Chapter 269 The first encounter with Zhang Gongjian
After arranging the affairs of the Jade Buddha, Li Chongrun's gift to His Majesty on the Lantern Festival was finally found. He picked up two colored glass plaques and prepared to take them back as gifts to his two sisters. Li Chongrun was attracted by Wang Rong again.
I took it to the sugar factory next door.
Because of the increasing production, the furnaces of the glass factory are kept on all year round, and there is still a lot of hot water to cool the glass. It is a waste to just throw it away. The Song family's sugar factory and the Wang family's silk reeling workshop have also been moved to the East Factory.
Make full use of the waste heat.
Song Shi rarely showed up in the workshop today. The Song family's business has been booming recently. White sugar and rock sugar have become popular in the world. The monthly futures trading meeting was made popular by Song Shi.
Not only sugar, but also large-volume goods from Xichang's Erguotou and other companies, such as Zheng's tea and Cui's oil, are also involved.
"I heard that Lao Lei from Yuezhou gave ten pairs of Bodhisattva Barbarians and countless Kunlun slaves to the young master of the Song family in exchange for a ticket to enter the venue."
Wang Rong was holding a huge candy cane in her hand and pouting as she spoke to Li Chongrun.
"Who is Bodhisattva Man? Why are they sold in pairs? Could it be that he is a famous horse?"
Stirring sugar is made from the molasses left after refining white sugar. The master chef of the sugar factory mixes the molasses with some fried flour, and sits on the chimney in a small casserole to simmer with the remaining warmth. The original intention is to give internships to the sugar factory.
The children in the school ate it. Unexpectedly, the two owners were also very happy. Each of them picked a big stick and licked it.
"The dancing girls sold in Linyi are called Bodhisattva Man because they are from the Numan Kingdom. Since Wu Chongxun went to Linyi, there have been many ships specializing in human trafficking from Nanman. However, the price is very expensive, and most of them are
It was sold to Luoyang, which is really rare in Yangzhou."
Wang Rong did some popular science and solved Li Chongrun’s doubts.
When I was in Shendu, my cousin spent a lot of time hanging out in the West Market, and he had been coveting the slave trade business for a long time.
Li Chongrun originally wanted to point out that his cousin's business was a blatant violation of human rights out of a holy heart, but it seemed that he had just become the largest human trafficker in the Tang Dynasty. Such double standards were really not good.
While Li Chongrun and Wang Rong were talking, Li Chongrun saw the so-called Bodhisattva Barbarians, several girls with bright and beautiful faces wearing high crowns and a circle of pearl and jade necklaces around their necks, with skin as white as snow, standing around.
The slightly vulgar Song Shi and an old man in brocade robes flattered each other.
"Do they feel like they are the ethnic minorities in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan?" Li Chongrun muttered in his heart, "I will tell my cousin later that it's okay to sell some foreign barbarians. I, the people of the Celestial Dynasty, still can't touch them."
As a not-so-authentic nationalist, the concept that the fifty-six ethnic groups are one family is still a bit deep-rooted in Li Chongrun's heart. Although he does not miss the minority ethnic groups in the north, it does not prevent Li Chongrun from standing on a high moral ground.
On the ground, he expressed his strong contempt for Wu Chongxun.
"I am the governor of Shuzhou, Zhang Jianzhi has met His Royal Highness the King of Linzi."
Although Zhang Jianzhi is already quite old and looks to have completely white hair and beard, he does not look decrepit. He speaks in a loud and resonant voice and looks very confident.
"Without courtesy, Mr. Zhang heard Di Gong's words about Mr. Zhang several times when he was in the capital of the gods, but he never saw him again. It's a pity. Today, I got what I wanted, which makes me overjoyed."
Regarding this famous prime minister in history, Li Chongrun was also vaguely excited about what Yuan Fang thought of the most famous prime minister in the Tang Dynasty before he became famous.
Zhang Jianzhi also admired this young gentleman who became famous at a young age. After complimenting each other for a long time, they started talking about the purpose of Zhang Jianzhi's visit to the workshop today.
Shuzhou is rich in stone sugar, but only a few can transport it to Yangzhou through water. The Song family was originally from the Shu prince's palace. Song Dynasty thought about whether he could go back to his hometown in Shu to open some factories and make sugar directly there.
When the finished product comes out, it saves a lot of transportation costs.
As the major shareholders, both Li Chongrun and Wang Rong had already nodded. Song Dynasty originally only asked someone to bring a letter to the governor of Shuzhou for discussion, but unexpectedly Zhang Jianzhi came directly with the ship.
The current governor of Shuzhou was not from the Prince of Shu's palace, and he should not have given face to Song Dynasty like this. However, after meeting today, I realized that Mr. Zhang was not giving face to Song Dynasty, but to himself.
The only slight surprise was that when Zhang Jianzhi learned that Wang Rong, the thin man who accompanied Li Chongrun and was the actual controller of Yangzhou's business community, was actually a girl, his face became slightly tangled.
However, as a veteran official, he quickly returned to his previous business-like smile.
With Mr. Zhang accompanying them, today's tour was in vain. They quickly got on the boat, sang some poems and songs accompanied by the wind and moon in the south of the Yangtze River, and went to the Sui Garden for a banquet.
In the next few days, Li Chongrun was really happy and a little troubled.
Fortunately, because of Zhang Jianzhi's existence, the two sisters could only pester him during breakfast, but they really couldn't find any reason to disturb him at other times.
What's more annoying is that although Zhang Jianzhi came to Yangzhou to discuss with the Song family about opening a store in Shuzhou, the specific matters were left to Shu Governor Shi and Song Shi to discuss, and he kept talking to him.
Like a stupid fan, he follows Li Chongrun around all day long.
In the past two days, Li Chongrun went to West Factory and Tenant Camp to inspect cotton cultivation. It was okay. Although he cheated a lot of cotton seeds, Li Chongrun originally intended to promote this thing across the country. This would save many civilians from freezing to death.
Merits are taken away as soon as they are taken.
However, in the next two days, when he wanted to go to the Qingshi Laboratory by the river and the weapons manufacturing factory on Jinshan Island, the old man also wanted to follow him, which really made Li Chongrun a little confused.
Moreover, the old man didn't know where he got the news. He knew that he had won a big victory in Anton, so he kept pestering him, always intentionally or unintentionally diverting the conversation to the war in Yingzhou.
Li Chongrun was already troubled by the affairs in Yingzhou. He originally thought that he would be able to be clean for two days after returning to Yangzhou. Unexpectedly, there was an old man beside him all day long talking about things outside the customs. This really made Li Chongrun upset.
Not knowing what he could and could not talk about, Li Chongrun simply dumped everything on Chen Ziang. He only talked about what he had experienced in Yingzhou, but anything involving marching and fighting and Fengyi guarding the Wuling people was discussed.
I came out looking like I didn't know anything about it.
Fortunately, Zhang Jianzhi was the governor of Yizhou after all, and did not have much time to quarrel with Li Chongrun. Seeing that the young prince refused to open his mouth, it was not difficult to guess that there must be something hidden inside, so he resigned on his own after two days.
.
After bidding farewell to the old governor, Li Chongrun thought he could relax, go fishing, play with birds, and enjoy a few days of frivolity. However, when his two sisters saw that there was no big light bulb around Li Chongrun, they haunted him again.
Come up.
It's really cute and annoying to be unable to stand up to his two younger sisters. Although Li Chongrun doesn't care if his talent persona collapses in front of his younger sisters, the two little girls are now at the age when they should go to school, and they follow him all day long.
Wandering around without formality is definitely not an option.
After being pestered by the two little girls for two days, Li Chongrun, who really couldn't stand it, started talking about this matter with Fang'er after dinner.
Unlike Wang Rong and Gongsun Lan, Fang'er received a complete bridal education from Aunt Shangguan, so she naturally understood some of the education and coping methods for children.
Early the next morning, the two little girls were pulled over by Fang'er and whispered for a long time, and then they came over honestly and told Li Chongrun that he should find a master for them or send them to school.
The two sisters were well educated by their mother. Reading, literacy and arithmetic are not a big problem. However, although the two sisters look exactly the same, their temperaments are completely opposite. One likes literature and other things, while the other hates dancing and writing.
, instead I prefer to study some natural sciences such as physics and chemistry.
In this case, it would be inappropriate to send them to the Royal Polytechnic School opposite Suiyuan. Fortunately, there are many capable people under Li Chongrun now, so it is not too difficult to find a teacher for the two sisters.
The Qingshi Laboratory is a place for studying explosives. It is too dangerous to be suitable. However, there is also a laboratory in the West Factory, and it is run by Daochang Li from Yangzhou. He usually does some medical experiments, and Xianhui happened to be sent there as a laboratory.
A little apprentice.
The person in charge of the proofreading work in the Xichang printing house was a classmate of Xiao Song, the head of the Xiao family. He was the same Zhang Ruoxu who later wrote "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night". His humanities skills were extremely solid, and his level was not much worse than Xiao Song, so he was naturally able to withstand the shock.
Guo'er, this little bookworm.
The jasper Buddha statue newly made in the glass factory was covered with thick cotton and loaded on the carriage sent to the capital. Li Chongrun, who originally thought he was living a peaceful life, was very confident that he could finally enjoy playing with birds in a cage for a few days.
It's a waste of time.
It's just two days of leisure, and I haven't caught even two fish yet. The arrival of one person completely broke the increasingly strong New Year atmosphere in Yangzhou.