A member of the Tang family becoming a xiucai an shou was not a trivial matter, and it also startled Tang juren.

Tang juren invited Tang Shen to a banquet at the Tang family’s manor, and held thirty banquet tables for him. The banquet lasted for three days and three nights, inviting neighbors from all over Gusu City to congratulate the new an shou. Tang Shen did not refuse. Although his relationship with the Tang family was not as close as one family, after all, both sides had business cooperation and were already seen as one.

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After the first day of the banquet, the maid Haitang invited Tang Shen to come to the side courtyard of the Tang Manor. Madam Tang had been waiting for him for a long time.

After greetings, Madam Tang smiled and said: “I still remember the first time we met last year. At that time, I never thought that my nephew would have such amazing talent and get the top spot in the academy examination of Gusu City and Wu County!”

Tang Shen cupped his hands and said modestly: “Eldest Aunt is joking, it is but a xiucai an shou only.”

Madam Tang: “Don’t be modest. Your cousin is a few years older than you, but he failed to pass the exam this time. Ai, it also makes me worried. Well, I won’t talk about that rascal today and make you unhappy. Shen’er, the Shopkeeper Fang from Jinling’s Jinxiu Pavilion came to Gusu City a few days ago and wanted to place an order with our Zhenbao Pavilion.”

Tang Shen’s eyes lit up: “Soap?”

Madam Tang shook her head: “Soap, scented soap and essential oil, Shopkeeper Fang wants them all!”

Tang Shen: “Good!”

Madam Tang: “Good!”

The two looked at each other and laughed.

The soap had been out on the market for more than three months. As Tang Shen expected from the beginning, this was his trump card.

It had the function of scented soap and looked very similar to scented soap, but it was much cheaper than scented soap. It was not that there was no substitute for soap in ancient times. This kind of soap was made by grinding pig pancreas into pieces and adding sugar and plant ash. Because it used pig pancreas, it had a certain odor to it, and it was gray-black in color and sticky to the touch. When there was no soap, soap was a must-have tool for ordinary people in Gusu City to do laundry. But with soap, soap was more durable than soap, and it was also clean and more appealing in appearance. So naturally it had suddenly become the new favorite of Gusu people. As the saying goes, there might be no need for wine and tea at home, but there must be salt and soap at home!

Gusu City and Jinling City were adjacent. Tang Shen had already guessed that someone would discover their soap, but he didn’t expect it to be so soon.

Soap was easy to make and convenient. Tang Shen did not expect that they would also want scented soap and essential oil.

Madam Tang said: “I’m afraid you don’t know what Jinxiu Pavilion does. Jinxiu Pavilion is the largest makeup shop in Jinling City. The largest restaurant in Jinling City is called Jinxiu Tower. The largest embroidery shop is called Jinxiu House. The best winemaker is Jinxiu Winery. The Zheng family of Jinling Prefecture City is the owner of Jinxiu Pavilion, and they are also the leading wealthy family in Jiangnan.”

Tang Shen understood: “So that’s it.”

When an ordinary merchant came to Gusu City and saw the goods in Zhenbao Pavilion, he must want soap the most. Although scented soap and essential oil were also easy to sell, their market was always narrower than soap. If one was not a businessman, one would not dare to take over the soap and essential oil business. But Jinxiu Pavilion was backed by the Zheng family. The Zheng family was not only the richest family in Jinling but the richest in the entire Jiangnan!

Only the Zheng family had the guts to take over the scented soap and essential oil business, feeling they could sell it.

Madam Tang: “The only thing I am hesitant about now is, Shen’er, how should we cooperate with Jinxiu Pavilion. This business is half yours after all. Do you have any insights that you could share?”

Tang Shen: “Eldest Aunt should already have an idea.”

Madam Tang smiled: “I can’t hide it from you. Shen’er, our Tang family has some influence in Gusu City, but we are practically blind in Jinling. Jinling is the territory of the Zheng family. If we don’t cooperate with them, we will never be able to do business in Jinling, and even if we could, it will be difficult to make a profit. So I want to cooperate with them. But there are two ways to ship goods. The first is to go directly by the Grand Canal and ship our finished goods to Jinling. Second, we can directly find a workshop in Jinling to make the goods.”

Tang Shen said: “The second method is definitely a profitable business. If you invest money in the early stage, you can directly make profits later. The first method requires costs every time to transport goods, and the money consumed on the road is bound to be more than the second method.”

Madam Tang: “But…”

Tang Shen: “But the second option is to place our workshop in the distant Jinling. As Eldest Aunt said, Jinling is the territory of the Zheng family. No one knows what would happen if we place the workshop there. Which one does Eldest Aunt choose?”

“The first.”

“I also think the first method is better.”

Tang Shen had always known that there was a Grand Canal in the west of Gusu City. It was dug by the previous dynasty and began in Shengjing and ended in Qiantang. Most goods traveling between the north and south used this Grand Canal, but he had never seen this river personally.

After negotiating a deal with Jinxiu Pavilion, Tang Shen and Yao San went to the Grand Canal the next day.

On the vast river, thousands of sails were billowed and crowds of people flowed like waves. On the shore port, dozens of large ships were unloading and loading. The tea and silk in Gusu City were unparalleled in the world. Every day, tea and silk worth tens of thousands of gold leave this port by ship and sail to all directions of the Song Dynasty.

Yao San said: “My hometown is also adjacent to a tributary of the Grand Canal, but it is far smaller than the main stream in Gusu City. There are at most ten boats docked every day. I occasionally talk to the boatmen who dock and listen to them tell stories from far and wide.”

Tang Shen: “Brother Yao, you also know about shipping?”

Yao San said in shame: “Little boss is really flattering me. How could I understand this? I just heard from the boatmen that they have a rule when delivering goods, which was formulated by the Sha Gang, also known as the Sha Boat System. For example, in our Gusu City, the Tang family, Wang family and Sun family all have goods traveling to and from Shengjing. It is a long journey and they may encounter storms and pirates on the way. The three families would work together to build three ships. Each family would put one-third of the goods on each ship. In the end, regardless of whichever family’s ship arrived in Shengjing, the three families would share the profit equally. As for the goods lost in the shipwreck, the three families would also share the loss equally.”

Tang Shen exclaimed: “The ancients actually had such wisdom!”

Ten days later, Tang Shen and Madam Tang agreed to deliver the goods to Jinling. When he returned home, Aunt Yao was cooking.

“The little boss is back? What a coincidence, Accountant Lin came here an hour ago. Didn’t you say you had something to tell him this morning? He has been waiting for you for a long time.”

Tang Shen: “He’s here? Where is he?”

Aunt Yao came out of the kitchen and looked around: “Did he go to Ah Huang’s room?”

Tang Shen frowned.

Accountant Lin was a man after all. Why would he go to Ah Huang’s room? When Tang Shen walked to Tang Huang’s room, he found that the little girl had closed the door tightly in broad daylight. Tang Shen was unhappy. He didn’t knock on the door, but listened outside the window for a while. The voices inside were not clear, and he could only hear a few words such as “Don’t read it like this” and “Please write it again this way”.

Tang Shen felt strange, and he pushed the door open without knocking.

Tang Huang screamed and hid everything on the table behind her back. Accountant Lin was also shocked. He didn’t know whether to stand or sit. He silently walked to the door and said, “Little boss, I didn’t even hear when you came back.”

Tang Huang: “Brother! You didn’t knock on the door when you came in. Didn’t you tell me to be polite and knock on the door before entering the room?”

Tang Shen raised his eyebrows and said, “If I knock on the door, would I know what you two were doing behind my back without telling me? Tang Huang, take out what you are hiding behind your back.”

The little girl hid the thing behind her back, pursed her lips, face pale, took a few steps back, and pressed against the wall.

Tang Shen was confused, so he stepped forward and said, “Hand it over.”

“No!”

Tang Shen did not force her, but turned around and asked: “Accountant Lin, what are you doing in this room?”

Accountant Lin hesitated for a moment and said, “Ah Huang, just take it out and show it to the little boss.”

Her eyes red from holding back tears, Tang Huang was forced to take out the things hidden behind her back. Tang Shen took a closer look and found that it was actually a book called “Poems of a Thousand Families” and several pieces of rice paper. The ink on them was not dry yet, but some crooked words were written on them. Tang Shen understood with just one glance: “You asked Accountant Lin to teach you how to read and write in private?”

Accountant Lin: “Little boss, don’t blame the young lady Ah Huang. It’s just learning literacy. It’s all my fault.”

Tang Shen: “You are just teaching her to read and write, why do you have to hide and keep the door closed?”

Tang Huang and Accountant Lin were both stunned.

“Little boss?”

Tang Huang blinked, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She said hoarsely, “Brother, are you not angry about me studying?”

Tang Shen was confused: “Why should I be angry about you studying? But I am a little angry.” Tang Shen looked at the words on the rice paper and asked: “Accountant Lin, how long have you been teaching her to read and write in private?”

“More than three months.”

“More than three months? That means you started teaching before I took the county exam. Tang Huang, look at your calligraphy! Mr. Liang once said that the more handsome I look, the more unbearable my calligraphy is. Half a year ago, my calligraphy was worse than yours. But just six months later, my calligraphy has been praised by my teacher and I even got the top spot on the exam twice!”

Tang Huang was stunned for a long time and then realized: “Brother, are you praising yourself for your good looks?”

Tang Shen: “Did I say that?”

Tang Huang: “You did!”

“Oh, then I’m not wrong. Now look at your calligraphy. You’ve been practicing calligraphy for three months, and this is it?!”

Tang Huang was extremely aggrieved: “I don’t dare to practice calligraphy. I could only wait for you, Brother Yao and Aunt Yao to be away, and practice secretly by myself. It’s already pretty good now.”

Tang Shen: “There are so many excuses! Then I’ll give you another three months. I want to see how much better you can write.”

“Brother… you don’t object to me reading and writing?” The little girl sounded cautious, and her fearful look made Tang Shen suddenly feel distressed.

“Why should I object?”

“When dad was still alive, he always said that a woman’s lack of talent is a virtue. Mom and I were not allowed to touch anything related to reading and writing, and we were not allowed to enter his study…”

Tang Shen then remembered that Tang xiucai seemed to have said similar words, but he didn’t know that these words had such a great impact on Tang Huang.

Tang Shen reproached himself and said: “I was negligent. I would never object to anything you want to do. Of course, if you dare to do anything like murder and arson, I will definitely place righteousness before family. It’s just studying, why can’t you study? Accountant Lin, you are here today, and I wonder if you are willing to accept Tang Huang as a student and be her teacher.”

Tang Huang was overjoyed: “Brother!”

Accountant Lin smiled and said, “The little boss has opened his mouth, so of course I don’t dare to refuse.”

“My brother is indeed the best brother in the world!”

Tang Shen was praised by his sister for a whole day. Tang Huang wanted nothing more than to go out on the streets and say good things about her brother to everyone she sees. During dinner in the evening, Accountant Lin stayed to eat together with them. He said: “The little boss and Ah Huang are a bit alike.”

Yao San: “Indeed, they are siblings after all. Their eyes are somewhat similar.”

Tang Shen was stunned for a moment, but before he could speak, Tang Huang said, “My brother and I have different eyes. Mine are bigger than his.”

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Tang Shen: “Oh, you are quite bold. Even if you pop out your eyes, they are not as big as mine.”

There was a lot of laughter in the courtyard.

Three days later, Tang Shen and Accountant Lin boarded the Tang family’s cargo ship and headed for Jinling City.

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