Mrs. Zhu Jia is playing with potted plants in the yard.
She has been very low-key recently, rarely interfering with the family business. At most, she asked Butler Liu to investigate the situation of her eldest son Zhu Wanhong, but there has been no feedback for a long time.
As for Liulicongfang, she actually left it to her second son Zhu Wanjian to take care of it. Although she knew that this son had no ability, she was still willing to give him a chance.
"Old lady."
Butler Liu stood in a corner of the garden, looking at the old lady who was cutting potted plants and watering flowers by herself.
The maids and mothers-in-law next to them serve as foils. They only need to stand there, carrying flower pots, watering cans, or handing over scissors. The old lady does all the hands-on work.
Zhu Jiashi did not look back and said in an indifferent tone: "Is there any news?"
Liu Guanjia said: "I have sent people to the capital to inquire, but there is still no information. However, someone who was familiar with the great master in the past spread the news, saying that the great master is no longer in the capital, and may have been transferred to other places as a errand.
"
“If you don’t see people when you’re alive, don’t you see corpses when you die?”
Zhu Jiashi's tone was still very cold, as if he was talking about something other than his own family.
Butler Liu did not answer the call.
"What's going on over there in the third room?"
Zhu Jia asked again. This was the second thing that worried her.
Butler Liu said: "The third lady has not been interested in business matters recently. She has not even opened a shop, and I have not seen her interacting with anyone. I just heard that someone has been inquiring about the mirror business in inns and wine shops in the city recently. It seems that
It has something to do with colored glaze...but I don’t know what it is, they are all merchants from other places.”
"Mirror? What mirror?"
Zhu Jia finally showed some interest and turned to look at Butler Liu.
Liu Guanjia said: "I asked someone about it. It seems to be something similar to a bronze mirror, but made of colored glaze. It is said that it is very popular nowadays in Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places. It is also said that the place of origin is
Anlu, but I don’t know whether it is Anlu Prefecture or Anlu County, so some foreign businessmen came here to inquire about it, presumably wanting to do this business.”
"Mirror made of glass?"
Zhu Jiashi narrowed his eyes and nodded imperceptibly, as if he understood the key point.
Butler Liu asked for instructions: "Old Madam, would you like to go and ask the Third Madam?"
Zhu Jiashi said: "Liu glide has been around since ancient times. It is not a rare thing. Someone can actually make a glazed mirror... Do you think my third daughter-in-law can make it? Don't let anyone cause trouble.
, did you deliberately spread the news? Go and call the second brother."
"yes."
Butler Liu felt something was wrong.
Usually Zhu Jiashi gets upset when she sees Zhu Wanjian, but this time she heard about the glazed mirror and actually called Zhu Wanjian over?
Could it be that she doesn't trust herself and wants to use her own son to investigate this matter?
…
…
Zhu Wanjian appeared in the backyard.
At this time, the maid and mother-in-law were all sent away by Zhu Jia, leaving only the mother and son in the pleasant courtyard.
"I feel much better today."
Zhu Jiashi looked at her son with a little more appreciation in her eyes.
Zhu Wanjian said: "In mother's eyes, I am just a mentally depressed drunkard, a pervert? Or a market person who does not do his job properly? What's the matter with mother? Please tell me quickly, I still have something to do."
Zhu Jiashi said coldly: "Don't you even have the patience to say a few words to your mother alone? You four brothers, ask yourself, is your mother good to them as much as to you?"
"cut!"
Zhu Wanjian disagreed.
Zhu Jia knew that Zhu Wanjian, who had been spoiled by her since childhood, could not understand my mother's painstaking efforts. It was useless to just talk about it. After all, she could not help her son.
"Steward Liu said that some businessmen from out of town came to the local area to inquire about the sale of colored glaze mirrors. Do you know about this?" Zhu Jia asked.
Zhu Wanjian continued to look dumbfounded: "Tsk, I've never heard of a glass mirror."
Zhu Jia was filled with evil anger and said angrily: "If you haven't heard about it, go and ask! Don't you have a lot of friends? How much glassware have you sold in the past two months and how much money have you made? My mother didn't even ask.
But...you don’t need to explain to me how much you took from it, right?"
"Mom, you don't believe me?" Zhu Wanjian was anxious.
Zhu Jiashi sneered: "Believe it or not, it depends on what you have done. The last time your eldest brother went back to Anlu, he failed and was recalled to the capital. I guess you can't expect him to come back for a while. From now on, you will be the head of the family.
People... when you are a family member, you must behave like a family member, otherwise the family business will be lost in your hands sooner or later."
"I'm in charge..."
When Zhu Wanjian heard this, his face was a little more surprised, and his evil eyes were darting around, as if he was thinking about taking control of the family business and doing whatever he wanted.
"If there is no news, go to the third daughter-in-law and ask. She has hired many nursing homes now. I guess she is keeping some secrets. Check to see if she has any workshops outside that no one knows about... If there is no way
After getting the news from the neighbors, I asked her workers and spent a few pennies to treat them to tea, and it would become clear."
Zhu Jiashi pointed out the direction to Zhu Wanjian.
Zhu Wanjian's eyebrows twitched, and his eyes were eager as he said: "What mother means is... the third family has made a lot of money again, right? The widow has other businesses that are hidden, and we haven't figured it out yet?"
Zhu Jiashi ignored the second son's disrespect for the third daughter-in-law and went back to playing with the potted plants: "If you are asked to check, go and check. Don't jump to conclusions until you find out. The third daughter-in-law... is not simple. When it comes to her ability to run a family,
, you are far worse than her."
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Wanjian felt uncomfortable.
Earlier, she said that I would be the master of this family from now on, and now she said that my abilities are incomparable with that bitch's. Do you mean you want me to learn from her?
Since she is capable, why don't you call her back to take charge?
Zhu Wanjian turned and left. When he came to the door, he heard his mother's voice of advice from behind: "Second brother, my Zhu family is a family of thousands of Jinyiwei families. Business and other things are only secondary. Your father is still there, even if he is gone, Jinyiwei
The position of Qianhu cannot be passed down to your lineage. It is either your eldest brother's or your eldest nephew's.
"Only when the Zhu family's status is stable can the business prosper. If you still want to get ahead in your family, you should train your sons well and let them complete your unfinished business for you.
"If you don't even understand this, and you are a descendant of the Zhu family, the Zhu family may not be suitable to keep you. Letting you go out to try your luck may be a rare experience for you."
…
…
Although Zhu Wanjian was stupid, he could tell that I was giving him an ultimatum.
If you don't do things well, you will probably be kicked out of the Zhu family. From now on, without the big tree of the Zhu family to enjoy the shade, even if you have one-third of an acre of land, you will soon be wiped out by yourself.
"We can't fall for this old woman's excuse, we should do something practical...glazed mirror? What the hell is that?"
Zhu Wanjian couldn't find his direction at all.
We can only go to the city to check. Anyway, we have to have friends with friends at night. Maybe we can find out the news by asking them first?
As soon as Zhu Wanjian made a move, Zhu Hao quickly got wind of it.
At this time, Zhu Hao had polished the telescope lens and was just waiting for the palace to hand over the copper pipes for installation. From Yu San, he learned that Zhu Wanjian was inquiring about the "glazed mirror".
"...I just went around looking for people to ask. This Second Master Zhu was really careless. Sometimes he would ask everyone he met when he was drunk, but no one paid him any attention. Businessmen from other places did come to inquire about the news before, but they didn't dare to publicize it. Maybe there was something wrong with him.
It’s hard to hide it.”
Yu San's ability to do things is much better than Zhu Wanjian.
Zhu Hao understood what Yu San meant.
Foreign merchants may know that Su Xigui sold the mirrors, and Huguang is the territory of Su Xigui, a big official and businessman, so when they come to inquire about the glass mirrors, they try to keep a low profile and not arouse suspicion... If Su Xigui finds out, they are not allowed to look for it.
Do people "greet" them well?
"Lao Su is so careless in his work. Do we have to tell others that he specifically handled this transaction?"
Zhu Hao sneered.
Yu San chuckled and said: "Brother Hao, are you afraid that the Zhu family will know that Dongzhu Su is responsible for the business, and then think that maybe you and your wife sold the mirror to Dongzhu Su?"
"But I guess even if the Zhu family doesn't know, they will still have suspicions. After all, glazed mirrors are also glazed. It just so happens that you and the third lady ran a glazed workshop before. There's no guarantee that the Zhu family won't think about it in this regard."
"It's one thing to think, but another to prove it," Zhu Hao said.
"Um?"
Yu Sanyi was stunned for a moment.
In the past, he would have thought, as long as the Zhu family was suspicious, why not come to trouble you?
But now it seems different from the past, because the third bedroom of the Zhu family has been separated from the Zhu family.
Now that this kind of thing has been settled and witnessed by the government and the gentry, what the Zhu family said does not count. Isn't it the same as shit being pulled out and stuffed back?
Zhu Hao said: "Okay, I know about this. In fact, I also want to see what the old lady's face would be like if she knew that we continued to make a lot of money after we separated from the Zhu family. It would be interesting to think about it.
.”
"interesting?"
Yu San's body was shaken, "Brother Hao, don't play with fire. If the Zhu family finds out, there will definitely be another big fuss. Maybe this time we will go directly through the government channels to take away the business."
Zhu Hao smiled and said: "Of course there are unconventional ways to deal with unreasonable people. This time, the Zhu family first sent my second uncle, who is not good at doing things, to inquire about the news. Maybe it was to deliberately let the wind out and let my mother and I know.
Is there such a thing? Forget it, they can do whatever they want."
…
…
Zhu Hao is indeed not worried.
It can be said that the Zhu family spent a lot of money to obtain the Liulicui Workshop. The biggest cost was the loss of face of the old lady.
Zhu Niang's successful separation from the Zhu family also made it obvious to outsiders that the Zhu family was basically a paper tiger! In order to compete with the daughter-in-law for business, she used unreasonable means to deal with orphans and widows, which was very despicable.
If he still wants to take away the mirror business this time, let’s not mention that Zhu Jiashi can’t find any evidence that the business belongs to Zhu Niang, so what if he finds it?
Can Su Xigui watch the business fall into the hands of the ugly Zhu family?
Is the telescope business only done once? The court will no longer order it in the future? Is Prince Xing’s Mansion willing to order from the Zhu family?
Today is different from the past.
In the past, the Zhu family could rely on their status to suppress their three-bedroom orphans and widowed mother.
But now Zhu Hao has made his business bigger and stronger. Not to mention that he has many means. Even if he sits idly by, Prince Xing's Mansion, Su Xigui, and even Huang Zan, the governor of Huguang Zuo, will come forward to help. This is the network he has accumulated unknowingly.
, it will come into play at critical moments.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
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