A few more people wandered the streets for a while, still not coming up with a solution. Because of the auction booth fee, the auction objects are some small merchants and hawkers, in the past, they entered the peony club to do business for free, so the peony flower as a virtue of the government, now to collect money from them, I am afraid to make the people of Yangzhou more annoyed.

At noon, everyone broke up sullenly, Shuai Fan was unwilling and planned to continue walking around the city, Zhao Xing had to go home alone.

As soon as he entered the courtyard gate, Zhao Xing hurriedly asked Liao Xiaoxiao: "Has any of my family's servants reached the service period?" ”

Liao Xiaoxiao was taken aback, she asked cautiously: "The housekeeper has always been Sister Azhu and Sister Yiyi, and the slave has not handled it, so it is not clear." If the official asks the slave's workshop, the slave can answer one, two, six...... But how did the official remember to ask this?

Zhao Xing asked: "I remember that there are some yards at home that sell themselves, and it is estimated that when the three-year service period is over, I am ready to give them a way to make money, and I can live up to their service." ”

Liao Xiaoxiao clapped his hands and praised: "Okay, the wages given by my family are originally rich, and the officials will arrange a financial route for them, and the rest of the people will be more dedicated if they have expectations." I'm going to call them here, but I'll have to ask myself specifically and find the right contracts. ”

The first to be found was the chef Fu San in the house, Zhao Xing first asked a few new apprentices about the learning situation, and then said with a pleasant face: "Fu San, your skills are good, but working in my house is not a way, I now think of a way for you to make money, one is that I came forward and told the shopkeeper of Yunyang Lou that you are allowed to go to him every day to help cook for half a day, and then earn a salary." The other way is, I'll give you a sum of money. You open a restaurant in Yangzhou, and you and I each hold half of the shares. How is it? ”

Fu San twisted. Answer: "Da Lang, I left the house, is it still Da Lang's family?" ”

Zhao Xing replied: "It's up to you." ”

Fu Sanprong made a gesture: "Da Lang, although I said that I went out to open a restaurant." It's also a way to make money, but I don't know how to settle accounts, and secondly, I don't have the ability to operate, and third. If I leave the house, the taxes of the government will be easy to pay, but I am not familiar with the servants. I'm afraid it's hard to cope, so it's better to live in Dalang's mansion. Speaking of which, the salary given by Da Lang is sufficient, and there is nothing big in the house, I guide the apprentices every day, and the days are very moist, so I beg Da Lang not to drive me away. ”

Zhao Xing sighed. Sometimes. He really couldn't understand the thinking of the ancients......

When it was the turn of the ordinary servant woman, Zhao Xing had already changed his technique. "I met a duck farmer by the river today," he said. This reminds me of the dense forks of the river in Yangzhou, although the income from farming is huge, but we outsiders can't get a foothold, so it's better to do a small business.

I know some of the duck's means of livelihood, such as Gaoyou's salted duck eggs, but the salted eggs here are packed in jars and shipped out, I know that the duck eggs are cooked, they can be packed in cartons, reduce transportation costs, and sell at a good price.

In addition, I also know several ways to process duck, such as duck tongue, duck web, and roast duck. In addition, there is the use of duck down......

Yangzhou is the hub of the world, the duck is not worth a few dollars, you have been with me for three years, I will give you a way to make a fortune, and give you how to make a fuss about the duck. Anyone who has completed the contract and is willing to go out to do business, I will give him a sum of money and allow him to buy land and property in Yangzhou. The people who go out are still my family, I only hold one percent of the shares, I won't settle the accounts, you can entrust the Velocial Beast Warehouse to manage the accounts, if you are willing, you can go to Liao Zhipo to register, and then I will arrange someone to teach you the craft. ”

Liao Xiaoxiao had a busy day, and reported to Zhao Xing in the evening: "This time we brought thirty servants, all of whom happen to be old servants, seventeen of them are willing to go out, and six have already started a family, and they hope that their sons can continue to work with us." I maybe. ”

After Liao Xiaoxiao's report, seeing Zhao Xing's expressionless face, she asked carefully: "Xianggong, when we first came to Yangzhou, it was the time to employ people, how did you let them out?" ”

Zhao Xing casually drew a Yangtze River, pointed to the two ends of the figure he painted, and explained: "This is Huangzhou, this is Hangzhou, the Cheng people in Huangzhou have raised seven people in the past few years, and they have entered the Hangzhou official office to control local government affairs."

As for Hangzhou, don't talk about it, our wharf, Loach Stack has hired thousands of people, this time using the teacher's efforts to repair the roads in Hangzhou, we have reorganized the townships in Hangzhou, so that the forces can go deep into the townships.

Hangzhou Huangzhou is separated from the two ends of the river, and Yangzhou is the center of this belt, with its existence, this is a string of beads, the beads that communicate Bianliang, so Yangzhou, I want to take root no matter what, let you buy property in Hangzhou, which is also the purpose. With this industry, coupled with the loach stack of the wharf, we can communicate the entire Yangtze River, and then through Yangzhou will reach the tentacles into the capital, which Yangzhou is the fixed star of our industry, which cannot be lost in any way. ”

Now Liao Xiaoxiao understood: "Xianggong wants to take the opportunity of dismissing the servants to let these people walk among the people and defend our industry, right?" ”

Zhao Xing nodded: "Seventeen people are too few, you send a message to Azhu, ask her to send all the servants in the family who have completed their military service to Yangzhou, I will help them naturalize in Yangzhou, and then let them walk in various industries in Yangzhou." ”

On the first day of March, the long-planned Yangzhou Flower Festival finally began, and the garden was full of all kinds of bright peonies, in addition, frangipani, rosemary and rhododendrons outside the domain also bloomed all over the yard, so that the garden with a strong fragrance.

"Puzhong peony is full of thousands of furrows, more than 30 miles of lotus Fangfei", Zhao Xing read this famous Yangzhou peony poem sullenly, and Cai Jing next to him smiled proudly: "People say that Zhao Liren has a pair of golden hands with stones, but it turns out that there are times when it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice." ”

Indeed, holding this flower party is a bit of an embarrassment that it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, Zhao Xing thought of all kinds of methods, but found that this Yangzhou flower party was originally a welfare policy of the government, and any little fee effort he made in it would be regarded as a sin and ruin his reputation.

In desperation, he had no choice but to unite several merchants and take over the sponsorship of the flower party, and now. The park is still free for the people; Doing business in the garden is as usual, and it's not just free. And it's tax-free; The flowers exhibited by the flower farmers are also free to buy and sell at their own discretion. The government does not charge for it, and Zhao Xing also has to pay a fee to each exhibitor, which is regarded as the rent for renting flowers.

The only difference from the previous Peony Club is that there are many more banner advertisements in Wan Garden. Among them, the "Velociraptor Beast" Loach Bank occupies most of the advertising positions because of the amount of capital contribution, and most of the other hotels, inns, and warehouses are also affiliated companies of Zhao Xing. To this end, Zhao Xing carefully designed the advertising words. Use all the money-making methods in modern marketing.

For example, this one: "Are you tired of traveling, come to such and such a hotel, there is the best wine and food, the most delicate girl." There are also soft beds, hot bath water, turn left out of Wanyuan Garden, and you can find your home during your trip at three intersections. ”

The vernacular slogan has won advertisers a large number of customers, so that they do not regret their sponsorship...... However, this money Zhao Xing spent really painfully. Because the advertising expenses of the Song Dynasty could not be amortized into the marketing costs, he spent the money. Turnover has risen. Taxes in other places will also rise.

Count it out and hold this Wanhua Fair. The Yangzhou government took a big advantage, the flower farmers who participated in the exhibition took a small advantage, and only Zhao Xing suffered in the whole Yangzhou, because he wanted to set an example for the sponsors, and the money was inevitably a little more.

Cai Jingdi's ridicule did not cause Zhao Xing's response, he glanced at Zhao Xing curiously, and asked, "How much will this Wanhua cost?" ”

Zhao Xing stretched out his fingers with a wry smile on his face, and compared a posture of six, Cai Jing took a hissed breath: "There are so many, leaving people, don't you know the price of flowers, and give flower farmers a little more money, six thousand guan, enough to renovate half of the Yellow River - it has to be more than half of it." ”

Zhao Xing shrugged: "I also know that the money given to the flower farmers is a little more, and the money is enough to buy their land, but there is no way, originally I only planned to allow a little more land money to let the flower farmers actively participate in the meeting...... Unexpectedly, there are too many people who raise flowers in Yangzhou, and the number of flowers raised on the ground is too large, 600,000 pots, and the group of villagers heard that I paid and sent 600,000 pots of flowers at once. I couldn't talk and didn't count, so I had to make additional investments, additional investments, and in the end it cost 6,000 yuan. ”

Cai Jing heard this, but smiled with satisfaction: "Not bad, I remember that in previous years, the peony meeting, there were 100,000 pots of peony to participate in the meeting, which was already good, and this year there were 600,000 pots, no wonder I think the scale is much larger than in previous years, sure enough." ”

Hearing the meaning of appreciation in Cai Jing's words, Liu Yu and Liu Yuanshan immediately got closer: "Yes, yes, I originally saw that the scale of today's flower party was so large, I just thought it was a means to leave people, but I didn't expect it to reach 600,000 pots here, once in a hundred years, such a beautiful scene, the princes should chant poems well, thinking that they would be souvenirs." ”

Zhao Xing jumped out first: "I said I said, I'll come first: Weiyang is a flower, and there is no one like it in the four seas; Year after year, the earth ancestral hall, this Qiong Yao is expensive. ”

Everyone couldn't straighten up with laughter, Cai Jing pointed at Zhao Xing, his lips trembled for a long time, and then he squeezed out a sentence: "You guy, did you make this poem, it's obviously Han Qi and Han Xianggong's "Yonghou Tuci Qionghua". ”

Zhao Xing smiled very honestly and asked stupidly: "Qionghua, I remember that Emperor Yang of Sui went to Yangzhou in order to see Qionghua, so that he died in the country." Why don't you see Yangzhou Qionghua? ”

Several officials suppressed their laughter, and Zhu Jing Zhu Ranzhi turned around and leaned over to a frangipani flower, sniffing the fragrance of the flower with fascination, and muttering in his mouth: "What a fragrant flower!" ”

Liu Yu turned around and studied an advertisement, his fingers were in the void, as if he was studying the law on the advertisement. Cai Jing saw that everyone was reluctant to answer, so he put away his smile and replied dryly: "During the reign of Renzong, Qionghua moved to the palace, but she was not accustomed to the water and soil, and died. ”

Zhao Xing sighed, and without waiting for him to answer, Cai Jing also began to change the topic and asked: "These flower seeds, that is, the wild honey you said, are all planted by your family?" ”

Zhao Xing nodded while looking at the fragrant flowers he brought with regret, and replied reluctantly: "It's a pity...... These pots of flowers were all moved from my garden, and for this reason, my garden was full of potholes, and my wife wrote several times to reprimand them. ”

Cai Jing nodded, and finally said: "It's hard to leave people, I heard that people are rich and rich, and I don't look at it in my eyes, but these flowers are tossed, and I don't know how much I have to lose." ”

Cai Jing misunderstood, Zhao Xing was not sorry for the flowers he sent, he was sorry for Yangzhou Qionghua.

About Yangzhou Qionghua. The last time it appeared in political history was the experience of Emperor Renzong's transplantation, and the fate of Yangzhou Qionghua was very vague after that. Some say it was moved back to Yangzhou. But after Gaozong crossed to the south, it was then moved to Hangzhou, and in the end, Qionghua did not adapt to the environment of Hangzhou. Completely withered, resulting in the complete extinction of Yangzhou Qionghua.

In modern times, there are also Yangzhou Qionghua, but most people believe that this Qionghua is not the other Qionghua. It's just that later generations miss Qionghua, and according to the description found similar varieties.

Cai Jing's mind today was obviously not on appreciating the flowers, he paused for a moment, and asked Zhao Xing again: "Leave people." I've heard that your servants have been coming to Yangzhou a lot lately, and they're all wearing a strange attire, yes or no? ”

Zhao Xing glanced at Wan Huayuan, at this moment, covering an area of hundreds of acres, the flow of people in Wan Hua gradually gathered, some selling candy seeds, some selling popcorn, and some selling oil cakes. Behind him. Some officials have begun to brush their beards and meditate on verses with their eyes closed. Zhao Xing's eyes flashed, and he said, "Lord Cai, there are many people here, why don't we find a place and find a quiet place." Zhao Xing's place is an attic in Wanhuayuan, the attic is divided into three floors, the ground floor is some ordinary readers, the second floor is some people, and the third floor is officials. Generally speaking, literati and scholars have to look at this flowery scenery and make one or two beautiful poems, and now Zhao Xing suddenly said that he was leaving, Cai Jing hesitated for a moment, and replied: "This banquet has not yet started...... Well, I'll go with you. ”

walked out of Wanhuayuan and got on a nearby painting boat, the officials gathered to have fun by themselves, Zhao Xing was only with Cai Jing, and there was no one else on the boat except for his two subordinates.

The song and dance came up, the wine was put on the table, and Jing Niang also boarded the boat to accompany her, she first thanked Zhao Xing for giving the carriage, and then snuggled up to Cai Jing, whispering affectionately. The boat walked for a while, paused slightly, several of Zhao Xing's servants carried up a few boxes, and then quietly retreated, Cai Jing noticed the actions of the group of servants, he pretended not to care, and continued to talk to Jing Niang.

Zhao Xing took advantage of the wine to open the box, the first box contained a row of snow-white uncarved seal teeth, the second row was carved leopard tooth carvings, and the third row was some leopard tooth bone knives. "Lord Cai, look at this", Zhao Xing casually took out a tooth-carved stupa from the box, the stupa is embedded with all kinds of gems, these gems are polished very brightly, slightly rotated, Baoguang Ruirui, people can't put it down.

"Inspired by Cai Jingren, I asked the craftsmen to carve this object, the thing is coarse, please correct Lord Cai."

Cai Jing held it in his hand, revealing a salivating expression, and spun it repeatedly, looking at it in amazement: "This thing, I'm afraid it's not cheap, how many gems have you inlaid...... Your craftsman is also skillful, and I only casually mention that he actually carved this thing. ”

Zhao Xing gently took the pagoda from Cai Jing's hand and turned it, Cai Jing was originally a little reluctant, but seeing Zhao Xing's rotation was very strange, he was stunned, and the bottom of the pagoda was suspended by Zhao Xing - there was a smaller pagoda inside.

Zhao Xing rotated layer by layer, even the outermost pagoda, a total of seven towers were suspended. The outermost layer is an ivory pagoda, followed by two layers inlaid with gold and silver filigree, and the last four layers of stupas are made of iron, copper, tin, and sandalwood.

"Seventh-level Futu, is this the legendary seventh-level Futu Tower?" Cai Jing asked in surprise. Jing Niang was speechless by the shock of the luxury of the pagoda, her eyes widened, her hands hung in the air, and she wanted to touch but didn't dare.

Cai Jing's staff held their breath and watched the pagoda intently, Zhao Xing brought three entourages, and Shan Yi and the others also saw good eyeballs.

"The outer layer of this pagoda is inlaid with one hundred and eight precious stones, and the inner layer is not inlaid with precious stones, but it is inlaid with gold and silver...... A total of more than 70 inlay techniques were used", Zhao Xing said slowly: "This pagoda is the most expensive in this box, and there are some other small items, such as spices, bracelets, accessories, and so on, I want to invite Lord Cai to appreciate it." I heard that Master Cai is a national player today, and I hope that Lord Cai will think of something and draw the map, so that I can improve the process. ”

Cai Jing's eyes suddenly burst out of a spark, he stared at the seven pagodas tightly, skimming the objects in the box out of the corner of his eyes, watching Zhao Xing take out the ancient dagger from the box and distribute it to the people present, Cai Jing's heart ached.

Jing Niang also got three ancient daggers, she jumped up happily, and thanked Zhao Xing repeatedly. In Jing Niang's thanks, Cai Jing touched the gems on the outer pagoda, and said slowly: "Mother Chongfo, this seventh-level floating temple, I just took it home." Let my mother look at ......"

Zhao Xing casually took out a post from the box and handed it to Cai Jing: "Lord Cai." Here's a list of what's in the box. For those ivory that are not carved, Lord Cai can find a few craftsmen to carve them, and the remaining carved objects are left, and I hope Lord Cai will give some advice. ”

Cai Jing's face sank. He flipped through the post, and the more he looked at it, the more he smiled, because although there were many objects listed on the post, this seventh-level floating slaughter was not listed.

Cai Jing snapped the post shut. I didn't even have the interest to continue shopping around the flower boat, and hurriedly urged: "Come on, quickly move the box back to my house...... The official was a little impatient and left. I'll go home, study it carefully, and take my leave. ”

Cai Jing was leaving, and his subordinates couldn't sit still, and even Jing Niang had to leave, but fortunately, everyone had a harvest, so they were in a hurry to go home and hide their things. After Cai Jing's men got off the boat, Zhao Xing's men took over the painting boat. The boat continued to move along the riverbank. It's just that compared to the painting boat with constant singing in the past, this boat seems a little quiet.

Wait for the surroundings to calm down. Shan Yi frowned and said: "The proprietor, Cai Yuanchang is a great traitor, this box of things is worth a lot of money, give it to him, how can he return it?" ”

Zhao Xing smiled lightly: "I was asking him not to return it." What kind of person is Cai Jing, his painting is extremely workmanlike, and he has a natural sensitivity to these extravagant things. He hasn't come back yet, so he's going to have to fill it with a box of design drafts.

Let's not talk about Cai Jing's paintings, just the things he designed himself are worth this box of treasures, so I don't lose money. ”

Shan Yi showed a look of disgust on his face, Wan Qiyong is a master, he participated in the whole process of planning the gift to Cai Jing, and even the gift list in the box was written by him, seeing that Shan Jie's face was wrong, he explained: "Cai Jing likes these things, instead of letting his mind think about how to harm people, it is better to let him focus on tinkering with these things."

Dong Weng means that he plans to inspect the entire Yangzhou recently, if Cai Yuanchang does not intervene, Dong Weng plans to dredge a few rivers, so that the canal section of the boat can be diverted nearby, and by the way, the lake bandits will be surrounded and suppressed, which is inseparable from Cai Yuanchang's support. ”

Shan Yi's face eased at this time, and Shuai Fan finally found an opportunity to interject, he hurriedly added: "Lord Cai Jingcai likes to enjoy and fiddle with these things, Dong Weng takes this opportunity to have a good relationship with him, and he may be able to use his ......strength in the future."

Shuai Fan still wanted to continue, but was blocked back by Zhao Xing's forced gaze. Waiting for him to finish speaking, Zhao Xing pointed at Shuai Fan: "I heard that you like to imitate the ancient rangers the most, and someone once wrote a poem to praise you: Flea knows Wuxia Duoqishi, and Mr. Xu is a son-in-law." He chased Li Du a little bit in the future, how dare Sven look at Bunyan. In my Jasmine Garden, you once boasted that you were good at training, and after Cai Jing stabilized, I plan to transfer a commanded naval army from Yangzhou, and a commanding ground horse army will be trained by you, I will give you a year, and you must train it at the end of this year. ”

Shuai Fan shook his head: "One command of the navy army is far from enough, at least two or three commanders are needed, and one command of the horse army is too little, at least two commanders are needed." I inquired, there is only one commander here more than 300 people, Yangzhou waterways are crisscrossed, the navy needs at least three commanders, and the horse army also needs two commanders. ”

Zhao Xing shook his head: "One commander, with an intermediate warship with nine fast boats, as a battle group." Fifty people came to my Zhuang Ding, and these Zhuang Ding are well-trained and can join the battle at any time as military leaders (non-commissioned officers), and they can fight regardless of whether they are sailors or horse troops. In addition, Mao Peng is about to go to the Gaoyou Army to take up his post, and the lack of troops on land can be reorganized in the Gaoyou Army, where there are still 20,000 troops, and it should not be difficult to pick out 500 people. ”

Shuai Fan continued to shake his head: "I have already seen the Yangzhou Xiang Army, it is difficult to pick one or two qualified ones among a hundred people, I am afraid that we will not be able to pick a commanded soldier and horse." Besides, although Yangzhou is rich, you can't let the soldiers match their own horses and armor. Where does this money come from, and you plan to pay out of your own pocket? ”

Wan Qianyong pinched his goatee and interjected: "Originally, Dong Weng was still worried about this matter, but recently the imperial court helped Dong Weng solve it, and on the 22nd of last month, the imperial court decreed that it was sold to all over the market, and more than 100 places in Yangzhou were released to the people. Dong Weng means to pick and choose these shops and buy all the useful ones. ”

"Selling and releasing the market" in today's parlance means auctioning off state-owned enterprises. The Song court built many government-run workshops in various places, but due to the unclear property rights, "the remuneration is not as good as the fee" - the profit is not as good as the start-up cost. Therefore, the imperial court decided to abolish the government-run workshops in various places on a large scale, "collect them to win into Changping, and disperse them with Lu servants and assistance, which is convenient for both public and private affairs."

The Song Dynasty court also stipulated a minimum sales amount for these workshops: 120,000 guan, and it happened that Zhao Xing also wanted to place a group of servants in Yangzhou, which was equivalent to drowsiness and pillows.

"Sell the farm, the key depends on Cai Jing, if he increases the weight in it, this matter can not be done, if he lets go, Dong Weng can plan to convert the money for raising horses, and divide a dividend from the workshop to the horse army, so that people will be able to take the lead."

In the Great Song Dynasty, the establishment of government-run workshops was actually for the benefit of officials in various places, "from the division with the appropriate scriptures and paintings, to subsidize the annual use", the income of the workshop is equal to the small treasury of officials and local governments, so it is natural that this kind of workshop cannot make ends meet. But with the most skilled craftsmen of the age, as well as the most advanced machines, the workshop should not be unprofitable. The sale of the workshop is also aimed at officials, and most officials will squeeze some money out of their eunuch bags and buy it as family assets.

Therefore, if Zhao Xing is raising horses for Ma Jun, he can use dignified reasons to occupy as many of the best resources as possible, as long as Cai Jing nods, all this will not be a problem.

Shuai Fan and Shan Yi are both rookies in officialdom, in fact, even Zhao Xing is too. After Wan Qianyong explained, everyone suddenly realized, Shan Gong touched his pocket, first sighed regretfully, and then asked hesitantly: "It is to sell the farm, and Dong Weng occupies the shares of the workshop in the name of horse raising fees, so what is the difference between it and the past?" Could it suddenly become profitable? ”