my brother-in-law is the prince

Chapter 131 Killer
Xu Huizu came out from the palace, but saw Zhu Di waiting for him in a uniform, he smiled and said: "What did you say?"

Xu Huizu shook his head: "It's just some household chores."

Zhu Di said with great interest: "Go, I will take you to a good place."

Xu Huizu smiled, he seemed to recall how Zhu Di and him were partners when they were young.

It's just... 30 years have passed in a flash, but it's hard to see it like this again.

"Where is Your Majesty going?"

Zhu Di only said: "I'll take you to see a good place."

Xu Huizu didn't ask any more questions: "Observe the order."

"After leaving the palace, you don't have to be so cautious. You are a monarch and minister outside, but you and I are still in-laws in private."

Zhu Di is very interested, being an emperor is too hard, and these nephews sometimes make Zhu Di feel really bad.

Now it seems that there is only one thing that makes Zhu Di happy, and that is to look at where he makes money.

……

Qixia Ferry is here.

A huge shop is officially opened.

Qixia's market is very lively recently, every now and then, a new shop will appear, but it's actually not a big deal.

But today's shop is a little different.

A few days ago, there was a rumor in Nanjing City that Qixia was about to open a shop with the Four Treasures of the Study, and the price was low.

How cheap is it?

High-quality rice paper costs 28 renminbi a foot in Nanjing, but in Qixia, it only costs [-] renminbi.

In addition, there are brushes, inkstones, etc., which can almost be described as selling at a loss.

As soon as the news came out, many people talked about it.

Many people don't believe it.

But now...the shop is finally open.

This is a shop called Chengyi Zhai, which is not small in scale, with a full eight bays.

There are plenty of goods inside.

A lot of high-quality paper, a dazzling array of inkstones of various colors, various inks, and many types of pens are all hung out.

Many people couldn't help but entered the store to find out out of curiosity.

When asked about the price, they were all stunned.

The price...is really not expensive.

The shopkeeper smiled and said: "This is Cheng Enbo's shop, and there is an allusion here. A few days ago, Cheng Enbo went to Qixia Temple for fortune-telling..."

"Yeah, temples also tell divination?"

"Almost the same meaning, the Buddha also needs to eat sesame oil money."

"And then what?"

"Then Cheng Enbo did the calculation, it was terrible. It turned out that in the hexagrams of the old man Buddha, it showed that Cheng Enbo had earned too much money on weekdays, which attracted the envy of the heavens..."

"Is there such a thing? Why haven't I heard of such a divination when I'm fortune-telling?"

"Would you give 100 taels of sesame oil money if you tell the fortune?"

This time, the person raising the bar didn't say a word.

"Thus, I also warned Cheng Enbo that if you want to resolve it, you have to do more good deeds, so Cheng Enbo learned from the painful experience, and there is this shop, Cheng Enbo must do good deeds."

Everyone listened, good guy.

Most of the people who come to this shop are scholars, and even those who don't study are all arty people.

For Zhang Anshi's evaluation, it is really hard to describe.

How much money did that dog cheat everyone by selling books!

Hearing that Zhang Anshi will be punished by heaven at this time, everyone is secretly happy!

This guy should have been killed long ago.

"Look, our shop was opened by Cheng Enbo to repay everyone. If you sell one item here, you will lose one item. Hey... Cheng Enbo wanted to make his losses less, so he decided, When shopping here, you can only buy three taels of silver at a time, and if it is higher, it will not be sold."

As soon as this remark came out, many people started talking again.

The news naturally spread like wildfire.

At this time, at the pier, several scholars were rushing over, the first one was Zeng Di, followed by Zhou Shu, Zhou Mengjian, and Yang Xiang.

They had quarreled before, but they were from the same town after all, so it was inevitable that someone would match them up, and finally they reconciled as before.

The imperial examination was just around the corner, but the four of them relaxed their minds. They heard that there were high-quality pens, inks, papers and inkstones for sale here, and the prices were low. These scholars were actually leisurely, and they all liked to join in the fun, so they decided to come together.

Along the way, Zhou Shu said bitterly: "Hmph, that Zhang An Shi was sometimes punished by the heavens, so he deserved it, haha... so happy, so happy."

Yang Xiang didn't say anything, just followed silently.

Zeng Chi said: "Brother Zhou Xian, this person is indeed evil-minded, but we scholars, why should we argue with him?"

Zhou Shu said angrily, "I'm just not angry.

After leaving the ferry, there is a market not far away. At this time, there are so many people, it is actually very lively.

Moreover, there were quite a few scholars here, Zeng Wei said in surprise: "I didn't expect that there is such a bustling place outside the city of Nanjing, but I didn't expect it."

Since they entered the capital, they rarely left the city.

But I just heard that it is much more convenient to go out of the city by water, and the ship can almost go up to any pier in the city, which is much more convenient than before.

Taking a boat is better than walking, so sometimes, if you want to go from the East Market to the West Market in Nanjing City, the time you may walk or take a sedan chair is not as fast as taking a boat from the pier to Qixia.

When I arrived at the place, I saw many people gathered around a shop.

Zeng Kai and the others followed, and for a while, the shop was overcrowded.

Someone said pleasantly: "Everyone, go in and buy them. They are all cheap pens, inks, papers and inkstones. They are too cheap. They are much cheaper than the prices in some places in Nanjing City."

Another person said: "I heard that Zhang Anshi was condemned by the heavens and had to come out to do good deeds. Everyone hurry up and buy one more copy, and he will benefit from one copy. This bastard will die."

All of a sudden, the crowd was even more sensational, and everyone felt an inexplicable excitement, as if... It was a refreshing feeling of revenge.

There are even some people who have an inexplicable sense of mission in their hearts.

Born as a scholar, he wants to eliminate harm for the people. Since he can't beat it, I will buy this dog's pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and I will die for him.

"I heard that Zhang Anshi is hiding at home and crying with his head in his arms! Gentlemen, gentlemen, don't talk about morality with this person. We must punish him to death. If you teach this Zhang, you will lose everything."

"Okay." Everyone responded eagerly.

Seeing this scene, Zeng Qi couldn't help being dumbfounded.

Zhou Shu and Zhou Mengjian were also excited at this time. They could not only buy the Four Treasures of the Study for themselves cheaply, but also buy Zhang Anshi crying with his head in his arms.

"Brothers, I'll go grab it first."

At the moment, he also got into the crowd.

Yang Xiang bowed his head and said nothing, he was a little dumbfounded, originally he thought Zhang Anshi was very difficult, but this time, Zhang Anshi actually believed the monk's words, as for things like crying with his head in his arms, thinking about it now, he really couldn't laugh or cry.

In the distance, someone laughed loudly: "It's just right, three taels of silver... Hehe... That Zhang An Shi will lose at least five hundred Wen."

Another person said: "Don't squeeze, don't squeeze everyone, they are all scholars, everyone go in one by one, don't teach people to read jokes."

Yang Xiang didn't join in the fun.

On the other hand, Zeng Chi was concerned and said: "Xiang Yang, why don't you buy it?"

"There are so many people, it doesn't matter if you don't buy it."

After all, Zeng Wei is a top student, and he also wants to be gentle, and then he smiled and said: "The two Zhou Xian brothers are also dazzled by hatred, so let's not join in the fun. Well, look there... there is a bookstore there , why don't we go there and have a look!"

Immediately, the two walked to the bookstore next door.

After looking around casually, the two finally bought a copy of the residence newspaper and the book they chose.After paying the bill, Zhou Shu and Zhou Mengjian also came out with a stack of papers, both smiling.

"Brother Zeng, you didn't look at those guys who sell goods. They look like dead mothers. They all look like mourners, haha... Come on, come on."

"I also bought a few books, hey...I'm hungry, let's sit there."

Most of the inns and restaurants here are eaten with mud legs. When I walked to the end of the street, I found a row of restaurants.It looked quite elegant, but when I went down to ask a few restaurants, they were all full, and finally turned another street to find a vacant one.

Even so, it was still full.Several people finally sat down and ordered wine and food.

"I also heard one more thing." Zhou Shu said with a smile on his face: "As for that shop, Zhang Anshi loses at least a few hundred taels a day. Tomorrow I will invite some other fellow villagers to come together. I was careless, I only brought two taels of silver, and tomorrow I will bring three taels, and I will teach Zhang An Shi to lose all his money."

Soon, seven or eight dishes were served, and the four of them chatted.

Yang Xiangdao: "I just saw the people here, and they all went to the inn for dinner."

Zhou Shu sneered, "I've seen that inn too, what a dirty place it is."

Yang Xiang pondered and said: "Jiangxi is already a land of plenty, but Ji'an Prefecture, Nanchang Provincial City, including the current Nanjing City, have you seen so many people eating in inns in these places?"

Zhou Shu smiled and said to Zhou Mengjian who was on the side: "Young Brother Yang has been seduced by Zhang Anshi."

Zhou Mengjian also laughed and said: "Haha, it's time to come tomorrow, Zhang Anshi, this bastard, he has made us scholars suffer."

But Yang Xiang asked himself and answered honestly: "Besides, I didn't see anyone begging here. Although there are many people, they don't mix like fish and dragons in other places. Let it go... I know I will say this again, and the brothers will not be happy. gone."

As he spoke, he shook his head and smiled wryly.

He couldn't help worrying about Zhang Anshi, many scholars hated Zhang Anshi to the core, a Zhang Anshi's stereotyped writing, I don't know how many people want to break Zhang Anshi's head!
After a while, some scholars came in in twos and threes, and Zeng Wei suggested: "Just now I saw a tea house there, which is quite quiet. After eating and drinking enough, go there and drink a few sips of tea. I heard there is a pipa there. Sheng, the three brothers are all people who understand the temperament, you might as well go and appreciate it."

Zhou Mengjian and Zhou Shu were very happy, so they smiled and said, "Okay, go and listen. I'm happy today, let's take a stroll."

…………

"Zhang Anshi is dead."

"I heard that the goods have been sold for tens of thousands of taels of silver. I am afraid that I will lose at least a thousand taels. I don't know how much I will lose at night. In my opinion... maybe a loss of 500 taels is not out of the question. If it's a year, wouldn't Zhang Anshi go to the streets to beg for food?"

"Hee hee... happy."

The two... were leading dozens of guards, wearing bamboo hats, listening to the gossip on the street.The one at the head... is trembling.

One of the people wearing a bamboo hat was Zhu Di, and Zhu Di's face was swollen like a pig's liver.

At this moment, he was so angry that his seven orifices were filled with smoke!
This is not only Zhang Anshi who wants to cry, but also Zhu Di who wants to cry without tears!
Xu Huizu looked at it very comfortably, feeling curious everywhere.

He grew up in Nanjing City since he was a child, but he never expected that there would be such a place here.

Zhu Di walked vigorously, and when he reached the end of the street, in a relatively secluded place, he saw a sign in front of a shop: "For recruits, four taels of silver per month, including food and lodging."

Zhu Di was taken aback for a moment, then looked sideways at Yi Shiha behind him: "Come on."

Yi Shiha quickly nodded and stepped forward.

Zhu Di pointed to the sign and said, "When you were in Beiping, you often bought them in the city. If you were recruiting workers, what would the price be?"

Yishiha smiled wryly and said, "Six or seven hundred renminbi is not bad. The city of Nanjing may be higher, but it should be only one tael of silver."

Zhu Di blinked, his face became strange.

At that moment, he entered the shop.

This is a paper fan shop. Seeing someone coming in, the shopkeeper rushed up to greet him and said, "What kind of fan do you want, sir?"

Zhu Di looked dimly and said, "Are you recruiting workers here?"

The shopkeeper smiled: "The guest officer is joking, the young one looks extraordinary at the guest officer, and he is definitely not here to work."

Zhu Di pointed to the commoner clothes on his body: "Really? Why doesn't it look like it?"

The shopkeeper said: "I can't say it, anyway, I just don't feel like it."

Zhu Di didn't argue with others, but said: "You have good eyesight, I just saw that you are recruiting a lot of money, so I came to ask."

"My price is already low." The shopkeeper said with a wry smile: "Guest officer doesn't know, I think it's the first time I came here. Our market is now open one by one, and the business is getting better every day. Now Nowadays, there is a shortage of manpower everywhere!"

"However... the guest officer knows that even if he wants to come, in my Great Ming Law, ordinary people have no guides, so they can't leave their hometowns ten miles at will. If not, they will be treated like refugees."

After a pause, the shopkeeper continued: "So now everyone is recruiting people. There are about [-] households in Qixia, and there are at most [-] to [-] households in a radius of ten miles. There are only so many people that can be hired." A lot, won’t the wages go up? To be honest, what I’m recruiting now is only for shop assistants. My paper fan shop is usually idle, so I’m willing to pay four taels of silver. If it’s a cook in an inn, Or the foot strength on the pier, those who are capable or earn hard money, which one doesn't want six taels or seven taels!"

Six taels, seven taels?
Zhu Di was dumbfounded when he heard it.

Even Xu Huizu couldn't help being moved.

This is absolutely unheard of.

Zhu Di couldn't help saying: "In this way, in Qixia, the common people can live and work here in peace."

"It's more than living and working in peace and contentment." The shopkeeper smiled and said: "In fact, everyone is living, even if they earn more, this big guy has big troubles, but in this place, the life of our people is flourishing. "

He then sighed again: "I'm afraid I won't be able to recruit people with my four taels of silver. I'm afraid I will have to add another tael tomorrow."

Zhu Di was surprised and said, "Why is this?"

The shopkeeper was about to say that another customer came at this time.

The shopkeeper knew that Zhu Di was not here for shopping, so he hurriedly greeted those customers.

Embarrassed and a little annoyed, Zhu Di led people out.

There was a lot of traffic outside, Zhu Di lowered his head and thought.

Xu Huizu said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, I have never heard of such an economic talent."

Zhu Di smiled wryly and said: "He's an economical talent, haven't you heard that he loses more than 1000 taels a day. What he loses is my money."

Xu Huizu said: "Your Majesty is rich all over the world, you should put the world first."

Zhu Di: "..."

Zhu Di called Yi Shiha: "Where is Zhang Anshi now?"

"Slave to inquire."

After a while, Yishiha came back and said: "Cheng Enbo is in a house not far away at this time, and the servants lead the way."

After a while, as expected, the group arrived at a relatively secluded mansion, and saw a few people standing guard at the door.

These people were very nervous, as if someone was going to do harm to the owner of the mansion at any time, and when they saw someone coming, they were about to step forward and check.

Behind Zhu Di, several guards stopped them immediately, and then took out a waist card.

These guards were obviously professional, although they couldn't tell which yamen the badge belonged to, but through their own professional judgment, they knew that these people were not simple, so they retreated immediately, and Zhu Di entered the house first.

This house is obviously Zhang Anshi's temporary residence.

There are many wing rooms on the left and right, and most of the wing rooms seem to have people coming in and out.

But along the central axis, there is a lobby. After walking a few steps, I heard hahaha laughter from the lobby.

Hearing this laughter, Zhu Di found it extremely harsh.

Then the voice of someone speaking was heard.

"What happened later, what happened later, tell me quickly."

"Later they all said that they wanted Cheng Enbo to die, and they wanted Cheng Enbo to hug his head and cry every day."

"Hahahahaha..."

The sound of Zhang Anshi laughing wildly.

Zhu Di: "..."

"anything else……"

"Also, the villain dare not say."

"Say it, tell it quickly, I'm having fun!"

"They also said that Cheng Enbo will beg in the street in the future."

Zhang Anshi shouted: "Miao, Miao, I must satisfy them when the time comes. I will wear beggar clothes and go begging in the street. After all, the customer is God. I have to make them happy."

Zhu Di's face fell when he heard this.

Xu Huizu couldn't help coughing too.

Zhu Di couldn't bear it anymore, strode straight into the room, coughed and said, "Why, you still want to be a beggar?"

Zhang Anshi laughed so hard that his mouth was almost crooked.

Hearing this familiar voice at this time, he shuddered, and hurriedly chased away Zhu Jin, who was also laughing, like a fly.

Zhu Jin hastily withdrew.

Zhang Anshi had a bitter face, but with this bitter face, he seemed to be holding back his laughter: "Your Majesty, why did you come here, I didn't tell you earlier."

Zhu Di stared at him and said, "What you said seems like I shouldn't have come! Fortunately, I have come, otherwise I wouldn't have known you were messing around here."

Zhang Anshi asked Zhu Di and Xu Huizu to sit down, bouncing around to serve them tea.

Zhu Di waved his hand: "No need, sit down and talk."

Zhang Anshi was like an angry little daughter-in-law, leaned over and sat down: "Your Majesty is here..."

"You opened a shop?" Zhu Di stared at Zhang Anshi.

Zhang Anshi nodded: "Yes, quite a few have been opened."

Zhu Di sighed: "There is a saying in the art of war that a proud soldier will be defeated. I think you are so complacent after winning many battles that you have lost your composure! You, you, how can you do such a loss-making business? What kind of fortune-telling?" Can you believe it? Tell the truth, how much did the shop lose today?"

Zhang Anshi said: "Maybe there are dozens of taels of silver."

Zhu Di was taken aback: "Only a few dozen taels? But I heard that you lost thousands of taels."

Zhang Anshi laughed, and said: "The cost is not calculated in this way. If it is based on the storefront in Nanjing, it may be so much a loss? But your majesty forgot that I have several advantages. First, the land here does not require money. There is no need to collect rent for the pavement, does this save a lot of money?”

"Besides, Your Majesty also saw that the sales here are not comparable to other shops. I directly negotiated with the workshops in various places to promise how much to sell to him every month, and asked them to give me more discounts. Let’s just talk about inkstones. For ordinary shops, if you buy a hundred square meters a month, you can promise to sell them two or three thousand units a month. Think about it, your majesty, for such a big business as the minister, the amount of money purchased Is the price much lower?"

"In this way, in fact, I didn't lose money at all. Even if I did lose money, it's just money for hiring a guy."

Zhu Di was taken aback for another moment. Although he might not understand the way of business, Zhang Anshi's words were reasonable and reasonable, so he asked uncertainly, "No loss?"

"No loss!" Zhang Anshi vowed: "And... this price, I want to drop it again in a few days! I didn't expect that the sales volume would be so hot. In this way, the sales volume will be even greater. , Next month, we have to talk to the workshop again to lower the purchase price again."

Zhu Di let out a long breath of relief, as if he was relieved all of a sudden, and said: "I saw that many scholars outside were smiling, and thought you had a blood loss! If you don't lose money, it's good, no...you are eating enough to support yourself , even if you don’t lose money, what are you doing with this business that doesn’t make money?”

"Zhang Anshi, I have great expectations for you, don't waste your energy on useless things. You are young, what kind of good deeds are you doing! Think about me, think about me, I have to face this country, this is What a burden, I still point to someone to do good deeds for me!"

This is a bit shameless.

Zhang Anshi: "..."

Xu Huizu glanced at Zhu Di, as if Xu Huizu despised Zhu Di's character even when he was young.

"Your Majesty..." Finally, Zhang Anshi said in embarrassment: "Actually... I made a profit, just a little bit."

Zhu Di frowned and said, "What did you earn? Word of mouth? Don't even think about it, how people scold you outside. Scholars are wolves who don't know how to raise them. Do you think they will say hello to you after getting benefits from you? Except for me in this world..."

Zhang Anshi felt that he was mentally puaed.

So he hurriedly said: "It's a real profit, a real profit! Has Your Majesty ever thought about why people are so excited outside?"

Zhu Di snorted impatiently at him and said, "Don't be tricky."

Zhang Anshidao: "I just want to create the illusion that I have made a big deal for them. Only when I make them feel that I have made a big deal, will they follow suit."

Zhu Di: "..."

Zhang Anshi went on to say: "It's just ordinary people who don't believe that someone sells at a loss. At this time, I had no choice but to borrow the monks from Qixia Temple. This excuse is good or bad, and it is a good excuse. It's really low price, they can't help but believe it."

After a pause, Zhang Anshi said again: "Have you ever thought about why your Majesty is selling the Four Treasures of the Study?"

At this time, Zhu Di had already noticed something strange.

Zhu Di's expression became serious: "Go on."

Zhang Anshidao: "Because the buyers of the Four Treasures of the Study are scholars! Your Majesty... in this capital, the scholars who really have spending power in their hands definitely account for the majority. They can read, and they are interested in the Four Treasures of the Study, especially the Four Treasures of the quality of the study. , those who can afford it, they have the most spare money in their hands, and they are the most willing to spend money."

"That's why I started with the Four Treasures of the Study."

Zhu Di frowned, he faintly felt something, but he still couldn't figure it out.

"On the surface, I lost money at the Four Treasures of the Study, but don't forget, Your Majesty, the entire market is a whole. Now there are 140 shops the size of the market, half of which are managed by the minister, that is, the business itself. There are high-end teahouses, restaurants, bookstores, shoes, hats and cloth stores, all kinds of businesses... many shops sell relatively expensive goods."

"As for the other [-] shops, although they are run by ordinary merchants, these merchants... their shops are also owned by the minister, don't they want to pay rent?"

"Now, a large number of people with money in their pockets are flocking in. Did these people come here and just buy one of the Four Treasures of the Study and go back? Even if they go back home directly, don't forget, Your Majesty, the boat at this ferry is also We are in business."

"So, I am not afraid of losing money with the Four Treasures of the Study. The only thing I am afraid of is that they will not come. As long as they are willing to come, they will have to eat, take a boat, and sometimes wander around. Maybe they will fall in love with something. I bought it back by the way. Dare I ask Your Majesty, can Your Majesty calculate this account?"

Zhu Di suddenly realized, and exclaimed: "It turns out...you are a bitter trick."

Zhang Anshi said coyly: "It's not really a trick, in fact... it's just a meal."

Zhang Anshi continued: "Actually, I didn't expect the effect to be so amazing at first. The enthusiasm of the scholars is very high. If I knew this, I should have opened a few more shops."

This is really unexpected, who would have thought that these scholars would hate Zhang Anshi so much?

So hatred is sometimes a kind of power.

"As for the future, this person has inertia. These scholars have made appointments to come here a few more times. After getting used to this place, they are willing to come here every now and then. I plan to build a street here for scholars to buy. What? The four treasures of the study, what kind of bookstore."

After a pause, Zhang Anshi continued with bright eyes: "By the way, there is one more thing. After keeping it, this street will become a hen that lays golden eggs."

Zhu Di looked at Zhang Anshi curiously and said, "What is it?"

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "This one will not open until tomorrow. I have worked so hard for this...but now I am attracting scholars, but to attract people, in addition to the four treasures of the study, I have to keep people. If people can't keep them, then Can't do it."

At this moment, Zhu Di had only one thought in his mind... this guy...he is really talented.

Xu Huizu suddenly had a feeling that he was too honest and was a bit out of place with this duo of monarchs and ministers.

Hey... young people nowadays... really...

Zhang Anshi looked at the sky, but said: "Your Majesty, it's getting late, I have to look at today's accounts, see how much I earn today compared to yesterday, and how much benefit these four treasures of the study can bring."

After Zhu Di heard this, he said fiercely, "I'm going to have a look too."

At that moment, Zhang Anshi took the lead and came to a wing next door, which was obviously the accountant's room.

Here, seven or eight accountants are nervously calculating the income collected from various stores.

More and more accounts were rolled up.

until it was dark.

But Zhu Di still refused to leave. He didn't see the number and was afraid that he would not be able to sleep well. Even though he was hungry right now, he still waited here.

(End of this chapter)