There was no problem with Chen Xiao's plan to open Youzhou Academy.
Although it was difficult, it could be solved.
However, the business of selling books would break the monopoly of the aristocratic families on knowledge. In essence, it would dig into the foundation of the aristocratic families.
This kind of thing was absolutely not tolerated by the aristocratic families!
Now that the world had not completely fallen into chaos, once they became the target of public criticism, wouldn't those aristocratic families gang up and attack? Swallowing the Zhen family's bones and tendons?
Therefore, the bookstore business had to be done.
But not now.
They had to wait until the world was in chaos, when the warlords were divided and the aristocratic families were unable to take care of themselves!
And before that, he had to improve the Marquis Cai paper!
It would be best if they could even make an engraving!
Chen Xiao had a very clear plan for the path she wanted to take. However, to start a bookstore business, she naturally needed a lot of preparation work. The simplest was the location of the bookstores, transportation channels, sales strategies, and so on...
Because of this, he had discussed some details with a few high-level managers of the Zhen family business.
Under his reform, the Zhen family's stewards were divided into five levels: gold, silver, bronze, iron, and wood. Each of them had a counting rod embroidered on their chest.
Among them, there were only four managers.
Zhen Tian was one of them.
"Young Master…"
A trace of cold sweat appeared on his back. Zhen Tian looked at Chen Xiao's calm eyes and almost stopped breathing.
He had never thought that Young Master would praise him just a moment ago, but suddenly question him the next moment!
The change came too quickly!
His brain froze."Young Master, this old servant…this old servant…"
"You must be very unwilling to accept that the business in the capital is about to be withdrawn.”
Chen Xiao's expression did not change at all. There was no sign of joy or anger." You're worried that your status will be affected after you go back, so you might as well take advantage of today's opportunity to spread the news about the bookstore. It will cause a sensation and impact, and let the people of Luoyang know your name…"
His eyes seemed to be able to see through everything as he stared at Zhen Tian. Suddenly, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly."Why? You want to be in charge of the bookstore business?”
His mind exploded like thunder.
Zhen Tian was dumbfounded!
It was as if an invisible hand had suddenly grabbed his heart!
"This old servant doesn't dare…"
He instinctively wanted to shake his head and deny it.
However, under Chen Xiao's gaze that penetrated the bottom of her heart, her lips were closed, but she could not say anything.
"As expected."
Chen Xiao sighed softly.
The Zhen family's business in Luoyang wasn't big.
There were three restaurants, five inns, seven clothing stores, a dozen grain stores, a tea shop that specialized in selling tea leaves, and a carriage shop that specialized in selling four-wheeled carriages.
Apart from that, there were four other shops selling brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
There were also two gambling dens.
There were only a few of these businesses in the name of the Zhen family.
The others were handled separately by professionals.
He only secretly reported to Manager Zhen Tian.
After all, Luoyang was the Great Han Capital, and the business here was extremely important. Therefore, Zhen Tian's power was quite great. Among the four great managers of the Golden Chips, he was second only to the manager of the Ji Province's headquarters, Zhen Yu.
In the past two years, he had indeed done well.
Chen Xiao was very satisfied with this.
However, this did not hinder his determination to withdraw his business in Luoyang.
After the death of Emperor Ling of Han, He Jin would summon Dong Zhuo into the capital and kill the Ten Attendants of the Imperial Court. At that time, Luoyang would fall into chaos for several years, and in the end, it would be burned down…
If he didn't leave now, he would be waiting to be harvested by Dong Zhuo.
"Before I came to the capital, what did I say in the letter I gave you?”
There was still no anger in Chen Xiao's tone.
However, Zhen Tian's body trembled slightly when he heard that.""Young Master's orders are to secretly sell all the shops in Luoyang within three months…"
"Then how did you do it?"
" Yes." Chen Xiao nodded." It's been a month. You've been secretly contacting buyers for most of the business. However, there's been no movement from those three restaurants…"
"Young Master, listen to this old servant's explanation!"
Zhen Tian was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat. He quickly explained,"It's not that this old servant doesn't want to sell the wine, but the business of the restaurant is too good. Our Zhen family has three restaurants in the capital, and they are the best in Luoyang!”
"Moreover, in the entire Luoyang, only our restaurant provides stir-fried vegetables and Drunken Immortal Brew. Business is extremely good. Although there are already people who follow the trend and stir-fry vegetables, just the sales rights of Drunken Immortal Brew can make those merchants squeeze their brains out to buy our shop!”
"It's not that this old servant doesn't want to sell it, but that I'm waiting for those merchants to bid!”
"As long as we wait for a period of time, the three restaurants will definitely be sold at the highest price. At that time, our losses will be reduced!”
"This old servant is doing this for the sake of the Zhen family.”
The stir-fried dishes and Drunken Immortal Brew were naturally made by Chen Xiao.
Although the so-called Drunken Immortal Brew was actually distilled using a local method, it was completely incomparable to the various good wines of the later generations.
However, in this era, it was enough to sweep through the wine market.
A hint of surprise appeared on Chen Xiao's face.
"In that case, did I wrongly accuse you?”
He chuckled and withdrew his right hand.
Zhen Tian felt his shoulders relax, and the pressure disappeared.
However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a cold laugh blew into his heart like a cold wind."Forget about the restaurant, what about the gambling dens? How much money have you earned from the gambling den in the past two years? Do you want me to say it one by one?”
Pa!
This sentence was like a heavy hammer that directly smashed into Zhen Tian's knee!
He knelt on the spot!
His face turned pale in an instant!
The panic and fear in his heart could no longer be concealed. It was only at this moment that he realized that nothing he had done in the past two years could be hidden from Chen Xiao!
"This old servant is blinded by greed…"
He fell to the ground, his entire body limp like mud, and tears of regret flowed down his face." I should have known. With Young Master's sharp eyes, how could I hide my little thoughts…"
Chen Xiao did not have the slightest pity for his appearance.
The hall suddenly fell silent.
"Young Master, don't worry. This old servant understands the rules!”
Zhen Tian cried for a long time, but he didn't get any response.
Finally, his heart turned ashen.
His body trembled as he said,""I only hope that Young Master will consider this old servant's contributions and spare this old servant's family…"
"If I wanted to kill you, you would be a dead man by now.”
Chen Xiao looked down from above. Seeing that Zhen Tian had no intention of running away, she finally said,""You should be glad that you're not that greedy. Although you've made some money in the past two years, it's not too much.”
A manager like Zhen Tian, who was sent to Beijing, was equivalent to the boss of a branch of a large company in the future.
There was not a speck of dust under his hands.
That would be a ghost.
Therefore, as the person in charge of the Zhen family, Chen Xiao could tolerate these things.
Of course, it was only moderate!
More importantly, his business empire was in a period of rapid development, and he needed a lot of talent. As one of the four golden chip managers, Zhen Tian was not only capable but also very strong.
He had a higher tolerance for such people.
Just like how Cao Cao used people based on talent and not virtue.
"Young Master, you mean…"
Zhen Tian raised his head abruptly, his eyes filled with uncontrollable astonishment.
It was more of a surprise.
"All the money we earned in the past two years, not a single copper coin less. Spit it all out.”
Chen Xiao casually announced Zhen Tian's fate,""In addition, demote him to Wood Stick Manager and expel him from the Zhen family…"
Zhen Tian nodded repeatedly.
Then, he was confused.
Since he was already expelled from the Zhen family, how could he be demoted?
"I'll leave the business in Beijing to Uncle Ting to handle. You stay here and eliminate the negative impact of the news that the Zhen family is about to open a cheap bookstore.”
Chen Xiao didn't even look at him and said to herself,""After doing all this, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself. If you do well, you will have a chance to become the manager of the Golden Chips.”
Zhen Tian was completely convinced." Please instruct me, Young Master. I'll do it even if I have to go through fire and water!"”
"It's very simple. I want you to take over Wang Yue's dojo.”
Chen Xiao had a big stick in one hand and a carrot in the other. After using a two-pronged approach of kindness and intimidation, he finally spoke of his ultimate goal.
When he funded Wang Yue to build the dojo, he had invested a lot of money to renovate the dojo.
A conservative estimate was that the dojo could accommodate 3,000 people!
There were also weapons and armor!
Although he chose to develop in Youzhou, Chen Xiao would not ignore Luoyang. On the contrary, he wanted to hide a sharp sword in the city before Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang!
The rangers coming and going in the dojo were the best cover!
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]