On the other side, the city of Gusu is still peaceful. In the morning, Gong Wanran had just stayed up all night, and after he was busy with official business, he returned to his residence tiredly, perhaps too tired to sleep. He took a book from the shelf, intending to read it and meditate. I had just been reading for a short time when there was a hurried call outside.

"Brother Gonghui! Brother Gonghui! Open the door! ”

Gong Hui Ran heard that it was He Yu's voice, so he went out and opened the door, only to see He Yu standing outside the door panting, without waiting for Gong Hui Ran to speak, He Yu shouted in a panic: "Brother Gong Hui! Are you crazy! ”

This sentence is the most asked sentence by Gong Wanran in recent days, Gong Wanran looked a little helpless, but smiled disapprenously: "Even you know?" ”

"Yes, yes! As my father told me this morning, we all think you're too risky, and only a madman would take on such an impossible task! Besides, you don't know, Dazai-sama is not a good stubble! If you can't complete the mission, he won't let you go! ”

"Well, that's clear to me."

"Clear? Then you dare to say four thousand taels? My father said that last year, the country's fiscal and tax revenue totaled only 60,000 taels of gold, and you alone dare to say that the increase in revenue was 4,000 taels?! Not crazy anything! ”

"In comparison, four thousand taels is indeed not a small amount, but as long as it is managed properly, there is still a chance to achieve it."

"Oh my God! Where is the opportunity?! Brother Gonghui! You're really ...... It's insane! Run away, the farther away the better! ”

"Haha, what are you running away, it's only March now, and there's still plenty of time." Gong Wanran waved his hand confidently, then unhurriedly pulled Heyu to sit down, made a pot of tea, and asked, "By the way, how is your snake thorn incense doing?" ”

He Yu still looked restless, "Brother Gonghui! Are you still in the mood to ask this? ”

"What's wrong? Why can't you ask? You've done a good job of snake thorn incense, I still want to use some more, and after taking on such a heavy task, it is inevitable that I will lose sleep in the future. ”

He Yu stood up and paced back and forth in a panic, "Oops! You're still in the mood for sleep! What to do? What to do? What to do! ”

"Okay, even if the sky falls, it's time to sleep." Gong Wanran pressed Heyu on the seat, lowered his voice and said: "Heyu, don't panic, since I dare to take over the task of increasing the income of four thousand taels of gold, I have already thought of a corresponding way." ”

"What's the solution? Brother Gonghui! Tell me about it! ”

"You'll know later, I can't tell you yet. Okay, tell me, is the snake thorn incense ready? ”

"Well, it's done, but I don't know if it's okay to do it, I have to let Sister Hana check it to see how well I do it."

"Is it difficult to make?"

"It's not difficult, the process is not complicated, but it requires a lot of manpower, which is very labor-intensive. And ah, it's really expensive to use a raw material called jade thorn! ”

"Oh, I see, you can take me and Miss Hana to see it."

"Okay then."

After a while, Gong Wanran and Hana followed He Yu to the place where the snake thorn incense was made, and there were more than a dozen servants crowded into a small grass hut, some of whom were drying, some were grinding, some were washing, and some were baking, and they were very busy.

Gong Wanran walked around the grass shed and asked, "Is there a finished product?" ”

He Yu walked to a shelf, took two pieces of finished products from it, and handed them to Gong Huiran and Hana respectively.

Hana sniffed it and said, "It's okay, the taste is relatively positive, but it's not strong enough, maybe there is something wrong with the condensation step." ”

He Yu asked, "Then what can be done to improve?" ”

"It's not difficult, I'll be able to see what the problem is by looking at the workers' processes later. But...... This kind of small workshop is indeed difficult to make high-quality products, in the past, when our people made snake thorn incense, hundreds of people divided the labor, and the manual skills were good, and they could make high-quality products. ”

"How much does that cost, I can't afford to make these few pieces, it's too expensive."

"Yes, I said it, this incense is not difficult to make, but it is labor-intensive, and the materials are expensive, after all, you don't produce jade thorns in Huaxia, and this kind of raw material can only be bought in the Western Regions."

"Sister Hana, why have I never seen such a good thing in Wu Kingdom?"

"How do I know? But your brother Ji Zheng said that he smelled this incense when he was young. ”

He Yu was puzzled, "It's strange, Wu Guo didn't have a ......"

Gong Wanran speculated: "It may be that the land of Wu Yue is far away from the Central Plains, and these wonderful things in the world of flowers are still rare." However, judging from the high cost of snake thorn incense, even in the Central Plains, only princes and nobles can afford it. ”

"Oh, I see."

Subsequently, Hana checked the process of making incense, and after Hana's guidance, He Yu basically figured out what the problem was.

"Sister Hana is really amazing, after such improvements, I will definitely be able to make the best snake thorn incense."

Hana saw that Heyu was seriously recording the main points, and said helplessly: "I really don't understand why you have to do this, I think you are idle and uncomfortable." ”

"Yes, yes, I'm idle, my father always doesn't let me come out to play, and I don't want to study, so I can only wander blindly every day, annoyed to death."

Gong Wanran said: "It's also a good thing to be able to master the art of making incense, the last time I ate Heyu's sweet fruit, I felt that Heyu was very talented as a craftsman." ”

"What's the use of that, my father will just let me read, read, read, and I'm really annoyed, but I really like to do something."

Gong Wanran smiled and said, "I don't think it's as good as this, when you make a high-quality snake thorn incense, we will open a big workshop together and find some craftsmen to do it together, so that you can be regarded as having some serious things to do." ”

"Okay! Okay! Heyu was excited.

Subsequently, Gong Wanran returned to his residence, and soon after entering the house, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door, and Gong Wanran walked to the courtyard to open the door, only to see a girl standing at the gate with a black lacquered bamboo basket.

Gong Wanran saluted and said, "Hello girl, may I ask what the girl is doing?"

"Mr. Gonghui, I'm Zheng Dan's maid, Xiaomei, I'll go in and talk about it." Xiaomei said that, she squeezed away from the public and walked into the courtyard.

Gong Wanran hurriedly turned sideways to get out of the way of Xiaomei, and then closed the door. Xiaomei walked into the courtyard, looked around, and said, "Why does Mr. Gonghui live in such a simple place?" ”

"It's nice and clean. By the way, I think I've seen a girl. ”

"Yes, every time my mother plays chess with my husband, I will stay outside."

"The girl's accent is like a Yue Chinese."

"Yes, I'm from Yue."

"Oh."

"Niangniang, let me bring you some snacks." Xiaomei said and handed the bamboo basket to Gong Huiran.

"Thank you, mother."

Xiaomei took advantage of Gong Wanran's kung fu to take over the bamboo basket, leaned into Gong Wanran's ear, and asked in a low voice, "Where is your room?" ”

As soon as Gong Huiran turned around and pointed, Xiaomei pulled Gong Huiran into the house. Xiaomei closed the door and said in a panic: "Niangniang heard about you, she is about to die!" Mr. Gonghui! How dare you take on such a job! That's four thousand taels of gold! Are you crazy! ”

"Girl, I'm not crazy......"

"What kind of person is Bo Ya! Big corrupt officials! Don't talk about the people of Wu, we people in Yue know it! Don't you know?! ”

"Girl......"

"I'm afraid that except for the king, everyone knows that the vacancy in the treasury is caused by Bo Ya's corruption! As soon as there was a war, he couldn't hold it anymore, so he asked you to raise taxes on the people! This matter has even spread in the harem! ”

"I know ......" Gong Wanran was interrupted by Xiaomei again, he saw Xiaomei chattering, so he simply didn't speak, just listened to Xiaomei quietly.

"You're good, what are you talking about opening up industry and commerce, strengthening businessmen, how much money can you get that year? You're crazy! You still have four thousand taels?! It's over, Mr. Gonghui! What can you do? If you want me to say, Mr. is a Simin, so many big officials don't squeak, what do you care about this? It's not your business to collect taxes, you just let those tax collectors find a way to increase taxes with the people, anyway, it's not the first time they've collected harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, what are you fooling in? The mother is dying! Niang Niang said, or you run away! If you can't, you will flee to the country of Yue! Ah! If Yue Guo can't do it, go to Chu State! ”

Xiaomei chattered for a long time, then suddenly stopped and asked, "Mr. Gonghui, what did you just say?" ”

"Girl, finished?" Gong Wanran tilted his head slightly, and always had a smile on his face.

"Ah...... That's it. Xiaomei was stunned for a moment, and looked at Gong Wanran with wide eyes.

"Well, I know what you mean, I know who you are; I also know why he wants to increase his income; I also know the routine of exacting taxes and miscellaneous taxes; Of course, I know the cats in the government-run industry and commerce. Please ask the girl to go back and tell the mother, and say thank you for the princess, please rest assured, she is not crazy in the next place, and she will not run away, since she has responded to the errand, there are countermeasures. ”

"Huh? That's it? ”

"Or else? What else would the girl want to hear? ”

"You have to tell me what you're going to do, or I'll tell my mother! Do you know how worried you are? Oops, I'm so anxious! I'm in a hurry! What do you think you're trying to do? Xiaomei spun around in a hurry, and she was obviously not satisfied with Gong's answer.

"It's just to let the people pay less harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, okay, okay, don't worry, girl, what about the countermeasures, I haven't planned it thoroughly, but I also have a rough idea, and when I figure it out, the girl and the mother will naturally know."

"Not planned! Then you dare to respond?! You're just crazy! How can I explain it to my mother! Xiaomei began to babble again.

After Xiaomei finished speaking, Gong Wanran took out a small wooden box from the bamboo case beside her, handed it to Xiaomei and said: "Xiaomei girl, here are a few pieces of spices, which have the effect of calming the nerves and nourishing qi, and the taste is also very fragrant, please take the girl back and give it to Niangniang, if Niangniang likes it, it can be used by Niangniang for a long time in the future." ”

Xiaomei took the wooden box, and was immediately attracted by the overflowing fragrance, she put the wooden box to her nose and sniffed it, and asked in surprise: "What kind of spice is this?!" Why is it so fragrant! ”

"This spice is called snake thorn incense, if the mother is not resting well, you can light this spice before going to bed, and then you can have a good dream."

"Oh, oh, it smells, it smells so good." Xiaomei is full of praise.

"Okay, little beautiful girl, is there anything else you want to ask?"

"That'...... That's gone...... But you still haven't told me what you're going to do! ”

"It's really not planned yet, so in less than ten days, you'll know."

"Really? Not in ten days? ”

"Well, in ten days."

"Oh, that'...... Okay, then I'll go back and tell my mother. ”

"Yes, thank you, girl."