Chapter 029: Vigorous Development

Someone treats you, and the person who treats you is surnamed Bai...

Chen Cao held the last two books of A Chinese Ghost Story as a gift, and smoothly entered the Bai Mansion, and saw her again in the front hall where he had seen Magnolia before.

"Sir," Magnolia took the book, the hardcover version was also painted: "Thank you, sir, it seems that the little girl has to retire..."

Chen Cao drank the tea, felt a little bitter, frowned, and then said: "Miss Bai is too worried, you and I write different things, even if sometimes the style is different, but the content is very different, besides, Miss Bai still has a certain number of fans in Nanzhili and Beizhili." ”

"Book lovers?"

Chen Cao coughed and smiled: "It means admiration." ”

"Oh," Magnolia snapped into her senses, then fell silent again.

Chen Cao always felt that Magnolia was a little strange today, and the tea on this had a bitter taste, which seemed to be hinting at something, not to mention that Magnolia invited herself to eat without knowing it, there should be something, Chen Cao thought for a while and couldn't figure it out, so he said: "There are more things today, I'm afraid I can't eat with Miss here, I want to ask Miss before leaving, I Juxianju has never blocked literary talents, if Miss settles in my Juxianju as a writer in the name of Bai Mengsheng, a certain family will definitely give Miss a generous reward, Then you can give Miss a little mention in terms of script. ”

"What qualifications do you have to mention my young lady, my master is a waiter of the Jingshi Criminal Department." A maid in Tsing Yi next to him said.

"I know," Chen Cao nodded: "Lord Bai Yubai." ”

Walking out of the Bai Mansion, Chen Cao lowered his head and said to Xu Kaixian: "Go and find out what happened to Bai Yu in the past few days, or what happened to his daughter." ”

"Yes."

"My lord," Zhao Xin rode his horse and just came from outside the city: "When people arrive, they are all outside the Zhuangzi." ”

"You go and arrange it first, I have to go to the barracks."

After more than a month of forming the army, the training in the Nanjing Right Guard Battalion is in full swing at this moment, and the physical training is after the end of the month-long standing military posture.

And this aspect was directly managed by Song Che, and Qi Xianzong was responsible for teaching them the formation, but all the training bases were proposed by Chen Cao.

"The first three months of recruit training are all basic training, the first month is standing in a military posture, the second month is long-distance running, and the third month is weight-bearing..."

Chen Cao stood on the platform and watched this group of people train, thoughtful.

"Yew Chung..."Song Che saw Chen Cao coming, and asked his Qianhu to continue training, and rushed to Dianjiangtai: "According to your training method, although it is weird, but it is indeed effective, and the discipline of these people is much higher than that of other guards I have seen." ”

Chen Cao smiled: "The reason why the Qin army is invincible in the War to Unify the Six Kingdoms, in addition to their arrows, is the discipline of the Qin army. Shi Xiu, I'll leave it to you. ”

After reading this, Chen Cao went to the general's office in the barracks and found the commander in charge of the quartermaster, Bei Tianhua, who was the deputy Qianhu who survived the first battle of Guanhaiwei.

"My lord..."Bei Tianhua saw Chen Cao enter the door, and quickly stood up and gave a new-style military salute.

"How's that, you're not used to the new military salute, are you?" Chen Cao looked at Bei Tianhua's movement of holding his hands together by his temples a little rusty, so he smiled: "It's good to get used to it in the future, by the way, how about our daily expenses?" ”

Bei Tianhua opened the account book, and then said: "Back to my lordship, the salary allocated to us by the military department is 11,200 taels according to the usual, plus 300 stone of grain, but the actual salary received in the past few months is only 8,000 taels of silver, and the grain is 240 stones. ”

"So little?" Chen Cao frowned, this was the first time he had asked this question.

Bei Tianhua said embarrassedly: "The Nanjing Military Department here is issued according to the salary of the troops of the guard, and it is issued once every six months. ”

"You mean it's only eight thousand taels in half a year, and the grain is two hundred and forty stones?" Chen Cao was surprised.

"I heard that this is actually because of the face of the Wei State Mansion to give so much, and when the subordinates went to the military department to receive salaries, I heard that the Nanjing avant-garde only gave more than 6,000 taels."

Chen Cao couldn't help but want to scold his mother in his heart, no wonder the army in the late Ming Dynasty was rotten, and the commanders of the various guards and the generals of the border passes relied on their own families to fight: "This Qi Boyu's courage is really big." ”

People who like money are actually much faster than serious people, and Chen Cao already has a plan in his heart: "What about our daily consumption?" Did you do what I said? ”

Bei Tianhua arched his hand: "Please rest assured, according to your intentions, each soldier is full of three meals a day, four white flour steamed buns for breakfast, one meal of meat at noon, and steamed buns in broth for dinner. Nearly three hundred taels of silver were consumed every day. ”

Although the price of goods in Nanjing is high, the big white flour steamed buns consumed by the common people are only one penny, two pennies a bun, and the meat price is three taels per person at noon, which is fifteen wen.

Chen Cao patted Bei Tianhua on the shoulder: "You are a quartermaster, I am relieved, you must not start with the food of the soldiers, you must remember, if you are short of money, take care of me." ”

"Don't worry, my lord, my subordinates are also from poor families, and I will never be greedy for my brothers' food money." Pei Tianhua said confidently.

Chen Cao nodded with satisfaction and left, but he was still thinking about the problem of silver in his heart: three hundred taels a day, nine thousand taels a month, almost ten thousand taels of silver can feed these soldiers for a month, not counting the salary, even if I can't afford to publish a book, I have to find another way.

Chen Cao left the barracks and rode back to Zhuangzi, at this moment Zhao Xin was in charge of maintaining order, and when he saw Chen Cao coming, he was like being amnestied: "My lord, you are finally here." ”

"How? How many were recruited? Chen Cao stood on his horse and stared at the group of people in front of him.

"According to your orders, three hundred people were recruited, and those people heard that they were for your lordship, and they squeezed their heads one by one, and their subordinates carefully selected, all of them were eighteen to twenty young and strong, please take a look at them first." Zhao Xin pointed at the group and said.

Chen Cao took a look, they were all homeless, all dressed sloppily, but their spirits were not bad, and they were not too hungry: "Okay, take them all to the barracks, and let Song Tongzhi train them for three months first." ”

"Yes..."

As he spoke, he looked at Xu Kaixian behind him and said: "You go to the cement workshop to find Li Maocai and tell him to let him repair a barracks outside my Zhuangzi, the specifications of 300 people, must be completed within three months." ”

"Yes..."

"Xiang'er..."

Chen Cao walked into the mansion, and it happened that Li Xiang was talking to the visiting Li Wan'er, Li Wan'er was a little embarrassed when she saw Chen Cao, and Li Xiang responded: "What's the matter with the husband?" ”

"How much silver do we have left?"

Li Xiang replied: "A few days ago, the novel was sold for 120,000 taels of silver, and my husband's savings are still 60,000, and if I count my previous silver taels, there are still 330,000 taels of silver in total." ”

Chen Cao's brows furrowed, Li Xiang thought something was wrong, he was nervous, Li Wan'er on the side heard Chen Cao asking for money, so she got up and walked over, and asked: "Hey thief, are you on the scene, I still have some money in my house, within 100,000 taels of silver, I will give it to you for emergency." ”

Chen Cao was greatly moved, but there was really no big deal now, so he patted Li Wan'er on the shoulder: "When you marry in the future, you will be a flat wife, and you will manage the house with Xiang'er." ”

"Cut..."

"The money is not enough, hurry up and find a group of people, we have to write novels, take advantage of this popularity to sell more, I have a lot of use." Chen Cao commanded.

...

"My lord, what you ordered last time has been clarified," Xu Kaixian walked into the hall and arched his hand towards Chen Cao, who was drawing drawings: "Bai Yu's eldest daughter is the one who married the eldest son of the Baoguo Mansion." ”

"Say..."

"That's the case, the eldest daughter is called Bai Xinlan, she has been married for the past two years, and she has never been pregnant, it just so happens that the eldest son of Baoguo Gong died when he was seventeen years old, and the family is thinking about this eldest son, the whole family is waiting for Bai Xinlan to give birth to a grandson to Baoguo Gong to inherit the lineage, but there is no news about that stomach, that Baoguo Gong is a person in the army, five big and three coarse, and he immediately made the decision to return Bai Xinlan to Bai Yu, and sent a letter of resignation to the Bai family," Xu Kaixian said and laughed: "Bai Yu's old man is a cultural person, After receiving this great humiliation, he went to sue the emperor, who knew that the Baoguo Gong was in the Qianqing Palace at the right time, and was provoked by the old man Bai Yu, so he stopped doing it immediately, and knocked his in-laws to the ground with one punch. ”

Burst...

Chen Cao squirted out a mouthful of tea: "This Zhu Yanrong is so violent? ”

Xu Kaixian said with a smile: "Exactly, Bai Yu was knocked out of a front tooth, but his daughter did not give birth to a child, and according to the law, she was Hugh and had to ask for her own hardships, Bai Yu suffered a dumb loss, and fell ill when she went back, and now she has been recuperating in the capital, Bai Xinlan was sent back to Jinling, mainly because it was too embarrassing to stay in the capital." ”

Saying that, Xu Kaixian looked at Chen Cao mysteriously, and whispered: "My lord, you don't know, this is the news that spreads all over the capital on the surface, but there is a gossip under his subordinates, which he heard from the Beizhen Fusi brothers who are monitoring the Baoguo Mansion. ”

Chen Cao likes gossip, and looked at Xu Kaixian with a wicked smile: "Let's hear it." ”

"Although the eldest son of Baoguo Gong is dead, he still has a second son, this guy is called Zhu Guobi..."

"Who?" Chen Cao is very familiar with this name, it is the guy who played with Kou Baimen.

"Zhu Guobi..."Xu Kaixian said and said: "I heard the brother who was watching say that the reason why Bao Guogong took Bai Xinlan off was because Zhu Guobi's wife was bumped into his eldest sister-in-law, and Bao Guogong acted like this for the honor of the Guogong Mansion, which is also the reason why the old man Bai Yu would go to sue the emperor and fall down. ”

"That Bai Xinlan is beautiful?" Chen Cao was a little curious, because the magnolia was indeed beautiful.

"I heard that it is very beautiful, and Zhu Guobi's reputation is not good, and he is a womanizer at a young age." After Xu Kaixian finished speaking, he found that Chen Cao was looking at him with murderous anger in his eyes, and immediately arched his hand and said: "The subordinates know that they are wrong, and the subordinates don't mean that..."

"Okay," Chen Cao sighed a little embarrassed: "Whoever is not lustful for men, you will be the same in the future." Saying that, he looked up at the beams in the hall: "No wonder the tea is bitter, too, my sister is humiliated by this, and it is not easy for anyone to change, but why did she invite me to dinner?" ”

"Do you want to go to Baifu again and ask?"

"I'm going to go," Chen Cao stood up, "But you have to accompany me to Shen Kee's grocery store first." ”

In the back hall of Shen Ji's grocery store, Shen Zhuangling was pouring tea for Chen Cao, with a little powder on her smiling face, and she had the charm of a young woman with a smile.

"My lord, what kind of wind blew you to the slave family..."Shen Zhuangling said flatteringly.

To say that she is like an old bustard, but she does not have the charm of a dusty woman, and the little baby fat on her face sets off her thirty-three-year-old age.

Chen Cao said with a smile: "I heard that Boss Shen has a great relationship with the high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the Jinling realm?" ”

Shen Zhuangling's unconsciously stunned action was imprinted in Chen Cao's eyes, but it was fleeting, if you didn't look carefully, you really couldn't find it, so she smiled and said: "Where did the adults say, the slave family is in the grocery business, facing the whole city of Jinling, there is a chance to contact these people, and it has a lot of relationship with it..."

Chen Cao stared at Shen Zhuangling with a smile on his face, with a hint of murder in his eyes, and he saw Shen Zhuangling with a fierce spirit: "Big... My lord... What, what's wrong? ”

"Do you know what this official does?"

"The slave family doesn't know..."Shen Zhuangling actually found out about Chen Cao's identity after Chen Cao left, plus Zhao Xin led someone to arrest his own nursing home, and he was even more sure that Chen Cao must have come prepared this time, so he was naturally a little vigilant.

"Boss Shen is from Yunnan, how did he think of coming to Jinling to do business?" Chen Cao pretended to be curious and asked.

Shen Zhuangling's expression was serious, and then she said a little dullly: "My husband died early, my daughter is still young, if I don't work hard for some foundation, how can I live like this..."

"The official remembers that one of Shen Wansan's descendants went to Yunnan, I don't know if it's Boss Shen's house?" Chen Caofeng said lightly: "Boss Shen can answer in no hurry first, but you have to answer this question first," as he spoke, he grabbed Shen Zhuangling's hand, and pulled it into his arms with just one force, the heat was a little high, Chen Cao could clearly hear Shen Zhuangling's rapid breathing, which was very fragrant: "Boss Shen, this official knows that there are still many people in the Qianguo Mansion, you have to explain to this official how the dozen or so family members under your command came from." ”

Shen Zhuangling blushed to her neck, turned her head to look at Chen Cao, and didn't dare to speak, she had been in Jinling for so long, and no official had ever dared to say this to her: "Yes... Yes..."

"You have to think clearly, my Zhenfu Division has carefully checked, these people are all good in the army, I believe that the Duke of Qianguo must know their origins."

Shen Zhuangling trembled obviously in Chen Cao's arms, Chen Cao was overjoyed, it seemed that he had guessed correctly, this Shen Zhuangling was the spy of the Qianguo Mansion in Jinling.

And after a while, Shen Zhuangling straightened up, gently touched Chen Cao's nose, his lips were close to Chen Cao's ears, and he said angrily: "What's the matter, Lord Chen has no evidence, not to mention that even if there is evidence that the Duke of Qianguo has guarded the southwest for generations, His Majesty will not dare to do anything to him." ”

Chen Cao let go of Shen Zhuangling and smiled: "Boss Shen, there are no absolutes in the world, you stay in the mansion and send people to do grocery business, I'm afraid you are doing sea trade, right?" ”

Shen Zhuangling's eyes immediately froze, broke free from Chen Cao's arms, stood up straight, and said, "Lord Chen, what do you want?" ”

Chen Cao patted the edge of his robe, and lifted Erlang's legs very calmly: "It's very simple, I will pay for it, and you will help me come back from Jiaozhi to transport grain." ”

"Why?" Shen Zhuangling asked rhetorically.

"Jiaozhi rice is harvested twice a year, and the Li family likes to trade with you, don't say you don't know," Chen Cao directly cut off Shen Zhuangling's back road: "It's just for you to help, I will pay the salary, you are only responsible for helping me transport grain, everyone works together, why not?" ”

"It's as simple as that?" Shen Zhuangling heard Chen Cao's threat.

"It's as simple as that..."

When Chen Cao was leaving, he walked generously in front of Shen Zhuangling and kissed her cheek before leaving, and the fragrance of fat powder remained on his mouth and he was reluctant to wipe it: "Little wave hoof, sooner or later you will have to fall into my hands one day." ”

Chen Cao's new book took only ten days to create, the new book is called "The Legend of the White Lady of Liao Zhai", which is relatively thick, with 500,000 words, of course, it was not written by Chen Cao, and the gunman he was looking for dictated.

The legend of the White Lady, priced at seven taels of silver, issued a total of 20,000 copies, and was snapped up by booksellers all over the Ming Dynasty who were waiting outside Juxianju on the same day, because the sales were too good, coupled with Chen Cao's hunger marketing, the embassies of various countries stationed in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites Post House also asked to buy and sell back to their own countries, for this reason, Chen Cao agreed to issue another 20,000 copies, the result was still the same, less than a day all sold out, Chen Cao directly announced, "The Legend of the White Lady of Liao Zhai" was suspended, waiting for the next issue to sell.

Why?

Chen Cao's Nalan Rongruo is too famous, and the books are all popular, and because the price is too high, it does not focus on the price of being close to the people, so that the piracy is serious in the later period, and the small bourgeois families want to see it, and all they buy are pirated copies, and the piracy of the legend of the White Lady has also hit a record high, with a full four taels of silver, which makes many small bourgeois families prohibitive.

In these years, there are people who write yellow books, but most of them have to be banned, and those who dare to publish them are small booksellers in black workshops, Chen Cao doesn't want to write, but he doesn't want to ruin his name Nalan Rongruo, but the literati and in this era are all good, so Chen Cao is ready to write a serious and not too yellow book, which is specially sold at a price close to the people.

Bai Yulan personally came to the door to gather the virtuous residence, and after more than half a month, I am afraid that she also figured it out, but according to Chen Cao, after Bai Yu fell angry, she began to retire in the position of the waiter of the Criminal Department, and it is estimated that she will not be replaced by Wei Zhongxian for a long time. Therefore, Magnolia should have no money, so she came to Chen Cao.

"White girl, this tea is not bitter, please..."

Magnolia was a little embarrassed, and then said, "Sir, the little girl's trip is here for what Mr. said last time." ”

Chen Cao pretended to have a sudden realization, and then went straight to the point: "It just so happens that I have a book to publish here, the content, specially written for literati and scholars, if you calculate carefully, it is still a banned book on the market." ”

As soon as the word 'forbidden book' was mentioned, Bai Yulan, a writer, naturally knew what it was, and immediately blushed: "The little girl can't write that kind of thing." ”

"Hey..."Chen Cao waved his hand: "I'm ready for the manuscript, Miss Bai only needs to come to my Juxianju every day to listen to me, someone will write it, and sign the names of the two of us after finishing the book, I promise that this book will be a big hit after the two of us cooperate." ”

These men are in their forties, and they are energetic in listening and writing, and the 400,000-word novel was completed in only five days.

"This book is called "Liao Zhai Zhi Wei Zhi Red Mansion Spring-Dream", and the price is only one or two silver," Chen Cao shook his head and looked at the blushing Magnolia, and then said: "Print 100,000 copies first, see the results, and the signature must be written with the name of 'Bai Mengsheng'." ”

"One hundred thousand?" Magnolia was a little surprised: "Is it sold out?" ”

Chen Cao smiled mysteriously: "White girl, I still have the old saying, Jinling lacks everything, but there is no shortage of rich people." ”

Sure enough, the 100,000 copies printed because of the addition of Bai Mengsheng, plus as long as one or two silver, sold out in one day, three days later, in the entire Nanzhili caused unprecedented influence, deeply loved by literati, the description of the scene that seems to be yellow and non-yellow is thought-provoking, see those young people can't stop, have asked for printing, booksellers from all over the Ming Dynasty rushed to Juxianju to order this book.

Chen Cao was not polite at this time, and directly ordered Zhou Decai to only accept the order book, and the retail one hundred copies per day was on the line, and before and after, the entire "Liao Zhai Zhi Wei Zhi Red Mansion Spring Dream" actually sold 1.3 million copies.

Chen Cao made a lot of money, "The Legend of the White Lady" sold nearly 300,000 taels of silver before and after, and "Spring Dream of Red Mansions" sold 1.3 million taels, Chen Cao was arrogant, and directly gave Magnolia 100,000 taels of silver, Magnolia was embarrassed to resign, after all, he didn't do anything, so he listened to the free book for five days, and earned 100,000 taels by signing his name, which...

"Don't be embarrassed, this 100,000 taels of silver is the franchise fee I gave you..."

"Join?"

"It's about cooperation," Chen explained.

"It's really a great writer, it's always different to speak, and the little woman is really convinced." Magnolia gave Chen Cao a salute.

"White girl, I know a little about your family's affairs, you don't have to be sad, people, there are always hurdles that can't be passed, and everything can't go well." Chen Cao said from time to time, and saw that Bai Yulan's mood was lower: "Don't, I didn't mean to, don't cry." ”

Bai Yulan looked sad, Chen Cao stepped forward and patted her shoulder: "If you have something in the future, look for me, anyway, I'm also the pacification envoy of Jinyiwei..."

Time flies quickly, the first year of the Apocalypse will end after tonight, opening a new course of the second year of the Apocalypse, Chen Cao has set up a few tables at home, in addition to a table with his own woman, the maids and maids in the family have a meal on the table, but they are just different tables.

Chen Cao was very happy in his heart, in addition to these, the most comfortable thing was the amnesty in the second year of the Apocalypse, and it was estimated that the Zhang family's mother and son could be brought back within ten days after the opening of the dynasty in January.

On the table, Chen Cao was the first seat, Li Xiang was on the left, Chen Qing was on the right, and Li Fengchun, Chen Ruier and a few maids were in charge.

I only heard Chen Cao say: "After the New Year, I will pick up the mother and son of the Zhang family to pass through the door, and I will give birth in the spring of February, and my Chen family is so happy." ”

"Help the old man prosper..."Li Fengchun raised his glass and said.

Then several women raised their glasses in celebration...

Boom...

The fireworks are gorgeous, colorful and bright...