Because Guan Yong stayed in the capital, Zhou Dalang left his daughter and son-in-law at home. It was not easy to live in the capital. The Guan family could not afford to buy a house in the capital, and the cost of renting a house was not low.
Zhou Lixin and Guan Yong walked through the corridor home. He breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zhou Lixin: "From now on, the family's worries are gone. All that's left is to be careful in what we say and do."
Zhou Lixin said: "My grandma has mentioned it, and asked my father and the others to keep a low profile outside. If they don't use my sister-in-law's name, they don't need to do it."
Now Zhou Lixue and the others are just minor officials and cannot protect the family, so Zhou Lang and the others still have to use Zhou Man's official posts when they encounter troubles while doing business.
Not long after the Zhou family ended, Mr. Zhuang and Mrs. Liu knew the result.
Knowing the result, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Mr. Zhuang smiled slightly and sent the five men who came to deliver the letter, saying: "It's late, you have to go to school tomorrow, go back and rest."
Wu Tou scratched his head and said, "I've disturbed you, sir." Then he ran away.
Mrs. Liu watched with a smile on her face as Fang and others came to take back the children who were playing crazy. Seeing that they kept looking back and didn't want to leave, she called to the children and said, "Come back to play again tomorrow, and I will ask you, Grandma Zheng, to
You make delicious snacks."
The children then went home with their respective mothers without any struggle.
After sending away a group of naughty children, Mrs. Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said to her mother-in-law: "Mother, the Zhou family has not been divided."
Mrs. Liu nodded and said, "I heard it all. This is a good thing."
Even though the family was separated, they still had the surname Zhou. To Zhou Man, the six brothers were still six brothers, but they were separate, far less powerful than the current unity.
Mrs. Zheng also intuitively felt that this was a good thing and asked happily: "Would you like to make more delicious food to celebrate tomorrow?"
Mrs. Liu couldn't help but give her an angry look, "This matter needs to be kept low-key and cannot be publicized. Instead, we can make some more snacks and send them over. After all, it is a good thing. It's okay for everyone to be happy."
The Zhou family was indeed very low-key, so they chose a time the next day to go to the county office for business when there wouldn't be many people at the county government office.
Because there was no official letter from Zhou Man, although people in the county government recognized Zhou Lijun and Zhou Lang, they didn't take it seriously.
Because it was voluntary, and they brought enough money to pay, it was done quickly.
Zhou Lijun simply applied for an ultimatum to leave customs. Xiang Mingxue was still a good householder, not a merchant. Although he was restricted to officialdom, and the caravan he held was no smaller than Zhou Lang's, he still had a lot of land.
The farm passed down by Xiang's family ancestors, as well as the fields left behind after the death of the clan members, were all returned to Xiang Mingxue after the King of Yizhou was executed by the emperor in order to show his generosity, express his guilt and appease the nobles in the court.
Anyone who trades the produce of the fields will not be considered a merchant.
Given the size of Xiang's farmland, he would have to be recognized as a merchant unless he lost a large amount of land or engaged in large-scale transactions in non-farm-produced commodities such as porcelain.
The Jin Dynasty did not only suppress merchants, but also had conveniences.
Once you have registered as a merchant, it will be much easier to do business.
For example, the caravans formed by people like Wen Ling and Zhou Lang who were not businessmen had to be re-stamped every time they reached some checkpoints and passed after paying taxes;
But the business registration is different. They can set off after taking the documents at the departure place, and the road is smooth, unless there are some important checkpoints that need to be re-stamped.
But the speed is much faster than them, and the procedures are different.
Forget it, the imperial court occasionally encouraged business and would reduce or reduce some commercial taxes. Originally, the tax was thirty to one. In order to attract merchants to pass the customs, some places would reduce the commercial tax to forty tax to one, or refund part of it after thirty taxes to one.
And these, Zhou Lang and others are not businessmen, they don't have it.
Of course, such situations are rare.
Zhou Lijun made an ultimatum in his own name and handed it to Zhou Lang, "Remember to change it along the way. When you get to Xiazhou, you will replace it with my ultimatum."
Zhou Lang had a headache, "We have to replace it along the way, otherwise we will have to replace it next time? Otherwise, wouldn't we have to pay more money? And how should I answer when people ask?"
"Just say that your business was acquired by me and you are now my manager."
Zhou Lang: "...Okay, you have the final say."
Because they were low-key enough, no one noticed that the Zhou family's business quietly changed. It was County Magistrate Guo who discovered Zhou Lijun's name when he checked the accounts, and then he realized that the Zhou family's business was under Zhou Lijun's name.
He raised his eyebrows, thinking of the recent undercurrents in the court, and closed the book and handed it to the chief register, "No problem, just seal the file."
The chief clerk agreed. He used to follow Tang He and knew that Tang He had a good relationship with the Zhou family. This account was also specially shown to County Magistrate Guo. Seeing that he didn't seem to have any reaction, he put the matter aside and handed it over as usual.
Archive archiving.
County Magistrate Guo waited for the chief clerk to leave, then he couldn't help shaking his head and smiling, "They are quite clever and can always be one step ahead of others."
Bai Shan, who was one step ahead of others, also asked for help, so Mr. Zhuang went to the Ministry of Works for them to wander around. Liu Huan took the initiative to take him around, "There are many powerful adults in the Ministry of Works. Some are particularly good at water conservancy, and some are particularly good at water conservancy.
There are people who build palaces and gardens, and there are people who are good at designing weapons, but as for the ferry... I asked around, and it seems that Mr. Cui is more powerful."
"Master Cui?"
"Yes, Mr. Cui Wei," Liu Huan looked around and whispered: "Sir Cui is actually the most powerful at building bridges and paving roads, but Mr. Cui doesn't like Mr. Cui joining the Ministry of Industry. Mr. Cui also has a somewhat withdrawn personality.
I don’t really like talking to people, so I may not be able to impress him.”
Mr. Zhuang asked: "You said he can build a ferry. Has he built it before?"
"It's a river crossing," Liu Huandao said, "I don't know much, so I just checked it from the archives. In the past ten years, he participated in the construction of four ferries funded by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and two of them used his drawings.
, I asked my colleagues, and they all said that if we want to build a sea ferry, it would be best to ask Mr. Cui for advice."
Mr. Zhuang nodded and went to visit Cui Wei with Liu Huan.
At this time, Bai Shan and Zhou Man also arrived at Laizhou Ferry and were sitting at a small stall not far from the ferry to eat noodles. They just murmured their disdain while eating, "It's really unpalatable. You can even fit in like me."
The worst food I’ve had in years.”
Mingda had already put down his chopsticks and asked, "Have you ever eaten food that tastes worse than this before?"
Zhou Man said nothing. Bai Shan and Bai Erlang looked up at her and said vaguely: "Some people are not always good at making things."
For example, Tuesday's sister-in-law's dishes, Zhou Lang's noodles, and all of Manbao's food.
Zhou Man hummed, reluctantly finished the noodles in the bowl, and said to them: "Eat quickly, don't waste it."
Mingda looked at the noodles in her bowl with a troubled expression. Manbao was extremely gentle to her, "If you don't like it, don't eat it. Eat some snacks first to cushion your stomach."
Then she pushed her bowl to Bai Erlang and ordered: "You can eat it."
Bai Erlang grasped the chopsticks tightly, "I, my appetite is a little small..."
Not to mention Zhou Man and Bai Shan, even Ming Da looked at him. Who are you kidding? Did he eat less for lunch one day?