Wang Xu has two main businesses, one is the antique business and the other is the pharmaceutical business.

The former needed manpower, and the latter he did it himself.

In the past few days, inspecting the villages within a radius of dozens of miles, Wang Xu not only thought about the antique shop, but also wanted to see if he could pull out a guard team.

After all, the antique business is no better than anything else, and safety must be guaranteed.

In the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region, there are currently four forces, the Japanese-occupied area, the red zone, the white zone of the Kuomintang, and the green zone of bandits.

Wang Xu has the support of the red zone, plus the door of the white zone, these two don't have to worry. What he is worried about is that the Japanese-occupied areas and the bandits in the green zone have no armed forces of their own, and going to these two territories is meat buns and dogs.

"Zhang Wazi, you can help me get a few notices and paste them all over the villages within a radius of 100 miles. Let's just say that the Wang family antique shop wants to recruit 500 guys from the countryside, each of whom will be given eight yuan a month, and a settlement fee of five yuan, and they will come to the Liuzhuang Village teahouse intentionally. Wang Xu stopped at the head of the village, looked at Liuzhuang Village in front of him, and said slowly.

Eight yuan is not eight yuan, but a banknote issued by the Chongqing government.

At present, there are several currencies circulating in the market, namely the military stamps of the Japanese, the paper money of the Chongqing government, and the strongest ocean.

As for the US dollar, fiat currency, pound sterling and other currencies, they can only be circulated within the concession, and the common people outside do not recognize them.

Because of rising prices, the exchange rate is now higher than before.

When Wang Xu was in Tianjin, ten yuan could be exchanged for a piece of ocean, and thirteen yuan in the black market.

Now, the exchange rate on the surface has not changed, but in the black market, it has become 14 yuan to exchange for a piece of ocean, and the banknotes issued by the Chongqing government are becoming less and less valuable.

"Eight dollars, that's a lot!" Zhang Wazi felt a little incredible, eight yuan a month is equivalent to six yuan a year.

The guys in the city generally only give four yuan a year, and the ordinary shopkeeper only gives seven yuan.

Although Wang Xu didn't give the ocean, it still sounds like a lot, and there are five or six oceans when converted.

"Go ahead, just write like that, and find someone to post it in the surrounding villages." Wang Xu took out a few pieces of ocean from his pocket and threw them to Zhang Wazi without looking at them.

Zhang Wazi took the money and left happily.

Wang Xu, under the protection of another guard, walked into the teahouse in Liuzhuang Village and waited intently for the guys to come to the door.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour...

The first group of people to come were the villagers of Liuzhuang Village, and there were men and women, as well as children and old men to join in the fun.

Wang Xu asked the shopkeeper of the teahouse to move the table outside, and hired a bookkeeper to press a stack of banknotes on the table.

As time went on, the crowd gathered more and more, and the surrounding villages heard the news and rushed here in droves.

Wang Xu just lowered his head and drank tea, and did not make any statement about the discussions of the people around him.

It wasn't until the crowd of onlookers, more than a few hundred people, that the soldiers of the district detachment rushed to hear the news, he cleared his throat and said: "My surname is Wang, and I am the big proprietor of the Wang family's antique shop, and this time I want to recruit some guys here." You may not have heard of my antique shop, but please rest assured that I lack everything here, and there is no shortage of real money. ”

No one answered, and the villagers looked at each other and talked in whispers.

Some people believe it, some people don't, and some people are eager to try it, but they just don't want to be the first bird.

Seeing that the scene was silent, Wang Xu sat on a chair and glanced at the guard.

The guard is the deputy chief of staff, and he is very good at observing words and feelings, so he said: "The Wang family's antique shop was personally received by the chiefs, so you don't have to worry about credibility." ”

"This comrade, who is the chief you are talking about?" The militia captain of the district detachment came up and talked with the guards.

The guard raised his hand and pointed to the west, and replied with a proud face: "It's the bosses of the headquarters, if you don't believe it, you can ask, I am the guard of the deputy chief of staff, and this time I came out with an order." ”

The militia captain of the district detachment hurriedly sent people to Luxiyu Village to inquire.

More than half an hour later, the person sent came back, and said breathlessly: "I inquired, this gentleman surnamed Wang is a distinguished guest of the headquarters, and the chief asked us to take care of it more." ”

With confirmation from the headquarters, the militia of the district detachment consciously began to maintain order in the surroundings.

Wang Xu nodded with satisfaction, put down the teacup again, and said, "If you follow me, you can be a buddy in the city, take care of food and housing, and get a salary every month." I won't say more, whoever signs up, writes down his name and address, and gets five yuan on the spot. ”

"For five dollars, you can buy two old hens."

"It's a lot, the boy Wang of the family next door to me works as a guy in the rice shop in the city, and now he eats fat."

"Fat, what a blessing this is, to make people fat!"

During the Republic of China, production was backward, coupled with the relationship between the war and chaos, eight out of ten people had noodles and vegetables, and they looked like they couldn't eat enough.

For modern people, obesity is something that these people can't ask for, that is the rich and noble appearance that only blessed people have, ordinary people, not thin skin and bones, even if it is good.

Wang Xu raised his eyes and looked at the villagers, the kind of clean, chubby people in the TV series do not exist here.

Many people don't even have shoes, so they stand barefoot on the ground, and their bodies are not too clean.

"I'll go, my mother is sick, I want to make money to buy medicine for my mother." Out of the crowd came a half-grown boy, who looked fifteen or sixteen years old.

Wang Xu smiled and nodded, took out a stack of money from his arms, counted out a few, and asked, "What is your name, where do you live, and how many brothers do you have?" ”

"My name is Yang Ergou, there are five people in the family, I am the second, and the locust tree in front is my family." Yang Ergou stretched out his hand and pointed forward, shouting, "If you see the locust tree, that is my home." ”

Wang Xu looked along his fingers, and sure enough, he saw a locust tree.

At the same time, the surrounding villagers also smiled and said: "Ergouzi, you are going to be the pillar of the family, amazing!" ”

The people around him gossiped and talked to Wang Xu about the situation of the Ergou family.

Ergou's family was originally not bad, but unfortunately the year before last, Ergou's father went to the city to do carpenter work, and was arrested by the Kuomintang halfway, and the life of the family was not easy.

A few days ago, Ergou's mother fell ill again, and the family didn't have the next meal, how could they have this money to buy medicine.

"Okay, count you in!"

Wang Xu beckoned to Yang Ergou, pointed to the account room beside him, and said, "Go over there, write down your name, and your home address, if you don't know your name, just put a handprint on it." ”

Yang Ergou was illiterate, and after Mr. Bookkeeper finished writing, he pressed his handprint with his fingers and got five yuan from Wang Xu.

With Yang Ergou taking the lead, the villagers became more enthusiastic.

In these years, it is not easy for the common people to dig and eat in the field, and the whole family will starve in a disaster year.

On the other hand, the workmanship is different, as long as the owner does not go out of business, not to mention the food and housing, there is still a lot of money left in a year.

One of you, one of me, and there is an endless stream of people signing up.

It wasn't until the new beard came up that he gave a hula and the whole scene fell silent.

"My name is Ma Dabiao, I used to be a beard, and later the cottage was Zhao'an, and I joined the 24th Division of the Jin Sui Army. The 24th Division was defeated by the Japanese, and after I escaped, I joined the Eighth Route Army, and finally was expelled because I made a mistake. Ma Dabiao looked very strong, and the villagers around him were very afraid of him, and said angrily: "Do you think I can do it?" ”

"What mistakes did you make in the army?" Wang Xu did not refuse or agree, but asked.

Ma Dabiao scratched his head, looked a little embarrassed, and said in a low voice: "I was greedy, I couldn't help it, and I killed and ate the villagers' dogs." ”

"Have you ever killed someone?" Wang Xu asked again.

"I was a horse for 29 years, an edict for 32 years, the army was defeated in 39 years, and 40 years..."

Wang Xu knew as soon as he heard this, Ma Dabiao had definitely killed people, and he had killed a lot.

Three years of ringing horses, eight years of soldiers, no one believes that they have never killed anyone, this is also a ruthless person.