chsdbacks Chapter 136 Reunion with an Old Friend
Chapter 136 Reunion with an Old Friend
Chapter 136 Reunion with an Old Friend
"Knock knock knock~"
Minglan was about to say something when she heard footsteps coming from the stairs. She quickly withdrew her hand and pretended to look out the window.
"Second brother, there's nothing up there, why did you stay up there alone for so long?" Mu Jie'er asked angrily.
Wang You saw Mu Jie wink at him and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, let's go up and enjoy the view."
Mu Jie'er is actually very smart; she probably already guessed some of it.
The reason I did that before was simply to create time for him to be alone with Minglan.
Seeing that Wang You remained silent, Mu Jie'er feigned anger and stepped forward to pull Minglan, saying, "Sister Minglan, let's go upstairs and ignore him!"
Minglan was afraid that Mu Jie'er would notice something was wrong, so she followed her upstairs in a daze.
Seeing that Xiao Tao and Mu Jie'er's maid Xiang Rong were about to follow, Wang You said, "You two stay down here. We'll call you if anything happens."
"Yes!" The two stopped and bowed in response.
"Stone, it's cold outside, come inside the cabin."
Wang You called out to Shi Tou, and without waiting for him to come in or not, went up to the second floor.
The opportunity has been created for him; whether he can seize it is up to him.
An hour had passed since the tour of the Bian River.
Wang You and the others had lunch at Fanlou, and then Minglan took a carriage back to the Sheng family.
"Second brother, I've done you a huge favor today, so don't forget what you promised me," said Mu Jie'er.
"I remember, I already had Xiaoman fill up the place when I left this morning," Wang You said speechlessly.
Mu Jie'er leaned closer and whispered, "Second Brother was upstairs earlier, could it have been the Prince of Yong's heir?"
"Stop asking questions!" Wang You snapped his fingers and said irritably.
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"what!"
Mu Jie'er clutched her head in pain, looking at Wang You with teary eyes.
"Okay, stop pretending."
Wang You said, "I've had some top-quality Shu brocade brought from Shu. I'll give you two bolts later."
Shu brocade is a top-grade fabric, and the highest grade is so rare that it is priceless and unavailable.
Although it was sold in Bianjing, the best Shu brocade was always in short supply and ordinary people couldn't buy it whenever it arrived.
If you ask, they're sold out.
Wang You obtained it through Shi Keng, who brought it from Sichuan.
No matter how good something is, it will inevitably leak out once it passes through human hands.
"Really?" Sister Mu asked in surprise.
"Fine, don't believe me then," Wang You said irritably.
"Trust, trust, trust."
Mu Jie'er quickly tried to ingratiate herself, "Then can I have another one?"
"Two bolts of cloth are enough for you to make so many clothes. What do you need so many for?" Wang You asked, frowning.
Shu brocade is precious, and there aren't many that can be obtained; he also wants to give it away as gifts.
"I want to give Sister Hai a horse," said Sister Mu.
Hai Chaoyun took good care of her, and although the Hai family didn't lack for such things, she still wanted to give him a horse as a token of her gratitude.
"Let's see how many there are when they arrive in the next couple of days," Wang You said.
Judging by the time, Shi Keng should have arrived by now, but he hasn't, which makes him a little worried.
When he got home, the gatekeeper said that Mr. and Mrs. Shi Keng had arrived and were waiting for him in the hall of his room. He breathed a sigh of relief.
After parting ways with Mu Jie'er, Wang You hurriedly returned to his room with Shi Tou.
Upon entering the hall, one could see Shi Keng and Che San Niang drinking tea.
"Young Master!"
Upon seeing Wang You enter, the couple quickly stood up and bowed.
"No need for formalities, please sit down and talk."
Wang You waved his hand, sat down in the main seat, and smiled, "Was the trip successful?"
"It went smoothly, except for a slight delay in shipping."
Shi Keng said happily, "Young master, we can buy some cheap goods from Jiangsu and Zhejiang and transport them to Sichuan. The profit is very considerable. This time, we only had ten ships and earned about five thousand taels."
"That's what you worked so hard for, just divide it among yourselves," Wang You said.
He had Shi Keng integrate those private ships, as if it had sparked Shi Keng's business acumen.
A few months ago, Shi Keng wrote to me saying that he wanted to buy some good quality and inexpensive goods from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas and sell them in Sichuan.
These items are also available in Sichuan, but their prices differ significantly from those in the Jiangnan region.
The profits are quite good.
Wang You, upon learning this, did not stop him and allowed him to give it a try.
At this time, the handicraft industry in the Jiangzhe region was very developed, since most of the goods traded by the Song Dynasty were produced in these areas.
The roads in Sichuan are difficult to travel, so people can only travel by water.
Although there were many merchants in Sichuan and many merchants who went to Sichuan to do business, the cost of building ships was not low.
Most of those merchants dealt in large quantities of goods and looked down on small commodities.
Those who were interested were stumped by the sheer number of ships available.
Moreover, even traveling by water in this era was not very safe.
Therefore, it is still profitable to do this.
I never expected it to be so profitable.
But thinking about it carefully, it's normal. Sichuan is a remote and inaccessible region, so it's not surprising that the profits are higher.
"How can this be allowed?" Shi Keng was about to refuse upon hearing this.
"Alright."
Wang You waved his hand and said, "This is just an experiment. I won't take the profits. We'll continue next year. I'll take 30%, and the rest will be split among all of you who participated."
"Yes." Upon hearing this, Shi Keng said no more.
"Young master, as you instructed, we brought back twenty bolts of top-quality Shu brocade from Shu."
Che Sanniang said, "There are also some specialties from Sichuan. Because I was in a hurry to see you, young master, I came over before I even unloaded them. They should be delivered soon."
"Yes, thank you for your hard work." Wang You smiled and said, "You haven't seen Shi Tou for a long time, let Shi Tou take you on a tour of Bianjing."
Upon hearing this, Shi Keng looked at Che San Niang and said, "Take Shi Tou to see if the goods have arrived yet."
Upon hearing this, Che San Niang bowed and left with Shi Tou.
Wang You also dismissed the servants inside the room.
"Young master, the total profit for the past few months is 12,351 taels, which will be delivered along with the goods later," Shi Keng said.
"There are so many?" Wang You was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.
Shi Keng laughed and said, "Now our express delivery shop is becoming more and more famous, and business is getting better and better."
"That was also arranged by you through hard work."
Wang You said, "I'll leave ten thousand taels; you can take the rest with you."
"Young master, my wife and I receive our monthly wages, so we don't need to—"
"Alright, do as I say," Wang You said, waving his hand.
Shi Keng opened his mouth, but seeing Wang You's resolute attitude, he did not refuse again. Instead, he leaned closer to Wang You and whispered, "We haven't discovered what the young master asked us to keep an eye on yet."
"Okay, then keep an eye on it." Wang You nodded.
After chatting with Shi Keng for a while, Wang You told him to go and reunite with Shi Keng.
The two brothers haven't seen each other for a year, so they must have a lot to talk about.
After seeing Shi Keng off, Wang You thought to himself, "It seems that Prince Chong is not yet prepared to rebel."
The Prince of Chong rebelled not because the Prince of Yong had offended Rong Feiyan.
Rong Feiyan's abduction merely provided Prince Chong with an advantage.
He remembered that in the original play, Prince Chong once sent people to Jiangnan to buy some beautiful women to use to bribe officials and military officers.
The Gu family has four and five branches, and there are other people involved.
Clearly, Prince Chong had already begun preparations when he realized he had no hope.
After all, throughout history, those who have participated in the struggle for the throne either win and ascend to the throne, or they face certain death.
The victor might forgive officials who supported their opponent, but they would never tolerate the survival of someone who had challenged them for the throne.
Even if the other party is no longer a threat, they will not be kept around.
Even the most magnanimous would place them under house arrest for life.
Even if he's a kingpin, he'll still give it his all once he realizes there's no hope.
After all, you might not fail if you try, but you'll definitely die if you don't.
It seems that Chong Wang still feels there is hope and is not yet ready to take a gamble.
Wang You quickly put the matter out of his mind. Without the support of the Rong family, no matter how well the Prince Chong prepared, he wouldn't be able to enter the palace.
"With this ten thousand taels, we can buy a house."
Wang You calculated that the money he had accumulated over the years, plus this 10,000 taels, would amount to 30,000 taels.
I definitely can't afford a house in the inner city, but I can still buy a decent one in the outer city.
Let's see after the New Year.
Before and after the Lunar New Year, Wang You was busy visiting relatives and friends with his father every day.
I didn't have a moment's rest during the entire Chinese New Year period.
The fact that the Kang family hadn't caused any trouble made him somewhat uneasy.
He didn't even visit during the Lunar New Year, but instead used illness as an excuse to have his son, Kang Jin, deliver gifts.
Grandma Wang thought she was really sick and wanted to visit her, but Kang Jin said with difficulty that his mother had told them not to visit, otherwise she would turn against them.
This made the atmosphere in the Wang family very oppressive after the New Year.
Wang You, however, felt that things were not that simple.
As the saying goes, a barking dog doesn't bite.
Given Kang Wangshi's temperament, if she really came to the Wang family and caused a scene, it wouldn't be a big deal.
She didn't even make a fuss, appearing annoyed and unwilling to associate with the Wang family.
It seems more like they're plotting some underhanded scheme.
Wang You didn't know what she was going to do for a moment, so he could only be on guard.
After the Lantern Festival, Wang You continued to study at the Sheng family's house.
Time flies, and March is here soon.
In early March, the grass grew tall and the birds sang, and Bianjing (Kaifeng) became even more lively as the imperial examinations approached.
In fact, many scholars who wanted to take the exams had already arrived in Bianjing before the new year.
Even more will arrive after the New Year.
People in ancient times were aware of the problem of not being able to adapt to the local environment, so those who could would go to Bianjing (Kaifeng) early in order to adapt in advance.
Those from impoverished families, there's nothing that can be done.
After all, Bianjing's housing prices are too high. Even if you rent a place to live, arriving in Bianjing a month in advance will still incur considerable expenses for food, drink, and other necessities.
When Wang You returned home that day, the gatekeeper reported, "Second Young Master, a scholar who claimed to be your friend recently came to visit. He is currently in the main hall, being entertained by the master."
"My friend?"
Wang You was taken aback upon hearing this and asked, "Do you know what his name is?"
"His name seems to be Feng Ping, from Xiongzhou," the doorman said.
Upon hearing this, Wang You was overjoyed and hurried towards the main hall.
Upon arriving at the main hall, they saw a young man dressed as a scholar of about eighteen or nineteen years old, with slightly dark skin, chatting with Wang Min.
"Debon!"
"Ziqian!"
Both were quite excited to see their old friend whom they hadn't seen for many years.
"You two talk, I have some things to attend to, so please excuse me."
Wang Min smiled and stood up, saying, "Nephew, would you like to stay for dinner tonight?"
"Uncle, no need to trouble yourself. I came with a few classmates. We agreed to go and enjoy the delicacies of Bianjing together later," Feng Ping said.
Wang Min politely asked him to stay a moment longer before leaving.
"Debon, it's been so many years, I almost didn't recognize you," Wang You said with a smile.
Although the two had kept in touch through letters over the years, they hadn't seen each other for many years, and if they were to bump into each other on the street, they certainly wouldn't recognize each other.
"You've changed a lot too," Feng Ping said with a smile.
"Sit down and talk."
Wang You gestured for Feng Ping to sit down and said, "You told me in your last letter that the border situation is somewhat tense. Tell me more about it."
"The Liao emperor's uncle attempted to assassinate the Liao emperor, but he did not expect that it was a trap set by the Liao emperor to lure him into a trap. His son was captured alive on the spot."
Feng Ping sighed, "The Liao emperor was prepared and immediately sent troops to launch a surprise attack, and soon captured Yelü Chongyuan, who was preparing to raise an army."
The Liao emperor ordered the execution of the entire Yelü Chongyuan lineage and, under the pretext of suppressing a rebellion, increased border troops.
"What an idiot."
Wang You sneered, "So what if you rebel? Why are you trying to assassinate me? Can't you even see through such an obvious scheme?"
"Strictly speaking, it cannot be considered an assassination, but rather a raid. Yelü Chongyuan's son led two thousand soldiers to raid the Liao emperor's palace."
Feng Ping shook his head and said, "However, it is indeed foolish of them to have 200,000 troops at their disposal, fail in their surprise attack, and then be so easily subdued."
If Yelü Chongyuan were to raise an army, even if he ultimately fails, it would severely damage the Liao Dynasty.
Only after the Liao Dynasty was severely weakened could peace be maintained between the two countries.
His home is right on the border, which would be extremely dangerous if war broke out.
"The Liao Kingdom's troop reinforcements are probably intentional."
Wang You said, "According to the alliance, neither country is allowed to send more troops to the border. The Liao Kingdom has found an excuse to send more troops. If the Song Dynasty also sends more troops, the Liao Kingdom will have an excuse."
"General Gan also guessed this, and posted notices in the area to reassure the people, which quickly stabilized public sentiment," Feng Ping said.
With the Liao Kingdom increasing its troops, the people on the border were filled with fear and unease.
General Gan strengthened security while posting notices to reassure the people.
"I don't think it's that simple."
Wang You said, "If the Liao Kingdom hadn't suddenly increased its troops, the court would have taken the opportunity to cancel the rewards given to the Western Xia even if it hadn't sent troops during the internal strife."
Of course, the reward was just a nominal term; in reality, it was just a form of annual tribute.
When the Song and Western Xia made peace, the Western Xia relinquished its independence and accepted investiture from the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty was required to give the Liao Dynasty some rewards every year, which included money and tea.
After the young emperor of Western Xia regained power, he sent envoys to the Song and Liao dynasties to establish friendly relations with them.
Because the Liao Dynasty was reinforcing its troops on the border, the Song Dynasty had no choice but to accept the Western Xia's goodwill.
In other words, the Song Dynasty did not gain any advantage during the internal strife in Western Xia.
"Perhaps, but now that things are settled, it's too late even if it's true," Feng Ping said.
"yes."
Wang You sighed; the internal strife in Western Xia was indeed a good opportunity.
However, even without reinforcements from the Liao Kingdom, given the current situation in the court, it is unlikely that troops will be dispatched.
"Do you have a place to stay in the capital? Why don't you stay at my house for a while?" Wang You asked.
"I rented a courtyard with a few classmates, so it won't be troublesome."
Feng Ping declined Wang You's offer and asked, "Are you really not planning to try taking the imperial examination?"
"No, if I were to participate, I might not pass the exam," Wang You said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Feng Ping didn't try to persuade him further, but instead asked, "By the way, are you still in contact with Brother Zhao? I asked you about it in my letter before, but you didn't mention it."