Chapter 17 No one could have expected such a lively life. …
No one expected such excitement.
The two guards behind stepped forward to prevent any accidents. Nanny Wu's face fell. She had just told the fourth princess that the pawnshop owner was in good condition, and now this happened in front of the princess! However, she secretly peeked at the princess's expression and found that the princess was not angry, but rather quite excited.
Mu Xue found it very amusing. Since she came here, she had never seen such a "shrew". She was so energetic.
She simply stayed aside to avoid disturbing the scene if she went over there.
Dorji smiled in her ear and said, "It seems that you are not so bad to me."
Are you talking about the wedding night lantern? Mu Xue curled her lips and pretended not to hear.
A middle-aged man wearing a sable fur hat ran out of the pawnshop and kept begging for mercy: "It's not true. Who told you that?"
"My daughter found this, and it's fake!"
Shopkeeper Hu was running for his life, and as he was escaping, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Nanny Wu and her group standing under the eaves.
When Nanny Wu came before, he was the one who entertained her. She was the princess's wet nurse and he couldn't afford to offend her, so he served her with great attentiveness, and she left a deep impression on him.
At this moment, the nanny appeared again, standing behind with her hands hanging down like a servant!
Shopkeeper Hu didn't dare to look at the nobleman in front of the nanny for a moment. His knees went weak and he knelt on the ground.
Just then, his wife Cui Gu came out and saw Manager Hu kneeling on the ground. She paused for a moment and said, "Hey, Mr. Hu, you are trying to fool me again, aren't you?"
"Auntie, I beg you to be quiet." Shopkeeper Hu wanted to faint.
Nanny Wu reported softly: "Princess, he knows me and probably guessed your identity."
"Go over there and don't let him yell." Mu Xue pulled up the collar of her cloak.
After receiving the order, Aunt Wu walked over quickly, blocked Shopkeeper Hu's sight, and whispered a reminder: "Don't be too polite, don't be offended. Since the distinguished guest has arrived, don't be too ostentatious, understand?"
"Yes, yes." Shopkeeper Hu wanted to kowtow, but after hearing this, he held back. He stood up trembling, hunched over, and dared only look at the ground. The young man was lazy again, and didn't even shovel away the snow on the side! His knees were soaked.
Cui Gu's eyes flickered between the shopkeeper and Nanny Wu.
Dressed like a bannerman, with silver hairpins on her temples, she looked quite extraordinary. As for the man standing far away, the satin cape she was wearing must have cost at least five taels of silver.
She immediately restrained herself, hid the feather duster in her hand behind her back, and greeted with a smile: "You are a distinguished guest. I went out to greet you from afar. I am sorry to have embarrassed you. Old Hu, why don't you come and invite me in."
It was the first time Mu Xue stepped into a pawnshop. She looked around carefully. The pawnshop looked plain from the outside, but it actually had many courtyards inside.
At the front is the counter facing the street, which is two rooms wide and has a high counter. People of short stature have to stand on tiptoe to talk with the clerk at the counter.
Entering through the small door on the right side of the counter, there is a room with a blazing charcoal fire. It is warm and has tables and chairs. It should be a reception room. There is another door at the back.
Mu Xue glanced at the door and heard Cui Gu's loud voice: "Behind is the warehouse for storing goods and the jewelry room. Further back is the small kitchen and a place for the guys to rest."
Mu Xue nodded and sat down in the first chair: "You guys have cleaned up quite well."
"After all, it's the royal palace, we can't lose our dignity." Cui Gu smiled and took the bowl of tea from Manager Hu and gently placed it next to Mu Xue's hand. "This is the Maojian tea harvested this year, it's still edible, please try it."
Mu Xue took a sip and asked, "This is a room only for distinguished guests, right?"
"You have a very good eye," Cui Gu said, "Only people of some status are invited to this guest room. Generally, if there is anything to be pawned or redeemed, it can be done at the front counter."
"What is your main job?"
"We have clothes, gold and jade jewelry, copper goods, tin tools, and farm tools all for pawn." Cui Gu said, "We are completely in accordance with the regulations given by the court. We pawn 50% of the value of the goods, and the interest is calculated monthly, at 2% per month."
Mu Xue calculated in her mind, and roughly speaking, the pawn shop's standard for accepting pawns is calculated on a monthly basis. For example, if you pawn a silk sheepskin cloak with an estimated value of ten taels of silver, you can get a loan of five taels of silver. When you want to redeem the cloak after a month, you have to add two cents of interest, so the total amount you have to pay is ten taels and two cents of silver to get the cloak back.
A monthly interest rate of two percent doesn't sound bad.
"What if he doesn't come to redeem his things after they are pawned?" Mu Xue asked.
"There are also situations like this. If no one comes to pick up the goods after the current period, we will sell them to merchants at a discount in spring and autumn to make up for the shortfall." Cui Gu said, "There are also particularly good goods, so we will ask familiar customers if they want to buy them, and sell them when there is a chance."
Mu Xue nodded and asked, "Are there many people coming to pawn their things?"
Are there many people coming to the pawnshop?
Cui Gu was stunned for a moment, thinking that only a truly distinguished guest with fine clothes and delicious food could ask such a question.
"A lot, of course it's not a lot. In our pawnshop, there are petty officials or poor people who pawn their fur coats in the spring and summer to get a few dollars to live on. When they have some money, they redeem it in the winter. This is a small pawn."
"On a higher level, merchants exchange their accumulated goods for silver," Cui Gu explained in detail. "In addition, we are close to the Imperial Examination Hall. When local students come to take the exam, it is inconvenient for them to carry a large amount of silver, so they will also pawn some treasures to get silver. Some local officials who come to Beijing for activities also often patronize us..."
After this detailed explanation, Mu Xue roughly understood. Pawnshops in this era are a very important part of people's economic life, a bit like the ancient financial industry. The pawnshop in her dresser used 5,000 taels of silver as capital to make money. The court has always had the habit of making money by pawning, and there are other royal pawnshops in the capital. At present, it is generally a sure win.
At the end of the year, she should be able to make a profit of 7%. Her 5,000 taels of silver could generate 350 taels of silver by next year.
If she could expand the scale of this pawnshop and open a chain of ten or so stores, she wouldn't have to worry about money anymore.
It’s a pity that the time she could stay in the capital was too short.
After learning more about it, Mu Xue sighed as she left the pawn shop: "It's a pity that I don't have much time, otherwise I could watch and see what the pawn redemption scene is like."
It was getting dark when they returned. Worried that the princess would be tired, Rong'er asked someone to go back home and call the sedan bearers. There were already two sedans parked at the door of the pawnshop for the princess and her husband to ride in.
Mu Xue sat in the sedan, thinking about the pawnshop's matter all the way.
The emperor gave her this pawnshop as a reward, obviously to give her a stable source of interest. She didn't need to take care of the daily operation, she just had to collect the interest at the end of the year.
However, based on the current income and expenditure situation, the interest silver would probably not be able to fully cover her needs. Although if she really ran out of money, she could write a letter to the emperor and complain about her poverty, and she would always get some silver. But she hoped that her economy could be self-sufficient, so she had to increase her income.
Muxue is not a science student, so she doesn't know any tips on how to make soap, glass, etc.
Starting with the pawn shop under her name and making a difference seemed like a good choice.
But there are also natural shortcomings. She can only stay in Beijing for another two or three months. By the time she arrives in Mobei, it will be too far away to intervene in the business.
It still requires careful planning.
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