Chapter 1 Spending Money

To come up with 600,000 taels of silver to hand over to Tan Weixin's accountant for investment in the Yi Zhan Lou construction, Ye Tao spent a full hour dealing with Zuo He Ping, the head of the Zuo family, and his incessant inquiries about the clock and music box. When Situ invited him to his residence, Situ was engrossed in figuring out how a teenager like Ye Tao could possess the vision and breadth of mind to create something like the Shili Yanbo. Still, Huang Wan and her two older brothers were curious as well. Having learned his lesson, Ye Tao simply gifted one clock to Tan Weixin and placed the other in the lobby of Qingluo Xing She.

Suddenly, Qingluo Xing She, a second-tier inn at best in Danyang, became famous. Qingluo Xing She already had good conditions and service quality, which attracted a lot of business because of this opportunity. Several local wealthy people opened rooms in Qingluo Xing She, seemingly satisfied with the punctual hourly chimes. And in full view of everyone, the accuracy of the clock was fully verified.

Ye Tao was waiting for such an opportunity. Almost at a lunch that wasn't even a big occasion, he completed the goal of building momentum that he had mentioned to Qi Zhentao. Although there was some luck involved, it must be said that in the capital, at that lunch, the energy of these young people was significant. Perhaps, that was one of the reasons why they could become Tan Weixin's honored guests.

However, Ye Tao, who had suddenly stirred up such a big wave in Danyang City, felt a bit out of place. Almost none of the people who came to Qingluo Xing She to admire the clock and inquire about the price were people he could afford to offend. Moreover, just as Qi Zhentao had worried, many of them did come with the idea of *robbery*. It wasn't until Tan Weixin actually had Lu Dan and others responsible for protecting Ye Tao's safety in Danyang, and also as his guides when he traveled around Danyang, that those guys with thoughts of *robbery* reluctantly gave up. After all, he was someone favored by the most beloved princess of the Dongping Kingdom, and they couldn't afford to offend him.

Ye Tao knew that the waters here in the capital were still too deep for him. He was unable to handle the originally conceived auction, even with the Du family. If the Du family was influential, they wouldn't have just established a Qingluo Xing She and a few hotels in the capital. In the end, Ye Tao returned the favor by entrusting the auction to the Zuo family, agreeing that the Zuo family could extract 15% of the auction proceeds as an organization fee. If Qi Zhentao hadn't occupied a large part in the clock business, the Zuo family, driven by profit, might not have been so polite.

Ye Tao was somewhat frustrated. The commercial circle in the capital was indeed not so easy to break into. He was like a peddler from another place, carrying goods to sell, only able to watch the crowd in tall buildings hawking their goods, while he didn't even have the qualification to observe.

"Why bother with those people? The commercial circle in Danyang is indeed not easy to enter. Even me, when I couldn't reveal my identity back then and could only rely on a few people under my name to act as agents, how much effort did I spend to enter this circle? Making money is easy, but entering such a circle is indeed troublesome. When Yi Zhan Lou, which you and I jointly invested in, is built, are you still afraid they'll exclude you? I'm afraid they'll be trying to curry favor with you." Tan Weixin said.

Ye Tao knew that what Tan Weixin said was true. The accumulation of wealth and the accumulation of status are by no means achieved overnight. It is a process of quantitative change leading to qualitative change. Ye Tao, who had already experienced such a process once in Yicheng, would not retreat because of a temporary setback, but... he just felt a little stifled.

"When Yi Zhan Lou is built, regardless of whether the business is good or bad, it will be selling playthings after all. In this way, my image as a courtier who tries his best to please the princess will be deeply rooted, right?" Ye Tao teased himself. But his tone had become much more relaxed.

Tan Weixin's eyes lit up, and she said, "So what?"

"It's nothing." Seeing that Tan Weixin seemed to be arguing for the sake of arguing, Ye Tao quickly said, "A courtier is a courtier. I'll make some trebuchets and crossbows later, which should reverse the image, it doesn't matter. This is probably the benefit of being a craftsman."

Tan Weixin asked curiously, "Can the trebuchets and crossbows you make be better than those used by the Dongping army?"

Ye Tao put on a look of being insulted and said, "You... how can you say that..." The deliberately aggrieved expression on Ye Tao's face was extremely amusing, causing Tan Weixin to chuckle. "Dongping Kingdom's craftsmanship is indeed very high, but research in physics, mathematics, geometry, etc. is not enough. Teaching skills by the traditional method of apprenticeship, unless the master's expression ability is particularly good or the student is relatively talented, otherwise, the general tendency is a decline in the overall technical level. I know that the workshops in the Ministry of War are very strict and meticulous in teaching, but craftsmen are ultimately craftsmen. Without a foundation, how can you expect craftsmen to comprehend mathematics and physics? Without these basic tools, how can you let the craftsmen build magnificent buildings? How can they carry out parallel construction on a wider ground?"

Tan Weixin thought for a while and suddenly asked, "What are you going to make?"

Ye Tao smiled triumphantly, but fell silent.

"If you don't want to say, then don't say it. I'll go and see when you make it." Tan Weixin wasn't angry. It wasn't that her self-control was really that strong, but because she believed that there would probably be new surprises. This surprise was not the Shengjian bao (pan-fried pork buns), not the music box, and not the clock that could play a Radetzky March. Perhaps, given enough time, Ye Tao could rebuild the city they were familiar with, if necessary.

While Tan Weixin and Ye Tao were chatting about this and that, the auction had already sentenced him to a huge amount of money in absentia, a full 150,000 taels of silver. It must be said that the rich people in Danyang City were indeed outrageously wealthy. Before the auction, Ye Tao, with a lot of professional ethics, did not put any unique or similar titles on the clock to be auctioned, but simply and honestly said that this was the first batch of trial-produced clocks. In a few months, there would definitely be goods in the capital and Danyang. Although the supply would definitely not be open due to limited production, everyone should be more rational in the auction. But when the Tan family in Beicheng and the Han family, the global exclusive design, production, and sales consortium of Ningcheng Yun Yao porcelain, which Tan Weixin loved the most, fought for some reason, the price of the clock soared. When it finally stopped at 150,000 taels, it wasn't because the Han family didn't want to continue bidding, but because they were not local merchants after all, and it was troublesome to raise money. Moreover, they still had to do business. After leaving enough capital to do business, they really couldn't raise any more spare money.

"150,000 taels..." Ye Tao thought silently, "It's open for business." His expression was like that of a mountain bandit leader who had just robbed a batch of goods... or rather, the strategist beside him.

"How much is left after deducting the Zuo family's share?" Tan Weixin asked with a smile.

"How much do you think is left after deducting 15%?" Ye Tao asked back.

"Hmm... take out the change to buy another gift for my sister," Tan Weixin said. "You gave me the clock, and my restless little sister is extremely envious. She really doesn't have anything fun to play with."

"Play?" Ye Tao said happily, "Does she want a plush toy? She's so young."

Tan Weixin curled her lips and said, "Your little fiancee is even younger than my sister. Besides, plush toys? Can you make them?"

Ye Tao didn't say anything. He was calculating what it meant to make plush toys. After thinking for a long time, he shook his head in surrender and said, "Forget it, it's too troublesome. It's not difficult to slightly change the weaving method of the outer layer. Although there are no machines, it's not impossible to make a set of simple semi-automatic machinery to have people operate it to weave this kind of thing. The problem is with the color."

Tan Weixin sighed dejectedly and said, "Yes, color. It's extremely difficult to get some dyes or beautifully colored paint now. Even your Ye Clan Workshop, the best lacquer workshop in the world, only has a few patterns. I miss those beautiful colors so much."

If it were someone else, they might prefer to wander in the colors of nature, and in this space-time, nature, which has been extremely well-preserved, has ample conditions. However, Tan Weixin couldn't. She had her own flower garden that she spent money to build, but it was only in bloom for a few seasons a year. If she had to run around everywhere to see those bright colors, Tan Weixin estimated that she would be exhausted. Since he hadn't made any metal that could be used as a shock absorber, Ye Tao didn't want to make a half-baked four-wheeled carriage to slightly improve Tan Weixin's travel conditions. Even if he made a four-wheeled carriage, its use would be limited on the road system in this era, which was still extremely far from being developed. If he wanted Tan Weixin to be able to appreciate those beautiful colors, did he have to learn from the Romans and create a road system that could traverse a thousand years and still leave traces, almost becoming immortal? That would be too expensive. However, making some brightly colored things might not be anything to him. It's just that...

"You misunderstood me. What I meant was... uh... actually, I can even make fluorescent colors, but now there is no reliable mordant, and they will fade after washing. To keep the colors lasting and bright, I have to develop Omo, Tide, and Ariel. I can't make that stuff." Ye Tao said awkwardly. It was indeed very troublesome, almost a preliminary chemical industry chain.

"Are you playing with me?" Tan Weixin glared at Ye Tao, her tone already a little harsh.

"How dare I... I have always been Her Highness the Princess's loyal dog." Knowing that Tan Weixin wouldn't really be angry, Ye Tao joked.

"Loyal dog!... Humph!" Tan Weixin turned her head away and said haughtily, "Bark a few times for me to hear?"

This stumped Ye Tao. If saying that he was a loyal dog was a slightly exaggerated expression, just to show that he had no malice, then actually barking a few times would really be a bit... weak. Although Ye Tao knew that Tan Weixin was just saying it casually with a bit of coquetry, it was still somewhat embarrassing.

"I'm sorry." Realizing that she was a bit abrupt, Tan Weixin quickly apologized.

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Ye Tao quickly brushed the matter aside. "How have those garden artisans from Chunnan Kingdom been doing recently?"

"Spending my money and causing me trouble? What else can they do?" Tan Weixin looked a little troubled. "I've been to see them several times, and I've also looked at the blueprints brought by the artisans from Chunnan Kingdom, but I don't quite understand their blueprints. Looking at the entire garden, I always feel that something is not right, but I can't put my finger on it."