C27 (1/2)
Li Shuting's daughter was also a virtuous and intelligent person, loved by the empress in the palace. After receiving her father's letter, she personally made a try at the soap, and sure enough, it was fresh and wonderful, smooth and fragrant, giving a few pieces to the empress as soon as possible. Consort Li even used the title of Empress to give it to the concubines in the palace for them to try it. As expected, they all liked it and couldn't help but ask in private and found out that the soap came from Li Fei's hometown, Hezhou.
Li Fei talked privately with the empress about the origins of this item. The empress could naturally see the prospects of this item as well as its enormous business opportunity, so she directly assigned one of her trusted aides to accompany the steward of the Li family to He Zhou. Li Shuting did not dare to delay and immediately informed Zhang Zhou.
In his previous life, in this life, this was the first time Zhang Zhou had seen a real eunuch. The head steward of the Palace, Fu Xiang, was a well-built old man with a kind face.
Fu Xiang was a kind person. He did things safely and loyally. He was highly valued by the empress. Previously, when they were guiding the way, Li Shuting had told Zhang Zhou everything in his daughter's letter, so that Zhang Zhou would have a general understanding of the situation. In his heart, he was already prepared to respond.
Fu Xiang had a good impression of Zhang Zhou after greeting him politely. He smiled and said, ”Are you the owner of the soap? I didn't expect him to be so young! ”
Zhang Zhou bowed and said humbly: ”Head Supervisor, the perfumed soap is indeed made by this lowly person's workshop! However, this little one is not the master! ”
”Oh, what do you mean?”
Zhang Zhou said seriously, ”Only with His Majesty's possession of the four seas would the empress be worthy of being the master of all the wonderful things in the world!”
Li Shuting, who was sitting by the side, felt that his waist was about to be broken by Zhang Zhou's shameless flattery. Although he had to admit that Zhang Zhou's flattery was more of a good deed, he had to admit that Zhang Zhou's flattery was indeed more of a benefit. Li Shuting thought to himself, ”With this little bastard's shamelessness, his future is truly limitless!”
Zhang Zhou continued, ”This soap is a wondrous item to cleanse the dust. It suits the Empress's wish to bathe the world, so this humble one will not dare to be the master of this wonderful item! ”Sir steward, you're the empress's most trusted person, so I'd like to ask you to help me with an idea. What kind of name would I have to choose to satisfy the empress?”
Fu Xiang's smile became wider. He stood up and supported Zhang Zhou who was bowing and talking, saying, ”You little brat, although you are young, your thoughts are very meticulous! As for the name, that's up to the empress to decide.
Only the two of them could hear his words as he said, ”30% of the profits from this item is for the esteemed empress and you. In the future, I'll have to depend on the steward's help and complete planning for my livelihood!”
To put it bluntly, 30% of the profit would be given to Fu Xiang. As for how much the empress got, that was none of his business.
Who didn't like their own importance being acknowledged by others? Zhang Zhou flattered Fu Xiang with a very comfortable heart, giving him a big red packet. Fu Xiang was naturally satisfied. Having become a major shareholder, he naturally had to think for his own pocket.
”How much does the soap cost? ”How much is the monthly rate?”
”Honestly speaking, Head Supervisor, the making of this soap is extremely complicated. The cost of a single piece of soap costs five taels of silver. This was not even counting the transportation fee! The production is also not that big, only around 5,000 yuan a month! ” Naturally, Zhang Zhou could not tell him that the production cost was one tael of silver which could be used to make ten pieces.
Fu Xiang nodded. ”The production is indeed low. I'm guessing that even the ladies in the capital don't have enough.” ”Think of a way to increase production, and I'll go back and report to the empress. This soap can't be less than twenty silver for sale!”
Zhang Zhou found it hard to suppress his joy as he said, ”As you command! This humble one has a presumptuous request. Could the steward appreciate it and come to the Han house for a few drinks tonight? ”
”Then I won't be disrespectful!”
When night fell, Zhang Zhou's house had only two people in it: Fu Xiang and Zhang Zhou. Fu Xiang had been in the palace for so many years, yet he had never tasted any delicacies before. However, Zhang Zhou's side of the table was filled with special and ingenious dishes, truly worthy of his attention! Especially that He Zhou Lie. He opened Fu Xiang's eyes wide and praised him repeatedly. Zhang Zhou was extremely easy to ”judge a person by his appearance”, and it was largely due to his ”personal liking”. He could chatter endlessly with people he liked and talk very little with people he didn't like. This was also one of the stubborn sides of his character. His first impression of Fu Xiang was that he liked his appearance, was willing to get close to him, and was comfortable chatting with him. After downing a few cups of wine, Zhang Zhou forgot about his identity and began to speak casually. As for Fu Xiang, he didn't like being disobedient. He really liked Zhang Zhou's free will, and the more the two chatted, the more they speculated about each other.
”Little boat, stop addressing me as' Head Supervisor 'or' Head Supervisor '. I'm in a temper with you. Just call me Uncle Fu!”
Zhang Zhou was also a little tipsy. He raised his glass and said, ”Uncle Fu, I will listen to you. If there's something wrong with Little Zhou's words, please don't be picky!”
”Just say it, it's alright. I've been living in the palace for so many years, so I'll have to be careful with my words. There aren't many rules here today!”
”Uncle!” He continued, ”Uncle, I have never had a mother since I was young, and my father has also left at the age of eight. After so many years, my father's appearance has already become indistinct, yet he has just left like that! Why can't I just call for my parents when I'm in trouble, and leave it to willfulness and act like a spoiled child?! ”
He couldn't help but think of his parents and children from his previous life, and he couldn't help but burst into tears. This feeling of yearning for one's family was definitely not fake. Fu Xiang also associated himself with this. If he had a good family background, who would enter the palace? They felt the same way, and their noses were aching, but they didn't know how to comfort her!
Zhang Zhou wiped away his tears and continued, ”Uncle, it's not that I want to get on your good side. If one day you grow old and step down, you can come to Hezhou. I'll raise you and you can do whatever you want!” Perhaps, when I have a child, you will also have to live your life as a grandchild! ”
Zhang Zhou had a completely different perspective on human nature than this world. He did not have any direct relatives, so even if he were to support a few elders and have his children call them grandpas, he would not feel any pressure. But Lucky was different. He raised his glass and his emotions were in turmoil all of a sudden! When a eunuch was in power, everyone would revere him. But when he was in dire straits, a phoenix that had lost its feathers was no better than a chicken. Who would care about him?
Fu Xiang had never seen anyone in his entire life. He could tell with a single glance that this person was a fake. As for Zhang Zhou's sincerity, he couldn't see any trace of falsehood in it!
However, Fu Xiang still slowly put down his wine cup. With an indifferent expression, he said, ”Zhang Zhou, you are toying with this chore!”
Zhang Zhou acted as if he did not see the change, as he raised his finger high in the air and swore, ”Uncle, look at this, Little Boat is now swearing that if Little Boat is deceiving him, he will die a horrible death!”
The world valued oaths greatly, and the last bit of Fu Xiang's doubt was dispelled by a ”pa” sound as he slapped the table, ”Nonsense, why aren't you slapping your own face yet? Take back your words! Pui! Pui! Inauspicious!”
Zhang Zhou sniffed, then wiped his eyes and laughed: ”Uncle, the people are doing it, the sky is watching, Little Boat is not lying, why should I be afraid of that? ”Uncle, you spilled the wine!”
Fu Xiang was both angry and amused as he scolded the little bastard. Zhang Zhou felt a sense of kinship with Fu Xiang. Moreover, he felt an instinctive pity for these handicapped people. His words were from his own heart, and he wasn't just using them for himself. Using his sincerity to exchange goodwill, Zhang Zhou didn't feel there was anything wrong with it!
That night, many of Zhang Zhou's emotions had been vented out, including the unforgettable memories of his past life. Yu'er's sadness at leaving, his anger at being unable to do anything, the pressure of offending Qing Lin, and so on. He cried for a while, laughing like a child. The drunk Fu Xiang was also aroused many feelings of sadness. From time to time, he would cry and laugh with him until both of them collapsed.
Drunk in the middle of the night, a warm feeling!
Zhang Zhou personally escorted Fu Xiang out of the city. Along the way, he said a lot of things, but he didn't say a single word of flattery nor did he mention business. He only reminded Fu Xiang how to take care of his body, how to ameliorate the struggles within the palace, and so on and so forth.