"You...you really want the silver." Shi Zitong just thought Lou Bucheng was joking. When he saw the three 12-weight silver flakes in Lou Bucheng's hands, he couldn't help but slap his forehead angrily. , this time he really didn’t know how to go back to deliver the business.
Lou Bucheng didn't think so much. He just looked at the thirty taels of silver in his hand and laughed. It's not that he has never seen money. In fact, the business of Guangde Building is good. As the boss here, he makes a lot of money. There are no shortage of people. He is happy that he has disgusted Shen Ao. This will be a source of conversation when bragging with others in the future.
The very talented Duke Zhongguo fell into his own hands and was forced to take out thirty taels of silver. As for how to explain the matter to King Xiang, it is your blessing that King Xiang takes a fancy to you. Just throw it away and don't regret it.
Shi Zitong was not so optimistic. After leaving Guangde Tower, he had been thinking about what to say. When he saw Prince Xiang in Prince Xiang's Mansion, he had already figured out what to do.
In the main hall of Prince Xiang's Mansion, Prince Xiang and Han Ce were waiting for Shi Zitong's reply. Although Prince Xiang was not worried about this matter, five million taels of silver was already a lot. With his influence in Prince Qi's territory, Shen Ao did not suffer a loss, as long as he was not stupid, he would know what to do.
As for the previous incident between Shi Zitong and Shen Ao, he also obeyed the wishes of his chief staff Han Ce and sent a gift, showing the appearance of friendship. I think this small matter will not affect the overall plan of cooperation between the two parties.
Han Ce, on the other hand, kept his head down and said nothing. He just had a feeling that it was really worrying to ask Shi Zitong to do this, especially to find such a stick as Lou Bucheng.
Lou Bucheng, like the name he gave him, gives the impression that he is incapable of doing anything. Apart from being able to cook, there seems to be nothing he can do well. It would be better not to have such a person assist Shi Zitong. .
When Shi Zitong returned to Prince Xiang's Mansion, he had a solemn expression on his face. Just seeing his appearance, both Prince Xiang and Han Ce had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, Shi Zitong said, Shen Ao refused. According to him, Shen Ao insisted on the one thousand taels and refused to let go. He also said that this was a rule and no one could break it.
"Is it really not even five million? Isn't my face worth money?" Prince Xiang said angrily. It was obvious that this result was unacceptable to him, and he also hated Shen Ao.
He is just a hereditary prince, with a little business talent and some talent. In the final analysis, he is just a slave. Do you really dare to compete with your master?
Han Ce did not expect that Shi Zitong would lie, nor did he expect that Shi Zitong and Lou Bucheng would force Shen Ao to give in during the meeting. He also thought that Shen Ao was really sticking to his principles and felt that this matter was a bit tricky.
Shi Zitong told lies, but they were not all lies. At least during the negotiation process, Shen Ao did not talk about five million, but emphasized that the rules could not be broken. Of course, he himself proposed one million He would never talk about getting a Supreme Member. Things were already like this. He was afraid that if he said this, King Xiang would kick him to death in anger. After all, King Xiang gave people the impression that he was very impulsive.
At this time, Prince Xiang couldn't care less about the little Jiujiu in Shi Zitong's heart. He only knew that his good intentions had been rejected, and he was losing face.
Ordinarily, he has already taken the five million, and it is not impossible for King Xiang to take out the five million. But with the previous negotiation, if he gave in and tried to find a way to get the five million, wouldn't it be proof that he had given in? Already?
The dignified Third Prince of Daqian, His Royal Highness Prince Xiang, and Prince Sanzhu were actually forced by a minister to take money to do things. Wouldn't it be a joke if word spread about it? When the prince finds out, he will probably laugh at himself. What else will he do in the future? Standing in the court with face.
"This Shen Ao really doesn't know how to show appreciation. Even so, there is no need to be polite to him." King Xiang said with an angry look on his face.
Seeing that King Xiang was about to act impulsively again, Han Ce on the side quickly dissuaded him: "Your Highness, Shen Ao did nothing wrong in this matter. He talks about things according to rules, which makes people speechless. Even if he wants to We cannot use such leverage to deal with him, but should take a long-term approach."
"A long-term plan? Come on, tell me how to plan a long-term plan? Do you think this matter can be settled like this? In the future, everyone can reject me?" King Xiang stared at Han Ce angrily and asked.
"That's right." Shi Zitong on the side was just watching the excitement and didn't think it was a big deal. Anyway, things were already like this. What he wanted to do most now was to deal with Shen Ao severely, so he added to the excitement, "Yi Mou, come and see , we should catch Shen Ao and give him a good beating to let him know the consequences of going against His Highness."
"No way." Han Ce's face changed with fear when he heard this bad idea, "Zhong Guo Gong is supported by Concubine Zhao in the palace, Guo Changlong is also supported by the eldest princess, and his uncle Zhongcheng Hou is also supported. If you step forward and beat someone for no reason, it will be a very troublesome matter."
Han Ce is telling the truth. Shen Ao himself is not scary, but the people behind him are not so easy to mess with. If he beats people casually, if he does something wrong, he will be reprimanded by the emperor and arrested by the prince and others. When it comes to pigtails, the gain outweighs the loss.
Of course Prince Xiang also understands the truth behind this. He is not afraid of others, whether it is the eldest princess or Concubine Zhao. They are just women. Do they really dare to do anything to Prince Xiang? Marquis Zhongcheng is different. He is just a leader. People who have fought in the army have seen people killed with blood. I heard that this person treats Shen Ao as his own son. If he beats Shen Ao for no reason, I am afraid that the other party will really dare to come and kill him. Shame is certain.
The important thing is that King Xiang doesn't want to give people the feeling of being unreasonable. In that case, even if his father knows about it, he will probably think that he is not useful. If this is the case, the matter will be the worst. Just do nothing, and it will be the worst. It's not his personality. He must use some means to let Shen Ao know how miserable the consequences will be if he offends him. "Since you can't take action, then think of a way from the business he is best at. Guo Changlong is not very good at doing business. Is it making money? Then it will cut off his supply."
"This..." Han Ce noticed that King Xiang looked at him at the end. Obviously, His Highness meant to leave the matter to him. In fact, he did not want to be an enemy of Guo Changlong, because A bad situation is a lose-lose situation, but His Highness Prince Xiang's face is more important. He finally promised: "Yes, I will find a solution for this matter."
Han Ce was worthy of being King Xiang's chief aide, and he quickly thought of a countermeasure. Under his persuasion, King Xiang then left the house and went straight to the Lu Mansion in Daliang City. This time, it took more than an hour. Come out. At this moment, King Xiang's face is proud and proud, and his face looks much better.
Not long after King Xiang left the Lu Mansion, Lv Wuqiao, the paper king of the Daqian Dynasty who was known as Mr. Qiao, spoke. From then on, the supply of rice paper to Guo Changlong was cut off. Not only that, whoever is here from now on If he goes to Guochanglong to apply for membership, he will be regarded as an unwelcome person by the Lu family. In the future, he will not be able to buy a piece of rice paper from the Lu family. If someone wants to help resell it, once it is verified, he will also be treated as People who are not welcome in the Lu family.
The Lu family almost monopolized more than 70% of the entire paper industry. Especially the rice paper produced by the Lu family was given as a royal gift. Not only the emperor liked it, but also many courtiers, dignitaries, and gentry. They are all used to using Lu’s rice paper.
King Xiang found Lv Wuchiao and used the King of Qi's area as a bargaining chip to persuade Lv Wuchiao to ban Guochanglong. It must be said that Han Ce had a good idea. In fact, there were many paper-making industries in the four states controlled by King of Qi. Large households, more than 10% of the remaining share of Daqian's paper industry comes from this place. This has made Lu Wuchiao keep thinking of ways to bring Lu's paper industry into the land of the King of Qi, but he can't find a way. Now Xiang Wang came to the door, and the two hit it off immediately, and they made this declaration.
As soon as the incident came out, some wealthy people who were preparing or thinking about applying for membership in Guochanglong immediately stopped their actions and looked at Guochanglong in a wait-and-see manner to see how they would get through this time.
Guochanglong General Store.
There was no sign of anger on Shen Ao's face. He knew that a biting dog doesn't bark, and it was useless to shout to regain face before things were done. So after returning to the main store, he directly After going to the workshop, some of the ongoing experiments had to be sped up, and he had to make Lou Bucheng pay a heavy price.
Not long after entering the workshop, the female official Zhuyun came to the door and said that the eldest princess was in the inner courtyard and invited Duke Zhongguo to come to discuss matters.
In the courtyard, the eldest princess's face was very ugly. The Lu family's declaration caught her off guard and was unexpected.
Guo Changlong has always purchased rice paper from the Lu family, and then sold it at a 10% higher price. Although the profit is not that huge, after all, the purchase price of the rice paper from the Lu family is not cheap. But at least it is profitable. Now that people are shouting about cutting off the supply of goods, not being able to make money is secondary. Guo Changlong is also responsible for the business of providing rice paper to the royal family. If this cannot be completed, will it cause the emperor's brother to be unhappy?
After much deliberation, the eldest princess came to the main store and wanted to discuss it with Shen Ao. She didn't know when, but Shen Ao, who was much younger than her, became her backbone. She always liked to talk to Shen Ao when things happened. When people discuss it, it seems that there is nothing that Shen Ao can't solve.
Shen Ao followed Zhu Yun into the inner courtyard. When the eldest princess saw the real master, she stood up and said, "Something happened!"