It had taken Yan Mo and Yan Qi two whole months of studying together to go through the three books that they had gotten from Niu Tan. They were like diligent students, pouring over everything, making notes, and trying to rationalize the things they found dumbfounding.
“What kind of place do these books come from? It seems so magical. Just the products in this marketing book are enough for us to research for years.
Cars, plastic, airplanes, electricity, computer, canned food, and so much more. Even without knowing their details, they are so fantastical. Do you think they come from the legendary immortal realm?” Yan Qi asked his uncle in a daze while he copied the book.
Yan Mo also looked up from the book he was almost done copying, “I don’t know. But I can’t explain how else they could have carriages that don’t need horses, metal ships that fly and control lightning so easily. They sound like magic tools but the book talks about selling to commoners.”
The duo had dedicated at least one to two hours every night to studying and copying the books for the last two months. They learned a lot, but in the end, they had a lot of questions as well.
When they went to Niu Tan to ask about their doubts, they were sent away with a single sentence, “Study what you understand and disregard what you don’t. And compile a book of only the things you understand for your future generations.”
They could only agree and return to trying to learn on their own. They were somewhat envious of the seven scholars who could learn all kinds of different things from Niu Tan.
In the last two months’ time, the Yan merchant family had gone through a few significant changes. The business was now modified into a corporate structure and each family was given a share of the ‘Yan Corporation’ based on their contribution and well closeness to the main branch.
There were some who wanted to protest but the family head gave them the option to give up their shares and take some significant amount of money to move out of the family business. A few shortsighted branches leaped up at the generous amount and left more shares to the main branch.
Now the Yan family members would get dividends from their shares and salaries if they worked in the business. There was no system for allowances. Also, the elders would act as the board of directors and the family head as the CEO.
Now, if you didn’t have the qualifications or work hard enough, you could be booted out of the position and anyone capable enough would replace you.
There was some resistance at first, but after the elders had learned of the cooperation with the mysterious organization and the ships, they were almost always on Yan Mo’s side. He was still trying to convince his family elders to agree to include hiring outsiders though.
“By the way, how is the trade with Zhu Empire coming along?” Yan Mo asked. He had been delegating some important tasks to Yan Qi to slowly teach him the ropes.
Yan Qi answered excitedly, “It should be a done deal. We are providing the merchants of the Zhu Empire at an almost 40% cheaper rate. Also, I think if we increase the buying price to 15% more than the market rate we could buy out most of the grains in the Indu Kingdom.”
The Qian Kingdom that they lived in was almost at the center of the region. On the north was the Zhu Empire which had a lot of ores and minerals but very little agricultural land. In the south, the Indu Kingdom was practically where all the most fertile land in the region was located.
The Huan river came down from the Zhu empire, going across the Qian kingdom and then into the northern parts of the Indu kingdom before mixing with the seas. There were also other smaller rivers connecting to the Huan River that flowed into some other kingdoms like the Chu Empire in the east of the Qian Kingdom which was connected by the Flood-dragon River.
It was only a matter of time before the other nations start making their own ships. It was estimated that in four to six months some prototypes would hit the waters. What the consortium wanted to do within that time was to carve out a large market for themselves and open up channels for future trade.
So far, it was working. The four families each already had one ship each charting the river and moving goods. Their mail and delivery offices were also functional since a month ago and they were a huge success.
People called them the Wind Express since that was what the Yan family named their business. Whatever you want from whichever city, be it a letter, goods, or anything the wind express had a network that got you those things the fastest and safest.
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These offices also worked as a store for the four families to sell their products so the appeal was even greater. Niu Tan personally felt that it could be the start of supermarkets if Yan Mo and the others were farsighted enough.
And Yan Mo did have this idea, especially after having read about the concept of supermarkets in books. He was currently waiting to earn some gold before he buys out the stores and houses around his own store to make space. He wanted to open the stores in every place at once so that the copycats won’t have any time to react.
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While the consortium was slowly eating away at the economy of the Qian Kingdom, the seven scholars had also become very busy with their studies.
Although they didn’t have the best foundation, all seven of them had already reached 2nd rate martial master stage and were using their internal energy to nourish their minds. It had to be said that the personal training from a man who had been at the Divine Master stage for four centuries was very effective.
Niu Tan was also very surprised but Wan Niu had explained that this was likely the limit for most of them, only Jia Yang, the youngest of them had a chance of reaching the Grand Master realm. For the others, if they persist hard enough they might have a slight chance of reaching the Master realm. And that was with the specialized training from a genius like Wan Niu.
Although it was disappointing, Niu Tan didn’t dwell on it and just made martial arts practice a mandatory part of the curriculum. Of course, when the seven scholars become teachers themselves, only their personal disciples would get to learn the special techniques taught by Wan Niu. For normal students, a standard technique would be issued.
Apart from martial arts, the scholars were also very busy with their studies. They would have theoretical lecture sessions for two hours with Niu Tan and then go on to try and figure out the hypothesis and questions asked in the books.
They were improving very quickly with mathematics, with the help of the books, Niu Tan, and their enhanced brain’s computation abilities. It was only a matter of time before the seven of them reach high-school-level mathematics.
As for science, be it physics, chemistry, biology, or astronomy, all needed tools to observe phenomena and experiment if they wanted to go beyond theory.
Niu Tan could wait for them to discover and invent the tools on their own but he wanted to fast-track the process so he already had made the Yan family find craftsmen who can work to make glass and metalwork. They were already setting up workshops in the Xiao village.
Yes, Niu Tan was going back to the Xiao village. The Carp Town near it already was connected with the consortium’s logistic channels and there were people always prepared to follow every command from Niu Tan.
He would have liked to stay for a year in Yan City but the number of spies looming around the Yan family was not showing any signs of decreasing and Niu Tan didn’t want any attention on him or the scholars. So they were prepared to leave in a month’s time.
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A little further from the Xiao village, near the river also known as the Small Huan, there was a massive clearing with an unusual single-story house. It was a Japanese Minka-style house from Niu Tan’s past life.
It looked out of place near the old village but it also had an ethereal, sophisticated air around it. With a forest behind it and the river to the side, the house which was made within an area that could fit 15-20 normal houses from Yan city, had an inner courtyard as well as an outer courtyard.
The construction on this place had begun the moment Niu Tan had returned from Yan city with the scholars. It had taken a full six months to complete but looking at it now, it was all worth it. It would be the house for Niu Tan and his scholars.
He had plans to develop the Xiao village into a sort of residential area for the families of the scholars as well as a place for future students to stay. It would slowly develop into this world’s equivalent of a university town.
Niu Tan and the scholars were admiring the house and discussing the developments to be made in Xiao village to bring their families over when a boat docked at the dock near the house. This dock was specially made for Niu Tan by the Yan family.
By boat, the travel time between Yan city and Xiao village was halved. But only the Yan family boats would ever come to this remote place. At this moment, Yan Qi was getting off the boat with his bodyguards.
Looking at the house in the distance, he was stunned. Only the palace might be comparable to how beautiful this place looked. But when he remembered the amount of money and work that went into building it, he felt that if this wasn’t the result, all the money and labor wouldn’t be justified.
Walking closer, he was astonished by the aesthetics of the courtyard with water flowing in the middle, bamboo growing at the side, curated flowers, and the graveled path, it all gave a serene and calm feeling. He had to make a similar place for himself.
Niu Tan and the others had noticed Yan Qi walking over so they came out to greet him. The scholars only knew that the Yan family were the patrons of their school but they didn’t know the specifics. The smarter ones had linked the ships to Niu Tan but that was the extent of their knowledge.
“Long time no see, brother Yan. Welcome to my humble home and school.” Niu Tan welcomed Yan Qi.
Yan Qi smiled brightly, “It’s my pleasure, Master Niu Tan. This place is amazing. I want to build one for myself.” He spoke casually but still respectfully. He knew Niu Tan was easygoing but he still had to be respectful.
Niu Tan chuckled and teased, “Why not? The craftsmen were yours so they should know the structure and you don’t lack gold anyway.”
Yan Qi greeted the scholars and followed Niu tan inside while the bodyguards stayed out.
“It is all thanks to Mater Niu Tan.” He said awkwardly. Then he turned to look at the scholars following them.
Everyone understood the meaning behind the glance but Niu tan waved his hand, “It’s fine. They are a part of the school and they will have to handle a lot of this work later anyway.”
The scholars who were prepared to go out paused and continued following Niu Tan with curiosity visible in their eyes. They wanted to know the relationship between their school and the Yan family.