The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 179 Killing Two Birds with One Stone Unbelievable

From the back door of Xizhou Duhu Mansion, a deep alley leads directly to several courtyards in Chang'anfang. Probably because most of the courtyards are vacant, there are few people coming and going in the alley on weekdays. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, it was the day when the Duhu Mansion had just opened its offices and people were at their most relaxed. In the alley before noon, there was no sound at all. Therefore, when someone walked all the way from the back door of the government office to the depths of the alley, the sound of thumping boots echoed more clearly among the high walls of the alley.

Xiaofu had been waiting at the door for a long time. When she heard the sound, she hurriedly opened the door.

The tall man standing at the door, wearing a dark green round-collared robe, nodded to her with a faint expression, and stepped into the yard. The door creaked shut, and after a moment, the door of a courtyard diagonally opposite quietly opened. A boy of sixteen or seventeen years old stepped out and hurried to the other end of the alley, his soft-soled boots making no sound. Issued to.

After turning a corner, the young man ran from the alley to the main road. After walking a few more steps, he entered a door painted in vermilion. He went all the way in and entered the upper room in the inner courtyard. He opened the curtain and whispered, "Your Majesty." , people have already entered."

Qu Chongyu was wearing a crimson cross-collar robe. Even though it was the New Year's Day, his face was obviously lighter and more sharp-edged. When he heard this return, a pleasant smile appeared on his face. , picked up the wine glass in front of him, "It's time for me to entertain that Juro Anjia."

Feng Piaopiao was also wearing a bright red dress. She smiled and bowed, "Yu Lang kills two birds with one stone. He has a clever plan. I admire him very much."

Qu Chongyu raised his eyebrows slightly impatiently, "Why are you so full of flattery? I am worthy of being called a clever strategist. I'm afraid I have been fooled for so long, and today I am just asking for some interest!" He put down the wine glass. , stood up, and walked towards the study room in the front yard with fluttering clothes.

 In the study, Anjuro was sitting a little impatiently, raising his head and looking around at the layout of the study. Most houses in Xizhou are just plastered with a layer of yellow coarse mud, and the more sophisticated ones are plastered with light yellow fine mud. Only wealthy families like An Jia use white fine mud, but Qu Chongyu's study is plastered with white mud. There was a faint hint of blue inside, and there seemed to be some strange fragrance. Anjuro was about to get closer and take a closer look, when he heard footsteps outside the house, the dark blue door curtain was lifted, and Qu Chongyu was holding a book in his hand, smiling. He walked in and said, "I'm really sorry. I suddenly had some mundane matters to deal with and kept Juro waiting for a long time."

Anjuro hurriedly stood up and bowed respectfully, "I don't dare to act like this. I've seen the crown prince before."

Qu Chongyu smiled softly and said, "Just sit down and talk. Why are you so polite to me?"

Anjuro sat down as he was told, and felt a little nervous: Prince Ko suddenly called him from the market. He thought he had something urgent to give, but he didn't expect him to be left alone for so long. Just when he was about to ask, Qu Chongyu had already opened the book in his hand with a smile. When Anjuro saw the familiar layout, his heart sank slightly: Here he comes!

Qu Chongyu paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Juro also recognized it, right? Chongyu accidentally saw this calendar a few days ago and liked it very much. After asking about it, he found out that Juro was selling it, but he didn't know that this calendar was sold by Juro. How do you make it and why is it so neat? Please give me some advice."

Anjuro calmed down, raised his head and said with a smile, "Actually, it's very simple. Just use a wooden board to carve out the words first, and then use ink to print on the paper." Shou Yue had already said that Ko Chongyu might find his head. , then the obvious things will be stated bluntly.

Qu Chongyu nodded, his tone becoming more and more elegant, "I guess that's the case, but Juro also knows that I am the most curious person. I have tried to carve it with wood in the past two days, but I can't find the trick. How should I make this word?" Print the reverse text on the board. What kind of wood can withstand the erosion of the knife and ink? "Can Juro teach me?"

How could he ask so confidently? Looking at Ko Chongyu's smiling face, Anjuro suddenly didn't know what to say.

Qu Chongyu waited quietly for a while, then chuckled and raised his eyebrows, "Why, Juro refused to give me advice? Don't worry, Chongyu will never let you teach me in vain. As long as Juro tells the truth, Chongyu will give you advice." How about a reward of hundreds of dollars?”

 Hundred gold? Anjuro quickly calculated in his mind that he got more than 700 gold from selling the calendar this time. After excluding more than 300 pieces of jute paper, dozens of pieces of pine smoke ink, plus the cost of labor and materials, he got about 80 gold. But if After telling Qu Chongyu the secret of this engraving, with his manpower, material and financial resources, how could he possibly get involved in this business? Thinking of Pei Xingjian's previous instructions, he bowed his head respectfully and said with a smile, "To be fair to you, I am not very clear about this matter. I still need to ask others for advice on some things."

Qu Chongyu nodded and smiled, "That's fine. Juro can just discuss it with them. Chongyu is always waiting for good news."

After walking out of Ko Chongyu's mansion, Anjuro stood at a loss for a while. His first thought was to find Liuli - he didn't know exactly what kind of wood board to use and how to transfer it. Everything was transported from the back room. If there is anything special about coming here, I think only Liuli knows about it! Pei Xingjian never asked about this business matter, Liuli always discussed it with him... Anjuro raised his legs and walked towards Qushui Fang. After walking a few steps, he suddenly remembered Pei Xingjian's instructions and turned around to go to the Protectorate.

Seeing that it was almost noon, the servants of the Duhu Mansion had their own places to receive their meals. Among the officials who did not like to eat the food of the government office, some went directly back to their homes only a few steps away, while others made appointments in twos and twos. Go to a restaurant or restaurant outside for a small gathering. This was the first time Anjuro came to the Governor's Mansion to look for Pei Xingjian. After asking all the way, he found the Chang Shi's room, but saw that the door was closed and there was no one there.

 A man who looked like a handyman came over and glanced sideways at Anjuro. Anjuro hurriedly folded his hands and asked, "May I ask if you know where Pei Changshi has gone?"

The servant looked him up and down, and then said lazily, "Pei Changshi is not in the house at the moment!" Anjuro was stunned for a moment, stood there uneasily in a daze for a while, then turned around and walked out. The servant suddenly bluffed He jumped and said hurriedly, "What do you want from Chang Shi?"

Anjuro had something on his mind, so he just waved his hand and hurriedly walked out with his head lowered. The handyman wanted to catch up, so he took two hurried steps and stopped - how could he catch up and tell others that Pei Changshi had gone to the back door, and that he had gone to the back door since he was young? Do you often go to the toilet? After staying for a long time, he had no choice but to walk in the other direction dejectedly.

Just a few minutes later, Anjuro appeared in front of Liuli with his breath still unsettled. Hearing him explain the matter again, Liuli was a little stunned. She lowered her head and thought for a long time before saying decisively, "Promise him!"

Anjuro almost couldn't believe his ears and hurriedly said, "How could this happen? You also know that this year's calendar alone has made eighty gold profits. How can you give up all these tricks for a mere hundred gold?" Did you tell Prince Qu?"

Liuli sighed, "Juro, the secret to this matter is actually not much, but they didn't think of Jiavali coming up for a moment. The wooden boards we use are all pear wood that has been soaked for several months and then thoroughly dried in Jiavali's shop. Ordinary wood is much tougher, and there will be no cracks or breaks when the characters are carved. The model characters are also written on thin paper specially used by Jia Valer shop, so that the writing can be clearly seen on the reverse side. These two items If others can't think of it at the moment, is it possible that they can't think of it in their lifetime? There are many skilled craftsmen in Qu Chongyu. Sooner or later, they will figure out these two points. What should we bargain with him? "

"You turn around and tell him, a hundred gold is worth a hundred gold, but there are two points. First, we don't care if he prints Buddhist scriptures, and we won't do it, but he is also not allowed to interfere in the business of historical records; second, we will need it in the future. Use one or two master craftsmen who can make mechanisms and ask them to help us. "

Anjuro couldn't help but slap his thigh, "Exactly, I've been so busy these days, why didn't I think of printing Buddhist scriptures! If this Buddhist scriptures are printed, it will really be a big business."

Looking up to meet Liuli's helpless eyes, he couldn't help but be startled. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, and his mood gradually became depressed. "We're afraid we don't have such a large manpower to print Buddhist scriptures." They are no better than Qu Chongyu, who has a workshop in Xizhou. As a backing, we can legitimately recruit craftsmen to come in. They only have four carvers and seven or eight engravers. If you want to print a slightly thicker Buddhist scripture, I'm afraid it will take half a year to complete the engraving, and Maybe Qu Chongyu had figured out the trick by then!

Anjuro became more and more frustrated the more he thought about it, and couldn't help but said, "Since Qu Chongyu will know the secret sooner or later, I'm afraid he won't agree if we mention these two things."

Liuli smiled and shook his head, "I guess he will probably agree. Sooner or later, he will be able to figure out the secret. In Dunhuang and Tingzhou, no one else can think of it? The reason why he is in a hurry to find you now is to grab time. Let's get it as soon as possible Tell him that he can print the Buddhist scriptures as soon as possible. Only by being earlier than others can he make a lot of money. We can't do this business anyway. We can make hundreds of gold without spending a penny, and we can guarantee our future in Xizhou. If you specialize in chronicles, you can still get a favor from him, so why not do it? "

Anjuro nodded repeatedly, admiring him in his heart, "Madam, if you are a man of the An family, the future treasure of this clan will definitely be yours!" After saying that, he stood up, "I will talk to Qu Chongyu now!"

This time, when he arrived at Qu Chongyu's residence, he saw Qu Chongyu immediately. He talked and laughed with Yan Yan. Within half an hour, he had settled all the details. Qu Chongyu actually walked him to the door in person and watched him off. He left, and when he turned back, he walked into the backyard with a gloomy face.

Feng Piaopiao had been waiting at the door for a long time. When she saw Qu Chongyu's face, she couldn't help being frightened, "Your Majesty, didn't Anjuro accept a hundred gold pieces from you? Why..."

Qu Chongyu sneered, "He answered happily, but he just proposed that he would not do Buddhist scripture business in the future, and we would not do calendar business. He also said that he would lend him two great craftsmen."

Feng Piaopiao thought for a moment and became more and more puzzled, "What happened to the great craftsman is a bit strange, but wasn't the first one something you had expected a long time ago, my lord?"

Qu Chongyu looked up at the sky with his hands behind his hands. His expression was unclear for a while, and he said after a while, "I have thought that if I hadn't seen that the handwriting on the calendar must have come from a famous person, it would be impossible to think of Anjuro no matter what. I had anticipated this change and asked someone to calculate the chronology before leaving Chang'an, let alone come up with such a wonderful and rigid method. I'm afraid I still think Pei Shouyue is a vulgar thing, but I am still a little unsure about him. Was it a sudden inspiration or a long-term plan that led him to think of this method today? Firstly, it would make Juro Anjia find out that he often goes to the back alley and make him suspicious; secondly, he would also find out what kind of person he is! If you are smart, you will most likely expect that I want to print Buddhist scriptures, agree to this, and also propose an exclusive calendar business. "

Feng Piaopiao said curiously, "Didn't you get it right, Prince..."

Qu Chongyu glanced at her coldly, "But Anjuro, I didn't see Pei Shouyue at all just now!"

  There will be another update before 8pm today.

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 (End of this chapter)