After scaring the shopkeeper and making him say thank you, Li Xuanba and Li Shimin continued to inquire about the specific situation of the shop.
Li Xuanba spoke in his heart, and Li Shimin acted as an external voice machine.
Although Li Shimin concealed it well, Li Sanniang, who was very familiar with her two younger brothers, knew that Sanlang was being lazy again when she saw Li Shimin glancing at Li Xuanba with resentment from time to time.
Only she and her mother knew the secret of Erlang and Sanlang. The rest of the people only knew that the twins had telepathy, but they didn't know to what extent.
At most, you can only vaguely feel the other person's feelings, right?
Although Erlang and Sanlang did not try to hide the fact at home, if they did not explain the matter clearly themselves, others would not be able to guess the specific situation even if they kept hearing Erlang yelling "brother, please speak" and would just think that Sanlang just did not like to speak.
Dou asked Li Sanniang not to talk about Erlang and Sanlang in other people's eyes.
Dou is different from Li Yuan.
Li Yuan trusted Yang Guang very much because he and Yang Guang were cousins.
Even though Li Yuan's fourth uncle Li Zhang had led an army and was killed when Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, attempted to usurp the throne, Yang Jian, for the sake of Empress Dugu, did not bring disaster to Li Yuan's family and loved Li Yuan very much.
Li Yuan did not participate in the struggle for succession among the sons of Emperor Wen of Sui in his later years. Before Emperor Wen of Sui died, he had a good relationship with all of his sons. So he thought he had a good relationship with his cousin Yang Guang.
Dou was always wary of the Yang family because Yang Jian killed all the direct male descendants of her uncle's family, even the Northern Zhou Emperor Jing who abdicated was brutally murdered.
The difference in character and style that Yang Guang showed before and after he became the crown prince made Dou believe that Yang Guang was even less easy to get along with than Yang Jian.
Dou once advised Li Yuan, "As you know, I like eagles and horses very much. This one is worthy of being promoted to the imperial court. You cannot keep him for long. If someone says something bad about it, it will be a burden to you. I hope you will think about it carefully."
Li Yuan didn't listen.
It was not until Dou died and Li Yuan was suppressed by Yang Guang that he remembered Dou's words and offered the hawk dog that he had been reluctant to give up to Yang Guang. He was soon appointed as a general. At this time, Li Yuan missed Dou and cried to his sons, "I have followed your mother's words and have been in this position for a long time."
Now Li Yuan still believed that he was favored by his cousin Yang Guang, and he sneered at Dou's implicit persuasion. Dou could only make her own plans quietly.
Li Sanniang is very much like the unmarried Dou. Although she is only fourteen years old, she already has a lot of ambitions in her mind.
The Chai family was also a high-ranking noble family, and Chai Shao was very close to the current crown prince Yang Zhao.
Crown Prince Yang Zhao was elegant and cautious in character, and was deeply loved by Emperor Wen of Sui and Empress Dugu. They had raised him in their care since he was born.
It can be said that the fact that Emperor Yang Guang can become the crown prince today is also related to the fact that Emperor Wen of Sui and Empress Dugu love Yang Zhao.
After Yang Guang ascended the throne, rumors of his patricide spread.
Yang Zhao and his grandfather Yang Jian had a deep relationship, and Dou Shi firmly believed that Yang Guang was a narrow-minded person. Yang Zhao had a very good reputation in the court and among the people. Even Yang Jian, who had always pretended to be a wise ruler, became suspicious in his later years. Yang Guang and Crown Prince Yang Zhao would definitely have conflicts in the future. Chai Shi would definitely be implicated.
So after Li Sanniang got engaged to Chai Shao at the age of twelve, Dou began to give Li Sanniang advice.
Although the twins Li Shimin and Li Xuanba were auspicious signs, they were nothing more than a blessing of having many children. The telepathy between twins was also recorded since ancient times, and it was not that strange.
But who knows if Yang Guang would suddenly slap his head and become afraid.
Even if a pair of twins with miraculous telepathy were not enough to make Yang Guang afraid of the Duke of Tang's Mansion, what about the crown prince?
Chai Shao and the crown prince Yang Zhao were like brothers. Li Sanniang was Chai Shao's wife. Li Sanniang had a pair of auspicious twin brothers, and the twin brothers were also the sons of the Duke of Tang's Mansion.
Would Yang Guang suspect that the Duke of Tang's Mansion was using the auspicious twins to build momentum for the crown prince?
If Li Yuan had heard Dou's suspicions, he would certainly have sneered at them, but Li Sanniang firmly believed in her mother's judgment, so she never mentioned the true strangeness of her two younger brothers to outsiders.
Li Shimin and Li Xuanba never mentioned their abilities on their own initiative. It was only after Dou and Li Sanniang had been with them for a long time that they realized it themselves.
However, Li Sanniang always believed that it was not them who noticed it, but her two younger brothers who revealed it to them on purpose.
Li Sanniang often told her mother, Dou, that her two younger brothers were very cunning and she didn't know why they were so cunning at such young ages.
Li Xuanba was lazy again and let his second brother act as an external vocal organ. He also arranged for the shopkeeper to slightly change some of the store's operating strategies.
When he first took over the store, Li Xuanba did not make many changes.
Doing business is like governing a country. We are not afraid of following the rules, but we are most afraid of being radical.
Little did people know that many large companies that were originally doing well, but when the second generation took over and carried out drastic reforms, their output value of hundreds of billions went bankrupt in an instant.
There is a joke in the capital world: "We are not afraid of the second generation squandering the family business, but we are afraid of the second generation starting a business."
Li Xuanba taught the shopkeeper to use a tabular accounting method, adding numerical symbols and capital numbers, and then replaced the implicit kickbacks with explicit commissions.
Although kickbacks are inevitable, the shopkeeper will pay more attention to sales once he gets the commission.
The shopkeeper was frightened and dared not take kickbacks for a short period of time. This period of time was the buffer time for Li Xuanba and Li Shimin to take the shopkeeper as their own.
Only after the shopkeeper becomes his own person will Li Xuanba start to intervene in the sale of goods.
In addition to the promotion form accounting, Li Xuanba only added one item "customer satisfaction score" to the operation.
Most of the business in the East Market was done by officials and dignitaries, and almost every transaction could be traced back to a specific dignitary. Li Xuanba asked the shopkeeper to give some small gifts after completing a business deal, and asked the customers to rate their service satisfaction and collect their preferences. If the score was too low, part of the shopkeeper's commission would be deducted.
These will prepare Li Xuanba for the implementation of the membership system.
Since it is a luxury goods business for the rich and powerful, how can there not be a membership system with limited access?
The shopkeeper has already discovered the horror of keeping accounts in spreadsheets.
Although the spreadsheet-based accounting revealed his greed, he still had clerks under him, and he had to guard against their greed. When he himself did not dare to take advantage of the situation, he was willing to change the accounting method so that his clerks would not dare to take advantage of the situation either.
As for the service satisfaction statistics, the shopkeeper didn't take it seriously.
This is the East Market of Daxing City. A bamboo pole falling down can hit several princes and nobles. Who dares to treat customers badly?
Asking customers about their preferences is also something the shopkeeper always does.
If he doesn't do this, how will he know what to import next?
Although we can judge customer preferences based on sales, this will make product adjustments slower than others. When it comes to making money and doing business, one step slow means all steps are slow.
After all, she was a woman who could predict the emperor's behavior, so Dou would certainly not forget to make predictions when doing business. When she was running the store, she had already established good habits for the shopkeeper.
Neither the shopkeeper nor Chai Shao understood the ambition behind Li Shimin's subtle adjustments to the store operations.
Li Sanniang heard it.
Her eyes moved slightly, but she suppressed the urge to ask.
Although my second and third brothers are close to her, she will get married in the future, so it's better not to ask too much.
Li Xuanba noticed Li Sanniang's expression.
He put down the cup of water, stretched out his hand to Li Sanniang, looking tired.
Li Sanniang held Li Xuanba in her arms and patted him: "Do you want to sleep for a while?"
Li Xuanba lowered his voice and said, "After we go to the West Market, my brother and I have something to discuss with my sister. Please remember to send Brother Chai away for a while."
Li Sanniang also lowered her voice and asked, "Why not just let him leave?"
Li Xuan said domineeringly: "With him here, others won't know that we brothers and sisters have discussed important matters."
Li Sanniang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Was her brother being too cautious? It was just two shops, was it that serious?
But since her brother said so, Li Sanniang nodded and did as he asked.
It was a rare request from my third brother, and as a sister, I couldn't say I couldn't do it!
Li Shimin was so thirsty that he turned around and saw Li Xuanba dozing off in his third sister's arms. He rushed over angrily and pulled the little hair on Li Xuanba's head.
Li Sanniang did not protect Li Xuanba and let her two younger brothers make a fuss in her arms.
Although she is only eight years older than her two younger brothers, her attitude towards them is no different from that of her mother.
Chai Shao blushed again and began to imagine the scene of him and Li Sanniang being surrounded by their children.
Li Xuanba finally pushed his troublesome brother away and saw Chai Shao's blushing face.
He showed his inverted triangle eyes again, and his favorability towards his brother-in-law dropped sharply again.
If he hadn't known that Chai Shao and his sister had a very good relationship in history, and that even though they were apart more often than they were together, Chai Shao had no other children besides two sons with his sister, Li Xuanba would definitely not have stopped his second brother from messing with Chai Shao.
My sister is only fourteen years old. You, a seventeen-year-old "older boy", shouldn't show such a frivolous expression. In modern society, you will be committing a crime, do you know that?
Li Xuanba also knew that the discomfort in his heart was unreasonable in this era, so he just complained to himself.
He was very grateful that Emperor Wen of Sui died at this timely moment.
My sister was engaged to Chai Shao at the age of twelve and was scheduled to get married at the age of thirteen.
Emperor Wen of Sui passed away last year. After discussing with her mother and grandmother, she decided to postpone the wedding for one year even though her family was only the emperor's cousin.
Emperor Wen of Sui died on the Dingwei day of July last year, but there was no auspicious day suitable for the two children after July this year, so the wedding date was set for February next year.
When Li Xuanba first became close to Li Sanniang, he had a utilitarian mentality.
But people's feelings are formed through interaction. With Li Sanniang's character, who wouldn't be sincere after spending so much time with her?
Li Xuanba pretended to be indifferent on the surface, but in fact he was very reluctant to let his third sister get married so early. He could only comfort himself that getting married at the age of fifteen was better than getting married at the age of thirteen.
Thanks to Emperor Wen of Sui!
Li Xuanba was distracted, and Li Shimin pounced and accidentally pushed his brother out of Li Sanniang's arms.
When Li Xuanba was pushed down, Li Shimin was startled and quickly pulled Li Xuanba.
When Li Xuanba fell, he changed direction and placed Li Shimin under his feet.
"Ouch." Li Shimin wailed while protecting his brother.
Li Xuanba climbed down from Li Shimin and cursed, "You deserve it."
"Hehe." Li Shimin rubbed his butt and pretended to be stupid, then laughed and got away with it.
Li Sanniang and Chai Shao couldn't help laughing. Even the housekeeper couldn't help but smile.
Just now the two young masters were frighteningly precocious, but now they have returned to their childish appearance. The housekeeper's discomfort and fear of the "child prodigy" have disappeared.
The shops in the East Market are easy to take over, but the shops in the West Market are a bit more troublesome.
Even if you beat a dog, you have to consider its owner. The word "filial piety" is the most important thing, and even if it is a servant around an elder, the younger generation must give him some face.
Li Xuanba thought to himself, "Otherwise they will complain, 'Is he hitting my butt? He is hitting your face!'"
The word "you" had not yet been used at that time, but Li Shimin also heard the sarcasm in Li Xuanba's tone.
He leaned close to Li Xuanba's ear and said, "A servant's butt is the master's face, who are you scolding?"
Before Li Xuanba could answer, Li Shimin burst into laughter and fell down.
Chai Shao was completely confused when he saw Li Jia Erlang suddenly laugh for no reason.
Li Sanniang felt itchy in her heart.
I don't know what joke Sanlang told Erlang to make Erlang so happy. Oh, if only Chai Shao wasn't around.
My own martial arts skills are enough to protect my younger brother, but I cannot wield swords and guns in front of outsiders or argue with others. It's really annoying.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
The shopkeeper of the West Market is a bit more difficult to deal with than the shopkeeper of the East Market because he relies on his seniority.
Li Xuanba and Li Shimin followed the premise of "not slapping grandmother's face" and changed their strategy.
They still settled the accounts and pointed out that the shopkeeper had taken kickbacks.
Wow, a full 40% kickback. So the profit from printing and selling Buddhist scriptures is so high?
This time, Li Xuanba and Li Shimin changed the script.
In the blink of an eye, tears of anger welled up in Li Shimin's eyes. He said he would complain to his grandmother and send the shopkeeper who stole her money to the government.
Li Xuanba couldn't cry, so he could only pretend to be hesitant and submissive, saying that he was worried that his grandmother would lose face. Anyway, his grandmother had already given them the shopkeeper's indenture, so they could just solve the problem secretly by themselves.
Li Shimin cried and made a fuss, but I refused to listen and told my grandmother about it.
Li Xuanba continued to be at a loss, his mouth pursed, looking like he was about to cry.
Li Shimin saw his brother's awkward expression and finally squeezed out a word from the bottom of his heart to mock his brother: [Ha!]
Li Xuanba gnashed his teeth in his heart: [What are you saying! ]
Li Shimin tried to repeat the words one by one in his heart: [Ha!] [Pretend!] [Cry!] [No!] [Like!]
After finally finishing these few words, Li Shimin fell on his brother and said weakly, "Tired, dizzy."
Li Xuanba caught his brother who was weighing him down: [Your mental strength is not as strong as mine, so don't speak to me with your inner voice. ]
Li Shimin leaned against his brother and secretly yawned, pretending to be tired of crying and continued sobbing.
Li Sanniang joined the farce at the right time. She first ordered the servants she brought to control the shopkeeper, and sent someone to report the truth to her grandmother, telling her that she would take the crying Erlang and Sanlang to play for a while, and then come back to report in person after making the two younger brothers happy.
At this time, Chai Shao, who acted as the background board, finally played a role.
Seeing that the shopkeeper was swearing constantly, he pressed the back of the shopkeeper's head and smashed his face to the ground, breaking half of the shopkeeper's front teeth and wailing with blood in his mouth.
"Shut his mouth and don't pollute the nobleman's ears." Chai Shao ordered his servants.
Li Shimin quickly reached out and covered Li Xuanba's eyes tightly. He himself was not afraid at all, and looked at his decisive brother-in-law with curiosity.
Li Xuanba was speechless.
I am not afraid either, okay? I have told my second brother many times that he is not afraid!
But every time he sees someone fighting or a servant being punished, he forgets what I said and insists on covering his eyes, making my grandmother and mother think he is a coward.
Li Sanniang's eyes lit up. Isn't this the opportunity that Sanlang wanted?
Li Sanniang pretended to frown and said to Chai Shao, "Chai Lang, I'll take Erlang and Sanlang to the drink shop nearby. After you finish dealing with things here, buy some cakes for Erlang and Sanlang and come find me again."
Chai Shao immediately agreed with a smile on his face.
The good impression Li Shimin had just developed towards Chai Shao suddenly dropped sharply.
Tsk, such a flattering smile, so ugly.
Li Xuanba, who had just pulled off his second brother's hand that was covering his eyes, was also speechless.
The husband my mother picked for my sister must be good-looking. But Mr. Chai Shao, shouldn't you do some training on how to manage your facial expressions? Your handsome face is wasted.
Look at my brother, he cries so beautifully even when he is crying his heart out. He will definitely be a very popular child star in the future.
Li Sanniang did not mind Chai Shao's sudden decline in appearance. After giving Chai Shao a few more instructions, she took Li Xuanba and Li Shimin out of the bookstore and went to a nearby drink shop.
At that time, tea was still made with many strange condiments. Although there were tea stalls, tea was still mostly sold in restaurants. It was not until the Kaiyuan period that the prototype of independent teahouses appeared.
Today's "beverage shops" are called Yinzi shops, which sell drinks made from various flowers, herbs and preserved fruits, similar to herbal tea and cold tea in later generations.
Drink shops are usually owned by the same person as pharmacies, and the "special drinks" they sell are usually certified by doctors. Even if they can't cure all diseases, they will at least have one or two health-care effects.
Li Sanniang chose a secluded corner on the second floor with a screen and potted plants. She also bought a few empty seats at nearby tables on the pretext of liking quietness, creating a circle of space for other guests, and bought drinks for the servants she brought with her, and asked them to sit in a circle outside the empty circle to rest.
"Okay, Sanlang, do you have anything to say to your sister?" Li Sanniang asked.
Li Shimin took out a roll of paper from his arms and handed it to Li Sanniang, complaining, "Ah Xuan always likes to stuff heavier things into my arms."
Li Xuanba held the drink made of only dried plums and licorice in his hand and said nothing.
It was a hot day, and he didn't want to stuff too many things in his arms or they would fall out.
Li Sanniang unfolded the paper that Li Shimin had stuffed in front of her, and after reading only a few lines, she asked in surprise, "You want to do business with me?"
Li Xuanba nodded and was about to let his second brother continue to be his mouthpiece, but Li Shimin crossed his arms in front of his chest to refuse: "You talk to your sister, brother is tired."
After saying this, he held the drink and drank it guzzlingly. No matter how Li Xuanba poked him in his heart, he ignored him.
Seeing that his external vocal organs had stopped working, Li Xuanba could only speak on his own.
"I will come up with some new things to sell in the future. Children who are too smart will be considered weird. The emperor of this dynasty is not a broad-minded person. My second brother and I are too outstanding, which may cause his dissatisfaction..."
Before Li Xuanba finished speaking, Li Shimin raised his head and said, "Why do you have to hide it from my sister? Why not tell her directly that we have a brother who inherited the title? We are too outstanding and may cause jealousy from our brother. Humph, if I stay in my grandmother's arms for a while longer, my brother's eyes will be like a knife, so petty."
Li Xuanba said unhappily, "Aren't you tired? Help me say it."
Li Shimin immediately lowered his head and continued to hold the porcelain cup pretending to drink water: "I'm tired now."
Li Sanniang suppressed her laughter and said, "Okay, I get it. This is indeed a problem. You have a brother who has inherited the title above you. Before your brother has a real job, you should keep a low profile."
Although their father Li Yuan was still in good health and it was too early for Li Jiancheng to inherit the title, his father would definitely seek a real job for Li Jiancheng after he got married.
Generally speaking, this actual position means serving as a guard officer in the palace or the Eastern Palace, such as Chai Shao's current position as "Zuo Qianniu Beishen".
Because Chai Shao had a close relationship with Crown Prince Yang Zhao, he became the Zuo Qianniu Beishen as soon as he got engaged to Li Sanniang, dedicated to protecting the crown prince.
Qianniu Beishen was a military officer of the imperial guards, who could carry the "Qianniu Knife" into the imperial palace and was always by the emperor and the crown prince's side. In later times, it was called "the imperial guards with swords".
The imperial guards of the Sui and Tang dynasties were divided into the Southern and Northern Yamen. The Southern Yamen commanded the troops of the whole country, while the Northern Yamen was the emperor's private army.
Before the collapse of the Fubing system, the Qianniu Guards were the core of the Imperial Guards and the training base for young military generals from noble families.
At that time, men generally took up real positions only after they came of age. Li Jiancheng was waiting for Li Yuan to help him find a real position after the coming-of-age ceremony.
For example, Chai Shao, who had not yet married, was already the Zuo Qianniu Beishen, guarding the prince's safety with a knife in the palace. He was a young talent with a bright future.
Dou was well aware of her daughter's inner pride. If the man she married only had a good family background but no abilities, it would be difficult for her daughter to develop feelings for him. So she put a lot of thought into choosing a son-in-law.
Li Jiancheng was still underage and had no real job, so he was looking at his brothers in the backyard. When Li Jiancheng got a real job, he would focus on the court, not the backyard, and would no longer be angry with his two brothers who were ten years younger than him.
"Furthermore, I've seen other noble families where side houses provide money for the main house's official career, but they are often not respected, and the money they earn is arbitrarily withdrawn by the main house, affecting business. If my brother and I had a share of my sister's investment in the shop, I think the Duke of Tang's mansion would be embarrassed to arbitrarily withdraw money from the shop of their married daughter in the future."
Li Xuanba said tactfully, "It's not that I don't trust my father and brother's character, but I'm too weak to achieve success in my career. I can only make some money to support myself. I'm sorry to make you laugh."
Li Shimin interrupted again: "Ah Xuan and I were still young, and our grandmother and mother told us to please our elder brother, so that he wouldn't treat us badly when he became the head of the family. So Ah Xuan and I won't rely on the Tang Guogong Mansion, but on my elder sister. My elder sister will be the mistress of the Julu County Duke's family in the future, and she will be able to protect Ah Xuan and me."
Li Sanniang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Erlang, Sanlang, I'm very happy that you trust me. But after I marry, I will be a wife of the Chai family. How can you trust an outsider more?"
Li Shimin shook his head: "I don't trust the insiders or the outsiders. I trust my sister, not my brother."
Li Xuanba glanced at his second brother.
He wanted to say, "Even if my sister is married, she is still my sister, not an outsider." Unexpectedly, his second brother interrupted him first, and his words seemed to be more insightful than what he said.
Look at the smile that instantly bloomed on the elder sister's face and her bright eyes. The second brother is worthy of being the second brother. He is so good at talking.
"Since you all said so, I promise you that I will use my dowry to help you do business and will not let the Chai family interfere." Li Sanniang felt a sense of pride in her heart because her second and third brothers trusted her so much.
Well, she didn't think that her father and brother would really covet the pocket money in the hands of the two children, she just wanted to play with her younger brother.
Li Shimin and Li Xuanba exchanged glances.
Done!
My sister is so easy to please!
The author has something to say:
Nagging:
Good eagles and horses are well known to the public. This is worthy of being brought to the imperial court. It cannot be kept for long. Anyone who says so will be burdened. I hope you will think about it carefully
. - "Old Book of Tang"
Anyone can modify the encyclopedia. The parts about the harmonious relationship between Dou's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and the excellent relationship between Dou and Li Yuan were added by later generations. There is no such part in the Old Book of Tang.
The Old Tang Book only describes the relationship between Dou and Dugu, and only describes that Dou was filial and took care of him when he was sick; and only describes the relationship between Dou and Li Yuan, and that Dou could imitate Li Yuan's handwriting and persuaded him to bribe Yang Guang. Li Yuan refused to listen, and did so only after Dou died, and he missed Dou.
But this nostalgia, um... cough, after Li Yuan became emperor, Li Shimin occasionally hid and cried alone because he missed his mother, "the emperor was unhappy when he saw him."
-Thanks