readytorunbook Chapter 197
Chapter 197
Guo Xi told the story one by one.
Grandfather He looked at Liu You, who was curled up on the ground, and felt even more unhappy. He said to the servant waiting at the side door, "Help him up and throw him into the cart. Put some cartilage powder in his tea. Don't disturb Zhi'er's peace on the road."
Liu You's face suddenly turned dark, and panic welled up in his eyes. He had thought that since Zhi'er and Guo Xi ignored him, he would try to please other people, and the marriage would also be successful.
Who could have thought that his luck was so bad that he offended the general by mistake? Knowing that his marriage was hopeless, he began to worry whether he would lose his job because of this incident.
Seeing that the matter was almost settled, Zhao He spoke at the right time: "Guo Xi, our trip this time is to visit the glass workshop. We can report the workshop's situation to His Majesty when we return to the capital."
Just now on the way here, I asked the soldiers around me about the latest situation of the workshop. I learned that the workshop had gone to Beidi some time ago to look for suitable craftsmen, but I didn't know whether they could persuade the craftsmen to leave their hometown and come here.
He had originally planned to go and inquire using the identities of a general and a prince, but if Guo Xi and Guo Zhi introduced him, the workshop manager would be more sincere in his words instead of making up nice words to deceive them out of fear of their identities.
Because of the urgency of the situation, Guo Xi did not notice the person next to his grandfather. Now, looking at his future brother-in-law, the prince, he sighed.
Over the past three years, the second sister has mentioned this prince more than once, and every time she did so, she was filled with joy, which was completely inconsistent with her usual demeanor of being decisive. He never knew what was so good about this prince except for his high status.
Now, the King of Shu has been training on the border for three years, and he may have been involved in many deaths, which adds a different kind of majesty to him. He also has an almost pure temperament. The two combined, coupled with his beautiful appearance, if he were a woman, he would also be fascinated by him.
Seeing Guo Xi staring at him for a long time without coming back to his senses, Zhao He felt a little uneasy. This future brother-in-law would not be a good person, so he couldn't help but remind him: "Huh?"
Guo Xi came back to his senses and, while guiding the two men onto their horses and letting the carriage follow behind, he said sheepishly, "Your Highness is indeed as thorough as my sister said. However, I believe my sister has been telling him about the glass workshop. I think she is asking about its recent situation, right?"
Zhao He said "hmm" with a smile in his eyes. He would be like this whenever he thought of Xin'er, and he didn't know why.
Guo Xi: "Da Zhao has always been short of skilled craftsmen. This is why our dynasty's colored glaze has always been imported from the Northern Di. So some time ago, during the truce between the two dynasties, the workshop sent people to the Northern Di to find a number of suitable craftsmen."
Zhao He: "Have all those craftsmen arrived in Dazhao now?"
"Not yet. I heard from the manager earlier that because Dazhao is too far away and requires leaving their hometown, many craftsmen are not happy about it. So, the people sent are still there to persuade them."
Zhao He nodded slightly. He had indeed anticipated the current outcome, which was why he thought of signing that contract to relax the strict boundaries between the two dynasties and allow the flow of money between the two dynasties.
However, because Dazhao is vast and rich in resources, even if there is money flowing between the two dynasties, it is the money from Beidi that flows to Dazhao. In this way, Dazhao will surely become increasingly powerful, while Beidi will gradually decline.
Not long after, the group arrived at the door of the workshop.
The gatekeeper spotted Guo Xi from a distance and hurriedly opened the door, shouting inside, "The young master of the boss family is here!"
Hearing this, everyone wearing thick cotton gloves stopped what they were doing and walked out. Before leaving Suining City, the boss had instructed that if there was anything important, he would let the young master come over.
At the same time, a carrier pigeon landed in the yard. The leading steward took the bamboo tube from the pigeon's claws, opened it and exclaimed in a low voice.
Guo Xi and the others walked in and looked at the steward, "What's wrong?"
The steward smiled and said, "Hello, young master." He looked at the people around Guo Xi and hesitated.
Seeing his gaze, Guo Xi first pointed at Zhao He and said, "This is the Sixth Master, who has always been on good terms with our family." He then pointed at He Xiangan and said affectionately, "This is my grandfather, General He."
When the steward heard this, he said, "Greetings to Sixth Master and General He."
He smiled at General He and said, "We just received a letter from the Northern Di people, saying that General He and his men won a great victory, forcing the small Northern Di nation to submit to our great nation. They also signed an agreement to open the gate. It was this agreement that moved those craftsmen, and they agreed to come to our Dazhao glass workshop."
Guo Xi: "That's great!" Although the colored glaze workshop can produce many exquisite and rare colored glaze items, the number of craftsmen is limited. If they produce rare items, they will have less energy to produce items that ordinary people can use.
In order to allow the people to use glassware, they had to divert their attention to producing some relatively rough utensils to sell to civilians. If they could invite craftsmen from the Northern Di, they would just have to let them make the glassware for the civilians.
Zhao He looked at the steward, then at the interior structure of the glass workshop: "If those Beidi craftsmen come to our Dazhao, how will you accommodate them?"
The steward was stunned. They had never thought of this before: "Maybe he lives with us."
Zhao He shook his head. "The habits of the Northern Di people are very different from ours. If we live together, I'm afraid it will cause huge conflicts. You need to live separately. At the same time, in order to prevent them from learning our secret techniques, it is best to rebuild a workshop..."
A series of words came out of Zhao He's mouth. The manager looked at Guo Xi. He was the young master. Although the Sixth Master was on good terms with the young master, this was also meddling in other people's business, right?
Guo Xi nodded slightly. What the prince wanted was indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people. So he would naturally do as the prince said. He admired Zhao He even more in his heart.
Upon seeing this, the steward immediately picked up a pen and paper and wrote down the key points one by one. He then looked at Zhao He and said, "Sixth Master, I still have a question. If the craftsmen from Beidi see how vigilant we are, will they feel alienated and unwilling to work for Dazhao anymore?"
Zhao He: "Of course, so you also need to set up certain means of gathering people, and you can select certain people to teach certain secret techniques."
The steward suddenly understood and thanked him repeatedly, and presented a few brocade boxes filled with different glass tea sets, which were very exquisite. It turned out that they were prepared as gifts for the boss.
Zhao He secretly memorized all the affairs of the glass workshop, and then took everyone to the capital, including Guo Xi.
Suining City is neither far nor near from the capital, and it only takes a dozen days to get there. There are many villages along the way.
Under Guo Xi's instructions, Fang Peilin handled the corruption case with decisive action, showing less of his previous reluctance and displaying the demeanor of a great man.