Across the table in the main room sat a wrinkled man, with a burnt yellow hue on his beard and hair, who seemed to have just been smoky, this person's name was Huang Anshou, who was the new shopkeeper in Han Yong's dumping shop.

Chen Xin was very polite to him, and as soon as he came, he gave a pair of seized jade bracelets, Huang Anshou thanked him, but his expression was calm, and he looked like a person who was used to doing business on weekdays, and he was quite a city government.

"Mr. Huang, look at this copper coin." Chen Xin picked up a copper coin from the table and handed it over, Huang Anshou caught it with both hands, and after a little look, he said to Chen Xin: "My lord, this copper coin is loose in quality, the dot painting is difficult to distinguish, eighty percent is lead and iron, and the copper weight is no more than two cents, this is low money, one or two silver is about 1,500 wen." ”

Sure enough, it was an industry insider, Chen Xin's right hand spread out on the table, and made a gesture of please, there were hundreds of format copper coins on it, the size and thickness were all different, from this small table, it was enough to see the confusion of the value of the tokens, Huang Anshou chose one at random on the table, this money was thin and small, and the expression was dark, and after looking at it, he made a disdainful expression, threw the money high, and fell on the stone table and cracked into four or five pieces.

"This coin is the next lowest coin, weighing no more than four cents, roughly all made of lead and iron, and it will break at the touch of a button, and when it is traded, three thousand coins may not be able to be converted into one or two silver. This is not the second, the lowest money weighs no more than two points. ”

Chen Xin clapped his hands and praised with a smile: "Mr. Huang is talented, I don't know where these copper coins come from. What is the profit? ”

"Back to the adult's words, most of the private money comes from the south of the Yangtze River, these low money is bought in the south, sixty or seventy wen is only worth one cent of silver, and it is transported to the north by canal or sea, mainly to the Beijing Division, and once it is sold in Beijing, it is sixty or seventy Wen is worth three or four cents of silver, and if you do it yourself, it will be more profitable. The villain helped the owner to do something in the dumping shop, which is to make it clearer that copper is worth eight cents of silver per catty, and the low money containing two cents of copper is counted, each weighing one penny, in addition to copper, it is mostly mixed with iron and lead, and iron is worth only one cent of silver per catty, plus the loss of fire money, ten thousand dollars only need more than two taels of silver, and the resale is three or four times the profit. ”

Last time, Song Wenxian said that the price of copper in Japan is only four or five cents of silver a catty, so it is at least five or six times the profit, and he can't get the most profitable terminal profit, and the wholesale income should be twice as much, even if it is a huge profit, Chen Xin licked his tongue, Haimao came back in June and July, bought some copper to make fake money, developed new products after the return, and returned to the capital at the beginning of next year, and then Haimao, the money was turned over.

Chen Xin smiled at the corner of his mouth when he thought about it, Huang Anshou looked at him a little strangely, Chen Xin hurriedly smiled, and said to Huang Anshou seriously: "Mr. Huang, first said that the money is low, what if it is good money." ”

Huang Anshou picked up a Wanli money on the table, still with a very calm expression, "It is because of the abundance of low money, good money is hard to find, and often hundreds of Wen can be used as one or two silver." Jiajing gold back money and Wanli gold back money, about five or six hundred Wen can be converted into one tael of silver. ”

In the Ming Dynasty, money and silver were mixed, and the proportion of huàn was unstable, which was very inconvenient for the people, and the silver unit could be very small, and there were milli, silk, suddenly, and micro below the centimeter, but the weight of a centimeter was only more than three milligrams, and the smaller unit was even more invaluable with the general use of the title, so the copper money was indispensable for daily life trading transactions, and in the event of large transactions and taxes, it must be used silver, in exchange for the value of the exchange has been exploited many times, the powerful officials and gentry often use this loophole to make money, although the Ming court has repeatedly strictly prohibited the system of private money and circulation, but with little success. There is too little official money, there is a big gap in the copper money needed for private transactions, and private money is flooded in various places, and the quality is getting worse and worse. And Chen Xin wants to do the opposite, making good money in a market full of low money, the only thing to worry about is that there is no sales outlet that can be shipped in large quantities.

"For example, your dumping shop, how many copper coins can you sell in a year?"

Huang Anshou knew that Chen Xin asked him if he wanted to make private money, "It's not worth hundreds of taels of silver a year, how much can you earn, if it's a large amount, you need money banks, money tables and the like to be more secure." ”

Chen Xin nodded and went straight to the point: "I'll take care of this." The official wants to ask Mr. Huang to help me do this, and give you twice the current monthly money, but I want to go to Dengzhou, and I will give another 30 taels for the settlement fee, I don't know if Mr. Huang is willing or not. ”

Huang Anshou was slightly moved, he was very proficient in all the processes of the silver shop, and the monthly salary was five taels, Chen Xin gave twice it directly without asking, he was not a native of Tianjin, this Chen Xin was introduced by the Zhao family, and it should be safe, so he was quite tempted, "The villain is fine, but the owner is not easy to explain." ”

In fact, Han Yong's family no longer plans to run this store, after Han Yong's death, the family got a large sum of silver, all bought the land, there are often disputes in the dumping shop, there is no Han Yong in charge, the family is tired of this, has already expressed this meaning to Lao Wang, Chen Xin did not tell Huang Anshou, just said: "There is his own official over there to say, Mr. Huang just has to do things with peace of mind." Starting today, Mr. Huang can start preparing tools, and all the suitable guys will be recruited. ”

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Weihaiwei, the spring cold gradually fades, the new green of Songding Mountain in the distance is beginning to appear, on the abandoned land in front of the dungeon, many figures are bent over and busy in the field, after the hard work of a group of five guarantee households before and after the New Year, the wasteland has basically been cultivated at the beginning, and it is no longer a dead piece, dozens of newly recruited displaced people are making fertilizer in the field, and the whole place stinks, but most of these recruited displaced people are also from the poor peasants, who are used to farm work, and no one dislikes them.

Liu Min drove a mule cart, and several large buckets on the car were filled with dung water, which were bird dung and cow dung and other dung that children went to pick up. In the past few days, all the people in the dungeon fort have been dispatched to be busy with spring ploughing, and even the soldiers have been pulled to dig the canal, and now more than half of it has been made, and the only thing is to wait for Wang Yuanzheng to send the farm tools he promised for a long time, the most important thing is the plow.

The one who drove the car was Xu Yuanhua, who was Liu Minyou's assistant, and the two were a combination, and they were working collectively with women and children today. Xu Yuanhua persuaded Liu Minyou many times that he didn't have to do it himself, but Liu Minyou refused.

After sprinkling another section of the field, Xu Yuanhua stopped the mule and let Liu Min have a rest, and he said: "Sir, you can finish applying fertilizer today, just wait for the plow to arrive, and you can start ploughing." ”

Liu Minyou put down the wooden scoop and looked at the busy farmers around and the barracks and warehouses being built in the distance, a sense of accomplishment arose, and the newborn dungeon fort was thriving, and some merchants in the Acropolis were already planning to set up shop here. Liu Min has designed a new street and a store. A small town based on a military camp is slowly taking shape.

The dungeon was originally dominated by soldiers, and Liu Minyou recruited thirty families of displaced people, ready to change the demographic structure. The main job of these people is farming, and craftsmen are being recruited.

Xu Yuanhua and Liu Minyou exchanged a position and were about to continue fertilizing, when Xu Yuanhua saw several ox carts and mule carts coming from afar, which were the people who went to pick up the plough. He happily said to Liu Minyou: "Mr. Liu, they are back." ”

Liu Minyou turned his head and saw that he was also smiling, and hurried to meet it, each ox cart put a big plow, and Wang Yuanzheng also came with him, Liu Minyou and Wang Yuanzheng didn't have much to say, and they went to the ground together after a little greeting, and the surrounding military households came up to help take down the big plow, ready to hang it on the ox.

Wang Yuanzheng looked at the houses built everywhere and said to Liu Minyou: "I heard that the commander gave Chen Qianhu the number of soldiers of the Japanese army, so that more food will be needed here in the future, in order to avoid Mr. Liu's trouble, I plan to set up a grain store here." "He's going to come here to have a monopoly.

As long as Liu Minyou is willing to open a store, he is very welcome, and he agrees again and again, thinking that Wang Yuan is in charge of Tuntian, how much should he be regarded as an expert, so he asked about the use of the plow,

Wang Yuanzheng said confidently: "Mr. Liu, you have sent people to plough for the first time a few years ago, and distribute dung after the beginning of spring, these are all right, and now you can plough and fertilizer, you are not short of cattle, you can use three oxen to pull a big plow and plough deeply, or two oxen to plough deeply, and one cow to plough after the re-ploughing." ”

Liu Min has a student: "What is the difference between three cows and two cows?" ”

"The three oxen are deeper, and the plough can be as deep as one foot, which also saves one person than the latter method."

"What should I do after ploughing, and ask Lord Wang for advice?"

Wang Yuanzheng said: "The ditch is wet soil, the soil is better, the seeds must be sown in the ditch, if you plant wheat, you can start in March, but this year there is only one ripe." I told Brother Liu that if you plant a material for cooked white radish, you can harvest it in April, plant garlic in April, harvest it in May, plant small blue after planting, and plant this year's winter wheat after harvesting in September. In this way, it can be ripened more every year. Brother Liu can be regarded as asking the right person, otherwise ordinary farmers only know grain and wheat, how can they know the method of crop rotation and intercropping. ”

Liu Min heard that it was all vegetables, how could it be done without staple food, and hesitated and said: "In this way, there will be no wheat harvest this year, this is the staple food, is there any other way." ”

Wang Yuanzheng shook his head and said, "This is the best way." In this way, the soil can not be idle, otherwise only one season of wheat will be harvested, and the land will not be fattened. ”

Liu Min had studied with a few old military farmers, but those five guarantee households were not very clear, and when he heard that Wang Yuanzheng was so professional, he had to thank him and plan to plant according to this method.

Wang Yuanzheng came to talk mainly about the grain store, and Liu Minyou promised to set aside a store in the newly built residential area, and rent one tael of silver a year, which was just a symbolic charge. After deciding on this matter, Wang Yuanzheng left with a few of his subordinates.

Liu Minyou thought that if there was no wheat harvest this year, he would have to buy grain, and the number of people would be large, and the expenditure would be a large amount. Shaking his head and about to apply fertilizer, a farmer who was plowing next to him suddenly said, "Sir, what the lord said is not right. ”

"Oh?" Liu Minyou turned his head and saw that it was a young farmer who was Swenwen, it was the newly recruited homeless person this time, his eyes were smart, not like the sluggishness of ordinary military households, and he couldn't help but be interested: "Why do you say he's wrong?" ”

The farmer put the rope in his hand, "Mr. Liu, what the adult said just now is the method of continuous cropping, but this land has been abandoned for a long time, the soil is insufficient, and it is difficult to make up for it with manure alone, no matter how much you cultivate this year, it will not be a good harvest, so the most important thing this year is to fertilize the land, not to force more ripeness, if you only use the soil power in the ditch, not to mention the harvest of a few materials, and you can't fertilize the field." ”

Liu Minyou heard what he said, became interested, and asked him: "Then how do you say to plant?" It's better to look at it. ”

The surrounding military households all looked at this person stupidly and talked eloquently, the young farmer spoke in front of everyone, blushing slightly, bowed his head and dug a shallow ditch with a hoe, and piled the excavated soil on the edge of the ditch to make the shape of a ridge, "Well, this, this year it is best to use the method of interplanting and sandwiching, so that the soil on the ridge can also be used, grain and bean intercropping, wheat is planted in the ditch, beans are planted on the ridge, or cotton is planted, and when the wheat is ripe, the cotton is several inches long, which is also a material." But it is best to plant mung beans, and after harvesting, it is the best green manure. "At that time, after beating the green manure, the ridge will be ploughed into a ditch, and the ditch will become a ridge, and after the manure is evenly fertilized again, the soil will be sufficient. ”

The demonstration is very clear, and some other farmers here may also know, but it is impossible to say it so clearly in public, especially against the opinions of Tongzhi, Liu Minyou's eyes lit up, "Little brother, what is your name, where are you from?" ”

Wen Xianming just said about planting, with a confident face, when he heard the name, he suddenly remembered his identity, and hurriedly knelt, but was supported by Liu Minyou, only let him stand and speak, he said timidly at this time: "The villain's name is Wen Xianming, and his hometown is not far from Wendeng County." ”

"Why do you know so many ways? Why did you end up in Weihai? ”

Wen Xianming said: "The villain's family has few local areas in the Central Plains, so I have to think of collecting more food from the ground, and I happened to go to a private school, know some words, and read two agricultural books......

"What agricultural book?"

"The Book of Wang Zhennong" and "Qi Min's Technique", and others such as "The Book of Victory" have also been slightly read. It was because of the output in the field, and later the patriarch was greedy for my land fat, and the loan sharks deceived the villain of the field, and the villain was weak, and he did not dare to stay in Wendeng, so he came to Weihai. ”

Liu Min looked at his appearance, and it is estimated that what he said is not bad, he can read and write, and he can farm, talent.

Xu Yuanhua saw Liu Min's expression, and hurriedly fought for merit: "Sir, this person was recruited by me, he has calluses on his hands and shoulders, and he speaks in a somewhat orderly manner, thinking that maybe he can help Mr. a little, so he recruited him back." ”

Liu Minyou nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, Yuanhua, you are right to choose people like this, and you will do so in the future." After speaking, he still asked Wen Xianming, "Wen Xianming, you are very good, what else do you know, about the current spring ploughing, you can tell me again." ”

"In addition to the soil fertility, the seeds are also very important, what do the seeds need, soak the seeds with manure."

Liu Min pointed to a dung bucket on the ground and asked, "Is it this kind of fertilizer?" ”

"No, this fertilizer should be made of animal bones to be powdered, add other manure, silkworm fertilizer is the best, but Weihai does not, when the sky is dry, soak the seeds in it, and then dry, so six or seven times, the seeds will be stained with a layer of fertilizer, and then plant, it will be better to grow. In the past few years, the weather is dry and rainy, and it is best to mix some vinegar seeds, which is more drought-resistant, and it will not dry up if it does not rain for a while. ”

After Wen Xianming finished speaking, he peeked at Liu Minyou's face, and saw that Liu Minyou listened carefully, his heart was relieved, and his voice was louder, "Next year, the soil is fertile, and it can also be rotated, and it is not difficult to be mature for more than two years, and the planting can be used both on behalf of the field method and the district field method, and the fertile field may not be blindly ploughed with a hard plow, and the villain thinks that the initial cultivation can be shallow, only to remove its skin, and the second cultivation is deep, turning out the wet soil, and then plowing and shallow......"

Liu Min watched him talk endlessly, and suddenly shouted: "Okay, it's you." ”

Wen Xianming was startled, almost knelt down again, and asked in a panic: "Sir, no, adult, what's wrong with the villain?" ”

"It's just you, you won't be a farmer in the future, just help me take care of the tuntian, the monthly money is one or two or five yuan, and there will be a bonus when the harvest is good. Starting tomorrow, the people who plough in the spring will be assigned by you, and you don't have to work today, go back and think about how to arrange it yourself. Liu Min said a little excitedly, the most rare thing for this person is that he understands both theory and practice, and he can also explain others to understand it, and helping himself manage Tuntian can reduce a lot of work burden.

"Bonus?" Wen Xianming almost jumped up when he heard the moon silver one or two or five coins, he didn't know what the bonus was, but it didn't matter to him anymore.

After Wen Xianming left excitedly, Liu Minyou announced to a group of stupid farmers around him that if he had a good idea, he could directly propose it to him, and he would be rewarded if it was useful.

These farmers are all homeless people, when the soldiers can't be selected, they only have food and accommodation here, no monthly salary, seeing that Wen Xianming can only farm, he jumped out of the farm door in a few words, and he was very jealous.

When these people began to continue working, Liu Minyou and Xu Yuanhua also went back to the mule cart to apply fertilizer, Xu Yuanhua said indignantly while scooping dung: "I think Wang Tong knows everything, but he just came up with ideas." ”

Liu Minyou was surprised: "Why do you say that, I think Wang Tongzhi is still good, and the grain sold is still not too much catty." ”

"That's right, didn't he sell grain to us, as soon as our land is fertilized and the harvest is more, his grain will be sold less."

Liu Min was stunned, "Ah, that's it, hum, sure enough, this dog thing." ”