Chapter 98: The Management of the Gentry (II)
After the autumn harvest, farmers in Muping County dry food in the yards to be eaten next year. Compared with Zibo County, farmers in Muping County dry less food.
Li Laosi's harvest was obviously less than that of other families. Sitting by the yard, Li Laosi looked at his harvest and couldn't help sighing. Li Laosi's wife didn't sigh, she complained with a sad face, "You insisted on saying that you could work in Mr. Huo's yard this year! Now that Mr. Huo has been forced to leave, how do you want our family to live?"
Listening to his wife's complaints, Li Laosi felt very regretful. This year, he had indeed made such a plan. Several families in the village went to Huo Chong's farm. Since last year, they first came back with some cooked rabbit meat, and then light-colored oil. This year, some people even brought back brand new wheels. The old frame can run very fast on this kind of wheels.
Those who were willing to participate in Huoye's blessing-planting had their taxes paid by Huoye, and when the tax collectors went to the countryside, their families no longer had the worries they had before. Even families who did not participate in the blessing-planting could pay taxes with copper coins. These copper coins were all earned from their work.
Li Laosi thought he had to be more careful, as there was no such good thing in the world, so he recommended his fifth brother to work for Master Huo. Li Laosi waited for his fifth brother to come back every time and asked him carefully whether the things Master Huo said were true.
Just when Li Laosi had a complete understanding of the situation and decided to go to work for Master Huo after the fall of this year, Master Huo actually closed his stall. When Li Laosi's younger brother Li Laowu brought back the news, Li Laowu was surprised and disappointed, but he also felt that his caution was right. How could a foreigner be trusted? It would happen sooner or later.
However, Mr. Huo just left Mouping County, but Li Laosi waited for Mr. Chen's men from Mouping County. They blocked Li Laosi's house and demanded that Li Laosi pay back all the taxes and money owed to Mr. Chen.
Li Laosi argued with them for a long time, but how could he win the argument with so many people? And Li Laosi did owe money. Chen Juren's subordinates told Li Laosi that if he couldn't pay the money back, he would sell the land to pay off the debt. If he still didn't pay it back, he would be sued.
Looking at his entire harvest this year, Li Laosi felt that even if he sold all of it, he would not be able to pay off his debts. And if he sold all the food, what would he eat in the next few months?
The wife became angrier and angrier as she spoke, and finally she began to expose Li Laosi's scars, "When I asked you to work for Mr. Huo, you always said you'd wait and see. If you had gone there for those few months, how could you still not be able to pay back the money!"
Li Laosi was already regretting enough, and when he heard his wife finally mention this matter, he felt as if the hole in his heart that was already annoyed was burned by fire. He couldn't help but scolded angrily: "What do you know!"
The wife was stunned by Li Laosi's yelling, and then she said angrily: "I don't understand! I don't understand! I just saw that Laowu can get the money back every month. You have waited for so long and you haven't received a penny!"
"It's no use yelling at me! Go find Lao Wu right away!" said the wife angrily.
Li Laosi knew that this was the only brother he could rely on. But if he went to Laowu now, Li Laosi would feel embarrassed.
When Master Huo was leaving, Li Lao Si was somewhat proud to show off his foresight to Lao Wu, but he did not expect that the fifth brother was determined to follow Master Huo. Master Huo said that if the brothers in Mouping County were willing to follow him back to Zichuan County to work, he would continue to hire everyone to work. Li Lao Wu immediately followed Master Huo's retreating troops and left Mouping County.
At that time, Li Laosi was firmly against Laowu going to work in another county hundreds of miles away. At that time, Li Laosi also said, "Laowu, you have already made money, isn't it enough?"
As a result, Lao Wu refused to listen and insisted on following Master Huo. The two brothers even quarreled. A few days ago, Lao Wu came back with the same salary as before. He deliberately said in front of Li Lao Si that he had been with Master Huo for more than half a year and began to enjoy the annual leave. This annual leave is not the annual leave during the Chinese New Year. During the Chinese New Year and other major festivals, Master Huo allows his "employees" to go home.
This annual leave is an additional holiday in addition to these holidays. Employees will not have their wages deducted during these days of leave.
At that time, Li Laosi knew that Laowu said this on purpose, and he was very unhappy. Unexpectedly, the next day after Laowu came back, Chen Juren's men came to collect the debt.
After thinking about it, he felt that he couldn't lose face. But at this time, there was really no one else who could help him. Finally, under his wife's scolding, Li Lao Si finally went to Lao Wu's side.
When we arrived at Lao Wu's house, we saw quite a few people sitting there. Most of the people here were young men, and Lao Wu was talking excitedly about his days with Master Huo.
Seeing so many people, Li Laosi could only listen from the side. A young man asked Laowu whether Master Huo would bully outsiders.
Li Laosi felt that these words were a bit harsh. At that time, he opposed Laowu following Master Huo to Zibo County because he felt that Laowu would suffer some losses as an "outsider" in Zibo County.
Lao Wu answered proudly. He said that no matter whether Master Huo arranged for someone to work for him or not, Master Huo had the same criteria for selecting people, regardless of whether they were locals or outsiders. The first was whether they had learned to do this. The second was whether they had received training from Master Huo. The third was how long they had worked for Master Huo.
Lao Wu had never learned any skills before, but when he came to Master Huo, he chose to raise rabbits, and now he has become a third-level worker. It is said that Master Huo divides each skill into twelve levels, and the higher the level, the better the skill and the higher the salary.
Seeing Lao Wu's excited words, Li Lao Si felt unhappy. However, since he was here to borrow money, Li Lao Si knew that he couldn't say anything that Lao Wu didn't like. Just when he was feeling unhappy, he heard a young man ask doubtfully, "Fourth brother, Master Huo treats strangers as well as locals. He does this for a good reputation, right?"
Li Laosi was shocked. He felt that this young man had spoken his true feelings. There were some things that Li Laosi had said before. It was precisely because of Li Laosi's ridicule that even if Huo Chong was a good person, he would still be driven out and close his stall.
After hearing this, Lao Wu was not angry. He even nodded in agreement and said loudly: "A good reputation is just a good reputation. If someone really wants to drive Master Huo away, Master Huo will have no choice but to leave."
Li Laosi was shocked. The last time he quarreled with Laowu, Laowu was furious after hearing this. Li Laosi had changed his personality and said the same thing.
The young men were also a little surprised. In this somewhat strange situation, Lao Wu continued, "A good reputation is useful, but when it comes to things, it can't be eaten or used. The reason why Master Huo did this is not for a good reputation. He wants capable people. Have you ever worn the rabbit fur lining made by Master Huo?"
The young men were wearing ordinary cloth, many of which were made by spinning and weaving at home. When they heard about the rabbit fur lining, most of them stared at Lao Wu in confusion.
Lao Wu said loudly, "Master Huo's rabbit fur lining is shipped to the provincial capital of Jinan and the capital, and we sell as many as we can. Why? Because the rabbit fur lining made by Master Huo is good and very cheap. It is cheaper than buying cotton to make a cotton-padded jacket. How did he make the rabbit fur lining so cheap and good? Tell me, what did he rely on?"
The young men looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Some of them looked at Li Laowu stupidly, and in Li Laosi's opinion, they didn't even understand what Laowu was saying.
Lao Wu raised his hand and said proudly, "To make rabbit skin lining so cheap and good, you have to rely on the skills of the rabbit farmers. As long as you have good skills, you can do it. As long as you can do it, you can make money."
Hearing that they could make money, the young men understood. There was obvious longing in their eyes, and someone asked expectantly: "Fifth brother, what can we do if we don't have any skills?"
"You don't know any craft. Do you understand why Master Huo wants you to learn a craft? Don't worry, Master Huo likes people who can learn a craft the most. As long as everyone learns the craft and doesn't be lazy, you can learn it." Li Laowu shouted cheerfully.
Seeing Lao Wu like this, Li Lao Si was furious. Lao Wu was too ostentatious. It seemed that after earning money, he was burned out by this little money.
But Li Laosi could not directly scold Laowu as he did before. Even if he wanted to scold him, he had to wait until Laowu refused to lend him the money.
Later, Lao Wu said a lot more, but Li Lao Si didn't listen. Because he was unhappy with Lao Wu's behavior, Li Lao Si went to stand outside. Although he didn't listen to Lao Wu, Li Lao Si couldn't help thinking about what Lao Si described. Especially when Lao Wu said that the rabbit skin lining made by Master Huo was selling so well that it could be sold in the provincial capital Jinan, and even in Beijing.
...If I can follow Master Huo, can I also make money? My carpentry skills are also very famous in the village.
After the young men left, Li Lao Si went to see Lao Wu. The two brothers were a little embarrassed when they met. Finally, it was Lao Si who broke the silence first, "Lao Wu, I want to borrow some money."
"How many?"
"Five taels of silver." Li Laosi said the amount. After he finished speaking, Li Laosi felt his face begin to get hot.
A few days later, Huo Chong's donkey messenger, who was in charge of communication, returned to the headquarters in Zibo County with the news from Muping County. The relevant information was sent to the intelligence department for analysis, and Huo Chong's core team held a meeting that night.
Everyone gathered together to look at a summary report, which was written very hastily. It was obvious that in order to rush the work, the staff, who were not very good at writing, wrote it at the fastest speed.
The fifth disciple, Lü Pingchuan, finished reading the report, left the crowded crowd, and asked in confusion: "Sir, why are these people forced to sell their land for a few taels of silver? They have their own land, so why wouldn't they be so careless as to borrow money they can't pay back?"
Huo Chong was very satisfied with the fact that Lu Pingchuan was gradually able to use more standard terms. Just as he was enjoying the way this guy used words and sentences, he saw his eldest disciple Qian Qing raise his head to look at the fifth disciple, with a look that clearly showed that "this question is too childish".
Lu Pingchuan quickly came to Qian Qing and said, "Sister, you have been following the teacher for so long, can you tell me about it?"
Qian Qing looked at Huo Chong, who couldn't help but laugh. His eldest disciple was very smart, and he had suffered so much in his youth. Whether it was his seriousness in study or his cognitive ability, he was indeed outstanding among Huo Chong's disciples and subordinates.
Seeing that Huo Chong had no intention of stopping him, Qian Qing replied, "Old Five, income and disposable income are not the same thing. Income refers to how much you earn, but in order to survive, you can't just go without food and drink. And there will be things happening at home, and after a busy year, you often borrow new debts and pay off old debts. This is called income."
After hearing this, Lu Pingchuan nodded slightly, and then asked: "Then what elder sister said is... that..."
"Disposable income." Qian Qing also learned a lot of Mandarin from Huo Chong, and gradually formed a Shandong accent in Mandarin. His pronunciation was quite crisp. "Disposable income is the money left after all the money you need to spend is spent. This money is disposable income. You can spend it however you want, and it will not affect the money you want to spend. Because the money you need to spend has been spent first. The remaining money is disposable income."
Lü Pingchuan still didn't seem to understand, while the other employees either finished reading the documents or were attracted by the topic. They all came over. Qian Qing was also well-behaved and immediately threw the topic to Huo Chong.
Huo Chong could only explain, "I'll give you an example, it's just an example, there's nothing to think about. For example, someone married off their daughter, and when the daughter returned to her parents' home, she brought five taels of silver. If the married daughter didn't bring back this money, the family would still be able to make a living. These five taels of silver are somewhat similar to disposable income."
In the agricultural era, disposable income was a privilege only enjoyed by the upper class. The poor struggled to make ends meet, and Huo Chong also spent a long time without knowing what disposable income was.
The reason I give this example is that even after Huo Chong knew the definition of disposable income, he once boasted with his friends about . One of his friends said that a man who married a Burmese girl went to his father-in-law's house and gave him 5,000 yuan, which shocked the village.
One of the brothers saw that everyone was a little confused about this, so he explained it with disposable income. This made Huo Chong have a deep understanding of this matter.
Living expenses are necessary, while disposable income is money that can be used as you wish. To put it more bluntly, it means "rich, willful".
But it was not easy for the generally poor Qing dynasty to understand disposable income. The poor could never control their own lives, and the word disposable was beyond their cognition. There was nothing they could do about it.
After Huo Chong's explanation, everyone had a slight impression. At least they understood the meaning of the noun. Then the discussion returned to what happened in Muping County.
Although these young people are also guys who cannot control their own lives, this does not prevent them from having their own strengths. Wan Qian, the sixth disciple of Huo Chong in the analysis department , looked unhappy, "Sir, I see these, why are those scholars targeting people related to us!"
Huo Chong had not thought about this at first, but after Wan Qian said this, Huo Chong became alert. Although the intelligence that Huo Chong's intelligence network could collect was of course about people related to Huo Chong, but twenty or thirty pieces of information appeared in a short period of time, which was not accidental in a small county.
Could it be that someone took advantage of Huo Chong's departure to target people related to him?
