Chapter 29: The Foundation (Part II)

"Oh, ears, ears, don't pull it, if you pull it again, it's off. Grandpa, I'm your own grandson! "Seeing Chang Xiaoer commanding in the middle of a group of teenagers, he met his grandfather, but it was like a mouse seeing a cat. I didn't even dare to struggle hard, so I could only shout and follow the old man to the door of the carriage.

The boys were startled, and then realized that the carriage had stopped at some point. When I looked out at the open door, I saw a four-wheeled carriage with a very simple decoration, but the frame and wheels were made of stainless steel, parked on the right side of the road, directly opposite the door of the public carriage. And Chang Xiaoer, who had promised to take everyone to join the army, was directly pushed into the four-wheeled carriage by the old man who suddenly came out. Immediately, the old man jumped onto the wheels, shook the reins twice, and galloped away in the four-wheeled carriage with the skill of not matching his age in the slightest.

"The little second brother's family is definitely not an ordinary person!" Immediately, a teenager was in the carriage of the public carriage, muttering quietly.

"Isn't it? In order to prevent him from becoming a soldier, his grandfather actually drove a carriage to intercept him! The other teenagers echoed with envy on their faces.

Four-wheeled carriages are very rare in Jiangnan, and even in Huaiyang, they are considered a luxury that has only slowly emerged in recent years. Not to mention the horses that pull the cart, all of them are good horses in Liaodong with tall skeletons, and they often have a horse of 145 or 5 in all places south of the Yellow River. It's the steel frame and wheels, which can't be paid for without seven or eight dollars, and are often in a state of priceless and unmarketable, and need to be booked with the car dealer several months in advance to get their hands on it.

Therefore, the four-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse or two horses is usually the standard car for the senior officials of the Huaiyang Governor's Office or the senior steward of the Huaiyang firm. Ordinary people rarely can afford to buy it, and even the wealthy families are usually reluctant to run on the streets all day after buying a carriage. It's just that the golden house is hidden, and it will only be taken out to fill the façade on very important occasions.

However, the teenagers soon realize that something seems to be wrong with their judgment. Before the public carriage could start again, outside the glass window, there were at least three or four four-wheeled carriages of similar specifications that Chang Xiaoer had ridden before, galloping by. Behind each carriage is a boxy iron sign. The sign is painted with blue fire paint with a Chinese character, a Latin script and a string of large food numbers, Yang B952***.

"It's a rental carriage, right? I've heard from the elders of my family that there have been horse-drawn taxis here recently, and you can go up by waving on the side of the road. But the price of the car is expensive!! "Someone has a keen mind and quickly comes up with a new term.

"It must be, didn't you notice just now, there is a yellow triangle on the roof of every carriage?!"

"Isn't it? If it's really a big family, you should send someone to pick up the car. Why couldn't it be his grandfather himself? ”

"Alas, I regretted it just now, why didn't I ask him where he lived?"

"Just you? If he really went to study Wutang early after the gate, how could he go to Jiqing to be a buddy? ”

“”

The teenagers suddenly realized and responded again. looked out the window again, but there was a little less envy and a little more calm.

They no longer expect Chang Xiaoer to come back and find a way for everyone. In fact, Chang Xiaoer is indeed not capable of helping everyone. And even his dream of becoming a soldier was strangled to death in the carriage by Chang Lao Si, who was driving the car.

"Little bastard, as a soldier, you don't pee according to your own cowardice? With your body, on the first day of the battlefield, you have to be stabbed to death! Your grandfather and I have only lived a good life for a few days, and you can't bear to let my white-haired person send you a black-haired person? Little bastard, stop your idea as soon as possible, otherwise, if you go out with your front foot, I will hold the stone with my back foot and go to the Yangtze River! "I haven't seen my grandson for half a year, and Chang Lao Si wants to say that he doesn't want to, it's absolutely nonsense. But no matter how much he loves his juniors in his heart, today he must first stand up for power. Otherwise, once his grandson is really like Liu Da, the top beam of the Jiqing branch of Hanyuan Firm, who came to report in advance, he will be determined to join the army. I'm afraid that his old man will not be able to sleep peacefully every night in the future.

"Grandpa, grandpa, don't be angry! Didn't I have to go home and discuss with you and my father before I signed up? Really, I'm really going to talk to you? Otherwise, otherwise I got off the boat just now, and I didn't take the public carriage, but spent money to rent a car and go straight to the military yamen! "Chang Xiaoer has been training outside for half a year, and his heart is more mature than before. Knowing that he couldn't blindly make the old man angry, he opened the front window of the carriage from the inside and poked out half of his head to explain.

"Close the window, you're looking for death?!" Chang Lao didn't reply and scolded loudly. Immediately, he quickly added: "Sensei discuss, I don't agree!" Your father has to listen to me, too. Otherwise, I will go to the yamen to sue you two for disobedience and unfilial piety. Behold, which army dares to accept you, an unfilial grandson! ”

When Chang Xiaoer heard this, he hurriedly begged for mercy loudly, "Don't, don't, grandpa." If you really go to sue, won't my father's job be ruined? He finally got to the third-level craftsman, you really smashed his rice bowl, let him and my mother drink the northwest wind in the future? ”

"It's better to drink than to be scared to death by you!" Chang Laosi refused to let go at all, and shook the reins of the car with a crackling sound.

"How so? I'm just going to sign up, and I may not be selected. Even if you are selected, you will start with the auxiliaries first, and you will have to go through several rounds of elimination before you are eligible to share the fifteen acres of land! Chang Xiaoer knew that his grandfather was angry, so he put his tone extremely soothing and explained slowly.

"You know the! In the past, the recruitment of troops was strictly controlled, and that was because there was no big war. This is about to go on the Northern Expedition, who can care so carefully? As long as you sign up, you will be hired immediately, and then you will be sent directly to the battlefield. ”

"Who did you listen to, isn't this nonsense?"

"What nonsense? Don't you see that even the students who are studying have been drafted into the Grand Governor's Mansion as civil servants? There is such a shortage of even those who are officials, let alone those who are soldiers? ”

"Shhhh When Chang Xiaoer heard this, he immediately gasped with his teeth. The Governor's Office's recent aggressive recruitment of civil servants does give people a sense of hunger. And even the reserve officers are no longer so strict, and it stands to reason that ordinary soldiers will indeed be more relaxed.

However, he was unwilling to do this, and his grandfather delayed his chance to get ahead. Holding his chin and rolling his eyes a few times, he looked left and right and said to him, "Grandpa, why did you catch the carriage?" I'm afraid this car has to be in its early twenties! Did my brother buy it for you? How hard you work every day! How can you sit at home and enjoy the blessings?! ”

"I was born to work hard, and I feel uncomfortable if I don't work for a day!" Hearing the second grandson mention Chang Fugui, the eldest grandson of the family, although Chang Laosi's mouth was still stiff, a proud smile quietly appeared on his face. "Your brother bought it for me, but it didn't cost twenty yuan, and it only cost two yuan in total with the car and horse, and the rest can be paid on credit with the car dealership, and slowly earn and pay it back?"

"On credit? And this kind of good thing? The interest rate won't be too high, right? Don't you be fooled? Chang Xiaoer was slightly stunned when he heard this, and an aggressive light immediately appeared in his eyes. Twenty and two, the difference is huge. You must know that Huaiyang's foot color and meat are good at the moment, and it is a first-class hard currency. Even in the suburbs of Yangzhou City, five guan money can buy an acre of high-quality paddy fields. If you go to the south of the Yangtze River, in Jiqing, Taiping and other places, Huaiyang meat has always been good is one acre of land, and even the field belt and bones are packaged. Eighteen yuan is eighteen acres of land, so a fool does not keep his own interest, but lends it to others in vain. (Note 1) "Fooled, you don't look at it, under the feet of the chief manager, who dares to set people up casually?" Isn't that looking for death? Chang Lao Si pursed his lips, and the expression on his face became more and more proud, "Besides, your brother has already been promoted to the rank of manager, and he is the deputy treasurer of the general number." Although the Hanyuan branch is not in the name of the general manager, there are also shares of Huaiyang firm in it. Huaishang Auto Company, which is also a shareholder of Huaiyang Firm, how can it be a person for himself? ”

"Oh!" Hearing the old man say this, Chang Xiaoer's heart was somewhat more steady. Immediately, he frowned again, pretending to be very meritocratous and asked, "What is the interest?" My brother too, why didn't he buy it directly, it's always bad to owe on credit, and he has to pay interest when he earns money, and his heart is so unstable! ”

"Twenty times, do you think your brother's money is blowing in the wind?" Chang Laosi's thoughts, as expected, shook his head and retorted with a smile. "I didn't ask him to pay the full price. If you can pay it on credit, why pay the full price? In these years, it is the uncle who owes money. Besides, the benefit is only two percent, and it can't be repaid a few times a year. And now that the taxi business is good, your grandfather and I can earn hundreds of dollars a day. In less than a year, you will be able to pay off the debt! ”

"It's only two cents, then Huai Shang car dealership, why don't you hire someone to drive the car yourself and send the cheap out for nothing, it's really a strange thing?!" Half of it was to share his grandfather's heart, and half of it was really curious, Chang Xiaoer tilted his head to inquire.

"I heard your brother say that the iron factory in Ma'anshan, Jiangnan, has officially started. It can produce more than a dozen furnaces of molten iron every day. He also said that what kind of open-hearth furnace was used, and the molten iron could be directly smelted into steel. Chang Laosi smiled again, his eyebrows fluttering. Therefore, the steel here in Yangzhou will soon run out. The general manager is more good at doing business than the old man, so he simply let the business take out the interest and subsidize the people to buy carriages. Well, it's not just about renting carriages. Private carriages, it is estimated that they will be open and sold after the year, and you don't have to spend any more money and have to queue for months! If you kid fight, don't think about being a soldier. Grandpa, I'll go out and buy one for you on credit, and I can pay it back slowly anyway. Let you go out every day to catch the car, how majestic is that? Within a few days, a big girl sent a matchmaker and took the initiative to come to the door to post it upside down! ”

There is an eldest grandson in the family who can support the portal, and he has heard a lot of the "secrets" of the Huaiyang Governor's Mansion and the Huaiyang Firm. So among the neighbors, he is also a well-informed person. I usually like to show off a few times, and today in front of my little grandson, I know everything and say everything.

Unexpectedly, his little grandson thought completely different from his grandfather. Automatically ignoring his grandfather's promise to buy a carriage, he muttered in a low voice, "Isn't it possible to fight a lot of armor and weapons with so much steel?" No wonder people say that this time the general manager of the Northern Expedition will definitely be able to smash Huanglong. So much steel, the pile has also piled down the capital! ”

Note 1: The skin and bones are equivalent to the current right of use and property rights.