The big man has a living father

Chapter 29: Bu-style buddy

At the Qingming Gate in the east of Chang'an City, the first person in Chinese history to be appointed prime minister for his patriotism sat on a donkey cart and slowly entered Chang'an.

The young Bu Shi, who came to Chang'an for the first time, looked around.

The soldier did not dare to neglect the young man dressed as a merchant, but bowed and said, "Bu Lang, this is Chang'an City, but don't walk around randomly. Chang'an City is not Luoyang City. Most of the places in Chang'an City are your majesty's palaces."

Bu Shi waved his hand and said, "I am not interested in the palace. May I ask where is the place to do business in Chang'an?"

Soldier: "Generally speaking, when you go out of the north gate, there are people doing small business in every village. If it's a big business, they have to go to Lingyi. If it's a bigger business, they have to go to the East and West Markets."

Bu Shi bowed and said, "So, what business is the best and most profitable in Chang'an City recently?"

The soldier thought for a moment and said, "Oh, that must be the white paper business. The white paper produced by Huo's Paper is soft and delicate, and writing on it is smoother than bamboo slips. A piece of white paper with 50,000 words written on it is not as heavy as a bamboo slip with 1,000 words written on it. Therefore, since it was released, there have been long queues every day. We can sell as many as we can get."

Bu Shi's eyes lit up: "Then let's go to Huo's Paper!"

A man named Bu Shi came from the east of the city, and a man named Sang Hongyang came from the west of the city.

A horse-drawn carriage and a donkey-drawn cart came from the opposite direction and finally stopped in front of the gate of Huo’s Paper Company.

After Sang Hongyang got off the bus, he glanced at the young man getting off the bus opposite.

After the young man asked the driver who Huo Hai was, he prepared to go up and start a conversation.

Sang Hongyang put his hand on Bu Shi's shoulder and said, "Wait a minute, brother."

Bu Shi looked back at Sang Hongyang and smelled the same smell on Sang Hongyang as himself, the smell of money.

"Brother, are you also a businessman? Are you here to visit the Second Young Master as well?"

Sang Hongyang smiled and shook his head: "Others may not recognize her, but you must recognize her. The woman who is talking to the second young master Huo is Princess Wei Chang. You'd better not go up."

As he spoke, Sang Hongyang looked at the brand new seal hanging on Bu Shi's waist.

Bu Shi could only thank him and wait with Sang Hongyang.

Not long after, Princess Wei Chang mounted her horse and rode away, and Huo Hai also prepared to go back to the Huo Mansion to lie down.

Two fat men, one on the left and one on the right, came forward with a bow and said, "Second Master Huo."

Huo Hai looked at the seals on the waists of the two men and knew that they were officials: "Who are you?"

"Sang Hongyang."

"Bu-style."

Huo Hai had heard of these two names: "Please come in."

This shop is more than just a storefront. There is a whole yard at the back, which serves as a warehouse and a place to entertain guests.

Low-end business will queue up, while high-end business will naturally be discussed inside.

Seeing Huo Hai enter the yard, the servant hurried forward and Huo Hai said, "Pour some water."

"Sang Hongyang, I seem to have heard your name somewhere before, but I can't remember what you do."

Sang Hongyang smiled and said, "Second Master Huo, I am just an ordinary palace attendant. How could you have heard of me?"

Huo Hai approached Sang Hongyang and asked, "Do you know Huo Guang?"

Sang Hongyang: “Yes.”

Huo Hai: "There are so many eunuchs, at least 800 if not 3,000. How many of them can serve His Majesty? Since you know Huo Guang, it means that His Majesty likes you very much. I think he is going to use you but is still waiting for the right time... You want to be in charge of salt and iron, right?"

Sang Hongyang smiled.

Salt and iron? Bu Shi frowned.

Huo Hai turned around and said, "You and I have heard of it. When His Majesty was about to confer an official title on you two days ago, he mentioned this matter in the Crown Prince's Palace, so I heard your name."

Bu Shi bowed and said, "I am honored that my name has reached the ears of Mr. Huo."

Bu Shi is no ordinary person.

About a few years ago, Bu Shi's father passed away, so he and his brother separated.

At that time, the Bu family was a well-known merchant family in Luoyang with considerable wealth.

But Bu Shi did not ask for a penny, but only for a hundred sheep, and gave all his property to his younger brother.

Bu Shi, who was still a minor, left Luoyang with a hundred sheep.

Three years later, when Bu Shi returned to Luoyang, he already had a thousand sheep.

But his younger brother had already squandered all the family property. Bu Shi gave some money to his younger brother and used another thousand sheep as capital to continue his business.

The capital of a thousand sheep will never move, and Bu Shi will always have a thousand sheep in his hands.

People who don’t understand business don’t know what this is. Only those who understand business know what kind of bullshit this is. As the saying goes, anything with fur is not an industry. Living animals can die too easily, leading to bankruptcy.

Therefore, Bu Shi did not want the thousand sheep as capital, but wanted to use the thousand sheep to build a golden signboard for himself and become famous in Luoyang.

Sure enough, within just one year, Bu Shi became a famous businessman in Luoyang.

At the same time, Bu Shi continued to give money to his younger brother.

Probably at the end of last year, when he heard that a war was going to be fought against the Huns, Bu Shi dragged half of his property to the Luoyang government, saying that he would donate it to the court for the war.

This attracted the attention of Emperor Wu at that time, and he sent someone to ask Bu Shi why.

Bu Shi did not make any demands: "The emperor wants to punish the Xiongnu. I think the wise should die for their loyalty, and the rich should pay it back. In this way, the Xiongnu can be destroyed."

Emperor Wu originally thought that he was a posing contestant who was deliberately acting to gain fame and become an official, but when he saw that Bu Shi refused, he didn't say anything.

After King Hunxie surrendered this year, in order to prepare places to accommodate the elderly, the weak, women and children of the Xiongnu, too much food and funds were drawn from some places in the Jizhou area, resulting in the local government being left with no money.

As a result, some minor disasters occurred and many people became victims.

At this time, Bu Shi donated another 200,000 yuan for disaster relief.

This time it really caught the attention of Emperor Wu of Han.

It’s not because Bu Shi is devoted to his patriotism, but because he donated half of his property at the end of last year, and in April and May of this year he was able to come up with another 200,000 yuan for disaster relief, which shows that Bu Shi has made a lot of money again in the past few months.

Emperor Wu of Han was impressed by Bu Shi's ability and was determined to appoint him as an official.

This time it was Emperor Wu of Han who issued the decree personally, so Bu Shi had no choice but to come to Chang'an.

The reason why he had to give the lecture in the Prince's Palace was because Dong Zhongshu always said that scholars were better than other people, and that all skills other than the Six Arts were useless.

Liu Che deliberately mentioned this matter in the Prince's Palace, and also said that as long as Bu Shi did a good job, he would promote him to be prime minister in the future.

Huo Hai knew that since Liu Che said this, Bu Shi would definitely become the prime minister in the future.

Because Liu Che never fired blanks.

Although I have never heard of Bu Shi from watching TV dramas or short videos, he can definitely become a high-ranking official.

In fact, it is very easy to let Bu Shi achieve merit.

Wasn't Bu Shi good at raising sheep? After defeating the Xiongnu, what did the 40,000 Xiongnu people bring with them? Cattle and sheep.

Who had the most land near Chang'an? Liu Che's Shanglin Garden.

As long as we lock up the cattle and sheep in Shanglin Garden and let Bu Shi raise them, wait for the sheep and cattle to give birth in the next two years, and sell some dairy products, how much money can we help the court make?
You have to know that the land is yours and there is no cost, the grass is yours and there is no cost either, and those people are the ones that Shanglinyuan was going to support, so there is still no cost.

Isn’t this a huge profit?

With this kind of merit, if the money is used to fight in wars, one can easily make great contributions and be directly promoted to an important official position, and then be pulled out to manage the economy and money. With the current wealth of the people (small families), the annual tax revenue can reach tens of billions of money in minutes.

Wouldn't it be possible to be promoted to prime minister smoothly then?
What Huo Hai thought was really not much different from historical facts.

However, the reason why Huo Hai decided to bring Bu Shi in was because Huo Hai wanted to compete with Liu Che for people!
After taking a seat, Huo Hai looked at Bu Shi and asked, "Are you good at raising sheep?"

Bu Shi: “I understand a little bit.”

Huo Hai: "I have an exclusive business. I guarantee that once it reaches a certain scale, the annual profit will be no less than 10 million yuan. If you work with me, you will get 10%!"

Bu Shi's eyes widened: "Huh?! Okay!"

Sang Hongyang 0.o? next to him: "What kind of business is so profitable?"

Huo Hai: "Of course it's to take advantage of others."

Sang Hongyang: "Pulling the wool? Whose wool are you pulling?"

Who has so much to lose? Your Majesty? What do you want to do?

Huo Hai stared at Sang Hongyang as if he was a fool: "You are stupid, of course the wool grows on the sheep, and of course the wool should be plucked from the sheep!"

Sang Hongyang: "That's called plucking wool, not pulling wool!"

(╯‵ ′)╯︵┻━┻

(End of this chapter)