Dong Shuheng was strolling in the back garden of Zhizhou Mansion while humming a tuneless tune.
Miss Wei is not going to the bookstore today, so Dong Shuheng hurried over to prepare for a wonderful encounter.
"Shu Heng, did you catch a woman last time you went out with the navy?" Miss Wei said jealously as soon as she came up.
Dong Shuheng suddenly felt embarrassed, and the encounter turned into an interrogation...
"Junior sister, that girl with long hair has a complicated background. If she is killed, she will be in trouble. And the fact that she is willing to fight for the sake of those captured girls shows that she is not bad at heart. We don't need to kill them all, right?"
"Who said we were going to kill her? Are they that cruel?" Wei Yuzhen twisted Dong Shuheng's arm hard with her little hand.
Dong Shuheng hid back reflexively, obviously this was not the first time he had been attacked like this. As expected, women will only be gentle to you when they first meet you. In fact, there is a tigress hidden in every woman's heart.
"What does Junior Sister mean? We have agreed that this woman cannot be released now, at least not until Yangzhou is recovered."
"I just think it's too pitiful to lock her up like this. I passed by the prison before and saw her from a distance. So I was wondering if you could help her move to another place." Wei Yuzhen lowered her head and said.
"Well, Shuyun and Shumei have opened a factory. They can find a yard there and arrange something for her to do to pass the time."
"Then what are you waiting for? Go now."
"Ah, there's no need to be in such a hurry, right?"
"Hmph, you might be busy with something else soon. Where can I find you?"
When they arrived at the cell, Yang Ximei was obviously very haggard. She was sitting there alone in a daze.
Seeing Dong Shuheng coming over, Yang Ximei cast a murderous look as always. Dong Shuheng was not surprised by this.
However, when she saw Wei Yuzhen next to Dong Shuheng, she felt a sense of sympathy, which was the unique confidence and heroic spirit of an independent-minded woman.
"Oh, let me introduce you. This is the editor of Huaihai Bookstore, Wei Yuzhen. She is deeply sympathetic to your experience and wants me to give you the treatment you deserve." Dong Shuheng introduced in a serious manner.
"Hello, sister!" She said with a smile and walked forward to help Yang Ximei up.
Dong Shuheng was really worried. What would he do if the other party took him hostage, even if he brought more than a dozen guards? Women, especially emotional women, are unreliable in doing things.
Yang Ximei followed this trick and was not at all defensive when facing Wei Yuzhen.
"Yang Ximei, since Yuzhen is your guarantee, I won't tie you up. You must know that you can't escape here, and I will naturally let you go when the time comes."
"Also, let me tell you some good news. Your brother really cares about you. During this period, he sent troops to beat Yang Wending to pieces. Yang Wending even lost his golden altar."
Yang Ximei turned her head and gave Dong Shuheng a roll of her eyes.
"Let's go, let's take you to see your little sisters." Dong Shuheng shook his head and said.
Yang Ximei and Wei Yuzhen rode in the same carriage, while Dong Shuheng rode with a group of guards.
Dong Shuheng was very puzzled as to why Wei Yuzhen was more domineering than the protagonist himself, and took back the girl's long hair as soon as she came up. He could even hear the two of them whispering from outside the carriage, and he didn't know what they were talking about.
.
The group of people headed northeast of Gaoyou City, which is the planned Gaoyou Industrial Park. Factories are rising from the ground. Due to the current construction level, most of these factories are rows of bungalows, but for fire prevention, they are all
Built with masonry and cement.
There are busy construction sites everywhere. Some of the workers on the construction sites are refugees from other places and some are farmers who have leisure time. Recently, due to the investment and construction, the entire Gaoyou is much more prosperous than before. Just from the restaurants that have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain,
It can be seen from the inn. The original city wall can no longer accommodate it. Dong Shuheng simply plans it directly outside the city. A new residential area and commercial area are being formed. Considering that there will be a large number of industrial workers here in the future, Dong Shuheng requires every factory to
During construction, supporting dormitories must be built and distributed to workers as welfare.
Although the equipment from the United States has not yet arrived, Dong Shuheng has built several indigenous cement plants in Haizhou, and the output is not low. The land there is mountainous and hilly, and cement raw materials are abundant. These cements are given priority to the industrial parks in Taipei and Gaoyou.
, greatly speeding up the construction. Now the new city planned outside Gaoyou City has used cement to make sewer pipes and hardened roads. As for the new city wall, Dong Shuheng is not going to build it anymore. The era of relying on city walls for defense is coming to an end.
Seeing the increasingly prosperous Gaoyou, Dong Shuheng thought to himself: "Sure enough, no matter what era, investment is a simple and effective way to stimulate the economy."
Everyone came to a factory area surrounded by walls. There was a sign "Yunmei Embroidery Factory" hanging on the door. Everyone got off their horses and dismounted. Yang Ximei was very curious about this person and looked around. There were soldiers at the door of the factory.
Standing guard, this was specially arranged by Dong Shuheng, because they are all female workers, and protective measures must be taken. After notifying the two factory directors, Dong Shuheng and his party entered the factory area. This factory area is very large, with dedicated working areas and rest areas for female workers.
Dining living area.
"Brother, why are you here? I'm here to show you our factory." The second sister, Dong Shumei, jumped over first and said.
"Well, I saw it. You two took care of it very well. My girl is really amazing!"
The group continued walking inside, and Dong Shuyun came over and introduced: "Brother, we have recruited more than two thousand female workers in total. Basically, the sisters you rescued are willing to stay and work in our factory. According to what you said, we should take the high-end route.
We also invited foreigners to help us draw patterns. Now we mainly make handkerchiefs and cloaks. These two products are very popular among foreigners, especially cloaks, which are very popular in London and Paris in Europe. We received orders from the beginning
There are many orders from foreign companies. I calculated that we can make a profit of three taels of silver from a cloak here. Our female workers are paid on a piece-rate basis, and skilled female workers can get two taels of silver a month."
When Yang Ximei heard this introduction, she couldn't help but widen her eyes. He was also born in poverty. He knew that with this income, he could definitely support a large family in Guangxi. The guard who followed was thinking about whether he should marry an embroiderer in the future.
The female worker in the factory will be a god of wealth when she gets married.
A group of people walked into the workshop. It was very quiet inside, and they could only hear the sound of arms waving up and down. Some older female workers shuttled back and forth in front of the embroidery frame, checking the quality from time to time, or giving guidance to some novices.
Yang Ximei chose a dormitory in the living area. She insisted on living in a dormitory like the embroidered ladies. Dong Shuheng did not refuse. After several contacts, Dong Shuheng had a general understanding of this woman. But in the end, she stayed
Several guards are dedicated to surveillance.
After this incident, Dong Shuheng prepared to take this woman with him on his subsequent trips. He wanted to establish a bond with the Taiping Army through this woman, so it was necessary to deepen the bilateral understanding.
The group of people returned to Gaoyou City and came to a solid building. It used to be the treasury of Gaoyou Prefecture. Now it has been renovated. There are two large stone lions at the door. There is a sign hanging next to the door that reads "Yangtze River Bank."
"Four big characters.
This is the temporary headquarters of Yangtze River Bank. The new headquarters is taller and more magnificent. It is what Dong Shuheng had in mind of the bank, but it has not been built yet.
The group of people came to the backyard wing, which had been opened and transformed into a factory. A large chimney stood on one side of the factory building. Near the chimney, a row of small blast furnaces more than two people high stood there. Many workers were using pots made of cast iron.
Carefully catch the silver water flowing out of the blast furnace, and then pour it into the mold to cast silver bars.
On the other side were twenty small hydraulic presses, which were running hummingly. Workers were seen sending silver bars under the hydraulic press, and each time they could take out five silver coins. There were already whole boxes of silver coins wrapped in red paper next to them.
.
At this time, Zeng Gong and Hu Weiyong came over together. They had been waiting here for a long time.
Dong Shuheng picked up a few silver coins, touched them in his hand, and handed one to the people next to him.
"Shu Heng, if we mint silver coins privately, what if the court blames us?" Wei Yuzhen said worriedly.
Dong Shuheng smiled and said: "Look carefully at this silver dollar."
Everyone looked down and saw an eagle symbol on the back of the silver dollar.
"This is the Mexican Eagle Ocean. It was very common in the Qing Dynasty. It is said that many large households like to collect this kind of silver coins. Many of the Eagle Oceans circulating in China were privately minted by foreigners. So why can't I? And the imperial court
People have started to spend a lot of money recently. If we release a large amount of silver coins in the market at this time, will it be very popular?"
"I'm convinced this time, I'm convinced, my lord's ability to make money can't be matched by even a small applause!" Hu Weiyong said excitedly on the side. He is an expert in this field and has long seen the secrets of mid-term.
"But Shuheng, this silver dollar is also made of silver, how can you make money?" Wei Yuzhen asked doubtfully, and Yang Ximei in the distance also stretched out her ears. She obviously also wanted to know.
"This silver dollar only weighs 8 qian. In addition, 10% of copper is added when it is cast. But when it is circulated, it is counted as one tael of silver." As he said this, he blew the silver dollar and put it to his ear.
A pleasant voice came. Everyone imitated his example and could indeed hear the voice.
"Only under this ratio, the silver dollar will make a sound, which means that our silver dollar can be easily identified as genuine. In addition, our silver dollar is pressed with a hydraulic press, and its appearance is smoother than that of casting.
.If you were asked to choose, who would you choose?" Dong Shuheng said with a smile.
"And this kind of silver coin is recognized by the imperial court!" he added.
"Manager Hu, what happens next is up to you." He said to Hu Weiyong next to him.
"Sir, please rest assured. I will definitely open up the bank as soon as possible." Hu Weiyong said. He felt that this was his dream job. If it were spread out, the amount of money handled would be estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.
"Sir, all taxes in northern Jiangsu can be converted into silver dollars in the future, so that there will be no loss of fire consumption." Zeng Gong said on the side. He is now the head of government in northern Jiangsu, so he must consider this aspect. Moreover, he
He is well aware of the shortcomings of the Qing Dynasty's fire consumption.
Yang Ximei on the side frowned. She was trying hard to calculate how much money she could make by converting this silver dollar, but the more she calculated, the more confused she became.