Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 23 A bad start
Judging from Wang Shouyi's attitude, Wang Xi probably knew that his plan had succeeded, but he also knew that it was only temporary. After all, Li Longji still doted on Consort Wu, and that was difficult to change.

Compared to Empress Zhangsun, Empress Wang had two major weaknesses. First, she was illiterate. She couldn't connect with Li Longji, who had an artistic bent. Beauty can only please for a short time; what truly sustains a marital relationship is inner qualities and shared interests.

Secondly, her inability to bear children was quite fatal, as it not only gave the emperor a reason to depose her but also reduced the support she received from the outside court.

Generally speaking, ministers support the empress primarily because they support the crown prince, who is the future emperor. What if, despite my support for you, the crown prince later has another mother?
Ministers must consider political interests.

Historically, Empress Wang was ultimately deposed because she wanted a son. She listened to Wang Shouyi's nonsense and practiced witchcraft to pray for a child. She was reported and eventually deposed by Li Longji.

Therefore, Wang Xi's current strategy for Empress Wang was to let go and avoid arguing with Li Longji at this time, as that would be very disadvantageous. She could only use her past relationship with Li Longji and set a good example in the harem to stabilize Li Longji and gain more support from the ministers, thereby securing her position as empress.

Wang Xi believes that Wang Shouyi still needs to continue his efforts, because the situation could change at any time.

In fact, Wang Shouyi has become very hardworking now, especially this underwear design has given him some confidence.

After reprimanding Wang Xi, Wang Shouyi immediately went out to the Palace Secretariat to arrange follow-up matters.

It has been proven that Li Longji really liked those stockings, and at the same time, the Empress sent someone to tell him to be generous and let all the concubines wear them.

But upon arriving at the Palace Palace, they found many relatives of the emperor, nobles, and generals standing in front of the gate—all of whom were the same cronies the Xue Kingdom princess had described.

Whenever you try to put in the effort, there are always a few people who will interrupt your spellcasting.

"Why are you here?"

Wang Shouyi felt inexplicably nervous, unsure if it was due to a lack of confidence in himself.

One of the bearded men said casually, "Of course we're waiting for you, Brother Wang. Otherwise, why would we come here?"

Wang Shouyi immediately said, "I really don't have time lately, you guys go and drink by yourselves."

A firm refusal.

The bearded man said again, "Who would come to ask you to drink so early in the morning? Haven't we ever drunk alcohol before?"

The others also agreed.

"Then why are you looking for me?"

"This is related to the prosperity of our family, Brother Wang, you must help us."

"A prosperous family?"

"Indeed, we heard that your son found a famous teacher and made a name for himself in front of His Majesty and Minister Zhang."

"You all knew?"

"Such a good thing, and you're trying to keep it a secret? That's really not brotherly!"

"It hasn't been that long."

“We don’t care about that. I heard that the nameless master only accepts unruly students. If we’re talking about unruly students, who can compare to my son? My son was only thirteen years old when he was arrested and brought to the mansion for fighting.”

"What's this? My son was thirteen when he peeked at a widow bathing, which resulted in me taking that widow as my concubine."

"Oh my! You call this naughty? You have the nerve to say that? Don't you remember that my son once beat up an official while drunk, almost costing me my life? It was only thanks to my wife's family pleading that I was spared?"

"Let's stop arguing. Anyway, compared to our son, Que'er is far superior in both character and academics!"

".?"

Wang Shouyi was completely numb.

Meanwhile, Wang Xi never expected that he would be praised for his excellent character and academic performance. He returned to his room and immediately threw himself to Sister Hua, who gave him a thorough "torture." After that, he went to the academy in a handsome and dashing manner with some rewards given to him by his aunt, the Empress.

Today is a very important day. They no longer need to stay in the academy drinking and having fun every day. They can go out and enjoy themselves.

Happy.

"This is a gift from the Empress."

When Wang Xi arrived at the academy, he didn't just throw a bunch of bamboo slips at Tao Mo; instead, he threw some expensive silks and satins at him.

After a flurry of activity, Tao Mo finally managed to hug the silks and satins tightly, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Wang Xi smiled and said, "Take it, consider it a reward for your recent hard work."

Tao Mo was flattered and said, "Young master, please rest assured, I will study hard and make progress every day."

These were words that Wang Xi had taught him on a daily basis.

"very good!"

Wang Xi nodded.

Li Jieman, who had just come out of the house, saw this scene and immediately jumped up, grabbed Wang Xi by the neck, and asked, "Brother Que, did your father praise you yesterday?"

"Get off!"

Wang Xi pushed the pile of fat aside with all his might and complained, "What a load of rubbish! Damn it, I was locked up by my father all night after I came back from the palace yesterday."

Li Jie nodded repeatedly and said, "That's good."

"Ok?"

"I got beaten up too."

Li Jie said dejectedly, "His Majesty praised you all day yesterday, so why did he beat us?"

Wang Xi sneered, "With our father's IQ, what more can we ask for?"

Wang Shuang nodded and said, "That's true." "But this is not a long-term solution."

Wang Xi added, "We still have to rely on ourselves to sell this wine, then we won't be subject to their control anymore."

Wang Shuang said excitedly, "The wine is all ready, we're just waiting for you to come."

Wang Xi took out another piece of silk and handed it to Tao Mo. "Old Tao, this is today's lesson. It's all about supplementing yesterday's statement. You must thoroughly understand it so that no one will see through your ruse. You stay home and work hard. We're going out to earn money."

Tao Mo took the homework dejectedly, his heart screaming, "I want to sell wine too!"

Since he joined Wang Xi's gang, he has been completely confined to this courtyard, because if he shows his face, he might be exposed.

The four of them, carrying a jar of wine, happily left the courtyard.

"We can finally go out."

Stepping outside, Wang Shuang took a deep breath and excitedly raised his hand, shouting.

This undoubtedly fulfilled another of their wishes.

It means that you can go out and play during class.

Commerce in the Tang Dynasty at that time had both an open and closed aspect. For example, there was no tax on wine. Not to mention wine tax, there was no tax on tea or salt either.

However, if you want to sell wine, you must go to the East and West markets. You can't just sell it anywhere, and not everyone can open a shop. You have to apply for approval from the government, and the price and quality must be reviewed.

As for the East and West markets, the West market is more commercialized, more down-to-earth, and more international. Currently, Chang'an is the number one international city in the world, without exception, whether in terms of culture or economy.

Merchants from all over the world, from Japan to the Western Regions, flocked to Chang'an.

The East Market was a place frequented by high-ranking officials and nobles, and it was also a place where Wang Xi and his group often went.

They definitely chose their own territory, so they went to a very famous tavern in the East Market, which was also a place they frequented, Zhang Baishou's Tavern.

When Zhang Huaijian, the owner of Zhang Baishou Shop, and his group arrived, everyone was in for a big surprise. These few little tyrants, although they had strong spending power, also loved to cause trouble, especially when they were drunk. It had been a rare month or two since things had finally quieted down for them.

When Zhang Huai learned that they were there to sell wine, he was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.

I haven't heard that their parents were arrested!
Of course, he dared not say it outright, but only hinted at it, only to find out that he was doing his homework, which made him both amused and exasperated.

Having lived this long, this was the first time he had ever seen such a lesson, but he didn't dare to refuse. He invited the group into the private room, but Huangfu Sengnian declined and chose to wait at the door. Only Wang Xi, Wang Shuang, and Li Jieman followed Zhang Huai into the room.

Li Jieman and Wang Shuang, who had been holding back for several days, ordered a table of food and wine before even discussing business. They also wanted to invite some courtesans, but Wang Xi stopped them.

You haven't even earned the money yet, and you're already spending it.

However, the aroma of the wine surprised Zhang Huai as soon as it was poured.

Something.

Upon learning that it was their teacher who taught them, Zhang Huai was no longer surprised and picked up his wine glass to take a sip.

"Old Zhang, how's our wine?"

Having already drunk several large bowls of wine, Wang Shuang saw that Zhang Huai remained silent for a long time, so he immediately got up, put one foot on the low couch, and held the horsewhip in his hand.

Seeing the little tyrant's demeanor, Zhang Huai couldn't utter a word.

"Xiao Shuang, what are you doing? We're here to discuss business, not to extort money from you. Put your foot down."

Wang Xi patted Wang Shuang's leg.

"Sorry, I'm used to it, I'm used to it."

Wang Shuang quickly pulled her legs back and obediently sat back down.

Wang Xi then said to Zhang Huai, "Old Zhang, we're just talking business. Even if the deal falls through, we can still be on good terms. Just say what you need to say."

"Yes."

Zhang Huai then said, "Then I will speak frankly. Young Master's wine is indeed unique, but because its flavor is too strong, I don't know if the guests will like it. Perhaps it will only be liked by a small number of people."

However, I am willing to sell your wine at my shop, young master, but I must apologize that I cannot agree to your conditions.

"Ok?"

Wang Shuang and Li Jieman immediately revealed their fierce expressions.

Wang Xi quickly stopped them and asked Zhang Huai, "Why?"

Zhang Huai was terrified. His lips trembled, and he said with a mournful face, "Don't even mention me. Even if you go to any other shop, they would never agree to give you a portion of the entire shop just because of your wine."

Wang Xi said, "But we're giving you the secret recipe for brewing wine. Is that too much to ask?"

He wasn't planning to make a fortune off this wine; his family wasn't short of money. He was just trying to earn money from their food, drinks, and entertainment, and to give them an excuse to go to class or leave home.

That's it.

Let him brew the wine himself, isn't that making him work harder?

What a cruel demand.

His requirement was simply to bring the distilled liquor directly into the group, then lie back and collect the profits.

Zhang Huai shook his head and said, "I know that your conditions are very generous, but please forgive me, I really cannot agree to them."

Wang Xi frowned upon hearing this.

(End of this chapter)