Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 139 Smart Xue Baoqin

……

But after Xue Ke returned to the capital, he was going to see Jia Rong to report the matter immediately. By chance, Bao Qin came over and asked with a smile, "Where are you going, brother?"

Xue Ke stopped and looked at Bao Qin, smiling, "I haven't seen you for half a year. You've grown taller and more attractive. Have you been obedient in the mansion? Have you caused any trouble?"

Xue Baoqin rolled her eyes at her brother and said angrily, "When someone asked you where you were going, you asked me if I had caused any trouble. Am I the kind of person who doesn't obey orders and doesn't know the seriousness of the matter?"

"It's my brother's fault." Xue Ke apologized with a smile, "I'm just worried that you'll get used to being wild with dad outside and won't be able to calm down. The Duke's Mansion is not like our home, we must follow the rules and regulations."

"I know!" Xue Baoqin responded casually: "Brother just came back, can we talk about something else? Did you have a smooth journey? I see that you are a little darker and thinner."

"It went smoothly, but..." Xue Ke said, slapping his head, "I was so busy talking to you. I have to go talk to Brother Rong first. We'll talk later."

"Then you don't have to go." Baoqin smiled and said, "I just came back from my aunt's place. My aunt said that Brother Rong went to the Imperial College to check the test results today and may not be back until the evening."

"Oh."

Xue Ke nodded and said, "Then I will look for Brother Rong in the evening, but I still have to take the account book to Miss Ping'er for review first."

Baoqin said, "Brother, please take a rest at home. I will bring it to Sister Ping'er."

"My little sister will feel sorry for me."

"Hehe, always!"

"Yes, yes!" Xue Ke nodded and said with a smile: "There is one more thing I need to trouble you with, little sister."

Baoqin: "What's the matter?"

Xue Ke said seriously, "Brother Rong must concentrate on studying and passing the imperial examination. All the accounts are now handled by Miss Ping'er. From now on, I will be responsible for checking the accounts of our two families with Miss Ping'er, okay?"

Baoqin pursed her lips.

"Well, you're my brother after all."

"Just bear with the fatigue, sister!"

She has been well-informed since childhood and is not only good at business but also good at accounting.

Xue Ke smiled and said, "Please count carefully. Your dowry is in there. I won't take any responsibility if you lose anything."

Baoqin blushed and stamped her feet.

"Pooh!"

"I won't tell you anymore!"

……

Let’s talk about Xue Baoqin who came to Jia Rong’s inner study with the account book. The yard was very quiet. Two cleaning maids were sitting on the chairs under the corridor, basking in the sun, bored.

"Is Sister Ping'er in there?" Baoqin asked, leaning forward.

The two girls stood up quickly.

"Miss Qin is here."

"Miss Ping'er is inside."

Baoqin smiled and said, "Please sit down, I'll go in."

The two maids had already opened the curtains, and Baoqin bent down and entered the room.

Ping'er was concentrating on calculating her accounts in the inner room, her abacus clacking away, and she didn't notice what was happening outside.

"Ai!"

Baoqin walked up quietly and patted Ping'er on the shoulder.

Ping'er was startled.

He quickly turned around and saw it was Baoqin.

"Miss Qin!"

"You scared me to death!"

"whee."

Baoqin covered her mouth and laughed: "As expected of Brother Rong's housekeeper, you are really serious when it comes to calculating the accounts!"

Ping Er stood up and made tea for Bao Qin. She said with a smile, "Young lady, please don't make fun of me. How can I be a housekeeper? At most, I am just a maid who serves tea."

"Girl, have some tea."

"Thank you sister."

Baoqin put all the account books on the table and said with a smile, "These are the account books my brother brought. He asked me to bring them to you."

As he spoke, he picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Ping'er looked at the account book, put it away carefully, and said with a smile: "We will look at it together when Sister Xiaoxiao comes later. It's a good opportunity for you to stay and take a look. It's the New Year, and we have to check the accounts."

……

"so much!"

Baoqin covered her mouth, a little surprised.

The second branch of the Xue family also does big business, and it is not uncommon to see turnover of tens of thousands of taels.

But, this time!
The total flow of grain resale in the account books for a few months exceeded 500,000 taels, including five round trips to Jiangnan for grain and one smuggling trip to Vietnam.

There are detailed records of when and where the grain was purchased, the purchase price, when and where it was sold, the selling price, the loss during transportation, etc.

All in all, although the turnover is high, the profit is not that much.

A net profit of about 50,000 taels of silver.

The Jia and Xue families each shared 7:3.

By the time the accounts were checked, it was already noon.

Xue Baoqin stretched and rubbed her forehead: "I'm so tired of doing the accounting."

"Sisters, you have to ask me to be your host."

Ping Er pointed and said with a smile: "She is the second young lady of the Xue family. Let us two maids treat her as the host."

Xiao Xiao stretched out her empty hands and said with a smile, "I don't have any money. I'm already looking forward to the red envelopes for the New Year."

Ping Er asked curiously, "Didn't the monthly allowance just get paid?"

Xiao Xiao said helplessly: "It's all spent."

"I bought two boxes of powder cream from Li Ji Rouge Shop the other day. They were very expensive, but they were not as good as Qingwen's own. I will go and smash their signboard when I have time next time."

Ping'er: "..."

Baoqin: "..."

……

Imperial College.

The results will be announced today.

Ranking is not really important.

It is important to let students understand the level of their own articles so that they can study harder.

There are only the top 100 rankings, and there is no need to waste time on ranking after 100.

Jia Rong ranked second.

Xu Lian ranked third.

Xie Jiwen ranked ninth.

The one who ranked first in the annual examination was an old scholar from Shandong named Zhao Ziyan. He was the top scorer in the Jinan Prefecture Examination this year. He usually kept a low profile in the Imperial College, but made a big splash during the New Year.

Although he did not get first place, Jia Rong's teacher Zhou Zhengguan was also very happy. With such a result, he was almost certain to pass the Shuntian Prefecture's provincial examination!

This is enough to show that he deserves the title of selecting Jia Rong as the first in the imperial examination and he has a clear conscience!

"well!"

Zhou Zheng looked at Jia Rong with admiration on his face.

As for the fear that others would say I was trying to curry favor with the powerful, I had long forgotten about it.

You all must be envious of me!
"Are you free to come to the teacher's house for a drink later?"

Of course Jia Rong would not refuse the teacher's invitation.

"Then excuse me."

"Haha."

Zhou Zhengguan laughed: "What do you mean by disturbing the family? You should come to our house more often in the future."

After saying that, Zhou Zhengguan looked at the person next to him.

It was his youngest son Zhou Yue.

Zhou Yue didn't do well in the exam this time and didn't even make it into the top 100, so he lowered his head in embarrassment and didn't dare to say a word.

"Beast!"

"Look at the article you wrote. Compared with Shunzhi, it's just like fart!"

"..."

After leaving Zhou Siye's place, Xie Jiwen immediately stepped forward and laughed: "I told you that you must be in the top ten! But you and Xu Lian actually got second and third place, which is beyond my expectation!"

Xu Lian chuckled: "What do you think?"

Xie Jiwen smiled and said, "I thought our levels were about the same, so we should be ranked 7th, 8th, and 9th in a row."

"Ah……"

Xu Lian smiled and ignored Xie Jiwen.

"Speaking of which, the old scholar's article is very good. Why didn't I discover it before? What do you think, Brother Shunzhi?"

Jia Rong: "Maybe it's a result of accumulated experience."

Xu Lian: "That makes sense."

Xie Jiwen said: "I will be the host, let's invite Ye Mengshu to have a drink at Yage Tower. I will go south to meet Miss Su Wan'er tomorrow. You guys must be envious, haha..."

Qingchunlou was forced to close due to its involvement in a murder case, and a Yagelou opened up next to it immediately, and business is pretty good.

"I'm sorry, Brother Xie, I have already agreed to go to Teacher Zhou's house for a drink, so..." Jia Rong explained.

Xie Jiwen waved his hand: "Go ahead, I know you are jealous of me, it's okay."

"Brother Xu, let's go."

Xu Lian also shook her head.

"Sorry, Brother Xie, I have to go back to prison to study."

"You really won't go home for the New Year?"

"Ah."

Xu Lian nodded, smiled at the two of them, and walked towards the backyard of the Imperial College.

Xie Jiwen said: "Our brother Xu seems a little mysterious?"

Jia Rong asked, "You were the one who brought him in, and you're saying he's mysterious?"

Xie Jiwen smiled and said, "Isn't it because he was good-looking and his articles were good?"

Jia Rong: "What about now?"

Xie Jiwen: "It's fine now."

Jia Rong: "That's all. Why do you care so much? As long as you join my Qing Society, you'll be my good brother!"

Xie Jiwen nodded.

"That's right!" "What a pity, you are going to Zhou Siye's house for a drink, and Xu Lian is going back to study. I can only share this good news with Brother Ye."

Jia Rong: "Haha, go ahead."

"I think he'd be jealous of you."

Xie Jiwen: “I think so too!”

"By the way, I have one more thing."

Jia Rong: "What?"

Xie Jiwen: "Lend me some money."

Jia Rong: “…”

Xie Jiwen: "What if Miss Su falls in love with me? I must be prepared to pay for her redemption."

……

After having a meal and drinking wine at the teacher's house, the sun had already set when we returned to Ningguo Mansion.

Lai Er trotted forward, bent over and said, "Master, you're back."

"Ah."

Jia Rong nodded: "Are you a little free recently? How about I find something for you to do?"

Lai Er seemed not to understand what Jia Rong meant. He smiled respectfully and said, "Master, if you have anything to tell me, I will do it even if it costs me my life!"

"well."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I heard that the master's alchemy room is short of a servant. Why don't you go and give it a try?"

"Ah I……"

"Why? Don't you want to go?"

"I……"

Lai Er said with a sad face: "I want to go."

Jia Rong patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "It is better to go today than to wait for a day. Go today and take good care of the master. Especially the elixir that the master eats must be made sure to be non-toxic and harmless before taking it."

"If you serve the master well, it will be considered as a sign of filial piety on my part, and it will be considered a great achievement for you in the future," Jia Rong added.

Lai Er immediately understood what Jia Rong meant and quickly assured him, "Master, please rest assured. I will serve you well."

……

"Second brother, are you going to serve Master Zhen?"

"Hahaha, second brother, I think you are finished. You are being squeezed out of the circle of housekeepers in Ningguo Mansion!" Lai Da laughed with some gloating.

As we all know, Master Zhen is a waste.

All the power in Ningguo Mansion lies in Jia Jing's hands.

The future of Ningguo Mansion depends on Jia Rong.

The butler beside these two people is the boss!

Lai Er didn't care at all and said with a smile: "This is what Master Rong told me to do. He said it was to show filial piety to the master. As long as I serve well, when the master ascends to heaven in the future, will the master not use me?"

Lai Da sneered, "You're dreaming! You still want to serve Master Rong? If you want to go, I'll go first!"

"you?"

Lai Er looked at Lai Da in amazement.

Lai laughed and said, "I was just kidding. I plan to let Shang Rong be a servant boy beside Master Rong. You have to help with this."

Lai Er didn't even think about it: "I can't help."

Lai Dadao: "Mother, look at my second brother!"

"He clearly doesn't want to contribute to the family!"

Nanny Lai frowned and said, "Second Brother, you have to help with this matter."

"Our family finally found connections and spent money to donate an official position to Shangrong, but it has been wasted without a real position. I think it is mainly because there is no one in Rongguo Mansion who has a say."

"Let Shang Rong serve as Rong'er's servant for a few years. When Rong'er becomes an official, how can he not think about the people around him? Who knows, he might even become an official in Beijing! That would bring honor to the family!"

Lai laughed and said, "Mother is right!"

"Second brother, this is mother's order! How dare you disobey?"

"I……"

Lai Er rolled his eyes and said, "Tell the truth to mother and elder brother. Master Rong is tired of me, so he sent me to serve in the master's alchemy room. I can't even see Master Rong."

Nanny Lai sighed: "Forget it, I don't need you anymore."

"I'll talk to Qingwen about it some other day!"

……

When Jia Rong returned home, he heard that Xue Ke was already at his house, so he set up a banquet to welcome Xue Ke and his brothers.

Baoqin also came over to join in the fun.

"You guys eat and drink, I'll pour you some wine."

Xue Ke said with a straight face: "Qin'er, stop messing around. I'm talking to Brother Rong about serious matters!"

Baoqin looked at Jia Rong pitifully.

"Brother Rong..."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "It's alright, Baoqin should listen too, we are all family."

Xue Baoqin looked at Xue Ke with pride.

Xue Ke was helpless.

I can't control it anymore.

do not care.

The two took a sip of wine.

Xue Ke said, "Brother Rong, I have accomplished my mission this time. There are a total of 14 Xue's trading companies in Shandong, basically one in every prefecture, and the food reserves are sufficient."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Brother Xue, you have worked hard. A few days ago, Master praised you in the study, saying that you have great talent and can take on great responsibilities."

Xue Ke was immediately excited, and stood up and said, "Grandpa, I am ashamed to accept your praise."

Jia Rong: "Sit down, sit down."

"Okay, why are you standing up?"

Xue Ke: "I'm so excited..."

"Pfft."

Baoqin quickly covered her mouth and her waist bent with laughter.

Jia Rong took a sip of wine and said, "Brother Xue, do you know about the major salt merchants in Lianghuai?"

Xue Ke calmed down and said, "Of course I understand. The Bai family is the main one among the six major salt merchants in Lianghuai, and they have many people in the officialdom. The Qian family is the auxiliary, and they have people in both the black and white worlds. The other families are also capable."

"The six salt merchants had once received the Emperor, and were deeply favored by him..."

Jia Rong nodded and said, "Besides these six major salt merchants, are there any other salt merchants in Lianghuai?"

Xue Ke smiled and said, "Of course there are. There are dozens of Lianghuai salt merchants, big and small, but these six are the largest, and they are intermarried with each other. They prosper together and suffer together. It is difficult for other families to compare with them."

Hearing this, Jia Rong took a sip of wine.

"The six major salt merchants are finished."

Xue Ke was stunned for a moment.

"Wha...what?"

"The six major salt merchants are about to be finished." Jia Rong repeated.

Xue Ke's brain was unable to react for a moment.

Are the six major salt merchants going to be finished?
That is...

Jia Rong smiled slightly: "Why? Are these just a few salt merchants worth me lying to you?"

In the eyes of the emperor and court ministers.

Salt merchants are actually no different from the people they raise.

"No, no."

Xue Ke's heart couldn't help but beat twice.

Jia Rong said sternly, "You should go south immediately after the New Year and support a few obedient small salt merchants, so that they can replace the six major salt merchants."

"The requirement is that the Lianghuai salt administration should not be in chaos."

"Can it be done?"

Xue Ke: “Yes!”

"This is it!"

"Grandpa didn't make a mistake!"

"Let's have some wine!"

Baoqin poured the wine.

The two of them drank several cups in succession.

Not long after, everyone went back to rest.

……

"Baoqin."

"Brother, what's wrong?"

"Did you hear just now? The six major salt merchants were much stronger than our family... and they disappeared just like that." Xue Ke still found it unbelievable.

Baoqin was more open-minded than Xue Ke and said with a smile: "Isn't this normal? Not to mention a mere salt merchant, even a king, a prince, or a general would disappear in a single night."

Xue Ke was slightly stunned for a moment, and said: "That's right, my little sister is much smarter than me."

Baoqin said: "Brother just thinks too much."

"We are already standing on the big ship. There is no need to think too much. We just need to follow the ship. Either we will brave the waves and become a leader, or we will sink into the abyss with the ship."

Xue Ke: “…”

He was still thinking about the sadness of being a businessman.

But my younger sister has already seen through the essence.

indeed.

It looks like only the six major salt merchants fell.

In fact, their big ship is about to capsize.

This is just a precursor.

"Little sister, I am really not as good as you."

Baoqin said: "I am just a bystander."

Xue Ke nodded and was about to say yes, but suddenly remembered and said, "No, you are a member of the Xue family, so you are not a bystander, right?"

……

(End of this chapter)