Chapter 226: He Family Old Shop
Upon hearing the servant’s announcement, He Chengzhe was quite surprised. He quickly stood up, exited the room, and stood under the corridor, carefully observing Li Xiaonan, who was following the servant.
As Li Xiaonan walked, she turned her head, carefully surveying her surroundings.
This He Ji Old Brand main branch, situated right next to the Maritime Tax Bureau, was renowned throughout Jiangnan.
The layout of this courtyard was unique, with houses on all four sides encircling a square, small courtyard in the center.
All four sides of the houses extended wide eaves, and the courtyard was paved with bluestone. There were no flowers, plants, or trees, nor were any items placed there. It appeared to have just been washed with clean water; the bluestone was smooth and clean, looking very comfortable.
Wide eaves were supported by square bluestone pillars, and on either side of each pillar sat a pot of blooming autumn osmanthus.
The entire courtyard, from the steps in front of the main gate, lacked any of the decorative carvings commonly seen in Jiangnan. There were no superfluous components; the finest materials and the most concise design were used. All the wooden parts exuded a lustrous sheen, indicating excellent maintenance.
Li Xiaonan walked to the corridor of the main house facing south. While curtsying to He Chengzhe, she asked with a smile, “Is this also the masterpiece of that Mr. Zhou?”
“This is Mr. Gong’s design,” He Chengzhe replied, cupping his hands in return and smiling.
“I’ve heard of this Mr. Gong. The Young Lord said Mr. Gong and Mr. Zhou are a perfect match.”
“Yes, Mr. Gong’s ‘Treatise on Building Standards’ is now considered a canon by all the various crafts,” He Chengzhe said, bowing to usher Li Xiaonan inside.
“I’ve seen that book. The two largest characters on the cover are ‘Feng Chi’ (By Imperial Decree), and the first page inside is an imperial edict from Emperor Taizong,” Li Xiaonan said, bowing to let He Chengzhe precede her.
“That edict is Emperor Taizong’s own handwriting,” He Chengzhe said with a smile, gesturing for her to enter again, and stepped into the house first.
“I heard from the Young Lord that Mr. Zhou never married. What about Mr. Gong? Does he have descendants?” Li Xiaonan asked curiously.
“Mr. Gong only had two daughters, and both sons-in-law are scholars. He has descendants, but no one has inherited Mr. Gong’s skills,” He Chengzhe said, ushering Li Xiaonan to sit down, and then sat opposite her.
“Geniuses like Mr. Gong and Mr. Zhou are rare and hard to come by; no one can inherit them.” Li Xiaonan stood up and curtsied deeply to He Chengzhe, “I came specifically to thank the Old Shopkeeper for his kind assistance.”
“You are too kind, too kind,” He Chengzhe said hurriedly, standing up and cupping his hands in a bow. “This was also a task from our Young Lord.”
“Old Shopkeeper He, you surely don’t want to see Jiangnan fall into turmoil, just like me. If it were merely for the Young Lord’s task, Old Shopkeeper He would have first sought the Young Lord’s instructions, and this conversation would have shifted from the villa,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
He Chengzhe chuckled, “The Young Lord is concerned for the nation and the world. The Young Lord’s task, and preventing Jiangnan from falling into turmoil, are two separate matters, yet also one.”
“The Young Lord looks at the entire empire, at the global picture. Even if Jiangnan experiences slight turmoil…” Li Xiaonan paused. “I was born here, I grew up here, and I don’t want to see even a tiny bit of turmoil in Jiangnan.”
Li Xiaonan sighed.
“On the way here, A Wu was chatting with me. He said there have been almost no silk ships recently, and there are many more porters at the wharf than before, but their work has decreased by two to three tenths. If the weaving workshops stop operating again, it won’t just be the porters; other families who rely on the weaving workshops for their livelihood will also suffer. Alas.”
He Chengzhe looked at Li Xiaonan, not answering her statement, but instead smiling and asking, “How is Miss Li’s fine cloth business doing lately?”
“It’s going well. I’ve hired four to five hundred people from the weaving workshops, about four or five, five or six, or seven or eight per county. I’ve brought them to Guo Lane to learn how to manage weaving schools, and we’ve already opened twenty to thirty weaving schools,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“I heard that your weaving schools allow payment in copper coins on the spot, or you can slowly pay it off with the fine cloth woven later. The tuition is only fifty copper coins, and for each weaver you teach, you pay forty copper coins in wages. Your weaving schools seem to be a losing business,” He Chengzhe said, looking at Li Xiaonan and smiling.
“Yes, opening weaving schools isn’t for profit. It’s to teach them how to weave fine cloth, so that looms can be distributed, and enough fine cloth can be collected,” Li Xiaonan replied with a smile.
“The women you teach might buy looms on credit from you, or from other sources. The fine cloth won’t necessarily all come to you. Do you have any other methods you haven’t used yet for this?”
“No. The cheapest four-harness loom alone costs ten taels of silver. If they were to all buy looms on credit from me, I wouldn’t have enough capital. It’s best for them to buy on credit from others.”
“So far, the rules for buying looms on credit are the ones I’ve set. A few families are trying to compete by offering even cheaper terms than my rules. For diligent families, it only takes about half a year to pay off the loom. After that, they can sell the fine cloth they weave to whomever they please. It will be good then,” Li Xiaonan answered in detail.
“By then, how much fine cloth can you collect? Do you have a backup plan?” He Chengzhe pressed.
“No backup plan. I’m just taking it one step at a time and seeing what happens. We’ll deal with it when the time comes. I’ll collect as much as I can,” Li Xiaonan thought about sighing but held back.
“I’ve thought about your fine cloth business many times, and I really can’t figure out how you plan to achieve a monopoly, or where your profit lies, or perhaps, is it with the Young Lord?” He Chengzhe stared intently at Li Xiaonan.
“I’ve only spoken to the Young Lord about taxing fine cloth, about needing a suitable method that isn’t too harsh or too lenient. As for anything else, I think if he were to interfere, this fine cloth business might not succeed.”
He Chengzhe raised his eyebrows, looking at Li Xiaonan, waiting for her to continue.
“Right now, I just want to teach enough people to weave fine cloth and ensure enough families have dobby looms. As for the future, I haven’t thought about it yet. We’ll adapt as we go.”
Li Xiaonan paused, then spread her hands and smiled, “Perhaps I won’t be able to compete with others then and won’t make any money. That’s fine, I’ll just do another business.”
“If over half the families in Jiangnan can weave and sell fine cloth, and we collect fine cloth as we do now, the families weaving fine cloth will earn at least two or three taels of silver a year, even at the lowest estimate. With silver, they’ll need to eat, wear clothes, and buy things. With so many families having surplus money, any business will be easy to do.”
He Chengzhe looked at Li Xiaonan for a moment, then bowed slightly and smiled, “Miss possesses great wisdom; I am impressed.” He paused, then smiled, “Does Miss enjoy listening to storytelling?”
“Hmm?” Li Xiaonan was taken aback. “Pingtan?”
“In our Pingjiang Prefecture, it’s called Pingtan. In the north, there’s something similar; they tap a small drum, sing, and tell legends, called Ping Shu. Northern Ping Shu, like our Pingjiang Pingtan, is passed down from master to disciple, orally.”
“There’s a school in Nanzhao City that only tells one story, called ‘The Biography of Marshal Sang,’ which is very good. If you have time, Miss, you might want to listen,” He Chengzhe said with a smile.
“I’ve seen this ‘Biography of Marshal Sang’,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile. “In the library at the villa, I saw the beginning, something about ‘Heavenly Fiend’s Dominance,’ and didn’t read further. Is this it?”
“Yes. If it’s in the villa’s library, it must be that one,” He Chengzhe nodded with a smile.
“Then I’ll read it when I get back.”
“My son, Rui Ming, the Young Lord bestowed the courtesy name Xiang Sheng. He serves by the Young Lord’s side. From what he says, most of the time he’s at the villa, carrying out duties.”
“If you have any questions about your business, or about collecting autumn silkworm cocoons, you can have him come over to ask. He knows a little bit,” He Chengzhe continued with a smile.
“Alright. Thank you very much.” Li Xiaonan stood up.
“You’re too kind, Miss,” He Chengzhe said, standing up as well, and escorted Li Xiaonan out of the courtyard gate.
