Chapter 181: The First Year of Dashang
Miaoying Temple!
New Year’s Day!
The incense was very popular. Although it was early in the morning , people who came to burn incense had already lined up dozens of meters away from the temple gate.
Different from the Qingfeng Temple where people can burn incense by themselves and offer as much as they want, the first incense offering on the first day of the first lunar month every year at the Miaoying Temple is the highlight and anyone with money will want to get a chance to try it.
Every year, in order to compete for the first incense stick, the wealthy people in the entire Canglan County fight to the death.
"Let me be your agent?"
Lin Ye had a strange expression on his face as he listened to the words of his senior brother, Daoyuan, the new abbot of Miaoying Temple.
"Junior brother, the people of Shangyang County know your wealth. If you make the offer, no one will doubt it. Don't worry, our temple has been operating for many years. The abbot asked me to be in charge of this area. In the end, I will definitely not let you spend this money in vain."
Lin Ye looked at Daoyuan. Even the abbot felt that it was a waste of money. One can imagine how many people are sucked up every year.
"Brother, how much did the first incense cost every year in the past?"
"In the good years, we could get up to 3,000 taels, and in the bad years, we could get up to 300 to 500 taels."
Three thousand taels?
Lin Ye clicked his tongue. According to the money ratio between the other world and the modern world, three thousand taels is equivalent to tens of millions.
In the real world, this price for a top fragrance is not cheap.
However, Lin Ye has been in the other world for so many years that he knows that although the ratio of money between the other world and the real world is correct, the wealth situation is different.
In the other world, 99% of the wealth belongs to the powerful and wealthy. To the rich, this amount of money is nothing. Take the old landlords in Shangyang City for example, it is just one or two months' rent.
However, there was another reason why Lin Ye looked so strange. Did Senior Brother Daoyuan miscalculate his own financial resources?
Not to mention the silver he earned from the real world, just the workshops he acquired, the products he sold, and the restaurants he opened in the past year brought in an annual income of over ten thousand taels.
"Brother, stop acting. I want the first incense this year. Ten thousand taels."
Monk Daoyuan: ...
Ten minutes later, all the people who came to Miaoying Temple to burn incense knew that the owner of this year's first incense stick had been decided.
Master Lin from Shangyang City won the first incense this year at a price of 10,000 taels.
"Mr. Lin, that's no wonder. This guy is a kind man."
"He is not only a kind man, but also rich. I heard that the chamber pots used in Mr. Lin's home are all made of pure gold."
"Nonsense, gold doesn't disgust people. It's obviously made of fine jade. The jade is round and smooth and won't hurt people."
"Yes, yes, it's Yu. My cousin's third uncle is a servant in the Lin Mansion, and he said the same thing."
Lin Ye, who had just walked out of the door and was heading home: …
…
…
The first month of the new year in the other world was spent in this peaceful and calm state.
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
The people of Shangyang City received an imperial edict issued by the new dynasty.
The merchant registration reform of the Xin Dynasty.
All the original merchants, as long as they paid the business taxes, could allow their descendants to participate in the imperial examinations.
When this news came out, ordinary people were not surprised, but the shop owners of various workshops and businesses were the first to be excited, praising the emperor for his wisdom.
Although these merchants had made money, the other world imposed strict status restrictions on them. Not only could they not wear nice clothes, but the most important point was that once they were registered as merchants, their descendants could not take the imperial examinations. Therefore, many wealthy families, even though they knew that they could make money by doing business, did not dare to do so for the sake of their descendants, or they looked for servants in their family to be the open shopkeepers.
Now the policies of the new dynasty have given these merchants hope. Of course, as soon as such policies came out, they were also opposed by the gentry.
For many gentry, merchants used to be of low status and they could control them. But now that the status of merchants has been improved, it means that their authority has been challenged. Many gentry have written letters of opposition, including some officials who have retired and are enjoying their retirement at home .
The same thing happened in Shangyang City. Many students, led by the gentry, smashed and looted some shops in the city.
According to them, the current court's move is to make the people put profit first, which will disrupt the foundation of the country.
As the biggest behind-the-scenes businessman in Shangyang City, Lin Ye was naturally the first to be hit, and many workshops and restaurants were affected.
"Sir, in just these three days, the workshop has lost hundreds of copper coins."
When Xu Bo reported the situation, his old face wrinkled with pain. Although this was his own son's money, as a qualified steward, the loss of his son's money made him more uncomfortable than the loss of his own money.
"Making trouble?" Lin Ye sneered repeatedly. What he was least afraid of was scholars causing trouble.
"Have you investigated ?"
"This is the list that Captain Yang handed over to me earlier." Uncle Xu was holding a list in his hand. On it was all the information of the students who had caused trouble in Shangyang City, including their home addresses.
"Anyone who has relatives of these students working in our workshop will be fired. We will also tell them the reason for the dismissal, saying that it is because their relatives smashed the shop. In addition, any items that the family members of these students come to the shop to buy will not be sold to them."
"Will this... cause the shop to lose business?"
Xu Bo was a little worried, as these students accounted for almost half of the families in the city.
"It's okay. We can afford it."
Lin Ye was not worried at all. He was not in the other world to make money. These students were enjoying the shopping convenience brought by the merchants while destroying their jobs. There was no such good thing in the world.
"Inform the bookstore that all the pens, inkstones, and paper will be priced tenfold higher for the students on the list. As for the government, I have already informed Captain Yang. He will arrange for the constables to guard the door of our shop in the next few days and arrest any students who dare to cause trouble."
"Okay, I'll give the order right away."
Uncle Xu hurried to convey Lin Ye's orders to the shop owners of various workshops. Lin Ye took a sip of fragrant tea, but his eyes were looking towards the direction of the capital.
"An Zisheng, An Zisheng, I hope you can have a good ending. The only thing I can do is to help you stabilize Canglan County."
The next day!
The students in the entire Shangyang City were dumbfounded. They went to the bookstore to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstone, but found that a set of pens, ink, paper and inkstone was only half a string of copper coins yesterday, but the price had risen to ten taels today.
Ten taels of silver is something many students can afford if they grit their teeth. For some wealthy students, ten taels of silver is just the money for a drink in a brothel. But the key point is that these are consumables. Everyone has to buy one or two sets a month.
They went to argue with the shopkeeper, but he said that there were too many people making trouble, so the workshop had stopped production. These were the only ones left, so it was up to you to buy them or not.
Naturally, these students would not buy it. However, when they came in the afternoon, they found that the price had increased again, this time to twenty taels.
The students were anxious, and some even wanted to rob the bookstore directly like they had done with the shops a few days ago. However, just as one or two of them were about to take action, they were caught by the constables guarding outside and were sent directly to the government office.
