Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 177 Confidant
It took more than an hour to work on this, and only one-third of the area of ​​the nursery was done, with most of it still left.

But at this time, Wei Liangqing was already sweating profusely, and his breathing was much heavier. He leaned on the hoe and panted heavily, looking at the work he had just done and shook his head with a wry smile. He felt that he was not as good at this job as before. If he had done farm work like this before, his father would have beaten him with the soles of his shoes.

"Lord Wei, please take a break and have some tea." Zhang Xijun on the side brought a bowl of tea with a smile. This tea was not the good tea they had drunk before, but the coarse tea that Zhang Xijun specially asked the servants to prepare.

Moreover, the tea was not served in an exquisite tea set, but in a rough ordinary bowl. Wei Liangqing took the bowl and tilted his head back to take a big sip. The tea was neither hot nor cold, but just the right temperature. After taking a sip, he felt comfortable all over.

"Cool!"

Wei Liangqing drank it all in one gulp, and then Zhang Xijun handed him a sweat towel to wipe his sweat. Wei Liangqing handed the bowl back and wiped his sweat with the sweat towel, looking at the unfinished nursery with a slightly hesitant expression.

"Master Wei, let's stop here today. It's cold in winter, so go back to your room and change your clothes to avoid catching a cold. Anyway, the land is in the mansion, you can do it whenever you want. There is still a long way to go before the spring, so there is no rush."

"Haha, that's right, I had forgotten about this." After wiping the sweat off his face, Wei Liangqing felt a little chilly when the cold wind blew. He nodded repeatedly, threw the hoe in his hand aside, called Zhang Xijun and went back.

After returning to the previous place and letting Zhang Xijun wait for a while, Wei Liangqing went to the house to change clothes. After changing clothes, Wei Liangqing came back and saw Zhang Xijun with a smile on his face, saying that he had just finished the farm work and felt much more comfortable.

When talking about farm work, Wei Liangqing seemed like a different person, with light in his eyes.

He gestured and talked about farming tips, and he became more and more excited. After he finished talking, he lamented that he hadn't worked for many days and his body was almost worn out. If it were in the past, he would have finished this piece of land in a blink of an eye, but now he was panting after only doing so much.

Following Wei Liangqing's words, Zhang Xijun complimented Wei Liangqing a few times, which made Wei Liangqing very happy. Seeing that the time was almost up, Zhang Xijun stood up to say goodbye. Wei Liangqing pulled Zhang Xijun and said that it would be better to stay for a while and have a drink with him at home with some wine and food. Zhang Xijun agreed to it. Seeing Zhang Xijun agreed, Wei Liangqing was very happy and quickly asked someone to prepare wine and food. When the wine and food came, the two drank and talked, and became closer.

The drinking session lasted until dark. The next morning, Zhang Xijun had just woken up when the servants of the Wei Mansion came to his door and said that their master wanted to invite Mr. Zhang to his house.

Once again, he came to Wei Mansion to see Wei Liangqing. Today's Wei Liangqing was completely different from yesterday. He was full of energy. When he saw Zhang Xijun coming, he was extremely happy. He took Zhang Xijun's hand and thanked him, saying that he slept soundly last night and woke up when the rooster crowed in the morning.

After getting up, Wei Liangqing changed into a set of coarse cloth clothes and went directly to the back garden. He worked with a hoe for more than an hour. When he finished the work, he changed his clothes and felt more comfortable and energetic than ever before.

He never thought that he was bored in the capital. Although the life here was good, he could not feel much happiness. He had been troubled by this. But Zhang Xijun helped him solve this problem as soon as he came, and the solution was so unexpected, which made Wei Liangqing very grateful.

Now, Wei Liangqing is full of energy and no longer feels uncomfortable as before. It seems that it is not a bad thing to continue staying in the capital. Compared with his hometown, the conditions here are much better. Besides, the problems that have been bothering him have been solved, so he no longer needs to think about returning to his hometown.

Wei Liangqing is a down-to-earth man, so naturally he wanted to thank Zhang Xijun for helping him so much. So after finishing the work today, Wei Liangqing thought of Zhang Xijun and directly sent someone to invite Zhang Xijun over.

When Zhang Xijun arrived, Wei Liangqing first thanked him and said that he would repay Zhang Xijun. Zhang Xijun smiled and said that it was not necessary, he just did a small thing, and Lord Wei had always taken good care of him, plus Zhou Anmin's relationship, such a small thing was not worth talking about.

Zhang Xijun's attitude made Wei Liangqing respect him even more. He was worthy of being the person introduced by his elder brother Zhou. Although Zhang Xijun was a scholar, he was much better than the scholars he had met before.

"Sir, will you live in the capital permanently in the future?" Wei Liangqing asked enthusiastically after serving tea.

Zhang Xijun nodded and said, "All the elders in my hometown are gone. I have been running around for a living for these years. At my age, I think I have to settle down." "Well, Lord Zhou gave me an opportunity. He said he has a small courtyard in the capital. If I want, I can come to the capital. I think the capital is the best place and it is under the feet of the emperor. It would be good if I can gain a foothold in the capital. So I decided on this matter."

Wei Liangqing nodded. He already knew where Zhang Xijun lived yesterday. Actually, he had lived in the small courtyard where Zhang Xijun lived now for a few days when he first arrived in the capital. Later, he found his uncle and moved out of there and lived in the current mansion under his uncle's arrangement. It can be said that they have some fate.

As for Zhang Xijun's identity, they had talked a little yesterday and knew that Zhang Xijun was a merchant before. Wei Liangqing immediately asked Zhang Xijun, now that his family had settled down, would he continue to do business in the capital? Zhang Xijun nodded and said yes, and told Wei Liangqing that he had bought a small shop with his own money and hired two assistants to do the grocery business.

Hearing this, Wei Liangqing asked Zhang Xijun where he bought the shop, how big it was, and what specific grocery business it was. Zhang Xijun did not hide anything and told him everything. After listening, Wei Liangqing thought for a while and smiled, "I have a silk shop here. It has a good location and a large area. Someone gave it to my uncle as a gift some time ago. My uncle didn't care about it and gave it to me directly. After I took over, I only went to take a look. Sir, you know, I was born a farmer and I can't do these things. I handed the shop over to the people below to manage it. I don't know how it is doing and whether it is profitable."

"How about this, since you will be living in the capital in the future and are good at doing business, it would be a waste to leave this shop unused. How about giving it to you today?"

Looking at Wei Liangqing's sincere face, Zhang Xijun knew that as long as he agreed, this silk shop would be his.

Don't underestimate a silk shop. Although he didn't know how big the silk shop was or where it was located, he could tell from what Wei Liangqing had just said that it was definitely not a small shop.

After all, this was a gift to Eunuch Wei Zhongxian. With Wei Zhongxian's status, how could he have given it away if it was a small shop? If it wasn't a large and well-run shop, it would have been impossible to give it to Wei Zhongxian as a gift. Now, Wei Liangqing wanted to transfer this silk shop to himself. As long as he nodded, the shop would belong to him. This was a considerable fortune.

But Zhang Xijun shook his head and refused without even thinking about it. He said that he would not accept such a high reward from Wei Liangqing if he had not done anything. Besides, the idea he came up with yesterday was just a normal interaction between friends. In addition, with Zhou Anmin's relationship, there was no need for them to do this.

One insisted on giving it away, while the other refused to accept it. The two of them struggled for a long time. Seeing that Zhang Xijun was so determined, Wei Liangqing had no choice but to give up.

But Wei Liangqing felt a little guilty. Although he and Zhang Xijun had just met, they got along very well. What's more, Zhang Xijun had helped him so much, so he had to thank him properly, right?
Thinking about it, Wei Liangqing suggested to help Zhang Xijun find a job. Zhang Xijun laughed again when he heard this. He told Wei Liangqing that he already had the honorary title of Jinyiwei Xiaoliu, which was obtained by Zhou Anmin.

Besides, Zhang Xijun was just a small businessman and had never thought of entering the officialdom. He had taken the honorary title of Jinyiwei Xiaowei for his convenience. As for higher positions or even actual official positions, Zhang Xijun had no such thoughts. He knew his own limitations and believed that he was not a good official, so he did not want to get involved in the officialdom.

As soon as these words were spoken, Wei Liangqing felt like he had found a soulmate, because he felt the same way, thinking that getting into officialdom was too complicated and difficult.

Talking about officialdom, Wei Liangqing couldn't help but complain to Zhang Xijun. Although his title was just a nominal one, he was still an official after all, and his official rank was not low, so sometimes he had to deal with people in the officialdom, including the government office.

In addition, because of Wei Zhongxian, even though Wei Liangqing didn't care about the affairs of the court, he knew some things that ordinary people didn't know. As these words gradually spread, and with Zhang Xijun's intentional or unintentional guidance, it didn't take much effort for Zhang Xijun to learn a lot of information from Wei Liangqing that he didn't know before.

Wei Liangqing and Zhang Xijun hit it off right away, and Zhang Xijun took the initiative to decline the silk shop he wanted to send them to. Wei Liangqing had a very good impression of Zhang Xijun, not to mention that there was Zhou Anmin as a bridge. This chat lasted for half a day, and the two chatted with great interest, especially when Wei Liangqing complained about something, Zhang Xijun not only comforted and advised him with kind words, but also helped him analyze and plan, and came up with several very practical ideas.

This was a pleasant surprise for Wei Liangqing. He thought carefully about what Zhang Xijun said, and the more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. He slapped his thigh and said to Zhang Xijun, "Since you have such great talent, why are you still doing business? Why don't you help him with things in the future? He lacks someone like Zhang Xijun who can help him analyze and plan."

Zhang Xijun smiled and said, "Forget about doing things. I have never been an official. I have been a businessman for many years and have studied since I was a child. I know more than ordinary people. What's more, these are just theoretical talks. If I ask myself to do it, I may not be able to do it well. The so-called planning is really too much. Besides, he is not interested in it. We are all friends. If Wei Liangqing has any doubts or needs his help, Zhang Xijun will do it. But let Zhang Xijun be Wei Liangqing's assistant and advisor. Once the two of them are established, their future interactions will not be as casual as they are now."

Upon hearing this, Wei Liangqing rubbed his forehead and nodded repeatedly, saying with a smile that he had not expected this to happen. In this case, they could be friends, but he had to make a deal that Zhang Xijun should come to see him more often. If there was anything he did not understand, he would send someone to ask Zhang Xijun to help him analyze and give him advice on how to deal with it, so that he would not be a peasant who knew nothing and would be fooled by others.

(End of this chapter)