Tang Dynasty: The poisonous scholar in the Eastern Palace, please abdicate and let the wise one take

Chapter 140: Deja Vu? He might be the son's toy
West Market.

In a store with the Arab Empire logo, Randy was greeting customers with a smile on his face.

The two sides had been in contact before and had the intention to cooperate.

But because the dividend issue was not discussed, it was put on hold for two days. Today, Liu Tao's arrival made Randy see the hope of cooperation.

"Boss Liu, what do you think of our proposal?"

"Randy, you guys are asking for too much."

Liu Tao sighed, "I still say the same thing, if you want to cooperate successfully, you must show enough sincerity!"

"Besides, you should understand that this is in the Tang Dynasty, in Chang'an City, not in your country of Daqin."

"There are many things that are inconvenient for you to deal with, and we need to handle them, so I really can't agree to your request for 60% of the profits."

Randy's smile faded a little. "Of course I am sincere, but forgive me for being blunt. Your power in Chang'an City is indeed much greater than ours, but what about outside the Tang Dynasty?"

Liu Tao raised his hand to interrupt Randy, "I know the strength of your country, the Arab Empire, and I also know the power you have outside the Tang Dynasty, but that is too far away from us."

"What we should discuss now is the business and cooperation we are going to do right now. If you are willing, I can take a step back and split the profits 50-50!"

"This is the lowest bottom line I can accept. If you don't want to, I won't force you. Just pretend I haven't been here."

After saying that, Liu Tao stood up and pretended to leave.

Randy hesitated for a moment and called Liu Tao, "Okay, since this is our first collaboration, we'll split it 50-50!"

"I hope you can tell His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei about our cooperation. If it weren't for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei's help, I would definitely not cooperate with you."

"of course."

Liu Tao smiled and sat back.

Randy: "So, tell me about your plan."

Liu Tao took out the prepared plan and placed it in front of Randy. "The biggest reason why Su Chen was able to succeed was because of soap and newspapers."

"Someone did try to steal the soap-making method, but the result is self-evident, so what we can do now is to steal it from the newspaper."

"I have arranged staff and purchased shops. I can open a Tang Dynasty newspaper and a Shiite newspaper at any time."

Randy pondered and put down the plan in his hand, and said slowly: "What do you think of the recent boom in ice cube business?"

Liu Tao: "Making ice is not our strong point, but His Royal Highness the King of Wei has contacted Taoist Master Wei of Huisheng Temple. He is proficient in Taoism and may be able to study the art of making ice."

Seeing Liu Tao being so frank, Randy smiled and stopped hiding anything. He took out a list and placed it in front of Liu Tao.

Liu Tao looked at it carefully, and expressed his curiosity about the various things on it. "What are these?"

“The raw material for soap!”

Randy spoke slowly, "Although Su Chen and his men are very strict about the method of making soap, they still need materials to make soap."

"As long as you pay attention, you can find some clues!"

"This is what I discovered and recorded during my careful observations over the past month!"

Liu Tao's eyes lit up. He didn't expect Randy to be so patient.

but.

"There are many different types of soaps available here. Are the materials you recorded here really useful?"

Randy was extremely confident, "It's absolutely true! No matter how strict their defenses are, they still can't hide the purchase of a large amount of materials. It's just that my people haven't yet figured out how to make soap based on these materials!"

"I will now hand over the materials to you. I believe that there must be many talented people under your command who will be able to research the method of making soap."

Liu Tao put away the paper solemnly and said in a deep voice: "I see your sincerity. I believe that our future cooperation will definitely take our business to a higher level."

"hope so."

……

Prince's residence.

Xu Qizhuang came to Su Chen with a serious expression.

"Sit down and try the milk tea I just made..."

"Brother Su, we have an opponent now."

"what?"

Su Chen was stunned for a moment, handed the milk tea in his hand to Xu Qizhuang, and asked, "What opponent?"

Xu Qizhuang: "Someone in the city wants to open a newspaper!"

"...?"

Su Chen looked weird, "So what?"

"They open their business and we do our business. Although there is a certain amount of competition, I don't believe they can do better than you."

Xu Qizhuang smiled, as if he was very pleased with Su Chen's comfort.

"But the problem is, they are prying our people!"

"..."

Malicious competition?

Su Chen tapped his folding fan and asked, "Is the newspaper office open?"

Xu Qizhuang shook his head.

Gee tut.

The newspaper hasn't even opened yet, and you're already trying to poach people from it?

So thoughtful?
"What did those people say?"

"They said they paid more than us for writing, and they also gave us various gifts during festivals."

Xu Qizhuang: "They were unwilling to say more specific details."

Su Chen nodded. Everyone was coming and going for profit.

The price offered by the other party is higher than theirs, so it is understandable that these people are willing to go to other newspapers.

"Should we stop it?"

"No need."

Su Chen waved his hand and said, "Instead of spending a lot of money to keep these people, it is better to let fresh blood and fresh articles attract more readers."

"Didn't Kong Huiyuan submit an article to our newspaper? Then we should give him a special push..."

Su Chen suddenly noticed that Xu Qizhuang's expression was a little strange, "What's wrong?"

Xu Qizhuang: "Brother Su, didn't you read Kong Huiyuan's article?"

Su Chen shook his head.

He learned about Kong Huiyuan's article in the newspaper from the newspaper vendor's shouting, but he didn't care about the specific content of the article.

Xu Qizhuang: "His article was somewhat biased, and he felt that our newspaper was influencing people's thinking, so I placed it in a corner of the newspaper."

"I heard from people at the Imperial College that there are secrets hidden in this article. Many people are discussing it and want to find out the secret."

"Brother Su, you won't blame me for quoting Kong Huiyuan's article because of his fame, right?" No wonder Xu Qizhuang's face looked a little strange.

Su Chen smiled and shook his head. "It's just an article. What's the big deal? If you can't use it, then don't use his article."

"We still have annotations to Cen Wenben's article, so let's continue publishing them."

Xu Qizhuang breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Chen continued: "Unless they invite some great writers and scholars, it is impossible for them to take away our readers."

"and."

"The purpose of establishing a newspaper is not to make a profit..."

When the newspaper was first established, its purpose was to pave the way.

Liu Li is a very successful case.

"What's the name of the man who's going to be a newspaper publisher?"

"Liu Tao."

"Ok?"

Su Chen frowned and looked over.

Xu Qizhuang said in a deep voice: "Liu Tao is from Huizhou, Shandong Province. His family has been doing business for generations."

It turned out to be him.

Su Chen thought of the person he met in Liu Mansion that day.

He actually wants to make a newspaper...

Interesting!

Su Chen tapped his folding fan and said, "When will his newspaper office open? I'll go and take a look then."

"tomorrow."

"tomorrow?"

Oops.

It's quite urgent.

Su Chen smiled and said, "Let's go and have a look tomorrow."

……

The next morning, Su Chen got up early.

After greeting Sun Qiang and Xu Qizhuang, the three of them walked out of the Prince's Residence together.

"Sir, could it be that Liu Tao was hired by the King of Wei to deal with you?"

"...?"

Su Chen looked over and smiled, "Why do you think so?"

Sun Qiang: "This man appeared in Liu's mansion with King Wei and others before, and now he has opened a newspaper. I have a strange feeling about this."

"What does it feel like?"

“The feeling of replicating.”

"Reproduction?"

After Sun Qiang said this, Su Chen felt somewhat familiar.

Xu Qizhuang nodded in agreement: "It is true that they are somewhat similar. If they were to launch a soap, it cannot be said to be exactly the same, but it is not much different."

Su Chen glanced at the two of them and smiled, "Do you think he can do it?"

Xu Qizhuang: "It's hard to say. I heard that he is from a merchant family in Huizhou. Maybe he has some real skills."

Compared to Xu Qizhuang's uncertainty, Sun Qiang shook his head affirmatively, "He is no match for you, young master."

Xu Qizhuang had only a short time of contact with Su Chen and did not understand Su Chen's style of doing things.

But Sun Qiang knew everything clearly, and he was responsible for handling many things. How could he not know Su Chen's methods?
"I think if he becomes the Master's enemy, he might be treated as a toy by the Master!"

"Toys? Not really?"

Xu Qizhuang's face was full of disbelief.

After all, they are a family of merchants, so doing business should be smooth sailing.

With the support of a strong family background, even if he makes a loss, he will not be bullied by Su Chen at will.

Sun Qiang glanced at him and said meaningfully, "You are still young, you don't understand, let's wait and see."

Xu Qizhuang: “…”

"hehe."

Su Chen smiled and opened the folding fan.

Su Chen didn't care whether Liu Tao was hired by the King of Wei to target him. Even if he was, so what?
"Where is their newspaper office located?"

"Just on the corner ahead."

As we got closer to the newspaper office, there were obviously more passers-by around.

Among them, there were many people dressed as scholars, walking in groups of three or four and talking to each other.

"I heard that the newspaper article published today contained the handwriting of Lord Ma, but I don't know if it's true or not."

"Yes, I also heard that there is a poem written by Mr. Du."

"Speaking of the secret that Kong Siye hid in the article, have you discovered it?"

"Very difficult, very difficult, I can't see it at all. Although Kong Siye took out his collection of calligraphy and paintings as a reward, what's the point if I can't see it?"

"There was a rumor circulating yesterday that the mystery could be solved outside this newspaper office today."

"It's fake, those people must be talking nonsense!"

"..."

Sun Qiang looked around and lowered his voice, "What was published in your newspaper that attracted all these scholars to come here just for Kong Huiyuan's article?"

Xu Qizhuang: "It's just an ordinary article, not an advertisement."

"Brother Su, what are you thinking about?"

Su Chen: "He's pretty good at creating momentum."

"..."

Xu Qizhuang and the other man were speechless.

This newspaper hasn't even opened for business yet, but it has already attracted so many readers. Don't you take it seriously and instead praise it for doing a good job?

He is our competitor!
"Out."

"The boss is coming out!"

(End of this chapter)