Writing poetry to gain public opinion.
This should not be possible.
When one composed a thousand ancient famous words and the first ekphrasis of a thousand ancient times before, there was no public opinion.
But when I wrote the famous words of a thousand ages, it seems that there was a little public opinion, just not much, and I could not notice it at all.
Because at that time, he himself did not understand what public opinion was either. It was only later, when he killed the Fan merchants, that he gained public opinion and harboured the hearts of the people.
It was only when he killed the merchants that he gained public opinion and nurtured it.
But just now, Xu Qingnian figured it out completely.
The so-called public opinion is what the people want.
To have enough to eat and drink is what the people want.
A strong country is also the desire of the people.
There is no need to explain what it means to have enough to eat and drink, but there are two kinds of national strength in general: military strength and spiritual strength.
The most central aspect of spiritual strength is the cultural base. Why did the Great Wei respect the Confucian lineage? Why did the people of the world even respect the scholars?
Because they have intelligence? But there are many people with intelligence in the world, aren’t the princes and kings of the royal family intelligent?
It is mainly because of the characteristics of a scholar, the cultivation of righteousness, the restraint of demons and monsters, the saving of life in times of crisis, and the ability to turn over one’s cla*s by studying, as well as the recognition of a scholar by heaven and earth.
Confucianism, therefore, is a spiritual heritage that cannot be trampled upon.
The ten talented sons of the ten kingdoms, who humiliated the Great Wei Palace of Literature in a big way at Liyang Palace, were also humiliating to the common people, because the Great Wei Palace of Literature represented the Great Wei Confucian Way.
Naturally the people of Great Wei still hoped that the Palace of Literature would win.
But with so many things happening and the Ten Kingdoms Great Talents being so arrogant and domineering, which has led to public resentment among the people, by composing a poem for the thousandth time, one not only wins over the Ten Kingdoms Great Talents, but also shocks the people and wins a large amount of public opinion.
So if you want to gain public opinion, you don’t just have to compose a poem yourself, but you have to compose a poem on a specific event to gain public opinion.
To put it directly, if you make the people of Great Wei feel good, you can gain public opinion.
This explanation is easy to understand.
“If that’s the case, then we need to attend more of these gatherings in the future.”
Xu Qingnian thought to himself in his heart.
However, he understood one thing more in his heart, that he needed special conditions to have an explicit intention, otherwise he wouldn’t get any public opinion by pretending all the time.
You need to suppress first and then raise, like saying that the ten great talents of the ten countries are all kinds of arrogant, and that Great Wei can’t produce any works and is humiliated by others in all kinds of ways, and then you make an appearance yourself.
After pretending to be a P***y, you can still fish for public opinion, how much of this good thing you want.
However, Xu Qingnian also knows that this kind of situation is actually relatively rare.
The actual people don’t really think that the Great Wei Palace of Literature is no good, right?
The Zhu Sheng orthodoxy, dozens of great scholars, and the great scholars of heaven and earth, even Xu Qingnian suspected that there were saints inside.
Living half-saints.
In such an environment, the Confucian scholars that breed out would be of equal rank?
Even if there were no half-saints, the Great Wei Palace of Literature contained holy intent, and one could be elevated just by sitting there and reading every day, not to mention that the Confucian students who could enter the Great Wei Palace of Literature were those who were idle?
There must be something wrong with this Peace Poetry Competition, but it is not a problem that needs to be solved by the empress.
What we need to do right now is to get more public opinion.
“I can’t participate in the Taiping Poetry Fair today, I already earned public opinion myself yesterday, the Taiping Poetry Fair, is divided into two sessions, one is to write a poem on a topic, and the other is to choose a topic for a poetry fight.”
“Either we wait for the Great Wei literary world to be pressured again and step in to save the day ourselves, or we can pretend to be bleeped in a different way.”
Xu Qingnian pondered in his mind, and inexplicably, he somewhat regretted what he had said a few hours ago, if he had known that, he would have not said those words and let the people of the Great Wei Literary Palace continue to keep a low profile and then be suppressed for another two or three days, in which case, he would have stepped in to make another wave of public opinion.
It was simply blood money.
Shaking his head, Xu Qingnian didn’t think about it so much, it was better to deal with his own matters first.
At that moment, Xu Qingnian’s mind dived into the Palace of Literature.
Inside the Palace of Literature.
Chao Ge and Broken Evil had been waiting for a long time.
“Xiandi, you are truly remarkable, in just a few days, you have managed to gather so much public opinion.”
Chao Ge spoke up, praising Xu Qingnian’s tactics.
“Brother overpraised me, it was just good luck.”
After saying this, Xu Qingnian looked towards the rather silent Broken Evil.
“Brother Broken Evil, now that I have gained public opinion, how should I cover up the foreign arts in my body?”
Xu Qingnian asked this.
He realised that although he had helped Great Wei solve its troubles by putting in the wine, it was still not a good thing for the Great Wei Palace of Literature, even if it was viewed from a self-serving perspective.
Even if Great Wei loses someone, it is not his turn to interfere.
Therefore, Xu Qingnian did not dare to guarantee that Yan Ru would directly take action and impeach himself in the imperial court at that time.
Regardless of whether he would, he still had to know how to use public opinion to cover up the foreign arts first.
Hearing Xu Qingnian open his mouth, Broken Evil instantly spoke out.
“Xiandi, if you want to conceal the supernatural arts within you, the solution is not difficult, you only need to draw out these three demonic thoughts, and then use Hao Ran Zheng Qi to suppress them under your dantian, and finally use public opinion to conceal them again.”
Broken Evil replied, informing Xu Qingnian of this solution.
“So simple?”
Xu Qingnian was a little surprised, not expecting it to be so simple.
“No, it’s not simple at all, first you release the demonic thoughts, these three demonic thoughts will invade your soul in the first place.”
“So Chao Ge and I will strike together to buy you time, and you need to suppress it with Hao Rang Qi during this time, and after it is completely suppressed, then cover it up with public opinion.”
“The Confucian means of inquiring about the Heterodyne is nothing more than using the Confucian divine power to view your body, the Wen Gong they cannot see, but the Heterodyne can, and with each strand of public opinion as thick as a mountain, unless a sage of the day appears in person, they will not be able to see through the Heterodyne demon seed in your body.”
Broken Evil spoke out to inform Xu Qingnian how to conceal the Heteromancy within his body.
“Understood.”
“The public opinion within my body, is it enough?”
Xu Qingnian asked once again.
He wasn’t sure if the public opinion within his body was enough.
“Enough is definitely enough, but the more public opinion there is, the better the effect will be, and I’m actually not worried about a great scholar seeing through the demonic seed inside you.”
“What I’m more worried about is whether someone will sacrifice some special treasure and cause the demonic seed inside you to break free.”
“That’s the troublesome thing.”
Broken Evil frowned.
“Is there such a thing?”
Xu Qingnian spoke, his eyes filled with tension.
“There is!”
This time, Chao Ge spoke up and said in a very certain tone.
“However, if the public opinion within you is thick and you want to truly invoke the demonic seed within you, you need a holy weapon, and the Great Wei Wen Palace has holy weapons, but not so much that they would take them out just to target you.”
Just as quickly, Chao Ge turned his words around and informed Xu Qingnian that if he wanted to draw out the devil seed within him, he would need a holy weapon, something that had too much influence, something that suppressed the Great Wei’s qi, it would be almost impossible to take it out to target a Xu Qingnian.
“Understood.”
Xu Qingnian nodded, but was still a little worried.
Broken Evil seemed to see Xu Qingnian’s worry and could not help but continue speaking.
“Indeed, there is no need to worry too much, if a Sacred Weapon is used against you, Chao Ge and I still have a way to defend you with the Heaven and Earth Wen Palace.”
Broken Evil said so, putting Xu Qingnian at ease, lest Xu Qingnian be a little preoccupied.
“It is a blessing not a curse, it is a curse that cannot be avoided, my humble brother understands.”
Xu Qingnian nodded, he knew this kind of thing very well in his heart.
But Xu Qingnian knew one thing.
Public opinion was actually still not enough, a little more was needed, this was the most secure.
“Since that is the case, then my humble brother will first take my leave.”
Xu Qingnian said so.
“Xiandi take care.”
The two men nodded and watched Xu Qingnian leave.
And at that moment.
In the capital of the Great Wei.
Ever since Xu Qingnian had made the wine, a drinking frenzy had been whipped up throughout Great Wei Kyoto.
As a result, the business of the restaurants in the capital was at least three or four times better than usual.
The literati gathered together to discuss Xu Qingnian’s poem, carefully analysing each and every sentence, and the four academies even held a special cla*s for Xu Qingnian’s poem, explaining in earnest what was so wonderful about the poem and what was so good about it.
The more people talked about it, the more they felt that Xu Qingnian was a great poet.
So public opinion is getting stronger and stronger, just not as explosive as yesterday, but not less.
As for the literati of Great Wei, they were even more comfortable.
All the literati of Great Wei called on their friends and gathered together, purposely going to the restaurant where the Ten Kingdoms’ talent lived, and started discussing Xu Qingnian’s general wine.
Or they told what had happened yesterday, carefully, and many of the people listened with rapt attention.
Some of the literati who were not involved were also overwhelmed with emotion.
But such a result led to a difficult time for the talented men of the Ten Kingdoms.
Yesterday, I thought I had given Great Wei a slap on the wrist, but I didn’t expect the slap to be on my own face, and the most absolute thing was that Li En had actually pa*sed out from anger.
This was a disgrace.
But there is nothing to say when you think about it. Anyone else would probably have to faint from anger, after all, to be honest, he had just poem out of the township, so it should be his turn to pretend to be bleeped.
As a result, Xu Qingnian’s poem was so famous that it killed his poem, and instead of being the final winner, he became the biggest loser.
Are you angry? Who wouldn’t be dizzy?
But what’s even more infuriating now is that these Great Wei literati, who portrayed yesterday’s events in such a vivid manner and added to them, stirred up emotions, just like those folk novels, and they became the villains.
Xu Qingnian became the villain, slapped in the face, could they not be angry?
Although everyone knew that the poetry competition was coming up, and they were ready to get back on the field in the poetry competition.
However, they couldn’t resist the mockery of the literati in Wei.
The literati were already arrogant, so if you don’t like me, I don’t like you, not to mention the fact that it was the Great Wei literati and the foreign literati.
Thus, conflicts inevitably occurred.
“Ridiculous! On the first day of the Peace Poetry Competition, the great scholars favoured you, the Great Wei literati, and took away the first place, that’s all.”
“On the second day of the Peace Poetry Competition, the Great Confucian was still partial to you and took away the first place from our talented students from the ten kingdoms. If Brother Hua Xinyun had not come to plead with us personally, do you think we would have gone on the third day?”
In a tavern, the crowd was boisterous, a dozen literati gathered together, while most of the people of Great Wei listened attentively.
But suddenly, dozens of people came down from the upper floors, all talented scholars from the ten kingdoms, and when they heard the talented scholars of Great Wei talking about yesterday’s events here, they could not help but speak up and say so.
The voices rang out, and the Great Wei literati were now unconvinced.
“Laughing.”
“Taking sides? Then I will ask, this time it is the Peace Poetry Competition, the two are indeed of equal quality, and the person who judges them is also a Great Wei Confucian, you want to say that you are biased? Then let me ask you one thing.”
“If a stone from beyond the sky is about to fall and smash among Great Wei, killing or injuring a hundred people, and smash among your country, killing or injuring a hundred people, may I ask what you choose?”
The literati of Great Wei really had a tricky angle, not answering and explaining directly, but giving the other side a choice and letting them judge for themselves.
You call me a Confucian of Wei biased? Is that favouritism? Both sides are of equal quality, so why not choose the Great Wei Literati? Why should they choose you?
“You!”
“How can you mix these two things together?”
The Ten Kingdoms Talents spoke coldly, believing that these were two separate matters and therefore not giving an answer.
“Joke, you dare not say it because you already have the answer in your mind.”
“If this Peace Poetry Competition were to be held among your ten countries, I am afraid that even if the quality were to drop significantly, your ten countries would still favour their own people.”
“So, don’t say the word favouritism, just give yourself a reason, no means no.”
“As for coming on the third day or not? If you don’t come, you can leave.
“Of course, if you can also write a thousand poems today, and then go away, then I have nothing to say.”
This scholar of the Great Wei was really a man of many tongues, and his words both countered favouritism and mocked the other side, drawing a roar of approval.
“Good! Well said.”
“Yes, you first did not give face to Wei, and now you are being taught a lesson by our great talent.
“We saw with our own eyes what happened that day, before the great scholars could even open their mouths to explain, you and the others simply left, not giving any face at all.
Once said, the crowd could not help but think back to the image of the ten great talents of the ten countries leaving the stage in anger, these people were happy, who was it that was humiliated? Wasn’t it the Great Wei?
Not to mention that Confucian etiquette is not even there, leaving the stage in anger is not giving face to the Great Wei, can’t we talk properly about what is going on? The great Confucian has not spoken.
If you think it’s not good, we can negotiate slowly, and in front of all the people and foreigners, you just walk away? Isn’t this a slap in the face of the Great Wei Dynasty and the Great Wei Palace of Literature?
This was a grudge that everyone held in their hearts, Xu Qingnian was avenging yesterday’s revenge, but this was a grudge that they had not forgotten.
“Humph!”
The Ten Kingdom Talents snorted coldly as he couldn’t help but speak up again.
“Don’t twist the facts here, you know in your hearts how it really is, and take a step back, if there was no Xu Qingnian yesterday, how would you dare to boast about it here.”
The other side defied.
“Ridiculous, Xu Qingnian is a member of the Great Wei literati, so why can’t he come? He represents my Great Wei literary circles, according to this talk of yours, if Li En had not come yesterday, the first place would have been Huaxing Yun’s.”
“Isn’t that so?”
The man was exasperated, not understanding how the other party could say such a thing? When it’s really funny here, right?
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
The crowd rose to their feet, Xu Qingnian was naturally a scholar of Great Wei, so how could he not represent the literary world of Great Wei?
The Ten Kingdoms Talents were a little speechless, they didn’t know what to say, but someone spoke up and looked at the group and sneered.
“Isn’t the Great Wei literary world represented by the Great Wei Literary Palace? I’ve heard that Xu Qingnian created his own school and that he’s not well received in the Great Wei Literary Court.”
“It’s nice that he’s from Great Wei, not the Five Saints lineage, let alone the Zhu Sheng lineage, Great Wei calls itself the Zhu Sheng orthodoxy, so in the end it’s not the Great Wei orthodox literati, but my ten kingdoms respect the Five Saints.”
“On the contrary, this Xu Qingnian should be alone in his school, it is true that he has talent, but it is not your turn to rub the light.”
This man opened his mouth and found an angle to attack.
When this was said, the talented students of the ten countries got excited and took this point to attack.
“Yes, no matter what, the Great Wei Palace of Literature doesn’t have a decent one this time, it still has to rely on Xu Qingnian.”
“But this Xu Qingnian, it seems that he is not from your Great Wei Literature Palace either, tsk, I heard that you are targeting Xu Qingnian, but now you are trying to rub Xu Qingnian’s light hard.”
“You really are not ashamed of yourself.”
“The Great Wei Palace of Literature, a disciple of the Zhu Sheng lineage, does not have the slightest talent, yet in the end they rely on Xu Qingnian to hold up the show.
The Ten Kingdoms Great Talents spoke up, and these words were indeed damaging.
Now the literati of Great Wei indeed had nothing more to say.
Yes, before they had mocked Xu Qingnian for this and that, but now that Xu Qingnian’s poem had been published in a thousand ancient times and he was proudly dabbling in the light, it was really a bit bad.
“No more words? Mute?”
“To put it in a more unpleasant way, Xu Qingnian entered yesterday and dared to call herself a thousand years old before she even composed a poem!”
“Whether there is anything fishy here or not, you all know it by heart.”
This man opened his mouth and said indifferently.
But when this was said, the Great Wei literati frowned.
“What do you mean by this?”
They frowned a little and said.
“What do you mean? A famous poem of a thousand years, can you just make it whenever you want? And it just happens to be preceded by a Zhen Guo poem?”
“If there is no shadow of the Great Wei Palace of Literature in this, we do not believe it, maybe this poem was written by one of the great scholars of heaven and earth, but only half of it was written and then given to Xu Qingnian.”
“Let him suppress my ten national talents, otherwise, why did it happen to be taken out at the last minute, why did it happen to be when Brother Li wrote his Zhen Guo poem again? Why didn’t he, Xu Qingnian, come on the first day?”
“Why did he come on the third day? How do you explain?”
The talented sons of the ten kingdoms finally couldn’t hold back, in fact, they had wanted to say this for a long time, but if they said it, they felt like they couldn’t afford to lose, so they kept it to themselves.
But what they didn’t expect was that the Great Wei Talented Scholars were going around touting Xu Qingnian and using him to trample on them.
Who was convinced now?
They were not convinced anyway.
“Ridiculous! Ridiculous! Ridiculous!”
“I thought the Ten Kingdoms’ great geniuses were so talented? I didn’t think he was such a villain. When did my Wei need to use such underhanded tactics?”
“If you can’t afford to lose, then you can’t afford to lose, so why are you barking here?”
After hearing the other party’s meaning, the Great Wei literati collectively exploded.
We have produced a thousand ancient poems, so we should have won for sure.
But what they didn’t expect was to use such conspiracy theories to belittle Xu Qingnian, and even to belittle the Great Wei Palace and the Great Wei Dynasty, how could they bear it?
Including many of the people could not help themselves and began to shout abuse.
“Lord Xu’s talent, what the hell do you know about it.”
“Back then, Lord Xu rebuked the Confucian scholars, made a fuss at the Ministry of Punishment, and asked the Holy Spirit to behead the Sheriff King, which of these things was not a sensation? How can you call Lord Xu such a villain?”
“If you can’t afford to lose, get out of the Great Wei, barking here, boss, drive them away, such people, let them sleep on the street.”
“Yes, get rid of them.”
If the literati of Great Wei were still just mouth-breathing a few words, while the people of Great Wei were directly cursing, what the hell, if you lose, you lose, is it so hard to admit that you are inferior?
Besides, ten kingdoms? Aren’t they all small countries? And aren’t they all va*sal states?
What? What’s the point of shouting?
This is the benefit of cultural heritage and national heritage, the people will never be afraid when things go wrong.
“Vulgar! Are the people of Wei that vulgar? We have travelled a long way to Wei, and you tell us to get lost and you tell us to get lost? If that’s the case, what’s the point of holding the Peace Poetry Festival? Why don’t you just announce to the world that you, the literati of Great Wei, are the best in the world?”
“It’s fine if we don’t talk about this, once we talk about this then I’ll ask a few more questions. The seventh grade of Ming Yi can invite the will of the sage? Isn’t there something fishy here? The more this is the case, the more I believe that behind him, Xu Qingnian, there is a great Confucian of Heaven and Earth, guiding him.”
“There is also someone behind this poetry session to guide him.”
Hearing the people say so, the ten talented scholars became even more certain.
Two days ago, these dogs had walked out of the poetry competition and slapped Wei in the face.
If this is the case, then how can we explain it? How can we explain it clearly?
It was at this moment that someone among the talented scholars of the Ten Kingdoms could not stand it any longer and looked at the crowd and scolded them.
“When it comes to this, you are so agitated, as soon as you see that you have been poked, and also, saying that we are barking, are you not barking again at this moment?”
At these words, the tavern fell silent.
At that moment, the Ten Kingdoms Talented Men were somewhat silent, somehow feeling that something was not right.
“Good fellow, how dare you call the people of Great Wei dogs? Even if you scolded me, you actually called my common people of Great Wei all dogs, brothers, brother Xu was a model for my generation of scholars when he angrily beheaded the county king for the sake of the people, today we, the scholars, dare not say that we will be angrily beheaded, but we definitely cannot forgive lightly.”
“Let’s do it!”
“Do it!”
“Yes, brothers, get your hands on it.”
The Great Wei literati seized the opportunity and snapped their hats up, while the man who led the speech then directly made a flying lunge and pounced on the Ten Kingdoms Talented Men, followed by a flurry of punches.
When the Ten Kingdoms Talented Men took a look at the situation, they were stunned, and then they started to fight in a group.
The fight was fierce, but most of them were just punches and kicks, after all, none of them had trained in martial arts, so it was just a case of you punching me and me slapping you.
The scene was chaotic for a while as this group of scholars wrestled together.
And some of the people came forward, but they were immediately pulled back.
“You must not get involved, beating up a scholar is a great crime.”
Someone warned to remain calm, it was fine for the literati to fight with each other, but if they got involved, it would be no small matter.
“I’m not involved, I’m here to pull the strings, you have to testify to me.”
The latter opened his mouth, his voice extremely loud, and then hugged a Ten Kingdoms great talent, he was a blacksmith and naturally strong, and held the great talent directly so that he could not move at all.
“My lord, don’t do anything, don’t fight, it won’t be good if the Ministry of Punishment comes later.”
He shouted, looking at the stance to indeed pull the fight, but his eyes looked towards the Great Wei Wenren, wide-eyed and almost close to uttering the words, fight, what are you still staring at?
The latter instantly reacted and instantly rushed up and threw a punch that made the Great Talent of the Ten Kingdoms dizzy.
“You’re F**king pulling the strings.”
The ten kingdoms great talent shouted in pain, his face red with anger, trying to fight for the other’s restraint, but he could not break free.
It was also at this moment that the people inside the tavern froze when they saw this scene.
Can they still play like this?
But when the people reacted, they couldn’t help but rush up one by one and started hugging people.
“Don’t fight, don’t fight.”
“Gentlemen, don’t fight, don’t break people’s things.”
“You are all readers, what’s the point of a good fight, look at the purple eyes.”
“Don’t fight any more, if you keep fighting, you will be killed.”
Some of the strong and powerful people came up and casually brought this group of scholars from the Ten Kingdoms under control, and then it was time for the Great Wei literati to put on a show.
And such a thing happened, at the same time, in quite a few places in Great Wei’s Kyoto.
But in some places, the people were still smart enough to know to pull the strings, and in others they didn’t bother to pull the strings, because there were more literati in Great Wei, and it didn’t matter whether they pulled the strings or not.
The brawl between the readers of the Ten Kingdoms and those of Great Wei instantly drew the attention of the Ministry of Penalty and the Ministry of War.
In a flash, a large number of officials from the Ministry of Punishment ran out, and a number of people from the Ministry of Military Affairs also went out, although they were relieved in their hearts, but ultimately, they did not want this kind of thing to happen.
It was also at this time.
Inside the Shouren Academy.
Gu Yan’s figure, appeared.
“Greetings, Lord Gu.”
Xu Qingnian saw Gu Yan from afar, and he knew that Gu Yan’s sudden appearance must be about something important, otherwise he would not have come to the door personally.
“Shouren, the Chamber of Commerce has returned the letter.”
Gu Yan’s face was calm as he handed a letter to Xu Qingnian.
Xu Qingnian did not say much and took the letter, with just a glance, Xu Qingnian’s face changed.
“These people, they’re really too greedy.”
Xu Qingnian’s face instantly turned somewhat unattractive.
There was a lot of content on the letter, most of the first part was crying, while the real content was just one sentence, that they could make concessions and sacrifices and harvest early.
The letter also said that it didn’t matter if they lost their profits, they were willing to serve the country, but the interests of the people could not be infringed upon, after all, if they harvested early this year, they would definitely not be able to next year.
If they could only deduct the people’s income, it would lead to public discontent.
The words end up saying that the price increase of 30%, this is in accordance with the 10,000 taels a rack boost, that is to say want all the materials, 13,000 taels a rack, of which the silver, will be compensated to the people, can let the Ministry of households allocate funds for any.
“They use the people as a reason to try to force us to give in, and I have already had people inquire about the news, the three major chambers of commerce did have the people below, informed the people, promising to give them compensation silver once the court is willing to harvest early.”
Gu Yan said in a deep voice.
“I understand.”
“This is a very clever tactic.”
Xu Qingnian nodded, he understood what this meant.
Originally, according to his thoughts, the three major chambers of commerce estimated that raising the price by five hundred taels of silver would be the limit, daring to ask for a thousand would be heartless.
But they knew that no matter how much they raised the price, they would be branded as having made a fortune out of national tragedy.
When the time came, once the waterwheel project was successful, and the tax revenue of Great Wei was raised and the people lived in peace and happiness, these people would certainly die.
So they follow their own example and use public opinion and popular support as a shield, they raise the price and make money themselves, while also pulling the people along with them to ask for a price, in this way, not only can they empty the Great Wei’s coffers.
And also gain the hearts and minds of the people, and then even if the Great Wei wanted to move them, they would not be able to find a suitable reason.
After all, is it a crime to make a living for the people?
Unless the empress has one hand on the sky and doesn’t give you any explanation and says kill, otherwise, as long as there is any obstacle, the empress won’t be able to touch these people.
“Lord Gu, what do you mean?”
Xu Qingnian opened her mouth and asked Gu Yan.
After all, this was an old senior, and there were some things that one still had to ask him what he thought.
“They are holding public opinion hostage while asking for a price, their mouths are ugly.”
“It is impossible for the Ministry of Household to agree, and it is impossible for the old man to agree, even if the waterwheel project is not done.”
Gu Yan spoke up, his attitude was resolute.
Raising the price by fifty percent? What kind of concept is this? It was the same as saying that 50,000 water carriages would have to be shrunk by half, or taking out 75,000,000,000 taels of silver to make 50,000 water carriages would be 80,000,000 taels for the Great Wei treasury.
Wouldn’t that even be a loss of old capital?
If he agreed to this, then he would be the Minister of Household Affairs to the end.
“En, this price, I can’t accept it either.”
“However, send another letter with them to see what their low price is, raising the price by fifty percent, that’s simply not possible.”
Xu Qingnian thought the same.
But he was willing to continue talking about it.
“And send a letter? Daring to ask for a fifty percent raise, and it’s based on 10,000 taels a rack, which means that they’re giving in any more than 10,000 taels at least.”
Gu Yan frowned, the other party’s asking price was too high, what could they do even if they backed off? Eleven thousand taels? Twelve thousand taels?
He would not even agree to more than seven thousand five hundred taels, let alone this much.
“Lord Gu, if you believe me, send another letter, a letter to me.”
Only, Xu Qingnian spoke calmly, and with these words he uttered, he instantly surprised Gu Yan a little.
“Shouren, you have a solution?”
Seeing Xu Qingnian’s expression like this, Gu Yan could not help but ask.
“Almost there.”
Xu Qingnian gave a vague answer.
And Gu Yan was slightly silent, and after thinking about it, he could not help but speak.
“Alright, I trust you, you handle this matter, if the price is beaten down, everything will remain the same, but if the price is not beaten down, the matter of the water cart, must be put on hold.”
Gu Yan nodded his head and said so.
“En, many thanks, my lord.” Xu Qingnian gave a word of thanks.
And hearing these words, Gu Yan but was a little less happy.
“Thank what, the old man respects you, and you are the Minister of the Household, you are one of us, why thank me.”
“Shouren ah, you are just modest and hospitable, from now on you are not allowed to be so, and.”
“And don’t put me in your poetry either, got it?”
Gu Yan opened his mouth and said righteously.
When this was said, Xu Qingnian faintly froze.
Ah …… This!
“Alright, I’m leaving, Shouren, remember, ah, don’t write old me in, we’re all family, our own people.”
Gu Yan came here to discuss with Xu Qingnian about the three major chambers of commerce, he was supposed to keep talking in detail, but Xu Qingnian looked like he had a solution, so he didn’t say much more, as for the second matter, it was more important.
Now among the six ministries, Chen Zhengru is fine, after all, he is a great Confucian and has virtue and prestige, as usual, but Zhang Jing is different, he comes up with a poem about general wine when he sees people, and then he also asks the entire Ministry of Penalty to recite this poem.
He said he was praising Xu Qingnian, but in reality? He was just showing off his own fame for a thousand years.
What’s more, Zhang Jing even asked someone to paint the outside wall of his house with a scene from the Taiping poetry meeting, deliberately painting a scene of Xu Qingnian composing a poem, and then writing Will Jinjiu on it.
He was simply too dejected.
He was also a Confucian scholar and a seventh-ranking Confucian scholar, a few years ahead of Zhang Jing’s Ming Yi.
But he didn’t expect that Zhang Jing would be famous for a thousand years, so he couldn’t possibly not be sour.
But he was too embarra*sed to ask Xu Qingnian to say it explicitly, he couldn’t possibly say, “Remember to add my name next time you write a poem, wouldn’t that be embarra*sing?
Gu Yan walked away.
Xu Qingnian looked at Gu Yan’s back and was somewhat silent, it seems there is no one in this world who doesn’t like fame.
However, it didn’t matter, just add Lord Gu’s name next time.
Right now, Xu Qingnian was looking at the letter in her hand, but she was deep in thought.
The three major chambers of commerce have teamed up to raise prices, this is not an uncommon thing, merchants are driven by profit, and if they raise prices, they raise prices.
To be honest, Xu Qingnian found it strange that the prices were not raised, and was worried that they would take bad things and use them as good.
But the price was so ferocious, the psychological price of the Great Wei was 7,500 taels, while these merchants asked for 15,000 taels, which was like doubling the price.
Of course Xu Qingnian understood that this was a negotiation technique, first setting a high price, then making concessions to each other and finally choosing a price that everyone could accept.
Only this was no longer a high price.
Rather, it was a heavenly price.
“Why do they dare to offer this price? Aren’t they afraid that Great Wei will simply flip out?”
“If they don’t want their goods, won’t they suffer a blood loss?”
“Merchants are driven by profit, even if there are va*sal kings behind them, stopping this deal, but for merchants, if they don’t make money, that’s what really pays off, and they also offend Great Wei.”
“Why do they dare to set this price?”
Xu Qingnian frowned, what were the smartest people in this world?
Officials in the court, every one of them was a human tip.
The merchants under the sky, this is the human tip of the human tip.
Just ask, to be able to earn your money away from your pocket, this kind of people will not be smart?
Especially to this extent, the three major chambers of commerce in Great Wei, which one is not smart as a demon?
It’s common to sit on your hands and ask for a price.
But asking for a price that is too hard is definitely not in line with common sense.
They have a bottom line, and that bottom line is that even if Great Wei doesn’t cooperate with them, they don’t have a hard time.
It’s just that …… What is this bottom line?
The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you want.
It was Wang Ru’s voice.
“Brother Xu! Brother Xu!”
Wang Ru quickly walked inside the Shouren Academy, running all the way.
“Brother Wang Ru? What’s wrong?”
Xu Qingnian looked at Wang Ru and said with some curiosity.
“Brother Xu, the head merchant of the Peach Blossom Temple is here and wants to meet with you.
Wang Ru opened his mouth.
He said what he wanted to say.
The Grand Master of the Peach Blossom Nunnery?
Xu Qingnian looked at a middle-aged man standing outside the Shouren Academy. The man was elegant and handsome, and even though he was middle-aged, he still had a handsome look from the inside.
There were maids standing to his left and right, all carrying plates, presumably with gifts.
“Please.”
If it was a normal day, Xu Qingnian might not have met him, after all, the other party was a merchant and he was an official of the Great Wei, so it was best not to see him.
But at this moment, Xu Qingnian was willing to meet, because it just so happened that he had a question that he needed a businessman to answer.
The great master of the Peach Blossom Nunnery was a businessman, and having been to the Peach Blossom Nunnery once, Xu Qingnian felt that this great master was not only a businessman, but also a very good businessman.
“Good.”
When he heard that Xu Qingnian was willing to meet, Wang Ru immediately ran towards the outside with great enthusiasm, obviously receiving some benefits, but it did not matter, after all, Brother Wang Ru was not a bad person and knew how to do things, so he would not bring any trouble to himself.
Not long afterwards, when the grand master of the Peach Blossom Nunnery learnt that Xu Qingnian was willing to meet him, he could not help but smile and look incredibly honoured as he walked in, with the maids behind him coming one after the other.
“I, Zhang Ruhui, meet Xu Shouren, Lord Xu and Xu Wangu!”
As soon as Zhang Ruhui walked in, he was all sorts of respectful, bowing deeply towards Xu Qingnian and saying so.
“Greetings, Brother Zhang, I am not wearing official clothes, so I don’t need to be addressed as a lord, Brother Zhang, come, come, sit down and drink tea.”
Xu Qingnian invited Zhang Ruhui to sit down and drink tea.
The latter was not pretentious, and directly sat down and said.
“Lord Xu, I went to the capital yesterday and learnt that Lord Xu had come to the Peach Blossom Nunnery. For a moment, I regretted why I had not returned earlier and missed meeting Lord Xu.”
“Therefore, I have not slept all night, and I am staying here today, carrying a small gift as a meeting gift, and I hope Lord Xu will forgive me.”
Zhang Ruhui was worthy of being a businessman, he came up with a gift and appeared to be incredibly respectful, and his words were very comforting.
“Brother Zhang is very kind, you are very kind, forget about the meeting gift, I am an official of Great Wei, I am not allowed to accept gifts.”
Xu Qingnian waved his hand, Zhang Ruhui was a nice person, just accept gifts and forget about it, as an official is clean.
“These gifts are some precious rice, some elixirs, and jade to warm the blood and nourish the qi.”
“It will help Lord Xu to nourish his qi and nourish his blood, it is not any gold or silver jewellery.”
Zhang Ruhui was very thoughtful and prepared things that could be used, but of course the prices were not cheap either.
“Brother Zhang, what is the reason for your visit today?”
Xu Qingnian did not mention the topic of meeting gifts, but asked the other party what he wanted to see him about.
“Nothing else, simply came over to see, Lord Xu, a great talent of the ages, I have admired Lord Xu for a long time, please don’t worry Lord Xu, I purely just admire Lord Xu.”
Zhang Ruhui’s face was full of sincerity and did not look half-hearted.
The fact that he was not a fool, but also did not think that everyone was a bad person, we are all friends, if there are interests involved, the relationship is better, if not, it is normal to be friends in general.
After all, there are some poets and literati who do have ardent fans, and there is no shortage of rich people among them.
Wang Lun, for example.
Spending money to become famous for thousands of years, is also the first person in the world.
But Zhang Ru would find himself fine.
Xu Qingnian, however, had a bit of business.
“Brother Zhang, there is something that I would like to ask, I wonder if I can clear up my confusion for Xu.”
Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, and Zhang Ruhui instantly looked a little excited and said.
“Please ask Lord Xu.”
Zhang Ruhui asked.
Looking very excited.
It did feel a bit like a rabid fan.
