From Chief to Ball

"Actually, I'm very inaccurate with my musket."

After finishing speaking, he grinned and flashed into the yard, leaving Chen Jian in a daze immediately.

After a long time, Chen Jian laughed, whistled loudly towards the house where the oil lamp was already on, and ran towards his home.

Chapter 29 Black Money

The drama that caused a shock to the citizens of Mincheng City was staged from the second ten days of August to September, and the enthusiasm has not dissipated, far exceeding many previous dramas.

It is said that the actors of this scene will soon travel to the rest of the counties to act there, and several invitations have already been received.

More and more people are talking about this scene. The autumn wind after the Mid-Autumn Festival seems to have some kind of magic power. It not only ripens the rice, fruit and cotton bolls, but also makes the discussion and love more mature.

And what the scene really wanted to express also penetrated into every corner of Mincheng with the arrival of the autumn wind.

September is not only the ripening season, but also the time when the orchids give birth to new rhizomes.

In the streets and alleys, people are talking about the drama, the flowers in the drama, and the flowers themselves.

When this kind of flower first appeared, people commented that it was worth two silver coins.

But now, some people are beating their chests and regretting that it was worth two silver coins at the beginning, but it was only worth two silver coins at the beginning.

Many legends began to appear in the market, at the dining table, and in short conversations among parents.

For example, there was a person who liked flowers and the stories behind them, so he bought five pots for ten silver coins last year when this kind of flowers first appeared.

In a year's time, one of the five potted flowers sold for a high price of 110 silver coins.

The remaining ones grew new rhizomes with the excitement of the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the four pots became more than a dozen pots. Moreover, businessmen from other places ordered these rhizomes early on, and the payment was real silver coins, so unambiguous.

This is not a sudden riches overnight, but a sudden riches within a year.Getting rich overnight is an illusory legend, but getting rich within a year is a fact that people have witnessed by word of mouth.

Two silver coins turned into 110, which seemed to be more profitable than any transaction.Apart from fighting, where is there such a good thing of fifty times the profit?

Those flowers that were ridiculed at the beginning were no longer ordinary flowers within a year, but turned into cash cows.Just shaking these flowers and leaves, smelling the fragrance, and turning the soil lightly can turn two silver coins into more, why do other tiring things?

Now the new rhizome is growing, and the next spring will be able to sprout buds, and two years later, it will bloom with gratifying flowers.If one is lucky and one flower is different from others, it may be sold for a hundred or even hundreds of silver coins.

Even if you are unlucky, there are still people who want ordinary flowers.People don't think about what the flower can do, they only think about how much money it will become in a year.

This is a gentleman's flower that symbolizes justice, kindness and love.

People think this way, and this kind of idea is continuously spread out from Fujian city by horse-drawn carriages, sailing ships, merchants, dramas performed outside, and stories about the adventures of the crew. After being endowed with a special meaning, there is still Many mysterious flowers are blooming coquettishly in this way, exuding the fragrance of a gentleman in the sun, devouring one silver coin after another, turning into one after another, the ambition to get rich, and also showing the scene ugly and cruel.

……

In a certain village not far from Mincheng, men are berating women.

"At the beginning, I said, this flower is very beautiful, and I am a flower lover. Our family has a mill and a lot of land, but you are as stingy as a rooster. At the beginning, I said that I would spend two silver coins to buy a tree. You won’t let it go. What about now? Look now, what’s the price? The people who bought it back then got rich.”

"Even if it's not for getting rich, so what if I buy such a flower? Didn't you and I earn this property together?"

The woman knew she was wrong, so she didn't say a word. He went to Fujian a few days ago and saw the frenzy of those flower buyers, and he knew the current price, so what else could he say?

The man scolded for a while, and then said: "Now last year's flowers have sprouted new rhizomes, let's buy some if you want. If you are lucky, there is a flower that is very good, and it will cost hundreds of silver coins. If you are not lucky, After two years, new rhizomes can be produced, so there is no way to lose money. Now it’s hard to do anything, so where is there any way to make more money than this?”

The woman hummed, and this time she was no longer aggressive, she just said: "But the price is so high now, and our family doesn't have much money left, so we have loaned it all out. Are we going to get it all back now? That's a lot of interest."

The man smiled and said, "I've inquired about it a long time ago. Now there is a special flower market in the city. Everyone is buying new rhizomes, or next year's rhizomes. If you don't buy any more, it will be too late."

"Now we don't need to take too much money. For example, if we buy next year's rhizomes, they won't be able to get them in stock for a while, so we don't need to give cash. We just need to take out a part of the deposit and make a bill to mortgage something."

The woman was startled, and hurriedly asked, "What do you want to mortgage?"

"What else? The land, the mill, the most valuable things in our family."

"This is not allowed! This is the lifeblood of our family, this is not allowed!"

The man said angrily: "What do you know? We can resell it. I guess the price will be even higher next summer. It's just a mortgage, and it won't be delivered until next autumn. As long as we sell it before autumn, the mill, the land It still belongs to our family. But we can have dozens or even hundreds of silver coins in our hands, and we have nothing to lose, and we will just pay the money for the mortgaged mill land."

The woman thought about it carefully, and felt that this was really the case.It seems that the mill land has been mortgaged, but in fact it is not. As long as it is resold before next autumn and the mortgage debt is repaid, the mill land is still its own.

As for the most critical of them: whether the price of the flowers next autumn will be higher than the current price, she didn't think about it at all.Because this is a problem that does not need to be considered at all, just like the sun coming out from the east, who would consider whether it is possible or inevitable?

The only worry is whether these mortgages can be recognized, what if those people don't recognize them?The mill land is the foundation of one's own family, and it cannot be measured by money. What if those people don't want money and only need the mill land?

The man scoffed at the worry.

"What are you worried about? A few days ago, everyone was buying and selling flowers. They felt that there was neither a special place for selling flowers nor a guarantee, so they wanted the county government to come forward to guarantee it."

"However, a complete flower market transaction and verification of bills require people and money, so a certain tax official in the city came up with a good way."

"It is stamped by the government on our bills. Each bill needs to pay a tax of three thousandths. It's just a weird name. It's called stamp duty. You see, this is the seal of the government. Once someone breaks the contract, they will be punished. of."

"Why don't we say that there are so many strange things this year? I used to think about reducing taxes, and never expected the county to collect higher taxes than the state's tax. But when the stamp duty proposal came out, most people in the county council agreed. Agreed. Think about it, this is a stamp stamped by the government, which is much more reliable than the proof between two people, and everyone feels at ease when they get it. How much is three thousandths? In the past, many proofs were not Whether it is admitted or forged, each has its own reasons, and it is difficult for the judge to make a decision. This is a good thing for those who usually trade bills, and it has no effect on us. Except this time, we don’t need it. .”

The woman was relieved when she heard that there was a seal of the government. She rummaged through the boxes and boxes to find out the certificates of the mill and the land, and handed them over to the man.

I thought in my heart that if I resell it next summer and make money, it's time to repair the house.

……

In a hut in the city, a girl clutched her bleeding head, looked at the empty window, and cried bitterly.

There used to be a pot of flowers that had sprouted new rhizomes, but now it's gone...

A few years ago, her family was fairly well off, with three sets of looms and some surplus, and lived in a house with a small attic.

However, two years ago, my father got seriously ill, which cost all the savings of the family, and it didn't get better in the end.

Just when the girl was close to despair, rumors of a mysterious disease cured by a mysterious flower began to spread in Mincheng.

When people are in despair, even if it is just a straw, they will hold on tightly.The girl thought that since that kind of flower could cure a strange disease, it might also be able to cure her father's disease.

Two silver coins were too expensive for the family at this time.

The loom has already been sold, and the house has also been sold. It will be taken away after a year, and the money is basically spent.

The girl bought such a pot of flowers symbolizing justice, hope, and kindness and placed them on the window sill by relying on the seven-and-a-half-hour labor of weaving for others every day and the last bit of money left in the family.

She thought that those sailors must have been desperate when they were sick and bleeding, and this flower brought them hope.

However, the serious illness still took away the girl's last relative, leaving only the pot of flowers that seemed to have been stained with human blood became more and more beautiful.

This is the only living thing in the family other than herself. Every time the girl is desperate, she will look at this flower blooming in the sun and encourage herself to live strong.

However, like a miracle, the flower that was bought for two silver coins became more and more expensive day by day, and the flower on the window sill actually sprouted new roots...