The legitimate daughter was reborn, and the emperor’s little Jiaojiao went crazy.

Chapter 829: 4 Silver in Hand

To print a picture album like "The Northern Wing Emperor Guarding the National Gate", Tang Chujun and Yu Sujun first need to decide on the style of the drawings, and then a large number of engravers will carry out detailed carving on the wood boards, followed by inking and printing, and finally drying and binding.

This sounds easy, but it is actually very time-consuming, material-intensive and labor-intensive.

Especially since this booklet is used as a vanguard weapon, the quantity and speed are required to be extreme, which increases the difficulty and budget.

Nowadays, the imperial court is full of money, and food, fodder, weapons, and war horses are all very expensive. This is also the reason why the emperors of the Northern Wing of all dynasties are reluctant to fight. Knowing that the people who have lost their land live a life worse than cattle and horses, they can only pretend not to see it.

Therefore, the resources and money left for the Northern Propaganda Department were very few. In order to raise funds for printing books, Shi Yunqi had already used his influence to raise funds for a round of fundraising.

But after all, the big hole could not be filled, and Shi Yunqi became very anxious.

This donation from Madam Gu was undoubtedly a timely help, solving the urgent needs of the Northern Propaganda Department.

After Cen Yuan came back and learned the news, he casually came up with an idea, saying that it would be better to give the Gu family's business name a name in the booklet as a reward.

Even though Shi Yunqi was smart, he didn't understand what "giving a name" meant at first.

Shi Anxia didn't understand either. But Cen Yuan often came up with some strange and practical ideas, so she thought it would definitely work.

For example, the New Year Goods Festival in Yuncheng was Cen Yuan's idea, and it proved to be very successful.

She asked actively, "Husband, please tell me in detail."

Cen Yuan continued, "For example, add the words 'This book was printed with the help of Gu's Yunshang Fragrance Shop' on the title page of the book. In this way, everyone who sees the book will know that the book was printed with the help of Gu's Yunshang Fragrance Shop. This will not only make the business famous, but also encourage everyone to buy Yunshang Fragrance Shop's products first."

Shi Yunqi and Shi Anxia's eyes lit up at the same time.

Tang Chujun clapped his hands and said, "No wonder, that person always covets Yuan'er's brain."

The Gu family mainly deals in silk and spices, and Yunshang Fragrance Shop is their signature product. In comparison, tea is just a by-product and is not as famous as Ming family tea.

If the words "Yunchang Xiangfang" were typed on the booklet, the reputation of the Gu family business would spread far and wide, even to other countries.

The booklet was issued by the Northern Propaganda Department, which was equivalent to adding an official seal to the business. If anyone wanted to make things difficult in the future, it would depend on whether he wanted to rebel.

Since Shi Yunqi took the position of the Minister of Northern Propaganda Department, he has learned a lot, knows how to calculate carefully, and draw inferences from one example. "Then why don't the royal merchants of our Shi and Wei families also pay 100,000 taels?"

In this way, the words "Ming Yu An Ci" can also be typed on the title page.

Both imperial merchants are on the list, wouldn’t it be bad if the Ming family wasn’t included?

Shi Yunqi immediately sent someone to invite the Ming family over and told them about his idea.

The Ming family immediately stated that the 100,000 taels of silver would be deposited into the account book of the Northern Propaganda Department tomorrow.

Three of the four imperial merchants have joined. Isn't it a bad idea to stick together? It is obviously inappropriate to leave the Huizhou Sheng family aside.

When doing things, one should be fair and just, so that one can be an upright official. When Shi Yunqi returned to the Northern Propaganda Department the next day, he sent someone to ask the person in charge of the Sheng family stationed in Beijing to discuss the matter.

In fact, there is no need to say more, the Sheng family will pay the money. After all, it is unexpected that the title of imperial merchant fell on them.

But Shi Yunqi still patiently told the Sheng family about the difficulties of the Northern Propaganda Department, and patiently explained to them where the so-called "naming fee" came from.

If he spent 100,000 taels of silver to speak a few words to ordinary people, people would definitely say he was a rip-off.

But when he discussed this matter with the emperor, he was so happy that the Sheng family presented him with 100,000 taels overnight, for fear that they would fall behind.

The “naming” has two functions. First, the reason why the imperial merchants are different from ordinary merchants is that they are connected with the imperial court.

Now that the imperial court wants to recover the lost territory, the imperial merchants should help with all their strength. After this action, when the imperial merchants are selected again in three years, Sheng's business will probably still be on the list.

Could that be a matter of one hundred thousand taels of silver?

In the past, imperial merchants had to spend hundreds of thousands of taels to bribe the relevant dignitaries to obtain the qualification of imperial merchants. The Sheng family of Huizhou had never been on the list because they did not bribe officials.

Secondly, merchants know the importance of publicity. Especially in such an important booklet, the name of the Yinsheng family business can not only bring glory to the family, but also set off a trend among merchants.

The Sheng family couldn't miss this opportunity to kill several birds with one stone. Even if there were no such considerations, three of the imperial merchants had donated, leaving you alone.

Does your Sheng family still have any shame?

The Sheng family was very grateful to the Northern Propaganda Department Minister for informing them personally, otherwise if they fell behind, the master of the Sheng family would think that they were not doing their job well.

The Northern Propaganda Department Minister Shi Yunqi himself was also shocked.

Is this enough?

Four hundred thousand taels of silver in hand?

So easy?

It must be his brother-in-law's brain that works! No wonder the Luo family's business is flourishing everywhere, that is the real hidden rich man.

Shi Yunqi thought that he should just study hard. Even if he had ten more brains, he couldn't come up with such a good idea.

After Emperor Mingde heard about this, he summoned Shiyunqi to meet him and warned him not to ask for money from the imperial merchants just because he was short of silver.

If all else fails, he plans to use his own private treasury.

Shi Yunqi explained the whole story and emphasized, "The little money the imperial merchant paid will soon be doubled back by the publication of the book."

Emperor Mingde was relieved.

Shi Yunqi added, "This was my brother-in-law's idea."

When Emperor Mingde heard this...well, he felt more relieved.

Anyone could cheat the people out of their money, but his son-in-law wouldn't. He didn't know when he had this idea, but he was very sure of it in his heart.

While everyone was still in the excitement of donating silver, Shi Anxia discovered that Madam Gu was intending to give her mother a generous gift.

From the outside to the inside, everything is complete. All are made of top-quality rare fabrics, such as the Frost Brocade, which comes in many varieties. The one Madam Gu gave was the finest Frost Brocade.

In the past, this kind of material was basically sent to the palace, and only people of the empress dowager and the empress dowager's level would use it in the palace, and others could only look at it.

Now the harem is empty. The good materials naturally remain in the hands of the merchants themselves. Madam Gu is a big silk merchant, so she has a lot of good stuff.

Shi Anxia said to Tang Chujun confidently, "I understand. Madam Gu's heart belongs to Mr. Chu Sheng, so knowing that you are the one she loves, she wants to give you all the good things she has."

Tang Chujun: "..."

This change in style is a bit weird.

She was thinking about the concubines in Shi Chengxuan's backyard, who were now all living in her house, loving each other and living together with little Yunshu.

She had visited the house on Fushuang Road a while ago and saw that the women all looked different.

Earn money to support yourself and you will feel confident.

There is no need to be jealous, and there is no need to always think about relying on serving men to survive. Once you feel relaxed, you will naturally feel good.

The Shi family has a lot of business to do and needs people to do it, so they can hire anyone and feel at ease using them.

It's a win-win situation.