Yuan Shuzhi arrived at Deboluo County and was about to rest for a day at the inn. He found out that the medicine market was still fifty or sixty miles away from the county seat. If he wanted to go there, he had to rush early and get there before nightfall. The shopkeeper saw that he looked like a scholar.
, so I suggested hiring a donkey to travel instead. Otherwise, you would have to stay overnight on the way, which would be very inconvenient.
"It's okay. I have strong legs, so it's common for me to walk sixty or seventy miles a day. I just don't know if the road is smooth?"
"Since the arrival of the Australians, the roads have been smooth. But it's best not to be alone on the road," the store owner said. "Only by traveling with others can you stay safe."
Although Huizhou is known as one of the four Hakka states, there are actually many people from Guangfu and Chaoshan. There are conflicts between the three ethnic groups, and there are often conflicts between villages. There are also Yao people in the mountainous areas, so the public security is definitely not a problem.
The "restoration" of Taiping and the Senate can only be said to have restored the basic social order. You still have to be careful when traveling far away.
Fortunately, there are no bandit groups openly fighting here, so it is much safer for merchants.
Yuan Shuzhi found out the route and set out early the next morning.
The road to the medicine market is not remote. Luofu Mountain has been a famous mountain for "cultivating immortals" since the Tang Dynasty. It is the seventh cave of Taoism and the thirty-fourth blessed place. It is said that Ge Hong also practiced here. Therefore, it has a very good reputation.
, inside and outside the mountains, there are many temples and palaces, and the incense is very popular.
This medicine market is located next to Chongxu Temple at the foot of Luofu Mountain. This medicine market has a long history, dating back to the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, it was known as the Four Lingnan Flower Markets together with Guangzhou Fangcun Flower Market, Hepuzhu City and Dongguan Liaobuxiang City.
When the big market is prosperous, the medicine shops and stalls stretch for several miles, not only radiating from Guangdong and Guangxi and neighboring provinces, but also merchants from Southeast Asia come here to trade.
When Yuan Shuzhi arrived at Deyao Market, his jaw dropped when he saw that this was not a "city" at all, it was simply a "county town".
Apart from the fact that there are no city walls or government offices, the prosperity here cannot be compared to that of many small counties.
There is no government office here, only a medicine market guild, located in Chongxu Temple. Yuan Shuzhi knew that since he planned to hang out here in the future, it was best to go and find out what the local rules were, so as not to accidentally get into trouble.
When they arrived at Deguan, they saw a "forbidden sign" hanging on the wall, and several stone inscriptions, including "City Agreement", "The main hall of Huizhou Prefecture announced to the main hall of Boluo County" and so on. Yuan Shuzhi took a look and found that most of them were for business travelers.
There are no specific requirements for people like him, other than that they must not commit adultery or commit crimes.
There are many merchants here, so naturally there is an inn. There is also a semicolon in Qiwei. As long as there is no special reason, most of them stay in Qiwei. On the one hand, it is clean and on the other hand, it has high privacy.
After settling in the inn, he started to wander around the drug market under the guise of "doing accounts and filing taxes on behalf of customers" that he specially customized.
However, the reality is different from what he imagined. Although this business is in the ascendant in Guangzhou, Foshan and other places in the Pearl River Delta, and it has the meaning of an "emerging industry", after leaving the "deep governance zone", merchants are very concerned about new assets and new tax systems.
Little is known about it, and the local Finance and Taxation Bureau is unable to fully implement it. Therefore, the local demand for this industry is not large. Yuan Shuzhi solicited business in the pharmaceutical market for two or three days, and only managed one, but it had nothing to do with the new tax system.
, just helping the stall owner to clarify and register the running accounts he jotted down.
After Yuan Shuzhi inquired about it, he learned that the tax system currently used in the pharmaceutical market is still a system similar to a fixed tax. The guilds in the pharmaceutical market uniformly pay "land rent" to the Boluo County Finance and Taxation Bureau. This is actually a continuation of the system from the Ming Dynasty.
In addition to land rent, there is an "entering tax" for goods entering the medicine market, and an "exit tax" for leaving the market. They are charged according to a certain ratio of the daily "public valuation" of the medicinal materials.
In addition, there are no other taxes and fees. Because taxes and fees are simple, businessmen are happy to pay taxes. Whether it is Boluo County or Huizhou Prefecture, a large amount of taxes can be collected without much effort, and professionals are expensive.
There is a lack of taxation, so there is no motivation to implement a “new tax system”.
Naturally, Yuan Shuzhi's "doing accounts and filing taxes on behalf of clients" also lost customers. After four or five days in the drug market, he only did three small businesses.
Of course he still has money. After all, he is traveling on business and there is always travel expenses. But it would be too inconsistent for him to act like he has no worries about food and clothing after he has been out of business for a few days. So he can only act like he doesn't have three meals a day.
After that, he was frugal and looking around, hoping to find a job and settle down locally.
Unexpectedly, his job search was not going smoothly.
"We don't know you here."
"Who are you? The shopkeeper's relatives and fellow villagers are all employed here. You, an outsider, want to come and grab food, so get out of here!"
"Our boss's little wife's brother hasn't been able to arrange to come over yet. Let's go, let's go quickly."
"We are all local old people who have been here for several generations, we don't need outsiders."
…
It's not that there are no shops willing to hire him, but the old rules for employing people here are: you must have a guarantee. In the deep governance areas of the Pearl River Delta, due to the improvement of the police and guarantee systems, the guarantee system has been abolished.
He was a foreigner who was not familiar with the local area, so where could he find a sponsor? Yuan Shuzhi suddenly seemed to have returned to the painful days when he stayed in a temple and had no way out.
Seeing that he had been in the drug market for seven or eight days and found nothing, he almost had no reason to stay any longer. Yuan Shuzhi planned to return to Boluo in a few days to meet with the investigation team before making a decision.
Unexpectedly, he was walking on the street with a disguise on this day when someone called him from behind.
"Mr. Accountant! Stay!"
Yuan Shuzhi followed the reputation, but he was a young man. He looked like he belonged to a certain store. He probably had some sporadic business done for him. He bowed slightly and asked, "Is your name so?"
"So-and-so, I just called you!" The young man spoke very impatiently, pointing at his disguise and said, "You said you know the Australian accounting method?"
"Yes, yes, someone has gone through a training class in Guangzhou and has a certificate of completion..." As soon as Yuan Shuzhi listened to the meaning of the words, he knew that the visitor intended to use his "professional knowledge", and he couldn't help but get excited and was about to start talking.
I was pretending to be a royal wife, but was ruthlessly interrupted by the other party.
"Okay, okay, since you know how, that's all. Just follow me!"
Yuan Shuzhi followed the young man as he walked along the street, but only a hundred meters away he saw a small shop on the side of the road. It was very inconspicuous, with a sign "Jubao Tang" hanging in front of the door.
This brand name is rare, Yuan Shuzhi thought to himself, it looks like an antique toy store! How can there be any drugstore with this name?
Although the name is weird and the store is smaller, the business in this drug market does not depend on the size of the store. Some big drug dealers don’t even have stores. They just set up a stall and do business under the guise. But the turnover they handle every year can be It amounted to tens of thousands of taels. Yuan Shuzhi also knew that there was a high probability that there was something going on in this store.
Sure enough, after passing through the shop and arriving at the back hall, it turned out to be a small courtyard. It was very quiet. It seemed like a different world from the noisy outside.
The young man took him into a wing room. When he pushed the door open, Yuan Shuzhi was surprised. The bookshelves inside were filled with account books.
"Sit here. My master will be here soon."
After a while, a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance arrived. He looked like a local businessman.
After entering the room, he exchanged a few words with Yuan Shuzhi. He introduced himself as Gao, the steward of our store, and asked:
"I wonder where you are sir? How did you get to this place?"
"A certain person is from Panyu County, Guangzhou Prefecture..." Yuan Shuzhi immediately told his fake resume, saying that he was unemployed in Guangzhou and was recommended to Huizhou. However, his acquaintances at the store were no longer there and he did not have a shop insurance. Dong refused to use him.
"... I have been in Panheng, Huizhou for many days, and am in a dilemma. I heard that there is a medicine market in Boluo, and thinking that I still have this skill, I want to try my luck. I can make some money before making plans."
"I see," the senior executive nodded, "I wonder if Mr. Shu is going to find a job here for a long time, or is he thinking of making some money and then returning to Huizhou or Guangzhou to find another career?"
"You're just joking, manager." Yuan Shuzhi said with a fake look on his face, "Shu is over fifty years old and has accomplished nothing. He has no family and no house in Guangzhou, so he is just wandering around looking for food. If there is a career here, there is room for improvement. , naturally we have to keep doing it.”
Hearing Yuan Shuzhi say that he "has no family", the senior manager's eyes lit up slightly and said: "It would be easy if Mr. is willing to find a long-term job. There is such a vacancy in the store now, but I don't know if Mr. has the ability. …”
Yuan Shuzhi hurriedly said: "The manager can give it a try!"
The senior executive nodded and said: "Of course you have to try out the trial life." After saying that, he stood up and took down a few account books from the shelf and brought them to the table. "You can make these journals into Australian books according to Australian rules." Account. Remember, I have to file a tax return with this account, and all entries must be completed. Don’t let my employer pay more.”
Yuan Shuzhi was startled and thought that he had met a lot of people during the days he came to the drug market. There were only a few people who knew about Australia's accounts. Those who said they knew about the relationship between accounts and tax returns were even rarer. This senior executive You actually know the trick inside.
He immediately patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, manager, I know the relationship between Australian accounts and tax returns best, and I will always do it properly for you!"
The senior executive smiled and said, "Okay, I trust you. Just keep the accounts here. I'll ask someone to bring tea and snacks later." He then asked, "How long will it take you to complete these accounts?"
Yuan Shuzhi opened the account book, glanced at it briefly, and said, "It will be fine in the evening."
"Okay, I'll come back at five o'clock in the afternoon. If it's suitable, you can stay in the store from now on. If it's not suitable, your hard work won't be in vain."