Chapter 252: The Road to High Office 52

Chapter 252: The Road to High Office 52

Cheng Ge Er relayed to Xu Zeping what Little Tiger had discovered: "From the lease contracts, the Cao family appears to be the most virtuous, truly a family that accumulates good deeds. However, without having interacted face-to-face with the head of the family, Pingping, I dare not make a hasty judgment."

"Cheng Ge Er, what do you think of Mrs. Cao Zhou?"

"She's sharp and resourceful," Cheng Ge Er recalled Mrs. Cao Zhou's words and actions. Compared to Mrs. Qin Zhao and Mrs. Zhao Qin, he had a favorable impression of Mrs. Cao Zhou.

"I'm not very knowledgeable about business."

Now that Cheng Ge Er is the official's spouse, it's not appropriate for him to openly compete with commoners for profit, so he always needs someone to represent him outside.

If it were his own territory, he could gradually train his own staff.

Having lived in the Great Jing Dynasty for these years, Xu Zeping naturally knows that family-born servants are the most reliable, but the problem is that it's not his own territory.

The most important point is, according to the plans he discussed with his brother, Lingbei is just a stepping stone for him, and he cannot stay in Lingbei forever.

That's why he suggested that Cheng Ge Er team up with Lingbei's merchants. Whether for the current situation or long-term development, it's a good method. With their help, the embroidery workshop will surely succeed; in the future, when they leave Lingbei, the local merchants, having been established in Lingbei for so many years, naturally have their own methods, so Cheng Ge Er won't have to worry about the profits of the embroidery workshop.

Xu Zeping smiled slightly, "Just a heads-up, Cheng Ge Er, do you think you can manage Mrs. Cao Zhou?"

Cheng Ge Er rubbed the teacup in his hand, lowered his eyes to blow on the steam, and then took a sip of tea.

Cheng Ge Er didn't speak, and Xu Zeping understood his meaning.

"Cheng Ge Er, the plum blossoms in the courtyard will bloom in a couple of days, right?"

"Yes, the plum blossoms are about to burst into bloom," Cheng Ge Er's eyes curved, "I think inviting Mrs. Cao Zhou to enjoy the plum blossoms would be excellent."

"Very good."

"Pingping, I heard from Little Tiger that many children in Xiaoman Town are undernourished and look sallow and thin," Cheng Ge Er said seriously, "I think they are pitiful... I want to set aside twenty percent of the embroidery workshop's profits for charity. What do you think?"

"Since the embroidery workshop is your venture, Cheng Ge Er, it's entirely up to you to decide," Xu Zeping looked at Cheng Ge Er tenderly, "Just as you support me, I will always support you. I will stand behind you, Cheng Ge Er."

Regarding the charity, Xu Zeping also gave him a suggestion, which was to set aside twenty percent of the future profits of the embroidery workshop to establish a charitable foundation, managed by a dedicated person.

The purpose of this charitable foundation is to benefit the children of Lingbei County, so the manager of the foundation would be elected by the children of Lingbei County, with the one receiving the most votes taking the position.

If the foundation has ample funds, it could also sponsor students' studies; if not, it would only provide charity two to four times a year.

Xu Zeping gave Cheng Ge Er a rough plan, leaving the detailed implementation to Cheng Ge Er himself.

Cheng Ge Er rested his cheeks on his hands, watching Pingping talk eloquently. He felt that Pingping was glowing at this moment, making it impossible to look away.

After Xu Zeping finished speaking, seeing Cheng Ge Er still in a daze, he couldn't help but laugh and walked up to Cheng Ge Er, saying, "What's wrong? Was what I said so boring that it made you daydream?"

Cheng Ge Er quickly shook his head, hugged Xu Zeping's waist, buried his face in Xu Zeping's waist, and mumbled, "Not at all, I feel like Pingping is the White Fox Lord, a savior of the world, making me feel so lucky."

Xu Zeping was stunned for a moment, then touched Cheng Ge Er's hair bun, smiling gently, "So in your heart, I'm like the White Fox Lord? Then it seems I need to work harder, after all, the White Fox Lord eventually became a deity."

An hour of afternoon rest may seem long, but in reality, it flies by.

At 1:15 PM, Xu Zeping and County Deputy Yang left the government office and headed to the toothbrush workshop.

The toothbrush workshop is a bit far from the government office, located in a village in the outskirts of Lingbei City. The reason for choosing the outskirts is simply that the land is cheaper.

The land along with the estate cost Xu Zeping five hundred taels of silver.

The estate was quite large, with about ten acres of open land.

After Xu Zeping purchased the estate, Zhang the Craftsman and his apprentices moved in to focus on experimenting with making toothbrushes.

They took a carriage and arrived at the estate in about half an hour.

Officer Zhou, who accompanied them, got off the carriage and knocked on the estate gate. Soon, Zhang the Craftsman's apprentice, Zhang Xiaolong, cautiously stuck his head out and, upon seeing Officer Zhou, immediately smiled: "Officer Zhou, it's you? Come on in."

The master said that before the Sage uses the toothbrush, no one is allowed to reveal what they are doing!

As Zhang Xiaolong spoke, he opened the gate wide.

Officer Zhou got back into the carriage and drove it into the estate, and Zhang Xiaolong quickly closed the gate.

Besides Zhang the Craftsman and his three apprentices, there were also two constables who patrolled daily. So far, the toothbrush project has been kept quite secret by these few people from the Lingbei County government.

Secrecy leads to success, and since this matter also concerns Lingbei's economy, they naturally understand its importance.

"Minister Xu!"

Seeing Xu Zeping and County Deputy Yang get off the carriage, Zhang Xiaolong hurriedly prepared to bow.

"No need for formalities," Xu Zeping said, stopping Zhang Xiaolong before striding towards the workshop inside the estate.

"Minister Xu."

Upon seeing Xu Zeping, Zhang the Craftsman and his two apprentices put down their work and prepared to bow.

"No need, no need for formalities."

Xu Zeping walked over to them and only then saw the handles they were holding.

The handle in Zhang the Craftsman's hand was carved with a majestic five-clawed golden dragon, his senior apprentice's handle featured a lifelike phoenix, and his junior apprentice's handle also had a phoenix, though the senior's was larger and the junior's smaller.

"This..." Xu Zeping hesitated, as if thinking of something.

"Minister, the Sage rules the world with filial piety, so the Empress Dowager should also have a unique toothbrush," Zhang the Craftsman carefully explained. "And the Empress, as the mother of the nation and the Sage's wife, we should present one to her as well."

"Zhang the Craftsman, you are very thoughtful," Xu Zeping praised. "Thanks to you for considering this, you deserve great credit!"

"Not at all, it was your inspiration, Minister, otherwise I wouldn't have thought of this."

As he spoke, Zhang the Craftsman handed the handle to Xu Zeping, "Minister, please take a look, is there anywhere that needs modification?"

The toothbrush for the Emperor of Sheng'an was made of golden-thread nanmu wood, known as the "wood of emperors," the Empress Dowager's was made of rosewood, and the Empress's was made of yellow rosewood.

It goes without saying that professional tasks should be handled by professionals. Xu Zeping looked at the majestic five-clawed dragon on the handle and sincerely praised, "Zhang the Craftsman, you've done very well!"

"Thank you for your praise, Minister!"

"Zhang the Craftsman, the temperature dropped again yesterday, and to avoid delaying the New Year's gift, the gift procession will depart for Yanjing on the first day of the twelfth month. Can you complete the toothbrushes in the next couple of days?" Xu Zeping saw that the five-clawed dragon only lacked the tail fin.

"Minister, rest assured, you can pick them up the day after tomorrow."

Today is the twenty-seventh of the eleventh month, and the day after tomorrow is the twenty-ninth, which does not delay the departure time at all.

The Lingbei County government is short-staffed, so naturally, not many people can be sent out.

Among the four bailiffs, Officer Zhou is the most skilled in hand-to-hand combat. After some internal discussions, Officer Zhou was chosen to lead this year's tribute presentation team, with Officer Zeng bringing up the rear, leading the Liyuan opera troupe to Liaobei Prefecture to meet with the officials from the prefectural government for the tribute presentation.

Finally, these people would head to Xiliao Prefecture together, following the Xiliao Prefect to the capital county.

When local officials are promoted to the position of prefect, they have the honor of visiting the capital once every three years.

This year happens to be the year when the Xiliao Prefect is to visit the capital to meet the emperor.

"Does Zhang the Craftsman wish to take on more apprentices?"

Zhang the Craftsman thumped his chest and said with a grin, "Minister Xu, I, Zhang Changhu, am just a rough-and-ready guy. Whatever you need, just tell me, and I will do my best without hesitation."

The main reason Minister Xu chose Zhang the Craftsman from among many craftsmen was that his personality was strikingly similar to Zhang Xiaolin's—straightforward and honest.

"Zhang the Craftsman, as you know, our factory will be producing toothbrushes for the entire country in the future," Minister Xu laid out the vision. "At that point, we won't be making just a few toothbrushes, but tens of thousands. And since I have high regard for you, you will undoubtedly be the manager of our toothbrush factory. With such a large production volume, wouldn't you and your three apprentices be swamped?

So, I was thinking you could take on more apprentices to help manage the workload down the line."

In this era, Minister Xu understood the weight of the master-apprentice relationship—once a master, always a father.

Whether scholars or craftsmen, they all carefully selected and tested their apprentices.

Therefore, to prepare for the twenty young men from Gaoshan Village to join the factory next year, Minister Xu naturally had to first work on Zhang the Craftsman's mindset.

As Zhang the Craftsman listened to Minister Xu's grand vision, his eyes sparkled. Wouldn't his name, Zhang Changhu, then be known throughout the entire Great Jing Dynasty?

The idea that people would think of him, Zhang Changhu, every time they used a toothbrush thrilled Zhang the Craftsman, and he agreed without a second thought!

"Great, it's a deal," Minister Xu said, giving Zhang the Craftsman a pat on the shoulder. "Next year, I'll send you twenty apprentices!"

As Minister Xu turned to leave the workshop, Zhang the Craftsman suddenly realized, "Wait, Minister Xu, shouldn't I be the one to pick my own apprentices?"

Hearing his voice, Minister Xu quickened his pace and disappeared from Zhang the Craftsman's sight in a flash.

After getting into the carriage, Minister Xu noticed that County Deputy Yang had been staring at him, so he touched his cheek and asked, "County Deputy, why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?"

County Deputy Yang shook his head, stroked his goatee, and said in amazement, "Of course not, sir. I just think your eloquence is remarkable, and I greatly admire it."

Minister Xu: ...No need for that.