Aspirations

Chapter 147
Xia Xiang laughed secretly. He guessed that Li Chi would choose the second option. The first option was too costly and expensive, and he still had to go to court for a trial, and he had to explain today's events clearly. I believe Li Chi would not want to restore the truth of the matter. , after all, he cursed first.

Cao Shujuan didn't say a word, he fully believed that Xia Xiang would not betray him, no matter what Xia Xiang plotted, he would fight.He even put one toe on the ground and looked at Li Chi with provocative eyes, which means that even if you let the horse come over, I will definitely knock you down in one round.

"A gentleman uses his mouth but not his hands. Wendou must pay attention to the style of a gentleman." Xia Xiang smiled lightly, and asked a bystander with dark fingers beside him, "Are you a potter?"

Cai Wen, a 35-year-old potter, has worked as a potter for more than 20 years, and countless bricks and tiles have been fired by his hands.The biggest official he usually sees is the head catcher Ding Ke, not to mention the county lord, even the county magistrate Xu and Guang county Wei Ma Zhanguo have no chance to meet.I have nothing to do today, so I came to see the excitement, and I didn't want to meet the majestic Xia Xianzun.

When he heard that the handsome man next to him was Xia Xianzun, Cai Wen could hardly believe his ears. He was nervous, excited, and excited, and his whole body fell into a kind of frenzy.He was at a loss when he first heard Xia Xianzun asking him something. He wanted to salute Xia Xianzun, but he forgot how to salute. He took a step back in a panic, stepped on a brick by accident, and fell to the ground with his ass. .

There was a burst of laughter from the crowd.

Xia Xiang also laughed, took a step forward, helped Cai Wen up, and said with a smile, "I just asked if you are a potter, and I didn't beat you, what are you afraid of? Could it be that my official is like a man-eating tiger?"

"No, no, Xia Xianzun is like an honest and reliable young gentleman..." Being lifted up by Xia Xianzun himself, Cai Wen was so nervous that he couldn't even speak, "The little one is a potter , called Cai, Cai Wen."

"Puchi... Someone is happy now, and he will definitely be called an honest and reliable young gentleman in the future." Lian Ruohan couldn't help laughing out loud. Xia Xiang boasted that he was an honest and reliable young gentleman before, and he didn't want to A potter I met by chance also said that he is an honest and reliable young gentleman. Wouldn't he be more proud to hear that?

Xia Xiang proudly raised his eyebrows at Lian Ruohan and Cao Shuli, and then said to Cai Wen, "Cai Wen, you don't have to be nervous, I just want to ask you something... This kiln only produces bricks and tiles?"

"Huixia County Zun, in addition to bricks and tiles, also produces a small amount of pottery." When it comes to professional work, Cai Wen is a little bolder, "Bricks and tiles are mainly used for building houses for the people in Zhending City, and pottery is for the people. For everyday use."

"Only four or five out of ten people build houses with bricks and tiles outside Zhending City, and many people still build houses with yellow mud." Xia Xiang nodded and said, "Those who can afford porcelain are only four or five out of ten. Many people Pottery is still mostly used in daily life.”

Residential houses in the city are all built with bricks and tiles, unless they are big families.Moderate people use bricks for the outer walls and yellow mud for the inner walls.Poor people, thatched roofs and yellow mud walls.Similarly, although Daxia is rich in porcelain, ordinary people still cannot afford it and use pottery more.Although porcelain is exquisite, it is expensive.

Xia Xiang patted Cai Wen on the shoulder: "Wait for the two of them to count, how about you to make a judgment?"

"The villain dare not!" Cai Wen panicked.

"It's not difficult, why don't you dare?" Xia Xiang walked forward, followed by everyone, and came to the gate of Wayao. There was a plaque on the gate with three large characters written on it: Caijiayao.

There is also a line of small characters below, which is a poem: the pottery is all the soil in front of the door, and there is no tile on the house.The ten fingers are not stained with mud, and the scales live in the building.

Lian Ruohan recited it in a low voice, the soil in front of the door was exhausted, and there was no tile on the roof.The ten fingers are not stained with mud, and the scales live in the building... Her eyes fell on her hands that were like white jade, and then she turned to look at Cai Wen's hands with all black fingers. Heart.

Thinking about how extravagant she used to be, she didn't touch the spring water with her ten fingers, and never knew that people's livelihood was difficult. Today's trip made her feel the difficulty of ordinary people wearing warm clothes in order to have enough food.And she stretched out her hands to eat and opened her mouth from the clothes. Compared with the common people who were struggling on the verge of death, what was the ups and downs she experienced in life?
Looking at Xia Xiangshi's eyes again, Lian Ruohan's eyes have more meaningful content and admiration.There are many people who are more talented than Xia Xiang, and there are countless people who are more handsome than Xia Xiang.There are even more noble people than Xia Xiang.There are not a few people who are younger, more promising, and more intelligent in officialdom than Xia Xiang.However, at Xia Xiang's age, he has a true heart for the country and the people, and always keeps the people in his heart, and there are few court officials who are dedicated to the people's welfare.

The most important thing is that he may not be the best in every aspect, but he is a man who combines excellent character in all aspects, and is a rare young man who has accomplished a lot... How wise it is to claim that she and Xia Xiang have made a private decision for life when they have to.

"What kind of literary struggle are we going to do?" Li Chi was impatient, and stepped forward to block Xia Xiang's way, "Could it be that Xia Xiangzun is fooling me?"

"Do you have the time to fool you as an official?" Xia Xiang smiled calmly, pointing to the tile kiln, "Cai's kiln produces countless bricks and tiles a year. Here comes the problem. If you build a house, there are seven or eight rooms. , can live in a family of five or six people, fully use bricks or half use bricks, how much does it cost? Whoever has the most accurate answer is the winner."

Li Chi was stunned for a moment. He never expected that Xia Xiang's question would be such a tricky one. He was familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, but he was not very proficient in arithmetic.Just as he was about to speak against Xia Xiang's question, he was quietly pulled aside by Zheng Mingrui.

"Brother Li, you don't have to feel embarrassed. You forgot that I am the most proficient in arithmetic?" Zheng Mingrui smiled complacently, "With my help, you will surely win the battle."

Li Chi thought about it, nodded and said, "Okay, with Brother Zheng's words, I'm relieved." He turned around and nodded at Xia Xiang, "Xia Xianzun, I will fight."

"I will fight too." Cao Shujun was not afraid, he raised his right hand high, "Whoever does not fight is a puppy."

Xia Xiang suppressed a smile: "Cai Wen will judge the result of the two of you. For the sake of fairness, I will stay out of the matter. If you two have any doubts, you can ask Cai Wen for advice. In addition, the two of you can Everyone ask for a helper."

Cao Shujun quickly greeted Xiao Jia: "Miss Xiao, help me."

Xiao Jia gave Cao Shujun a helpless look, but walked over anyway, she couldn't just leave him dead.Cao Shujun, Xiao Jia, Li Chi and Zheng Mingrui gathered together to ask Cai Wen some questions.Cai Wencheng was apprehensive and frightened, knowing everything and saying everything.

Xia Xiang and the others had some free time. Lu Zhiyue walked up and said with a face of shame: "Xia Xianzun, today's incident is the fault of the lower officials. The lower officials can't stand the repeated invitations of Brother Li and Brother Zheng, so we have to Accompany them out for an outing. I don't want the two of you to speak rudely to Xia Xianzun, and Cao Langjun just happens to hear it. Cao Langjun is out of anger, and a conflict arises."

Xia Xiang said lightly: "It's also an elegant thing to call friends for an outing. What's wrong? But Master Lu, you have a different status now. As the master of Zhending County, you should be loyal to your duties, and don't confuse public and private matters. .Especially when you are new to officialdom, you should be careful about some things.”

"Yes, I understand." Lu Zhiyue didn't hear Xia Xiang's implication, thinking that Xia Xiang just tapped him lightly.

"What do you know about you? You're so stupid." Lian Ruohan wanted to kick Lu Zhiyue, but Xia Xiang and Zheng Hao were present, so she endured it, "Why didn't Li Chi and Zheng Mingrui find someone else to go on an outing with? You? Obviously want to know something from you. Have they asked you about Xia Xianzun?"

"This, this..." Lu Zhiyue thought about it, and suddenly broke out in sweat, "The two of them asked me some questions about what Xia Xianzun wanted to do. How does Zun want to govern Zhending. The two of them didn't believe it, and asked Xia Xianzun if he wanted to take advantage of the good times to annex the Guangjin Commercial Bank, and asked me if I knew that Haojingchang took away the iron ore business of Guangjin Commercial Bank , I asked three questions, and the two of them were very angry, thinking that I was lying to them. Hmph, how could I be lying to them, I really don’t know.”

Lian Ruohan finally couldn't bear it anymore, and kicked Lu Zhiyue's leg, his teeth itching with hatred: "You are really stupid, fortunately you don't know, if I let you know a little bit, wouldn't you You said it all in one breath? Why did you treat you courteously because of Li Chi and Zheng Mingrui? Isn't it because you are the master of Xia Xianzun and my friend, and they want to find useful information from you. It’s just being taken advantage of.”

Lu Zhiyue touched her head: "My head is not big..."

Lian Ruohan wanted to kick Lu Zhiyue again, but Xia Xiang couldn't stand it any longer, pulled Lu Zhiyue away, turned around and looked at Lian Ruohan meaningfully: "Miss Lian, let's put the matter of Master Lu aside for now. Let me talk about the fact that Haojing Chang took away the iron ore business of Guangjin Commercial Bank, what happened?"

Lian Ruohan turned around and looked at the forest in the distance: "Although the leaves are all gone, maybe the autumn colors in the forest will have a special taste, Miss Mantuo, please follow me to the forest." to leave.

Xia Xiang blocked Lian Ruohan's way with his arms outstretched, and smiled: "Miss Lian, don't bother talking about him, you have to be clear about the iron mine."

Lian Ruohan tilted her head, responded to Xia Xiang's meaningful gaze without fear, and said with a smile: "Master Xia really wants to know?"

"What do you think?" Xia Xiang put his hands behind his back and walked around Lian Ruohan, "If it's just a matter of good times and business, I naturally won't ask about it, but since it's been rumored that I want to use Haojing Changzai annexed Guangjin Trading Company, so I have to ask clearly. I remember that Haojing Changzai did not get involved in the iron ore business before. Why did Mrs. Lian suddenly want to get involved in the iron ore business? Even if she wanted to get involved in the iron ore business Why do you have to intervene in the business of Guangjin Commercial Bank? I am afraid that Lian Niangzi's move is not just for business, but for other purposes."

In fact, Lian Ruohan didn't want to avoid answering, but deliberately teased Xia Xiang, but seeing that Xia Xiang hit the key point of the question in one sentence, he couldn't help being slightly startled, thinking that Xia Xiang not only had a keen officialdom wisdom , and the superhuman business vision, he couldn't help admiring secretly, but said: "Why does Xia Xianzun think that I have other plans for me to intervene in the business of Guangjin Trading Company? Why don't you think that Guangjin Trading Company's iron ore supply There are high-quality ore sources in the hands of the merchants, so I stopped the suppliers of Guangjin Commercial Bank just to make a profit?"

"Does Lady Lian think that I am as innocent and lovely as Mr. Cao Lang?" Xia Xiang laughed, "The good times have always been that since its establishment, it has not been involved in the business of iron ore, horses and leather, and it has not been engaged in the business of brothels and brothels. Opened two industries with the highest profits. It can be seen that firstly, he did not want to cause dissatisfaction with the court, and secondly, he did not want to make money from women. Now he suddenly intervened in the iron ore business. Lost your temper and violated your original intention?"

Lian Ruohan was taken aback, she didn't expect Xia Xiang to know her so well, she looked Xia Xiang up and down, was stunned for a moment, then covered her mouth and smiled: "Xia Xianzun is really powerful, the words are right, but let the little girl I am speechless."

Cao Shuli took a step forward and took Lian Ruohan's arm: "Sister Lian, is that the Guangjin Commercial Firm over there?" She said, pointing to the distance.

Everyone looked in the direction of Cao Shuli's finger. On both sides of the road not far away, there were several shops, including cloth stores, grain stores, pottery stores, shoe stores, etc., lined up along the roadside. There were more than a dozen shops. There are so many homes.The house is very new, it should be newly built not long ago.

Whether it is a cloth store, a grain store, a pottery store, or a shoe store, there are plaques on it with large characters: Guangjin Commercial Bank.

"Exactly." Lian Ruohan nodded, "Guangjin Commercial Bank built a new store in the refugee area outside the city in order to avoid others getting ahead first. It really took great pains. If it is really for the sake of the people, it is a good thing."

On the way here, Xia Xiang had already noticed that the shops of Guangjin Trading Co., Ltd. were all over the streets and alleys of Zhending City, and even opened outside the city. It can be seen how urgent Guangjin Trading Co., Ltd. wants to occupy the market of Zhending City. It was also because of being persecuted by Haojing Changzai in attacking Zhending City.

"Then even my sister wants to handle the iron ore business, isn't it because the iron ore business is hugely profitable?" Cao Shuli asked puzzled.

"Of course the iron ore business has huge profits, but even though the profits are huge, it is not a business that everyone can do." Man Tuo couldn't help but interjected. She never left Xia Xiang's back, and now she took a step forward, and Xia Xiang Xiang stood side by side, "Iron ore can be used to smelt steel, and steel can be used to make weapons, so the iron ore business has always been monopolized by the government. Since the establishment of the Great Xia Dynasty, the iron ore business has always been undertaken by the government. Part of the iron ore business has been opened. It’s just that the investigation is a little looser than before, and it has not been disclosed publicly. Businessmen who dare to engage in the iron ore business have backgrounds and backers. But even so, it is still easy to attract the attention of the government and be easily caught Seized."

(End of this chapter)