Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1004
Seeing that it was just noon, Wang Yan nodded in agreement, so the three of them went into a lively restaurant and sat down to eat.

This wine shop is not like a restaurant in the city, it only has two floors. In the middle of the lobby is a square table. A down-and-out literati in Taoist uniform is standing in the center of the table. There is a gavel on the table in front of him. Punch Town Kansai.

The three of them entered the restaurant, and most of the tables around the square table were served with small dishes and drinks. Many people gathered around each table, eating and listening, and some even forgot to eat when the talk was exciting. He stared at the storyteller intently, applauding frequently.

Seeing this, Wang Yan went up to the second floor with Wang Fuzhi and Gu Yanwu, Lu Shikui led two guards and followed up, and more than ten other people sat downstairs, observing the surrounding situation.

The middle of the second floor is hollowed out, with a square fence. Sitting on the side, you can also watch the room. The storyteller on the platform below, it can be seen that storytelling and Pingtan have become a part of the life of the residents in the city.

The restaurant is originally a place to eat and drink, but looking at the overall layout, it seems that storytelling is the focus.

The three of Wang Yan sat down at the table next to the fence, Gu Yanwu ordered a jug of rice wine, and ordered six dishes, Xiao Si agreed, and hurried down, while Lu Shikui sat down a little further away, scanning the surroundings vigilantly.

Beside Wang Yan's table, a fat man with a round head and a short neck opened his mouth wide and stared intently at the storyteller below. When I entered Hong Kong, I could only hear someone choking up and crying in the pavilion next door."

The storyteller's face sank, and he made an impatient gesture, "Naluda was impatient, so he threw all the dishes and cups on the floor, and said angrily, the restaurant has never missed your drink money! But how dare you teach someone to sit in the middle of the wall?" Crying and crying, disturbing my brothers to drink?"

Wang Yan listened for a while, and said to the two people next to him: "Before, the people liked to hear about Yue Chuan's loyalty and martyrdom, and they even made up my repertoire, but now they like to listen to Water Margin. The hearts of the people are like water!"

"It's not surprising. Before the Qing army did evil, the people hoped that someone would protect them, so they worshiped the loyal. Now that the Qing army has been driven away, they care more about their own lives." Gu Yanwu said: "The Ministry of Rites recently asked someone to compile a repertoire. , the people are not very applauded, and the people prefer to hear things that say that the imperial court is not good."

Wang Fuzhi said: "It's no wonder, they were originally tied to the land, self-sufficient, and not disturbed by their surroundings. Now that they entered the city and saw the luxurious life of the nobles, they inevitably felt restless in their hearts. .”

Wang Yan realized something after hearing this. He saw the distribution of people at different levels in Nanjing City, surrounding the imperial city, circle by circle, high and low, high and low, and distinct levels.In the middle is the imperial palace, the magnificent houses of the princes and ministers, and then the courtyards of the gentry and nobles. When you reach the outer layer, it becomes a patch of slums.

So many people at the bottom, because of the disintegration of the original social structure, came to the city from the countryside to seek a living. They saw the life of the nobles and rich in the city, and naturally wanted to climb up.

In a country, the upper-class figures are always limited and relative. It is impossible to say that everyone becomes the upper-class nobles. Only a few can climb up and succeed, and more people fail and fall in the process of climbing. At the bottom, this will naturally cause the society to accumulate a lot of resentment.

What Wang Yan can do now is to try his best to alleviate the grievances at the bottom, let the hard-working people have corresponding rewards and gains, and create more upward channels for the society, so that the people below can see the hope of climbing up, and can have If more bottom-level people succeed, Nanjing will be a paradise full of opportunities. If there is no space for voices and no possibility of success, then Nanjing will become a hell.

Now there are quite a few forces supporting Wang Yan, even very powerful. Those emerging landlords, gentry, and big merchants are all his supporters, but this does not mean that Wang Yan does not need the support of the people at the bottom.

Wang Yan was thinking about how to alleviate the conflict, should he reduce taxes, or use other methods, but at this moment, the storyteller below suddenly slapped the gavel and said: "If you want to know what will happen next, please listen to the next chapter to break it down." .”

The round-headed fat man who was staring intently at the storyteller turned his head resentfully, drank a bowl of wine, put the bowl on the table, and said to the old and the young sitting on the table: "Three Uncle, have you thought about it? It’s interesting to see the city of Nanjing. What’s the point of you guarding the few acres of land in your hometown? Now people plant mulberry seedlings, which are all hundreds of acres or thousands of acres. How much can I earn in a year? It’s better to sell the land, exchange it for money, and follow my nephew to set up a workshop in Nanjing.”

The young man next to him was obviously very interested, his eyes sparkled, "Second Brother, this workshop is really more cost-effective than farming, can you make a lot of money?"

The old man glared at the young man, "What do you know, you don't want to be a good family, but if you sell the land to become a businessman, how can you be worthy of your ancestors!"

The fat man with a round face was a little unhappy when he heard this, "Third uncle, you are all old imperial calendars. Look at the current businessmen, which one is no better than ours? How many businessmen have lived in the inner city, and we He is still squatting outside the city. Let’s say that Liu Yuanwai in our town has a thousand acres of land at home, which is not bad, but in comparison, his little land rent is not as good as a workshop with 40 people in Nanjing city. .”

"Second brother, Yuanwai Liu is a well-known squire in Huizhou, can you make more money than Yuanwai Liu by opening a workshop?"

Seeing that the young man was surprised, and even the old man was a little moved, the fat man smiled contemptuously, "It's only natural. Collect the cotton, weave it into high-size cotton cloth, and sell it to local cloth merchants. You can earn seven or eight dollars a piece. If you can transport it farther and sell it to sea merchants, you can earn at least one tael or five taels. Do the math, if you weave two thousand bolts of high-quality cotton cloth a year, you can earn more than 3000 taels of silver. ?”

The fat man said, looked at the old man and said, "Third Uncle, if you really want to farm, then my nephew will also tell you a way out. The business in Guangzhou is recruiting people to farm in Nanyang. Champa rice you You know, the land that grows three times a year is cheap, but there is a shortage of people, so if you sell the land there, you will become a landlord in a few years."

The old man looked at each other in dismay, this time he didn't say anything to question the fat man.

Seeing this, the fat man with a round face said earnestly: "Uncle, nephew, I am now working for Donglai, specializing in shipments. I have connections and channels. My nephew has already sold the land at home, but I still have almost money, so I can start my own business." A workshop, if you think about it, we will do it together, if you don’t think about it, it doesn’t matter, I will invite you to come to Nanjing as a nephew.”

As he spoke, the round-faced fat man waved his hand, and called the second brother to pay the bill. The second brother did some calculations and quickly said, "Second Brother Gao, the total is [-] Wen. You are a regular customer, and I will count [-] Wen for you!"

The fat man with a round face immediately took out a small bill of one tael and handed it to Xiao Er, who took it and left in a hurry. After a while, he came up with three strings of copper coins and forty or fifty pieces of change.

China lacks silver, usually because silver is expensive and copper is cheap, but with the large-scale emergence of banks and banknotes, and a large amount of silver flowing into China from Japan and Southeast Asia, there is no shortage of silver in the market but a shortage of copper coins. Now copper coins have risen. Up to nine hundred wen is equal to one tael of silver.

"Third Uncle, I'll settle the bill. You can continue to eat and go back to the inn when you're done. My nephew still has some things to do. I'll come to see you in the evening and show you the night market in Nanjing!" the fat man said, standing up and taking the copper coins.

"Second Brother Gao, these three strings of copper coins are one hundred Wen each. Two strings are new coins minted by the imperial court this year. They are of good quality, and one string is some old money. These fifty loose coins are exactly equivalent to this string of old coins. A string of new money, you have collected it."

"It's not easy to carry!" said the two fat men, and stuffed two strings of new money into the purse, but the rest couldn't fit. He hesitated, and finally simply put a string of old money and fifty loose coins. The money was given to the young man, and he pretended to be generous and said, "Fourth brother, after dinner, take my uncle to have a cup of tea and listen to a book."

　Thanks to the book friend 150526235334129 for the 1000, and thanks to the book friend Tsundere belly black glasses man for the reward, ask for a monthly ticket, recommend, subscribe

　　
　
(End of this chapter)