Although Huazhou and Songzhou are adjacent to each other, they are completely different from each other.
On May 23rd of the Gengyin year, a new civil unrest broke out in Cide. Qian Xianmin, the leader of the peasant uprising army, led 30,000 soldiers and horses, burning, killing and looting all the way to attack Huazhou.
After capturing Huazhou, he was unable to govern the city, which led to the collapse of Huazhou's laws, completely falling apart, and armies being raised in various places.
Until now, in May of the Guisi year, the entire Huazhou is still in disarray.
After leaving Songzhou, Xia Zhaoyi returned to Youzizhuang Ferry. This time she did not stay in an inn. She and Zhi Changle went to the cloth shop they had bought before.
The shopkeeper has been replaced. The original shopkeeper was eager to take action. After selling the shop, he took his family and left. The two remaining clerks were promoted to shopkeepers. They cherish this status very much, but if the business is not good, it is not good.
Less than ten orders were placed today.
The boss suddenly came over, and the two shopkeepers were very attentive. They changed their impatience when they first met and served tea and water.
Both of them are in their early twenties, by month. One considers himself a big shopkeeper, named Lu Geng, and the other considers himself a small shopkeeper, named Feng Yaonong. They are two shopkeepers without any subordinates.
The business was so bad that they were afraid of being kicked out. Unexpectedly, the owner was very easy to talk to. When he came back, he looked at the account books and put them aside, asking them to buy more goods and make sure the store looked bright and bright.
"No, there is no money left," Lu Geng said awkwardly, "All the money in the store is here, we still need to spend these days."
"I know," Xia Zhaoyi was writing and said, "I'll put fifty taels here. You can hire ten more guys and ten thugs. I'll send you five hundred taels next month.
Also take over the shop next door."
Lu Geng and Feng Yaonong were stunned, staring blankly at the girl in front of them, suspecting that they heard wrongly.
The window sash behind her was open, and the wind from the river blew in. Her fine hair brushed her slender neck, giving her an indescribable sense of ease and ease.
"Brother Zhi," Xia Zhaoyi handed the written words to Zhi Changle, "please help me go to Dongzhi Bank to get the cash."
Zhi Changle responded, turned and left.
Lu Geng swallowed his saliva: "Master, ten guys, wouldn't it be too many?"
"Not many, you can only manage five of them each," Xia Zhaoyi smiled, "It's a good thing that the shop is not doing well. You will have more free time, so you can go to the nearby shops with good business and learn from them.
How to run a business.”
Lu Geng and Feng Yaonong looked at each other.
Even if the business is not good, it is a good thing. This is the first time I heard the boss say something like this.
"Did any letter come to me while I was away?" Xia Zhaoyi changed the topic and asked.
"No, no."
"I do have a few letters to send," Xia Zhaoyi said, "but I don't trust the inn, nor do I trust outsiders. Is there anything you can do."
"Don't worry about outsiders..." Lu Geng looked at the sky outside the window and said suddenly, "How about we go and deliver it ourselves?"
Xia Zhaoyi leaned back, with a smile in his eyes: "Besides us, are there any other people of ours? Between me and you two, you are still the shopkeeper, so you definitely can't leave."
"Aren't we going to hire someone?" Feng Yaonong said. After saying this, he suddenly came to his senses and said hurriedly, "My boss, don't worry, the people we hire are absolutely reliable. We will try a lot of ways when the time comes. It's dishonest and unfaithful."
Yes, we absolutely don’t want it!”
"Yes," Lu Geng also said, "Master, leave this matter to us!"
The mood of the two people suddenly became high, and there was a bright light in their eyes.
Zhi Changle came over with the money, but Xia Zhaoyi didn't keep any money, and gave them fifty taels.
Zhi Changle felt that a whole piece of his heart was missing. He looked at the girl writing a letter by the window and said in a depressed mood: "Ah Li, aren't you afraid that they will steal the silver and run away."
Xia Zhaoyi smiled and said softly: "Don't use it if you suspect someone, don't doubt it if you employ it."
"But they don't seem to be very powerful," Zhi Changle scratched his neck, "The writing in that account book is worse than mine."
"But they wrote very carefully stroke by stroke," Xia Zhaoyi looked up at him, "Don't worry, I'm not short of people or money, but they are short of opportunities. They can't seize this opportunity. It's not my loss."
,It's them."
Zhi Changle frowned and nodded: "Ali, I understand."
At this time, there were shouts and curses outside.
Zhi Changle turned to look out the window and saw a conflict between a ship docking and a porter on the shore.
The boatmen and porters almost came to blows.
"And this is Youzizhuang," Zhi Changle said thoughtfully, "They may not be as incompetent as I thought. They can run a shop in such a chaotic place without running away. At least they have a few brushes."
"No," Xia Zhaoyi said with a smile, "the previous shopkeeper ran away."
"……Ha ha!"
At nine o'clock the next day, Xia Zhaoyi and Zhi Changle left.
The ferry was brightly lit, and they boarded a ferry. There were many people on board, and they were crowded together. Zhi Changle used his huge body to create a space for Xia Zhaoyi.
The further north you go, the fewer people are on the boat, but the number of refugees along the river increases.
One day later, corpses began to float in the river. Their faces were rotten and swollen, and their entire faces were deformed.
Rumors gradually arose on the boat. Some people asked if they could dock and if anything would happen if they continued on.
The captain wanted to allow more people to walk, and it was best to finish the journey, so he chose a shore to dock, but in the end there were still 20 people who chose to stay.
The captain wanted to drive them away, but the boatmen were all big men with thick arms. When the captain came to shout, they stood behind them with fierce looks.
Xia Zhaoyi and Zhi Changle were standing at the stern of the boat. When Zhi Changle saw this, he cursed angrily and didn't know where he found the pole. He picked it up and was about to rush forward.
Xia Zhaoyi didn't stop him, but before Zhi Changle, a tall, bear-like man walked out first.
With a hotter temper than Zhi Changle, he grabbed the captain by the collar and hit the cargo box on the side: "You bastard! We paid enough for the ship but you wanted to drive us away halfway, and you even brought people to threaten you! I
Today I will beat you to death and throw you into the river, so that you can keep company with the floating corpse!"
His voice was rough and violent, full of energy, and he roared so hard that the refugees on the shore turned to look around.
The captain was knocked to the point of vomiting blood, and none of the boatmen behind him dared to stop him. They were frightened by this momentum.
Zhi Changle looked at the big man with a huge back and waist, blinked his eyes, and looked at Xia Zhaoyi: "Okay, so fierce."
He has seen a lot, but he has never seen one so big. He is as burly as a bear.
"Changyi." A male voice said slowly.
Xia Zhaoyi and Zhi Changle looked over and saw the speaker, who was wearing an elegant blue shirt, stroking his long beard on his chin, and said softly: "Don't provoke anyone's life."
The big man cursed angrily again, let go of the captain, and threw him to the ground: "If you continue to be dishonest, I'll cut your head off!"
