A group of maids and maids watched and admired Qin Mubai for a while, and then left happily.
"All the idle people have left. Tell me, what do you want to do?" Qin Mubai sat down on the chair and asked while drinking tea.
"Hey, do couples always speak so bluntly?" Wu Meiniang smiled strangely, holding the ball and slowly pacing around Qin Mubai, but said nothing.
Little girl, are you still fighting with me
Qin Mubai couldn't help but feel funny in his heart, but his face was still serious, and he said: "I am at my job and busy. I don't have time to waste time with you. Say, you send a brainless maid to make up a brainless lie. Why did you trick me here?"
"Humph, it's so boring! You are not good at all, you are not as fun as Wu Yuanqing and the others!" Wu Meiniang seemed a little annoyed, threw the ball, stomped her feet and sat down next to Qin Mubai, but turned her face away. Don't come and look at him.
"It's so boring to give up so quickly." Qin Mubai chuckled while drinking tea.
"You!... Huh, you guy!" Wu Meiniang's little trick was exposed. She felt very humiliated and puffed out her mouth angrily.
"I knew, how could your two stupid brothers still have the courage to bully you mother and daughter?" Qin Mubai said with a smile, "The result was just as I expected. Not only did they not dare to bully you again, but they did Your slaves are obediently obeying your orders and being bullied by you. Tell me, what kind of magic did you, the little witch, do to them?"
"Hmph, your idea is called a strategy, and mine is a magic method?" Wu Meiniang curled her lips disdainfully, but with a look of pride on her face, she said mysteriously, "Isn't it because I have a prestige?" Backstage, they caught hold of them again? "
"What handle?"
"Want to know?" Wu Meiniang smiled mischievously, picked up a cup of tea and drank it slowly and politely. After waiting for a long time, she said, "I won't tell you!"
"It's okay if you don't tell me, and I don't care. This is your own family matter." Qin Mubai said, "I just think that your family is always fighting among itself. Is it interesting to fight? They don't provoke Isn’t it funny that you take the initiative to bully them?”
"Qin Mubai!!!" Wu Meiniang suddenly shouted, jumped up and pointed at him, scolding angrily, "Stop pretending to be a moral gentleman in front of me! Speaking of which, isn't all this because of you? "
Qin Mubai was not angry, but a little stunned and surprised: "What does it have to do with me?"
"Didn't you ask me to pretend to be a villain, pretend to be a witch, and do all kinds of evil to make the emperor hate me? Now I do it, and you teach me a lesson, you are really not a man!" Wu Meiniang scolded angrily, "The emperor likes Empress Changsun. For that kind of woman, if she was filial, I would be rebellious and bully my brother; if she was wise, I would be domineering, playboy, and unreasonable; if she was reserved, I would be *, and I even bought a bunch of beauties back to play with me every night; Not only that, I also let them sleep with me in the same bed!"
"Uh!..." The corners of Qin Mubai's mouth twitched a few times, and his eyes almost straightened out - sharing the same bed? Ground glass
It's okay if you don't hate him. It's not too much to bully someone like Wu Yuanqing and put on a show. With a group of beauties... bedfellows, this is probably a bit exaggerated.
*Just*, if it were a man, it would be considered bad conduct at best; if it were a woman... well, my daughter-in-law's sexual orientation is wrong, but that would really be a headache!
After a moment, something flashed through Qin Mubai's heart, and he couldn't help but laugh to himself: She is still an inexperienced little girl, so that shouldn't be possible. This little bitch was deliberately trying to make me angry, and I almost got into trouble with her!
"Why don't you say anything? You go against Queen Changsun in everything and make me notorious. Isn't this the result you want?" Wu Meiniang said in a barrage of indignation, "You should be very satisfied. You have to praise me so much." Right?"
"Mei Niang, having said that, you have to exercise caution, right? You haven't even had sex yet, and you're actually with a bunch of women... Where do you want me to put my face?" Qin Mubai followed her wishes and teased her. As she spoke, she wanted to laugh in her heart.
"Humph, you stinky man, do you know how to care about your reputation? I'm so shameless, Wu Zhao, so you don't need to care about your reputation!" Wu Meiniang responded tit-for-tat.
"Okay, I know you are a smart person and will not do anything extraordinary. You are just angry with me and deliberately make me angry." Qin Mubai said with a smile, "Tell me, what's the point of calling me here?" thing?"
"Can't you be more excited, angry, or even yell and scold me? It's not fun! There's no sense of accomplishment at all!" Wu Meiniang sat down angrily.
"Haha, it's a rare meeting, and I don't want to quarrel with you. If I really hit you, scolded you, and bullied you, wouldn't that mean I've really let you down?"
Wu Meiniang was sulky for a long time, then curled her lips and hummed: "Don't worry, I, Wu Zhao, am not a weirdo. It's just that the winter in Guan Nei is much colder than that in Jingzhou. It's not like I squeezed a few sisters to sleep together to keep warm. It’s so dirty and unbearable as you imagined!
Qin Mubai smiled and said, "Okay, stop being so angry and tell me, what's the business?"
"I want to do business!" Wu Meiniang finally got down to business.
"Doing business? Why are you talking about this for no reason?" Qin Mubai asked doubtfully, "Now your Wu family is a first-class Duke's mansion. What kind of businessman do you, a dignified second lady, want to be?"
Originally, in Qin Mubai's mind, doing business was a great thing. With his talent and knowledge, doing business in this era would definitely be a huge profit. But the current environment has placed a big shackle on his business.
In the consciousness of Tang people, businessmen were very humble. Among the four major classes of "scholars, farmers, industry and merchants", merchants ranked at the bottom. The laws of the Tang Dynasty even explicitly stipulated that the sons of Shangzi were not allowed to take scientific examinations or serve as officials or join the army. In the eyes of the world, businessmen are also cunning, profit-seeking and despicable people. Even if you are as rich as the rest of the country, you will still be looked down upon by others, and your social status is not as good as that of a farmer.
The Wu family actually started out as a businessman. Wu Meiniang's father, the warrior Yu, was a timber merchant in the late Sui Dynasty. At first, he invested all his family property in Tang Guogong Li Yuan who raised an army in Taiyuan. Later, Li Yuan conquered the world, and the Wu family gained the ability to follow the dragon, and from then on, the sparrow turned into a phoenix.
But despite this, the shadow of the family background of a businessman could not be washed away in the eyes of the Tang Dynasty court and officials. No matter how high an official the warrior had been, his colleagues still looked down upon him. This is actually one of the reasons why the Wu family is gradually declining.
Although the emperor, out of consideration for the late emperor's honor, posthumously granted the posthumous title of Samurai Yu, a third-rank minister, and retained the title of Duke Ying, it stands to reason that the post of "Captain of Jingzhou" held by Samurai Yu before his death should be given to his eldest son, Wu Yuanqing. To replace him, at least he should be transferred to a job officer at the same level. But the two sons of the Wu family, Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang, did not even get a job as a ninth-grade official. They could only wait for death while guarding the mansion and property. A big reason is that they are from a bad background - businessmen's children are not allowed to be officials.
"What's wrong with being a businessman? My father was once a businessman." Wu Meiniang had a bit of a shabby temper and said with a snort, "Anyway, our Wu family is like this now, even if we don't do business, , people treat us as businessmen. Besides, because of this incident with you, the emperor hates our Wu family even more. It is impossible to achieve anything in the officialdom. Why don't I accept my fate and go into business to make some affordable money to make my life better? I just love money, what's wrong? You can't give it to me, why don't you let me earn it myself?"
Qin Mubai was speechless for a moment. Although this Wu Meiniang has a bit of a strong and extreme temperament, she is a very enterprising person who dares to break through stereotypes and customs. She shows the characteristics of a businessman who is willing to work hard. But come to think of it, if she hadn't had such a spirit since she was a child, how could she have led a vigorous feminist movement in history, overturned all stereotypes in the male-dominated world, and became the female emperor for the first time
"You are talking!" Wu Meiniang was a little anxious and pressed her foot.
"If you want to do business, then do business. In fact, I don't think it's a big deal. If my father hadn't been able to explain it, I would have wanted to do business myself. However, why do you want me to do business? Is there anything I can do to help you?" Qin Mubai said.
"Hey, you are not just trying to make me happy with your sweet words. Do you really want to start a business? Huh, does the dignified third son of the Qin family want to become a businessman? He will lie to others! But forget it, I won't argue with you!" Wu Meiniang clapped her hands and smiled mysteriously, "I asked you to come here, of course, because you can help me in some way. Otherwise, do you think I will still miss you? I only need to say three words, and you will understand. ”
"explain."
"Qin Xianjiu!"
"Huh?" Qin Mubai's heart lit up, "How did you know?"
"Of course I didn't know about it at first, because no one in our Wu family can attend such a grand event as the imperial court celebration banquet." Wu Meiniang smiled a little weirdly and said cheerfully, "However, businessmen are the most diligent and well-informed people in the world. The most well-informed type of people. They can always get the news immediately if they want to know. The palace is often where the biggest business opportunities arise. Whatever the emperor likes or praises, it will become popular in the world. . You should be able to understand this?”
"It is true." Qin Mubai said, "I brewed Qin Xianjiu. In the entire Tang Dynasty, I am probably the only one who can brew it. The emperor personally visited my Qin family and bestowed the title of 'Qin Xianjiu' on his own. At that time, I also had a strong impulse to start a business selling wine. However, my father was a stickler for rules and abided by etiquette. He was in poor health, so I didn't want to make him angry, so I kept it hidden. "
"Well, now is the opportunity!" Wu Meiniang slapped her hands and giggled, "Yesterday, a big businessman came to our Wu family and approached me by name, saying that he wanted to cooperate with me and sell this kind of business. 'Qinxianjiu'."
"Which businessman?"
"The richest businessman in Chang'an—Zheng Fengchi!" Wu Meiniang said, "That's the big businessman who once boasted to Emperor Gaozu. He once said that no matter how many trees there are on Zhongnan Mountain, even if each tree is wrapped with a piece of silk, , and the silk at home is not used up. Although it is a bit exaggerated, this man is indeed very rich, and he has more money than the national treasury. He had to pay for all the expenses of the 100,000-strong army, so the emperor personally named him the 'Yishang of the Tang Dynasty' and gave him the monopoly rights of salt and iron in the Tang Dynasty."
"Zheng Fengchi is famous. I have indeed heard of it." Qin Mubai said, "This man is different from ordinary businessmen. Not only is he not discriminated against, but he also makes friends with powerful people. Most of the business he does is It’s related to the imperial court, like the salt and iron monopoly you just mentioned, so this person should have some status in the emperor’s mind.”
"That's right." Wu Meiniang stood up, clasping her hands behind her back like an adult, pacing, and said, "This Zheng Fengchi is indeed very knowledgeable! The emperor just entertained the meritorious officials with Qin Xian wine. He He knew the news. Not only that, he also asked the emperor to allow him to sell this tribute "Qin Xianjiu". The only thing missing now is your master Qin Mubai's brewing method. Your Qin family is very strict. If you go to find you directly, you will probably be kicked out by your father. So, he found me in a roundabout way, first persuaded me, and then asked me to come forward to find you - Hehe, you said, Is this person extremely smart and destined to be the richest man and the number one businessman in the world? "
"He is indeed a smart businessman." Qin Mubai said, "Has he told you how to cooperate?"
"I told you." Wu Meiniang said, "He said that you will not be involved, and he will only cooperate with me. This will not ruin the reputation of your Qin family, right? Moreover, I only need to provide the method of brewing wine, and promise not to use it. Tell other people how to do it. In this way, I can get 40% of the profit from selling wine, and I don’t have to worry about anything else.”
"Oh, this Zheng Fengchi does know how to do business." Qin Mubai couldn't help but shook his head and smiled, thinking: Wu Meiniang grew up in a businessman's family environment, and she has the idea of 'profit first' deep in her bones. mind. The method she proposed seems feasible. Anyway, I didn’t lose anything, it was just a very simple wine distillation method, so let her do it!
Just as she was about to agree, Wu Meiniang said again: "The most obvious advantage of me doing business is that I can make a lot of money. Businessmen are shameless, but few people really hate money. Money is a good thing. Furthermore, if the emperor knows that Wu Meiniang is doing business, he will look down on me as a businessman’s daughter from the bottom of his heart. Isn’t that a great thing? However, if your father-in-law, Mr. Qin Shubao, also looks down on me and orders you to divorce your wife, hehe, then But you can’t blame me!”
"Don't worry, although my father is stubborn, he is not very rigid. He is quite open-minded, especially his son who trusts me." Qin Mubai smiled nonchalantly and said, "I will explain it clearly to him, and I'm sure it will be fine. If you want to do business, I will teach you how to make wine when you have time. I don't care at all."
"Yes, yes, you are the son of an official from a famous family. How can you take care of business? Leave it to the humble Wu Zhao!" Wu Meiniang rolled her eyes at Qin Mubai and whispered in a low voice, "Huh, I hope your old man will despise me and order you to divorce me!"
"Are you really willing to give it up?"
"... Let's eat, go eat!"