Gu Suiming lifted the curtain of the carriage, glanced at Lin Xie who was riding ahead, and faintly heard his bright laughter. He couldn't make out what he was saying, but knew that he was chatting with Auntie in the front carriage, feeling a surge of jealousy in his heart, and found it strange: Auntie had always looked down on this Confucian scholar, so why was she being so affectionate towards him today?

  As the carriages and horses arrived at the north of Tianhan Bridge, the eight or nine miscellaneous servants, grooms, maids, and servant women who had been sent by the Provincial Inspector's Office to wait for orders were all standing outside the gate waiting to meet the new master. There were also a few drummers on the side beating drums to attract a crowd of neighbors to come and watch the new official family move into the large courtyard, making it very lively. The Gu family got off the carriage, and gave red envelopes with money to the old and new servants. Gu Shiming saw that the Gu family didn't introduce him as the young master to the servants, so he felt sour in his heart, and followed everyone into the house with a gloomy face. He saw Lin Xie following behind the Gu family, pointing at Zhou Pu and Zhao Hu, two attendants who were helping to unload the luggage from the carriage. He walked over and said with a sour tone: "Lin, you're so enthusiastic about helping, why didn't you let Xiao's daughter come over to lend a hand? Is it because she's too precious to be let out of her golden boudoir?"

  Lin Xuan glanced at Gu Si Ming, thinking that this kid really didn't know how to read people's faces. He could bring anyone to help the Gu family, but he couldn't bring Liu Yue'er over. Yet, this kid had to mention her in front of the Gu family. He smiled and replied, "I'll thank Young Master for his concern on behalf of Miss Liu..."

  Madam Gu frowned slightly as she looked at Gu Shiming, feeling more and more disgusted with his appearance. She thought to herself that Lin Xie was indeed a good-tempered person. After all, Gu Shiming was the old master's closer nephew. Madam Gu didn't lose her temper despite being unhappy in her heart, and instead said to Gu Shiming: "Call Tianqiao over as well, I have something to discuss with both of you..."

  "Yes, Auntie." Gu Sui-ming hastily went to find Gu Tian-qiao who was directing the servants to move the trunks into the house. Gu Wu-chen's son, Gu Si-yuan, asked his mother casually: "What's going on? Why did you call both Si-ming and Tian-qiao over?"

  "Last year, your father was pardoned by the imperial court and Gu's family became one of the eight major tea merchants in Dongyang Prefecture again. When we were in Dongyang, I often heard the old people in Gu's family complain that even though they had become official tea merchants again, the tea produced from their own tea mountains and gardens, as well as the tea collected from tea farmers, couldn't be sold outside of Dongyang and could only be sold at a low price to Lin's warehouse..." Now, Gu Shiming pulled Gu Tianqiao over and stood respectfully on the steps below, listening to Gu Shi talk about tea merchant business with Gu Siyuan. Gu Shi continued, "They complained several times in front of your father, I think it's also reasonable, we can't just let Lin's family bully us like this, I was thinking, why can't Gu's family sell tea leaves to other merchants' shops, do we have to be tied down to Lin's family?"

  "There are other merchants who have also made offers," Gu Tianqiao replied honestly from the steps below, "I don't know if they've reached an agreement with the Lin family or not. Other merchants won't accept our tea, and we don't have the ability to transport the tea out of Dongyang for distribution - this time, I came to Jiangning with my uncle and aunt, hoping to find a merchant who is willing to help us transport Gu's tea out of Dongyang."

  "'I think you don't need to look anymore,' said Mr. Gu, 'Lin Juren has a business in Jiangning...' Lin Zhu interjected from the side: 'Our business is called Ji Yun She...' Mr. Gu responded with an 'oh' and continued to instruct Gu Shiming and Gu Tianqiao in a commanding tone: 'I think from now on, all of the Gu family's tea can be handed over to Ji Yun She... you don't need to worry that Lin Juren will suppress the price of the Gu family...'

  Gu Suiming was stunned by Gu's words, turned his head to look at Lin Fu, his eyes filled with suspicion and hostility, and asked: "Lin Juren only entered the city 7 or 8 days earlier than us, how did a family business suddenly appear under his name? Moreover, what's the difference between our family selling tea to you and selling it to the Lin family?"

  Although Gu Tianqiao was also surprised in his heart, he had gone to the Dongyang Guild with Yang Pu and Lin Xian a few days ago, so he felt that Lin Xian had some reputation in Jiangning. Moreover, he was also a practical person, although he had doubts in his heart, he did not want to stand out and offend Gu's family.

  Gu Suiming's sudden interruption made Madam Gu quite annoyed, and she asked in a suppressed tone: "Is it that you, Suiming, are worried that I will be deceived by Lin Juren? Or are you worried that I will repay the kindness of two generations of the Lin family to our Gu family by helping Lin Juren?"

  Gu Sui Ming only then felt the strong dissatisfaction of Gu's family towards him, and his heart was a bit panicked. He hurriedly argued: "Auntie, Sui Ming didn't mean it that way, it's just that Lin Mou is really not well-known in Shanglin... The Gu family has more than 2,000 mu of tea gardens and produces nearly 40,000 catties of dry tea buds every year. How could Lin Mou afford to buy out the Gu family's tea leaves?"

  Gu's family didn't know about economics and had no idea how much 40,000 catties of tea was worth. She looked at Lin Xie with a puzzled expression.

  Lin Xie stood on the steps, looking at Gu Shi Ming with a sneer and a smile, saying: "The 40,000 catties of tea are also only worth 2,000 taels of silver, Young Master Tang is underestimating me Lin Xie..."

  The official purchase price is the guiding price for the official tea merchants and tea farms to purchase tea leaves from tea farmers, and it is also the benchmark price for the government to extract tea taxes. The official purchase price of Dongyang Tie Mu Shan Tea was only 50 cents per catty, which is much lower than the actual market price.

  Mr. Gu thought to himself that the gift Lin Xie sent to his family this time would not be less than a thousand taels, and the two thousand taels of silver for the tea contract was absolutely not in his words, and he also thought that Lin Xie would give his family an additional one thousand taels of silver as a share of money every year, which was almost half of the tea contract money. He thought Lin Xie was really generous, and compared to him, he looked down on Gu Suiming even more, saying: "Whether it can be done or not, it's up to Master Gu to decide, you don't need to make a fuss here." Not wanting to pay attention to Gu Suiming, he turned his head and instructed Gu Tianqiao, "Tianqiao, write a letter detailing the matter clearly, and have someone deliver it to Shiliang County today, let Master Gu make the decision."

  Gu Sui Ming was like being drenched in a basin of cold water on a freezing day, feeling chilled to the bone. Gu Tian Qiao nodded solemnly and replied: "After I've settled things here, I'll go write the letter..."

  Gu Suiyuan knew that all the big and small things at home were controlled by his mother, and he had no say in it. Although he was not pleased with Lin Kui, he would not argue with his mother about this matter.

  Lin Fu said: "The shopkeeper of the Cloud Gathering Society is going to take a boat back to Shiliang this afternoon, I think it's better to let him bring the letter written by Tianqiao back to Shiliang County..."

  "This is also good." Mrs. Gu couldn't wait to press all the elders of the Gu family to nod and agree on this matter, Lin Lian directly sent a shopkeeper back to Shiliang County to discuss this matter, which was most in line with her wishes, and didn't care what the Gu family would think.

  Lin Tie said, "The Ji Yun Society wants to monopolize the sale of Gu's tea, so we need to find someone who understands Gu's tea to help us. Brother Tianqiao, would you be willing to come and assist us at the Ji Yun Society? I don't dare promise anything else, as it's just a small tea shop, and it might be beneath your dignity."

  Gu Tianqiao and his family followed him to Jiangning, originally hoping to rely on Gu Wudun's relationship in Jiangning to find a good job, increase knowledge and experience. Being able to work as a shopkeeper in a tea house was already a great achievement for him. However, he didn't become arrogant and said: "Everything still depends on the decision of the elderly at home..."

  Lin Xie knew that Gu Sui Ming could follow him to Jiangning because his family had a close blood relationship with the Gu family. Gu Tianqiao was able to come along, not only because he was smart and learned, but also because he had a good way of handling things and treating people, which made him highly valued by the Gu family. Anyway, the Ji Yun Society in Jiangning was short-handed, so it would be better to bring Gu Tianqiao over directly.

  On the other hand, Lin Xie wasn't worried that the Gu family would object. The Gu family had finally managed to grasp onto Gu Wu Chen's powerful leg, and they wouldn't let go easily. Moreover, he had asked Lin Jing Zhong to go to Hu Tang to negotiate with the Gu family elders, and on the tea price, they would have a significant increase compared to the Lin family. To give the Gu family a way out, he said: "Since that's the case, why not let Tianqiao brother make the trip too? It's always better to discuss things face-to-face than through letters. If the Gu family elders have any doubts, they can also ask Tianqiao brother directly."

  Gu Tianqiao thought to himself: What situation am I in again? Hearing Gu Shi's enthusiastic words, he agreed: "I'll go on a trip, it's not like it's hard or anything."

  Gu Sui Ming stood by, ignored, with a mix of nameless resentment towards Lin Xie and flustered from being scolded by the Gu family, not knowing what to say to salvage the situation.

  Gu Jun Xun stood curiously to the side, listening as Lin Xie and the others briefly discussed and settled the matter of selling tea to the Gu family. She stood slightly behind the Gu family, her courage a bit larger as she gazed steadily at Lin Xie, looking at his handsome face with an expression that was calm and composed. When Lin Xie's line of sight unintentionally turned over, she would turn her head to look at someone else, her heart like a small deer running wildly, jumping violently.

  ***********************

  Gu Wuhen didn't return from the yamen until after noon. By then, they had already finalized the deal with Ji Yun She to sell Gu's family tea and were setting up a banquet table waiting for their return.

  Gu Wu Chen changed out of his official uniform in the inner courtyard and heard Madame Gu mention the Ji Yun Society and the congratulatory gift sent by Lin Xie.

  "How can we accept such a heavy gift?" Gu Wu Chen complained, "It's not easy for him to come to Jiangning, he was driven out by the Lin family. After the banquet, return the gift to him and add another gift in return." He still remembered the kindness of two generations of the Lin family towards the Gu family and did not want to be greedy about Lin Mou's generous gift.

  "This is also his intention, can't you just accept it?" Mrs. Gu said, unwilling to return Lin's gift, "Those two chestnut horses, Siyuan liked them and had already taken them to harness the carriage, how could you not care about your son's feelings at all? Besides, helping Lin a bit more won't make our kindness to him today less than this in the future. If you push it away like this, won't the affection between us become diluted?"

  Gu Wu Chen thought for a moment, then stopped arguing with his old wife. He changed into casual clothes and walked to the front hall to sit down at the table. He called Lin Fu over to sit beside him and said: "It's good that you're running a business in Jiangning, but you can't neglect your future..."

  "This is natural, and at the time of the establishment of the business, Lin Xuan only spent some time managing it. Once everything was on track, Lin Xuan would still be demanding of his future." Lin Xuan said that not only in Gu Wu Chen's heart, but also in almost everyone's heart in this era, being an official is the most important thing. It is often said that "three years as a clean governor, ten million silver snowflakes", and it is also said that "destroying one's family as a county magistrate, exterminating one's family as a prefectural magistrate". Being an official means holding power in one hand and grasping wealth in the other, which is naturally the best profession in this world.

  "It's fine if you know," Gu Wu Chen said with a hint of relief, "I'm officially taking office at the Provincial Governor's yamen today and handing over my duties to Governor Zhang. I was delayed and kept you waiting for a long time in the mansion. After a brief understanding of the situation in the yamen, I found that there are some vacant positions in the Provincial Governor's office with not very high ranks. Would you be interested in any of them?"

  How many vacancies could there be in the Provincial Governor's office? However, it was impossible for Gu Wu Chen to take office without placing his own people within his jurisdiction. Since Lin Xuan didn't want to be a staff member but wanted to directly secure an official position, Gu Wu Chen thought he was trustworthy and reliable, so he considered letting him work as a subordinate within his jurisdiction, which would also indirectly fulfill his intention of using him as a staff member.

  Gu Wu Chen's words made Gu Si Ming and others around him feel both envious and jealous, isn't it the fat position of the Investigating Censorate that Lin Xuan was chosen for?

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