About an hour later, Zhao Hongrun and Shen Yu found the shop on East Street with the Su family's Chu gold plaque hanging on it.
It goes without saying that the Su family refers to the branch of Zhao Hongrun.
According to the customs of the Wei State, in the future, after Zhao Hongrun's descendants have intermarryed with other clans for several generations and lost the status of the royal family of the Ji surnamed Zhao, they can change their surname to the Su family. Zhao Hongrun is the ancestor of the Su family and was demoted to the Gong clan. Gong clan: a great nobleman with impure royal blood. The great nobles at this level are all descended from the royal family, and there are no non-royal surnames. It is possible for nobles with various surnames to rise to the rank of duke.
For example, the current monarch of Wei is Zhao Yuansi, so the true direct bloodline is Zhao Hongrun and his brothers. However, within three generations, Zhao Hongrun's uncles such as Zhao Yuanyan, Zhao Yuanzuo, Zhao Yuanli, etc. , is still regarded as a royal clan.
But after three generations, Zhao Yuanyan, Zhao Yuanzuo, and Zhao Yuanli will slowly break away from the royal family and evolve into side branches of the royal family, but will eventually be downgraded to a public clan.
At that time, the descendants of Zhao Yuanyan, the second uncle of Zhao Hongrun, may be Ji surnamed Yi, or Ji surnamed Zong, and so on. Note: Zhao Yuanyan was granted the title of King Yi and served as Zongzheng of the clan.
This rule is a change made by the Wei State in the past hundred years in order to stabilize the purity of the royal family's bloodline.
After all, this family is like a tree. Although there is only one trunk, the branches become thinner and thinner. The clan does not want to see a random stone thrown on the street hit a member of the royal family, so it specially added got this.
The only exceptions are the princes and kings who were passed down hundreds of years ago, such as King Yuanyang and King Chengling. The ancestors of these people were all the princes and queens who made great contributions and sacrifices for Wei in the early days of the founding of Wei. This was the king's title given by the ancestors, so they were not involved. Otherwise, it would definitely cause an even stronger backlash.
And Chu Jin actually refers to the copperware of the Chu State, that is, bronze. Note: "Gold" in ancient times generally refers to copper, not gold.
Therefore, it is not difficult to guess that Su's Chu Jin is a shop that specializes in selling Chu bronzes.
After asking Shen Yu to tie the two traveling horses to the hitching posts outside the shop, Zhao Hongrun stepped into the shop.
I saw that the interior of this shop was decorated in a Chu style. The wooden shelves were filled with all kinds of Chu bronzes, including cooking utensils, food utensils, wine utensils, water utensils, musical instruments, chariot and horse decorations, and bronze mirrors. , charcoal furnaces, etc., there are even several half-foot-high bronze tripods, and the most eye-catching one is probably the bronze furnace that is more than one foot high.
Perhaps because he saw Zhao Hongrun looking around in the store, a young man dressed as a waiter came up to him with a smile on his face and said politely: "My dear guest, may I ask you..." As soon as he said this, the young man's expression changed. He changed slightly and called out in surprise: "His Royal Highness King Su?"
Zhao Hongrun looked at this young man who was similar to himself and asked unexpectedly: "Do you recognize me?"
I saw the young man saying sarcastically: "Prince Su, my servant is from the palace. My father is an errand in Prince Su's guard..."
"Oh." Zhao Hongrun nodded suddenly, thinking that he was from Prince Su's palace, no wonder he recognized him.
Perhaps it was the first time he had such close contact with Zhao Hongrun. The young man seemed very excited and kept saying: "When did His Highness Prince Su return to Daliang? Uh... This servant is talking too much. I hope Prince Su is not to blame..." Your Highness Prince Su is here to find the young lady, right? The young lady is settling accounts in the house behind the shop at the moment."
"Settling accounts?" Zhao Hongrun glanced at the young man who was obviously chatty.
"Yes. The little madam has recorded the income and expenditure of the store in the account book. It's not nearly the end of the month, and it's the end of the year. The little madam has to calculate the income and expenditure for this month..."
"..."
That girl... still has this ability?
Zhao Hongrun was a little surprised, because in his impression, Yang Shixing, a little girl who definitely suffered from persecution delusion, was not only very well-behaved and obedient, but also didn't know how to run a business.
But when he thought of Yang Yanxing's grandfather, Yang Yantao, the current magistrate of Shangshui County, Zhao Hongrun didn't feel strange at all.
After all, that old man was simply a born black-hearted businessman, a philistine, a flatterer, a snobbery, greedy, and opportunistic. He was a bastard who would not hesitate to trick his own granddaughter into crawling into Zhao Hongrun's bed for the benefit of himself and his family.
Sometimes Zhao Hongrun really feels sorry for Yang Shixing: How could such a well-behaved and gentle little girl end up with such a bastard grandfather?
When Zhao Hongrun lifted the curtain and walked into the inner room at the back of the store, he immediately saw Yang Yanxing sitting at the table seriously, holding a brush that was a bit too big for her in her little hand, frowning and writing.
What are you wearing? His young face is full of seriousness.
…
I don't know what happened, but Zhao Hongrun leaned against the door and looked at her quietly.
He suddenly discovered that besides being cute and well-behaved, this girl seemed to have something else...
After about a few breaths, Zhao Hongrun was trembling all over, covering his forehead and letting out a breath.
She is only fourteen, she is only fourteen, she is only fourteen...
After muttering a few words in his mind, Zhao Hongrun walked over and wanted to see what made this little girl frown.
Was it actually a silent calculation of income and expenses?
Watching the little girl put down her brush and calculate with a troubled expression on her fingers, Zhao Hongrun found it very interesting.
What's even more interesting is that this girl's chubby face was stained with an ink stain. I don't know when it was stained.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun held back a smile and reminded her: "Two hundred and sixty-three pieces of silver, six thousand three hundred and twenty-one large coins, and five hundred and forty small coins."
"Huh?" Yang Shixing turned around in surprise and saw Zhao Hongrun standing behind him. His expression was stunned, and then he grabbed the writing brush and rushed forward, calling happily: "Husband."
Originally, Zhao Hongrun wanted to remind her to pay attention to the brush in her hand, but when he heard the word "husband", he was shocked that he didn't take the brush in Yang Yanxing's hand seriously at all.
"Hey, hey, don't yell nonsense."
As soon as he finished speaking, the little girl raised her head in his arms, with a confused face, and said: "I'm not yelling nonsense, Your Highness is your husband..."
Looking at those innocent eyes, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but recall the way the little girl was sitting at the table just now, settling accounts, and his heart trembled slightly: because of his negligence, such a weak woman, no, girl, no,
It's a girl, let her shoulder the entire expenses of Prince Su's Mansion.
"When did your husband return to Daliang?" Yang Yanxing asked.
"Today." After Zhao Hongrun answered subconsciously, he realized that he had actually acquiesced to the title of this woman's husband.
"Why did your husband come back here?"
"..." Zhao Hongrun looked deeply at the little girl, selectively ignored the address of husband, and said in a deep voice: "I went back to the palace and heard from people in the palace that you opened a shop here, so I came to see you.
look……"
Hearing this, the little girl seemed to realize something, her face turned slightly pale, and she said timidly: "I made my own decision and opened this shop, my husband won't be angry, right?"
Zhao Hongrun naturally guessed why the little girl showed such a fearful expression. It was simply that she opened this store without Zhao Hongrun's permission. After all, women in Chu State had almost no status.
Well, in fact, the status of women in Wei State is generally not high.
After thinking about it, Zhao Hongrun deliberately said with a straight face: "If you want me not to be angry, you first tell me the purpose of opening the store."
The little girl quietly left Zhao Hongrun's arms, lowered her head as if she had done something wrong, and said hesitantly: "After my husband went to war, there was no business in the house..."
Out of fear, she secretly glanced at Zhao Hongrun's expression after saying a few words, and it took her a long time to explain clearly.
In fact, it can be summed up in one sentence: When Zhao Hongrun led his army to the expedition, he did not leave any money for Prince Su's palace, and the palace also had no channels for making money. The little girl saw that the family's livelihood could not be sustained, so she tried every means to open this place.
All the money earned from the store is used to support the family.
After hearing these words, Zhao Hongrun felt a little sad and guilty.
"I'm not angry..." He sighed softly, took the initiative to hold the frightened Yang Yanxing in his arms, and said sincerely: "Thank you for your hard work."
Maybe it was because this was the first time Zhao Hongrun took the initiative to hug himself. The fear that was still on Yang Toixing's face had already been replaced by surprise. His chubby face turned slightly red and he said happily: "My husband is serious about taking care of the family business.
This is the slave’s job..."
What a good woman, it’s a pity that she is fourteen years old...
Zhao Hongrun's heart trembled, and he quickly let go of him quietly, changing the topic and asked: "But where did you get the money to buy this shop and those bronzes from the Chu Kingdom... I looked at the workmanship
It’s quite delicate.”
"The slave wrote a letter home and asked someone to send it to Shangshui to give it to his grandfather. My grandfather bought these utensils for the slave and also shipped several boxes of copper coins..."
Mom’s money?
Zhao Hongrun muttered, and then after realizing it, he quickly threw this incredible thought behind him.
"Your grandfather?"
Looking at Yang Yanxing, Zhao Hongrun subconsciously thought of the old man Yang Yanxing with a flattering smile on his face.
In his opinion, following others' influence definitely refers to guys like this old man.
But having said that, although Yang Yantao was following the crowd, he even let his then thirteen-year-old granddaughter climb into Zhao Hongrun's bed in order to cling to him. He was simply an inhumane villain, but it is undeniable that this guy does know how to behave, and...
He is really quite capable, at least Shangshui County is now managed in an orderly manner by him.
He is considered a villain with talent but no virtue.
But no matter what, Zhao Hongrun still didn't want to have anything to do with that guy.
"Girl, you asked your natal family... Bah! How much did you borrow from your grandfather? I will give it to you and pay back the money."
Unexpectedly, when Yang Shixing heard this, he hurriedly said: "No! The loan period has not yet expired. My grandfather borrowed the slave money, but he received two cents in interest. If we pay back the money early, wouldn't our couple lose money and earn for grandfather in vain?
money?"
Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this. He didn't bother to care about our couple's words, and asked in surprise: "Yang Shitao actually charges a profit when he lends you money?"
"My husband is also very angry, right?" the little girl said angrily, waving her fists and saying, "I want to earn this money back!"
"..."
Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth, but was speechless.
That villain with talent but no virtue is really smart... (To be continued.)