Xujiazhuang and Xu Yuan have been back for a few days. They cleared the backlog of affairs, participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the "Tianxiatong Bank", deposited a large number of silver coins, copper coins and aluminum coins as benchmark gold, and announced that all collective estates can only use these currencies in the future.
, other gold and silver ingots, square-hole copper coins, etc. can only be used after they are exchanged for legal currency according to their value.
The silver coins, copper coins and aluminum coins issued by "Tianxiatong Bank" are not only of sufficient quality, exquisite in shape, and clear in text and patterns, but are extremely difficult to counterfeit, and because of the sufficient materials used, 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, it launched a time deposit business with an interest rate of 2% for one year, 3.5% for two years, and 5% for five years. Many bankers with extra money have applied to open accounts to save money, because depositing in banks is not only safer, but also
Earning interest is far better than burying your money in a hard-to-find place.
Even in the villages and towns surrounding the manor, there are a few people who, out of their trust in Xujiazhuang and the idea of earning some interest, have also deposited their family money in the "Tianxiatong Bank". There are thousands of people who have applied to open an account. It can be seen that in
In the minds of many people in surrounding villages and towns, Xujiazhuang is a place worthy of entrusting all their remaining wealth.
Xu Yuan went to Zhao Jinde, the general manager of the bank, and asked the villagers inside and outside the village how they accepted the aluminum coin, which has the smallest currency value (purchasing power equal to 1 penny).
"It cannot be described as higher."
Zhao Jinde said: "Aluminum coins are light in density and will never spoil. Moreover, aluminum does not exist anywhere in the world except Xujiazhuang. It is impossible to counterfeit it. Therefore, the people immediately accepted the aluminum coins and took out their copper coins at home to ask for
In exchange for aluminum coins, more than 70,000 kilograms of refined copper materials have been obtained, and more than 11 million 1-gram aluminum coins have been issued. According to this exchange rate, the aluminum coins will soon be insufficient."
Xu Yuan calculated silently in his mind.
More than 70,000 kilograms of refined copper material is equivalent to more than 35 tons. In modern society, one ton of refined copper is worth 60,000 to 70,000 yuan, which is very valuable.
Elemental aluminum, which weighs just over eleven tons, is only worth about two hundred thousand in modern society.
35 tons of copper can be sold for more than 2.1 million.
The difference was a full ten times profit.
Profitable projects.
Xu Yuan unexpectedly discovered another huge profit project. The amount of copper coins in ancient society was very huge. Even though the land of China was seriously short of copper, its status as the main currency for more than two thousand years allowed the public to have tens of billions or hundreds of billions of copper coins.
, there is absolutely no problem, not including the copper materials used to cast the Buddha statues, copper pillars, copper basins and copper utensils, the total amount must be a very huge amount.
The role and status of ancient copper can be completely replaced by aluminum. Whether it is used as currency or as a utensil, it can be replaced by aluminum.
Aluminum is not as perishable as copper, and its silver-white color is not ugly. It has a low density and is easy to carry. You can carry 10,000 3-gram copper coins, but others can carry 30,000 1-gram aluminum coins with the same weight.
If the purchasing power is three times different, you will not encounter counterfeit coins of poor quality. They will not rot no matter how you store them. Normal people will choose aluminum coins wisely.
For Xu Yuan, if about half of the copper coins circulating in the market in the late Ming Dynasty were replaced with the aluminum coins he brought over, the profit earned would never be lower than that of gold.
"Replacing copper coins with aluminum coins is a project that has great potential and great potential!"
Xu Yuan nodded repeatedly.
…
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the weather was fine and the temperature rose significantly.
But that night, a late-spring cold wave hit the north, the temperature dropped to minus 20 degrees, and heavy snow fell like goose feathers. Within an hour, more than half a foot of snow accumulated on the ground.
And the heavy snow had no tendency to subside for a short period of time. It lasted all day and was at least three feet thick.
The temperature is so low that it freezes people into dogs, causing most production activities to stop.
If it was just work that was affected, it would be nothing more than a loss of income. However, the snow was getting thicker and heavier, and the weight continued to pile up. Many thatched houses where poor people lived could not bear the weight and collapsed, and some brick and tile houses with rotten wood were in disrepair.
, also began to collapse and collapse.
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, after the heavy snow stopped.
In Xinghua County alone, more than 100 residential buildings collapsed, resulting in hundreds of casualties and thousands of people affected. However, the total population of Xinghua City was only 10,000.
That is, the proportion of the population affected by the disaster has reached 10%.
I heard many people saying "Help us", "My child is buried, help me save the child!", "The house has collapsed, please give me a place to stay", "Good people give me some food and clothing to save my life"
Qian Chengzhi and Sun Lin could not sit still in the face of this snow disaster. They recited poems, wrote poems, and discussed literature and literature.
I no longer had the mood to criticize the current ills and analyze national affairs, so I immediately went to find Li Changfu, the head of the Li family, and Li Qing, a famous scholar, to discuss strategies to relieve the victims.
"The head of the Li family, Mr. Xinshui (Li Qing's word), the disaster is serious, and disaster relief is like putting out a fire. You should act immediately to prepare shelter, food and sufficient clothing to save the lives of the victims. After surviving this late spring cold, this
It takes hundreds of lives to survive." At this moment, in order to save people, Qian Chengzhi said with enthusiasm in his heart.
"That's what I mean. I have dozens of silver coins with me and I have a lot of strength. I can save a few of the victims in the city!" Sun Lin said.
"Uncle, the situation of the victims is extremely miserable and they are in urgent need of help without delay. Let me, the Li family, help us. Buddha said that saving one life is better than building a seven-level pagoda."
Li Qing bowed to his uncle Li Changfu and said anxiously.
"There are so many people affected by the disaster, how can my Li family be saved?"
Li Changfu shook his head and said: "This heavy snowfall, not to mention the houses of the victims, more than a dozen of my Li family's houses have collapsed. I need disaster relief myself, so how can I spare the time to help the victims?"
"Uncle, the extent of the disaster in the Li family is only a hundred and one victims. I see that the Li family has hundreds of houses, dozens of empty houses, and granaries stocked with tens of thousands of stones of grain. It is easy to rescue hundreds of people. Why?
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 very well. As the first family in Xinghua, he could rescue all the victims in the city, not to mention hundreds of victims.
"There is more than one natural disaster. This year, the Li family helped the victims. If the snow disaster comes again next year, will my Li family be able to help? But if we helped this year, but not next year, how will the victims view the Li family? Wouldn't it make them hate us?"
Li Changfu told a very cruel "good person's dilemma". It is very difficult to be a good person. If you don't have enough strength, you can't even be a good person. And 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 are used up, how much can the Li family help in the face of so many rescue needs?
"Then what should we do?" Qian Chengzhi asked frustrated and helpless, should he just watch the victims freeze to death and starve to death?
"This matter can only be discussed with the county magistrate at the county government office. If we can persuade the big households in the city to donate money, the victims can be resettled. If most of the big households are unwilling to donate, the victims can only ask for more blessings.
." Li Changfu said.
"How long will it take to negotiate before all the big households in the city can contribute money and goods?" Qian Chengzhi asked.
"As short as two or three days, as long as five or eight days, there will always be people who don't want to donate even a penny."
"The victims will freeze to death in just one night, so how can they survive in three to five days?"
Qian Chengzhi shook his sleeves vigorously, his face showing sadness and anger.
Sun Lin also asked if there was a better way. Could he provide disaster relief first and then raise funds? He received a negative answer and felt powerless and frustrated.
what to do?
How can we save these victims?
"Xujiazhuang! Let's go back to Xujiazhuang immediately. Xujiazhuang will definitely be able to rescue us!"
Qian Chengzhi had a flash of inspiration and suddenly thought of Xujiazhuang. He immediately pulled Sun Lin away from the Li family and hurried towards Xujiazhuang.