The Ministry of Revenue's blind guessing was over. The most discussed topic was not who made money and who lost money, but Zhou Shuren. At the end of the year, Zhou Shuren successfully dominated the celebrity list in the capital, and as a result, more people sent New Year gifts to the Zhou family.
By the time Zhulan returned the New Year gifts, it was less than seven days before the New Year.
Deng Xiucai finally got some news. "The courtyard you want is not available, but there is a small courtyard with two entrances for sale. It has its own well for water, and it is very close to West City."
Zhulan had said that a small courtyard was the lowest standard, and that a second courtyard was even better. "Have you seen it?"
Deng Xiucai said, "I've seen it. This family is in a hurry to return home. The price is fair and they also give away furniture."
Zhulan nodded. "If you think it's good, then buy it. I'll go take a look later."
This is trust. Zhulan trusts Deng Xiucai very much, and Deng Xiucai has never let the Zhou family down.
Deng Xiucai was happy to hear this, "Yes."
The next day, Zhulan had obtained the house deed and the key to the gate lock. She took her daughter and Li to the courtyard.
The yard that the waiter entered was really not big. The yard was not spacious, but there were quite a few houses. The biggest highlight was that the yard was in a good location, especially near the vegetable market, making life very convenient.
After looking at it, Xue Han asked, "Mom, will my sister really bring her parents-in-law?"
Zhu Lan said affirmatively: "Your brother-in-law's parents have always hoped that your brother-in-law would be successful. Although there were some twists and turns in the process, they have been living with your brother-in-law for many years, and your brother-in-law's brothers are used to it. Your sister is also the most capable person. As long as there are no major conflicts, your sister will definitely bring the second son of the Jiang family here."
After hearing this, Mrs. Li did not comment, as she was also a daughter-in-law.
Xue Han had an impression of the two elders of the Jiang family. She hadn't seen them for so many years, so she was still a little nervous. However, since they didn't live in the Zhou family, she didn't ask any more questions.
Zhulan was very satisfied with this courtyard. She told Mrs. Song to have it cleaned carefully, replace some furniture with new ones, and prepare the charcoal and firewood. Then she took her daughter and Li home.
When they got home, Steward Ding handed over the note and said, "The Wang family sent a note."
Zhulan took the note and smiled when she saw it. Tao finally returned to Beijing. She said in her last letter that she would come back, but then her youngest son suddenly fell ill and was delayed. Now the child is well again, and Tao went to Beijing yesterday.
After hearing this, Li thought to herself that she would let her daughter dress up well tomorrow, "Mom, I'll go back first."
"good."
In the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren was drinking tea and looking at Qiu Yan. Qiu Yan felt a little uncomfortable being looked at. "Why are you looking at me all the time?"
Zhou Shuren was a little distracted, because after being busy, he suddenly had some free time and couldn't adapt for a while, "You are the only one in the room who made any noise, so I looked at you a few more times."
That’s right, after Lord Qiu came back from recuperation, Zhang Jinghong moved out.
Qiu Yan was not very busy. When he was away, Zhou Shuren took over his job. Zhou Shuren made a lot of changes for the sake of efficiency, which made it convenient for him. With the increase in efficiency, he did not have to be busy all the time. "Your blind demolition has inspired the merchants. Many applications have been submitted to the Ministry of Households in the past few days."
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "Indeed there are quite a few."
This brought a lot of silver to the Ministry of Revenue. If one wanted to apply for it, one had to pay taxes, and it was a considerable tax. In order to avoid chaos, he thought of everything he could think of and wrote a thick book of rules. The penalties on it were very severe, and even though they were harsh, they still couldn't stop the merchants who saw the benefits.
Qiu Yan said faintly: "Sometimes, I don't even know how your head grows."
When he saw the harsh conditions and various preventive punishments, he felt both admiration and jealousy. We are all human beings, so why is there such a big difference
Zhou Shuren smiled. He had a broader vision and his wife was a plug-in. "Lord Qiu is also very capable. He also made great contributions in this trip to Jianghuai."
Qiu Yan smiled. What kind of achievement did he have? It was just the result of his hard work.
At night, Zhou Shuren returned home and found Hu Xia waiting at the door. Zhou Shuren knew at a glance that Hu Xia was waiting for him. "If you have something to say, why don't you come to me directly at the Ministry of Revenue?"
Hu Xia didn't dare. "You are very busy, sir. I don't have anything important to say. I just want to tell you that Liu Feng has a cousin who will be transferred to the capital next year."
Zhou Shuren didn't know much about the Gu family, so he motioned Hu Xia to get on the carriage and said it was too cold outside.
After getting on the carriage, he said, "As I recall, there seemed to be not many people at Liu Feng's grandfather's house."
At that time, the Hu family was a minor official family, so the one they married into was naturally an official of high rank.
Hu Xia, "When my brother-in-law passed away, Liu Feng's grandfather was demoted, and my sister returned home. The Gu family left Beijing, and the entire family returned to their hometown. This time, it was Liu Feng's cousin who came to Beijing, so he wrote me a letter."
Zhou Shuren asked, "Is there no one in Grandpa Liufeng's branch who has no future?"
Hu Xia nodded, with a tone of regret, "My brother-in-law was very talented and had the most hope back then, but he died early, so Grandpa Liu Feng's branch has completely declined. He has not been in contact with our family for these years. First, he was angry that my sister took Liu Feng away, and second, he was resentful. He felt that my sister and nephew were unlucky and killed the hope of the Gu family."
Zhou Shuren wrote it all down, "I have an idea now."
Hu Xia didn't have the ability to investigate, but for the sake of his own family's future and to protect his nephew's future from any misfortune, he thought of Lord Zhou when he received the letter yesterday and has been thinking about him all day.
Zhou Shuren did keep it in mind. If the person coming to Beijing is a good person, it will be beneficial to Liu Feng. If he is a bad person, he can also find a way to get him out. Don't think that you can take root there just by coming to Beijing.
Zhoujia Village, it was dark, and the village was quiet. A team of horse-drawn carriages entered the village. There were quite a few of them, and the sound of horse hooves attracted many people to come out to check.
The door of Xuemei's house was already closed. Jiang Sheng was having dinner when the door was opened. Along with the sound of horse hooves, he knew who it was.
Shen Xing and his group came in. Even though Shen Xing was in good health, he looked haggard. In order to hurry on their way, they seldom stayed in a hotel to rest. Shen Xing said, "Miss, this is a letter from the master."
Xuemei took the letter and said, "You have worked hard on this journey. Take a rest first."
Shen Xing did not refuse and arranged for the servants to cook. Jiang Sheng took people to the side rooms. As for making a fire, there were many servants there, so Jiang Sheng was not needed.
Xuemei had already read the letter. It was indeed a letter from her father, in which he told her not to worry. The remaining pages were addressed to the clan leader.
With so many people coming to the house, all of them skilled servants, Xuemei felt more at ease.
After a while, the little grandson of Patriarch Zhou came to inquire. Xuemei handed the letter over and said a few more words. Then the little grandson left.
The twins were very happy. They ran around the house and shouted that they wanted to go to their grandfather's house.
Xuemei chuckled, "We are moving, not living in grandpa's house."
How could she live in her parents' home with her parents-in-law? Even if she didn't have parents-in-law, she, a married woman, would still live in her parents' home.