jdhmnovel Chapter 265 Talking about Business 1
Chapter 265 Talking about Business 1
Their own two carriages were relatively simple, but the six carriages provided to them by Mu Hanzhi were different.
Gu Wenxuan and Bai Jingzhou had already discovered that three of the carriages provided to them by Mu Hanzhi not only had benches with thick cushions fixed to the carriage, but also had small tables with grooves fixed to the bottom of the carriage that could be used to place small items such as teapots, teacups, and snack boxes.
There is a movable varnished baffle under the bench. When the baffle is pulled open, the space inside can be used to store boxes, bags, bedding, etc. The secret compartment under the table can be used to store small items such as food and books.
Mu Hanzhi also had three new sets of matching teapots and teacups sent over. Bai Jingzhou opened them and found that the water outlet of the teapot sent by Mu Hanzhi was higher than that of ordinary teapots, and the teacup was not of a common style, but was a little higher than ordinary teacups. This was probably to prevent the tea from spilling out due to the shaking of the carriage.
This configuration was obviously specially prepared for long-distance travel. Gu Wenxuan pointed at the three carriages and said to Bai Jingzhou, "These three are for passengers, and the others are for transporting things."
Among their group, the only ones who could not ride horses and could only sit in cars for a long time were Lin's mother, Lin's elder sister, Lin's younger sister and the two coachmen picked by Gu Wenxuan from the farm. Regardless of the riding skills of the others, they could trot at any rate.
After much thought, Gu Wenxuan arranged Lin's father and mother, Lin's eldest brother and his wife, and their two sons and one daughter in one car, arranged herself, her cousin, her second and third brothers, Bai Jingzhou, Bai Jingshan, and Ning Qirui in one car, and arranged Fang Youfu's six brothers and Yang Wandong in one car.
Of course, except for the Lin family, everyone else had to drive the car, explore the way, and perform protection duties along the way, and they would not sit in the car all the time.
Gu Wenxuan picked out two skilled coachmen from the farm and sent them to the two carts loaded with earthenware, to be responsible for driving those two carts.
Gu Wenxuan arranged Fang Youfu to be responsible for driving and escorting the Lin family's carriage throughout the journey.
Fang Yougui and Fang Yougen were responsible for driving and escorting their own two cars. Of course, their main target of protection was not Gu Wenxuan and others who had the ability to protect themselves, but the valuables that they carried with them.
As for the three carriages that contained books, bedding, spare food and other miscellaneous items, Gu Wenxuan arranged Fang Youcai, Fang Youshun and Fang Youliang to be responsible for driving and guarding the entire journey.
Gu Wenxuan and Bai Jingzhou were responsible for leading Jia Yuelan, Bai Jingshan and the others to explore the way, cover the rear, deal with outsiders, and be ready for all kinds of emergencies...as well as replacing the Fang brothers regularly so that they could have enough time to rest every day.
All the arrangements were made, and Gu Wenxuan and her companions left Baijia Village in a mighty procession, reluctantly seen off by their families as well as Bai Lizheng and other people with whom they had a very good relationship.
Their first stop was the provincial capital. They drove for two days from Baijia Village through Liulin Town and Qingshan County, getting up early and going to bed late. The group paid the money and entered the provincial capital of Xingzhou before the sun set and the city gates closed.
More than half of them were seeing a prosperous city like the provincial capital for the first time, and the younger ones instantly became dumbfounded.
The shock began when they saw the towering city walls, was stimulated by the bustling interior of the city, and was finally completely aroused when they saw the house bestowed by the emperor on Bai Jingzhou and the magnificent scene inside the house.
A group of young boys and girls looked left and right, and occasionally let out a deliberately suppressed exclamation from their mouths. It was very interesting to watch.
Everyone settled down in the house, washed, changed their clothes, took a short rest, and then went to Mu Hanzhi's place at noon the next day.
Mu Hanzhi hosted a banquet to entertain everyone, while Bai Jingzhou and Gu Wenxuan gave Mu Hanzhi's family the generous gifts they had prepared long ago.
Mu Hanzhi was very interested in the bean curd sheets, fermented bean curd, dried tofu, bean curd sheets and other items they sent, as well as the fried dough sticks they brought with them for eating on the road, and asked to buy the recipe.
Bai Jingzhou gave these things to him with the intention of making a small fortune from them. He said to Mu Hanzhi, "I have already given the recipes of bean curd sticks, fermented bean curd, dried tofu, and bean curd sheets to my second uncle's family. If you want to buy some, I have to send someone back to ask for the opinions of my second uncle's family."
The production of these things is not complicated. Mu Hanzhi is willing to pay for them instead of taking samples for research privately, which shows that he is a kind person. Bai Jingzhou naturally has to return the favor.
He sent Bai Jingshan and Fang Youfu back to tell his second uncle's family, "...You can decide what to do. If you want to sell it, sign this deed. If you don't want to sell it, I will reject the deal for you."
What he discussed with Mu Hanzhi was not a one-time deal of selling the prescription directly, but a long-term business of using the prescription as a stake and receiving 20% of the dividends from the Mu family every year.
Mu Hanzhi had not originally added the term of "ten years" to the contract. He was rich and wanted to make friends with Bai Jingzhou, so he naturally would not show his shrewd nature as a businessman in such small details.
But Bai Jingzhou was not a man without ideas. After choosing the method of investing in the company by means of the prescription, he immediately proposed that they would only receive the dividends for ten years. After ten years, the prescription would completely belong to the Mu family.
Of course, he and his second uncle's family still have the right to use it.
He insisted, and Mu Hanzhi also knew that Bai Jingzhou's approach was the best. The two of them talked back and forth, and finally Mu Hanzhi compromised.
After the contract was drafted, Bai Jingzhou read it carefully before having it sent back to Baijia Village to ask for the opinions of Bai Erbo's family.
During the days of waiting for the reply from Uncle Bai Er, Bai Jingzhou and Gu Wenxuan were not idle either. Every day, Gu Wenxuan would take people who had nothing to do to wander around the city, while Bai Jingzhou would be invited to the Mu Mansion by the Mu Hanzhi brothers almost every day.
While Gu Wenxuan was enjoying herself, she said to her brother, "Your study tour has already started the moment you left Baijia Village. Just do what you need to do."
Mu Hanzhi avoided his silly brother who was still naive, and talked to Bai Jingzhou about the cotton matter in private.
Those powerful people fought for the cotton seeds, but in the end the emperor gave none of them. "Everyone wants them, and it's not appropriate for me to give them to anyone first. It's better to give them all to the Ministry of Agriculture."
After making the decision, the emperor specially appointed the crown prince to be responsible for supervising this matter.
Like the emperor, the prince attached great importance to the promotion of cotton planting. Not only did he ask the emperor for Mu Hanzhi, who was familiar with the matter, to come and help, but he also personally led a group of managers from the Sinong Temple to mark out five large plots of land in Xingzhou and surrounding counties whose soil and climate met the requirements for cotton planting.