On the first day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Chongzhen.
In the north of Xuzhou City, the Hu Family Villa is a newly built five-story building with a reinforced concrete structure. It covers an area of about one acre and has 218 large and small rooms.
The interior has cement floors, white walls, glass windows, running water, floor heating, indoor flushing toilets and other facilities. It is one of the most popular villa buildings nowadays that is very close to the Xujiazhuang style.
This is a new home built by businessman Hu Wenting in his hometown of Xuzhou with more than 70,000 silver dollars. He will come back every year to stay for half a month. After the Chinese New Year, he has to return to Yixian County, Shandong Province, and then he will spend most of his time in the mine.
It's just not the same as imagined.
Hu Wenting returned to his hometown with the purpose of relaxing himself. He wanted to temporarily put aside his business affairs and live a normal life for a few days. He also took a look at the sage books he had memorized.
I read it again to remind myself not to forget the teachings of the sages and to remind myself that I am not a businessman, but a scholar who has no choice but to make a living in business.
But his plans were soon disrupted and ruined.
Worrying things happen one after another.
First, his wife, Wang, complained that he made less money last year, which was far inferior to other Shandong miners and ranked almost at the bottom.
"Last year, the coal mine produced more than 3.5 million stones of coal. The output was extremely impressive, but the net profit was only 210,000 silver dollars. Other miners made less than 3.5 million. Lu Youxing is said to have earned more than 1 million.
Silver dollars, the mines they dig out are not as much as ours, but they make more money than ours!"
His wife Wang, who has been taking care of the accounts, said: "Husband, you are too kind and righteous to those miners. The wage of 1 penny per kilogram of coal is too high. I have seen some other mines where miners get wages.
, only half a penny per kilogram of ore, which is half less than what our family gave us. This alone makes a huge difference."
"If we lower workers' wages to half a penny per kilogram of ore, we will use the excuse that the price of minerals in Xujiazhuang has dropped, and then lower the workers' food standards, saying that the price of food has also increased. As long as
With these two tricks, our mine will definitely earn more than 500,000 silver dollars this year, which is enough to double the profit."
"Husband, why don't you just do what I say. It's not enough to be too kind. The workers may not be grateful. Instead, they think the boss is stupid. We can't be taken advantage of anymore."
After hearing these words from Wang.
Hu Wenting looked at her and really didn't want to argue with her anymore.
Because Wang has said similar words in his ears several times, dozens of times, and he can almost hear it, but his wife Wang just keeps saying it over and over again, just to influence his thinking, and the purpose is to make money.
More money.
"Ms. Wang, if you say such filthy words again, I will write a divorce letter to you immediately, and you can find someone richer to marry!"
Hu Wenting glared at Mrs. Wang and said to her who got into Qian's eyes.
"Husband, I, I am doing this for this family..."
Wang's tears of grievance fell down, and she planned to start her long speech again. Why would more than a dozen children cost a lot of money in the future? The promise of Xujiazhuang cannot be valid forever. What if I can't eat so much mine that day? Shandong
Although the miners have a close cooperative relationship, it does not mean that there is no competition between them. Sooner or later, the mines will be mined out. When the time comes to buy new mines, other miners have money but Hu Wenting does not.
Money, won’t it have to be eliminated by then?
In short, considering the long-term future, Wang gave several very convincing reasons and concluded that the profitability of the mine must be increased.
"That's enough. I have my own plans for the future. You can stay here in Xuzhou from now on. Don't go to the mine anymore. I will find a bookkeeper to take your place."
Hu Wenting said impatiently and completely excluded his wife Wang from the operation of the mine.
"Husband!"
Mrs. Wang burst into tears, but it had no effect, so she had to pack her things and go to her parents' house to spend two days.
Hu Wenting's ears suddenly became much clearer.
In fact, how could Hu Wenting not know what Wang said? If the mining farm could make more profits, he would be happy to see it. After all, no one wants to make less money.
There are just some bottom lines that he really can't budge on.
One pound of coal is one penny, which is a reference price carefully designed by Xujiazhuang. As long as the miners can get more, their labor enthusiasm will be high, and the output of coal mines can be maximized.
Food standards cannot be lowered, and the price cannot be too expensive, otherwise it will increase the cost of living for miners. Without enough energy, the frequency of mining accidents will increase. To suppress angry and dissatisfied miners, management costs will also increase, and the final consequence will be a decrease in coal mine output.
.
However, under this model, as the mine owner Hu Wenting, it is difficult to maximize his personal interests unless he lowers his bottom line and increases the intensity of exploitation.
Last year, I only made 210,000 silver dollars. Among the 22 large miners, I am at the bottom of the net income. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it.
After all, he still has some humanity and bottom line.
but!
Hu Wenting is not passive and has no way to deal with it. He has found an effective way to deal with it.
Open a new mine!
Go to Shanxi and contract an open-pit or semi-open-pit coal mine with a coal seam buried less than ten feet deep. There are many such coal mines in Shanxi, and the contract price is not expensive. You can buy it from Xujiazhuang for about hundreds of thousands of silver dollars.
Large tracts of mines, and can continue to cooperate and sign the "Unlimited Coal Supply Agreement".
Secondly, the latest explosive mining method is used to replace the traditional mining mode of miners going into the mine. With the loud bang of powerful explosives, the mining efficiency will be greatly improved.
However, ammonium nitrate, kerosene, detonators and other materials that make up explosives can only be purchased from Xujiazhuang, and the prices are quite expensive.
Hu Wenting organized personnel to conduct many explosive mining experiments. He only drilled a dozen blastholes, which cost more than 50,000 silver dollars, and the profit was less than 5,000 silver dollars - because the coal seams were buried too deep, Fengmingshan Coal Mine
In this type of mine, explosive mining is not competitive.
A shallow coal mine must be contracted.
However, Hu Wenting's wife Wang felt that these plans were very unreliable. She believed that the cost of mining was too exaggerated, so she always expressed opposition. Hu Wenting conducted relevant experiments without telling her to prove that the explosive mining method was possible. What's more,
The prices of explosive-related raw materials sold in Xujiazhuang will most likely decrease in the future, so the advantages of the explosive mining method will continue to emerge.
"This kind of woman has long hair and short knowledge. You should not discuss important matters with her."
Hu Wenting shook his head and said.
The wife Wang felt aggrieved and went back to her parents' home. There were also concubines Ge, Lu, and Zhou at home. These concubines were much more gentle and considerate than the wife Wang, and they were obedient in all aspects.
, I would never dare to contradict him with words, but I would try my best to please him.
This allowed Hu Wenting to enjoy a few magical days.
But soon he also discovered something was wrong.
That was when he and these concubines were sitting on the same table playing horse games. Hu Wenting was always losing but not winning. He lost more than 5,000 silver dollars in just three days. His luck was shockingly bad.
It was his son Hu Yaozong who told him privately that the three young mothers had secretly agreed to win their father's money and colluded to make a fortune at the card game, but his father was a gentleman and would definitely admit defeat.
"What?"
Hu Wenting's eyes widened. What if his wife, Wang, wanted to control him? Even three seemingly obedient concubines conspired to trick him?
No wonder.
No wonder the Ge family, Lu family, and Zhou family have been so enthusiastic and obedient these days. They don't win enough money at the card game, and they also make various demands in private. Especially after they are happy, they act coquettishly and beg him to give this brother-in-law some money in the mine.
Hu Wenting mostly agreed to arrange a job on the field and a stewardship job for that relative. Now he thinks about what the consequences will be once these relatives enter his mine.
Advantages or disadvantages?
Can't stay any longer.
Hu Wenting felt that he could no longer stay in his hometown, and he would not be able to live this year with peace of mind.
Everyone only talks about profits and silver dollars. No one talks about justice anymore, and there is no longer the human touch.
People's hearts are becoming more and more impetuous, and at the same time they are becoming more and more sinister.
And what exactly brought about this?
Is it caused by Xujiazhuang in the south of the Yangtze River? Nowadays, many gentry and scholars blame Xujiazhuang for the unconventionality of people's hearts, and criticize and criticize it every day.
But Hu Wenting doesn't think it's Xujiazhuang's problem. He has been in business for so many years. Before Xujiazhuang rose, he saw countless ugly phenomena in the shopping mall. It can be seen that as long as there are interests, people's hearts will change drastically. Only everyone will be poor and materially expensive.
When there is a shortage of people, there is some human kindness and tenderness, but as long as interests appear, the family will fall apart, just like the emperor's sons fighting for the throne, fighting to kill each other without any affection, isn't it the alienation caused by interests?
So Xujiazhuang is by no means the source of the problem.
It's the profit!
The more benefits there are, the more severe the degree of alienation will be.
Hu Wenting hopes to stick to his original intention, a benevolent heart that a scholar has had, and stick to the bottom line of not taking advantage of all the benefits, leaving room for everything, and doing things in moderation. Even if he cannot make the world fair, he should try his best to make everyone around him fair.
Some.
But with the environment around him deteriorating like this, how long can he persist unaffected?
Will he change one day in the future?
Walk!
It's better to go back to the mine in Yixian County, Shandong Province. He can't stay in this hometown, let alone dare not stay there anymore. The longer he stays, the more uncomfortable he will feel, because every day, various unknown relatives come to visit him.
There were all kinds of people begging him to plot against him, and he couldn't even think about being clean for a moment. He felt that sooner or later he would be driven crazy by these people.
…
The fifth day of the first lunar month.
Outdoors it is still icy and snowy, with dripping water turning into ice.
Hu Wenting wrapped himself tightly, took more than a dozen mine guards, and rode back to the Yixian mine. He didn't even say hello to his family, and suddenly left, saying that
He was going to handle matters at the mine, and soon disappeared without a trace on the official road, leaving only a string of horse hoof marks.
And the shocked, helpless and disappointed expressions of family members and relatives.