Chapter 365: Selling the Bicycles to Officials in the Imperial Court
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Jian Qingqing smiled and said, “Your Majesty, this is what I should do. Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. I am a citizen of
Great Wei. Only when Great Wei is well can we be well.”
“Everyone has a responsibility to the rise and fall of the world…” the Emperor mumbled to himself and suddenly laughed. “What a good line, everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world! Qingqing, well said! They were much better than those sneaky people in the court! It’s Great Wei’s fortune to have you!’
Jian Qingqing did not expect that there was no such saying in this era, so she could only say, “Emperor, I didn’t create this poem. It was said by a man called
Gu Yanwu.”
‘Gu Yanwu?” the Emperor was puzzled. “What kind of person was he? A person who can write such a poem shouldn’t be an ordinary person. Why isn’t he an official in the court?”
‘He’s not from this world,’ Jian Qingqing said in her heart.
However, she could not say it out loud, so she could only say, “Mr. Gu has already passed away.”
“The person who wrote such a poem shouldn’t be unknown. Why haven’t I heard of him? Qingqing, where did you find out about this?”
This was really a lie that needed countless lies to fill in. Jian Qingqing could only yawn and say, “I heard about it on the streets, but I don’t know anything else.”
The Emperor made an ‘Oh’ sound. He felt that this must have been Jian Qingqing’s own idea. She just did not want to be high-profile, so she said that it was someone else who said it. Otherwise, how could such a good poem not be known by the world?
With Jian Qingqing’s promise of a few hundred thousand in taxes and such a broad-minded poem, the Emperor was in a good mood. He laughed and said, “You should stay and have a meal with me. Let’s talk while eating!’
As for the food in the palace, Jian Qingqing missed it quite a lot, so she readily agreed.
The Empress and Princess Anning were very happy that Jian Qingqing was staying for dinner. They had not seen each other for two months and Princess Anning had a lot to say to her. They kept chattering at the dinner table.
The Emperor and the Empress smiled as they listened to their conversation.
The Emperor suddenly thought of something and asked, “Qingqing, are all your bicycles the same? Can you make it into another style?”
“That’s fine,” Jian Qingqing said. “I can just tell the craftsman. But why do you ask?”
She felt that the Emperor’s expression was a little sneaky and he was definitely up to no good.
As expected, the Emperor said in the next moment, “I just want you to design a unique design for the officials of the Imperial Court, and sell it to me.”
Jian Qingqing immediately understood. “You want to sell it to those officials? How much do you want to sell it for?”
The Emperor raised a finger with a sinister smile on his face. “When the time comes, I’ll let them ride to court. Otherwise, I can’t bear to see them run like this every day.”
Jian Qingqing was speechless.
Wow, he was even more cunning than Xiao Ye!
Moreover, the reason was so grand that they could not refuse to buy it even if they wanted to.
A bicycle was sold for 1,000 taels, and the cost was 100 taels, making a net profit of 900 taels. As far as she knew, there were more than 200 officials who could attend the court, so it was almost 200,000 taels. Moreover, one person could not only buy one bicycle. Other wealthy small officials would definitely buy it as well. After all, this was a matter of face. There were so many small officials in the Capital, and they did not lack 1,000 taels. So, after calculating it this way, it would surely add u to one million taels.
Ever since she came to the Capital, why did she feel that this money wasn’t money anymore?