Seventy, sly role

  "What? The first batch of cotton... has arrived?"

  Yu Guozhen put down the manuscript he was writing and asked in surprise, this news really shocked him.

  Now, the Xiliu Bieyuan has entered a period of rapid development, with sufficient silver coins giving him enough financial resources to support his development plans. These things he just found craftsmen to express his own ideas and then completely handed over to the craftsmen to explore, while he himself was busy writing manuscripts.

  Liu Ru carefully put away his manuscript and wrote a number with a brush in the lower right corner of the paper.

  "Yes, young master, Mr. Xu didn't come himself, but he sent someone who is waiting outside."

  "Let him in." Yu Guozhen said: "No, I'll go out instead. I'm going to the dock to take a look."

  He was sent by the Xu family, a younger brother of the clan, who looked very honest and humble. When he saw Yu Guozhen, he paid his respects and his face was full of gratitude: "Master Yu, Brother Zhongyuan asked me to pay his respects to you and wish you good health..."

  "Ah, ah." Yu Guozhen hadn't expected to be called "Your Old Man", and after a brief moment of stunned silence, he quickly helped him up, his face full of smiles: "I don't know how to address you, sir, and what is your relationship with Mr. Xu?"

  "Xu Xing woke up in the lower part of the city, his surname was Su, and he was the younger cousin of Zhong Yun."

  "So it was Mr. Geng Su."

  "I dare not, I dare not, Master Yu still calls me by my name Xu Xing." Xu Xing's heart was a bit panicked. When his brother mentioned Yu Guozhen, he used one word to evaluate him: "deep and unpredictable". But since he started dealing with Yu Guozhen, he felt that this person was humble and courteous, very easy to get along with.

  He certainly believed in his brother's evaluation, and it was precisely because of this that Yu Guozhen's enthusiasm made him feel ashamed.

  "Mr. Su, how much cotton did you bring this time?"

  Yu Guozhen was extremely delighted in his heart, and even a bit surprised, because behind Xu Xing's back, there were more than ten ships docked at the simple wharf, although they weren't ocean-going vessels. If these ships were all loaded with cotton, that would be enough to support the newly built spinning mill for a long time.

  "There were ten ships of cotton, about a thousand bales."

  A package of cotton is about 160 catties, this weight can make the most use of strong labor, one thousand packages are sixteen hundred thousand catties, Yu Guozhen couldn't help but smack his tongue, and in just twelve days, Xu Lin had assembled so much cotton and even delivered it to Xiang'an, his ability to take action was extremely strong, completely unlike a scholar of this era.

  "Then what about Mr. Zhongyuan? Why doesn't he have a future?"

  "In these twelve days, my elder brother has been rushing about without stopping, first to the Shandong Provincial Administration and then to Huating in Songjiang Prefecture, only resting until the day before yesterday. He is currently in the rear and will hurry here to meet Master Yu in two days."

  "There's no need to rush, go back and tell him to rest for two more days." Yu Guozhen turned his head and said to Gao Buping: "Old Gao, bring the family guards here, let's unload the goods first, also, ask Xiaolian and Ruxi to come over."

  Summoning Xiao Lian and Liu Ruo Si was because they were going to move the silver, Yu Guo Zhen had only given Xu Lin a deposit of 1,000 taels of silver at first, originally thinking that he could get three to five million catties of cotton, but unexpectedly, he actually transported 16 million catties of cotton!

  At the current production speed of the other factory, these 160,000 catties of cotton can probably meet the needs for more than three months.

  Naturally, for now it's just production, machinery and workers all need to be honed, Yu Guozhen estimates that in three months, 1.6 million kilograms of rapeseed flowers may only be enough for two months' consumption, and in half a year, it's possible to complete one month's worth.

  That is the power of machinery, even if it's just a simple waterwheel machine.

  After handing over 10,000 taels of silver, Xu Xing was afraid of something unexpected and declined Yu Guozhen's invitation to rest for a while. He insisted on leaving immediately. Yu Guozhen did not detain him and was quite impressed by the execution ability of the Xu brothers.

  Just as Xu Xing was about to board the ship, a small boat slowly came along the West River. A man in official uniform got off the boat and looked around before quickly recognizing Yu Guozhen. He hastily came forward to pay his respects: "Young Master Yu!"

  He was surprised, Yu Guozhen slightly stunned, these runners went to the countryside, always made a show of their power and fortune, when they met, they would immediately pay their respects, it's what people call a weasel wishing a chicken a happy new year, with no good intentions.

  "Mr. Su, I have something to attend to here, so I won't see you off any further." He bowed his hand towards Xuxing on the dock.

  "Stay, Young Master Yu has great kindness, our Xu family will never forget this favor!" Xu Xing said.

  After the fleet of Xu Xing left, Yu Guozhen turned to that runner, and just now he had deliberately kept a distance from him. That runner didn't have any resentment on his face, but instead, his face almost burst out laughing with joy.

  "Who are you and how did you recognize me?" Yu Guozhen asked.

  "The little man surnamed Dong, with a humble name containing the character Qing, at the behest of the venerable old master of Fengzhou, delivered an invitation to Young Master Yu. The bailiff stood up in response: 'Young Master Yu's reputation is as vast and peaceful as the realm of nothingness; in the state of Wu, there are many who do not know the venerable Governor, but none who do not know Young Master Yu!'"

  This guy's words are quite eloquent, and after a round of flattering, if it were someone else, they might have been so pleased that they would have forgotten what was going on. Gao Biao took the letter from his hand and handed it to Yu Guozhen, who looked at it for two seconds before asking in surprise: "That old gentleman, the prefectural judge, why did he ask me to come and chat with him?"

  "It's actually because the two Shanxi merchants' followers reported Yu Gongzi in the state city last time." The runner lowered his voice: "The ignorant Shanxi people thought they could avenge Yu Gongzi like this, but were slapped by the governor of the state."

  Yu Guozhen was not entirely unaware of this matter, but his current manpower and resources were still limited, so he only spread his intelligence network to Wuwei and Luzhou. He couldn't possibly know everything like the legendary Jin Yiwei, he could only keep an eye on the government office to see if there was any movement. The things that Wang Fan's two families had reported about him didn't bother him at all. If it weren't for the fact that Zhangjiakou, where the roots of these two families lay, was too far from Xiang'an, he would have considered taking action against them. Traitors who sold out their ancestors' wealth should naturally be taken by him to use for the cause of reviving China.

  So he knew that the Wang and Fan families were driven out by the county magistrate, and then went to the prefecture to file a complaint, as a result of which they were beaten. But since the beating has already taken place, why did the prefect still want him to go and have a conversation?

  Thinking of the nickname "smelling money" in that state, Yu Guozhen probably had an idea in his heart. Since he had already shown his kindness, now it should be time to collect a good fee from him.

  "Does the governor summon me for this matter?"

  "On the surface, it's just a matter of asking Young Master Yu to go through the motions and show that Lord Wen has already inquired about this matter. In reality... it's actually time to congratulate Young Master Yu."

  "Oh, where does this joy come from?"

  "Ah, I did hear the real reason why Master Yu was invited by the adults... Hehe, since I've come all this way to report the good news, Young Master should at least reward me a bit."

  That official smiled and said this, without any pretence, and it really looked like a beggar coming to ask for rewards. Yu Guozhen's eyes slightly raised: "If it's good news, shouldn't there be some drumming and music?"

  "Haha, with the drumming and music, I'll bring it next time... thank you, thank you!"

  Gao stuffed a small silver ingot into the palm of the officer, who weighed it and found it to be about one or two liang. He was overjoyed and immediately knelt down to kowtow again. As he did so, his movements were smooth and practiced, clearly indicating that he was accustomed to kowtowing: "It's like this, the county magistrate has heard of your name, Young Master Hu, and it just so happens that there is a niece in his family who is young and beautiful, knowledgeable about books and etiquette, as lovely as a flower, with a voice as sweet as a canary, and a face as delicate as a lotus... Her figure is slender and elegant like a willow branch... And... oh, her feet are three inches long, dainty and charming..."

  At first, the bailiff spoke quite smoothly, but later he became somewhat hesitant. Yu Guozhen watched him with interest, but when he heard "Jin Lian San Cun", Yu Guozhen's eyebrows immediately furrowed slightly.

  His lifelong major events, indeed must be considered, not that he is eager for color, but he knows that he is now just a small person, those real big people can crush his small career at will. And the big man likes to manipulate others' fate, maybe like this Wen Zhou judge, wanting to stuff some woman into him.

  No wonder Erbo and Wushu hinted vaguely last time that they would be prepared for this. Compared to Yu Guozhen, the two of them see through the worldly relationships even more clearly.

  "So, the little man congratulated Yu Gongzi. If he were to marry into the Wen family, and Wen Zhongguan had a relative relationship with the old man of the warm pavilion, wouldn't Yu Gongzi also be a relative of the old man? Now that the old man of the warm pavilion is the chief assistant to the emperor, Yu Gongzi has his support, and he himself is talented..."

  "Isn't it just a matter of being slightly more talented?" Gao Bu Pang couldn't help but say.

  "Housekeeper, you don't know, eight dou is nothing. Yu Gongzi, I think he's even better than eight dou, that must be ten dou!"

  Gao was not fat, nor did he read books much, but he knew that "talent as high as eight dou" wasn't meant to be taken literally. He couldn't help but burst out laughing. He looked at Yu Guozhen, waiting for just one glance or gesture from him to throw this bailiff into the water.

  This is the water of early spring, if you go to take a cold shower, you'll have to lie in bed for a few days. Gao Biao thinks this errand is extremely unreliable, and he also thinks that with his own small official skills, let alone a humble relative of a cabinet minister, even a princess from the imperial palace can be married!

  It is said that there is a princess who is currently four years old. If we wait another ten years, the young master will be twenty-seven and the princess fourteen...

  Yu Guozhen didn't know what Gao Buping was thinking in his heart, he stared at the bailiff, and the bailiff smiled, only in the deepest part of his eyes, there was a flicker.

  This is a very cunning person. From his behavior of kneeling down after receiving the silver just now, he is also an extremely greedy person.

  A guy like him... Yu Guozhen has plenty of ways to deal with him.

  "Follow me." Yu Guozhen said.

  The official was stunned for a moment, then followed Yu Guozhen with a happy face, trotting to the other courtyard.

  Yu Guozhen did not take him to another courtyard, but directly took him to a newly built workshop outside the other courtyard. In the warehouse of this workshop, there were piles and piles of cloth. Because they had not been printed or dyed yet, the cloths were all plain-colored. These were the cloths that had been woven one after another since the successful development of the water-powered spinning machine and loom, totaling over a hundred pieces.

  Thank you

  Thanks to Wang Sun Wuyang, Tianzun Huangyi and Jianghu Bulaoke for the reward ~ Daily one request three rivers ticket