Wang Xu has two main businesses, one is the antique business and the other is the pharmaceutical business.
The former requires manpower, while the latter is done by himself.
In the past few days, while inspecting villages within a radius of dozens of miles, Wang Xu besides thinking about the antique shop, also wanted to see if he could pull out a escort team.
After all, the antique business is no different than other businesses, and safety must be guaranteed.
In the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region, there are currently four forces: the Japanese-occupied area, the red area, the Kuomintang's white area, and the bandits' green area.
Wang Xu has the support of the Red Zone and the connections in the White Zone, so he doesn't need to worry about these two. What he worries about is the Japanese-occupied zone, and the bandits in the Green Zone. Without their own armed forces, going to these two territories is like a meat bun beating a dog.
.
"Zhang Wazi, help me get some notices and put them up in all the villages within a hundred miles. It says that the Wang Family Antiques Shop wants to recruit 500 clerks from the countryside. Each of them will be given eight yuan a month and five
I’m willing to come to Liuzhuang Village Tea House for a settlement fee of 1 yuan.” Wang Xu stopped at the end of the village, looked at Liuzhuang Village in front of him, and said slowly.
Eight yuan is not eight yuan, but a banknote issued by the Chongqing government.
Currently, there are several currencies circulating in the market, including Japanese military coupons, Chongqing government banknotes, and the strongest currency.
As for currencies such as U.S. dollars, French currency, and British pounds, they can only be circulated within the concession and are not recognized by the people outside.
Because of rising prices, the current exchange rate is higher than before.
When Wang Xu was in Tianjin, ten yuan could be exchanged for one ocean, which cost thirteen yuan on the black market.
Now, the exchange rate on the surface has not changed, but on the black market it has become 14 yuan to exchange for an ocean. The banknotes issued by the Chongqing government are becoming increasingly worthless.
"Eight yuan, that's so much!" Zhang Wazi found it a bit unbelievable. Eight yuan a month is equivalent to six dollars a year.
A clerk in the city usually only gets four yuan a year, while an ordinary shopkeeper only gets seven yuan.
Although what Wang Xu gave was not a large sum of money, it still sounded like a lot. When converted, it was only five or six large sums of money.
"Go ahead, just write it like this, and then find someone to post it in the surrounding villages." Wang Xu took out a few big pieces of money from his pocket and threw them to Zhang Wazi without even looking at them.
Zhang Wazi took the money and left happily.
Under the protection of another guard, Wang Xu walked into the teahouse in Liuzhuang Village and waited attentively for the guys to come.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour...
The first group of people to come were villagers from Liuzhuang Village. There were men and women, as well as children and the old man joining in the fun.
Wang Xu asked the shopkeeper of the teahouse to move the table outside, and hired a bookkeeper, who then placed a stack of banknotes on the table.
As time went by, the crowd gathered more and more. When the surrounding villages heard the news, they also rushed here in groups.
Wang Xu just lowered his head to drink tea and did not make any comment on the comments of the people around him.
It wasn't until the crowd of onlookers exceeded several hundred people and the soldiers from the district detachment came after hearing the news that he cleared his throat and said: "My surname is Wang, and Tian is the boss of the Wang family antique shop. This time I want to be here."
I'm hiring some guys on the side. You may have never heard of my antique shop, but folks, please rest assured, I'm short of everything here, not even real money."
No one answered. The villagers looked at each other and talked in low voices.
Some people believe it, some people don't believe it, and some people are eager to try it, but they just don't want to stand out.
Seeing the silence, Wang Xu sat on a chair and winked at the guard.
The guard was the deputy chief of staff and was very good at observing people's words, so he said: "The Wang Family Antiques Shop has been personally visited by the leaders, so there is no need to worry about its credibility."
"Comrade, who are you talking about as the leader?" The militia captain of the district detachment came up to chat with the guard.
The guard raised his finger and pointed to the west, and replied with a proud face: "They are the bosses from the headquarters. If you don't believe me, you can ask. I am the deputy chief of staff's guard. I came out with the order this time."
The militia captain of the district detachment quickly sent people to Luxiyu Village to inquire.
More than half an hour later, the person who was sent came back and said out of breath: "I heard that this gentleman named Wang is a distinguished guest from the headquarters. The chief asked us to take more care of him."
With the confirmation from the headquarters, the militiamen of the district detachment consciously began to maintain order around them.
Wang Xu nodded with satisfaction, put down the tea cup again, and said: "If you follow me, you can work as a clerk in the city, take care of food and accommodation, and get a monthly salary. I won't say more, whoever signs up,
Write down your name and address, and you’ll get five yuan on the spot.”
"Five yuan can buy two old hens."
"It's quite a lot. The boy Wang who lives next door to me works as a waiter for a rice shop in the city, and now he's fat from eating."
"Getting fat, what a blessing it is to make people fat!"
During the Republic of China, production was backward and coupled with the war, eight out of ten people had something to eat and looked like they were not full.
For modern people, obesity is something these people can't dream of. It is the appearance of wealth and honor that only the lucky people have. Ordinary people are considered good if they are skinny and not skinny.
Wang Xu raised his eyes and looked at the villagers. The clean and chubby people in the TV series did not exist here.
Many people don't even have shoes, so they stand barefoot on the ground, and their bodies are not very clean.
"I'm going, my mother is sick, and I need to make money to buy medicine for her." A half-year-old boy walked out of the crowd, looking about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Wang Xu smiled and nodded, took out a wad of money from his arms, counted out a few coins, and asked: "What is your name, where do you live, and how many brothers do you have?"
"My name is Yang Ergou. There are five people in my family. I am the second child. The one with the locust tree in front is my home." Yang Ergou pointed forward and shouted: "If you see the locust tree, that is my home."
Wang Xu looked along his finger and saw a locust tree.
At the same time, the villagers around also smiled and said: "Er Gouzi, you are going to be the backbone of the family, this is amazing!"
People around were talking a lot, talking to Wang Xu about the situation of Ergou's family.
Ergou's family used to be pretty good. Unfortunately, the year before last, Ergou's father went to the city to do carpentry work and was arrested by the Kuomintang on the way. Life for the whole family became difficult.
A few days ago, Ergou's mother fell ill again. The whole family had to eat one meal but no one had any money to buy medicine.
"Okay, count you in!"
Wang Xu waved to Yang Ergou, pointed to the accounting room next to him, and said, "Go over there and write down your name and home address. If you don't know how to write your name, just put your fingerprint on it."
Yang Ergou was illiterate. After the accountant finished writing, he pressed his fingerprint with his finger and got five yuan from Wang Xu.
With Yang Ergou taking the lead, the villagers became more enthusiastic.
It's not easy for the people these days. They have to dig for food in the fields. If there is a disaster, the whole family will go hungry.
On the other hand, the workmanship is different. As long as the owner does not go bankrupt and takes care of food and housing, he can still have a lot of money left in a year.
There is an endless stream of people signing up, one for you and one for me.
It wasn't until a man with a big beard came up that he cheered and the whole scene became quiet.
"My name is Ma Dabiao. I used to be a beard. Later, my village was settled by the imperial edict and I joined the 24th Division of the Shanxi-Sui Army. The 24th Division was defeated by the Japanese. After I escaped, I joined the Eighth Route Army. In the end, I was fired for making a mistake.
Except come out." Ma Dabiao looked very tough, and the villagers around him were very afraid of him. He said angrily: "Do you think I can do it?"
"What mistakes did you make in the army?" Wang Xu asked without refusing or agreeing.
Ma Dabiao scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed, and whispered: "I was greedy and couldn't hold it back, so I killed and ate the villagers' dogs."
"Have you ever killed anyone?" Wang Xu asked again.
"I was a bandit in 1929, I was under the imperial edict in 32 years, my army was defeated in 39 years, and in 40 years..." Ma Dabiao stopped talking about the rest, because he also felt very shameless about killing dogs for meat.
When Wang Xu heard this, he knew that Ma Dabiao had definitely killed people before, and he had killed quite a lot.
He has been a thief for three years and a soldier for eight years. No one will believe him if he says he has never killed anyone. He is also a ruthless person.