Chapter 29 The opportunity has come, Gu Wen becomes an official
I haven't been to Songjiang City for a whole winter. As soon as I entered the city and walked not far, Gu Youan found that there were too many carriages and horses on South Street.
After waiting for a while on the street, he saw four or five carriages lined up to enter, as if they were rushing to do something. Gu Youan asked the peddler who was selling goods on his shoulder and found out that there was a funeral in the Han family.
The shop owners along the street were also standing at their doorsteps looking in. The owner of a drug store looked at the white banner outside the Han family's gate in the distance and couldn't help sighing.
"Twenty years ago, this place wasn't even called Songjiang City. Scattered along the banks of the Ping'an and Songjiang Rivers were dozens of small tribes, including the Linhu, Sushen, Loufan, and Yankan tribes."
"Those barbarians don't know how to farm; they rely entirely on hunting and fishing for a living. They fight and quarrel with us Han people over hilltops and rivers, and many people die."
"Later, the old man of the Han family arrived. He had more than a dozen brothers, uncles, and cousins in his family, all of whom were good farmers. He taught the barbarians how to farm, and the tribes benefited, and gradually settled down."
Someone asked, "Are the Han family members farmers?"
"Haha, isn't it? I heard that the Han family's ancestral home is in Shanxi."
The Han family became the leader of the Han people here. After the old man of the Han family gained a foothold, he gradually started a medicinal materials business. After more than 20 years of operation, the Han family became one of the top three merchants in Songjiang City.
"Boss, from what you said, I see there are so many foreigners here, but why don't I see many?"
"Hey, isn't this how powerful our court is? During the reign of the previous emperor, there was a great governor named Meng who led his troops to repel the various tribes on the northern grasslands. He also deployed heavy troops along the northern border. For example, near Songjiang City, there are the Northeast Army and the Liaodong Army. A little further away, there is also the Yanzhou Army guarding Shanhaiguan. When our soldiers arrived, the barbarians near Songjiang City were afraid of being bullied and moved away."
"A general with the surname Meng? I heard that the current leader of the Northeast Army is also named Meng?"
"They are one family. General Meng is the cousin of the former Zhenbei Grand Commander."
The old shopkeeper said in his heart that the Meng family was getting weaker with each generation. Not only did they not inherit the position of Grand Commander from their ancestors, but now they had fallen to the point of being stationed in a small Northeast Army.
However, no matter how poor he is, he is still the commander of an army and is not someone that ordinary people like them can laugh at.
After standing at the intersection and watching the hustle and bustle for a while, Gu Youan felt it was not convenient to go over, so he turned around and went around another street with Guo Su.
When he got to the other end of South Street, Gu Youan looked back and saw that the street in front of the Han family's gate was still blocked, which showed how wide the network of contacts the old man of the Han family had in Songjiang City.
After taking another look, I saw Manager Han wearing mourning clothes coming out of the gate to greet guests.
"Let's go."
It's spring now, and the Ping'an Escort Agency is about to go out on a mission. Normally, they should have escorted the caravan out of Songjiang City yesterday, but because of the Han family, they haven't set off yet.
Guo Yuanchun said, "The old man of the Han family passed away the night before yesterday. Many merchants in Songjiang City were kind to the old man when they first started doing business. If he were gone, it would be fine. But since he is in Songjiang City, we must go and see him off."
"In Songjiang City, the Han family's medicine store is the largest business. Most of the merchants go to the Han family to get their medicinal herbs."
"That's exactly what you said. Take the family next door to ours. They used to be the shopkeepers of the Han family's medicine store. After doing it for a long time and knowing the business, they left the Han family to start their own business. The Han family never picked on them. When they went to the Han family to buy herbs, the Han family never made things difficult for them."
The Guo family had been in Songjiang City for less than two years. Because they were in the escort business, they had been around merchants for a long time and knew a lot about the Han family.
Guo Yuanchun invited Gu Youan in for tea. As soon as he sat down, Gu Youan asked, "I remember Mr. Han had five children." Guo Su poured him some tea and, before Guo Yuanchun could speak, continued, "It seems like one daughter and four sons?"
Guo Yuanchun: "The daughter of the old man of the Han family married into the interior of the country. He has four sons, but the two younger ones are useless and just sit around eating meals. Only the eldest son, Han Jiangbei, and the second son, Han Jiangnan, are the most promising."
"The two brothers each manage their own business. Han Jiangbei helps Old Man Han and is in charge of purchasing medicinal herbs and the family's medicine store, farmland, and other businesses. Han Jiangnan, also known as the shopkeeper, is mainly responsible for leading the caravan on business trips, and they always make one or two trips to the interior of the country every year."
It sounded like the two brothers of the Han family were doing their job well and making the Han family prosperous. Gu Youan asked with a smile, "I heard that Manager Han is a bastard's son?"
"Yes, he is a bastard. Shopkeeper Han's biological mother was a Hu people. Two years after giving birth to Shopkeeper Han, the tribe moved to the grasslands. Shopkeeper Han's biological mother left with the tribe, leaving Shopkeeper Han in the Han family."
Manager Han's background is no secret in Songjiang City, and you can find out by asking around.
Gu Youan took a sip of tea, his lips curled up slightly. With the old man of the Han family gone, it was unclear whether the two Han brothers could still love each other and help each other for the development of the family.
Just as Gu Youan guessed, the Han family was indeed not stable. It had not been two days since Old Man Han died and the funeral had not yet been completed, but the four brothers of the Han family had already quarreled over the division of the family property.
According to the rules, the eldest brother Han Jiangbei is the eldest son, so he should take 70% of the family property. The three brothers including Manager Han are the second sons or illegitimate sons, so they should share the remaining 30% of the property.
The old lady of the Han family is still alive. Last night, she cried and scolded the three illegitimate sons, saying that they were all heartless. They wanted to divide the family property before the old man was even sent to the mountain. She was not afraid of being scolded if she told others about it.
After dealing with guests for the whole morning, Manager Han went back to the backyard to take a break. His wife had just returned to the room and was holding her head and complaining of a headache. Her personal maid was pouring her some water.
Shopkeeper Han waved his hand and told the maid to leave. He sat down and asked, "How is Mother today?"
The Second Madam sneered, "When has the old lady ever been in poor health? She was acting so pretentiously last night just to manipulate you brothers. This morning, the old lady met with several wives, and after the people left, she was able to eat and drink freely. She was so full of energy when she scolded me that I think she'll still be holding on to her breath even after I die."
Shopkeeper Han frowned: "After all, she is the legitimate mother."
Hearing him mention his legal mother, the Second Lady became even more angry: "You think she is his legal mother, but what does she think of you? She treats you like a donkey pulling a millstone for her son. She wants you to work without eating."
When the old lady said that yesterday, she was openly scolding the brothers, but in reality she was scolding Manager Han. The old lady didn't believe that the third and fourth brothers, two cowards, had the guts to cause a split in the family business. The old lady was certain that the second brother was the one who instigated it.
"Second Brother Han, I'm telling you, no matter who came up with the idea, Third Brother or Fourth Brother, now that it's come to this, if they split up, my husband and I will have to move out too. I don't want to stay in the old house and be tortured by your good stepmother."
Shopkeeper Han was not stupid either, but he said, "I'm afraid my eldest brother won't agree to the division of the family."
The Han family's most valuable assets were the pharmacy and the caravan, and these two assets were difficult to divide. Besides that, the remaining shops and dozens of acres of land were not worth much. If only the shops and land were divided among the three brothers, he would not agree, let alone the third and fourth brothers.
"Don't you want to follow the path of the farming and studying family and send your eldest nephew to become an official? Or how about giving the shop and land to the eldest wife, and the family money to the eldest wife, and then we can divide the medicine store and the shop with the third and fourth brothers?"
Shopkeeper Han sneered: "What are you daydreaming about?"
The old lady and the eldest brother did not agree to divide the family property because they knew it would be difficult to divide. The three of them were illegitimate sons, and they wanted to divide the pharmacy and the caravan. How could the old lady and the eldest brother agree?
The Second Madam gnashed her teeth and said, "Even if the medicine shop doesn't give us a share, you should at least have a share in the caravan. Ever since the old man stopped caring, you've been leading the caravan through thick and thin these past few years. You've been out and about all year, and you've worn out so many pairs of shoes. You've endured so much, and if you don't even get a share in the caravan, that would be truly disheartening."
Unlike his wife, Manager Han wanted to get a share of the pharmacy rather than the caravan.
He already had connections in Luoyang and Jiangnan. If there wasn't a caravan, he could just find someone to form one. As long as he had good goods, there were buyers. But the medicinal herbs his elder brother held were sources he didn't have.
Shopkeeper Han sighed softly, "The medicine store's inventory is almost complete. We'll have to wait a few days until all the goods are ready. Our caravan should be leaving in five or six days at the latest."
After careful consideration, Shopkeeper Han said, "They're still waiting for the goods in Luoyang. I have to go. After Dad's funeral is over, I have to focus on delivering the goods first. I can't figure out the division of the family business right now. I'll talk about it after I finish delivering the goods and come back."
Shopkeeper Han was a man of action. He believed that no matter how much his own people quarreled, they could not harm the overall interests of the Han family. He was anxious to split up the family, but he had to get the business done first before discussing it.
In order not to delay their business, after the old man of the Han family finished the three-day funeral ceremony and burial, the four brothers of the Han family sat down to talk, but they did not reach a conclusion.
Han Jiangbei, the eldest of the Han family, said, "All our family property is in Songjiang City. Why don't we listen to my second brother and send the herbs Luoyang needs first? We can discuss this when he returns to Songjiang City. What do you think?"
Things happened just as Shopkeeper Han had expected, and he nodded silently.
Han Lao San and Han Lao Si were unwilling to do so and wanted to make more trouble. Han Lao San sarcastically said, "Big Brother and Second Brother have plenty of money in their pockets and are not in a hurry. But the fourth brother and I are guarding our family's gold mountain. We have to pay every penny with our palms facing up. How are we supposed to live?"
Han Jiangbei said, "Although Dad is gone, the eldest brother is like a father, and as the eldest brother, I will never ignore you. Before the second brother comes back, everything in the family, including food, drink, money, and other expenses, will be the same as before."
The third and fourth brothers looked at each other and knew that there would be no result this time, so they could only accept it for the time being.
The Han family is wealthy and powerful. Now that Master Han is gone, people outside are watching to see whether the Han brothers will divide up the family property. If the Han family is not as good as before, there will be many people waiting to snatch the Han family's pharmacy business.
Look, in recent days, many people have been secretly contacted to supply medicinal materials to the Han family.
Unfortunately, things did not go as the outsiders wished. The Han family was still the same Han family. When the Han family convoy set out for Songjiang City, it was still the same as before, with dozens of carts pulled by tall horses and one or two hundred people guarding the convoy. They looked like they were not to be trifled with.
On the day when the Han family's caravan left the city, Gu Youan went to the south city gate to watch the excitement. Among the crowd of onlookers, she was probably the only one who knew that the Han family's caravan looked as grand as before, and they were afraid that the silver they earned from entering the pass this time would not even be half of what they earned before.
Han Jiangbei has been on guard against his capable second brother, Han Zhanggui. This time when Han Zhanggui went to Luoyang to do business, 70% of the ginseng was confiscated by Han Jiangbei.
Without so much ginseng, it was really hard and thankless for Manager Han to make this trip to deliver the goods.
Gu Youan didn't know about the two brothers of the Han family at first. These days, the Zhang family opened a medicine shop on the east street of Songjiang City, so Zhang Shinan naturally had to replenish the medicinal materials. Gu Youan followed Zhang Shinan a few times and figured it out.
Yesterday, Gu Youan asked Hu Changpu directly how much ginseng their family had left. Hu Changpu did not hide it from her and told her the inventory. He also said that if she wanted it, she just had to bring the silver.
No matter how expensive ginseng is, it is still a medicinal material. If you keep ginseng for three to five years, no matter how good its quality is or how well it is preserved, it will not be as good as freshly processed ginseng and will not sell for a high price.
The Hu family would definitely not deliberately hold back goods. They would definitely sell them as soon as someone wanted to buy them. Since they haven’t sold all of them, it can only be the Han family’s fault.
After Gu Youan inquired carefully, he found out the key.
Gu Youan wanted to buy all the remaining ginseng from the Hu family, but unfortunately she didn't have that much money. She still had several hundred kilograms of grain in her space, and even if she exchanged some of the unshelled ginseng for the Hu family, it wouldn't be enough. Besides, the grain in her space was too good to sell, so she could only spend money to buy some ginseng and store it.
Gu Youan was hoping that Uncle Du would come to Songjiang City as soon as possible. If he was late, the Hu family would sell the ginseng to other families, and that would be a loss.
Gu Youan spent a few days strolling around the market at the East City Gate, bought some fresh herbs, brought them home and prepared and stored them. In the following days, apart from learning archery from Guo Su, he also helped with housework.
The canal in the neighboring mountain village has been built, and every family is busy working in the fields. The Gu family is naturally also busy with spring plowing.
The canals in several villages near Ping'an Town have not been fully built yet. Gu Wen goes out early and comes back late every day, and the work in the fields can only be left to Mrs. Du and her two children.
Mrs. Du asked the Luo family for help early this year. Mrs. Du and Gu Wenqing went to the fields to help every day, while Gu Youan cooked at home and took care of Axuan.
That's right, this girl is getting older and it's hard to control her.
Gu Youan prepared lunch, went into the kitchen to help, and carried the prepared food to the field.
"Don't be in a hurry. Eat first and then go serve the meal." Gu Youan served Guo Su some food while shouting outside, "Axuan, it's time to eat."
Guo Su smiled and said, "Don't shout. She ran out to play while you were cooking."
“This girl!”
Gu Youan told Guo Su to eat first: "I'll go find her."
After taking off his tail skirt, Gu Youan went out and grabbed a child: "Have you seen my A Xuan?"
"Ah Xuan, I just went to the river to catch fish with Shitou and the others."
"Catching fish?"
"Yes, yes. I borrowed your fishing net and have been gone for a while."
Gu Youan was so angry that he wanted to hit someone. This girl actually ran to the riverside with others without telling her. What if something happened?
Gu Youan ran to the riverside and saw a group of children, the oldest seven or eight years old and the youngest four or five years old, gathered together to drag a fishing net. He didn't know what the net was holding, and several children couldn't pull the net, so they pulled it one by one, just like pulling a carrot.
Gu Youan was so frightened that he ran over quickly, not daring to call for help, for fear of startling them and causing them to fall into the river.
Some people were faster than her. Several adults rushed forward, and with a few slapping sounds, several children burst into tears.
Gu Youan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her father pick up Axuan.
Ah Xuan cried loudly on her father's shoulder. Gu Youan went over and slapped her again, gritting his teeth and saying, "If you dare come to the river alone again, I'll smash your legs."
Ah Xuan cried and wiped her tears: "Ah Xuan, I don't dare!"
Gu Youan asked her father with a smile: "Why did you come back so early today?"
"The canals in several villages are almost built. Today, the officials in charge of agricultural affairs in Songjiang City are coming to inspect. I will leave the aftermath to them. I have other things to do." Gu Wen frowned.
Gu Youan understood the hidden meaning of her father's words and asked in surprise, "Could it be that you..."
Tian Qingde laughed beside him: "An'an, your father is going to be an official!"
Gu Youan was overjoyed. Her father finally got what he wanted. That was great!
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