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

Chapter 1113 Industry
The only properties under Jin Jiashu's name now, apart from the earliest granted house, the farm in Yutian County, the hot spring farm in Xiaotangshan, and a few shops in Beijing that he had just acquired during the New Year.

Almost all of these shops were confiscated properties of former high-ranking officials. Their locations, sizes, and layouts are excellent.

Jin Jiashu shared this batch of shops with the Kangwang Mansion and the Chengenbo Mansion. He himself was allocated six shops, two of which already had long-term tenants and there were still several years left on the leases. They could not be moved for the time being and he only had to continue collecting rent. The remaining four shops originally had tenants, but now the tenants had their properties confiscated and exiled due to the involvement of the previous owners. It was impossible for them to continue to renew the lease and operate the shops, so they were temporarily vacant.

Jin Jiashu was a scholar. Although he had owned some shops in Chang'an, he only rented them out to make some money. He was not good at business. Since he had a good relationship with Ma Shangyi and thought that Ma Shangyi was close to Jiyuan, he thought about renting these shops to people from Jiyuan and collecting the rent.

However, both the Prince Kang's Mansion and the Earl Cheng'en's Mansion had been granted shops by the Emperor. Their shops were superior to his own in terms of location and size. They had just acquired a stake in Jiyuan and were not good at business management. They only wanted to earn rent and dividends, so they handed over the shops to the shopkeepers of Jiyuan early on. Although there were many shopkeepers in Jiyuan, their business was originally of medium scale. If they did not plan to move to another place to open a shop, they would not need so many shops.

As a result, among the shops under Jin Jiashu's name, only two were rented by Xiao Feng, the shopkeeper of Jiyuan. With the arrangement made, the remaining two had to remain vacant.

These two shops are the largest among all the shops under his name. One has two floors and was originally used as a restaurant. The other one, although only one floor, is also very spacious, with a yard at the back. There are warehouses, tea rooms, kitchens and living rooms in the yard, which is a typical layout of shop in front and living quarters in the back.

The shop owners of Jiyuan all felt that such a shop was too big and too good, and they could not use it for the time being. But if they rented it out casually, it would be a pity.

Ma Shangyi had advised Jin Jiashu that he could keep the two big shops and hand them over to Haitang, the mistress of the family, after Haitang came in. Because Hai Xiya was well-known for her business skills when she was in the northwest, and she was familiar with many northern and southern goods merchants, and she was also on good terms with the managers of the major workshops of the northwest border army. If Haitang could ask her grandfather to help, would Jin Jiashu still be afraid that the two shops would be gone? Besides, how much money could he make just by collecting rent? If he could open two good shops and manage them properly, Jin Jiashu would never have to worry about money in the future!

During his stay at the hot spring manor, Jin Jiashu got along very well with Ma Shangyi, and he was very good-tempered and persuaded her to take a few old friends who were in poor health to recuperate at the manor. After all, there were several springs in the hot spring manor and the place was large. He and other people lived in different courtyards, so they did not disturb each other. Ma Shangyi could also take the opportunity to get together with old friends and not feel lonely. Ma Shangyi followed suit and really took a few old friends to the manor to keep her company, including Ji Gonggong, the owner of Ji Garden. Both men and women were old people who had worked in the palace for many years, and they were knowledgeable. They were also grateful for Jin Jiashu's kindness and kindness, and did not look down on them because of their humble origins. They were all willing to consider him and help him with many ideas.

Jin Jiashu listened to their words and felt that they made sense. Although he had some ideas of his own in terms of business management, his studies were the most important thing at the moment. He had to concentrate on preparing for the exam and really couldn't think about this aspect of things. He had originally wanted to follow their advice and hand over the shops to his wife after marriage, but now, because the two excellent large shops have been vacant for several months, many people have come to inquire about them, and some of them have strong backgrounds. He felt that it was not a good idea to keep dragging it out, so he might as well tell his fiancée about it in advance and ask Haitang for her opinion.

After reading the letter, Haitang didn't know what to say. The two shops were located on Zhengyangmen Street. They were said to be making a fortune in the past, but they were sealed by the government because the original owner and the former tenant were involved in a major case. After the shops had new owners, the seals were naturally torn off. The Jin family had Ma Shangyi in charge, and they had also selected several experienced and prudent managers. Naturally, there was no reason to abandon the two new properties of the master's family. But since Jin Jiashu didn't say anything, they just sent people to remove the seals, clean the shops, and clear the debris. That's all. Haitang once drove past Zhengyangmen Street and saw that the two shops were vacant. She was also curious about who their new owners were. Several nearby shops that had been vacant for a long time all had new owners and new tenants. They opened for business one after another after the spring, but only those two shops had been silent. She couldn't figure it out at the time.

Now she finally knew what was going on.

Haitang sighed and saw Xiangcao bringing hot water into the house and helping her wash up. She put the letter down temporarily. After she finished washing up and changed into casual clothes, Xiangcao packed up her things and went back to the house. Only then did she sit back at the table and take out the letter to read it carefully.

These two shops are naturally excellent. The incident between the former owner and the former tenant is not auspicious, but since the shops are granted by the emperor, there will be no trouble. As Ma Shangyi and Eunuch Ji said, it would be a pity to just rent out such a good shop to earn a little rent. It would be best if the family could use it to do business.

Haitang had some knowledge of her grandfather Hai Xiya's business connections. She knew that although he was good at business, he had been concentrating on his career since his reinstatement. He only let his grandmother Ma buy some spices and gems to make a profit, and also opened a weaving workshop with others. If he did serious business, it was long gone. If Haitang really planned to use her grandfather's connections to purchase goods and open a store after marrying Jin Jiashu, then she would probably only be able to sell spices, gems or other local products, right?

The trade route to the Western Regions is too risky. It is unknown how many times you can go there in a year. The Jin family does not have their own caravan and their capital is limited. Even if they cooperate with others, how much good goods can they purchase to support two such large shops?
Instead of buying and selling rare goods from the Western Regions, it would be better to focus on the local products from the Northwest!
Haitang recalled what Zhou Xuejun and Wu Qiong had talked about some time ago, about bringing glassware or wine produced in Chang'an to the capital. She thought that if this trade route could be opened, it would be more secure than bringing spices and gems.

Hai Xiya single-handedly set up the glass workshop and wine workshop for the Northwest Frontier Army. The recipes were not a problem. If the trade route from Chang'an to the capital was too far, then what about setting up a workshop directly in Zhili? However, the profits from these two businesses were too great for the small Hai family to sustain. Even Jin Jiashu, the nephew of the Queen Mother, might not be able to keep the place under control. It would be best if a more distinguished patron could be invited to keep the place under control, and the Jin family would just eat meat and drink soup.

Besides, a weaving workshop could also be established. Ma was very experienced in this area, and Haitang also had quite a bit of experience in helping her grandmother run the business.

Haitang wrote down all these ideas on paper and explained them to Jin Jiashu in her reply, leaving it to him to decide what he would choose.