Just as they were making these "tragic" preparations, Dudoniang came. [Read the full text] She is now officially the "busy month" of Wang Si's family. What he often does is convey Wang Siniang's "instructions" to the villagers. In Shen Kaibao's eyes, he has become a "dog leg" figure.
Although everyone can't help but despise her, they are also a little envious of the "dog leg" treatment: I heard that Dodoniang can earn one or two taels of silver a month! He is almost like a clerk in a big store in town - he can make more money than many men in this village. Therefore, while everyone despised her in their hearts, they couldn't help but flatter her with smiles on their faces every time they saw her, fearing that she would offend her and have her slander her in front of Wang Siniang and force her to pay her debts first.
Dudoniang was all smiles, and just told everyone that Shen and everyone would invite every household in the village to her house for a "drinking" tomorrow night as a "thank you banquet" for taking care of her business this year.
"The whole family is coming!" Dudoniang greeted, "We have prepared a lot of wine and food!"
Upon hearing this, every household had goosebumps on their backs. It would never be a good thing for the owner to invite the tenants to dinner. Either they want to increase the rent, or they want to seize the tenants.
Although Wang Si's family is not a landlord, they are everyone's creditors, let alone the creditors treating the creditors to dinner.
"I think this is the Hongmen Banquet!" Shen Kaibao said fiercely.
But it is absolutely impossible not to go there. There were also several boats parked in front of Wang Si's house, and the cooks who "booked the table" came, built stoves in the yard, and brought down baskets of pots, pans, and various vegetables and meats. Many women gathered by the river to wash vegetables. The fire in the courtyard was blazing and steaming. The aroma of cooking food can be smelled throughout the village. The children were drooling, eagerly waiting for the teething ceremony in the evening - this kind of day has not happened for several years. Even the worried adults were all made hungry and salivating.
In the evening, the whole village, including the old and the young, went to the yard in front of Wang Si's house. Tables, chairs and benches borrowed from various families have been prepared there, and the surroundings are brightly lit by torches. The table full of dishes seduced everyone in the village.
Wang Siniang sat at the head table with a smile on her face and asked her subordinates to greet everyone to their seats. Another scene talk. Then he ordered the banquet to begin.
There is no drink on the table, but rice is enough. Everyone can barely make ends meet these days. With such delicacies in front of them, who cares what kind of medicine is being sold at the Hongmen Banquet? Everyone is devouring it like a storm. After a while, the cups and plates were all in a mess. The children simply took the oily soup at the bottom of the plate and mixed it with rice to eat. Bowl after bowl, their stomachs were bulging and almost exhausted. Wang Siniang quickly ordered someone to pour vinegar on them. vinegar.
Seeing everyone eating and drinking. Only then did Wang Siniang get to the point.
Debts owed by each household may not be repaid for the time being. However, Mr. Zhao wants the village to continue raising silkworms - raising summer silkworms and autumn silkworms.
In ancient society, people raised second- and third-generation silkworms. However, due to the lack of disinfection awareness and means at that time, continuing to raise second- and third-generation silkworms after spring silkworms often caused serious silkworm diseases. Over time, there were very few silkworm farmers. Summer silkworms and autumn silkworms are raised.
Be specific. It means that both parties enter into a contract. Mr. Zhao loaned everyone silkworm seeds, mulberry leaves and grain rations as an advance payment without interest. Each family is responsible for raising a certain number of silkworm seeds according to its own capabilities. After the cocoons are harvested, the prepayment will be deducted based on the number of cocoons according to the contract price, and the remaining cocoons will be purchased at the contract price.
Everyone has heard of raising summer silkworms and autumn silkworms, but no one has ever raised them. Now I heard that Mr. Zhao wants everyone to raise them. They couldn't help but look at each other, no one dared to answer this.
"Everyone can rest assured that I have a way to raise summer silkworms and autumn silkworms here, and I will naturally help you take care of them when the time comes. I guarantee that everyone can succeed in raising silkworms." Wang Siniang was very confident about this.
No one believed what she said. In their opinion, this was just a new trick used by rich people to deceive farmers.
But now no one dares to say "no". The debt note in Wang Siniang's hand with one cent of monthly interest is a lifeline. Who dares to say no. Tomorrow Mr. Zhao will send people to collect debts, and all the families will be immediately ruined.
Zhao Yingong knew that in this current dilemma, the silkworm farmers who were in a dilemma had no other choice but to accept his conditions. It is difficult to win the trust of farmers. For them to cooperate requires long-term and unremitting efforts. He had neither enough manpower nor enough time to do it slowly. He could only use the east wind of this cheap acquisition to force the conditions on them at lightning speed. Although the method is cruel, it is the most efficient method at the moment.
Order production is the first step. For silkworm farmers to truly trust them, they have to wait until they successfully raise summer and autumn silkworms. Then we can talk about forming a cooperative.
There is a town more than ten miles away from Jixian Village called Jiuli. Like most towns in Jiangnan Water Town, it is surrounded by rice fields, dotted lakes, ponds and rivers.
Jiuli, like most small towns in the south of the Yangtze River, is full of wealth. Although this is not a first-class town on the Hangjiahu Plain, there are still more than 500 households. On both sides of Shangxiatang Road paved with stone slabs, houses and shops with black tiles and white walls are located next to each other. Rice shops, cloth shops, grain shops, ironware shops, boat shops, groceries shops, teahouses... not only are there everything you would expect in an ordinary small town, but there are also "satin shops, dyeing houses and silk shops". Big deal”. There are also a few temples filled with incense and dedicated to gods and Buddhas.
In the southwest corner of this town, there is a small but very exquisite house. This is Mr. Cao's "residence".
Countryside people did not understand the rules of the imperial court, and society in the late Ming Dynasty was not as sensitive to overstepping the rules as it was in the early years of the Republic of China. Mr. Cao, a wealthy man with a scholarly background, was openly called Mr. Cao, and his residence was called "Cao's Mansion".
In the pavilion of the garden pond of "Cao's Mansion", the sound of a woman singing softly could be heard faintly as the teeth were tapped.
Master Cao - Cao Guangjiu was leaning on a Xiangfei couch, his eyes were slightly closed and he was snoring weakly. A maid knelt beside the couch, resisting the afternoon sleepiness and gently beating her legs.
Although he had been asleep for more than two quarters of an hour, neither the singer nor the maid dared to stop without the master's instructions.
Mr. Cao is in his middle age. Although he is a scholar and his family can be regarded as a "heirloom of poetry and calligraphy", he has not been associated with the image of "white-faced scholar" or "Jiangnan romantic talent". He is a dark and strong man. His face was covered with flesh, and he still had a ferocious expression even when he was asleep.
Cao Guangjiu was a typical "broken boot party" - this was the "title" given to such scholarly scoundrels by the society at that time. The Broken Boot Party members are almost all scholars or supervisors. They think they are well-dressed and can move around the government. They usually take charge of lawsuits, talk about right and wrong, bully the weak and fear the strong, and are very rogue. As for lending money to earn interest and exploiting villagers, it is even more common.
Therefore, the Cao family originally opened a private school in the town to make a living. Since Cao Guangjiu became a gangster, he relied on these means of making money and became prosperous in just more than ten years. In the past few years, he has taken over the grain taxes of nearby villages. Every summer and autumn, he can make a lot of "external money" through means such as defaulting on arrears and paying less. The family business is booming.
Although Cao Guangjiu is a bad guy and has done a lot of evil things outside, he still looks good in his hometown and town. Not only is the interest rate on borrowing money lower than ordinary people, but he is also more restrained in his work. This is not because he has a kind heart, but in fact, the imperial examination style in Jiangnan is very prosperous, there are many people with great fame, and the power of the Jin gentry is very strong. He is just a scholar, but if he really pisses off the powerful gentry, he can make him look good with just one picture. Ordinary Jin gentry also have the mentality of "I would rather offend a gentleman than a villain" and do not offend each other.
Recently, when the news reached his ears that someone in Jixian Village and a dozen surrounding villages were lending money at a monthly interest rate of one penny, Cao Guangjiu sent someone to find out who was willing to do such a good deed and lend money at this price. Although loan sharking is one of his "business contents", he has never dared to form a monopoly nearby - moneylending and interest generation are the main means of making money for squires, and he, a shabby guy, would never dare to dream of living alone.
But this clear intention to "grab business" attracted his attention. Several people were sent to inquire about the news, and they found out that behind the moneylender was a "scholar" named Zhao in Hangzhou, and that this scholar was very popular among the gentry in Hangzhou. Especially among the Jin gentry who were religious, they were particularly powerful.
Upon hearing this, Cao Guangjiu had no other ideas. No diamonds, no porcelain work. No wonder Mr. Zhao dared to send people to "steal business" so carelessly. It's natural for him, a shabby guy, to create obstacles for him, but the other party's background is profound, and if he really digs into it, he will never be able to withstand it. Besides, there are so many moneylending gentry here, and I am not the biggest one, why bother to take the lead? When it gets big, someone will naturally take the lead.
Cao Guangjiu just withdrew. These days were the busy farming season, and no one had time to file a lawsuit even before it was time to pay taxes. He didn't have much "business" except going to the teahouse every morning to "skin water" and asking questions. Besides reading some news and chatting with "friends" from all walks of life to see if there were any opportunities, I just spent my days leisurely at home.
His snoring became thicker, and at this time the housekeeper hurried up from the garden path. There was also a piece of business card in his hand.
When Cao Guangjiu was sleeping, no one dared to disturb him - he would have to be hung up and beaten half to death. But today's guest was no small matter. The butler walked into the waterside pavilion and called out a few times.
"What's the matter?" Cao Guangjiu was woken up by someone. He was full of evil spirits, but when he saw that the person he was calling was a housekeeper, he knew that something big must happen, so he asked quickly.
"We have a visitor."
