Young Master Lin slammed his teacup down, somewhat displeased, and said, "You are already in the wrong for defaulting on your taxes, yet you expect the Prefect to be lenient with you. Isn't that protecting you?"
Huang Changsheng's eyes darted around, and he quickly agreed, "I have long heard that the Lin family is a model of law-abiding behavior and would never do such an illegal thing. But in this situation... I would appreciate your guidance, young master."
The time was right, and Young Master Lin stopped being pretentious. He put down his teacup, gestured with his finger around the room, and said slowly, "Think about it, if his Jinxi Tower and your Zuichun Tower both close down, who will be the biggest business in Qili County?"
"Tianxiang Tower!" Huang Changsheng and Shen Leyan exchanged a glance and said in unison.
"That's right! The government is just a knife. As long as you keep an eye on the blade, you can cut whoever you want with just a slight movement!"
After calming down for a moment, Shen Leyan shook his head and said, "The relationship between Magistrate Jiang and the garrison and Tianxiang Tower... is very deep!"
Of course it's deep inside; the staff there are all soldiers, and the managers are also military households.
Young Master Lin scoffed disdainfully: "You can't do anything to Tianxiang Tower, and you can't deal with the people inside. Even soldiers have parents. Before becoming military households, they were always civilians, and they always had grandparents, uncles, brothers, and other relatives."
Upon hearing this, the group exchanged bewildered glances. They had only checked that Song Liyun was a military household and lived in Suijin Town; they hadn't actually checked the other members of her family.
After hearing what Young Master Lin said, he suddenly realized the truth.
They had already checked Song Liyun's information and had asked someone to get the Song family's household registration address when they changed from civilian to military household registration from the county government's civilian archives.
Now, thanks to Young Master Lin's guidance, someone went directly to the county government office where Qingping Town is located the next day.
Song Liyun knew nothing. After staying at Baolin Residence for a day, she did not have anyone accompany her. Instead, she followed the Wan family's caravan to Pingyang Prefecture alone.
Arrive in the prefectural city ahead of time to settle the rented courtyard, and then take over the care of the physician on the eighth day of the month.
Outside Pingyang Prefecture, there are still refugees who gather in twos and threes around the carriages and horses entering the city, begging for food and money.
The Wan family now has a merchant caravan license from the Qili County government, making them official merchants, and their goods no longer need to be inspected when entering and leaving the prefectural city.
They didn't even need to check the people's identification tags anymore; they just had the team leader, a member of the Wan family, swipe his face card and let them in.
Upon entering the city, Song Liyun followed the Wan family's caravan to the Wan family's shop.
Having already received the news, Manager Wan was waiting at the shop entrance. As soon as he saw Song Liyun, he greeted her with a smile: "Miss Song, please come in quickly!"
The shop assistants all came out to greet him in unison: "Greetings, Manager Song!"
This shop is a bag and luggage shop that Song Liyun and Wan Jia jointly operate.
The Song brothers, Song Zhenping and Song Liyun, were unaware of this business, and it was Song Liyun's first time visiting.
Wanjia is a large business and has experience in arranging storefronts. Even a bag shop that they've never run before can be arranged in a luxurious and grand manner.
When Song Liyun arrived, there were still customers inside choosing small handbags.
After looking around the store, Manager Wan led Song Liyun to the accounting office.
Bag and luggage shops are not only found in Pingyang Prefecture, but also in the capital and the south.
The store has only been open for two months, and the southern store has not yet been renovated, so we cannot settle the bonuses now.
But Manager Wan said that by the end of the year, Song Liyun would receive at least 500 taels of silver as a bonus.
These sheepskin handbags and cowhide trunks and backpacks each cost five taels of silver, which is not expensive for people who like novelty and convenience.
Song Liyun had only glanced at the Wan family's account books. She wasn't there to check the accounts; she was just there to take a look and borrow some money.
In fact, she still had more than three hundred taels of silver in her space. This money was not only needed for the doctor's consultation fee, but also for repairing the house and for future decoration and furnishing.
Without even asking any questions, Manager Wan directly advanced four hundred taels of silver and took her to the rented courtyard house in the fourth alley of East Street.
Just as Manager Wan had said, the courtyard was spacious with only simple furniture, but it was kept very clean. What pleased Song Liyun the most was the corner gate.
Seeing that Song Liyun was satisfied, Steward Wan was relieved: "Miss Song, please stay at the Wan residence tonight. We'll send a few servants to rearrange things for you before you move in."
Song Liyun shook her head and said, "No need to trouble yourself. I'll only stay here for two nights. I just need someone to help me buy some bedding."
These things were all simple, and Manager Wan immediately had someone bring the bedding over.
I also booked three meals a day at a nearby restaurant.
The reason why no furniture was prepared was that Song Liyun did not intend to settle down in this courtyard; she only used it temporarily.
That night, although she had bought bedding, she didn't heat the kang (a heated brick bed), but instead took out her sleeping bag to make do for the night.
After having breakfast at the restaurant at dawn, Song Liyun began shopping.
First came grain and oil, then cloth shops, and various kinds of flint, tinderboxes, charcoal, and large carts in the cart and horse shops...
A pound of mixed grains costs only three to five coins, a piece of durable coarse cloth costs a hundred coins, silk cloth costs a thousand coins, and brocade satin costs one tael of silver.
I bought each type separately, from cheap to expensive.
There are also various pills, plasters, and remedies for colds, external injuries, and indigestion in children—everything you could want.
She had a total of seven hundred taels of silver, and after two days of shopping spree, she had spent almost all of it.
In the alleys of Dongda Street, trucks from various shops come and go, delivering goods into the courtyards.
Song Liyun put them all into her spatial storage.
As expected of people from the capital, even when the deliveryman brings things over, they treat such a large transaction as if the tenant is just furnishing their new home.
When Manager Wan came to investigate after receiving the news, he only saw a dozen or so bolts of cloth piled up inside the house, and two carts of charcoal that had not been collected in time in the yard.
"Miss Song, if you trust me, I'll introduce you to a few employers in the future, and I guarantee they'll offer good quality at low prices."
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