Time flies so fast, and suddenly, several years have passed. The Xue Song family lives peacefully and peacefully in the capital.

When Xue Qiu reached the age of enlightenment, Xue Song and Fang had already taught him to recognize a lot of words and read some books at home. Xue Song was not like ordinary teachers who forced Xue Qiu to memorize by rote and ignored the children.

The child couldn't understand. He picked some simple content and gave it to him in detail.

Explain the meaning. To this end, he also made charcoal sketches himself and compiled a book that collects fables and stories as a teaching material. Seeing that Xue Qiu liked it very much, Xue Song made a thought and found a printing workshop to print a batch.

Put it in a bookstore and sell it on consignment.

At that time, there were many scholars who spent their own money to print books. As long as the content was not rebellious or immoral, no one would care about those who slandered the saints. However, most people printed their own poetry collections and took them out.

Give it away to others, show off your talents and knowledge to become famous.

Xue Song was not interested in publishing any collection of essays. After passing the imperial examination, he no longer wanted to touch on classics and essays. For poetry, he often read outstanding Tang poetry, Song lyrics and ancient prose, but occasionally he became interested.

He felt that the works he wrote were ordinary, so he didn’t need to show off his shame. He also didn’t have the problem of self-admiration like literati. He was dealing with figures and accounts all day long in the household department. Isn’t it normal to have no leisure time? Isn’t it normal?

Xue Song had never thought about making money by selling this book, but he was just curious about how the response would be. He was not short of money, and the business of the Southeast Company was gradually getting on the right track. It must be said that overseas trade is really profitable, and the spices from Nanyang,

Fine wood and various gemstones are not worth much locally, but if they are brought to China, they are valuable.

Similarly, exquisite items such as silk, tea, porcelain and cloth from the south of the Yangtze River are also popular in Nanyang. By going back and forth like this, you can get several times the profit. Moreover, through Xie Ping's efforts,

I have made more friends with Nanyang merchants, and after opening up this trade route, I don’t need to spend too much energy.

The sea trade business is so profitable, but not everyone can do it. The Xue family was able to gain a foothold in this industry, in addition to good luck, it also relied on the Xue family's status as an imperial merchant and Xue Song's official position and connections.

Because of this, the local government would not think of embarrassing them, and the local snakes would not dare to use force or blackmail. It can be said that the Xue family firm has won at the starting line from the beginning. If it were an ordinary businessman,

It's never that easy to succeed in this business. I don't know how many twists and turns you have to go through and how many ups and downs you have to do. You can only make a hard-earned money!

The Wang family did have some influence in the southeast, but it was never as prominent as Wang Zisheng boasted. Moreover, Xue Song told Xie Ping that he would rather spend some money to maintain close relations with local officials and pay some grudges.

Seasonal New Year Rituals

, don’t leave even the low-level officials behind, but don’t go looking for connections with the Wang family and owe them favors. Otherwise, when the Wang family is in trouble in the future, they will definitely use this to blackmail them. If they get a little light now, I’m afraid

Don’t give it back ten times or a hundred times!

The Xue family has shops in various provinces, with many varieties and sufficient manpower. After making money from the southeast sea trade, Xue Song also opened a shop in the capital.

He bought a shop in a good location close to the area where officials and people gathered, and used the front as a storefront. There were three large rooms in a row, which were spacious and bright, and decorated very decently and elegantly. They dealt in jewelry, silk and satin, spices, and women's cosmetics respectively.

Wait. There’s something waiting in the shop in front.

There are all kinds of goods, arranged neatly, with specially arranged seats and small tables, decorated with various flowers and green plants. It looks very high-end and prestigious. Guests can sit down and slowly drink tea and choose.

There are several courtyards at the back, exclusive for guests, with different styles.

The Grand View Garden in Dream of Red Mansions is very well built, perfectly blending nature and luxury. Xue Song vaguely remembered several famous scenes in the Grand View Garden in the book. He was interested and arranged a simplified and elegant layout according to the introduction in the book.

Simplified, low-end versions of 'Xiaoxiang Pavilion', 'Qiu Shuangzhai', and 'Hengwu Garden'. Xue Song thinks these are the most distinctive, each has its own charm, and is very moving, like 'Yihong Courtyard'.

I'm sorry, it's too rich and flashy.

Xue Song shamelessly plagiarized these elegant names, and those shops were handed over to the Fang family. The maid sent by the Wang family was later renamed Juhua, and was appointed as the stewardess by the Fang family, and sold her

As a slave, she was promised a good salary, plus dividends. The more goods she sold, the more income she would earn. Juhua was valued by the Fang family, and she was grateful in her heart. Under the heavy reward, she

Trading is even more important.

Xue Song and Fang didn't make a mistake. Juhua did have a good taste in fashion and aesthetics. She was good at observing people's emotions and was very good at talking. She was what modern people call high emotional intelligence. She was able to deal with many female guests like a fish in water and deal with them.

Decent. As this business gets better and better, Miss Juhua's income also increases. She is also very diligent and frugal. Over the past few years, she has also accumulated a considerable amount of money.

Ju Hua was originally from a good family. She had learned some calligraphy and read some books since she was a child. After her parents died unfortunately, she was sold as a slave by her grandmother in a disaster year. When she was in the Wang family, she also gained a lot of knowledge in this aristocratic family.

Because of her good looks, she was sent to the Xue family as a toy.

Therefore, Juhua cherishes this job and is enthusiastic and dedicated. She goes out early every day and comes home late every day, and devotes herself wholeheartedly. After she was freed, she became more satisfied with life. Because of her childhood experiences and the reception she received in the Wang family during the weekdays.

Based on what the guest saw, she no longer wanted to get married. She was getting older and couldn't find a good family. Besides, she had a good job and accumulated money. Isn't it better than being taught by her husband's family?

Not to mention commoner women, there are also those noble ladies from high families who are glamorous on the face but full of bitterness behind their backs. Just like the aunt from the Wang family who married into the Rongguo Mansion. I heard that she still has trouble eating even a meal.

I don’t know if I have to stand and wait for my mother-in-law to eat.

What is the use of so many maids in the house? Also, the ladies have to be angry and troubled with the concubines, aunts, concubines and concubines at home. What’s the fun of living in such a life, even if they are rich? It’s as comfortable as the grandma at home.

Good luck, but so rare!

Juhua thought twice and asked the Fang family. With the help of the Xue family, she set up a female household in the government and treated herself as if she had no relatives. Later, Juhua continued to use the money she saved through hard work and thrift.

After buying land, I finally had a property of dozens of acres, a small shop and a house. After a few years, I also adopted a boy and raised him, and my life was very smooth.

Juhua's change made Xue Song very emotional, and she felt a sense of accomplishment in her heart. When she first came to Xue's house, Juhua had a low eyebrow and regarded herself as a slave. Now she is busy every day, but her eyes are shining with brilliance.

Personally, the feeling before and after is completely different.

It can be seen that even in this ancient society that was so harsh on women, as long as there is determination and opportunity, you can change your destiny! God helps those who help themselves. For such a woman, Xue Song is very willing to help. If you just want to rely on

Others come to rescue, but Xue Song doesn't feel that he has this obligation. There are many miserable people in the world, can he be saved?

What is sold in the shop are all high-quality products. They use the finest gems and jade from Nanyang and hire skilled craftsmen with high salaries to carefully design and make various styles of jewelry. Xue Song sometimes recalls the many unique styles of later generations and chooses those that are more likely to be worn by such people.

What is accepted all over the world is that you draw the shape with charcoal and hand it over to the masters to make it. The novel style also attracts many customers.

The three shops are all connected to each other. The female customers came to see the jewelry and couldn't help but buy a lot of exquisite clothing materials. They were also attracted by the rouge, powder, lipstick and so on. There are many items used up and down the shop.

The people are all women, ladies and gentlemen

There is no need to avoid suspicion. The courtyard at the back has a very nice view, and the distinguished guests are treated attentively, and the tea and snacks prepared are also very particular. The women showed them various items in detail, and also gave them some reference suggestions thoughtfully. While talking and laughing,

The business is done.

Gradually, the Xue family's shop became the favorite place for the female relatives of the surrounding official families. Although they were not the highest-status ladies in the capital, they were still of high status and had good spending power. In this era,

People's lives are monotonous, and women stay at home all day long. Apart from going to temples to burn incense and worship Buddha, and visiting relatives, they have no other entertainment.

Then, the acquaintances of the female family members made an appointment to meet regularly in the Xue family's shop, drink tea, eat snacks, and talk comfortably. Before they knew it, half a day passed happily. Of course, the ladies didn't want anything.

I would buy less, otherwise I would be eating and drinking for free and being warmly entertained as a distinguished guest. What a loss of face!

Xue Song consulted many experiences of later generations to run his business. He had limited energy and could only do relatively high-value businesses, and those wealthy officials and women's dependents were the ones who made the most money. The Xue family provided not only

High-quality goods also have emotional value that makes them happy and comfortable. Therefore, even if the goods in Xue's shop are more expensive, their reputation is getting bigger and bigger, and their business is getting better and better.

Think about the luxury goods of later generations, how high the profits will be. The richest man in Europe is the owner of a famous luxury brand. These shops and the merchants in the southeast have brought a steady stream of profits to Xue Song, and the Xue family's life is very abundant. Therefore,

, spend some small money to develop your own interests, even if you lose everything, it doesn't matter.

At first, no one cared about the book. Gradually, someone saw the book on the recommendation of the bookstore owner. They thought it was interesting and inexpensive, so they bought it for their children. Unexpectedly, the children suddenly

Once I read it, I couldn't put it down, and I remembered many fables and allusions clearly.

In this way, Xue Song's books gained some reputation through word of mouth. In the hearts of the scholars in the capital, Xue Song was naturally not a famous Confucian scholar with profound knowledge, but he still had character (to stand up to fight against the rebels).

His neighbor Dr. Sun had already made him famous in the Imperial College for his selfless rescue of women and children.) He was a capable, interesting, broad-minded and open-minded scholar. He began to have a name in the circle of civil servants.

When Xue Qiu was six or seven years old, he was old enough to go to school. Xue Song first chose a school for him that had a good reputation, a knowledgeable teacher, good character, and was also considered an enlightened school to educate him. Every morning, Xue Qiu got up and taught him the following instructions:

Xue Qiu's request is to exercise for half an hour after washing.

After breakfast, he rode a little donkey to school in high spirits, followed by the book boy. Xue Song didn't want Xue Qiu to grow up to be a weak scholar. He had seen Jia Zhu from the Jia family, and looked at her energetic spirit.

He looked very full of energy. Thinking of the child's fate, Xue Song could only sigh.

Suddenly there was a tremor in the court. The foreigners on the border gradually became dissatisfied. The army put forward a request to strengthen armaments and asked the Ministry of Household Affairs for money and food. However, the Ministry of Household Affairs also complained endlessly, and the treasury was empty and could not get it out!

Xue Song has been in the Ministry of Revenue for several years and is well aware of this situation. Not only that, he also knows the reason for the empty treasury.

The past few years have not been good. Some places in the north and northwest have been hit by disasters. The court wants to release grain and reduce taxes, so the revenue from the treasury has been reduced. And, more importantly, for many years, the courtiers have continued to borrow money from the treasury. Borrow
Chapter completed!