Go back to ancient times to engage in sideline business

People who often go in and out of the East City Gate know that there are always new gadgets at the gate of the city. Every time they pass by, they will pay special attention to the city wall or the sides of the passage.

Sure enough, among the group of Lifu who entered the city earlier today, some people saw the new notice posted on the city wall, which was not quite the same as before.

"Open bidding. The East City Gate Guards will hire a construction team for a fee. The construction team is required to not only build the foundation and ram the earth, but also undertake simple carpentry. If you are interested, please contact the East City Gate Guards for details."

Among this group of strong men, the only literate man finished reading word by word, and he was stunned for a while.

"Da Zhuang, what does the construction team mean?" asked the fellow villager.

Yang Dazhuang scratched the back of his head, "Looking at the words, maybe he is a worker?"

"Then what is public bidding?"

Yang Dazhuang shook his head, he really didn't understand, he might ask other helpers when he was working at noon, maybe someone would understand.

It's really a new thing. In Qingjiang County, if you want to build a house, you have to find a mason, and if you want to buy furniture, you have to find a carpenter.This is the first time I heard about it, what kind of construction team are you looking for.

Like Yang Dazhuang, many people who read the notice were still at a loss after pondering word by word.

But there were also a few quick-witted people. Dang even found Tang Zhong and said that although he couldn't work, he could recruit carpenters and laborers. He asked if this counted as the construction team mentioned in the notice?

"Of course, if you can organize craftsmen, you will become a contractor. At that time, you will represent the construction team to discuss in detail."

Contractor?What the hell is this?

For interested parties who came to consult, Tang Zhong gave a unified reply: "At Sishi three days later, I will attend the bidding meeting at the gate of the city on time, and the partner will be finalized directly at the meeting."

Strange things happen every year, one after another at Dongcheng Gate.

Even if they hire people to work, they don't mention where they are going, what kind of work they will do, or how much money they will give them.

Mysterious and mysterious, it whetted the appetite of everyone.

After the tender notice was posted, it quickly became a topic of conversation in the streets and alleys after dinner.

Even in the restaurants on Baima West Street, there were more people talking about the tender than the advertising space at the West City Gate.

Three days later, before Si Shi, a crowd of people had already gathered at the gate of Dongcheng.

There are farmers rushing from the village, there are merchants who do other business in the county, there are young and strong people who come here specially to open their eyes, and there are old ladies who just hug their children and join in the fun without knowing it.

"Hey, have you heard that the two advertising spaces at the West Gate were rented for 140 taels yesterday."

"The average advertising space is 70 taels, and the price has indeed been lowered a lot!"

Tang Zhong stood on the steps, roughly counting the number of people at the gate of the city with his eyes.

Zhao Li picked up his arms, leaned against the city wall with his tassel gun in his arms, lazily basking in the sun, without any intention of helping.

"Do you know who rented the two advertising spaces?"

Seeing that Tang Zhong was busy counting the heads and didn't answer for a long time, Zhao Li didn't bother to show off: "It's the one last time, who almost won our advertising space for 100 taels, the shopkeeper of Pinyaju. He just took two advertising spaces by himself. , greatly became the limelight."

"Two advertising spaces? A big deal!"

Tang Zhong's heart ached, how could such a rich man swim to the west gate!

"Where is the advertisement? What is it written in?" He continued to ask.

Advertisement?

Zhao Li rubbed his face dryly, trying to remember.I remember that it seemed to be two lines of poetry, but it was still quite awkward.For a while, I really can't remember.

"Then do you remember the advertisement under our tower?"

Zhao Li didn't hesitate anymore, he opened his mouth and said, "Dayiyamen, good taste. Fuxing Restaurant, [-]% discount for members."

Tang Zhong patted Zhao Li on the shoulder triumphantly, "Look, we still have a good grasp of the effect of advertising communication."

Aunt Liu, who lived in the east of the city, was too busy at home, so she simply took her grandson out to bask in the sun.

Seeing a lot of people gathered under the Dongcheng Gate, as if something serious happened, Mrs. Liu ran over quickly, sneaked into the crowd without making a sound, and listened to the chatter of the men around her.

Not long after, on the steps of the city wall, a thin city gate guard greeted him, and the men around him all climbed up the steps and walked towards the city wall.

She has stayed in Qingjiang City for many years, but she still has no chance to climb up the city wall to have a look!

Without even thinking about it, Aunt Liu caught up with the men in front of her in two steps, mingling with the crowd and following the crowd.

Suddenly, a tasseled gun was lying in front of her, and the gate guard with the gun sternly shouted at her: "Bidding conference, idlers, please don't come near!"

Aunt Liu was so frightened that her heels became weak and her calves almost twisted. She caught her grandson and turned around to run away.

Zhao Li shook the tassel on his gun. Compared with his usual indifferent attitude in the past, today he finally found some sense of participation.

In this era, there were no professional contractors among the people.

However, inspired by Tang Zhong's "contractor" theory, many well-connected businessmen who wanted to get involved all came to the city wall to participate in the bidding meeting.

It looks like a big deal, if it is really a deal, then it will be cheap to recruit Lifu and the carpenter.Wouldn't it be nice to be a second-hand dealer in the middle!

There were also some men who were originally coolies who rushed over after hearing the news and gathered together in groups of three or four, thinking they were just looking for some work to do.

There were a lot of people, and it was obvious that there was no room for them in the city tower, so Tang Zhong led them to a spacious part of the city wall, and brought out a bench.

The open-air bidding conference begins here.

Tang Zhong stood on the bench and signaled to everyone: "The meeting is on! Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me first."

There was no sound on the city wall, and Tang Zhong's voice was not penetrating enough. Many men in the crowd didn't hear the greeting, and still buried themselves in their chats.

"Shut up for me! If you continue to make noise, you will be sent away immediately!"

Hu Tou'er came out of the city tower like rain in time, and his loud voice immediately calmed down the place.

He strode up to Tang Zhong's side, picked up his arms and straddled him, to see who would dare to yell in front of him.

Tang Zhong breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "Good afternoon, everyone, the first project bidding conference of Dongchengmen in Qingjiang County has officially started. The agenda of the meeting is quite simple. I will list the bidding requirements one by one. The construction team that cannot meet the standards should leave on their own. .”

After a while of whispering, there was no objection, and Tang Zhong went directly to the topic.

"First, someone in the construction team must be able to carpentry. They don't need to be particularly delicate. They are required to bring their own tools. They can plan wood and polish it. They must also have a sufficient amount of strength, who can build foundations and ram the earth, and are not afraid of hardship."

These conditions were all listed on the bidding notice, and everyone knew about it long ago, and no one left the venue after they finished speaking.

"Okay, here's the second point."

Tang Zhong paused, raised his finger to point to the large wasteland under the city wall, and continued: "This is the land that needs to be leveled for this project. We hope to clean it up and tamp the foundation within [-] days. There are still some simple carpentry work on the ground. Needs to be done."

Everyone followed the direction of Tang Zhong's finger and moved to the female wall.

When passing through the East City Gate in the past, I have long been accustomed to this wasteland, and no one has paid much attention to it.

Now looking down from the city wall, the wasteland is unobstructed.The thorns that grow too wildly and the area that is too wide are really hard bones, which cannot be taken over by ordinary construction teams.

A few teams with few people felt powerless to recruit after seeing them. After looking at each other a few times, they didn't know what to say, so they simply said nothing, walked out of the venue with their heads down, and ran down the stairs quickly.

There were a small number of people in the venue, Tang Zhong took out his trump card and tried to stabilize the remaining people.

"By the way, I have a carpentry drawing in my hand, which is very valuable. If the bidding is successful, I will send the drawing to the construction team."

Next, is the last requirement, which is also the most troublesome.

Tang Zhong cleared his throat, "The last requirement is the most demanding, and it can best show your sincerity. That is, our budget is only six taels of silver."

When it came to the price, Tang Zhong couldn't help feeling guilty, and even lowered his voice.

"What? How much?"

"It's only six taels of silver, right?"

"Such a large piece of land needs to be compacted within 20 days. Guanglifu will have to find at least 20 men! Twenty men, at least [-] copper coins for a day of work, [-] days is a whole four taels of silver!"

"Isn't that right! You also need to count food, timber, and the carpenter's money. Don't talk about earning a lot of money in the middle, if you don't pay back, you will be blessed by the Bodhisattva!"

"It's no wonder that you didn't say anything at the beginning. It's Dongchengmen who can't afford money at all!"

The crowd exploded, especially those who temporarily decided to be contractors to solicit business, and they all complained.

Fortunately, the bidding meeting was not held in the city tower, otherwise the roof of the city tower might have been overturned at this moment.

Tang Zhong drew a big cake again and comforted him: "Everyone, don't forget that if I win the bid, I will present the carpentry blueprints. The carpentry items on it are very valuable, and they will be sold if they are made!"

However, everyone was so angry that they couldn't listen to it at all. They still vented their grievances on their own, and felt that they had been taken aback.

"Damn it! Do it if you can, get out if you don't! Why are you arguing! I don't owe you money!"

Hu Touer, the chief culprit of embezzlement of public funds, didn't feel wronged at all, he yelled aggressively, and successfully drove away all the participants.

Seeing that the interested construction team was about to finish, Tang Zhong quickly jumped off the bench and walked towards a group of men in the corner.

From the looks of it, they should be acquaintances of Li Fu who are gathering together and discussing with each other.

The other construction teams walked and scattered, before they could agree on a unified caliber, Tang Zhong rushed over to fight for the last hope.

"Brothers, think about it carefully, my blueprint is really good, and it can be sold for money!"

Tang Zhong changed from a serious party A to a salesman in an instant, and he only wanted to close the deal with a smile on his face.

"Are you not satisfied with the final price?"

He even thought, if it’s really not possible, it’s okay to raise the price a little bit, but it’s time to be ashamed and give someone an IOU, and the rent for the next advertising space will be paid after the year.

After discussing in low voices for a while, the men finally came to a conclusion.

The leader, Yang Dazhuang, turned around, scratched the back of his head, and said honestly: "Success, six taels of silver, let's do it!"

The author has something to say:

Tang Zhong: It's not easy being Party A!