To get rich quickly, you need to be simple and rough

Shen Yujin and his group drove two mule carts to Hangzhou, which they had not seen for a long time. It was a tearful experience to say the least. In the past, the Shen family's businesses were spread all over Hangzhou. The Liansheng Inn where the group stayed this time was the Shen family's former business.

The family was early dispersed and sold by the imperial court. Shen Rong felt very upset. After settling his son, he hurriedly took the housekeeper out to find a new one. The more he looked at his family's property, the more distressed he felt.

The Shen family acted early and had several small courtyards to rent out with a minimum lease term of six months. Shen Rong followed the boss of the business to the first small courtyard near the government office. There were six rooms in total. There was no well in the courtyard, so people had to buy water. Mountain spring water was delivered from outside the city every morning.

Shen Rong was not happy with his son's mysophobia and the excessive amount of water he used every day, making the house too inconvenient to use. There was also a small courtyard diagonally opposite this house. There was a well in the backyard of the nine-room house, and the courtyard was paved with bluestone.

The house is also made of blue bricks from top to bottom, with gray tiles and white walls, which looks clean and tidy. Shen Rong is very satisfied with it. This place is only a five-minute walk from the government office. It is rare to see it so clean and not noisy. This place is perfect for preparing for the exam.

The rent of this house is twice as expensive as the previous one. The rent for half a year is nine taels and two qian of silver. Shen Rong is not a pushover and after a lot of haggling, he agreed to eight taels and six qian of silver.

After Shen Rong signed the contract with the landlord, he got the key to the house. Shen Rong knew his son's disgusting habit of cleanliness, so he hurriedly hired a few people from the market to clean the yard.

Make sure the wood is visible and the iron is polished, so that the utensils in your home are bright and shiny. The wages are 120 wen and you will pay me when you are done!

A big reward always attracts brave men. Although the master's demands are numerous, he is not stingy with money. He can earn so much money just by cleaning. You know, you can only earn so much by carrying goods at the dock in a day!

Several people took rags and brooms to clean the house thoroughly. The firewood shed and the livestock shed were all tidy. The kitchen was the most important, and the stove and cupboards were all clean.

These people were dealing with Shen Rong in front and spreading powder in the back. There can't be snakes, insects, rats and ants in the house. My son can't stand this!

Shen Rong paid the group of people and sent them away, then hurried to Liansheng Inn to pick up his son. This time when he came to Hangzhou, Shen Fu sent Aunt Zhang to accompany him so that the father and son would have someone to take care of them properly.

Shen Rong drove a mule cart with his family to settle the rent and returned to the rented courtyard. Tong Xi and Tong He were busy packing their luggage. The three carts of luggage made them so tired that they were exhausted.

The housekeeper was busy leading the three mules to the barn to eat grass and fed them a lot of bean cakes. The mules had worked hard in the past few days and he dared not treat them badly.

Aunt Zhang is even busier than others. All the purchasing work is given to Aunt Zhang. She just came here and the autumn examination is not until August. During these months, food for people and horses, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea all need to be purchased again.

Shen Fu also went out to buy some firewood and charcoal. The people at home had to arrange for someone to deliver firewood and coal, otherwise how would they prepare dinner?

Aunt Zhang worked quickly and quickly bought a basket of meat, eggs, fish and shrimp. The grocery store also sent over a lot of oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, rice, flour and other grains.

Shen Rong came back with a cart of firewood and a cart of coal. Everything he did cost money.

Aunt Zhang showed off her excellent cooking skills that night. A bowl of braised pork with rich red sauce was appetizing, a plate of choy sum with garlic sauce, a large bowl of pig's trotter, a plate of fried prawns, a dish of mandarin fish with sauce, and a large bowl of loofah and dried shrimp soup.

Shen Yujin and his son Shen Rong were eating with their mouths full of oil, and they devoured all the dishes like a whirlwind. They had not eaten or slept well on the way, and after settling down, they were both full after this full meal.

Aunt Zhang didn't prepare any other dishes in the kitchen. She only had half a bowl of choy sum with garlic sauce, a big bowl of winter melon and dried shrimp soup for each person, and two pieces of braised pork for each person.

The butler ate with them, and the food was better today. There were even a few fried prawns in the butler's bowl. Shen Rong didn't buy brown rice today, so everyone in the kitchen ate glutinous rice.

After finishing her meal, Aunt Zhang hurriedly found the teapot, picked up the iron kettle from the stove, and brewed a pot of Longjing tea in it. Tongxi carried the tray and served tea to Shen Rong and his son.

Shen Yujin couldn't help but sigh that it's good to have an old man in the family. Grandpa Shen Fu is a mature and wise man who plans for the country. He was so wise to send Aunt Zhang here. The hot meal tasted just like at home.

Shen Yujin and his companions' luggage was dried and fluffed by Aunt Zhang using a charcoal brazier, and it also gave off a faint orange fragrance. Aunt Zhang was also good at fumigating the quilt with fresh orange peels.

Shen Yujin didn't like wearing silk pajamas, she only liked the Songjiang twill cotton satin cloth woven at home.

Now the Shen family's looms are making a lot of money. Shen Yujin had nothing better to do, so he improved the loom so that it can produce six-foot-wide cotton cloth. He also improved the texture. Now the women of the Shen family can easily weave more than 200 pieces of cloth every day.

Because the loom did not use human power at all, from spinning to weaving, it used animal power and water power. The Shen family's water-powered mill was converted into a weaving room by Shen Yujin.

The gears drive the loom to evenly weave cotton yarn to produce cloth that is simply beyond the reach of human power.

This is the Shen family's secret. Outsiders are not allowed to enter the weaving room. It is taken care of by the women of the Shen family and several maids who have signed life contracts.

Shen Yujin uniquely added 30% mulberry silk to cotton. The fabric he wove was smooth and delicate, combining the luxury of silk and the comfort of cotton. It was also the highest-grade twill. The price of this fabric was higher than silk, and after deducting the cost, he could earn two taels of silver from one piece of cloth.

This is still an ordinary three-foot wide fabric. Six-foot wide fabric was never sold to the Ming Dynasty. Shen Yujin also improved the printing and dyeing formula, and renewed the various pattern designs. The new color fixing agent was used to make Shen's fabrics truly non-fading.

Even the freshest red will only fade slightly, and will still be as bright as new after washing.

This printing and dyeing operation earned another tael of silver, bringing the net profit per piece of cloth to three taels of silver.

This was no small sum; even an acre of high-quality farmland couldn't earn as much as a single bolt of cloth. Shen Fu also controlled production daily, as scarcity made the product more valuable, ensuring a more stable sales volume.

The Shen family could earn over 20,000 taels of silver every month from selling cotton satin in Daming. This was no small sum, and it was considered a profitable venture.

Shen Fu is now hiding everything he does, for fear that others will know and learn from his mistakes. Now the Shen family will try not to get involved.

Now, from the outside, the Shen family looks like a newly-appointed earl. They don't have much background and make a living by farming. They receive a small salary every year. The women farm, spin and weave, and the men study, farm and raise pigs. They are a very honest family.

The servants of the Shen family were not the kind of people who liked to stir up trouble. They were usually like gourds with their mouths sawed off, because Shen Fu had established a strict reward and punishment system. Anyone who dared to go out and spread rumors would have his entire family sold to the salt field!