Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots
Chapter 673 - 070 Jealous_1

Chapter 673: 070 Jealous_1

Lin Yuan almost spit out the tea Xia Zheng handed her, this guy actually dared to haggle with the Emperor himself, thinking he was some kind of lord?

Initially, when she heard Xia Zheng mention delivering tofu to the old man in the Capital city for a taste test, she had no clue that the ’old man’ referred to the Emperor. It wasn’t until that day, when she heard Lao Fan complain about not eating or sleeping well in the palace, that she learned it from his complaints.

Lin Yuan silently took a napkin and wiped the tea from her mouth. Xia Zheng’s aunt had entered the palace as a concubine to the Emperor, namely Consort Shu, the Third Prince Zhao Hongde’s birth mother. That said, the Emperor was Xia Zheng’s uncle by marriage. Not only that, but Princess Anle was also the Emperor’s sister. Considering these connections, it made sense that Xia Zheng was on close terms with the Emperor. No wonder he had the audacity to refer to him as an old man.

As for the matter of book printing, in Xia Zheng’s own words, it was this cunning old man’s attempt to scam him of his silver. Putting aside whether the Emperor really wanted to scam him, with the national treasury at hand, would the Emperor even care about his paltry amount of silver?

Originally, the Emperor had considered assigning the task of book printing, which required a considerable amount of Silver Taels, to a private party. Moreover, as Xia Zheng had earned a substantial fortune through his business ventures, the Emperor naturally took an interest in his wealth. To some extent, the decision was also because the Emperor felt Xia Zheng, his own nephew, was a trustworthy choice.

It’s just a pity that this job of book printing really didn’t make any money. Strictly speaking, it might even require additional investment. A shrewd person like Xia Zheng wouldn’t accept this hot potato. With no other recourse, the Emperor let the matter drop.

However, now that they had Lin Yuan’s methods, this matter had to be reconsidered.

Lin Yuan thought for a moment and then patted Xia Zheng’s hand, "You, oh you, are still too naive! Why the need for a bonus? After you go back, first talk to the, cough cough, the Emperor, and get the book printing job. Once it’s in our hands, we can print however we want without having to explain to anyone."

Xia Zheng raised an eyebrow; that’s right, with so many scholars throughout the nation, casually printing a book could surely bring in a tidy sum.

"But there’s one thing you must promise me."

Lin Yuan suddenly became serious, startling Xia Zheng, "What is it? Is there some big problem?"

"Yes, a big problem." Lin Yuan was taken aback by his somewhat exaggerated reaction and chuckled covertly, "After we improve the book printing technique, the cost will definitely decrease significantly. Therefore, we can’t sell the books as expensively as before. The young scholars are the foundation of the nation; it’s not good to profit off them. Moreover, there are so many poor families who can’t afford education for their children to study and pursue official careers, like my family. My initial goal in earning silver was to allow my two sisters to attend school."

Xia Zheng nodded again and again, "You’re right."

Before Xia Zheng could voice his praise, Lin Yuan suddenly chuckled with a sly turn of phrase, whispering mischievously, "However, for those wealthy families, we can still earn a bit more from their silver, hehe."

Xia Zheng: ...

Back to business, Lin Yuan had thought of another thing as soon as she conceived the idea of movable-type printing. Before, printing used wooden blocks, which were quite handy but also had significant drawbacks. The first issue was that with extensive use, the wood would deform, necessitating the creation of new blocks.

After analyzing these drawbacks with Xia Zheng, Lin Yuan suggested using clay which was similar to making seals. Nowadays, almost everyone owns a personal seal with a variety of materials; wealthy families use jade, while ordinary families would use clay seals.

"Regarding the templates, I plan to switch to clay molds, making small seals out of them and then firing them in a kiln to form. Moreover, since some articles would definitely have repeating characters, we should make more than one mold per character, at least ten. Of course, to improve efficiency, we could make even more and work in batches, which would be much faster," she explained.

To Lin Yuan’s suggestions, Xia Zheng took notes one by one. The more he listened, the more he felt that this young lady had unfathomable ideas in her mind; she even thought through such minor details as how many clay molds to make.