Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 432 Negotiation
Xie Chengrang nodded in agreement to every word Xie Yizhi said, and Xie Yizhi's expression softened further.

Xie Chengrang rose and bowed to Xie Yizhi: "I will keep your words in mind, Father. I have acted improperly outside, and I have caused you trouble these past few days."

Xie Yizhi said, "They are still young, so it doesn't matter if they suffer a little. The important thing is that they can learn from this experience."

Xie Chengrang responded.

Xie Chengxin frowned. With his father's abilities, there were countless officials in the court who wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Xie family. Why did it have to be the Xia family?
Xie Yizhi glanced at his eldest son, whose face was grim. He frowned as well. He had refused to marry Xia Erniang to his younger brother before, and now he was doing the same.

Xie Yizhi said, "Starting tomorrow, I will be handling official business, and you will follow me to the study. After a while, you will also go to the yamen. Wang Yan, He Tan and others have already secured a place in the court, but you are still staying at home."

Xie Chengxin had no interest in pursuing an official career, and since his father had said so, he dared not object, only saying, "Your son understands."

At this point, Xie Yizhi was about to send her two sons away when Xie Chengrang said, "I heard that the reliquary produced by the Xie family's porcelain kiln is to be enshrined at Yunqi Temple."

"Some people at Banjing Pavilion are also inquiring about those porcelains."

The Ban Jing Guan housed envoys from Western Xia, and news from them came out daily. Xie Yizhi, who was in charge of the Privy Council, was naturally well aware of this.

Xie Yizhi said, "Those people asked the court to let them see the relic box, but the court is currently handling the Yunqi Temple case, and no one wants to get involved." It could easily backfire, after all, it involves the Shen family and Cining Palace.

But when Yunqi Temple was renamed and the Xie family officially enshrined the relic box, those envoys would definitely go to join in the fun.

Xie Chengrang said, "In that case, the porcelain of the Xie family of Daming Prefecture will definitely be sold at the border market."

Xie Yizhi took a sip of tea: "That Xie family is not simple. There must be someone behind her. I'm afraid she has been planning this since the beginning of Daming Prefecture."

The downfall of the Liu family in Daming Prefecture and the subsequent loss of Minister Xia's official position in Bianjing are all somewhat related to the Xie family. Of course, Xie Yizhi doesn't think the Xie family has any special abilities. What can a merchant, especially a widow, do, no matter how clever she is? She's just a shrewd shrew when it comes to money.

What he really cared about was the person behind the Xie family, who was being used as a pawn.

Xie Yizhi had previously suspected the Wang family, but now that the Cining Palace has been implicated, things are even more unclear for her.

It couldn't be that Minister Wang and the Empress Dowager had some private dealings.

Zhou said, "Why do you care about a mere merchant, sir?" In her opinion, Xie was really not worth mentioning to the father and son.

"It's all because the people under the Xia family didn't handle things properly, otherwise they wouldn't have let her stand out. But that's about it, isn't it? How much bigger can it get?"

"If you really think there's something wrong with Xie, I'll go to Yunqi Temple and ask for a letter of invitation. When Xie puts down the relic box, I'll take a good look at her."

Xie Yizhi thought for a moment and nodded: "Alright."

“I will go with my mother,” Xie Chengrang said. “There will inevitably be many people that day, and I will be able to protect my mother.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Chengxin immediately chimed in, "I'll go too."

Xie Yizhi didn't take the matter to heart. In his view, the problem didn't lie with the Xie family. Getting rid of one member of the Xie family was like arresting Steward Li; it wouldn't shake the people behind them.

After speaking, Xie Chengxin and Xie Chengrang both left.

Madam Zhou looked at Xie Yizhi: "I will go to the Xia family tomorrow. If all goes well, we will arrange the marriage as soon as possible and finalize the engagement."

Xie Yizhi said, "You can arrange it."

Zhou Shi handled all the family affairs well, so even if there were some troublesome matters at the yamen, Xie Yizhi felt he could manage. It was also thanks to his early resolution of those "family matters" that the entire Xie family now followed his orders. His mother used to favor his second brother, and his father was autocratic; if they were in charge of the household, even if he held a high-ranking official position, he wouldn't be comfortable.

This is just right.

……

Xie Yuyan was at Ciyun Nunnery at this time.

Master Jingyuan took her to see the cloth dyeing workshop in the nunnery, where more than a dozen nuns were busy drying cloth.

Master Jingyuan said, "After the nuns from Yunqi Temple arrived, we won't be short of manpower here."

Xie Yuyan walked around and said, "There should be enough space here to build a new stove."

"When can we start setting up?" Master Jingyuan asked.

“Once the men from Daming Prefecture arrive,” Xie Yuyan said, “it will take seven or eight days at the earliest, and ten days at the latest.”

Last winter, they built coal-fired stoves in Daming Prefecture. The craftsmen had also helped the government repair iron furnaces. After they arrived, they were able to quickly build furnace openings suitable for dyeing cloth.

“However, we don’t need to wait for them to arrive before starting construction,” Xie Yuyan pointed around, “This place is too small, so let’s expand it around.”

"If the fire cooks quickly, more cloth will be dyed, so there will be enough space to dry it."

"In addition, we need to invite a few more dyeing masters. If you want to make money from this, you need to learn to be more skilled. Before, you relied on the low price of cloth, so even if the dyeing was not very good, people still came to buy it."

“But things will be different in the future. The temple will produce more cloth. Even if the price is lower, will it all be sold? After all, there aren’t many people who can accept that the cloth has flaws or that the color is not uniform.”

"Besides, with coal available, the price of cloth from other dyeing workshops will also be cheaper. What will the nunnery do then? Continue to lower prices?"

"The capital is there, so how low can the price be lowered?"

Master Jingyuan nodded upon hearing this.

“Since we still need to wait for the stove, let’s take this time to learn dyeing and printing. It won’t be a waste of time,” Xie Yuyan said. “Besides, we should also try to see how the colors produced by the charcoal stove turn out. This arrangement kills two birds with one stone.”

Master Jingyuan said, "The matter of the printing and dyeing workshop is entirely at your discretion, benefactor."

Xie Yuyan calculated the time and found that his grandmaster and master had already arrived in Bianjing. After the Dharma assembly at Yunqi Temple was completed, they would start to get busy with the affairs of Ciyun Nunnery.

After arranging these matters, Abbess Jingyuan invited Xie Yuyan to rest in the meditation room.

Master Jingyuan said, "Madam Xie hasn't even mentioned how to share the profits with Ciyun Nunnery, yet she's already starting to help me build a dyeing workshop. Aren't you afraid that the business deal won't go well and all your efforts will be wasted?"

Xie Yuyan shook her head: "My thoughts are the same as yours. Even if you only asked me to help and didn't mention business, I would still come."

Master Jingyuan raised her eyes: "What do you mean by that, Benefactor Xie?"

Xie Yuyan said, "When the nun came to the South City Wharf to find me, she suddenly mentioned Ciyun Nunnery. Isn't it because she wanted to find a place for women to go so that they could earn some money and support themselves?"

Xie Yuyan looked around as she spoke: "How many women have come to this nunnery because they have nowhere else to go? And what about those women who have been deceived by the evil cult? They have already lost their reputation while wandering outside. If they cannot return home, where will they go?"

That's all for today, will update tomorrow morning.