A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 48 I'll Be Your Background

Song Xuan invited Zhang Kang to attend the party.

It's not just to strengthen friendship.

He also wanted to find out some information to make preliminary preparations for his lottery shop.

If you first arrive in Songcheng and want to do business without making any preparations in advance, there will definitely be many people who come to cause trouble.

Song Xuan hates a lot of troubles that suddenly arise.

It mainly delayed his study and progress in taking the civil service exam!
Hearing this, Zhang Kang put down the glass cup in his hand:

"I wonder what Shi Er Lang wants to ask about?"

"Zhang Tuiguan, you know, I have a bunch of brothers to support."

Song Xuan also put down the wine glass in his hand:
"The profit margins of the cold paste shop are too low, and Songcheng is not like our countryside. Even hiring idlers is a few cents more expensive. So I plan to change my business. First, I'll ask about the situation in Songcheng and then make a plan."

"I see."

Zhang Kang was the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture, in charge of judging cases and had also been involved in many financial disputes.

"Songcheng's most profitable business is still Jingdong Salt."

Yingtian Prefecture belonged to Jingdong Road, and Emperor Taizong of Song divided the world into fifteen routes.

Zhang Kang picked up another skewer of meat and said while chewing:
"But in the salt industry, you can't run it without strong connections."

"Then there's the tea business. This industry is too complicated."

"Even though Twelve-year-old is smart, he can't grasp it. Instead, he will be consumed by these trivial matters and have no time to study. The gain is not worth the loss."

"You can enter the wine and silk industries, but the competition is too fierce. If you don't have a lot of money, it's easy for others to use your raw materials to surround you and you'll lose everything."

"As for growing a garden and selling vegetables, you'd need to buy land and hire a large workforce. Plus, being outside the city would be a distraction. It's not appropriate."

People like Zhang Qing, who works in the vegetable garden, are responsible for taking care of the gardens. Temples like Daxiangguo Temple also have people who take care of the vegetable gardens.

With the development of the urban economy and the influx of a large number of citizens, the demand for commercial vegetables in the Song Dynasty increased day by day.

Professional vegetable growers were quite common in the Northern Song Dynasty and earned much more than grain growers.

Under the current transportation conditions, fresh vegetables in large and medium-sized cities can only be produced nearby.

Vegetable gardens of various sizes appeared scattered around the suburbs of the city.

If you open "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", you can find that Zhang Zeduan painted a large vegetable garden scenery next to the avenue before entering the city.

Zhang Yong, a famous official in the early Song Dynasty, was the magistrate of Chongyang County. When he saw a farmer returning home with vegetables, he scolded him:

"You have your own land, why don't you plant it instead of buying it in the market?"

So he was beaten with a stick for his laziness.

This story illustrates: first, the tide of vegetable commercialization has already reached small towns like Chongyang;

Second, after the Song Dynasty, the commercialization of vegetables developed so rapidly that even a wise and famous official like Zhang Yong became outdated in his ideas.

Vegetable cultivation is independent due to market demand.

Vegetable trading has become a lucrative business.

Before Lu Zhishen took charge of the vegetable garden of Daxiangguo Temple, it had always been regarded as "our livelihood" by "twenty or thirty poor scoundrels who failed in gambling" in the neighborhood, who "often stole vegetables from the garden to support themselves."

It is enough to see how high the profit of buying vegetables is, and the vegetable tyrants even monopolize an entire city.

Zhang Kang looked at Song Xuan and said seriously:
"Don't be so quick to refute me, Twelve Lang. I've told you this based on real-life examples. In my opinion, it's better to open a breakfast shop. It might be harder, but at least it's safer."

"After all, you are here to study, so you should avoid putting priorities first."

Listening to Zhang Kang's sincere words, Song Xuan also understood.

The water in Songcheng is a bit deep.

This place is not like Lema Town, where there are three evils who are just playing around but actually have no strength.

At least these three evils can help the government maintain the operation of the grassroots level and avoid too much unrest.

"Are there many private gangs here?" Song Xuan filled Zhang Kang's glass with cold beer. "When I was running a shop in Lema Town, people came to collect protection fees, and they weren't even from the same family."

"There are a few."

Zhang Kang also did not hide the fact that the government was implicitly demanding the existence of this force.

They also need sources of information to handle cases.

Of course, Zhang Kang also knew that Song Xuan had been hanging out on the streets since he was a child, so how could he not understand this?

He guessed that Song Xuan probably wanted to test the waters first, so as to avoid being targeted by people like the knife-wielding ghost.

In Songcheng, there are quite a few poor and ruffian people.

Zhang Kang snorted and laughed: "Don't worry, Twelve Lang, but with me here, you don't need to interact with them. Just study hard. None of them will mess with you easily."

"With what Magistrate Zhang has said, I would like to thank you for your future care."

Song Xuan didn't ask any further questions.

Zhang Kang took the initiative to speak out, and in this way, everyone's future interactions will be more mutually beneficial.

"If Magistrate Zhang encounters any problems, you can come to me. I'm quite strong."

"Hahaha, I really admire your intelligence. When you pass the imperial examination in the future, your career as an official might be better than mine."

Zhang Kang was very satisfied with Song Xuan's statement.

After all, the development of water conservancy projects concerns one's own future.

Have to pay attention to it.

With Song Xuan assisting him, he would definitely stand out in the large-scale water conservancy repairs in the court.

Moreover, Zhang Kang, the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture, was of the sixth rank, which was higher than the official magistrate of a county in the capital.

Song Xuan naturally did not say anything like "I dare not", but borrowed Zhang Tuiguan's auspicious words.

Whether you are an official or about to become an official, who doesn’t want their official career to be smoother?
Zhang Kang did this also to make his official career smoother.

It is difficult to guess the relationship between Song Xuan and Yan Shu, the prefect Yan, mainly because of Song Xuan's personality. Zhang Kang also likes him very much.

Miss Lei had been listening to their conversation.

Although she knew that Song Xuan was capable, she didn't know how he got a chance to become the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture.

A sixth-rank official position is not low in Yingtian Prefecture.

Except for Kaifeng Prefecture, the other three prefects and deputy prefects were appointed but not in office. There was only the prefect, and the prefect's deputies were three magistrates, followed by judges and prosecutors.

Zhang Kang may have suddenly drunk too much cold beer and had to go to the toilet.

Miss Lei then asked, "Twelfth brother, how did you know him?"

"I was attacked at night. He was the one who ambushed me."

"Is that all?"

Seeing the doubt in Song Xuan's eyes, she took the initiative to explain:

"I heard he refuses any money offered to him, and is ruthless when investigating cases. Even my father can't get in touch with him. You two only met once, and he offered to act as your background. I think he has big plans."

After hearing what Miss Lei said, Song Xuan also nodded.

There are very few true friends in the world. Most of them rely on interests to support each other.

Zhang Kang must have something to ask for, but Song Xuan has not yet figured out whether the main direction is Yan Shu's line or the line of developing water conservancy.

"Dong dong dong."

Just as everyone was happily eating and drinking, they heard someone knocking on the door very rudely.

"Open the door."

(End of this chapter)