Chapter 43 Official Status (Part 3)
"Drink first, and don't say anything if you don't want to!" Huo Chong picked up the glass wine cup and said loudly to the person who was about to speak.
The so-called "forcing someone to drink" at the table is all about this momentum. As soon as the other person drinks, he or she will get a little tipsy. Once he or she gets tipsy, he or she will start to talk nonsense.
This is Huo Chong's view on the so-called drinking. Alcohol makes cowards bolder, and as long as the other party is willing to talk, it will be easy to communicate.
Before the other people at the table wanted to speak, Huo Chong forced them to "drink first and talk later", so those who had drunk became temporary allies and asked the person who hadn't drunk yet to drink first.
After taking a sip of wine, the man quickly took a boiled egg and started eating it. Huo Chong also had a drink with him, but he didn't eat the egg. There were not enough eggs, so Huo Chong had to leave some for these guys. After swallowing the egg, the man said, "Brother Huo, you just said that the land should be divided according to size. My land is not bad, so it's not right to divide it this way."
Huo Chong proposed a profit-sharing method based on land area, and the others had little objection. Now this Liu Laowu, who was from an unknown branch of the Liu family, had not spoken before. At this time, he put forward a different opinion on the grounds that his land was more fertile.
As soon as these words were spoken, the others immediately blushed and began to besiege Liu Laowu.
Huo Chong listened to the people fighting each other, thinking in his heart. At first, everyone was talking about whose land was the most fertile and how much grain they had produced. As a result, someone immediately came out to expose the boasting, and mentioned that the person's small piece of land had produced very little grain or even almost no harvest in the worst time.
Everyone knew everything about the other person, and when their secrets were exposed, they immediately became angry and started attacking others.
Seeing that the situation was getting a little out of control, Huo Chong went up and forced everyone to drink another sip. After everyone finished drinking, Huo Chong said, "Everyone, I want to ask you something. My master asked you to cultivate blessings, but have you ever thought that the blessings you cultivate will only be useful after everyone is gone?"
Hearing Huo Chong mention life and death, and remembering that he had already returned the money for planting blessings, no one said a word.
Huo Chong originally hoped to continue speaking without being affected. It was good that everyone was silent, so Huo Chong said, "You will be blessed only after you die. Shouldn't you be blessed while you are alive if you sow blessings?"
Hearing this, someone laughed out loud under the influence of alcohol. When he laughed, the others either laughed along or smiled bitterly. After he finished laughing, he asked, "Brother Huo, I heard that you know magic, do you know how to grow a money tree?"
Huo Chong laughed dryly twice, "Haha, how can there be such a thing as a money tree."
"If there is no cash cow, how can we earn money while we are alive? Is Brother Huo going to lend money at high interest?"
"Give me the land and I'll arrange it. Everyone take ten cents first. I'll buy everything harvested in the autumn. When the time comes, we'll share the money. Isn't that a blessing?"
This group of people listened to Huo Chong's words foolishly, as if they understood, but also as if they didn't understand.
Huo Chong continued to talk to them. In fact, what Huo Chong wanted to do was very simple, just a small project similar to grain futures. Huo Chong arranged the land for these people to take out, and all the work such as arable land was arranged by Huo Chong.
The landowners working on this piece of land were not cultivating their own land, but were hired as hired laborers, receiving payment based on the amount of work they did. In the end, Huo Chong bought the income from the land at the agreed price, and Huo Chong paid the landowners.
These people had been farming for many years, so Huo Chong did not try to reason with them. He just explained each step one by one, from seed selection, plowing, sowing, fertilizing, and irrigation.
Because they had all farmed before, they knew every step of the process. When they heard that they were paid for their work and for their harvests, they could not figure out the ultimate truth. The brother who had mocked Huo Chong by saying he was planting a money tree asked in confusion, "Brother Huo, if you keep paying like this, won't you lose money?"
The others probably understood it too, so they interrupted and tried to fool him, "Brother Huo said to cultivate blessings, he must have a way."
Huo Chong did not want to explain it clearly, but people of this era could not understand Huo Chong's ideas, so they just followed his words and said, "Since everyone is asked to take out ten cents first, it means that everyone is planting this blessing. If I talk about other things now, it would be nonsense. If a disaster happens next year, nothing I say will be of any use."
No one understood, but Huo Chong asked Liu Sijin to be a witness. Although they didn't necessarily believe Huo Chong, they had some trust in Liu Sijin. With the help of alcohol, they reached an agreement.
Seeing that everyone had drunk enough, Huo Chong and his fellow disciples sent these guys, who were so drunken as to walk, home.
The next day, Liu Sijin came to see Huo Chong at noon. When he saw Huo Chong, he asked in confusion: "Brother Huo, I think your method is to lose money."
Huo Chong did not feel that he had lost money, because all the harvest in the autumn fell into Huo Chong's hands. However, this psychological trick was meaningless when told to Liu Sijin. Huo Chong smiled and said, "Since we want to plant blessings, we are borrowing blessings. As long as we have blessings, we will not lose money no matter what we plant."
Seeing that Liu Sijin still wanted to say something, Huo Chong urged him, "Fourth brother, take me to find these brothers. Since they have agreed, let's sign the agreement. Drink my wine and talk very well. If they forget after drinking, then they are playing tricks on me!"
It was obvious that none of them wanted to play tricks on Huo Chong. But without exception all proposed that a written agreement could be signed, and each person's ten cents would be paid after the plowing started in the spring.
Huo Chong readily agreed, but only asked them to sign a written agreement. They were all attracted by Huo Chong's money, and obviously didn't think of Huo Chong's purpose. Huo Chong had already figured out that it would be cheaper to buy barley and potatoes directly from this cooperative land than to buy from outside.
Even if we buy from our own village, as long as the other party’s grain has been harvested, we will definitely not sell it at a low price.
In the past, these people planted crops and sold them, and they collected money in the fall. Now Huo Chong divided the money into several stages, which was just a trick of changing one's mind at any time. In order to make changing one's mind at any time more efficient, Huo Chong also specially proposed the concept of "sowing money for good fortune", wrapping this originally simple project with a veil of mysticism.
Judging from the results, the effect of this gimmick was better than expected. Seven families created a total of four acres of land. But these people seemed to care much more than the 40 acres of land.
The yield per mu of land can easily exceed 1,000 kilograms, and Huo Chong felt that several thousand kilograms of potatoes would be enough for a while. So he concentrated on his own business and waited for the harvest of the 300 potatoes planted by Liu Sijin.
On August 14, Huo Chong was thinking that Xu Youlin should be back when Xu Youlin knocked on the door.
When Xu Youlin saw Huo Chong, he asked, "Brother Huo, one tael of silver is seven catties."
Huo Chong was startled. Looking at Xu Youlin's expression, he must have received a huge order. But can people in this era be so vigorous? First, he let Xu Youlin drink some water. Huo Chong asked tentatively, "Brother Xu, if you give me this price, how many kilograms are you going to buy?"
"Not several thousand kilograms. Two thousand kilograms." Xu Youlin said with some pride. Then he thought of something else and continued, "Make more of that furnace you made."
Huo Chong thought about it. Since he didn't care what the vinegar tasted like, the potato vinegar was better than he expected.
The so-called vinegar brewing is to use bacteria to ferment starch into alcohol first, and then decompose the alcohol into acetic acid. Zhu Erniu has made a lot of money since he adopted Huo Chong's wine brewing suggestions. This time he also listened to Huo Chong's advice and adopted the oxidation method. That is, use a tiger to inject air into the original liquid that is beginning to turn sour. The effect is really very good, and the acidity of the stuff brewed is sour. It is definitely not drinkable when used as vinegar.
Seeing Huo Chong hesitating, Xu Youlin lowered his voice and said, "Brother Huo, sell it quickly. I have something good for you."
"What's the matter?" Huo Chong didn't know what new project Xu Youlin had come up with.
Xu Youlin wanted to say something but couldn't help it. He said in a voice that only Huo Chong could hear: "The governor of Shandong wants to repair Xiaoqing River. This time he promised the gentry from all over the country to donate for their achievements."
"Donate your fame?" Huo Chong understood what this word meant. However, Huo Chong felt as if he was in a dream. How could such a thing as selling official positions and titles happen to him?
The next morning, Huo Chong led his fellow apprentices to carry the distiller into the mountains. The smell of steamed wine was already strong enough, and the smell of steamed vinegar was even worse. Huo Chong didn't want to make it too conspicuous. Steaming vinegar near the coal mine in the mountains was quiet and convenient for obtaining fuel.
Not long after the distillation started, many people were forced to stay because of the acid gas under the high temperature. Huo Chong also pulled Xu Youlin away from the distiller and asked carefully what was going on.
It turned out that the current Shandong prefect Li Shude was ordered by Emperor Kangxi to dredge the Xiaoqing River, and by building dams, he allowed several other rivers to merge into the Xiaoqing River, eventually making the Xiaoqing River a river that could flow smoothly into the sea.
In addition to solving the flood problem, this project can also provide convenience for boats. Most importantly, the Zibo River, an important tributary of the Xiaoqing River, is located in Zibo and is also an important part of the entire Xiaoqing River project.
Construction projects require money, and the court has no money, so it asks the gentry to pay by selling official positions and titles as it has always done.
After telling him what he knew, Xu Youlin advised, "Brother Huo, donating to gain fame is something you only encounter when you can. You are quite lucky."
Huo Chong didn't think he was lucky. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Brother Xu, I don't think anyone can donate for fame. You have to be a local gentry. Look at me, I don't look like a gentry at all. If someone asks me this time, my reputation..."
Hearing what Huo Chong said, Xu Youlin showed a cunning smile on his face. Of course, this is a normal person's face will look cunning, Xu Youlin's face looks very cunning.
Huo Chong had figured out the main point a little bit, "Could this be recommended by the county magistrate?"
Xu Youlin nodded vigorously, "That's right! Lord Li is from the Zhenghuang Banner, and he was appointed by the emperor. This time he donated his fame entirely for the repair of Xiaoqing River."
Huo Chong thought about it and decided to forget it, so he said to Xu Youlin: "Brother Xu, I'm afraid you can't get the position if you donate money like this."
Xu Youlin obviously didn't understand Huo Chong's idea. He thought Huo Chong wanted to get a real position that he could take up immediately, so he continued to persuade him: "Brother Huo, I think you are lucky. It's just that you donate your honor this time and don't have to take up the position, so it's cheap."
After saying that, he made a "six" gesture to Huo Chong.
"Sixty taels?" Huo Chong asked.
Hearing that Huo Chong had deliberately quoted an obviously impossible price, Xu Youlin was so angry that he cursed in a weird Shandong dialect: "Get your ass out of here!"
