After talking, Ye Duzheng and Xu Qian'er nodded repeatedly, "Okay, I'm full." Chen Xiaomu put down his chopsticks and stood up.
"Master Chen," Xu Qian'er hesitated and said, "The daughter of the people wants to discuss it with her father and give it a try according to the method you mentioned. However, if we want to implement it, we will inevitably encounter some difficulties. Can the daughter of the people find Mr. Chen for advice at any time? ?”
"Okay," Chen Xiaomu said cheerfully, "If you encounter any difficulties, you can go to Princess Qingfeng's mansion to find me at any time."
Xu Qian'er smiled sweetly, "Of course our fragrance shop will not bother Mr. Chen in vain. After the people's daughter and father discuss it, we will allocate at least 20% of the shares to Mr. Chen's fragrance shop. I wonder if Mr. Chen is satisfied?"
"Okay!" Chen Xiaomu gave a thumbs up and praised: "Whether it is 10% or 20%, or even no difference at all, I can accept it, but if Miss Qianer has such advanced business operation awareness, I believe she will definitely make the franchise store It was very successful!”
Xu Qian'er said sheepishly: "Everything depends on Mr. Chen's support."
Chen Xiaomu continued: "First step, when I came in just now, I heard many people with foreign accents eating here. It seems that these people are foreigners working in Xinjing City. Miss Qian'er, your handwriting is good, Write a notice about the conditions for recruiting franchise stores and put it in the store, and see how they react first."
Xu Qian'er's eyes lit up when she heard this. She was worried about how to start this matter! Unexpectedly, Chen Xiaomu had already thought about it for her.
Next, under Xu Qian'er's loving gaze, Chen Xiaomu took Wei Yuxin, Zhou Huanhuan and Lian'er who had eaten and drank well, out of the fragrance shop, and said goodbye to Ye Duzheng at the door.
"Lord Tongpan, where are we going now?" Wei Yuxin asked.
Chen Xiaomu smiled and said: "Miss Wei, I have handed over the post of general judge. Don't call me Lord general judge anymore. Now let's go to Princess Qingfeng's mansion to meet General Yi Fang and the others."
"Oh! Got it." Wei Yuxin nodded expressionlessly.
Chen Xiaomu then raised his hand to hail the carriage that was waiting for passengers on the roadside. Several people crowded into the carriage. With the crack of the driver's whip, the carriage drove towards Princess Qingfeng's mansion. After a while, they arrived in front of the princess's mansion. As soon as Chen Xiaomu stepped off the carriage, Zheng Jiang, the great apprentice of the Hu family's blacksmith shop who had been waiting here, and Lao Lu, who he had entrusted to purchase poultry down, came to greet him.
Zheng Jiang came up and cupped his hands and said: "My lord, my master ordered me to come over and report that the set of ironware you ordered at the Hu family's blacksmith shop has been completed tonight. Please come over and check it for acceptance."
As soon as Zheng Jiang finished speaking, Lao Lu followed up and knelt down and said, "Mr. Chen, thank you so much for letting Cui'er take home half an old ginseng. After eating the old ginseng, my wife's body has returned to normal. The common people can't help but In return, from now on, no matter whether I go up the mountain of swords or go down into the sea of fire, I, Lu Chengyi, will leave my life to Mr. Chen!"
Chen Xiaomu stretched out his hand to pick up Lao Lu and said with a smile: "Old man Lu, it's just a small effort, don't worry about it, just help me do the entrustment from now on!"
Lao Lu patted his chest and said, "Mr. Chen, don't worry. The collection of down feathers that you asked me to do a few days ago can hardly be accommodated in the dozen or so large houses I just bought. This morning the grassroots came here to ask for your instructions." , will you continue to receive it from below?”
''Collect, the more you collect, the better. If you can't fit it in the house, then buy more houses! "Chen Xiaomu said as he took out a banknote with a denomination of two thousand taels from his body and handed it over.
When Lao Lu looked at the denomination of the banknote, he waved his hands hurriedly and said, "Sir, this is too much. The money you gave me last time has not been used up yet."
Chen Xiaomu said: "Uncle Lu, please keep the banknote, I have something else to entrust you with."
"This...! Okay." Lao Lu hesitated for a moment, took the banknote, and said, "If you have anything else, sir, please just ask me."
Chen Xiaomu said: "Old man, are there many empty houses in Xinjing City now?"
Lao Lu nodded and said: "Sir, to tell you the truth, almost half of the houses in the new capital are empty. A group of people escaped from the war earlier, and now they hear that there is going to be a war with Qi. Isn't this? There is another person. A lot of people are eager to find a home to sell their houses, but the house prices are getting worse day by day and falling very fast."
Chen Xiaomu pondered and said: "Uncle Lu, go to some dental shops in the city and buy them for me any house with a high-walled courtyard. It doesn't matter if the price is a little more expensive. If you don't have enough money, , you can come to me at the princess’s mansion to get it at any time.”
Lao Lu was surprised and said: "Sir, did the common people hear you correctly? Do you want to buy so many houses at once? As far as the common people know, the most listed houses in Yaxing today are the houses with deep residences and courtyards for the rich. They are afraid of death because of their precious lives. , so they all wanted to sell their houses and escape from the new capital, but the poor people who had no money couldn’t leave, so they had to stay.”
Chen Xiaomu said in a deep voice: "Very good, it's going to rain and my mother wants to get married, let them do it! But the price of the property they are selling must be lowered until they can barely sell it."
Lao Lu held up his hand and said, "Don't worry, sir, the common people will definitely not ask these rip-off guys to get any benefits."
Chen Xiaomu nodded, turned to Zheng Jiang and said: "Master Zheng, I would like to trouble you to take the cast iron tools to Uncle Lu. I will send someone to send all the money for the labor and materials to Mr. Lu later." Go to the blacksmith shop."
Zheng Jiang said hurriedly: "My lord, when I came here, my master had already told me that I would not take any money from the iron tools made for my lord this time, in order to repay my life-saving gift of Lao Ginseng."
Chen Xiaomu shook his head, "This is definitely not possible. The dozen or so people in your blacksmith shop, old and young, need to be clothed and fed. The weather is very cold this year, so you must accept this money. Besides, there are still many jobs to be done down there. I leave it to you to do it, how can I do it without food and clothing?"
"This...!" Zheng Jiang was so moved that he was speechless for a moment.
Chen Xiaomu patted him on the shoulder, turned around and walked into the princess mansion. He heard Lao Lu whispering behind him: "Brothers of the Zheng family, let's go quickly. As long as we complete the tasks assigned by you, we will repay your kindness. "
As soon as they entered the princess's mansion, they saw Yi Fang coming up to report: "Sir, the emperor and Miss Zhao are here. They are waiting for you in the main room of the middle courtyard."
"Oh!" Chen Xiaomu couldn't help being surprised. He clearly remembered that this morning was supposed to be the court meeting. Su Xingran didn't even host the meeting, but came to see him. It seemed that something big must have happened. "
Thinking of this, Chen Xiaomu couldn't help but quicken his pace and walked towards the middle courtyard. Sure enough, after seeing Su Xing, without saying a few words, Su Xingran handed over the sealed envelope that had been opened. Chen Xiaomu took the envelope and pulled out the contents inside. After unfolding the paper, it turned out to be a military report sent by Linhe County garrison Ma Chaozong, who traveled 800 miles overnight. Ma Chaozong reported in the military report: In the past few days, he has been observing the other side of the Daling River. When they entered the Qufu County area of the country, they found that there were significantly more Qi troops on the other side, and groups of armored cavalry were constantly flowing outside the city every day. Worried about the sudden change in the situation, Ma Shoubei immediately sent out spies, disguised as civilians, crossed the Daling River, and sneaked into Qufu County to spy. Later, the spies came back and reported that at this time, the entire Qufu County was already filled with Qi troops, and there were also Many of the most elite Tengjia soldiers in the Qi army were wearing rattan armor. Even a few open spaces outside the county seat were filled with Qi army tents. It was estimated that the number was no less than 50,000. Compared with the few under his command, There are four thousand infantry troops. The military strength gap between the two sides is too big. If the Qi army suddenly launches an attack, they may only be able to hold on for two or three days at most. Therefore, I request the emperor to send troops to support as soon as possible! "
After reading Ma Shouwei's military report, Chen Xiaomu put it back into the envelope without saying a word and handed it back to Su Xingran.
"Husband, do you have any countermeasures?" Su Xingran looked at Chen Xiaomu with hope.
Chen Xiaomu was silent for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, do you have any ideas?"
Su Xingran said: "I am going to order General Zhang Jian to lead 10,000 troops to support Linhe County first, and then draw another 30,000 troops from the capital and various prefectures and counties, and my husband will personally lead the troops to support. How about this arrangement? "
Chen Xiaomu shook his head, "No, the most fearful of fighting tactics is this kind of fueling tactics. Besides, the Zheng State has just stopped fighting. There are only tens of thousands of soldiers and horses left in the country, and most of them are exhausted, while the Qi State is at this time." There are strong soldiers and horses here, so no matter whether our country competes with Qi in terms of quantity or quality of soldiers and horses, we will definitely lose!"
Su Xingran couldn't help but trembled when he heard this, his face suddenly turned pale, and he muttered: "Do you really want to destroy our country, Zheng?"
Chen Xiaomu sneered and said: "No, our country of Zheng will never perish. If we do, the country of Qi will also perish!"
"But, but!" Su Xingran said: "Qi's strength is much stronger than ours, so how can we win?"
Chen Xiaomu smiled slightly, "I'm afraid your Majesty still doesn't know the true strength of the troops led by Wei Chen, right?"
Su Xingran said calmly: "I know that the thousands of E's cavalry that your husband brought back from the battlefield of Chu are very powerful, but it is said that Qi has a million troops, and the elite Tengjia Army alone has more than 20,000. Even if the Hubei army's cavalry can each be equal to ten, the gap is still a hundred times!"
Chen Xiaomu said calmly: "Your Majesty, you are overly worried. We never rely on large numbers of people to win battles, but only rely on tactics and weapons to win."
Su Xingran's eyes suddenly lit up, and she shouted in surprise: "Husband, are you talking about explosives?"
Chen Xiaomu nodded and said: "Yes, Wei Chen is talking about explosives, and now Wei Chen has thought of an improved formula for explosives that can increase its power by five or six times."
"Oh! That's great." Su Xingran was so excited that she almost shed tears, but after calming down for a while, a sad look appeared on her face again, and she said worriedly: "Husband, the troops of Qi State are pressing on the border right now, and the war is about to break out. I'm afraid There is no time to improve the explosive formula!"
Chen Xiaomu smiled softly, "Your Majesty, do you really think that the Qi State will start a war at any time? In my opinion, it will not happen within ten days at least."
Su Xingran frowned and said, "How do you say this?"
Chen Xiaomu analyzed: "Your Majesty, think about it. Recently, the State of Qi is preparing for a Longevity Festival civil and military conference to celebrate the birthday of their empress dowager. I heard that our State of Zheng has received their invitation letter. Wei Chen estimates that the State of Qi will hold a civil and military conference This Wanshou Festival Civil and Military Conference has two meanings. Firstly, I heard that when the Emperor of Qi came to power, the Empress Dowager gave all her help. Emperor Qi was grateful, so on the occasion of the Empress Dowager’s 80th birthday, Qi Emperor The emperor sincerely held a grand birthday for her to show that he would not forget the kindness of helping each other. The second meaning was that the emperor of Qi used the grand birthday of the empress dowager to invite envoys from various countries to gather in Lanling City, the capital, to inquire about the opinions of various countries on his upcoming birthday. The idea of attacking Zheng Guo, especially to find out the true thoughts of Qin Guo, an old enemy, and even to bring Qin Guo in and form a coalition to jointly attack Zheng Guo while promising many benefits to Qin State, because only in this way can we prevent At the critical moment, Qin stabbed them in the back!"
When Su Xingran heard this, his face became more worried, and he worried: "If Qin is also brought in, wouldn't we not even have any chance of winning?"
Chen Xiaomu said proudly: "That's just right. This is the battle of unification they forced me to fight. Please rest assured, Your Majesty, it only takes ten days for me to form a new army equipped with new weapons!"
At this point, Su Xingran couldn't think of any way to deal with it. After hesitating for a moment, he had to ask: "Husband, how should we deal with it now?"
Chen Xiaomu said with a smile: "The Emperor of Qi is currently arranging a large army at the border. He just wants to scare away my officers and soldiers guarding the border city. He is so good at occupying my border city without bloodshed. So let's have a tit-for-tat confrontation now. Please order Lieutenant Zhuge In the name of Taiwei's Mansion, a notice was posted that a live-fire drill of the Zheng Army's new artillery unit will be held somewhere outside Xinjing City in three days. In order to avoid stray bullets, the nearby people and caravans are warned not to stay near or pass by this place!"
