Zeng Tianshun's cattle raising project was supported by Xujiazhuang.

After careful comparison, he felt that raising cows was more troublesome, not to mention the need for artificial insemination, and the milk production period also consumed a lot of manual milking, which increased a lot of costs, and was not suitable for individual entrepreneurs.

He still chooses to raise Angus beef cattle, as long as they are raised to the slaughter, which is worry-free and trouble-free.

And if the cattle encounter sales problems after being slaughtered, Xujiazhuang can sign an order contract, raise as many heads as Xujiazhuang wants, and buy them at a suitable price, which will not make him suffer.

This undoubtedly adds another layer of insurance.

Subsequently, on October 15, Xujiazhuang sent three tractors to Fengle Village, followed by a plough, found a large area of wasteland, ready to plough first, and wait until the spring of next year to plough again, turning the wasteland into arable land - there are still a lot of wasteland at the end of the Ming Dynasty, after all, there are 200 million people in the sky, and the population density is much lower than that of modern society.

However, in the process of reclaiming the wasteland with a roar of tractors.

Zeng Tianshun suddenly found that he had overlooked a problem and made a fatal mistake!

Taxes.

As long as these lands are cultivated, they have to go to the government to register the yellow scale book in exchange for the title deed, and then they have to pay taxes and taxes every year.

Although the tax amount stipulated by the imperial court is 30 taxes and 1, plus 9 cents of Liao, it is only 4.233% tax, plus the endowment of 100 copper coins for each Zhuang Ding, the pressure does not seem to be great at all.

But at the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the imperial power did not go to the countryside, these taxes were only the amount of taxes that the local prefectures and counties had to pay to the imperial court, as long as this task was completed, the rest was collected as much as they wanted, as long as the people were not forced to flee and rebel, it was normal to increase the number of additional taxes.

The difference is only that those who collect a little less are good officials in the eyes of the people, and those who collect more are corrupt officials who should be killed.

And Xin Shiqi, the magistrate of Xinghua County, is obviously not a good official.

Even if the 15 acres of land he once cultivated were planted with grass, he still had to pay taxes, and if he couldn't get any money and grain, he would directly take the cattle and use the Angus cattle he raised to offset the account.

This is a no-go!

Thinking of this, Zeng Tianshun's face changed greatly, and he immediately stopped the work of the tractor, asked them to stop first, and then went to Xujiazhuang again, asked to see the owner of Xujiazhuang again, and knelt on the ground, saying that he was in trouble again, and begged the owner to help.

"What's the trouble?" Xu Yuan asked.

"The fields have been reclaimed, and the government's taxes can't be paid, I don't know if I can take refuge in the name of Xujiazhuang to avoid the harassment of the government, otherwise this cow will definitely not be able to raise!" Zeng Tian passed by.

"The land outside the collective manor, Xu Jiazhuang can't manage it, and there will be a lot of conflicts with the government."

Xu Yuan shook his head, saw the despair on his face, and thought about it again: "But I have a solution to this problem here, in addition to planting fifteen acres of giant Juncao, you can also plant another acre of potatoes, and after the potatoes are harvested, you can sell them to Xujiazhuang, we will buy them at a higher price, so that you can get enough silver to pay taxes, if the officials are still insatiable, Xujiazhuang will take the lead for you, so what do you think?" ”

Xu Yuan came up with a solution, that is, a variety of high-yield potatoes of one acre, which is not only enough to pay taxes, but also fills the stomach with extra potatoes.

You must know that the island of Ireland covers an area of 84,000 square kilometers, but the islanders on the island relied on the simple labor mode of raising cattle + planting potatoes, which increased the population of the island to more than 5 million in the eighteenth century.

It's just that because the grain crops are too single, the potato plague broke out, which led to a large-scale harvest, and then an extremely serious famine, and in this matter, Dai Ying, who has never been a man, not only did not help alleviate the famine, but increased taxes, blocked grain imports, and starved more than a million people to death, the most fundamental reason is that Dai Ying felt that the population on the island was too much.

Far from it.

Back to Xu Yuan's plan to use a variety of one acre of potatoes to pay taxes, Zeng Tianshun thought about it and felt that just planting one acre of potatoes brought was not a lot of work, and it was completely within the scope of bearing, so he kowtowed a few more times, and was grateful to Dade for accepting this plan.

……

Finish this little episode.

Xu Yuan called the housekeeper Zhao Jinde and others over and continued to plan an important event.

Establishment of Banker Bank.

That's right.

In the exchange group of the Grand Alliance, Xu Yuan believes that it is relatively easy to implement the suggestions put forward by the bigwigs, and the most feasible is to establish a set of banking and financial systems and a strong credit and monetary system, so as to obtain huge benefits on the basis of this system.

After several days of discussion, Xu Yuan, the housekeeper Zhao Jinde and others set a step-by-step, step-by-step development strategy:

"At the beginning, we can't take too big a step, don't have to be greedy, we can start with our eleven manors, build a head office in Xujiazhuang General Zhuang, build a Zhuangzhuang branch in each of the ten branch manors, operate for a period of time, and so on to gain the trust of the people in the village, people are willing to deposit money, and then attract the surrounding villagers and landlords and gentry to deposit money, expand the influence and scale of the bank."

"After the success of Zhuang Zhuang Tong Bank, you can go to the provincial capital of each political department (province), go to Beijing, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu and other big cities, all have our banking institutions, so as to achieve the 'provincial pass', and so on the influence of the expansion, the number of customers and the increase in business needs, you can set up at least one branch in every state and county in Daming, so as to achieve the ultimate 'Tianxia Bank' form."

"As for credit currency, we can't issue paper money at the beginning without gaining the trust of the people, which is completely unfeasible, we must first issue hard currency with sufficient fineness, such as the standard silver dollar worth 1 tael, the large copper dollar worth 1/100 tael of silver, the small copper dollar worth 1/500 tael of silver, and the smallest small aluminum dollar worth 1/1000 tael of silver, these five metal currencies can cover most of the transaction scenarios, because the value and fineness are sufficient. The people will not find anything inconvenient. ”

"After the successful promotion of metal currency, it is possible to start issuing large-denomination bills of exchange, which is convenient for merchants to access in other places. Subsequently, the cheque business was launched, as long as the users who have a large amount of deposits in our bank do not have to carry a large amount of gold and silver with them, as long as they put a stack of paper cheques in their pockets and bring a signature pen, they can complete large consumptions without losing their chic and elegant demeanor. When the check is popular and accepted by the mainstream, it can officially launch banknotes with exquisite patterns and superb anti-counterfeiting technology, gradually replace the bulky metal currency, and complete the last step in the construction of the credit system. ”

"All in all, we have to be like building a high-rise building, brick by brick, step by step, step by step, must not be in the air, overnight, this is impossible, in this way, about a year, we achieve the" Zhuang Zhuang Tong ", five years or so, we strive to achieve the "provincial pass"; within ten years, we achieve the "world pass", and smoothly launch the banknote, so that everyone can accept the banknote."

Besides.

Even the most rudimentary Banker Bank, in order to build a solid and stable credit.

Xu Yuan announced that he would take out 10 million silver dollars, 500 tons of refined copper, and 100,000 stones of polished rice, and store them in the bank warehouse as a deposit for the monetary value of the upcoming metal currency!

"Owner, we only have a total of 11 manors, so much margin, enough to win the trust of the people, enough to make customers feel down-to-earth." Butler Zhao Jinde said excitedly.

"Isn't this too much, will it affect the operation of the manor if so much money and food are withdrawn?"

"No, our Xujiazhuang earns millions of taels every month, which is not a lot of margin, not to mention that we have shown such a strong strength, it is easier to gain the trust of the people."

"Yes, where to put these materials is not to put them, they are stored in the bank warehouse, and there is almost no difference between them and ordinary warehouses."

"That's right!"

At the end of the meeting, Xu Yuan added: "In the bank's vault, counter, account room and other areas, the surveillance camera system must be set up first, and the upright person will be sent to supervise day and night. ”

Surveillance cameras?

This word made all the high-level officials, including the housekeeper Zhao Jinde, couldn't help twitching the corners of their eyes, showing helplessness, and even faintly dissatisfied, secretly complaining that the owner was too distrustful of them.

The little bit of caution that had just risen in the hearts of a very small number of people was also immediately knocked out invisibly.

That's right, Xujiazhuang has been established for almost three years, and there are mountains of gold and silver coming in every month, but there has never been a major corruption incident, only a few small flies that are greedy for small and cheap are ruthlessly driven out of Xujiazhuang, and there is no big tiger.

How could everyone be so incorruptible, even so incorruptible that they were incompatible with this filthy and corrupt world at the end of the Ming Dynasty?

On the one hand, Xu Yuan's salary is very high, enough to live a prosperous and comfortable life.

The second is the role played by the surveillance cameras distributed in all corners of Xujiazhuang, every day there is a camera staring overhead, stealing some worthless things will be out of the village, who would dare to make a big move?

The most incorruptible environment has been formed, after all, Xu Yuan has never believed in human nature, because human nature is greedy, and there are only a very few people who are not selfish, people can endure temptation 10,000 times, but they will lose completely after falling once, so instead of pinning their trust on the noble moral sentiments of some people, it is better to arrange more surveillance cameras and implement a zero-tolerance policy.

……

October 18th.

A snowy day.

At this moment, on the road covered with frost and snow, a carriage coming from the west is slowly moving forward on the official road.

Inside the carriage.

"Brother Mi, you are too anxious, the weather is very cold, why don't you wait for the beginning of spring to go to Xujiazhuang?"

"Brother-in-law, although the novelty of Xujiazhuang is fascinating, but in winter, if the road is closed by heavy snow, I am afraid that I will not be able to return home for the New Year."

The cold wind was blowing, Fang Yizhi tightened his coat tightly, and said to them: "Brother Cheng, brother-in-law, I can't stay in Tongcheng for a moment, I just want to go to Xujiazhuang to find the answer to save the common people." We have entered the territory of Xinghua County, and Xujiazhuang will arrive soon, and I promise that you will make this trip worthwhile. ”