Transmigrating to the Song Dynasty: Water Margin Business Management

When Zhao Tianming woke up, he found himself in a dark and gloomy little room. There was a stove in the room, with charcoal burning brightly and spewing flames out. By the light of the fire, he looked around and saw iron objects everywhere, some complete and some half-complete, almost filling the entire space of the room.

"This is not my home."

Zhao Tianming got out of bed, pushed open the door, and went outside. When he arrived at the bustling street, he was immediately stunned by the scene before him. All the pedestrians on the street, regardless of age or gender, were dressed in ancient clothing. Moreover, judging from their attire, it was immediately clear that they originated from the Song Dynasty.

"Could it be that I've traveled through time?"

To prove that what he was seeing was real and not a dream, Zhao Tianming reached out and grabbed a bowl of tofu pudding from the tofu stall beside him. He brought the tofu pudding to his mouth and smacked it twice.

"It's smooth and delicious, but the only downside is that it didn't have any scallions."

Upon hearing Zhao Tianming's words, the old man at the stall was so angry that he glared at him. Holding a large ladle, he said to Zhao Tianming, "You not only dine and dash without paying, but you also dare to slander my cooking skills. How am I supposed to live here after this? For this alone, I'm going to fight you to the death!"

As soon as Zhao Tianming saw the old man with the large ladle heading towards him, he ran as fast as he could into the crowd. The old man chased after him relentlessly. Animals and horse-drawn carts occasionally darted out onto the road, scaring Zhao Tianming so much he almost wet himself.

"Wow, such a big capital city doesn't even have traffic lights. Once I win the bid, I'll definitely install a lot more."

As Zhao Tianming's mind wandered, the old man at the stall swung his large ladle, aiming a shove at his backside. Zhao Tianming felt a gust of wind behind him and, in a split second, picked up a bamboo pole from the ground. Before Zhao Tianming transmigrated to ancient times, he was on the school's high jump team.

Holding a bamboo pole, he leaped upwards, performing a somersault. Passing by a second-floor window, he saw a slender, fair-skinned woman winking at him. Zhao Tianming whistled repeatedly, then vanished without a trace after landing.

The old man selling goods couldn't keep up with Zhao Tianming and instead knocked Wu Dalang flying. Wu Dalang lay on the ground cursing, "Damn it, I've worked hard for five years to save up my savings, and I've only recently been able to afford Liuwei Dihuang Pills. You've hurt my back, and now I'm going to be inconvenienced again."

Wu Dalang grew angrier the more he thought about it, and grabbed the old man selling goods by the collar, demanding that he pay ten taels of silver in compensation.

"You don't farm either, so what do you need so much money for?" the old man at the stall said, his face red and his neck thick.

Wu Dalang retorted without any politeness, "Bullshit! I'm just tilling my private plot."

While the two were fighting, Zhao Tianming used a pole to climb through the window and onto the second floor.

The old man selling goods pointed upwards and said to Wu Dalang, "Your family's private plot of land has been contracted out."

When Wu Dalang saw someone enter his house, he picked up a bamboo pole from the ground, clutched his waist, and ran home.

"Brother, have a good journey!" said the old woman from next door, Old Wang's family.

"I'm perfectly fine." Wu Dalang glared at Wang Po, then walked away leaning on his bamboo cane.

Wu Dalang went inside and searched everywhere, but after a long time he couldn't find even a fly. Holding his walking stick, he asked Pan Jinlian, "What was that boy who came in through the window doing?"

“It’s directly from the factory,” Pan Jinlian replied.

"I've heard of 'I,' 'miscellaneous,' and 'I,' but I don't know what a manufacturer is."

Pan Jinlian said, "Who cares what kind of store it is? Anyway, the goods are incredibly cheap."

After saying this, Pan Jinlian took out ten plastic bottles from under the table. She opened the caps, and a fragrant aroma wafted out.

"It smells so good! What is this?" Wu Dalang exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise.

Pan Jinlian smiled seductively: "My lord, this is called shower gel. It's clean and hygienic. Having it is much better than picking flowers and weeding. Sometimes you never know which drunkard has gotten too drunk and is relieving himself among the flowers and grass."

"Hehehe, that's true. How much silver did you spend to buy it?"

"One hundred taels."

Upon hearing this, Wu Dalang's mind went blank. He sat on a wooden stump and shook his head, saying, "This kid grew up picking up coal dust; his hands are really black."

"Qi Delong Dongqiang, bang." As a burst of rousing music echoed in Zhao Tianming's ears, he then heard a system notification: "Congratulations on completing your first live-streaming sales order. You have been awarded 50 points of reputation and upgraded to a peddler. Please follow the game rules to complete the identity transformations in the following order: peddler, righteous merchant, richest man, gentry, tycoon, and national magnate. Only by completing the mission can you return to your original world."

Zhao Tianming was filled with resentment when the system demanded that he complete a mission to become incredibly wealthy in the Song Dynasty. He had bought a grandfather clock from an antique dealer and placed it in his bedroom. The clock had been peaceful until one night when his pet dog, Dahei, needed to urinate and accidentally bumped into it. The time-travel device activated, and Zhao Tianming was transported to the Song Dynasty by some strange twist of fate.

"You have a good eye; this is a fine Song Dynasty bell," the system said.

"Stop bluffing. If you don't complete the mission, you'll be the one to die," Zhao Tianming said angrily.

"To help you pass the level, the system now grants you two special skills. The first skill is the Hundred-Step Immobilization Technique, which can immobilize an enemy within a hundred steps for one hour. To use it, concentrate fully and stare at the opponent with sharp eyes for ten seconds. The second skill is Business-Level Comprehension, which can teach you to change your marketing strategy in a very short time, increasing your advancement speed. To use it, after concentrating your mind, shine a flashlight on the opponent's heart to ask them what's on their mind."

"Hehehe, Truth or Dare." Zhao Tianming grinned mischievously.

With these two extraordinary skills, let alone traveling to the Song Dynasty, even in the Warring States period, one could be invincible and dominate the political arena. System notification: "You'd better hurry up and complete the mission for me. I'm on annual leave now. Come find me after the ending."

“Qi Delong dong qiang, bang.”

The system continued playing the rousing melody as before, then turned off the notification sound.

Now, Zhao Tianming has started his business entirely on his own in the Song Dynasty. He deeply understands the saying, "Man is a drifting boat, and home is a warm shore." His first step is to lay a foundation, open a shop, and then expand and strengthen his business before establishing trade routes throughout the various prefectures of the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Tianming asked someone to find a feng shui master to check the location of the shop and selected a good spot. He also had the renowned calligrapher Xiao Rang write the gold-plated plaque "Tianming Commercial and Industrial Corporation". The couplet was the same one commonly used in the business world: "Business prospers throughout the four seas, wealth flows abundantly to the three rivers". With a full complement of accountants and clerks, and on this auspicious day, Tianming Grocery Store set off firecrackers to celebrate its opening.

On the first day of business, a few oddballs came in. The leader was a guy with a flat nose, a pointed chin, and a mustache. This guy didn't care about the occasion and kept stuffing garlic into his mouth. While chewing garlic, he said to Zhao Tianming, "You don't even know the rules of opening a shop in the capital? Why didn't you inform the Gao family football team?"

Zhao Tianming knew that Gao Qiu had arrived. That good-for-nothing was good for nothing, relying on his football skills and clinging to the powerful Prince Duan to eventually become the Grand Commandant of the Palace Guard. Gao Qiu deceived the emperor and harmed the people, committing all sorts of evil deeds. This time, he came to my shop to cause trouble; I had to teach him a lesson.

"So it's the Gao family's lousy football team, huh? Gao Qiu, you think you can build a football team with these few lousy fish and shrimps? You can only pee in a small area and practice in a small space. If you become my apprentice, I guarantee I can make you break out of Asia and go global."

Upon hearing this, Gao Qiu immediately flew into a rage and cursed at Zhao Tianming: "All I know is rice porridge, millet porridge, sorghum porridge, and mung bean porridge. I'll beat you into porridge first. Gao Kan, Zhang San, Li Si, and Wang Ermazi, all of you come at me together!"

"You're too ungrateful to me, Zhao Tianming. I'll just have to test my ultimate move on you."

Zhao Tianming stared intently at Gao Qiu.

"What are you looking at, kid?" Gao Qiu asked Zhao Tianming.

"What are you looking at?"

"Gentlemen, give him a good beating."

Immediately, the crowd rained down punches and kicks on Zhao Tianming.

"What a lousy system! It didn't even manage to freeze anyone. If no one comes to help, I'm going to get kicked to death by Gao Choujiao."

As Zhao Tianming was loudly pleading for help, a burly man with broad shoulders and a thick waist squeezed through the crowd. He grabbed Gao Qiu and yelled at him, "You little brat, you're up to no good and you're leading crooked kids to bully people again. I'm going to teach you a lesson today, or I'll be letting down the childcare fees your family paid."

The man who stepped forward to relieve the siege was none other than Wang Jin, the renowned instructor of the 800,000 Imperial Guards of Dongjing (Kaifeng). The reason Wang Jin wanted to become Gao Qiu's guardian at the Gao family's residence was primarily because he was penniless. He had initially qualified for the journey to Bianliang (Kaifeng) through a rigorous selection process. Upon arriving in the capital, he was supposed to stay at the imperial guesthouse, but because he hadn't offered a gift to Prime Minister Zhang Bangchang, he was evicted.

At first, Wang Jin and his elderly mother could manage to get by in a small inn, but as time went on, he couldn't find work and didn't receive any wages, and the money in his pocket ran out. In order to support his family, Wang Jin went to the job market to try his luck. Coincidentally, when Wang Jin was looking for work, he happened to run into an old man who looked dejected and was holding a job posting.

Wang Jin, always ready to stand up for the underdog, asked the old man what troubled him.

"Brave man, I want to post small advertisements on the wall, but the city management won't let me. If I can't get the advertisements out, I won't be able to find anyone to help take care of my young master," the old man said anxiously.

“Old man, you’re carrying so many layers of paper to hand out advertisements. It seems your young master is not easy to manage,” Wang Jin asked with certainty.

"Sigh, who can argue with that? It's because our young master fights, steals chickens and dogs, climbs over walls and breaks into houses, bullies and monopolizes businesses, he does all sorts of bad things, and he even beats up the doctors we hire. So when people hear about this, they won't come no matter how much money they offer."

"It's alright, I can handle this kid. You just need to write in the authorization letter that you can beat him up whenever Gao Qiu causes trouble, without taking any responsibility, and pay him a salary first," Wang Jin said confidently, patting his chest.

Thus, Wang Jin and the Gao family signed a trusteeship agreement for Gao Qiu, with a term of one year and a monthly payment of one hundred taels of silver.

"Instructor Wang, why aren't you sleeping at home? What are you doing at the market at this hour?" Gao Qiu asked in surprise.

"Kid, I teach martial arts, not how to sleep. If you make that kind of definition again, I'll smash your brain in. You're coming back with me to study."

Wang Jin picked up Gao Qiu and headed home. Just then, the sound of gongs and drums suddenly rang out in the street.

Zhao Tianming, Wang Jin, Gao Qiu, and the others quickly made way for them, and then they saw a procession approaching from behind. The officials standing at the front were dressed in red and colorful robes, and were holding rolling pins, frantically banging on a gong.

While banging the gong, he addressed the crowd: "Ladies and gentlemen, the new Emperor Huizong is very fond of playing football. Next month, a Japanese football team will be coming to Bianliang to play a match against us. His Majesty's intention is to demonstrate our national power, boost morale, and thrash them a few goals. Therefore, anyone with football expertise, whether a coach, player, or football manager, is welcome to apply."

"Beat the drums, bang the gongs, life is full of rhythm." Gao Qiu sang happily when he heard that the court had a football match.

Wang Jin snorted and said to Gao Qiu, "Boy, you don't need to step on the scale. I know your own worth. You don't know anything. Going on there would only embarrass you. The Emperor would probably chop your head off."

Gao Qiu was dragged more than ten meters away by Wang Jin, his hands still flailing wildly. He was truly unwilling to miss such a golden opportunity.

Zhao Tianming saw the football match as a golden opportunity to make money and knew he couldn't miss it. So he quickly ran a few steps, stopped Wang Jin, and told him that he could help Gao Qiu plan the match.