Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 191 It turns out
Jia Chuan never imagined that it all started with Liu Ji's son, Liu Wang, being gluttonous.

How wealthy was the Liu family? An official who visited Yangzhou and enjoyed Liu Ji's hospitality exclaimed: "I have never seen such a feast before!"

After the news spread, the people privately called Liu Ji "Liu Shiwan," which gradually changed to "Liu Shiwan." Zhu Zhanji had heard of this title when he was in Nanjing.

Liu Jinuo's large business also had similar troubles to Zhou Cheng's: he had few children, many daughters, but only one son, Liu Wang, which was better than Zhou Cheng's situation.

Since he was their only son, it was no surprise that he would be raised surrounded by money. Liu Wang was also a glutton, and he would try anything he had ever heard of or never seen before. Three years ago, he finally ate himself to death. Liu Ji sought out the most famous doctor, who diagnosed him with food poisoning. So, let's find an antidote.

Fortunately, Liu Wang only suffered from limb paralysis after vomiting and diarrhea, and his life was not in danger. The doctor tried several prescriptions but they did not help. He needed to know what caused the poisoning in order to treat the symptoms. However, Liu Wang had eaten too many different things in just one day, let alone in the past few days. The servants described the ingredients and preparation methods in detail, but the doctor could not determine which foods had come together to cause the poisoning.

The physician, unable to sleep, racked his brains to recall the medical books he had studied. He thought of some medicinal herbs and ordered someone to buy them. Liu Ji, worried about his only son's condition, agreed to all the physician's requests. However, some herbs were indeed difficult to obtain. The physician then suggested taking Liu Wang to Kaifeng to guard the herb-gathering bureau. If any herbs were unavailable, they could be replenished in time. However, Liu Ji needed to make arrangements with the people at the herb-gathering bureau, as the herbs there could not be bought simply by paying money.

Liu Ji hesitated. He didn't want others to know that his son, who hadn't yet given him a grandson, was seriously ill. There were many people in the clan who coveted his family's property. He even suspected that Liu Wang had been deliberately poisoned, but he had no evidence. Apart from secretly killing the people who served him closely, Liu Ji didn't dare let others know. He thought that after a few doses of medicine, he would be able to give him a big, fat son, but he turned out to be a useless child.

Liu Wang and the doctor had a proper talk away from everyone else. This doctor was the Liu family's apprentice and had lived there for many years. It was the doctor who had arranged for him to stay. Originally, Liu Ji wanted him to stay, as the doctor and Liu Ji had known each other for decades, and Liu Wang trusted him. However, he needed to understand his son's condition in detail, without any concealment, such as whether it would affect their ability to have children...

The doctor hadn't hidden anything. He handed Liu Ji a booklet summarizing Liu Wang's recent "dietary" for just five days. The doctor explained that some foods, if eaten for too long, could cause poisoning. If the cause of the poison couldn't be identified, there was no way to detoxify. Fortunately, the poison wasn't too potent; it had only temporarily stunted Liu Wang's limbs. The doctor had temporarily protected his heart with medication, but this wasn't a long-term solution. The source of the poison needed to be found and the toxin removed as soon as possible. If it was delayed, even if an antidote was found, Liu Wang would have difficulty recovering, and he would especially have difficulty conceiving.

Liu Wang is in his early thirties, and he has more women in his harem than his father Liu Ji, yet he hasn't produced a single child. Both Liu Ji and Liu Wang have been trying for years, and Liu Ji has been able to produce daughters one after another, but Liu Wang hasn't had a single success.

In the end, Liu Ji listened to the doctor's advice and decisively arranged for someone to escort his son and the doctor to Kaifeng.

Anyone who reaches the level of chairman needs a few capable people, commonly known as his right and left arms.

Su Wen was like a bone in Liu Ji's left arm, a capable but inconspicuous position. Liu Ji took a liking to him and sent him with his men on this trip.

For Su Wen, this trip was of extraordinary significance. In addition to being able to build a relationship with his successor, the most important thing was that he had the opportunity to use his achievements to become another right-hand man of Liu Ji.

Su Wen was very serious, and the doctor was very responsible. After arriving in Kaifeng, they quickly developed a relationship with Zhou Cheng by spending money. However, the old prince was nowhere to be seen, but this did not delay the doctor's treatment. Three months later, Liu Wang's condition improved significantly, and the doctor suggested that he could return to Yangzhou. But Liu Wang had recovered and wanted to stay in Kaifeng for a while, which lasted for half a year.

The reason he stayed for so long was that Liu Wang couldn't live without food or women. After his condition improved, Su Wen bought several maids to serve him personally. Unexpectedly, one of them became pregnant, which made Liu Ji, who was far away in Yangzhou, very happy.

The doctor said it's best not to travel long distances during the first three months, and to wait until the pregnancy is more stable before heading back to Yangzhou.

Liu Ji had no reason not to agree. The pregnant woman was from a poor family in Kaifeng, and at this time, her background was not an issue. Liu Wang was overjoyed. In his joy, he listened to some rumors and bought a pharmacy for the woman's family to run, and instructed Zhou Cheng to take good care of it.

Liu Wang stayed in Kaifeng for almost a year, and he fed Zhou Cheng very well. The woman saw this and knew the status of the herbal medicine bureau in Kaifeng, which is why she suggested buying the pharmacy. With the herbal medicine bureau behind them, even if their father and brother were not good at business, their business would be prosperous. Moreover, Liu Wang thoughtfully found a manager to help take care of the shop, so their father and brother only needed to count the money.

Zhou Cheng readily agreed.

Through these past few months of contact, Su Wen and Zhou Cheng have developed an excellent relationship. They often drink together, and Zhou Cheng has learned that this is Liu Wang's first child, who is in his thirties.

Zhou Cheng was envious. He thought the doctor's medical skills were superb and wanted him to take the pulses of the women in his courtyard. Su Wen said it would be difficult. Not to mention that Liu Ji had spent a lot of money to hire this doctor, the doctor didn't care about money. The reason he agreed to help was because Liu Wang's condition was rare. The doctor could earn a lot of money and improve his medical skills, making his reputation spread far and wide. However, the doctor was very aloof. His master had spent a lot of money to keep him as an apprentice in the Liu family. It would be difficult to get the doctor to treat Zhou Cheng's family.

Zhou Cheng pleaded repeatedly, so Su Wen spoke to the doctor, but the doctor didn't say anything and left Kaifeng the next day.

Zhou Cheng was heartbroken.

After the pharmacy business took off, Liu Wang stayed in Kaifeng for a full year before leaving Kaifeng with a woman who was five months pregnant and returning to Yangzhou.

According to Su Wen, Anu went along on that trip.

Anu was a child Su Wen picked up on the road. That winter, Su Wen was traveling with a caravan to Shanxi when they encountered wolves. It was Anu, a seven or eight-year-old child, who saved them. At that time, Anu was already capable of fighting wolves, and it wasn't just one wolf...

To Jia Chuan, Anu seemed like someone without pain receptors, unaffected by being covered in wounds, and even more excited upon seeing blood.

Anu didn't know who her parents were and wasn't very good at speaking. In Su Wen's eyes, he had saved them, but in reality, Anu wanted to eat meat. Su Wen used roasted meat to keep Anu with him and she stayed with him.

Anu wasn't stupid. Although he didn't talk much, Su Wen said he understood everything and only trusted Su Wen. In those years, Su Wen was able to quickly climb to Liu Ji's side, which was inseparable from Anu. Su Wen dared to take some routes that others dared not take, and Su Wen had a natural business mind. After a few deals, Liu Ji couldn't help but notice him.

Salt merchants didn't just rely on salt permits to make a living.

Therefore, this time, Su Wen brought Anu to Kaifeng without bringing any extra people, so as to avoid spreading any bad rumors.

……

Liu Ji was overjoyed to await the birth of his grandson, which indeed fulfilled his wish, but then came a series of bad news.

First, his grandson was born weak and died before he was six months old. Then he received news that the new emperor wanted to move the capital after his ascension to the throne.

It's only been a few years since Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing. The canal transport system has only just been streamlined. The initial investment of silver was like the water in the canal; Liu Ji himself didn't even know how much it was. But before much of the water had flowed into the dug channels, it was about to stop.

Liu Ji personally went to Beijing, and when he returned, he looked as if he had aged ten years. Su Wen knew that the relocation of the capital was a done deal.

At this time, although Su Wen was not yet Liu Ji's right-hand man, he was already someone who could enter and leave Liu Ji's study. Such an important matter naturally required a thorough discussion.

Su Wen wouldn't have dared to offer such a constructive suggestion, but he couldn't resist Zhou Cheng, who was always concerned about Liu Wang's child in Kaifeng.

Zhou Cheng wrote to Su Wen almost every month. In his letters, besides expressing concern for Liu Wang's child, he would also inquire about the doctor's whereabouts, hoping that one day Su Wen might be able to persuade the doctor.

In the past, when Su Wen received Zhou Cheng's letters, he only felt annoyed, but he could not offend him, so he always replied perfunctorily and never mentioned the death of his child. However, when he received the letter when Liu Ji was in a very bad mood and Su Wen was eager to make a good impression on Liu Ji, Su Wen suddenly thought of a few things.

In Kaifeng, Zhou Cheng complained that despite working like a slave for so many years, he still couldn't gain the old prince's complete trust. The old prince wouldn't allow him to do any profitable business. He personally inspected all the medicinal herbs that came from Yunnan. As for the Prince of Han, who wanted to associate with the old prince, he sent several people to Kaifeng under the pretext of borrowing new books. The old prince always had Zhou Cheng receive them and never met them in person. Were those people sent by the Prince of Han so easily fooled?

Zhou Cheng suffered a lot of mistreatment.

These things gave Zhou Cheng a real headache. Although Zhou Cheng didn't say anything, Su Wen knew that what really angered Zhou Cheng was that the old prince was blocking Zhou Cheng's path to wealth.

These events, coupled with Liu Wang's trip to Kaifeng to be cured of the poison, created a chemical reaction in Su Wen's peculiar thought process. He bravely voiced his conclusion: Who could stop the Emperor from moving the capital? Only the Emperor himself felt that now was not the right time.

How can we convince the emperor that now is not the time to move the capital?
chaos!
Su Wen only said the beginning, but Liu Ji understood immediately.

Because they were just merchants, even if they had some connections with the government and some officials could be used by them, and even though Liu Ji met several cabinet members who opposed moving the capital back to Nanjing during his trip to the capital, they just stood aside and listened respectfully to the voices of the court and the emperor's determination. They were helpless in the face of anything else.

They were unable to speak to the Emperor, and of course, even if they could, it would be useless. Surely some officials would inform the Emperor of their situation, but in the Emperor's eyes, the voices of some people in the canal transport were insignificant and could not affect the Emperor's decisions.

But the political situation is different.

Who doesn't know what the Prince of Han is thinking? What if we add the Duke of Qian to the mix? How can we contact the Kaifeng Herbal Medicine Bureau? If we can get in touch, then it would be the Prince of Han, the Duke of Qian, the Prince of Zhou... With that kind of influence, the Emperor probably won't be able to think about moving the capital anytime soon, right?

After several sleepless nights in the study, the basic plan was completed.

So Liu Ji began to make preparations. He first inquired about the emperor's opinion of the Prince of Han, and then sent people to Yunnan to find out the secrets between the Duke of Qian's mansion and the herb-gathering bureau, even folk legends would be good.

Su Wen thought he could ask Zhou Cheng directly, but Liu Ji thought otherwise, since Zhou Cheng only knew what the old prince was willing to let him know.

Sure enough, news came from Yunnan a month later that the Mu family had already arranged for people to gather herbs at the herb-collecting bureau.

……

Liu Ji was well-prepared, with a full complement of manpower, and had considered every detail to ensure a seamless withdrawal. Therefore, Su Wen's initial plan was based on this, and naturally, the first priority was to keep Zhou Cheng firmly under control and have him lead the charge.

It's like preparing a long pole, stirring up a hornet's nest, then dropping the pole and running away – that's the kind of decisiveness we're after.

Zhou Cheng is that long pole.

Controlling Zhou Cheng was extremely easy. Aside from doing some money-making business, all he had to do was ask the doctor to allow his apprentice to treat the women in Zhou Cheng's household. Zhou Cheng was more than willing to agree to everything. When the group arrived in Kaifeng, the family doctor first took Zhou Cheng's pulse and gave him a conclusion that almost made Zhou Cheng faint: the one who was really sick was Zhou Cheng, and no matter how many women he had, he would not have any offspring.

Fortunately, the doctor said something that saved Zhou Cheng: He is treatable.

……

Liu Ji knew that things could go wrong if he stayed too long, so he never intended for his people to stay in Kaifeng for long. In his view, the officials in the court only cared about money, and making things too complicated would be superfluous.

But they encountered an obstacle right from the first step.

Su Wen, of course, would not reveal his true purpose. He only said that Liu Wang's matter had made them think of a way to make money. Every spring and summer, many families would fall ill due to eating the wrong things. If they could make some pills in advance, they could sell them at a high price. They would say that the pills could save lives and even cure all poisons. They would say that the pills were essential medicines for home and travel and would be snapped up.

Zhou Cheng knew this was a good thing, and he tried to speak to the old prince about it. The old prince immediately rejected it, saying that there were countless poisons, and how could a single pill cure all poisons? It was pure deception, and delaying treatment would be an even greater sin.

Zhou Cheng dared not do this behind the old prince's back.

But soon the old prince suddenly passed away.

Regarding the death of the old prince, Su Wen said: "Just when we were at our wits' end, the old prince suddenly passed away. This made us all feel that even God was helping us, and there was no reason why this matter could not be accomplished."

After the old prince died, they became unrestrained. Su Wen said that they had been holding back, but Zhou Cheng, no longer restrained, became reckless. He wanted not only the antidote but also the poison, and they had no choice but to cooperate with him.

Jia Chuan snorted coldly upon hearing this, but did not interrupt Su Wen.

(End of this chapter)