What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 299 The Store's Treasure!

Upon seeing a screen standing directly opposite the entrance of the bookstore, with a table in front of it, the Empress was shocked by what she saw on the table.

She quickened her pace involuntarily as she approached and examined the object closely.

Princess Baicheng, Zhong Yin, and Nangong Sheyue also looked at this object with surprise and doubt!

Given their status, they were naturally well-informed and had seen countless treasures.

However, they only knew the origin of half of it!

Not to mention them, even the women in Su Mo's residence, such as Lin Moyin and Xue Yishu, showed surprise and doubt on their pretty faces.

Lin Moyin, in particular, was completely unaware that her family possessed such a treasure!

Only Liu Siyun seemed somewhat calm.

On the table was a five-colored, shimmering object shaped like a reclining deer.

This object, about a foot in size, is a completely natural creation and is an extremely rare treasure in the world!

Above the reclining deer, there is a cleverly placed palm-sized, crystal-clear mirror with gold trim.

The clarity of this mirror far surpasses that of the finest polished bronze mirror, reflecting people with perfect detail, even the finest hairs on their faces!
"This is... a medicinal jade?"

The Empress reluctantly withdrew her gaze, pointed her slender finger at the colorful reclining deer, and turned to look at Su Mo in surprise.

Su Mo smiled and nodded: "Reporting to my lord, this is indeed the medicinal jade!"

A glint flashed in the Empress's eyes, and she pointed to the mirror above, saying, "This is a mirror?"

Su Mo nodded: "It's a mirror, and also a medicinal jade."

Zhong Yin, who was standing to the side, finally couldn't hold back any longer and said in a deep voice, "Such a huge piece of medicinal jade is actually perfectly formed by nature, and it looks exactly like a reclining deer!"

He took a deep breath and emphasized, "Lord Su, this is an auspicious omen!"

"And this mirror is so accurate that it can reflect every detail, showing a person's face perfectly. It is truly unparalleled in the world."

He looked at Su Mo with an extremely serious expression: "Prince Su, these two items should be offered to the Sage!"

Su Mo was speechless.

What was Zhong Yin thinking?!

Does that mean the best things have to be offered to the Empress?

He quickly replied, "Lord Zhong, you flatter me!"

"This item may look nice, but in my eyes it is just an ordinary thing. If there is something better, I will naturally offer it to His Majesty immediately!"

Princess Baicheng and Nangong Sheyue were both secretly surprised upon hearing this.

Princess Baicheng couldn't help but ask, "Where did Su County Magistrate obtain these two items?"

"Could it be that County Magistrate Su possesses even greater treasures than these two items?"

Leng Liuxi suddenly said softly, "Actually, I think these two things are already excellent..."

Su Mo...

He coughed twice: "Lord Leng, this medicinal jade is for attracting customers to the shop."

"When the medicine is of even better quality in the future, I promise to send it to you as soon as possible!"

The Empress was taken aback: "Are there even better medicinal jades in the future?"

"Does the young master know any foreign merchants?"

Medicinal jade is extremely rare. The medicinal jade that appears in the Great Wu is basically brought by foreign merchants. It is more valuable than gold and is highly sought after by nobles!
According to those foreign merchants, this was crafted by a master craftsman from another country, who drew upon the power of heavenly lightning and went through dozens of processes to create it.

The Empress and others naturally did not believe it.

However, it is true that one can occasionally find objects resembling medicinal jade at the sites of lightning strikes, so it's not wise to contradict the merchants' claims.

In fact, alchemists in the Great Wu Kingdom occasionally produced medicinal jade in their alchemy furnaces.

However, even the alchemists themselves couldn't explain how the medicinal jade was made.

Su Mo's stained glass and mirrors were certainly not obtained from foreign merchants.

Those merchants did indeed sell medicinal jade, but it was a pile of junk glass being sold at the price of gold. Su Mo must have been out of his mind to buy it.

The glass was refined from Gufeng Mountain.

Su Mo knew the four essential skills for a time traveler: salt, soap, sugar, and glass. Having read countless novels about time travel to ancient times, he was certainly familiar with them.

Su Mo could make all three of them, but he still couldn't figure out the white sugar.

The method of applying yellow mud water has failed many times.

Su Mo planned to decorate his villa on Gufeng Mountain with glass and tiles, so he had already asked people to study the methods of firing glass and tiles.

Borax, limestone, potassium carbonate, and other fluxes can be added during glassmaking.

Limestone is one of the raw materials for cement, and borax is also available here, called borax sand.

Potassium carbonate is even simpler; it can be obtained by soaking and filtering wood ash, then boiling it dry.

All the elements needed to make glass have been gathered.

The reason why glass was extremely difficult to make in ancient times was simply because the temperature was not high enough.

In fact, the same applies to iron smelting. If the temperature is insufficient to dissolve the iron ore, it is not actually turning the iron ore into molten iron. Instead, carbon is added to replace impurities, thereby obtaining pig iron with a very high carbon content.

The reason why alchemists occasionally produce glass with many impurities is because...

Su Mo guessed that a flux or something similar had been added, or that the alchemist had a secret method to greatly increase the furnace temperature.

Su Mo had people refine coking coal, set up preheating pipes, and manufactured refractory bricks from graphite. The furnace temperature has been raised to over 1,500 degrees Celsius, which is high enough to dissolve sand and gravel!
However, the craftsmen of Gufeng Mountain made many attempts and produced a lot of mixed-color glass, but only one batch of high-purity glass that could be used to make mirrors was produced.

Su Mo guessed that it might be a problem with the purity of the sand.

Once high-purity glass is produced, mirrors become easy to make.

The time-traveling predecessor told Su Mo that all he needed to do was stick tin foil to the mirror and then pour mercury on it to solidify.

Su Mo only learned of this yesterday when he went to Lonely Peak Mountain to retrieve the cold Su paper, along with the reclining deer and mirror that were sent with the paper.

Once one batch is successfully refined, a second batch can definitely be produced in the future. This is why Su Mo dared to make such a boast to the Empress.

It's simply a matter of doing more testing and time.

Moreover, once the glassblowing artisans have mastered their skills, they can produce even more exquisite glassware.

Of course, Su Mo would not reveal the secret of how Gufeng Mountain could refine medicinal jade (glass) in public.

This is a truly deadly weapon capable of reaping the wealth of rich businessmen and powerful families!
Glass has so many uses!
At least the greenhouse will no longer need to use extremely troublesome and expensive silk!

Compared to the wealth that glass can bring, the tens of thousands of taels of silver that Su Mo had painstakingly saved up before were insignificant!
This has been proven by history.

Upon hearing the Empress's question, Su Mo gave a vague reply: "Uh..."

"Perhaps I will have a better medicine in the future."

Anyway, the Empress is cold and aloof right now, so saying this shouldn't be considered deceiving the Empress.

The Empress looked again at the mirror, which could reflect her appearance in perfect detail and was even more useful than her own Xuan Tian Mirror magic weapon. Finally, she couldn't help but ask, "My lord, you don't intend to sell these two items to others, do you?"

Su Mo nodded: "If someone can afford the price, then of course we'll sell it."

He then smiled and said, "But rest assured, my lord, I guarantee that I will have something even better to offer you in the future!"

The empress hesitated for a moment, but ultimately said nothing.

Instead, Princess Baicheng suddenly asked, "How much are these two items valued?"

Su Mo thought for a moment and said, "I plan to sell the two items together for one thousand taels of silver."

Princess Baicheng hesitated for a moment.

I glanced at Leng Liuxi before saying, "My mother will be celebrating her sixtieth birthday soon, but I don't know what to give her as a birthday gift..."

"The jade medicine is shaped like a reclining deer, which has a very auspicious meaning."

Princess Baicheng was quite tempted by the Fu Lu Bat Deer, especially the mirror, which was a priceless treasure and her mother would surely love it!

Princess Baicheng's lack of funds for training troops does not mean she herself is poor.

They're just not as brain-dead as Su Mo, who dared to use his own money for military expenses.

King Qi was, after all, a prince, and princes were never poor!

Upon hearing this, Su Mo immediately laughed and said, "For the Princess Consort of Qi's birthday celebration, a single reclining deer is hardly enough!"

"If Your Highness can wait a little longer, I will see if I can gather enough gifts for the three blessings of fortune, prosperity, and longevity. At that time, I will definitely give Your Highness the most favorable price!"

It's not that we can't afford to give it away; after all, the high cost of glass is due to the technical cost, while the material cost is almost negligible.

However, the Empress was present, as was Zhong Yin, that stubborn man.

Su Mo would certainly not bribe Princess Baicheng in front of everyone.

Sure enough, Princess Baicheng's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this, and she stared intently at Su Mo: "Fu Lu Shou?" Su Mo nodded and smiled: "We should be able to find medicinal jade in the shape of a bat and a reclining deer, and adding a longevity peach medicinal jade shouldn't be a problem either."

Princess Baicheng hurriedly asked, "How long will it take?"

Su Mo thought for a moment: "Would ten days be feasible?"

Princess Baicheng shook her head and said, "Ten days won't do!"

"My mother's birthday is in twelve days, so I need to go back a few days earlier."

She hesitated for a moment: "How about within eight days?"

Su Mo frowned. He couldn't guarantee that it would be 90% complete in eight days, since it depended on whether the craftsmen of Lone Peak Mountain could actually produce it.

"I will do my best."

"If it doesn't work out, I will not sell the reclining deer and the mirror for the time being. I will sell them to the princess later."

Princess Baicheng smiled and said, "Then it's a deal. Su Xianzi, don't go back on your word!"

Anyway, Su Mo said that there would be something better for His Majesty in the future, so he didn't steal His Majesty's treasure!

Su Mo laughed heartily: "This humble official would certainly not dare to deceive the princess!"

Zhong Yin finally had a chance to interject: "Isn't this a bookstore, Su County? Where are the books located?"

Su Mo smiled and said, "The book is inside."

"Such a big shop is a waste if it only sells books."

He paused slightly: "Gentlemen, please follow me!"

Everyone turned around the screen.

What came into view were several gleaming swords and sabers hanging on the wall, and even a few straight bows made of soft steel!

In addition, there was a six-foot-long spear made entirely of spring steel, which was particularly eye-catching!

Zhong Yin suddenly stopped, reached out and took one of the straight bows, then exerted his strength and drew the bow to its full length!
"What a fine bow!" Zhong Yin couldn't help but exclaim. "This bow is even more powerful than the Divine Arm Bow, but unfortunately it requires the strength of seven stones to be fired. It's probably only a top-tier expert who can use it; ordinary people can't do it!"

Princess Baicheng's eyes lit up again!
Su Mo really does have a lot of good stuff!

Su Mo smiled and said, "The shop is too big and looks quite empty, so I hung it up."

Zhong Yin...

The six arts of a gentleman are rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. It would actually be reasonable for a bookstore to sell bows and arrows.

It was a common sight for scholars to travel far and wide with swords.

In addition, the shop was indeed very empty.

The store has many wooden shelves and dozens of employees, but most of the shelves are empty.

Some of the items displayed on the wooden shelves, though rare in the eyes of ordinary people, were nothing special to the Empress and others.

The group wandered around the store for a while, only to find that the shelves were arranged like a maze. When they reached the very back, their eyes lit up at the same time.

I was surprised to see stacks of cold Suzhou paper neatly arranged on the shelf.

They also sell the Four Treasures of the Study, but the styles are similar to those sold in other stationery shops, and they are not rare or precious inkstones or inkstones.

The Empress strongly suspected that Su Mo had purchased these items from other shops to serve as storefronts.

In addition, a considerable number of story magazines were placed on the shelf next to it.

The bookshelf on the far right has a few books scattered around, all brand new and must have been printed recently.

Zhong Yin's gaze fell on the stacks of papers, and he couldn't help but sigh, "So much... Cold Su paper!"

"That's probably less than a thousand cuts!"

Don't be fooled by the preciousness of the medicinal jade; it's incredibly rare.

And this paper is produced continuously.

A thousand reams of cold-pressed Su paper, of superior quality to Wang family paper, are probably not worth more than two thousand taels of silver!
No wonder the Wang family was willing to offend the Empress to target Su Mo.

Zhong Yin knew that Su Mo's paper mill had only been established for a short time, yet it already produced thousands of pieces of paper, which was like a silver mine. How could the Wang family not be anxious?

Seeing Zhong Yin's sigh, Su Mo casually smiled and said, "No more, no less, there are exactly one thousand reams of cold Su paper here."

"These things take up space, there's no need to take them all out."

Zhong Yin was taken aback upon hearing this: "You didn't take them all out?"

"You...you have more paper?"

Su Mo nodded and said, "Let's keep about ten thousand dollars. Put them in the warehouse."

The Minister of War was instantly dumbfounded, his voice stammering, "What? More than ten thousand more swords?"

The Empress and the others were also shocked.

After playing around, I never expected that Su Mo's paper mill would have such a high output!
Su Mo sighed: "I have so many people on Lonely Peak Mountain, and many of them are idle. All they do all day is collect papermaking materials. There's nothing I can do about it!"

"Well, I wonder if the paper we make will be able to sell smoothly!"

He paused, then added, "Lord Zhong, please don't tell anyone, otherwise I won't be able to set a price."

Zhong Yin...

After a long pause, he couldn't help but ask, "Prince Su, what price do you intend to sell this cold Su paper for?"

All eyes immediately turned to Su Mo.

Su Mo replied without hesitation, "One tael of silver per cut!"

Zhong Yin exclaimed in surprise, "One tael of silver per ream? Isn't that the price of Wang family paper?"

Since he buys paper so often, he naturally knows the price of paper very well.

The price of paper fluctuates very little, remaining basically unchanged year after year at one tael of silver per ream.

Zhong Yin originally thought that Leng Su paper would cost fifteen or sixteen coins per sheet, or even twenty coins per sheet!
Su Mo smiled: "That's exactly the price of Wang's paper!"

"I'm afraid that if the price is too high, no one will buy it."

Zhong Yin was at a loss for words.

That guy is so vindictive!
This means they're going to fight the Wang family to the death!
With such quality cold-pressed paper, at ten coins a sheet, it's hard to say whether there's any profit to be made!

After all, when opening a shop and doing business, costs cannot be judged solely by the cost of paper.

Taxes from the imperial court, rents and wages from shops, tributes from clerks and officials in government offices, and even freeloading from all sorts of people...

Well, Su Mo shouldn't be afraid of all sorts of people, but he can't avoid paying tribute to the government. Anyway, there are quite a few miscellaneous expenses. If he really sells for one or two taels of silver per knife, Zhong Yin thinks that even if Su Mo can make a profit, it will be extremely meager.

Is this a strategy of fighting the Wang family to the bitter end, even if it means not making money?

Zhong Yin hesitated for a moment: "Isn't this...a bit too low?"

"Is Su really not going to lose money?"

Su Mo sighed: "We're not losing money, but we're not making much either."

"But there's no other way. Lonely Peak Mountain is supporting so many refugees, and the daily food consumption is enormous. We can't just stand by and watch them starve to death. And the price of food is getting higher and higher. So I can only try to recover my costs quickly and make small profits by selling more."

He paused slightly, then sighed, "It doesn't matter how much or how little they earn. As long as those refugees have a livelihood and can make a living, that's enough."

Zhong Yin was immediately filled with awe!

One of the reasons he helped Su Mo earlier was this.

The disaster victims were a huge burden on the imperial court.

Despite the Empress's proposal to provide relief to disaster victims through work-for-relief programs.

However, in practice, there are many difficulties.

It wasn't that the local officials disobeyed the imperial court's orders; it was simply that the imperial court's allocation of funds was insufficient, and the local officials had no money to hire disaster victims.

Su Mo's Lonely Peak Mountain has now taken in 30,000 disaster victims, greatly relieving the burden on the imperial court.

Not only Zhong Yin saw it, but Xiao Yuan and the others also saw it.

If it weren't for this, Su Mo's instructions to the Left Guard of the Imperial Guard to oppress grain merchants would have caused widespread resentment among them, leading to numerous impeachments of Su Mo and Wen Yannian by officials. The cabinet would not have suppressed the matter!
Zhong Yin was at a loss for words.

"It just so happens that I don't have much paper in my office, so I'll buy ten stacks to take back."

Zhong Yin originally intended to buy the paper and then return to the Ministry of War.

As the shop assistant packed up the papers, his gaze swept over several books on the right-hand bookshelf, and he couldn't help but wonder what books Su Mo's shop would sell.

He picked it up and took a look.

Then, his eyes narrowed suddenly, and a look of surprise and doubt appeared on his face: "Treatise on Febrile Diseases? This is a medical book? How come I have never heard of it before?"

Upon hearing this, the Empress and the others immediately shifted their attention from the papers to the books on the shelf!
(End of this chapter)