When Li Hao entered the main hall of the Liang family, he found that everyone here had met them before. After all, the three families had frequent contacts over the years, and Li Hao also accompanied the Liang family to visit relatives.
On the Liang family's side, Liang Wuji sits high on the main seat, and then on his right side sit Liang Yu, Liang Shang, and Liang Ya in that order from inside to outside, and on his left side sit Qu Taigong and Qu Enlin, that is, Qu Taigong. Leng Jun's father and brother.
After entering, Li Hao greeted everyone with courtesy, and then Liang Wuji asked Li Hao to sit down below Liang Xia and asked:
"Why did you come to the capital so suddenly this time? My sister-in-law wrote a letter some time ago and mentioned that you would take the song to Xuzhou for training. The letter praised you a lot."
Li Hao replied: "Well, my uncle will remember to find the letter later and show it to me.
After all, in front of me, my father didn't seem to say a few words of praise. It would be nice for me to read the letter and feel happy. "
As soon as these words came out, except for Liang Yu, Liang Shang, and Liang Xia, everyone present smiled.
Of course, Li Hao could also understand the reason why the three Liang family members did not laugh. After all, according to Liang Wuji's words, with the abilities of brothers Liang Shang and Liang Xia, they were not worthy of taking care of the manor and property.
It turned out that Liang Wuji also gave them a chance, but the two of them made a mess.
Liang Shang had not been stimulated by the cuckold incident at this time, so although he was mediocre and lonely, he could still listen to what others said. Even if the matter did not go well, at least it did not cause much trouble.
Liang Xia, on the other hand, was completely out of control. Not only was he stupid, but he also had a bad temper and was irritable. When he was managing the troops, he got things done so outrageously that people almost lost their lives.
If Liang Wuji hadn't stopped in time later, he might have had to fight with someone for five steps.
Since then, Liang Wuji has never delegated power to them. Over the years, he has always restricted them to learn from the family elders, so they were happy to see that Li Hao could take charge of the manor and the tribe at a young age. That's weird.
Moreover, these three people still hold a grudge. Their mother had always had a bad attitude toward them when she did not agree to let their grandfather marry Liang Yu as his wife.
So Li Hao didn't take it to heart and continued to reply: "My uncle also knows that I have always liked the art of traps. This time during the suppression of bandits in Xuzhou, I verified some useful siege equipment.
My father thought that these things would be useful to the court, so he asked me to go to the capital and present these things to His Majesty.
It happened that my father said that my cousin came to the capital to report on his work, so I thought of coming over for a visit. "
Liang Wuji replied: "Indeed, the curved shaft plow you made last time was very good. Now the Liang family's fields are using it, which saves a lot of manpower."
At this time, Qu Enlin also answered: "Yes, your Majesty ordered people to make a drawing of this object and spread it to all states and counties. The Qu family also changed it along with it. You have done a great thing."
Li Hao said: "Uncle Tang and Uncle Qu will do this for free, why don't you two give me something to express your gratitude.
After all, I gathered a group of craftsmen to study this and spent a lot of money. In the end, all the results were contributed, but I lost a lot. "
As soon as these words came out, Liang Wuji and the Qu family naturally knew that Li Hao was joking. After all, the Yuan family's business had been booming in the past two years.
And they knew that the leader behind this business was Li Hao, so how could he lack these scattered expenses.
But before he could think of it, Liang Xia suddenly said: "A gentleman never speaks for profit. Your words are worth money. Is this what the Yuan family taught you?"
At this moment, the scene immediately turned cold, and the smiles on the faces of Li Hao and others froze.
Liang Wuji really didn't expect that his cousin would suddenly say such a thing. After being stunned for a few seconds, Liang Wuji took the lead and said, "This is just a joke at home, why should you take it seriously."
Then he said decisively: "By the way, didn't I just say that the clan elder has something to do with you? Then you go and do your own business first, so you don't have to sit here."
Hearing this, Liang Xia's face turned very ugly. He wanted to reply, but he saw Liang Wuji's cold eyes.
In the end, she didn't dare to make a mistake, and she was about to get up and leave. At this time, Liang Lao saw that her youngest son was about to be driven away, and she couldn't sit still anymore and said:
"You, the head of the family, display such great authority. Could it be that after your uncle's death, his son no longer has the right to sit here?"
Liang Wuji couldn't say anything to this aunt. After all, he was not the direct descendant of this family, but took over the position of head of the family after being recommended by his uncle.
It is true that I have received his favor, so I naturally cannot be too harsh on his legacy. Moreover, people from the Yuan and Qu families were present, so it was even harder to say harsh words.
He could only say: "Auntie's words are serious. It was indeed him who said just now that there is a clan elder who wants to be summoned, and it is not good to keep the clan elder waiting for a long time.
Moreover, what he was talking about with the Qu family was about his elder brother's marriage. It would be of little use for his younger brother to sit here, right? "
This last sentence was a direct question to Liang Xia, and the tone was deliberately lowered, which clearly hinted to Liang Xia that if you dare to say something wrong today, you can take care of it yourself.
In the end, Liang Xia didn't dare to provoke Liang Wuji anymore and replied: "Yes, it's really hard to keep the clan elders waiting. You can continue chatting. I'll take my leave first."
At this time, Liang Yu wanted to say something else, but she thought that she still had to talk about Liang Shang's marriage. Liang Wuji had to do something about this matter, and now that the Qu family was in front of them, it was hard for them to see the joke and let this matter happen again. twists and turns.
But in fact, how could the Qu family not know the nature of the two brothers Liang Shang and Liang Xia.
If it hadn't been for the intermarriage agreement between the two families, and the Qu family was temporarily weak, no one would be able to become an official.
We need to rely on the support of the Liang and Yuan families to let the new generation of children grow up, otherwise they really don't want to marry their own girls.
Now they can only comfort themselves. Fortunately, their girl is not married to Liang Xia. With his bad comparison, Yuan Shang seems to feel much more comfortable.
For a moment, everyone present was filled with thoughts. Only Li Hao pretended to be confused and asked: "My eldest uncle is going to get married. Why have I never heard my mother mention this? I don't know which member of the Qu family he is talking about." girl?"
Hearing this, Liang Wuji replied: "The person I'm telling your uncle is Qu Lengjun, the legitimate daughter of the Qu family. Today Grand Duke Qu and your uncle Enlin came here to talk about this matter. Since it hasn't been officially decided yet, it's just No message was sent to inform your mother."
Li Hao replied: "So that's it. Why have I never heard of it before? If this happens, then I will have to call her aunt in the future, which is quite unaccustomed to her.
Speaking of which, it seems that I have rarely seen her in the past few years. It seems that she is never in Hedong! "
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the Liang and Qu families changed a little. Qu Lengjun had been in the capital a few years ago, so the Liang family naturally knew about this.
Even the two families had actually made an agreement at the beginning. If Qu Lengjun could really marry the prince, then the marriage between the two families would be put aside for the time being.
After all, compared to the marriage between the two families, the benefits of having a future queen were obviously greater. It was not until the prince married Sun that the two families discussed the matter again.
Of course, this matter was not hidden from the Yuan family, or rather from the Liang family. When they heard this, they only thought that the Liang family did not inform Li Hao about it.
Qu Enlin replied: "Leng Jun has spent more time in the capital these years, so naturally you see less of him."
After answering Li Hao's words, he suddenly didn't want to continue talking, so he said: "Why don't we just talk about this today, and we will go back first.
It just so happens that Yuan Ang is coming over. Let's have a good chat. I'll come to visit again in two days. "
Liang Wuji didn't want to continue talking awkwardly, so he agreed, "That's okay, I'll take you out of the house."
Then Liang Wuji stood up to see him off. Liang Lao also wanted to act like a monster, but was stopped by Liang Shang.
The servants outside came in, walked behind Qu Enlin, and pushed him out with his chair. It turned out that he had been sitting in a wheelchair.
Because during the war, his legs became disabled and he was unable to walk. It was precisely because of this that he was unable to become an official.
Otherwise, in terms of talent and learning, he is not necessarily worse than Liang Wuji and Yuan Pei. It can only be said that he is unlucky.
As for the wheelchair he is using now, it was originally made by Li Hao. The style is actually not much different from modern wheelchairs. The only problem is that Li Hao can't get rubber, so he can only use various leather things to replace it.
Of course, this effect is definitely not up to the level of rubber, and it is still uncomfortable to sit on, but it is still better than nothing.
After sending the Qu family away, Liang Yu and Liang Shang didn't stay here any longer and went back to their own yard.
At this time, Liang Wuji said to him: "Tell me, what exactly did your father send you to the capital for? It should not just be to send you equipment diagrams!"
"My cousin is really smart. If he really wants to send you equipment diagrams, I really don't want to make this trip." Li Hao said as he took out a book from his arms and handed it to Liang Wuji. "I came to see my cousin, mainly to give you a gift."
Liang Wuji took it and took a look. On the cover was the word "The Analects of Confucius". He touched it carefully with his hand, and then said: "This is the paper you improved. It looks no worse than cloth."
Li Hao replied: "That's because what I want to do must be done well. This book is half of the Analects of Confucius, which is much more convenient to use than bamboo slips."
Liang Wuji opened it and took a look, and immediately felt that it was really refreshing to read. You must know that this Analects of Confucius was handwritten by Li Hao himself.
According to the standard of eight lines, nine characters and crosses per page, it can be written stroke by stroke with a brush. Anyway, Li Hao has made up his mind that he will never do this again. It's not that he can't afford to hire people anyway, so why bother to embarrass himself? .
Liang Wuji fell in love with this book after flipping through a few pages. As a book lover, he usually couldn't put it down.
But it is really troublesome to read books now. The bamboo slips involved in a book of Analects may weigh dozens of kilograms, making it very inconvenient to carry.
But if it were a book made of this paper, he could carry a complete book with him at this weight and read it at any time, so he asked: "What is the production volume of this paper and what is the price?"
Li Hao replied: "This paper was made not long ago. The process is very complicated, and it is still difficult to mass-produce it.
And after this was done, it happened to coincide with my trip to Qingzhou, so I didn't have time to make substantial follow-up improvements.
However, I have probably thought about it along the way. Normal mass production is possible, but the initial cost is expected to be relatively high.
It may not be possible to spread it all over the world for a while, but uncle, you can definitely afford it, don't worry about it. "
After hearing this, Liang Wuji felt that this was nonsense. You should know that as the head of the Liang family, there were not many things that he could not afford.
After reading for a while, Liang Wuji put the book down and said, "So you brought this to me not just to give me a book, right?"
Li Hao replied: "Of course not. Why would I only give away the Analects of Confucius? That is too stingy. There will be more than a dozen blank papers later. When the time comes, my uncle will arrange for someone to copy it. .
In addition, I came to you because I actually want to cooperate with the two companies. After all, this paper selling business cannot be monopolized by one company. After all, my goal is to replace all the bamboo slips with paper, which will definitely cost a lot of manpower and material resources.
Of course, the specific measures will definitely depend on the output and final cost of the paper, so I need to let you know in advance. "
Liang Wuji nodded when he heard this and replied: "As long as the price of this paper is not much higher than the bamboo slips, then I think it shouldn't be difficult to do. In addition, what you gave to His Majesty this time should also be made of paper. Album."
Li Hao nodded and said: "That's natural, this royal business still has to be done, even if it means losing a little money.
Although the paper can be sold well through the original sales channels, this thing is different from the past after all, and it will cover more people.
After all, even those princes and nobles who advocate frugality are willing to spend some money in this regard. Then I can use His Majesty's name to let more people know about this thing. "
Liang Wuji did not interfere with Li Hao's ideas, because in his opinion, Li Hao's ability in doing things was absolutely trustworthy.
Thinking of this, Liang Wuji really envied Yuan Pei. Of course, his envy was not about his official position or money, but that he had two good sons.
The eldest son has outstanding literary talent, and his reputation has spread from Bailu Mountain to the capital. But here, the younger son knows more things. He seems to be able to do business, manage the manor, and train troops. He seems to have a hand in everything, and he does it. All are pretty good.
Then I thought that I still had no children, and that the clan could not choose anyone who could succeed me as the leader, and I couldn't help but feel dark in my heart.
So in the subsequent chat, Li Hao could clearly feel that Liang Wuji's mood suddenly deteriorated for some reason, leaving Li Hao confused.
Li Hao didn't stay in Liang Mansion for much longer and left before noon.
Anyway, the thing has been given to Liang Wuji. With his intelligence, I believe he will be able to understand the importance of this piece of paper soon and does not need Li Hao to give guidance. Now Li Hao is more concerned about Qu Lengjun's marriage to Yuan Shang.
