Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 813 Decision
For Durant and his two companions, the day passed both quickly and very slowly.

On the surface, it seemed that he hadn't done anything; he had simply sat in the pharmacy, talked to some people, given some gifts, and then found an inn in Liangzhou City to stay in.

All three of them knew very well that they were at a crossroads.

If being a county magistrate or a doctor is pointless, then they've only gone to great lengths to buy a good mule, and once they get back, they can go back to living their lives as before, which isn't so bad.

But if we really follow their wishes and make pills or open a pharmacy, the price will be high. At least for the next three or four years, we won't be able to live a peaceful life.

If it succeeds, great; if it fails, we might lose most of our family's savings.

The three of them had been frowning ever since they sat down in the inn, unable to come up with a solution.

Sitting there worrying like this isn't a solution, so Feng Zi'an spoke up, "Let's talk about it."

"What did you say?" Duran asked.

Feng Zian scratched his head, "So, about this matter, should we do it or not?"

"That's what I was thinking about." Duran tapped his forehead in annoyance, his gaze falling on Du Song sitting opposite him. "Brother, what's your opinion?"

"You two should make the decision yourselves; I won't interfere any further."

"What do you mean?" Feng Zi'an understood. "You're not going to do this?"

“You two know that Dad has said long ago that I’m not smart enough to do any big business. The family’s current profits are all thanks to you two,” Du Song said. “Anyway, whether you make pills or open a pharmacy, whether you do it or not, and how you do it, is up to you.”

"If you're determined to do it, the family will definitely provide financial and logistical support, regardless of future profits or losses..." Du Song paused here, "Let's talk about the future later."

Duran sighed, "If it's just about making money, I wouldn't be so worried about that."

This surprised Feng Zi'an. "What do you mean? Weren't you thinking about whether you could make money?" "If it's just about making money, why bother? What place or industry can't make money?" Du Lan retorted to Feng Zi'an, "Didn't you understand what that county magistrate meant?"

"What do you mean? What exactly do you mean?" Feng Zi'an asked anxiously, patting Du Lan on the shoulder. "Don't just think about it on your own. Tell us what you know."

Du Lan slapped his hand away. "The county magistrate's idea is that as long as we do this business, we'll have connections with the Beishan County government. That doctor surnamed Hu also made it clear that if we want to make the pills famous, it's best to go to a place with a powerful backer. Isn't that just telling us to go to Beishan County first and start the pill business?"

Feng Zi'an only realized the meaning behind it at this moment.

“If he’s really willing to be our backer, it will be much easier for us to do business in the future.” Although Feng Zi’an said this, there wasn’t much joy in his tone.

Du Song said, "You guys are doing business in Wanzhou, so you can't really rely on anyone, can you?"

After that, the three of them fell silent again.

After a long silence, Feng Zi'an couldn't hold back any longer and spoke first, "If we sell pills in Beishan County, how much money can we make? How many people are there? Even if we have officials to back us up so we don't lose money, what if there's another war and Beishan County falls apart?" His voice grew softer and softer, but the questions he raised became more and more serious.

“You’re right,” Du Song said, offering only the words “right” without urging them to give up or to do anything else.

In the end, Durant made the final decision: "Let's go all out this time!"

"What? You're really going there to buy pills?" Feng Zi'an asked anxiously.

"Timing!" Now that Du Lan had made up his mind, he was no longer confused. "Thinking back now, what the county magistrate said makes some sense."

Opportunities don't come all the time. We've always been honest and hardworking in our profession. When will we ever be able to get a word in with the county magistrate?
Even if we manage to get on their good side, those county magistrates outside would only give us thousands or tens of thousands of taels of silver as a bribe. Who would even look at someone like us?
Although we've only connected with the magistrate of Beishan County, there's an old saying that officials protect each other. They have their own paths to success. If we can get through this one, we might be able to use him to build other connections in the future.

For this very reason, it's worth a try.