Chapter Twenty-Four: Presenting Strategies

  In the forty-fourth year of Kangxi, on August 4th, after staying in Weaving Bureau for seven days, the emperor left Jiangning and returned to Beijing. During these few days of receiving the emperor, nothing went wrong, and everyone in the Weaving Bureau, from top to bottom, breathed a sigh of relief, and the attendants inside and outside were rewarded.

  The old lady dressed according to her rank every day, but Kangxi and the concubines who followed him never summoned her. The two concubines who accompanied the emperor followed the imperial edict and personally visited Xuan Rui Hall to pay their respects to the elderly. Even Kangxi himself came to Xuan Rui Hall, accompanying the old lady and chatting with her for a while.

  Kangxi attached great importance to filial piety and did not forget the ten years of nurturing by Sun Shi's old lady due to her status as a bao yi. The rewards for the old lady were also very rich, including:

  One Han jade longevity star, one emerald Guanyin, one agate arhat, one golden arhat, two Han jade ruyi, two golden ruyi, and countless other items such as sable fur fabrics, woolen cloth, satin, and silk.

  Cao Gong saw these imperial gifts in Xuan Rui Hall, although they were valuable but not useful at all. The treasures bestowed by the royal family were all recorded in the Imperial Household Department, except for food and clothing, pearls and antiques could only be placed high or stored in a loft. These items all had the royal family's mark, who dared to buy and sell them at will? If they were impeached by the censor, the crime of "great disrespect" would not be escaped.

  Cao Gong resumed his old life, going to the clan school every day to read books. The difference was that he would take out time in the afternoon every three or two days to gather with Ma Jun and Ning Chun. Although he was not appointed as a guard by Kangxi, Yongqing still returned to Beijing. This had something to do with Cao Gong, who advised him that a man should stand firm on his own feet, and there was nothing that could bind him, family property and titles were not his own, parents were biased, so be it, he would create his own brilliant achievements.

  Yongqing seemed to have come to a realization and decided to first go to the capital city to visit his grandparents, then head to join his uncle in the northwest army. Although Yongqing kept it from his parents, he didn't keep it from his three good friends. Before parting ways, Cao Ou and Ning Chun, Ma Jun each gave him a proper sendoff, Yongqing knew that this was just a formality, so he thanked them sincerely and set off alone on horseback to return to the capital by land.

  Ma Jun, who was originally very confused, has improved his mood recently. He no longer rejects the eight-legged essay as he used to. This is thanks to Cao Kun's efforts. Cao Kun saw that Ma Jun's eyes lit up when discussing historical allusions, but his eyebrows furrowed at the mention of the imperial examination. So he asked Ma Jun why he didn't view the eight-legged essay as a word game, first obtain the qualification of juren, and then go to Beijing to take the imperial examination. Whether or not he could pass the examination was another matter, but even if he didn't, being away from his parents' watchful eyes would be a relief. If he were lucky enough to pass the examination and get an official position outside the capital, he would naturally be able to read books as he pleased.

  Ma Junle happily adopted his own suggestion, Cao Kun touched his nose and advised these rebellious teenagers to "run away from home" or "run away from home in disguise", whether it was right or wrong.

  Ning Chun just smiled and listened to Cao Yun's evasive words, recently his father's concubine had given birth to a son, his stepmother was vying with the other side, both sides were eager to please him, this legitimate son.

  It's been half a month again, and it's been a whole month since Cao Kun went to the study to find Cao Yin. Cao Kun thought that Cao Yin was busy receiving the imperial carriage and didn't have time for other things, so he hadn't looked for him yet. After the emperor left Jiangning, Cao Yin still didn't look for him, which made him gradually feel a bit disheartened.

  At present, Cao Kun only has the Linxiazhai estate, and after deducting the shares of Cao Fang, the two masters, and the sisters and brothers in the mansion, he can save around 100,000 to 200,000 taels of silver every year. No matter how delicious the dishes at Linxiazhai are, they can only sell one table a day, relying solely on the power of the Cao family to support it. As long as the Cao family doesn't fall, it should be able to continue operating. There are still 17 years until Kangxi's death, and even if all these savings are accumulated, there will still be a huge deficit. The plan of Zheng Jia's siblings is to stay away from Jiangning after all, relying on him, a teenager over ten years old, even with the support of silver, it is impossible to keep his own industry in the long run without Cao Kun coming forward. Thinking of another way, he still has to go find Cao Kun, and Cao Kun hasn't made up his mind for the time being.

  Just as Cao Yun was hesitating, Cao Yin sent someone to call him to the study. At that time, Cao Yun was studying the dressing case of Hui Xin and An Xiang, trying to learn how to make perfume, soap and other luxury goods like those invented by his predecessors who had traveled through time. As for distilled liquor and glass manufacturing, it was not even worth thinking about, as there were already various types of white wine with different degrees of alcohol content according to historical records, which seemed to have existed since the Northern Song Dynasty. Glass was also not a rare material, only its purity was not as high as in modern society. However, Cao Yun had no way to solve this problem either, and his knowledge of glass was limited to knowing that it was made from sand heated at high temperatures.

  After seeing the dressing box, Cao Guang felt a little disheartened. The Western perfume in the glass bottle was something he already had, and even Hui Xin had half a bottle, which was given by Cao Yan. The soap at that time was called "Yang Tangzi", costing half a tael of silver per piece, but it wasn't any Western goods, rather it was made locally by Jiangnan merchants who hired foreign masters, with patterns on the surface. A maid like Hui Xin who earned only one or two taels of silver per month wouldn't be able to afford such luxurious things, this must have been a reward from Li Shi. Cao Guang felt a little strange upon hearing this, it seemed that Hui Xin was being treated like "Zai Yan".

  It was said that his father called him to the study, Cao Fang hesitated for a moment, went to the bookcase and took out several folded pages from "The Records of the Grand Historian", put them in his pocket.

  Arriving at Cao Yin's study, Cao Bo followed the rules and paid his respects to his father: "Your son has seen you, Father. May you be well!"

  "Get up!" Cao Gong's voice was tired. During the welcoming ceremony, he was busy with official duties and didn't have time to worry about the deficit. After the emperor left for half a month, he asked the accountant to summarize the annual accounts, and after being busy for half a month, he finally figured out the general situation. Except for the houses and imperial gifts that couldn't be moved, the total value of gold, silver, pearls, and antiques in the mansion was 450,000 taels of silver. There were also several estates and more than ten shops, which should also be worth around 200,000 taels of silver. Even if everything was sold, the deficit could only be repaid by half.

  Although Cao Yin had promised in front of Zhuang that he would repay the debt during his lifetime, he was also worried about the huge amount of debt. He was good at both literature and martial arts, but not skilled in management. The family's external shops or rentals were managed by others. His annual salary, fire expenses, and other income were not enough to cover the expenses of the mansion, and often relied on the accumulated savings of the Cao family over the years and the money from the fields and shops to make ends meet.

  Cao Yin did not expect his son to have any solution to the Cao family's predicament, no matter how clever he was. Zhuang Chang reminded him several times not to underestimate Cao Ao, after all, there was the example of Linxiazhai, who knows, maybe there are other ways to make money that can't be prepared for. Only then did Cao Yin call Cao Ao over, anyway, as the eldest son of the family, it's not too early to know some family affairs.

  Cao Yin pointed to the deed and list of gold and silver on the table, saying to Cao Guang: "This is the hundred-year accumulation of Cao's family property, I want to discuss with your second uncle and return the debt, I'm afraid that in the future there will be nothing left for you!"

  "In our mansion, inside and out, there are two or three hundred mouths to feed. Although the Western Mansion of my second uncle can't compare with ours, they still have seventy or eighty people. If we lose the income from our land and shops, how will we make ends meet every month?" asked Cao Fang."

  Cao Yin replied, "This is also an unavoidable thing. If it really doesn't work out, we can release a few elderly people from the house. However, to reduce the population, we must wait until Old Lady's hundredth birthday. We as descendants suffer a bit, no big deal. Old Lady has enjoyed a lifetime of blessings, there's no reason for her to worry about us in her old age!"

  "Has Second Uncle's family not separated and lived on their own? Father used his property to pay off the debt, does Second Uncle know about this?" Cao Yun thought that his aunt Zhao Jia Shi was very astute, and since Second Uncle was afraid of his wife, he asked.

  Cao Yin nodded: "I've talked to your second uncle about it, and not all of them will be sold. Our family is good, your second uncle's family is also good, leaving three thousand taels for each of the younger generation as a wedding gift. The property under the name of the old lady, your mother and second aunt's dowry are not included in the public account."

  Cao Gong saw that Cao Yun had no good suggestions except for selling off family property and reducing the population, so he reluctantly pulled out a booklet he had written many days ago from his bosom and handed it to Cao Yun with both hands: "This is a suggestion from your son, please refer to it, father!"

  The booklet mentions two things, one is to send people to Anxi in Fujian, Longjing Village in Hangzhou and Taohua Island in Suzhou's Taihu Lake to find land with tea trees for sale, build a tea factory, and the other is to buy a water area in Taihu and develop freshwater pearl farming.

  When he saw the tea garden, Cao Yin slightly frowned, and when he saw the pearl farming area, he couldn't help but shake his head: "Nonsense, picking and making tea is tedious and has thin profits, but it's still a legitimate business. This pearl farming is unheard of, which strange story did you read about it and took it as true?"

  "The Qing dynasty's current tribute tea is mostly in the form of compressed tea, and among green teas, only 'Bi Luo Chun' was personally named by Emperor Kangxi in his 38th year. In recent years, first-class Bi Luo Chun has been priceless, while second-class Bi Luo Chun is worth as much as gold. As time goes on, green tea will eventually replace the compressed tea that people have been drinking for nearly a thousand years. The places listed by my son are all scenic and famous for their tea production, such as West Lake Longjing Tea, which may not be well-known in the capital but has some reputation in Jiangnan. West Lake's Longjing Tea and Junshan's Songzhen are both excellent teas that rival Bi Luo Chun in taste. Southerners eat lightly, while northerners eat greasily and prefer strong tea, often using Yunnan Pu'er. This Tieguanyin from Anxi, Fujian has a rich flavor and is suitable for drinking all year round, with even more health benefits than Bi Luo Chun." Cao Ye summarized the information about famous teas that he knew from his past life and told Cao Ye. He had great confidence in these three teas because they were tribute teas in history, although it wasn't until 50 or 60 years later, during the Qianlong period, that they became well-known to the world. As for the tea roasting method, there was no need for him to worry about it - the laboring people are the greatest, and each type of tea is first recognized by local people.

  Cao Yin listened to Cao Guang's words, nodded his head, and the Bi Luo Chun tea went from being unknown to priceless in just a few short years. If the three teas were truly as Cao Guang said, then with several years of effort, one could accumulate a fortune.

  "What about pearl farming?" Cao Yi hesitated: "Specifically how, is it really feasible?"

  "This is to be prepared for any eventuality. The tea garden on the other side, under the guise of tribute, sells at a high price, and if successful, can reap profits for seven or eight years, or at least three to five years. If the weather is favorable, the country is peaceful, and the people are content, our family's losses will be made up! But if the year is not good, the local security is unstable, and the situation is changing unpredictably, who would have the leisure to appreciate tea? Or, like that tea garden that produced Bi Luo Chun, it was coveted by the powerful nobles in the capital, several princes fought over it, and in the end, it was taken over by the Imperial Household Department. If we encounter various unfavorable circumstances, and the losses of the mansion are not made up for, this pearl cultivation is another way out."

  Cao Yun replied: "This pearl cultivation is indeed difficult, and there may be no returns within three to five years. However, this is not unprecedented, as people in the Western world have already started cultivating pearls, it's just that it hasn't been introduced to the Qing dynasty yet." He spoke with conviction, but in his heart, he vaguely remembered that artificial pearl cultivation only began in the 20th century.