Zhang Xiaowu worked as a coolie in the shipping warehouse of East 40 Tiao, and the lady squatted at the mouth of the alley to sew and mend for people, and the old Beijing called this profession a sewing poor, and there was an old lady who was an old mother in a Langzhong family in the household department outside the southern city. There is also a son and a daughter in the family, the eldest is eight years old, and the younger is six years old.

Such a family is the lowest family in the south of Beijing, the family works non-stop every day, and the income is just enough to make a living, Zhang Xiaowu earns more as a coolie, and when he lives well, for example, the Cao boat in Tongzhou arrives and wants to enter the warehouse. Or the court has an order to take out the grain, and there are three taels of silver a month. I usually squat outside the shipping warehouse, chat with other coolies, and do odd jobs when I don't work.

I can't save more than two taels of silver all year round, and I currently have more than a dozen taels of silver in my hand, which I have pulled out of my mouth for many years of frugality. After resisting a day's work, I went home, and my eyes were so tired that I hit the door frame and hit the door frame several times before entering the door. When I entered the house, I saw my mother and my mother whispering something, and there was a small bag of rice on the kang. It looks like there is about a bucket of rice, and a small bag of salt, about a catty.

"Mother, is something wrong? How can you be willing to buy white rice, it's still such good white rice" Zhang Xiaowu said distressedly, grabbing a handful with his hand, the pieces are round, crystal clear, there is no mold and broken rice at all, this is a first-class late rice japonica rice.

This kind of rice also costs at least one tael of silver per load, and there is a little fluctuation in the market, such as the late arrival of the boat, the local famine or something, and the price can go to two taels. Eating this kind of rice is either rich or expensive, usually the common people are sick at home, at most they buy more than three years of old rice, and it has to be broken rice, boil a little porridge to drink. It's like this, and broken rice costs three coins of silver a load.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were two kinds of polished rice and brown rice, and there were also differences in different varieties of rice in various places. DEPENDING ON THE FINENESS OF THE GRINDING RICE, ONE STONE RICE IS ABOUT 91-94KG. The more bran is ground off, the whiter the rice and the lower the weight.

One stone valley, in particular, is much lighter than one stone rice. Grain production is calculated as cereal, not rice. Roughness = weight of brown rice after processing / weight of rice before processing. Rice yield = weight of rice after processing / weight of rice before processing. The roughness of indica rice and indica glutinous rice was 71%~79%, that of japonica rice and japonica glutinous rice was 73%~81%, and that of late japonica rice was 70%~82%.

The rice yield is generally calculated at 58%. "Research on the Grain Yield per Mu in China in the Past Dynasties" believes that a stone weighed 153.5 catties in the Ming Dynasty, and a catty weighed 594.6 grams. That's about 91.27 kilograms today. In the Ming Dynasty, ten liters and one bucket, ten buckets and one load. One bucket is about 18.25 pounds. One liter is about 1.825 pounds.

"This rice is from She," said the old lady.

"Mother, have you borrowed a loan shark" Zhang Xiaowu was frightened out of his body.

"Don't be afraid, listen to me, recently some preachers have come to the city, saying that there will be great calamities in this world, and nine out of ten people will suffer, and only those who believe in Yanmi Tianzun can get help, and they can enjoy low-cost salt rice cloth, and barefoot Langzhong will give free medical treatment. If the faith is good, the pious heart is seen by Tianzun, and there is a chance to be selected by Tianzun, and one person will attain the Tao, and the chicken and dog will ascend to heaven. The whole family went to the Promised Land, where each family would be given 100 acres of paddy fields according to the adult population. Exempt from all harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, in addition to paying 30% rent to Tianzun, the rest belongs to himself, and when he is sick, he has free treatment and medicine in Langzhong, and the child goes to kindergarten at the age of three and goes to school at the age of five. If you succeed in studying and pass the exam, you can also be an official in the Paradise World. ”

"My mother, these are some gods who accumulate wealth, have you seen less over the years, and in the end it is not for us to give money, these preachers do not rely on the congregation to feed them." Zhang Xiaowu had a bitter face and carefully persuaded the old lady. I know that my mother was deceived into believing something. The old lady works as a servant in a large family, and only comes back once in three or five days, I don't know when I will be pulled into the water, and the most afraid is this, if people believe anything, they can't persuade them to come back.

"Don't talk nonsense, it's fun to offend Tianzun, you think I'm really confused, my mother has lived in this capital for forty-five years, I haven't seen any flowers, my mother's eyes don't rub sand." The old lady glared at Zhang Xiaowu. Then he said slowly: "I didn't believe it at first, I was busy with the work of the owner, I was idle, and Mrs. Zhao and Mrs. Wang went to listen to their evening class, all about why the people are poor, how to change their situation, all about the things around me, all the words of the people, and everything I said in my heart." I followed the practice, listening to evening classes, chanting sutras, and reciting mantras. Suddenly, one day, the master said that I was pious and believed well, and he dreamed that Tianzun had a will to accept me as a fifth-level disciple and reward me with a livelihood to support my family. ”

Zhang Xiaowu thought that after all, he still came, it was time to let the old lady give out his belongings, and he didn't know how much it cost to invite a Tianzun, and he had to dedicate various offerings on the fifteenth day of the new year. Thinking that he had saved less than twenty taels of net worth after working hard and hard, and was looking forward to marrying a daughter-in-law for his son and adding some dowry to the girl that could still be said in the past, now all this seems to be in vain.

"The master called me into the backyard, and there were a few good and religious people who believed in me as well. The master took out a small bag of high-quality japonica rice and said that for the sake of benefiting the world, this rice will be given to me according to 750 Wen Qian, and I can secretly develop believers in the neighborhood in the future, as long as I believe it, I can sell him 850 Wen Yuan for up to one bucket of rice per month. I am the lowest disciple called a registered disciple, and what I am developing is an ordinary believer. ”

"Mother, in this way, it really is not a liar, such rice has never been less than one or two silver a load, and the skin money is enough to cost a thousand yuan. The current market is about 1180 Wen. If this is sold on the market, it will earn 380 wen per load."

"That's not good, the master said, I can only earn 100 yuan per load, and Tianzun only allows me to earn so much. I don't care how much believers sell. Otherwise, Tianzun would be angry and remove me as a disciple, and I would not have earned a penny. There are supervising disciples to check the situation below, but they don't dare to mess around."

"That also means that as long as you develop more believers, if you can mobilize relatives and friends, everyone can only buy one bucket of rice per month, and they will bring letters to people in order to buy more rice, as for how to share the profits, we don't know. Such a large profit is possible for hundreds of people. Isn't this a way to sell dozens of quintals of rice every month, and wouldn't you have an income of a few taels of silver every month? That's a lot more money than I did as a coolie. ”

"And the master also said that if I can develop a sect of 300 people and manage it well, I will be promoted to one level and called a disciple of the Academy. These congregations set up a courtyard, and I was the head of the courtyard. I'll pick the name of the hospital myself. ”

"Mother, isn't there a greater benefit to this admitted disciple?"

"That's right, the master said, if you enter the hospital, Tianzun will reward you with the right to operate grey cloth, which is similar to the rules of grain, and add a variety. Further up, there are also disciples in the hall, and Tianzun rewards the right to operate edible oil. Further up, there are also disciples who enter the room, and Tianzun rewards the right to sell refined salt. It is illegal to sell smuggled salt, and the master said that this is only allowed to be sold to believers, not to the outside world, and each person can only buy one tael per month. ”

"Mother, isn't there only these four levels?"

"I heard from the master, there is another level above, and this level is called a closed disciple."

"What's the reward for this level," Zhang Xiaowu asked with red eyes.