Apart from this, the jewelry workshop also presented a certain scale. In order to prevent leakage of the crafting techniques, He Zhiran specially went to an agency to buy back more than twenty craftsmen to be solely responsible for using molds to produce various gold and silver jewelry.
Not only that, but skilled and dexterous craftsmen could also produce jewelry inlaid with various gemstones.
On Tang Mingrui's side, he had already opened more than a dozen hot pot restaurants, with booming business that goes without saying.
As soon as the hot pot restaurants' business got on track, he immediately set about preparing jewelry shops.
No matter what era, the period before the New Year is always the most profitable for businesses.
There is a habit among the common people to spend most of the savings they scrimped and saved over the year during the New Year period.
Therefore, he had to make a big profit before the New Year.
On He Zhiran's side, the mold-made jewelry was not only beautiful in design, but the production speed was also incomparable to handcrafting.
In other words, the time it took to produce a hundred pieces of jewelry using molds might only allow for one piece to be handcrafted.
Therefore, by the time she notified Tang Mingrui to prepare the storefront, the Mo Family had already produced countless pieces of gold and silver jewelry.
After all, time was tight and it was close to the New Year, so Tang Mingrui couldn't conveniently travel too far to set things up and could only temporarily open a jewelry shop within the provincial capital.
However, he was also clear that these jewelry pieces were beautiful and special, and would surely be deeply favored by women. Relying solely on the purchasing power of wealthy families in the northwest would not achieve the desired effect.
Fortunately, he had many connections in other places, and He Zhiran cooperated very well by drawing a poster for a novel jewelry design using sketches. Although the realism could not match that of photography, it far surpassed the ink paintings of the era.
Moreover, this poster was clearly a painting, so even if someone praised it, there would be no suspicion.
In order for Tang Mingrui to share the poster with more people, He Zhiran purchased a copying machine from the Taobao Mall and placed it in her space, making hundreds of copies of the poster.
This was a great help to Tang Mingrui. The posters were sent to various provincial capitals, and on the opening day of the northwestern jewelry shop, it was packed with people.
Because these jewelry pieces had unique designs, they were naturally priced much higher, but even so, all the merchandise displayed in the shop that day was sold out.
This trend was something Tang Mingrui had not expected. He knew that people's consumption mentality would be stronger before the New Year, but how could it be this intense?
In fact, the amount of jewelry He Zhiran supplied him with was not small, but in this era, those in the jewelry business were very cautious, after all, with the chaotic times, bandits and robbers could be seen everywhere. If they were robbed, it would be a total loss.
Therefore, on the first day of Tang Mingrui's jewelry shop opening, he only displayed an estimated amount, never expecting it to sell out completely.
If it were a food shop with goods selling out, that wouldn't be surprising at all, but who has ever heard of all the merchandise in a jewelry shop being sold out?
That could only mean that the shop's owner lacked the ability to display more goods, or that the shop was having a clearance sale.
However, it was neither of these reasons. Not only was there a large amount of merchandise, but there was even more than in other jewelry shops, and the prices were exorbitantly high.
So it could only be said that these jewelry pieces fit the aesthetic of the people of this era too well.
In any case, no matter the jewelry shop or the hot pot restaurants, Tang Mingrui and He Zhiran made a huge profit before the New Year.
The dividends He Zhiran received were obvious to all, and could be legitimately used for the construction of their fief.
The income from the beaver and rabbit fur clothing was also remarkable, to the amazement of the Mo Family.
Even Minister Hao's family felt it was incredible - when did their daughter (sister) develop such a mind for making money?
At the same time, He Ziming's medical clinic also opened smoothly in Yun City. He Zhiran had Lan Er go to the clinic every day to help her elder brother, with the aim of allowing the two to deepen their affection before marriage.
Of course, she was able to do this because her mother had persuaded her father to agree to their marriage.
In the Capital city, an imperial edict was also issued before the New Year, exonerating Fang Chuanzhou, Xie Tianhai, and Hu Cong of their crimes.
Nan Yu knew that Mo Jiuye was building his fief and needed people, so he left the decision of whether to stay or not up to the three of them.
If they were willing to stay in the northwest to help Mo Jiuye, he would not recall them to take up positions in the capital. Conversely, if they wished to return to the capital, Nan Yu would also welcome them with open arms, as he had just ascended the throne and needed people as well.
After receiving the edict, the three immediately stated their willingness to continue living in the northwest.
As for Hu Cong, there was no need to say more - he was naturally a carefree person. Moreover, like the Mo Family, he had already become utterly disillusioned with the imperial court.
Especially now that he had carefully assembled his own engineering team, doing what he enjoyed every day, not to mention He Zhiran occasionally coming up with new things for him to work on.
Hu Cong felt this was far more interesting than being some lowly clerk in the Ministry of Works in the capital.
Moreover, he was now alone with no dependents, in a state of "one man eating fills the family," freely doing as he pleased every day - wasn't this better than going to the capital and being restricted?
Speaking of Hu Cong being alone, Old Lady Mo and Consort De had truly put a lot of effort into worrying about his marriage, having already found several matchmakers in the city to help Hu Cong find a partner.
Hu Cong did not object to this, for he had already walked out of that shadow. He believed in Old Lady Mo and Consort De's judgement - whoever they deemed suitable would certainly not be lacking.
Just recently, Old Lady Mo and Consort De helped him take a look at a young lady from a certain household.
The young lady's family was very simple, with only her brother-in-law's family and a young nephew.
Because her parents had passed away in successive years, the young lady had missed the best age for marriage due to observing the mourning period.
The young lady was now twenty-two years old, having long passed the prime age for marriage. Her brother-in-law's family did not want her to settle too much, so her marriage had been delayed until now.
They had heard about Hu Cong's situation, and although he was older and had previously been married, he was a capable man with no children or elders to care for, which was already a good condition for the young lady.
With Old Lady Mo and Consort De's arrangements, the two sides had already gone through the formalities, and were waiting for after the New Year to complete the marriage.
Hu Cong had now settled his livelihood in the northwest and was about to start a family, reaching a fulfilling life.
As for Fang Chuanzhou and Xie Tianhai, they were deeply grateful to the Mo Family, which was the biggest reason they were unwilling to leave the northwest.
Moreover, they were both advanced in years and did not have any particularly capable younger generations in their families, so even if they went to the capital, there would be no good positions for them.
Previously, He Zhiran had mentioned establishing some kind of compulsory education school, requiring every child aged six to fifteen, regardless of gender, to attend and learn.
Most importantly, the school would not charge any fees.
