nashuaworldcup Chapter 491: Lucky Boy
Chapter 491: Lucky Boy
When he arrived at the yamen the next day, before Min Xi even opened his mouth to ask for a meal, his immediate superior, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, spoke up, saying that in order to celebrate Min Xi's safe return, his colleagues in the yamen would hold a banquet to welcome him.
Min Xi said quickly: "Thank you colleagues, but I will treat you to this meal! Let's go to Yunxiang Restaurant at noon. I have already made a reservation."
Anyway, there was nothing to do in the Honglu Temple, so before noon, everyone went to Yunxiang Restaurant. In a restaurant owned by one, one must sit in the best private room. The dishes were also the best, including Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Boiled Cabbage, Wensi Tofu, Roast Chicken, Roast Duck, etc., and the wine was also the best.
The Honglu Temple was a poor government office with little money. Although they were Beijing officials, not many people could afford to eat at the Yunxiang Restaurant, so everyone enjoyed the meal very much.
Min Xi's appetite was not as good as his colleagues. He mainly ate vegetarian dishes and staple foods.
The Minister of the Ministry of Rites saw that he ate little, so he asked, "Why do you eat so little, Lord Min? I see that you are so thin, you should eat more meat."
Min Xi smiled and said, "I have been overseas for more than a year. I have mostly eaten meat and rarely had staple food or vegetables. My stomach has been damaged. I am afraid it will take some time to recover."
Eating too much meat hurts you. This sounds very Versailles, but it is the truth. Everyone can only say: "Lord Min has suffered."
Min Xi waved his hand: "It's okay, everyone, please do as you please, don't worry about me."
After eating a few bites of food, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, who was sitting on Min Xi's left, took the wine pot, poured himself a glass of wine, and poured another glass for Min Xi. Min Xi reacted and quickly said, "Thank you, sir. I'll do it!"
The Minister of the Honglu Temple raised his hand to press Min Xi's hand down: "No problem. This glass of wine is for Lord Min. When you get promoted in the future, don't forget us old colleagues."
Min Xi was stunned when he heard this: "Why do you say that, sir? I have already reached the top of my career as the Left Temple Secretary. There is no possibility of promotion." He was just a juren, and it was an exceptional promotion for him to be the Left Temple Secretary of the sixth rank. It was impossible for him to be promoted any further.
The Minister of the Honglu Temple took a sip of wine and smiled slightly: "It's hard to say. Lord Min has made great contributions on this trip, and promotion is just around the corner."
According to common sense, it is normal for Min Xi to get a promotion and a raise in his situation, but his situation is special and he really can't move up any further. He guessed that the emperor would reward him instead of promoting him.
"Your Excellency is joking!" Min Xi did not take the words of the Minister of the Ministry of Rites seriously.
After lunch, Min Xi asked the driver to take him to the Liuli Shop. It had been almost two years since he left Daming, and he didn't know how the Liuli Factory was doing or whether it had any new products.
Tao Wang, who was accompanying him, told Min Xi what he knew: "Second Master's glass shop is now the most popular shop in the capital. It has launched many new things. Third Master likes to visit the glass shop and goes there almost once a month. The Liuli Factory has also sent many new products to the mansion, which were all collected by Third Master in Xiwei Courtyard. Has Second Master met him?" The Third Master he was referring to was Yun Lin.
Min Xi shook his head: "I haven't noticed it yet."
Tao Wang said, "I think the Third Master has put them in the side room, and he hasn't had time to show them to you and the Master yet."
"Then I'll take a closer look when I get back. Let's go to the shop first today. Then we can find time to go to Liulichang with Big Brother."
Hearing what Tao Wang said, it seems that Liulichang must have made a lot of money in the past two years.
The carriage had to stop before it reached the glass shop because the road ahead was already full of carriages.
Tao Wang opened the curtain, and a cold wind blew in: "Second Master, let's get off here. The carriages ahead should be coming to visit the glass shop."
"Is business so good?" Min Xi asked in surprise.
"The market just opened the day before yesterday, so there must be a lot of customers these past two days," Tao Wang explained.
Min Xi just remembered that according to traditional customs, the sixth day of the first lunar month is the day when all businesses open for business. No wonder there are so many people these two days.
Min Xi grabbed the hem of his fox fur coat and got off the carriage, following the crowd. When he arrived at the glass shop, he was surprised by the scene in front of him. The glass shop was no longer the shop he remembered. The shop originally had only one storefront, but now it has expanded to three storefronts, and both the left and right stores have been bought.
Even so, the shop was still crowded with people, all of them were customers who came to buy things, including men, women, young and old.
The layout of the Liuli Shop is quite different from that of other shops. The display shelves inside are all inlaid with glass, so you can see the full picture of the merchandise from all directions.
Min Xi found that there were many new products in the shop, including magnifying glasses, telescopes, exquisite dressing boxes inlaid with mirrors of various shapes, katydid cages made of transparent glass, glass lamps, glass vases, etc. The products were so dazzling that people were overwhelmed. Moreover, the workmanship was getting more and more exquisite, making people love them.
Min Xi called a waiter and asked him to walk around with him and asked about the prices. The waiter in charge of reception was new and didn't know Min Xi. Seeing that Min Xi only asked about the prices but didn't buy anything, he was a little unhappy, but he still suppressed his temper and patiently answered his questions, but his attitude was not very enthusiastic.
Min Xi walked to the counter and tapped it with his fingers: "Boss Niu, long time no see, I hope you are well!"
Shopkeeper Niu was collecting money behind the counter. When he heard Min Xi's voice, he looked up suddenly: "Boss? Boss! You are finally back! When did you come back?"
The waiter who was in charge of receiving Min Xi was about to leave to receive other guests, but when he heard what the shopkeeper said, he was startled and turned to look at Min Xi, who smiled and replied, "I came back on the fourth day of the New Year. I had a lot of things to do, so I only had time to come and look around today. Is the business in the store good? I noticed that the store has doubled in size."
When the servant heard this, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was a close call. Fortunately, he did not embarrass his boss, otherwise he would be in big trouble.
"Thanks to the boss, our glass is the only one of its kind in the whole capital, and our business is really good." Shopkeeper Niu smiled and invited Min Xi into the inner hall, enthusiastically made tea for him, and took out the account books of the past two years to show Min Xi.
Min Xi took a rough look at the last number in the account book. The turnover was astonishing. The total annual revenue of this shop in the capital alone was nearly one million taels. This was completely beyond his expectations.
Min Xi asked: "Is this the income of the shop, or the income of the entire Liulichang?"
"To answer your question, sir, this is the income of the shop. However, many merchants from other places come to Liulichang to purchase glass products, and they all go through the shop's account. There are also some merchants who directly connect with Liulichang, and the payment for the goods is also settled at Liulichang. But in general, our shop still mainly relies on it." Shopkeeper Niu explained.
From this point of view, the annual revenue of the Liulichang in the capital is as high as one million taels, and the production scale should have expanded by more than double, otherwise it would not be able to produce so many products.
If the Liulichang in Beijing is like this, what about the Liulichang in Yingtianfu? They should make a lot of money, after all, people in the south are richer than those in the north.
At this moment, Min Xi finally experienced the pleasure of technological monopoly. He counted money until his hands cramped.
According to a rough estimate, after deducting the cost, the two Liulichangs could earn a total of one million taels of silver each year. Wanli must have been very happy with so much silver, after all, he was the major shareholder of Liulichang and received 90% of the profits.
Looking at it this way, he really was Wanli's fortune-making boy. He was so good at making money that even if Wanli wanted to liquidate Zhang Juzheng's faction in the future, he would not do anything to him. Min Xi felt that he had two more points of insurance.