When the Qingfeng House in Hecheng County slowly got on the right track, Jiang Zhen began to prepare for the Qingfeng House in Fucheng. With the green bricks burned by his people, he could also save a lot. The current Qingfeng House used the old house of the Zheng family, but in Fucheng, it would be better to build a brand-new building.

In order to build the Qingfeng House in Fucheng, Jiang Zhen deliberately spent money to hire a lot of carpenters to let them create the entertainment facilities that fit his own ideas. Of course, after he came up with a way to play, he had to tell Zheng Yi first, and then let him come up with a completely different, poetic name.

Jiang Zhen spent a lot of time on Qingfeng House but he also did not forget his own escort agency.

Now that the weather was getting colder and colder, the business of the escort agency was not getting worse but better.

When ordinary people celebrated the New Year, they would buy some clothes and meat, let alone those rich people . . . In recent years, no matter what goods it was, it sold well.

Almost all the small businessmen in Hecheng County had gone out to do some kind of business. In the past, they used to hire people to row their boats everywhere, but recently . . . As long as they spend a little money, you could take the big ship of the Jinzhen Escort Agency to do business, and they could stay in the cabin without the cold wind blowing at them.

Many people were hired by the Jinzhen Escort Agency, so the ships under Jiang Zhen’s hands were almost not enough. Later, Zheng Yi rented two big ships to him, which made him feel a little better.

Nowadays, the very conspicuous “Zhen” flag was hung on the ships of the Jinzhen Escort Agency, and all employees of the Jinzhen Escort Agency wore uniform clothes. This way, the people of Hecheng county learned more and more about the escort agency.

“I heard that the people in the Jinzhen Escort Agency earn a lot of money!”

“There is a man in our alley who has not studied before but learned from his grandpa to recognize a few words and went to work in Jinzhen Escort Agency. Now he can earn four silver a month!”

“What! Only four silver? Zheng Baoning on my side, as you all know, used to make money by drawing pictures for prostitutes, but now, he runs a line of ships! Not to mention five silver a month, he also gets a bonus. His family used to have a hard time, but now everyone is wearing new clothes.”

“The owner of Jinzhen Escort Agency, from what I heard, is friends with Young Master Zheng, and the Qingfeng House was opened by the two of them . . . This is a chicken that lays golden eggs! I don’t know how much he has earned!”

 

. . .

 

Almost all of the people in Hecheng County were talking about Jinzhen Escort Agency.

Song Li stood by at first, eager to hear some bad words about Jinzhen Escort Agency, but in the end, he was only furious.

At this time, someone else saw him.

“Song Li! Song Li, stop right there!” the man shouted and then pounced on Song Li. “Song Li, you and I have no grievances, so why did you lie to me? I lost such a good job in vain!”

It turned out that Song Li not only advised Zheng Baoning when the Jinzhen Escort Agency was recruiting workers that day, but in fact, he also advised several other people.

At that time, the Jinzhen Escort Agency had no reputation as of yet, so many people were persuaded by Song Li to give up this job, not thinking much about it. But seeing the current development of Jinzhen Escort Agency, which was getting better and better, they started resenting Song Li.

The man grabbed Song Li and punched him a few times in anger before turning around and walking away as he snorted coldly.

Song Li was beaten up, his face black but there is nothing he could do about it. He could only cover his sore stomach and go home.

“Where have you been? Even if you can’t find a job outside, you don’t do any work at home. What are you trying to do?” Song Li’s wife looked at Song Li in dissatisfaction. “At the beginning, the work of Jinzhen Escort Agency was so good that you signed for it, but after someone else said a few words to you, you did not go!”

“Didn’t I tell you? That Jiang Zhen is not a good man!” Song Li said.

“He’s not a good man, what’s wrong with that? As long as he pays you! Moreover, I think  this Jiang Chengxiang is really not a good person!” Song Li’s wife was disgusted with Jiang Chengxiang.

The Song family was still rich and was relatively well-off, but they were not particularly rich. Moreover, it was only because Song’s father and mother only gave birth to Song Li, so the fewer children there were, the less expensive it was. So wasn’t it easy for them to save money?

In short, the Song family was not a particularly rich family, and Song Li was still generous enough to help Jiang Chengxiang. But what about Jiang Chengxiang? He even had a face to take all the money and things Song Li gave!

“Don’t talk about my friend like that!” Song Li said angrily.

“I’m going to. What can you do to me?” Song Li’s wife said.

Song Li was so angry that he finally slapped his wife’s face.

“Well, Song Li since you hit me! I won’t live with you anymore!” Song Li’s wife had a bad temper after being slapped. She immediately went back to the house to pack up her things and planned to go back to her family’s house.

Song Li’s mother hurriedly came to try and persuade her, but she was pulled back by Song Li. “If she wants to go, let her go. I can’t afford such a woman!”

In fact, Song Li also felt a little sorry. But the more regretful he was, the less he was willing to admit his mistakes and was more convinced he was in the right.

Mother Song was pulled by her son, but he really didn’t want to persuade her . . . If this married woman went back to her family’s house, she would definitely be rejected by her family, so his wife would definitely be back in a few days.

Jiang Zhen had no idea that there was a man like Song Li in the world who tirelessly spoke ill of him. At the moment, he was talking to Zheng Yi about distilled wine.

The last time Jiang Zhen tried to disinfect the wounds of injured people with wine, he found that the quality of the wine in this world was really not too high. At that time, he didn’t think much about it, but soon he remembered it when they were talking about building a Qingfeng House in Fucheng. However, he knew nothing about how to distill the wine, so he only said his own ideas to Zheng Yi.

“Can this really be done?” Hearing what Jiang Zhen said, Zheng Yi became a little excited at the moment: “Wait till tomorrow, I’ll let someone have a try! Jiang Zhen, you really have a lot of ideas. If this wine is made, we will have another way to make money!”

In some places in Daqi, it was forbidden for people to brew wine privately for fear of not having enough food to eat, but there was no such regulation in the south of the Yangtze River. Even if there was, no one would take it seriously.

“Then someone would come to the Qingfeng House for the wine!” Jiang Zhen was also very happy. Zheng Yi was definitely a very good partner. Many things he wanted to do were absolutely impossible to him, but Zheng Yi could always do them quickly.

“There is no doubt about this! But . . .” Zheng Yi suddenly looked at Jiang Zhen with a tangled expression.

“What’s the matter?” Jiang Zhen asked.

“It is estimated that the Qingfeng House in Fucheng will open a little late.” Zheng Yi smiled bitterly. “During this period of time, an imperial envoy is coming to the south of the Yangtze River. The man is very pedantic and doesn’t like anything. If we make too much noise, he will directly go to my second uncle.”

Zheng Yi had just received the news that “prestigious” imperial historian Zhou, who was famous in the capital, was coming to the south of the Yangtze River as an imperial envoy.

This Zhou imperial official name was Zhou Maohe . . . He was famous for his participation in the citizens’ affairs.

In Daqi, there was nothing he did not dare to participate in, up to the empress dowager, down to the soldiers guarding the city gate, as long as he caught the leverage, he could viciously participate in it.

Because of this, he had been demoted twice and sent to prison once.

The Empress Dowager, whom the Zheng family relied on, was involved in government affairs several times and was very disgusted with him, but many scholars liked Zhou Maohe and felt that he was strong and upright . . . so even when he made the empress dowager (a ger) angry, again he could not do anything to him. If he really did something to Zhou Maohe, he might be scolded for being cruel to such a loyal official!

But the empress dowager did not want to see him so he found a reason to send him to the south of the Yangtze River.

“This man sounds good,” Jiang Zhen said, there were few honest officials in these ancient times, so he quite appreciated such people.

“That’s because you haven’t met him,” Zheng Yi said. “He is like a stone in a thatched pit, stinky and hard . . . Forget about him. Anyway, he has nothing to do with us.” Such a person, he cannot afford to piss off but also couldn’t afford to please? Zheng Yi was determined to avoid that person!

Anyway, the man surnamed Zhou could not stay in the south of the Yangtze River all the time, so he would first drink some wine and have a good New Year. Then, he’d think of something else.

Zheng Yi didn’t mention it anymore, so Jiang Zhen let it go. However, he really hoped that this man could catch some assholes from the south of the Yangtze River.

 

Edited by: Faro

Proofreader: XLB

 

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