Chapter 178 Good intentions
Chapter 178 Good intentions
After returning to the mansion, Xiao Xia immediately gathered his twenty men, led by the captains Xu Min and Cao Taiyue. They all wanted to continue to follow Xiao Xia, but Xiao Xia was not qualified to have personal soldiers or guards.
If they must follow, it is not impossible, but twenty people will need to resign from their military positions and follow Xiao Xia as civilians.
But it would be a pity to give up their military posts, so Xiao Xia thought of a win-win solution, which was to let them join his father's guards, stay with his father at ordinary times, and be transferred out at any time when they were needed.
"Everyone, my father has agreed to accept you. Soon, the Ministry of War will transfer your status to the Imperial Guards, and your military positions will remain unchanged. From now on, you will stay with my father for the time being. When I am qualified to lead troops, I will take you back."
Everyone bowed and said, "We are willing to listen to your arrangements, Master!"
At noon, Xiao Xia personally sent everyone to his eldest brother's house, and Yang Zhao then took them to the guards' camp.
Without his subordinates, Xiao Xia became alone again.
In the afternoon, Xiao Xia came to visit his aunt Yang Lihua. He wanted to solve the problem of the future of Baiyun Temple's medicine shop, and he had to get his aunt's support. In addition, he also wanted to cooperate with his aunt to open a business specializing in selling sugar.
Xiao Xia came to the lobby and bowed to his aunt Yang Lihua, "Nephew greets aunt!"
Yang Lihua liked this nephew very much. She had no son, and Xiao Chunyu was forced to become a monk in Qingcheng Mountain. The Xiao family lived in Yang Lihua's house for three months. She felt sorry for this nephew and even told her second brother Yang Guang that she wanted to adopt Xiao Xia as her son.
His second brother Yang Guang agreed, but his father disagreed. If Emperor Yang Jian had nodded in agreement at that time, Xiao Xia would have changed his surname to Yuwen by now.
Yang Lihua asked with a smile: "When did you come back?"
"Reporting to my aunt, my nephew arrived in Chang'an early this morning."
"It looks like you have something to ask me again. Tell me! What is it?"
Xiao Xia said embarrassedly: "I'm really sorry for always bothering my aunt, but I'm afraid it will be profitable this time."
Yang Lihua smiled and said, "I'm glad that you thought of my aunt about something profitable. What is it?"
Xiao Xia took out a bamboo box and placed it on the table and pushed it to Yang Lihua, "Aunt, please take a look at this!"
Yang Lihua opened the box and found dark red candy inside. She was confused and asked, "What is this?"
Xiao Xia bowed and said, "Aunt, this is the brown sugar that my nephew made by squeezing the juice from sugarcane. I made it myself. Aunt, you can have a taste!"
"Is this candy?"
Yang Lihua was a little bit unconvinced. She broke off a small piece and put it in her mouth to taste it. It was sandy, fine, sweet, and melted in her mouth. She was immediately surprised and said, "It's really cane sugar. How did you make it? It's much better than the cane sugar cubes made by the Hu people. Their cane sugar cubes are like old dry biscuits that have been stored for ten years. Your teeth will break if you bite them. There is also a bit of a burnt taste. It is far less delicious than yours."
"Aunt, the key is the heat and stirring. My nephew boiled several thousand kilograms of sugar in Chengdu and brought it back. I want to open a business with you to sell sugar. Are you interested?"
Yang Lihua smiled and said, "If they are all of this quality, it would indeed be profitable!"
She ordered the maid, "Call the steward Liu!"
The maid hurried away, and Yang Lihua smiled and asked, "Anything else?"
Xiao Xia hesitated for a moment and said, "I went to Qingcheng Mountain on my way back."
Yang Lihua sighed inwardly and asked with concern: "Did you see your mother?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "Yes, my mother is fine. I wanted her to come back to Chang'an with me, but she didn't want to. She likes the quietness of Qingcheng Mountain and doesn't want to return to the mortal world."
Yang Lihua sighed and said, "I completely understand your mother's feelings. If I hadn't been so worried about my daughter, I would have gone to Qingcheng Mountain to become a nun and seek inner peace."
Xiao Xia added, "I won't force my mother anymore, but she still has to go to collect herbs. Sometimes it's very dangerous. She often encounters poisonous insects and has to climb cliffs. I decided to pay for Baiyun Temple to open a herbal medicine shop, so that they don't have to go to collect herbs anymore. They can use herbs collected by others, and I won't worry anymore." Yang Lihua nodded, "I'm really happy that you have such filial piety. Do you need me to do anything for you?"
Xiao Xia asked, "If the medicine shop has any excess medicinal materials, can we sell them to Tongjitang?"
"of course can!"
Yang Lihua smiled and said, "It's just a piece of cake. I'll tell the steward later."
At this time, a middle-aged man in his fifties hurried over. His name was Liu Chen. He used to be the imperial merchant of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Now he was the manager of all Yang Lihua's businesses and was loyal to Yang Lihua.
Liu Chen saluted Xiao Xia, then bowed to Yang Lihua and said, "Princess, please give your orders!"
Yang Lihua pointed at Xiao Xia and said, "My nephew opened a medicinal material purchasing shop in Qingcheng Mountain. You can ask the manager of Tongji Pharmacy to go to Qingcheng Mountain. From now on, all the medicinal materials for this medicine shop will be purchased by us!"
"I understand. What is the name of the pharmacy?"
Xiao Xia hurriedly said, "It's called Baiyun Temple Pharmacy, and it's located in Qingcheng Mountain Town. Although I paid for it, it's actually an asset I donated to Baiyun Temple."
"I understand. I'll arrange it right away!"
"Butler, there is one more thing!"
Yang Lihua pointed to a box of brown sugar and said with a smile: "This is the brown sugar that my nephew made with sugarcane juice. Would you like to try it?"
The maid held up the box and handed it to Liu Chen. Liu Chen took a small piece and tasted it. His eyes lit up and he praised: "This is really good stuff, a hundred times better than Western Region Hu candy!"
"Do you think it's profitable for the company to sell this?"
"It will definitely bring huge profits. Just selling it to the imperial palace will be a big deal! Moreover, there are so many noble ministers and wealthy families in the world. I wonder how much it costs. Can you tell me, sir?"
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "I spent 180 guan to buy 12,000 stalks of sugarcane in Chengdu, and finally made 7,000 kilograms of brown sugar. I guess the labor and freight costs are more expensive than the cost."
Liu Chen laughed and said, "If we transport the sugar to Xiangyang by water, and then transport it to Chang'an from Xiangyang, the freight will be much lower. Your Highness, we can go to Bashu and buy a few manors to grow sugarcane, so that we can control the sugar source of the world."
Yang Lihua nodded and said that she would consider it. She asked the steward to leave first, and then smiled at Xiao Xia, "Didn't the emperor reward you with 1,000 taels of gold? You put this 1,000 taels of gold into my business, and give me the recipe for making sugar, as well as the recipes for a few dishes of your Wanhu Hou Restaurant. I will give you 40% of the share of the Great Zhou Business."
Xiao Xia was shocked. The industries that Yang Lihua inherited from the Northern Zhou Dynasty and created herself were rich enough to rival a country. There were dozens of restaurants in Chang'an and Luoyang alone, as well as hundreds of shops and workshops, docks, warehouses, fleets, etc. It was a huge business empire. He only invested one thousand taels of gold and got a 40% share.
He murmured, "Aunt, this is too much!"
Yang Lihua said softly, "Aunt has no son, only a daughter. In fact, I really want to have a son. Among all my nephews, I like two people. One is your eldest brother Yang Zhao, and the other is you. I once thought that if the emperor grandfather refused to accept you, I would take you in and treat you as my son. Abao, aunt has already treated you as her own child in her heart."
Xiao Xia's nose was sore, and she knelt down to pay her respects to her aunt. "Without my aunt, I would have died in Jiangdu a long time ago. In my heart, my aunt is just like my mother, the mother who loves me the most!"
"Good boy, get up!"
Yang Lihua was pleased and quickly helped him up, stroked his hair and said with a smile: "It's enough that you have this intention. You will always be my good boy, but you must remember that you are a man who stands tall and upright. I give you wealth not to let you indulge in luxury, but to hope that you can use this wealth to make yourself stronger, not just a warrior with strong martial arts. You must have your own power and turn a finger into a fist.
If the clan does not accept you, then you should let them see that you are the real pillar of the Sui Dynasty. Let those who laugh at you and look down on you experience your strength. Even if the prince ascends the throne, he will not dare to harm your father and brother easily."
My aunt was very far-sighted. It turned out that she was arranging a way out for me, my father and my brother. Xiao Xia was moved and bowed deeply again. "Aunt's teachings, Abao will remember them in his heart!"
(End of this chapter)