To be honest, the quality of this paper is really good. After forty years, it has been well preserved and only the edges have turned yellow. The rest is still brand new and still usable. …
But no matter how good the quality is, it cannot be sold at this price!
Xiao Rong was not against the existence of luxury goods in the world, but he was against the families that produced luxury goods monopolizing the entire industry and prohibiting civilians from using substitutes, just to use this method to distinguish between aristocratic families and civilians.
Pursing his lips, Xiao Rong also asked Xiao Yi in a low voice: "Besides the Xiao family, is there any other family that makes a living by selling paper?"
Xiao Yi was a serious scholar, and he really understood these things better. Recalling the past, he said: "The paper sold by the Hu family in Yongjia was called apricot blossom paper, and the paper sold by the Jing family in Wuling was called Jinghou paper, but neither of them was as famous as Xiaogong paper."
No, you can tell from their names that one is a duke and the other is a marquis. Naturally, the latter cannot compare to the former.
Xiao Rong took a rough look at the genealogy of the aristocratic families. The first-class families included the He family, the Pingyang Sun family, the Yuzhang Yang family, and the Jiangxia Yang family. The second-class families were slightly more, with eight in total, including the Xiao family and the Jing family. As for the Hu family mentioned by Xiao Yi, Xiao Rong had never heard of it, and it was most likely below the second class.
There are even more third-class families, more than 20 in total. Apart from the third-class families, there are also families that are not ranked in the first class, but can also be recorded in the genealogy of the noble families. The first, second, third, and the inferior ones, there are more than 60 surnames in total, and there are many duplicates. Although more than 60 seems like a lot, there are even more families that cannot be ranked in this genealogy. Countless people are trying their best to join the ranks of the noble families, but unfortunately the noble families are too lazy to even look at them.
The scholars stick together, and the aristocratic families stick together even more. Xiao Rong actually doesn't want to confront the aristocratic families so soon, and he doesn't want to be an enemy of the Xiao family even more. After all, his identity is fake. If the main branch finds out there is a problem, he won't be able to appear in public anymore. What's more, Qu Yunmie may not trust him anymore.
However, if the price of paper did not come down, his plan to attract thousands of scholars would be discounted. If the first collection of essays by thousands of people failed to liven up the atmosphere, the second and third collections would only become more and more depressed. He was still hoping to gradually transition the collection of essays to the imperial examination, and he couldn't let it fail at this time.
Xiao Rong fell into deep thought. How could he lower the price of paper while preventing the noble families from noticing this matter too early?
Before he could figure out what was going on, the guards knocked on the door.
This is a new rule established by Xiao Rong. From now on, you must knock on the door before entering and are not allowed to push the door open.
Ah Shu finally ended his trance and got the news from the guards. Then he trotted back and told Xiao Rong: "Master, Huang Yanjiong and the others have left. They have to leave the city before curfew."
He arrived at night, and now he left at night. Whether he came or left, he had no intention of doing anything good.
Xiao Rong hummed, and then habitually went to find a brush and ink, but he belatedly remembered that Xiao Yi was still here. He froze for a moment, and did not write again. Instead, he directly ordered Ah Shu: "Go find General Jian and ask him to find a few smart people to secretly follow Huang Yanjiong. If there is any accident, interrupt it in time."
Ah Shu said "oh", turned around and ran out. It was the first time that Xiao Yi saw Xiao Rong handling official business. He felt that Xiao Rong, who gave these orders calmly, was a little strange, but it also made him admire him even more.
Xiao Yi also tried to test: "Brother, is Huang Yanjiong Huang Lujiang's younger brother?"
In the past, people addressed officials by combining their surnames and places, but those were the old rules. Nowadays, people generally address them by their official titles directly. However, for those who are highly respected and have a good reputation, people will still follow the old rules and give them a respectful title.
Huang Yanqin meets this standard. He enjoys a high status among scholars, so he is respectfully called Huang Lujiang.
As for Huang Yanjiong, he is still far from being worthy of being called Huang Jianning.
Xiao Rong glanced at Xiao Yi, then smiled and said, "Yes, but Yi'er, your current task is to continue studying and solving problems. You will also be exposed to these external affairs in the future, but you should do your job at the right time. You can't convince others with half a bottle of water."
Xiao Yi blushed and nodded obediently, "Yes, Yi'er will listen to big brother."
Xiao Rong: "If you are tired of reading, go out more often, participate in local literary collections, and get to know local scholars."
Xiao Yi opened his mouth: "But didn't my elder brother ask me to pretend to be a genius? Geniuses always make a big splash. If I had contacted those scholars in advance, they would have been able to find out from my few words that I am not that great."
Xiao Rong was stunned. It was true. He had not thought of this.
He couldn't help but laugh: "It seems that Yi'er is very concerned about this matter."
Xiao Yi said embarrassedly: "I just want to help big brother."
Xiao Rong stood up and patted Xiao Yi on the shoulder: "You are already helping."
After saying that, he turned and walked out. Xiao Yi was stunned and quickly chased after him: "Where are you going, brother?"
Xiao Rong waved his hand and said, "I'll go talk to someone else."
Xiao Yi felt a little disappointed because Xiao Rong was too busy. If he didn't want to see Huang Yanjiong today, Xiao Yi wouldn't have gotten to spend so much time with him. With a sigh, he packed up the things on the table, found his grandmother, and helped her out.
On the other hand, the person Xiao Rong was looking for was Yu Shaoxie.
There was something he originally wanted to ask Xiao Yi to do, but Xiao Yi's words reminded him that Xiao Yi's identity was not suitable for doing certain things, so he could only ask Yu Shaoxie, who was on good terms with him, to do it.
Xiao Rong seldom came to see him on his own initiative. Yu Shaoxie was flattered at first, and even sobered up a lot from the alcohol he drank in the evening. But after hearing what Xiao Rong said, Yu Shaoxie doubted that he was not sober at all.
"...Xiao brother, can you please say it again?"
Xiao Rong looked at him strangely and thought, just say it again.
He repeated, "I hope Brother Yu can help me find one or two scholars, those with outstanding literary talent, who can write articles skillfully, and preferably have a family, and who are willing to do anything for money."
Yu Shaoxie: “…………”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
