Because Guan Yong stayed in the capital, Zhou Dalang left his daughter and son-in-law at home. Living in the capital was not easy. The Guan family could not afford a house in the capital, and the cost of renting a house was not low.
Zhou Lixin and Guan Yong walked home through the corridor, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Zhou Li: "From now on, the family's worries are gone, and the rest is to be cautious in words and deeds."
Zhou Li said: "Grandma mentioned it before, let my father and the others keep a low profile outside, and don't use the name of sister-in-law if they can."
Now Zhou Lixue and the others are just petty officials and cannot protect the family, so Zhou Zhoulang and the others still have to use Zhou Man's official post when they run into trouble in business.
It didn't take long for the Zhou family to end, and both Mr. Zhuang and Mrs. Liu knew the result.
Knowing the result, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Mr. Zhuang smiled slightly, sent the five people who came to deliver the letter, and said to him: "It's getting late, you have to go to school tomorrow, go back and rest."
Wutou scratched his head, "It's noisy, sir." Then he ran away.
Mrs. Liu watched with a smile on her face as Fang and the others came to take back the children who were playing crazy. Seeing that they kept looking back and did not want to leave, she greeted the children and said, "Come over to play tomorrow, and I will ask your grandma Zheng You make delicious snacks."
The children then went home with their respective mothers without struggling.
After seeing off a group of naughty children, Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly said to her mother-in-law: "Mother, the Zhou family is not separated."
Mrs. Liu nodded and said, "I heard it all, it's a good thing."
Even though the family is separated, the surname is still Zhou. To Zhou Man, the six elder brothers are still six elder brothers, but they are separated, far less than the aura of twisting together at this time.
Mrs. Zheng also felt that this was a good thing, and asked happily, "Do you want to cook more delicious food to celebrate tomorrow?"
Mrs. Liu couldn't help giving her an angry look, "This matter should be low-key, and you can't make a big deal of it. Instead, you can make more snacks and send them over. After all, it's a good thing. It's okay for everyone to be happy."
The Zhou family was indeed very low-key, and the next day they chose a time when there would not be many people working in the county government office.
Because there was no official post for Zhou Man, although the people in the county government recognized Zhou Lijun and Zhou Zhoulang, they didn't take it too seriously.
Because both parties were voluntary, and they brought enough money to pay, it was done quickly.
Zhou Lijun simply applied for a document to leave the customs again. Xiang Mingxue is still a good householder and not a merchant. Although he is restricted to become an official and his caravan is not smaller than Zhou Zhoulang's, he has a lot of land.
The farms passed down from the Xiang family's ancestors, as well as the fields left by the clan members after their deaths, the emperor returned all to Xiang Mingxue after the king of Yizhou was killed in order to show his generosity, express his guilt and appease the nobles in the court.
Anyone who trades what is produced in the field will not be considered a merchant.
With the size of the Xiang family's fields, he would be recognized as a merchant unless he lost a large amount of land or traded large-scale non-field-produced commodities such as porcelain.
Da Jin didn't only suppress merchants, it also had conveniences.
After becoming a merchant, it is much more convenient to go to the merchant.
For example, the caravan formed by Wendi, Zhou Zhoulang, and others who are not merchants, has to be stamped again every time they reach some checkpoints, and pass after paying taxes;
But the business registration is different. They can set off after taking the documents at the starting point, and the road is smooth, unless they need to re-stamp when they pass some important checkpoints.
But the speed is much faster than them, and the procedure is different.
Forget it, the imperial court occasionally encourages merchants, and will reduce or exempt some commercial taxes. Originally, the tax was 30 yuan. In order to attract merchants to pass the customs, some places will reduce the commercial tax to 40 tax yuan, or return part of it after 30 tax yuan.
As for these, Zhou Zhoulang and the others are not merchants, they don't have any.
Of course, this is rarely the case.
Zhou Lijun issued a document in his own name and handed it to Zhou Zhoulang, "Remember to change it along the way, and replace it with my document when we arrive in Xiazhou."
Zhou Zhoulang had a headache, "We have to change along the way, or we will change it next time? Otherwise, wouldn't we have to pay an extra sum of money? And when people ask me, how should I answer?"
"Just say that your business was bought by me, and you are now my manager."
Zhou Zhoulang: "... All right, you have the final say."
Because they were low-key enough, no one noticed that the Zhou family's business had changed quietly. It was only when the county magistrate Guo discovered Zhou Lijun's name when he checked the accounts, that he knew that the Zhou family had put all the business under Zhou Lijun's name.
He raised his eyebrows, thinking of the recent undercurrents in the court, he closed the book and handed it to the master, "No problem, seal the file."
The master should answer. He used to follow Tang He. He knew that Tang He and the Zhou family had a good relationship. This account was also specially shown to the county magistrate Guo. Seeing that he didn't seem to respond, he also put the matter aside. File archive.
When the magistrate Guo left, he couldn't help but shook his head and smiled, "They are clever, and they can always be one step ahead."
Bai Shan, who was one step ahead, also asked for help, so Mr. Zhuang went to the Ministry of Industry for them to wander around. Liu Huan took the initiative to take him around, "There are many powerful adults in the Ministry of Industry, some are particularly good at repairing water conservancy, and some Those who build palaces and gardens, and those who are good at designing weapons, but about ferries... I asked around, and it seems that Master Cui is better."
"Master Cui?"
"Yes, Cui Wei, Master Cui," Liu Huan looked around, and said in a low voice, "Master Cui is actually the best at building bridges and paving roads, but the Cui family dislikes Master Cui's entry into the Ministry of Industry, and Master Cui has a somewhat withdrawn personality. I don’t really like talking to people, so I might not be able to please him.”
Mr. Zhuang asked: "You said he would build the ferry, did he build it before?"
"It's Hedu," Liu Huan said, "I don't know much about it, so I checked it from the files. In the past ten years, he participated in the construction of four ferry crossings funded by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and two of them were based on his drawings. , I asked my colleagues, and they all said that they want to build a sea ferry, so it’s best to ask Master Cui for advice.”
Mr. Zhuang nodded and went to visit Cui Wei with Liu Huan.
At this time, Bai Shan, Zhou Man and the others also arrived at Laizhou Ferry, and they were eating noodles at a small stall not far from the ferry. Some of the worst food I've had in years."
Mingda had already put down his chopsticks, and asked, "Have you ever eaten food worse than this before?"
Zhou Man didn't speak, Bai Shan and Bai Erlang looked up at her and said vaguely: "Some people are not very good at making things."
For example, sister-in-law's dishes on Tuesday, Lang's noodles on Thursday, and all the food of Manbao.
Zhou Man snorted, barely finished the noodles in the bowl, and said to them: "Eat quickly, don't waste it."
Mingda looked at the noodles in her bowl with a troubled face, and Man Bao was extremely gentle to her, "If you don't like it, don't eat it, first eat some snacks to pad your stomach."
Then he pushed her bowl to Bai Erlang and ordered: "You eat."
Bai Erlang grasped his chopsticks tightly, "I, I have a little appetite..."
Not to mention Zhou Man and Bai Shan, even Ming Da was looking at him, who was he to lie to, when did he eat less lunch