This year seems to be a tumultuous one. There have been naval battles in the southern sea for most of the year. There is a drought in Beizhili and Shandong. Liaodong, which has just recovered, is engaged in immigration and major restoration. In short, there is no peace in all places.
Entering the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the city of Shenyang has already begun to feel a bit wintery. In the Qiuwu leather goods store, Mr. Wu was coughing violently. In the difficult winter, for the elderly with chronic diseases, they have to experience another big challenge in life. .
After coughing for a long time, the fifth man finally regained his breath. Looking at the busy people inside and outside the shop, the old man showed a look of relief. After nearly a year of hard work, this leather goods shop that emerged from the ruins is flourishing, and his life is prosperous. If you can accomplish such a thing at such a moment, what else is there to be dissatisfied about?
"Fifth Master, Mangou, who has been delivering goods to us in Fushun City yesterday, said that they have found a few of our family members who were kidnapped. Recently they can send people over, but there is a condition. We have to rush them in the winter. Most of the leather goods in their hands have been sold, and the accounts are almost settled." Zhang Qiushan waited for the fifth master to stop coughing, and quickly spoke.
"Mangou is trying to get things for the winter! If they don't sell their fur goods as soon as possible and exchange them for usable things, how will they survive the winter? Shanwa, you ask someone to give them a reply. Everyone's business is based on courtesy and favors. The person who redeems the goods loses the common courtesy of businessmen. If the court knows that we have other side transactions with them besides business, they will doubt whether we are clean businessmen. If they are interested, our family will ask Put it back, if you use people as hostages, then don’t mention it again, we don’t have the ability to make such a deal!"
"Fifth Master, if you say that, I'm afraid they won't let him back."
"Hmph! They can't help it. We sell them nearly one hundred thousand taels of leather goods a year. With this money, how much can they exchange for in the old forest? How much is our family worth in their eyes? But If we take it too seriously and comply with their threats, it will only fuel their arrogance and may cause more trouble. Shanba, please remember that we are businessmen now, and we are not considered small businessmen. Businessmen should do their duty and not involve themselves in other chores."
"Fifth Master, what do you mean by that?"
"Shanba, we have agreed to their request in the name of exchanging family members, but we may not be able to exchange all the family members back. After the Manchus have tasted the sweetness, there is no guarantee that they will not make other requests. Isn't it because of the Fan family and the Cao family back then? The Hemanchu people were too involved in matters that were not business matters and went on the road of no return! We must understand that people who do big business must know their own responsibilities. Once they lose their responsibilities, it is easy to be in jeopardy. We must understand I have been blessed with good fortune this year, but my foundation is too shallow, so I need to be more cautious and not let myself get involved in complicated worldly affairs."
In just one year, Qiuwu Leather Shop has transformed from a shabby leather shop that made sheepskin hats for the military into a big businessman with an annual turnover of more than 100,000 taels of silver dollars. Having been in business all his life, Master Wu naturally knows How high is the risk involved? If they hadn't relied on the credit of the Manchu Trading Company in Fushun City, where would they have the capital to do such a profitable business?
In other words, their current business is already deeply involved with the Manchus. If they are still inflexible and unclear about the situation at this time, and the relationship between the two families continues to become complicated, no one can say what will happen. Merchants are the most familiar methods of the Manchu people. Once they see an opportunity, they will definitely climb up the pole. When the fifth master was working as a waiter in a leather goods shop, he had seen the Manchu people do it. Therefore, after Zhang Qiushan explained the situation, he immediately realized the danger of the matter.
"What the Fifth Master reminds me is that on the surface, the imperial court seems to be very considerate to us businessmen, but secretly the supervision is very strict. Several yamen in the market are supervising us overtly and covertly, but they dare not be caught for anything that violates the rules. Involved. By the way, our business with the Manchus is so big now, should we do it more modestly? So as not to go against the imperial government’s policy!”
"Don't worry about this. As long as you do things properly according to the imperial court's roster, there will be no trouble. The imperial supply and marketing cooperatives do more business with the Manchus than we do. What do we have to fear? The current imperial court and the Manchus do more business than we do. Things have been different in the past few years. They can distinguish right from wrong and will not easily take advantage of us small businessmen. If nothing else, just say that we are a leather goods business. How can we do it without the care of the court? "
"The imperial court is indeed our benefactor. Who could have imagined that after the imperial court drove away Mangou, our life would be so good? It is not just a few people in our industry who are living a good life. The current Shenyang City Although there are not as many people as before, the people living here are much more kind than when the Manchus lived. People who escaped from there, after arriving in Shenyang City, said that Shenyang City now is the place where people should live. .”
Since the beginning of the spring this year, Han people have been fleeing from Manchuria to Shenyang City one after another. In the past six months, tens of thousands of Han people have fled back. There is no way, Manchuria is really worried about survival now, and it is difficult to stand up. After taking risks and escaping back, even basic survival is a problem for them.
"The Rebirth of Financial Giants"
When the people in Shenyang City and the surrounding areas were taken captive, the Manchu and Qing officials actually had good ideas. But after they got there, they discovered that things would not develop as expected. Agricultural development in the east of Shenyang was quite weak, and in addition After the Manchus moved westward, some of the cultivated land that was originally developed was abandoned, which created a very serious problem. The existing infrastructure and conditions simply could not accommodate so many immigrants.
Accommodation conditions are limited, the development management of the Qing Dynasty is very extensive, and the Manchu nobles take the opportunity to seize slaves and compete for resources. When all kinds of problems come together, it becomes a disaster. Now the whole land is in chaos, and the people have nothing to do. I don’t want to escape from this devil’s cave and run towards the hopeful city of Shenyang. There are tens of thousands of people who have successfully escaped to Shenyang, not to mention more people who have failed to escape. I heard people say that on the road from Fushun and Tieling to Shenyang, there are bones. Tired and exhausted, corpses everywhere!
Compared with the chaos all over the place, the current Shenyang City can really be regarded as a paradise on earth. At the beginning of the year, the number of people in the entire city was over 10,000, but now there are almost 50,000 people in Shenyang City, and its popularity has recovered very quickly. In addition to the recovery of popularity, industry and commerce have also quickly regained their vitality. If it were not for the occasional ruins left by the war in the city, and the occasional wasteland outside the city, it would be difficult for people to think of last year. This city is like a scene from hell on earth.