Chapter 60 Partnership
On the last night before going home, Jinghong couldn't sleep.
It was rare that he began to adapt to the new environment in the past two days, but thinking that he would be able to return to the county government office to reunite with his parents and family the next day, Jinghong tossed and turned on the couch and couldn't sleep.
As usual, Zhu Hao sat at the door after finishing writing.
Now that there is no wall for him to ride on, he can't secretly observe what is going on in the palace. He can only think about whether to live here in the future... The courtyard where he currently lives is the duty room of the palace guards. Even if few people come at night, there is a sentry post outside, and he will be easily discovered if he goes out.
"Why aren't you asleep yet? Oh, by the way, what happened to the story of "Alibaba and the Forty Thieves"? " Jing Hong pretended to be concerned, got up from the couch, walked to the threshold on Zhu Hao's side and sat down, unable to resist asking about the story that he was thinking about.
Zhu Hao said: "Finally, the forty thieves found a way to find where Alibaba lived. Alibaba, his wife, and the maid escaped by chance and went far away. The forty thieves occupied the city."
“…”
Jing Hong was speechless.
Obviously, the ending of the story was very different from what he had imagined. After a long silence, he asked, "How is this possible? Alibaba is so brave and smart, why..."
Zhu Hao looked at the starry sky and said faintly, "One man against forty, what's the point of being brave and smart? Isn't this the ending you want?"
Jing Hong shook his head repeatedly: "How could this be the ending I want?"
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Stories either have a good ending, a bad ending, or... an open ending, leaving it up to the listeners to imagine.
"Anyway, it's not a true story. It's just a story I made up. If you think Alibaba finally defeated the forty thieves, you don't have to keep asking me the result, right?"
"You asked me what the ending is, I can only tell you that it is different from what you imagined... There are always two sides to everything, and stories are no exception."
After hearing what Zhu Hao said, Jing Hong became restless.
I'm just an eight-year-old kid, how can you tell me that things have two sides?
When you are talking about big principles, should you consider whether my young head can accept such complicated things?
"I think the real ending of the story must not be like this!"
Jing Hong said to Zhu Hao seriously, but he did not argue. He knew that Zhu Hao would not tell him a good story, so he got up and lay down on the couch.
Zhu Hao continued to look up at the brilliant starry sky, trying to find the one that belonged to him among the thousands of stars.
…
…
Early the next morning.
Zhu Hao got up and packed his things before it was fully light. He went out without waiting for Jing Hong to leave the palace together.
As the chief guard of the palace's ceremonial guard, Lu Song was not on duty very often, and Zhu Hao did not see him that morning.
When he was leaving the west gate of the palace, several guards on duty looked at him curiously, but knowing that it was a day off, they did not come out to stop him and allowed Zhu Hao to leave.
It was already three quarters past three when he arrived at the street outside. Seeing the local farmers in Anlu getting up early in the dark and rushing into the city to attend the morning market as soon as the city gate opened, Zhu Hao quickened his pace to go home.
As expected, old lady Zhu Jia went into the city last night and lived in the east wing. She got up early this morning and dressed neatly, waiting for her grandson to come back and ask about the situation in the palace.
Before Zhu Haoshang had the chance to talk to Zhu Niang, Aunt Li and the others, the old lady called him into the main room alone.
"…I am studying with the prince now, and I don't know his real name. We are used to calling him Zhu San. It is not clear whether he has brothers or sisters."
"As for the instructor, we call him Mr. Sui, courtesy name Gongyan. Also, there has been some tension in the palace these past two days, probably because of the fire incident..."
The information Zhu Hao brought out was not much, and was similar to the last time. Zhu Jia was not very satisfied and kept asking questions.
Zhu Hao strictly adhered to the principle of not harming the palace. He did not worry about the identities of Zhu San and Zhu Si. If asked about relevant contents, he would say he did not know. The old lady was helpless in the face of such a smooth and sophisticated child.
"Grandmother, I found out something. It seems that the palace is going to change the instructor... I heard it from the guards, so it may not be accurate."
Zhu Hao finally gave Zhu Jia some information that satisfied her.
Zhu Jia frowned and thought for a long time, then got up and went out.
…
…
After Zhu Niang sent Zhu Jia away, she hurried into the main hall, took her son's hand and asked, "Xiaohao, no one will embarrass you when you enter the palace this time, right?"
Zhu Hao grinned and said, "No, mother, I have good food and accommodation in the palace, and I have started to study... I have learned several chapters of the Analects. If you don't believe me, I will recite them to you."
Zhu Niang said, "No need, as long as you are safe and sound... Are you hungry? Have you had breakfast? I'll ask your aunt to make you something delicious."
The courtyard became busy again because Zhu Hao came back.
Zhu Niang encountered some trouble in her business, but in order not to distract her son, she never told Zhu Hao. However, Zhu Hao still noticed something wrong.
"Mom, is there something wrong with our business?" Zhu Hao asked.
Zhu Niang smiled bitterly: "The output of the salt fields has dropped sharply... It hasn't rained recently, but at the end of July, the weather is uncertain, and the harvest is not as good as in the summer."
Zhu Hao thought that of course the annual output of the salt fields could not be measured by the output in the summer. That was when the sun was the strongest. Maybe it was because they made money too quickly then. Zhu Niang thought it should be like this all year round. But in fact, once autumn and winter came, salt drying would enter the off-season or even result in a total harvest failure.
"Mom, how is the loose salt we sell?" Zhu Hao asked.
Zhu Niang shook her head and said nothing, meaning that the retail business was still not as good as expected. After experiencing so many things before, the shop's neighborhood business was actually difficult to sustain.
Zhu Hao thought about it carefully.
In fact, it is fine to return this shop to the Zhu family. It is not profitable anyway. However, they must firmly control the salt-drying business outside the city. To do this, they will need to recruit more helpers and prevent the person in charge from changing his mind.
…
…
After breakfast, Zhu Hao called Yu San over.
When Yu San saw Zhu Hao’s smiling face, he felt relieved for no reason. In his eyes, this young shopkeeper had a lot of ideas and was worth a special trip for him.
"Brother Xiaosan, there is something I want to discuss with you...but don't tell my mother, this is a secret between us, is that okay with you?" Zhu Hao came forward with a mysterious look on his face.
Yu San was inexplicably nervous and asked, "Brother Hao, you know I don't have much ability, don't scare me."
Zhu Hao said, "How can I scare you? I have something good to do with you... It's like this, I got a few storytelling books from the palace, they are all very good, if we open a storytelling place in the city, do you think it will have a future?"
Yu San looked puzzled: "Bookstore?"
He looked at me with a confused look, as if asking, "What are you doing, little ancestor?"
Zhu Hao took out a cloth bag from his arms and opened it. Inside was some loose change, which was the pocket money given by Zhu Niang and which he had saved with great difficulty.
"I have saved a little money, but it's useless to keep it in my hands. I might as well use it to do some small business... Isn't there a large piece of vacant land on Wangfu West Street? You can buy it, build a wooden shed, and find a storyteller with a loud voice... Xiaosan brother, it seems that you can also read, so you can take over when necessary!
"In the beginning, we didn't charge people for listening to the story. When the business got on track, we charged one cent per person, and two to three cents for seats near the front. As for the front, near the stage, we arranged several rows of seats, put out a few tables, and provided tea and dried fruit snacks. Those who were rich and had time could drink tea while listening to the story.
"There are about ten performances a day in the storytelling hall , and the latest performance can even be delayed until the second watch. Anyway, there is no curfew in Anluzhou City, so it is just right to enrich the nightlife of the city residents... Third brother, you can take care of everything, okay?"
Zhu Hao wants to get Yu San to do business with him.
Yu Sanwei said with difficulty: "I'm afraid it won't be easy. It will cost... a lot."
Zhu Hao said, "I've calculated that the venue and other things may cost one or two taels of silver a month. After all, we don't need a house. With the addition of tables and chairs, it shouldn't cost more than three taels. We can recruit a storyteller and pay him a monthly salary. We can give him a commission on tea. As for the two of us... you don't have to pay, just work hard. We'll split the money 70% to 30%, 70% for me and 30% for you. I'll give you an extra four taels of silver every month as hard work. What do you think?"
Originally, Yu San didn't want to form a partnership with Zhu Hao. Firstly, he didn't have the capital, and secondly, running errands for others might not necessarily bring any benefits.
But when he heard that he could get shares without spending any money and also receive a fixed salary, he had no reason to refuse such a good thing.
"This... is possible, but it may not be done."
Yu San didn't dare to say anything complete.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "I only have five taels of silver. Once I spend it, it's all gone. I'll just buy it for the sake of souvenirs. Of course, the most important thing is that it's good and people will come to support it! As long as it becomes famous, I'm afraid people in the city will come to support it. Then we can add more shows every day and night."
The reason why Zhu Hao opened a storytelling hall was because it was too boring to live in the palace.
With Lu Song's relationship, it is actually not too difficult to leave the palace at night. For Lu Song, it is just a matter of preventing him from entering the inner house of the palace and doing something improper. If you want to leave the palace... please go ahead.
Although Zhu Hao has the conditions to escape at night, he also needs to have fun activities outside to kill time.
There is a bigger reason, there are indeed a lot of vacant land on Wangfu West Street.
Zhu Hao had heard that there was a big fire here at the end of the Hongzhi reign, and a large area near the west gate of the palace was burned to ashes. The wealthy families were afraid that this place might be bad for feng shui because people had been burned to death, so they chose to rebuild there. The poor also had concerns that if they built houses here, the palace would requisition their houses for expansion in the future, which would cause trouble again, so they simply avoided it from the beginning.
Yu San had a lot of clever ideas to begin with, and when he heard Zhu Hao's words, he became excited and his eyes lit up.
Zhu Hao said: "I don't have to go back to the palace today, so I will accompany you to make arrangements. First, you find a broker to choose a place, then find a craftsman to build a shed, and make tables, chairs and benches. After everything is done, I will tell you how to arrange it..."
Zhu Hao does what he thinks.
Why not enrich the daily entertainment life of the local people in Anlu, have some fun at the same time, and maybe even make some money?
If it were a storytelling full of clichés, naturally not many people would come to listen, but Zhu Hao has written many wonderful stories during this period.
People of this era have plenty of free time but not enough entertainment. If there is a place where they can listen to books and have fun, I think they will flock to it even if it costs only one or two cents a day.
