Chapter 261 From Chang'an
The Shen family was really busy for a few days. The families in Daxing Village were fine. They had a good relationship with each other. They would not look down on you because you were down and out, nor would they look up to you because you were prosperous. They still interacted with each other as they did in the past. They were just happy for Sang Luo from the bottom of their hearts, especially when they heard that Sang Luo was like an official now, receiving a salary from the court every year, 40 taels of silver and 40 hu of rice. This was the most real thing in the eyes of Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Lu. The emperor would support you for the rest of your life.
However, some of Shen Lie's classmates were quite envious. They cleverly saw that Sang Luo had received imperial commendations twice in a year and now even had a title. They knew that the Shen brothers would have a bright future. Even the several scholars in Daxingzhuang would be more or less taken care of in the future.
The teachers in the school know it better. It's not about being taken care of in the future, but it's about things that they have never taught at all at the moment. Chen Lie understands it, and several people in Daxingzhuang understand it. Wang Yunzheng who is close to Daxingzhuang also understands it!
How do you know? Anyway, it's not a state preschool exam.
Therefore, everyone has a scale in their heart, and it is only a matter of time before Daxingzhuang rises.
The happiest person was probably the third wife of the Lin family, who listened to the old man and promised her daughter to Wei Qinghe.
Sang Luo's life went on as usual. She went to see Concubine Fan and asked about the whole process of receiving the title. She also asked Concubine Fan to convey a thank you to Zeng Ziqian. Afterwards, she asked Concubine Fan to teach her how to make appropriate alterations if the size of the formal dress for the ladies was not suitable and what to pay attention to. Then she did what she should do next.
If we were to say who is different in the family, it would probably be Chen Lie, who works harder. There are many rooms in the house, including a study room that he uses exclusively. He no longer has to worry about disturbing Sang Luo and the two children by reading late at night. He always studies in the study room until midnight and never gets up early.
It snowed for a few days in the second half of the twelfth lunar month, and when the snow stopped it was already the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month. As life had been prosperous this year, the seven helpers were given extra generous New Year gifts. In addition to chicken, fish, meat, and eggs, they also gave each of them two portions of something sold in the specialty shop, and each of them was given a large basket to take home, and they celebrated the New Year happily.
On New Year's Eve, she called the three brothers Shen Jin to come over to celebrate the New Year together. After eating the New Year's Eve dinner, they stayed up together. Sang Luo counted the time since she traveled through time. In a blink of an eye, it was already the sixth year.
This year, Sang Luo is twenty years old, Chen Lie is twenty-three, and Ayao and Qianbao will be four months old in a few days.
Shen An and Shen Ning are fourteen, Shen Jin is thirteen, Shen Yin and Shen Tie are eleven and ten years old respectively, and they have all been upgraded to uncles and aunts. Although the two younger ones can only laugh foolishly and cannot call people, it does not hinder the upgraded experience of aunts and uncles at all.
At this time, the Chinese New Year is quite festive. The whole family will get together to talk and eat snacks until dawn. When the sky turns white, the first month of the Wuding Wu year begins. People will rest at home on the first and second days, and start visiting relatives and friends from the third day onwards. On the sixth day, Wei Qinghe will marry Lin's ninth daughter.
Since moving out of Daxingzhuang, there have been three new brides and four newborns in the past year, which can be considered a lively addition to the family.
She was living a busy life here, but she didn't know that at the gate of Shezhou, three mule carts entered the city one after another. She asked the guards at the gate about the Daxingzhuang specialty shop.
Few people in Shezhou City don't know about Daxingzhuang and Sangluo. When they heard about the specialty shop in Daxingzhuang, they pointed the way. However, they still had to check the pass carefully. When they took the two passes handed over by the driver of the first carriage, they looked up in surprise and asked, "From Chang'an?"
I was stunned. Since I came here by car, that means I have been on the road for more than 40 days.
The driver took the pass, bowed, and drove towards the city.
Two more cars came from behind. When we asked for directions, the city guards asked us to show our pass. Then we looked again and saw that it was Changan...
How did the Daxingzhuang specialty store become so popular in Beijing? ? ? ?
After the car entered the city, the city guard suddenly remembered what road he was pointing to. Many shops in the city were not open on the sixth day of the New Year.
…
When the people came to Daxingzhuang, Xu Wenqing, who lived relatively outside the manor, saw them. After asking them carefully, he led them to Shen's house and asked Xu Wenbo to go ahead and give a message to his master.
"Here from Chang'an, with three carriages, to buy fermented bean curd?"
Shen Ning was teasing the two little ones, so Sang Luo simply went out with Shen Lie to see what was going on.
There were six people in the three horse-drawn carriages, with unobtrusive emblems on them. They were from three different families. The driver was okay, but the other three looked like stewards, and the clothes they wore were made of more decent materials than Xu Wenqing's.
The three managers were all smart people. They had seen the archway before entering the village, and asked Xu Wenqing along the way. Now they greeted Shen Lie, but they chose to greet Sang Luo, and they didn't know who this person was for a long time.
One of them hesitated and asked, "May I ask who this lady is?"
Chen Lie introduced: "My wife's surname is Sang. The fermented bean curd you want to buy is from my wife's shop."
The three managers were stunned: "Madam Sang? Her full name is Sang Luo?"
Seeing their reaction, Xu Wenqing smiled and said, "Where else is there a Sang lady in Daxing Village in Shezhou?"
The three stewards came to their senses and hurriedly greeted him, this time calling him the "County Lady".
The Xu family had a happy event today, so the brothers Xu Wenqing and Xu Wenbo did not stay long. They went back after receiving the people. Chen Lie and Sang Luo invited a few people to talk in the hall at the entrance of the courtyard.
Among the three people, three were stewards and three were coachmen. The steward followed them, and the coachmen went to park the carriage first. After they had gone a long way, one of the coachmen whispered to another: "Isn't it said in the capital that this lady is an old woman in her forties or fifties? How come she is such a young and beautiful girl?"
Chen Lie had good hearing and he heard the old woman leading people into the house with a few words and almost tripped on the threshold.
Sang Luo looked at him in surprise: "What's wrong?"
Chen Lie looked at his wife, who had grown up and looked even more beautiful, and shook his head: "It's okay."
In winter, the family had hot water boiling at home. Shen An had already poked his head out to see who was coming. As soon as the person entered the living room, tea was served to him.
"How many of you are coming from Chang'an? It's not a short journey, is it? Are you celebrating the New Year on the way?" After all, the business belonged to Sang Luo, and Chen Lie was just entertaining them. It was Sang Luo who asked this question.
The managers all nodded, and one of them said, "It's not that it's not close. We set out in mid-December, and part of the river was frozen. We came here half by water and half by land."
Sang Luo was surprised: "How did you guys know about my shop?"
"My Lord, you are joking. This is not a small shop. All the things you sell have been sent to the palace."
It’s true.
She and Shen Lie talked back and forth and soon found out the situation. These three were minor stewards in the homes of Beijing officials and royal relatives. On Laba Festival, each family would send Laba porridge to each other. Those who gained honor in front of the emperor would be rewarded with Laba porridge by the palace.
These families, no, to be exact, there are twenty or thirty families who received Laba porridge awarded by the palace this year. Of course, this Laba porridge is different from other Laba porridge. For the other five families, the eunuchs who awarded them Laba porridge not only sent porridge to their homes, but also sent two cans of jerky, meat floss and fermented bean curd awarded by the emperor.
"Of course, we have to taste the things that His Majesty has given us on the same day. This time..." The steward looked at Sang Luo and smiled, saying, "Your shop is full of good things, but they are not available in the capital. So, we are going to Shezhou for a while."
In fact, when the families just finished eating and found that this thing was delicious, the first person they went to look for was Old Master Zeng.
Apart from the palace, where did Shezhou's tribute come from? It must be Zeng Ziqian's grandfather.
Old Master Zeng did have some. Not only did Zeng Ziqian bring it back, but the five families that the emperor rewarded also had a share for the old man.
Each family gave him two cans, just two cans. If he gave him more, he would have nothing left to eat.
The population is booming, how can two cans be enough? Look, except for the one adult who is particularly frugal, the other three families have all sent people to Shezhou.
Sang Luo didn't expect this to happen, so she asked the three people, "How much do you want to buy?"
The three of them quickly took out the list.
There were four tribute items, and the number of servings for each one was counted in the hundreds. There were two flavors of fermented bean curd, so they ordered 200 cans.
Sang Luo had to remind him, "Except for vermicelli and fermented bean curd, the other two things can't be stored for long. Even if you travel by land and sea, it will take more than 20 days, right? I'm afraid you won't be able to finish all the food you bought."
As a result, the three managers were very confident: "Don't worry, there are only not enough."
You can't eat it all by yourself, can't you ask for favors?
The three of them subconsciously glanced at the orders of the other two companies and asked subconsciously: "County Master, do you have the goods?"
Sang Luo shook her head: "Yes, there is, but we don't have that much meat jerky and meat floss. We have to make them today, so the earliest we can deliver them is tomorrow at noon."
There is enough fermented bean curd and vermicelli, but the meat jerky and meat floss will not last long. Even if I open a shop on the seventh day of the New Year and sell all the goods for the whole month, I can only afford to supply one of these three families.
The three managers looked at each other and stopped arguing. For the sake of having a companion on the road, they simply asked about the price, then put down the deposit and asked Chen Lie to write a receipt for the deposit. They agreed to pay the balance when they came to pick up the goods at noon tomorrow, and then went back to Shezhou City to find an inn to stay.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the shop had not yet opened, but it received a large order of nearly 700 taels and collected a deposit of 300 taels.
That’s right, three hundred taels, three real boxes of silver ingots. Whether it’s Da Qi or Dagan, there are no such things as banknote exchanges or money houses. Copper coins, silver, and gold are the commonly used currencies here, and copper coins are the most commonly used by ordinary people in their lives.
The three carriages left, and three boxes of silver ingots were carried into the main room by Sang Luo and Shen Lie and placed on the table. Shen Ning looked at the three boxes of silver that were brought in at such a short time, and was almost dazzled!!!
The little girl had been keeping accounts for a long time. Sang Luo had opened three boxes again. She glanced at them and said, "Three hundred taels? To buy meat jerky?"
The most expensive items in their shop are meat jerky and meat floss.
Before Sang Luo responded, Shen An, who had been following and listening to the whole process, said, "Six hundred and seventy-two taels."
His expression was dazed. Six hundred and seventy-two taels seemed to be spent as if it were six hundred and seventy-two coins. He asked Sang Luo in a daze, "Sister-in-law, isn't the emperor the richest person in the world?"
How is this...
"Not quite what you thought?"
Shen An nodded.
Sang Luo smiled, "Most officials nowadays are from aristocratic families. Aristocratic families have accumulated wealth for hundreds of years. It's not an exaggeration to describe them as extremely wealthy. As for the emperor, he might have been rich in the past, but he needs money to fight for the country, maintain the army and keep the people safe. If the national treasury is empty, doesn't the emperor use his private treasury to fill it?"
Shen An whispered, "Should it be better now?"
It wasn't explained very clearly, but everyone understood it. Now that we have mastered papermaking, it can be considered an income.
Sang Luo didn't know, but Chen Lie shook his head: "It's still far away."
Sang Luo looked at him.
Chen Lie asked, "Do you know where the government's expenses come from now?"
"Officials' salaries are paid in the form of official land, but I don't know about the funds used by the government offices."
"At the end of last year, the prefecture government added a new position called the Money Collector. Nine people were appointed. The court gave each of them 50 taels of capital. The Money Collector was responsible for lending out the money to make interest. Every month, he had to pay the court 4 taels of interest."
Sang Luo's first reaction was, "The prototype of a bank," and then she heard the last sentence.
"How many?"
"Four ounces a month."
High interest/loan.
"Can this money be released?"
The rich don’t need it and the poor can’t afford it.
Chen Lie touched his nose and said, "Of course they can be released. Who do you think is responsible for catching these money-grabbing officials?"
These words drew the attention of the three people at the table.
"There are sons of officials in the capital, and there are also local wealthy families. If the clerk does a good job and pays the interest in full and on time for three consecutive years, he can participate in the selection of the Ministry of Personnel and be appointed as a casual official three years later."
In other words, you have stepped into the system.
Sang Luo thought that the emperor was quite generous in conferring upon her the title of a county lady with a salary at this time.
Shen An said: "It's not easy to be an emperor."
This is the matter of the royal family. It just happened to be mentioned. It would be fine to understand it. Sang Luo looked at the three boxes of silver, looked at the three brothers and sisters, and said, "What do you think, can our family open a branch in Beijing?"
It's so easy to make money from those high-ranking officials in Beijing. It's hard not to be envious when looking at these three boxes of silver.
Shen Ning asked a surreal question: "Where are the manpower?"
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