Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 45 Documentary Affairs
Return to Jinling
Zheng Guohui first paid a visit to the Jiangnan Governor Fuzhu Hong'a, and then returned to his residence in Gulou to begin dealing with the mountain of paperwork.

These paperwork matters were gathered by his staff and advisors, and were important matters that required Zheng Guohui to make decisions personally.

Dong Huanzhang, who is in charge of general affairs and private salt business, reported

Recently
There were several Weiyang salt merchants including Li Wen'an, Wang Rui, Zhou Congming, etc., who sold public salt at low prices in Zhenjiang Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture and other places to seize the market. There were also two Weiyang salt merchants, Zeng and Ji, who sold their salt to Gusu Prefecture and northern Zhejiang and other places.

It was not convenient to suppress them head-on, so they disguised themselves as bandits in secret, robbed and killed several batches of salt, and also killed and injured some people.

However, it did not affect the leaders of the three salt merchants, Li, Wang, and Zhou, and only had a slight impact, which did not affect the overall situation.

After all, no one can give up such a business with huge profits.

This situation is similar to that of the two salt merchants Zheng Shaotang and Wang Xueyin. The two salt merchants not only have business in Jinling, but also in Hunan and Xiangxi, and they make profits of more than tens of thousands of taels of silver every month.

Despite the heavy losses suffered in Nanjing, things became more prosperous in Hunan and Xiangxi.

Considering that in the Jiangnan Province market, public salt and private salt will coexist for a long time to come.

It may be that 30% is public and 70% is private, or it may be that 20% is public and 80% is private, but it is impossible for one company to dominate the market.

Zheng Guohui had no intention of using public resources to suppress the market again, so he reduced the sales price of private salt by 15% and used price to seize the market.

Such an important decision could only be made by him personally.

The Tzu Chi Foundation, which provides shelter for homeless and poor children, has expanded rapidly. In just two or three months, it has taken in more than 13700 orphaned teenagers, ranging in age from 7 to 12 years old.

Zheng Guohui felt that the speed of expansion was too fast and the pressure on his shoulders seemed unbearable.

The only option is to raise the standards, with no more than 1200 people being admitted each month, and the age limit for admission raised from seven to nine. Those who are required to have quick mental reactions, good health, and no injuries or illnesses will be temporarily excluded. Those with families will be temporarily excluded.

Zheng Jialiang, the staff advisor in charge of the construction, reported;
Since the beginning of the new year

Construction work became increasingly busy, and the manpower required increased greatly.

The Maigaoqiao area alone was far from enough, and they had to recruit many people from the refugees who poured into Jinling City, totaling about 5420 people.

Building a house is mostly manual labor, requiring many people and a low barrier to entry. Anyone with experience in farming can at least learn some bricklaying skills, and even those who don't have the skills can just help out.

The staff of Zheng Jialiang has expanded to more than a dozen people, but it is still not enough, and the difficulty of overall management is increasing.

Furthermore, the gathering of so many people in Maigaoqiao also attracted the attention of local authorities, which is why a big tree attracts the wind.

Staff member Zheng Jialiang suggested

In each kiln, the timber mill implemented a shopkeeper system, where each shopkeeper was solely responsible for production, transportation, and the purchase of raw materials, and only had to collect the money on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Shopkeepers who do well will be rewarded, and those who do poorly will be punished.

Mule and horse transport teams can also be freely organized, including fellow villagers, neighbors, or relatives. Each team has sixty to ten vehicles, and they can take on their own work.

You only need to pay the standard fee based on the number of cars you own. The more cars you own, the more you pay; the fewer cars you own, the less you pay.

The construction of houses in the city was also managed in a similar way. By organizing gangs, two or three local gangs were formed, each of which took on the work of house construction, both internally and externally.

Internally, it means taking over the construction work on the houses that have not yet been renovated and the vacant land in the city under the name of the general.

Externally, we accept proposals from wealthy businessmen who flock to Jinling City to build mansions. There are too many to handle now, and it is also the fastest growing business.

Zheng Guohui spent more than an hour reading through the thick stack of petitions from his aide Zheng Jialiang, clearly putting a lot of thought into it.

Consider carefully
Zheng Guohui feels that these measures are practical and feasible. They were developed through brainstorming and a lot of effort, and they are meaningful.

So he wrote a comment on the petition, praised it highly, and authorized Zheng Jialiang to preside over the corresponding improvement matters and handle them at his discretion without asking for further instructions.

The construction was a spur-of-the-moment idea, and Zheng Guohui didn't ask much about it from beginning to end. He simply left it all to his aide Zheng Jialiang to handle.

The business was worth tens of thousands of taels of silver a year, but only a few thousand taels a month. All the money earned was from hard work, so he didn't take it too seriously.

The rents of the renovated houses and shops in the city are rising steadily. With a total of more than 1600 properties, the monthly income has now reached nearly taels of silver.

Judging from the rapid growth momentum, it will double next year.

This was Zheng Guohui's largest source of income besides illegal salt trade, so people now have the reputation of "Zheng Half the City", which refers to his great wealth and power.

If they were all sold, wouldn't they be worth two or three million taels of silver?
Zheng Guohui is not stupid and will not sell the property at this time. It would be much better to be a landlord.

In the next thirty or forty years
The city of Jinling will not suffer serious trauma from the war. The current rent increase is just a return to the original price system of a prosperous city, reflecting the inherent value of the property.

Why kill the goose that lays golden eggs?

This year and next year
The land he owned would be used to rebuild houses, most likely rented out, with a small portion built into one- or two-story houses and sold to recoup some of the profits. Zheng Guohui commanded a large construction army, and most of the land, houses, and shops in the city were acquired for free, with the development costs being shockingly low.

Developing a street of shops is like a goose that lays golden eggs for the street.

For example, in the south of Zhanyuan, a brutal defense battle once broke out on the original Changle Street. The Ji Camp used artillery and guns to attack crazily, almost destroying half of the street here. The street area of ​​more than 700 meters was reduced to rubble.

The property rights of this block were originally distributed to Fuzhu Hong'a, and Zheng Guohui spent another three thousand taels of silver to buy it from the admiral, and it has been left there without being cleaned up.

Today
Half of the Changle Road block was cordoned off with wooden boards, and the area was littered with rubble, with many bodies buried under the rubble that had not yet been cleared.

It was a bleak scene with weeds growing to half a man's height.

As Jinling City gradually regained its former prosperity, renovated buildings sprang up around Changle Street and a large number of people moved in.

This half of Changle Street has become a dead end and will have to be restored and rebuilt sooner or later.

But now is obviously not the right time.

This street was originally transferred to him by Fuzhu Hong'a for only three thousand taels of silver. However, this gentleman simply did not have the patience to develop it, and it was more convenient to get cash.

Time-Shifting Events
In just two or three years, if this half of Changle Street is renovated and turned into a place where money is made, guess how Lord Fuzhu Hong'a will feel?

The 720-meter-long half of Changle Street is built with two-story brick and stone structures, with each room being 3 meters long and two rooms forming one household. There are a total of 120 households on one side.

So there are 240 households on both sides of the street.

This is a prosperous place in the Qinhuai River area. The monthly rent for the two shops is more than ten taels of silver, and the rent alone can reach two to three thousand taels of silver every month.

Would Lady Bok Joo Hong-ah be jealous when she saw this? Would she regret it? Would she feel that Zheng Guohui had taken advantage of her? This would ruin their close relationship.

To know

At the beginning, Fuzhu Hong'a took more than 10,000 taels of silver from Zheng Guohui and sold all the properties he had obtained.

Those fields, houses and plots of land that were bought here and there were scattered all over the city. The sharp increase in income was basically not noticeable and could not be counted.

This half of Changle Street is really eye-catching.

Therefore, Zheng Guohui wisely chose not to develop the area for the time being, but to renovate the scattered properties first and then sell or rent them out.

Anyway, Changle Street is right there, and there is no way to escape.

The wind stopped and the rain stopped overnight

Qiao Yue's rosy white arms were placed on Zheng Guohui's broad chest, her flushed face was covered with sweat, and she said in a disgusting tone;
"Master, you will be in the capital for several months. Without servants to serve you, I am afraid that the soldiers will not be able to take good care of you with their rough hands and feet. So let us sisters serve you."

Zheng Guohui tapped Qiao Yue's forehead with his finger and said softly, "What are you talking about, little girl? I didn't come to the capital to enjoy myself. I have so many government offices to run to, and I have to deliver letters to the important military officials one by one. I can't take care of you two."

"Master, Qiao Xing and Qiao Yue just need to accompany you."

"I understand what you two are thinking, but the journey to the capital is exhausting, and you don't have a suitable place to stay. There's no need to go through so much trouble."

"I understand, sir."

"If she goes, she will only cause trouble for me. Look at Qiao Xing, she is well-behaved, isn't she?" Zheng Guohui turned his head to look at the other side. The petite Qiao Xing was curled up in his armpit, the redness on her face still lingering, her eyes closed, and she was about to fall asleep.

Hearing the master talking about herself, Qiao Xing let out a lazy "hmm" like a kitten, leaned her head forward, found a more comfortable position and fell asleep.

"I understand. Master, you must not forget us sisters." Qiao Yue knew it was useless to say it, but still couldn't help but say it.

She lay obediently on the other side, her two white arms tightly hugging the master's strong left arm, her little face pressed against it, and her eyes closed.

The master will eventually marry a wife. When a wife from a wealthy family gets married, she will definitely bring maids with her, at least two, possibly four.

These are things that Qiao Yue cannot change. All she can do is cherish every minute and every second with her grandfather and enjoy it to the fullest.

If I could conceive a boy or a girl, that would be enough for my life.

But the master often wastes money, saying that he is worried that Qiao Yue and Qiao Xing are too young to bear the heavy burden of being a mother.

Every time at this time

Qiao Yue felt heartbroken, worried that the master only treated her and Qiao Xing as playthings and had no intention of giving them offspring.

After serving the master with a forced smile, Qiao Yue often cried uncontrollably with tears soaking her clothes when she was alone.

What could a mere maidservant do to accompany the bed?
Qiao Xing, who is one year younger than her, is a little heartless. She doesn't know how serious the situation is and just enjoys the master's favor.

(End of this chapter)