A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1003 Secret Weapon
The rain fell in torrents.

The strong wind stirred up huge waves,

Wu Huaiyu was holding a teacup and standing in front of the window of the guest room of the Feng family's Yunying Manor. It was windy and rainy, and there was a heavy curtain of rain outside.

Jiang is still too old. Although the old boat master couldn't wait to go to the Little Yangzhou Building to meet his old friend for a drink as soon as the ship entered the harbor, his weather forecast was accurate.

Wind strength of level 6 or 7, waves of two to three meters,
It is already very dangerous for wooden sailing ships. They should all take shelter from the wind at this moment. The fleet brought by Wu Huaiyu even sailed directly into the inner port of Mohan River.

"Aye," Wu Sanlang came in and thoughtfully brought him a robe, "Wind and rain are coming in in front of the window, be careful not to get wet or cold."

"It's okay. It was very hot just now, but the wind and rain brought some relief." He looked at his son and asked with a smile, "How do you like the sisters from the Feng Xian family?"

"It's all good, just a little dark." Wu Chengzhi said.

"You brat, those two little ladies have very healthy complexions no matter how dark they are."

The Feng Xian family responded positively to Wu Huaiyu's initiative to take concubines. They called over all the unengaged women who were suitable for Chengzhi's age and asked Wu Chengzhi to choose.

But when we finally talked about it,
Wu Huaiyu also showed sincerity and promised to welcome the two of them into the Wu family with the gift of nuns. Wu Chengzhi is the governor of the Marquis, and he is also a third-rank official. According to the system, there can be six people.

Officials of the fifth rank and above in the Tang Dynasty were allowed to accept prescribed concubines. The prince had ten concubines and two more senior concubines. Officials of the fifth rank can also have three concubines. For officials below the fifth rank, all the women they take are called concubines, not concubines.

The two little girls who were selected both liked Wu Sanlang very much. Compared with the eldest brother, Chengsi, this boy was a little less steady, but a little more frank and free-spirited. He was also generous. There were so many girls in the two families. He was not at all nervous and shy like a blind date. He called his sisters directly and told them some interesting things about Chang'an, which actually made the girls laugh.

As the base camp of the Feng family, Yangjiang City is indeed doing well, and even though it is now the Enzhou governorate, the governor is still an official from Chang'an, but the Feng family's influence is still everywhere here.

Feng Zhishen and Xian Jingen are both fourth-grade officials, and each can accept four concubines.

The biological mother of Feng Siniang, who was chosen by Chengzhi, was the daughter of the Ning family in Qinzhou, while the biological mother of Xian Qiniang was the Chen family, from the Chen family in Longzhou.

I also met some scholars who took the public examination this year.
After that, I met with representatives of the local business community in Enzhou, chambers of commerce, industry leaders and other prestigious people.

After all, although Yangjiang is now full of blacksmith shops that have switched to making kitchen knives, these shops used to be made by the Feng family for military weapons.

······
Wu Huaiyu stayed in Enzhou for a few days.
The sea has been windy these days, but Yangjiang is much more lively. Fishing boats and merchant ships are not allowed to leave the port. The dock is extremely lively, with people drinking tea and fighting. You should always relax when you have nothing to do.

Wu Huaiyu himself was not idle either.

Wu Huaiyu also specially paid some money to the accompanying people and asked them to go ashore to relax, but there were a few rules. First, they were not allowed to go ashore to gamble, second, they were not allowed to fight, and third, they were not allowed to bully the people. They had to give money when buying things.

Wu Huaiyu showed his sincerity, and the Feng Xian family naturally reciprocated the favor. The daughters they called for a blind date were also born to her.

He took Saburo to visit Feng Xian's family, visited the prefecture's Confucian classics, medicine, and county Confucian classics and medicine. He met many students and even accepted three young talents as registered students.

He didn't want these people to pretend to be powerful and mess around using his name.

Although she is still a concubine, she is also a noble concubine with status.

Wu Huaiyu also specially added an itinerary, visiting the blacksmith workshops in Yangjiang and meeting some knife makers. Wu Huaiyu's itinerary also made the Feng family a little nervous.

In fact, they are only eight or nine years old, and it is still early to say how good-looking they are, but their tutors are still good, they are very polite, and they talk well. Compared with the famous daughters of Chang'an, they are actually not much different.

Even the girls from several brothels were suddenly overwhelmed.

Feng Zhishen and Feng Zhichen still attached great importance to this marriage. Although Wu Huaiyu said that he would take two concubines as concubines for his son,

Wu Chengzhi was really not shy and picked the two most beautiful girls from the two families.

Wherever you go, you will be greeted and entertained grandly.

But Wu Huaiyu only visited and did not make any special remarks.

A few days passed by, the sea was calm, and Wu Huaiyu had to continue sailing.

"Alang, Mai Xiushi wants to see you." Li Keyong reported.

Wu Huaiyu was not surprised that he would come and went out to greet him personally.

"Shuai Lian, my subordinate has made up his mind and is willing to join Shuai Lian's tooth army."

"I'm glad you made this choice," Wu Huaiyu smiled and patted his arm, "Then as I said before, you will serve as the deputy military envoy to the Yamen Army and also serve as the general manager of the rear camp."

"Thank you for your trust in Lian Shuai, and your subordinates will definitely live up to it."

"You don't have to be so polite in the future. By the way, you have been in eastern Guangdong for many years and are relatively familiar with this place. Do you have any recommendations for good talents, such as your colleagues, relatives and friends from the old department? As long as they are talents, I am willing to reuse them."

"I have some former colleagues in the army who are rare elites. If Commander Lian doesn't give up, I can bring them to Commander Lian for personal assessment."

"Well, invite them quickly."

Mai Xiushi felt relieved. It was not easy to make this decision. He had considered it for several days. He had a deep imprint of the Feng family on him.

But now Feng Ang has not returned since he entered the court for several years, and the eldest son Feng Zhidai died young.
With the withdrawal of the Yazhou and Gaozhou governorates, the more than twenty states controlled by the Feng family now only have four states. As a result, three of these four states were replaced by officials from Chang'an.

Although the Feng family still has eight governors, seven of them are serving outside Lingnan, and most of them are just governors without real power.

Feng Zhichen, an elite member of the Feng family, now has no choice but to hold the position of long historian in Enzhou. In fact, the Yamen does not care about anything.

Mai Xiushi was once Feng Ang's vanguard general and Feng Zhidai's deputy general, but now he can only join the army as a soldier in Enzhou.

This is somewhat lonely.

Even as the imperial court becomes more and more powerful in Lingnan, the Feng family will inevitably decline again. The future of a warrior like him who bears the Feng family's brand is actually very unclear.

Now Wu Huaiyu took the initiative to reach out his hand and wanted to give him a hand.

Although this is job-hopping behavior,

But there seems to be no other better option.

In the end, it was the Feng family who met and talked with him that made him decide to join Wu Huaiyu. The Feng family revealed the attitude of the Feng family, and they supported Mai Xiushi's military strategy.

This also made him finally make up his mind.

As expected, Mai Xiushi introduced a group of people to Wu Huaiyu, most of whom were his former colleagues in the army. Most of these people were Lingnan people, including Hakka Han people who had gone south in the early years, local slang people, and a small number of people from the Central Plains. He followed Feng Zhidai all the way back from Jiangdu to Gaoliang, Lingnan. This group of people has a characteristic,
They have a tough aura about them, which is the temperament of an elite. They are all middle-aged people in their forties, all veterans of the battlefield, and now they hold some idle positions.

Wu Huaiyu accepted all these people.

Although most of the Lingnan Army has been mobilized, there are still tens of thousands of people left. Such mid-level officers with rich experience who have survived hundreds of battles are rare talents.

He was not worried that this group of people had been born in the Feng family.

The Feng family is already a thing of the past.
Although Feng Ang was there, he was trapped in Chang'an, and Feng Ang was very smart and could see the general trend clearly, so he only retreated step by step despite knowing that the court was pressing on him, and he did not want to defeat the enemy.

The wealthy families in Lingnan, such as the Chen Jia, Ning family, Yang family, etc., all fought against the Central Plains Dynasty fiercely, and all of them were defeated without exception.
The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit.

The backlash after a failure in a fierce confrontation is also extremely severe. Feng An would rather be harsh than be severely liquidated after failure.

Wu Huaiyu reached out to Mai Xiushi to dig him out.
The Feng family would not stop them at all, and even had to cooperate with persuasion.
before leaving,
Wu Huaiyu invited Feng Zhishen to have tea alone.

After brewing a pot of tea, Feng Zhishen arrived as promised.

"Try this tea, it's our tea from Weibei, Guanzhong."

“Can tea still be grown in Guanzhong and Weibei?”

"Ordinary tea trees are naturally not suitable, but my tea is Qianliu tea. In the courtyard of my house in Longqiao, Sanyuan, Weibei, I planted some Qianliu trees. Their fruit wings are as round as money, and the leaves are green and the willows are drooping. They are also called Qingqing. Qianliu. Its leaves are used to make tea, which tastes good and has good health effects. "

Feng Zhishen smiled and said, "I've heard that Duke Wu's family built a five-ring round fort in Sanyuan Longqiao, but unfortunately I didn't have a chance to visit. I didn't expect that today I would be lucky enough to taste the Qianliu tea from the Wu family's Longqiao round fort."

He picked up the teacup,
The tea soup is golden and translucent, and the taste is sweet.

“It tastes really good.”

Wu Huaiyu smiled and gave him another drink, "Actually, money willow trees mainly grow in the south, and they are rare north of the Qinling Mountains. The money willow trees planted in the Yuanbao Courtyard of my house were also dug and transplanted from the Qinling Mountains. It’s not easy.”

This tree was originally chosen because its fruits look like blue coins, so it is called a money tree. Planting one in the garden has a good meaning.

The Wu family is good at making tea, and the green money and willow leaves are also made into tea. The taste is indeed not bad, and the Wu family's tea is even very popular now.

Feng Zhishen sighed,
In fact, he also knew about the green money willow tree. This kind of tree is indeed very common in the south. No one took the leaves of this tree seriously before, but Wu Huaiyu was able to plant this southern tree in his home in the north, and even planted its early spring leaves. When made into tea, it can also promote its health-preserving effects and sell well.

In the hands of the Wu family, this tree has really become a cash cow.

"Brother Feng, I have been in Yangjiang City these days and found that not only the salt works here are flourishing, but the maritime trade in Beijin Port is also doing very well.

Moreover, you have quite a few blacksmith shops here, and there are many excellent blacksmiths, especially they are very good at making knives. "

Feng Zhishen's heart tightened and he became a little nervous.

The Feng family now has an attitude of lying down, but among the top wealthy families in such a place, who would really lie down if there is a chance.

These blacksmith shops and blacksmiths in Yangjiang City are a secret trump card of the Feng family.

Now that Wu Huaiyu has pointed him out, I can't help but worry.

"Wu Gong, we in Yangjiang have also benefited from the Foshan Iron Town built by Wu Gong. We are close to Foshan, so it is convenient and cheaper to sell iron materials. We can make kitchen knives, scissors, hoes, iron plows, etc., and then sell them through merchants in Beijin Port. Go out and make some money. In the end, it’s all about relying on Foshan, a big iron smelting town, and borrowing some convenience from maritime trade..."

Wu Huaiyu picked up the teacup and sipped slowly, listening to Feng Zhishen's somewhat nervous explanation.

Explanation is actually a cover-up.

Wu Huaiyu had already seen through this arrangement of the Feng family, but this kind of thing was not a sin.

He came to him today not to ask for guilt, but to talk about cooperation.

"Brother Feng doesn't need to explain too much. I know that the blacksmiths in these blacksmith shops in Yangjiang were accumulated by the Feng family for generations and have been building military equipment for the Feng family.

Nowadays, we are changing the business of kitchen knives, hoes and plows used to build people's livelihood. This is in line with the current situation and is also what the market needs.

To be honest, I admire the Feng family for being able to have a structure and lead the transformation of Yangjiang's iron manufacturing industry.

Of course, I am also very optimistic about the capabilities of Yangjiang's iron industry, and even more optimistic about its future development potential. To be honest, I want to join in and am willing to invest money to make Yangjiang Forging bigger and stronger. "

Feng Zhishen looked at Wu Huaiyu in surprise.

"The kitchen knife has a lot of potential. If Brother Feng is willing, then I will invest money in the name of Sanlang. Let's integrate the iron manufacturing industry in Yangjiang and make it bigger and stronger. I can buy some property for Sanlang in advance."

Feng Zhishen felt that things were not that simple.
But Wu Huaiyu spoke,

He couldn't refuse,
The Feng family couldn't refuse,
No one knows whether Wu Huaiyu will allow the Feng family to keep these properties if he refuses. After all, these workshops can make kitchen knives today and horizontal knives tomorrow.

He couldn't figure out what Wu Huaiyu's true intention was.
Everyone knows that the Wu family is as rich as the country. It operates a wide range of industries, and many of them are even leaders in the industry. Why are you interested in this small iron factory in Yangjiang now? Is it really just to buy some property for Wu Sanlang?

Can't figure it out,

Don't dare to refuse rashly.

"Wu Gong, Foshan's iron, Shaozhou's copper, Guangzhou's sea trade, and Lingnan's three major industries were all promoted by Wu Gong.

Foshan iron smelting is now also a famous town in the world. The Wu family also has many industries in Foshan, right? How about a small shop selling kitchen knives like this in Yangjiang? "

Wu Huaiyu said with a smile, "The rise of iron smelting in Foshan is due to many factors. The Wu family does have some industries in it, but it is also a partnership with many friends.

And this does not affect my optimism about Yangjiang's iron manufacturing, especially in the area of ​​making kitchen knives. Moreover, as I said, Yangjiang here is regarded as buying a share of the property for Sanlang. Sanlang is also your son-in-law. We are all members of the same family, and we work together. Be bigger and stronger, a win-win and mutually beneficial thing. "

Wu Huaiyu's words are also half true and half false.
He is indeed optimistic about this industry in Yangjiang. Even though it is mainly focused on making kitchen knives, they used to make weapons with excellent technology and the kitchen knives they make are of good quality. Moreover, Yangjiang is close to Foshan, which is now the most famous iron smelting industry in the country. district,

Purchasing iron materials in Yangjiang is close and cheap, coupled with the convenient transportation of Beijin Port,
Focusing on developing the kitchen knife manufacturing industry, the future is definitely bright.

Wu Huaiyu's plan that he didn't mention was actually based on the fact that they used to make weapons and had excellent skills. They even had some shops now that secretly made weapons for civilian use that were not prohibited by the imperial court. Of course, there were also people who secretly made weapons that were prohibited.
This kind of thing can't be hidden from Wu Huaiyu, but there is no need for him to pursue the petty quarrel.

The cooperation now is also for Luzon's consideration.

The Wu family actually has its own secret arsenal, but there is nothing wrong with using multiple methods. Now that we are partnering with Feng Xian and the others, we can also open a branch to Luzon in the future, and we can dispatch craftsmen from the industries in Yangjiang there. , when you get to Luzon, don’t you just make Hengdao if you want to make Hengdao, and if you want to make Modao, just make Modao?
(End of this chapter)