Gusu City had 23 lanes and 16 streets, criss-crossing each other. There were more than 100,000 households living on the 23 lanes, and most of these lanes were built along the moat. There were more than 300 small winding rivers on the lanes to make up an authentic Jiangnan water town. Most of the 16 streets were located at the intersection of the lanes.

The restrictions on lanes and streets in the Song Dynasty were not as strict as those in the previous dynasty. Stalls could also be set up on the lanes, but they had to obtain special approval from the yamen and pay more taxes. (TN: government office in feudal China)

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If Tang Shen wanted to get approval from the yamen, all he had to do was go to his teacher and cry a few words, and he didn’t even have to wait in line. As for the extra taxes paid, Accountant Lin nearly went bald from anxiety yet still didn’t manage to dissuade Tang Shen.

“Little boss, you’re going to lose all your money!”

“No rush, we can take our time.”

Overnight, Tang’s Logistics had its own stalls on 23 lanes and 16 streets. The stalls were not big with only a wooden table to support a shelf and a wooden stick to support a banner. On the banner were black characters written on a red background: Tang’s Logistics. Behind each stall, there was a scholarly looking man sitting calmly, as steady as a mountain.

After ten days, the people of Gusu City have already become accustomed to the delivery business of the logistics employees. Finally, Tang’s Logistics was open for business again. In Zhaimen Alley, a scholar found a logistics employee and said, “Please help me deliver these two books to Suijin Street.”

The employee said: “Okay, sir, please go to the stall with us to fill in the order and the things to be delivered.”

The scholar was surprised and said: “Order? What does this mean?”

“Sir, haven’t you seen the notice that our Tang’s Logistics posted a few days ago? From now on, every customer must indicate the place to be sent and what is delivered. Sir, don’t worry, we also have a stall in Zhaimen Alley, specially set up for customers like you to fill in such orders. It’s just ten meters away, I’ll take you there.”

The same situation also occurred in various places in Gusu City.

At first, people felt that Tang’s Logistics’ approach was too cumbersome and annoying. But within a few days, they discovered that with the order form in hand, if they lost something and wanted to settle the account with Tang’s Logistics, they would have proof. This order form was more like a reassurance and guarantee. Although it was a little more troublesome than before, it was also more rigorous and reassuring than before.

Tang’s Logistics had more and more business every day, and people who like to use logistics were using it more often. After a while, they have even become familiar with several of the employees.

That day on Suijin Street, a shopkeeper of a tailor shop asked a Tang’s Logistics employee to deliver the goods to the buyer who had reserved the goods. The two of them were very familiar with each other, so the employee said: “Shopkeeper Wang, the price of our logistics will increase next month. You are also an old customer and you take care of my business every day so I wanted to let you know in advance.”

Shopkeeper Wang was stunned for a moment and asked, “A price increase? Will it become very expensive?”

“Don’t worry, our little boss said it won’t go up too much. I heard it will only go up by one copper coin. Tang’s Logistics is mainly for the convenience of the people, and also to give refugees like us from other places a place to settle down and make a living. The little boss kept us fed and clothed, and gave us a chance to survive. Making a profit comes second to saving lives.”

“Very true, your boss seems to be related to Tang juren‘s family in the west of the city, and seems to be a student of Liang daren. I use your Tang’s Logistics because I trust your boss. A copper coin increase is not expensive, but a truly good deal.”

The employee said a few more words, smiled and said goodbye to Shopkeeper Wang.

Shopkeeper Wang didn’t think two copper coins were too expensive, in fact it was too cheap.

In the entire Gusu City, apart from ordinary people, the only people who use Tang’s Logistics were merchants with small shops like them. Although Shopkeeper Wang’s tailor shop was located on Suijin Street and seemed very impressive, there was only one employee in the shop. One person was obviously not enough to deliver the goods, so Shopkeeper Wang often used Tang’s Logistics.

A copper coin paid each day to Tang’s Logistics was much less than hiring an employee.

And of course he didn’t know, how could this employee develop a good relationship with him for no reason?

Three days ago, Tang Shen personally came to the dormitory of Tang’s Logistics and talked to all the logistics employees.

Tang Shen: “Next month, I will recruit fifty more employees, so there will be a hundred total in Gusu City. The snow will stop soon and if any of you want to go back to your hometown, I won’t stop you. Having known each other for a while, when each employee leaves, you can go to Accountant Lin’s accounting office to withdraw a sum of money, which will be used as travel expenses for your return home.”

One of the employees shouted loudly: “We have no way to make a living back home, so I’ll just stay in Gusu City and work for the little boss.”

Tang Shen said: “Okay, staying or going is up to you all. But I want to make it clear first that I will increase the price next month and at the same time give out dividends.”

The employees looked at each other.

Tang Shen: “Starting from next month, each logistics order will be increased to two copper coins. At the same time, depending on the distance and the size and weight of the goods transported, additional fees will be charged. Accountant Lin will explain the specific situation to you later. Once this happens, some customers will probably not ask us to send things. But at the same time, I will give you dividends. Starting next month, in addition to covering food, drink and accommodation, for every five logistics orders you send, you will get a 10% share of the profit.”

Accountant Lin explained: “In other words, if you send five orders each worth two copper coins, you can get one copper coin. The more you work, the more you get.”

So how was it that that employee simply had a good relationship with Shopkeeper Wang and told him about the price increase?

He was just trying to please Shopkeeper Wang in advance and pull their relationship closer, hoping to do more business with Shopkeeper Wang in the future!

The logistics business was going smoothly, except for the fact that Accountant Lin came to Tang Shen every day and told him how much he had lost today with a bitter look on his face.

At the end of the first lunar month, the logistics business had been in business for nearly a month.

Tang Shen: “No loss?”

Accountant Lin looked discouraged: “If we don’t count the big courtyard bought by the little boss, and we don’t count the taxes we have to pay to the yamen every month. Just the food and drink for these guys, and the monthly income of the clerk at the stalls, yes, no loss, but no profit either!”

Tang Shen sighed with emotion: “It only took less than a month to break even! The people of Gusu are wealthier than I thought. They sure are rich!”

Accountant Lin: “Huh?”

Tang Shen touched his chin: “The people of Gusu are quite rich. No, I have to think of another way to have them continue to help my finances out.”

Accountant Lin was confused. At this time, he suddenly remembered something Yao San often said to him in private.

“Our little boss’s brain sometimes… work strangely.”

Indeed this was so!

Others don’t know, but Accountant Lin knew just how rich Tang Shen was now!

Although it was not at the level of an extremely wealthy family, there was only one self-made young man of Tang Shen’s age in the entire Gusu City!

Tang Shen: “When will the soap begin selling?”

Accountant Lin gathered himself and said: “I heard from the shopkeeper that in five days, Madam Tang will invite several ladies from influential families to Zhenbao Pavilion to watch the ceremony. She says that they will hold a special product ceremony for the introduction of soap.”

Tang Shen was stunned for a while and said in amusement: “My aunt is truly something. I just said 123, and she actually connected the following 456. And a product ceremony? I didn’t even think about it.”

Talents like Madam Tang would at least be a marketing director or corporate executive in the modern world!

Five days later, Tang Shen also came to Zhenbao Pavilion, and saw several ladies and gentlemen in rich clothes.

Sun Yue followed behind Madam Sun, and when he saw Tang Shen he ran over in surprise: “So Madam Tang is really your relative? I only heard someone in the academy mention it, but I didn’t expect it to be true. Hey, when we first met, I bragged to you about how good this Golden Wisp was. Why didn’t you say that you are Madam Tang’s nephew? You are from the Tang family, how could you not have a bottle of the Golden Wisp?”

Tang Shen said naturally: “Have I ever said that Madam Tang and I don’t know each other?”

Sun Yue: “Ah, no.”

“Then have you ever asked about my relationship with Madam Tang?”

“…Also no.”

“Then what else do you want from me? My surname is clearly Tang.” 

Sun Yue: “…”

After a while, the little chubby came to his senses, grabbed Tang Shen and said, “Hey! Tang Shen, you are tricking me again. So what if your surname is Tang? Are all surnamed Tang Madam Tang’s nephews? Then if your surname is Liang, wouldn’t you be the dear nephew of Liang Bowen, Living daren?”

Tang Shen thought to himself: I am not Liang Bowen’s dear nephew, I am his dear student.

Sun Yue just scolded Tang Shen briefly, but he was not really angry. The two gathered together to watch the product ceremony. Unexpectedly, after a high shelf covered with red cloth was moved to the lobby of Zhenbao Pavilion, Madam Tang looked around and waved over Tang Shen. Tang Shen walked over in confusion, but Sun Yue had a bad feeling in his heart and muttered: “What else did Tang Shen hide from me?”

Madam Tang said: “Shen’er, today we will reveal the true appearance of this soap together.”

Tang Shen was stunned. But he quickly recovered and understood that Madam Tang was admitting to the entire Gusu City that Tang Shen was from the Tang family, giving him another Tang family as a backer. At the same time, it was also to inform the entire Gusu City that Tang Shen’s status in the Tang family was not simple.

Tang Shen and Madam Tang unveiled the red cloth together. Everyone thought it was an object as rare as the Golden Wisp, but unexpectedly it was something similar to scented soap, and not even as delicate and fragrant as scented soap.

Madam Tang said: “This item is soap. It has the same function as scented soaps. It sells for five copper coins and lasts an ordinary person for more than half a month.”

As soon as these words were spoken, several wealthy ladies widened their eyes and stared at the soap in disbelief.

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It only sold for five copper coins!

Only then did they understand why Madam Tang would specially design a product ceremony. If the Golden Wisp was the treasure of the Tang family’s Zhenbao Pavilion on the surface, this soap was the true treasure of the Zhenbao Pavilion!

In Gusu City, the Tang family’s Zhenbao Pavilion had truly become unparalleled this time!

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One day later, Yao San came to report to Tang Shen dejectedly.

“Little boss, as you said, no one asked us to deliver anything or send a message. Some people asked out of curiosity, but they just asked and left after saying a few words.”

Tang Shen was practicing calligraphy.

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Writing two eight-legged essays and one test poem every day was his basic homework. In addition, he also had to practice writing fifty characters and write them neatly and in aligned rows and columns. After writing another character, Tang Shen carefully dried the ink, put the rice paper aside, raised his head and said, “Someone actually asked?”

Yao San: “…”

He was afraid the little boss’s head was kicked by a donkey!

“Shouldn’t someone ask?”

“That’s true, everyone has curiosity which is understandable. Just asking some questions won’t be any meat off your bones.”

“…”

Yao San: “Little boss, what should we do?”

Tang Shen continued to lower his head and write: “No rush, you go back to the courtyard today and tell them to continue tomorrow. But in the future, the commission will be one coin for delivering goods once, and it will no longer be free. By the way, did you inform them of the rules they must follow every day? I said before, this must be treated seriously, and everyone must even memorize the rules.”

Yao San: “I told them, don’t worry. I’ll go to the courtyard right away.”

Yao San and Accountant Lin were not very optimistic about the logistics business. They had never seen anything like it before.

When a wealthy family wants to do something, they always have servants to do it for them. There were also several armed escort agencies in Gusu City, which were very famous in Jiangnan. If you want to have something delivered, you could hire an armed escort agency. But from what Tang Shen said, it seemed that he did not intend to do long-distance business, but only within the scope of Gusu City.

Could this really be done?

After writing the characters, Tang Shen went directly to the Liang Manor. Holding the eight-legged essay and the characters he had written, he said upon seeing the other: “Sir, save me!”

Liang Song: “…”

After understanding the cause and effect, Liang Song laughed and scolded in amusement: “How did I ask you that day? If you need anything, just ask the steward to prepare it for you. But you said that all you needed was ten clever bailiffs and a promise. Now you want me to be your first customer, to attract more customers for your Tang’s Logistics?”

Tang Shen explained seriously: “Sir, how could this be regarded as a need? I am your student, your direct student. I am sir’s only student and it is my first time doing business by myself. Isn’t it only natural that you take care of me? If I opened a restaurant, I would invite you as the first person to taste the food, and you would definitely come.”

Liang Song: “You little rascal, you’ve said everything, what else do you want me to say?”

“Sir, all you need is to say a word to your servant so that he would loudly call out to a Tang’s Logistics employee on the street tomorrow and ask him to help deliver the things. It would be even better if he needs to run all over Gusu City with the things.”

“Ha, then is it the more conspicuous the thing I asked him to deliver, the better? Would it be even best if he could carry a big flag with the name “Liang Bowen” written on it and have him parade ostentatiously about the town?”

“Hehe, sir, you understand me well.”

“Begone!”

“Okay! Sir, don’t forget to find the employee from Tang’s Logistics tomorrow.”

Begone, from “Zhuangzi: Lie Yu-kou”, translated as: Get out of here!

Liang Song was amused and vexed: “Come back here, I haven’t looked at the essay and characters you brought.”

Tang Shen came back with a bitter face and listened to his teacher’s comments on his homework.

Though Liang Song scolded, he still asked the manservant to take a box of books early the next morning, and find a Tang’s Logistics employee to take to the governmental office. From Liang Manor to the governmental office, one had to pass through half of Gusu City, which was considered to be in line with Tang Shen’s requirements.

Along the way, some people saw the Tang’s Logistics employee holding a box of books and asked curiously: “You are a Tang’s Logistics employee. What are you sending and where are you going?”

Normally, Tang’s Logistics employees were not allowed to name their customers. This was strictly prohibited by Tang Shen. But this time it was different. This employee had been personally reminded by Tang Shen the night before to reveal his customer’s name.

“I’m going to the governmental office. This thing is from Mr. Liang Bowen, Liang daren.”

After parading ostentatiously across town all morning, this employee slowly came to the governmental office. When he arrived, half of the people in Gusu City knew that he was delivering something to Liang daren.

At noon, Madam Tang in the west of the city also hired a Tang’s Logistics employee to deliver something.

Instantly, more and more people became curious about Tang’s Logistics. In the evening, a xiucai who lived in the east of the city finally came over and hired someone from Tang’s Logistics to deliver a letter: “I have something to do at the moment, and I can’t leave. I need someone who can deliver it for me instead. How much does it cost to send a letter to Zhaimen Alley?”

“One copper coin. Regardless of distance, it is still a copper coin.”

“It’s very cheap. You must deliver it, otherwise I will find your boss for an explanation!”

“Okay!”

At the end of the day, this was the only true order that Tang’s Logistics really got. The xiucai was desperate, and when he heard that Liang daru had hired a delivery man from Tang’s Logistics, he gave it a try. In the end, the xiucai‘s letter was indeed delivered, and the delivery man was very agile and did not delay on the road.

The name “Liang Bowen” was as important as the word “trust” in Gusu City and even in the entire Song Dynasty.

Gradually, Tang’s Logistics also gained some business in Gusu City.

Customers were never wealthy people, but ordinary people.

After getting his first business border, Tang Shen ordered people to post several rules of Tang’¢ Logistics on the walls of major streets. First, never reveal the name of the customer or the items being delivered; second, ensure delivery as quickly as possible without any delays on the way; third, if items are damaged or lost, we will compensate you ten times the cost of the item.

Gusu Prefecture was the largest in Jiangnan, with a population of one million and there were hundreds of thousands of people in Gusu City alone.

At first, the people hired the logistics employees to deliver only small things. Later, when they saw that the logistics employees had no problems and the deliveries were always very safe, the things they hired them to deliver became more and more expensive. Either because of the cold weather or because they were too busy, the business of Tang’s Logistics was not too bad, but not too good either. As the business continued in a lukewarm manner, the people gradually didn’t think it was such a strange thing.

Accountant Lin was balding with worry: “What a loss, such a big loss! Little boss, you said before that the people in Gusu are very wealthy, and you said that there were predecessors who have done this business. But after these ten days, do you know how much we have lost? We can’t make ends meet, spending twenty taels just to support those delivery men, and you even bought a big courtyard! You also let them eat well and drink well, not allowing them to be treated badly!”

Tang Shen was still practicing calligraphy: “Why are you so anxious? The dividends we earned from selling scented soap and essential oils in ten days are far more than twenty taels.”

“But this is a bottomless pit!”

Tang Shen stopped writing and looked over what he had written.

“If the people have no trust in their rulers, there is no standing for the state.”

From “The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan”.

Tang Shen: “Some things I really don’t want to happen, but it is destined to happen, and it must happen. Misfortune lies where blessing lies, and blessing lies where misfortune lies. Just wait!”

Three days later, a butcher came to Tang Shen’s door angrily. Seeing Tang Shen, he said, “Are you the owner of Tang’s Logistics? You have such a strong tone, daring to do such a deceptive thing! Today your worker took my item, but six hours have passed and it still hasn’t been delivered. Your Tang’s Logistics is a scam, and I will smash your sign today!”

Tang Shen was calm: “Tell me, when and where did you hire my worker to deliver your things?”

The butcher saw that Tang Shen was so calm and confident, and also looked like a scholar. He was worried that Tang Shen possessed a scholar rank, so he restrained his temper and said, “The monk may run away, but the temple can not. It doesn’t matter if I tell you, I found him at the pork stall in Linglong Lane in the south of the city at sishi (TN: 9-11am, in the system of two hour subdivisions used in ancient times) today. The item is the new dowry jewelry I ordered for my daughter!”

Tang Shen said to Yao San: “From Linglong Lane, go find Bailiff Liu.”

Yao San nodded.

The butcher was confused as he listened to the conversation between Tang Shen and Yao San. Not long after, he saw a young bailiff dragging an unkempt man into the yard. When the butcher saw the man, he said angrily: “It’s you, you little thief took my things and didn’t deliver them!”

The smiling bailiff Liu Qi kicked the man on the knee, causing the man to kneel to the ground.

Liu Qi: “Tang Gongzi, I caught him for you. He did indeed try to take a set of silver jewelry out of the city. But how could he know that my eyes have been paying attention to the logistics employees wearing a red short coat in the city! Before he could even leave Linglong Lane, he was stopped by my people. Bah, this kind of little thief should be jailed according to the laws of the Song Dynasty. But I sent him over to you first, how do you want to deal with him?”

Tang Shen: “Thank you so much, Bailiff Liu. Brother Yao, go check that set of jewelry and see how much it’s worth.”

Yao San brought over the jewelry set made of silver. Accountant Lin looked at it carefully and said, “It’s not pure silver, but it can still be sold for ten taels. It’s just that this guy was too hasty when he stole the things. He may have bumped into something somewhere and dirtied a spot, but it’s no problem after washing it. If you pay a jewelry shop to make this set, eight taels of silver will be enough.”

Tang Shen said to Yao San: “Brother Yao, give him one hundred taels of silver.”

As soon as these words were uttered, everyone was stunned.

Tang Shen: “The rules of Tang’s Logistics are that if the items are damaged or lost, it will be compensated ten times the price.”

Accountant Lin: “But little boss, we’ve found the item!”

Tang Shen: “Isn’t it dirtied?”

Accountant Lin: “It’s the same after washing, it’s just a bit of dirt on the surface.”

Tang Shen: “Brother Yao, give this customer one hundred taels of silver. My Tang’s Logistics is an honest business. If one isn’t trustworthy, how could others trust you?”

The butcher got a hundred taels of silver for nothing. He held the set of silver jewelry and looked at Tang Shen dazedly. Overjoyed, he loudly said: “Boss Tang is sincere and honest, your logistics business will definitely last for a long time!”

In just one afternoon, the story of Tang Shen spending one hundred taels of silver compensation money spread throughout Gusu City. Among the teahouses and restaurants, the news spread faster than “Liang Bowen hired Tang’s Logistics to deliver something”, and he soon became a household name.

“Did Boss Tang really just take out one hundred taels of silver?”

“That’s right! One hundred taels of pure white silver taels, the butcher’s mouth is still crooked from smile even now!”

But as soon as this happened, before the people of Gusu could even muse over this matter further, all the Tang Logistics employees on the street left. Someone cleverly noticed that the Tang’s Logistics employees left one after another. He grabbed one and asked, “What’s going on? Why are you all leaving?”

The employee said: “I also don’t know what happened. The boss said that he will close the business for reorganization. Maybe it has something to do with the theft in the morning.”

The gossipmonger hearts of the people in Gusu were instantly ignited.

On the second day, Tang Shen had people post public notices in various streets, and everyone hurriedly gathered around.

“Tang’s Logistics will reopen in three days… That’s right, if something like that happens, you definitely have to teach that unruly worker a lesson.”

“I heard that guy was sent to the governmental office, beaten ten times with sticks, and expelled from Gusu City. Liang daren personally ordered that no soup kitchens will provide relief to that guy. That guy is done for!”

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“Eh, what is this? Tang’s Logistics will set up some stalls in the alleys and lanes to record the items delivered by the workers. Each time, the specific appearance of the items to be delivered and the location where they are to be delivered will be recorded clearly on the delivery form. Tang’s Logistics and the customer each will have a copy of the delivery form?”

“If you don’t want to write down the appearance of the In item, you must put the item into Tang’s Logistics’ wooden box and affix a seal.”

“This Tang’s Logistics wants to do something strange again!”

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The end of the first lunar month, cold snap during the spring.

There was rarely such severe cold weather in the south. The cold wind blew cruelly on the face, like cutting the skin with a knife. The air was so cold that everything looked deathly pale. The sky became overcast, and soon snowflakes began to fall. The snow was not heavy, and it quickly melted when it fell on the ground. Disappearing with each step from pedestrians.

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It happened to begin snowing as soon as Tang Shen and Yao San went out. Aunt Yao handed umbrellas to the two of them.

Yao San: “Little boss, I heard that there are many refugees in the west of the city, and they are all surrounding the city gate so how about we go through the north gate.”

Tang Shen said: “Okay, my teacher just happened to be coming back from the north.”

Yes, Tang Shen was going out of the city to pick up Liang Song today.

Since leaving Gusu City in the twelfth lunar month, Liang Bowen had not been back for a whole month. He even spent the New Year outside. Yesterday, the steward of the Liang Manor came to Tang Shen and said that Liang daru would be back today. Tang Shen hadn’t seen his teacher for many days. It happened that the weather was too cold so Ziyang Academy canceled classes, allowing him to come to pick up his teacher.

Tang Shen wore two thick cotton coats and waited in the cold wind with an umbrella, but he was still freezing.

After waiting for an hour, he saw Liang Song’s carriage in the distance. Tang Shen and Yao San walked over. Liang Song raised the curtain and asked in surprise: “Why are you here?”

Tang Shen: “To pick up sir. Teacher hasn’t been back for a month, so of course this student has to come to greet you.”

Liang Song: “Come in first.”

Tang Shen bent at the waist as got into the carriage. Inside the carriage it was much warmer, and Liang Song put the small hand held heater he had been holding into Tang Shen’s hands. Tang Shen held the heater for a long time and finally warmed his hands. “Why has sir been away for so long and only returned to Gusu City after a month?”

Liang Song: “Deal with some personal things. Why didn’t you go to the academy to study today?”

“The weather is too bad so the academy canceled classes.”

Liang Song was silent then said, “I came back for this reason.” As he said that, he lifted the curtain of the carriage and said, “Go to the west gate to have a look.”

They did not enter the city, but made a detour to the west gate.

Before he even saw the city gate, Tang Shen saw many refugees walking along the road. They took the official road, which was muddy because of the snow. Normally no one would be walking around in such bad weather, but there were too many refugees. They were dressed in rags, covered in purple-red frostbites, walking along the official road towards the west gate of Gusu City.

Tang Shen lifted the curtains to take a look, then couldn’t bear to see any longer.

Liang Song had been looking at these refugees quietly. He said: “I heard that these people came from Chuzhou and Wuzhou. The snow has fallen too heavy this year, and the four southern provinces are in dire straits. The imperial court has also allocated money to provide disaster relief, but it has little effect.”

It didn’t take long before they saw several soup kitchens.

Liang Song was not in Gusu City, but it was not that there was no one to manage the affairs of Gusu City. Three days ago, the officials set up a soup kitchen outside the city to provide relief to the victims every day. In addition, wealthy merchants in the city also donated generously and opened some private soup kitchens. Madam Tang was one of them.

However, these were far from enough.

The weather was freezing and these refugees were barely clothed. The food stock in the soup kitchen was getting less and less, but more and more refugees were coming to Gusu from all directions.

Tang Shen asked, “What do you want to do, sir?”

Liang Song: “What to do? Although Gusu City is rich, it can’t help so many refugees. The weather won’t be cold for long. Spring will start in a month, and everything should be much better as long as they survive this month. It is said that auspicious snow heralds a good harvest, but it is a pity that the snow is so heavy that the soil has become frozen. I don’t know if these refugees will have a good harvest in the coming year after they return home, otherwise the court will have another bad debt.”

Tang Shen: “Can they survive a month? Sir, I’m just afraid they will freeze to death outside the city before then.”

How could Liang Song not know that it was already a blessing if even half of these refugees survived? Not starving to death, but literally freezing to death instead. Even if the officials set up tents and provided them with a place to stay warm, there were too many refugees, and there was a limit to what Gusu City could do. And even if they survive, they may have to experience a famine when they return to their hometown next year.

Liang Song let out a long sigh.

“Natural disasters are more cruel than man-made disasters. Let’s get out of the carriage and take a look.”

The two got out of the carriage together.

The number of refugees was far greater than Tang Shen thought. They huddled under the city wall, trying hard to cover their bodies with anything they could find. Not for shame, but for survival. Covering themselves with grass roots, tree bark, and even soil as much as possible.

There was no need to worry about a plague when the weather was cold, as it was difficult to spread. But for such cold weather, there was nothing anyone could do about it.

People who came to the soup kitchen to receive porridge one day may not be seen again the next day. After all, it was only treating the symptoms but not the root cause.

Tang Shen followed Liang Song, and witnessing this shocking scene, his heart was severely shaken.

Born in modern society, although his family was not wealthy, he was still considered well-off and had never suffered from hunger or cold since he was a child. He had never seen so many wailing people, nor so many emaciated people. Even if he traveled through time, he arrived directly to the prosperous Gusu Prefecture. He had never seen such a hellish scene.

Gusu Prefecture was rich, but Gusu Prefecture could not support thousands of refugees. No matter how kind-hearted the merchants were, there were still only a limited number of refugees they could help.

Liang Song: “Let’s go!” After a while, he found that his student didn’t move. “Tang Shen?”

The handsome boy turned around with a thoughtful expression on his face. After a while, Tang Shen said: “Sir, I have an idea, I don’t know if it will work or not. But this method may be able to save a lot of refugees, and I need your help, sir.”

Liang Song: “Tell me about it.”

Tang Shen said seriously: “I want to hire them!”

In the Zhenbao Pavilion of the Tang family, scented soaps and essential oils were sold very well. Even if they hadn’t started selling regular soap yet, Tang Shen still had a huge amount of dividends in his hands. He had been inspecting some of the most prosperous commercial streets in Gusu City for several days before, but he still couldn’t find anything suitable to sell.

In the current era, the most profitable businesses were salt and wine, but these two items were firmly controlled by the imperial court. So what else could he do?

Tang Shen: “Logistics!”

Yao San was stunned and didn’t understand: “Little boss, I have never heard of what logistics is.”

Tang Shen: “Brother Yao, let me ask you, which is the best restaurant in Gusu City?”

“Of course it’s Qianqiu Restaurant on Suijin Street.”

“Yes, Qianqiu Restaurant is the best restaurant in Gusu City. You should have also heard that Qianqiu Restaurant can provide home cooking. Sun Yue’s family, a classmate of mine, invited Qianqiu Restaurant to make their New Year’s Eve banquet last month. The chef came over specially and cooked a banquet of delicious dishes.”

Yao San: “There is actually such a thing.”

Tang Shen: “Of course. People in Gusu City are very rich. Why do you think Gusu City is richer than Jinling? The richest man in Jiangnan is from Jinling, but Gusu City is richer than Jinling because everyone in Gusu City is better off! It’s never one person or a few people who are rich in Gusu City. Yes, there may not be as many wealthy merchants in Gusu City as there are in Jinling, and they are not as rich as Jinling merchants, but the people in Gusu City are all happy and well-off with more than enough to spend every year. So for them…”

Yao San: “What?”

Tang Shen smiled slightly: “For them, it’s really too expensive to invite the chef from Qianqiu Restaurant to cook at home. They can’t afford it. But they can ask people to run errands for them and send and receive express delivery. Towards this bit of money, all the people of Gusu City can afford it!”

That’s right, Tang Shen wanted to be the first person to eat crabs in Gusu City. (TN: expression meaning to try something others have never done before, usually with a profitable result)

From the beginning, he had been caught in a vicious cycle: Gusu City had no shortage of anything! Merchants from all over the world gathered here through the Grand Canal. Jewelry, brocade and silk, treasures and delicacies… every industry that could be imagined could be found in Gusu City. Since it was difficult to have a slice of the pie in these industries, why not just serve these industries directly?

Tang Shen: “Brother Yao, go to the western part of the city and buy a courtyard. It doesn’t have to be very nice, but it should be big enough to house at least a hundred people. Then go outside the city and pick out fifty refugees first. You be the judge and choose those who look honest, both men and women.”

Yao San had unconditional trust in Tang Shen: “Okay!”

Tang Shen quickly went to Liang Manor again.

He had already told Liang Song about his idea of doing logistics. Liang Song thought about it for a long time, and when Tang Shen came over again, he asked straight to the point: “Do you know that you may not get any benefit at all from doing this, with such a large upfront investment, it’s very likely that you’ll lose everything!”

Tang Shen smiled and said: “Sir, it’s not like you don’t know that the most popular scented soaps and Golden Wisp in Gusu City are sold by the Tang family. Even if I suffer a loss now, I won’t starve to death on the streets.” What was more, the regular soap had not yet been released on the market.

Liang Song: “Fine, if you want to do it, then do it. It is better to teach people to fish than to directly give them fish. It will be difficult for those refugees to survive after they go back. It will be a good thing if they can use this new job to settle down in Gusu City. Whatever you need, just let the steward know.”

“No need to go to so much trouble. I just need ten smart bailiffs and a word from sir.”

“Oh, what word?”

“If a refugee commits any crime in Gusu City, no matter how big or small the case is, they will be expelled from the city and no soup kitchen will be allowed to provide them with food!”

Yao San settled the refugees in a large courtyard that had been empty for a long time. Most of these refugees were strong men, only their physique was a little weak at the moment. Yao San didn’t know Tang Shen’s intention, but he thought that since his boss wanted to hire people, the stronger the better, so he specially selected those who looked stronger.

Tang Shen came to the yard to see these fifty people, and then gave them food, hot water and clothes.

These refugees were immediately dumbfounded and called Tang Shen the reincarnation of the living Bodhisattva. They devoured the food, took hot baths, put on new clothes, and finally looked like decent individuals. Tang Shen did not have them work directly, but asked Yao San to familiarize them with the streets of Gusu City.

Three days later, these refugees were already familiar with the streets of Gusu City.

Tang Shen asked Yao San to post notices on several streets with the most people in Gusu City, and asked Accountant Lin to post notices in several neighborhoods where civilians lived in the city. After a while, many people gathered to look at what was on the notice, and the literate people read out the words written on it.

“Tang’s Logistics… eh, what is logistics?”

After the man finished reading the words above, someone asked: “Brother, what does this mean?”

“It says that from the 28th of the first lunar month, which is tomorrow, Tang’s Logistics will deliver goods for free for one day. All the people wearing red linen jackets on the street are employees of Tang’s Logistics. Just call them and they will come over. You can ask them to help deliver things, help buy things, or ask them to carry letters. As long as it is in Gusu City, they can deliver anywhere.”

“There is such a thing?”

“That’s right, what a strange thing.”

In the courtyard of the Tang family, Accountant Lin calculated the recent accounts and said with a frown: “Little boss, we have spent a lot of money to feed and clothe those fifty refugees. Your logistics are actually free of charge. Will we be able to recover the cost?”

Yao San: “I believe in the little boss.”

Tang Shen said, “I don’t even believe in myself this time.”

“Ah? Could it be that no one will use our employees tomorrow?”

Tang Shen: “You said tomorrow?”

Yao San: “Yes, tomorrow.”

“Definitely no customers tomorrow.”

“…”

Yao San panicked: “Little boss, this…”

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Tang Shen narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: “There will definitely be no customers tomorrow, but whether there will be customers in the future depends on how rich the people in Gusu are and how stable their lives are. How can you do business without taking risks? There is no guaranteed profit, but several certain seniors of the industry, Mr. Shun, Mr. Yuan, and Mr. Shen told me that this business… is feasible!”

AN: Little Tang Lang: Today I am going to start eating crabs!

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When the ancients participated in the imperial examination, they had to go through four major exams: tongshi, xiangshi, huishi and dianshi.

Among them, tongshi was divided into the county examination, prefectural examination and academy examination. Tang Shen would face the county exam in three months.

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There were five sessions in the county examination. The first session was the most important. It was called the main session of the county examination. Two eight-legged essays and one test poem in five characters and six rhymes were required. Ever since he made a bet with Tang Yun and decided to take the county exam, Tang Shen began to write two eight-legged essays and one test poem every day.

This was much more difficult to write than the compositions of the modern world. The eight-legged essay had strict requirements for contrast and structural patterns, and test poetry was even more hellish. Even the number of words, rhythm and rhyme of each sentence must be arranged neatly, and not a single word could be wrong.

After Liang Song read the two eight-legged essays, he stroked his beard and said with a smile: “I don’t understand a word!”

Tang Shen: “…”

“Sir, it’s at least better than half a month ago!”

“That’s all you’ve got? Let me ask you, there are only three months left before the county exam. Do you really plan to just barely pass the county exam and continue to take the prefectural exam in that exam hall?”

Tang Shen’s face turned green: “No way!” It was enough to suffer this kind of pain once in this life, and he would never do it a second time!

Liang Song said: “Then let’s look at the first question topic, ‘the great spirit can be exceedingly great.’ You also know that this sentence comes from “Mencius·Gongsun Chou”. How did you break the topic?” Before Tang Shen could answer, Liang Song answered his own question: “You break the topic——the great spirit can be exceedingly great, heaven and earth exude righteous energy; it commingles with objects and gives them forms.”

Tang Shen: “Is this not a good answer?”

Liang Song laughed angrily: “Great, great! But what do you write after? There is no problem in borrowing other people’s ideas to break the topic when writing an eight-legged essay. Nine out of ten candidates would do this. But you have to at least capture three out of ten of other people’s charm. Let me ask you, you little rascal, after being able to write something as brilliant as the line ‘heaven and earth exude righteous energy; it commingles with objects and gives them forms’, why is it that the next sentence flows down so vigorously!” (TN: expression used to describe a descent in quality)

Tang Shen was speechless.

He couldn’t say that, don’t mention a vigorous downward flow, ten thousand of him combined couldn’t compare to the great master Wen Tianxiang, let alone write an eight-legged essay worthy of “The Song of the Spirit of Righteousness”.

Liang Song: “You broke the topic so ground-breakingly that any examiner’s eyes would light up after seeing it. But then looking at the following, you could be considered diligent, careful and correct in your writing. Normally, you could get a third rank. But compared with the line you used to break the topic, it is simply worthless. What the eight-legged essay requires is echoing from beginning to end, the essay must be coherent…”

Tang Shen accepted the teachings earnestly.

When he first began to write the eight-legged essay, Liang Song thought his sentences were not smooth and uneven. After writing ten essays, Liang Song began to formally teach him the eight-legged essay format. So far, Tang Shen had made rapid progress. According to Liang Song, he had reached the level to pass the county examination. But if he wants to come out on top, he must work harder on breaking the topic. That was why today Tang Shen borrowed “The Song of the Spirit of Righteousness” to break the topic.

In webnovels, it was always written that when the protagonist traveled to the ancient times, they immediately showed great talent, simply casually plagiarizing the poems and songs of the ancients and becoming famous. Don’t mention the county exam, they didn’t even hold the palace exam in their sights.

However, after Tang Shen arrived, he could only wipe away a handful of bitter tears.

Everything in those webnovels was a lie!

Plagiarizing poems could only make you a talented person, but couldn’t help you take the imperial examination!

Yes, the imperial examination required poems to be written, but even if they wrote poems, they were all test poems, “composition poems”. Just like the eight-legged essay, it must follow a strict format! Not to mention the eight-legged essay itself. Tang Shen lived for more than 20 years and had a doctorate degree but he never read a single eight-legged essay. Even if he wanted to plagiarize, he couldn’t. Besides, the examiner wouldn’t give the exact same question topic!

While Tang Shen listened to Liang Song’s teachings, he took out his small pen and wrote down Liang Song’s words.

Voice pausing, Liang Song asked, “What are you writing?”

Little Tang Lang answered honestly: “Sir, although I have a super retentive memory, you speak too quickly. I am afraid that some words might not be remembered at the moment, so I am writing them down.” Taking notes was an essential skill for future generations of students.

Liang Song was stunned for a long time, and then said happily: “Ai, you kiddo, go back and write two more essays!”

Tang Shen’s expression collapsed.

However, it didn’t take long for him to escape from the sea of suffering. Xu Hui hurriedly entered the study with a letter and handed it to Liang Song. Liang Song opened it and took a look, his expression changed drastically, and he said to Tang Shen, “You go back first, you don’t have to come tomorrow.”

Tang Shen felt strange, but he did not ask, only asked: “When can this student come again?”

Liang Song thought for a while: “I will ask the steward to let you know one day in advance.”

Tang Shen accepted the order and left.

Tang Shen also didn’t expect that he and Liang Song would not see each other until after the New Year.

At the beginning of the first lunar month, Tang Shen got up before dawn and celebrated the New Year with Tang Huang, Yao San, and Aunt Yao.

“Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year!”

Tang Shen and Tang Huang were both young, and though it was custom to stay up late to greet the New Year, Aunt Yao asked them to go to bed first and she would stay up instead. The next day, the four people posted Spring Festival couplets and worshiped the gods of heaven and earth. Tang Shen took Tang Huang to visit the graves of Tang xiucai and their mother, and worshiped together again.

In the afternoon, Accountant Lin came to check the accounts.

“Happy New Year, little boss!”

“Why be in such a hurry? It won’t hurt to come back to work in two days.”

“Last year, I checked the accounts at Zhenbao Pavilion. The scented soaps and essential oils were sold very well. I couldn’t help but want to come and tell the little boss this good news earlier.”

Although Accountant Lin was old, he could calculate accounts clearly. Madam Tang did not deliberately hide the account books either. Accountant Lin got the account books of Zhenbao Pavilion for this quarter just before the New Year and calculated the earnings of last year carefully for a day.

“The scented soaps are the best sellers and have made a lot of money. The essential oils are also selling well, but they are too expensive and few people are buying them.” Accountant Lin said, “Madam Tang said that last year’s dividends will be brought to you today.”

Before he finished speaking, people from the Tang Manor arrived, including Housekeeper Tang and Madam Tang’s personal maid Haitang. The two of them paid New Year’s greetings to Tang Shen and Tang Huang, gave them their New Year’s gifts, and handed Tang Shen the dividends he earned last year.

The housekeeper said: “Young Master, Madam has found some clues about what happened a month ago. Madam said that when the county examination results are released, she will definitely catch that person red handed. There are many guests over today for the Lunar New Year, so Madam cannot come in person. She asked if the young master and the young lady would come over for dinner at home tonight.”

Tang Shen had forgotten about this incident a long time ago. After recalling it, he realized that it was about Tang Yun coming to smash their courtyard, and Madam Tang felt that someone was instigating him behind the scenes. “No need, we have food to eat.”

The housekeeper said nothing more and left with Haitang.

The New Year atmosphere in Gusu City was very strong. Until the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, people everywhere were visiting relatives and friends to pay New Year greetings.

With money in hand, Tang Shen began pondering if he should sell something else. But he conducted an on-site investigation and found that although Gusu City was rich, it was precisely because it was so rich that it lacked almost nothing! He could sell scented soap and essential oils because they were “luxury goods”. At least essential oils were luxury goods and scented soaps were affordable luxury items. Tang Shen knew that without the strong financial support of the Tang family, it would not be easy to sell scented soap and essential oils.

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, there were fewer people visiting Tang juren’s home to pay New Year greetings, so Tang Shen and Tang Huang came to pay New Year’s greetings. Madam Tang personally received the siblings. Madam Tang did not ask what Tang Shen planned to do with the dividends from the sale of scented soap and essential oils, but said, “I want to sell soap after the new year. What do you think, nephew?”

Tang Shen: “Aunt and I think the same thing. It’s indeed time would not be good to delay it any longer.”

Madam Tang: “Good, then I’ll go prepare it. I hope this thing can sell as well as you said.”

Essential oils were luxury goods that ordinary people could not afford. Scented soap was an affordable luxury product. There were many people buying it, but the number of people buying it was limited.

From beginning to end, Tang Shen’s real trump card was regular soap.

He went to the workshop on the outskirts of the city again. The workers had all gone home for the New Year. He and Yao San made a pot of soap together. Tang Shen calculated the cost of making soap and checked with the hired workshop supervisor to confirm that the cost of production had been reduced to the limit.

Yao San said: “Little boss, this soap is too cheap. We are really losing money by setting such a low price. Why not set it a little higher.”

Before Tang Shen could explain, he heard the little girl beside him say abruptly: “Brother Yao, how is this still cheap? This is two copper coins more expensive than the old soap!”

Yao San was stunned: “Ah, I’m talking about this new soap, how come Ah Huang is bringing up the old soap.” (TN: the kind used by ancients which are made of pig pancreas and plant ash)

Tang Huang shook her head, looking very disappointed, very much like Tang Shen half a year ago: “Brother Yao, you have also used our soap. Is it similar to the old soap?”

“Yes. But our soap is much cleaner, and the effect of washing things is much better!”

“You’re right, but our soap is very similar to the old soap after all. Our soap is not sold to a few people, but to the majority of people, with small profits but quick turnover. If it is much more expensive than the old soap, the people of Gusu City are not fools, why not just buy the old soap?”

Yao San thought for a while and suddenly realized: “So that’s it.”

Tang Huang imitated a pedantic old scholar, shaking her head and saying, “The child is promising and worth teaching.”

Tang Shen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and flicked her forehead: “What the child is promising and worth teaching! Where did you hear these words?”

“Accountant Lin said so, the child is promising and worth teaching. Tang Shen, you are bullying me again!”

Tang Shen straightened his expression slightly: “Who is asking you about that? What I want to ask you is, who told you that our soap is intended to be sold to most people, with small profits but quick turnover.”

Tang Huang’s eyes wandered: “I guessed it!”

“You guessed it my foot!” Tang Shen grabbed the back of the little girl’s collar, “Don’t even think about running away. Tell me clearly when you heard these things.”

Tang Huang covered her eyes: “Bully, you are bullying a little girl, Tang Shen is not a human being!”

Tang Shen: “…”

What kind of an oddball family is this!

More than half of the first month had passed, and Liang Song still had not returned to Gusu City, but Ziyang Academy had already started classes again.

On the first day of school, Tang Huang and Aunt Yao prepared a food basket for Tang Shen. Tang Shen wanted to flick Tang Huang’s forehead, but she nimbly dodged it.

Tang Huang: “Tang Shen wants to bully me again, you baddie!”

Tang Shen sneered: “When I come back in the evening, you have to tell me what you are doing going to the Zhenbao Pavilion every day!”

The little girl made a face.

Aunt Yao brought another thick cotton coat out of the house: “Little boss, please wear more clothes. I didn’t expect that the weather would suddenly become so cold after the New Year. I heard that it snowed heavily in the south and the water froze. Even the roads are also blocked.”

Tang Shen also felt a little cold, so he took the cotton coat and put it on.

Yao San came out of the house: “It’s really strange. We used to see such heavy snow in Shanxi. But I have never heard of such heavy snow in Jiangnan.” After sighing, he said: “Let’s go, little boss, I’ll send you to the academy.”

During the Lunar New Year month, while Tang Shen was at home, Aunt Yao did a lot of cooking and fed him like crazy. Finally, Tang Shen gained some weight, but he was still very thin. He was wearing two thick cotton-padded coats and looked a bit bloated. From the back, he looked like a young master from a rich family. However, when he arrived at Ziyang Academy and saw Sun Yue, Tang Shen burst into laughter.

Fatty Sun was wrapped into the shape of a ball and let out a big sneeze when he saw Tang Shen.

Tang Shen: “Hey, if you catch the cold, don’t give it to me. You’re sick, and you still come to school? Are you not afraid that Principal Zheng will drive you back?”

Sun Yue grimaced: “The cold? I wish I had caught the cold, so I wouldn’t have to come to school.”

After entering the classroom, Tang Shen realized that nearly half of the people in the class were missing.

Tang Shen: “What’s going on?”

Sun Yue rubbed his hands that were red from the cold: “What else? They really caught the cold.”

Tang Shen smiled and said: “You are wearing more clothes than me, why are your hands so frozen? Isn’t it that chubby people are not afraid of the cold?”

Sun Yue glared: “Who told you this nonsense? We fat people are not allowed to be afraid of the cold?! You are obviously the strange one. Didn’t you see those people outside the city? Those are the real thin people. They are all nearly frozen to death, okay!”

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Tang Shen was suddenly stunned: “Who is outside the city?”

Sun Yue rubbed his hands, and as if he remembered something, his tone lowered: “Who else could it be? Refugees from the south. My mother and I went to set up a soup kitchen outside the city yesterday. There were so many people… really so many, that you can’t even see or count them all. It’s snowing heavily, and everywhere there are people.”

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The southeast corner of Zhenbao Pavilion was close to a small river. From the meandering river came the sound of rushing water, and the carved windows were actually open. The dazzling sunlight shone along the window edge and was reflected on a square of high stand made of Chinese cedar.

Chinese cedar was inherently expensive, and even someone from a family like Madam Wang’s found it extremely precious. Yet it was placed in the store. This Chinese cedar high stand was covered in brocade silk handkerchiefs embroidered by the top seamstresses in Gusu Prefecture hand by hand. They were stacked layer by layer and in the center of the handkerchiefs, there was a crystal clear jade bowl.

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Filling the jade bowl was the intoxicating essential oil.

Jewelry inlay and petal embellishment. Anyone who looked at the objects in this corner would feel that they were extremely expensive. Most of the ladies who entered the store stayed a distance away from it when they saw it, for fear of accidentally breaking anything. Many people didn’t know what it was and asked the shop assistant standing by.

“This is called Golden Wisp. It has a similar effect to aromatherapy, but it doesn’t need to be so complicated. Simply put a drop on your clothes or jewelry, and the scent will be fragrant and last for a day.”

The shopkeeper clapped his hands, and two shop assistants immediately came out from behind the counter. Each of them held one end of a scroll and slowly opened it.

Madam Wang read out the words on the scroll: “The moths are like golden wisps of snow and willows, and the laughter is full of hidden fragrance. Searching among the crowd for him a thousand times, but suddenly looking back, in the dim light there stands that person. Searching among the crowd for him a thousand times… What a wonderful ‘searching among the crowd for him a thousand times’! Oh, this signature is actually Liang Bowen, Liang daren!”

“It is actually Liang daren’s personal inscription.”

“Is this Liang daren‘s new work? Oh, no, it’s the work of a poet named Xin Qiji. ‘The moths are like golden wisps of snow and willows…’, this is referring to this Golden Wisp?”

The shopkeeper had the assistants mount the scroll right above the wall of the lobby. At the same time, the madams and ladies of Gusu Prefecture were already going crazy about this Golden Wisp.

Searching among the crowd for him a thousand times, but suddenly looking back, in the dim light there stands that person!

The young ladies recited this sentence with shy expressions on their faces. Customers who could afford the Golden Wisp were from wealthy families, which usually hired private teachers to teach their daughters how to read and write at home. As for this poem, even if you were only literate and have not read the Four Books, you would still feel intoxicated and charmed when reading it.

Instantly, the expensive Golden Wisp was snatched up by the ladies of Gusu City.

The shopkeeper was a little suspicious: “Did I mark the wrong price? The price of this Golden Wisp was written wrong?”

Of course he made no mistake.

A masterpiece of poetry that could be passed down through the ages, coupled with Liang Bowen’s inscription. If it didn’t sell well, then it would seriously be a disappointment to Tang Shen’s marketing campaign. What was more, he personally went to the Zhenbao Pavilion to design the packaging and presentation of the essential oils.

In the Zhenbao Pavilion, the madams and ladies from wealthy families were very fond of the Golden Wisp, while those from lower backgrounds could only look at the essential oil in the jade bowl and reluctantly stay away. However, soon, they discovered a light pink paste-like object placed next to the essential oil.

“Oh, what is this? It looks delicate and smooth, and it is also placed on the brocade. Is it also an object as good as the Golden Wisp?”

The shopkeeper came over immediately and said with an apologetic smile: “Madam, this is called scented soap…”

Zhenbao Pavilion was newly opened, and there was a huge flow of people.

Although the ladies in the boudoir were literate, their study of poetry was not that profound. They were simply intoxicated by the romance of the poem, but no one noticed that the poem was only half written.

Liang Manor, Tongde Lane, Gusu Prefecture. 

Tang Shen carried a box of scented soap and essential oils, and a bookcase on his back, and entered the gate of Liang Manor with a grimace.

Liang Song had been waiting for a long time.

Tang Shen handed the box of scented soap and essential oil to the steward.

Liang Song: “Tang juren‘s family powder shop opened again today?”

Tang Shen nodded: “That’s right. Sir, when I came here, I heard from Yao San that all the people in Gusu City had gone over. When they saw the calligraphy written by you, teacher, they were all dumbfounded. They passed it on word of mouth and simply could not forget it.”

Liang Song glanced at him: “If you hadn’t blackmailed me, insisting I write the words before you would tell me the author of the poem, I wouldn’t have inscribed it for you.”

Tang Shen blinked innocently.

That’s right, Liang Song was one of the four great Confucian scholars in the world and had an outstanding literary reputation. For ordinary people, even asking him to give some advice would be as difficult as climbing the sky, let alone asking him to write special inscriptions. The attitude of the Song Dynasty towards merchants was pretty good. Scholars could engage in business, and merchants could also take part in the imperial examinations. It was not as harsh as later generations. But that didn’t mean Liang Bowen would be willing to write an inscription for a makeup shop.

When Tang Shen shamelessly asked Liang Song to write an inscription, Liang Song almost kicked this young son (the only student he accepted after reaching old age), out of the study door, or preferably into the pond in the yard.

“Can’t you have some proper aspirations?!”

But Tang Shen was such a thick-skinned fellow. In his previous life, when his professor scolded him for submitting his paper late, he always said nice things to muddle his way past it. He directly took out Xin Qiji’s poem, and sure enough, Liang Song’s eyes lit up when he saw the poem.

“Did you write this?” Just as he finished asking this he said, “No, it’s impossible. You, a scoundrel, can’t create this kind of poetry.”

Tang Shen, who was just about to answer modestly and not be a plagiarizer: “…”

Liang Song carefully mulled over the poem and said: “This is only half of it, there is still another half. Where did you get this work?”

Tang Shen had already made up a lie, saying that this was a poem given to him by a down on his luck wandering scholar who accidentally came to Zhao Family Village and after drinking his fruit juice, used it as money to pay for the fruit juice.

Liang Chan: “‘Looking back suddenly, in the dim light…’ Only a great scholar who had experienced the vicissitudes of life and death could write such words and phrases. It’s a pity that Xin Qiji, that fellow scholar who sees through the ways of the world, is not known, and I have never heard of him either.”

In order to get the other half of the poem, Liang Song inscribed it for the Zhenbao Pavilion of the Tang family.

When Tang Shen came to Liang Manor, he was in a hurry. He didn’t get to take a look at Zhenbao Pavilion, but he was not worried about the sales of the essential oils and scented soaps. He took out the two articles he had just written yesterday from his bookcase and gave them to Liang Song for review.

The article was the eight-legged essay, which was indispensable in every exam in ancient times, from county level examinations to palace level examinations.

However, this eight-legged essay was not as easy to write as later generations thought. The structure alone was divided into eight parts: “breaking open the topic”, “receiving the topic”, “beginning discussion”, “initial leg”, “middle leg”, “later leg”, “final leg” and “big knot”. (TN: opening, amplification, preliminary exposition, initial argument, central argument, latter argument, final argument, conclusion—>more details can be found on Wikipedia)

The question topics for the eight-legged essay all come from the Four Books and Five Classics. It stood to reason that ao long as you were familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, it should not be difficult to solve the questions. But it was never that simple. Among the questions in the eight-legged essay, there was a very difficult intersecting question, which was to disassemble two unrelated sentences and put them together and directly use it as the topic question.

In the previous dynasty, there was a county magistrate who gave a top-notch intersecting question in the tongshi (TN: exam taken by tongsheng), which stumped all the scholars in that test. The title of the topic was “Mi Zi’s Wife and Zi Lu”. This sentence was originally from “Mencius”: “Mi Zi’s wife and Zi Lu’s wife are sisters.” As a result, the last five characters were removed, and all the candidates were dumbfounded.

Mi Zi’s wife and Zi Lu…

No matter how you write it, it was about an extramarital affair, which must be punished with drowning in a wicker basket!

Tang Shen originally wanted to take the test casually. Gusu Prefecture was a place where talented people from all over the world gather, and it provided a large number of jinshi talents for each imperial examination. Other wild mountains and ridges dare to come up with such weird and bizarre questions, but Gusu Prefecture could not. Gusu Prefecture was similar to the major college entrance examination provinces of later generations. It was nothing to stump the scholars with the questions but they were afraid that these scholars would become high-ranking officials in the future and make trouble for those who set the questions back then.

Therefore, the test questions were destined not to be too biased, and Tang Shen had a golden finger for easily memorizing everything, so taking the tongshi would definitely not be a problem. With only three months left, he planned to study seriously, but he did not plan to study desperately.

Liang Song could tell at a glance that his apprentice was “pleasure seeking” and without saying a word, he took him directly to the examination hall for the next year’s tongshi.

This was a ten-foot-square courtyard, just behind the Gusu Prefecture County Office.

Tang Shen walked around and looked at his future examination venue, but didn’t feel anything was wrong.

Liang Song said: “Each county in Gusu Prefecture has set up its own examination venue. Now that you have arrived in the prefecture city, you will take the examination here. Last year, 150 people applied for the tongshi. Do you know what this means?”

Tang Shen was stunned for a moment, then he realized: “So many!”

This examination venue was only about 30 meters wide and 30 meters long. But it had to accommodate more than 100 people?

Liang Song looked at him and said mildly: “So many? What if I told you that these people will enter the examination venue before dawn and can not go out until dusk. There is no toilet in this examination venue, and everything must be done in the examination booth. Hehe, you little scoundrel, are you thinking of handing in the paper in advance?”

Tang Shen’s face had already turned green. When he heard the words “no toilet”, he realized the seriousness of the matter.

“You can indeed hand in the paper in advance, but after you hand it in, your paper will be put aside. No matter how good you are and have the talent to be zhuangyuan, it will be difficult for you to pass this exam.”

Tang Shen: “Then… where do we eat?”

Liang Song asked in surprise: “Eat?” Then, in a calm voice: “I heard that more than ten students fainted last year and failed to finish the exam.”

“Did they faint from hunger?”

“Some fainted from the odor. There were also people who fainted from hunger because of the odor.”

Tang Shen: “…”

Whoever wanted to take this exam could take it!

Think about it, a place the size of a small square would be used for square dances by aunties a thousand years later, but now it would be used for more than a hundred people to take exams. From morning to night, you had to eat, drink, and go to the toilet here. No matter how healthy your stomach was, you still had to go to the toilet at the end of the day, right? After all, you had to eat something.

Imagine that you were eating a dry flatbread that you brought with you. It was extremely unpalatable and difficult to swallow. At this time, the person next door suddenly took a pot and started shitting. This distance was closer than the squatting pits of later generations!

This was such a odorful sentence!

Tang Shen’s mind wandered too much, and he felt uncomfortable all over.

Liang Song suddenly said: “The tongshi is divided into three examinations, the county examination, the prefecture examination and the academy examination. I seem to have remembered something. The top ten in each examination will have special treatment. They can take the exam in the building. It is at least better inside than outside.” He pointed to the county office lobby.

Tang Shen’s eyes lit up.

Liang Song smiled and said: “Where you place in the exam, Little Tang Lang, it all depends on you.”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

TN1: Imperial Examination Ranks: tongsheng (county level)—>xiucai (prefecture level)—>gongsheng (all gongsheng are xiucai but not all xiucai can become gongsheng)—>juren (provincial level)—>gongshi (all gongshi are juren but not all juren are gongshi)—>jinshi (palace/highest level, divided by third rank, second rank, and first rank. First rank includes tanhua(3rd), bangyan(2nd), zhuangyuan(1st))

TN2: Examinations and their resulting rank: tongshi (divided into county exam=tongsheng, prefecture exam=xiucai, academy exam=gongsheng)—>xiucai/gongsheng, xiangshi—>juren, huishi—>gongshi, dianshi—>jinshi

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Tang Shen told the truth of why he was going to take the tongshi (TN: county level exam taken by tongsheng to become a xiucai) next year.

Liang Song glanced at him: “What else are you hiding?”

Tang Shen said righteously: “No more.”

“Why must you insist on taking the exam next year?”

Tang Shen was silent.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“If you don’t tell the truth, I won’t care about you, you little rascal. I will see how you will pass the tongshi with your bad handwriting!”

Tang Shen thought to himself that there were still a few months left. At worst, he would just have to practice calligraphy and study at home every day. With his doctorate degree from one of the top 2 universities in China (although it was in science and engineering), and his photographic memory golden finger, he could easily pass the tongshi.

​…It shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Liang Song: “En?”

Seeing his teacher put on a serious face, Tang Shen thought for a while and had no choice but to tell of the boast he made.

Liang Song laughed: “So it was like this? It turned out that you were angered by your elder cousin. No matter how smart you are, you are only a thirteen-year-old child. It is normal to occasionally have a childish temper. Fortunately, what you said this time was the county examination. If you said the xiangshi (TN: the triennial provincial imperial exam), even if you are wenquxing’s reincarnation, you would only fail.” (TN: the constellation in charge of scholarship and exams, a term used to call those good at studying and academics)

Tang Shen: “I’m not that stupid.”

Liang Song glanced at him: “But you are arrogant.”

Tang Shen pretended to be deaf and dumb to muddle past the matter.

Tang Shen didn’t know that the reason why Liang Song was determined to ask him for the truth was not because he was overly curious, but because he was worried that Tang Shen had been influenced by something and decided to take the tongshi in advance. Tang Shen was still young and he was also talented. If someone learned that he was Liang Bowen’s student and became jealous, they might sow discord and provoke him to take the tongshi early. Once he failed, it was very likely that his confidence would be severely damaged, resulting in the outcome of a boy whose talent was lost for glories.

Liang Song: “You said before that the Four Books and Five Classics have been memorized by heart.”

“Yes.”

“With your ability, the tongshi shouldn’t be difficult. In that case, you go to the prefecture academy to report today. Steward Liang, go with him and let Yu Boyan know.”

The steward said: “Yes.”

Tang Shen came early. He already had breakfast at home, but Liang Song kept him for a bowl of hot porridge. After eating, Tang Shen and the steward went to Ziyang Academy. Before they went out, Liang Song said: “Wait a minute, I’m going to write a letter.” Soon, he wrote a letter in the study and gave it to the steward.

Ziyang Academy was in the south of the city. When Tang Shen and the steward entered the academy, the students had already started classes.

The main gate of the academy was a single door with double eaves. In front of the main entrance was a plaque with white words on a black background, “Ziyang Academy”. The literary couplet of Ziyang Academy was inscribed by Liang Bowen himself last year. On the right side of the pillar was the first couplet “The Immortal Bears the Dew Plate” and on the left was “Smile and Chat Among the Fragrance of Ink”.

After entering the academy, he heard the sound of students reading aloud. 

The ancients paid attention to reading aloud in order to memorize it by heart. Except for a few well-connected students like Tang Shen, and the children from wealthy families who bought school certificates to study, the only people who could study in the prefecture academy were at least xiucai. Every scholar who passed the county examination of tongshi becomes a tongsheng; then passes the prefecture examination of tongshi and becomes a xiucai. Only when you become a xiucai could you be qualified to study in the prefecture academy.

However, even if they were xiucai, they were just students in the prefecture academy.

Tang Shen followed the steward, bypassed the Sage Temple and the Lecture Hall, and found Yu Boyan, the principal of Ziyang Academy.

Yu Jing, courtesy name Boyan, was a jinshi in the 14th year of Kaiping. He was already over fifty when he became a jinshi. Three years ago, he was discharged from the army and returned to his hometown, becoming Ziyang Academy’s principal.

The steward met Yu Boyan and made salutations. Tang Shen also saluted.

Yu Boyan took the letter and read it, then looked up at Tang Shen. Then he read the letter carefully again and said, “I already know what Liang daren means, but now the entrance ceremony has passed, and there are only four months left before the county examination. So, your name is Tang Shen, correct?”

“Yes.”

“You may be a visiting student, and attend with other students every day.”

It was easier than Tang Shen thought to be admitted to the prefecture academy. The next day, he took his book bag to the prefecture academy to study. The ancients did not attach too much importance to transfer students or new faces. The fuzi who was teaching that day entered the Lecture Hall and caught a glimpse of Tang Shen out of the corner of his eye but he soon looked away and started lecturing without any such process as “introducing the new student”.

Not only the fuzi, but other students also didn’t care about Tang Shen. At first, some people were surprised at the sudden appearance of a new face. After the first class, several students gathered together and quietly observed Tang Shen.

After a while, a slightly rich looking little fatty was pushed over by everyone. The fatty wore a jade crown on his head and a Hetian white jade pendant at his waist. He walked to Tang Shen’s desk and said, “My name is Sun Yue, what is your name?”

The other didn’t have any malice, so Tang Shen said: “Tang Shen.” After a pause, he said again: “What character ‘yue’? The ‘yue’ in ‘a maiden of Yue gathers lotus’?”

Sun Yue was stunned: “No, it’s the ‘yue’ from ‘five marchmounts and four seas’.”

Tang Shen thought to himself: So it’s not Sun Yue. (TN: a Taiwanese actor)

Sun Yue didn’t know that Tang Shen had connected him in his heart with a well-known comedian actor in the future. He said: “You are a new face. I have never seen you before. Where are you from? Have you just arrived in Gusu City? Although you are tall, you are very thin. Are you fifteen years old at least?”

Tang Shen: “I am thirteen this year, and I am not a xiucai.”

“Eh, you’re not a xiucai?”

The students in the distance also heard Tang Shen’s words. They breathed a sigh of relief, and most of the hostility in their eyes disappeared.

But Sun Yue was very happy. He sat down on the seat next to Tang Shen and said, “Then you are like me, your family donated money to study at Ziyang Academy? Don’t be afraid, we are grasshoppers on the same rope.”

Tang Shen didn’t explain that he didn’t come in through donations, but through connections. He was a student of Liang daru, but there was no need to publicize this matter everywhere. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “I’m not afraid. Besides, how are we grasshoppers on the same rope?”

Sun Yue: “Have you seen those classmates? They are all xiucai. You and I are the only ones in the classroom today who are not xiucai. They studied for ten years by the cold window (TN: expression for studying in hardship) and finally became a xiucai, but in order to pass the academy examination of tongshi and become a gongsheng, that is too difficult. If you don’t pass the academy examination, it would be as difficult as climbing the sky to take the xiangshi. They thought you were a xiucai from another place who had just moved to Gusu Prefecture, so you entered the academy now, and you would be taking the academy examination with them in the future. There are only around 20 spots in each county for the academy examination. You are so young and you must be extraordinarily intelligent to have become a xiucai, so of course you would be a strong enemy for them.”

There was some truth to that.

Sun Yue patted his chest: “Don’t be afraid, I will protect you from now on.”

With a slight twitch of his nose, Tang Shen leaned closer and sniffed the scent wafting from the little fatty: “Scent of osmanthus?”

Sun Yue smiled and said: “I didn’t expect your nose to be so sharp. Yes, this is the scented oil my mother brought back from Zhenbao Pavilion a few days ago. This thing seems to be called Golden Mist, and currently it cannot be bought in the entire Gusu Prefecture. But you got a chance to smell it today. If you like it, I will switch to another scent tomorrow and let you smell some more.”

“…You’ll only let me just smell it?”

Sun Yue said warily: “Why, this thing is very expensive. Do you still want me to give you a bottle?”

Tang Shen laughed, and the relationship between the two became closer.

Soon, a lecturer came to class, and everyone sat down.

On the other side, in front of the Tang family’s Zhenbao Pavilion shop on Sujin Street, Madam Tang, who was wearing brocade, got off the carriage and entered the shop. Not long after she entered the shop, she met an acquaintance. The other said casually: “Madam Tang, I haven’t seen you for a long time. I didn’t expect to bump into you today.”

Madam Tang smiled and said: “Madam Wang, you have time to come to my Zhenbao Pavilion today. Do you see anything you like?”

The maid accompanying Madam Wang said: “Answering Madam Tang, our Madam has already bought a lot of things.”

Madam Tang looked at the shopkeeper: “Bring a bottle of Golden Mist to Madam Wang.” She turned around and asked: “What scent does Madam Wang like?”

Before Madam Wang could speak, the shopkeeper said: “The two selections Madam Wang made before were all rose-scented Golden Mist.”

Madam Tang gestured, and the shopkeeper immediately took a bottle of rose-scented essential oil, put it into a box for Madam Wang, wrapped it in brocade, and handed it to the maid.

Madam Wang said: “This thing of yours smells good and lasts a long time, but it’s just not for sale. Are you never planning to sell it?”

Madam Tang said helplessly: “How could you know that it is very difficult for me to make this Golden Mist, and the first batch hasn’t even been made yet, so I can only use it as a gift to give to my good sisters. The cost is too high, and ordinary people can’t afford it. Each bottle of this stuff is no cheaper than a chi of brocade.” (TN: a Chinese foot, one-third of a meter)

Madam Wang was surprised: “So expensive?”

“That’s right! The entire Gusu Prefecture, only you, my good sister, Madam Sun and Madam Zhao in the west of the city, Madam Li in the east of the city, and the county magistrate’s wife have used it. Of all the good things in the Gusu Prefecture, which have not been used by us five sisters first.”

Madam Wang left with the maid, and Madam Tang asked the shopkeeper: “In the past half month, who has taken the Golden Mist?”

The shopkeeper counted the list.

The maid said: “Madam, this is more than just five people.”

“Don’t worry, Madam Wang is only familiar with these four ladies. The five of them have been good friends since they were children. They rarely interact with other ladies in Gusu Prefecture and would not mention this matter to others. Besides, even if they know that someone else has used the Golden Mist, we can just say it was sent after today.”

The shopkeeper said: “Madam, when will we start selling this Golden Mist? It won’t last to always just give it to distinguished guests like this.”

Madam Tang then carefully asked the shopkeeper about the gifting of essential oils and what these distinguished guests said about the essential oils. She said: “Wait a little longer.”

At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Tang Shen went to the workshop to inspect the first batch of goods.

This time he was selling soap and essential oils so a batch of soap was also made, but it was left untouched and packaged there.

Yao San: “Little boss, why not sell that soap together. Essential oils are extremely expensive and ordinary people can’t afford them. Scented soap is cheaper, but it’s not as good a deal as plain soap.”

Tang Shen: “Wait a little longer. Do you know what celebrity effect is?”

Yao San was stunned: “Celebrity effect?”

Tang Shen thought for a while and explained the ancient version of celebrity effect: “If I tell you now, Liang daru uses Hui ink every time he writes, and he loves Hui ink the most. As a scholar, would you also want to use Hui ink? “

“That’s natural!”

“But Hui ink is very expensive, and ordinary people can’t afford it. You can only think about it. But if I tell you after a while that while you can’t afford Hui ink, you could afford the Tang family brush that Liang daru likes to use, would you want to buy it.”

“What is the Tang family’s brush? Little boss, when did we ever make a brush?”

“Hai, it’s just an example. Just give me your answer.”

“Then of course I want to buy it!”

Tang Shen smiled and said: “Exactly so. Liang daru is the model for scholars in Gusu Prefecture, so what kind of person do you think is the model for all the madams and young ladies in Gusu Prefecture?” Knowing that Yao San didn’t know how to answer, Tang Shen said: “The wives and daughters from wealthy families are their models.”

Yao San nodded in understanding.

Tang Shen said helplessly: “Just wait some more!”

On the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Tang family Zhenbao Pavilion was closed for renovation, and several madams and ladies who often came to buy makeup were very puzzled. The Tang family’s business was exquisite and meticulous. Even if the store was closed, a servant boy was sent to wait outside. While these madams and ladies were wondering, the servant boy immediately stepped forward and said: “We will open again on the sixth day of the lunar month.”

A maid asked: “What is this? Why is the store closed?”

Servant boy: “I don’t know either. I just heard from the shopkeeper that he has gotten some rare items to sell on the sixth day of the lunar month.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang said: “Could it be that expensive Golden Mist?”

“I don’t know.”

Madam Wang had some ideas in her mind and thought: I must come and see on the sixth day of the lunar month.

On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, several wealthy madams and ladies from Gusu Prefecture came to Zhenbao Pavilion at the same time. When they saw each other, they were all surprised and entered the store together. The newly opened Zhenbao Pavilion was no different from usual. It was the same as several other famous powder shops in Gusu Prefecture. It was rich and luxurious, but it was only rich and luxurious.

It was just that today there were many wives from wealthy families.

Madam Wang entered the shop curiously. After taking two steps, her eyes were suddenly attracted by something by the window.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

TN1: Imperial Examination Ranks: tongsheng (county level)—>xiucai (prefecture level)—>gongsheng (all gongsheng are xiucai but not all xiucai can become gongsheng)—>juren (provincial level)—>gongshi (all gongshi are juren but not all juren are gongshi)—>jinshi (palace/highest level, divided by third rank, second rank, and first rank. First rank includes tanhua(3rd), bangyan(2nd), zhuangyuan(1st))

TN2: Examinations and their resulting rank: tongshi (divided into county exam=tongsheng, prefecture exam=xiucai, academy exam=gongsheng)—>xiucai/gongsheng, xiangshi—>juren, huishi—>gongshi, dianshi—>jinshi

If you would like to show some ♡  then please consider supporting this translator! ლ(⌒εー)ლ