Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 56 Shop
From the moment the notices were posted at the government office, the streets and alleys of Daming Prefecture became bustling with activity.

It seems that suddenly, many vacant houses have been converted into shops.

In fact, the merchants had already gotten wind of the news and bought or rented houses in several large workshops in advance. The Xie family did the same. They opened their own rice shop and porcelain shop there and put out the goods they needed for the New Year. The dazzling array of goods was even more complete than in their own old shops.

Having secured all the prime locations, and leveraging their familiarity with Daming Prefecture, coupled with their own brand reputation, it was extremely difficult for outsiders to gain a foothold in Daming Prefecture.

The Xie family also hosted several banquets at home, attended by prominent merchants. They looked at the map and discussed how to stock the market and plan the layout. In short, they believed that any prosperous area should not fall into the hands of others. In other words, they had the final say on how the business in the city should be run.

On the eve of the market opening, Xie Chongjun specially led his steward to tour the entire Daming Prefecture. Seeing the plaque on his newly opened shop and the familiar signs on the left and right, he nodded in satisfaction.

Even if the imperial court issues new policies, it cannot single-handedly manage the affairs below. If they handle them well, they can even profit from them. The prosperity of Daming Prefecture is a good thing in itself. This is their territory. From the beginning, they never intended to go against the imperial court; they were only wary of the patrol and inspection offices.

The suddenly established inspection office, seemingly insignificant, was actually a vanguard, tasked with regulating the markets and wards of Daming Prefecture. Giving them too much power would prevent them from engaging in any underhanded dealings later.

Just as he was about to return to the Xie family, a figure popped into Xie Chongjun's mind, and he immediately frowned and ordered, "Go and take a look at the Xie family's shop."

Previously at the patrol office, Xie Chongjun was angered by Xie Yuyan, which disrupted his original plan. He still hasn't been able to see He Tan, and was even scolded by his father when he returned home. Fortunately, he kept quiet, so the things Xie Yuyan said that day didn't get out. Otherwise, even if the Xie family didn't lose face, he would never be able to hold his head up in the clan.

How can a clan chief be so powerless against a woman?
Upon returning to his clan, he immediately erased everything related to Xie Yuyan, as the Xie family of Daming Prefecture had never had any relationship with that woman.

"Master, this is the place."

The carriage stopped, and the steward announced it from outside.

Xie Chongjun lifted the curtain and looked outside, but he didn't see what he was looking for.

"Where?" Xie Chongjun asked again.

Following the news brought back by the Yang family's informant, Xie Yuyan rented a house from a brokerage firm to use as a shop. He was still somewhat worried, fearing that the woman was truly capable and had been keeping an eye on things happening here.

The steward reported several times that he hadn't seen the Yang family move any goods in, so he didn't investigate further. For them, opening a new shop and establishing a presence in the new market was more important.

Xie Chongjun knew all the skills of the Yang family; that woman was simply using the Yang family to do some things.

It is true that the Yang family owns a caravan, but now it is winter, and they have been investigated for smuggling goods, so the caravan has been abandoned.

Besides the caravan, the Yang family only owned a few general stores. How much money could they earn selling general goods?
Yang Mingshan resorted to smuggling goods, which allowed him to barely establish connections with several major merchants in the city and gain permission to deliver his goods to various shops. After all, every business has its shortages sometimes, so what difference did it make whose goods they used?

Things are different now. Xie Chongjun has announced that from now on, merchants in Daming Prefecture will no longer purchase goods from the Yang family.

If the Yang clan runs out of money, how could they not make a scene? That woman would become the culprit, and the clan members would not tolerate her.

If they want to establish themselves by relying on the Yang family, they have to see if the Xie family will agree!

"Master, it's that little house." The steward's voice interrupted Xie Chongjun's thoughts.

Xie Chongjun frowned and looked in the direction the steward was pointing. His gaze fell on an inconspicuous little house at one end of the market.

There was no plaque, and the people coming and going wore patched clothes and kept their heads down, seemingly busy with something.

This is hardly a shop.

If you weren't told, you'd think it was just an ordinary dwelling, the kind where lower-class people lived.

"Are you sure?" Xie Chongjun had witnessed the power of the Xie family and was filled with doubt.

The steward said, "We've been guarding for a long time, so we're sure we're right. That woman Xie came several times, bringing craftsmen to build a furnace. It seems she's going to make some food."

It wasn't that he didn't inquire carefully; there weren't many people working in that house. There was a woman in charge, a peasant woman, who wasn't very talkative. When asked anything, she would just shake her head and say nothing: "You'll all know when we open in a few days." In short, she was very tight-lipped.

The manager said, "The most likely scenario is that they're selling coal here." He had someone posing as a resident to find out this, and as for selling hot water, that was just a pretext. How much could hot water possibly fetch?
Upon hearing this, Xie Chongjun lost interest, lowered the curtain, and ordered, "Let's go home!"

Even if ten or eight people opened a shop in such a small house, the amount of money they made would be limited, and it really wouldn't pose any threat to them. He even suspected that Xie was doing this to deliberately distract them and make them focus on the new shop.

"Do we still need to keep an eye on it?" the steward asked Xie Chongjun.

Xie Chongjun shook his head: "There are still many things to do after the opening tomorrow, so there's no need to assign any more staff here for the time being." This place is so small that it will have to close down in a few days. To be on the safe side, Xie Chongjun said: "Give some money to the idlers and have them come and report back."

No matter what the Yang family's shop sells, the merchants in the city who are on good terms with them will not buy from it, otherwise they would be going against the Xie family. They all know this, so he doesn't need to give them any special instructions.

The steward said, "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely handle this matter well."

……

In Xie Yuyan's water shop.

Zheng looked around the house. Some lotus root charcoal was piled up in one corner, and buckets and other items were neatly placed at the other end. The stove had been burning for several nights and was now fully functional.

She scrubbed the two newly made large pots until they shone brightly.

They had arranged everything they could think of, but the thought of opening tomorrow made Zheng extremely anxious.

There were many newly opened shops outside, and the shop assistants stood on the street shouting their wares. She didn't go to join the fun, but just by listening, she knew what they were selling. Every day, many people would go over to watch.

Xie's cloth shop is not far from here. She heard many people talking about how they would rush to buy the new styles of cloth when the new shop opened.

Compared to them... it's all so quiet and deserted.

Besides the women she hired from the village to help, there were also people from Sanhe Village who brought over the finished lotus root charcoal and inquired about what they were selling. In total, there were no more than seven or eight people.

Lady Xie even asked the women of the Yang clan to come and help. With such good arrangements, Zheng felt bad if no one came to buy hot water.

That's why, even though Madam Xie paid her wages, she didn't dare touch anything. If she really couldn't sell anything, she would have to return it to Madam Xie.

“I’m not leaving tonight; I’ll stay at the shop.” Zheng said, looking at the other women from the village.

The women looked at each other and said, "Then we'll stay too. More hands will make things easier. We'll boil the water first thing tomorrow morning."

In fact, they had already been walking around the neighborhood beforehand, telling everyone that their shop sold hot water and that anyone who needed it could come and buy it. She could tell that some people were interested, but whether they would actually come... no one knew.

Some lotus root charcoal did sell, but people were still not comfortable using it.

Madam Zheng took a deep breath and said, "We will do as you instructed, madam. It's okay if no one comes to visit at first. Madam said we can take it slowly."

The women nodded in agreement.

Zheng continued walking around the shop until it got dark, then she sighed again.

She was hoping that Lady Xie would come when the business opened tomorrow...

Is Lady Xie really that at ease?

……

Yang family.

Xie Yuyan was also listening to Yang Qin talk about the newly opened shops.

Yang Qin said, "Should we buy some firecrackers too? Or my fellow disciples and I can go over and bang gongs."

"No need for firecrackers," Xie Yuyan said. "We're not a big shop, we don't need those things, and we don't need to go to ring the gong tomorrow either."

Yang Qin blinked: "When will that be?"

"Three days from now," Xie Yuyan said, "or maybe even later."

Yang Qin opened his mouth as if to say something.

Xie Yuyan said first, "This matter is not for you to handle. You should focus on your studies."

(End of this chapter)