Shipin Dalizheng

Steward Tao knelt on the ground, touching his head to the ground. "I deserve to die. I have forgotten my origins. If the prince asks me to open a mine, I will have nothing to say."

Rong Tang suddenly retracted his legs and stood up from the bamboo couch. He was five feet tall and had an aura of twelve feet, which scared Butler Tao. "Oh! Prince, you...?!"

Rong Tang smiled faintly and brushed off his clothes. "Why? Do you still want to go to the Minister's Mansion and report me?"

Steward Tao hurriedly said, "I dare not. From now on, I will only be the prince's servant and will be loyal to him. If I break this oath, I will be punished by heaven and earth."

"Alright, this prince doesn't ask much of you. Just help your great aunt manage the Bo's Mansion. If the Jin family comes to cause trouble, as long as they don't take advantage of you, you can do whatever you want."

He didn't know that Butler Tao's mind was full of turtles at the moment. The mansion was so big, how many turtles would he have to raise to make Minister Jin give up?

"The locks on the main storehouse in the Bo Mansion have been changed. Concubine Yang's courtyard has also been searched. The account books and various deeds have been found. Will the prince take them back to Rongjia Village for safekeeping?"

"Are the assets in the warehouse all that belong to the Bo family?"

"It's less than half of what it was when Master was here. All the expenses of the two mansions have been charged to the Master's account these past few years. All the produce from the farm has been swallowed up by Yang Liangui, and the shops in town have been essentially given to Yang Lianye. Also, there's a cloth shop in the county town, but business is not good and it's been losing money year after year."

"Aren't there still twenty-eight shops in Shangjing City?"

Steward Tao hesitated for a moment. "There are only a few of those shops for their own use, and Concubine Yang is not good at managing them, so the profit is very small. As for the rest, I only know that they are rented to the Liang family, the mother's clan of Prince Rui. The rent is directly given to Minister Jin."

What a good plan! The wife pays for the family's food and drink expenses, and he keeps the income from the property for himself. He is definitely a winner in life.

"You have gradually revealed these inside stories to outsiders."

Steward Tao sighed, "Master Jin is in father's best position. Even if half of the Bo Mansion's wealth is squandered, let alone all of it, the Crown Prince can't do anything."

"Of course I won't do anything to him. I just want to keep talking about him in the capital. It would be best if there were one or two other upright men to compare him with."

Money is good, but so is dignity and face.

"Now that we have the deed, spread the word that the prince of the Bo Mansion is poor and wants to sell the shop and the five mansions in the south city."

After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll spread the news in a few days. While I'm spreading the news, you can also find out who is selling the shop."

It is impossible to get back the profits from previous years from Jin Shizhao. If the shop continues to be rented out, the rent will not reach him. It is better to sell it and buy a new one.

After buying and selling, the shop is back in your hands. It is up to you whether to rent it out or use it yourself.

Steward Tao's face was quizzical. The Crown Prince's move was truly remarkable. Although Minister Jin actually controlled twenty-eight shops, they were still part of the Bo Mansion's assets. No matter how shameless he was, he wouldn't go so far as to ask the government to change the ownership. Perhaps he had considered changing the ownership after Madam Rong's death, but now that the Bo Mansion had a Crown Prince, no government office would dare change the ownership without his consent.

The prince could not openly break up with his father and demand control of the shop, but he had the right to sell the shop.

"I know what to do now."

Following smart people makes you feel refreshed.

After finishing the business, I still have to mention the troublesome matter, "Sir, those injured..."

Perhaps it was out of sympathy for one's own kind, and he didn't want the prince to be too harsh. Since the prince was not really injured, he just raised his hand, gave those people a chance to live, and drove them out.

Rong Tang looked at the Third Master, "Since the Third Master is asking for mercy..."

The Third Master said, "The old man has an idea. The ditches in the village need to be dug. Why not let them all dig the ditches and make up for their mistakes? Those who perform well can be released and sent away, and those who perform poorly can be sold."

Butler Tao breathed a sigh of relief. At least it was better than sending him to mine.

"I will leave now. I can still send the person back before dark."

"Don't be in a hurry. Eat your meal first and then leave. Besides, this prince has something to ask you."

"Yes."

As they were talking, there was a clanging sound from behind the house, and the sound of something falling apart.

The courtyard also has a small three-entry layout, with the main hall, east and west wings, and kitchen in the front, mainly used for entertaining guests or for villagers to come in and out.

The middle section was the living quarters, also divided into the main house and east and west wings, totaling about a dozen rooms, which were currently being divided up between them. The western half of the backyard was a stable, and the eastern half was a storage area, which was currently being used as a wine cellar.

The place where the noise came from at this moment was the middle part of the residence.

Rong Tang walked over and saw Rong Qianqi and Rong Wanli frantically picking up the broken wood, which looked like it was originally a bed.

Doctor Zhang bared his teeth and slapped his thigh. Rong Dazhu and Wang Youcai from the wine room also squatted on the ground and laughed with their mouths stretched behind their ears.

Rong Dazhu laughed for a moment, then stepped forward and said, "Brother, the four legs of this bed need to be fixed with a crossbeam, otherwise they will split. Leave it there, I'll help you do it."

Rong Qianqi's face was red as blood. How could he have the nerve to say that he could do carpentry work in front of his master?

Doctor Zhang gloated, "Boy, how come you're surrounded by so many funny people? I'm so happy."

Then a few people agreed that Rong Qianqi and Rong Wanli would go to the wine room, while Rong Dazhu and Wang Youcai would make the bed, and they would swap jobs to settle the matter.

Butler Tao followed Rong Tang back to the front and felt how the villagers in the compound got along with each other. They were truly like a family, completely different from the city government in the capital, which was full of calculations and cold-bloodedness.

At lunch time, Tongqian and Li Jin came back, and there were actually two turtles, one big and one small, in the net bag.

Tongqian was delighted. "Master, I didn't lie, did I? There really is some in the South River."

Li Jin said, "Yes, yes, I did. I risked my life to hook those two bastards, but I didn't make any money. Luckily, I still managed to catch a few small fish."

Rong Tang then looked at the bucket in Li Jin's hand, and sure enough, it was half a bucket of crucian carp seeds.

Steward Tao looked over and saw that the crucian carp and melon seeds were too lazy to move. He said, "Dead, right? This is not fresh anymore."

Tongqian glared, "He's not dead, he's drunk. I used Buddlejac, otherwise how could I have caught so much?"

Stems and leaves of an unknown plant were floating in the bucket. Tao, the housekeeper, scooped them up and took a look. He retorted, "This isn't Buddleja scabra, it's clearly Maluo."

The Third Master also said, "Yes, it is Maliao. There are many ditches along the river, and there are also large areas of sloping land to the north of the village."

Tongqian straightened his neck and shouted, "It's Buddlejaw."

They were arguing happily, and Rong Tang's mind was like a thunderclap. Buddlejaw, Ma Liao, isn't this the spicy herb Ma Liao, a natural plant used to make sweet wine yeast.

At the same time, the recipe for making white wine koji also appeared clearly in his mind. Afraid of forgetting it, he hurried back to the main room and quickly took out a pen and paper to write it down.

Seeing him leave without saying a word, everyone thought something had happened. Then they saw him quickly write on two pieces of paper, looking at this and that, and suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahaha! Haha! Haha!"

Very scary.

Chuncao stepped forward and pulled his sleeve, "Master, don't scare me."

"Chuncao, we are going to get rich."

Rong Tang's eyes were burning as he showed her the recipe. "This is the recipe for wine yeast, sweet wine yeast, and white wine yeast. I remember them all."