A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 19 Pulling
"Since we are talking about business, there must be give and take." Song Xuan said with a smile on his face:
"How much does your master want to bid?"

"Eighty strings of cash."

Song Xuan snorted and laughed, then extended his hand to invite Zhao San to leave.

Now it was Zhao San's turn to smile shyly: "Shi Er Lang, you and I both made offers, so we have to let everyone bargain."

"For the past six months, my shop has had a monthly turnover of 60 kan."

"Sixty sticks?"

Zhao San raised his eyebrows slightly. Nowadays, the highest price for liquor sold by the government is forty-eight coins per catty.

Nowadays, food is not expensive. You can buy a dou of rice for less than one hundred coins, which, together with vegetables, can feed an adult for five days.

According to the official relief of the Song Dynasty, the standard for each person was twenty cents per day.

In Tokyo, it is already very good for an ordinary person to earn a hundred wen a day, but in Lema Town, few people can earn a hundred wen a day.

Song Xuan's small cold paste shop can earn two strings of cash a day, with at least half of it being profit.

(The usual purchasing power is probably equivalent to 300-400 yuan now)

Of course, it is not ruled out that Song Xuan deliberately reported a higher figure.

"With the popularity this store has, you'll be able to make back your money in about a year."

"Six hundred strings of cash is too high." Zhao San couldn't help but say:
"Shi Er Lang, we really want it. Give me a real price, and I can go back and explain it to the master."

"Five hundred strings of cash."

Zhao San curled his lips again.

Song Xuan pointed his finger and said, "At least it's clean money. You don't have to worry about being extorted by the government. The money you pay to officials and yamen runners in your gambling house is more than this every year."

At least it's clean money.

Zhao San didn't understand what Song Xuan said, but he remembered it. He had also given money to the county magistrate and others. He knew very well that although they looked down on him, their hands were very honest.

The monthly salary of a county magistrate is also 20 strings of cash, and there must be more than 10,000 households in each area.

If they want to live a luxurious life with their salary, it is still quite tight.

"I know you can't make the decision. Go back and ask your master. If he understands, come and talk to me."

Song Xuan said with a smile: "I won't keep you any longer. I'll treat you to tea when the deal is done."

Zhao San naturally accepted the honor given to him by Song Xuan. He did not think it through before returning to report to his master.

After hearing this, Mr. Zhao was silent and pondered.

Not to mention the officials, there are eight bailiffs in a county, and they are naturally controlled by the local big families.

The Zhao and Song families were naturally involved in it. The Yasi was an official. Although he was looked down upon by the literati, he also controlled some power. It was not easy for the new itinerant county magistrate to deal with him.

Although everyone fights for their own interests, sometimes they have to work together to deal with the new county magistrate.

In particular, "strong officials and weak officials" is a major feature of local governments in the Song Dynasty!
“Clean money?”

Mr. Zhao sighed slowly, then chuckled:
"This Song Twelve is truly a good bastard. He's smart, but unfortunately his family doesn't value him. I really want to marry my daughter to him and bring him into our Zhao family."

Zhao San was stunned when he heard this.

That boy looks good.

But didn’t the master say before that he wanted to marry his daughter to a student who had a good chance of passing the imperial examination?

After all, if he really passed the imperial examination, there would be many high-ranking officials in Tokyo who would be willing to marry him. How could a person like us from a poor village get the advantage?

That is, before students take part in the autumn examination, many of them have to get married.

It can not only tie everyone together early, but also avoid the embarrassment of catching a son-in-law from under the list.

Some young ladies from official families are not very good-looking.

As long as you pass the imperial examination, you can pick any beautiful woman you want in the future. Why does she have to be picked by others?
"Master, why do you say that?"

Zhao San quickly told Mr. Zhao what he had learned. Song Xuan always ranked last in every exam.

Mr. Zhao put down the teacup in his hand:

"How smart is that kid? You still think he's not good at studying after all these years. How can that Song from the Song family private school, who failed the imperial examination for many years, be a good teacher?
He didn't know how to cherish a child prodigy like Song Xuan in his hands. Now Song Xuan doesn't want to make him famous and he feels resentful.

I'm sure this kid can get into the county school!"

"But isn't he going to take the entrance exam for Yingtianfu Academy?"

Mr. Zhao narrowed his eyes. The examination time for Yingtianfu Academy was before the examination for the county school.

If a student fails to get into the academy, he or she can go back and take the exam for the county school without any delay. It really gives them an extra choice and opportunity.

"Then I also believe that this boy can pass the exam."

Mr. Zhao suddenly smiled.

It would be funny if the Song family's descendants became successful but didn't help their family much.

The Golden Phoenix is ​​at home, but no one cares.

It will be really fun to watch this golden phoenix fly into the sky.

The more Mr. Zhao thought about it, the more anxious he became. Seeing the ugly expression on the face of the old man surnamed Song, he arranged:

"San'er, go tell Song Xuan that I bought his shop for 150 strings of cash.

If he can say that the method of making clean money is good, I will add another 200 strings of cash. This will show my sincerity.

Looking across the entire Lema Town, no one will offer a higher price than mine."

Although Zhao San didn't understand why the usually stingy official was so generous, he was still prepared to do it.

Who knows what the owner is thinking!

Zhao San saw that the official had started laughing inexplicably again, so he quickly left the room and went straight to Song Xuan's shop.

Mr. Zhao believed that when dealing with a self-righteous little prodigy like Song Xuan, common sense could not be used.

Boy, you are still too young.

At this time, Song Xuan had already started reading the Analects of Confucius, reviewing the old to learn new things.

He wanted to take the Jinshi exam, not any other exams.

"Shi Er Lang, my master has shown great sincerity."

"Let me hear Mr. Zhao's sincerity." Song Xuan turned a page and leaned back in the recliner without raising his head.

Zhao San sat on the round stool and stretched out his finger:

"I'll buy your shop for one hundred and fifty strings of cash. Don't be quick to refuse. If the clean money you mentioned is a good idea, my master will give you another two hundred strings of cash."

"One hundred and fifty strings of cash is fine for the shop, but the idea must be two hundred and fifty strings of cash."

Song Xuan said nonchalantly, "Don't think I don't know how your old man wants to control me. Why don't you ask your master? This is also my sincerity."

"Hey."

Zhao San wanted to say something else, but when he remembered how much his master valued Song Xuan and said he wanted to marry his daughter to him, he swallowed his words and continued to report.

Zhang Fangping, who was reading a book nearby, widened his eyes. The man asked for fifty strings of cash. He wondered how many books he would have to copy to earn that much money.

Not to mention the 350 strings of cash mentioned above, it is definitely not a small amount!
"Twelfth brother, aren't you afraid that the cooked duck will fly away?"

Song Xuan knew that Zhang Fangping had never been hit by such a large amount of money. It was like if bundles of 200,000 yuan were placed in front of him, he would be stunned for a while.

"Fang Ping, this kind of business negotiation is all about pushing and pulling. If I sell it too cheaply, Mr. Zhao will feel like he's lost out, and he'll have to thank us later."

"what?"

(End of this chapter)