However, the people of Hunan soon realized that such a goal was still long-term. For now, the most important thing was to eliminate the Wenzhong forces, so they gave up the idea for the time being.
He and the steward walked out of the loom room, and looked around for a while before returning to the meeting hall.
He sat in the middle of the hall, took out the seal, and showed it to everyone: "The seal is here today. If you have any official matters that you want to confirm, please tell me in turn, and I will make arrangements on the spot."
When the stewards saw that the new shopkeeper was not timid, someone stood up with a letter in hand and said: "Since the New Year is approaching these two days, the officials in the government are in a hurry to push for distribution. We still have a lot of shortages here. The amount is enough to support one person, I wonder if it is the prefect of Xianggong...?"
The Xiang people frowned and asked, "How many more are there in the treasury?"
"There are about forty-seven pieces of good cloth among the tribute officials." The steward reported the truth in advance and looked at him with hesitation: "But if these cloths are sent together, there may be difficulties in the future."
However, the Xiang people waved their hands and said: "Now that we are very stretched, we have no cloth to pay tribute to, so we can only do this as a temporary solution. We will think of a way in the future."
The steward was helpless and nodded in agreement.
"In addition, new cloth must be weaved and dyed more intensively. Remember to leave this to Chen Tongzhi. As for the old cloth in the warehouse, send someone to the hands of the prefect and other officials. The number will be decided by the princes, and I will not participate."
The stewards were well aware of the relationship between the couple and their colleagues, so they had no objections and said in unison: "We all understand."
The Xiang man stood up with his hands on the table: "I still have family affairs to be busy with, and I regret that I can't stretch out my four hands. I hope that the seniors will do their best and help me worry a little bit."
"That's natural," the stewards said.
The Xiangren pointed to the seal on the table: "Although I have returned to the palace, the seal cannot be moved. I have a servant here to work on my behalf. Guard the seal and don't ask others to take it. Please remember, it is not mine. When you come here, you are not allowed to interact with anyone!"
After that, he pointed to a person beside him and asked him to guard the dyeing workshop. The stewards were all impressed when they saw that the Xiang people were acting like running water without the prestige of the first time they took office, just like the former shopkeeper coming back to life. As a result, the tense atmosphere created by the dyehouse being empty for several days was finally resolved.
The people from Guoxiang returned to their mansion and just got off their horses. When they heard that Wen Zhong wanted to meet him, he was stunned for a moment and then ordered: "Brother Wen, please come to the outer study to meet him."
He came out of the stable, entered the corner gate, took a detour, and went to the outer study room, where he saw Wen Zhong already waiting in the room.
"Sixing, are you going to the dyeing workshop?" Wenzhong asked with a smile.
The Xiang man bowed down humbly and said with a smile: "Yes, I went to the dyeing workshop to take care of some things and came back to rest."
Wen Zhong patted his shoulder hard: "Okay, it's not easy for Sixing to manage the dyeing workshop in an orderly manner during this period!"
"Where, where..."
"We should be discussing the issue of Gongfu, right? If you don't mind, could you tell Wen about it?" Wen Zhong took the tea handed to him by the Hunanese and asked.
"How could you mind!" Xiangren said sternly, "After my elder brother left, Brother Wen became Xiangren's elder brother. What does Xiangren have to hide?"
The flesh on Wen Zhong's cheek twitched a few times: "Sixing attaches so much importance to friendship, it's really not in vain that the staff members have spent so much time cultivating him."
The Xiang people glanced at him secretly and said: "It is indeed the case. The dyeing workshop was short of cloth from the tribute officials, so I ordered them to bring the old cloths they had saved and send them to the prefect, and at the same time, they rushed to dye the new cloths and sent them to the prefect. At the residence of Tongzhi Chen Tongpao."
Wen Zhong did not dare to say anything, so he nodded and said: "This is feasible. Chen Tongzhi is what we rely on, so it is a good idea to use this to please him."
"But there is one thing that I am not sure about." Xiangren's eyes flashed with a hint of cunning.
"Please speak." Wen Zhong became serious.
He pretended to think deeply: "Everything else is easy to talk about, but how many horses should be sent to each of the big and small officials? I'm not very familiar with them, so I don't know."
Wen Zhong asked warily: "Wen is from a gambling house, so maybe it's inconvenient to go to the dyeing house, right?"
The Xiang people enthusiastically grabbed his hand and said, "Brother Wen has helped me solve so many things at home. Who wouldn't be grateful to you? Why don't you go to the dyeing workshop to help and decide on a certain amount!"
Although Wen Zhong vaguely felt that there was fraud in it, after all, it was a Hunan person who asked for it, so he could not refuse it outright. After thinking for a while, he raised his head and said, "In that case, Wen will go to the dyeing workshop. Sixing can write a personal document called I'll take it with me to avoid being misunderstood by them."
Xiangren shook his head slightly: "Brother Wen, you have been my brother's brother for many years. You are also in charge of the seal of the dye house these days. How can you say there is a misunderstanding?"
Wen Zhonggu remonstrated: "Although this is the case, Wen is an outsider after all. If he enters the workshop without authorization, he will be criticized. If you follow the rules, nothing will happen."
But he didn't listen, and still said to himself: "The whole city knows about your agreement with my late brother Jinlan, how can you say you are an outsider! If you are still so polite, doesn't it mean you doubt the true intentions of the Xiang people?"
When Wen Zhong saw that the Xiang people had reached this point, he quickly put the tea away and gritted his teeth and said, "Then... I won't force anyone to do anything, as long as Wen agrees."
"Brother Wen, please be careful on the road." Xiangren sent him out of the study. When he saw the figure walking away, he felt relieved and gradually showed a proud smile.
According to Wen Zhong's estimation, there is a high probability that this time the situation will be worse than bad. He was not surprised by this, but he was puzzled by his current persistence. He has not had much interaction with the Hunan people, and he should have been alienated or even rejected by them, but now he is happily clearing the way for him to seize power. What he cares about is no longer friendship, but just to maintain the interests of the gambling house. He had long since lost his previous free and easy energy, and his air of carefree galloping around Jiangdu, and had become just like ordinary people. Even his bad deeds would make him even more despicable than ordinary people.
But then I thought about it, the once arrogant Guo Chuzi was unable to control the fate of his family before he died. So no matter how powerful his power was, who could say that this day would never come? ...but he struggled in his heart for a long time, still unable to let go of the huge gambling house and the wealth that overwhelmed Jiangdu.
He no longer dwelled on the so-called doubts, but crossed the threshold of the dyeing workshop and walked into the meeting hall.
As soon as Wen Zhong came up, he looked at everyone coldly: "Your shopkeeper asked me to decide the number of tribute officials. Don't panic."
The stewards were dumbfounded, put down their pens, stared wide-eyed, and said nothing. The servant holding the seal in his hand was unhappy. He said bluntly to Wen Zhong: "Mr. Wen, the big boss clearly told us to make the decision ourselves. When did you take the order?"
"I followed your master's order just now."
The stewards had just appreciated the Hunan people's decentralization of power, but now Wen Zhong was acting "bossy and domineering" again, which made them very dissatisfied and they all started whispering.
The servant clutched the seal and said angrily: "Mr. Wen, take a good look at the plaque outside. This is not another family's house, it's a family dyeing shop!"
