Zhang Ruoxi took the thick stack of land deeds, looked through the house deeds, and found that many of the deeds were not endorsed by the original Lou people, and said: "Many of these deeds of the Dong family should have been obtained by rebellious slaves.
Some were obtained through cunning and plundering, and many of them were illegal.”
Zhang Yuandao: "It's better to go to the county house to re-apply the deed to the six hundred acres of mulberry forest from my brother-in-law's house. I'll keep these deeds first. They should be useful in the future." Zhang Ruoxi suddenly said: "Hey, there are still people who sell themselves.
"Slave contract." Zhang Yuan hurriedly said: "Let's see if there is any slave contract with the surname Zong.[..com]
"I took a stack from my sister's hand and looked through it one by one. I saw a deed of selling a man signed by Zong Laoban. The paper was yellowed and it was obviously old. The deed read: "Sanlintang Zong Laoban.
, my biological son Zonglu,
u, whose name is Lannuo, is thirteen years old. Because his family is poor and he has no money to borrow during the solar eclipse, he is willing to be entrusted to be a slave in Dongsheng's house in Huating, and he will be given seven taels or eighty cents of silver. On the day of signing the contract, he will pay the full amount together.
I will be raised by the owner of the bank, marry Yi, and use it for life. If anything goes wrong, he will be my life. I am my biological son, and there is no such thing as unknown origin. Now that I have proof, I will make a written deed with my fingerprints as
According to the Zonglaoban (deed) dated February 19th of the fifth year of Wanli, the middle-aged man Wang Guishou rummaged through the deeds. Except for the deed of the Zonglaoben selling his children, no one with the surname Zong was found.
After signing the contract of betrayal, Zhang Yuan ordered Wu Ling to go to the outer courtyard to ask about Zong Yishan's father's name. When he did not move, Wu Ling responded and said that Zong Yishan's father's name was Zong Lu. Zhang Yuan said to his sister and brother-in-law: "Zong Yishan is the son of a domestic slave.
, I don’t have a contract to sell myself, so this is easier. I will find a way out for Zong Yishan.” The ten open wooden boxes in the room are golden, white, and jewel-like. They are only a small part of the Dong family’s wealth in Huating.
Excluding gold, jade, ornaments, books and antiques, this gold and silver chain alone is worth thirty thousand taels of silver. The Dong family of Huating has always been stingy and has never been willing to contribute money to local disaster relief. Once, it was Chen Meigong who initiated the initiative. Dong Qichang saw that
In order to save his face, Chen Meigong reluctantly took out two paintings and calligraphy and sold them for eighty taels of silver as disaster relief money...
In the last years of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng conquered Datong and threatened the capital. Chongzhen ordered Ningyuan to be abandoned, and Wu Sangui's Guan Ning cavalry was transferred to the capital. To mobilize troops, it was necessary to raise pay, but the palace treasury and the Taicang Bank of the Ministry of Revenue were unable to provide the money. In desperation,
Emperor Chongzhen issued an order to donate money according to official rank, but only a few eunuchs donated some money, while most officials were as greedy as a rooster. The cabinet minister Wei Dezao only donated 500 taels, and Chen Yan even cried poor and confessed that he was honest and incorruptible.
Silver could be donated, but later when the peasant army captured Beijing, Wei Dezao surrendered first, and Chen Yan even donated 40,000 taels of silver. Many officials who had originally had nothing to lose were tortured by the peasant army and were forced to give out tens of thousands of taels of silver.
It can be seen that the Ming Dynasty was not without money. Money was in the hands of corrupt officials. Once a bully and evil gentry like Dong Qichang encountered a revolution, he must be similar to Wei Dezao and Chen Yan. Being an official in any dynasty is not the same, so why be loyal to one party?
This kind of mentality is very common among the gentry in the late Ming Dynasty. As long as they can protect their own lives and property, the country will rise or fall, and the people will live and die without doing anything else. This has a certain connection with the hedonistic trend of thought arising from the Taizhou School's advocacy of "protecting oneself wisely". Zhang Yuan
Knowing the general trend of history and having the ambition to save the country, he must have huge financial resources in his own hands. He immediately said: "Sister, brother-in-law, can I participate in a joint venture in this Shengmei No. 1? I will pay ten thousand taels?"
Zhang Ruoxi looked at her husband Lu Tao, and Lu Tao said: "If it weren't for Jiezi, our Lu family would have been completely defeated this time. Even if half of the family property is given to Jiezi, it should be half."
Zhang Yuan hurriedly said: "Brother-in-law, don't say that. Shouldn't I help my sister and brother-in-law?" Lu Tao said: "I won't talk about anything else. I, the Lu family, and the Zhang family will each share half of the Shengmei number, ten thousand taels of silver."
You don’t have to give it out either, the business tips you mentioned last time alone are worth tens of thousands of dollars.”
Zhang Yuandao: "This is absolutely impossible. The money for the shareholding must be paid, otherwise it will be difficult for my brother-in-law to explain to Uncle Lu."
Zhang Ruoxi chuckled and said: "Let Xiao Yuan come out with this one. As the saying goes, brothers should settle accounts clearly." Lu Tao thought about it. The Lu family has been troubled by the Dong family since last year, and the sericulture and textile losses have been huge.
, I really didn’t have enough money to open the Shengmei Company, so he said: "Well, I will inform my father tomorrow and make a contract with Jiezi. From now on, the Shengmei Company will be owned by the Lu family and the Zhang family." Lu Tao was very happy.
A prudent person, so he wants to make a contract. Zhang Yuan also thinks that it is best to make a contract. This is not a matter of one or two years, but should be extended to future generations. The contractual relationship is more stable than maintaining it solely based on feelings.
After discussing the matter of Shengmei Company for a while, Lu Tao and Zhang Ruoxi went back to the room. Zhang Yuan came back from bathing three hours later and saw Mu Zhenzhen fastening the ten copper locks that had been pried off, and said
: "Master, this lock can still be used."
Zhang Yuan laughed and said: "Do you have to force it every time? Hehe, what kind of mentality is this? Let Laifu buy ten copper locks tomorrow..."
Mu Zhenzhen agreed. He got up early the next day and ordered Laifu to buy ten copper locks and locked the boxes one by one. When he saw the young master and the eldest and third young master of Xi Zhang were about to go out, he hurriedly chased after him and said: "
Master, this is the key, Master, keep it."
Zhang Yuan laughed and said, "It's strange that I have a key on my belt." Zhang Dai and Zhang E both laughed.
Mu Zhenzhen blushed, holding the bunch of keys in his hand, a little confused.
Zhang Yuandao: "Zhenzhen, just keep it, you are my housekeeper."
Mu Zhenzhen felt the young master's trust, and felt heavy with joy in his heart. He asked again: "Where are you going, young master?"
Zhang Yuandao: "You don't have to go with Yang Xiucai's printing shop.
"After that, I went out with my eldest brother Zhang Dai and third brother Zhang E. There was Yang Shixiang's servant waiting in front of the door.
Zhang E looked back at the fallen girl and said with admiration: "Meson is really lucky. He can also find such treasures from Sandai Street, such as my personal maid Lu Mei, and my eldest brother's maid
Suzhi is only useful in bed, but has no use in bed."
Zhang Yuan said: "Yeah, that's called a hua bottle."
"Hucalyx was surprised at first, and then he stamped his feet and laughed, obviously realizing the "huā bottle"
The meaning is profound.
Talking and laughing, we arrived at Yang Shixiang's book printing workshop early. This workshop is connected to the back garden of Yang's family, on the bank of Qinglong River, not far from Shuixian Temple. There are ten large tile-roofed houses in a row. Yang Shixiang accompanied an old official from the county household house.
We arrived first. This old official came to estimate the value of the book printing workshop of the Yang family. He asked while looking at it, and the estimate was quite detailed. The craftsmen employed by the bookstore are divided into writers, engravers, and printers. Yang's bookstore has writers.
one person,
There are twelve engravers, six printers, and two handymen. This scale can only be regarded as a small bookstore. The old county official gave Yang's bookstore property, the existing engraving plates, pear wood and paper used for engraving.
The total estimated value is 1,200 taels of silver, which should be overestimated. Zhang Yuan didn't care, so he just said that Yang Shixiang invested 1,200 taels of silver in Hanshe Bookstore. One share of 10 taels of silver equals 120 shares.
, Yang Shixiang said: "I will pay another eight hundred taels of silver to make two hundred shares."
Hong Daotai also came, and he offered 500 taels of silver to participate in Hanshe Bookstore. In this way, Hanshe Bookstore's capital of 10,000 taels has been raised to 6,500 taels, including 3,000 taels for the three Zhang brothers and 2,000 taels for Yang Shixiang.
Lu Tao received one thousand taels, Hong Daotai 500 taels, and the remaining 3,500 taels were invested by Huating, the six co-heads and co-deputies in Shanghai. This was Zhang Yuan's method of winning over the co-heads and co-deputies. In fact, it was
With his current financial resources, it would not be difficult for him to run Hanshe Bookstore. The reason why he wanted Yang Shixiang, Hong Daotai, Xia Yunyi and others to participate in the shares was actually to share the benefits. One Yang Shixiang was given one tael of silver to reward the old man in the house, and sent the old man away.
Officer, a few people were drinking tea under the shade of a tree near the river. Zhang Yuan looked at the carver sitting in front of the door and asked: "Brother Shi Xiang, how many characters can this carver carve in a day?"
Yang Shixiang said: "It depends on what font is being carved. If you want to engrave the fonts of Yan, Liu, Ou, and Zhao, it will be slow. You can only carve a hundred characters a day. And if you want to engrave the general Song font, it is also called
Although this type of font is not very beautiful, it is easier to write with horizontal and vertical strokes. A skilled craftsman can carve more than two hundred characters a day. The calligraphers here can only write Song script. If you want to hire a bookman who is good at regular script
The salary is not low."
Zhang Yuan knew that the book "Zhang Jiezi's Selected Commentary on One Hundred and Twenty Songjiang Essays" used craftsman style calligraphy. The volume contained about 60,000 words. Twelve engravers would carve about 3,000 words a day, which would cost 20
After many days, I asked: "Brother Shixiang, isn't it easy to use movable type printing? Why do bookshops still use engraving?"
Yang Shixiang said: "The cost of movable type is high, and typesetting is not easy. For small batch printing, engraving is more convenient."
Zhang Yuan nodded and thought: "Clay type is not durable, copper type is too expensive, and bell type requires organizing people to do scientific research. For the time being, engraving is still used. Engraving and printing took more than a thousand years, until the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.
It has just been eliminated by type printing from the West, so it can be seen that it is still very convenient." He said: "Brother Shixiang will have to worry more about Hanshe Bookstore's engraving and printing staff. This year will be doubled first, and then doubled before the end of the year.
, employ two types of engravers, one is the engraver of the Jiangxi calligraphy, and the other is the engraver who can engrave the Yan, Liu, Ou, and Zhao fonts. Some fine book engravers should be more particular about the paper they use, and the bookmakers also need to hire two types of engravers.
Anyone who is good at regular script can be an old boy or an old scholar."
Yang Shixiang nodded and said: "Brother Jiezi, don't worry. I have been running a bookstore for many years, and I am very familiar with doing this. In the past, I had no books to print, and I was afraid of losing money. Now that I have the backing of Hanshe, I can go ahead and run it. But I have a question.
One sentence, apart from this current anthology newly reviewed by Brother Jiezi, what other books can be printed at the moment?"
Zhang Yuandao: "Brother Shi Xiang, don't worry about the source of the book. I will find a way. All you have to do is recruit skilled engravers and printers. The bookstore can also train its own engravers and hire some smart young people from poor families as apprentices. Third,
Won't it be usable in five years? We have to make long-term plans."
Suddenly asked: "Brother Shi Xiang, does he recognize Suzhou Feng Menglong?"
Yang Shixiang said: "I have met Feng Menglong once. His three brothers are all quite famous, and they are known as Wu Xia San Feng."
Zhang Yuandao: "I am responsible for Suzhou this time. I want to meet Feng Menglong for a while and ask him to write some novels in Chinese language for our bookstore. They will definitely sell well."
Zhang E smiled and said: "Not to mention other things, the one hundred chapters of "Jin Ping Mei" alone can keep Hanshe Bookstore busy for a year. When I go back to Nanjing, I will definitely find the entire manuscript of "Jin Ping Mei" and then engrave it.