After the New Year.

In January, the fourth year of Chongzhen.

Xujiazhuang, Xu Yuan has been back for several days, dealing with the backlog, attending the opening ceremony of "Tianxiatong Bank", and depositing a large number of silver dollars, copper dollars, aluminum coins as benchmark funds. It was announced that in the future, all collective estates can only use these currencies, other gold and silver ingots, square hole copper coins, etc., and can only be used after the value is exchanged for legal currency.

The silver dollar, copper dollar, aluminum coins and other currencies issued by "Tianxiatong Bank" are not only of sufficient color, exquisite shape, clear text patterns, and extremely difficult to counterfeit and counterfeit, but also because of the sufficient material, there is almost no profit margin for counterfeiting.

Therefore, once these currencies were launched, they were quickly recognized and welcomed by the people.

At the same time, a fixed deposit business with a one-year interest of 2%, a two-year interest of 3.5%, and a five-year interest of 5%, has allowed many bankers who have enough money to apply for opening an account to deposit money, because depositing a bank is not only safer, but also has interest, which is much better than burying money in a difficult place to find.

Even in the villages and towns around the manor, there are a few people who deposited their family's money into the "Tianxiatong Bank" out of trust in Xujiazhuang and the idea of ​​earning some interest. There are thousands of people applying for opening an account. It can be seen that in the hearts of many people in the surrounding villages and towns, Xujiazhuang is worthy of entrusting all the remaining wealth.

Xu Yuan found Zhao Jinde, the president of the bank, and asked the villagers in the bank and the people outside the bank how they accepted the aluminum coins with the smallest value (purchasing power is equal to 1 cent).

"It cannot be described as higher."

Zhao Jinde said: "Aluminum coins have a light density and will never corrode. Moreover, there is no aluminum in the world except Xujiazhuang. It is impossible to forge it. Therefore, the people immediately accepted aluminum coins and took out their copper coins from home and asked to exchange them for aluminum coins. At present, more than 70,000 kilograms of fine copper materials have been obtained, and more than 11 million gram of heavy aluminum coins were distributed. At this exchange rate, aluminum coins will soon be insufficient."

Xu Yuan calculated silently in his heart.

More than 70,000 kilograms of fine copper material are equivalent to more than 35 tons, while a ton of fine copper is worth 60,000 to 70,000 yuan in modern society, which is very valuable.

In modern society, the single aluminum weighs just over 11 tons, it is only worth about 200,000 yuan.

35 tons of copper can be sold for more than 2.1 million yuan.

The profit is a 10-fold difference.

Profitable project.

Xu Yuan actually discovered another huge profit project. The amount of copper coins in ancient society was very huge. Even though China was seriously short of copper, the status of the main currency for more than two thousand years has definitely given the people tens of billions or hundreds of billions of copper coins. It is absolutely no problem, not including the copper materials used to cast Buddha statues, copper pillars, and copper basins and copper ware. The amount of copper materials used to cast Buddha statues, copper pillars, and copper basins is definitely a very huge amount.

The role and status of ancient copper could be completely replaced by aluminum, and aluminum can be used as a currency or as an appliance.

Aluminum is not as perishable as copper, and its silver-white color is not ugly, with low density and easy to carry. If you bring 10,000 3 grams of copper coins, others can bring 30,000 1 grams of aluminum coins. The purchasing power is three times different under the same weight. You will not encounter bad quality counterfeit coins. No matter how you store it, it will not corrode. Normal people will wisely choose aluminum coins.

For Xu Yuan, if about half of the copper coins circulating in the market at the end of the Ming Dynasty were replaced with the aluminum coins he brought, the profits he made would never be lower than the gold rush.

"There is great potential for aluminium coins to replace copper coins!"

Xu Yuan nodded repeatedly.

...

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the weather was clear and the temperature rose significantly.

But that night, an inched spring cold current in the north hit, and the temperature suddenly dropped to minus twenty degrees Celsius, and heavy snow fell like goose feathers. In just one hour, most of the snow accumulated on the ground.

Moreover, the heavy snow did not tend to calm down briefly, and it was at least three feet thick all day long.

The temperature is so low that people are frozen into dogs, causing most production activities to stop.

It would be fine if the work was just affected, but it would be lost. However, the snow was getting thicker and thicker, and the weight continued to overlap. Many thatched huts that lived in poor people could not withstand the collapse, and some brick and tile houses that had been disrepaired for a long time also began to collapse and collapse.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, after heavy snow stopped.

In the Xinghua County Town, more than 100 residential buildings collapsed, hundreds of people were killed and injured, and thousands of people were affected. The population in Xinghua City was only 10,000.

That is, the proportion of the affected population has reached 10%.

Hearing many people "help us", "My child is buried, help me save the child!", "The house is collapsed, give me a place to sit", "Good people give me some food and clothing to save my life", Qian Chengzhi and Sun Lin, who had been visiting the Li family residence in the county town, faced with this snow disaster, they could not sit still, recite poems and write matches, discuss literature, criticize current problems, analyze national affairs, and immediately find Li Changfu, the head of the Li family, and Li Qing, to discuss strategies to help the victims.

"The head of the Li family, Mr. Xinshui (Li Qing's name), is serious, and disaster relief is like putting out a fire. When you act immediately, prepare your residence, food and sufficient clothing to save the lives of the victims. After the late spring cold, these hundreds of lives can survive." At this moment, in order to save people, Qian Chengzhi said enthusiastically.

"I mean that too. I have dozens of silver dollars on my body and I have a lot of strength. How many victims in the city will save me!" Sun Lin said.

"Uncle, the victims are in a very bad situation, and it is urgent to need help. My Li family will take some help. The Buddha said that saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda."

Li Qing bowed to his uncle Li Changfu and said anxiously.

"There are many people in the disaster, how can I save my Li family?"

Li Changfu shook his head and said, "This heavy snowfall, not to mention the houses of the victims, my Li family's house has collapsed more than a dozen. I need disaster relief. How can I get the extra effort to help the victims?"

"Uncle, the extent of the Li family's disaster is just one hundred and one hundred people. I see that there are hundreds of houses in the Li family, dozens of empty houses, and granaries that stockpiled tens of thousands of stones of grain. It is easy to rescue hundreds of people. Why is it so difficult?"

Qian Chengzhi was very puzzled. He had lived in the Li family for more than half a month, so he naturally knew the strength of the Li family. As the first family in Xinghua, not to mention hundreds of victims, even all victims in the city could help him.

"There is more than once. This year, the Li family helped the victims. Next year and the next year, will the snow disaster come again. Will my Li family help come here? And this year, if you don't help next year, how will the victims view the Li family? Wouldn't it be their hatred?"

Li Changfu revealed a very cruel "good man's dilemma". It is very difficult to be a good person. If you don't have enough strength, you can't afford to be a good person. There are so many victims, hungry and refugees in the Ming Dynasty. With the strength of the Li family, even if tens of thousands of stones of food are exhausted, how much can the Li family help in the face of so many rescue needs?

"What should we do?" Qian Chengzhi asked frustrated and helplessly. Could it be that he watched the victims freeze and starve to death?

"This matter can only be discussed with the county magistrate. If the big households in the city are willing to donate funds, the victims can be resettled. If most of the big households are unwilling to donate, the victims can only seek blessings for themselves." Li Changfu said.

"How long will it take to discuss before all the big cities can pay for the goods?" Qian Chengzhi asked.

"At short as two or three days, and a long as five or eight days, there will always be someone who is unwilling to donate a single cent."

"The victims will freeze to death in just one night. Where did the three or five days come?"

Qian Chengzhi shook his sleeves hard, showing grief and anger.

Sun Lin also asked if there was a better way, could he save the disaster first and then raise funds? He also felt powerless and frustrated when he received a negative answer.

what to do?

How can we save these victims?

"Xujiazhuang! Let's go back to Xujiazhuang immediately, Xujiazhuang must have the ability to rescue him!"

Qian Chengzhi flashed his mind and immediately remembered Xujiazhuang. He immediately pulled Sun Lin away from the Li family and rushed towards Xujiazhuang.
Chapter completed!