Zhang Maocai followed Lu Yao all the way from Han Mansion. Even a fool could see that he had something to say to Lu Yao. Through Zhang Maocai's performance in Han Mansion just now, Lu Yao knew that he was a very smart and capable person.
The relationship between North Korea and China and the network in the city must be very large. It seems that he is planning to make friends with himself, or he has other agendas.
Therefore, for a person with a crooked heart like Zhang Maocai, it is best to speak out. Lu Yao asked Zhang Maocai what he was thinking.
Then, Zhang Maocai put forward his own idea.
These eight Cuju teams, plus the people in charge and other personnel, basically have more than a hundred people, and these team members are basically distributed in every corner of Bianliang City, although some of them are from a certain
Some families or businessmen are servants, but others, most of the team members, are just ordinary people in Bianliang City. Although they have become members of a certain Cuju team, in the end, they are only gathering or training.
People will rush to the designated venue from home only when the venue is over, and after the venue is over, some people are still far away from these gathering places.
In fact, before Zhang Maocai raised this issue, Lu Yao actually had not considered this aspect. After what he said, Lu Yao also realized that indeed, people from these eight teams would be gathered together soon.
As for the training place, it is easy to say. When he met the emperor before, Zhao Zhen had already stated that he would clear out the place where the royal Cuju team used to practice Cuju in the palace and provide it to Lu Yao, so that he could train in the palace.
Save yourself the trouble.
Lu Yao also has a plan in mind for every person who participates in the training. After all, he cannot just get a hundred people to train together in the palace, and some of them are first-round opponents, so friction will inevitably occur. So the best way is
That is, every day is divided into morning and afternoon, and each morning and afternoon time period allows two teams to train. Of course, the two teams cannot be each other's first-round opponents. With this arrangement, each team can also
Get enough time to rest.
However, Lu Yao had calculated countless times, but he still failed to calculate that the distance between each of their homes and the palace was different, and it was not very convenient to gather together every day. If there were one or two people in a team due to distance issues,
If you can't get to the training venue in time, it will be very troublesome.
So, when Zhang Maocai said that he had a way to solve this problem, Lu Yao expressed that he wanted to hear his ideas.
"Actually, I think that during this half-month of intensive training, these people should be arranged to live in a place not far from the training ground. This will also facilitate collective movement and training." Zhang Maocai said.
With just this sentence, Lu Yao already understood the reason why Zhang Maocai came to find him.
A businessman is a businessman and can see all business opportunities.
"Your idea is good, but the place we train this time is in the palace, and it was a place chosen by the emperor himself." Lu Yao said here.
Zhang Maocai naturally didn't know where to choose the training venue. He would not tell him until the day after tomorrow when all the teams were gathered. Now when Lu Yao said this, he was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Of course it is in the palace.
Okay, but the distance to the palace from each household should be different, and since the palace is a restricted area, it would be better to enter the palace together."
"So, what Master Zhang means is..." Lu Yao followed Zhang Maocai's words.
Zhang Maocai immediately said: "That's right, Mr. Lu, you also know that a certain person has five inns in Bianliang City, so..."
Sure enough, Lu Yao finally found the reason why Zhang Maocai agreed to participate in this Cuju competition. On the one hand, he wanted to make friends with himself. After all, Lu Yao's current reputation is still very big in Bianliang City. Friendship with Lu Yao
Well, it will definitely be helpful to his future business. Now Lu Yao's top priority is to organize this Cuju competition. In addition, Zhang Maocai has a relationship with the Han family, and the Lu family and the Han family are now engaged.
At that time, everyone in the city was basically aware of it, so Zhang Maocai himself might as well sell Han Yonghe to save face at this time. For him, participating in this Cuju competition is a small event, making friends with powerful people, and developing his own business is the most important thing.
of.
Based on Zhang Maocai's current business, combined with his mind, he must have imagined that accommodation for these one hundred people would become a problem, and at this time, it was time for his inn to play a role.
"What do you mean, let these people live in inns and then allocate them uniformly?" Lu Yao thought for a while and said, "But even if you build five inns, it shouldn't be enough for a hundred people to live in, right?"
.”
"That's natural," Zhang Maocai said, "Of course I don't mean that these hundred people will all stay in our inn. In fact, in order to solve this problem for this competition, I have already vacated three inns.
Although it is impossible to provide accommodation for these people, it is impossible for a hundred people, but there should be no problem for forty or fifty people. And not all of the eight teams have to live in the inn. I remember, this time
There is probably a royal Cuju team among the participating teams. The players they recruited will naturally live directly in the palace. And among the other teams, if they are servants from their respective mansions, they naturally do not need to live in an inn, but live directly in the palace.
We can work together if anything happens in our respective masters' houses. My inn is mainly for the common people who are selected to participate in the competition."
Zhang Maocai's plan was thorough, and of these five inns, he also set aside two for himself to maintain daily marketing. It seems that from the beginning, his eyes were set on those candidates who were responsible for their respective teams.
On the members of ordinary people who came out to participate in the competition.
However, whether this method is good or not, is Zhang Maocai really so kind to let ordinary people like them live in this inn for free?
Definitely not.
Lu Yao thought about this and asked: "Master Zhang, this arrangement can indeed solve many problems, but I don't know, in terms of money..."
Zhang Maocai looked at Lu Yao, and just as he was about to speak, Lu Yao said: "Master Zhang, if you want me to pay this money, then I think it's better to give up this method. In fact, all my money has been invested in building this competition recently.
We have already used the Bird's Nest Stadium, and I can't afford to rent out your three hotels at the moment."
Lu Yao didn't wait for Zhang Maocai to speak, and rejected the idea of asking Lu Yao to pay and Zhang Maocai to give him a discount. Lu Yao didn't want to be taken advantage of.
As for Zhang Maocai, it can be said that ten thousand grass-mud horses are galloping past in his heart. Who among the big businessmen in Bianliang City does not know that Mr. Lu Yao bought a piece of land a quarter of an hour away from his Lu Mansion?
, it is said that a bank is going to be built. Now the outside has been fenced off and the construction has started inside.
My own private bank is about to be built. I'm crying about poverty here because I don't want to contribute money. Although Zhang Maocai feels the same as Ming Jing, on the surface he really can't understand what he's saying. He feels aggrieved in his heart.
.I originally thought that I could make a fortune from Lu Yao, because Lu Yao still valued the Cuju competition very much. Zhang Maocai also knew a little about this Cuju competition and knew that the actual organizer was Lu Yao. He felt that if he proposed
Lu Yao will definitely support this plan, after all, it is also good for the competition.
Who would have thought that Lu Yao would be an old wallet, and something that was supposed to be a sure thing would actually be ruined.
Zhang Maocai didn't know that Lu Yao's ideas were completely different from his own. In Lu Yao's view, if he agreed to Zhang Maocai's request now, he would be in a very disadvantageous position in future communications with Zhang Maocai, and
This person is very shrewd. Once he has financial dealings with him, if something goes wrong in the future, he will inevitably not be caught. And the most critical reason is that the impression Zhang Maocai left on Lu Yao is really not good.
Great, he always gives people the feeling that he has everything under control. He over-exposes his talents to others, and always shows off his cleverness everywhere. From what I saw just now, he looks far away at Han Wen.
You could already tell by the malicious smile he showed when he arrived at the Zhang family's team.
It felt like he was teasing Han Wenyuan. In fact, he already knew very well that if the two teams conducted the same training, the Han family's team would have no chance of winning, but he still had to pretend that he was an underdog.
This look really made Lu Yao a little disgusted. After all, this Han family will become his own family in the future. It is not okay to bully his own family like this.
In fact, although the accommodation costs for these dozens of people are indeed relatively expensive in the eyes of ordinary people and cannot be afforded by ordinary people, for Lu Yao, it is actually not a big sum of money. However, he just wanted to suppress Zhang Maocai's arrogance.
Arrogance, tell him that not everything can be controlled by him.
Lu Yao stood there, looking at Zhang Maocai's reaction in front of him, and felt ecstatic in his heart. However, it was only a minute before Zhang Maocai came back to his senses and said: "Master Lu is right. I also think that if you don't
The money is also reasonable, so I have an idea here and can find someone to pay for it."
"Oh, who is it?" Lu Yao didn't expect this.
"Your Majesty," Zhang Maocai was very formal when he said these two words. "This competition was originally organized by the Emperor. It shouldn't be a problem for the royal family to provide funds to settle the players who will participate in the competition."
Lu Yao's heart skipped a beat, thinking that this maocai was really good. In such a short period of time, he knew that he had to settle for the next best thing and try to compete with Zhao Zhen. The key is that this high-level climb was just right, which made the royal family pay for this competition.
It was organized by the emperor, so there is no reason why the royal family should not pay for it. Once Zhao Zhen refused this request, Zhang Maocai would casually promote it in the streets and alleys, and Zhao Zhen's image would be completely ruined.
So, Lu Yao said: "This is a method, but what is Mr. Zhang going to say to the emperor?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Maocai shook his head and said: "How dare I tell the emperor this in person? I still want to ask Mr. Lu to help me convey my thoughts to the emperor. Everyone knows that you are now a popular person in front of the emperor, and,
The lottery industry is so popular, this money is just a drop in the bucket for the emperor. What's more, the emperor has many things to do every day, how can he have time to meet a common man like me, and I am also clumsy and tongue-tied and can't speak."
Well, this time he picked himself up completely. Lu Yao now regrets it. He should have agreed to pay the money just now. Who would have thought that Zhang Maocai dared to make money from the royal family, and for the smooth progress of the Cuju competition?
, Lu Yao really had to help him.
Or he thought too little, Lu Yao thought in his heart, and said openly: "It's not impossible to convey it to you, but you have to tell me the price."
When Zhang Maocai heard that Lu Yao was willing to help, he immediately relaxed and smiled. Of course, all this was what Zhang Maocai expected.
"That's it. I did the math. If you calculate it per head, one person will be charged the same amount for one day during training." Zhang Maocai seemed to think about it before he said the price. In fact, it had already been paid before he arrived.
The price has already been set before going to Hanfu.
Lu Yaoxin said, he is really a shady businessman. He doesn’t charge by the room, but charges by the person. He actually charges fifteen guan per person for the whole trip. He really thinks he is a five-star hotel. In the past half month, isn’t it several times?
An income of hundreds of dollars?
Moreover, Lu Yao certainly knew that what Zhang Maocai valued was not just the income of a few hundred dollars. If this first Cuju competition really became an instant hit, the public's attention would inevitably increase, and then they would
I thought that the three inns below this Maocai are at the sponsor level. From now on, the Cuju competition will definitely not be limited to Bianliang City. Once people from other places come to Bianliang City,
That will bring countless benefits to the inn. Don't forget, this is the officially designated inn for the first Cuju Competition, and it was announced by the emperor himself.
Thinking about it on the other hand, even if this Cuju competition was not successful and did not gain national attention, it would not be a loss for Zhang Maocai. After all, he had already received hundreds of dollars in income.
It’s still the same four words, guaranteed profit without losing money.
Lu Yao didn't expect that the mind of this ancient businessman was more terrifying than that of modern people. This was the first time since he traveled through time that he was in trouble, and the other party turned out to be a businessman.
"Okay, I'll ask the emperor for you, but I can't guarantee whether he will agree." Lu Yao said.
Zhang Maocai said with a smile: "Master Lu, where are you talking? With your eloquence, of course there is no problem. I will start preparations when I get back here. I will free up those three inns and improve them so that all the team members can stay there."
.”
"If there is nothing else, I will go back home first, Mr. Zhang."
After Lu Yao said this, he quickened his pace and walked towards his home without waiting for Zhang Maocai to reply.
Lu Mansion and Tangxi finished what Lu Yao had asked them to do. When they saw Lu Yao returning to the room, they came in as well.
"Sir, regarding the situation of the Cao family, you should go to the Cao Mansion tomorrow."
Lu Yao and Zhang Maocai were a little unhappy after talking just now. After hearing what Tang Xi said, they came back to their senses and said, "If you don't remind me, I will forget about it. I don't know how prepared the Cao Mansion is."
, I really don’t want to go to Cao Mansion.”
"Sir, my subordinate actually saw that you didn't come back just now. I thought I was going to Cao's Mansion tomorrow, so I went out to Cao's Mansion privately and made an appointment for you to go to Cao's Mansion tomorrow morning to check what they found.
Team.”
Tang Xi's move was indeed commendable. He took into account what he had forgotten, so Lu Yao forced out a smile and said, "You did a good job. Otherwise, if there was no advance notice, Cao Yi would have been able to see him."
I don’t see what kind of team he can pull over. I’ll just go to their house tomorrow as scheduled.”
After saying this, Lu Yao stood up and then lay directly on the bed, suddenly feeling a sense of defeat.
However, this feeling did not last for a few seconds before Lu Xu's voice was heard outside.
"Why do you have to go to bed when you get home? What time is it? Didn't you say you were going to cook at home tonight?"
Lu Yao got up from the bed and told Tang Xi to go with him to the kitchen to help.
Lu Xu saw something wrong with the look on Lu Yao's face, and wondered if he had said something wrong in the Han family, which made Lu Yao look like this.
After arriving in the kitchen, Lu Yao began to cook dinner for his family. The protagonist today was naturally Dongpo pork. Speaking of which, when Tangxi brought the two pieces of pork belly back to the Lu Mansion, the whole Lu family could
It was a surprise, as my family had rarely eaten fatty meat. I wonder what kind of new cuisine Lu Yao had developed.
The pork belly that Lu Yao bought last time was also left in the kitchen, but by the time Lu Xu asked about it, the piece of meat had already been taken to Jiuzhongxian by Lu Yao to make Dongpo pork to entertain Su Shi.
This time, Lu Yao cooked Dongpo pork for his family so that they could dispel their concerns about fat meat.
Within a moment, a large bowl of Dongpo Pork was brought to the table.
Different from usual, in addition to Lu Xu, Yan Shi, Lu Hao, and Xu Shi, Fu Bo and Tang Xi also sat down at the dining table.
The whole family didn't say anything. When everyone saw the fat and thin Dongpo pork, they were a little resistant at first. Unexpectedly, Lu Xu was the first to pick up the chopsticks, pick up a piece and put it in his mouth.
"Is this really pork belly? It's fat but not greasy. It tastes really good." Lu Xu's eyes widened and he couldn't believe that what he was eating was the big piece of fat that Lu Yao had just put away in the kitchen.
Meat.
The others were full of praise when they saw Lu Xu, who was most disgusted with fat meat, so they started to use their chopsticks.
During this meal, everyone ate two bowls of rice.
"Originally, I thought that the fat meat would be very greasy, but this dish of yours actually solved this problem. What is the name of this dish?" Lu Xu asked with satisfaction after finishing the meal.
"Dongpo meat." Lu Yao replied.
"Dongpo? Is it Su Shi?" Lu Hao said from the side.
"Yes, the first time this dish was cooked, I gave it to Su Shi, so it was named after that."
"Yeah, it's indeed delicious." Lu Xu nodded.
Lu Yao's attention is focused on Tang Xi. Unlike other Lu family members, although Tang Xi has been busy with Lu Yao recently, his own food has always been no different from that of the servants of the Lu family.
Basically, half an hour after the people in the Lu family have finished eating, the servants like them will be led by Uncle Fu to eat together. Basically, it is done every day by a few servants who can cook.
Of course, for their meals, sometimes when Lu Yao cooked too much, he would leave some left over for them.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yao took the initiative to let him come to the table for dinner this time. This made Tangxi a little surprised. He was a rough man. He had never seen such big fish and meat. Today, there was only Dongpo Pork and a whole table of delicious dishes.
, he ate four bowls of rice by himself, and even now he is still eating, but after seeing Lu Yao looking at him, Tangxi immediately wiped the rice grains from his mouth and put down the bowl and chopsticks.
"Dad, I want to discuss something with you." Lu Yao looked at Lu Xu and said.
Lu Xu signaled Lu Yao to continue speaking.
"I want Tangxi to become my personal butler from now on. He can have dinner every night. Moreover, I also want to increase his monthly salary to the same as that of Uncle Fu."
Through Zhang Maocai's incident and Tang Xi's performance just now, Lu Yao knew that even for himself, it is still difficult to cover everything. There are some places that he still can't think of. If this is the case, it is better to train Tang Xi and let him have more contact with him in the future.
People, be your own deputy, so you can save a lot of time on your own side.
The most important thing is that although Tangxi and Lu Yao are not short of money, they still have to raise the monthly salary increase for Tangxi. This is to let other servants know that Tangxi is now in the mansion and has the same status as Uncle Fu.
of.
When Lu Xu heard what Lu Yao said, he turned to look at Tang Xi and said, "Is he qualified?"
"There is no problem." Lu Yao believed in Tang Xi very much. "This person has been following me from the beginning. He is very reliable."
Without waiting for Lu Xu to answer, Tangxi was so excited that he stood up from his seat.
"Thank you, Master. Thank you, Mr. Lu. I will devote my whole life to the Lu family!"
This speech actually caused everyone present to burst into laughter.
Lu Xu also smiled and said, "Since you have already said so, it's okay if I don't agree. Okay, I'll do as you say."
"Thank you, dad." Lu Yao gave Tang Xi a look, and Tang Xi sat down.
"I saw that you were not in a high mood just now. Did you encounter any trouble when you went to Han Mansion this time?" Lu Xu then looked at Lu Yao and asked.
Lu Yao shook his head, then looked at his sister-in-law Xu, and said, "Sister-in-law, I met Mr. Zhang Maocai in the Han Mansion today."
"Him? Why did he go to Han Mansion?" My sister-in-law, Mrs. Xu, looked surprised.