Reborn in Dunhuang, I am farming and doing business in the desert

Chapter 46 Just be a good substitute for Lingyao

Shen Zhao remained silent.

She probably knew something about business license, and maybe it would allow her to get a formal city registration.

This is easy. My father is the head of a village. As long as he issues a certificate, I can register with the city official.

There are many disadvantages to simply obtaining city citizenship. Regardless of whether you run a business or not, you will have to pay more labor service and taxes every year.

Moreover, after becoming a city citizen, he became a merchant. Not only did his status become low, but even his clothing and travel were restricted.

For example, they were not allowed to wear silk clothes, there were no patterns on their clothes, and they were not allowed to ride horses or cars when traveling.

These are not a big deal, but I am afraid that after I open a shop, someone will come into the shop every day to inspect and check.

If salt, iron, alcohol, etc. were found, they would probably be confiscated on the spot.

Even if you bribe the city officials in advance, people are greedy and you may still be harassed when signing contracts for large-scale commodity transactions.

In addition, the imperial court promulgated the Tax Law, which required merchants to pay 120 coins in taxes for every 2,000 coins of property.

What's even more ridiculous is that the imperial court also issued a "Gao Min Order", which encouraged civilians to report on merchants concealing their property. If the report was true, the reporter would receive half of the merchant's wealth.

Thinking of this, Shen Zhao couldn't help but shudder.

Forget it, I'd better just make some money honestly and not open a shop.

I used to sell cotton-padded clothes in Caoji, and I get scared just thinking about it. What if someone reports that I have a lot of money? Will my property also be divided equally?

Oh no! I have to let my parents deposit all their money with me. What if someone comes to investigate my house one day? Wouldn’t that be the end of me?
Shen Zhao looked at the two large bags of cotton-padded clothes in the room and asked Xiao Qing, "I want to return one bag. What should I do?"

Xiaoqing waved her hands: [No, this merchant has closed the channel for no-reason returns. You should see a reminder when you purchase the product.]

Shen Zhao was speechless.

I put away the small bronze mirror and tossed and turned on the warm kang, unable to fall asleep.

It was not until he heard the first crow of the rooster that Shen Zhao fell into a drowsy sleep.

While he was sleeping, Qin Yi brought a group of city officials into his house and searched everywhere, and finally took away all the money and cotton clothes of the Shen family.

Before leaving, Qin Yi pointed at her forehead and grinned, "Shen Zhao, you still want to fight me with your ability? You'd better be Lingyao's substitute. Maybe you and your parents and brother can live a few more years."

"Sword man!" Shen Zhao was furious and pounced on him and strangled him.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ah Zhao, why are you pinching me?" Shen Heng's voice came.

Shen Zhao paused, then immediately opened his eyes and saw that his hands were tightly pinching his second brother's wrist, with his nails digging into the flesh.

She was startled and immediately let go of her second brother's wrist.

Shen Heng rubbed his wrist and said angrily: "I asked you to get up and eat with good intentions, but you pinched me like crazy. Look, you pinched me until I bled!"

Shen Zhao sat up and looked outside the door: "It's not even daybreak yet, why are we already eating?"

"Dad rushed back to Tingyi early in the morning and told me to send someone on horseback to Xuanquanzhi to look for the Xue family man. I saw you yelling and screaming, so I came over to wake you up."

Shen Heng sat down on the heated kang, felt around and said, "This kang is indeed warm. It's still warm now."

Seeing that his sister was still sitting there in a daze, he stretched out his hand and waved it in front of her eyes: "Hey! Are you in a nightmare? Why are your eyes staring straight?"

Shen Zhao pushed his second brother's hand away and said unhappily, "I was just thinking about something."

"What are you thinking about?" Shen Heng came over and asked.

Shen Zhao hesitated for a moment and asked, "Second brother, did anyone question you when you went to the county town to sell tofu?"

"Of course." Shen Heng said, "Later, we gave them a few pieces of tofu and paid the city tax, and no one checked again."

Shen Zhao nodded: "Then you should run your business like this in the future, and don't even think about opening a workshop in the county town."

"Why?" Shen Heng was puzzled.

"It's not worthwhile to register as a city resident to open a workshop." Shen Zhao got off the kang, put on his clogs, and walked out of the room. Shen Heng scratched his head and followed his sister: "Isn't it good to register as a city resident?"

"No, if you do that you will become a merchant." Shen Zhao went to the kitchen to fetch water for washing: "So it is more appropriate for you to set up a stall in Caoji."

Zhang Shanyue was sitting behind the stove, lighting a fire. Seeing her daughter getting up, she quickly asked, "How did you sleep last night? Was the kang warm?"

Shen Zhao nodded: "It's warm. When daddy doesn't go back to Tingyi, you can sleep in the same room with me."

"What about me?" Shen Heng interrupted.

Zhang Shanyue rolled her eyes at her son and said, "It's not cold now, you should sleep in your room."

Shen Heng:.
I feel like an unwanted child.

After Shen Zhao finished washing up and had breakfast with his mother and second brother, his second uncle Qin arrived.

He greeted a few people and went to the yard to plan wood silently.

"Mr. Qin, have you eaten yet?" Zhang Shanyue asked, "We have some millet porridge at home, would you like to come and have some?"

Uncle Qin waved his hand: "I've already eaten this morning, go and do your work, don't worry about me."

Seeing him say that, Zhang Shanyue didn't force him. She washed the pots and pans with her daughter, and then drove a few sheep out for a walk.

Shen Heng pushed a cart to the Jinshui River to transport water, and was praised by a group of friends.

"Brother Heng, can I buy some tofu from your house? Even for winter wear." A young man eagerly helped him push the cart and asked tentatively.

Shen Heng said with a grin, "Okay, but tofu costs two coins a piece, and winter clothes cost two hundred coins a piece. I didn't make a penny from you."

The boy was delighted and nodded quickly: "Okay, then when will the tofu be available?"

Shen Heng glanced at him and said, "How much do you want? If it's not much, you can have it in the afternoon."

"Four pieces first, but can I exchange them for beans?" the boy asked.

Another teenager also said: "I want to change two pieces too."

"And me, I want ten pieces of tofu and two sets of winter clothes."

Shen Heng glanced at the young man and said, "Okay, I'll give it to you when I get back, but I have to make it clear that I can't buy it on credit."

"No credit, I'll give you cash!" the young man said, patting his chest.

Someone on the side said with a smile: "Brother Ah Heng may not know that he resold the winter clothes he bought from your house last time and made a couple of hundred yuan. He must have found a way to make money this time."

The young man said proudly: "Yeah, if you have the ability, go and make money too?"

"We would like to, but we don't have the capital." A young man sighed, looked at Shen Heng carefully and said, "If Ah Heng can give us credit, I can also make money."

Shen Heng smiled and said, "It's okay if you want me to buy on credit, but we need to sign a contract. If you don't pay me back within five days, I'll have to pay you double the amount of the sheep in my house."

The young men's eyes lit up when they heard this, and they said in unison, "Let's sign the contract. As long as Brother Heng gives me credit, I promise to pay you back in full within three days."

Shen Heng's heart skipped a beat, and he said perfunctorily, "Okay, I'll go back and discuss it with Ah Zhao before making a decision."

There are two large bags of winter clothes at home, and my cousin and I are busy making tofu, so we have no time to help my sister sell the goods. It would be okay if these teenagers could help with the sales.

They lived next door to me, so even if someone with bad intentions wanted to steal my cotton-padded clothes, I could go to their house.

Seeing Shen Heng agree, the young men were all delighted. They snatched the cart from him and quickly went to the Jin River to fetch water.

Not far away, Qin Yi and Xue Yi also came to fetch water. They saw a group of young men surrounding Shen Heng from afar and couldn't help but frown.

Xue Yi looked over there viciously and whispered, "Brother Qin, if there is any way to punish the Shen family, it would be great. It would be best if Shen Ang could go to jail!"

Qin Yi narrowed his eyes and smiled coldly: "Isn't it easy to put him in jail? Just make him derelict of his duty."

Or report his family for hiding valuables and let Shen Zhao have a taste of what it feels like to betray his Qin family!
(End of this chapter)