Instead, she used the excuse that there were still matters to be settled at the branch in Da'an Town, and dragged Su Lingzhao to Da'an Town as their first stop.
Da'an Township is located on the border, bordering neighboring countries. When exploring the business situation here, one cannot avoid the topic of export trade.
Wang Pan'er rubbed her hands together eagerly: "Second Young Master, do you think foreigners would like it if the medicinal cuisine restaurant were to open in other places?"
Unexpectedly, Su Lingzhao had some insight: "It's definitely not feasible to drive it out directly. The cultures of different countries are different, and foreign countries may not be able to get used to the food of Central Continent from the beginning. If you want, you can hire traveling merchants to spread the word first and create a buzz."
Wang Pan'er then posed a seemingly difficult but actually easy problem: "If you were to give these dishes a foreign name, I wouldn't know what to call them."
Su Lingzhao replied, "There's no need to worry about that. There are many foreign couples in the border areas. You can find learned people in these families to help you name your child."
"Wonderful!" Wang Pan'er exclaimed. "I really don't know why Master Su is always dissatisfied with you."
Su Lingzhao nodded vigorously: "If Father doesn't give me a chance, there's nothing I can do. But it's good that I can help Miss Wang."
"Yes, I can help. I can definitely help." Wang Pan'er showed great interest in foreign goods. "Let alone opening a shop, I used to live in a village, and there are many things I've never even heard of!"
She excitedly led Su Lingzhao to the vicinity of the border crossing to watch various merchants transport their goods out.
From transporting the goods to the collection point, then registering them, and finally assigning them to the designated escorts with serial numbers, the process was very smooth. Furthermore, most of the trucks displayed the logo of the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce.
"The Su family is truly a powerful and wealthy family!" Wang Pan'er pointed to the gathering place used exclusively by the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce for transshipment. "All of these are your goods! And this entire system is so efficient and seamless, it's really impressive."
Su Lingzhao slightly lowered her chin: "That's right. We've broken down all the steps, and each of the guys has their own job. Once they're skilled, it'll naturally be faster."
This is similar to the screw-related positions in large factories, where each person only specializes in their own minute details, and no one can see the whole picture.
With advanced modern technology and strong productivity, the "cog in the machine" role has emerged as a result of development. The division and specialization of jobs facilitates management and improves efficiency, but excessive specialization can significantly increase operating costs. Finding the right "balance" is one of the core tasks that those in power need to control.
Just like her "central kitchen," the grinding and packaging/sorting work needed to be separated. And because the grinding work was time-consuming and labor-intensive, she hired three grinders and one sorter, a total of four workers.
At this transshipment point, although the volume is large, the workflow is simple and clearly does not need to be broken down to such an extent.
The site was staffed with dozens of employees from the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce. There were dedicated people for inventorying the goods, affixing tags to the trucks, handing over the trucks to the corresponding addresses to the bodyguards, and even one person to keep customs records.
In Wang Pan'er's view, the people who transfer addresses and make customs records are quite idle, and these two positions can be completely combined into one.
Clearly, the segmentation of the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce has completely exceeded the scope of being easy to manage, and is utterly devoid of cost-effectiveness.
Merchants are driven by profit. If a merchant is willing to give up a portion of their profits, it is absolutely because they have greater interests that need to be protected.
For example, in order to protect the formula, she would separate the grinding and sorting areas in the "central kitchen" because the cost of setting up an additional area is negligible compared to the loss of the formula.
Wang Pan'er's eyes suddenly widened, and even her pupils trembled.
She seems to have figured it out!
Because the tasks assigned to them were detailed and specific enough, it was difficult for the men to see the bigger picture or detect anything unusual.
Just like the junior employees of a large company, they are merely the branches and ends of a tree with its intricate roots, unable to fathom the inner complexities or the whole tree. And the loss of any small branch or detail on the tree will not affect the tree's foundation.
Unable to see the whole picture, they naturally couldn't guess what the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce had done; all they knew was that they had an easy job with a decent income.
This is a web, made up of everyone, that wraps up evil and profit.
She pretended to be a country girl who had never seen the world, looking around curiously, her amazement completely undisguised, as she followed Su Lingzhao through the entire checkpoint.
Su Lingzhao could never have imagined that she had been secretly observing for a long time.
Da'an Town is not large, and they drove their horse-drawn carriage in circles, inevitably passing by the copper mine.
Unfortunately, the mine involved too many sensitive secrets. Because of Mu Chuan's exposure, the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce had already placed people at the manor to keep an eye on him, so Wang Pan'er had no choice but to suppress her suggestion to go to the mine.
Unexpectedly, as they passed by, Su Lingzhao pointed in the direction of the mine and said, "This is a mine that our chamber of commerce and the government jointly operated. I never thought that such a small place as Da'an Town would have such a huge copper vein."
He then said he would change course and take Wang Pan'er to broaden her horizons.
The servant who had been following them without much presence suddenly spoke up: "Second Young Master, the Master said that the mine collapsed recently and is not safe. He advised you and Miss Wang not to set foot there."
Wang Pan'er's heart skipped a beat.
She turned to look at the unremarkable servant. The servant's face was extremely ordinary, except for his eyes, which were bright and lively, making him clearly a clever man.
Fortunately, she didn't mention going on a visit, otherwise the servant would definitely have reported her reaction in detail. Master Su is not someone who can be easily fooled.
Su Lingzhao felt slightly displeased that the servant had embarrassed him.
Wang Pan'er glanced at the other "eyes" from the madam and comforted Su Lingzhao, saying, "We encountered a bear last time, and the master must be terrified. Second Young Master is the master's only son, and he would never harm you."
Now, her words still carry some weight in front of Su Lingzhao, and with a little coaxing, Su Lingzhao calms down.
There was nothing else in Da'an Town that needed to be investigated, so Wang Pan'er suggested that they head back home.
By the time they returned to Jinzhou Prefecture, the sun had already set.
Wang Pan'er declined Su Lingzhao's dinner invitation, citing exhaustion, and hurriedly returned to the estate.
Eager to tell Mu Chuan what she had seen and heard that day, she entered the room and asked the girl who was holding the lantern to prepare some food. She then called Mo Feng and Xian Ying to the west wing.
After a long day of running around, Wang Pan'er was exhausted. She walked to the pavilion next to the hot spring in the west wing, saw a chair, and immediately slumped down on it.
When Mu Chuan heard the commotion, he came out and saw that she looked travel-worn and tired.
Exhausted like this, instead of resting, you're coming to see someone; you must have something important to discuss.
The kitchen quickly served a bowl of oil-splashed pulled noodles.
This was a late-night snack prepared by the ladies with good appetites. Since Wang Pan'er hadn't eaten dinner, she set aside a portion for them.
Mu Chuan didn't want to disturb Wang Pan'er's meal. He went back to his room, fetched a large glass of water, and then quietly sat down on the other side of the pavilion. He took out his handkerchief from his bosom, watched her eat heartily, and then handed her the handkerchief to wipe the grease from her mouth.
After eating and drinking her fill, Wang Pan'er regained some of her energy.
Mo Feng and Xian Ying also arrived. The four of them sat facing each other around the stone table in the courtyard, all with solemn expressions.
Wang Pan'er organized her thoughts and recounted what she had seen at the checkpoint that day, as well as the additional servants sent to prevent her and Su Lingzhao from getting close to the mine.
Xianying was very clever; she even prepared paper and pen before coming.
While participating in the discussion, he also tidied up the clues discussed by everyone on paper.
Mu Chuan was not an exceptionally intelligent person; it was only because the Emperor was short of trusted confidants that he sent this pampered young master back with the imperial decree.
Their journey was fraught with difficulty. Before even reaching the territory of Jinzhou Prefecture, they were hunted down and scattered by local bullies who had gotten wind of their plans. They finally reunited in Jinzhou Prefecture, but couldn't find a way to break through. They were like a swarm of headless flies, buzzing around aimlessly, completely disoriented.
It wasn't until they set up a teahouse in the cherry blossom grove that Young Master Mu realized the cart tracks were wrong, and everything began to get back on track.
If the tire tracks are incorrect, then the goods on the vehicle or the vehicle itself must have been tampered with.
When Young Master Mu went to Da'an Town, he was being chased, and immediately there were sentries lying in wait at the entrance of Wang Pan'er's estate. This demonstrates the speed at which they obtained intelligence, something that a mere merchant guild could not possibly accomplish. Furthermore, the addition of government troops to the copper mine's defenses the very next day also suggests something fishy is going on.
A few days ago, among the gifts Su Lingzhao used to curry favor with Wang Pan'er, Yun brocade was discovered, and the clues pointed directly to high-ranking officials in the imperial court. This directly transformed what was initially thought to be a smuggling case involving collusion between officials and merchants within Jinzhou Prefecture into a much more serious matter.
Wang Pan'er's discovery today can serve as a breakthrough for them to investigate the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce's modus operandi.
Xianying stopped writing and handed the paper to Muchuan.
Looking at the clues listed by Xianying, Mu Chuan pondered for a long time before starting to plan the next operation: "We need to deploy more people to the mine. Ideally, our people should be able to clean up their identities and form a small faction within it. Whether through cleverness and resourcefulness or through exchanges of benefits, we should try to get into some management positions in the mine as soon as possible so that we can learn more about the procedures and piece together their possible methods of committing crimes."
Wang Pan'er also thought it was feasible, but Mu Chuan's suggestion was a bit bold. She spoke up to remind him, "Haste makes waste. If you want to build your own small power base too quickly, it will only arouse suspicion. I think an exchange of benefits is a faster way. Master Su himself is of questionable character, and the merchant guild he manages dares to collude with the government to engage in smuggling. As the saying goes, bad bamboo shoots rarely produce good bamboo. How many good people can he possibly have who he approves of and values? A crooked main beam will inevitably breed countless parasites on its branches and even smaller ones. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to pretend to be greedy and put on a show of 'you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub'?"
"Very reasonable!" Xianying exclaimed in surprise. "Then, in your opinion, how can we delve deeper into the problem of wheel ruts?"
Wang Pan'er carefully recalled the people coming and going at the checkpoint, slapped her forehead, and said, "Most of the bodyguards hired by the Chamber of Commerce are from the Xinglong Escort Agency. Brother Mang gave me an iron plaque from the Xinglong Gang. If I take the plaque and go there, I can be considered half one of their own. According to Brother Mang's description, the Xinglong Gang are mostly chivalrous and righteous people. I'll go and give it a try."
Mu Chuan chuckled: "I actually forgot about that. What a coincidence!"
Wang Pan'er leaned closer to Mu Chuan's ear and looked at the clues that Xian Ying had compiled together; "But I can't think of a way to deal with this third-rank official."
Xianying spoke up: "A local official is more powerful than a distant one; the Minister of Works is the most suspicious."
Xianying, being a child at heart, spoke frankly and bluntly, which made Mu Chuan laugh. "Be careful what you say. As the sage said, 'What you believe is what you see, but even what you see cannot be trusted; what you rely on is your heart, but even your heart cannot be relied on.' There are not many officials of the third rank or above. I will report what I have seen and heard to His Majesty and let His Majesty decide."
Thus, all subsequent actions became very clear.
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