Chapter 56 Intelligence Network (VII)
Two square tables can be put together to seat more people. In addition to Huo Chong and Uncle Zhu, the leading figures of Liujia Village and Zhujia Village sat at the table. Uncle Zhu's apprentice had just poured three different kinds of wine into the glass cups in front of everyone when someone at the door called out, "Brother Huo, how about we come and have a meal?"
This was Li Tongshan's voice. Huo Chong stood up and said with a smile, "Since we are already here, don't be polite. Hurry and sit down."
Li Tongshan was followed by several other people including San Wagang, most of whom were prominent figures in Lijia Village. Those who had already sat down moved benches and added benches to finally make room for a few people.
He served each newcomer a few glass cups and refilled them with wine. Uncle Zhu said, "Everyone, have a taste of my wine."
Huo Chong didn't say much, he raised his cup and drank a glass. He thought it was okay. After everyone else drank, Huo Chong said, "It's easy to get drunk if you drink on an empty stomach. Come, eat some."
Everyone started eating, and the table immediately became lively. After three glasses of wine were finished, Mr. Zhu said, "Huo Chong, can we consider our past events as the past?"
"It would be great if Uncle Zhu is willing to go." Huo Chong immediately replied: "My master owed everyone money in the past. Everyone doesn't believe me, and I really don't think there is anything wrong. What happened in the past is over, and we should all be good fellow villagers in the future."
"That's right! From now on, everyone should be good fellow villagers!" Li Tongshan shouted.
Everyone responded and clinked glasses. The atmosphere became harmonious, with a sense of harmony that one can only think of as brothers who have weathered all the storms together.
After finishing his drink, Uncle Zhu put down his wine bowl and started talking, "Huo Chong, how do you like my wine?"
"good."
"What do you mean by good? My wine is much better than Zhu Erniu's!" Uncle Zhu said generously.
Huo Chong just smiled and said nothing more. Then he heard Master Zhu continue to say: "Huo Chong, I heard that the glass fire you sell to the capital must be made with wine, using my wine. Isn't it better than Zhu Erniu's?"
After Grandpa Zhu finished speaking, the people from Zhujia Village immediately echoed him. Huo Chong listened for a while and finally understood what these people meant.
Perhaps seeing that Huo Chong had no intention of giving in, several people from Liujia Village also said that Uncle Zhu's wine was good, and that using Uncle Zhu's was better than using Zhu Erniu's.
Among the people in Lijia Village, only Li Tongshan ate and drank calmly without saying a word. It seemed that he had his own ideas. The other prominent figures in Lijia Village did not get involved in this matter, probably because they did not know why the drinking party started.
After a simple observation and a basic analysis and classification of this group of people, Huo Chongcai replied: "No."
As soon as these two words came out, the atmosphere at the table suddenly turned cold. All those who supported Uncle Zhu looked embarrassed. Uncle Zhu looked unhappy, but he obviously wanted to argue.
Before Master Zhu could speak, Huo Chong said, "Master Zhu, the colored glaze fire I made is for lighting. Not for eating."
After saying that, Huo Chong called Lao Liu and asked him to bring some solid alcohol. He put some solid alcohol in the iron box and put it in the middle. He put the other part on a plate for everyone to see.
Everyone was a little surprised when they saw the light blue flame burning on the white block. When they looked at the solid alcohol, they looked left and right very carefully.
After Master Zhu finished reading, Huo Chong said, "Master Zhu's wine tastes good, but this Liuli Fire has nothing to do with the taste from beginning to end. That's why I said, no."
Everyone was silent. But Mr. Zhu was not convinced and said loudly: "Can't good wine make good things?!"
"Sixth Brother, bring the alcohol." Huo Chongming said.
After that, Huo Chong said to Uncle Zhu: "Uncle Zhu, your wine is really delicious. I know. I use alcohol, not wine, to make the Glazed Fire. I don't use your wine to make the Glazed Fire, not because your wine is not delicious. I use alcohol to make the Glazed Fire, not because alcohol is delicious. This has nothing to do with how it tastes."
As he was talking, Lao Liu had already taken out a bottle of alcohol. Everyone took the uncorked alcohol and sniffed it, frowning. Some people who were not afraid of death took a sip and immediately spit it out.
Uncle Zhu was an expert. He didn't need to taste it. He just smelled it and said angrily, "What is this? Can you drink it?"
Huo Chong did not answer this time. No one else spoke either. Finally, another person from Zhu Village asked tentatively, "Brother Huo, can you exchange this for Uncle Zhu's wine?"
"No." Huo Chong answered simply and clearly.
After hearing what Huo Chong said, Uncle Zhu said angrily: "Even if you want to exchange my wine for this, I won't agree!" After that, he stood up and left, showing the style of an elder.
Huo Chong didn't say much, just asked the third son to see Uncle Zhu off. Although Uncle Zhu left, his son didn't leave. Huo Chong didn't think Uncle Zhu really wanted to give up.
After that, everyone started eating and drinking again. Uncle Zhu's son kept toasting Huo Chong. Huo Chong was a little annoyed, so he laughed and said, "If you let me drink more, I will get drunk and go back to my room to sleep."
After hearing this, a man from Zhujia Village nearby immediately shouted, "Boss, are you trying to get me drunk or something?"
The banquet fell into silence again. Uncle Zhu's son tried very hard, as if he had mustered up some courage, but he still couldn't say anything.
Huo Chong was really tired of waiting, so he smiled and said, "What's there to be embarrassed about? Do you want to make wine according to my recipe?"
"How do you know?" Mr. Zhu's son replied in shock. After he finished speaking, he saw everyone's eyes on his face, and he immediately shut up and dared not say anything else.
Finally, this matter was made clear. Huo Chong felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders. These people wanted to make money, but they were also worried about being eaten up after entering other people's fields. So they started with various aspects of emotions and reputation.
Of course, agricultural societies do not have a powerful government agency like industrial societies that is responsible for various economic and civil cases.
But... I'm here! I've seen it! I'm going to do it!
Huo Chong asked a question naturally: "Everyone, I have enough money to make wine now, and I think everyone wants to make some money from this business. These two seem to be at loggerheads, have you figured out how to make them work together?"
Everyone had a surprised look on their faces, and most people probably couldn't figure out what Huo Chong was talking about. The few who understood probably didn't understand how to resolve this contradiction that looked like a zero-sum game.
From common sense, if everyone wants to share a piece of the pie, Huo Chong will get as much as everyone else takes.
In the silence, Li Tongshan said: "If Brother Huo asks me for help, I am willing to help."
Huo Chong was delighted, he was indeed a collaborator. With Li Tongshan taking the lead, things would probably be easier.
Huo Chong did not expect these people to figure it out on their own. He directly told them about his financing plan for the solid alcohol project. For someone who had worked hard on the platform for several years, this matter was too simple.
In other words, it was about the type of investment and the way of dividend distribution. After listening for a while, the wealthy people in the village immediately asked why they all bought shares, some received a fixed amount of dividends, and some received the final profit.
Huo Chong patiently explained. It depends on whether you invest some money or participate in the project. Those who only invest money will definitely not earn as much as those who invest money and work hard. There is another difference between the two models, that is risk.
Those who only invest can get a certain percentage of return, while those who participate in the project may face the possibility that the project income does not meet expectations, so the income may be lower than those who only invest. Because there is a possibility of large investment and high risk, participants naturally have the possibility of higher returns.
After much effort, Huo Chong finally felt that these guys had understood the two investment models. Then he said, "For this matter, it will be a two-month round. You can redeem and continue to invest. No matter who you are, you can only invest a maximum of five taels of silver. The minimum is two hundred coins. I will give you five days, and I will not accept any more money after five days . Five days, starting from tomorrow, if you want to invest after five days, I will not accept it."
In just three days, not five, the three village leaders all gave money. Li Tongshan, Liu Laowu, the landlord San Wagang, and Zhu Sanshun, the third son of Master Zhu, chose to become partners. They all sent their own people to help Huo Chong. This suddenly increased the manpower available to Huo Chong from three junior brothers and one junior sister to ten new people.
Huo Chong immediately trained this group of people. The training content included basic training such as standing in line and counting, which every junior high school student has to do.
After three days of basic training, Huo Chong gave these new young people their initial tasks, asking them to go home and consult their relatives and friends and ask them to tell the villagers what crops they had grown.
The new young people were all confused and had no idea what Huo Chong was asking them to do. Huo Chong explained to everyone, "It takes a lot of grain to make wine. When I buy grain, of course I buy it from our village first. If we don't know what grain is grown in our village, how can we know what to buy when the time comes?"
I thought these young people had never heard of the news and would be shy about it. However, Huo Chong soon discovered that these young people were more honest and many of them did not understand why they had to buy food.
Huo Chong was amazed by this reality. It turned out that what young people saw from their elders was either exchanging things for things or borrowing things directly and paying them back later. Naked transactions were never the mainstream in rural areas.
It took a lot of effort to make the young people understand that this was a task given to them by Huo Chong. Since it was a task, it had to be completed.
After everyone started to move, Huo Chong called Qian Qing over and said, "Seventh Brother, I said before that I want you to be the accountant, and now it's time to start."
Qian Qing was a little confused, "Big Brother, is it also the accountant's job to find out what others are growing?"
"I have told you about double-entry bookkeeping. Do you remember what I told you was the key to double-entry bookkeeping?"
"Big Brother said... let's put things in perspective."
"Very good." Huo Chong praised, "What the accountant has to do is to sort out these things. No matter how other accountants do their work, this is what the accountant here does."
