Returning to Tianjin from the Donkey Ju River, the journey was smooth, and there were only a few small accidents. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The soldiers sent by Zhao Yunxiang to explore the road collided with a few smugglers who were in the dark in the middle of the night. Both sides were shocked, and the smugglers thought they were seizing private goods, so they threw down more than 200 catties of illicit salt and ran away, which made people cry and laugh.

In the early years of the Republic of China, because the customs were controlled by foreigners, the salt tax accounted for a large proportion of the central tax revenue.

The national salt tax accounts for about 24% of the central tax revenue, and the Changlu salt tax accounts for 24% of the national salt tax. Therefore, as soon as Chu Yupu intercepted the silver of the Changlu salt tax, he immediately collapsed the finances of the Beiyang government.

The situation of illegal salt in Henan and Hebei is very serious, especially in Tianjin.

The land here is mostly saline-alkali land, and when the climate is dry in spring and autumn, it is very suitable for the production of soil salt and nitrate. Due to the poor harvest of crops in saline-alkali land, farmers have left their land idle and scraped the soil and forests to make nitrate soil and salt.

This kind of private salt has a bitter taste and is difficult to swallow, but it is cheaper and is the first choice for the poor people at the bottom.

"It's not easy to leave it to people." Zhou Hexuan looked at the salt bags on the side of the road and smiled. He had thought about using scientific methods to help Tianjin farmers manage saline-alkali land, but after learning about the actual situation, he immediately dismissed this plan.

The investment in the treatment of saline-alkali land is too large and particularly troublesome, so farmers are naturally more willing to scrape the soil and dry the salt.

Zhao Yunxiang secretly stuffed a handful of bills into Zhou Hexuan's hand and whispered, "Mr. Zhou, the 480,000 is yours." ”

Zhou Hexuan buried his head in the count and found that there were a total of 610,000.

That is to say, Zhao Yunxiang intercepted 260,000 oceans and shared 130,000 yuan with Zhou Hexuan each, and Sun Liangcheng would not know about the money.

Another 70,000 oceans were distributed to 50 soldiers, each of whom could get 1,400 yuan, enough for them to be soldiers for ten years, and they had to be paid without being deducted by the commander.

Even if Sun Liangcheng knew about this, he wouldn't say anything, because this guy could pick up 720,000 for nothing.

Everyone waited for dawn and passed the concession checkpoint safely.

Zhao Yunxiang sent the wounded soldiers and Chu Nanxiang to the hospital, and then returned to the hotel to share the silver with his subordinates, and they were all happy and smiling.

Zhou Hexuan returned to the rented house, and Liao Yaquan immediately greeted him and asked, "Brother Zhou, are you back so soon?" ”

"Peking University wanted to keep me for two more days, but I refused." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile that the excuse for his disappearance this time was that he was going to Peking to see friends.

Liao Yaquan naturally didn't believe it, she saw Zhou Hexuan come back with her own eyes dozens of soldiers from Shandong. It's a pity that she is a long-term hidden spy and can't follow and investigate at any time, so she is very curious about what Zhou Hexuan has done in the past two days.

"Where's Leyi?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

"Sister Zhang is still on the radio." Liao Yaquan said.

"Then stay at home, I'll go out." Zhou Hexuan said.

"Oh." Liao Yaquan could only agree.

Zhou Hexuan held a huge amount of money in his hand, and he didn't dare to put it at home after thinking about it. So he went straight to the foreign bank and spent money to rent a bank safe deposit box, which was specially used to store silver bills.

After saving things, Zhou Hexuan began to think about how to spend money.

In recent years, it is more popular to play financial bonds, and Zhou Hexuan doesn't want to touch it, the water in it is too deep. He is still honest and suitable as a public servant, and he will buy a few houses first.

After making up his mind, Zhou Hexuan immediately found a real estate agent and said bluntly: "I want to buy a house in the concession, where is the right one?" ”

The agent, a young man in his 30s who wears glasses, said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou, it is most convenient to buy a house on Haidao in the British Concession, and the price is relatively affordable. ”

"Tell me about the specifics." Zhou Hexuan said.

The agent elaborated: "The British Concession Haidao is adjacent to the Qiangzi River, and the French Concession is next door. In the early years, the east side was the American Concession, and after it was merged into the British Concession, it was not developed for a long time, and the land has been idle. A few years ago, there was a revolution in Tsarist Russia, and a large number of Tsarist Russian nobles fled to Tianjin. The British Pioneer Farmers Company and the Catholic Church saw a business opportunity to develop and build a large number of residential buildings and shops in the area, forming a small white building commercial area where White Russians gathered. ”

"That is, if I buy a house over there, and the neighbors are all Belarusians?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

The intermediary smiled: "Those White Russian nobles are used to enjoying and not producing, where can they sit and eat empty mountains for a long time?" It's not been a few years, and one by one they have used up their money, and they are so poor that they are clanging. Nearly half of the houses in the Xiaobailou commodity area are now waiting to be sold, and you can move in as soon as you pay the money. ”

Zhou Hexuan frowned and said, "Hearing you say this, that place seems to be a bit out of the way?" ”

The intermediary hurriedly explained: "It used to be relatively remote, but it has been much more prosperous in the past two years. Next to it, there are Lihe Foreign Company, Xiannong Company, Qixin Ash Company, and YWCA to ensure safety and convenience. You know Xiannong, right? U.S. President-elect Hoover is a shareholder of Xiannong! ”

"Isn't Xiannong a British company? Can it also be related to the presidential candidate of the United States? Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

The agent grinned and said, "Then I don't know." ”

……

The next morning, Zhou Hexuan deliberately left Liao Yaquan and called Zhang Leyi to look at the house together.

"The western-style buildings here are very expensive, do you have enough money?" Zhang Leyi's family specializes in building villas, and she knows the market inside.

"That's enough, I've earned some manuscript fees for writing articles in the past two years," Zhou Hexuan pointed to the small white building, and said a little pretentiously, "The rental houses I live in now are really too narrow." If you like, just pick two. ”

Zhang Leyi exclaimed: "Buy two?" ”

"Pick, it's fine." Zhou Hexuan also wants to buy a few shops on the street to collect rent.

The real estate agent smiled beside him: "Mr. Zhou is really heroic!" If you have the money to spare, I recommend buying a few more. The Northern Expeditionary Army is about to occupy Tianjin, and the foreigners in the concession are a little afraid, and housing prices have been falling recently. ”

Zhang Leyi picked and chosen, and finally selected a three-story small white building, with a total of 18 rooms upstairs and downstairs (excluding bathrooms), with lawns and small gardens.

"How much is this building?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

The agent smiled: "The price of the house is 50,000." ”

"It's too expensive, 30,000 at most." Zhang Leyi opened her mouth and bargained forty percent.

The agent was a little speechless: "This young lady, you bought a house here ten years ago, and you can buy two houses for 30,000 yuan." But now it's different, the surrounding land has been developed, and the housing prices in this area have naturally risen. ”

"My family specializes in repairing western-style buildings, don't fool me," Zhang Leyi put on an expert posture, "You can say the lowest price." ”

The agent gritted his teeth and said: "40,008, no matter how low it is, I have to discuss it with the owner." ”

Zhang Leyi said: "Then call the homeowner!" ”

When the White Russian aristocratic landlord appeared, Zhou Hexuan finally saw Zhang Leyi's ability.

Zhang Leyi decided that the other party had no money and wanted to sell the house, so he actually cut the house of 50,000 yuan to 30,000, and the Belarusian owner just wanted to cry when he signed.

Zhou Hexuan was very happy, and spent money to buy a few shops on the street, anyway, there was a lot of money, and he was idle.

Before they could move into their new home, news came from the northeast - something happened to Zhang Zuolin.