Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 3 Si Gu Fu Haichao (this chapter is free)

Zhao Xingde hurriedly laughed and said: "You two are serious. There are few gentlemen in the world, but there are many villains. The turmoil and hustle and bustle are all for profit. The master said, a gentleman is a metaphor for righteousness, and a villain is a metaphor for profit. If a gentleman does not talk about profit, Then why drive the villain away?"

He Fang frowned slightly, feeling that Zhao Xingde's words were close to what Han Fei and Yang Zhuxie said, and was about to think about the sage's refutation, but Zhao Xingde saw that the door curtain was parted, and shopkeeper Hua walked into the shop slowly sideways, At the door, I stomped the ice and muddy water on the soles of my feet, rubbing my hands and ears.Zhao Xingde couldn't help smiling, after getting acquainted with the shopkeeper, he knew that he was from Jinling in the south, and was sent by the proprietor to work here in Bianliang, but he was not used to the cold weather in Bianliang in winter, even the cotton robe on his body They are much thicker than others, but this person is naturally reluctant to spend money, and he does not hire a sedan chair, and he walks in and out of the cold wind in the morning and evening.

Shopkeeper Hua looked up and looked around while taking care of it, and saw that the tables in the lobby of the store were about [-] to [-]% full, with a smile on his face, seeing Zhao Xingde sitting in the middle and nodding to him, the original The two-point smile rose to seven points, and the two exchanged a tacit look. The shopkeeper Hua explained a few words to the gentleman who was watching the counter, and then walked into the account room.

Zhao Xingde also complained to Chen Dong and others, and was about to stand up, but was pulled by Zhang Bing beside him.

"Yuanzhi, if you are short of money, don't borrow money from that merchant once you say something. The most important thing for scholar-bureaucrats, if you spread the word, I'm afraid it will not be good for you to get an official." Zhang Bing knew that Zhao Xingde's family was in trouble, and he was often in short supply. If you want to borrow money from the shopkeeper, the Zhang family is an official who lives in Bianliang for a long time, with a lot of savings, and Zhang Bing is an old-fashioned and warm-hearted person, so he is willing to help.

Zhao Xingde was pulled by him, bowed his hands gratefully, and said with a smile: "Brother Zhang has a heart," he said in a low voice with an embarrassing look on his face, "To tell you the truth, I am in Bianliang. There is a family brother who is addicted to gambling and owes a lot of money. I just approached this shopkeeper to save him money, not to borrow money." Zhang Bing's face showed a sudden 'color', "Oh" With a sound, he let go of Zhao Xingde's arm just now.There is a saying that the rivers and lakes save the emergency but not the poor, especially if you are involved in a bottomless pit like a gambler, you cannot borrow a penny.

"Brother Zhang, why do you care about him? Come and have a drink." Seeing that Zhao Xingde declined Zhang Bing's kindness, Wu Zilong raised his glass and said with a hint of meaning, "I think Yuan Zhi is fine with everything else, but if there is nothing on him A trace of arrogance makes people uncomfortable."

Zhao Xingde's father, Zhao Tixin, was listed on the stele of the Yuanyou party as the first servant of Zhao Tixin. At that time, the prime minister Cai Jing was highly valued by the officials, and when he was in power in the court, he made the old minister Sima Guang a total of three hundred and nine All the people were slandered as cronies, and the party members not only demoted their officials and exiled them, but also engraved their so-called crimes on a stele, which was erected outside the Duanli Gate, called the party member stele.Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, he has prided himself on being a scholar-bureaucrat, and he has never sinned because of his words. Once this case was opened, the world was full of controversy.The party members that Cai Jing repelled spread all over the government and the public, and they almost had grievances in the world.Most of the people listed on the party tablet are upright people with official reputations, and scholar-bureaucrats are all proud to be listed as party members.Although Zhao Tixin's husband and wife died of illness in exile, and the Zhao family's family was in decline, for Zhao Xingde's background as a member of the Yuanyou party, many supervisors who claimed to be Qingliu were still secretly envious and jealous.

"It's not arrogance, it's arrogance." Zhang Bingruo pointedly corrected Wu Zilong's speech error, and watched Zhao Xingde disappear into the accounting room.

Shopkeeper Hua smiled all over his face, rubbed his hands and said to Zhao Xingde: "I'm looking forward to you. If you don't continue the manuscript, after three days, our 'Fuhai Chaowen' will be discontinued."

After Zhao Xingde's storybook "Xianyuan Xingkong" was serialized on the back of Fuhai Commercial Bank's tabloid, the sales of the tabloid increased by [-]%. The shopkeeper of this flower was also praised by the shopkeeper Kangda of Fuhai Xingliang. After that, he asked Zhao Xingde to write another article about fairy tales. Zhao Xingde asked to hide his identity as an eunuch proctor, and only used the pseudonym "Bald Biweng", which saved shopkeeper Hua a lot of opportunities for hype.

In this day and age, writing huaben melodies is a low quality after all, it can only be used for a short-term emergency, but it must never be used to make a name for yourself.Among the Taixue classmates who knew that Zhao Xingde was writing a story-telling novel, only Chen Dong was the one who would break the matter by chance.Zhao Xingde didn't want to end up "writing lyrics according to the order" like Liu Sanbian in history.But it's strange to say that because the Liu family in this world followed the Southern Tang Li Yu who was supposed to be poisoned by Zhao Guangyi a hundred years ago, he voted for Xia Guo, who occupied Guanzhong, and the Liu family became a famous family in Xia Guo for generations.

After handing over the manuscript to shopkeeper Hua, Zhao Xingde took twenty silver coins with round square holes. The year and place where the silver dollar was minted.This is the silver coin of the Xia Kingdom that runs unimpeded through the east-west trade roads, because it contains silver, has a good color, is heavy, and is exquisitely cast, so it is very popular everywhere.The court of the Song Dynasty strictly prohibited the outflow of metals such as gold, silver, copper, iron, etc., but did not prohibit the inflow of metal products. The silver dollar of the Xia Dynasty was easier to carry than the cumbersome copper coins, and it was also very popular among merchants in the Central Plains.In fact, Fu Hai Xing could also pay registered drafts, which were easier to carry and carry, but Zhao Xingde, who was frightened by the financial turmoil and inflation in later generations, flatly refused.At this time, 16 taels is a catty, and twenty silver dollars is more than a catty. There is a heavy sense of prosperity in my bosom. If one tael is a consistent amount of money, twenty silver dollars is the food and clothing of the poor for more than half a year. The annual expenditure of the soldiers of the generous imperial army is only fifty pennies.

Shopkeeper Hua and Zhao Xingde cleared the money and goods, both of them looked happy, Xingde was about to leave, shopkeeper Hua laughed again: "There is one more thing to congratulate Yuanzhi, Fuhaixing's bookstore in Chang'an plans to "Xian Yuan Xing Kong" and "Xue Yin Xian Zong Lu" two story books were published and sold. According to Xia Guo's publishing law, [-]% of the book price was handed over to the government as royalties, and the book number and printing number were obtained. The royalties were paid by The government and the author will split the profit in half, and when the book is printed, distributed, paid and marketed, you will get the money again."

Zhao Xingde was taken aback for a moment. He knew that according to Xia Guo’s system, the author’s consent was not required for book publishing, but the author could register with the government a royalty amount ranging from zero to [-]% of the book price. For foreign authors, the Xia Guo government directly set [-]% of the royalties were paid out, because the Xia State enforced literacy for the common people, and vigorously developed the printing technique of copper movable type plates, which greatly reduced the threshold for literacy and the cost of printing.After this wealthy family became literate, there were quite a few people who liked writing for entertainment.Therefore, in the land of Guanzhong and Longyou, the publishing business is also extremely prosperous, and many "sao" scholars in the Song Dynasty have benefited a lot from it, and they don't want to benefit themselves.

If he got a windfall for nothing, Zhao Xingde clasped his hands and said with a smile: "Then I will have to worry about it." Shopkeeper Hua waved his hand and said with a smile: "Everyone gets rich, you don't have to be polite."

Stepping out of the account room with a heavy silver dollar in his arms, Zhao Xingde returned to the student's seat.After a while, several classmates and friends began to talk loudly about current affairs again.

If Tai students and others are future officials of the empire, it is their duty to discuss current affairs.As the saying goes, scholars, farmers, businessmen, and businessmen have their own positions, and grassroots people have to take risks when discussing current affairs. Therefore, the merchants and other idlers at the table next to them just eat their own food and do not mix with these young scholars in the Imperial Academy. Together.

"There is nothing more harmful to the country than firecrackers! Flower stones!" Surrounded by seven or eight acquainted classmates, Chen Dong shouted impassionedly, "Flower stones were collected in the south of the Five Ridges, and thousands of peasants went deep into the wilderness, digging through valleys, The sun is not seen all year round, and the strength of the people in the South of the Five Ridges is exhausted when the stones come out. The land in the South of the Five Ridges is close to each other. The people in the south of the Five Ridges are originally sturdy, and the people's upheavals occur frequently. , After years of hard work, the stone is completed and the people in the south of the Yangtze River are exhausted. When flowers and stones are used in Bianliang, there is something good at the top, and the bottom must be worse. The rich and wealthy businessmen are vying to follow suit. For this good thing, the hungry can’t eat it. , the cold is unclothable, and the wealth of the world is exhausted!"