Domineering husband

Chapter 98 Determining Preparations Before Entering Beijing

Li Qiao and Tao Zhu don't need to worry about the celebration, everything is taken care of by the villagers.

Li Qiao and Tao Zhu only need to prepare to enter Beijing.

However, before that, Li Qiao definitely had to socialize.

He took Xie Yuan, other Juren from Pingcheng, Bai Jiaoyu, Shen Xuezheng, the county magistrate, etc. all came to visit. After socializing, he and Tao Zhu had time to prepare to go to Beijing.

First of all, it was necessary to determine which caravan to enter Beijing with. After only resting at home for a day, Li Qiao and Tao Zhu went to the county seat in an ox cart.

Among the three caravans that Jiangzhi County found, one belonged to the Ma family in the capital, and Yunxiaolou, the largest restaurant in the capital, belonged to the Ma family. .

One was from the Sui family, who was in the tea business, and behind it was Wang Dewei, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment.

The last one is the Han family. The Han family was originally unknown in the capital, and their reputation was not obvious. But last year, the three brothers of the Han family snapped up the vermicelli for ten days in Wangyuelou. After transporting these vermicelli back to Beijing, the Han family did not hurry. I sold these vermicelli all at once, but opened a restaurant and started a stewed dish business.

The Han family's stewed dishes are of the common people's route. Of course, because of the high cost of long-distance transportation, this commoner is not fair, but compared with the price of a bowl of stewed dishes in Yunxiaolou, which costs half a tael of silver, the Han's stewed dishes are quite close to the people.

The Han family was in the business of common people, and they managed a lot, so the business went smoothly and made a lot of money, which reversed the family's loss for years.

This year, the three brothers of the Han family came again. After the news of Li Qiao's Zhongju came back to Pingcheng, they took the initiative to find the shopkeeper Wang, saying that if Li Qiao needed it, the Han family could escort Li Qiao to Beijing.

Shopkeeper Wang was also thinking about Li Qiao's coming to Beijing. It took Shan Gaolu a long way to go for a month and a half, which was really worrying.

However, he was just a small businessman in Pingcheng, and he had no eyes for the capital. He went to see Jiangzhi County, hoping that Jiangzhi County could help.

Jiangzhi County has long been planning for this matter, and shopkeeper Wang coincided with him. He didn't pay attention to the Han family at first, and he had never heard of the Han family when he was in the capital.

But the Han family is sincere, and the leader Han Ning is still a scholar, so Jiangzhi County took the Han family along.

Li Qiao and Tao Zhu met the family one day, and three days later, they finally decided to go to Beijing with the Han family.

The leaders of the two caravans, the Ma family and the Sui family, are actually pretty good. Although they have big backers behind them, they are willing to form a good relationship with this little guy.

The attitude of these two families towards him is warm and polite, while the Han family treats him as a benefactor.

Also, after the Ma family and the Sui family got the vermicelli, the whole convoy had to rush around the clock to transport the vermicelli back to the capital as soon as possible.

But the Han family is willing to focus on him and Tao Zhu, even if they want to go sightseeing and stop and go along the way, the Han family will agree.

Li Qiao didn't want to march all the way in a hurry, and because of Mr. Zhao's instructions, he finally chose the Han family.

The Ma family and the Sui family have too much backing, it's better not to get close to him.

After settling down on the Han family, Li Qiao and Tao Zhu began to pack their luggage.

They plan to set off at the end of September, and travel on the road for one and a half to two months, that is to say, they can reach the capital before the year.

I have been on the road during the coldest period, so I must prepare thick clothes and bedding.

There are also books, which must be brought.

There are also accompanying relatives.

When Li Qiao took the exam in the tribute academy, there must be someone outside to accompany Tao Zhu, otherwise Li Qiao was worried.

But because the future is uncertain, so can not bring more.

Li Qiao has a headache, who should I take?

While Li Qiao was hesitating, Sanliu Village held a water banquet for him and Zhuang Wen.

He and Zhuang Wen have a good relationship and don't mind celebrating together. In addition, both of them are not short of money, so the flowing water banquet will take three days.

This time, the people of Sanliu Village did not compete with outsiders, and agreed to let people from other villages help with the cooking, because there were too many dishes to cook, and it would definitely be exhausting to rely on people from Sanliu Village and Zhujia Village.

Moreover, the harvest of sweet potatoes has already begun, and the sweet potato workshop is about to start.

They have to conserve energy.

The specifications of the flowing water banquet are the same as the last time when Li Qiao was a scholar. Every table was served with meat and vegetables. It's much more lively.

There is a difference in status between a scholar and a Juren. If you win a Juren, then you are really different from ordinary people.

Moreover, Li Qiao is really awesome. Before Zhuang Wen studied for 30 years, he failed to pass the examination of scholar.

And this time in the rural examination, not only Zhuang Wen passed, but also two young men, Meng Yue and Xu Ying, also passed.

Li Qiao must be responsible for this!

After the provincial examination, Li Qiao's essay was posted by the chief examiner. The scholars who participated in the provincial examination in Pingcheng carefully considered Li Qiao's essay, and asked the candidates' essays, and they agreed that Zhuang Wen and Meng Yue , Xu Ying was able to win the exam because he used the examination method summed up by Li Qiao.

Moreover, Zhuang Wen, Meng Yue, and Xu Ying all admitted this.

Therefore, Li Qiao has real skills. Not only can he get Jieyuan himself, but he can also bring people around him to Juren.

Why are the people in Pingcheng not excited?

They all want to come to Sanliu Village to be happy!

Moreover, many people did not come empty-handed, they came with congratulatory gifts, these congratulatory gifts were basically wheat and rice, food was easy to store and not expensive, Li Qiao would not refuse.

Li Qiao had indeed accepted the food, it was not expensive anyway, it was the wishes of the villagers.

On this day, the weather was gloomy, the wind was howling, and the yellowed leaves were blown off the branches by the cold wind, and fell all over the country roads.

Li Qiao and Tao Zhu stepped on the dead leaves, huddled their bodies in thick cloaks, and entered the duck workshop hand in hand.

During their absence, Zhou Jingui and Li Ping were in charge of the duck shop.

This year, Tao Zhu specifically told the folks in Shiliba Village to raise more ducks and less chickens. However, in order to avoid the spread of illness, the total number of each household should be controlled within a hundred.

The folks listened to him very much, after all, this was no joke.

People in villages farther away and even other towns knew about it and started raising ducks as well.

Farmers throughout Pingcheng are raising ducks, so the quantity of ducks has increased. In addition, he has expanded his manpower, so now the duck workshop can produce 1,500 ducks a day.

Five hundred were placed in Wangyue Tower, and one thousand were handed over to Fang Shitong.

Duck is meat, and it tastes good, so it has always been sold at a high price, and ordinary people can't afford it.

The price is high, and the profit is also high. After deducting a series of costs such as labor and raw materials, the net profit of ducks per day is 100 yuan.

Most of the ducks raised in the countryside are about two or three catties. Buying ducks from the villagers costs eight Wen per catty, which means that a duck only costs more than ten or twenty Wen.

But after careful production, the net profit of a duck is as high as 100 Wen.

profiteering.

Proper profiteering.

The net profit of one duck is 100 Wen, and the net profit of 1,500 ducks is 150 taels.

A day is one hundred and fifty taels, and a month is four thousand five hundred taels.

This is more profitable than the dim sum business. Although the dim sum business is also very profitable, but because there are fewer people and less dim sum made, the daily profit is only thirty or fifty taels.

Going to the capital soon, Tao Zhu wanted to check the family's account books and deposits, so he had a solid idea in mind.

Therefore, even though the cold wind made the whole world make strange noises today, he still took Li Qiao to the duck workshop.

The duck workshop is in normal operation, butchering ducks, cutting them into pieces, seasoning them, lighting them up...every link and everyone is busy in an orderly manner.

Seeing Li Qiao and Tao Zhu, these people greeted them warmly, but everyone was a little reserved.

Most of the workers in the duck workshop are villagers from the surrounding villages, and they are not familiar with Li Qiao Taozhu. Li Qiao won the job and is their boss, so they are a little nervous.

Li Qiao and Tao Zhu responded with a smile, their attitudes remained the same as before.

However, the seriousness and care that the two inspected the workshop were still the same as before.

First and foremost is hygiene.

This question must not be taken lightly.

Zhou Jingui and Li Ping kept in mind the rules set by Tao Zhu. Not only was the workshop clean, but every worker wore a hat and mask, and their hands and faces were thoroughly washed.

After checking the sanitation, the two went to the river to watch the workers butcher the ducks.

The fluff on the duck must be taken off, and the rich must not be offended.

The small river has not yet frozen, but the river water is icy cold, and the hands and faces of the workers are red from the cold.

But these workers did not complain, their wages were higher than those in the workshop who were in charge of burning fires, cutting pieces, etc., and Tao Zhu also bought sheep oil, three boxes per person, enough to wipe for a winter.

This is how the country people come here in winter. If they don't come to the duck workshop, they have to wash clothes and dishes in cold water at home.

They are very satisfied with their current life. Li Qiao and Tao Zhu are both great benevolent people, and they must be rewarded with good things.

It's a pity that Li Qiao and Tao Zhu are going to the capital soon, and it will be a long time before they meet again. What they can give in return is to work hard, so that Li Qiao and Tao Zhu can relax.

The workers worked hard, Li Qiao and Tao Zhu couldn't find any mistakes, and they returned satisfied.

However, working in this kind of weather is really hard for the workers. Therefore, before going back, Li Qiaotaozhu asked Li Ping to write down a sum in the account book, adding an extra 20 cents for the hard work of the workers in charge of slaughtering ducks today.

In addition, go to Zheng's house to buy some meat, and eat hot stewed vegetables today.

The duck workshop provides lunch for workers. The food standard is a combination of coarse grains and fine grains, and meat is eaten once every three days.

But today it's cold, so extra meals should be given to the workers.

The wind was strong, on the way back Li Qiao simply tore off the wide cloak, let Tao Zhu slip into his arms, then put Tao Zhu's cloak over his head to block the wind, and walked back tightly wrapped.

After returning home, the two first put the cloaks back in the bedroom, then went into the kitchen and stood in front of the stove to drive away the cold air from their bodies with the fire in the stove.

The two of them entered the kitchen that Li Dashan was in charge of. Li Dashan and Zheng Qianqian were both there. Li Xiaorui was asleep, so Zheng Qianqian could take a rest.

Zheng Qianqian watched the movements of the two of them, and immediately said, "I'll light up the charcoal. Uncle, you and Uncle Zhu can go back to the backyard to keep warm." "No, it's fine."

Li Qiao shook his head.

The dim sum made by Li Dashan is baked in an oven, so the stove is very large, and the flames come out of the stove, which is very suitable for standing next to it to keep warm.

"Okay." Zheng Qianqian looked at the sky outside, and said again: "It's time for lunch, what shall we have for lunch?"

He has to take care of Li Xiaorui now, so he can't make snacks.

But when Li Xiaorui is asleep, he will do some chores.

"Brother Zhu, what's for lunch?" Li Qiao asked Tao Zhu beside him.

"Hmm...how about we eat stewed vegetables too."

A steaming bowl of stewed vegetables on a cold day will warm you up after eating it.

"Okay." Li Qiao looked at Zheng Qianqian: "Brother Qian, the main course is stewed dishes. The other big guys are watching to cook. Eat whatever you want."

Zheng Qianqian hummed, and he walked towards the door Going over: "I'll ask everyone to see what everyone wants to eat."

Zheng Qianqian went out, and Li Qiao looked at Li Dashan: "Dashan, in fact, you and Brother Qian are the most suitable to follow us to the capital."

After all, Li Ershan and Li Xia are a little younger.

And Li Chunsheng is the pillar of the family, and it will take at least half a year to come back after this visit, he is a little embarrassed to let the pillar leave home for so long.

Li Dashan and Zheng Qianqian are stable, and they are very close to him and Tao Zhu, so they are the most suitable candidates.

It's a pity that Li Xiaorui is only half a year old and not suitable for long journeys.

Hearing this, Li Dashan hesitated for a moment: "Why don't you leave Xiaorui at home and let my mother take care of it?"

The little brother can't breastfeed, and the little fat man has been eating goat milk all the time. Even if he and Qianqian go to the capital, that's not enough It doesn't affect the little fat man.

"No, no, such a small baby can't do without you and Brother Qian." Li Qiao shook his head without thinking.

Let's have a look again, if it really doesn't work, we should take Li Ershan and Li Xia with us.

After the new year, the two children will be one year older, and they will be considered adults in the countryside.

Moreover, I went to the capital for a tour, gained knowledge, lost a lot of childishness, and acted prudently.

Seeing this, Li Dashan heaved a long sigh, alas, if he and Qianqian don't have children, then this time he can go to the capital with his uncle Zhushu.

Today's lunch is in charge of Zheng Qianqian, Li Chuntao, Li Yuning and Li Yu'an, and it is very rich.

In addition to braised dishes, there are also grilled sausages, skewers, spicy soup, and glutinous rice balls.

Li Qiao and Tao Zhu ate a warm lunch, and then they each returned to the backyard with a bowl of jujube and pear soup to relieve the tiredness and fire.

The two sat in front of Tao Zhu's small desk to settle accounts.

In the first year, vermicelli earned 70,000 taels of silver, and last year, vermicelli earned 200,000 taels of silver. In the first year, it cost 30,000 taels all at once to build roads, buy fields, and go to Fucheng.

But this year, apart from a trip to the capital city, the 300-acre medium-sized farm and the large warehouse they built last year, they have no major expenses.

It cost twelve thousand taels of silver to go to the capital, five thousand taels of silver in Fucheng, nearly seven thousand taels of silver to buy the land, and one thousand taels of silver to build a large warehouse.

This total is only 25,000 taels.

The big income minus the big expenses left two hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver.

In addition, there is also the income of Dim Sum. The daily profit of Dim Sum is not very large, it can be more than a thousand and two a month.

The income from the field is not bad, and watermelons can make a lot of money, but for sweet potatoes, he only sells half of them, and the remaining half is used to make vermicelli for his family to eat.

Therefore, the income from the field is not impressive.

There is also the share of the corn, barbecue ingredients, eggs and other dishes that Wangyuelou gave him, which is also a small amount of money at this time.

He has long since given up the share of the Zheng family's family.

The duck workshop can make a lot of money. At the beginning, the scale was small, and the number of ducks that could be made every day was small. After a year of development, the initial 400 ducks became 1,000 ducks and now 1,500 ducks.

After this year, the net profit of the duck workshop is 40,000 taels.

However, apart from these incomes, he and Tao Zhu have a lot of daily expenses.

The biggest expense is on eating and drinking. There are many people in his family and the food is good. Even though he grows wheat at home, he still has to buy rice noodles sometimes because he wants to make snacks.

Apart from eating and drinking, he has always spent a lot of money. Since he has money in his hands, he has replaced pens, inks, paper and inkstones with famous brands of this time and space, and books have also been replaced by publications.

When he is in a good mood, he likes to give out red envelopes, as long as he is a junior, he will give out.

There is also the expense of the water banquet.

...

I don't think there is much to these accounts on weekdays, but now they add up one by one, and it is really not a small number.

However, compared to the cash in his and Tao Zhu's hands, this is actually drizzle~

because he and Tao Zhu now have a full three hundred thousand taels of cash in their hands!

Compared with 300,000 taels, their daily expenses are nothing.

And the sweet potato workshop has already started. This year's sweet potato harvest is average, about 1,500 catties per mu.

With the experience of last year, the other four counties must make more vermicelli this year than last year.

Moreover, Yongxing County has indeed reached a cooperation with Tongli County.

When he returned to Fucheng, he specifically asked the Mingzhi Mansion about the many sweet potatoes planted in Tongli County.

Mingzhifu said that the new magistrate from Yongxing County was ambitious, smart and capable, and wanted to do a big business, so he took the initiative to approach Mingzhifu and talked about cooperation with Tongli County.

Mingzhifu thought about it and agreed.

The five counties of Hexi Prefecture are all adjacent to the counties of the Outer Prefecture. If the model of Tongli County is successful, then more vermicelli can be made every year in the future.

These are all achievements.

Therefore, if there is no accident, this year's vermicelli can earn at least 200,000 taels of silver.

By then, he and Tao Zhu would have five hundred thousand taels of silver!

It was evening after finishing the accounts, but Li Qiao and Tao Zhu were not only not tired, but more energetic. With such a rich family background, even Li Qiao, who had seen the world, couldn't calm down.

The room was dim, and the candles had already been lit. In order to avoid myopia, Li Qiao was always willing to use candles.

At this time, all ten candles stood on the small desk, illuminating the space extremely brightly.

Tao Zhu stared at the last number on the account book, his eyes narrowed with a smile.

He stretched out his slender fingers and tapped the large number twice, and the smile on his face couldn't be stopped.

He turned to look at Li Qiao: "I've always been afraid that we don't have enough money, but this figure is enough to cover the expenses of the capital, right?"

Li Qiao sat on the same chair with him. Although both of them were thin, they had big bones. , so close to each other.

Li Qiao stretched out his hand and tapped the tip of his nose: "Of course it's enough. Although the prices in the capital are high, it's not too exaggerated. Otherwise, how will the people in the capital live?

" Li Qiao's waist, and buried his face in his shoulder: "It's so good."

It's such a good day.

The cold wind is howling outside, but he has Li Qiao and Yin Zi. He has never been so peaceful and secure in his life.

Li Qiao hugged the person in his arms tightly, and nodded lightly: "Every day with Brother Zhu is a good day."

Hearing this, Tao Zhu sat up straight and looked at Li Qiao: "How can you always tell me that you are so happy?" Happy?"

"Because I'm telling the truth." Li Qiao raised his eyebrows: "Can't I tell the truth?" "Yes, yes,

you are the best." Tao Zhu couldn't hold back the smile on his face, and he held his hands together. He grabbed Li Qiao's cheek and rubbed it vigorously twice. Seeing that Li Qiao's face was deformed by his rubbing, he hurried over to kiss him.

This kiss made her angry.

Li Qiao turned against the guest and made his whole body soft with a few kisses.

After the kiss was over, he was already sitting on Li Qiao's lap, seeing Li Qiao's black eyes staring at him without blinking, his whole face immediately burned up.

He couldn't bear the man's hot eyes.

When Li Qiao's kiss fell again, he closed his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

He really likes Li Qiao.

These days, the two of them seem to want to make up for the missing share of happiness, and they make trouble late every day.

At this moment, I was not only happy, but also as sweet as eating honey, so the two went straight to bed.

In the evening, it's time for dinner.

After dinner was ready, Li Dashan stood at the door of the backyard and yelled a few times. Seeing no one answered, he turned around with a clear face.

Take out part of the dinner and put it in the pot to keep warm. His uncle and uncle Zhu will eat it when they are hungry.

The next day, the cold wind that had been blowing all day stopped, but the light rain fell down. The light rain was like silk, and soon covered the world with a layer of water vapor.

It was wet and cold, so Li Qiao simply set the kang on fire.

In the morning, he and Tao Zhu were checking the luggage for omissions, when Zhuang Wen came.

Zhuang Wen finally made a decision, this time he and Li Qiao went to the capital to participate in the test.

"I am old, and my ambitions have been smoothed out in thirty years of studying. If I miss this time, I will have to wait for another three years. After three years, I don't know if I will have the physical strength to survive the exam."

This time the township examination made him exhausted, let alone the general examination three years later.

Three years later, he was three years older, nearly fifty years old, and the exam was in February.

Although February is not the coldest time, the temperature is also very low.

Even if he was wearing thick clothes, he probably wouldn't be able to bear it if he stayed in that small dormitory without doors and windows for nine days.

So, he didn't wait any longer, he went to the capital with Li Qiao.

No matter what the result is, he accepts it.

"You have real talents and learning. I will take the exam with you, and I will definitely make you happy." Zhuang Wen said to Li Qiao with a smile.

"Brother Wen, you have accumulated a lot of money, and you can rely on yourself to win the exam. Believe in yourself, maybe you will have a good result."

Li Qiao felt that Zhuang Wen's success in the exam was more dependent on himself.

Zhuang Wen laughed when he heard the words: "Okay, then brother, I will borrow your auspicious words and try to get a Jinshi background."

Of course, it doesn't matter if you have a Jinshi background. willing.

Zhuang Wen decided to go to the capital to rush for the exam, and immediately started packing his luggage after returning home.

Li Qiao and Tao Zhu went to the county to look for Han Ning. They followed the Han family's convoy to the north and entered Beijing. Now that there is an extra banker, they must tell Han Ning.

However, when he reached the gate of the county seat, Li Qiao saw a familiar carriage, which belonged to Xu Ying.

Xu Ying had dark circles under her eyes and looked haggard.

Seeing Li Qiao, he rubbed his face and forced a smile: "Brother Li, I have decided, I will go to the capital with you to catch the exam." "Are you

sure?" Li Qiao was a little surprised.

"Yes. But before that, I have to marry Brother Hua first, but don't worry, we won't delay our departure."

Xu Ying said again.

"Huh?"

Li Qiao was stunned.

Tao Zhu also opened his eyes wide, what's the matter?