Chapter Sixteen: Xu's Management

  If we say the two most famous Xu Ge Lao of the Ming Dynasty, it is undoubtedly Xu Jie and Xu Guangqi.

  Both were from Songjiang Prefecture, but Xu Jie was from Huating County and Xu Guangqi was from Shanghai County, and they did not have a direct familial relationship. Of course, when people mention "Xu Ge Lao" now, it must be referring to Xu Jie without a doubt, because Xu Guangqi's father had not even been born yet.

  Xu Jie's life was full of twists and turns. As a young man, he was a prodigy, in his youth, he was a radical, in middle age, he was thick-skinned and black-hearted, and in old age, he held power as a prime minister. Xu Yuanzuo couldn't understand why later generations preferred to dramatize Zhang Juzheng while ignoring Xu Jie, when clearly Xu Jie's life story was more interesting, and from the perspective of the struggle for power among Ming dynasty officials, Xu Jie was an important figure who connected the past and the future.

  He was a protégé of Xia Yan, and after Xia Yan was overthrown and killed by Yan Song, he curried favor with Yan Song. In the end, he overthrew Yan Song himself and cultivated the last prime minister of the Ming Dynasty - Zhang Juzheng.

  In Xuyuan Zuo's view, Xu Jie is absolutely capable of being among the top group of wise and intelligent strategists in China's 5,000-year history.

  Now going to his house for an interview is just like receiving a job interview notice from HSBC before graduation!

  In the second year of the Longqing era, Xu Jie, the old man of the Xu Temple, should have just retired.

  Xu Yuansuo walked while digging deep in his mind: not only had he just resigned, but also faced the counterattack of Gao Gong, and the entire Xu party was like a startled bird.

  This should be his most embarrassing moment!

  Xu Yuansuo was delighted. To leave a deep and good impression on others, it is easiest to do so when they are ill or in a low state. Although Xu Jie had already retired, at his age, he would not have a chance to make a comeback, but the words of a retired official were enough to send this ordinary citizen to heaven!

  This is what you call a real noble person helping!

  Xu Yuansuo suddenly felt a blur in front of his eyes and hastily stopped in his tracks, almost bumping into Lu Fuzi.

  Lu Fu Zi turned around and said, "This is Xu Guan Shi's residence. You wait at the door for a while." He was afraid that Xu Yuan Zuo didn't have experience with social etiquette, so he instructed him on two sentences of propriety before going forward to knock on the door.

  Youzi came out and opened the door, asking Lufuzi to enter. He used his eyes to signal to Xu Shi's father and son to move aside a bit, so as not to block the main gate.

  Xu Yuansuo took a look at the clothes on that person's body and found them to be not bad either, it can be seen that Xu's family is indeed worthy of being called the number one family in Songjiang.

  Xu He seemed to have realized that he would never get the chance, and his expression was somewhat lost. Xu Yuanshu looked at his father's appearance and felt a little unbearable, after all, there is still a unified continuity between spirit and body!

  Just as he was about to comfort this somewhat unreliable father, the Xu family's gate creaked open.

  "Xu Yuansuo?" Mengzi's gaze fell on Xu He, seemingly thinking he was a bit too old. He looked at Xu He again, but then thought he seemed a bit too small.

  "Yes, yes, it's Xiao Ke." Xu Yuansu hastily stepped forward, and in that instant, he understood the power of genes.

  Like father, like son!

  Xu Yuansuo hastily gathered his thoughts and didn't let Xu He's shadow leak out.

  "Come with me." Mengzi stared at Xu Yuansuo and said, in other words, he was telling Xu He to wait outside.

  Xu He's whole face scrunched up, and he shrunk into a corner by himself to lick his wounds.

  Xu Yuansuo didn't have time to comfort his father's wounded heart and followed Menzi into the gate.

  As soon as you enter the gate, it is a sedan hall. Although not large, it is a functional building that must be present in a wealthy family. Xu Yuansuo followed the door son through the front yard and did not enter the main hall, but turned into a moon gate, where mountains and vines came into view.

  This courtyard is quite elegant!

  Xu Yuansuo quickly turned his eyes, sizing up the garden. Due to the lack of tourists, the garden was filled with fragrant flowers and birdsong, winding paths and secluded pavilions, which were even more charming than those famous historical gardens crowded with people in later times.

  Lu Fu Zi and Xu Guan Shi Xu Cheng Zheng were sitting in the flower hall chatting.

  "Come on, come on, this is the student I recommend, Xu Yuansuo." Lu Fuzi said with a wave of his hand as he saw Xu Yuansuo.

  Xu Yuansuo looked at Xu Cheng, seeing that he had a three-braided long beard, with a face as calm as jade, although there were some wrinkles, but it didn't make him look old, on the contrary, it gave people a feeling of being rich in experience and reliable. If one didn't know that he was a servant of the Xu family and couldn't take the imperial examination, anyone would suspect that the person sitting here was an elegant and refined scholar-official.

  "Master Xu." Xuyuan Zuo hastily stepped forward to pay his respects, using the most polite form of address. Anyway, in a few more years, the terms of address on this side of Jiangnan would be all mixed up, and anyone could be called "master" or "sir".

  It's just shouting out loud, and actually it's just following the trend of fashion.

  Mr. Xu was indeed delighted: "This is the clansman of our family's old master!"

  Xu Yuansuo was suddenly frightened and his legs went soft.

  Even as a later generation, it is known that in the Ming Dynasty, which attaches great importance to family names and genealogy, it is not possible to randomly acknowledge relatives. Especially for small families to attach themselves to large families, not only will they be ridiculed, but also bring about extreme disgust. If one encounters a large family with moral integrity, even if they don't feel that their ancestors are being tarnished, they will think that such people are ignorant of their heritage and absolutely cannot be associated with!

  Xu Yuansuo knew without guessing that it was Lu Fuzi who said it, and naturally he couldn't immediately argue back, feeling like he had gotten into some trouble.

  "I heard your family is having some difficulties lately?" Xu Cheng said again.

  Xu Yuansuo gritted his teeth and said: "So I'm asking Guan Shi for a job."

  Xu Cheng nodded: "Do you know what's the biggest business of our Xu family?"

  "Cotton cloth?" Xu Yuansuo ventured. He only found out today that Lu Fuzi had arranged for him to marry into the wealthy Xu family, where would he have the energy to do homework?

  Xu Cheng smiled and said: "Actually, our family's cotton business is secondary. The biggest business is actually Songjiang rice."

  Xu Yuansuo suddenly enlightened.

  Songjiang Prefecture is the largest cotton cloth exporting region in the country, and probably also in the world at present. At the same time, it is also the largest grain importing region in the country. However, later generations, when mentioning the development of Suzhou's handicraft industry squeezing agriculture, often cite data from the late Wanli period - at that time, the local grain production in Suzhou can almost be ignored.

  In fact, Songjiang rice is of very good quality and was once a tribute rice to the imperial court.

  "But you can say cotton cloth, it's not bad either." Xu Cheng said with a straight face: "Because the income from rice has gradually weakened, while the income from cotton cloth is increasing day by day. In three to five years, I'm afraid the Xu family will specialize in cotton cloth and also engage in rice business." He changed his tone: "Do you know what kind of business I am in charge of in the Xu family?"

  Xu Yuansuo secretly sized up Xu Cheng, making a rough calculation in his mind: looking at his pale face and long beard, he was obviously not someone who often came to the land. However, seeing the desolation in his expression, earlier when talking about the big rise in cloth prices, there wasn't even a hint of excitement, neither was it a case of being extremely cautious nor intentionally suppressing it, it could be seen that he had little connection with the Xu family's cotton business.

  Xiao Ke doesn't know." Xu Yuanshuo said honestly.

  "Yes, how did you know?" Xu Cheng's tone was low and dry, pausing for a moment before continuing: "I'm in charge of the least noticeable business of the Xu family, this old mansion."

  Xu Yuansuo felt slightly relieved. However, the land inside the city was worth its weight in gold, and a single official could accumulate such a large mansion, which was really frightening.

  Xu Cheng sighed: "There is also a new empty and uninhabited house."

  Xu Yuansuo was somewhat perplexed, if it was just like this, why bother recruiting him as a partner? Although he had not been in the Ming Dynasty for long, people of this era drew a clear distinction between public and private matters. In business, they used public personnel, while in their personal lives, they used private individuals. Private individuals might be converted to public use, but public personnel could not enter the inner courtyard to help with household chores.

  Could it be that Master Lu has sold me into slavery to the Xu family? This is utterly absurd.