In the first month, I spent a lot of money and basically had no money left. In the second month, I earned two hundred taels, which was pretty good. Then I gave 20% of the profits as dividends, which really surprised Shopkeeper Ma.
"Little boss, this... is actually not necessary."
Although Shopkeeper Ma was amazed by Zhu Hao's business skills before, he was determined to return to work under Su Xigui and did not want to stay in Anlu for a long time.
Now Zhu Hao takes out the money...
The feeling is obviously different from before.
Zhu Hao said: "This matter has been decided, don't say any more. From now on, my mother and I can't show up too much. I need you to pay more attention to business matters, especially keep an eye on the shopkeepers and clerks below... This industry is very good."
If it’s too deep, they may not be able to grasp it!”
"well!"
Shopkeeper Ma was excited and seemed to be convinced of Zhu Hao.
…
…
Zhu Hao did not send Shopkeeper Ma out of the palace gate, but stopped at the gate of the west courtyard.
After watching Shopkeeper Ma leave the west gate of the palace, Zhu Hao went back to his dormitory to put down his books and went to the cafeteria for lunch.
After Lu Song saw off his guests, he came back into the canteen and sat down directly next to Zhu Hao. The master chef in the kitchen immediately came to serve the food.
As a representative of the palace, Lu Song did not eat small dishes on weekdays, but ate big pot dishes with everyone, but his treatment was different from ordinary people. Any good dishes were given to him first.
Jinghong looked at the chicken legs and pickled pork with pickled vegetables in Lu Song's bowl, with a hint of envy in his eyes. Lu Song politely pushed the plate with the food in front of Zhu Hao and Jinghong.
"You guys eat."
What Lu Song meant was that he just came in and sat down, and I can give you my share.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Is something wrong with Lu Dianzhan?"
Lu Song said: "Zhu Hao, it seems that your Di store business is quite profitable. You have a profit of two hundred taels in one month?"
"Lu Dianzhan, you are responsible for the profits and losses of your business. There were many merchants purchasing goods locally before the year, so naturally you will earn more. From the year after the year until the spring famine, most people in the city are frugal, so I will have no money... Lu Dianzhan will not think that
Does this include the money I earn from the royal family?"
Zhu Hao explained seriously, not wanting Lu Song to misunderstand.
Naturally, Lu Song would not think wildly. Although he was not very clear about the details of the business between the palace and Zhu Hao, he also knew that the palace had taken advantage of it. Everyone in the palace relied heavily on Zhu Hao and Su Xigui behind him, and would not rush out to sing the opposite.
Lu Song sighed: "I think that since you can make money, you should use it more to improve your family situation, instead of... why do you give your shopkeeper so much money?"
"To win people's hearts."
Zhu Hao's answer was straightforward.
So much so that Lu Song felt that Zhu Hao might have some ulterior motive for telling him so openly.
Zhu Hao said: "My mother is a chaste woman given by the imperial court, so it is not convenient for her to come forward. I am studying in the palace and will take the imperial examination next year, and I have no time to take care of the business. The store is entirely supported by shopkeeper Ma. I share part of the profits to enable him to do so."
Work hard. Why don't Lu Dianzhan join in and I'll give you a share?"
Lu Song shook his head, now he didn't know what to say.
I thought to myself, should I say that this guy is generous to others, or that you are short-sighted? Are you complacent about giving out so much money at once?
"When Lu Dianzhan does business with me, you don't have to show up personally or take shares. There are many ways to cooperate..." Zhu Hao suggested with a smile.
Lu Song waved his hand quickly: "It goes without saying, I have no intention of doing business. Zhu Hao, you are an outstanding scholar. You should make a difference in the imperial examination and don't focus on sideways. My advice is offensive to my ears, so I take my leave."
After Lu Song left, Jinghong asked in confusion: "What did Lu Dianzhan mean by what he just said?"
Zhu Hao said: "There is something good to eat. If you don't hurry up, do you still want to inquire about other situations?"
Jinghong did not move Kuaizi, and a trace of sadness appeared on his face: "It's like this, I heard from my father that the Ministry of Civil Affairs has appointed a new magistrate of Changshou County, and he will have to leave Anlu at the beginning of next year. This time he will go home...
…It’s not certain whether I can return to the palace after the year.”
"oh?"
Zhu Hao looked at Jinghong in surprise.
Didn’t Tang Yin say that he would not leave office until the second half of next year as the magistrate of Jingxian County? How come it is so early? On the contrary, the magistrate of Jingzhou will stay in office!
In this case, what will happen to the county examination next year?
It completely disrupts the rhythm of preparing for the exam!
Seeing that Jinghong was dejected, Zhu Hao roughly understood that his friend had suffered a major setback in his life, and felt hesitant and helpless about his future. To put it bluntly, he just didn't want to leave Prince Xing's Mansion.
With a famous teacher like Tang Yin to guide me, and being able to grow up with the prince, and with a good friend like Zhu Hao, returning to my hometown... would be like suddenly returning to the deep mountains and forests from the bustling city.
Jinghong sighed and said quietly: "I will ask my father to let me stay in the palace, but this matter... I don't know, the palace may have already made arrangements for my stay."
Zhu Hao smiled.
Every year when the new year comes, it seems that the accompanying readers in the palace have to worry about whether they can stay in the next year.
The two left the palace together last year and were not recruited back until February this year.
This time, it was Jinghong who felt that he would not last long in the palace. Today might be his last day in the palace, which made him, who had always been competitive, feel very frustrated.
"Fight for it, and I will help you... If you stay in Anlu and have nowhere to go, I can provide you with a place to live, but you can't live in my house. It's inconvenient. I have several places to stay in the city.
You can take your pick..."
With Zhu Hao's current financial resources, it is not difficult to take care of everything for Jinghong.
Jinghong's face became more relaxed after hearing this. If he really stayed in Anlu and did not go back to his hometown with his father, how to settle down would be the biggest problem.
"Is this the proverbial cunning rabbit with three burrows?"
Jinghong was actually in the mood to joke at this time.
Zhu Hao nodded: "Isn't that right? I have more than three caves. You can live in any one you want."
Jinghong shook his head: "If I stay in Anlu, I will only live in the palace. If I go out occasionally, I don't have to stay overnight. It allows me to study with the people I know in the palace... This is very good."
…
…
Self-study class in the afternoon.
Nothing happened until the end of school, when Zhu Hao said goodbye to Zhu San, Zhu Si and others. They agreed to see each other again next year and then went home.
Zhu Si originally wanted to pester Zhu Hao and ask Zhu Hao to give him something good to play with during the New Year, but Zhu Hao declined.
Zhu Hao went back to the dormitory to pack his things and was about to leave when Lu Song arrived again: "Yuan Changshi is waiting to see you outside."
Zhu Hao had no choice but to stop what he was doing and walked with Lu Song to the gate of the west courtyard, where he saw Yuan Zonggao talking to his grandson Yuan Rulin.
"Grandpa, Zhu Hao is here. Grandson is waiting at the door first."
Yuan Rulin went towards the gate.
Yuan Zonggao looked at Zhu Hao with a smile, his eyes full of wisdom like an old fox's insight into human nature, but Zhu Hao would not give him a chance.
"Zhu Hao, I'm looking for you this time to tell you something... The time for next year's county examination has been set. It's on the ninth day of February. In total, there are only more than a month left, and the county magistrate of Jing is about to step down.
In the coming year, both the county and prefecture examinations will be presided over by the magistrate, and the prefecture examination will be held on February 26th..."
Zhu Hao nodded: "In such a hurry?"
Yuan Zonggao said: "The candidates from Anlu Prefecture gathered in Changshou County. If the government examination is postponed to April, it will only cause the candidates to go back and forth. The war in the north has not stopped yet. There are also bandits and bandits in the south and north of the Yangtze River.
It is not safe, and this is for the sake of the candidates.
"If nothing else happens, with your talents, you can pass the county examination and the government examination will not be difficult. After the year, you and I will go to see the Confucianism in this state together... Also, do you have any problems with the relationship?"
Zhu Hao thought to himself, Yuan Zonggao is so considerate?
The county examination is already a formal imperial examination. The mutual guarantee means that five candidates of the same examination will guarantee each other. If one person cheats, five people will sit together. The guarantee means that the officials and gentry will issue a guarantee...
Although it was just a formality, there was really no way to take part in the imperial examination without it.
Considering the relationship between Zhu Hao and his family, it is obviously unrealistic to expect the Zhu family to provide guarantees and find people to cooperate with. The palace is afraid that the Zhu family will create obstacles for Zhu Hao's imperial examination and cause trouble, and does not allow local officials and candidates to have contact with Zhu Hao.
After contacting him, Zhu Hao was unable to complete his preparations for the exam.
Zhu Hao lowered his head and said, "I haven't told my family yet..."
Yuan Zonggao smiled and nodded: "Then let me arrange it for you. Do you have any objection?"
"Um."
Zhu Hao nodded heavily.
"Furthermore, the palace gives some holiday gifts to the people in the palace every year. You haven't received them yet, have you? Someone will send them to you tomorrow..."
Yuan Zonggao actually took the initiative to care about the palace reading the Boxing Ceremony to Zhu Hao, his companion?
Something fishy!
Zhu Hao said: "Yuan Changshi, actually there is no need. It would be great if I could stay in the palace to study. Now... my life at home has improved a lot."
We need to give Yuan Zonggao a start, so that this old fox who likes to beat around the bush can get to the point as soon as possible.
Yuan Zonggao smiled and said: "I heard that your father-in-law recently took over the collapsed house business and provided a lot of goods to the palace, right? Among them..."
Zhu Hao waved his hand hurriedly: "Mr. Yuan, in fact, all this was arranged by Su Dongzhu, who is doing business with us. My mother and I just made arrangements in the middle. The specific details... we don't know very well."
May I not know what Yuan Zonggao’s plan is?
Even if you, Yuan Zonggao, no longer target Zhang Zuo, you are still here to inquire about the purchase and sale of supplies by the palace. Now you don’t have the accounts, what are the expenses, and how the procurement is carried out. You don’t understand the details and want to find a breakthrough from me?
Then I will tell you directly, we are just pushing it to the front as a cover, the real operator is Su Xigui, if you are looking for trouble, just go to him, don't look for trouble with us orphans and widowed mothers.
The smile on Yuan Zonggao's face faded, and he said in a serious tone: "The boss Ma who came to the palace earlier is yours?"
"In name..."
Zhu Hao couldn't help but glance at Lu Song.
Wouldn't this guy just turn his face and tell Yuan Zonggao about the forty-tael silver bonus he gave Ma Yan?
When Yuan Zonggao saw that I gave Shopkeeper Ma such a large sum of money, he realized that Su Xigui was actually a cover, and the real person in charge was me. By the way, he could also find a breakthrough in me, and then he came to find it right away?
Yuan Zonggao said: "If you have time, please help introduce Mr. Ma. I have some things that are inconvenient to ask you, so you can ask him. The palace will purchase a lot of things in the coming year. I want to make it clear so that there will be no mistakes in the accounts."
Old fox, old fox, do you think I don’t know that you have not taken over the management of the treasury now?
No matter how much the palace purchases, does it have anything to do with you, Yuan Zonggao?