After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Ji Yuan was silent and got up to leave, but before he left, he asked Zhao Hanzhang, "Does the Magistrate have any money to make up the calculation money?"

Zhao Hanzhang laughed and said, "How could I not? With assets of five thousand, it only counts as one calculation. Since I have so many assets, naturally I can take it out."

Then Ting He told her no.

She held a small abacus in front of Zhao Hanzhang and calculated for her, "The cash in your warehouse is only 189,688 cents. With assets of five thousand per calculation, you need to pay more than 6,280,000 in money. You don’t have money, this money was covered by Madam in Xiping for you."

"Wait a minute, my mother is so rich?" Zhao Hanzhang was shocked.

Ting He looked up at her and said, "Madam has some dowry. The women in the clan like to do business with Madam. You may not know, Uncle Cheng organized a caravan for them, which often cooperated with Seventh Grandfather’s caravan, earning some money with each trip."

Zhao Hanzhang was heartbroken. She also had a caravan and was making money, but why didn’t she have any money?

Ting He waited for a while, seeing she had no questions, continued on the abacus, "While the money in the warehouse is used to pay your carriage and ship tax."

"One vehicle per calculation, several caravans’ vehicles and horses are registered under the office’s name. Even so, the guards in the mansion, plus your daily travel vehicles and horses, along with the items in the warehouse, still need to pay 48,000 money. The remaining money is still needed for the mansion’s expenses; surely you can’t go out to borrow money just to eat a piece of meat?"

Twelve thousand, sounds like a lot, converted into silver taels that would be 120 taels.

Of course, this amount of money is still a lot at present, enough to support her and her servants for a long time, waiting for the next cash income, but, she doesn’t have twelve thousand, she only has over seven thousand now.

Zhao Hanzhang pressed her chest, suppressing the heartache, and asked, "The Little Emperor’s expenses?"

"It goes from the national treasury’s account."

Zhao Hanzhang then breathed a sigh of relief and immediately said, "Starting tomorrow, no need to prepare my meals and drinks, no snacks either, I will find a way to solve them myself."

Then she said, "Find a way to sell some things, gather enough money to make up for the shortfall."

Ting He was distraught, saying, "Which authority is like a lady, not to mention enjoying life, she can’t even eat meals?"

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand and said, "Just don’t starve yourselves, I’ll figure it out myself."

Her solution was to go to the Little Emperor’s place to scrounge meals.

Of course, she didn’t just scrounge meals from the Little Emperor, but also from people including but not limited to Zhao Ming, Zhao Hu, and Mi Ce.

Actually, she quite liked eating with the Little Emperor. Firstly, he ate little, usually one person couldn’t finish the meal, so adding her wasn’t a big burden;

Secondly, his dishes, though not lavish, were nutritionally well-balanced, with meat and vegetables in every meal, very healthy and suited Zhao Hanzhang’s taste.

It’s just that he’s a bit timid; whenever she sits down, he lowers his head, wishing he could bury it in his bowl.

Although she knew people of this era matured early, he was only ten years old, so Zhao Hanzhang didn’t want to torment him too much and thus started looking for others to scrounge meals from.

After discussing the future development plan of Ruyin County with the newly appointed Ruyin County Governor Qiao Jin and handing him the appointment letter, Zhao Hanzhang glanced at the hourglass, immediately stood up, "Let’s go, I’ll see you off and have a chat with you about the Xun Family’s matters."

Qiao Jin agreed, immediately got up, followed her outside, then realized they were going to eat outside.

Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t picky, just found a stand opposite to a stall and sat down.

Qiao Jin was drenched in cold sweat and hurriedly said, "How can the Great General be so wronged, please move, I, I invite the Great General for a drink."

Zhao Hanzhang casually waved her hand and said, "The dumplings here are very tasty, sit down and try them, I know, you’ve just paid the calculation money, not well-off, you can just treat me to a bowl of dumplings before you leave."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Jin was very moved, the resentment and anger from being deducted during the calculation money by Chang Ning dissipated, and he lifted his robe and sat across from her.

Because Zhao Hanzhang advocated for low stools and tables, many big restaurants hadn’t adopted them yet, but the grassroots among the populace did so, especially some small vendors quickly discovered the benefits of tables and chairs.

Previously, when they set up stalls by the roadside, they could only let guests eat standing up, then return the bowls and chopsticks. Didn’t sell much, and not many guests were willing to eat.

Anyone with some money would prefer a restaurant or tavern with roof tiles. Those without money were unwilling to spend too much on food, hence the roadside stalls didn’t do well.

But since tables and chairs appeared, as long as they paid the street manager a dozen cents, they could occupy a piece of land to set up a stall that could accommodate three or four tables, several long benches, able to serve quite a number of guests.

Opposite the stall was Zhao Mansion, although called Zhao Mansion, it was actually akin to an Imperial Palace Villa, with many officials visiting daily, indeed wealthy people.

However, their customer base wasn’t these officials, but rather the entourage, guards, stewards, or clerks they brought along. But once, when Zhao Hanzhang came out, he saw the stall and had a bowl of dumplings there. Later, she frequented the stall occasionally, and those high-ranking officials started eating there too.

Afterward, his business boomed, and stalls began appearing nearby.

Most officials visiting Zhao Mansion had eaten from these nearby stalls, except for Qiao Jin, who was previously an Assistant General, leading troops outside, and received sudden orders to return for debriefing, transferred to Ruyin County as Governor.

Honestly, he was very surprised, and very excited.

This heralded a further progression in his career. He had worked in Ruyin County before and was quite familiar with it, he considered this as one of the reasons Zhao Hanzhang promoted him.

Indeed it was one of the reasons, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t hide it. She poured some vinegar onto her plate, saying to Qiao Jin, "You are familiar with Ruyin County. There was warfare earlier this year, the folks in Ruyin paid taxes twice and made donations once, and are having a hard time. After you go, comfort them well."

Qiao Jin nodded respectfully.

"There’s also the Xun Family," Zhao Hanzhang said, "They just moved to Ruyin County and are unfamiliar with everything. Take care of them more, help them integrate locally."

Qiao Jin was momentarily unsure if she meant what she said or was being sarcastic, so he didn’t respond.

Because of the Xun Family Clan Leader’s understanding of the situation, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t kill him. However, she relocated the entire Xun Family from Yingchuan County to Ruyin County, even splitting them into two branches, with one sent to Bingzhou and the other to Jizhou.

A large tree had two branches taken away, and another branch was chopped off; the whole tree was moved to another location, which was a heavy blow to the Xun Family.

Fortunately, she didn’t cut down the whole tree, so the Xun Family had to remember her kindness for the relocation while only bearing resentment for implicating them against Xun Xiu.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him, lifted the corner of her mouth, not urging him to believe her words immediately. Some matters are best taken slowly, more haste leads to less speed, and she doesn’t like bungling things.

After eating half a bowl of dumplings, hunger alleviated somewhat, Zhao Hanzhang pointed to the stall and said, "You know people look down on this kind of furniture, but you also see, with such a set of tables and chairs, people’s livelihood is enhanced."

Qiao Jin promptly said, "Once the lower official returns to Ruyin County, I’ll also advocate for low tables and stools."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded satisfactorily, "Make sure to replenish tree planting too, avoid excessive deforestation."

Qiao Jin nodded in agreement.