Yu Yuan's money was not wasted. When the tea master came over with the song list, he was more than a little enthusiastic towards them: "It's already been arranged. After this piece, it will be your order." After that, he brought in a plate of fresh fruit from outside and said, "This is my honor to you. Please take your time. I'll be standing outside the door. If you need anything, just call me."

This should be a reward from the tea doctor.

Yu Tang guessed and became more confident about what he was going to do.

She picked the biggest plum and asked Shuangtao to pass it to Dr. Tea. She smiled and said, "Don't leave yet. I want to ask you something."

The tea doctor immediately came over and stopped about seven or eight steps away from her. He lowered his head and said respectfully, "What do you want to ask? As long as I know the answer, I will answer it. If I don't know, I will go and find out for you." He was very smart.

This may be the reason why this teahouse has become one of the largest teahouses in terms of cost.

Yu Tang pondered in his heart and asked him with a smile: "When I came here, I saw many large ships on the Suzhou River. I heard that these ships all came from Ningbo and were loaded with imported goods. Do you know where to sell imported goods?"

Doctor Tea was refreshed after hearing this and said hurriedly, "Miss, you are asking the right person. There is no shop in Suzhou that I don't know about. When you came here, did you see the street in front of our teahouse? It is called Suhe Street. This street has the most teahouses, wine houses and restaurants. When you go out of our teahouse and turn left, there is an alley. This alley is also full of snacks and fruits. Just keep going forward. When you finish this alley, there is another street. On that street, all the goods sold are imported goods..."

He talked eloquently, and it was obvious that he was really familiar with Suzhou City.

Yu Tang also followed their questions one by one, and soon found out where those who did maritime trade liked to stay, how the fleet went out to sea, and how they released news.

Xiang was listening nearby and nodded secretly.

Before, when Yu Yuan praised Yu Tang for her intelligence and ability, she didn't take it seriously. After all, with her experience, she had seen too many capable women, such as Mrs. Wei, her stepmother, and her stepmother's relatives. It was really rare to find someone as capable as Yu Tang.

Yu Tang now knows how to manage more than just a farm and look at accounts. He also knows how to deal with outsiders like a man and how to ask for what he wants without making any noise.

Not to mention Xiang Shi, even Xia Pinggui and Xia Lian were extremely surprised.

Xia Pinggui thought, no wonder the second master of the Dong family wanted to bribe the eldest daughter, the eldest daughter was someone who could protect the family business. As for Xia Lian, she was glad that the Xiang family had such a sister-in-law. In the future, this sister-in-law would not only not hold the Xiang family back, but also give the Xiang family some advice and help them when they had problems.

The two of them became more respectful to Yu Tang afterwards. Of course, that’s a story for later.

Yu Tang got the information he needed and rewarded the tea doctor with a handful of copper coins. After sending the tea doctor out, he smiled bitterly and said to Yu Yuan, "It seems we have come to the wrong place."

According to the tea doctor, those who do maritime business or sail to Ningbo to transport goods all like to stop by a tavern called Ping'an at the pier to rest and exchange any news they have.

Yu Yuan felt relieved and said with a smile, "If we hadn't come to this teahouse, we wouldn't have heard the news. Besides, that Ping An Tavern sounds like a place where coolies drink. I can't take you two women to eat in a tavern, can I?"

Most of the women who go in and out of such places are wanderers or prostitutes, and other people will not respect them.

Xiang nodded repeatedly and said with a smile: "Your brother is right. Although we went to the wrong place, we did learn something. When we get back, tell my mother-in-law and aunt about it. If there is a chance, let them come and see it too."

Yu Tang felt that their stay was too short and was afraid that he would not have a chance to talk to Jiang Ling.

However, you can't eat hot glutinous rice balls in a hurry. Everything has to be done step by step. Since you are here to listen to the music, just listen to it well.

Yu Tang, Xiang Shi and Yu Yuan spent a whole morning in the teahouse and learned some news about the Song family from Dr. Tea.

It turned out that the Song family started building ships on Taihu Lake as soon as they returned to Suzhou City, and they sold their two mulberry forests in Huzhou for this purpose.

The Song family started from silk in their early years, and at this time they were planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms. This could be said to have shaken the foundation of the Song family, and the price they paid was very high.

Yu Yuan was stunned and asked Dr. Cha: "Then, do the elders in their family also agree?"

The tea doctor sighed and said, "What can I do if you disagree? I told you because I see you are from other places. The Song family is no longer the Song family of the past. Last year, Bai Jin, who served the inner court, almost didn't get selected. It was only through the help of a relative that she barely got through. You don't know that the business of the inner court is not that easy to do. It has to be re-elected every three years. This time they found the right person and got through by luck. What about next time? Will they still be willing to help? Can the person who helps still have a say? It's hard to say!"

Ask relatives for help?

Are you looking for the Pei family?

As Yu Tang was thinking, he heard the tea doctor continue to say: "The Song family didn't look for their own reasons, but just said that someone was making things difficult for them. They were wholeheartedly preparing to stop doing business after the past three years and switch to maritime business. I think if the Song family continues like this, I'm afraid they will be ruined!"

I didn’t expect this tea doctor to have such knowledge!

Yu Tang stood up in awe.

It seems that the Song family really did decline in this way.

Yu Yuan didn't know that and thought that the tea master was just scaremongering. He asked, "What do you mean?"

The tea doctor frowned and said, "There are many people doing business in the inner court in Suzhou, but which one of them has made money? It is not enough to honor the eunuchs in the 24 yamen of the inner court, not to mention the canal transport, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works and a long list of other yamen. But being a royal merchant has a reputation and style. Everyone knows that you can deal with people in the palace, and ordinary people will give you some face when you go out. , can this be bought with money? And since your things can be offered as tribute, they must be the best in the world. Wouldn't everyone come to your house to buy something? If you lose this business, it will tell others that your family is in trouble, that there is no one in the inner court to support you, and that your family is outdated. You still need people to push down this wall. If these three things happen, it will be a miracle if your family business does not fail!

Even a tea doctor knows this, so there is no reason why the Song family doesn't know it.

Is there any hidden story behind the Song family's choice?

Could it be related to the changes in the Pei family?

However, before the Pei brothers became officials, the Song family had already started doing business in the inner court, so they should have their own way, right?

Yu Tang was puzzled, so he stopped thinking about it and asked Dr. Cha tentatively: "I heard that there is a family named Jiang in Suzhou City who wants to do maritime business and recruit people to invest. Is this family reliable?"

The tea doctor curled his lips and said, "So you also know this! Their family used to be a shipowner, transporting imported goods from Ningbo to Suzhou. They may have made some money in the past few years, and they are so ignorant that they want to make a big fortune. We Suzhou people are waiting to see the joke on them!"

Yu Tang was at a loss.

In her previous life, she heard Lin say that as long as the Jiang family wanted to sail, everyone would try their best to get involved.

It can be seen that this is another thing that was exaggerated after it was successful.

Isn't it very easy for them to buy shares at this time?

Yu Tang's mind suddenly became active.

She asked Dr. Tea, "Do you know where the Jiang family lives?"

Dr. Tea glanced at Yu Tang quickly, and then said to Yu Yuan, "They live in Dongjiang Lane not far from here. However, this man is really unreliable, rude and stingy. People who have dealt with him say that he is a 'stingy man'. If you really want to do business with them, you have to keep your eyes open and be careful not to be deceived by him."

Although Yu Yuan didn't know how Yu Tang knew about the Jiang family, he had to speak up for Yu Tang no matter what. He smiled and tried to smooth things over for Yu Tang, saying, "We also heard about it on the road. We were a little curious, so we asked."

Dr. Cha heaved a sigh of relief and said, "The Jiang family doesn't have a good reputation, so it's better for you to be careful."

Yu Yuan thanked him. It happened that the Pingtan performance they ordered had just finished, and Dr. Cha was about to bring the actor up to ask for their reward. The topic dropped there and no one mentioned it again.

After coming out of the teahouse, Yu Yuan found a famous restaurant to have lunch, and Yu Tang decided to go to the Jiang family to take a look.

She told Yu Yuan: "I heard it from the waiter at the inn yesterday. Besides, 'hearing is not believing, seeing is believing'. Anyway, we are here to inquire about these things. No matter what others say, let's go and take a look first. Nothing can be accomplished in one go."

Yu Yuan and Xiang Shi both agreed. Yu Yuan also said, "You are just lucky. We were staying at the same hotel, but no one noticed these things yesterday."

Yu Tang was embarrassed, and he pulled Yu Yuan to change the topic: "Should we inquire more carefully about the Jiang family's stock raising? How much is one share? Is it just money or can we invest in goods? When are they going to go out to sea? Who can they hire to work on the ship?"

"Yes, yes!" Yu Yuan said hurriedly.

Xiang covered her mouth and smiled, saying, "Sister, you are as capable as any man. You see, it's the same thing, but your brother knows nothing, but you know everything. When I came here before, I was thinking that since you want to do this business, I would accompany you to see the world. Now it seems that this thing of yours may really succeed. Sister, if you don't mind, you can also count me as a shareholder."

The money that allowed Xiang to claim a share was probably her own personal money!

Yu Tang was very surprised. She was grateful for Xiang's trust in her, but also worried that the Jiang family's incident would not drag down Xiang.

After all, the news she heard in her previous life now seemed not so accurate.