After Li Zhiyun became the King of Chu, he moved into the King's Mansion soon. The Prince of Chu's Mansion is located on a street next to Yong'anfang, diagonally opposite the Prince of Qin's Mansion. The two palaces are only a few hundred feet apart.
There are hundreds of people in the Prince of Chu's residence. In addition to servants, there are also officials and guards of the palace. According to regulations, the prince's palace must be equipped with sixty subordinate officials, a thousand guards, and a fiefdom. However, the Tang Dynasty was in its infancy and faced financial difficulties. The Ministry of Civil Affairs only equipped him with 30 subordinate officials, more than 200 guards, and no fiefdom. Fortunately, he can receive a salary.
The prince's salary is the same as that of a first-class official. It is divided into salary and materials. It is about a few thousand taels of silver a year, which can be converted into more than 1.7 million yuan in future generations, which is still very considerable.
Li Zhiyun became a prince and could participate in government affairs and attend court meetings. On this day, when he came out of Wude Hall and just walked down the steps, he heard someone calling him from behind. When he turned around, he saw that it was Wei Yijie. Li Zhiyun quickly raised his hands and said, "Master Wei, are you okay?" Wei Yijie stepped forward to salute and said, "Your Highness, the King of Chu, the world is not peaceful now, and the dog Wei Xiaobao has no intention of studying. But he is still young and is not suitable to serve in the court. Official, can you please ask the King of Chu to find an official position for him in the palace?"
Oh, are you here to ask for an official? However, Wei Yijie told the truth, unlike some people who clearly asked someone to do something, but then told a lot of high-sounding truths, as if you should thank him for doing something for him. Li Zhiyun likes this straightforward character. Besides, Wei Yijie was kind to him, and he would always believe in the saying that gratitude should be repaid.
Li Zhiyun did not hesitate at all and said: "Okay, let him come to the Prince of Chu's Mansion to be the Chief Historian." The Chief Steward is actually the chief steward of the Prince's Mansion and is responsible for managing all affairs of the Prince's Mansion. He is a fourth-rank official and is generally managed by the imperial court. A highly respected veteran from China and Germany is in charge. Li Zhiyun didn't want an old man to talk to him about propriety, justice and shame all day long. Therefore, he had already stated to his father that he must choose the candidate for Chang Shi, and his father agreed.
During the time he spent with Wei Xiaobao, he felt that Wei Xiaobao was smart enough and could get along well with him, so he was a suitable candidate for Chang Shi.
Wei Yijie originally planned to find a minor official of the seventh or eighth rank for his son, such as being a member of the royal family or joining the army. Unexpectedly, the other party suddenly gave him a senior official of the fourth rank. Of course, he was overjoyed. He quickly knelt down and said: "I kowtow to Chu on behalf of the dog." Your Highness!"
Li Zhiyun quickly pulled him up and said with a smile: "Master Wei, you are an elder, you don't have to be like this. When I go back, I will draft a report to the Ministry of Personnel. Please ask Xiaobao to come to the palace tomorrow to take up his post."
After Wei Xiaobao took office, Li Zhiyun immediately started planning the "great cause" of the palace with him. He planned to start with the hotel industry and the financial industry, then expand to other industries, gradually build a business empire, and then use business to support the army, open arsenals, and finally build a powerful army.
Li Zhiyun has been in Chang'an for several months and found that there is not even a decent private hotel in the entire city of Chang'an. There are only some government-run hotels, such as "Sifang Pavilion", "Guanshe", "Inn", etc. The Sifang Pavilion is specially used to receive foreign envoys, while the embassy buildings and inns are used to receive officials who come to Chang'an for business. "You are not allowed to engage in sexual activities other than official business." Ordinary civilians have no place to live after coming to Chang'an.
Li Zhiyun was only in a shop selling tarts (a type of steamed cake) in the West Market when he saw the owner turning an empty house into a hotel for people to live in. But the accommodation conditions there are too simple and are only suitable for farmers who go to the city to sell firewood and vegetables. Generally, people with status will not live in that kind of place.
He took out a map of Chang'an City and drew ten circles on the map, which were the most prosperous areas of Chang'an City. He planned to open ten hotels first.
When Wei Xiaobao saw this, he frowned and said, "Your Majesty, there are wars everywhere now. We have opened so many libraries at once. What if no one moves in?" Li Zhiyun said, "Nowadays, many counties and counties have belonged to the Tang Dynasty. The territory of the Tang Dynasty is constantly expanding. At least the Guanzhong area is at peace! Chang'an is the capital of the Tang Dynasty after all. Those who come here to do business, visit relatives and friends, find people to do things, and work and buy official positions are definitely indispensable. . Besides, we can still compete with government-run libraries and inns. I went to them and found that although they provide free food and accommodation, the living conditions are not good and the food is monotonous, which may not suit the tastes of those officials, and each There are many restrictions. Those who are officials are not short of money. We provide them with the best accommodation and food, and give them the greatest freedom. As long as it does not break the law, they can do anything. That will definitely attract some customers. In addition, , we can also open a bar in the building..."
"What is a bar?"
"It's a place where guests can drink, sing and dance..." Speaking of the bar, Li Zhiyun suddenly remembered that he must make distilled liquor as soon as possible. He has inspected several wineries, improved the existing equipment for making low-alcohol wine, and drawn drawings of equipment for making distilled wine. Later, he handed the drawings to Wei Xiaobao and asked him to arrange for manpower to open one or two wineries first, and the distilled wine produced would be supplied to the hotel bar first. When the production volume increased in the future, he would open a wine shop to sell wine.
As for the funds to open the library, Li Zhiyun had already thought about it. He has already asked someone to take back all his salary for a year. Except for the daily expenses of the palace, the rest can be used. In addition, during his time in Chang'an, several brothers and sisters gave him many gifts, especially the eldest brother gave him the most.
The eldest brother is very kind and has the air of an elder brother. He always felt that he owed Li Zhiyun, so he always tried to find ways to make up for it. In addition to the first time he went to his eldest brother's house, his eldest brother gave him many gifts, and later sent people to deliver them several times. After the eldest brother became the prince, many people gave him gifts, especially some wealthy businessmen in Chang'an. In order to curry favor with the prince, they rushed to give him gold, silver and jewelry. Of course, the eldest brother would not refuse any gift from these people. Every time he receives property, he always pulls out part of it and sends someone to give it to Li Zhiyun.
Of course, after Li Zhiyun became the Queen of Chu, some people also gave him gifts. He would not accept gifts from officials because they were bribes. And he wanted all the money given by the merchants. Because he knew that the reason why those merchants gave him gifts was just to make friends with the powerful people in the DPRK and to enhance their status. They did not want him to do anything specific. Therefore, there is no risk at all in collecting money from these people! Why doesn't he accept it?
Except for keeping a small part of the gold, silver and jewelry he received for other uses, Wei Xiaobao sent people to take the rest to gold shops, silver shops and jewelry shops on the street to exchange them for cash. When those shops saw that the items were from Prince Chu's Palace, they didn't dare to deceive them and gave them real prices. A lot of money was exchanged at once, enough to open ten hotels.
Li Zhiyun told Wei Xiaobao that we have limited funds now, so we should rent a house to open the library first, and then buy the building when we have sufficient funds in the future. Wei Xiaobao was about to go to Luokai Hotel when he suddenly remembered something and said, "Your Majesty, what is the name of our hotel?"
Li Zhiyun thought for a moment and said, "Let's call it King Chu Inn." With the endorsement of King Chu's Palace, the reputation should be higher.
Li Zhiyun left all the matters of opening the hotel to Wei Xiaobao, while he was busy preparing for the bank. On this day, he brought some gold, silver and jewelry to the palace to find his father and placed the gifts in front of him. Abba glanced at him and said, "You bastard, I'm giving you a gift for Abba. You must be asking for something, right?"
"Abba, you allowed Pei Ji to mint five baht coins. I want to be like him."
It turned out that his father treated Pei Ji very well, and none of the ministers could compare with him. He gave Pei Ji countless food and gifts, and ordered Shang Shifengyu to give Pei Ji the royal meal every day. When going to court, he must let Pei Ji sit with him. When he returns to the palace, he must invite Pei Ji into the inner room. He followed his words and did not call Pei Ji by his first name, but called him by his old official name "Pei Jian". Recently, Abba issued an order to cancel the "five-baht white money" cast by Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, which was of insufficient quality and weight, and recast the new five-baht coin, and allowed Pei Ji to cast the money himself.
"Don't you have a salary? Are you still short of money?"
"Abba, my son is playful and likes to make friends with guests. Therefore, money is a little tight."
Abba thought for a while and said, "For the sake of these gifts, Abba is right."
"Thanks dad!"
After obtaining the right to mint coins, if he opened a bank, it would be equivalent to opening a note-issuing bank. Of course, he has limited funds now, so he can only open a scrap collection station to purchase copper, tin and other metals to make money. When he has strong financial strength in the future, he will open a mine to smelt copper.
These days, Li Zhiyun is extremely busy. During the day, he had to organize the business of opening a store, and at night he had to teach students some business operations and management knowledge. He publicly announced that everyone in the Chu Palace was equal, and everyone could come to class, whether they were officials or servants. After completing their studies, they will be hired according to their talents and placed in the most suitable position.
So, the carriage drivers, horsemen, sedan bearers, chefs, gardeners, maids, and even the old ladies who swept the floor and wiped the tables all came to the class. But after listening to it for a few days, some older people who didn't know a word of Chinese characters all chose to quit. They think it's too difficult, so they might as well do the rough work themselves! But some people persisted.
Li Zhiyun believes that no matter how good the people he has trained are, they are at least better than their contemporaries! What he lacks most now is management talents.
"King Chu Inn" was opened one after another. The decoration and layout of the inn were all done according to his intentions, and the management and service staff were personally selected and trained by him. Not long after the inn opened, business was indeed booming, making money every day. In just two or three months, I made a lot of money.
Soon, Li Zhiyun's first bank opened on the busiest street in Chang'an. On this day, he was busy in the bank when his eldest sister suddenly came to see him. The eldest sister said: "Zhiyun, I heard that you made a lot of money by opening a library. The eldest sister also wants to open two libraries. I raised some money, but there is still some money left, so I came to borrow some from you."
"Okay! You are my sister, so the interest does not count. When you make money, just return the principal to me."
When the eldest sister heard this, she beamed: "Zhiyun, you are such a good boy!"
The next day, the second sister also came to see him. The second sister didn't come to him to borrow money, but to inquire about opening a bank. The second brother-in-law's Dou family is a big noble in itself, and the second brother-in-law Dou Dan is also the queen's natal family. Therefore, their family is not short of money at all. The second sister has no interest in opening a restaurant, but wants to open a bank to make a lot of money. Yes, who thinks it’s too much money?
Li Zhiyun told her the process and operating methods of opening a bank, and finally said: "Sister, you open it first. If you encounter any difficulties, come to me at any time."
Later, the fourth and fifth sisters also came to him to borrow money, but only the third sister did not come. The third sister only likes fighting and has no interest in doing business. When the fifth sister came to borrow money, Li Zhiyun said: "Sister, you don't have to pay back this money."
"You look down on me?" Fifth Sister said with a glare, "Although I have lost my husband, I am no worse than others. Don't worry, I will return this money to you every penny!"
Finally, the sixth sister also came to him to borrow money. Li Zhiyun asked strangely: "You haven't left the cabinet yet, why are you opening a library?"
"Earn money to buy dowry!"
"Abba will give you a dowry. If Abba sees that you have bought a dowry yourself and doesn't give it to you, wouldn't you be at a loss? Come to me when you get married." Li Zhiyun persuaded her before giving her a dowry. Coaxed away.
Of course, the eldest and second brothers did not come to him to borrow money. Both of them are ambitious for the world and disdain this kind of businessman's business!
Li Zhiyun does not focus all his energy on business operations. Some things must be promoted at the same time. He cannot finish one and then do another. There is a large open space behind the Chu Palace, about 70 acres, which originally belonged to an old honorary of the Sui Dynasty. Li Zhiyun used part of the money he earned from opening the restaurant to buy the land and surrounded it with a wall. He wants to build an arsenal here, which is divided into factory area and family area.
The craftsmen who made explosives in Wugong County were still in the "Women's Army". At that time, Li Zhiyun once told the third sister that these people must be under control and the recipe for making explosives must not be leaked to outsiders.
Li Zhiyun took the craftsmen over and placed all their families in the family area of the arsenal. He also recruited some experienced craftsmen, and their families were placed in the Chu Palace, and signed a confidentiality agreement with them. He provides these craftsmen with the best conditions so that they can live a worry-free life, but the technical secrets of the arsenal must not be leaked. If there is any violation, not only will you be punished, but your family will also be implicated.
Li Zhiyun's career has expanded rapidly, and more and more officials are needed. Not only were all the sixty subordinate officials in the Prince's Mansion fully staffed, they were also greatly overstaffed. Of course, the salaries of these officials who were later assigned were provided by the Chu Palace, which was also the result of a compromise between him and the Ministry of Personnel.
He did not forget his future father-in-law Liu Hong, who arranged for him a position as general manager of the financial department. Liu Hong has been an official for many years and has certain management experience and connections. This position is quite suitable for him.
"Uncle, what grade is this general manager?"
"Our officials in the Prince of Chu's Palace do not care about their rank. The general manager's salary is equivalent to that of a Zhengyipin, and his subordinates have more officials than ministers!"
After hearing this, Liu Hong nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, I'll be the general manager!"
He is fooling his future father-in-law! My father once said that Liu Hong "never uses it". If he arranged an official position within the establishment for Liu Hong, the Ministry of Personnel would definitely not agree.
The Prince of Chu's Mansion was very busy, and the Prince of Qin's Mansion was not idle either. The second brother opened a literary museum. It was said to be a literary museum, but in fact, it was searching for talents who could manage the world and govern the country, so as to prepare for the future of seeking a big position!
