Chapter 96: Eating the Rich (X)
"I want to make wine." Mr. Li Changshou spoke first.
Next, Mr. Chen said, "I also have a driver who can go on long journeys."
Huo Chong nodded slightly, but did not refute or get angry. Perhaps seeing Huo Chong's reaction, several other candidates also mentioned businesses such as wheels and farm tools.
Seeing that these guys were ready to take away all of Huo Chong's business, Huo Chong just wanted to laugh. It took a lot of effort to control his emotions. After these people finished speaking, Huo Chong waited for a while, and when he saw that no one made any more requests, he replied: "Since you all want to do these businesses, I will close my stall."
After saying that, Huo Chong looked at County Magistrate Dong and said, "Since Brother Dong is here too, it will be much more convenient for me. Brother Dong, I will send someone to the county to register tomorrow. I won't do these things after I close my stall, and I won't have to pay taxes in the future."
Hearing what Huo Chong said, Li Changshou couldn't help laughing. Seeing Huo Chong looking over, Li Changshou said with a smile: "Haha, Huo Chong, you should go back to your Zibo County. Don't come to our Mouping County."
Huo Chong did prepare for a full evacuation. But he couldn't pretend he didn't hear such a provocation, so he directly retorted, "Li Changshou, when did you become the local emperor of Mouping County? Is Mouping County a place where you can say who can't come? If you say that County Magistrate Dong can't stay in Mouping County, does that mean County Magistrate Dong can't set foot in Mouping County from now on?"
Li Changshou didn't expect Huo Chong to seize on his arrogance and retort. He raised his eyebrows in anger and showed that he wanted to beat him up. But after a moment, Li Changshou looked at County Magistrate Dong, but he saw that County Magistrate Dong didn't say anything, and didn't even hint at beating Huo Chong.
Mr. Chen took the opportunity to shout, "Huo Chong, is this how you talk to a scholar? You actually call him by his name?"
"Is that how you talk to officials? Just calling them by their names?" Huo Chong did not give in.
The two sides, one with an official title and the other with a reputation, just stared at each other. Finally, the county magistrate, Dong Zhixian, sighed, "Stop arguing. It's not decent to argue like this!"
First, he suppressed everyone and said hesitantly, "Huo Chong, do you really want to close all the stalls?"
"I won't sell my land. The livestock can't be killed. They will be transported away. This will take some time. As for other business, I will close the stall tomorrow." Huo Chong gave a straightforward answer.
The Qing dynasty is completely different from the 21st century, which is about attracting investment and developing projects. This is a reality that Huo Chong fully understands. Officials in New China at least understand some theories of capital, production, and the market, and those in leadership positions have more experience. Therefore, the conflict is not about production and investment itself.
In the agricultural era of the Qing Dynasty, officials did not understand this. Their only goal was to collect taxes and get promoted. So County Magistrate Dong thought he could decide whether the business could exist, and even whether the business could make money. The county magistrate who ruined the family and the prefect who wiped out the family were not joking.
Huo Chong chose to close his stall immediately in order to minimize losses and prevent this setback from causing more damage. Of course, Huo Chong also found it funny to see the scholars who were obviously arrogant because of the support of County Magistrate Dong. If County Magistrate Dong thought that these people could pay the same amount of tax silver as Huo Chong by taking away Huo Chong's business, then he was really thinking too much.
After a few years in this era, Huo Chong was forced to realize the fact that the landlords, gentry and officials of the Qing Dynasty were all one. The common feature of this group of people was that they did not know how to run a business. County Magistrate Dong was a Jinshi, but he still did not know how to run a business. These people who did not even pass the Jinshi exam did not know how to run a business.
Having said this, Huo Chong stood up and said goodbye. After returning, he immediately held a meeting and announced his decision. Hearing that the gentry and government officials in Mouping County had joined forces to deal with Huo Chong, the leaders below were very angry.
The group of young people who came with Huo Chong cursed that there were no good people in Mouping County. The local employees lowered their heads, looking confused. Their reaction was obviously not because of the bad review that "there are no good people in Mouping County". Huo Chong said to them: "Everyone, if you want to stay here and farm, I will rent my land to you. If you still want to work with me, I will bring the business back to Zibo County and Linzi County. You can follow me, and I will arrange jobs for you."
"Really?" The eyes of the local employees attending the meeting lit up.
Huo Chong didn't think there were too many people at this time. These people were selected and received at least a few months of training. In the Qing Dynasty, it was not easy to find such a group of employees.
Seeing that their future was somewhat guaranteed, a local employee tentatively asked, "Mr. Huo, can you talk to the magistrate again?"
"If you think you can get it done by talking to the magistrate, then go ahead. If you can get it done, I will definitely give you a bonus. I won't go." Huo Chong gave his employees a choice and immediately gave the order to start preparing to close the stall.
The next day , Huo Chong's men went to the county government to cancel their business. They saw how selfish people were. Although the government at that time did not understand the concept of investment, they knew that they would not be able to collect taxes after Huo Chong left. According to the description of the employees who came back, those people asked Huo Chong's men to get out without hesitation. They did not do anything for them.
Although the officials were not happy with him, Huo Chong was not angry. Instead, he comforted the angry employees. After the angry young people calmed down a little, Huo Chong asked them to go and announce that they were closing the stall. At the same time, they settled the accounts with the local suppliers.
This part of the transaction is purely business. Huo Chong hurried to the beach and contacted the fishermen who were collecting seaweed. They have been working together for two or three years, and now it is the peak season for collecting seaweed. If they don't collect seaweed directly, they will cheat many people.
When the fishermen who were responsible for collecting vegetables heard that Huo Chong was going to close his stall, they were shocked at first. After some inquiries, they learned that Huo Chong had to close his stall because he had offended the local scholars. One of them couldn't help but give Huo Chong a cold look at that time, "Master Huo, you can't do this, why bother us!"
As soon as these impolite words came out, some of the relatively friendly fishermen immediately looked at him unhappily. Zhong Shijiu was only eighteen or nineteen years old. Seeing that everyone was unhappy, he shouted even more unhappily: "What are you looking at! Why are you suddenly saying this? Am I wrong?"
"I will still harvest this year's vegetables." Huo Chong said to other partners in charge of liaison.
Seeing that everyone was relieved, Zhong Shijiu said angrily, "Master Huo, are you just going to admit it?"
Huo Chong looked at this extremely excited young man and didn't understand his reason. He could only ask: "Brother Zhong, I don't think I have offended you. Why are you so angry?"
After hearing this, Zhong Shijiu was even more angry. The words came to his lips but he couldn't say them. He was so angry that he looked as depressed as a puffy toad. Then he heard someone next to him jokingly say, "He thought this business could last long, so he borrowed money to help his brother get married. Now that you, Mr. Huo, are gone, he won't have a wife of his own."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Zhong Shijiu yelled angrily.
Seeing the young man's reaction, Huo Chong felt that this was probably the reason. Zhong Shijiu was usually very close to Huo Chong, but other fishermen were mostly based on simple cooperation, selling as much vegetables as possible and charging as much money as possible. It was just a business partnership.
The others were sure that Huo Chong would continue to harvest vegetables, so they hurried to make some money in the last wave and left. Huo Chong said to Zhong Shijiu, "Brother Zhong, if you want to make money, why don't you follow me? My business in Zibo County needs people."
Zhong Shijiu's eyes lit up, but soon dimmed again, "Master Huo, I can't leave."
The reason why he couldn't leave in this era was very simple, it must be because he had family members. Huo Chong smiled and said, "Why, do you have anyone else to take with you?"
"Mr. Huo, I still have to take care of my mother." Zhong Shijiu sighed.
"Your mother can also go with you to Zibo County." Huo Chong had a relatively high opinion of the women at the seaside. The reason was very simple, most of them did not bind their feet. It was impossible to weave a net with bound feet, let alone a Shanghai ship.
"Master Huo, I have made some money following you. We have already built a new house. My mother will not let me leave."
"How would you know if you don't ask?"
Zhong Shijiu shook his head and finally whispered, "I asked. My mother wouldn't let me."
Now Huo Chong finally understood why Zhong Shijiu was so close to him before, but when others came to work for Huo Chong, he never mentioned it and never signed up. Although he didn't know why the old lady of the Zhong family was so resistant, Huo Chong finally understood some of the reasons.
Since Zhong Shijiu was not simply petty, Huo Chong discussed with him and asked him to organize the purchase as much as possible. There were substitutes for everything in his business, except for extracting agar, which had to rely on hornweed. Huo Chong still wanted to stockpile as much supplies as possible to prepare for the difficult period that would come in the next year or two.
Although there were many problems with the whole thing, it continued to move forward. Huo Chong tried his best to adjust the steps, but he didn't expect that his business would be transferred in an orderly manner.
While Huo Chong was advancing in an orderly manner, County Magistrate Dong felt something was wrong. Previously, County Magistrate Dong accepted Gao Xuezheng's statement and thought Huo Chong was the source of all evil. If Huo Chong was not there, these local gentry would take over Huo Chong's business. They were all locals and always had to be decent. That ugly face would not be revealed again.
Moreover, County Magistrate Dong proposed to these gentry to help them take over Huo Chong's property. After they were done, they would have to pay taxes like Huo Chong. Now Huo Chong was closing his stall at a very fast speed. County Magistrate Dong asked the runners to bring back the latest news every day. In less than ten days, Huo Chong had almost closed his stall. But the other gentry did not take any action at all.
Today, County Magistrate Dong heard the latest news that Huo Chong had actually settled all the money he had paid. County Magistrate Dong began to feel that something was wrong, and quickly sent someone to call Li Changshou and others to come to the county government.
Only Li Changshou came. The other gentry did not move at all. When County Magistrate Dong asked the gentry why they did not take action, Li Changshou smiled and said, "County Magistrate Dong, we have to prepare for a while. Give us a few days."
"How many days? How many days is it?" Magistrate Dong asked loudly.
"It will take at least half a month or a month." Li Changshou gave time calmly.
County Magistrate Dong was shocked. The words Huo Chong had said before came to his mind. "Li Changshou, when did you become the local emperor of Mouping County? Is Mouping County a place where you can tell who can't come? If you say that County Magistrate Dong can't stay in Mouping County, does that mean that County Magistrate Dong can't set foot in Mouping County from now on?"
The gentry were surprisingly united in dealing with Huo Chong, a foreigner. County Magistrate Dong suddenly remembered that he was also a foreigner like Huo Chong. Huo Chong was at least a native of Shandong, while County Magistrate Dong was not even a Shandong native.
