Tang Ji led Shen Ling into the back hall, casually sat down on the main seat above, and raised his hand to signal that he was welcome. After Jiang Ran brought the tea with the wine, he asked: "Okay , tell me what is it that makes our shopkeeper Shen make a special trip?"
"I don't dare." Shen Ling bowed slightly and then explained: "Shopkeeper, it's like this. Our bookstore will be connected with Huaizhou to launch serialized books. However, according to the pre-sale situation yesterday, The books we print may not be enough to sell, so I thought I would ask you for some advice."
Immediately, he described the scene in the bookstore where all the 500 new books that had just been pre-sold yesterday were sold out.
Hearing this, Tang Ji raised his brows slightly and put his right hand on his chin. Shen Ling was not to blame for this. The land in Kyoto city was much more expensive whether it was rented or bought outright. He had previously built Jiranju and Cooperating with the Tianxia Chamber of Commerce to deal with the Yang family, they have already borrowed 15,000 taels of silver from the Tianxia Chamber of Commerce. They really have no money to find a place to build a printing factory. The temporary printing factory currently used was renovated from a small courtyard owned by Li Yu. The scale is far less than that of Huaizhou.
Not only that, the manpower and security in the printing plant are also a problem.
He originally thought that he would wait until the business of the bookstore picked up and he had money to make arrangements, but he did not expect that the people in the city were so enthusiastic about novels.
Jiang Ran, who was standing next to him, blinked her beautiful eyes and whispered: "If I hadn't spent so much money on Ji Ranju, would I have been able to build a printing factory?"
Tang Jidian smiled and shook his head: "This is our home after all, and we have to spend what we have."
Just at this time, Li Yu came in from the door with Song Yao: "Tang Ji, is dinner ready? Sister Yao has just rested, I will bring her to eat."
Seeing clearly who was coming, Shen Ling quickly stood up and bowed to the two of them.
Having been with Jiang Ran for so long, Song Yao is no longer the devilish devil she used to be. Today she is wearing a lavender skirt and looks like a little girl. After a brief salute, she walked to Jiang Ran: "Sister Jiang Ran .”
Seeing that she seemed to have something to say, Jiang Ran winked at Tang Ji and led her from the back door of the lobby to the backyard.
Seeing that Tang Ji and Shen Ling were discussing something, Li Yu picked up the teapot and walked to a chair on the side to sit down. After pouring a small cup of tea and drinking it, he casually asked: "What are you talking about?"
Soon, he learned from the chat between the two that the demand for books in the bookstore was in short supply, and participated in the discussion: "There is no way, Kyoto is already prosperous, and every inch of land is expensive. I want to build a printing house the same size as Huaizhou." It will cost at least five thousand taels of silver, but I have basically invested all my money with you, and there are only about a thousand taels of silver left in the palace treasury, which makes me afraid to spend money randomly now."
Shen Ling shook his head and sighed: "It seems that we can only reduce the sales volume of books, but we have promised to book fans before that we will maintain quality and quantity. If this continues, our reputation may be affected."
Hearing this, Li Yu frowned slightly and turned sideways to look at Tang Ji: "Do you want to mobilize Huaizhou's money?"
"Huaizhou's money is all used to develop other industries of the Jiran family, and it can't be diverted much even if you want to." Tang Ji shook his head, picked up the tea cup on the table and took a sip, blinked and thought for a while, then suddenly raised his eyes and asked Said: "What if we build the printing factory outside Kyoto?"
"Outside Kyoto City? That would take at least three or four months. Even if it is built, it would still require a large number of guards to guard it, and the money spent would definitely add up to a lot. It is not advisable." Li Yu said.
Tang Ji raised his lips slightly and continued: "What I mean is to place the printing factory in other counties, such as Jingwang County. I can ask Ye Xiao for help."
After hearing what he said, Li Yu curled his lips: "Will that person named Ye be kind enough to help you? Maybe he will also share the profits of our bookshop!"
"You still have the nerve to say that as a prince, you don't have any property in Kyoto, not even a fief." Tang Ji glanced at him angrily, then turned to look at Shen Ling, and added: "There is no update at the moment. A good idea, Jingwang County is only half a day's journey from Kyoto City, and the transportation cost is not very high. I will write a letter to Ye Xiao later and discuss it with him."
"Hey, hey, don't be ungrateful. What did you want to do when we were in Huaizhou and I didn't satisfy you?" Li Yu drank the tea in the cup in one gulp and hummed softly, pretending to be dissatisfied.
What Tang Ji just said was obviously a joke, but he didn't bother to argue with him. He rubbed his tired eyes, stood up and said, "It's getting late, Shen Ling, please stay for dinner."
"Thank you, shopkeeper." Shen Ling stood up and thanked him.
In this way, the three people made a hasty summary of the problems in the printing house and walked out of the back room.
...
The sky was dark, but a certain room in Duke Anguo's mansion was brightly lit.
After Zhang Yijun was carried back by his servants, Zhang Chengwang quickly asked a doctor to treat him, bandaged the external injuries, and prescribed prescriptions for internal injuries. It took a long time to revive Zhang Yijun, who had fallen into a coma.
"Dad, I, I want Tang Ji to die!"
At this time, Zhang Yijun's whole body was covered with white gauze. He was lying on the bed unable to move. His cheeks were swollen, but his eyes were full of anger. He looked at the white-haired old man sitting at the head of the bed and shouted.
Zhang Chengwang looked at his only son with great distress, and nodded repeatedly: "Dad knows, I will make that boy pay the price!"
Zhang Rongyang, who was standing at the end of the bed, frowned: "Why do you want to mess with Tang Ji when you are so good?"
"Okay, second brother, Jun'er has been injured. Let's stop blaming each other and think about how to deal with that Tang Ji!" Zhang Chengwang interrupted him, with an angry look in his turbid old eyes. He said: "It seems that I have been silent for too long, and no one takes my Zhang family seriously!"
Hearing this, Zhang Yijun's face was filled with joy. As long as his father takes action personally, Tang Ji will lose his skin even if he doesn't die!
Zhang Rongyang was very worried. He had already discussed with Li Qin not to consider taking action against Tang Ji for the time being. If he fell out with that kid at this time, according to his vengeful character, he would definitely bite them in the future, which would make Li Xian angry. After reaping the benefits, he was about to speak to comfort Zhang Chengwang, but was interrupted by the butler who appeared outside the door.
"Master, second master, an official from the Star Division is here."
There was suspicion in Zhang Rongyang's eyes, but he didn't think much and said, "Brother, I'll go take a look."
"Yeah." Zhang Chengwang nodded slightly.
Soon, Zhang Rongyang followed the servants to the front yard. He saw clearly that the person coming was Tianxuan, and he greeted him with a smile: "Governor Tianxuan, what kind of wind has brought you here? Come on, come on, please come inside."
Tianxuan smiled and returned the salute, and then said: "No need, I am here to inform Mr. Zhang that your nephew insulted and slandered our Xingchen Department officials in Ruyue Tower today. Your Majesty has ordered that Duke Wangan and Zhang
The minister can discipline him well, but if he does it again, it won't be as simple as a beating."
Hearing this, Zhang Rongyang showed a look of surprise. He did not expect that His Majesty would warn the Zhang family for a low-ranking official of the sixth rank. However, he quickly adjusted his expression and bowed: "I would like to obey Your Majesty's teachings."
"Well, the words have been brought to you. I still have something to do, so I'll leave first." Tianxuan said a word casually, then turned and left.
Looking at her retreating back, Zhang Rongyang stayed there for a while, then turned back to the backyard and relayed what he just heard to Zhang Chengwang.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Chengwang became even more angry after hearing this. He stood up suddenly and threw the jade bowl with a little bit of soup left in his hand into the wooden tray held by the maid: "What? He really wants to suppress me for a young boy.
The Zhang family? I think he has been on the throne for so long that he has forgotten who helped him get on that chair. Since I can let him sit on it, I can also pull him down!"
Zhang Rongyang stood beside him and was stunned for a moment, then sighed: "Brother, your Majesty today is no longer the King Xuan of more than ten years ago."
"Then he can burn bridges by crossing the river? Without my Zhang family, he would have died long ago!" Zhang Chengwang was so angry that he was trembling a little, and his voice was slightly hoarse.
Zhang Rongyang quickly stepped forward to support him, and then comforted him: "After all, it was Jun'er who was at fault first, and we can't use this matter to deal with Tang Ji."
"Then Jun'er received this beating in vain?" Zhang Chengwang retorted.
Hearing this, Zhang Yijun was extremely excited and spread his teeth and claws on the bed.
Zhang Rongyang turned around and glanced at him: "At the moment, His Highness King Xun's important matters are still the most important. When His Highness succeeds to the throne, it will not be too late for us to find Tang Ji to settle accounts. I will find two more censors to impeach Tang Ji in the Golden Palace tomorrow.
, let outsiders know that our Zhang family is not easy to bully!"
Zhang Chengwang didn't answer in a hurry. He stayed on the spot and took two deep breaths, and nodded slightly: "Oh, I'll listen to you."
Seeing this, Zhang Rongyang also breathed a sigh of relief, and left the room after caring about Zhang Yijun twice.
After a while, the candle on the candlestick at the door made a "sizzle" sound, and wax oil splashed everywhere. Zhang Chengwang put his hands behind his waist, stared blankly for a long time, and murmured: "When Li Qin succeeds to the throne, then Tang Ji will
How far has it grown?”
Zhang Yijun clenched his fists angrily, wishing he could tear Tang Ji apart immediately.
...
The next morning, Ji Ran was in the middle.
"Uncle, get up, there is a eunuch outside looking for you!"
Tang Ji heard the shouts coming from outside the door, rubbed his sleepy eyes, climbed up feebly, put on his shoes and walked to the door, opened the wooden door, looked at the hazy sky outside and sighed.
If he had to say, the court meeting should be moved to the afternoon, and the officials should be allowed to make a summary of the work, or it should be held once a week. Otherwise, who would suffer such a crime? It is a blessing that it is still summer, and if it is changed to winter, it will not freeze to death.
Tang Ji yawned and asked, "What eunuch?"
Jiu'er turned sideways and pointed at the eunuch in dark official uniform in the corridor not far away.
The eunuch also noticed her movements, thinking that Jiu'er was calling him over, and hurriedly walked up to Tang Ji, lowered his eyebrows and said with a smile: "I have met Mr. Tang, and this servant is here to give you your new official uniform and court crown.
"
Immediately, he raised the red wooden tray in his hand to his chest.
Tang Ji narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at the crimson official uniform in front of him.
The colors of Ningguo's official uniforms from high to low are poinsettia, second-rank officials are dark purple, third-rank officials are lavender, and so on, fourth- and fifth-rank officials are scarlet, sixth- and seventh-rank officials are green, and eighth-rank officials are green.
The color below is cyan, and the scarlet official uniform in front of you is lighter. In other words, it is the fifth-grade official uniform.
It seems that Chen Zehan did not lie to him!
Tang Ji smiled, reached out to take it, and then asked: "Father-in-law, what is my position now?"
The young eunuch smiled and replied: "I don't know, but after today's morning court meeting, Mr. Tang will naturally know. By the way, sir, you can continue to wear the old official uniform today, otherwise the imperial edict will not be announced and you will change to the new official uniform in advance."
It is against etiquette and law to serve, so I would like to congratulate Master Tang in advance!"
Hearing this, Tang Ji curled his lips. Since he was not allowed to wear new clothes, why did he have to send them over in advance? He shook his head and said with a smile: "Thank you, father-in-law."
After saying that, he winked at Jiu'er again.
Jiu'er immediately understood and took out a silver ingot from his waist and handed it over.
"Hey, Mr. Tang, what are you doing? You must not do it!" Even so, the little eunuch looked around, then put the silver ingot into his pocket, and hurried away without saying a word: "That slave
I will go back and resume my duties first, sir, please prepare well and don’t delay the morning meeting!"
Looking at the eunuch's retreating figure, Tang Ji smiled and shook his head, then raised his hand to touch the official uniform and grinned.
At this moment, a soft voice came from behind: "Congratulations, husband, for being promoted again!"