Life in the world of film and television

After returning to Jiangning from the inspection of Hulu Valley, the bustling construction scene in the valley aroused Li Mu's ambition to enterprising.

Taking advantage of the flood and the cheap land prices, Li Mu spent more than 20,000 taels of silver to buy several hills near Hulu Valley and six or seven thousand acres of wasteland between the hills.

These wastelands, of course, cannot be used for farming. They are wastelands that can be found everywhere in the mountains. It takes a lot of effort to reclaim them, and it takes several years, or even more than a decade, to turn them into fields. Otherwise, it would not be so cheap.

Li Mu did not need these wastelands to be turned into farmland. He bought these hills and wastelands to ensure the secrecy of Hulu Valley and prevent people from accidentally entering from the mountains. Secondly, he could also build workshops. These places belonged to the periphery of Hulu Valley, and some workshops with high noise, high pollution and low technical content could be built on these wastelands.

Thirdly, as a future training base, Hulu Valley is mainly used for production after all. Although the space in the valley is large, even if a large number of workshops are built, it is more than enough to leave a piece of land for training guards.

However, after all, it was a private training of soldiers, and the ones they were training were elite soldiers. It would be fine if there were dozens or hundreds of people, but if the number increased to thousands or even more, the craftsmen in Hulu Valley would inevitably feel guilty and suspect that their employer was trying to rebel or do something that would get them killed.

If such a misunderstanding really occurs, it is hard to say whether one can do the job properly. There are even people who secretly escape or expose the crime.

Although the Wulie Army, the largest military force near Jiangning, is controlled by Li Mu, exposing it would not cause any harm to him, so it is better to avoid it if possible.

Li Mu is still in a low-key development period. He needs time to accumulate strength and does not want to cause trouble.

On the other hand, with the Wu Lie Army as cover, it would be very convenient for Li Mu to expand his army near Jiangning in the future. He could build and renovate the newly purchased hilltops and six or seven thousand acres of wasteland, and train tens of thousands of elite soldiers.

By then, we will hang up the sign of Wu Lie Army to the outside world, and fabricate several camps of Wu Lie Army stationed near Hulu Valley. Even if there is some noise here, it will not be a big problem.

Considering the future flow of materials in Hulu Valley, the importance of the river leading to the Yangtze River two miles away is unquestionable, both in terms of convenience and practicality.

Li Mu did not think about it for too long and spent another 20,000 taels of silver to buy all the land between Hulu Valley and the river, a total of more than 1,600 acres of land, which is a little over one square kilometer.

At the same time, a group of disaster victims were recruited to repair and expand the wharf and build a road from Hulugukou to the wharf.

In this way, from production to transportation and shipping, everything is done on their own land, and safety and privacy are guaranteed to a certain extent.

……

In Hulu Valley, a large number of disaster victims were hired and construction was carried out vigorously.

On the other hand, Xi Junyu, the shopkeeper of Su's cloth shop, came to a restaurant that day. He looked around and saw no one was paying attention. He quietly walked into a private room, where were the eldest son of the Wu family, Wu Qilong, and the second son, Wu Qihao.

The Wu family and the Su family were both in the cloth business and were rivals. In the past, Wu Qilong, the eldest son of the Wu family, often boasted about his admiration for Xi Junyu and even tried to poach him several times.

Xi Junyu remained unmoved, but for some reason, he secretly came to meet her today.

Half an hour later, the two sides seemed to have discussed something and drank a cup together. Xi Junyu then stood up and said, "My two lords, Junyu still has things to deal with. How about we drink again after the matter is settled? I'll take my leave today."

Wu Qilong smiled cheerfully: "Brother Xi is right. After we get it done, let's drink some more."

After a few more polite words, Xi Junyu walked out of the restaurant in a low-key manner.

In fact, he didn't want to do this. The Su family and the Wu family were sworn enemies in the business world, and their competition in the past was very fierce. As the shopkeeper of the Su family, today he went behind the Su family's back to join the Wu family.

However, he had thoughts about the Su family before, so he naturally rejected the Wu family. Now that thoughts are gone, whether the Su family is prosperous or declining, what does it have to do with him?

Thinking of this, a beautiful figure inevitably emerged in my mind. It was Su Tan'er, the future head of the Su family.

At that time, he had just become the shopkeeper, and the fourteen-year-old Su Tan'er had already shown remarkable business talent. Under the deliberate training of Old Master Su, Su Tan'er began to work with him and several other shopkeepers and discuss various business strategies together.

The girl was very clever, and sometimes had surprising ideas. She was gentle and modest in character, and was polite to everyone, even to her servants.

Because she was a woman and had to work in public, people would say strange things and make rumors about her, but she never got angry.

Even if he felt aggrieved, he would just purse his lips and remain silent.

Xi Junyu was deeply impressed by the fact that there was such a beautiful and intelligent woman in the world.

Speaking of which, Xi Junyu also came from a poor background. He grew up in a poor family, his mother died early, his father was sickly and was an alcoholic. Although he was a gifted child, he only studied for a few years and was no longer able to continue.

Later, he found a way to make a living, which was to help in the Su family cloth shop to earn some pocket money to supplement the family income. In the Su family cloth shop, he showed his outstanding ability and was soon promoted and trained to become the youngest shopkeeper of the Su family. He also had some reputation in the Jiangning business community and was considered a good young talent.

At that time, many businesses tried to recruit him, including the Wu family, but he was not tempted and has been working there until now.

The Su family’s kindness in training him and their generous treatment were only one of the reasons. The main reason was because of that girl.

At that time, he, as the shopkeeper, cooperated very well with the young girl who had already made a name for herself. If Su Tan'er made occasional omissions, he could make up for them in time, which forced him to have some unrealistic thoughts.

In particular, one day, he heard that Old Man Su didn't want Su Tan'er to marry out, and intended to choose a husband for Su Tan'er to marry into his wife's family. He was moved and did not reject the idea of ​​marrying into his wife's family.

He comes from a poor family and has a bad origin. These innate factors cannot be changed. Even if he has some talent in business, what can he do? He will still be working for others and making wedding clothes for others.

Thinking about it this way, there is actually nothing unacceptable about marrying into the wife's family.

In addition, the two have been working together for many years and understand each other's abilities and personalities. They have such a tacit understanding that they will be ideal partners even after getting married.

Even if someone talks about his status as a son-in-law in the future, he doesn't care. As long as he is given time and his abilities are demonstrated, others will naturally look at him with new eyes. One year, two years... everything will change.

Unfortunately, nine out of ten things in this world are not as planned, so nothing would go as he wished. The plan of marrying into the wife's family failed before it even started.

He knew that the Su family should have considered him, but finally excluded him silently. The old man made the final decision and chose a scholar who didn't know much about business.

He was frustrated and asked himself why countless times. He and Su Tan'er worked so well together, he had worked for the Su family for so many years, and his ability was second to none. He was obviously the most ideal candidate. Why did they give up on him and choose a scholar? Finally, he came to the answer that the Su family did not need a son-in-law like him who was too capable, ambitious and difficult to control.

Being too capable has become a defect, he often thought to himself with self-mockery, feeling quite unconvinced.

When he first heard the news, he had thought of finding Su Tan'er and telling her his admiration for her, but when he saw her in person, he realized that this girl had always kept a distance from others. She might be gentle and intelligent, or playful and humorous, but most of the time, she would keep herself neutral and watch, observing and learning.

At that moment, he suddenly felt that he could not say those words of admiration because the other person was not as kind to him as he had imagined.

Afterwards, Su Tan'er got married, and the son-in-law, who was originally thought to be just a weak scholar, turned out to be a great talent. The two of them were in love with each other, and the thoughts in his heart were finally extinguished, and he began to think about leaving the Su family.

However, after serving the Su family for so many years, he was unwilling to leave like this, which led to the scene just now.

While I was thinking about this, a carriage soon came over and the coachman asked, "Boss, where are we going next?"

Xi Junyu thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to the Su Mansion." Then he got on the carriage. The coachman shouted, and the carriage disappeared in the long street.

In the reception room of the Su family, Xi Junyu was reporting business progress to Su Tan'er.

"I have already negotiated with Shopkeeper Yu about Siqingfang. We can give them the goods before September 6th..."

He talked about Siqingfang, the recent disaster, and its impact on the Su family's business. He knew that Su Tan'er was more concerned about these.

Su Tan'er was indeed listening attentively with her teacup in hand, nodding occasionally and asking a few questions.

After chatting for a while, Xi Junyu hesitated for a moment and suddenly said, "Boss, there are some things I shouldn't ask, but there have been a lot of changes in the business recently, so I still want to ask, do you want to take the palace seal and become an imperial merchant?"

Su Tan'er looked at him in surprise, as if she didn't expect him to ask this question.

Xi Junyu shook his head and said, "Even if you don't answer, I can guess that in recent time, the Su family has been intercepting funds in various places. Obviously, you have been preparing. I don't know when you had this idea, maybe a few years ago, to take the palace and become an imperial merchant. But, this matter is not that simple."

Since the Treaty of Shanyuan, the annual tribute to the Liao Kingdom included cloth, and the demand in this regard has always been a headache.

The annual demand for 300,000 pieces of silk cloth is no small number. However, the imperial court could not afford the price for such a huge amount of cloth, and the price was even much lower than the market price.

Of course, being an imperial merchant would definitely bring certain privileges, so some large trading companies would make small profits but sell in large quantities, or simply not consider making money, and take orders for annual tributes, and use the privileges granted by the court to develop the rest of their business.

The Su family does not have enough financial resources, so they may be able to take on a small portion of the annual payment orders, but the royal orders will come next. They will not care about any buffer time you need, they must deliver the goods on time.

If you want to maintain your original business without affecting it, you will need new workshops and new sources of materials, which will require huge investments but yield very little profit.

Unless they improve technology, reduce costs and increase profits, or take advantage of the opportunity to become a supplier of annual tribute, use better quality silk and better dyes, and win some of the high-end demands in the palace with higher profits and make a name for themselves.

However, whether it is improving new technology, reducing costs, or developing better dyes, it is extremely difficult to meet the high-end demands of the palace.

Xi Junyu said this, looked at Su Tan'er, and paused slightly.

"I know you are improving new technology in order to reduce costs and increase profits. You can also make money by taking annual tribute orders. If you did this a few years ago, I would definitely support you, but have you ever thought about the unexpected situation? Will the court still need annual tribute next year or the year after next?"

Su Tan'er finally spoke up: "Shopkeeper Xi, do you... think the court won't need annual tribute next year or the year after?"

Xi Junyu shook his head and said, "Boss, look at the current situation in the world. Liao and Jin are on the verge of war. Once the war starts, one of the two tigers will be injured. Our dynasty is waiting for the opportunity. It is hard to say whether we need to pay tribute in the future."

"If the annual coins are no longer needed, or the demand for them is low, and you build a large number of new workshops... and there is nothing to produce, what will you do with the deficit caused by investing so much money?"

Su Tan'er was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Manager Xi, what do you think of the Jin and Liao countries?"

Xi Junyu was slightly stunned: "He is ambitious, vulgar and brutal, a barbarian."

Su Tan'er said: "We all know that they are ambitious, vulgar and cruel, so why do you think the winner will cancel the annual tribute?"

Xi Junyu said: "The two tigers are fighting each other and are exhausted. Our dynasty is resting and waiting for the enemy to tire out. How dare you ask for annual tribute?"

Su Tan'er sighed and said, "But, since I was born, we have been paying annual tribute every year."

"Some things are hard to say. Of course, I hope we can defeat the Liao and Jin people, but... we have never won!"

"There was the Tanyuan Alliance more than sixty years ago, the Blackwater Alliance seven years ago, and now there is the Jin Kingdom. What will happen if they fight? Do we really not need to pay annual tribute anymore?"

As she spoke, her voice was somewhat low: "I also hope that our dynasty can win. If the army sets out one day, Grandpa and Father have already prepared money to help with the military pay. But if we can't win in the end, then... what should we do! Will the annual tribute be higher?"

Looking at the silent Xi Junyu, Su Tan'er continued, "Of course, if the two tigers fight and both lose, our dynasty will not have to pay any annual tribute. That would be the best. We, the Su family, would be willing to make a loss. Besides, the improved loom has lower production costs and more competitive advantages. It can seize more market share. Even if we lose a little in the short term, we will still make money in the future. The ones who should be worried are the other cloth shops!"

Xi Junyu was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect the other party to have this idea. It did make sense.

He sighed and stopped talking about this topic. Then he hinted that he could join Su Tan'er's plan. As one of his generals, since he already knew the plan and wanted to join, Su Tan'er naturally could not refuse. Besides, when the technology matures in the future, Xi Junyu will also be involved.

After getting the approval, Xi Junyu breathed a sigh of relief. He was not optimistic about Su Tan'er's plan and had no intention of participating in it. After all, he no longer planned to work in the Su family.

When he went to meet the eldest son of the Wu family today, the Wu family told him that the technical improvement team headed by Su Tan'er had made a huge breakthrough and had even developed an excellent dye to meet the high-end needs of the palace.

He was asked not to leave the Su family for the time being and must join in to get the dye formula, for which he was promised an attractive position and generous rewards.

Since he no longer wanted to stay in the Su family, it was only natural for him to take revenge and get back what he had spent all these years before leaving. After all, without Su Tan'er's thoughts, he had nothing to do with the Su family anymore. (End of this chapter)