coobybook Chapter 290 Whereabouts Unknown
Chapter 290 Whereabouts Unknown
After that, Zhao Fangyu and Cui Xueyan met privately several times again, and Zhao Fangyu got along quite well with her.
The eldest princess just stayed in her Qianjin Tower and refused to move, and she didn't care about anything else.
She would only show up when it came to purchasing for the Nanzhao caravan.
After all, Zhao Fangyu wanted to avoid suspicion. Although the princess had doubts, when the Nanzhao caravan subsequently talked and negotiated with other shops, Zhao Fangyu never came forward to help, and he didn't even help to pull a connection. Including negotiations with the Li and Cui shops, it was Zhao Fangyu who signed the orders, and the princess lowered the price and came forward to connect Nanzhao and the Cui family.
Because in the end these goods came all the way to Daliang and had to pass through Qianjin Building for a clear passage.
It can be said that they keep their distance from each other and have always maintained a subtle sense of distance between them.
The eldest princess pinched Shu Jie'er's chubby face and glanced at Zhao Fangyu from time to time. She felt that none of the children in the Zhao family seemed to be ugly, including their cousin Meng Yanzhen, who was favored in the harem because of her appearance.
Zhao Fangyu was too lazy to move. She had stopped taking medicine these past two days because of her menstruation. She had to wait until after her menstruation to replenish the medicine. In addition, there were no convenient items like night pants and sanitary napkins, so the ancient menstrual belts were still difficult to use.
Zhao Fangyu watched the eldest princess teasing Shu Jie'er and he didn't have the strength to muster any strength.
"Qinghe Cui family, you signed such a big order, but you didn't even think about making more money, so that those barbarians would make a lot of money."
The princess seemed to be doing this for Zhao Fangyu's own good, so she glared at him. Her appearance was beautiful and bright, and she was attractive no matter how she looked.
"Don't call me mercenary. A huge sum of money like that, over a long period of time, wouldn't you be tempted?"
Zhao Fangyu thought, I make money, so I don't need to be tempted, but he still pretended to be a master: "There is another hidden story behind this."
The princess was puzzled as to what hidden story could there be. It was impossible that there was another wealthy clan behind the fragrant dew from Nanzhao.
That's not right. Even if the Five Surnames and Seven Families wanted to develop a fragrant dew, there would be no need for such a tortuous method.
So he asked in confusion: "What's the secret?"
What hidden secret could make Zhao Fangyu, the ancestor of making money, leave the money alone?
Zhao Fangyu turned his head and glanced out the window, his face unfathomable: "It's sad to talk about it, but it's better not to mention it."
The princess had never seen Zhao Fangyu behave like this before, so she came over immediately and pretended to listen attentively. She thought Zhao Fangyu was going to tell her some secret, but the next moment, she saw Zhao Fangyu saying with a sad face, "Of course I can't do that much."
The prosperous places are spread across the fourteen continents, and a lot of fragrant dew from the fourteen continents can be sold every day, but the production capacity of flowers in Daliang is limited. After all, it is not the 21st century, and all places like to plant flowers for economic purposes.
At that time, food productivity was still insufficient, natural disasters and man-made disasters occurred frequently, and there was not enough land to grow food, so naturally there was even less land available to grow flowers.
With fewer flowers, there is naturally less fragrant dew.
It’s not that Zhao Fangyu doesn’t want to do more, but expanding production domestically will easily affect people’s livelihood.
"I would like to produce more, but how can I produce more?"
"How many flowers can the capital city produce in a year to make perfume for me?"
There are only so many raw materials and the production capacity has been fully utilized. Adding more machines will only increase waste.
The princess immediately understood after thinking about it. She knew exactly how much land Zhao Fangyu owned and how many flowers he produced every year.
Even if you want to be productive, it’s useless if you don’t have enough flowers.
Make bricks without straw.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Plant more flowers and trees in the spring, and you can harvest them in a few months."
Flowers are not like fruits. It takes several years to grow the trees. They grow and grow year after year. They grow in spring, bloom in summer, wither in autumn and die in winter. If you feel that the quantity is not enough in spring, you should plant more. Anyway, Zhao Fangyu's fragrant dew is sold well, so you will not worry about not being able to sell them no matter how many you plant.
What's more, Zhao Fangyu has earned so much money over the years, how could he not be able to buy land?
Buying land to plant flowers is not like buying land to open a shop. You also need to consider the location and position. As long as the flowers are well grown, it's fine. How can you not find a place?
To the eldest princess, this was not a problem enough to trap Zhao Fangyu.
Zhao Fangyu snorted and slowly explained to the princess that she was not unmoved, but she had been pampered for many years and had never thought of this: "Flowers can be sold at a high price during the peaceful years. People sell flowers for silver. I sell the perfume for silver. When the buyers get what they want, they are happy and everything will be good naturally."
"But if there is a famine and the flowers I grow cannot be exchanged for food, I will be a great sinner."
"If you really abandon the good farmland and plant flowers instead, the censor will die on the stone lions at the door of my house tomorrow."
There was drought in Chenzhou, and the harvest was total. Even the officials were dismissed. How could the people not find a few scapegoats to quell their grievances?
Zhao Fangyu wanted to earn some money to live a peaceful life, but he didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night and dream that the silver was covered in thick layers of blood.
Another point is that things are valuable because they are rare.
"Back then, the Yang family was competing with me, and both families tried their best to sell at a lower price. What's the point of that?"
Zhao Fangyu fanned herself slowly, her beautiful eyes moving as she uttered a heartfelt remark that made the princess secretly curse the profiteer: "How much money does he make from a bottle of perfumed dew? How much money do I make from a bottle of perfumed dew?"
"I've already calculated it. With the labor and transportation costs, their profits are slim."
"It's a long way from Nanzhao to the heart of the Central Plains. Not counting the flowers, labor, and the utensils and consumables for making the perfumed dew, how much silver would it cost just for the carriages? Even if they used cheap bottles and jars like bamboo tubes along the way, wouldn't there be losses after traveling thousands of miles by water and land? We are not responsible for these losses, so naturally they have to bear them themselves."
Nanzhao Xianglu is everywhere, and it will only increase in quantity and become increasingly difficult to buy. It is just like the fast-moving consumer goods stores that are everywhere in modern times, and any store can buy and sell the goods.
However, the Fourteen States are in an invincible position simply because of their limited production capacity and the shortage of supply.
Zhao Fangyu poked her temple with her fingertips, pretending to be embarrassed, but the corners of her lips were raised, and it was not difficult to see her mischief: "Not only this year, but next year the Fourteen States will not produce more fragrant dew."
Zhao Fangyu pointed to a place in the southeast corner of the suburbs of Beijing and said, "I bought a mountain. I am just waiting to get the deed. This mountain will be used exclusively for growing flowers. I will hire flower farmers to cultivate good varieties and will no longer collect flowers from the public."
The quality of flowers collected by the public is not stable. The varieties of flowers in different places are different, so the fragrance will naturally vary.
Nanzhao Xianglu takes the low-end route, and what Zhao Fangyu needs to do is to carry out high-end quality control on the Xianglu of the Fourteen States, upgrade the packaging from the source, and ensure the output quality.
The slogan of raw material upgrading is the biggest scam of the 21st century. It has been tried and tested and has always worked. Until Zhao Fangyu traveled through time, countless people were still fascinated by it.
It was used to deceive the ancients and it was always used with certainty.
The eldest princess seemed to understand, but Zhao Fangyu knew that she didn't understand, so he explained it to her verbally. At that time, there was no map, and the eldest princess had no idea.
Zhao Fangyu still casually dragged over a plate of snacks. On the slender high-footed plate, there was a mountain of rice cakes. The eldest princess liked to eat this, so even if it was a little inconvenient to use, it was just a matter of using an extra pair of chopsticks or two silver sticks.
Zhao Fangyu circled out a space in the air around the hill-like rice cake.
"For example, if this is a mountain, and I set aside a place to plant the best osmanthus trees and gardenias, the quality of the flowers produced is far superior to those produced by ordinary people. Wouldn't the perfume produced in this way be more precious than the original perfume?"
If you buy a whole mountain, how could you only plant cheap things like osmanthus and gardenia?
The mountain that Zhao Fangyu bought was carefully selected because it had two or three springs, which was perfect for growing some flowers out of season.
Zhao Fangyu has been cultivating different kinds of flowers in his glass greenhouse.
Jasmine is one of Zhao Fangyu's key cultivation areas.
The jasmine flowers in this pot are as blooming as clouds. What's more rare is that the jasmine is white in color, and has a fresh, elegant and rich fragrance.
This pot is of newly cultivated weeping jasmine, which blooms like a waterfall, as if it seems to burst out of the pot. The clusters of snow-white flowers hanging down are half an arm long!
There is only this pot of flowers in the room, but it smells so good that one feels like being in a garden.
What kind of exquisite things has the princess not seen? Yao Huang and Wei Zi are commonplace.
This is the first time I have seen it.
It was clearly jasmine, like a weeping crabapple, with strands of wisps...
"This is what the flower grower cultivated last year. However, the weeping jasmine cultivated last year has no fragrance, just like the crabapple has no fragrance, so I never took it out to give to my aunt to enjoy."
"This year, this good thing has finally grown into something fragrant, and it lives up to our expectations."
The eldest princess looked at the pot of beautifully grown weeping jasmine, her bright face full of smiles, and even a faint blush on her ears.
"Is it really a gift for me?"
"It's just a pot of flowers. As long as Auntie likes it, that's fine."
"Besides, Auntie was willing to help me that day, and I am very grateful to her."
The princess reluctantly withdrew her gaze from Jasmine and looked at Zhao Fangyu with gentle eyes mixed with a little anger: "Tell me quickly, what work have you arranged for me?"
One does not visit a temple for no reason. Such beautiful flowers, such important things, it is obvious that Zhao Fangyu will use them to make perfume in the future.
If I give it to her like this, I won't be afraid that she will sell the flower to Nanzhao...
The princess didn’t know where Zhao Fangyu’s inexplicable trust in her came from, but who would like to be suspected all the time?
It is always better to be treated with sincerity than to be nervous and guess everything.
Zhao Fangyu curved his lips and shook his head weakly: "It's really nothing, it's just a pot of flowers, not worth anything."
"It's fine for Auntie to enjoy it herself, but don't give it to others."
"I will have to rely on it to make money in the future."
The eldest princess looked at the flower carefully. The price of the fragrant dew made from such top-quality jasmine was probably not much different from that of real rose dew.
Shu Jie'er was tired from playing and made a fuss about going back. After Xingzhi carried the little fat boy out, the princess and Zhao Fangyu chatted for a while, talking about things like whose daughter was engaged, whose husband was not ambitious, and whose family was embarrassed by defaulting on money in the brothel.
Staring at the plum blossom painting on the wall, the princess suddenly seemed to remember something and said to Zhao Fangyu, "I remember your sister-in-law is from the Mei family of the Ministry of Rites?"
The words came out suddenly, and Zhao Fangyu's eyes flashed darkly: "Yes, sister-in-law is the daughter of Lord Mei, and she has a younger brother who is now an imperial envoy."
The princess's eyes turned and her smile faded. There was a bit more comfort in her words: "The news from the morning court today said that the imperial envoy was suddenly attacked on the way to Chenzhou. The imperial envoy, Mei, fell into the water and is missing."
The eldest princess vaguely remembered that this Lord Xiaomei was also very popular in the court. Cui Zimin and Mei Zhanhui were the two most outstanding young officials.
Lord Wang once said that both of you have the qualifications to enter the cabinet.
It is not surprising that Cui Zimin entered the cabinet. Mei Zhanhui emerged as a dark horse.
What's more, the fact that he can be on par with Cui Zimin in the court is already a recognition of his ability.
After all, Cui Zimin is not an ordinary person.
Zhao Fangyu finally gathered up some strength and leaned forward again: "When did he disappear? Where is the guard?"
She really didn't know about this matter. As for the news from the morning court today, now that Zhou Qinghe was not here, she had one less channel to get the news, and the delay was severe.
Zhao Fangyu remembered that there was another person named Pei Yan who followed Mei Zhanhui to investigate the truth of Chenzhou.
They were the Jinyiwei, and they were able to kidnap people right under their noses...
Zhao Fangyu half closed his eyes, cursing the emperor's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart.
What a shitty emperor! He ignored all the mistakes made by his officials and only focused on his son, causing trouble all day long. It must be God's fault that such a person is still sitting on the throne.
Why don't you just let a thunder strike him to death?
"They also sent the commander of the Southern Pacification Division of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to assist. Logically, they should have sent the commander of the Northern Pacification Division, but they ended up sending the commander of the Southern Pacification Division instead."
The Southern Pacification Office is responsible for civil affairs, while the Northern Pacification Office is responsible for military affairs. The dirty work such as murder, arson, property confiscation and extermination of clans has always been done by the Northern Pacification Office.
The Southern Pacification Office was more responsible for secret investigations and interrogations.
Zhao Fangyu listened and rarely thought of Pei Yan.
She had many dealings with the Jinyiwei in the palace. The Jinyiwei's Southern Pacification Division was not as skilled in martial arts as the Northern Pacification Division, but Pei Yan was able to become the commander of the Southern Pacification Division, so his martial arts was at least above average.
Mei Zhanhui was kidnapped right under the noses of Pei Yan and a group of secret agents. Either most of the local Jinyiwei in Chenzhou were dead, or Pei Yan and Mei Zhanhui were setting up a trap.
The former situation was more serious. The Jinyiwei was completely wiped out. There were only two possibilities. One was that local officials killed people indiscriminately. The other was that there was a spy within the Jinyiwei who leaked the list of Jinyiwei in Chenzhou, resulting in no one surviving in the Jinyiwei.
Another possibility is that Mei Zhanhui's disappearance was instructed by the emperor and condoned by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
No matter which one he chooses, Mei Zhanhui will have to go through several life-threatening situations.
Zhao Fangyu did not have a deep impression of Mei Zhanhui. He only remembered his face in front of the emperor and the red robe he was wearing. He had no other impression of him.
"Is Chenzhou already such a poor and barren place?"
Chenzhou was poor, and Zhao Fangyu's shop never opened in Chenzhou.
Now there is no clue at all and I am completely in the dark.