Wei Ni

Lingzhihou Mansion, the sun passed the zenith.

Xiahou Hui, who returned home and slept until noon, had recovered from the fatigue of many days. At this moment, he was sitting in the pavilion making tea with his wife Wang Yuanji, and from time to time he glanced at Xiao Quji who was having fun in the courtyard.

The breeze at the end of mid-February is gentle, neither warm nor dry.

The warm afternoon sun makes people feel lazy, especially when children's laughter can be heard from time to time.

When he returned to the Luoyang city gate yesterday, the attendant who had been sent by Emperor Cao Rui to wait for him took away the paper and told him that Cao Rui wanted him to return home and rest for a few days.

Xiahou Hui could roughly guess the reason.

It's just that he didn't want to submit a memorial to dismiss the generals of the central army too quickly.

As for any other thoughts, he was very sleepy and didn't want to care about them for the time being. There was no need to rush, right?
Anyway, he had fulfilled his duties, and no matter what the final result was, he could not defeat Cao Rui.

It’s better to just stay calm and accept it.

Besides, he is currently thinking about increasing income for his family.

That's right, a letter from his elder brother Xiahou Heng has left him short of money again.

Raising a child and developing woodblock printing were both continuous investments. Previously, he relied on the income from horse trading in Bingzhou and pine soot ink to maintain his life. His own salary and the output of Yangqu Fort were enough for the rest of his family and to support his troops. As for the income from paper, the price was too low and the demand was too low, so it was almost negligible.

But now, he no longer has any share of the horse trading profits!

The reason left him speechless.

After the Wei State recovered Liaodong, many aristocratic families began to organize caravans to go to Liaodong to trade in sables, ginseng, tiger skins, etc., and they would also bring back good horses to sell.

Merchants are the most calculating.

They transported grain or other goods to Youzhou for sale, then traveled light to Liaodong to buy horses to carry furs and other goods back. After arriving in Luoyang, they sold both the goods and the horses together, thus saving time and reducing the cost of transportation.

This had a huge impact on the Xiahou family's horse trading business in Bingzhou.

Xiahou Heng, who also set his sights on Liaodong, had already told him that the profit from selling horses in Bingzhou was very thin, and he could only bring back boiled deer glue for him and could not give him any profit.

To make matters worse, Xiahou Heng asked him for money.
The establishment of a private intelligence system has already taken shape, and it is time to invest a lot of money. If Xiahou Hui does not raise funds quickly, he will have to put it on hold for the time being.

Okay.

Xiahou Hui, who was at a loss, deeply realized that it was not easy to maintain a reputation for integrity.

Fortunately, things soon took a turn for the better.

Just yesterday, when he had just returned to his mansion, Emperor Cao Rui sent someone to ask him to make two books and send them to the palace.

He didn't care at first, and after agreeing, he let the manager Sun Lou take care of it.

However, the manager Sun Lou also took the opportunity to ask for instructions, saying that the managers of the noble families who came to buy pine soot ink recently also asked if it was possible to make paper into paper books and sell them to them.

A request instantly made Xiahou Hui think of a way to make a profit from paper.

He could make the paper album more exquisite, and also make it into folded pieces in the style of bamboo slips and sell them!

After all, the media for writing today are nothing more than bamboo slips and cloth.

However, bamboo slips were heavy and inconvenient to carry, and cloth was expensive, so ordinary people could only use them occasionally.

All have drawbacks.

Although paper is not the mainstream medium for writing nowadays, it is still popular in the market for daily correspondence, visiting cards, writing practice, transcribing interesting anecdotes, recording social gatherings, literary gatherings, poems, etc. due to its low cost and easy portability.

If it could be made into more exquisite paper albums and folded papers that conform to the "elegance" of the aristocratic families and distinguish between the noble and the humble, then there would be even more hope.

Do it when you think of it.

Immediately, Xiahou Hui acted decisively and told all his ideas to Sun Lou, asking him to call in the carpenter and the woman in his home who were good at needlework to start implementing it.

The method of making a paper book is to fold five horizontally cut sheets of paper in half, sew them together with needle and thread, and five folds make a book; drill holes on the sewn edges, wrap them with silk cloth, and tie them with fine hemp ropes to secure them. This not only hides the ugly appearance, but also solves the problem of paper falling loose when turning pages frequently. Such a booklet, in terms of writing volume, is comparable to twenty bamboo scrolls, and the price is equivalent to one bamboo scroll, so it should not be difficult to sell, right?

The folding piece is a little more flashy.

First, cut the paper vertically and fold it in half five times in a row, using gravity to compact the creases. Then, use fish glue to stick it to two polished thin wood pieces, and finally wrap the edges of the wood pieces with cloth for decoration.

Such a letter may not have many words in it, but it is decent enough to be used as a visiting card or a letter.

As for the price, it doesn't need to be too high, ten times the price of the paper volume will be fine, assuming it is mainly sold to nobles and aristocratic families.

Finally, Xiahou Hui did not forget to remind Sun Lou that no matter whether it was a paper book or a folded document, the small words "Shiquan Songlin" must be embroidered on the silk cloth surrounding the edge.

In order to ensure sales to a certain extent.

Since paper albums and folding documents are very easy to copy, profit-seeking merchants will not miss the business opportunity.

But the reputation effect cannot be copied.
for example.

Both are positions of two thousand stones, but can serving in a prefecture or county be the same as serving in an imperial court?

The same goes for this. They are both paper books and folding documents, copied by other families, and produced by Xiahou Hui’s family, who was highly favored by the emperor. Can the two be confused?

Affluent families would not care about the price difference of a few five-zhu coins. Of course, before officially selling them, he planned to send the paper books and memorials to the emperor Cao Rui, hoping that Cao Rui would like them and use them occasionally.

The ones that Cao Rui was willing to use were the ones that the ministers, officials and aristocratic families liked the most.

The third day after returning home.

It was still the afternoon when I was making tea with my wife in the pavilion.

The difference is that there are already prepared paper books and folded papers, ten of each, on the side of the coffee table.

"The paper book is fine, but this folding paper seems not very useful."

Knowing that it was made to sell to supplement the family income, Wang Yuanji curiously picked it up and examined it carefully for a moment, and then gave the answer, "It may be okay for visiting cards and notes, but it is too cumbersome for correspondence."

That's true!

Hearing this, Xiahou Hui, who was checking whether the workmanship was fine, suddenly felt the same way and asked casually, "Then according to your opinion, how should it be corrected?"

"I didn't think it through either."

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Wang Yuanji shook her head, but her eyebrows were curved. "But if it is cut into half a foot long and about four fingers wide, and the wood is thinned, hollowed out and painted, and made more exquisitely, it may win the favor of women and ladies in the boudoir. My husband may not have paid attention to it. In fact, women and ladies also write to each other quite frequently, because they seldom go out to get together."

uh~
Another one just for women?
However, nowadays, literate women or women come from decent families or have good husbands, so they can afford it even if the work is more exquisite and expensive.

"Well, I'll follow your advice and make another one."

Nodding, Xiahou Hui picked out five paper books and five memorial tablets, then stood up and went to the outer room. "My dear, go and tell the steward what to do. I will go and tell the soldiers about some things."

"it is good."

Wang Yuanji responded, tilted her head and thought for a while, then took out three paper books and three folded letters and handed them to the maid next to her, "Have someone send these to my father, and then ask the steward to come over."

"only."

"Oh, and one more thing."

Before he could finish his words, he caught a glimpse of Xiahou Hui turning back from the corridor and heading towards the study for some reason.

Behind him, there was a strong man wearing Yanfu clothes but without a sword, following closely.

Are there visitors?

But judging from the warrior's respectful attitude, he doesn't look like a guest?
Wang Yuanji couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.

Could it be that this is a minor official from the government office coming here to ask for permission on official business?

In the past, when I was away on military campaigns, I might not be able to return home for one or two years; now that I’m working in the capital, I’m often away from home for one or two months. There are so many officials in the court, why is your husband the only one who is so busy?
Ugh!
In the study room.

After the guests were seated in order of importance, Xiahou Hui asked with a smile, "Mr. Shi, I wonder what your majesty wants me to do?"

Yes, the person who came was Shi Er.

After Emperor Cao Rui had a sleepless night, he made several decisions and asked Shi Er to come and inform Xiahou Hui first.

The first is about the upcoming investigation of the scholar families.

As before, Cao Rui still asked Shi Er to lead a squad of soldiers as a military guard to follow Xiahou Hui and be responsible for transmitting information about school affairs.

The difference is that this time, Shi Er was authorized to communicate with school officials. So if Xia Hou Hui had any intelligence requests, he could ask for them and Shi Er would pass them on.

It is worth mentioning that Cao Rui, who was very concerned about this matter, also took precautions.

He asked Shi Er to bring the actual conditions of the military farms in various parts of the capital, so that Xiahou Hui could familiarize himself with them first, and at the same time select a military farm that was easy to open up for inspection, in an effort to avoid repeating the same mistakes as Yang Fu did before.

He also instructed Xiahou Hui that no matter whether he had thought it through or not, he must invite Wei Zhen to the palace before March so that the three of them could discuss the specific matters before the matter was announced.

For example, what kind of help does Xiahou Hui still need from Cao Rui and Wei Zhen, and so on.

The second is about the handling of the inspection of the generals and officers in the central army.

Cao Rui claimed that those officers who had been commented on by Xiahou Hui would be able to make full use of their talents in the future, and asked Xiahou Hui not to submit a memorial to the imperial court after he returned to his office after his leave, but to deal with the general affairs of the central army first.

"Since Henan Yin Xiahou Yunjin took office, he has been respectful to scholars and caring for the people, and has a good reputation for benevolence. I want to let him serve for a long time to ensure the safety of the capital. Zhiquan has done a lot of work on the military affairs in Luoyang."

These were Cao Rui's original words, and he specifically asked Shi Er to repeat them word for word.

It seemed obscure but was actually a very clear message that he had no intention of letting Xiahou Xian return to the central army. He told Xiahou Hui, who was the Central Guard General, not to be afraid of other people's criticism while supervising the various units of the central army. He should just do his job with peace of mind. Sooner or later, he would be able to "work harder" with justification.

"This third one, um"

When Shi Er said this, his face looked a little unnatural, and his voice became very light, "Guardian, for the third one, His Majesty also ordered me to repeat it verbatim."

Are you scolding me?
Xiahou Hui raised his eyebrows slightly, and understood. "No problem, since it is His Majesty's order, Mr. Shi will just follow it."

"Wei. Ahem~"

Shi Er cleared his throat a few times, turned his head away and didn't look at Xiahou Hui, and whispered, "Guardian, the original words of His Majesty are: You bastard! It's been three days, why didn't you send the paper book? And since you are also the Minister of the Secretariat, why have you only come to the Secretariat once so far!" (End of this chapter)