Chapter 62 The magic of fate
After a while, Kuai Dagong circled a few places. He wrote it on the paper and handed it to Yang Zhen. Said: "As long as you are not a fool, you can do these things."
Yang Zhen exchanged a few words and then left. Then he took Zhang Youzhi, who was confused, and ran to the opposite side, which was also a newly built government office with the name "Beijing Construction Department of the Ming Dynasty" written on it. Yang Zhen took him to meet Master Tie.
Lord Tie issued a document directly. Let him sign and stamp it.
Zhang Youzhi was preparing to sign. Master Tie grabbed the pen and said, "Read it carefully before signing."
Only then did Zhang Youzhi take a closer look. It's a deed. It says that he is contracting a project with a very long number. It needs to be completed within a month. Give me a banknote of five hundred taels.
Zhang Youzhi frowned and said, "Sir, what is a bank note?"
Yang Zhen took out a banknote from his pocket and said, "This is it. You can exchange it for silver at the newly established Bank of Beijing, one to one, and you can exchange it for whatever denomination you want."
Zhang Youzhi said: "Can it really be changed?"
Yang Zhen and Tie Xuan both had ugly faces.
This is a problem that both sides have to face together, and it is also a problem that they have always wanted to solve. But how was it resolved? Hard to say.
Yang Zhen coughed and said: "Of course it can be exchanged. However, there is no need to exchange it. Because if you sell things, you can use banknotes for most things. And there is a fee to exchange banknotes for silver. You also know . It’s better to just use banknotes.”
The so-called rake is the exchange fee.
You need to collect money to exchange silver notes for silver, but you don't need to exchange silver for silver notes. In fact, this is also one of the ways to limit the exchange of silver. Exchange charges are a given. The gold and silver shops and pawn shops of the Ming Dynasty never said that it was free, whether it was silver for copper coins, gold for silver, or gold for copper coins.
Everyone in the world knows this.
However, the exchange fee for exchanging banknotes for silver needs to be publicized. The latter did not.
It was only at this moment that Zhang You felt a little dazed in his heart. Only then did I realize that I seemed to have done something extraordinary. Somewhat worried. A little bit at a loss again. But he is a smart man. He took a deep breath and thought to himself: "Do I have a choice?"
Of course there is none.
So he just signed and stamped it.
Then Yang Zhen asked again: "How much money do you have on you now?"
Zhang Youzhi said: "The only thing left is the fare home."
Yang Zhen said: "Let's do this. You take this contract. Go to the Bank of Beijing across the street and you can mortgage a sum of money."
Zhang Youzhi shook his head and said: "Pledge? It's too expensive."
Yang Zhen said: "Don't worry, the annual interest rate will not exceed 30%. And you have to do a project now. Five hundred people don't have any tools. After you finish the project, you can just pay back the money."
Tie Xuan immediately called a clerk and asked him to take Zhang You down.
After Tie Hyun left.
Yang Zhen and Tie Xuan sat facing each other for a long time.
Yang Zhen said: "Is this the first one?"
Tie Xuan said: "That's the first one."
The two smiled bitterly at each other, not knowing what to say for a moment? Tie Xuan said: "Brother Yang, you have been with me for many years. I actually don't understand this matter. Even if you don't want to disturb the people, there should be other ways. Just let the people do business and form associations. This gathering is like this. A construction company with many people. Can we let people do whatever they want?"
Yang Zhen said: "Sir, I actually want the counties near Beijing to establish a construction society on a county-by-county basis to participate in this major project. But the key is that no one is coming forward. Things are stuck here. ”
"He must have hit the right time."
Tie Xuan was a little confused and said, "Brother Yang, what on earth do you want to do?"
Yang Zhen sighed and said: "I don't know either, but I believe that you will do better and better."
When Yang Zhen said this, he obviously lacked confidence.
People like certainty rather than uncertainty. This is very realistic.
He Xi actually told the people around him countless times about the new method and the various benefits in the future. But He Xi's reform became violent. They are still a little confused. I always wonder where He Xi will take them?
Can we walk there again?
These confusions are very real.
These two people are He Xi's diehard loyalists. But there is still this confusion in my heart. Not to mention everyone else’s.
But doing something that has never been done before in the world, this transcendence itself will bring such problems.
This is the people's hearts that have been united by He Xi's success. Once some problems arise in the process, people's hearts will disperse surprisingly quickly. Good things never come true, and fireworks are easy to scatter.
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Zhang Youzhi was at the bank and got a hundred taels of silver notes smoothly. And with the bank's meticulous care, he easily spent eighty taels of it and obtained tools, shovels, picks, and other tools for 500 people. One hand at a time. There were also a few bulldozers. Successfully cleared a sum of inventory for the iron factory in Liaodong.
A clerk sent by Tie Xuan. He also brought them to the scene.
The lime line has been laid here.
For more than a month, Kuai Dagong, also known as Kuai Fu, has not been idle. He has already measured the entire ground surface of Beijing. Of course, this is not his fault alone. It is the joint contribution of countless students from the Polytechnic College.
It was like the area framed with lime in front of him.
The clerk handed Zhang Youzhi a blueprint and said: "This is it. Dig a foot deep. There is no technical work, just physical strength. It will be completed within a month."
Zhang Youzhi called over several elders from his fellow villagers. That is to say, from the perspective of people who have been working as laborers. They all nodded, a little bitterness was nothing. It can be done.
Zhang Youzhi said: "Then do it. As long as it can be done well, everyone will pay half a tael of silver."
Zhang Youzhi simply cut the total project cost in half.
Zhang Youzhi doesn't feel guilty at all, because he has to take care of food, money for tools, etc. during these half months. Overall, it is unclear whether this order can be profitable or not. After all, it was the first time to do such a thing.
At this moment, Zhang Youzhi actually forgot one thing. Forget it, he didn't forget it. He doesn't know.
Ming Dynasty's trading companies, clubs and other commercial operations are all equivalent to companies. Taxes are required. Of course, it is a new topic to collect taxes from these business entities. Now Hexi is still thinking about how to do it.
"Really. One month, half a tael of silver?" one person said in surprise.
He couldn't believe it.
Is half a tael of silver more than a month? Too much.
It should be noted that in the late Ming Dynasty, one could only earn more than a dozen taels of silver per year to support a soldier. Equivalent to one month, it’s only a little over one tael. But it costs one's life. It is a high-risk occupation. And if it's half a tael of silver a month, it's six taels of silver a year.
And those with six taels of silver can probably buy twenty shi of rice. The cost of eating per person per year is about three or four stones. In other words, this is enough to support a family. But in fact, the people of Ming Dynasty never had such luxury.
Many people have never seen what silver looks like.
There is no need to take any risks, and the salary is quite good.
The county magistrate only makes a few dozen taels a year.
Ordinary people don’t have many demands.
So, with an order, everyone was ready to start work. Fortunately, many people had served in corvee in their hometowns and knew how to organize people to work. After a period of chaos, under the leadership of Zhang Youzhi, the work became more orderly.
However, Zhang You always felt baffled when he calmed down.
Opportunities in life are always mysterious. Zhang Youzhi still hasn't figured out what happened today. It seems that many things are pushing him away. He didn't know what happened, but it became like this.
Puzhou Society? He still feels baffled now.
Countless years later, the gray-haired Zhang Youzhi still cannot understand this question when he recalls it today. He can only be pinned on the fate that chose him. Give him a chance to soar into the sky.
And it was not just him who soared into the sky, but also Puzhou Society.
Many of the major choices in life were not understood to be important at the time. It was only many years later that we truly understood them. The same is true for Zhang Youzhi.
How about Zhang Youzhi? He Xi is just a small person in the world. He Xi has never thought so much, and now he also has his own troubles.
Some people died, but not completely...
