Shipin Dalizheng

Without even looking up, Rong Tang said, "Then I accept it. If he's willing to sacrifice himself, whether he chooses to save his wife and daughter or my mother and son, it means he's not too bad. Giving him a way out and not posing a threat to us in the future, then giving County Magistrate Cui 10% of the shares for free, wouldn't be a big deal. Now he's chosen the path that County Magistrate Cui disapproves of the most, causing him to lose 500 taels of silver and lose face. We've also seen through him, and I'm sure he won't be let off easily. The key now is that Cui Xian was willing to make the bet, he saw through the person, and he judged the case himself. He won't think I'm bullying the weak anymore."

Did he think he couldn't see it? Cui Xian's first reaction when he saw him was that he was a dandy boy who was used to oppressing the people. He didn't like him from the bottom of his heart.

Rong An stood behind him, listening to his words thoughtfully. He felt that Tang Shizi's greatest strength lay not in his various business ideas but in his ability to analyze and exploit people's hearts. The town had given Mayor Gao a 10% stake in exchange for Mayor Gao's unwavering dedication to helping the shop resolve its problems.

Now the county magistrate also owns a 10% stake in the county shops. If there is a dispute, won’t he help?

Not to mention that he gave 10% of his own shares to Zheng Changning, the second son of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and used sugar to attract the Duke's Mansion as a partner. Not to mention that he found a lot of help for himself, the key point is that he didn't spend a penny of his own money. It was all run by the investment of others. He just sat there and counted the money.

Those who contributed money and labor were all grateful to him, thinking they had benefited. This skill alone would take him a hundred years to learn.

Sure enough, it didn't take long before the county magistrate sent the silver, and the two parties officially signed the agreement. On the premise that Cui Xian did not participate in the management, he would obtain 10% of the shop's net profits.

The lawyer asked, "Prince Rong, I see you are clearing the place. Aren't you going to sell cloth anymore?"

No, we have been doing this for many years and have many regular customers. Even if we change to a reliable manager, we can still have stable income.

What if he changes his job and fails to make money? Won’t his family lose everything?

Rong Tang said, "We still have to sell the cloth. After all, we've been doing this for many years. We just need to free up some space to store other goods."

After that, he added, "Don't worry, County Magistrate Cui's shares include all the profits from the four shops. No matter what is sold, the money earned will be divided with him."

The old lawyer's face flushed. Was he afraid that he wouldn't share with the adults? He was afraid that the adults would lose money.

I was worried, so I still had to ask, "What kind of goods does Rong Shizi Teng plan to sell in this shop?"

"Wine and sugar."

The master's expression became even more strange. "Prince Rong, do you want to go take a look at the shop next door?"

Rong Tang went there and found out that there was a wine shop next door. Business was very bad and the owner was going to sell the shop and leave.

This was like a pillow delivered to you when you were sleepy. Rong Tang immediately bargained with the owner and bought the shop together with the remaining wine for 280 taels. He asked his lawyer to handle the transfer procedures.

The lawyer went to handle the matter with a constipated look on his face, and the temporary part-time employee was the county magistrate.

"Sir, Prince Rong took your silver with his left hand and bought this shop with his right hand."

Well, now both of them are constipated.

The lawyer went to deliver the documents, and the wine shop was also cleaned up, and several vehicles were hired to take it away.

The lawyer said, "Aren't you selling wine? Why did you take it away?"

Rong Zhan, who was in charge of delivering wine to the village, replied, "This wine won't work. Let's get our own."

Rong Zhan escorted the car back, and the lawyer saw that Rong Wanli had posted a notice to hire two shopkeepers, two clerks, and one accountant. This really meant he was going to get down to business.

He said hurriedly, "I know a lot of people. I can help introduce the shopkeeper and the accountant."

Rong Wanli pointed to the cloth shop and said, "The prince is in the warehouse in the backyard."

It turned out that a batch of cloth was defective. Shopkeeper Xu bought it at a low price, but recorded the normal price in the account book. After pocketing the difference, the cloth sat gathering dust in the warehouse, waiting for the right moment to claim that the cloth was not selling well and sell it at a low price, or perhaps give it away as a gift to a customer. Of course, it was unlikely that it was a real gift. It was most likely that Shopkeeper Xu sold it at a low price and pocketed the money himself.

Now that Manager Xu has been arrested, it is meaningless to hold him accountable as he is already insolvent. Rong Tang asked Rong An to record these in a book. He planned to take them back and deal with the remaining soldiers in Fu Xinzhuang. Although they are defective products, they can still be made into clothes and worn for work.

The lawyer was very perceptive. He helped to pack up the things and handed the contract to Rong Tang. Finally, he asked to help introduce the manager.

Rong Tang agreed immediately, "Very good, I trust your judgment."

The lawyer was overjoyed and quickly went to find two people. He did not hide anything and told them their identities.

"This is my cousin, Gu Youde. He's a student and used to be the owner of a restaurant in my hometown. He quit and came to me. He's from a branch of our county magistrate's family. He's already a scholar and is preparing to take the imperial examination. The magistrate asked him to live in the outer courtyard to prepare for the exam, but he doesn't want to bother you all the time and wants to find a suitable job to work while studying. Rong Shizi can do whatever he thinks is suitable for him."

Rong Tang focused his attention on the young man named Cui. He was wearing a washed-out blue cloth shirt and a student's scarf on his head. He looked poor, but his eyes were very upright.

So I asked him about his age and his expertise, and learned that he was only twenty years old and had also done accounting for others in his hometown, Qinghe County.

After a few words, Rong Tang came to his own conclusion about people: this young man named Cui was honest, serious and didn't like to pretend, so he was indeed suitable to be an accountant.

When asked about his salary expectations, the young man said, "Everything else is easy to deal with. Can you provide food and accommodation?"

This meant he wasn't planning on living in the county magistrate's house. Rong Tang understood the aspirations of an ambitious young man who didn't want to live under someone else's roof, and agreed. "All meals and lodging are included, and the monthly fee is five hundred wen. I don't need you to be involved in the management of the business. You just need to take time every day to reorganize the accounts of both shops and submit the final accounts to Rong An at the end of the month. You have plenty of time to study, and you can also take time to copy books to earn extra money. I won't take care of it."

The money he offered was not much, but the work was quite easy, and as long as his life was guaranteed, copying books to earn extra money was still very attractive. The young man surnamed Cui agreed after considering it for a moment.

The next interview was with Gu Youde. He was a man who was very considerate in his words and deeds, and had the tact and shrewdness of a businessman. After weighing the pros and cons, he was arranged to work in the wine shop with a monthly salary of one tael and two cents at the market price.

As it was getting dark, Rong Zhan brought several trucks of white wine and rice wine to deliver the goods, and brought back the purchase receipts for the wine.

Rong Tang planned to run the county liquor shop himself. The process was the same as other liquor shops. He would sign a long-term wine purchase contract and sell various candies. This part of the profit belonged entirely to him and had nothing to do with the village.

He placed the white wine he brought back this time in the shop he bought, and the rice wine in the room vacated by the cloth shop.

It was not until this moment that Gu Youde realized that the accounts for rice wine and white wine had to be calculated separately, because the county magistrate had a 10% profit on the rice wine revenue.

In addition, the shop selling rice wine had to pay two taels of silver as rent to the cloth shop every month. Only after paying the rent could it receive the surplus from selling wine.

Although it was the boss's intention and he had to obey unconditionally, he couldn't help but ask the reason, "Prince, isn't this all your business? Why is the account divided so clearly?"

Rong Tang thought for a moment and explained, "These four shops are ancestral property. This one shop is something I bought myself. These three cloth shops are also ancestral property. These two wine shops are my own. Just think of it as me and my family splitting up, and each of us will have our own share. Do you understand?"