Chapter 207 Taking Over Tianxiang Tower
Song Liyun hadn't even figured out the industries in Suijin Town yet, yet she hurriedly took on the hot potato of Tianxianglou.
Moreover, I had no experience in managing a restaurant, and I suddenly felt overwhelmed.
However, there are also benefits to taking care of Tianxianglou first.
The shop in Suijin Town will not be built until after the autumn harvest. I have nothing to do now, and it is impossible for me to learn embroidery at home, so I might as well get started.
Tianxianglou has everything available, and business can be started as soon as the store is opened. I am just the shopkeeper, so it is a good opportunity for me to gain experience.
So, Song Liyun prepared to start a life of commuting to work at night, riding a horse from Suijin Town to Qili County to take care of business, and then returning home at night.
The garrison now has enough people, and Tianxianglou is the garrison's business, so Captain Luo asked Song Liyun to select some people from the garrison and take them with him.
Song Liyun is now running back and forth, and her family needs protection. She can't keep Han Ming and herself detained every day, so she directly asked Zhou Xiaoqi and Lin Xiaoqi.
Zhou Xiang and Lin Tao were small flag officers in the army, each commanding a team of ten people.
These two people had the earliest relationship with the Song family. They were honest people, so Song Liyun felt they could be trusted.
Zhou Xiang and Lin Tao were overjoyed when they heard that they would be transferred to work for Song Liyun.
Although the garrison is gradually being staffed, if the two stay, they may be promoted to general flag bearers, and the ten-man team under their command will become fifty people. In addition to rewards for meritorious service, their regular salary will also increase from three hundred coins to five hundred coins.
When you are young and have no other options, joining the army is the only way out.
Now they are already 27 or 28 years old and have spent ten years in the army. There are more things they should consider. It is no longer the time when one person can feed the whole family.
Money is needed to get married, have children, and support parents.
Song Liyun is able to make money, and by hanging out with her, you can save some money early.
The two of them had already discussed that after the weather turned cooler and the autumn harvest was over, they would bring their wives and children to live with them for a while.
If all conditions are good, they can simply become military households and stay there, so they can enjoy a life with a wife and children.
Captain Luo allocated ten places to Song Liyun. Because they needed to take turns on duty, Zhou Xiang and Lin Tao each took four people and divided them into two teams, one team went out and the other team stayed behind. In this way, the Song family could be protected in an orderly manner inside and outside.
After being closed for more than three months, Tianxianglou finally made some moves.
Seeing the yamen runners tearing off the seal on the shop door and opening the dusty lock, people coming and going on the street stopped to watch. For a moment, the place was crowded with people, and the crowd was so dense that even passing carriages and horses had to take a detour.
Those idle men who were responsible for running errands and inquiring about various news quickly spread the news of the change of ownership of Tianxiang Tower to the ears of various financiers.
Suddenly, undercurrents began to surge in some places.
When Song Liyun brought Zhou Xiang and his party to Tianxianglou, they opened the door and saw a completely different scene.
The building had been sealed for quite some time, and it was already covered in dust. Tables, chairs, and benches were thrown on the ground because of the rude behavior of the yamen runners who were sealing the building.
The grain, oil, rice and flour in the kitchen had long been taken away, and many of the good pots, pans, and utensils were also lost.
The calligraphy and paintings on the wall were lost, and the decorative curtains were dirty. It would cost at least a thousand taels of silver to repair them and restore them to their original state.
Song Liyun's brows knitted together. She looked around and said angrily, "I'm just the shopkeeper, not the scapegoat. Whoever wants to take care of this mess can do it."
She couldn't pay money to make up for these losses. Besides, she had less than three hundred taels of silver in her savings, so she couldn't make up for the losses even if she wanted to.
Not to mention the garrison, Captain Luo and General Wang were still eagerly waiting for her to hand over the money.
As the Broken Gold Guards were upgraded, the number of soldiers increased from over one hundred to a full strength of five hundred.
There are many people and the expenses are high. Even though the Suijinwei have been doing better in recent months, the salaries of the Zhenbei Army have been in arrears, and the new brothers are still in deficit.
If Captain Luo wanted to win people's hearts, of course he had to give them silver immediately, silver!
"Let's go to the county government office and see what Lord Jiang has to say!"
"What do you want to do?"
Today was a day off, and Jiang Fengren still met Song Liyun. He heard Song Liyun complaining that Tianxiang Tower had been ruined and turned into an empty shell, but he remained unmoved.
"What can I do? My Lord, this is what you said in court. Tianxiang Tower is now owned by the military camp, and I am allowed to manage it..."
Seeing Jiang Feng's indifferent look, Song Liyun felt that she had been deceived and became even more upset.
Jiang Feng didn't have the time to listen to her anymore, so he served tea and sent the guest away: "Miss Song, you have inherited such a mess, and it is up to you to decide how to deal with it.
Don't forget, as a woman from a military family, it is your good fortune that you can take over a restaurant.
Managing a restaurant requires real skills, and you can't just act like a spoiled braggart like you usually do."
Song Liyun was furious.
Having said this, she did not leave, but glanced towards the back room.
Jiang Feng had already picked up the tea and took a sip. The black-faced servant came forward to drive him away. Song Liyun had no choice but to leave the county government office holding a mahogany box.
Jiang Feng looked at Song Liyun who left angrily, and frowned: The Third Young Master said to give her three years of chance, and also said that this woman could accomplish great things... She can't even handle such a small matter, what can she do? Compare her knives with others?
And...what is she looking for here? Is she looking for the Third Young Master?
The third young master should go back to the Northern Army Command Headquarters in Huicheng Town, as Qing'an Prefecture can no longer hold on.
There is chaos on the border, and the opportunity has come for the Marquis of Zhenbei and the prince.
After leaving the county government office, Song Liyun's face was calm instead: Since everyone wants to quit, then it will be easy.
If you have money, behave like a rich person; if you don’t have money, behave like a poor person. You can do whatever you want.
When she returned to Tianxianglou, the crowd outside had dispersed, but there were still about seventeen or eighteen people, men, women, young and old, standing in the store, and the tables, chairs and benches around them were still overturned.
Seeing Song Liyun return, the soldier who stayed behind to guard the shop came forward and said, "Miss Song, these are the former shop assistants and the kitchen maids of Tianxianglou. They are here to ask for their indentures back."
The dozen or so people also gathered around, each with an anxious look on their faces: "Now that the owner has changed, our contract with Tianxianglou is invalid."
"Yes, girl, return the deed to us."
It turned out that when Tianxianglou was in Hong Jingtian's hands, everyone signed a ten-year contract, and the head chef was not allowed to change jobs for the rest of his life.
Tianxianglou was well-known, and as soon as Hong Jingtian fell, surrounding restaurants and hotels immediately came to poach him.
These chefs also tried to find other ways out, but their indentures had been sealed by the government. Now that Tianxianglou was open, they wanted to come back to cancel their contracts and leave cleanly.
Song Liyun had no intention of keeping them. This was exactly what the saying "when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter" meant.
He is just a hired worker in Tianxiang Tower. Everyone has his own goals and it is impossible for him to be trapped to death in this place.
However, these people had this attitude on the first day they returned to Tianxiang Tower, which made her very unhappy.
(End of this chapter)
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