Farming and reading family

It has not snowed since the beginning of winter, and Gao E's food workshop was built smoothly.

She hired villagers to make various soy products, mainly those that could be used after soaking.

Now that she has a stable income from honeycomb coal, Gao E can take a long-term view in her work.

The materials woven at the weaving workshop are average and not very competitive, so I'll take advantage of the winter to practice hard.

Gao E also asked them to become proficient in spinning cotton yarn and weaving cloth, and to study blended fabrics to see how the market is doing.

However, Ji Wuyang has not yet decided on his plan to buy a horse.

According to Ji Wuyang, every winter the neighboring border countries would trade a large number of horses with Dachang, with good quality and low prices.

When Gao E heard about the time it would take to go back and forth, she thought she would have to wait until next year.

No wonder some caravans only make one round trip a year; it's really too far.

That day, Gao E received a letter from Xu Boyan via carrier pigeon, saying that Princess Qingfeng was fine, and that Dachang had already made peace with Shuoxi, and the chosen princess was a princess of the royal family, who was named a princess.

Xu Boyan put it simply, but Gao E knew that there must have been a lot of changes in the interests involved.

Gao E knew that she had no right to interfere in these matters, so it was enough for her to just know.

Just as the twelfth lunar month arrived, Deng Yu received a letter from home, which implicitly expressed the hope that he would send some money home this year. After all, a lot of resources had been spent on securing this official position for him.

He burned the letter with a gloomy look in his eyes.

This Chen of Tanzhou was plundered by Yishunbo, and the imperial court confiscated all his property.

Afterwards, it was confiscated again by the prince's men, and after a person was found to have cheated in the imperial examination, the money was returned to the court.

Xu Boyan had been in Tanzhou City for a year, and no one knew how much he had extorted from the gentry, landlords, and wealthy businessmen in Tanzhou City.

He originally wanted to do some highly profitable business so that he could keep a good reputation and make money, but it turned out that Gao E was someone he couldn't afford to offend.

Even if Wei Hanshan copied everything, he wouldn't have much money.

Thinking about this, he clenched his fists. If others could do it, why couldn't he?

Firewood is related to people's livelihood, and honeycomb coal has caused lives, so it should be taken over by the government to protect people's livelihood.

After receiving the notice from the yamen, Jin Gusheng went to find out more about it. It was basically that he either had to pay the yamen 5,000 taels of supervision fee a year, or he had to hand over the business to the yamen for operation.

He couldn't make the decision on this matter, so he went straight to Batou Village to discuss it with Gao E.

Gao E smiled after hearing this. This Deng Yu was really a smart guy. "Based on our current sales volume, what does Uncle Jin think our profit will be after paying this five thousand taels?"

Jin Gusheng knew that five thousand taels were taken away for nothing: "There is still profit, but I am worried that this is just the beginning."

Merchants without any background ended up enriching themselves with the officials, who would find a reason to throw them into jail if they had a disagreement.

Gao E thought about it and realized that the impoverished landlords treated their tenants even more harshly, and the impoverished aristocratic families were not much better off.

Both of them were a little unsure whether to continue selling honeycomb coal in Qinzhou City. A messenger came outside with a letter from the capital.

The letter was from Luo Qing'er, who said that she had found a place to open Huanxizhu, and would give 10% of the profits to the Princess and Prince Qing's concubine respectively, and asked Gao E to send someone to the capital to discuss the franchise.

After reading the letter, Gao E thought for a moment and said, "Let's close our honeycomb coal shop."

Jin Gusheng thought it was related to the letter Gao E had read: "Okay, I'll do it right away. Then should we do less over at Jiming Mountain?"

"No need." Gao E smiled.

The wool comes from the sheep, and the government will collect supervision fees, which will probably be added to the cost of honeycomb coal.

That is to say, the selling price of honeycomb coal will increase.

Originally, her family’s prices were a bit higher. If she withdrew from Qinzhou City without raising prices, some people would probably come out to buy them just like they did when they bought firewood before.

As for what other solutions Deng Yu might come up with, that was Deng Yu’s business.

Jin Gusheng left Gao E and wrote back to Luo Qing'er, saying that it would be difficult to send things to the capital before the New Year, so she planned to take people to the capital personally after the New Year.

It has been such a long time since she traveled here, but she has never been to the capital city. She took this opportunity to visit the capital city.

Moreover, once Huanxizhu opens in Beijing, its reputation will spread, and it will be easier to franchise in other cities in the future.

Deng Yu was in charge of supervision in Qinzhou City. In just a few days, he collected tens of thousands of taels of silver. He gave some to his subordinates and kept the rest.

However, he was a little surprised that Gao's shop was closed.

He thought Gao would ask someone to intercede for him and spare him the five thousand taels.

This is not impossible, but I will definitely owe someone a favor.

As a result, Gao's company actually closed down.

In the twelfth lunar month, Gao E would be busy counting the accounts and preparing New Year gifts for the people below her.

This year, Jung-yeon prepared with her and learned a little bit at the same time.

"Boss, the carriage is ready, come and take a look." Master An came in to find Gao E.

Gao E didn't expect it to be so fast. It seems that Lord Cao will be able to buy a new carriage this year.

This is a small carriage without any carvings on it, but it is made of solid materials and is equipped with springs. There is also plenty of space to store things inside the carriage.

It looks ordinary, but it is actually very practical.

"Okay, it can be polished and painted." Gao E was very satisfied.

Before he could finish his words, Lord Cao came with Aniu.

"Lord Cao has come at the perfect time. Come and see if there is anything you are not satisfied with about your carriage. I will ask Master An to modify it." Gao E said with a smile.

As soon as Cao Geng saw the carriage, he guessed that it was for him and was very satisfied.

He didn't hesitate and went in to take a look: "Can I put something down here?"

"Well, it's a little small." Gao E nodded.

"Very good." Cao Geng was very satisfied.

"What's the matter with you, Lord Cao?" Gao E saw Cao Geng coming out of the carriage.

"Let's go inside and talk." Cao Geng gestured.

The two men entered the yard, and Cao Geng saw people in the yard packing up their things.

"It gets a bit busy in the twelfth lunar month," Gao E said with a smile.

Cao Geng nodded: "Being busy has its purpose."

Gao E took Cao Geng to the main hall and sat him down: "Master Cao, if you have anything to say, just tell me directly."

"A document came from Qinzhou City saying that the misuse of honeycomb coal can cause death, and asked me to supervise the honeycomb coal in He County." Cao Geng said directly.

Gao E smiled, this was definitely directed at her.

"Do you have a grudge against Lord Deng?" Cao Geng was puzzled.

If Lord Yan had not stepped in last time, Gao E might not have been able to get away with it so easily.

"No." Gao E shook her head. "Maybe they didn't receive my supervision fee in Qinzhou City, so they wanted Lord Cao to collect it in Hexian County. What do you think about this, Lord Cao?"

"You can ask me to accept it, but I have to ask him to issue a document that complies with the laws of the court." Cao Geng said directly.

Gao E laughed: "Lord Cao is wise."

Cao Geng thought to himself that this was not a wise move: "If he really did that, I would still take it."

Gao E's face was solemn. She should pay some taxes for this business, but making up all sorts of charges was excessive. "Then, Lord Cao, do you think he would do this?"