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Chapter 176 Conference Three
"newspaper"
"Oh, this is it." Ma Peng took down a large piece of paper from the newspaper rack of the cooperative, with words printed on it.
"What does it say?"
"It's all kinds of news: from Bairen City, Dongmen City, and the whole county. Recently, there's also business news from Guangzhou Prefecture." He turned over the back page, "These pages are all about 00 rap songs and the like. It’s something very beautiful.”
Fu Buer doesn't know how to read, so naturally he can't understand the benefits. It's better to bring it back and show it to the people in the village who can read - it's considered a rare thing. To be careful, he added another question:
"There are no offensive words here, right?"
"No, several copies of this newspaper are delivered to the county government office every day. If you want one, take one and the conference representatives will read it for free," the female clerk said.
Fu Buer was relieved. I took one, folded it carefully and hid it on my body. I walked around the store again and saw a lot of fine silk and foreign cloth, so I wanted to buy some back. The welfare society collected copper coins, broken silver and circulation certificates. Fu Buer bought a few pieces of foreign cloth. Tell the house boy to hold it. When I saw the female clerk drawing a pattern on the account book while looking at the abacus, it was similar to the pattern on her own brand. The so-called towels also had such patterns. I remembered that Ma Peng had said that these are called Arabic numerals, and they are much easier to use for accounting than Suzhou codes. I got interested, spent a long time there, and even had a conversation with the waiter. It turned out that this woman had only learned to read and do arithmetic in the past few months. Now she not only knows the abacus, but can also keep accounts.
"The boss lady is really a kind-hearted person." The female clerk is obviously very satisfied with her treatment. "Food and clothing are all included, and she also teaches skills. I can also get a hundred yuan in commission from sales every month."
Fu Buer couldn't help but be moved when he saw the grandeur of this shop, the way the clerks advanced and retreated, and all of them seemed to be literate, able to write and do calculations - there were several teenage boys and girls in his family. , except for beating pigs and grass and herding cattle, it is of no use, why not send him here to be an apprentice, it will be of great help to him after he learns the skills. Immediately, I asked Ma Peng whether he would accept apprentices here. He was willing to send a few children to be apprentices, and he would also pay for the food.
"I don't know about this." Mapeng said, "After the meeting, you can talk to the leaders yourself. If you want to send someone to study, it is probably a sure thing."
After coming out of the cooperative, Fu Buer followed Ma Peng for a few rounds in Dongmen City. Not only was the street clean and tidy, there was not even a single beggar or gangster. Even the prostitutes soliciting customers on the street stood neatly under a special yellow wooden sign. Although they kept making teasing words, they did not force them. Pulling and dragging passers-by.
Policemen dressed like Mapeng can be seen on the street from time to time. It seems that they are wandering around the streets all the time. No wonder it's so peaceful here.
"There are no people like this here." Mapeng told him. "If they are caught, they will be sent to the quarry to quarry stones or to sift sand by the river. It is hard to say whether they can come out." He laughed triumphantly, very Be satisfied with your prestige. The yellow sign is the place where prostitutes stand on the street. There are eight signs in Dongmen City. Prostitutes who want to solicit customers have to line up under that sign. After the first one has done business, the next one can continue to solicit customers. They are not allowed to jump in the queue.
"The elders are very considerate of the old and the poor. This prostitute doesn't even accept donations. As long as you get a certificate, you can do business here."
Fu Buer looked closely, and sure enough, every prostitute had a sign hanging on his chest that was similar to his, except that it was yellow.
Seeing Fu Fu'er looking at her, the prostitute immediately put on a charming smile and said, "Master, come and play there. I'll take all the coins, silver, and bills."
Ma Peng scolded: "Go, go, stop soliciting, this is a conference representative."
The prostitute seemed to be quite afraid of the policeman, so she curled her lips and remained silent.
Fu Buyer asked Ma Peng: "What kind of ticket is this? The cooperative shop also asked me if I have it."
"It's money notes. It's also called circulation coupons here. All merchants in Dongmen City use these." He took out a few colorful pieces of paper from his pocket.
"You can buy things with this piece of paper." Fu Fuji didn't believe it.
"This is what we charge, there can be no falsehoods."
Fu Buer studied these pieces of paper for a long time and murmured to himself. He remembered hearing from the elders in the clan that the imperial court also issued such paper money tickets many, many years ago. At that time, the government insisted that people accept this kind of money when buying things, but they refused when paying taxes. Come on, no matter how many words are written on the paper, you can't buy anything when you take it to the market. The common people regard this as waste paper. He remembered, it seemed to be called Bao Chao or something.
"Brother Ma, if this thing works, the government has done it before. It's worthless waste paper." Fu Buer lowered his voice and said.
"Of course it works. One yuan can buy a kilogram of rice. You can buy it anytime." Ma Peng seemed very unhappy with his question. "So many merchants in Dongmen City are fools. Don't think this is a government official." The Ming Dynasty treasure notes issued. These are issued by the chiefs."
From what he said, the shorthairs were much more trustworthy than the Ming government. However, Fu Buer doesn't think the government has any credibility. I was just surprised that Ma Peng would believe so wholeheartedly in this group of "Kun people" of unknown origin.
"This is Delong Grain Store, they are the ones who issue the circulation coupons." Mapeng said, pointing to a big shop in front. This shop is more grand than the cooperative just now. It is located in a two-story brick building with three steps. The wide windows are luxuriously equipped with beautiful cast-iron patterned railings. Two stone lions. Even the county government can't compare with this style.
"Brother Ma, why are there no people buying and selling grain in this grain store?" Fu Buer was seriously suspicious.
"This is the counter. Those who deliver goods go in through the door on the side. There is a big yard inside, it's huge."
Fu Buer felt a little timid when he saw the formation of the grain store. If it weren't for the horse ponchos nearby, he probably wouldn't have dared to go in. Inside is a very large hall, equipped with a row of wooden counters like those in a pawn shop, but not as high. The windows were wide and large, and the amount of light coming in was so uncomfortable that he could only hear the sound of the abacus. Darling, the battle in this grain store is quite scary.
There is a wooden sign hanging on the wooden counter on the far left. Ma Peng told him that this is the exchange office. The shop collects circulation coupons. If you don't want them, you can take them here and exchange them for grain chips. You can exchange them directly in the yard. It’s rice.
"One yuan can be exchanged for a pound." Ma Peng took out a green note. The so-called big pound means that the 500-gram pound is heavier than the pound in this time and space, so it is named big pound.
Fu Buer knew a little about the big catty thing, because when he sent the long-term workers to sell grain, the long-term workers came back and said: The short-haired people don't use buckets, but use scales to weigh them directly. At that time, in order to help the indigenous people understand how much a pound was, every large household that came to sell grain received a standard stone weight weighing one pound. Fu Buer still has that stone thing in his house, ready to use it when he sells grain next year.
I looked over and over several notes from Ma Peng for a long time. Fu Buer was still a little confused. He didn't know how this piece of flower paper could be used. He vaguely realized that the key was that this piece of paper could be exchanged for food here. That’s why merchants are willing to accept it.
"It's really an eye-opener." Fu Fuji became more and more determined to send a few domestic boys as apprentices. Needless to say, there were more of these short-haired boys than others. But he also wanted to let the young boys in the family learn how to do it. How could his son be able to fight against them? If there was something wrong with him, wouldn't it be that the family property was difficult to protect, and those people in the clan were not necessarily reliable. But he was really reluctant to send his son as an apprentice.
After leaving the grain store, we did a lot of sightseeing in Dongmen City. Everything we saw was new and interesting. I secretly felt that I was right to come to the meeting this time. This little knowledge alone is enough to go back and brag about it for three to five years.
Seeing the red clouds filling the sky and getting late, I wanted to go back to the hotel. But Ma Peng wanted to treat him to dinner:
"Dong Fu's family, I've eaten a lot of food from you in the past, so this time it's mine."
Fu Buer thought that this poor boy was a little more developed now, so he must want to look good in front of his past employer, so he just followed him. Besides, I had to say some things at the dinner table, so I agreed immediately and sent the domestic boy back to the hotel first.
The far end of the side street of Dongmen Street is farther away from the city center and is close to the outskirts of Dongmen City. There are not many pedestrians and it is very quiet. There are some small shops opened here, which are the business of the members and workers in Bairen City. There were several small restaurants and taverns, all lit up at this time. Ma Peng usually had nothing to do after work, so he drank and chatted with a few colleagues here. Sometimes the director, Dugu, would come to join in the fun. I became acquaintances with the shopkeeper and the waiter.
This is a small restaurant with only six tables. On the wooden cabinet at the entrance are dishes of cold dishes, mostly local seafood, covered in bamboo cages, and a vat of boiled peanuts in salt water - these are all dishes to go with the wine.
Ma Peng entered the store and asked the waiter to find a seat for them inside. I ordered four dishes, a bottle of wine, and two bowls of fish porridge. The two exchanged cups for a few rounds before Fu Buer got to the topic:
"Now you are also a policeman here in Short Hair, and you are living a good life, right?"
"That is, it is much better than doing the work." Ma Peng said, "The currency reform has just been carried out recently. A police officer like me can get 200 yuan a month, which can buy 200 kilograms of rice. My mother and I We are all well fed, and can even buy some new clothes and so on." He took a sip of wine and said, "I, Ma Peng, have been working as a laborer since I was twelve years old. This day is really like a dream.”
"That's it, that's it." Fu Bu'er wanted to find out the details of this meeting, so he kept drinking and serving food, and said a lot of flattery. Seeing that the atmosphere was already heated, he asked:
"Brother Ma, why do you think this short-haired leader wants us people from all over the country to come to a meeting?"
Ma Peng shook his head and said: "How could I know that the leaders are thinking deeply? We don't understand."
Fu Buyer felt slightly disappointed and deliberately used words to provoke him: "You can be regarded as their confidant even though Shorthair doesn't reveal a single bit of his words."
"What kind of confidant am I?" Ma Peng laughed: "Far from it. Let's just talk about our strengths. He is not a big shot among the short-haired people. I heard that he can't get involved in the discussions among the leaders. ." He took a sip of wine, "But this time the chiefs took the matters to be discussed very seriously and specially built some kind of grand viewing platform. They also ordered us to take good care of the representatives of each village - anyway, they want to satisfy you. .”
Fu Buer saw that there was a door and quickly struck while the iron was hot: "You can always guess something."
Ma Peng thought for a moment before saying: "It's probably a matter of cooperation. I don't understand what cooperation means. But what the chiefs mean is that each village should jointly organize team exercises and train together. There are other things. The "benefits" should be given to each village. As for what the benefits are, I don't know."
"You didn't say anything about sending food and missions, right?" Fu Buer didn't care about the so-called benefits - if Shorthair didn't force them too much, it would be a sign of mercy from the emperor.
"I haven't heard of this, but there is a shortage of manpower here, and we need people to organize group training. Around the time of the meeting, we will ask each village to send missionaries. I don't think we need food. There is plenty here."
This is easy to handle. Fu Buer thought, if it was a mission, at most it would be to send a few poor people with foreign surnames in the village, and it would not hurt any bones in the village.
Fu Buer took out a piece of silver and quietly handed it to Ma Peng from under the table:
"Brother Ma, this is just a small thing. I ask you to take more care of the village in the future. We are all fellow villagers -"
This ingot of silver has one or two weights. Although it is not rich, it is not a small number for ordinary people. This time the village council came up with twenty taels of silver for him to use throughout Bairen City.
Ma Peng quickly refused: "I can't do it, I can't do it. Fu Dongjia, you are harming me. Take it back quickly."
Fu Bu'er thought he was just pretending to be evasive, but when he saw Ma Peng's face full of panic, it was obviously not an act, so he had to take the money back.
Ma Peng quickly looked around, and when he saw that no one was paying attention, he continued in a low voice, "Dong Fu's family, Shorthair hates this the most. I'll take your money, even if you smash your job, put it away quickly."
Fu Buer said: "What are you afraid of? Heaven knows and the earth knows, you know and I know -"
"The problem is that the chiefs know everything." Ma Peng said something fearfully. A policeman in the station collected money from several shops. Unexpectedly, Director Dugu found out the next day. Then this man disappeared - I heard he is now working as a coolie in a quarry.
"The weird thing is that no one else was present except for them - they say the leaders have the power of ghosts and gods. I don't dare to do this."
Fu Fuji also told him that his spine felt chilly, and he thought of many strange things about short-haired people, and felt a little scared in his heart.
At this time, the waiter brought the fish porridge, and also brought a plate of thin crisps to drink with the porridge. Since Ma Peng had to work half a shift after dinner, he didn't bother to drink more and wolfed down the porridge, while Fu Buer said he was full after drinking the porridge. After dinner, Ma Peng took out the money and checked the account, and Fu Buer thanked him repeatedly. The two of them went out together and disappeared into the lights and crowds of people after dusk.
The waiter here cleared the table, and Goubli stood up from behind the counter and got into the locker room. He took out a piece of paper, a bottle of ink and a quill from the locked cabinet, and wrote a line in crooked simplified Chinese under the candle:
"Surveillance report on the meeting between Dongmen City Police Station Police Officer Ma Peng and Meizhi Village Representative Fu Buer in the store.",.
