The merchant's eyes flickered as if he could already see mountains of gold and silver flashing before his eyes. He looked at the petty official and asked, "Big Brother Nie, do you think I can rent a shop here as well?"
"First come, first served. You can reserve it after paying the deposit." The petty official looked at him and said, "Today is fine, but in a few days, there might not be any space left."
The merchant from the Qi Kingdom immediately said, "Thank you, Brother Nie. Where can I pay the deposit? I'll go now!"
The petty official waved his hand and said, "No need to thank me. It's all because of the good policies..."
The merchant from the Qi Kingdom shook his head repeatedly. "If not for you, Brother Nie, I would already be on my way to the capital. How could I encounter such a good thing? After paying the deposit, I'll reward you handsomely!"
There were still a few more to go for this month's sales. The petty official thought for a moment and said, "If you really want to thank me, introduce some of your merchant friends to me..."
...
After paying the deposit, the merchant from the Qi Kingdom came out from the registration area of the yamen. Once again, he bowed respectfully to the petty official and said seriously, "I can't thank you enough. If Brother Nie needs anything in the future, please don't hesitate to ask. I won't refuse!"
"You're too kind..." The petty official waved his hand and said, "Don't you want to buy cloth? I'll take you to the cloth workshop. I heard that the cloth workshop in the capital is the same one in our Shuzhou. Take a look first..."
The merchant from the Qi Kingdom cupped his hands and said, "Alright, alright. I'll have to trouble Brother Nie again..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard the sound of an argument.
"That's clearly my customer. How dare you fight with me!"
"What do you mean by 'your customer'? Who told you to walk so slowly?"
"Your sales for this month are enough. Can't you let me have one?"
"Who wouldn't want to live with money?"
...
The merchant from the Qi Kingdom watched as the two yamen runners dragged each other into the yamen. He looked at the petty official and asked, "Brother Nie, this is..."
The petty official waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about them. Let's go on our..."
Although it was the slack season for farming, the people of Yong County were living quite a fulfilling life.
Every day before dawn, the strong men in the village would form groups of five or ten and go to the prefectural city to build houses. At noon, they would be provided with a meal of noodles. Once they were full, they would return at night. Their wages would be twenty copper coins a day, paid on a daily basis.
They couldn't even earn twenty copper coins a day from farming. They didn't have any other skills, but they had plenty of physical strength. They could earn twenty copper coins a day, and every few days, they could still make up their minds to buy a pot of wine and two taels of meat to eat …
Wu Laosan was one of them.
The reason why he was called Wu Laosan was that he was the third child in his family. He had two older brothers before him. One died not long after he was born, and the other was killed by bandits more than ten years ago. He was the only one left in the old Wu family.
Thinking of this, he felt that it was a pity.
Second Brother didn't have the luck to die early. Otherwise, he would have been able to witness this world without thieves.
His Highness Gyeong Of Silla was the best. He did such a great thing for the people of Shuzhou. It was just that he wasn't a good judge of character. He found a provincial governor who was sick in the head. He built shops at the city gate, and he even built them in a circle …
But thinking about it carefully, if this provincial governor was normal, he wouldn't earn twenty copper coins a day, and he wouldn't have the money to buy candied fruits from Xu Fu Ji for his wife …
Therefore, he found a provincial governor who was sick in the head — His Highness Gyeong Of Silla was the best!
Speaking of his wife, she had been with him for so long, but she didn't have any good fortune. When the family was in dire straits, she had to weave cloth to make money to support the family. It was really hard for her …
He took out the candied fruits that he spent ten copper coins to buy today, pushed open the door, and said loudly, "First Mother, I'm back!"
A woman walked out of the room and said, "You're back. Come in quickly. I'll cook immediately."
Wu Laosan walked in and asked with a frown, "Where did you go today? Why are you only cooking now?"
The woman said softly, "Today, the cloth shop in the city is recruiting people. I asked Third Aunt to accompany me to take a look …"
"The cloth shop is recruiting people. Why did you go there?" Wu Laosan frowned and said, "You're a woman. Why don't you stay at home? Don't run around all day!"
He threw a paper bag on the table and said, "When it comes to earning money, us men will do it. Can you women earn twenty copper coins a day? This is the candied fruit that I bought from Xu Fu Ji today. Try it. If you like it, I'll buy it for you in a few days …"
"I know …" The woman opened the paper bag and said softly.
Wu Laosan took a cold steamed bun and ate it. He asked casually, "Oh right, how much does the cloth shop pay you every day?"
"Three hundred copper coins."
Wu Laosan took a bite of the steamed bun. His expression froze. He looked at her and asked in a muffled voice, "How much? Three copper coins?"
The woman took a bite of the candied fruit and said softly, "Everyone else pays thirty copper coins. I showed them the cloth that I used to weave. They said that I was good at weaving and the flowers were beautiful. They asked me to teach them how to weave. They paid me three hundred copper coins a day."
Wu Laosan was stunned for a while. He grabbed the kettle and gulped down the steamed bun. He put down the kettle and slammed the table. He said loudly, "You're a woman. Don't you feel bored staying at home all day? If there's a chance, you should go out and see more … Where's the cloth shop you mentioned? Bring me there tomorrow …"
"They only hire women …"
"…"
"Don't I know that they only hire women?" Wu Laosan looked at her and said seriously, "I'm looking for you to see if they're lying. Women like you are the easiest to be deceived …"
"No, that's the workshop of the Gyeong Of Silla. They won't lie …"
Wu Laosan looked at her and then at the paper bag in her hand. He put the cold steamed bun aside and pursed his lips. He said, "Come, let me try a piece of the candied fruit …"
…
The Pandemonium.
Fang Yu put down a piece of paper and said, "Building a shop? What is this Li Yi doing?"
He turned to look at the man in purple and asked, "Is the news true?"
The man in purple nodded and said, "I've asked the local people. They want to build a shopping mall there. It's said that they'll be opening before the new year …"
They had lost contact with the messengers of the Holy Religion in charge of Shu Province. This meant that they couldn't contact the believers in Shu Province. If they wanted to obtain information, they could only ask the local people.
Fang Yu frowned and murmured, "Why does it have to be the west gate …"
"Are you stupid? There are four gates in the east, west, south, and north. Only the west gate is the most useless. It's not open all year round. If they didn't choose the west gate, would they choose the other three?" The King of Shu walked over from the side and looked at him. He said, "You may not know this, but Li Yi's greatest strength is not in governing the country, but in business. He should be making a good profit during the New Year's Festival. Didn't he find a way to keep those merchants in Shuzhou …"
Fang Yu shook his head. "I'm just worried …"
"There's nothing to worry about." The King of Shu shook his head and said, "There are 3,000 soldiers stationed in Shu Province. Yong County can only mobilize 2,000 soldiers at most. They're just a bunch of stragglers and are nothing to be afraid of. As long as your people can open the city gates, no one can stop us."
"I know." Fang Yu shook his head and said, "But … it's better to be careful."
The King of Shu shook his head and revealed an excited expression. He said, "I think it's best to wait until after the Lantern Festival to make a move. When he has earned enough money, we can slaughter a fat sheep …"
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