The morning breeze blew away the mist on the river, and the torches that had been burning all night at the Yetu Wharf were extinguished one after another.

The two cargo ships were quietly moored at the shore. Tang Youde stood on the deck, staring at the villagers with bloodshot eyes, and carried bags of raw silk into the cabin.

Yu Peng also stayed up all night with him, watching Tang Youde argue with the village leaders for half the night, and then rush to the dock in the second half of the night, carefully inspecting the goods package by package, and then urging the villagers to load them onto the ship... This fat man who looked pampered had been working non-stop for a whole day and night.

This made Yu Peng admire him very much. He thought that the century-old store in Jinling was indeed extraordinary...

When the boat was almost loaded, Zhao Hao yawned and rode his donkey to the dock slowly, accompanied by Gao Wu and Wu Yu.

"Young Master is really a hands-off boss, not caring at all." Tang Youde looked at Zhao Hao with a wry smile. He regretted inviting this kid to go to the countryside with him, because he only caused trouble and did not help at all.

"I'm just a kid and I don't know anything. I can only make things worse." Zhao Hao smiled and got off the donkey, stepping onto the deck to get onto the cargo ship.

"Hey, why is there one more ship?" Zhao Hao looked at the other cargo ship curiously.

"Raw silk is a bulk cargo. A full ship can only hold 5,000 to 6,000 kilograms. One ship is definitely not enough." Tang Youde also yawned and explained, "At that time, I booked two ships with Wu Ji, but I rented one for one day less, so it arrived this morning. This way I can save ten taels of silver."

"Smart, smart." Zhao Hao praised, peeled the tea egg he brought and handed it to Tang Youde. "Thank you for your hard work."

"That's good enough." Tang Youde took the tea egg and felt a little warm in his heart. Then he suddenly realized that this was not the routine he usually used on his friends.

'A small favor.'

Boss Tang took a big bite of the tea egg and reported to Zhao Hao, "In total, I collected 11,000 kilograms of silk, and I still have 100 taels of capital left. After paying the ship fare and renting a warehouse, I will have almost spent all the money."

"Oh?" Zhao Hao was peeling tea eggs when he couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise. He was afraid of overspending on this trip to the countryside, so he brought an extra 500 taels. Unexpectedly, not only did he not overspend, but he even had some money left over.

"Didn't they say five cents per pound? How come there are still some left after collecting a thousand pounds?"

"Hehe." Tang Youde was waiting for him to say this, and he said proudly: "The mountain people have their own clever ideas. I said at the beginning that I would only take 5,000 kilograms, but the silk they had was much more than that. They begged me and begged me, and took the initiative to lower the price, so I reluctantly gave them the whole deal."

"Sly, you are indeed a dishonest businessman." Zhao Hao flicked the broken eggshells into the river, shook his head and sighed, "I have to be more careful in the future, or I will be cheated by you."

"Sir, you should speak with conscience, right? I am sincere to you." Tang Youde shouted, "Besides, who is cheating whom? Isn't it me who suffers every time?"

"Frost turns to snow..." Zhao Hao uttered three words softly.

"Hasn't it been brought up yet? Why are you bringing it up again, young master..." Tang Youde didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"I'm not bragging, but when it comes to holding a grudge, no one in Nanjing can compare to me." Zhao Hao smiled half-truthfully.

As soon as the villagers who were loading the cargo got off the boat, the two cargo ships removed the pedals, cast off the cables and rowed away from the dock.

Seeing the heads of the societies standing on the shore waving goodbye, Zhao Hao suddenly called out:

"Old Tang."

"Um?"

"You can't come to be a painter in this life."

"ah?"

Zhao Hao knew clearly that even though the heads of the societies were very happy now, they would probably want to eat Fatty Tang in less than two months.

~~

We went upstream for a day and a night on the way here, and went downstream on the way back. By noon, we could already see the glittering glazed tower.

Zhao Hao then remembered that he had never climbed the pagoda that had been seldom seen by Westerners for hundreds of years, so he added this small item to his wish list.

At this time, Wu Yu and his wife went up on the deck and stood stiffly behind Zhao Hao.

"Master, are you looking for us?"

"Nothing, just asking where you are going?" Zhao Hao turned around and his smile was warmer than the sunset.

"I haven't decided yet. Let's get off the boat first and find a place to stay to see if I can find a job in Nanjing." Wu Yu had already taken off the cloth on his head. The shovel only opened his eyebrow, which looked scary, but it was actually not a big deal.

"I have a suggestion, how about you and your spouse listening to it?" Zhao Hao coughed lightly.

"Sir, please give me your advice. I will listen attentively." After all, Wu Yu had studied Buddhist scriptures, spoke in a refined manner, and was handsome. No wonder he was pursued by Tang Si Ya.

"My family lives in Nanjing, and we want to open a..." Zhao Hao wanted to brag, but he would be exposed in a blink of an eye, so he had to tell the truth: "It's a small restaurant. It's currently being renovated and recruiting workers. I wonder if you two are willing to give in?"

"That's great..." Tang Si Ya couldn't help but feel happy. Although she was very determined to leave, she was confused and afraid about the future after leaving Tangjiaxu. She didn't know where the couple should settle down, or how to make a living...

Now that Master Zhao, who saved them, is willing to take her in, Tang Si Ya naturally couldn't ask for more.

"It's just that we don't know how to cook..." Although Wu Yu returned to secular life, he still kept the good habit of not telling lies, which was in stark contrast to a certain famous mage. "When Si Ya was in the military camp, the firemen didn't even need her to help with cooking..."

Tang Siya blushed when she heard that and secretly pinched Wu Yu's waist with her fingernails.

Wu Yu immediately shut up.

"Even if you can't cook, there are still many things you can do." Zhao Hao pretended not to notice the two people's little tricks, and said to himself: "For example, if you open a door for business, it is inevitable that there will be ghosts coming to the door. Brother Wu sticks his big iron stick in front of the door. Who dares to come and make trouble?"

"I can do this job." Wu Yu's eyes lit up and he said, "I know how to control my actions. You don't have to worry about killing anyone..."

Zhao Hao thought to himself, that's why I like you and want you to be the security captain for Wei Ji Xian.

He smiled at Si Ya and said, "Si Ya is very eloquent and has seen a lot of things. She will definitely be of great help. But as to what to do specifically, we still have to ask Shopkeeper Fang."

"Okay, even if we just sweep the floor and wash the dishes, we can do the work of two people and it won't embarrass you, sir." Si Ya was willing in the first place, so she agreed immediately.

~~

As they were talking, the boat stopped outside the city.

"What is this for?"

Zhao Hao looked at the busy dock in front of him and asked curiously Tang Youde, who had just come out of the cabin after taking a nap.

"We're here. We'll unload the goods here. The warehouse we rented is right next to the dock." Tang Youde rubbed the boogers under his eyes and stretched.

"Why don't you go into town?"

"There are taxes to be levied when entering the city, not only the city gate tax, but also the ship material merchant tax. We sell raw silk, so we are also subject to a silk tax by the weaving eunuchs." Tang Youde took the wet towel handed over by the waiter, wiped his face and answered casually: "With so many taxes here and there, how can we make any profit?"

"So we don't have to pay taxes?" Zhao Hao looked at the dock filled with masts and oars. There were at least a hundred cargo ships docked there, loading and unloading goods.

"Why should I be taxed if I don't enter the city?" Tang Youde said as if it was a matter of course, "The payment will be made outside the city, and the court won't receive a penny."

"Uh..." Zhao Hao looked into the distance and saw the Jiangdong Gate Customs, which was only two miles away. "It's so blatant, how could the court not know about it?"

"You know? What can you do if you know?" Tang Youde said with a grin, "This area is the private estate of Duke Wei. If the Xu family doesn't let them pass, the court's ships can't dock."

"Is that so..." Zhao Hao was stunned. After a while, he said faintly, "The Ming Dynasty was destroyed by you guys."

"I didn't expect that you still care about the country!" Tang Youde said solemnly, "Okay, I'll listen to you, you. Let's go to the city and pay taxes!"

"I won't hand it over." Zhao Hao's true colors were immediately revealed.

Tang Youde laughed and said, "Young Master is really a wonderful person."

He just thought Zhao Hao was teasing him again, but he didn't notice the fleeting gloom between Mr. Zhao's brows.

ps. The second update is here, please give me your votes and chapter reviews~~~~