Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

The sun moved westward, stretching the shadows of the three people on the ground longer and longer.

An hour later, the three of them finally finalized the general process of the cooperation.

In Shen Zheng's words, it is to clarify the content of the cooperation and divide the responsibilities of both parties.

After the last word was written on the paper, Shen Zheng lifted the paper and blew on the ink a few times. "Let's take a look to see if there is anything else that needs to be added or modified."

Yu Shizhang took the straw paper and nodded as he read it: "In simple terms, the fifth store needs to transport books for Tongan Bookstore and manage relationships in various places to ensure that Tongan Bookstore can open smoothly in various places."

Shen Zheng nodded silently.

The four words "manage relationships" sound simple, but if it happens to the Tongan Chamber of Commerce, it will inevitably suffer a lot.

You've all heard that a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake, right?

The power of each family in the local area should not be underestimated.

Although Tong'an Bookstore held high the banner of "serving the people" and had a wide audience, those audiences were ultimately just ordinary people and students.

We can't let them raise their fists and challenge those aristocratic families, right?

Even if they were willing, Shen Zheng would not agree.

But with the fifth company joining, the situation is completely different.

The Tongan Bookstore is now working with both government and business circles. If it really encounters trouble, it will not be defeated without a fight.

"As for the distribution of profits..." Yu Shizhang paused and looked at Diwu Tanwei: "If you have any ideas, you can bring them up. But I'll say this in advance, the profit of the bookstore is not high, and we can't afford to pay more."

The Fifth Tanwei was startled when he heard this.

When she was asked to give some ideas, she was told directly that bookstores were not making money.

Isn't this clearly telling the fifth family that it's best not to take a commission... This Earl of Yongning is indeed exactly the same as my grandfather described.

However, from the very beginning, she had never thought of taking interest from Tongan Bookstore.

To put it simply, how much money can one earn from a book? The fifth family doesn't need to be stingy with this little money, and it won't make them rich.

To put it in a broader sense, if the Fifth Family can be related to the Earl of Yongning and Tongan County, it means that they have taken sides openly. Then, the eyes of His Majesty and scholars all over the world will be on the Fifth Family.

More...are they coming?

When gold and silver are plentiful, "reputation", "fame" and "the admiration of the world" are things that can be encountered by chance but not sought after.

"Except for the shipping fee, no extra money." Diwu Tanwei took the straw paper and added a few words on it in front of Shen Zheng and Yu Shizhang's surprised eyes: "But I do have an idea, which is... consignment."

Yu Shizhang raised his eyebrows and chuckled when he heard that, while Shen Zheng thought a lot in an instant.

I have to say that the Fifth Tanwei did make an excellent move.

Diwu Tanwei was not embarrassed to have his purpose seen through, and said directly: "To be honest with you, my family is engaged in business, and we sell some things used by scholars, such as pens and ink. If we can put these items in books and sell them, it will be of great benefit to our family business."

She didn't explain herself clearly, and Yu Shizhang saw through her but didn't say anything, and even wanted to extort money from her.

He just said, "You have to think clearly. Books in Tong'an Bookstore are sold at a low price. Most of the people who come to buy books are ordinary people. They can only buy two books and two stacks of straw paper. Those hair scented wood pens, obsidian paperweights and the like in your home are not easy to sell."

A scented wood pen could easily cost several taels of silver. If the tip of the pen was better, it would cost more than ten taels of silver. If the tip of the pen was inlaid with a small piece of jade...

Not to mention those paperweights carved from rare jade and small blocks of scented ink that cost a dozen taels of silver, which were not items that ordinary people could afford.

How could Diwu Tanwei not understand the hidden meaning behind his words?

"Don't worry, my Lord. One or two of these expensive items will suffice in the bookstore. As for the consignment items such as pens, inkstones, etc., I will order my own workshop to produce them on demand to ensure that everyone who comes to the bookstore to buy can afford them."

"Then you have to sell it at a lower price." Yu Shizhang said with his head down.

"Don't worry, Master." The Fifth Inspector smiled and said, "Then students and common people from all over the country can just go to the Tong'an Bookstore and buy what they need. It will be convenient for them."

Yu Shizhang nodded and looked at Shen Zheng: "Do you have anything else to add?"

"We need to add..." Shen Zheng thought for a moment: "The bookstore owner is an important position. I think... we should first select available people in Tongan County, train them, and then send them to various places to be shopkeepers. If there is still a shortage of manpower in the later stage, we can discuss it again."

"That's a problem." Yu Shizhang pondered for a moment, "There aren't many people in the county who can read now, so we need to train them quickly. Come down and explain it to the Chamber of Commerce."

Time passed quietly, dusk was approaching, and Diwu Tanwei stood up and said goodbye in time.

"My Lord, Mr. Shen, I am sorry to bother you today. It is getting late, so I will go back to Yonglu County first. If you need anything, just send someone to call me directly."

"Go ahead." Yu Shizhang raised his eyelids and waved at her, "It's still a long way to Yonglu County, so I won't keep you for dinner. Go back early."

"I am resigning."

"Wait a moment." Yu Shizhang called her again, and after a moment of silence, he asked, "Is that old fellow Diwu Nazheng still alive and well?"

Shen Zheng looked at his awkward expression and laughed in her heart.

It was clearly words of concern, but when spoken out loud they became somewhat ambiguous.

Diwu Tanwei's expression froze for a moment, and after a while he lowered his head and said, "Grandfather is fine, thank you for your concern, uncle."

"Hmph..." Yu Shizhang looked a little uncomfortable, "I don't care about him at all. Okay, let's go."

Shen Zheng sent Diwu Tanwei to the door. When she lifted the curtain to get into the car, she suddenly remembered something, "Oh, by the way, I have another thing. I would like to ask you to see if you can help me."

Diwu Tanwei took back his hand that was lifting the curtain, his eyes lit up and he said, "You say."

"It was the Fang family in Quanyang County next door. You should have heard it at the gate of the county school that day."

Fang family?

Diwu Tanwei thought for a moment and asked uncertainly, "Is it the home of that fat student?"

Just as Shen Zheng was about to answer, a voice came from the corner: "Are you talking about me?"

Then Fang Ziyan and his companions appeared at the entrance of the alley. Yu Nanshu frowned slightly, pulled Fang Ziyan's sleeve, and whispered, "Master Shen and the others are discussing something. You can't be so rude."

Fang Ziyan uttered an "ah" and stopped moving forward. "Master Shen, you guys go ahead and talk. We'll come over after you finish."

Shen Zheng smiled at him, turned to Diwu Tanwei and said, "It's Zi Yan's family. His family is also engaged in business. Their business in several counties is also doing well. But they had a falling out with the Mo family that day, and then..."

"No problem." The Fifth Tanwei agreed immediately.

"I haven't finished talking yet, and you have no problem with it?" Shen Zheng laughed.

Diwu Tanwei smiled back at her, "We will be supplying Tong'an County in the future, so adding him won't make a big difference. How about this, please ask him to come to Yonglu County to find me when he's free, and I'll discuss the details with him."

Fang Ziyan, who was eavesdropping at the side, still didn't understand what it meant for his family to be able to cooperate with the fifth company.