Chapter 904 – The Merchants in Power, Plucking Feathers from Passing Geese (Part 1)
The buzz around the Golden Scales Pavilion is still fermenting.
It’s like a shy, delicate flower, releasing a rich and enticing fragrance that continually attracts prey, one after another.
Other feudal powers can only watch enviously.
Jiang Pengji is in Chongzhou, but she knows the situation in Wanzhou like the back of her hand.
“The fish in the pond have been well-nurtured; it’s prime time for fishing now that they’re fattened,” she remarked, glancing at the official documents presented by Xu Ke, just as Qi Guanrang entered with a pile of bamboo slips. She quickly said, “Wenzheng, come help me draft a document.”
Seeing her smile, Qi Guanrang couldn’t help but ask, “Have you encountered something good, my Lord?”
Jiang Pengji chuckled, “Of course it’s a good thing! If this good thing comes through, I’ll make up for the three years of leave I owe you.”
Qi Guanrang had been working under Jiang Pengji for over two years and had endured three New Years without a single holiday.
Although the salary wasn’t low, it didn’t make up for the hardship of being busy all year round.
The credibility of their Lord had already plummeted; Qi Guanrang wouldn’t believe a word about leave unless he were a fool.
Though secretly skeptical, he replied, “Alright, let’s get started on the ink.”
Jiang Pengji said, “Xiaoyu and Huaiyu informed me that, as of now, there are already students entering the Golden Scales Pavilion to borrow books.”
Hearing that number, Qi Guanrang almost lost grip of his pen.
“Are you saying there are 3,963 people?”
To enter the Golden Scales Pavilion, one must first pass a simple assessment, and only those who pass can register their names and create a token.
By checking the number of tokens, one can determine how many people have entered the Golden Scales Pavilion.
Jiang Pengji had also used this method to collect basic information on the scholars.
Entering and borrowing from the Golden Scales Pavilion required registration, so it was possible to know how long each person read per day, which books they read, and what they transcribed. Based on this information, one could roughly gauge whether a person had a desire for learning, perseverance, and foundational skills.
Unbeknownst to them, a good portion of their information had already leaked.
“There are undoubtedly talented individuals among these people; I plan to recruit them selectively. While we’re cultivating our own talents, it will still take years to see results, and I can’t keep exhausting you all like this. If you wear out, I would be heartbroken!”
Recruitment, in this context, is a system for promoting talent, and as the Governor, Jiang Pengji naturally has this authority.
After hearing this, Qi Guanrang made a soft hum, noncommittal.
If his Lord had any compassion for them, how could she continuously owe them three years of leave?
Three years, one week of annual leave per year—exactly twenty-one days!
All consumed by their own Lord.
“Are you suggesting that you want to promote talent from among these scholars?” Qi Guanrang asked.
Jiang Pengji affirmed, “Of course! They’ve presented themselves to me; how could I let them slip away easily? I painstakingly built the Golden Scales Pavilion for them to study for free, do you think I did that for others to benefit? I want to filter through and recruit individuals with good character and talent to alleviate the manpower shortage. As for the rest, they can come and go as they please.”
Qi Guanrang twitched at the corners of his mouth; he had genuinely underestimated his Lord.
She truly deserves the title of a business whiz, her ability to pluck profits like feathers from passing geese is astounding.
If it were anyone else, they might not have such quick reflexes, not only drawing inferences from one example but continually squeezing out more value.
“My Lord, relying solely on this information might make it hard to distinguish the good from the bad.”
Jiang Pengji smiled, “That’s simple. Why not promote it under the banner of ‘meeting friends through literature’? We can pose some challenging questions every day for assessment. And let respected scholars act as judges, scoring everyone’s answers and ranking them. Every day, the top three will receive dining vouchers for the Zhi Ke Restaurant, which entitles them to three meals a day, with two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and a soup provided for free each meal.”
This way, not only would it help gauge everyone’s talent, but it would also boost the fame of the Zhi Ke Restaurant in Wanzhou.
With a sigh and swift strokes, Qi Guanrang started writing.
His Lord was indeed a business genius who’d been held back by the ambitions of the world!
Before long, Qi Guanrang had drafted a document and presented it to Jiang Pengji for review.
If the content was satisfactory, this document could be urgently sent to Wanzhou.
“By the way, remember to send the messenger to find Zhengtu and ask if he needs anything sent along.”
“Why find General Fu Wang?” Qi Guanrang asked in surprise.
Jiang Pengji smirked and muttered, “If I’m calculating correctly, Hui Jun will soon be giving birth too.”
Qi Guanrang understood immediately.
Without experiencing this era of scarce books, one could never grasp the people’s thirst for knowledge. There are always students waiting outside the Golden Scales Pavilion before dawn and leaving reluctantly at closing time, sometimes without even a moment to attend to their appearance.
Day in and day out, studying hard and never slacking.
To avoid any life-threatening incidents, Xu Ke specifically arranged for a free cafeteria to be set up within the Golden Scales Pavilion, allowing each person with an identity token to receive a bowl of thick meat porridge, with several quiet courtyards allocated for scholars to rest or engage in discussions.
In just three months, the name of the Golden Scales Pavilion had spread throughout Dongqing, even extending to other countries.
On this day, students were soaking in the Golden Scales Pavilion as usual, some furrowing their brows in deep thought, some quietly discussing with friends, and others earnestly transcribing.
At that moment, a notice appeared quietly in the Golden Scales Pavilion.
“What’s this?” A scholar in simple linen noticed his empty stomach, cautiously rising from his seat to snag a bowl of meat porridge, and happened to see the notice board outside. He focused closely and revealed a puzzled expression.
“Zhi Ke Restaurant? What kind of place is this?”
One could tell it was something conjured by merchants, reeking of copper and coin.
A passing scholar frowned unhappily.
The scholar from a humble background clarified, “This Zhi Ke Restaurant was established by Liu Xi, the county official, and the profits from this establishment are used to support the soldiers’ orphans and families.”
Upon hearing that it was an establishment created by Jiang Pengji, the look on that scholar’s face softened a bit.
If it was for a righteous cause, he could barely tolerate merchants doing business in the Golden Scales Pavilion.
He stepped closer to the notice to examine the details, and instantly became interested.
Most scholars weren’t unable to afford meals; if worse came to worse, the Golden Scales Pavilion still provided free meat porridge—as filling as it gets.
What they cared about was rank and victory; if they answered well and gained the attention of esteemed scholars, their worth would rise dramatically.
Upon hearing this news, many interested scholars eagerly rushed to grab pens and bamboo slips to copy the questions.
On just the first day, over a hundred people participated in the answering!
The next day, with the results announced, the top three scholars not only received free meal vouchers but also valuable guidance from the esteemed scholars!
