Open a branch
When it comes to getting married, the wedding arrangements are naturally handled by the Prince Duan's mansion, and the good news is also announced to the families of all the relatives.
After feeling upset for two days, Zuo Murui accepted the fact. Thinking about her previous attitude towards Fu Zhiqiao, she still felt a little awkward. However, since His Majesty the Emperor had personally bestowed the marriage, she could not afford to be negligent in the slightest.
Fu Zhi Qiao is now a person of high rank, and her wedding attire needs to be custom-made. It will take more than a month to rush to make the wedding attire for the two of them. After discussing it, the two families decided to set the wedding date for early summer.
Yu Roulan was busy calculating Fu Zhiqiao's dowry. This marriage with the Prince's Mansion was already a high-status marriage for the Fu family. Yu Roulan didn't want her daughter to be looked down upon in terms of dowry. She held the account book and carefully calculated how much dowry to prepare.
Taibai Tower, Taibai Wine Shop, and Fuyun Pavilion are all thriving businesses. Although Fu Zhiqiao is not short of money, she can't produce many heirloom items.
Originally, when they were in the Fu family mansion in Yuzhou, the eldest branch of the Fu family had several exquisite and beautiful jade carvings passed down from their ancestors, but the mother and daughter were unable to take them with them when they left.
After arriving in Qingzhou, Fu Zhiqiao used the money she earned to buy mostly fields and shops. She had a lot of gold and silver, but very few jade or other precious stones.
Yu Roulan was worried that if she gave too much money when listing the dowry, it would reinforce the impression that Fu Zhi Qiao came from a merchant family. Therefore, if Yu Roulan wanted to add a few items to Fu Zhi Qiao's dowry that could be stored away, she had to buy them from outside again.
When choosing cosmetics, she only has one criterion: price doesn't matter, as long as the items are valuable enough!
However, truly valuable treasures are rarely found on the market, and even if you have money, you may not be able to buy them.
Yu Roulan searched through countless treasure shops in the capital before finally finding one or two satisfactory items, such as a seawater jade pearl adorned with a bright moon and a sandalwood screen inlaid with red coral.
Fu Zhi Qiao was unaware that Yu Rou Lan planned to add all the money that Tai Bai Lou and Tai Bai Jiu Pu had earned over the past few years to her dowry. In order to make her daughter's wedding grand, Yu Rou Lan had almost emptied the entire Fu family's coffers.
The wedding was handled entirely by the Prince's Mansion, and Yu Roulan took care of the dowry preparations. Fu Zhiqiao didn't need to put in any effort at all, as she focused all her energy on expanding her business.
Even if you get married, you can't give up your career.
Fu Zhiqiao is preparing to open a branch of Taibai Wine Shop.
To maintain its uniqueness, it's enough for Taibai Restaurant to have only one branch in the capital. However, Taibai Wine Shop could open another branch, and plans to open wine shops in Youzhou, Liangzhou, and other places can also be carried out.
Fu Zhiqiao looked at the list of plans she had written and felt a surge of excitement.
Back when she opened her first Taibai wine shop in Qingzhou, her goal was to sell Taibai wine all over the country, and now that wish can finally be realized.
*
The news that Prince Duan's heir was engaged again gradually spread among the people, and they were all very curious about which family's daughter the heir was engaged to this time.
Tea stalls in the streets and alleys were especially lively. A cup of tea could be bought for just a few coins. Many people were willing to pool their money to buy a whole pot of tea and a plate of fried dough sticks, and sit in the tea stall to chat and listen to gossip. This was a common pastime for ordinary people.
Who took a concubine, whose mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were having problems, whose son was born... Gradually, the conversation drifted further and further away.
A slightly plump woman rolled her eyes and asked, "Hehe, I heard that the heir of Prince Duan's mansion is engaged again? Which family's daughter is it this time?"
"What business is it of yours which girl the young master marries? It can't possibly be your girl!"
"I was just curious!"
"Hey, hey, hey! I know, my cousin's in-laws' sister works in the Prince's mansion. I heard that the young master's marriage was even arranged by His Majesty!" The speaker was an old woman wearing a gold hairpin at the next table.
The slightly plump woman exclaimed in surprise, "Good heavens! His Majesty has bestowed this marriage upon us! Which family's daughter is so fortunate?"
"You wouldn't know this, would you!" A lady in a dark blue dress said smugly, "The one who was betrothed is the Lady of Ming'an County, the very Lady of Ming'an County who invented alcohol!"
Upon hearing this, the slightly plump woman slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Oh dear! My husband had a high fever a few days ago that wouldn't go down. I heard from the aunt next door that the clinic had something called alcohol that could reduce fever. My husband used alcohol to bring down his high fever. Is the young master's fiancée really the one who invented alcohol?"
"Who would dare to fake something like this?"
Their conversation sparked considerable discussion in the teahouse.
When Xie Zhuo broke off his engagement with Yu Yadan, many bad rumors circulated. An old woman in the crowd even felt sorry for Fu Zhi Qiao, saying, "I heard that the young master can't have children. If the county magistrate marries her, won't she end up without a son or daughter? What a pity! What a pity!"
"Old hag, what nonsense are you spouting?" Her companion quickly covered her mouth, then clutched her chest and looked around. "Is this something you or I should be saying?"
The two exchanged a quick glance. It was best to keep this to themselves; bringing it up in public would only bring trouble upon themselves!
Realizing she had misspoke, the old woman immediately slapped herself, saying, "Look at my mouth! This old woman is getting old and doesn't think before she speaks. Please don't take it seriously, please don't take it seriously!"
The gossip was spreading like wildfire, which directly led to a surge in Fu Zhi Qiao's fame in the capital.
The common people only knew Fu Zhi Qiao by name but not by name, so her life did not change much after being betrothed.
The only thing that bothered her a little was that Cheng Yexuan was no longer suitable to stay by her side as a bodyguard. A woman who was already engaged was not as free as she was at home, and it was inconvenient for her to always have a male bodyguard with her when she came and went.
After thinking it over, Fu Zhiqiao decided to send Cheng Yexuan out. If she wanted to sell Taibai wine throughout the entire Great Wei, she would not be able to do it without a capable assistant.
Defu is now the manager of Taibai Tower. The Wen brothers, Wenjiang and Wenshan, are helping her maintain her business in Qingzhou. She wants to continue expanding her business, but she doesn't have many people she can use. Cheng Yexuan has martial arts skills and experience leading over a hundred bandits, making him very suitable to help her expand her "territory".
Xie Zhuo had known for a long time that Fu Zhiqiao had kept such a person by her side. He had offered to give her his confidant and told her not to use Cheng Yexuan's words, but Fu Zhiqiao refused.
Now that Xie Zhuo knew Fu Zhi Qiao was finally going to send the man away, he was very happy, but he still frowned and said, "Aren't you afraid that he will become disloyal if you just let him go like this?"
As far as he knew, Cheng Yexuan was not a slave, and he disagreed when he learned that Fu Zhiqiao wanted to subdue this group of bandits.
Fu Zhi Qiao smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm confident I can do this!"
Cheng Yexuan was originally a Jianghu assassin and had also been a bandit leader. His personal abilities were undeniable, and keeping him by my side as a bodyguard was a waste of his talents. Besides, Cheng Yexuan's former underling, Wang Qi, had already become the head of a merchant caravan, and he, as a former leader, couldn't fall too far behind.
Although she already had her own caravan, Fu Zhiqiao still chose to continue cooperating with Peng Gaofei's caravan.
She doesn't plan to open any new caravans at the moment. Wang Qi's caravan travels within the Great Wei territory, while Peng Gaofei's caravan travels in the border areas year-round. The two caravans, one inside and one outside, can sell Taibai wine to various places very well, and she doesn't feel any lack.
Fu Zhiqiao thought about it for two or three days before deciding where Cheng Yexuan should go. She wanted Cheng Yexuan to disguise himself as a merchant and go to buy sorghum.
The barren hill in Qingzhou Manor has been cleared and planted entirely with sorghum. It's no secret in the distillery that sorghum is a raw material for Taibai liquor.
But the main ingredient of Taibai liquor is sorghum, and only a handful of people know that.
Although Fu Zhiqiao is currently providing alcohol to the imperial court, and the court will also make things convenient for her when she buys grain, it is limited to grains such as rice and wheat.
Fu Zhiqiao kept the sorghum a closely guarded secret, like a hidden weapon.
The sorghum planting base in Qingzhou Manor is expanding year by year, and Fu Zhiqiao has even bought another manor specifically for planting sorghum.
The estate covers an area of over 400 mu and has more than 20 tenant households.
The land was available, but the planting volume was far from meeting her needs. Therefore, Fu Zhiqiao decided to have Cheng Yexuan disguise himself as a livestock merchant, go out and buy sorghum in his name, and then transfer it to the winery through him.
Using the excuse that raising chickens, ducks, and geese requires a large amount of sorghum as feed, she could avoid attracting attention by purchasing large quantities of sorghum, and even if someone suspected her, they wouldn't suspect her.
Once she had the idea, Fu Zhiqiao quickly put it into action.
First, he sent people to Youzhou, Liangzhou and other places to scout out and investigate the wine shop market. Then he sent people to establish the identities of the breeding merchants in advance.
As more and more people became aware of Fu Zhi Qiao's identity, Cheng Ye Xuan could no longer frequently visit the Fu residence. Therefore, the meeting place was changed to Tai Bai Tower.
"Acquire sorghum?" Cheng Yexuan asked, puzzled.
“It’s peach millet.” Fu Zhiqiao rubbed her forehead; she was used to calling sorghum “gaoliang” and hadn’t quite gotten over it yet. She continued, “Your identity has been taken care of. From today onwards, you are Master Cheng Yexuan, the livestock merchant of Youzhou. Your chickens, ducks, and geese need to be fed, which is why you need to buy large quantities of peach millet!”
Cheng Yexuan's eyes twitched as he listened, but he didn't say anything. He had already witnessed Fu Zhiqiao's abilities, and now he would do whatever Fu Zhiqiao asked him to do.
Fu Zhiqiao portrayed Cheng Yexuan as a wealthy country bumpkin, and even sent people to buy him a house in Youzhou and a breeding farm in the countryside in advance.
Everything is ready, except for Cheng Yexuan's arrival.
Cheng Yexuan didn't quite understand the intricacies of business. Which state in the Great Wei Dynasty grew the most peaches and millet? What price was appropriate to buy peaches and millet? How many people should be in the acquisition team? Fu Zhiqiao taught him almost step by step, and wrote down the problems he might encounter and their solutions in a booklet so that he could refer to it at any time.
Spring plowing had already passed, but fortunately, sorghum could be sown from March to June.
In Fu Zhiqiao's plan, Cheng Yexuan would first lead his men to purchase goods in various counties of Youzhou, and then gradually move on to purchase goods in towns.
However, sorghum is not a major crop in the Great Wei Dynasty, so there shouldn't be many people growing it. If any farmers don't believe that anyone would buy sorghum, they should be told to go to the big county town and ask if there are really any merchants who want to buy sorghum.
Only by reassuring the farmers will they be willing to plant sorghum on their own land.
Therefore, Cheng Yexuan needed to rush to Youzhou as soon as possible to assemble a team and spread the word that merchants would be buying large quantities of sorghum before the planting season, so as to attract more people to plant sorghum.
When it comes to doing business, it's better to start sooner rather than later.
Opening new shops, establishing acquisition teams... each of these things costs a lot of money. With large sums of money being spent, Fu Zhi Qiao felt a bit of pressure, but she was mostly excited. She was busy from early morning to late at night every day.
After quickly giving Cheng Yexuan a business lesson, Fu Zhi Qiao assigned an accountant to accompany him to Youzhou with 10,000 taels of silver. She provided all the conveniences she could for Cheng Yexuan; now it was up to him to prove himself.
As dusk settled, wisps of smoke began to rise from the houses.
When Fu Zhiqiao returned to her courtyard, the hexagonal palace lanterns under the eaves had already been lit and were swaying gently in the wind.
Xie Zhuo stood with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, his tall and slender figure like a graceful tree, pleasing to the eye.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Xie Zhuo turned around and saw Fu Zhi Qiao. A gentle smile appeared on his lips as he teased, "The busy man is finally back!"
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