Hou Fangyu, who was born in Jiangnan, has of course been to the docks, and he has basically been to Quanzhou, the largest docks in Jiangnan.
But it was really the first time for him to see such a bustling scene like this. There were not only many Chinese people in this place, but also many foreigners with different looks.
The ships in front of us are also very large.
The huge port is almost completely filled with ships, and countless porters on the dock are busy moving goods.
There is a huge waterwheel and winch next to it, which is struggling to pull the huge cargo.
The scene in front of him made Hou Fangyu breathtaking.
It’s really a shocking scene!
There was emotion in Hou Fangyu's eyes.
"Sir, the dock has arrived!"
A boatman next to him came over and said to Hou Fangyu.
"kindness!"
Hou Fangyu nodded, and under the guidance of the boatman next to him, he slowly walked to the gangway.
Follow the gangway and get off the ship in front of you.
After getting off the boat, Hou Fangyu looked at the dock nearby.
After pondering for a moment, he turned around and walked towards Dengzhou.
"My guest, this is your first time coming to our Dengzhou capital! Do you want to take a ride in our carriage?"
As soon as Hou Fangyu walked out of the pier, several carriage drivers rushed to greet him, making Hou Fangyu slightly stunned. The few people who came down with Hou Fangyu next to him were obviously very familiar with the doorways in front of them.
After a little negotiation on the price, everyone got on the carriage, leaving only the carriage driver and Hou Fangyu.
Hou Fangyu glanced at the carriage driver, pondered for a moment and asked: "Can your carriage take me to Qingzhou?"
"Of course! If you go to Qingzhou Prefecture, if you carpool, you have to pay three coins. If you don't carpool, you need to pay one or two coins!"
The coachman had a smile on his face and said to Hou Fangyu in front of him.
“So expensive???”
There was a hint of surprise in Hou Fangyu's eyes.
One tael of silver!
Although money is not very valuable nowadays, the price is still a bit too expensive for one tael of silver to go to a place!
Although he was born into a wealthy family and has basically never experienced any suffering in the world, he still understands the value of money!
"This car is not an ordinary car. Once you get on it, you will know that it must be worth the money! It suits your status!"
The coachman in front of him quickly said to Hou Fangyu in front of him.
“Then what does carpooling mean??”
Hou Fangyu pondered for a moment, and looked at the coachman in front of him with confusion in his eyes. At this time, the coachman smiled slightly. He looked at Hou Fangyu in front of him and said with a smile: "Sir, please wait here with me. , see if anyone can go back to Qingzhou with you. The carriage can accommodate a total of four people without cargo!
In that case, I will charge each of you three denarii, and if there are three people, it will be the same!"
After hearing the coachman's words, Hou Fangyu's eyes showed a hint of surprise.
"No carpool! I'm alone!"
Hou Fangyu smiled and said to the coachman in front of him.
After all, Hou Fangyu was from a famous family. Although some of his family fortunes had declined since his father was imprisoned, his family still had plenty of money!
"Okay!"
When the carriage driver heard Hou Fangyu's words, he suddenly showed an excited look on his face. He liked such generous guests the most. He didn't need to wait, he just took out a tael of silver!
Hou Fangyu got on the carriage.
The coachman drove the carriage and quickly left the port.
Feeling the extremely smooth carriage, Hou Fangyu was a little curious.
He often rides in carriages, but carriages that are as comfortable as now and rarely bumpy are rarely seen in the Jiangnan area!
“Why is this carriage not bumpy at all??”
Hou Fangyu asked the coachman curiously.
"Haha! Our carriages here in Shandong are all equipped with something called... yes, yes, a shock absorber! This thing has a very good shock absorption effect!"
"Shock absorber??"
Hou Fangyu was startled, with a curious look in his eyes.
"That's right! This thing was designed by Professor Song Yingxing Song from Huangming Zhicheng University! It's very useful! But the price is a bit expensive!
Otherwise, if you take a normal carriage to Qingzhou, it will cost you one tael of silver!"
The coachman was also an honest man. He said to Hou Fangyu with a smile on his face.
"An ordinary carriage going to Qingzhou only costs one or two hundred coins! But this new carriage is very expensive! We also bought it with money borrowed from Huangming Bank! We pay it back every month
I have to repay the loan of twenty taels of silver!"
After saying peace, a trace of emotion flashed in the coachman's eyes.
"loan??"
A dazed look flashed in Hou Fangyu's eyes.
"Lending??? How dare you borrow this!"
Soon, Hou Fangyu realized that in fact, many landlords were doing this kind of thing, and the pawnshops were basically doing it too, and the interest rates were extremely high.
In fact, many ordinary people are not very good at calculating interest, and they are eventually ruined by landlords and pawnshops!
At this time, the carriage driver said to Hou Fangyu: "Why don't you dare to borrow?? This Huangming Bank is the property of His Highness the Prince, and His Highness the Prince made it very clear.
All interest rates are only 7% a year, and this interest is calculated uniformly and will not overlap. The staff said that if there is any natural disaster or man-made disaster, they can even take back my car to offset the debt.
Then you don’t have to pay back the interest, but if you want to really apply for this, you have to let people from Jinyiwei investigate! Anyway, I don’t need this. To buy this carriage, I borrowed a total of 210 taels of silver.
At present, I choose to repay 21 taels of silver a month. If my business is not good, I can even apply to postpone the repayment for one month, but it will only charge one more month of interest!"
After hearing the words of the carriage driver in front of him, Hou Fangyu's eyes were slightly complicated.
He could hear that the coachman's voice was filled with longing and longing for the future.
The coachman was actually a gesture of gratitude for the loan!
This made Hou Fangyu a little confused about how to describe it!
He had never seen farmers who had gone bankrupt and sold their sons and daughters because of loans. When those people heard about loans, they almost hated them.
Why is there such a difference?
He wished he could ask His Highness the Crown Prince now.
After pondering for a moment, Hou Fangyu turned to the coachman in front of him curiously and asked slowly, "By the way, what do you think of His Highness?"