Compared with the deserted riding and archery classes in the Imperial College, the Imperial College was much more lively.
Although the teaching time was divided between the six classes of students, each riding and shooting class was overcrowded.
It is said that it is also because there are too few horses.
There are more than sixty students in Guangye Hall who are learning horseback riding and archery, but there are only five horses on the racecourse. It would be good if each person can take a turn during the whole class.
For those who didn't get to ride a horse originally, it would be a good idea to practice shooting on the sidelines first if you have arrows and a bow.
Unfortunately, the bows and arrows were matched with the horses, and there was nothing superfluous. This made Lin Yuanqiu, who had always been free to learn riding and shooting at home, really uncomfortable. The most important thing was that it was his turn after a long time, but he was still on the horse with less than half a shot. During tea time, it’s the next person’s turn.
How can I satisfy my archery addiction in such a short time?
So Lin Yuanqiu planned to go to the archery workshop another day to buy a set of bows and arrows, and then set up a wooden target on the Zhuangzi, so that when he went to the Zhuangzi again, he could practice archery happily.
Logically speaking, with the weather approaching June, he should be covered in sweat after taking the riding and shooting class, but Lin Yuanqiu straightened some wrinkles on his clothes and said nothing happened.
The riding and archery class was scheduled as the last session in the morning, and after it ended, half a day passed.
Thinking that he would have to deliver the painting to Shopkeeper Zhu later, Lin Yuanqiu did not delay. After returning from the racecourse, he went directly to the canteen.
…
Chapter 125 Mo Linxuan opens
Every time Lin Yuanqiu sent paintings over, shopkeeper Zhu thought he would mention the increase in money.
After all, more and more customers are placing orders these days, especially for the five-piece kang screen. This time, we have received three sets, which shows how much everyone loves it.
Therefore, Shopkeeper Zhu thought that if it were him, seeing such good sales of his paintings, he would definitely have the idea of raising the selling price.
But Lin Xiaoyou never spoke once, which was really beyond Shopkeeper Zhu's expectation.
Originally, the supplier did not increase the price, which was a good thing for Sibao Zhai. People who do business must always think more.
Seeing that Lin Xiaoyou didn't tell him about adding money, shopkeeper Zhu became a little worried. He was always worried that the other party had other ideas, such as finding another shop with a higher price and no longer giving them Sibaozhai. Supply.
Needless to say, the more Shopkeeper Zhu thought about it, the more likely he felt that this was possible.
After all, the calligraphy and painting business between Sibaozhai and Taoyuanshanren was just a simple verbal agreement, and no substantive contract was signed. Without the agreement in the contract, people naturally have the right to find a new owner at any time. This is also Zhu The shopkeeper is very helpless.
Thinking about the past few months, the sales of Bodhisattva portraits alone accounted for most of Sibozhai's profit.
If such a good business was really poached by someone else, Shopkeeper Zhu felt that he would surely die.
Therefore, in order to keep this kind of money-making business, shopkeeper Zhu thought twice about it. When the money was settled, he took the initiative to propose to Lin Yuanqiu the idea of increasing the price of each painting by two taels of silver.
He laughed with Lin Yuanqiu and said, "Don't worry, little friend, I, Lao Zhu, am not a person who only cares about his own interests. When doing business, both parties must benefit in order to be successful in the long run. I still know this truth."
Lin Yuanqiu was not a fool, and he quickly understood the true intention of Shopkeeper Zhu's move.
This is because I am worried that I will go to another house.
Lin Yuanqiu felt that shopkeeper Zhu was really overthinking. If there was no rift or entanglement between him and Sibozhai, why would he waste energy and time on developing new partners?
As for raising the price of the paintings, Lin Yuanqiu had no intention of doing so, but that was for the future. For now, he really had no such thoughts.
After all, I had only been in the capital for half a year, and I could count the number of times I had dealt with Sibaozhai on one hand, so Lin Yuanqiu was originally prepared to wait for a while before talking about this matter.
Now that shopkeeper Zhu has offered it, Lin Yuanqiu will naturally not be stupid enough to refuse. Who would dislike having a lot of money these days, not to mention that it is the income from his own labor.
Seeing that Lin Xiaoyou recognized his proposition, shopkeeper Zhu couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that he no longer had to worry about losing business for the time being.
After settling the money and counting the quantity of the new order, Lin Yuanqiu put all the luggage into the book box.
Thinking that he had to go to Changrong Street, Lin Yuanqiu wanted to leave the book box with Shopkeeper Zhu first, but when he thought about it, this place was not in the same direction as the Imperial College, and he would have to go back later, so Stop thinking.
Speaking of which, Lin Yuanqiu could be considered a frequent visitor to Changrong Street during this period. Except for going to Li Yaqi's place a few times, the rest of the time was naturally at the street market, just to find out if there was anyone suitable to look after the shop for me.
When he arrived at Changrong Street, Lin Yuanqiu discovered that there were many new faces in the market today, which made him feel that there was a high possibility that he would not be empty today.
Sure enough, among the newcomers this time, there were two literate families. It is not correct to say that there are two families. There should be literate people in these two families.
There are generally only two reasons for the whole family to be sold. One is that the master's family has committed a crime, and their property is confiscated along with the master's family's property, and then they are transferred to the market.
The other is that the family made a mistake and was sold by the owner.
Of these two situations, Lin Yuanqiu naturally considered the former.
Therefore, after detailed inquiries, he chose Zhang Gui's family.
There are seven people in this family, including Zhang Gui's parents, him and his wife, two daughters and a son.
There are two girls, one is eleven years old and the other is thirteen years old. The boy is younger, seven years old this year. Just like my grandparents, I can see that they have disheveled hair and wrinkled clothes. I haven't taken care of myself well some days.
Coincidentally, Zhang Gui used to work with the housekeeper to take care of the owner's shop. Although he usually did errands, he also knew a little about accounting for sales.
Lin Yuanqiu specifically asked Yaren about the reason why Zhang Guizhu's family committed the crime. It turned out that it was selling illegal salt.
Official salt controlled the economic lifeline. No matter which dynasty, selling illegal salt was a serious crime, and it was the same in the Jing Dynasty. The severity of the crime is determined based on the quantity of illegal salt seized. The greater the quantity, the more serious the conviction, up to and including execution.
"The head of this family was beheaded, and the rest were exiled to remote wild lands. I heard there were dozens of them."
As he said this, Yaren felt a little sad. Among the old ones and the young ones, he didn't know how many would be left in the end. To him, he might as well be these sold slaves, at least they can save their lives.
Lin Yuanqiu also felt something in his heart after hearing this, so he said that he should not violate the red line of the law at any time.
Logically speaking, I only need one shopkeeper, and I don't need to buy so many people at once.
But Lin Yuanqiu would definitely not be able to split the whole family apart to buy it.
What's more, after seeing these two girls, he had other plans in mind.
The Zhou family is maintained by slaves, so when Chunyan gets married in the future, her mother's family will definitely have to match her with one. Rather than rushing to add people temporarily, it is better to prepare for Chunyan now.
In Lin Yuanqiu's opinion, the two girls looked ordinary and did not look overly clever, so Lin Yuanqiu was relieved to have them keep their sisters company.
But what kind of temperament is can only be known after getting along with each other. It is precisely because of this that we should make plans earlier.
Perhaps because he was worried that his father and mother would be left behind, Zhang Gui knelt down and kowtowed to Lin Yuanqiu, "Sir, my father and mother are strong and strong. Previously, the villain's father fed horses to the master's family, and the villain's mother was always in the kitchen. I have time to help with the work, please buy them all together!"
Lin Yuanqiu signaled the family to get up. He had no intention of separating them, and it was not that he had not arranged a place for Zhang Gui's parents. Seeing that they were indeed as strong as Zhang Gui said, he would let them Just live in Zhuangzi and help with whatever work you can.
Probably because of their literacy, although Zhang Gui and Xu Laoshi are both in their prime, they are more expensive than Xu Laoshi, requiring thirteen taels of silver.
For girls who are over ten years old, that is the selling price for a serious maid. In the end, Lin Yuanqiu spent a total of fifty-six taels of silver to buy Zhang Gui's family.
After paying the silver and handing over the deed of sale, it was almost time to apply. Lin Yuanqiu didn't waste any more time and led Zhang Gui's family directly to the newly purchased shop on Fushi Street.
After the tea shop was bought, the shopkeepers of several surrounding shops began to pay attention to it.
Everyone wants to know what the store will do when it reopens.
In particular, the several companies next to each other are worried about whether it will affect their business, so they are all looking forward to it.
As a result, we have been waiting for more than 20 days, during which time no one came to clean up the shop, let alone change the shop sign, which made everyone a little strange.
So when I saw someone coming, naturally they all craned their necks and looked this way.
Lin Yuanqiu didn't bother to say hello to them. He had to rush back in an hour, so he had to arrange things quickly.
The counter shelves in the store are all ready-made and can be used after being wiped clean. As for the store's recruitment, Lin Yuanqiu has already thought about it, so he called Mo Linxuan.
The furniture and bedding in the backyard house are still there. Although they are a bit old, they do not affect the use at all.
Therefore, apart from buying some food, oil and salt, there is nothing else that needs to be added for the time being.
Lin Yuanqiu gave Zhang Gui five taels of silver and gave him all the remaining instructions.
There is a shop for buying food on this street, so you can buy it later. As for the words on the shop sign, Lin Yuanqiu had no intention of writing it himself, and directly left it to Zhang Gui to prepare.
Anyway, all expenses are accounted for, so I have nothing to worry about.
To be honest, spending hundreds of taels of silver just to sell an inkstone is definitely not cost-effective, but Lin Yuanqiu felt that the money was well spent just because of the sense of relief in his heart at this moment. Because I finally no longer have to worry about that pile of inkstones.
Also, now that the shop has been successfully opened, the number of goods in the shop will definitely increase gradually in the future, so take your time.
When Zhang Gui had almost tidied up the shop, Lin Yuanqiu divided the inkstone into two parts and delivered them to the shop.
Lin Yuanqiu knew the new selling prices of these inkstones, and although his were second-hand inkstones, they were basically the same as new ones, so Lin Yuanqiu did not set the price very low, only 20% lower than the original selling price. , this does not disturb the market, he can also earn more.
After all the dozens of inkstones were put out, the shop immediately started to look stylish. In addition, Lin Yuanqiu specially painted a few pictures of spring residences in distant mountains to hang, and then placed two pots of orchids in the shop. The air of elegance quickly spread across the shop. Come.
When the day came for the store to open, Lin Yuanqiu didn't go there. He just asked Zhang Gui to buy two firecrackers and set them off at the door.
However, the grand opening reward was of course indispensable. For this reason, Lin Yuanqiu specially cut out twenty pieces of rice paper four feet three inches apart, and still wrote twenty vibrant poems in regular script that he had never shown before, and then Then I drew a proudly erect ink bamboo on the paper, which is a complete picture and text.
I thought it would be good if we could sell three or five inkstones on the opening day, but the passers-by who were attracted by the sound of firecrackers crowded into the store when they heard that there were poems and paintings for buying inkstones.
Zhang Gui had already prepared for such a scene.
No, except for my mother and my youngest son who were still staying in the backyard, the other people were all guarding the store. Their purpose was to keep an eye on the inkstones on the shelves to prevent them from accidentally falling to the ground or being taken away by others.
There are two bookstores open not far from Mo Linxuan. Therefore, among the people attracted by the firecrackers, there are many people who are literate, so it is normal to like these poems and paintings.
And in their opinion, the inkstones in this store are affordable. Although they are second-hand, they are in complete condition and are basically the same as brand new ones.
What's more, just for this poem, there's no harm in buying an inkstone.
So it was only after noon that not one of the twenty poems and paintings used to entertain guests was left.
Zhang Gui was beaming with joy. He must be happy to have such good business today, but he also knew that this was all due to the gifts prepared by the young master, especially the last few. It would be an exaggeration to say that they were stolen.
But after Zhang Gui, who was smiling all over his face, reconciled today's cash register with the number of remaining inkstones, he stopped laughing immediately.
Hey, I obviously received money for twenty inkstones, so there should be twenty inkstones missing. How could there be one extra one?
Did someone forget to take the inkstone home after paying the money?
Zhang Gui, who was a little disbelieving, hurriedly counted the coins and inkstones several times, and found that there was still an extra inkstone with one, two, or three yuan, so some guests really forgot to take it away.
As for the reason, Zhang Gui thought to himself, it probably had to do with the poems and paintings. It seems that someone was so fascinated by the poems that he forgot that there was an inkstone left.
But for Zhang Gui, all it takes is the right amount of money, and when the guest remembers the inkstone, he will naturally come and get it.
…
Soon it was the day of rest in the Imperial College.
Zhou Zixu, who was worried that his uncle would disappear when he turned around, came to Lin Yuanqiu's side before Chen Shi arrived.
"Brother Lin, are you going out today?"
