[Red Mansions] The big maid struggles daily

Uncle Cheng was waiting at home, Zhu Xiu said: "Uncle is busy, so I won't be late until you come back tonight, and you are still worried that I won't be able to come if I don't come home." It is said that the plan for a year lies in spring, and this is also true for business. There are a lot of things waiting, and now I have to wait until the third watch because I am waiting for her to go home.

Uncle Cheng smiled and said, "I finished all the important matters yesterday, and today I have some free time, so Uncle simply slacked off for half a day to welcome our little aunt."

Cheng Laoliu, who always drives the car to pick up Zhu Xiu and his wife, snorts, and said angrily: "In the middle of the night, I always hear the abacus beads in your room. It's like this every night. Why don't you want your bones. "

"Old Sixth Uncle, I don't want to make things difficult. I'm fine. I'm in good spirits when people have happy events." Uncle Cheng laughed and laughed, trying to get away with it. He turned to see his niece's delicate eyebrows raised. Exactly the same as the elder sister, Uncle Cheng, who had been whispered by Mammy Zhu, was a little flustered.

"Uncle!" Zhu Xiu said angrily.Knowing that he was busy, Mom was afraid that he would not take care of herself, so she had already agreed that no matter what, she would rest for four hours every day.When I was at home, I often saw my uncle returning to the yard early, and Zhu Xiu thought he was busy returning home, and it was enough to rest, but I didn't think it was a dark day.If it wasn't for Uncle Cheng Liu who also lived in the front yard and made him boil dry, others would still be in the dark.

Uncle Cheng repeatedly promised that he would never do this again, and said to his niece: "We are not allowed to file a complaint, and don't mislead your sixth uncle."

Uncle Cheng Liu didn't even pinch him, and casually walked out with a cigarette bag and pot dangling from his hands behind his back.

Zhu Xiu only said: "Uncle, what do you want to count the beads? If it's just a monthly account, I'll help you do it again, and you can finally put together the account books and sub-heads."

She wouldn't say anything to the accountant. The account books for the import and export of goods from various places have been accounted for by each account office. In order to prevent fraud and losses, Uncle Cheng must read the general ledger.What's more, there are too many things reflected in this account book, what goods are new and easy to sell, and what fabrics are out of fashion; and from the tax banks in various places and the money handled by ships, you can see how the local officials are doing. If there is a sudden increase, if it is not the bottom Offending local snakes, it means that the local officials have been replaced, and the newly replaced officials look ugly, and the merchants who pass by have to prepare to change the wharf for berthing and supplying goods.

According to this account book, the head of the commercial bank can be the chief helmsman, adjust the budget money in time, focus on the goods, sell, purchase, suppress goods, and other business methods.

What Zhu Xiu can do is to calculate the accounts clearly, and then make a summary list of purchases and sales, and list the tax, bank, management and loss separately, so that Uncle Cheng can understand it at a glance.

Uncle Cheng ironed the post in his heart, and said with a smile: "The method of summarizing, listing and making tables that you mentioned earlier is the best way to do the accounting. It saves a lot of trouble, and our own accountant has also been used. Uncle is busy. It's not about this."

Then what are you doing without rest in the middle of the night, playing with the abacus beads?

Uncle Cheng narrowed his eyes with a smile: "Isn't this spring ringworm? It is said that this kind of peach blossom ringworm would never do anything in the palace. The masters in the palace are pampered and can't fight spring ringworm. Who knows A newly-appointed little nobleman, for some reason, had erythema on his face. The Ministry of Internal Affairs checked and checked, and finally dismissed an imperial merchant who offered cosmetics. Gave it to our family."

Historically, there are many right and wrong things that are smeared on the face. Although my uncle is capable, is this appropriate? Being involved in the whirlpool is not a good thing.

Uncle Cheng laughed: "Silly girl, this is just the sweetness of the hundreds of thousands of silver we donated in secret. The little job of donating makeup and powder is just a name, it's not important, and the ladies in the palace don't use it from all over the world." The tribute is made by ourselves in the craftsman workshop of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. What we collect is just to go through the warehouse of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or give it as a reward, or the masters sold it secretly. Errand."

Seeing that Zhu Xiu was still puzzled, Uncle Cheng laughed, "For example, the thrush Luozi Dai, Qingquetou Dai and Tong Dai, the first two are tributes from Persia and the small countries in the Western Regions, and the last one is from Meizhou. If there is a contribution, how can we use the imperial merchants who have made contributions? No merchants with knowledge and interest will go to this arena, so we just collect some fresh tricks from the people every year and hand them over to Curry according to the number."

Speaking of this, Zhu Xiu also understood: Although this errand is small, it is closely related to the small purses of the principals. An imperial merchant who knows how to do things can not only make no mistakes, but also quietly fill up the small purses without leaving a bribe trace.For example: the Shixin golden flower swallow branch collected from the south of the Yangtze River. The rouge was originally a porcelain box. The pen post style and the scribes have been taken care of.

It is said that the king of Hades loves little ghosts, and although the chiefs of the various departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are not big officials, they are directly related to the imperial merchants. , Tea have to be tested by them.If you make trouble sincerely, two years of inferiority can make you lose your job.Of course, this is for the little imperial merchants who are attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, those aristocratic families who control the salt industry and weaving, these little devils have to pay for it.

"Such an errand is good, it's not easy to be caught, and you can make friends with everyone quietly. But why is uncle so happy?" My uncle is a rake for money, and what makes him happy is probably a profitable business Bar?

Uncle Cheng took a sip of fragrant tea happily, and his little aunt still lacked experience: "With the reputation of this errand, who cares whether ladies will really benefit from it? It seems that this is a good thing that is sure to be used by the royal family. , besides, they can still be bought. Those rouge and gouache businesses pay ten times as much money and want us to choose their own things. not coming back?"

"It's a good thing to put in their place, but in our own shop, we can paste light yellow paper all over the room. Even if we don't receive benefits from others, we can still make a lot of money. Don’t offend your peers.” The peers are eager to sell the goods in their own shops, the better they sell, the bigger their reputation will be.

Zhu Xiuyin said with a smile: "Uncle was counting on this a few days ago, and the sixth uncle caught him?"

Uncle Cheng also laughed: "By taking advantage of Qiao Zong'er's construction of the Provincial Courtyard by various families in the capital, our family's plaque has been established in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The heat of this set of curtains is about to pass Now, with the help of this fire, it is a good business with a long flow of water to build such a cosmetics shop. There is no need to collect everywhere, and everyone in the business will deliver the goods to our noses. Uncle pondered, these You are more proficient in things, and you can choose them, and uncle will give you [-]% as a dowry." The dividends of the cosmetic shop are divided into three parts, [-]% goes to embroidery, [-]% goes to the family, and the other [-]% is enough for the Ministry of Internal Affairs.In this way, even if my niece has no other property, she can live a wealthy life.

Zhu Xiu knew it was her uncle's kindness, but she couldn't accept it with the cheek.Earlier, my uncle said that I would give her a [-]% profit from the complete set of curtains, but Zhu Xiu refused to live or die. Her empty words were worth tens of thousands of taels of silver, and Zhu Nanny also felt that it was too much. up.Uncle Cheng had no choice but to plan to set up two more Zhuangzi shops as a dowry for his niece, but he didn't want to meet the ferryman when crossing the river.

Zhu Xiu thought about it, and said with a smile: "I heard my uncle talk about business in the past, and there are unwritten rules in every business. I think this cosmetics business is no exception. No matter who the imperial merchant is, it doesn't matter who is in this business. There is a bit of tacit understanding, what do I know? I don’t have to gossip and offend my uncle. Besides, this is an imperial messenger, and no one dares to fool my uncle. I know that my uncle loves me, and he wants to subsidize me in a different way... "

Seeing that Uncle Cheng was about to speak, Zhu Xiu hurriedly said: "Uncle gave me those rouge and gouache for free, so I just do what I can, and I will tell Uncle to know. It's just that this joke is not a joke, I can play around with it." If you don't come, Mommy won't agree."

Uncle Cheng was a little discouraged, and Zhu Xiu hurriedly smiled and said, "Good uncle, I still have another idea, and I want your old man's help. If this is done, it will be more reliable and long-term than giving me a dividend. Listen?"

Uncle Cheng touched the buns on his niece's head, "If you have any thoughts, tell uncle."

Zhu Xiu said: "Uncle knows that I can make some ointment, and I can also make a few types of toilet water and rouge. The recipes are all my own, and the raw materials are also available in Zhuangzi. Why don't I make it out and uncle will show you this." Let’s take a look, if it’s useful, uncle will use this as part of the purchase, and the amount our family can provide is not large, so it should be inconspicuous, I wonder if it’s okay?”

Uncle Cheng's eyes lit up. In the final analysis, there is no fixed number of errands for this imperial merchant. Who knows what will happen in the future, but this prescription is a good thing that can be passed down to the family, and it is enough to support the family for several lifetimes.

"That's right, that's right! There is a general agreement about the respective shares in the business you mentioned, but there are also many new merchants who supply fresh goods every year. It is also the rule for the big head to eat meat and the small family to drink soup. Let's start with The small merchants who do the supply, first slowly gain a firm foothold, and after a few years of continuous supply, it will be in the records of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Even if they give the job of supplying makeup and powder to other people in the future, this will also happen to others later. We have to weigh it, and we have already established ourselves in this industry."

He didn't know what to do with the other rouge made by Xiuxiu, but the ointment was indeed a good thing. It was hard to dry in the north, and the ointment was very easy to use.The fragrance of wine is also afraid of deep alleys. With the name of Jinshang, it can attract people to buy it, and those who know the goods will know it as soon as they use it. Only this can revitalize a shop.

"It just so happened that my uncle bought you a shop at the corner of our shop, and used it to open the cosmetics shop. As for the cosmetics shop that our family opened for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was on Zhengyang Street. Uncle simply invited a few housekeepers The principal of the mansion has a share, and it’s all right to give up [-]% of the profits.” Uncle Cheng saw his family’s long-term business, and immediately changed his mind, and the makeup shop that originally planned to give Zhu Xiu [-]% as a dowry went to Zhanyan. It has become a business of the heads of the House of Internal Affairs.With the [-]% profit, I think this job can stay at home for a few more years.

Zhu Xiu added: "I thought, let's not wrestle with others, just do a few less things. It's just that if we refine things, even if we can't get into the eyes of the palace, we should let the people who use them know the benefits. Others have imitated it, but it can’t compare to ours.”

Uncle Cheng laughed: "That's exactly the reason! There are many time-honored brands that have been passed down for generations and have been going up for a hundred years. When there was chaos in the previous dynasty, many leading and wealthy businessmen were defeated. Only these time-honored brands, all kinds of goods, shops and yards were thrown away, leaving the family to quietly shrink back. The local area has started business again. With one trick, it is eaten all over the world, and it will not be brought down for many years."

The nephew and uncle had a heated discussion together, and Zhu Xiu took a pen to write it down while talking, which can be regarded as the ancient version of the plan.

When the discussion is settled, it is past lunch time.The nephew and uncle each accounted for [-]%, Zhu Xiu was in charge of the raw materials and recipes, and Uncle Cheng took care of the workshop production and sales of goods.The two signed a contract in a dignified manner, and the shop was called Zhu Cheng Xiangzhi Shop. Uncle Cheng had great ambitions to run this shop into a time-honored brand.This is much more reliable than the sale of silk and satin embroidery at home. Silk and satin embroidery relies on a wide range of people and strong backing, but this cosmetics shop relies on a solid recipe.

If Uncle Cheng recognizes his descendants in the future, I won’t be afraid. Zhu Xiu has already planned it. She still has a few ointment prescriptions for frostbite in her hand, which are the only prescriptions given by the ‘golden finger’ in her head that day. Yes, very effective.For this alone, it can be handed down to the family than the powder formula. This thing can be sold in the balm shop, and it can also be opened in a separate shop. It is very appropriate to divide it into two parts.As for whether the descendants of the two generations will turn against each other, and whether they can inherit the business, according to Zhu Xiu, the throne will not last for tens of thousands of years, and no matter how terrible the flood is when the older generation goes away, it doesn't matter.

Uncle Cheng didn't know that his niece thought of herself as an 'older generation', and felt that she could do a lot in her prime.

Chunliu stood in the corner of the hall, finally waited for the two of them to rest, and hurriedly asked the housekeeper, "Where are the meals?"

Because Zhu Xiu grew up and Zhu Zhu was away, the nephew and uncle had to eat in two places. Uncle Cheng used to use the front yard, and Zhu Xiu mostly lived in the small flower hall in her own yard.

Uncle Cheng laughed and said, "Break a jar of the wine brewed by our little aunt, and invite the sixth uncle to come over and let us have a few cups."

As he was leaving, he heard Qiugui ask, "What about the box of clothes given by the second wife in the mansion?"

"What clothes?" Uncle Cheng asked.

Qiu Gui said: "The second wife of the Rongguo Mansion sent a box of clothes. They were all worn out, and they said they were shirtless or only worn once or twice. When we came back, we looked through them. The material was not bad, but it didn't fit well. The girl's age." It's either reddish purple or brownish yellow, very old-fashioned.That look is outdated too.

Uncle Cheng said angrily: "We don't have any good materials at home, what kind of heart is Baba giving old clothes! You shouldn't bring them home." Choose two horses of each color for you girls to move to the room, do I need to order this?"

Good materials and designs have been moved to the eldest girl long ago, and this time alone, half the room was filled, the housekeeper thought.But he still promised again and again.

Zhu Xiu hurriedly stopped her, as her own warehouse was not enough.Seeing that Uncle Cheng was still angry, he hurriedly persuaded him: "Her family has always been like this, so there is no need to worry about it. I know it well." Keep the box of clothes, and return them back when the mansion is in trouble in the future.I'm afraid Mrs. Wang still only wants to reward others with her good clothes, which means she is close to and decent. If she doesn't live alone like this, even Xue Baochai can get this gift from her.

Uncle Cheng said coldly: "We have to return the presents given by others. You pick a few horses of good material, and I will send someone to deliver them to the second wife."

Zhu Xiu smiled and said: "Uncle is still a businessman, so I don't have to do such a loss-making business. The dried vegetables on the Zhuangzi, what kind of gourd strips, dried beans, just send some over. Their family likes this. .”

It's beneficial but not costly, so let's live in such a short distance from now on.

That's all for Uncle Cheng, he went straight ahead to find Sixth Uncle Cheng for a drink.