Fan Xian quickly moved to help him up, but the shop owner insisted on kneeling and kowtowing before rising, saying with emotion, "So you are the future owner! This kowtow is something I must do. Moreover, you are the chief envoy of this mission. Living in a foreign land, I rarely have the opportunity to pay my respects to officials from my hometown."

The shop owner suddenly seemed to realize something. Remembering that he had mentioned some rather taboo names in front of this official from the South, he hesitantly asked, "Lord Fan, what brings you to my humble shop?"

After all, Bei Qi was far away from the Southern Qing Emperor, so the merchants here were bolder. That's why they still kept the old signboard and kept talking about their proud old owner. Fan Xian saw his expression and understood that he was afraid these words would be transmitted back to the capital, offending the royal family who now controlled the entire Qing Kingdom's foreign trade.

He smiled and explained his purpose, wanting to choose some exquisite, non-ordinary glass wine sets.

The shop owner asked curiously, "What are these for?" He had originally thought that Lord Fan was just taking advantage of the mission to investigate the business he would be managing in the future, but he didn't expect that he really intended to buy glass products.

Lin Jing explained a few words, and the shop owner quickly called out to his employees. Several nimble workers, hearing the instructions, hurried into the back warehouse. It seemed that the truly high-end goods were not displayed in the front shop. While waiting, Fan Xian began chatting with the shop owner. The shop owner knew what this official wanted to know and didn't dare to hide anything, giving a rough estimate of the number of glass products that had been shipped from Southern Qing to Northern Qi over the years.

Although it was just a rough number, Fan Xian was still somewhat shocked. There was only this one Southern Qing Glass Workshop in the capital, yet its annual income was extremely terrifying. No wonder that despite the abundance of resources in Qi, its financial strength was only barely on par with that of Qing.

The shop owner suddenly sighed and said, "However, I don't know why, but the goods sent from the capital in recent years have not been as good as before, and there are no new designs, so business has been a bit worse."

Fan Xian asked, "How much worse than the peak?"

"About thirty percent."

Fan Xian pondered slightly, knowing where the problem lay. After the Ye family was brought under the control of the Internal Treasury and fully managed by that Eldest Princess, even if that crazy woman was an extremely politically savvy and skilled figure, she would probably still be at a loss when faced with these brand-new things like glass and soap. Since the quality of the glass had deteriorated, there must have been a problem with the ingredients and processes. Now that the Ye family's shopkeepers at Qing Yu Tang could not operate it themselves, there was naturally no way to make adjustments.

However, since business had only declined by thirty percent, it seemed that the Eldest Princess also knew the importance of these businesses to the Qing Kingdom's economy and had not acted recklessly, simply following the usual practices.

More than enough to maintain the status quo, but lacking in initiative.

While speaking, the young workers had already brought out several of the most precious glass decanters in the shop. Fan Xian picked one up, squinting his eyes against the sunlight outside the shop, and found that there were no impurities in the glass, which was indeed much better than the glass windows in the capital. He couldn't help but smile and say, "These are the ones."

The boss quickly told the workers to wrap them up, but Fan Xian waved his hand and said, "No rush." Everyone was puzzled, and could only listen to his instructions.

Suddenly, a look of difficulty appeared on the boss's face. Fan Xian, with his keen eyes, noticed it and asked, "What's your surname, boss?"

"My surname is Yu," the boss quickly replied.

"An apprentice of Qing Yu Tang with the surname Yu?" Fan Xian smiled inwardly and said, "Mr. Yu, what's the difficulty?"

The boss said with a bitter smile, "Lord Fan, these glass decanters were prepared for the Empress Dowager's birthday at the end of the month."

Fan Xian was slightly surprised and said, "Could it be that Northern Qi nobles ordered them as birthday gifts for the palace? Then I can't take them. Mr. Yu, please give me some other items."

Mr. Yu was stunned. He didn't expect such a high-ranking official to be so easy to talk to. He quickly explained, "They weren't specifically ordered. The Northern Qi nobles have always known that we always keep some good items in our shop. Besides, these glass decanters are not the most expensive gifts now... It's just that the Internal Treasury has very strict rules. This month is considered a 'thick' month according to custom. If you take these items, the amount of money reported to the South at the end of the month will be a large shortfall. I'm afraid the officials of the Internal Treasury will..."

Before he finished speaking, Fan Xian understood what the other party was afraid of. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, of course, I will pay you for them."

Wang Qinian also laughed and scolded from the side, "Afraid that the Internal Treasury will check your accounts? Don't you know that the person in front of you will be the 'lord' of the Internal Treasury in the future?"

Mr. Yu stammered, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He was thinking that even if this Lord Fan would be the 'lord' of the Internal Treasury in the future, the problem was that the person currently managing these thousands of merchant shops under the sky in the Internal Treasury... was not a 'lord'.

Suddenly, Fan Xian patted his purse and said with a bitter smile, "It seems that I forgot to bring something when I went on this mission to Northern Qi." Everyone silently understood, thinking that as the chief envoy, Fan Ti Si's trip to Northern Qi was naturally a publicly funded trip. Although he carried some loose silver, where would he prepare so many silver notes?

Mr. Yu continued to wipe his sweat and suggested, "If it's for official business, you should naturally report it on the public account. Just write a list, and I'll send it back to the capital to offset the debt."

"Pay with an IOU? That's a good idea." Fan Xian thought, taking the already prepared pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. He thought that this Mr. Yu was very observant, probably having seen too many envoys paying with IOUs. He wrote a few lines on the paper with a flourish. Mr. Yu carefully wrote down the amount of money. When it came to Fan Xian's signature, he hesitated, turned around, and asked Wang Qinian, "Does the Agency have money?"

Wang Qinian said with a bitter smile, "One-third of the Agency's finances are allocated by His Majesty, and two-thirds are allocated by the Ministry of Revenue, which is your father. These years have been a bit tight."

Fan Xian glanced back at Gao Da, thinking that you were following his father, so the Tiger Guards were naturally very rich. Gao Da, seeing his young master looking at him, had an embarrassed expression on his face and said, "Young Master, the master manages the Tiger Guards' money very tightly."

Fan Xian sighed, looking at Lin Jing, and said, "It seems that we can only use the name of the Court of State Ceremonies."

Lin Jing suppressed a bitter smile, thinking that you were clearly taking advantage of the Court of State Ceremonies. What could he say? Anyway, it was all public money, so Lin Jing didn't feel bad. He even chimed in and said, "Internal Treasury and External Treasury are not as good as the National Treasury."

This was very true. Whether it was the Internal Treasury currently managed by the Eldest Princess or the Ministry of Revenue managed by Count Sinan Fan Jian, in the final analysis, it was all the Qing Kingdom's money. Fan Xian and Lin Jing, these two chief and deputy envoys, signed their names freely and elegantly. After looking at the amount of two thousand taels on the paper, they walked out of the glass shop door.

Since the group did not have any attendants following them, Mr. Yu very carefully instructed the workers to hold the precious glass decanters, following the officials out of the door, because Fan Xian did not instruct them to send them back to the mission, it was obvious they had other uses.

Passing by the toy store that sold Nine Interlocking Rings, Xia Rongdao, Fan Xian only glanced at it, his gaze soft. The previous store was a place that sold wine. Fan Xian went inside first. The owner of this store had already been informed by his subordinates that several high-ranking officials from his hometown had arrived. He was standing at the door to greet them, being very respectful.

Fan Xian sat on a chair and scanned around, discovering that the wine sets displayed in this store were also extremely valuable, but they were far inferior to the glass decanters he had "bought". He beckoned, calling the shop owner forward and asking, "What is the best wine?"

The boss's surname was Sheng. Like a magician, he produced a transparent, slender bottle. The wine inside had an extremely alluring red color, rich but not thick.

Fan Xian squinted slightly, surprised and said, "Wine?"

"Lord Fan is indeed worthy of being a wine immortal and a poetry immortal." Boss Sheng had inquired about the composition of the mission from his hometown and said flatteringly, "It is indeed grape wine."

He brought a cup and poured some in. Fan Xian closed his eyes, gently shaking the open cup, bringing it to his nose to smell it. Seeing his actions, not only Wang Qinian, the former great thief who had also been luxurious, but even Lin Jing and Boss Sheng secretly praised him, thinking that Lord Fan was indeed from a noble family.

Fan Xian was not a wine tasting expert. He was just acting. He put the cup on the table next to him and said, "I'll take this wine. Also, bring out some stronger ones."

Boss Sheng didn't dare to be negligent and quickly presented them one by one. Fan Xian took a small sip of each in turn, frowning slightly. It was not much different from the kind of wine he usually drank. The alcohol content was too low, far inferior to the sorghum that Uncle Wu Zhu made for him in Danzhou and the tribute wine in the capital.

Seeing the official frowning, Boss Sheng said in a low voice, "Strong liquor is forbidden to be transported north. Please be considerate."

Fan Xian knew that the other party was not telling the truth. There was nothing in this world that could not be bought with money. The Northern Qi nobles were mostly wealthy people, and they never skimped on spending money. This boss must have some high-end goods prepared. He didn't say much, just shook his head to show his dissatisfaction.

Boss Sheng suddenly looked at him and then took out two more bottles of good wine. Fan Xian frowned slightly. In the previous glance, this seemingly ordinary boss revealed a very extraordinary look.

Using a small porcelain cup, Fan Xian took a sip and then frowned tightly, not speaking for a long time.

Everyone thought that the wine tasted bad. Wang Qinian couldn't help but ask, "Lord, what's wrong?"

Fan Xian took a deep breath, turning the scalding sensation in his throat into an exciting pleasure. He praised loudly, "Good wine! Good wine! What's it called?"

Boss Sheng smiled slightly and said, "Wu Liang Ye."

Fan Xian's expression remained calm and unchanged. He praised again, "Good name." In his heart, he smiled wryly and praised, "Ye Qingmei, you really had too much free time back then."

After finishing all of this, the four officials got up and went out. But when he was about to leave, Fan Xian noticed that this Boss Sheng gave him a wink. Thinking of what he had noticed earlier, Fan Xian paused, letting the other three go first. He turned back and, led by Boss Sheng, came to the accounting room in the back.

There was no one in the accounting room. It was unusually quiet and strange.

As soon as Boss Sheng entered the inner room, he seemed to have changed completely. His whole body straightened, his face was solemn, and he bowed to Fan Xian, who was sitting in the chair, and said in a deep voice, "Sheng Huairen of the Internal Treasury, greets son-in-law."