Wang Naizeng chatted and waited with Huang Zhongyin's student Jiang Zhengxin in the guild hall, and waited for Han Xiufeng all afternoon, because Han Xiufeng finished buying the trip, and bought a bunch of snacks such as peanuts, persimmon cakes, candied fruits, and other snacks that Qin'er and dogs like to eat, and went directly back to his new home in Dazhi Hutong under the leadership of the pillar and Yu Tiesuo he met on the road.

The official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty all need to be purchased by the officials themselves, even some of the things rewarded by the emperor. For example, the emperor rewarded officials with flower feathers as a reward. But in fact, it is only the qualification to wear Hualing, and the officials who want to be rewarded for Hualing buy it out of their own pockets, and the price is not cheap, ranging from tens of taels to hundreds of taels depending on the number of eyes.

And the imperial court stipulated: all cold and cold are more used crown clothes, each year in the spring with a cool crown and clip clothes, and in autumn with a warm crown and edge skin clothes. In March and September, or on the 5th, 15th, or 25th, as appropriate. In the previous month, the Ministry of Rites was invited to pass through the yamen in one ......

That is to say, what official uniform to wear on a given day is not chosen by the civil and military officials themselves, but by the unified order of the imperial court, and the civil and military officials can only follow it. So much so that for most officials, it was really an extremely heavy burden to purchase official uniforms for the beginning of the official period, and some poor Beijing officials had to borrow them for many years. Even after many officials are promoted, the first thing they think about is not celebrating, but anxious about how to buy a new business!

Now that he is a "small military machine", he will often go in and out of the palace in the future, and he must dress decently, otherwise it will not only not conform to the imperial court system, but also make the emperor lose face. Therefore, Han Xiufeng, who has never been very concerned about dressing, decided that in the future, he must no longer be ambiguous about the dress that is related to the prestige of the imperial court.

I bought a big hair winter hat, a small hair winter hat, a dweed hood, a small hair hat, and a fur hood, and bought a white pheasant complement's five-pinning silk official uniform, a round round blue crepe sheepskin, a round robe wrapped in Lanning silk fox skin, a round robe wrapped in gray Ning silk sheepskin, a blue satin beaded horse coat, a court skirt shawl, a blue tweed slit robe, a thread crepe jacket, a treasure bottom yarn mending gown, and a fragrant crepe sheepskin military machine shoulder. Three pairs of pointed boots were bought, and the small basket with a crystal top was replaced with a new ......

There are ready-made ones to buy ready-made, and there are no ready-made ones that can only be customized, and the materials and wages add up to more than five hundred and eighty taels, which is still someone who is familiar with the road and will bargain for the help of the rich, if it is not rich, I am afraid it will cost seven or eight hundred taels!

However, Han Xiufeng didn't care about how much money he spent on buying a house now, because he rushed to the new home that Yongxiang introduced and the shopkeeper Wen helped rent, and found that the house was not small, with a total of three entrances inside and outside, but there was no stable. Since there is nowhere to park the car and nowhere to keep the horse, what should you do by buying a carriage and hiring a groom?

Feng Xiaowhip, who had just started work today, was anxious, and helped to send the things he bought into the inner house, turned around inside and out, and returned to Han Xiufeng, who was admiring the calligraphy and paintings in the flower hall with his hands behind his back, and said with a sad face: "Fourth master, there is really no place to park, and there is no horse ring, it looks quite big inside, but it is not big, and it is not easy to build a horse shed!" ”

Han Xiufeng also felt that this matter was a little tricky, so he turned around and asked, "What about outside, have you gone outside the courtyard to have a look?" ”

Without waiting for Feng Xiaowhip to speak, not only was he more familiar with this area, but he even smiled bitterly at the pillar that had sent Qin'er, Sister Yi'er and Goudan here: "Fourth brother, you don't need to let him go out to watch, there is no place to build a horse shed outside." I don't know how crowded the houses in this area are, one by one, this yard only has a gate, the side door has no back door, and the alley at the side door is so narrow that only one person can pass through, if two people meet, they can only squeeze through like this. ”

After the pillar finished speaking, he gestured sideways again.

Han Xiufeng smiled dumbly, thought about it and asked, "What about other people's homes?" ”

"Fourth brother, you mean ......?"

"I mean, there are a lot of Beijing officials who rent this area, how do they get around?"

"There are a lot of Beijing officials who rent in this area, but most of them don't bring their own carriages, and those who have money hire carriages, mule carts or sedan chairs to go to the yamen, and those who don't have money walk to the inner city." Zhu scratched his head, and added: "The real mansion rented by the big official is also large, not only does there be a horse pen to raise horses, but even the threshold is movable, which can be removed and let the groom lead the carriage directly to the yard." ”

Yu Tiesuo couldn't help but suggest: "Fourth brother, why don't you change places to live and rent a house with a horse pen." ”

"It's easy to say, every inch of land in Xuannan is expensive, how can the house be so easy to rent, and besides, I have already told the landlord to rent for a year, and even the rent Wen shopkeeper has already helped to give it."

"Shopkeeper Wen is also really, it's not like he hasn't been here, he knows that there is no place to raise horses here, and he is going to buy some cars!"

"You can't blame Shopkeeper Wen, people are kind-hearted, but I didn't expect this."

"What then?"

Han Xiufeng pointed to the inner house and asked, "Pillar, you just said that there is no back door, is there a family at the back of the inner house?" ”

Zhu Zi said without thinking: "There is a row of houses at the back, but it seems that most of them are shops, because there is a small street not far behind, and there are several small guild halls on the street. ”

"Fourth master, I'll take a look." Feng Xiaowhip didn't want to lose the errand he had just entrusted Curator Zhang to find because he had no place to raise horses and park, so he ran out of the flower hall without looking back.

Yu Tiesuo subconsciously turned around and reminded: "I can't pass from the west alley, I have to go around the front, and I have to go around a long way!" ”

Feng Xiaowhip obviously didn't hear it, and Zhu Zi couldn't help but smile and asked, "Fourth brother, where did you find this living treasure, what are you doing, you ran away before you finished speaking." ”

Han Xiufeng was about to speak, when someone outside asked if there was anyone at home and if he could move the car parked at the door. Yu Tiesuo hurriedly ran out and led the carriage to the street. Thinking that if I brought it in again, it would block the way, and maybe I would have to move the car for someone else later, so I simply asked the guy at the store at the corner of the street to help me keep an eye on it for a while.

After settling the carriage and returning to the courtyard to chat for a while, Feng Xiaowhip ran back sweating profusely, and when he saw Han Xiufeng, he panted and said: "Fourth master, there is a shop that sells books and four treasures of the study, and I don't know if it is not easy to do business, and the shopkeeper does not plan to do it anymore, and is discussing with the landlord to move at the end of the month." ”

There are many guild halls in this area of Xuannan, and there are many Beijing officials who rent them, and there are more people and students who rush to take the examination in the year of the examination and the Zhili Township Examination. In addition, during the Qianlong Dynasty, he compiled the "Four Libraries of the Whole Book", and once conquered the world's books, and books from all over the country were sent to the capital, and they were sent to this area, so there were many bookstores in this area.

No matter what kind of business you buy, the more people do it, the more difficult it will be.

It's normal to open today and close in a few days.

Thinking that there was nothing to do in the afternoon, Han Xiufeng couldn't help but smile and said, "Let's go, let's take a look." ”

"Fourth brother, what's there to see in the bookstore?" The pillar asked, puzzled.

Han Xiufeng said with a smile as he walked: "I didn't think about taking down other people's bookstores to make a horse ring, after all, it is a shop facing the street, and the rent will definitely not be cheap." What's more, even if I am willing to spend that unjust money, the landlord will not agree. Isn't the bookstore going to be closed if it can't go on, I want to see if I can find a few good books. ”

"Won't there be books when the second master and sister-in-law come, I saw that you had more than a dozen boxes of books when I was in Gu'an, why do you still want to buy them?" The pillar muttered.

"What is a dozen boxes, if you want to become a scholarly family, you have to hide thousands of books."

"Can you read so many books?"

"I can't watch it and watch it slowly, although we are not Sven people, but we must pretend to be Sven, and we can't always be looked down upon by people because we haven't read a few books like we are now."

The pillar and the iron lock didn't know that Han Xiufeng was moved, so they asked Feng Xiaowhip to take care of the house, and then accompanied Han Xiufeng around in a big circle and came to a bookstore with a plaque of "Houyitang".

There were two bookstalls on both sides of the gate, the stalls were full of some yellowed old books, a guy sat on a bamboo chair behind the bookstall listlessly, Han Xiufeng leaned over and picked up a few books, and found that they were all big road goods, and put them down gently.

The shopkeeper and the two people who looked like they wanted to sell the shop obviously didn't talk about it, and they sent them away and came back with a sigh, seeing the pillar and the iron lock, one holding the waist knife, and the other holding his arms and looking around, he hurriedly bowed down and said, "Dare to ask the two officials what advice they have?" ”

Iron Lock said impatiently, "It's okay, you're busy with you." ”

The shopkeeper didn't dare to offend the people in the patrol camp, so he forced out a smile and asked, "Do you want to go in and have a cup of tea?" ”

Without waiting for the pillar and the iron lock to speak, Han Xiufeng turned around and asked, "The one who listens to the accent shopkeeper should be from Yangzhou, right?" ”

The shopkeeper knew that he was a scholar when he saw Han Xiufeng's dress, and then thought of the patrol camp commander guarding both sides, and realized that Han Xiufeng should be an official master, so he hurriedly bowed down and said: "Back to the master, it is the Yangzhou people below." ”

"The shopkeeper's surname?"

"Your surname is Yang, your name is Qinghe, dare to ask your lord, you respect."

"My surname is Han," Han Xiufeng smiled slightly, walked into the store at the invitation of Shopkeeper Yang, and asked with a smile while flipping through the books on the shelves with great interest: "Shopkeeper Yang, Yangzhou Mansion is big, and the accents of the states and counties under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Mansion are also different, forgive me for being clumsy, I really can't tell if you are from Jiangdu or Ganquan." ”

Shopkeeper Yang realized that the official in front of him must have been to Yangzhou, and hurriedly said: "Master Han, in Xiajiangdu, you must have heard of Yangzhou making trouble with long hair, and even Yangzhou City was occupied by long hair, so I haven't been back for several years." ”

Han Xiufeng was not interested in talking to him about Yangzhou, he was only interested in his collection of books, put down the books in his hand and asked: "Shopkeeper Yang, you have done a good job in this business, why do you want to transfer it?" ”

Thinking that there was really nothing to hide, Shopkeeper Yang said helplessly: "Master Han, don't hide it, although the store is open in the capital, it is actually still a business in Yangzhou's hometown." A few years ago, this life was quite passable, but since the fall of Yangzhou, this business has not been able to be done, and it has been so difficult to maintain for two years, and it is really impossible to sustain it, so it can only be closed. ”

Han Xiufeng was stunned for a moment, and immediately reacted: "So you used to specialize in the trading of those salt merchants in Yangzhou City, and specially helped them buy books in the capital?" ”

"I also help them publish and sell books, and help them sell books to the capital." Recalling the days when the business was booming, the shopkeeper Yang sighed: "Those salt merchants are really rich, and they are really willing to spend money, not only pay a lot of money to hire the children of the Confucian professors, but even compare the etiquette and talents, and support more than ten or twenty literati and artists." Not only do they want to buy any books that are available in the capital, but they also write books and say that they want to sell the books to the capital to make a name for themselves, and if no one buys them, they will give them away. At that time, the business was really profitable at both ends, and you could make money lying down! ”

Shopkeeper Yang said this to others, and others may not believe it.

But Han Xiufeng has been to Yangzhou, seen the prosperity of Yangzhou, and learned the luxury of Yangzhou salt merchants, not only convinced, but even knew that if there were no salt merchants with thousands of dollars and money, there would be no "Yangzhou Eight Monsters" who are famous all over the world. At least nine out of ten of the slightly famous literati in Yangzhou were raised by those who were subordinate to the elegant salt merchants.

Thinking that buying so many books by himself seemed to be a vassal elegance, Han Xiufeng subconsciously changed the topic: "Shopkeeper Yang, you don't look big here from the outside, but I never thought that it was not small inside." ”

Shopkeeper Yang was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly arched his hand and said: "As Master Han said, this face is not big, but the place inside is not small. There is a door behind you, and there is a small courtyard in it, and before the trade was easy to do, I asked the craftsmen and the men to engrave and print books in it, and then there was a further entry, there were more than a dozen rooms, which used to be where the craftsmen and the men lived, but now the trade is not good, the books cannot be sold, and the more and more they accumulate, the craftsmen are all dismissed, and there is only one man left, and the innermost one is simply used as a warehouse. ”

"You don't usually live here?"

"In the past, it was easy to buy and sell, and I rented a yard nearby, but now it is not easy to do business, and I don't dare to rent that yard anymore, so I can only let the cheap and the dog come to live in it." Shopkeeper Yang thought about it and said helplessly: "Just because the door is small, the inside is big, and the place that can really be used for business is small, so it is not easy to rent." ”

Han Xiufeng thought for a while, and suddenly asked, "Shopkeeper Yang, is it inconvenient to take me in to have a look?" ”

"Convenient, Master Han, please."

After going in and taking a turn, he found that the place inside was really not small as he said, Han Xiufeng weighed it, stopped and said: "Shopkeeper Yang, I have taken your shop, the price is easy to negotiate, and the rent on the landlord's side is also easy to say, but there is one condition!" ”

Shopkeeper Yang not only really couldn't hold on, but he also owed a lot of debts outside, seeing that Han Xiufeng didn't seem to be joking, he asked eagerly: "Master Han, what conditions do you have?" ”

"After the store is down, the business name remains the same, it is still called 'Houyitang', you continue to be the shopkeeper, and then do business, the profit is mine, and the loss is mine. It's just that this shopkeeper can't let you do it for nothing, shopkeeper Yang, how much salary do you think I give you every year? ”

Shopkeeper Yang couldn't believe that there was such a good thing in the world, so it could be seen that Ding Zhu and Yu Tiesuo followed in, and guarded the side like a guard, feeling that the young official in front of him didn't seem to be joking with him, so he weighed it and asked cautiously: "Two hundred taels, two hundred taels a year, you can support your wife and children in the future." ”

To his surprise, Han Xiufeng's face suddenly turned straight: "This official gives you three hundred taels every year, but this matter must not be vented, if it spreads, don't blame this official for treating you!" ”