Shopkeeper Sun was slightly shocked, but quickly covered the look on his face with a smile, and said after considering his words: "This can't be described as a loss, the young master doesn't know, the business tax collected by the imperial court in recent years has been a lot more than in previous years, and there is no way to do it." ”

Chu Xianzhao shook his head and said: "The imperial court will not raise taxes for no reason, I think the situation in Qingguo has been very good in the commercial and trade area over the years, and the more the tide rises, the more you will earn, and the more you will earn, the more you will naturally earn, but the money that the business bank earns every year is less than the previous year, and it is since the year when Shen Sanqian was demoted to Guhe City, this situation has begun to appear, and the shopkeeper Sun told me why?"

Shopkeeper Sun did not refute his words, and said with his eyebrows down: "The reason why the profits of the trading house have decreased year after year is that on the one hand, the imperial court has to collect more and more taxes, including the court officials, they also want to get a piece of the pie, and secondly, there have been problems with the distribution channels of various countries in recent years, especially the water bandits in Zhejiang and Han are too rampant, and all the salt and iron transported to Zhejiang and Han do not know how much they have robbed, and the king of Zhejiang and Han has not cared about this matter, and the loss can only be swallowed by ourselves." Moreover, since the master left, the number reported by someone in the business house was too chaotic, and they also took a little of it, and they didn't dare to say that there were too much, at least one or three of the ten taels of silver went into the pocket of her family, but the eldest lady knew about it in her heart, but she didn't check it...... I'm worried that some people will be dissatisfied...... Young master, you also know that the master is not here, and the eldest lady can't deal with so many people. ”

Having said that, Chu Xianzhao was still a little disappointed with his answer, thinking that since the evidence sent by Jiang Tang was conclusive, you little mice would always be unable to escape.

Shopkeeper Sun took a deep look at him and said with a wry smile: "In the end, it is...... The annual expenses of the members of the Shen family are paid by the firm, and when the lord is here, the annual income and expenditure can be considered balanced, but since the lord is gone, the children of the Shen family have been spending more and more money, plus the previous points, even if the firm can make money again, it is difficult to make up for these gaps. ”

Chu Xianzhao nodded thoughtfully, what this Sun was in charge of the cabinet said was not wrong, not to mention anything else, just the expenses of the ladies and ladies of the Shen family manor for a month, plus the monthly money and various maintenance for the next people, it was enough to need one million taels of silver, and there were so many ladies and ladies who were like flowers and jade, living a life of drunkenness like a celebrity every day, and these money did not all need to be taken from the firm.

"The imperial court wants to raise the tax, and the salt transportation railway encountered bandits who were robbed of goods, this problem must have always existed, but just because my father is not there, they can blatantly take the silver, what is the difference between this and stealing?" Chu Xianzhao looked at him with a smile.

Shopkeeper Sun smiled helplessly, and just wanted to say something, Chu Xianzhao hurriedly said: "I am now the eldest young master of the Shen family, and the eldest lady puts all the power in my hands." ”

Shopkeeper Sun nodded respectfully and said, "What does the young master want to say?"

Chu Xianzhao said lightly: "I know that my ability may not be enough in your opinion, I am a hairy boy who does not understand the way of business, but I am your master after all, I can protect you like a dog, as long as you are obedient, I don't care if you are more than a bone, but I can also expel those who disobey like a mouse, and now ......"

He stood up, bowed down with his hands behind his back, stared into the eyes of the shopkeeper Sun, and said word by word: "Tell me...... Who deserves to be expelled!"

Shopkeeper Sun didn't dare to look directly at his overly penetrating eyes, and said softly: "The production of goods in the trading house is subject to the approval of the principals...... So...... So. ”

"So how?" Chu Xianzhao narrowed his eyes and said, "So they dare to reach out casually?"

Shopkeeper Sun replied with a wry smile, "The status of the principals is somewhat special in the trading house, and some of them are also related to the officials of the imperial court, and they also send them some silver on weekdays, perhaps relying on the background of the imperial court...... Picking up the money is a bit fearless. ”

The corners of Chu Xianzhao's mouth slowly pressed down, this expression inevitably startled him, he thought to himself that the young master had just taken the position after all, and he didn't understand the stakes in it, if he offended all those principals in one go, the loss of money and silver after that was incalculable, and such a thing being exposed would also have a great impact on the reputation of their firm.

Shopkeeper Sun shook his hands and said: "Young master, think twice, this matter should be dealt with with with a gentle heart, and don't be in a hurry." ”

Chu Xianzhao shook his head and said, "Do you know? I have been looking at the account book for the past two days, and I found that there is a big loophole that has swallowed up a lot of wealth in the trading house, do you know about it?"

Shopkeeper Sun said with a bitter face: "This matter is not easy to deal with, if the young master offends those principals, I am afraid that he will not find out when the time comes...... In the end, the young master still has to take on this responsibility, and the young master listens to my advice......"

Chu Xianzhao raised his hand to stop the other party's persuasion, and said with a smile: "The management is corrupt, and the smoke is miasma...... Can I describe you like that?"

Shopkeeper Sun was speechless for a moment, and said again: "Young Master, this matter is really urgent, if the Young Master is so resolute to deal with them, I'm afraid there will be a big mess." ”

Chu Xianzhao was silent for a moment, then waved his hand and said: "Since the eldest lady has put the power in my hands, then I will naturally find out about this matter, thank you for taking the time to meet me." ”

Since he had already said this, Shopkeeper Sun could only let out a long sigh, got up and saluted, and said: "I understand what the young master means, just forgive me for saying more, Wei Jing's people are not good stubble, since they dare to be so unscrupulous, there must be someone behind them who is their backer." ”

Chu Xianzhao picked up the teacup and took a sip, "I don't want to send it far, say goodbye." ”

——

A few days later, the eldest lady summoned Chu Xuan to the front and commanded softly: "Tang Huang, tomorrow there will be a gathering of a trading house in Qingfengju, and many bosses and principals will be present, in order to exercise your ability to handle things, I won't go, you and Chuxia will go together." ”

Chu Xianzhao put down the account book in his hand, and the corners of his mouth inadvertently hooked an arc.

The eldest lady didn't care about the strange smile on his face, and then said: "I have prepared a dress for you, the style is our Shen family's special golden toad relief, I don't know if you like it or not." ”

Chu Xianzhao smiled and said, "Since the eldest lady picked it for me, it is naturally extremely good-looking." ”

The eldest lady gently put down the teacup, and two maids who were at the age of drawing a strip came over with a complete set of robes, hair crowns, robes, gold belts, black boots, and jade ornaments.

The eldest lady asked the maid to shake off her robe, and Chu instantly stood up and asked them to unfold and compare.

This is a robe with a black face and a gold background, and the collar of the robe is embroidered with a gold silk toad pattern, giving people a low-key and luxurious feeling.

The so-called people rely on clothes to wear gold clothes, no matter which dynasty, the noble son with a high crown of brocade clothes can attract the attention of girls more than those sloppy and sloppy Jianghu men, and in the eyes of most girls, the gold plate at the collar of the robe is much more reliable than the long sword on the waist of the swordsman.

When he changed into the brocade robe that the eldest lady personally selected for him, when he stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling bronze mirror and swayed from side to side, he felt as if he had become the prince of Yinguo who was dressed in an eagle robe and stood behind him, laughing at himself in front of the bronze mirror: "Who said that the tiger will definitely be bullied by dogs when it falls in Pingyang?"

The corners of the eldest lady's mouth were slightly upturned, she looked at him in the bronze mirror, and said softly: "The lord also wore such a robe when he was young, and then he became older and fatter, so he gradually stopped wearing it, but in his words, he wore this dress like a toad, I think you look good in it, much more handsome than the old man used to, Xiaorou, shout early summer and flower language The two girls came out to see." ”

When Shen Huayu, who had just woken up, rubbed his eyes and was pulled out by Shen Chuxia, as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Chu Xianzhao wearing a toad robe as if he had changed someone, his aura eyes widened, and he covered his mouth and looked at him incredulously.

Shen Chuxia took a step forward intimately, tidied up his neckline for him, and said with a smile that he looked the same as his father used to wear this dress.

After the three young people of the Shen family left, the eldest lady who was lying on the sandalwood chair drinking tea couldn't help but sigh with emotion: " If you don't look at the front of the child, just look at the back, it is exactly the same as the old man when he was young, when the old man went to my house to propose, I hid behind the screen and secretly looked at him, at that time my father did not like his stinky and rich virtue, but my mother couldn't open her eyes with laughter, saying that I married the Shen family will not suffer in this life, when his wife these years, although the hardships in life have not been suffered, but the emotional hardships can be tiring, this is also something that my mother did not guess, there is a kind of man like this, born to let the world look at him with admiration, just find a place to sit down, that aura has come out, hehe, The young girl pounced on her like a moth that saw fire, and she didn't care if she was burned to death, but I didn't want Tang Huang to become this kind of man. ”

Since she married into the Shen family, she has been with her maid, from the young lady of the year to the lady's maid, and now she has become an old woman, she sat beside her and looked at the young people who were making noise in the courtyard, but at this time she used back the title of the year, and said with a smile: "The wedding between the young lady and her uncle caused a sensation in the entire Luoyang City, and even His Majesty the Emperor inscribed "A Hundred Years of Good Harmony" Four words to Miss, although there were always people who said that Uncle was a golden jade and a ruined person, but I felt at a glance that Miss You were marrying the right person, although Uncle has found a lot of women to hurt Miss's heart over the years, but the woman Uncle cares about the most is Miss You, but Uncle never said it, you see that when this white-haired boy put on the clothes that Uncle used to wear, except that his hair and eyes are not like it, it is exactly the same as what Uncle looked like back then, and this child is also close to the early summer flower language, and it must be biological. ”

The eldest lady finished drinking the cup of tea and smiled: " It's quite similar, when I saw him for the first time, even I was taken aback, and I was still stunned for a while, but it's really hard to say whether it's biological, since the lord admits that he is his own child, then those of us who are women can only follow his wishes, I really wanted a boy when I was young, but unfortunately after giving birth to two daughters, the lord was not at home all day, so many years have passed, there is finally a boy who comes to our house, of course, to be good to him, no matter how bad people are, they can't bully obedient children. ”

"It would be nice if the old man could come back for the New Year. ”

The old woman sighed suddenly, people are old just to see the scene of children and grandchildren, what do you want in today's Shen family's big house and big gold, but there is no fireworks and popularity, it is a dark city house with intrigue between ladies and maids, and now after this child named Tang Huang comes to the Shen family, it is rare to make this wealthy family have more laughter.

"The master may never come back to Sunset in his life, but I feel like he will come back for the last time. The eldest lady suddenly said something for no reason.

The old woman wondered: "How long does the young lady have to wait for him?" ”

"I'll wait until I'm in the ground...... If he dies before me, then I don't have to wait, I will go down with him. ”

——

There are four major business workshops under the Shen family's business industry, all of which are the most powerful gold-absorbing industries in the Daqing Dynasty, and there are too many sweet temptations within the business house, any newcomer who has just entered the Shen family business bank will soon indulge in this huge and tempting honey pot, no one wants this honey pot to be broken, even if the eldest lady decides to gradually transition the power into the hands of Chu Xianzhao, these directors in charge of the business industry are not afraid of this "prince" arrived, thinking that as long as he curried favor with Shen Sanqian's illegitimate son, he would probably not make a move to become a new official.

Salt, iron, grain, color, this is just a relatively rough business of the four major industry fang, and its related industries are countless, the entire dynasty's commercial taxes are more than forty percent from the Shen family firm, no matter which era, the Shen family firm is still the largest source of commercial taxes in Qingguo, and it is precisely because of this iron rice bowl-like strong background inheritance, so the merchants under the Shen family firm are envious of others, and "eat the emperor's grain" The courtiers are not much different in nature, and they will never live a life like other merchants from the beginning, and all kinds of powerful dividends and guarantees are stacked, making the principals the most special and richest group of merchants in Qingguo, with an almost arrogant sense of superiority.

The distribution merchants and the craftsmen and laborers at the bottom make a year is only a fraction of the principals, with the identity of the head of the trading house, they come and go freely in the major brothels in Luoyang City, Qinglou Restaurant, enjoy all kinds of powerful treatment, I have to say that this is the management method brought by the Shen family's rich rival country, do not look at anyone's background and bloodline, do not talk empty words to draw pies, want better treatment and salary, want to live in a better mansion and house to play more beautiful singer women, then you have to work hard to make money for the firm, with real ** Driving subordinates to work for the firm is always the most effective means, but the consequences of this management method are also to bury mines step by step.

If the eldest lady who is now in charge of the sovereignty is the empress of a dynasty, then the status of the principals in the Shen family business house is the same as that of the civil and military generals of the imperial court, they are respectful to the empress on the surface, but in fact exploit the workers to secretly take kickbacks, and buy these money and property that do not belong to them into the industry, and dredge up the relationship with the court officials to seek more benefits, and do not do less things to set fire to kill people and bully men and women, even if they are sued to the yamen by angry and bold workers, it will not help, and they will be sent back by the embarrassed officials, if they dare to continue to make trouble, they will often be imprisoned in the face of them, in short, there are workers making trouble every year, but these workers will soon be broken one by one, and some of them will be fooled down with a hush money, or disappear into the city of Sunset without a sound, and finally they will not be able to do so.

Where there are people, there is officialdom, with money as a sword and power as a shield, and the unarmed will surely die.

Qingfeng Ju is recognized as a first-class restaurant in the large and small circles of Luoyang City, there are only four private rooms in it, which are named after the order of the wind forest volcano, the styles are, drinking gold and jade, Bei Que Zhu Palace, Biwa Zhu Yong, wrong color engraving, it can be said that there is a unique cave of extreme luxury, you must book half a month in advance to occupy the position, compared to several big restaurants in Luoyang City every day people come and go, Qingfeng Ju is like a cold and arrogant Oiran who does not sell his body, the more he is not close to people, the more it arouses the curiosity of rich businessmen and magnates, has he ever drunk tea in Qingfeng Ju in Luoyang City, it has become a measure of power status。

Being to Qingfeng Ju once in Luoyang City is more worthy of people's talk than entering the palace to see the emperor once, but all this is of little significance to Chu Xianzhao, he took Shen Chuxia as soon as he got off the carriage, and saw this extremely eye-catching and tall restaurant, the outer layer of the whole building seems to be inlaid with gold leaf jade pieces, although the number of private rooms is not much, but the area is quite large, and there are two extremely eye-catching golden dragon statues in front of the door.

Ever since he experienced the battle of Concubine Pass, although Chu Xianzhao was not afraid of the dragon creature verbally, he still had some lingering terrible feelings in his heart, and subconsciously lowered his eyes and walked into the gate of Qingfeng Residence.

The golden lanterns in Qingfeng Ju are hung in rows, the walls are covered with gold leaf, and the relief lines can be vaguely seen, which caters to the love of gold in the Zhao Jialong room, which can be said to be the ultimate use of gold as a building material, and the foot is a deep and heavy mahogany floor, classical and noble.

Walking on the corridor, Chu Xianzhao passed through the red and black pillars, and unconsciously the light around him dimmed, as if he had walked into a darkness, just like his past life, the first half of his life was the life of a prince who was a prince of Zhong Mingding's food, and now he is in a dark situation in all directions.

He is now coming to the Shen family in Luoyang City, originally intended to wait for the army of Ying Liyang and Shen Sanqian, and felt that it would take two years to understand the details of Luoyang City, have an army of his own before the outbreak of the North-South War, and finally lead those allies who are willing to follow his banner, such as Lu Qi and the Orange Sect Mantis, as well as the many Shadow Moon Sect members who have never met before, they are also looking forward to taking them into the sun.

In the end, the result he hoped for was to defeat the Zhao family dragon room, defeat Chu Xiaohua with his army in a dignified manner, and return to the Yin Kingdom in the name of the king.

This time, even if he doesn't have thousands of iron horsemen behind him as his background, he will have to stand tall and face all enemies.

Life is a long road, there are always some roads to walk with your head down, and when you look up, you can see the sky.