Ten days later, the convoy finally arrived in Jiankang.
They first took the ferry in batches, and then took a car to the foot of the towering city gate tower.
Soldiers were guarding both sides of the city gate, verifying the household registration and travel permits of all merchants and travelers entering the city.
After entering the city, the group first found an inn near the Imperial College to stay in. Chunniang paid the escorts' silver and gave them an additional 20 taels of silver for accommodation.
Jiang Quan then went to the Imperial College to deliver a letter to Jiang Jie.
At noon, Jiang Jie followed his second cousin excitedly to the inn.
"Mother! Sister!" Jiang Jie bowed to Chunniang and Yingbao as soon as he entered the room. "Did you have a smooth journey?"
"Yes." Chun Niang nodded, smiling as she pulled her son over to look at him carefully: "You have grown so tall. Fortunately, mother made the clothes longer."
Jiang Jie scratched his head: "I, I'm not even as tall as my sister."
Yingbao smiled: "In a few years you will be taller than your sister."
The three chatted for a while, and Yingbao asked, "Where does Mr. Wu live? Once we settle down, we will go visit him."
Jiang Jie: "Grandpa Wu is living in Master's house now. I'll take you to visit him when I have my day off."
"Are there any houses for sale in the capital? I brought some money and want to buy a house here so it will be convenient for us to live in." Yingbao asked.
Jiang Jie: "Yes, there is one, but it's a bit out of the way. I once went to the dental clinic with Grandpa Wu to look for one."
Mr. Wu also wanted to buy a house, but because the location was too remote and inconvenient to go up and down, he temporarily lived in his daughter's house.
"It doesn't matter if it's a bit remote, as long as it's in the city." Yingbao handed her brother a package: "There are various fragrant pills and health pills in it, you can use them first."
Jiang Jie took the small package and said with a chuckle, "Grandpa Wu often talks about the pills you prepared. This time he insisted that I write to you and ask you to come over."
Yingbao: ...
In fact, Yingbao had sent pills to her brother and Mr. Wu several times, but because the post office did not accept mail from ordinary people, she could only ask someone to deliver it on her behalf, so it was delayed.
Chunniang asked, "I heard that Magistrate Wu has also come to the capital. Is he also living with his parents at my sister's house?"
Jiang Jie shook his head: "Master Uncle lives in the government office. The emperor said that he will allocate accommodation for them in the future."
The new dynasty had just been stable for a short time, and the officials' residences had not yet been built, so they could only be built slowly.
Jiang Quan walked into the house and handed the food he bought to the two little girls to arrange.
Then he sat down on a chair next to him and said to his little cousin, "Yingbao, let's open a shop in the county town. I just went around and saw that there were so many people setting up stalls and doing business. It was so lively."
"What kind of business are you planning to do?" Yingbao asked.
Jiang Quan blinked: "How about opening a specialty store?"
"Where is the source of goods? Where do you plan to purchase them from?" It is definitely unrealistic and uneconomical to get goods from my hometown.
Because the number of mushroom ears is limited, if they are supplied to my eldest cousin, they cannot be supplied to the capital. And there are not many mushroom ears in my cave, and I can't sell fruits or anything like that.
"Well..." Jiang Quan scratched the back of his head, "How about we open a pastry shop?"
Yingbao thought about it and said, "This is feasible, but I don't think I'll make much money."
The pastry shops in Beijing are all time-honored brands, and their varieties and designs are all fine products, some of which I have never seen before. As for my second cousin's mediocre pastry making skills, they are not even as popular as street snacks.
When Jiang Quan heard this, he immediately wilted.
Chunniang said, "You two brothers should go out and have a look tomorrow. Take a good rest today and get enough rest."
"kindness."
At this time, Mu Dan had already arranged the braised dishes, and got several sets of bowls and chopsticks from the innkeeper, and then went to the kitchen to get a large bucket of rice, and invited the masters to have a meal.
Chunniang sat down at the table with her children and nephew and said, "Hurry up and eat. We will be busy tomorrow."
Several people responded and picked up their chopsticks to eat.
The next day, Yingbao brought Mudan and her second cousin to the dental clinic.
"We want to buy a house nearby. Do you have any suitable property here?"
The broker flipped through the account book and said, "Yes, there are, but those mansions can only be sold to officials above the sixth rank."
He looked at the brother and sister and asked: "What is your husband's official position?"
Ying Bao and Jiang Quan were silent for a while before she asked again, "Where is the house suitable for students of the Imperial College?"
The dealer laughed and opened another booklet: "Here we have it, but the price is a little high. If you can afford it, I'll take you to have a look..."
So, Yingbao chose a courtyard with two entrances and a dozen rooms in total.
There is also a large pond near the yard, covering an area of about ten acres.
However, this pond is not deep. It is full of black silt and filthy water, and many ducks are playing in it.
"Does this pond have an owner?" Yingbao asked.
Broker: "No one, young lady, do you want to buy the pond?"
"I'll just ask. If the price is right, I can buy it and merge it with the house here."
The reason why Yingbao was attracted by the pond was because she was thinking of the house in Qinchuan County.
There happened to be no pond in the yard. If she bought the house together, she would spend money to renovate it, building a waterside pavilion and corridor and digging a lotus pond.
The broker laughed and said, "Young lady, you are really thoughtful. I will go to the county government office to ask. If it can be sold, I will let you know."
Yingbao nodded, and went back to the brokerage office with him to handle the house formalities and register the house under Jiang Jie's name.
Because only Jiang Jie, a student of the Imperial College, was eligible to buy a house in the capital.
Although this house has few rooms and is far from the imperial city, the yard is large enough and there is a lot of open space outside. You can plant some trees and dig out some vegetable plots.
It would be even better if you could buy the pond as well.
After buying the house, Jiang Quan immediately went to find someone to repair the house and the courtyard wall, and also replaced the rotten doors and windows.
The next step is to buy wood and make furniture.
After all the trouble, Yingbao spent more than one thousand taels of silver, including the purchase of the pond next to it.
On this day, Jiang Jie was on leave, and went to visit Mr. Wu and his family with his sister A Niang.
Yingbao took out two baskets of fruits, four jars of fruit wine, and a set of medicine pills wrapped in wax shells from the cave and took them as gifts.
When I arrived at a door, I saw the words "Luo's House" written on the plaque on the door.
This is the home of Mr. Wu’s son-in-law.
Mr. Wu's son-in-law's surname is Luo Mingguang. He is the head of the Ministry of Rites and a sixth-rank official. His house has only two courtyards and more than 20 rooms.
Led by the servants, Yingbao and the others walked into the yard and saw that the front yard was very cramped. Not only were there stables on both sides, but there was also an area set aside for a kitchen.
Pass through the moon gate and walk into the backyard, which is the owner's residence.
I saw a woman in her thirties and two maids standing on the porch. When they saw Yingbao and Chunniang arriving, they hurried down to greet them.
"This must be Sister Jiang." The woman smiled and bowed to Chunniang: "Come in and sit down."
Chunniang and Yingbao quickly returned the greeting.
Jiang Jie said, "Mother, this is Aunt Wu, Grandpa Wu's daughter."
Chunniang smiled and called out, "Hail, Madam Wu."
Yingbao also called out, "Hello, Madam Wu."
"Oh, Sister Jiang, you're too polite. Just call me sister. Come in quickly. It's very hot outside."
Mrs. Wu held Yingbao in one hand and said with a smile, "I always heard my father talk about you. Today I finally saw you, my good child. Thanks to the pills you sent, mother is safe and sound."