and leave

In the wind and sand in the northwest, Lu Yiqing was studying how to weave a scarf with a hemp rope.

In the old house in Jinling, Patriarch Lu summoned the steward, looking through the paperwork and ledger, busy.

Another group of stewards discussed and left. Seeing that it was getting late, the steward walked into the study with a few plates of pastries and persuaded: "Master, it's getting late, it's time for dinner. You are also recovering from a serious illness." , At this time, it is time to take a good rest."

Patriarch Lu didn't raise his head when he heard the words, and he waited for the pastry that was at hand.He casually picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, then said: "No hurry, it doesn't matter if you eat it later for dinner."

The housekeeper was speechless when he saw Patriarch Lu's skillful movements, and he couldn't help persuading him: "Patriarch, if you say later that it's too late, dinner can be waived. But you can't eat cakes, either. I know you will be worried."

Hearing Lu Yiqing mentioned, Patriarch Lu finally raised his head and sighed—moving the business from Chang'an back to Jinling is not a trivial matter.I think it took him ten years to move his business from Jinling to Chang'an, but it took him less than three months to move back.Not to mention the discrepancy in it, it's just that this involvement is hurting, if he is not worried about Lu Yiqing's safety, he really can't let it go.

But in the final analysis, the relocation of commercial banks is a temporary solution rather than a permanent cure, or in other words, monks cannot escape the temple if they can escape.As long as King Xiang hadn't given up their Lu family's money, the danger would not be far away from them, and even when he came to his senses and found that the Lu family had lost a lot of money in order to leave Chang'an, he might immediately become angry from embarrassment.

At this moment, Patriarch Lu only felt that there were many crises, how could he cultivate with peace of mind?

Seeing him like this, the butler didn't know how to persuade him, all he could do was take care of Patriarch Lu's daily necessities.

After a while, Patriarch Lu finally spoke, and he asked the housekeeper, "Yu Sheng, tell me, Ah Qing and the others have arrived in the northwest now?" After asking, he answered without waiting for the housekeeper's answer: "If you count the days, you should It's here."

The butler then answered: "Mr. Lang is smart, and Mrs. Young is calm. The Patriarch doesn't have to worry too much about them."

Patriarch Lu nodded when he heard the words, and finally completely turned his mind away from the paperwork in front of him, he put down the books and looked up and asked, "Do you have any news about those people Ah Qing was leaving before, what are they doing now? "

Before leaving, Lu Yiqing asked for a lot of money and manpower from Patriarch Lu, as if he had made up his mind to get a start-up fund, and then went out to develop his own business on his own.But money is okay. The old people in the business she is going to are of course capable and trustworthy, but they have been inextricably linked with the business for many years, and it is not possible for her to separate them.

Therefore, the butler really knew about these things, and replied after hearing the words: "Master, the people who were going to go before Mr. Lang were divided into three groups. Now a group of people has rushed to the East China Sea. It seems that they have found someone near the coast of the East China Sea In a small remote fishing village, a lot of pools were repaired, which seemed to be for drying salt. The second batch of kilns were repaired, and it seemed that they were planning to make porcelain or something, and they also made some shochu by the way. The third group of people went around and contacted commercial banks for water transportation. , it seems that they plan to find a business route by themselves."

After listening to the steward's words, Patriarch Lu knew something in his heart, but his brows were slightly frowned—Lu Yiqing mentioned the method of drying salt long ago. Salt and iron have been huge profits since ancient times, and they have been in the hands of the court since ancient times. .The Lu family was not short of money before, so they knew the way to increase salt production, and never planned to intervene.But now Lu Yiqing seems to be planning to smuggle salt, this kind of thing comes quickly.

Compared with the crime of smuggling salt, burning porcelain to make shochu is not worth mentioning.

Patriarch Lu was a little scared, afraid that King Xiang would still be staring at them, afraid that someone would know that Lu Yiqing had meddled in the private salt affair.So he struggled for a while, and then told the butler: "You send people to the East China Sea to help them cover it up, and then charge a high price to lure them away, so it's more or less sloppy."

The butler agreed, but did not leave in a hurry, waiting to see if Patriarch Lu had any other orders.

Without making him wait any longer, Patriarch Lu asked again: "By the way, what happened to the grain I asked you to collect a few days ago, but is it enough?"

The housekeeper then replied: "Three boats have been collected, and our people went to those grain-producing areas to collect them directly. At this time, the summer grain has not been confiscated, and what we collect is old grain. It is not expensive, but it is not the right season. If I accept it, I’m afraid it will alarm those who care.”

Patriarch Lu knew it well, so he nodded and said, "Let's stop now, and send the three ships of food to Ah Qing first. She brought a few things over there before, and I'm afraid it won't be noticeable to the Wei family army. Sending these grains over will also give her some confidence, and then wait for the summer grains to come out, and then let people collect some and send them away, then it will not be too conspicuous."

The housekeeper nodded in response, and waited until Patriarch Lu ordered.He was about to leave, but was stopped by Patriarch Lu, who thought for a while and wrote a letter, asking him to send someone to the northwest.

After a lot of tossing, the butler left with the letter. Just as he left, the dinner was delivered to the study.

****************************************************************************

Lu Yiqing didn't know that her own father who was far away in Jinling had already planned everything for her.She tossed and tossed with a roll of fine hemp rope for three days before she managed to regain some sense of hand. The awkwardly woven scarf was also rough and ugly, like a newcomer doing it for the first time.

Shen Wangshu endured her for three days, and finally couldn't help but said: "Don't bother, I don't want it."

Lu Yiqing hugged her hemp rope scarf with an innocent face, and after a while looked down at the shoddy semi-finished product in his hand, and explained: "No, Wang Shu, I didn't plan to give you this, I just didn't find the right thread , just practice with this first."

Shen Wangshu couldn't explain what she heard - she believed Lu Yiqing's words, no matter how unreliable the latter was, he wouldn't give her a hemp rope scarf.But the problem is that Lu Yiqing's craftsmanship is really not good, she doesn't believe that using good materials can turn decay into magic.

Pursing her lips and being silent for a moment, Shen Wangshu still suggested: "Ah Qing, have you ever thought that if you want to make a scarf, it would be better to use fur? I heard that winter in the Northwest is very cold. Your scarf... I'm afraid it's not as good as a fur scarf. Warm. And if you want to make a gift for me with your own hands, you can also go hunting by yourself, and it’s easier to kill a rabbit than to toss about it.”

The words were rather tactful, but Lu Yiqing still heard the rejection in her tone.She looked down at the semi-finished product in her hand again, and then added the filter by herself, she had to admit that this thing was ugly and poor.

The enthusiasm of the past few days was instantly extinguished, Lu Yiqing threw the knitting needles and hemp rope aside casually, then propped his chin and sighed: "Okay, okay, I know you hate it, but I actually look ugly too."

Hearing what she said, Shen Wangshu felt soft-hearted and wanted to comfort her.

But without waiting for her to comfort her, Lu Yiqing looked at the half-finished scarf and said his plan: "Actually, Wang Shu, I toss this not only to make a gift for you, but also to do business with it."

Even if Shen Wangshu was calm, she couldn't help but have a subtle expression for a moment when she heard the words, but she held back and didn't question it.

Sure enough, Lu Yiqing explained it herself. She looked at Shen Wangshu with burning eyes: "Wangshu, have you ever thought about how expensive fur is? A fur scarf naturally keeps warm, but not just anyone can afford it." Yes. But mine is different, I plan to use wool to weave thread, and thread to weave into a scarf. Not only the scarf, but also clothes and trousers, to wear all over..."

Fur fur has not been affordable by ordinary people since ancient times, even if it is rabbit fur or dog fur, it is quite expensive.But wool is different, sheep wool can be sheared every year, there are not many such things in Liang, but there are many in Qin, which has a lot of nomads.

Shen Wangshu felt that her thoughts were beautiful, so he couldn't help pouring cold water on him: "You always think of good things. But the wool is dirty and smelly, and it is difficult to take care of it. I don't know how many people will buy it from you? The dignitaries have their own furs. Keep warm, ordinary people, if you sell it, how much profit can you make?"

This is true, the whole process of weaving wool into thread and then into clothes is cumbersome.Not to mention the manpower consumed, this item is cheap, rich people look down on it, and poor people can't afford it, so it's a loss-making business no matter how you look at it.

Since Lu Yiqing wanted to do this business, he naturally thought about the pros and cons, so he leaned into Shen Wangshu's ear and said, "I don't rely on this to make money."

Shen Wangshu raised his brows when he heard the words, his eyes seemed to ask again: If you don't make money, what are you doing this for?

And she remembered Lu Yiqing fooling around back then, no, when he made an agreement with General Wei, he said he was going to Qin to buy wool and sheepskin, right?

Lu Yiqing understood Shen Wangshu's doubts, even though there were only the two of them in the carriage at this time, she still moved closer to her.It wasn't until the two of them pressed their bodies together that Shen Wangshu felt extremely hot, so she heard her whisper in her ear: "I don't buy wool to make money, but to let the people of Qin raise sheep. They make mistakes every year, just for money That's all, why do you have to work hard when you have a way to make money?"

Shen Wangshu was slightly taken aback when she heard the words, a vague thought flashed through her mind, she didn't grasp the inspiration, but quickly figured out a simple purpose - the Wei family army is now weak, after this battle they can only I'm afraid it will be a serious injury to my vitality, and I will definitely need to recuperate afterwards.During this period, if Qin State is more peaceful, the Wei Family Army will have more time to recover.And it would be a good idea to send these people away to raise sheep and shear sheep.

At this time, Shen Wangshu hadn't imagined that if the Qin people adapted to such a deal, then the war horses in their pasture would be replaced by sheep, and how much it would change the war between the two countries in the future.As far as the immediate interests are concerned, the wool is not a loss.

Lu Yiqing's eyes were shining brightly, flashing with ambition, but he restrained himself in an instant.

Perhaps it was too hot for the two of them to stick together, so Lu Yiqing finally backed away, leaving aside the topic of wool, she said again: "This woolen sweater probably won't make much money, and even if it does, it's a small amount of money, but I can't afford it." One hundred thousand troops." He paused, looked at Shen Wangshu with a smile and asked, "I have other ways to make money, but does Wangshu know what it is?"

Shen Wangshu's eyes turned slightly, and when he thought of something, he said straight away: "Sun salt.",