allonlinenovel Chapter 233 Xia Yichen's Thoughts
Chapter 233 Xia Yichen's Thoughts
Upon returning to the capital, Wen Yuxia rushed to the palace to report to Xia Yichen. She hurried into the imperial study, and upon seeing Xia Yichen, she curtsied.
"The provisions have been successfully delivered to General Yang. This is the handover list; please review it, Your Majesty," Wen Yuxia said, presenting a detailed list of the quantity and type of provisions with both hands.
Xia Yichen took the list and casually placed it on the table, then slowly asked, "How is the battle at Tianxian Pass going?"
Wen Yuxia smiled faintly: "On the night my sister arrived at Tianxian Pass, the enemy general Gu Xiao led his troops to attack the city under cover of darkness. General Yang successfully repelled him. The next day, after the handover of supplies was completed, my sister set off to return to the capital."
Looking at the slightly tired woman before him, Xia Yichen said softly, "Mu Hua, you've worked hard. Go back and rest." Wen Yuxia bowed and withdrew.
Upon returning to the princess's residence, Wen Yuxia instructed Nan Yi and the others to categorize and deliver the local specialties to the various shops under her and Wen Yunhong's names, and to inform the shopkeepers of the selling prices.
Upon learning that Wen Yuxia had left the palace, Zhang Jinxuan immediately went to the princess's residence. As soon as they met, Zhang Jinxuan said anxiously, "Mu Hua, you're finally back!"
The printing and sale of the newspaper had long been handed over to the Ministry of Revenue, but Zhang Jinxuan had been reviewing the content, and Yunyilou had been acquiring the short stories that the students had.
The remaining sequels to Journey to the West were also entrusted to him by Wen Yuxia all at once. After the sequels were published, Wen Yuxia had not yet returned to the capital.
Left with no other option, Zhang Jinxuan opted to publish some short stories in the space that originally housed the sequel to Journey to the West. However, the short stories lacked the appeal of the original Journey to the West, and now the newspaper's sales were declining day by day.
I remember when the newspapers were being printed, Wen Yuxia once said that she had several long stories similar to Journey to the West. He came to ask for those long stories.
After understanding the purpose of the visit, Wen Yuxia smiled and said, "Back then, in order to support the imperial court in publishing newspapers, the entire story of Journey to the West was published in newspapers distributed in various prefectures and cities of the Great Xia Dynasty. I didn't take a single penny. Now the newspapers are on the right track..."
She had already given away one set of the Four Great Classical Novels from her previous life for free. She didn't intend to provide the other three sets free of charge; she demanded payment per chapter, one tael of silver per chapter.
Zhang Jinxuan silently calculated in his mind that the price for buying the students' short stories would be between several dozen and one hundred copper coins, while buying the stories provided by Wen Yuxia would cost one tael of silver.
The stories provided by Wen Yuxia were published in newspapers distributed in various prefectures of Daxia, while the short stories provided by the students were only published in local newspapers.
Moreover, the newspaper's circulation also depended on the stories provided by Wen Yuxia. On the surface, one tael of silver per chapter seemed expensive, but in reality, it was very cheap. Having figured this out, Zhang Jinxuan said with a smile, "Alright, one tael of silver per chapter."
Wen Yuxia had Butler Tang draft a contract, specifying that thirty chapters would be provided per month, with payment settled monthly. Zhang Jinxuan readily signed and sealed the contract after reviewing it.
Having agreed that Nan Yi would deliver the manuscript to Yunyi Tower in the afternoon, Zhang Jinxuan left thirty taels of silver, satisfied.
Steward Tang was somewhat puzzled, not understanding why Wen Yuxia, who received tens of thousands of taels of silver annually from Wen Yuxia, was now signing an agreement with Zhang Jinxuan for a monthly royalties of thirty taels of silver.
The newspaper's revenue belongs to the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Revenue's money is the Emperor's money. They've already given away more than they should; why bother collecting a mere thirty taels?
Seeing the butler's confusion, Wen Yuxia sighed softly, "The Nangong family lost dozens of guards at Tianxian Pass. I can't afford to make any more sacrifices for the Great Xia."
Butler Tang sighed as well. The Nangong family never participated in any national disputes, so Wen Yuxia really had to make her stance clear.
Wen Yuxia's true thoughts were not what they seemed. Although Steward Tang was loyal, she dared not tell him the truth. Even in front of Nangong Wenrui, she could not speak of it. Her true thoughts could only remain forever buried in her heart.
She initially wanted Xia Yichen to be her backer, so she proactively invited him to join all her business ventures. Even in her partnerships with Nangong Wenrui and Yun Zhiqian, she gave Xia Yichen a 10% cut of the profits.
The original plan for the leisure town was to split the profits 50/50 with Xia Yichen. However, the old emperor was envious and directly demanded 40% of the profits. In the end, the royal family took 70% of the shares and became the largest shareholder of the leisure town, while she, the initiator, only took 30%.
To reinforce the dikes and dig ditches, the old emperor complained of insufficient funds, but she immediately mobilized resources from various regions to raise the necessary funds. After the old emperor abdicated, Xia Yichen ascended the throne.
When paving the road, Xia Yichen said he had no money and asked Nangong Wenrui to donate. In the end, the couple donated 300,000 taels of silver.
Others might not know, but as her partner, she knew perfectly well that the two emperors had received at least a million taels of silver from her each year.
The Ministry of Revenue's annual tax revenue is also a huge amount. Furthermore, Zhang Jinxuan manages Xia Yichen's private property. Who would believe that Xia Yichen has no money?
But Xia Yichen insisted on telling her that building the cement bridge had used up most of the national treasury's funds, and that she would have to advance the military supplies needed for the war and disaster relief within the next three years.
The grain and fodder sent to the perilous pass this time could only be deducted from Xia Yichen's share of the profits at the end of the year. With the Nangong family as her backer, Wen Yuxia felt that she could gradually withdraw from Xia Yichen's sight in the future, and the writing fees were just a test.
While copying "Water Margin" at home, Wen Yuxia was lost in thought. After leaving the princess's residence, Zhang Jinxuan went directly to the palace. He still needed to report to Xia Yichen about Wen Yuxia signing an agreement with him for royalties.
In the imperial study, Xia Yichen carefully examined the agreement signed by Wen Yuxia and Zhang Jinxuan, a smile appearing on his face: "Heh, Mu Hua is getting anxious."
Zhang Jinxuan looked at Xia Yichen with surprise, not understanding what he meant. Xia Yichen chuckled and explained to Zhang Jinxuan.
Having known Wen Yuxia for so many years, Xia Yichen wanted to know under what circumstances Wen Yuxia could disregard his interests as the emperor.
Because they were Xia Yichen's right-hand men, Wen Yuxia distributed her shares to them free of charge. Zhang Jinxuan also felt that Wen Yuxia was always thinking of Xia Yichen's best interests.
"Your Majesty, this contract implies that from now on, you will no longer receive a share of Mu Hua's new businesses, right?"
Xia Yichen nodded slightly: "I have taken a lot of advantage from Mu Hua, and I have long wanted to refuse her offer of a share of the profits, but it is not my style to refuse money..."
Whether it was demanding donations from Nangong Wenrui, requesting a reduction in the road paving budget, or asking Wen Yuxia to advance supplies, it was all a form of coercion by Xia Yichen towards Wen Yuxia. He hoped that Wen Yuxia would come to her senses and no longer allow him to interfere in subsequent business dealings.