After bidding farewell to the shopkeeper and giving a few words to the waiter, Zhou Mo left Liubotang.

Continue shopping.

He did not notice that in the corner of the store, an ordinary tea customer wearing unremarkable clothes was listening to all the conversation between him and the store owner.

After Zhou Mo left, the man immediately paid for the tea and left quickly.

I saw him walking through the streets and alleys, looking back vigilantly from time to time. After confirming that no one was following him, he accelerated in the direction of Wu Palace.

……

Zhou Mo visited a treasure shop again.

This is a boutique woodware shop that specializes in selling some exquisite small woodware commonly used by women, such as jewelry boxes, food boxes, combs, hairpins and hairpins.

What Zhou Mo likes most is the exquisite lacquer work and cinnabar decoration on their jewelry box.

The craftsmanship is exquisite and the design is exquisite, which is rare to see in Sichuan.

This technology is very suitable for making high-end chess pieces.

After asking, I found out that this shop was originally opened in Wuhui, and the wives and ladies of Wuzhong's family with surnames such as Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang, and even the concubines and female family members of the Wu Palace were all regular customers of his shop.

Just because Wu Wanggong moved to Wuchang, this store also opened a branch here.

No wonder the quality and workmanship are so excellent.

When the shopkeeper saw that Zhou Mo was a young man, he asked, "Are you here to choose a gift for your wife?"

"Uh... yes, you are right."

Zhou Mo scratched his head and thought to himself that the store owner was right to remind him that the items in this store are exquisitely made and have unique styles that cannot be bought with money in Shuzhong. It would be perfect to buy some for his mother and Langxing.

So I packed two big boxes.

The shop owner’s mouth was almost split when he smiled.

"I have one more important matter that I need to discuss with your shopkeeper."

"It's easy to talk, it's easy to talk, sir, please come this way."

The shopkeeper's surname is Xu, a middle-aged fat man.

After a while of greetings, Zhou Mo took out the stack of papers in his arms. On the first few sheets, in neat Han official script, soldiers, chariots, horses and crossbows were written, resembling generals.

Looking down, there are several design drawings, stipulating the shape, size, thickness of the chess pieces, as well as the colors and quantities of different chess pieces, etc.

Finally, there is a conceptual picture of a chessboard. It is no different from the later Chinese chess boards. There is only one slight difference, which is to replace the words "Chu River" and "Han Boundary" with "Chu River" and "Qin Pass".

Although the Chu River and the Han Dynasty were both indispensable, Zhou Mo was a minister of the Ji Han Dynasty. Fighting in the chess game was inevitable, and it was inevitable for each other to win or lose. Writing Chinese characters on it made the people of Soochow happy, but Zhou Mo always felt it was unlucky.

Qin and Chu are also sworn enemies. The saying that although Chu has three households, the death of Qin must be Chu. If it is written on the chessboard, it is not considered a violation of peace.

Shopkeeper Xu has been in the woodware business for many years and has helped people make many Liubo chess and Go boards. As soon as he looked at Zhou Mo's drawings, he knew that this was a new style similar to Liubo but had never been seen before.

Chess game.

Although it feels very new, I’m not too surprised.

After the shopkeeper finished reading Zhou Mo's drawings and instructions, Zhou Mo said: "Shopkeeper Xu, just follow the drawings and make a sample for me. If you are satisfied with the sample, I will make a hundred pairs first and then make a hundred more."

Just the chessboard."

"Remember, twenty of them will be made for me using your best craftsmanship and best wood. They must be as exquisite as the other items in your shop. The same goes for the matching chessboards and chess boxes."

"The remaining eighty pairs can be made of ordinary wood and made of ordinary materials. Just match them with a chess board. There is no need to make any chess boxes."

"Okay, I just need to use good workmanship and good materials, and at this price..."

"I am also a person who knows the goods, otherwise I would not come to your home. As long as the goods are good, the price will not be unfair to you."

After checking some details and discussing the price, shopkeeper Xu asked: "When will the customer get the goods?"

"The sooner the better, how long will it take you at the fastest?"

Shopkeeper Xu counted with his fingers, and then said: "The ordinary version you mentioned can be made ten times a day. The high-quality version has complicated workmanship and good craftsmen are scarce. A batch can only be produced in three days at the fastest, and a batch of five can be produced at the fastest."

Vice."

"I want more, faster. In this way, I will take a look at the samples tomorrow morning, and I will pick up the first batch of goods three days later. If the quantity exceeds the quantity you mentioned, and the quality is acceptable, I will increase the price by 30% to purchase it."

Shopkeeper Xu smiled: "The guest officer is a person who knows how to do business."

……

After the key things were completed, Zhou Mo returned to the post house, summoned some followers, came to Liubo Hall, and asked Lao Mu to direct them to do the chores needed to open the store. Zhou Mo found a few smart young people to teach them.

They first learned to play chess.

Fortunately, the design of Liubotang was originally a chess hall, which was more in line with Zhou Mo's expectations. The overall design did not require major changes before it could open for business.

Three days later, on the original site of Liubo Hall, the signboard was changed and the chess hall officially opened.

As soon as you enter, there is a huge hand-painted poster hanging in the hall with the rules of chess written on it.

On the small table at the door, there is also a thick stack of small yellow paper with the rules written down, one for each person, and you can get it for free.

There are more than thirty small tables in the lobby downstairs, with opening incentives and free trials.

There are also seven independent private rooms upstairs, but they are expensive. Nobles who want to be clean can have unlimited fun here. If necessary, professional coaches including Zhou Mo will provide one-on-one guidance.
p>

Of course, these coaches, except for Zhou Mo himself, have only been in contact with the guests for two or three days before the guests. However, they usually only provide guidance on the horses, the sun, and the elephants, which is enough.

The basic rules of chess are very simple. Anyone can learn it in ten minutes. After watching others play a few games, you can learn it yourself.

But if you want to become a master, you need a smart mind, a stable mentality and diligent study and practice for more than a thousand games. All three are indispensable.

The so-called easy to learn, difficult to master.

At the same time, a game of chess lasts only a short time. Rookies peck each other for a quarter of an hour, and for top players, half an hour usually determines the outcome.

These characteristics of chess determine that it is destined to be more widely popular than Go, which is more profound but difficult to master, and Liubo, which has complicated rules but lacks depth.

In order to attract customers, Zhou Mo also held a grand challenge event with prizes.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!

In the lobby downstairs, there are two special challenge seats. You can participate in the challenge with just one coin. If you lose, you are out, and the winner can continue to play.

Those who win three games in a row will be rewarded with a jar of good wine. The more you win, the more you get, and there is no upper limit.

Sure enough, with the rewards, this challenge seat is particularly popular.

Not only did the players have to queue up, but the audience also had to line up on three levels inside and three levels out, and they were so crowded.

On the third day of opening, there were so many people playing and watching that Zhou Mo had to set up two more challenge seats to disperse the crowds.

A private master has emerged and achieved the feat of winning fifteen consecutive chess games in the challenge seats. No one could beat him until closing time.

This folk master won the applause of the audience and was nicknamed Zhang Shiwu.

Zhang Shiwu was in great spirits, borrowed a small wheelbarrow, pushed five jars of wine and prizes, and went home happily.

It reached such a popular level so quickly, much faster than Zhou Mo expected.

Maybe it’s because in the city of Wuchang, under the feet of King Wu, there are countless dignitaries and dignitaries, and the one thing that is most indispensable is the idle young master.

No matter how lively the downstairs is, it's just an irritant. Zhou Mo's main purpose is still upstairs.

The private rooms upstairs are charged on time and the price is high. This is intentional by Zhou Mo. The purpose is to filter out the customers and filter out the real descendants of Soochow's powerful people.

So for the past three days, Zhou Mo has spent most of his time upstairs.

On the first day, there was not a single customer upstairs.

The next day, four guests came upstairs one after another, including two young female guests, who came together.

Early on the third day, a young nobleman came.
Chapter completed!