When the capital city was in a turmoil due to the examination of the branch halls of the Imperial College and the small space of each hall, whether to switch monthly to show fairness or to renovate, Zhang Chen was making final preparations in a small courtyard in Xingtai.
When he returned to the capital this time, he received unexpected support from Zhang Shou. However, in contrast, he secretly went home to seek help from his mother, only to bump into his father, Duke of Qin, Zhang Chuan, who rarely came home at noon.
But he received even more astonishing support. In addition to the capable guards who escorted their group south, Zhang Chuan also handed him a wad of money.
That was the Fulong Bank, which had a branch in Cangzhou, and it was cashed on sight. One hundred guan each, a hundred pieces, a full 10,000 guan!
Although Zhang Chen didn't know whether it was because Zhang Chuan had never restricted his son's pocket money before, so now that he saw him going out, he simply used money to show his concern, or whether Zhang Chuan really cared about him. Anyway, at that time
He collected the money very neatly, and when he left, he deliberately showed a rebellious and ungrateful look on his face. He didn't even say hello to his father.
But now that a battle was about to begin, he still couldn't help but think about it until a few guards came in. He went out into the yard and looked at the boxes on the ground being opened one after another, and saw the strings of quilts inside.
After picking up the green coins and various gold and silver coins, he smiled happily and was satisfied.
"Very good. In addition to the amount we just recovered before, another amount has been received now. They are all loaded into cars and sent to Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu. They do it in a more ostentatious way and say it is money sent from the capital!
"
"Yes." The guard stood for a while and suddenly asked, "Young Master, do you want to say that it was the money you sent them from the capital? You know, the Zhang brothers have always been the best friends with you.
You have always taken care of them. Although everyone in the capital knows this, in a small place like Xingtai, not everyone may know it."
"They have a future consort and a future guest of honor. They can't suppress those local snakes. What's the use of adding my reputation as the son of the Duke of Qin?" Zhang Chen felt that this was really unnecessary, but when he saw that the guard was not
He couldn't help but get furious if he was willing to leave. However, when he faced those calm eyes and thought that those were his father's people, he had to think carefully again.
If Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu were able to transfer this large sum of money from the capital, others would inevitably trace the source - saying that it was the two princes' mansions that sent them the money. No one would believe such nonsense;
It was sheer nonsense for their fiancées to send them money; as for the emperor, his eldest son didn't care about Cangzhou, so how could he care about his son-in-law and niece-in-law?
Therefore, the reason for this must be explained clearly. This is not for his own reputation, but also for Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu.
So, Zhang Chen glanced at the ordinary-looking guard in front of him, and finally said with a dark face: "Then you go ahead and send the money to Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu in the name of the Duke of Qin, and give it to those wealthy locals.
Add more firewood! As for me...well, as the confidant of the second prince, of course I have to continue to meet those daring guys!"
As the princes of the Marquis, future consorts and future guests of honor, envoys sent by the emperor to Xingtai to promote new textile machinery, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu have always attracted much attention as soon as they arrived in Xingtai. Everything went smoothly at first, and several companies supported them.
The big workshops gratefully accepted the drawings to replace the machines, and the spinners who had their own spinning machines mostly accepted the plan of crediting the machines first and then paying off the bills with the cotton yarn spun.
But after the first month or so, several workshops began to lay off spinners, and the spinners who used new spinning machines found that no one was collecting cotton yarn. In the past, the weavers who had collected cotton yarn regularly
Everyone in the house looked like a late wife! If Zhang Shou hadn't given them a lot of money, and Zhang Chen later supported them, they would have been stretched long ago.
But what's even more terrible is that they soon discovered that there was no more cotton on the market. If Zhang Chen hadn't told them the reason, they would have thought that the previous plan was a joke.
At this moment, two people who are not brothers, but who have been closer than brothers since childhood, are sitting opposite each other. Seeing the sad looks on each other's faces, they can't help but sigh together. Zhang Lu usually prides himself on being better than Zhang Wu.
He is smart and wise, but at this moment he seems even more depressed than Zhang Wu. Looking at the furnishings in this room, his mood is even more depressed.
"Fortunately, we are leaving the capital on an order, so we can stay in the Jingdong Guild Hall, which has always been used to receive the imperial censor and various officials in the capital. Otherwise, given our current predicament, we would have been kicked out of the inn! Ha,
I am broke... even when I was the poorest in the past, I am not as poor as I am now!"
Zhang Wu managed to gather some energy and said: "Didn't Brother Chen go to the capital to find Mr. Xiao? If it weren't for the money he lent us before he left, we wouldn't have been able to survive that long. As long as he comes back, maybe we can bring him back.
information."
"Forget it, Brother Chen is the eldest son of the Duke of Qin, not the Duke of Qin... Even if he is the Duke of Qin, he is now the Yin of Shuntian Prefecture, and he has no control over Xingtai." Zhang Lu listlessly raised his forehead with his hands, and then whispered,
"I admit that the young gentleman is very resourceful and powerful, but he is not the God of Wealth and cannot make money. Although we had estimated the current situation in advance, we still..."
He didn't finish what he said, but how could Zhang Wu not know? He sighed in his heart, thinking that they still underestimated the greed of businessmen for profit. After easily getting the huge dividends brought by the new textile machinery
, but immediately chose to burn bridges and fire workers, and even violently suppressed small households with their own textile machinery.
As for the minimum wages, minimum purchase prices, and other things they were confident about implementing when they made plans before leaving Beijing, there was no chance of them being implemented! No wonder Zhang Shou mentioned these new terms to them.
, but left all the plans to them, without intervening at all, and acted completely like a free-spirited person.
Now they have truly realized how difficult it is to deal with those sophisticated local wealthy people, and how difficult it is to really do something.
If they hadn't promised to provide job opportunities to the laid-off workers and purchase the cotton yarn spun by the self-employed at gradually lower prices, maybe someone would have rioted and besieged the Jingdong Club! But even so, they
It has been discovered that those wealthy families also took the opportunity to sell cotton yarn spun in their own workshops to them in large quantities, so that they spent money like water.
As of today, all their money has been completely used up, they are penniless, their sleeves are empty, and it will soon become a joke!
Just when the two of them were sitting facing each other and sighing, a huge noise suddenly came from outside. Zhang Lu, who had been nervous for the past two days, immediately jumped up and rushed to the door, but he was about to shout
When people asked about the reason, they saw Hu Kai, who had come out with them this time, rushing in like a gust of wind, his face filled with ecstasy.
"Brother Zhang Wu, Brother Zhang Liu, good news, great news!" He said the first sentence breathlessly. Seeing that Zhang Lu was not happy at all, he looked at him suspiciously.
He finally calmed down his breathing, and then said hurriedly, "The Duke of Qin has sent people to deliver money! There are more than a dozen carts, all filled with money!"
Not to mention Zhang Lu was stunned, even Zhang Wu who followed him out was dumbfounded. The two brothers looked at each other and hurried out. When they arrived at the gate, they saw Zou Mingrong communicating with a middle-aged man dressed as a guard.
However, although the man looked familiar and was indeed from the Duke of Qin's palace, they both knew that this man was definitely not Zhang Chen's confidant.
If that's the case... Could it be that the man was sent by Zhang Chuan, the Duke of Qin? It's impossible. The Duke of Qin had ignored Zhang Chen's son for many years, so why did he suddenly change his gender now?
At this time, the middle-aged guard had already seen Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu. He immediately put down Zou Mingrong and came over. He cupped his hands and said in a neither humble nor condescending way: "Fifth Young Master, Sixth Young Master, my Young Master heard that the two of you were being restricted from doing things in Xingtai.
, after thinking about it, I felt that there was nothing else I could do, but I had plenty of money, so I asked me to wait for the money to be sent over."
Seeing people on the street gathered around three floors inside and three outside, no one knows how many people looked at the big boxes with green eyes. If someone instigated it, it would cause a disaster in an instant. Zhang Wu couldn't help but hesitate secretly, but Zhang Wu couldn't help but hesitate.
Lu knew that this was a rare opportunity and immediately said loudly: "Brother Chen is so generous! Everyone has come a long way to work hard. Please unload the boxes and come in first to rest!"
"No, that's inappropriate!" Although Zhang Wu was not as smart and astute as Zhang Lu on weekdays, seeing more and more onlookers at this time, he made a decision immediately, "It's really inappropriate to put so much cash in this Jingdong Club! I agree.
In my opinion, it is much safer to store it at Fulong Bank, the largest bank in Cangzhou, so that you can access it at any time when needed!"
He knows Zhang Chen's temper best, and he is definitely not the kind of person who bluffs. This money, which is like a timely rain, is definitely real! But just because it is real, he must make it impossible for others to say anything, and he must ensure this money.
Nothing will go wrong!
After hearing this, the people who were mixed in the crowd and were about to make a noise and question the authenticity of the so-called money sent from Beijing were suddenly speechless. You know, as long as the money is deposited at Fulong Bank, anyone can find out what the money is.
True or false. Sure enough, the next moment, these people only saw the middle-aged guard smile bitterly.
"What the Fifth Young Master said is not bad, but to be honest, I arrived two days earlier and was just busy withdrawing the money from Fulong Bank, so I didn't come over to see you and the Sixth Young Master. If this happens again now,
If you send it back for storage, the people in the bank will probably complain a lot."
The money was just withdrawn from Fulong Bank!
After hearing the news, several people among the crowd of onlookers immediately squeezed out and went to investigate on behalf of their masters. Of course, some people stayed patiently and tried to find out what Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu would do next.
Strategy. Sure enough, they soon heard the middle-aged guard say something more important.
"My young master heard about the troubles that the fifth and sixth young masters encountered, and said disapprovingly that all the things in the world that can be solved with money are trivial. Since there are people here who are ignorant, then the Duke of Qin will use the money to directly
Let’s open a workshop in Xingtai that’s bigger than anyone else’s! Let’s accept all the experienced people who have been kicked out by unscrupulous profiteers and wealthy people!”
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Lu suddenly became excited. In fact, when they first arrived, for the sake of promotion and future checks and balances, they did use the workshop that Zhang Shou had bought long ago to recruit workers, but there were only ten people in total.
There were a few machines and a dozen people. Later, since the money was gone, it was impossible to expand the workshop and recruit more workers.
But now that Zhang Chen has sent them timely support, it means something different!
Zhang Wu had sometimes complained about Zhang Chen's domineering temper in the past, but at this moment, facing such domineering words with a distinct Zhang Chen style, thinking about what his two brothers had been through these days, he couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed.
Relieve anger.
Hearing the commotion around him getting louder, he reluctantly said, "Will this be said to be competing for the interests of the people?"
"That's my young master's own money. He just couldn't stand those villains who harm the people, so he used it to do something. He never thought about making any money. It doesn't matter if he loses it all.
, what’s the point of competing for profit?”
Zhang Wu quickly echoed: "Yes, I was wrong. Who in the capital doesn't know that Brother Chen is righteous and generous in giving away money. Even Xiao Lu and I don't know how many favors we have received over the years. How can we compete with the people now?"
Benefit? In this case, there is no need to put the money in Fulong Bank, just rent two more yards at the original workshop and then recruit people."
Seeing that Zhang Lu also agreed, the middle-aged guard said lightly: "The fifth and sixth masters only need to recruit people. As for the houses and land needed for the workshop, there is another group of people. What can we rent?
Just buy it directly, the Duke of Qin will not be short of money."
Even if they had known that Zhang Chen was generous, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu still couldn't help but be amazed when they heard the middle-aged guard's words about throwing money, throwing money, throwing money.
Zhang Lu asked tentatively, "Since we don't have to spend money on the house, and we don't need so much wages for wages..."
"Be prepared." The middle-aged guard chuckled and said nonchalantly, "If there are some blind thieves who want to take advantage of the money, then our people in the Duke of Qin's mansion are not just good-looking people. Besides, before I leave, the young master specially said
I went to Zhao Guogong’s mansion and asked Zhao Guogong how many people he had borrowed. They were all top killers, and I don’t know how many lives they had on their hands!”
"Brother Chen is really thoughtful."
At this point, Zhang Wuke didn't care whether it was true or not, and praised him again and again in a serious manner. But even without his support, the tall and strong figures of the guards escorting the car, and the power of their horses and swords had already deeply impressed the onlookers.
Bottom of my heart.
And when Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu personally invited the group into the Jingdong Guild Hall, while Zou Mingrong was busy greeting the remaining guards, Hu Kai, who had just reported the news, was suddenly pulled over by a hand from the crowd. This
Almost no one saw the scene. As for the people who had not dispersed, they gathered around the door of Jingdong Hall regardless, pricking up their ears and trying to hear some more noise.
“With this money, whether it’s hiring workers or buying cotton, we can finally make a living!”
"Yes, Brother Chen is really generous. I must thank him properly after returning to Beijing!"
"However, I heard that all the cotton in Xingtai has been hoarded by a confidant who calls himself the Second Prince. I'm afraid he will spend money on it next."