The cotton seedlings grown in the cotton fields were transported away in waves, and the entire Huzhou was almost completely covered with cotton.
There are only so many cotton seeds in total, and they cannot be distinguished from other areas. In order to keep up with the imperial policy, the local prefect also sent people to purchase cotton seeds from the south and promote planting in his own jurisdiction.
This busy period has arrived in mid-to-late March, when spring is in full bloom.
Everything in the village is developing in an orderly manner, the farmland is full of green, the market is extremely lively, the workshop is in full swing, and the huge waterwheel is slowly being made...
Cheng Wanwan was looking at the account books of the soap and glycerine workshops. After such a long period of development, the two workshops have become more and more mature and larger in scale. Currently, they have a total of more than 290 employees. Even in modern times, it can be called a medium-sized enterprise, let alone in ancient times.
At the end of the morning, Mrs. Qi came in and reported: "An Ren, Mr. Qian is here and is already waiting in the flower hall."
Cheng Wanwan was slightly surprised. Ever since the Qian family started the skin care product business, Mr. Qian has been very busy. He always asked the housekeeper to pick up the goods, and he himself came to reconcile and submit the accounts every quarter. The first quarter of this year has not yet passed. Logically speaking, Mr. Qian will not come in advance. I think there must be something important to do.
She put down the account book in her hand and headed to the flower hall.
"I've met people from Sui'an." Mr. Qian quickly stood up and saluted, "I came uninvited, so I didn't disturb people from An."
Cheng Wanwan said, "Did something happen?"
"Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from An Ren." Mr. Qian immediately got to the point, "An Ren said before that a new product would encounter some problems when it was launched. I didn't take it seriously at the time, because this business is An Ren's business, and no one dares to give it to An Ren. Face? But after leaving Huzhou and walking to the provincial capital, I realized that there are people outside the world, and there is a sky outside the world."
Cheng Wanwan listened quietly.
After the "Dahe Zhaoshi" skin care products were launched last year, they instantly became popular among the public. The supply has always been in short supply. If the production speed of the workshop had not been increased, I am afraid they would have been sold all over the country. It is precisely because of the low output that it was completely rolled out in the provincial and city markets after more than half a year.
There are many more wealthy people in the provincial capital than in Huzhou. Some ordinary people also have spare money to buy skin care products that are not too expensive. Sales have soared. People come to the door of Qian's business every day to place orders for unproduced products. Orders for the skin care products have been scheduled for half a year. Coupled with the launch of the skin care product lotus root powder, it has pushed Qian's business to the top. The continuous business is booming, and naturally it will be jealous of peers.
It turns out that when I was in Huzhou, it was not that there were no colleagues who provoked trouble. For example, some narrow-minded shopkeepers paid a few people to falsely claim that "Dahe Zhao's" skin care products were poisonous and would cause rashes all over the body after applying them. Fortunately, Cheng Wanwan had these accidents. It was all expected and anti-allergy medicines were prepared in advance, which made it easy to resolve the crisis.
"Those businessmen in Huzhou were afraid of the identity of Sui'an people, so they only dared to do these tricks secretly, but the shopkeeper He from the provincial capital came directly to rob him." Mr. Qian looked melancholy, "He asked me to tell An people that His backer is Mr. He from the capital. Whatever the He family wants, they can't get. However, because people in Sui'an also have grades, the He family doesn't want to cause too much trouble, so they gave An people two choices. The first is to sell the secret recipe of skin care products to the He family, and the second is that the Qian family is out, and An Ren and the He family cooperate, splitting the money 50-50."
"The He family in the capital?"
Cheng Wanwan raised his eyebrows, the He family where He Xiao lives?
After all, the head of the He family is also a second-grade official, so he shouldn't be so shameless in trying to steal business from a sixth-grade woman. Even if he wanted to rob her, he wouldn't dare to do it so openly. Doing so would simply mean shameless. On the face.
She took a sip of tea and said, "Who is this shopkeeper He from the He family?"
"I specially sent someone to inquire carefully. Shopkeeper He's father is the son of a fourth-grade official residence steward from a branch of the He family. He is responsible for managing the He family's business in Yuncheng..."
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
The son of a housekeeper could be so arrogant?
But then I thought about it, and it was indeed true. A dog or a cat from a wealthy family had a higher status than ordinary people. Who would dare to provoke them?
"Our Qian family is lucky enough to be able to cooperate with An Ren in the past life. Our Qian family has made a lot of money in this business, so it's time to quit." Mr. Qian said sadly, "I have all the accounts for skin care products. I brought them all, and the account can be settled today..."
Cheng Wanwan put down the tea cup and said calmly: "Why is Mr. Qian so eager to quit? Why don't we come and see what the He family's next move is?"
Mr. Qian was astonished: "Although Shopkeeper He is just the son of the housekeeper, behind him is Lord Sipinhe. Behind this Lord Sipinhe is a direct descendant of the He family. The head of the He family seems to be a second-tier official. We can't offend An Ren." Get up..."
"Although I am only a sixth-grade person, I am also recognized by the Holy Emperor as the wife of the imperial court. If the He family insults me, it would be a slap in the Holy Emperor's face." Cheng Wanwan said with a faint smile, "I hope this matter becomes a big deal. The bigger the fuss, the better. At that time, I think Mr. He will stand on his own side, or let his side shed a layer of skin in order to preserve the reputation of the He family."
A mere housekeeper of the He family dares to step on a sixth-grade Anren. If this news spreads, the reputation of the He family, which has been a century-old family, will be destroyed.
And she is a member of the sixth grade An. If she is manipulated by Shopkeeper He, she really is not worthy of her status.
She continued, "Qian Lao replied to Shopkeeper He and said, let him try it."
Mr. Qian also figured out the joints and immediately nodded to do it.
Cheng Wanwan didn't dwell on this matter anymore. She sent someone to the city every two days to inquire about the news, naturally to inquire about the situation of the Beijing Examination.
The general examination was at the end of February, and now it's mid to late March. Counting the time, there should be news coming back from there.
If there is no news, it means that the two children have not been admitted to the Jinshi... However, she believes that Zhao'er will definitely be on the list, maybe because of the long journey, he will not be here for a while.
On the last day of March, instead of waiting for the messenger to announce the good news from the capital, the rumored shopkeeper He was waiting.
Shopkeeper He was about thirty years old, dressed in silk clothes, and followed by four young men. He was traveling in a large formation. People who didn't know who saw him thought he was a young master from some family.
After he registered into the village, he was led to the entrance of Cheng Wanwan's yard.
To people from all over the country, Anren's mansion is luxurious and luxurious, but to shopkeeper He, he has seen too much since he was a child, and it doesn't mean anything at all.
Cheng Jia, who was guarding the door, went in first to report, and then he brought shopkeeper He into the living room and served a very ordinary mountain and wild tea. Shopkeeper He smelled it and did not enter. Instead, he looked left and right, looking at the people in the room. The furnishings and decorations are all furnishings with a strong local flavor, such as flower vines woven from bamboo, flower pots carved from tree roots, etc. They are relatively exquisite, but too crude.
As he was watching, footsteps came from the door.
Shopkeeper He stood up, looked at the person who walked in, and immediately said, "He has met people from Sui'an."
