Chapter 238: Weights and Measures
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Under the crimson glow of the evening sky, everyone gathered to eat and drink.
From the kitchen came dish after dish of delicacies, the kind one would only find in modern times.
Though Xiao Ming had always focused on building hard power, he had never neglected soft power either. Aside from cuisine, he was also preparing for a revival in arts and culture—this was his way of launching a challenge against the entrenched Confucian feudal ideology.
Still, he didn’t dare act too boldly just yet. Even as a feudal prince, he couldn’t afford to make enemies of all the scholars in the empire. For now, he would continue strengthening Bo Wen Academy’s prestige. Once the time was right, he would begin testing reforms in Qingzhou.
After all, most scholars still saw becoming an official as their life’s ultimate goal—something that seriously hampered his ability to cultivate capable talent.
As they ate, the conversation naturally continued. Pang Yukun asked, “Your Highness, the wine, soap, and perfume you launched are all seeing declining sales now. With your brilliance, haven’t you considered introducing a new product?”
This question hit the mark.
It had been a full year since the launch of Drunken Qingzhou liquor, soap, and perfume. The initial novelty had worn off.
More importantly, the distribution rights for all three of those products had already been auctioned off. For a long while now, Xiao Ming could only profit from direct sales.
And the merchants who had secured those rights were all major tycoons from various provinces—small-scale traders in the Great Yu Empire never got a taste of the pie.