The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 421 Current Status of the Commercial Capital
Zuo Wenxuan possessed a great treasure but dared not act rashly.

At the inn, he used ten copper coins to pave the way and inquired about the situation in Shangdu from the innkeeper.

He feigned curiosity, looking like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world:

"Young man, isn't it said that the capital city is the most bustling place in the world? I've been here for three days and have explored the outer city several times. I've found that there are no more than twenty restaurants, less than one-tenth of the shops are open, and inns and roadside inns are even scarcer. How can it be like this?"

The waiter tossed the ten copper coins in his palm.

He was from Jiangnan. His family used to own more than 100 acres of fertile land. Although they were not a wealthy family, they had never experienced hardship growing up.

He wouldn't have even glanced at such a small reward in the past.

Unfortunately, their inn had been open for two months, but had very few customers.

Forget about tips, the shopkeeper said that if things continued to be this bad, he would probably have to close down.

This old woman, with a voice as rough as a man's and looking filthy, immediately demanded to stay in the cheapest room in the entire inn.

The inns were all large communal sleeping areas, and a night's stay cost only fifty coins.

The other party said that she only had one hundred coins on her person.

After much persuasion, I can still be considered a guest.

Finally, the innkeeper pointed to the woodshed and charged her two copper coins for a night's lodging.

That's equivalent to doing charity!
Anyway, the old woman wasn't asking anything confidential or important, so he wasn't stingy with chatting with her for ten coins.

“Auntie, you’re right. Our inn has only been open for less than two months. If you had come two months ago, you wouldn’t have been able to find a place to stay in this outer city.”

See those locked and closed houses? They're unowned! They've all been taken over by the Jingzhao Prefecture for unified management.

If the owners of these houses and shops return in the future, they can use the property deeds to re-register their residences.

After His Majesty ascended the throne, he immediately issued decrees to the people of the thirteen prefectures and counties surrounding Shangdu, instructing them to return to their homes, but the effect was not ideal. Now, less than one-tenth of the population resides outside the city.”

"I knew it! The streets and alleys are deserted. If it weren't for the garrison outside the capital, I would have thought I was in the wrong city. I wonder who lives in the outer city now?"

The waiter was very enthusiastic about the last question:

"Auntie, you've come to the right person! I know a lot about this. People living in the outer city are basically divided into three categories."

One group consists of the military families of the generals in the northwestern border cities, another group consists of the civil officials who support His Majesty's ascension to the throne, and the rest are the several thousand-year-old clans in our Jiangnan region.

Our family's inn, along with seven other inns in the capital, is owned by the Chen family of Jiangnan. You may not have heard of the Chen family, but our family's in-laws are the maternal relatives of the First Prince."

Zuo Wenxuan: "."

The eldest prince's maternal relatives by marriage?

How could such a marriage relationship allow them to open so many inns and roadside shops in Shangdu?

This shows how important it is to find the right powerful backer!

Zuo Wenxuan felt a surge of excitement; perhaps, in the near future, he too could become a rising star in this commercial capital.

Just because it's not lively now doesn't mean it won't be lively in the future.

It's estimated that houses in Shangdu are now dirt cheap.

He didn't believe that those who abandoned their houses would dare to return and confront the wealthy families who had occupied them with the property deeds from the previous dynasty!

He needs to find out how these aristocratic families in Jiangnan acquired these properties.

On the surface, he feigned great interest in the Jiangnan clans, and the other party became increasingly enthusiastic as he boasted about the patriarch's strength. When he was hoarse from talking and took a sip of water, he asked obsequiously:
"Young man, the Chen family is truly a far-sighted aristocratic family. They have excellent taste in marrying off their daughter! What do you say, if this old woman wants to go to the Chen family to find a job washing clothes or emptying chamber pots, would that be alright?"

"puff"

The waiter spat out the tea he was drinking before he could even swallow it.

"No, no! Our master's loyal servants have served for over a dozen generations back in our hometown. Now that the situation in the world has been settled, these loyal servants are on their way to Shangdu."

The ten copper coins I just received are still a bit hot to the touch.

So that's what they were planning.

He wouldn't dare make any promises lightly!

The other party seemed to be trying to cause trouble, pleading and begging:
"Brother, please have mercy and show this old woman a way out! My family and I fled famine two years ago, but we encountered refugees and rebels on the way. Unfortunately, more than a dozen of us were separated at that time."

Before we fled the famine, we made a promise that even if we had to beg for food, we would still be able to reach Shangdu and reunite with our family. These past few days, I haven't been able to find any news about my family. I'm about to run out of my last hundred coins. I want to live, so I need to find some work first.

At first, I was thinking of coming to the roadside inn to help with cleaning, but it seems like there aren't many customers there.”

Waiter: "."

With so many people fleeing famine, he couldn't muster a shred of sympathy.

Because there's not much business, the inn now only has one manager and his employee who also acts as a waiter, errand runner, and general helper.

Looking for a cleaning job?

I'm so sorry!
He's willing, but his manager can't do it!

The waiter pointed towards the west side of the city outside the door:
"Grandma, don't just focus on us big families in Jiangnan. To tell you the truth, the more prestigious the family, the stricter the requirements for the origins of the servants. Someone like you, all alone and without even a travel permit, is destined not to find work in such a family."

But since you're not picky about the work, I suggest you try the Gan family in the west of the city. They're not an ordinary family; their eldest son is the husband of the eldest princess, so their status is very high. However, their wealth isn't deep, so their requirements for servants probably aren't high.”

The waiter didn't feel any pity for the old woman who was begging him like that.

After all, there has always been a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children.

The prince consort married the eldest princess, which puts them in a different camp from the Chen family of Jiangnan (who are related to the Ni family by marriage).

It's better to send this old woman of dubious origin to our rivals. If she causes any trouble at the Gan residence, they can't blame him.

Zuo Wenxuan: "."

His teeth ached from listening to it.

Who is the Imperial Son-in-Law Commandant? How could he not recognize him?
If it weren't for the division of clans...

What reason would he, the young master of the Zuo family of Daming Prefecture, need to visit his cousin's in-laws?
If the other party didn't recognize his face, he could have stayed in the Gan residence and waited for Emperor Qianwu to return to the capital.

The problem lies here.

They see each other all the time. In the past few years in the border town, no matter how he disguises himself, the other party can still recognize him.

He was afraid that if he entered the Gan residence, he would be tied up and sent to the Jingzhao Prefecture.

The treasure map was his only chance to turn things around as the direct descendant of the Zuo clan, and he absolutely could not afford to make any mistakes.

On the surface, he couldn't refuse the innkeeper's kindness.

From that day on, he wandered around the outer city looking for work.

Zuo Wenkang probably never dreamed that his cousin, the eldest son of the Zuo family of Daming Prefecture, would actually end up working as a chamber pot cleaner in a general's mansion.
(End of this chapter)