Chapter 174: Year-end drama

When Wang Gonggong and Zhou Yuji left the kiln, Zhang Zhimu gave each of them a glass carriage. Of course, Zhang Zhimu didn't forget to send one to the emperor. Each of them also brought a lot of wine from the jar. There are also glass mirrors, zippered pockets, zippered leather boots, copper locks, whole boxes of soap, and so on.

The prince said: "Last time, the carriage I brought back was told to the emperor. I said that it was for Zhang Dong's family to do publicity, and the emperor let me go. This time, when I returned to Beijing, I first asked people to pull the carriage in Beijing to run a few more laps, and when the emperor knew, I said that it was for Zhang Dong's family. Then it's fine. ”

Zhou Yuji heard that the emperor gave Zhang Zhimu face like this, and thought to himself that this was a master who couldn't afford to offend in any way. Last time, the general soldier of Zhongshu Province, because he accused Zhang Zhimu of rebellion, did not expect to be ruined and killed, and there was no one in Beijing who dared to speak for him.

Zhang Zhimu felt that even in terms of business, with the business sent by these two people, it would not be too much to send some more things. Even Lu Chengxiang, who has always been very calculating, didn't care about this.

When they were about to break up, Zhang Zhimu asked Zhou Yuji: "Lord Zhou, you said, our Ming Dynasty has been invincible since the beginning of the dynasty, why did it fall to the point where it is now?" ”

Zhou Yuji didn't understand what Zhang Zhimu meant, and said: "Now, our officials in the Ming Dynasty are civil officials who are greedy for money, and military attaches are afraid of death. Officers are afraid of war, and soldiers are war-weary. There is no reason to be invincible. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "There is another reason, that is, our military discipline is lax, the killing of good people and the merit of meritorious service are repeatedly prohibited, and the interference of officials and soldiers to the people has been connived at. On the other hand, Li Zicheng, who has always been an anti-thief, is now a strict military discipline, and he does not commit any crimes everywhere, but has the prestige of a king's army. It's no wonder that the people's hearts are reversed. ”

Zhou Yuji nodded; "I have been in the military for many years and know the disadvantages and the reasons for this. Those armies would not have survived if they had not set up for food. It is now difficult for the imperial court to pay salaries on time. They have no other source and are like thieves. After a long time, things are out of control. Alas, I can't control the affairs of the court, and I will restrain my officers and soldiers. Zhang Dongjia rest assured. ”

Seeing that Wang Gonggong and Zhou Yuji had gone away, Yan Boju made fun of Lu Chengxiang again, and said, "This time our things were taken away by others, why didn't Lu Xiaojiao feel distressed?" ”

Lu Chengxiang smiled and said: "I feel distressed, why should I feel distressed." Today, these dignitaries and dignitaries take one of my pieces, and someone will come to buy a hundred or a thousand pieces when they come back. This is called 'advertising' as Mr. Zhang said. ”

After sending off Wang Gonggong and Zhou Yuji, Zhang Zhimu saw that everyone was there, so he said, "Let's have a meeting." ”

The main topic of the meeting was the issue of the payment of year-end bonuses.

On this issue, Zhang Zhimu spoke first: "As you all know, our year is definitely an extraordinary year, and every employee of our kiln gang has experienced a baptism. I don't think it's too much to give out bonuses. But there must be a limit to everything, and the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and I have been thinking about how much money to give everyone these days. To be honest, I never thought about it. I would like to make a point of view, and we will discuss it again. The salary at the end of the first year shall be paid as before; The bonus above the second intermediate level, because this year is too special, will be paid an average bonus, which is half of the annual salary; Third, a one-time payment of rewards is required due to special contributions; There is also a part of it that I have in my own hands, and it is specially distributed. ”

Everyone didn't expect that Zhang Zhimu would come up with such a big reward at once. Zhang Zhimu also knows that rewarding too many people at once is not conducive to future work. But these comrades-in-arms have worked hard throughout the year, which makes Zhang Zhimushi grateful to these comrades-in-arms from the bottom of his heart, and he feels that they deserve such a reward.

Everyone will be very happy to get a little more silver, and no one will object.

Seeing that everyone did not object, Lu Chengxiang spoke: "This year's bonus and salary will be distributed in three ways. One is to send silver directly, the second is to send our kiln coins, and the third is to send a passbook. ”

Yan Boju was dissatisfied and said: "If you send silver, you will give silver, what are you doing with all this verbosity?" ”

Zhang Zhimu explained: "We take this opportunity to issue kiln coins. This kiln coin is equivalent to silver, and it can be exchanged at any time at the counter of our kiln. The shops, canteens, and taverns inside our kiln gang can all circulate kiln gang coins. Such kiln money is easy to carry, and if you don't want it, you can also exchange it for silver, we don't force it. If you feel that it is inconvenient to put the banknotes on your body, you can get a passbook. Use your passbook to keep track of your access and access. Of course, the amount of money on the passbook can be withdrawn from cash or kiln coins. ”

Huang Yukun said: "In the future, our canteen will give everyone three meal tickets in the morning, noon and evening every day to ensure the basic dining standards. At the same time as we distribute meal tickets, we will give everyone a little meal subsidy, and whoever can save these subsidies is their own. ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "In this way, you can stop the waste, now the money is in your own hands, and the waste is a waste of yourself." However, in order to prevent people from saving too much, we still give out meal tickets to ensure the minimum food and clothing. ”

Zhang Zhimu also demanded that the sheep soup and fish soup in each canteen must be enough, with these, at least the nutritional problems of employees can be guaranteed.

Chen Yufeng said to Huang Yukun: "Your taverns and noodle restaurants must be expanded, and when everyone has money, they will definitely fill your place." ”

Huang Yukun said, "Don't worry, Uncle Chen. Our bistro is ready to expand its business area several times. I also want to build some private rooms and private seats. We guarantee that there will be both north and south dishes in the future. I was also approached by a few people from the south, and they also wanted to open a few noodle restaurants and other southern snack bars. Our kiln will slowly become popular. ”

Lu Chengxiang saw that everyone's interest was very high, and he also said: "Our own shop should also be expanded." Not only do they have to sell their own products, but they also have to sell goods from the north and south. Slowly, the reputation of our shop will go out. ”

The idea of a department store suddenly popped up in Zhang Zhimu's mind and said, "Mr. Lu, I suddenly thought that we could build a department store. ”

Lu Chengxiang didn't understand what Zhang Zhimu meant and asked, "What is a department store?" ”

Zhang Zhimu remembered the kind of circle building department store and said: "We can build a circle building, that is, a circle of buildings, and a warehouse in the middle." The circle building is divided into categories, and all the goods that can be purchased in the world are purchased. In this way, no matter what customers want to buy, they can purchase it all at one time when they enter our department store. The lower floor of the circle building is used for retail, and the upper floor can also be used for wholesale. We also have some shops to attract foreign investment and cooperate with other businesses to do business. ”

The day when the kiln was paid was too lively. Although these hard-working kiln workers knew that what the kiln gang said would definitely be fulfilled, they never worried that the kiln would owe them wages. But after all, the money did not arrive in their hands, and they were still not sure. It can be regarded as waiting for the day of payroll, and they are happy that they don't know what to do. Many young people have made an appointment, and as soon as the money is in hand, they will go to the tavern for a drink together. These people who used to worry about eating are going out to drink. For some of them, these things are like dreams.

As Zhang Zhimu and Lu Chengxiang expected, although they had repeatedly advertised that the kiln gang currency and silver could be exchanged in equal amounts, everyone still wanted cash when receiving their salaries, so that everyone felt at ease.

Lu Chengxiang knew very well in his heart, and he said to Zhang Zhimu: "After a while, they will feel that it is inconvenient to put the silver, so they will come to exchange it for kiln gang coins, and after a while, they will feel that they are not at ease with kiln gang coins on their bodies, and they will come back to exchange it for passbooks." ”

Therefore, although everyone received cash when they received their salaries, they still made a passbook for each of them. However, the interior of the kiln gang only collects kiln gang coins, and Lu Chengxiang has done a great job in this hand. As a result, if you want to buy something inside the kiln, you have no choice but to go to the counter of the kiln ticket number and exchange some kiln coins. When they got used to using kiln coins, they found that it was indeed more convenient to use kiln coins than copper coins and silver. Slowly, the kiln coins were circulated in the kiln along with the silver.

The kiln employees with silver are beaming with joy. The whole kiln gang has gradually had the atmosphere of the New Year. Zhang Zhimu asked Li Yunhe to try the carriage that was ready to run the transportation and transport the guests between Yaogang and Zhang Xiurong in advance, and pick up and drop off the Yaogang people for free. The last time for the return car to start is when the city gate of Xiurong is closed, so as to ensure that the kiln people who visit Xiurong have a car to sit when they come back.

In Xiurong City, the most popular people among merchants are the people of Yaogang. The entire Xiurong City knows that the kiln gang people have paid their salaries. In Xiurong City, walking on the street, you can see those people in the kiln. Because the people in the kiln gang are all holding their heads up, the most important thing is that they are all full of red light, and their bodies are exceptionally clean. Because the kiln people can take a bath casually. This made the kiln people very proud, because in that era, it was not very convenient for people to take a bath, and the smell on their bodies was very bad. Therefore, the kiln gang people, as soon as they smell the smell, they know whether they are kiln gang people.

The purchasing power of the kiln gang people also made Xiurong people look at it differently, because the income of the kiln gang people was much higher than that of ordinary people at that time, especially when they saved up to pay their salaries together, they all wanted to buy something for themselves before the year.

In the year of the catastrophe, when the business was not good, those merchants nodded when they saw the kiln people.

Zhang Zhimu's special bonus was spent a total of 30,000 yuan in kiln coins from Lu Chengxiang, equivalent to 3,000 taels of silver.

Zhang Zhimu asked Yang Yulin to dip some paper pockets with red paper, and then Zhang Zhimu put the prize money to be distributed in the paper pocket.

The first Zhang Zhimu was sent to Chen Yufeng, Chen Yufeng didn't take the red envelope, he said: "My salary plus bonus is high enough." If I hadn't had a home now, I wouldn't have wanted those. ”

There was no way, Zhang Zhimu asked Huang Yukun to send it to Sister-in-law Xu. This red envelope is the largest, with a total of 10,000 kiln coins, a whole stack. It is equivalent to a thousand taels of silver.

The second red envelope, Zhang Zhimu gave Lu Chengxiang, the most worried person in the kiln gang, Zhang Zhimu's red envelope contained 5,000 yuan kiln gang coins, equivalent to 500 taels of silver. Lu Chengxiang took the red envelope given by Zhang Zhimu, knew how many there were with his hand, and hurriedly said: "Mr. Zhang, this is not good, there are too many of them." ”

Zhang Zhimu looked at him and said, "Mr. Lu, I see everything you have done for Yaogang." I think that's still too little for you to do. Just take it. When the weather is warm and the house is poured out, bring the family over so that someone will take care of you. Your two sons and nephews are all running outside for the kiln, and no one can take care of them. ”

Mr. Lu said: "It would be good to wait for the warm weather after the New Year, but it will be soon, not a few days." In fact, I'm also used to being outside, and my family is coming, so I'm not necessarily used to it. ”

Several giants in Yaogang, Zhang Zhimu personally sent red envelopes according to different situations.

The bonus on the army's side, Zhang Zhimu and Chen Yufeng discussed together, and it was completely distributed according to the size of the merit. Liu Yun, Li Jing, Li Wei, Fan Chengkun, Liu Chenghuang, etc. all received heavy awards. Zhang Zhimu and Chen Yufeng respected Liu Yun's opinions.

Those outside factories, such as smelting plants, kiln factories, cylinder kilns, etc., have also paid bonuses according to different situations.

What made Zhang Zhimu happy was that after Lu Chengxiang and his team inspected the copper mine and lead mine, they all felt that these two mines should be bought. Soon after, the two mines were returned to the kiln. As for the price, Zhang Zhimu didn't let Lu Chengxiang press it too low. Because Zhang Zhimu still likes Sun Renyun, so that Sun Renyun can be more balanced after he comes.

In order to better manage the two mines, Zhang Zhimu equipped Sun Renyun with a new leadership team, and Lu Chengxiang personally assigned the finances, and also invited a few people who knew the mines well from the smelter to work with the original smelter technicians. The first task was for Zhang Zhimu to ask them to come up with a plan for the expansion and transformation of the mine.

The workers and technical managers of the two mines were overjoyed to hear that Zhang Zhimu's kiln gang had taken over the mines. Because if Yaogang does not take over these two mines, these two mines will soon go out of business, and then it will be a problem for the thousands of workers here to eat. They also heard that the treatment of the kiln gang was the best in the Ming Dynasty. They had known about this from the workers at the smelter for a long time.

Originally, Zhang Zhimu wanted to go to these two mines to see the mines and workers there a few years ago, but he really couldn't get out of it. Zhang Zhimu and Lu Chengxiang discussed, first let the leadership team take office, send grain and New Year's cattle and sheep over, and let everyone have a good New Year.

Zhang Zhimu also arranged for these new teams to visit the smelter and told them to first renovate the workers' living facilities according to the standards of the smelter.

Another piece of good news is that Li Zhi and the others took Li Yunhe's mother and daughter-in-law back. Liu Yun's daughter-in-law also brought back a son to Li Yunhe. This made Li Dong and Li Yunhe's father and son excited.

It turned out that since Li Dong's father and son escaped from home, their family members were used as slaves and maids, and after several resales, they were sold to a rich man's house in Beijing as slaves. Fortunately, the family is not bad, and Li Yunhe's daughter-in-law gave birth to a child, and she was not too embarrassed. After Li Zhi's people found them, they sent a message to them through others, telling them the current situation of Li Dong's father and son, telling them not to worry, and now they are trying to find a way to rescue them. That's how they see hope. This time, Li Zhi really ransomed them out at great expense.

Although the house in Yaogang was still very tight, Huang Yukun still found a way to squeeze out a house for Li Yunhe's family to live in. Huang Yukun said: "We must let this family have a good reunion year." ”

The story of Li Dong's family made the entire kiln gang happy. This also adds a lot of festive colors to the upcoming Spring Festival.

Originally, Zhang Zhimu wanted to hold a Spring Festival Gala like in his previous life, but the conditions were not met. Later, it was decided that this party would be held together with the summary and commendation meeting of Yaogang. After the meeting, the program will be performed.

Another thing that needs to be completed a year ago, Zhang Zhimu also has to worry about. Originally, Zhang Zhimu proposed to run the kiln gang weekly, which should issue the first issue on the first day of the new year. This matter was handed over to a Jinshi who had been a doctor in Taizhong called Fan Jinfu, and this person also agreed. However, this person can make comments, but it is very difficult to do specific work.

Fan Jinfu wanted to carve the manuscript of each issue into a wooden board for printing after the manuscript was typeset. But he didn't know who to go to coordinate the work. Lu Chengxiang said: "Let's change someone to take care of this matter." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "No, this person just didn't do well at the beginning, this is because he is not suitable for the way of working in the kiln." When he gets into the groove, he'll be fine. This person is upright and upright, and he is a newspaper material. ”

Zhang Zhimu had to go to him in person to discuss with him what to do about the report. Because others went to him, they were afraid that he would feel looked down upon and affect his emotions. After Zhang Zhimu found him, the first thing he did was not to discuss the content of the publication, but to tell him that the weekly would be mimeographed.

Zhang Zhimu introduced them to the technique of carving steel plates on wax paper and then printing them with ink. Because when he was in elementary school, Zhang Zhimu and his classmates carved wax paper printing materials. Something that couldn't be simpler at this time. But these things are difficult for Fan Jinfu to accept at once. Because they saw the words carved out by Zhang Zhi's wood, and the printing was very ugly. They said it was a blasphemy against the ancestral writing.

Zhang Zhimu had no choice but to lure them and say, don't look at my handwriting, it doesn't look good, your handwriting may not be better than mine. At this time, Fan Jianfu didn't do it. I just saw that Zhang Zhimu's words were really ugly, but for the sake of Zhang Zhimu's identity, they were not good at evaluating it. Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhimu felt that their words would be the same as his, Fan Jinfu was not a little angry, he sat down at the table angrily, picked up an iron pen on a piece of wax paper with a steel plate, and wrote hard.

One will be Song style, one will be subordinate, and one will be cursive. It didn't take long for a piece of wax paper to be engraved.

Zhang Zhimuwei smiled and watched the workers put the wax paper on the mimeograph machine and print out several sheets of paper in a row. Zhang Zhimu took out the printed paper and looked at it, and the clear and handsome words appeared on this paper. Zhang Zhimu looked at it, and handed the paper to everyone for everyone to read. The people who took the paper were amazed, "The handwriting is so good." ”

Zhang Zhimu asked Fan Jianfu, "Now do you think that wax paper printing can be printed with good-looking characters?" ”

At this time, Fan Jianfu and others suddenly realized that they had fallen for Zhang Zhimu's radical method. But they didn't say anything when they saw that wax paper could also print beautiful fonts.

Zhang Zhimu said: "The wooden board still needs to be engraved, and the commonly used parts of the weekly, such as the masthead and other commonly used places, can be printed with the woodblock engraving template." ”

Fan Jinfu also had to say: "It's still fast and convenient to use this method." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "In the future, when we can, we can make a daily newspaper. With that, it's no problem. ”

The debate between Fan Jinfu and Zhang Zhimu has not ended, Zhang Zhimu wants to create an issue, and the first article must be written by himself. In addition, it is stipulated that each issue must be reviewed by itself before it can be published. And encourage people from all walks of life to contribute.

Fan Jinfu was very opposed, believing that newspapers and periodicals should be a tool for propagating the ideas of sages and sages, and also a place to criticize the phenomenon of disrespect for etiquette and integrity. It's all about the people who have read poetry and books to write the articles.

Zhang Zhimu retorted: "I want to use the vernacular to make this journal a place where ordinary people can exchange ideas." As long as this place is made into a place where truth, goodness and beauty are promoted, and falsehood, evil and ugliness are criticized. ”

Neither of them could convince the other, but they both said that they could slowly adjust and adapt in the process of doing it.

Yaogang's year-end drama has finally begun.

The summary and commendation ceremony was held in the newly renovated Cultural Palace. In order to publicize the needs, Zhang Zhimu also invited some celebrities such as Xiurong Zhixian and Xiurong.

These beautiful celebrities are naturally very happy to be invited by the kiln gang. This is a high honor for them, not to mention the hospitality of good food and drink when they arrive at the kiln. When they heard that there would be a performance after the commendation meeting of Yaogang, some of them even brought their family members here. Because they have long heard that Yaogang spent a lot of money to rehearse a big play "Tang Guifei". The play has been passed down to the gods. How can those young ladies miss it.

Originally, more than 20 gentry and celebrities were invited, but dozens of young ladies came. There is no way, because it was not stated that family members were not allowed when the invitation was placed.

These family members can't go to the stage, so they are all arranged to sit below.

Although the exterior of the Cultural Palace has not yet been completed, the inside, under the full supervision of Liu Bensheng, has been completed.

As soon as these people entered the Cultural Palace, they were stunned. The decoration in the Cultural Palace is resplendent and splendid, even the ground is terrazzo, and people are slippery when they go up and under their feet. The biogas lamps on the surrounding walls illuminate the interior of the Cultural Palace. The kind of chair that could be folded was something they had never seen before. What they don't understand is that there is not a single pillar in such a large cultural palace.

There are two rows of ** on the stage.

There were a total of 1,593 seats upstairs and downstairs, all of them were full, and it was not enough, and the stools on both sides and in the middle aisle were full of people.

These delegates to the meeting were present in all departments of the kiln gang, and of course the representatives of primary school students were given preferential treatment, and they sat in the middle position.

On the stage, several giants of the kiln gang sat in the first row, and the guests all sat in the second row. The meeting was still presided over by Li Zhi.

The first item of the meeting was to play music and sing "The Song of the Kiln Gang". This is Zhang Zhimu's rewriting based on the tune of "March of the Volunteers" with new words.

Of course, the lyrics are mainly to motivate the kiln employees to work hard and exchange their honest labor for a happy life.

Zhang Zhimu had already let everyone sing this song in advance. However, singing aloud to the accompaniment of majestic music still made everyone in the meeting enthusiastic.

Then Zhang Zhimu spoke. He introduced the unusual experience and struggle process of Yaogang Trading Corporation since its establishment, and summarized the achievements made in the past year. Although these things have been experienced by everyone together, Zhang Zhimu revisited them on such a solemn occasion, which made everyone feel different. These things made those guests who heard about it for the first time even more amazed.

Then Zhang Zhimu introduced the blueprint plan of the kiln next year to everyone, which aroused everyone's great interest. Zhang Zhimu's depiction of the kiln is even more beautiful than the paradise they had thought of before.

After Zhang Zhimu finished speaking, representatives of various departments of the kiln gang also made brief speeches. Finally, we recognize those who have been rewarded. Not only did each of them receive a certificate of merit. Everyone waited for a red envelope of different thicknesses, and of course, the red envelopes contained kiln coins that could be exchanged for silver at any time.

This also made the guests feel very hot-eyed.

Finally, Li Zhi announced the end of the annual summary and commendation meeting of Yaogang. The theatrical performance begins.

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