After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1039 Backer
Hai Jiao was not surprised by such things. He had lived two lives, and in his previous life in the capital, he had heard a lot of gossip and rumors about this matter. He even tried to get information several times by pretending to be a shop assistant of a wealthy and powerful person with a stake in the store.

However, before he could answer Jin Jiashu, he had to find out his true intentions: "Have you mentioned this to my little sister? What did she say?"

Jin Jiashu said, "I mentioned it to Sister Hai, but at that time the matter had not been concluded. Only Mammy mentioned it briefly, and she didn't explain the details, so I didn't explain it very clearly. Sister Hai meant that it was okay, saying that Jiyuan probably just wanted to find a backer. Since Mammy Ma is likely to stay in Jiyuan for retirement in the future, even if she buys another house, she will often visit Jiyuan, so I will just do Jiyuan a favor for Mammy Ma's sake." At this point, he paused, "Sister Hai's idea is good, and I believe that Mammy Ma will not harm me. I just feel... it's so easy to get a sum of money every quarter, I feel uneasy, and I'm afraid that if something happens in Jiyuan, it will cause trouble for the Empress Dowager..."

Haijiao had an idea in mind. He had talked about Jiyuan with his younger sister Haitang. According to his memory in his previous life, Jiyuan had never had any major problems until it was disbanded. As long as the second branch of the Jin family did not show up to rob and seize the business in this life, with the cautiousness of the owner of Jiyuan, their business would not have any major changes. When Jiyuan had Jin Jiashu, the nephew of the current empress dowager, as a shareholder and backer, there was no risk of being targeted by the powerful.

As long as the new emperor is sitting on the throne, most people will not offend Queen Mother Xu for the sake of Jiyuan's property.

The adopted sons and daughters of Ji Garden's owner, Gonggong Ji, did a lot of business, involving multiple industries and earning a lot of money, but they were not well-known in the capital. They had no particularly outstanding exclusive products, nor were they involved in highly profitable industries. No matter what industry the store was in, it was only of average size. Among their peers in the business community in Beijing, there were at least seven or eight that were better than them. On weekdays, they relied more on attentive and thoughtful service attitudes and took the route of small profits but quick turnover. In the eyes of those powerful people, this level of industry was not enough for them to risk offending the Queen Mother and the new emperor. If they had that time, they might as well focus on other businesses that made more money faster!

The shops of Jiyuan have always been operating stably. They often give up larger orders or richer customers just to avoid being coveted or resented by others. In addition, they will abide by the laws of the country and never violate the law. They would rather suffer a loss than let others catch them. This is largely because the people of Jiyuan know very well that their backers are not very stable. In the past, they relied on the Cining Palace and Cheng'en Marquis Mansion, and the other palace connections were also a bonus. But at that time, the Sun family was powerful and the Zhou family was suppressed. How dare they show their faces and attract the attention of powerful officials? Not to mention violating the law and handing the ready-made handle to others.

But Shopkeeper Xiao Feng and his people are all capable people. They are obviously capable of expanding their business, but they always have to hand over the benefits to their peers. How can they be willing? Now that the Sun family has fallen, the Zhou family has regained its strength, but the Empress Dowager is old after all... For the sake of the long-term, it is normal for them to target Jin Jiashu, the nephew of the Empress Dowager.

Haijiao knew that his younger sister Haitang believed in her own memory, which was why she thought that Jiyuan's industry would not have any problems, so she persuaded Jin Jiashu to agree to Ma Shangyi's proposal. He also felt that Jin Jiashu could accept Jiyuan's overtures. Anyway, with Ma Shangyi around, Jin Jiashu and Jiyuan should have gotten closer.

He said to Jin Jiashu, "This kind of thing is indeed very common in the capital, and there are actually quite a few in Chang'an. You have lived in Chang'an for so many years, and I think you must have heard that the big businesses in the city give gifts to the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion and the generals' mansions such as the Tang family every year, and the gifts are quite generous. The gifts are actually a tribute to the powerful people in Chang'an City in exchange for their protection, so that these big businesses will not be embarrassed by the officials when they operate normally in Chang'an. If someone deliberately makes things difficult for them, they can also ask the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion and several generals' mansions to come forward to administer justice."

Jin Jiashu knew something about this: "I've heard about it, too. Grandma Hai also told me that when your family lived in Guazhou, they sent money and food to the garrison every month..." Hai Jiao smiled and nodded: "That's the same idea. At that time, my grandfather had no official position and was in a border town. Naturally, he had the protection of the garrison, so he felt more at ease."

Of course, the situation in the capital is somewhat different from that in the northwestern border cities. The shops in the capital give gifts to the rich and powerful, or give them shares and dividends, mostly to protect themselves by using their names, so that other rich and powerful people will not target their business and find an excuse to rob them. The owner of Ji Garden, Eunuch Ji, has a sensitive identity and cannot find a powerful backer in the capital. Therefore, his adopted sons and daughters have the ability to expand their business, but they still have to restrain themselves to avoid attracting attention. If they had a backer with a strong enough identity, they might not need to be so frustrated. They could make more money and build a bigger business just by running their business normally.

Haijiao explained the key points to Jin Jiashu and gave another example: "My grandfather bought a long-term servant Qiu Shugen in Chang'an last year. His family's previous owner was the imperial merchant in the capital. That business was very big, but the master behind it was actually the Zhang family. However, his ancestors were servants of the Zhang family, which is different from the relationship between you and Jiyuan. Jiyuan is not your servant, and you don't need to ask how they run their business. If you are worried that they will commit a crime and implicate you, warn them in advance to abide by the law. If powerful people target them, they can scare them away under your banner; but if they commit crimes, you will never come forward to protect them. If you make a gentleman's agreement in advance, you don't have to worry about them daring to commit crimes."

As for implicating the Queen Mother... Which business company has the ability to do this? It's not like they have committed a crime of treason.

Jin Jiashu understood and felt more at ease: "So this kind of thing is common in the capital? I haven't heard anyone mention it much..."

Hai Jiao smiled and said, "When your mother was buried in the capital, didn't you see the eunuch Pu who was guarding the tomb? He should have run some business, right? I heard that he came from the Qianqing Palace, and he has the Cining Palace as a backer, so no one would offend the nobles in the palace for his little business, not even the Sun family. This is the benefit of having a backer. The owner of Jiyuan has suffered a lot from this for a long time, and now he wants to borrow your name to expand his business, which is also human nature."

Jin Jiashu nodded and said, "In that case, I will make it clear to the people of Jiyuan face to face. As long as they don't commit crimes, for Ma's sake, I don't mind them using my name to deter those greedy dignitaries. I'm not greedy either. It doesn't matter how much dividend they give me. Anyway, I have a farm and land in my hands, and the annual income is enough for me to live."

Haijiao smiled, knowing that Jin Jiashu had no idea about the amount of the dividend, and not intending to remind him right now, he only said: "It's not a bad thing for you to have more money, at least you can build the villa earlier. When your cousin moves to open a school in the future, you can also move over and be their neighbor as soon as possible, so that you can take care of each other."

Speaking of this, Jin Jiashu thought of an acquaintance: "How is Wu Ke now? He seems to have not seen the teachers for a long time. Didn't he say that he would be neighbors with the teachers in the future? I was just about to buy land from him, and I heard that he was going to rebuild the Wu Mansion, but why does it seem that there is no follow-up news?"