I fought back after reselling my engagement

The Bai family got the news, and the next day they transferred all the shops to the old lady, the wife, the grandmother, and the girls, leaving only the farm and tea plantation. Within ten days, the Tongzhengsi, Jinwuwei, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Justice took action one after another. The third son of the Wan family was seen doing evil by Princess Changle, who was furious and whipped him to death; afterwards, the Hua family was convicted of colluding with bandits.

The Hua family is completely destroyed and will never appear in Baihua County again.

The Wan family is like a rat crossing the street, keeping its tail between its legs.

Only the Bai family not only kept the whole family safe, but also kept the Bai family business. Although the shop was in the hands of the woman, it was also the family's business, and it was transformed from a merchant family to a "farming and reading family".

Old Master Bai heard that Princess Jiarou had done her best in this matter. Although Princess Jiarou was a princess of a different surname, she was highly valued by the Emperor and Empress, and she was like a sister to Princess Nine and Princess Changle. Because Princess Jiarou was missing, Princess Changle went all the way from the capital to Hunan Province to look for her. This kind of affection is only possible if they were real sisters.

Old Master Bai immediately ordered Miss Bai San: "Befriend Princess Jiarou. She values ​​you and treats you as a close friend. You must cherish this fate."

The Bai family sent people to the capital to inquire about the news of Princess Jiarou. Princess Jiarou was gentle and kind-hearted. She helped many beggars and dignitaries in the capital. What was even more rare was that she never asked for anything in return. If she had not been targeted by the Rong family of Le Dahou Mansion because of the marriage contract, the good deeds done by Princess Jiarou would not have been known to the public.

The emperor was grateful that there was such a "virtuous and kind woman" in the world who did good without expecting anything in return and enjoyed helping others. He thought that it would be a wonderful world if there were more people like her.

The Bai family believed that Princess Jiarou lent a helping hand when the Bai family was in trouble, and she was also selfless, and because of this character, she deserved to be a close friend of the Bai family. Moreover, Princess Jiarou had a very good reputation in the capital, and she was loved by her grandfather who was a first-rank official, so the Bai family had to make friends with her, and make friends with her.

This time Zhen Su wrote to Miss Bai San, saying that he opened a rouge and powder shop, and sent it out via expedited documents. Miss Bai San received the letter and reported it to her mother and grandmother. Mrs. Bai sent her trusted maid to personally select a batch of rouge and powder and send it to Yueyang Prefecture.

At this moment, Zhen Su settled the account and asked, "When are you going back to Baihua County?"

"I have to go back early tomorrow morning. Madam will need an old servant to serve her."

"I have prepared a gift for Third Sister Bai. It is a gift of royal silk and satin from the palace, as well as some pearls and gems that are hard to find outside. You can take it back to her."

"This... this is really true. My family delivered the goods and received a lot of money, but the princess gave me a generous gift in return. I'm afraid that when I go back, my wife will scold me again."

"Business is business, friendship is friendship. What I have with the Bai family is business, and what I have with Sister Bai is just a friendship. These are two different things."

Zhen Su exchanged a few pleasantries with the housekeeper and maid, then presented them with six rolls of royal silk and a box of pearls and gems, which she took away from the housekeeper and maid. Inside the box was a greeting letter, which must have been a private letter between the two girls.

The next day, when the housekeeper brought the maids and servants on board, Zhen Su asked Chunyue to deliver a bag of dry food and a jar of "crystal pickles" he made himself, saying that it was for the old lady and Mrs. Bai of the Bai family to try, and it was sealed with new mud.

What is crystal pickles? It has a nice name, but the housekeeper dare not touch it because it is for the old lady and Mrs. Bai of the Bai family to taste. As a housekeeper, she cannot eat it.

It used to take the Bai family's maid more than 20 days to return to Baihua County from Yueyang Prefecture, and she had to deal with the dock tyrants along the way. Now the court is dealing with the canal banditry, and at this critical juncture, the families dare not do anything bad in order to protect themselves. Some sensible families took the initiative to ask the court to set up a shipping department at the dock to supervise the docks.

The Wang and Liu families in Luoyang were not very powerful, but now the Wang family is almost extinct, and the Liu family has become a rat crossing the street; the Wan family in Baihua County is even more of a royal family, but they are also in a state of disgrace, and they are pretending to be grandsons; there are also several aristocratic families in large ports, and all the unmarried women and concubines were demoted to official maids, and only the wives of the main wives followed their husbands and sons to the north to serve as military households.

The most in need in the northern border area is military households. They serve in the army during wartime and as civilians in peacetime, cultivating the fields. Just thinking about it makes everyone feel miserable and headache. Once you become a military household, you will be a military household for generations. You can only enter the government based on your military merits. You can't take the imperial examinations or study hard.

Everyone in Baihua County knew that the Bai family was a merchant. During the time when the imperial court was dealing with the banditry on the canal, they checked the Bai family's property and found that they only had farms but no shops. All the shops were dowries given by the women in the family, so they were given the title of "a farming and reading family". After they were no longer merchants and became a farming and reading family, their descendants could participate in the imperial examinations. Now, all the young men in the Bai family under the age of 35 are studying hard in the hope of passing the imperial examinations.

I had the intention but not the opportunity before, but now I have the opportunity. I put my books down and picked them up again. I am catching up on my studies, preparing to change my career.

We have strayed off topic. When we were returning, because the route was peaceful, all ships, big and small, had to pay taxes to the Shipping Department. It was no longer as much as before. When they were selected as officials of the imperial court, they had to pay taxes, and they had to pay even more to local tyrants. Now they saved a lot of money. The price of goods has dropped by 30%, and silk, tea, and grain from Jiangnan are being transported to various places.

The court cleared four canal routes this time: the first was from the capital to the south of the Yangtze River; the second was the Beijing-Shanghai Canal; the third was the Beijing-Suzhou Canal, which led to the northwest; and the fourth was the Beijing-Liaoning Canal.

There are both advantages and disadvantages for local tyrants to control the canal. The disadvantages are obvious, but the advantage is that every three to five years, they will organize workers to clean up the canal in their jurisdiction, so that the canal waterway is unobstructed and even the canal embankment is quite solid.

The canal is unobstructed. It used to take more than 20 days to travel from Yueyang Prefecture to Baihua County, but now it only takes 15 or 16 days, saving several days of water travel.

Several large water strongholds that took shortcuts were cleared out by the mighty general. Those who captured the water bandits alive were demoted to death row and sent to the death row camp in the northern border to serve in the army. If they died, they would be considered to have served the court. Those who committed extremely heinous crimes would be killed without mercy.

The Bai family's maid traveled for half a month and arrived at Baihua County. She called on the boys and girls who were traveling with her to carry the palace silk and tribute satin back to the mansion.

When the old lady of the Bai family heard that Aunt Bai Qi had returned, she immediately invited her to the bedroom to talk.

Aunt Bai Qi smiled and said, "This Princess Jiarou is truly a fairy-like figure, with an elegant demeanor, easy-going and gentle, and a very pleasant voice."

Aunt Bai Qi told the story over there. Princess Jiarou was really an ordinary person. When she was young, she had seen a godlike master who had achieved enlightenment. She also got a miraculous recipe for braised food. She opened a "Miaowei Braised Food Shop" in Yueyang Prefecture. Business was very prosperous. The shop was only open for half a day, and all the braised dishes in the shop would be sold out by noon.