lady, please calm down

Chapter 294 Confidential Words

The eighth day of February.

After breakfast, the female family members of the Hou family left the house together and went to the Caizhou head office of 'Huizhi Lanxin' to participate in the first luggage exhibition.

Mao'er has too many things on his hands now, and he plans to hand over the newly opened handbag business to Yunong.

It was the first time for Yunong to experience such a big battle, and he felt terrified, so he called his two sisters together to strengthen his momentum.

When they went out, the three of them had their own carriages, but Cai Hua smiled and climbed onto Mao'er's carriage. Seeing this, Yu Nong also smiled shyly at Mao'er and got in after him.

Everyone in the Hou Mansion knew that the wheels of this carriage were wrapped with Zhongguo, and the frame was equipped with very strong springs. Sitting in it, it was rocking without any bumps at all, and it was extremely comfortable.

In front of the maid, Mao'er said nothing, but after getting in the car, her face turned cold.

Yu Nong took a careful look at Mao'er and suddenly remembered the rumor that Qin's mother told her this morning. It was said that the young master was supposed to go to Hanchun Hall last night, but he was stopped by Sister Cai's people on the way to Qingpu Garden.

Based on Yunong's understanding of Mao'er, the reason why Mao'er was so angry early in the morning was definitely not because they squeezed into the carriage, but it should have something to do with what happened last night.

Just when Yunong was racking his brains to think of something to say to calm down the two sisters, he heard Cai Hua, who was leaning against the car wall, smiling sweetly: "Mao'er, are you annoyed?"

This is the question!

If it were you, would you be annoyed?
But Mao'er couldn't say it directly. Because the official spent one extra night at Cai Hua's place, he was angry?If this spreads out, it will appear that she is a narrow-minded, jealous and intolerant woman, and it will also appear that she is indulgent and promiscuous.

Therefore, I expressed my dissatisfaction by wearing cream on my pretty face.

"No, I'm really annoyed." Mao'er lowered his eyelids and said insincerely.

Cai Hua smiled and stretched out her hand to take Mao'er's hand, but the latter pulled away as if she was angry. Seeing this, Cai Hua couldn't help but rolled her eyes and said, "Hey, I'm getting arrogant now. Sister, I'm getting older. If I don't Get a baby quickly, what will you do if you can’t have one in the future?”

"."

Hearing Cai Hua speak so straightforwardly made Mao Er confused.

However, Cai Hua suddenly took out a piece of paper written in small regular script from his sleeve, put it into Mao'er's hand without any explanation, and said slowly: "Here, I'll compensate you with this."

Mao'er didn't know why, so he unfolded the paper and looked at it. He saw that it was filled with the dosage of medicinal materials, as if it were a prescription. I couldn't help but be surprised and looked at Cai Hua.

"Hehe, this is the prescription my mother helped me get from Sai Huatuo, the miracle doctor in Tangzhou."

"Prescription? Is sister sick?" Yu Nong came over curiously and lay on Mao'er's shoulder to read the prescription carefully, but he couldn't understand it.

Unexpectedly, Cai Hua curled up her charming eyes and said with a smile, "If you eat this recipe, you can have a son."

When the cat heard this, his peach-blossom eyes were fixed on the paper and he said stubbornly: "Where did you find the strange folk medicine? It must not be accurate."

Cai Hua raised her eyebrows and was about to retort, but Yu Nong reached out and grabbed the corner of the prescription and shouted at the same time: "Sister, if you don't want it, just give it to me."

Unexpectedly, Yu Nong grabbed it but didn't pull it back. However, Mao'er squeezed the prescription tightly with a serious face, "How can you take medicine randomly!"

After that, carefully fold the note paper and put it into your sleeve.

Yu Nong pouted her meaty mouth, rolled her big eyes, and looked at Cai Hua with a flattering smile, "Sister Cai."

Yu Nong couldn't hide this little bit from Cai Hua. As soon as she opened her mouth, Cai Hua guessed it. She couldn't help but smile and said, "Want a prescription?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Yunong nodded.

"Okay, give me your pair of jade earrings in exchange."

"..., no! That was given to me by the young master!"

"If you don't change, I'll knock you down. It's up to you." Cai Hua was confident.

"Sister Cai, good sister" Yu Nong took a few steps on her knees, holding Cai Hua's arm and acting cute.

"Go, go, don't disgust me!" Cai Hua grinned and rubbed the goosebumps on her arms.

Even Mao'er, who was watching coldly, couldn't stand it any longer and said disgustedly: "You are already a mother, can you stop being so worthless!"

"."

Being disliked by the two sisters one after another, Yu Nong retreated angrily, hugging his knees and sitting against the car wall pitifully.

"Okay, okay, I'll make a copy for you when I get home!"

In the end, Mao'er relented, and with one sentence she received a flood of flattery from Yunong, "It's better to be my sister! She has the demeanor of a big woman, and our family will prosper with a sister in charge. It's better than a certain person who always cares about other people's reputation." My sister is much stronger."

"Cut~"

The 'certain sister' who was accused of being scolded curled her lips in disdain.

On the surface, the three of them were bickering and arguing, but the small gap caused by last night's incident was eliminated with this gag.

The basic layout of Caizhou City is formed by two intersecting streets.

The main street that runs from east to west is Yaqian Street. There are many government offices on the street, such as Caizhou Government Office, Jiedushi Government Office, etc.

The main street running from north to south is Shanzi Street. There are many shops on the street, such as Sihai Commercial Bank, Four Major Banks, and Auction House.
Last year, not far from Sihai Commercial Bank, there was an additional store with a plaque of "Hui Zhi Lan Xin".

This place was originally a house with three entrances inside and outside. On weekdays, all the ladies who came in and out were officials' wives and wives of wealthy families. It looked quite mysterious.

Today, there is a lot of traffic outside Huizhi Lanxin Gate in Caizhou. The endless carriages and soft sedans even caused a slight congestion on the wide Shanzi Street.

At this time, the wife of Jingan Army Commander Zhu Da got off the carriage more than a hundred steps outside the door, and then followed her in more than ten small sedans, and the ladies and aunts of various merchants in expensive clothes filed out.

More than a dozen people quickly gathered together with Mrs. Zhu as the center, looking at the bustling Huizhi Lanxin Gate, feeling both excited and anxious.

"Hey! Chen Tongzhi's wife and daughter are here!"

"Isn't that right? The ones who just got off the sedan over there are the female members of the Youtong family in Shouzhou?"

"Exactly! It is said that the wife of the left magistrate of Yingzhou is also coming!"

"What the hell! The current princess is here too!"

Most of these people are the female dependents of merchants in Daqi who are in the official position. When they see the female dependents of officials, they naturally feel that they are a head shorter.

For them, if they could meet with their man, the prefect, and his wife once a year, it would be enough to go back and brag about, let alone a rare creature like a 'princess'.

"Ahem~" Mrs. Zhu cleared her throat, glanced at the women, and reminded seriously: "The women who can participate in this exhibition are either rich or noble. If I hadn't sacrificed my face to ask for it in person, I'm afraid you won't even have a chance to participate when I come to invite you. When you go in soon, you need to curb your arrogant temper at home! Don't offend the nobles, so as not to bring disaster to your men and embarrass us Caizhou women. .”

"Sister, what are you talking about? Sister is lucky to be able to bring us to see this world. How could something happen here!"

"Yes, yes, sister-in-law, don't worry! We are not ungrateful people."

All the women expressed their assurances.

To be honest, they still don't quite understand what an exhibition is, but they know the importance of this exhibition.

Last month, the list of attendees of the exhibition was 'leaked'. On the list were not only the female family members of the Hou family, but also the family members of the powerful Chen Tongzhi, Chief Cai, and Ximen Bureau Secretary.

There are many wives of officials from neighboring states and wives of wealthy families.

It was simply a gathering of Huaibei's top ladies.

Later, some wealthy but powerless merchants began to think hard and wanted their wives to participate in this grand event.

After all, being able to contact or integrate into this circle is of no harm to the family.

The hard work paid off, and they unexpectedly found a bridge to participate in the meeting. There were two families in Caizhou City who were close to Lu Anhou. One was the family of Mrs. Yang Dutong, the new governor of Shouzhou, the grandpa Guan family, and the other was Jing Jing. Zhu Da, the commander of the An army.

The Guan and Zhu families were pretty good to the local folks. After being entrusted by everyone, the wives of the two families went to the people in person to get the 'precious' invitations.

After this incident, other merchants and squires could no longer sit still.

It would be fine if no one had the chance to attend this exhibition, but the wife of Yuan Li next door has an invitation, but the female family members of Yuan Wang’s family don’t have an invitation. Doesn’t it clearly tell the world that your Wang family is not as good as the Li family, and your Wang family is not Caizhou? Top notch!

As a result, more people tried their best to get an invitation through their respective connections.

In just a few days, Zhao sent out more than 100 invitations out of favour.

It is said that Madam Xu from Xu Ji’s dye house in the city made a fuss at home last night to hang herself because her husband failed to get her an invitation that symbolized her status.
This situation does not only occur in Caizhou.

There were also nearly a hundred people who came with the family members of Zuo Zhifu and the family members of You Tongzhi who came to Waifu.

Hui Zhilan Xin's back yard.In the open courtyard, a 'T-shaped platform' about two feet high and five feet long was erected, with a red carpet spread on it.

The official said it was called a 'T platform', but Mao'er didn't know it was called a 'kicking platform', so he named it 'T-shaped platform' based on the shape of the short platform.

Mao'er and Caihua each carried a small handbag. From time to time they exchanged greetings with the women who had just come in, and invited them to drink tea in the hall for a while, and then went around the T-shaped platform to check.

More and more people gathered in the courtyard, and Mao'er whispered a little worriedly: "You think, can we make back the money the officials let us put on such a big show just for this handbag?"

The sales of handbags have not been very good, but an exhibition requires a lot of entertainment expenses, and the careful cat can't help but feel distressed.

"Huh? A few days ago, didn't he tell you and me about the necessity of this exhibition?" Cai Hua asked.

"." The cat paused.

Chen Chu did explain it to the two of them, but Mao'er didn't quite understand it at the time. At this time, Cai Hua seemed to understand the official's intention, but Mao'er didn't want to ask Cai Hua, otherwise, she would appear inferior to Cai Hua and Chen Chu. Heart to heart.

In fact, this really has nothing to do with "connecting minds". It's just that Cai Hua understands the laws of economic operation better than Mao'er, so she understands Chen Chu's intentions better.

This was a business matter. Cai Hua did not show off and took the initiative: "Rich merchants and gentry have always had a habit of hiding money and silver. There are mountains of money in the cellars of their homes. Since the Zhengning period of Zhou Guo more than ten years ago, the imperial court has been issuing banknotes on a large scale. Qi also issued banknotes, but these waste papers were not worth ten, and the trend of rich merchants and gentry hiding silver became more and more intense."

Mao'er didn't quite understand what the relationship between the wealthy merchant's Tibetan silver and this exhibition was, but he still tried his best to remember what Cai Hua said in his mind.

Her serious look made Cai Hua very satisfied, so she continued with a smile: "They hold more than half of the world's money, but there are no corresponding products on the market for them to consume. As time goes by, money has become Dead money, which is not circulated or consumed, is not conducive to economic development.”

The last sentence was Cai Hua's use of Chen Chu's original words.

Mao'er seemed to understand a little bit, but still had questions, "Sister Cai is saying that rich people have no place to spend money?"

"Ah."

"But when rich people get rich, they like to build big houses, buy fields, dress the whole family with silk and satin, and kill pigs and sheep. Doesn't this count as consumption?"

"Exactly. Their house has been passed down for generations. Speaking of the field cat, do you really think that the rich family bought thousands of hectares of fertile land?"

"Uh" Cat thought for a while.

Cai Hua continued: "The gentry's fields come from donations on the one hand, and on the other hand they come from farmers in exchange for meager rations during times of famine. Even if there is no famine, they still have methods, such as coaxing farmers to After the farmers lost all their money in gambling, they could not repay the usury money with compound interest, and within a year, the land would definitely belong to the gentry."

Mao'er has heard of this kind of thing. It comes from his class background. Mao'er naturally hates this. He was silent for a few moments and suddenly asked in a low voice: "Has your family ever done this kind of thing?"

"Of course I did."

Cai Hua's frankness shocked Mao'er, and then he subconsciously asked, "Is your family still doing this now?"

"Of course not?"

"Why?"

"Hehe, because he doesn't like it," Cai Hua replied calmly and indifferently. It seemed that the hardship of life after the farmer went bankrupt prevented her from feeling any guilt. On the contrary, the likes and dislikes of her lover were the most important thing in the world.

Mao'er opened her mouth slightly and stared blankly at Cai Hua. After a while, she said, "If you hadn't met an official, you would definitely be a bad woman who eats people without spitting out their bones."

"Hehe, I am originally a landowner."

Cai Hua smiled disapprovingly, and suddenly said: "Now, do you know the meaning behind why he allowed soldiers to farm in Lu'an County of Shouzhou and Huaiyuan County of Suzhou, but did not allow the sale of land?"

"To prevent you bad guys from planning to seize people's property!"

Cai Hua said it clearly enough, and the cat could understand it too.

But these words earned Cai Hua a blank look, "I have changed my ways!"

Now that Mao'er has been exposed to different information, he naturally looks at the problem from a higher perspective, and then lowers his voice and worries: "But if this happens, won't the officials want to cut off the gentry's ability to seize land? Will they be willing?"

"Hey, I didn't expect you, little wild cat, to think of this level." Cai Hua was a little surprised, and then lowered her voice and said: "Of course they wouldn't be willing, so that's why the little dog didn't make a big show of banning land sales in Huaibei. Let us organize this exhibition."

The topic went in a big circle and finally came back.

Mao'er couldn't keep up with Cai Hua's jumping thoughts for a while, and couldn't help being stunned again.

Cai Hua looked around at the ladies coming in and out, pursed her lips and smiled and said: "This handbag is not sold to ordinary people, but to the wealthy gentry who have too much money and no place to spend it."

"Are they willing to pay obediently?"

"Why not? With you and me taking the lead, and with the endorsement of that cold princess, many people will follow suit." Cai Hua raised the small leopard print handbag in her hand.

"But you can't earn much just by relying on this bag, right?" Mao'er lowered her head and rubbed the suede Yingluo bag in her hand. Although she didn't like luxury, the delicate texture of the suede and the delicate pearls that reflected the light of luxury , still gave her an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

It cures all diseases!Even cats are not exempt from vulgarity.

"There's more to it than just bags."

"Other?"

"Well, do you know what the Machine Expansion Bureau of our Iron Smelting Institute is mainly developing?"

"How did I know that the iron smelting station is your territory?"

"Hehe, now that we have suitable iron sand, the Machinery Expansion Bureau is copying the springs on your carriage. Tell me, if we can build a high-end carriage that does not bump, how much money can we get back in a year?"

"That must be a lot!"

Even if Mao'er doesn't calculate carefully, he still knows the profits of high-end carriages.

After all, families who can afford carriages are truly wealthy. These people are not price sensitive. As long as the carriages produced in Caizhou are far more comfortable than before, they will not worry about sales.

Cai Hua then said: "And that bicycle, by the way, I have changed its name to 'The self-propelled horse that requires no fodder and can travel [-] times a day'!"

"Hahaha, how can there be such a long name?" Cat laughed.

"I'm happy~" Cai Hua smiled arrogantly and continued: "Anyway, by making these things, there will be a way to make those rich squires obediently move the money hidden in the cellar to us! The handbags are sold to the female relatives of the rich families. , selling luxury cars and bicycles to wealthy men, and they can easily earn millions of taels a year.”

Mao'er knew that the officers under his command had just completed the expansion of their armies and it was time to spend money. Although he was somewhat yearning for the blueprint drawn by Cai Hua, he still asked unconvincingly, "How many millions can you earn in a year?" Two? Is that an exaggeration? Even if a rich family has 8000 taels, they would not dare to spend it all at once."

"Wan'er 8000 taels?" Cai Hua sneered and said, "You underestimate them too much! If they only have this, how can the puppy get more than 100 million taels in a small Huaiyuan County?"

"Sigh~"

Mao'er took a breath of cold air and immediately covered Cai Hua's mouth. She looked around frantically and saw that no one heard their conversation, so she whispered: "Shh! How can you say these things!"

"Hehe, I'm really scared. There's no one else around."

"Did the official tell you about this?" Mao'er was slightly jealous.

When Chen Chu came to Huaiyuan County, she didn't tell her the truth. Mao'er only guessed it from clues.

Not wanting to, Cai Huajiao smiled and said, "I guessed it too."

This time, the cat suddenly felt mentally balanced.

"Hehe, let's not stand here all the time. Let's go and meet Jiarou in the hall."

"No, is the prescription you gave me this morning worth using?"

"How do I know? I never gave birth."

"Then take it out and give it to me!"

"If you don't believe it, just tear it up."

"."

"Hey, little wild cat, what's the matter with you? Sister, I'm old and it's hard to get pregnant, but you're young and haven't done anything for so many years?"

"I don't know either."

Speaking of this, Mao'er looked frustrated.

After Cai Hua gave her iconic smile, she lay down next to the cat's ear and whispered: "There is another way. Afterwards, you lie down flat and put your head up under your butt."

"..., does this method work?"

The two held hands and walked toward the main hall, whispering to each other.

Private conversations between women are becoming increasingly inaudible
(End of this chapter)