Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 543: Recruiting Soldiers
In the future, when doing business, I will never bring someone like Jiang Dashao with me! Too cunning!
When Zhang Shou brought Young Master Jiang out of the underground workshop, this was the biggest thought in his mind. Especially when he saw Guan Qiu chatting with Young Master Jiang with a smile on his face, although he was not worried at all that Guan Qiu would be lured over by Young Master Jiang, he was still full of annoyance and temper. Twelve o'clock in the afternoon would become six o'clock in the afternoon. Could he get used to it?
One can only hope that the Emperor Taizu, who obeyed everything, would consider the mechanical watch and not really implement the dual-hour system. If that happened, he would really want to die! Because apart from him, all the civil and military officials, including the wealthy merchants in the market, who were already accustomed to the twelve-hour system on the clock, would definitely support the implementation of the twelve-hour system on the clock with both hands and feet!
Young Master Jiang, who was completely clueless, didn't know that Zhang Shou was angry with him at the moment. After leaving Guan Qiu, he approached Zhang Shou with a smile on his face and asked how to sell the pendulum clock. Zhang Shou glanced at him unhappily and asked directly, "Why, are you planning to buy one and put it at home?"
"Of course." After Young Master Jiang readily admitted it, he smiled and said, "This pendulum clock will definitely sell very well. After all, it is much more intuitive than timers like clepsydras. If I don't talk to you, Dr. Zhang, first, my family might not get a share. I can guarantee that all the wealthy families in the world will gather in Beijing, just to ask for a pendulum clock to put in their homes."
Although he had just thought that Young Master Jiang was a cunning and hateful person , Zhang Shou felt that he was quite good at talking after Young Master Jiang flattered him. He had taken someone to see the pendulum clock today for some reason. Putting aside his resentment, he felt that compared to those experienced businessmen, a young man like Young Master Jiang was actually worth using.
Therefore, he laughed and said casually: "This pendulum clock is almost finished now, but the outer decoration needs to be carved , otherwise it will be rough on the outside and will not sell for a good price no matter how exquisite the inside is. If you want to buy it, you can go directly to Zhaoguogong Mansion to find Yingying. This is one of my betrothal gifts."
Young Master Jiang immediately took a deep breath. Is this Zhang Shou's... betrothal gift to marry Zhu Ying? And it's one of them?
It was simply amazing. This was a big business that could potentially earn hundreds of thousands of guan. No one had ever done it before, and no one might be able to do it in the next few years. At least it was enough for Zhang Shou to go from a well-off life to a wealthy one. Judging from the tone of Zhang Shou and Guan Qiu's conversation just now, it should be Zhang Shou who was responsible for the idea, and Guan Qiu who was responsible for the research and development. It took countless efforts to make it a success.
Now, Zhang Shou is actually willing to hand it over to the Yue family like this? This is simply... the world's top spendthrift!
Zhang Shou easily read the emotions on Jiang Da Shao's face again, but he did not get angry. Instead, he thought Jiang Da Shao was a little cute. Therefore, he pretended not to notice the other party's disapproval and said indifferently: "As for how to sell it in the future and how much , you can ask Yingying. Even if you hope to get the distribution rights..."
Seeing that Young Master Jiang was finally dumbfounded this time, with an expression that said, "I'm very interested, you must consider me," he smiled and said, "You can also go see Yingying, she is in charge of this matter. In short, as long as Yingying nods, everything will be easy to discuss. Don't you have some friendship with Brother Zhu? It will be more convenient than others."
I can even get the distribution rights! If that's the case, no matter how high the threshold of Zhaoguogong Mansion is, I will crawl in!
Seeing Young Master Jiang showing such a clear and resolute expression, Zhang Shou said goodbye and left like a gust of wind, without caring that he had just returned. The slightly bad mood he had just had because of the timekeeping system disappeared without a trace.
Then, he called out to Ah Liu, and when the elusive boy showed up, he asked Ah Liu to send someone to invite Zhang Chen, Lu Sanlang and others to his home. That night, Zhang Garden was naturally lively again.
As Zhang Yuan and Zhao Guogong Mansion officially released the news of the two November weddings, countless families in the capital were shocked. No one was surprised by Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying's marriage, it was a natural outcome. This golden boy and jade girl went out together every day before they got married, and people had to assume that they were a couple, but Zhu Tingfang was actually going to get married?
How could Tietoufang, who was extremely lucky but particularly unlucky with his fiancée, actually get married?
When the astonished people learned that the woman Zhu Tingfang had chosen was actually the concubine daughter of Weinan Earl Zhang Kang, they were even more shocked. Although the Duke of Zhao and the Duke of Chu were enemies for generations, and the Duke of Qin had no daughter, the gossipers counted the number of Zhu's close confidants and nobles, such as the Marquis of Huaiqing and the Marquis of Nanyang, who had unmarried daughters. How could it be the turn of a surrendered woman like Zhang Kang?
When everyone was paying attention to her brother, Miss Zhu, who was about to get married and had not called friends to go out for a long time, suddenly called together a lot of her former "friends" and held a grand garden party. The location was Zhaoyuan in Haidian, and the most surprising thing was that Zhang Shou was teaching in Jiuzhang Hall of the Imperial College that day and did not go there at all.
Although some people secretly murmured that Miss Zhu, who was about to get married, was not afraid of gossip, when groups of people arrived at Zhao Garden and found that the person welcoming them at the door was Zhu Ying's second brother Zhu Er Zhu Tingjie, most people's doubts were dispelled.
Even if Zhu Er is not reliable, he is still the real Master Zhu Er!
It was certainly inappropriate for those who were particularly concerned about etiquette to have their elder brother accompany them to meet foreign guests, but the Duke of Zhao's mansion was originally used to being run by women. When the husband of the old lady died early, didn't she personally come forward to run errands for Emperor Ruizong, who was still a vassal king at the time?
When they saw Lu Sanpang accompanying the guests, Zhang Chen entertaining the guests, and Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu running around, all these typical followers of Zhang Shou were present. The only people who were still doubtful in their hearts became more relieved, thinking that this was Zhu Ying's last carnival with her old friends on the eve of her marriage, and that Zhang Shou had already tacitly approved of it.
But when Zhu Ying opened her mouth, a large group of people who were invited today were stunned.
"When Ah Shou gave you a lesson in the Cuiyun Room because of my instigation, he promised you to find a way out and promised that I could protect you. I will be married soon and will be the mistress of Zhang Garden in the future. Ah Shou has lofty ambitions and cannot take care of many things, so all the external affairs of the family are handed over to me."
"I called you here today just to tell you one thing. The promise that Ah Shou made on my behalf is still valid. If you already have a promising future, that would be the best. If not, we met before, and most of you studied under Ah Shou. If you have any questions, you can come to me. I have a lot of things to do here, and I really need someone I can trust."
Zhu Ying raised her glass with a smile and drank it all in one gulp. She then pointed at Zhu Er who was sitting beside her and said, "Of course, you can also go find my second brother. He is recruiting soldiers and horses to do something big. He just recruited two capable men from Yue Shanzhang of Zhaoming Academy these two days. They have already agreed to be his staff members and will follow him to Cangzhou."
Sister, you are my savior! Zhu Er wanted to hug Zhu Ying and spin around like they did when they were little, and he was so grateful. Although he felt a little uncomfortable when he saw those questioning eyes, he couldn't help but feel proud.
We used to be playboys, but now we have founded our own business and can recruit staff!
If Zhu Ying, who was a beauty since childhood and the most beautiful in the capital, was always the center of attention of the children of the nobles; and Zhu Tingfang, who was both civil and military since childhood and was praised by everyone from the empress dowager to the emperor and the elders of various families, was the child of other people's families who were loved and hated; and Zhu Er was just a foil for his elder brother and sister.
Seeing Zhu Er sitting cross-legged and looking very proud, I don't know how many people secretly cursed and complained in their hearts. How can you, a person who is no different from us, recruit staff from a famous academy like Zhaoming Academy? Isn't it because you have a good grandmother, a good father, a good mother, a good brother, a good sister... and a good brother-in-law?
But after this calculation, even Lu Sanlang couldn't help but feel very jealous of Zhu Er. Zhu Er was simply the only dogtail grass growing among the fragrant grass in the garden. As long as everyone helped him, it would be enough for Zhu Er to live a comfortable life!
But after the initial jealousy, naturally someone would ask about what Zhu Ying had just said. When Zhu Ying smiled and compared Zhu Er's tireless farming in Cangzhou, and then briefly mentioned the situation that Zhang Chen, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu had opened up in Cangzhou and Xingtai, and that they would definitely have a bright future, several dandies who had originally stood aside at home were unconsciously moved.
But while they were scrambling to recommend themselves, some people were muttering, "But I don't know the ins and outs of the outside world. If I mess up, won't you, Miss, give me a beating?"
"Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, but some people's strengths are very obvious, while some people's strengths are hard to find."
This time it was Lu Sanlang who spoke. He was known as the prodigal son who had the emperor's golden words. Now he was more plump and spoke slowly, which made him look very stylish. He smiled and said, "Everyone knows about the recent plays in Tingyu Xiaozhu, right? In fact, I asked someone to write them, and then I personally guided the Twelve Rains to rehearse them."
Seeing that some young people had shining eyes, while others were salivating, wishing to exchange with him, Lu Sanlang said earnestly: "Only the regulars in the entertainment industry know what kind of tune is most attractive to people like us. Leave the professional things such as lyrics and singing to professionals, but you should know how to create momentum, support, and rhythm..."
Zhu Ying watched coldly. Seeing Lu Sanlang was instilling his ideas into her mind, she just sat there smiling and let him do it. Only when Lu Sanlang finally finished speaking did she clapped her hands.
Seeing that everyone's attention was back on her, she said with a half-smile: "Many of you should know what Ah Shou is capable of. He knows a lot, can see far, and often has new ideas and thoughts, but he just hates that there are not enough people who can use him. I have nothing to do anyway, so I might as well help him..."
Zhu Ying casually counted on her fingers all of Zhang Shou's abilities, including the spinning loom for which he had once donated the blueprints, the new loom that had been given to Zhang Chen to open a weaving workshop, and even the fact that Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu had gone to negotiate with Mr. Hua Si in Suzhou was mentioned in passing, and she smiled brightly at the end.
"A Shou has just made a pendulum clock recently. It is based on a special timer in the secret box of Taizu that the emperor gave him. The pendulum clock sample has been sent to the palace for the emperor to see. If it is really good, it will be a good thing that can replace those bulky timers in the future. After all, even in the palace, it is impossible to put water-powered astronomical tables or seven-treasure lamps everywhere."
After these words were spoken, a large group of noble children could not help but look at each other in surprise.
Someone asked in a low voice what the Water-powered Astronomical Observatory and the Seven-Treasure Lamp were. As a result, Lu Sanlang cited classics and described these two timepieces from the Song and Yuan dynasties in a very exaggerated way.
In particular, the Seven Treasures Lamp, also known as the Daming Hall Lamp, which was recorded in great detail in ancient books. He described in detail how the bell would ring at one quarter, the drum would be struck at two quarters, the gong would be struck at three quarters, and the cymbals would be struck at four quarters. He also described in detail how the lamp sounded at the beginning and the end of the hour.
He was a very eloquent person to begin with, and his words naturally made everyone's imagination run wild. Zhang Chen took the opportunity to add insult to injury and said, "When Grandfather Taizu recaptured the capital, he had issued an order to preserve the Daming Palace Lantern Leakage. However, after people sneaked into the palace, they found that the treasure, commonly known as the Seven Treasure Lantern Leakage, had long been dismantled by a group of idiots in the palace and smuggled out of the palace to sell, and ended up destroying it all."
"That's not all. Almost all of the astronomical instruments that Guo Shoujing made were destroyed and lost. In the end, only the bronze clepsydra on the Drum Tower remained in the capital. When Grandpa Taizu found out about this, he was furious and cursed him as a prodigal. Finally, when compiling the History of Yuan Dynasty, he found the original materials and wrote about Guo Shoujing's ingenious clepsydra."
"I heard that the copper clepsydra in the Drum Tower has gone through the Song and Yuan dynasties, as well as this dynasty. It is said to be quite accurate now, but in fact it needs to be calibrated every once in a while. The clepsydra used in the palace now was presented and adjusted by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. But the emperor has always been quite critical of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory's capabilities. Just now, because of the proposal of Yue Shanzhang, he issued an edict to the world, summoning experts who are proficient in mathematics and astronomy to the court..."
Zhang Chen seemed to be competing with Lu Sanlang for who could speak more eloquently. He was even more talkative than Lu Sanlang. Not only that, he also talked about what kind of clepsydra he used at home, whether it was convenient for daily use, which skilled craftsman made it, and how much it was worth... At the end, he grinned and said, "I've seen it. The young master's clock is much simpler and more intuitive than the clepsydra."
Everyone knew that Zhang Chen and Lu Sanlang were Zhang Shou's right-hand men, so when they spoke, people were naturally skeptical. But Zhu Ying and they claimed that Zhang Shou's things had been sent to the emperor for his inspection, and that they were made based on the timer in Taizu's secret box, so most people believed them at least 70% to 80%.
But when Zhu Ying said casually that Young Master Jiang had already won the distribution in the entire northern Zhili and was willing to pay a deposit of 5,000 guan for three years, and that Mr. Hua Si of Suzhou had even won the distribution in southern Zhili and Zhejiang with 10,000 guan, a dozen people were suddenly excited. After that, even if there were no shortage of delicacies, stringed instruments, or anything else, no one cared anymore.
Although the sums of 5,000 or 10,000 strings of cash may not be a big deal for the wealthy, it is only a deposit! Even these wealthy merchants have already lined up, and their bodies are worthless, so what if they follow Zhu Ying to fight?
