Master Su Liu and his servants rested in the inn for a day, and then carefully read the information sent by Song Fei, and considered how to start.
Every big family will cultivate capable confidants. A real young lady from an aristocratic family will prepare them from birth and accompany them until they grow up. They are loyal and reliable.
Ning Guang was no exception. Putting aside the manager who was in charge of the General's Mansion for him, Su Liu couldn't reach out to the General's Mansion. Of course, she wouldn't reach out either. After all, she had no name and no status.
But what Ning Guang gave was different. These days, land deeds, house deeds, etc. belong to whoever is in their hands. The government only recognizes that piece of deed paper, and a thin piece of deed paper is authority.
Therefore, these things belong to her, Su Liu, and she is more qualified than anyone else to take over and deal with them. What? If you are not convinced, you can go to the rightful owner if you are not convinced. Who is willing to give your things to someone else?
Is it okay for people to point fingers?
Of course, Su Liu will not show off her power. She is relying on Ning Guang now. Although he is far away, he is still there. The people around him still have some concerns. If Ning Guang has any shortcomings, will these things be kept?
Living there is really a problem.
Therefore, Su Liu is eager to find some bigger backers. Her biggest potential enemy in Shangjing is actually not anyone, but Ning Guang's parents, and the entire Guang Ning Hou Mansion!
Just think about it, although these things of Ning Guang belong to him, they are not married yet. If there is any accident, they belong to the Marquis of Guang Ning. Here comes a little peasant girl, holding the hand that should belong to the Marquis of Guang Ning.
How can you not hate the things that belong to the government?
With the connections of the Marquis of Guangning, it would be as simple as sneezing to kill a little peasant girl like her.
Su Liu cherished her life very much. She would never go into a head-on confrontation with the Marquis of Guangning without her greatest support.
The person who took care of the business and shop for Ning Guang was one of his bodyguards who retired from the army. His name was Ping Jing. He retired because one of his hands was broken during the war. Ning Guang was also considerate of his subordinates. Ping Jing
He was not simple-minded, so he arranged for him to be the general manager next to him and take charge of external affairs.
Pingjing is only in his mid-thirties, has no special hobbies, the only thing he likes is good wine, and he is still alone to this day.
Ning Guangda has four or five small and large shops, six shops in Beijing, and one secret shop. It is the small gambling shop, which is also the most profitable. Two of the six shops are rented out, with an annual rent of 800
Two, there are a few others who run a teahouse, but their business is very poor, and they look like they are about to close down. There are two people who sell cloth and incense powder, and they can barely make ends meet. The ones who run a restaurant also look like they are about to close down.
As for the industries in other places, they were considered chains, but there were no account books or anything like that, and Su Liu didn't know whether they were making money or not.
All in all, when she saw the businesses in Shangjing, she felt very sad. This was obviously a sign of the situation. To bring these shops back to life, some big steps had to be taken.
Su Liu decided to make an unannounced visit first and asked the inn to arrange a guide to help. Su Liu took the two girls and Mrs. Cui out in their own carriage.
Shangjing is much larger than imagined, and is divided into several urban areas. The royal family and nobles are concentrated in the East City, where the princes, princesses, or princes, grandsons, and princes live. Two streets away, there are also nobles from aristocratic families.
, ordinary civilians do not dare to wander there, lest they bump into nobles and lose their lives.
The person who led Su Liu and the others was a boy who specialized in running errands in the inn. He was very smart and talkative. Along the way, he introduced Su Liu and the others which hotel they were in, and which one the lion, who was two people tall, belonged to.
I talked endlessly about which rouge and gouache are the most popular among ladies and nobles, which one sells the latest and fastest clothes and jewelry, what styles are popular now, and which places have the best food.
Seeing Su Liu smiling sweetly and listening carefully, Shuang Ning asked, "Little boy, do you know where our general's residence is?"
"General? Which general? This sister is among the nobles in the capital. There are several generals. I wonder which one you are talking about?" The little boy looked no more than ten years old, with bright black eyes.
Very clever.
Shuang Ning choked and felt a little embarrassed. Su Liu pursed her lips and smiled softly when she saw it.
"It's the one who was just recalled by the emperor, General Zhenwei." Xueluo couldn't bear Shuang Ning's embarrassment, covered her mouth and snickered, and opened her mouth to relieve herself.
"Oh. It's the residence of General Zhenwei." The little boy groaned, lifted the corner of the car curtain, looked around a few times and said: "No, that is, it is the general's residence given by the emperor. I heard it was the residence of the former dynasty.
The residence of Duke Zhou."
"Girl, look."
Shuang Ning hurriedly lifted the car curtain and signaled Su Liu to look out. Su Liu glared at her, but couldn't help but look out.
There are two majestic stone lions in front of the door. Unlike other people's doors, Ning Guang's door looks like it has just been repainted, but it is black, translucent, and very solemn. The tall plaque on the
, with the same black background and gold paint, it reads "General Ning's Mansion" eye-catchingly. There is a circle of walls surrounding the outside, and you can't see the exquisiteness inside. You can only vaguely see the glazed roofs, one after another.
In fact, there was no need to guess, Su Liu also knew how big it was, and the expenses for such a large mansion must be high. She began to vaguely understand how Ning Guang, as a second-grade official, could be so poor, with only a mere one hundred thousand taels in cash.
I'm afraid all the silver has been used to fill this big hole.
"Let's go."
Su Liu suddenly felt a little wilted and lacked interest. She supported her chin with one hand and began to think hard about how she could run Ning Guang's business and make money if she took over it.
Shuang Ning and Xueluo didn't understand what happened to her suddenly, why she was unhappy after seeing the general's mansion. They looked at each other, Xueluo winked, and they both had a tacit understanding not to bother her.
The little boy is also accustomed to looking at people's faces, and he was sitting very quietly at the moment, no longer talking non-stop.
After walking for two-quarters of an hour, the carriage finally stopped. The little boy took a quick look and said that the teahouse they were coming to had arrived.
"Actually, if a girl wants to drink tea and listen to a play, there are several teahouses in Beijing that are very good. This teahouse is really..." the little boy said hesitantly.
Su Liu smiled faintly and said, "Let's just come and take a look."
The little boy said nothing and jumped out of the car. Xueluo and the others were also preparing to get out of the car, while Granny Cui took out a curtain and wanted to put it on Su Liu.
"We don't need this, right?" Su Liu huffed.
"Girl, do as the Romans do. The girl is old enough to have haircuts, and she is engaged to be married. What will happen if she encounters some abrupt disciple?" Mrs. Cui said sincerely: "Besides, this is Beijing, and girls will always have to do it in the future.
Came to live here.”
What this means is that Su Liu will marry here in the future. If something happens now and people recognize her in the future, it will be bad.
Su Liu also knew that a woman's reputation was particularly important, so she was a little embarrassed, took the curtain over, and asked two girls to help put it on before getting out of the car.
This teahouse in Ningguang is called Cuizhuyuan. The name is elegant, but from the outside, the layout does not match the name. The black doors and windows are lifeless and very old-fashioned.
Su Liu was not in a hurry to go in, but just took a look outside. The location of Cuizhuyuan was not difficult to find. It also faced the main road. Opposite was a book seller and a seller of four treasures of the study. It was said that people would come here.
, there should be a lot of literati, and the business should not be so bad, but looking in from here, there are no customers inside.
Walking slowly into the teahouse, there was only a few tables inside, and two scholar-looking people were discussing the current situation.
The freedom of speech in the Da Qi Dynasty was considered open, and literati and scholars would not be imprisoned for discussing political affairs outside. Unlike in modern times, those who are more sensitive and daring in politics would not dare to speak out easily.
In addition to people chatting and drinking tea, the teahouse also sells tea. As soon as you enter the door, you can see a row of shelves with various tea leaves. There are two or three waiters in the store, two of whom are chatting and chatting.
He nodded and dozed off, and the shopkeeper didn't know where he was.
Seeing Su Liu and others coming in, the two people who were chatting immediately stood up and pushed the dozing waiter, and the three of them walked up diligently.
"Miss, do you want to drink tea or buy tea?" Waiter A asked Su Liu with a special look, and quickly looked at several people. Even the two waiters next to him were looking at people unabashedly.
Su Liu frowned slightly and turned his head slightly. Xueluo asked if there was a private room. The waiter immediately said that there was and led several people up to the second floor.
The private room sounds good. It's just a room with a few large ink paintings and a table. Compared to the hall downstairs, it's nothing special. Oh, the special thing is that the tea is very expensive.
“So expensive!”
When Shuang Ning heard that the price for a pot of West Lake Longjing was fifty taels of silver, she couldn't help but let out a soft scream.
Her voice was not loud, but it was enough for the waiter who was leading the way to hear it. Her face immediately changed, her enthusiasm dropped a few points, and she said lukewarmly: "It's not expensive. Girl, go and find out. Change it."
Those places like Yipin Teahouse cost more than ten times the money! Our Bamboo Garden is reasonably priced."
Being despised, Shuang Ning's face turned red, she lowered her head and remained silent.
No wonder the business is so bad. First of all, the service attitude makes people dissatisfied. Su Liu shook his head secretly and said coldly: "Since a teahouse costs 500 taels per West Lake Longjing, it is naturally expensive. First of all, they
The service there is naturally top-notch, you get what you pay for. Can Cuizhuyuan offer a service of 500 taels? If you don’t look at anything else, just looking at your service, I suspect that the 500 taels are too high."
The waiter was choked back by Su Liu. After suffocating, his face changed several times. He stared at Su Liu as if he was looking for a rebuttal. After a long time, he choked out one sentence: "Is the girl here to drink tea or to cause trouble? No.
Please go out for tea."
"What kind of price and what kind of service? Sure enough, fifty taels for your service attitude is really high!" Su Liu sneered: "No wonder the business of this teahouse is so poor. It's because you are so high-minded."
There are people like you at the top. If I were the shopkeeper, I would be the first to fire you."
This last sentence actually had a bit of a serious tone to it. The waiter was shocked on the spot and didn't know what to say.
