Win the Ding 1617

ps: Well, ask for a monthly pass!

A group of people dressed in blue trousers and jackets and short clothes were invited in by the intellectuals at the door.

Shopkeeper Huang and others knew that most of the people who wore this so-called overalls were workers and craftsmen in various nearby workshops.

Although the so-called four-color people of scholars, farmers, businessmen, etc., merchants ranked last, but the Ming Dynasty discriminated against and oppressed craftsmen and artisan households even more than military households.As for businessmen, because of their different economic status, their political status is actually much higher than these workers.

Seeing that these workers also entered the restaurant, and were also warmly greeted by Zhike, shopkeeper Huang Da was in a delicate mood.

But other restaurants open their doors for business, as long as they come in with money, they are customers. As long as they pay enough money, where can they not eat?

Therefore, shopkeeper Huang Da could only smile and keep silent, just drinking and eating.

"Brother, who are these people?"

On the contrary, the manager was a man with sharp eyebrows and eyes. Seeing that the big shopkeeper was a little unhappy, he went up to ask the waiter serving the banquet.

"Ah, they?! They are all amazing people. They are all craftsmen made by He Tinh. They made all the cannons, firecrackers, and high-quality swords and armor! To tell you the truth, my breastplate, It has always been a bit awkward, but last time I mentioned it to the craftsman, he helped me adjust it a little, and it was very comfortable to wear immediately! It turns out that the curvature of the armor does not match my figure, so it is naturally awkward!"

"It turns out that this boy in the waiting room still has armor hidden in his home?! The Nanzhong Army is really bold! Fortunately, they boast that the security is tight, and it seems that they are also tight on the outside and loose on the inside!"

Several people couldn't help but have this kind of thought in their hearts.

"Disrespect! Disrespect! It turns out that my brother is also a hero. He loves martial arts and becomes addicted."

"Don't dare! My name is on the army book, and I had some spare money, so I bought this set of armor, so as not to panic when I am called into the army."

Today, the merchants have been amazed again and again. I don’t want to think that there is still armor hidden in this waiter’s house. What is even more surprising is that he is still on the military register!

It seems that as long as they are strong men in this Nanzhong, they are all on the military register!

"Several guests. Don't just talk. Try this fish first. This squirrel mandarin fish should be eaten while it's hot!"

The waiter just reminded everyone not to just talk and forget to eat, and took away a few plates full of food residues.

Manager Huang picked up a piece of what the waiter called squirrel mandarin fish, and chewed the golden-colored fish in his mouth.A feeling of crisp on the outside and loose on the inside.There is a sweet, sour and delicious feeling from the taste buds on the tip of the tongue.He almost lost his sense of taste from the spicy dishes just now, and he immediately felt extremely sweet.What's even more wonderful is that there are no thorns in this fish!He raised his chopsticks to signal everyone to come and taste it!

In a blink of an eye, the chopsticks fell like rain, and a squirrel mandarin fish was quickly eaten up.

"Brother, this fish is so delicious, I don't know how to make it? Also, why are there no fish bones?"

"Before the fish is put into the pot, the scales and gills are removed, the abdomen is dissected to remove the viscera, the spine is cut off, and the breast spines are removed from the slices, so you can't eat fish bones and bones."

"Then put the tomato sauce in a bowl, add broth, white sugar, vinegar, wine, refined salt, and wet starch, and stir it into a seasoning sauce. After the fish is picked up from the oil pan, sprinkle the sauce on it. This is a delicious dish. .”

The waiter's words were simple, but the shopkeeper Huang who had just planned to steal this dish and go back to please the big boss, immediately felt like a deflated ball.

Refined salt and white sugar are expensive, but they are sold in the capital and in Tianjin, but the tomato sauce, starch and other things cannot be found in the capital and other places.

"Brother, what are starch and ketchup?"

"Both of these things are sold on the street. Ketchup is made from processed tomatoes. I don't know where the starch comes from. However, any meat, whether it's chicken, duck, pig or cattle, can be eaten with Coat the starch and then mix well with sauce, salt, and sesame oil, and put it in the pot, the meat will be extremely smooth and tender.”

"This year's new rice and new oil are coming. If you want to grab this wave of market, you have to start early and go to the shipping company to book a space first. Otherwise, everyone's goods will come, and your goods will not be available. If you don’t have the sea, you won’t be able to grab it in the market!”

"That's right! Seeing that the tea harvest in Fujian has been good in the past few years, it is a good deal to exchange grain, oil and meat cloth!"

"That's right, in exchange for tea leaves, sell them to those Westerners in Manaca, and exchange them for their money!"

"You don't have to go to Manga, now Luzon has Spanish galleons from the east every year, loaded with gold and silver, go to Luzon to exchange various items. If you have goods, you don't have to go to Manga, go directly to Luzon. Just sell it to these Spaniards!"

Everyone had a drink and dinner for a while, and they heard someone talking about business experience from the private room at the side.

"Boss, should we also buy some food, oil, meat, etc. to sell in Fujian, Jiangxi and other places? We can't let others earn all the money."

"No! Although the food market has always been good, don't forget that food is the most important thing and takes up space. Rather than transporting food thousands of miles away, it is better to transport other things to the Luzon they say Go and exchange gold and silver with the Spaniards. Or first go to Fujian to exchange tea, and then exchange gold and silver with the Spanish!"

The shopkeeper Huang Da was very scheming, and he found the crux of the matter at a glance.

For a production-based industrial system like the Nanzhong Army, the circulation of goods and goods is naturally not a strong point, but Shanxi merchants are just the opposite, and they do business with circulation.Long-distance trafficking is the most basic job.

With his eyes slightly closed, the shopkeeper Huang spoke with a strong Shanxi Xiaoyi accent, "If we do it, we will only transport some cotton cloth, canned food, glass, mirrors, white sugar, and refined salt. Add restricted exports to the mainland to sell, add some meat at most!"

"meat?"

A few people were a little surprised, even if the food was not going to be transported, wouldn't it be more difficult to transport meat?Short shelf life?

"On weekdays, I want you to pay more attention. You are all focused on getting into the eyes of copper coins and doing somersaults! You know. Doing business also depends on the general trend of the world! What your eyes can see is how big your business can be! Otherwise , you are also the shopkeeper of a shop!"

After a few lessons to his subordinates, the shopkeeper Huang Da took out some folded papers from his sleeves and put them on the dining table, "Here, go and see for yourself!"

A few people took the few sheets of paper with some confusion, which was a copy of Nanzhong Business Daily not long ago.Some passages were carefully outlined with cinnabar, and there were some commented words on it.

"Tianfuhao Meat Processing Plant purchases all kinds of poultry and livestock at favorable prices. The quantity is not limited!"

"Koukouxiang Meat Farm signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Huji Farm. The annual supply is at least 200 pigs, [-] chickens and ducks, [-] beef cattle, and [-] million catties of fish!"

. . . . . . . .

"All seen?"

Shopkeeper Huang played with the exquisite wine glass in his hand for a while on his seat.He asked his subordinates lightly.

"The treasurer. This?"

"These places are all made of wind chicken, cured meat, bacon, canned food, etc. After the chickens and ducks are slaughtered, the internal organs are cleaned. The feathers are not plucked. Put the fried pepper and salt into the abdominal cavity, , spread the seasoning around the inside of the chicken, and fill in a little salt and pepper from the knife edge of the chicken neck; then tie it up with a rope, put it in a ventilated place to dry, and it can be eaten after a month, and this thing can be preserved for a long time. And those pickled Meat salt products can be stored in large quantities for a long time!"

"This thing was transported to Beijun Town, can you exchange it for silver?"

"The shopkeeper, the subordinates have seen canned food and other things before, and have tried to eat and use them. This thing is a good thing, easy to eat and easy to carry. However, I just don't know the price. After it is shipped to the north, it will Won't it be unprofitable?"

Everyone hesitated for a while, but fell silent for a while, "It's getting late today, everyone go back to rest for a while, and go to various shops tomorrow to check the market, so you can know what's going on!"

After nodding to the waiter to signal for the bill, the waiter counted the dishes on the table, "How many gentlemen have eaten?"

"Not bad! The flour of this steamed bun is good, and it is very chewy, similar to what you eat in your hometown!"

However, what happened next surprised Old Xier again.

"Thank you for your patronage, one silver dollar, plus six hundred coppers."

"how much is it?"

"One six."

There are many places where people go, and such a price has never been seen in these years.

"Brother, please go to the counter and check. Is there any error in the account? It won't be easy for you to explain when you get it."

Shopkeeper Huang instinctively believed that the waiter must have made a mistake in the calculation.Such a table of wine and rice, one yuan and six?Impossible!

"This guy is good. We can't let him take the blame and deduct wages when he settles accounts at night." Several businessmen had the same idea.

After a while, the waiter came back from the cabinet. Facing shyness and embarrassment, he kept rubbing his hands on the white apron, "Gentlemen, I'm really sorry, I checked with the cabinet. The money is one and six hundred dollars."

This time, it was Huang Da shopkeepers who were completely stunned.

More than a dozen people, with wine and meat, drunk and full, are only one silver dollar plus six hundred copper coins?This is unimaginable in the two capitals of the north and the south, but in any city in the mainland.

The waiter went to the counter to settle the accounts for several customers, leaving the shopkeeper Huang to look at each other on the seats.

"how come?"

A young chap muttered to himself.

A jar of shochu brewed from high-quality grain costs at least eight renminbi to more than one or two taels of silver in the interior. If there is an old wine with a brand name, the price will double.A beef dish costs hundreds of copper coins, not to mention the steamed buns made of wheat that were marked from outside at the beginning, which must be even more expensive.

Why is it so cheap here?

Is it because the price of rice is cheap that food and drink are so cheap?Not right!If there is such a thing as cheap grain hurting the peasants, then why are all the peasants we met along the way all rosy and looking good?If there was such a thing as low grain prices, these farmers would have stopped growing grain and planted other things instead, just like farmers in the south of the Yangtze River who switched to silk tea and sericulture in order to pay taxes on grain.

While thinking wildly, the waiter walked towards them with a wooden tray full of yellow copper coins.

"Gentlemen, I'm looking for your money, four silver dollars. Fourteen hundred tongbao. Order a little."

Under the light, the copper coins in the wooden tray gave off a bluish-yellow light, which made the merchants, who had turned somersaults in the eyes of the copper coins since they were young, a little dizzy.

Fourteen hundred Wen Tongbao, each weighing about five grams, and seven or eight catties of money were randomly stacked on the wooden tray. If the money was not connected with a thin rope, it might be scattered all over the floor.

"Thank you brother."

After gesturing to the clerk to take over the wooden plate, the shopkeeper Huang Da grabbed a bunch of Tongbao and passed it in his hand.There are about a thousand texts.If it was replaced by Tongbao, there should be four or five hundred wen.

"Brother worked hard tonight. A tip for burning coal."

"Thank you, sir, for the reward." The waiter took the reward, raised his voice and yelled again, "Five hundred coins for the guests of the Renzi brand!"

"Thank you! ---" The waiters upstairs and downstairs thanked each other loudly.

After listening to this thank you.Let the shopkeepers of Huangda find the same feeling as the mainland.

A smile spread across his lanky face.Ask the waiter amicably.

"Brother. To be honest, I am a businessman at the lower level. I come to Nanzhong to do business. However, there is something I don't know, and I want to ask my brother for advice. I hope that I will not hesitate to enlighten me."

"I don't dare to say a lesson, I must know everything."

"I waited all the way here, and saw that the new rice has already started to hit the market. Compared with the mainland, the price of rice is naturally much lower. But why is the price so low when it comes to eating? Are you not afraid that the cheap rice will hurt the farmers?"

"But Huang watched along the way, and the farmers everywhere are living a good life. Many people in the villages and towns outside the city are building new houses. What is the mystery of this?"

"This is the kindness and love of our general!"

Someone at a nearby table spoke.It was the group of craftsmen who had just come in to eat who spoke.

The leader stood up and bowed to the shopkeeper Huang. "Since this gentleman is a foreign visitor, he is naturally not familiar with the rules and regulations of my Nanzhong High School. If you don't mind taking the liberty, how about explaining one or two things to him?"

The tanned face, thick bones and joints, and calloused hands all showed the identity of this person.But although his appearance is rough, his words are well-mannered, and he is obviously a person who has read books.

"I would like to listen to the teacher's teaching."

Several people sat down and listened to the master craftsman explain the mystery of the problem between Nanzhong and grain prices.

The waiter was also very knowledgeable, and immediately went to make a new pot of tea and brought it over.The statement is for gossip from the restaurant to gentlemen.

"Sir, I don't know that this place in the middle of the south is the most suitable for planting rice and other things, and it is very easy to grow. What's more, it is said that it can be harvested seven times in two years. However, this kind of rice tastes extremely bad, and not many people are willing to grow it. Planted. The general benevolent government collected land taxes at a rate of [-] and [-] per mu of land, and collected rice. After one year, the rice and rapeseed alone were enough to feed craftsmen, soldiers, boatmen and sailors everywhere for several years. According to the general, these people are the so-called non-agricultural population. Mere talent is also one of them, that is, people who do not make a living by farming, breeding and fishing.”

Thousands of miles away?They are all places where rice and other crops can be grown. This is not a boast.Shopkeeper Huang went all the way south, and also saw the green rice fields that stretched for thousands of miles.Farmers drive buffaloes and carry high-quality iron plowshares, which makes people feel quite leisurely.

However, the problem came out again.

The large amount of fertile land is the large amount of grain left after paying the land tax at the tax rate of [-] or [-] taxes. The farmers eat four meals a day, and each meal is It may not be enough to eat up to the neck.Excluding the food consumed by raising pigs and cattle at home, how to deal with the large amount of surplus food is what Huang Da shopkeeper cares about.

"Sir, are you worried about surplus grain? It's okay! The general said that if the farmers have no money, how can we artisans make a living? Therefore, we must buy the grain from the farmers! And we have to buy it at a high price!"

Shopkeeper Huang filled the teacup in front of the craftsman with yellow tea and asked him to moisten his throat.

"High price acquisition? How high price?" He asked with concern.

"For example, in the market, the price given by foreign merchants is one penny and one stone of rice, and we non-agricultural people go to the grain and rice store to buy grain, and the price is one penny and one stone of rice. Then, the grain official The purchase price is three qianyin and one stone of rice! This rice is rice, and the harvest is rice. Because rice is easy to preserve, rice is not necessarily!"

The man took a sip of tea, and continued to tell foreign guests about the various practices of General Li in Nanzhong, how to spread benevolent government and benefit all people.

But he didn't notice that Shopkeeper Huang's two eyebrows were almost intertwined.

"Three qian silver is collected for one stone, and one qian silver is sold for one stone. This is a loss of two qian silver from the book, not counting the loss of rice during processing, and the damage during storage and transportation. If it is done temporarily , if it has been subsidized like this for a long time, how can I bear it?!"

He couldn't figure it out, seeing that the people around him were all frowning as if they couldn't figure it out.

"It turns out that the rice price in the Nanzhong area is so low, but the peasants live a prosperous and happy life. Is it because the general subsidizes two coins per stone of rice?"

Shopkeeper Huang consciously lured the craftsman to speak.

"What you said, yes, and no."

"how do I say this?"

The craftsman thought that he had such a hobby of being a teacher when he came here, how could he let go of such a good opportunity at this time?Can't help pointing two fingers, and told the story for Huang Da shopkeeper.

"When the various grain companies under the General's Mansion collect grain, one-third will be given in cash, silver dollars and Tongbao are acceptable. The remaining two-thirds will be paid for with industrial vouchers. With these industrial vouchers, farmers can After presenting your household registration booklet in various shops in Nanzhong, you can buy any kind of items produced in Nanzhong. Oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, cloth and ironware, ashes for building houses, and bricks can all be purchased with a [-]% discount on industrial vouchers! "(to be continued...)