Chapter 78

At the crossroads of Xibay, a prime location, stands a grand and spacious building. This house is quite large, with three stories. The first floor has three large storefronts at the front: a cooked meat shop on the left, a pawnshop on the right, and a hotel lobby in the middle. The second floor is for private dining rooms, and the third floor is for guest rooms. The back houses the kitchen and a large workshop.

This entire building, including the hotel, cooked meat shop, and pawnshop, is the property of the Zhang family. Officially, it belongs to the butcher Zhang, but secretly, his son-in-law, County Magistrate Zhao, owns a 20% share. Additionally, the county clerk, registrar, clerks, scribes, and chief constable each own a 10% share.

Butcher Zhang rarely slaughters pigs himself these days, although he still monopolizes the slaughter business in Xibay, which continues to bring in a steady stream of income. However, he now focuses more on this building at the crossroads.

Compared to the income from slaughtering and selling meat, this place is truly a source of great wealth.

Butcher Zhang, with a satisfied look on his face, stepped into the backyard of the building, where there was a busy workshop. It was also a secret workshop, specifically for manufacturing counterfeit silver. Butcher Zhang had several highly skilled counterfeit silver makers in his workshop. They melted silver of better quality, mixed in a lot of copper and lead, and produced counterfeit silver with a very low silver content. Finally, they would send it to the pawnshop to be used.

Thanks to the high skills of the silver craftsmen, this business was extremely successful. Through this counterfeiting technique, Butcher Zhang's wealth increased rapidly. Now, with three master counterfeiters and over a dozen apprentices, the black workshop continuously produced counterfeit silver.

The counterfeit silver produced in the black workshop was so skillfully made that it was indistinguishable from real silver. Making counterfeit silver and then using it through the pawnshop, Butcher Zhang now counted money every day until his hands cramped.

On the other hand, Butcher Zhang also secretly lent money at high interest rates through the pawnshop. Despite these illegal activities, there had been no trouble because of his son-in-law, the County Magistrate, and his connections with the county officials.

"Sir, I will report the accounts of the shops from yesterday," the accountant said as usual. Every day, Butcher Zhang would visit each of his properties, and the accountant would report the previous day's accounts to him.

"Hmm." Butcher Zhang sat in a rattan chair, and a servant had already brought him a cup of strong tea.

The accountant reported each item. Butcher Zhang, though illiterate and unable to keep accounts, was very shrewd. He could immediately spot any errors the accountant made and would interrupt to point them out with a cold snort.

The accountant, wiping sweat, quickly corrected the mistakes.

Butcher Zhang listened clearly. All the properties were doing well, but the most profitable was the counterfeit silver business. This was truly a source of huge profits. By adulterating silver, he could turn a profit of several times the original value, sometimes even doubling it. It was faster than lending money, which, although highly profitable, required capital and a turnover period. Counterfeiting silver was much faster. Now, his counterfeit silver not only supplied his own pawnshop but was even sold as far as Wuchang and even the Southern Zhili region.

As for his legitimate businesses, although they also brought in good income, they were insignificant compared to the counterfeit silver and lending.

Old Zhang San walked in and leaned next to Butcher Zhang, saying, "Father, I just saw Liu Erlezi come back. He was riding a tall horse and wearing a green robe."

"What green robe?" Butcher Zhang didn't open his eyes. Since the last big loss at the Liu family, his first reaction to Liu Erlezi was not anger or resentment but fear.

He couldn't fight against a stronger opponent. Over the years, Butcher Zhang had built a substantial fortune and established a solid base in Xibay. However, the Liu family had connections with the top families like the Mei and Li families, and he dared not confront them head-on. It would be like hitting a stone with an egg.

He had sent 1,600 taels of silver to the Liu family, which was a significant loss, but it didn't hurt his financial backbone. After decades of experience, Butcher Zhang knew who he could provoke and who he couldn't. Being weak and fearing the strong was not a derogatory term for him but a correct rule of life.

Old Zhang San pursed his lips, "A green robe with a seahorse badge, a ninth-rank military official."

His son didn't care much, treating it as mere gossip. But to Butcher Zhang, it was a shock. Liu Jun was an official? A ninth-rank military official?

Butcher Zhang couldn't sit still. He stood up, his expression serious.

Old Zhang San thought his father was overreacting, "It's just a ninth-rank official, I heard he was appointed as the patrol inspector of Tiger Head Pass."

"You know nothing. Even a patrol inspector is an official with a rank," Butcher Zhang scolded his son, frustrated by his lack of understanding.

Previously, he had suffered a great loss at the hands of Liu Jun and offended him. However, he thought that after spending over a thousand taels of silver on the Liu family, the matter should be over. After all, the Liu family only relied on the influence of the Li and Mei families and had no significant power of their own.

But now, things were different. Liu Jun had become an official. With the favor of the Li and Mei families, Liu Jun had quickly risen to a ninth-rank official. Who knew how high he would rise in the future?

"Let's go home."

After taking a few steps, Butcher Zhang stopped and called a servant, "Fetch 100 taels of silver, no, 500 taels. Also, wrap up the jade ruyi that the pawnshop received a few days ago. Yes, and have the hotel prepare ten jars of good wine, and get two roasted suckling pigs and a few boxes of high-quality cooked food from the cooked meat shop."

Old Zhang San looked at his father in surprise, "Father, are you really going to take all this to the Liu family? Is it necessary? He's just a small patrol inspector. What are you afraid of?"

Butcher Zhang was too busy to deal with his son. Since Liu Jun had become an official, things were different. Given the previous conflict between the two families, Butcher Zhang had to try to mend relations with the Liu family. To maintain his position in Xibay, he needed to improve his relationship with the Liu family, who had close ties with the Mei and Li families.

If Liu Erlezi started to act arrogantly as an official and tried to make things difficult for the Zhang family, it would be very troublesome.

It was just a few hundred taels of silver. If he could improve his relationship with the Liu family, or even use it to connect with the Mei and Li families, he wouldn't be confined to Xibay anymore. He could expand his business further and larger.

If it really came to that, even spending a thousand or two thousand taels would be worth it.

The servants quickly prepared the various gifts, and Butcher Zhang had them packed into eight baskets. He also had red silk flowers tied to them and called eight servants to carry the baskets, making a grand entrance to the Liu family.

When Liu Jun saw Butcher Zhang's smiling face and the eight baskets of gifts behind him, he was genuinely surprised.

Taking the gift list, Liu Jun glanced at it. The gifts were substantial: 50 taels of pure gold, 500 taels of silver, a pair of jade ruyis, two pairs of jade bracelets, four gold hairpins, eight bolts of high-quality silk, ten jars of premium Shaoxing wine, two roasted suckling pigs, and two tables of high-quality dishes.

"Uncle Zhang, such a grand gift, how can the Liu family accept it?" Liu Jun smiled.

"Old Uncle just heard that you have been promoted to the patrol inspector of Tiger Head Pass, a real official position. Honestly, we have been neighbors for many years, and I am very happy for you. This small gift is just to congratulate you on your promotion and to show my respect. Please accept it, or I will feel disrespected."

Liu's father wasn't enthusiastic about the completely changed Butcher Zhang and didn't want to accept the gifts. However, Liu Jun just smiled and said, "Then I will accept it with gratitude. Thank you, Uncle Zhang." He could guess Butcher Zhang's mindset. Such people always bully the weak and attach to the strong. This gift was quite expensive, and Butcher Zhang had indeed put in some effort. Since it was offered, not accepting it would be a waste.

"Old Brother, you have a good son," Butcher Zhang said as he entered the Liu family's hall. Liu's father just nodded casually.

Butcher Zhang had brought the gifts and even a banquet. Liu Jun had the servants set up the tables and invited the neighbors and the private tutors, as well as the village head, the chief constable, and the head of the security team. Everyone was surprised to learn that Liu Erlezi had become a ninth-rank official and brought gifts to congratulate him.

At the banquet, Liu Jun wore his green robe and kept toasting, showing great respect to everyone. Everyone drank heartily.

At the Lu residence.

Two carriages stopped at the gate. The first carriage's door opened, and a person jumped out. The gatekeeper recognized her as the lady's personal maid, Yaoyao, and said, "Miss Yaoyao, you're back. Is Miss also back?"

"Laifu, quickly go and inform Master and Mistress that Miss is back."

The gatekeeper, Laifu, ran back into the house and reported, "Master, Miss is back, Miss is back."

Lu Weizhang, who was sitting in the room reviewing accounts, stood up quickly and hurried out. But after a few steps, he stopped, turned back to his desk, and picked up the account book again.

Lu's mother, accompanied by a maid, ran into the study and shouted, "Oh, Master, why are you still sitting here? Didn't you hear Laifu report that Qiqi is back? Quick, go and welcome her."

Lu Weizhang sat there motionless, "Does she even remember this family? She left by climbing over the wall, in front of so many people, and ran away with a man. Did she think about my feelings as a father? Now she's back?"

"What are you saying? No matter what, Qiqi is our daughter. We only have one daughter. Do you mean to say you don't want her?" Lu's mother was a bit upset, "Who was it that was always hoping for her return? Now that she's back, you're being picky. Old man, if you don't go, I will."

Lu's mother left Lu Weizhang and ran with the servants to welcome her daughter.

Lu Weizhang sat in the study, holding the account book for a long time without turning a page, not even noticing that he had it upside down!

...

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