After the opening of the Yutai Salt Shop, it was really lively. Most of the villagers bought salt here. Even if the price of salt was a few copper coins higher than the city, everyone felt that it was cost-effective. It saved them travel expenses and labor. After counting it carefully, they still benefited from it.
Moreover, the price of salt sold in Yutai Salt Shop was not expensive. It was even lower than the price of salt sold in Fenghua City.
When the price of salt was initially set, Zhou Xueren told his wife, Li Shengfang, to sell it at a higher price. After all, the rarer an item was, the more valuable it was. Within a radius of dozens of miles, there were not many merchants who publicly listed salt to sell. Even if there was an underground salt shop, without the government's support, it would still not be able to open.
If the underground salt shops were to climb up to the government, it would inevitably increase the cost of public relations. Not only would the price of salt not fall, but there was also no need to hide underground and operate in secret. Just like Zhou Xueren, he spent money to buy a license and openly do business. Other than the Tartar nobles who would be jealous and strictly prohibit it after knowing, selling official salt would basically only make money and not lose money.
Li Shengfang also wanted to set the price of salt higher so that she could recover her investment as soon as possible and show her business ability.
She had just received the title of being in charge of the Zhou family's affairs, and she really wanted to realize her dream of fighting on the Zhou family's stage. She could not help but feel that every blade of grass and tree in the Zhou family was closely related to her own flesh and blood, stirring up her sense of responsibility. She only wanted to achieve better and greater results.
It was only when she saw her father-in-law's indelible dignified expression that she returned to reality. Everything in the Zhou family was still in the hands of the Zhou family, and Old Master Zhou was still the core of the family.
Therefore, she could not help but sigh deeply in her heart. She secretly blamed herself for being an outsider similar to a servant girl and was far from being able to brand authority in the hearts of the Zhou family. She had to clip her arrogant tail and first please the Zhou family's old master, waiting for an opportunity to seize the highest control of the Zhou family.
Although she had already given birth to two children, a boy and a girl, which increased the popularity of the Zhou family and continued the family business, it also raised her status in the family. However, the Zhou family did not intend to give her the power of Wu Zetian.
For the sake of the child, the Zhou family would rather Li Shengfang eat, drink, and have fun. However, their hearts were filled with the prejudice of outsiders.
Li Shengfang knew that she could not rely on others to take the initiative. She could only work hard and strive for the greatest power in the family.
She gave birth to two children, one of which was a boy. He was filled with the hopes and desires of the Zhou family. After Zhou Xueren, he relied on his son Zhou Jian to continue the development of the Zhou family business.
It was said that a mother valued her son more. Li Shengfang did not want to rely on her son to threaten the Zhou family. She was used to being strong and was willing to show her ability to obtain the fruits of victory.
Moreover, his son Zhou Jian was still young, so he could not think about the Zhou family affairs alone, nor could he influence his father and grandfather to act according to his will. He was just an ordinary child who loved to eat and play. His father and grandfather had a lot of money and leisure for him to spend.
As the saying goes, one would forget their home when they are happy. For children who lack the subjective judgment of the brain, having fun is the priority and everything can be thrown to the back of their minds.
Therefore, Zhou Jian lived in the wealthy Zhou family and often forgot about Li Shengfang's mother's status. It was also a child's instinct. After his little tyrant temper rose, his doting father and grandfather were also reprimanded by him, making the two elders lose face.
If there were guests in the house, Zhou Jian would not give face to the elders. It seemed that he wanted to show his attitude as a little master in front of outsiders, making the two men embarrassed, but there was nothing they could do.
Li Shengfang only knew how to fight for her own life independently. She did not have the mood to pay attention to her son. Anyway, the Zhou family did not want her to get close to Zhou Jian. They were afraid that if the mother and son were of the same heart, the Zhou family's power would really fall into the hands of outsiders like Li Shengfang in the future.
Li Shengfang sensed the family's worries, so she decided not to meddle in her son's business. She relied entirely on Old Master Zhou and Zhou Xueren to teach Zhou Jian. With their pure materialistic point of view, it was difficult to edify Zhou Jian's Confucius characteristics. They could only let the younger generation continue their unpopular lifestyle.
In particular, Snowman Zhou's reputation in the vicinity of Xikou Village was very bad. Even many officials were afraid of getting close to them, worried that they would smear their personal image in the hearts of the grassroots.
Old Master Zhou didn't care about what everyone thought of him and his son, Zhou Xueren. He had lived for decades. If he wanted to change something, he seemed to be too lazy to even think about it. Moreover, most people lived their lives in unclear grievances. Even if they were numb, everyone was already used to it.
He knew his son's character in the outside world and did not think that there was anything wrong with being a father. As long as his son did not kill or rob, using some swindling methods on the tenants was also a smart way of living.
Seeing his son earn a lot of money by relying on the unspoken rules of the tenants, Old Master Zhou could not help but admire his son's ability. Compared to his son's hard-heartedness, he could be considered a good person. At least he did not overly oppress the tenants 'material space and always left a certain amount of food for them to live on.
Therefore, the Zhou Old Master had never been burdened by the burden of sin. He believed that his life was immeasurable and did not worry about becoming the target of everyone's hatred.
It was only later that he heard that when the tenants rebelled, they would find trouble with big families like the Zhou family. They would be beheaded and thrown into prison at any time. Their family's money would be confiscated, and even their women would be confiscated.
Old Master Zhou was a little flustered. He cursed the poor for being dishonest. Other than being thieves, they were also bandits who occupied the mountains. At the same time, he asked the speaker what did he mean by the women being confiscated?
Others explained that a woman who was confiscated was allowed to be played by other men other than her husband. Old Master Zhou became anxious. He knew that the confiscated was not a good thing. It was simply destroying human nature. They had ganged up to tease people like him.
Thus, Old Master Zhou no longer had any interest in activities such as rebellions. He only regarded power and wealth as his ultimate hope. He was no longer stingy with giving red packets to the government. He always wanted to find an opportunity to curry favor with the government.
Zhou Xueren's relative, who worked in the Fenghua City tax bureau, had entered the officialdom because Old Master Zhou had spent a lot of money.
Although Old Master Zhou was willing for his son to enter the government, Zhou Xueren was naturally not interested in working in the government. He felt that there were too many rules and was indifferent to his father's suggestion.
Great-Grandfather Zhou had dealt with many people in the officialdom and knew that life there was comfortable and stable. As long as he had a good relationship with the people around him, going to work or not going to work was basically the same concept.
Therefore, he tried his best to persuade his son to enter the officialdom. Firstly, it would be easy to make a living, and secondly, he would have a guarantee of safety. It was not like eating in the underworld. Only by sacrificing his good reputation in the village could he live a similar material life.
Zhou Xueren, on the other hand, said that his father was inexperienced. The current officialdom was corrupt and all of them were money-grubbing hooligans. They lacked the simple and honest instincts of the rural people, making their reputation worse than his own.
Old Master Zhou saw that his son was disobedient and a wave of anger rose in his heart. He could not help but open his mouth and scold Zhou Xueren. He said that he was not a good person either. He usually bullied the tenants in the village. How could he have the right to educate the officials?
Zhou Xueren was not convinced by his father's scolding. He retorted," You're the one who bullied the tenants. You cheated them of their hard-earned money and even taught me how to cheat them."
Great-Grandfather Zhou was embarrassed and annoyed by his son's words. He couldn't lose his temper in front of his son. He was worried that his son would hold a grudge and take revenge when he grew old. He quickly sent him back to his room to rest. Looking at his son's indifferent back, he cursed him in his heart for being a pig's head and wasting food.
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