Under the rule of Zhongyi Town, many people followed Zhao Tai and migrated from Henan. Although they divided the land, the wheat in the fields was not yet mature, so the people could not exchange money to improve their families' lives.
In order to improve the conditions of each household near Pizhou, some people went to Haizhou to do odd jobs in the workshops during the off-season. Those who were brave used their little capital to get money from Haizhou. After the goods are delivered, come back and do some small business.
Ma Juan is one of the bolder people who dares to start a business. However, in the past two years, due to bad luck, he has had some difficulties in doing business, and has successfully transformed himself from a rich man to an old man with debts.
When Majuan was in Suining, his family had a small amount of money. There was a tavern in the county town, and his life was relatively comfortable.
When Zhao Tai gave up Suining and handed over Sizhou and Suzhou to the Southern Song Dynasty, he originally wanted to stay, but he was worried about the Mongols coming, so he closed the tavern and followed Zhao Tai to Pizhou.
According to regulations, all Dingkou who migrated can obtain land. Majuan's family received twenty acres of land. However, he had been running a tavern since he was a child and was not good at farming, so he handed over the land to his fellow clan members to take care of it, while he worked in Pizhou. I bought a restaurant and started my old business.
He opened a tavern in the city, but there were no customers since it opened. Within half a year, it closed down at a loss.
When we were in Suining, the people had families and businesses, and some money in their hands. There were more or less guests who came every now and then to offer toothpastes.
Pizhou was in dire straits, and the people who had migrated here did not have all the furniture in their homes, and they had no food in their hands. Naturally, they did not dare to spend money randomly, so few people ate out, so they had to open fires themselves.
There were many troops stationed in Pizhou City. Ma Juan felt that the soldiers must pay for the army's pay, and Zhao Tai's army had good military discipline and would give money for meals. He gritted his teeth and persisted, hoping that the army could bring him some business. You can definitely make a fortune.
What Majuan didn't expect was that the people were poor and the feudal government was also poor. The military pay given to the army was mainly based on land and physical goods. Even if they were given copper coins, the soldiers would be sent home quickly so that their families could buy rice. Solve the problem of survival first.
Therefore, the harder Majuan worked, the more unlucky he became. The money he brought from Suining was quickly lost, and in the end he had to dismiss the waiters and chefs and close the business.
He looked at others who invested their money in the land and got a harvest immediately, but he lost money. Ma Juan regretted it in his heart. His wife also complained all day long. If he had known that he would do nothing with the money, it would be better to open a restaurant. powerful.
Although the opening of the restaurant failed, Majuan did not give up. He did not know how to farm, so he could only do a small business.
After losing all his savings, he had no money to open a store in the city, so he went to Haizhou to buy some groceries, walked through the streets, rushed to the market, and became a traveling merchant.
A few days ago, he got news that the vassal government was going to reward the army with a large sum of money, and invited merchants from nearby Pizhou to hold a three-day gathering in and outside Pizhou City. He looked down and borrowed money from his father-in-law. , purchased a cart of groceries from Haizhou and transported them to the market outside Pizhou City, preparing for a turnaround.
At this time, Ma Juan and dozens of traveling merchants set up stalls at the gate of the city, but the sun was already overhead and there were no customers coming, which made everyone feel sad.
"If I lose this product, my mother-in-law at home won't fall out with me!" Ma Juan sat behind the stall with a frown on his face.
At this moment, someone suddenly shouted next to him: "Here we come, the guests are here!" Majuan heard the sound and stood up quickly. He saw a group of soldiers in the distance, with their shoulders and hands and a large bunch of copper coins hanging around their waists. Come over here.
In an instant, all the vendors' eyes flashed and they came out to solicit customers. The horse rolls forward,
"Guest, come here and take a look. There are pots, pans, pots, pans, and coarse cloths. Everything is there." Zeng Daniu received a small reward, only a small amount of money, but his family had plenty of land and enough food, so he gritted his teeth and walked to At the stall, he saw pots and jars with everything. He pointed at the coarse sermon and said, "What's the price of this?" Ma Juan quickly smiled and said, "Guest, fifteen cents per foot." Zeng Daniu thought it was not expensive and the price was pretty good. It's reasonable. Thinking that my wife hasn't made new clothes in two years, she said: "Give me five feet!"
"Okay!" Majuan quickly cut the cloth for Majuan, and the surrounding vendors also attracted their own customers.
These sergeants all had several strings of copper coins hanging on their bodies. They suddenly had so much money, and they all spent vengefully, eager to buy everything they lacked at home.
Zeng Daniu bought a few feet of cloth, some pots and pans, and some rouge for his wife at Majuan's stall. The total cost was less than 400 Wen, so he spent another 200 Wen from the people who went to the market. In my hands, I bought some fish and meat and went home happily.
After Zeng Daniu left, the sergeants who had received the reward came out of the camp one after another. The goods of Majuan were quickly sold out, leaving only two clay pots filled with copper coins.
Zeng Daniu's home is in a fort in the southern suburbs of the city. Facing the threat of Mongolian cavalry, Zhao Tai encouraged the people to build forts and farm fields.
However, the cost of building fortresses was huge, and the vassal government did not allocate funds, so the clans had to build them themselves, so the condition of the fortresses was uneven.
There are more than a dozen families living in Zengjiabao, and they are all military households. Each family has one person serving in the army.
At this time, the earthen wall of Zengjiabao had not yet been built and was only half completed. The old people, women, and children in the fort were all mixing the earth and making adobe bricks by the river.
"Mom, daddy is back!" The child playing in the mud pointed into the distance. The busy men, women and children stood up one after another and saw Zeng Daniu and his party coming back carrying a large amount of supplies.
When the clan leader saw this, he immediately smiled and said: "That's it for today. Everyone wash your hands quickly and go to greet them." A group of people washed themselves in the river and then trotted to greet them. The women looked at their men and carried their Carrying the goods and hanging copper coins around their waists, they suddenly felt that they were men of extraordinary power, and all of them immediately beamed with joy.
Zeng Daniu was welcomed home by his daughter-in-law, put away his things, took out the cloth and rouge,
"Madam, this is for you. You have worked hard in the past two years." His wife took it, and she was very happy, but she complained: "My father, what are you spending this money on? What are the expenses for the family? How many miles." Zeng Daniu handed the remaining four hundred Wen to her and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Madam, the Shangguan said that every month from now on, I will have a regular military pay. If I go to the battlefield, any gains will be counted. You know, Mazi received three coins this time, and next time your husband-in-law I will bring back so much money. You can spend these few hundred coins first and buy whatever your family needs. You don’t have to worry about money." On the other side, Ma Juan closed his stall and returned home. He put two large jars of copper coins on the table with great dignity, and his voice was three times louder than before.
"Mother, bring me a basin of water. I'm tired and need to burn my feet." The woman who was busy in the room became furious after hearing this. She came out with a rolling pin and was about to pack up the horse rolls. She saw two large pots of copper coins on the table. , immediately put on a smiling face, I couldn’t believe it,
"Ms. sir, did you earn this today?" Ma Juan raised his eyebrows and said,
"That's right, you order the money, take another hundred coins, and return it to Lao Taishan, so that I won't look at his face. I'll keep the remaining money as capital, and keep the rest for you."
