Crossing the famine, I am a poor fish, and my descendants have to work hard

Chapter 137 Zhuangzi

Minister Song ran to General Zhao in a panic.

Just as he was about to speak, he noticed that General Zhao also had a gloomy face and walked away quickly.

What happened to General Zhao?

Don’t you like yourself either?

Or maybe it’s because I came empty-handed and didn’t bring any gifts.

Yes, that must be the case.

But what should we give to General Zhao?

Minister Song tried hard to think with his useless brain.

Got it!

I heard that General Zhao is nearly 40 years old and still unmarried.

He didn't even have a concubine.

His little daughter is young and beautiful, and has not yet been betrothed to anyone.

Isn’t this a match made in heaven!

His eldest daughter was betrothed to the prince, and if his second daughter married the general who protects the country, who among the civil and military officials in the court would dare to speak loudly to him?

No, I have to go back to find my daughter.

Let’s discuss it.

Lord Song went back in a hurry.

Zhao Yuanlan was also very sleepy, so he went back to catch up on his sleep.

It’s really not suitable for staying up late when you’re older.

Zhao Yuanzhen was woken up in the afternoon.

Dazed.

"Mom, wake up, someone is coming from the palace."

"Madam, wake up."

Zhao Yuanzhen woke up with heavy eyelids.

"what happened?"

"Someone is coming from the palace."

"Okay, I got it. Lanying, go get a basin of water so I can wash up."

"Yes, ma'am."

After Zhao Yuanzhen washed up, she felt much more energetic. She dressed and went out.

Leading the group was Xiyun and a group of eunuchs and maids.

"Meet Zhen Shuren."

"Please stand up and sit down."

"Zhen Shuren, the Queen asked me to bring these two here to learn massage, and to bring you some supplies for your indoor toilet."

"Okay, you two can study here. When you are done, I will send it back to the Empress. The toilet items are in the warehouse and can be picked up soon. I will draw you an installation drawing first."

"Okay, Jinsook-in."

Zhao Yuanzhen took the paper and pen from Lan Ying.

Draw all the installations of the sink, toilet, etc.

I checked it and there is no problem.

Then he handed it to Xiyun.

Then I went to the warehouse and put in another set of rough ceramic toilet seats and washbasins, as well as a large ceramic water tank.

This was custom-made by Zhao Yuanzhen yesterday.

In their shop, she customized a squat toilet to save trouble, but the queen could use a sit-down toilet.

I told Xiyun the usage instructions again.

He also asked me to put a soft cushion on it, otherwise it would be a bit cold.

"I've made a note of it. Thanks for the advice, Zhen Shuren."

"It's just a trivial matter, nothing worth mentioning."

"Then I'll go back first. The queen is still waiting for me."

"Okay, okay. Miss Xiyun, I'll see you off."

Zhao Yuanzhen watched the guards pack up their things and escort Xiyun back.

Zhao Yuanzhen thinks that the bathroom shop can really be done.

It’s just that we can’t build a factory and start firing our own kilns now. Wait until later, when Chunnuan builds the factory, and then we can attract some business from the palace.

It's already past 4 o'clock in the afternoon and my stomach is growling with hunger.

Lan Ying quickly set the table.

After Zhao Yuanzhen finished her meal, she went to inspect the shop.

A dessert shop, two billiard halls, and a storytelling shop.

Looked at the accounts.

Both billiard halls are doing booming business.

Basically the table is full every day.

Zhao Yuanzhen hasn't had time to plan for the remaining grocery store and beverage shop, so she can only leave it as it is for now.

Today is October 2th.

It is the day for monthly reconciliation.

Zhao Yuanzhen also collected the account books and money from various shops, intending to give them to Qian Xiaohui when he returned.

Li Zhijuan hasn't been home for a long time, so she went back with Zhao Yuanzhen today to take a look.

It was past 5 o'clock and there were basically no customers coming to the beauty salon, so Lan Ying was left to temporarily take over as the shopkeeper and replace Li Zhijuan for the night.

I also took back some of the silk that the Queen had given me as a reward.

"Mom, sister-in-law, you are back. Have you eaten?"

"Well, I haven't eaten yet. Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I thought that since we were going to settle the accounts today, my mother might come back, so I asked the kitchen to prepare it, and I wanted to wait for you to eat together."

"Xiaohui is still very attentive. Let's eat first."

"Okay, mother, I'll ask someone to set the table right away."

It was indeed carefully prepared and the dishes were very rich.

After dinner, Zhao Yuanzhen handed over the money and accounts of each shop to Qian Xiaohui.

Li Zhijuan and Qian Xiaohui are responsible for the beauty salon.

There were quite a lot of shops, and they were afraid that they would be busy too late, so they asked Zhang Xinbai and Zhang Xinnian to help check.

Several people worked together and it took until around 1 o'clock, mainly because there were so many shops.

"Mom, I'm done. Shall I start reporting?"

"Well, let's get started."

"The first thing to look at in January is the expenses. The total expenses are two, including the purchase of three shops, decoration, furniture, hiring servants and musicians, as well as the daily expenses and wages of the home and several shops.

The total income was taels, including taels from the dessert shop, taels from the milk shop, 5500 taels from the storytelling shop, 5900 taels from billiard hall one, 2 taels from billiard hall two, and taels from the beauty parlor.

Last month, the cash in the public account was 2,000. Mother paid for the purchase and decoration of the shop, as well as the hiring of people, etc., plus the money for the dessert shop, a total of 2,000. After giving all of this to mother, there will be 2,000 silver in the palace. Here is the account, you can take a look. "

Then he handed the accounts to everyone.

Zhao Yuanzhen looked through it and didn't find any problems. After all, Xiao Hui was quite meticulous.

"As we open more and more shops at home, we will have more and more accounts. Xiaohui and Zhijuan are pregnant again. Xin Bai and Xin Nian, you two have to take care of the various accounts of the shops and then hand it over to Xiaohui to check the accounts. Who do you think will do it?"

"Brother, come on."

"Come on, second brother."

The two of them pushed each other back and forth.

Zhao Yuanzhen was helpless.

"You two don't need to be modest. You both have a lot to do. When spring comes, another person will cross the Yellow River. Draw lots to see who will stay at home to manage the shop and who will go to the Yellow River crossing."

"Okay, mother."

I made two small pieces of paper and asked them to draw them. Zhang Xinbai was going to the Yellow River ferry, and Zhang Xinnian was at home.

Zhao Yuanzhen was still very satisfied with the results.

This is good, both parties can rest assured about the accounts.

"Very good. Then you will be responsible for checking all the accounts of the shops in Beijing during the New Year. I will give the summary to your sister-in-law later. Xin Bai will go to the ferry in the future."

"Okay, mother."

"Well, in the New Year, I am not only responsible for the shop's various accounts, but I also have to check the shop's sanitation and cleaning, as well as the servants' sword training. I can't waste it."

"Mom, I understand. After delivering milk every day, I will go to each shop to inspect it."

"Well, okay."

"As for Xin Bai, I'll leave all the chores at home and in the farm to you,"

"Zhuangzi? Mom, have we bought a Zhuangzi?"

"I didn't buy it. It was given to me by the emperor. I was so busy these past two days that I forgot to tell you. Let me show you this."

Take out the imperial edict of reward and show it to them.

Several people were a little timid. This was an imperial edict. Should they kneel down?

"No need to kneel, we are just one family, just look at it, and I will put it away after you finish looking at it."

"Okay, mother."

Several people came over and looked through it carefully.

“Wow, mother, you are actually a third-rank person now, so our family will have a rank in the future.”

"Yes, the Queen also gave me a lot of silk, and I took it back. You can choose from them and make some clothes that you like."

"I can hardly believe it. One day, my family will be able to become an official and wear silk and satin. It's really unbelievable, wife, pinch me."

"Does it hurt?"

Qian Xiaohui pinched Zhang Xinbai.

“It hurts, but I still can’t believe it.”

After they finished reading it, they put the imperial edict away.

Zhao Yuanzhen felt that now was not the right time to talk about the golden medal of immunity from death and the imperial edict to ensure the prosperity of the Zhang family.

"Tomorrow, Xin Baixian and I will go to the manor to take a look."

"Okay, mother."

"Is there anything going on at home recently?"

"It's nothing, mother. Tomorrow is the second day of the second lunar month. You all should stay home and have dinner."

"Well, okay. Let's cook the pig's head and trotters tomorrow and send some to a few shops. After Xinnian finishes delivering the milk tomorrow, bring your grandparents back as well. That means we'll give them a day off tomorrow."

"Yes, mother, I understand."

"Ah."

February 2nd is the day when the dragon raises its head.

Yesterday I burned the pig's head and trotters clean, cleaned the pig hair, chopped the pig's head into small pieces with an axe, put them in a large wooden basin, and soaked them in water.

Just cook it in the pot today.

After breakfast, Zhao Yuanzhen took his men to the farm.

Zhuangzi is not far from the village, about 40 minutes away.

According to the title deed, the farm is over 150 acres in size.

When we arrived at the village, we found that it was really big, about 10 square meters.

From a distance you can see a high wall that surrounds the entire village. It looks like the wall is about 3 and a half meters high.

Zhao Yuanzhen thought it was a good idea. With the wall at this height, she wouldn’t have to raise it any higher later.

enough.

There are two gates in the manor, and Zhao Yuanzhen led people directly to the front gate.

The servant went to knock on the door.

After a while, someone came to open the door.

"You are?"

"Our wife is the new owner of this manor. Come and check it out."

"Hello, sir. Please come in."

The servant inside immediately bowed and opened the door.

Then he shouted inside.

"The new owner is here, come out and greet him."

I saw a group of people coming quickly over.

A man who looked like a manager came over.

"I wonder if the new owner has the deed to the farm, and if he could show it to me."

Zhao Yuanzhen took it out from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Xinbai.

Xin Bai handed the house deed to the steward.

The steward took it and examined it carefully, then handed it back to Zhang Xinbai.

"My humble servant Yang Baili, I am here to greet the master."

Then he bowed.

The people behind him saw him salute and followed suit.

"Get up, are you the manager here?"

"Madam, I am the manager of this farm."

"Then tell me about Zhuangzi."

"Yes, Madam, this manor has a total of 150 acres, with three courtyards. One is the main courtyard of the master's house, which is divided into several elegant small courtyards. The remaining two are divided into east and west courtyards. The east courtyard is for male servants and the west courtyard is for female servants.

There were 121 servants in the manor, including 80 strong men in charge of farming, 10 cooks, 10 maids, and 20 odd jobs. Together with the younger servants, there were exactly 121 people in total.

There are also 30 oxen, 10 horses, and more than 2 kilograms of grain in the warehouse, including more than 4 kilograms of coarse grains and kilograms of fine grains. There are wells in the village.

I don’t know if there were 1000 acres of fertile land behind the manor.

The manager didn't know whether the fertile land had been awarded to Zhao Yuanzhen, and didn't know whether to introduce it to her.

Zhao Yuanzhen took over the conversation.

"Your Majesty also gave the 1000 acres of good farmland to me and my elder brother."

"Yes, ma'am. 1000 acres of good farmland. Millet was planted last year. The farmhands can take care of the farmland."

It's good enough that you can serve me, there's no need to buy anyone else.