While other people were thinking about getting some prescriptions, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were preparing for the Lunar New Year at home. This was the first time that the two of them were celebrating the Lunar New Year outside. Huayuan County was not counted. After all, it was not far from Sanshui County and was very close to each other.
The customs of celebrating the Lunar New Year in the Tang Empire were a little different from place to place, but the differences were not too big. Some of the customs were slowly developed later. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan wanted to build a large stage for more than 30,000 people to celebrate the Lunar New Year together.
They could take this opportunity to make the local people support Zhang Zhong more. Then this money could only be paid by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. To be precise, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had to pay for it. It was not a small sum of money, and it also included some red packets that had to be given.
"Xiao Bao, where do you think we should arrange for the Lunar New Year together? Shouldn't it be in a place that is not far from each other? It just so happens that the people of the several counties can go there. It will take a few days to walk there. After all, it is not like when they worked together in the past, where they could just casually organize it.
Now there are many stalls, and there are people working in various places. We can't let them walk for half a month during the Lunar New Year. From the farthest place to the other side, it will take at least half a month to walk. Then it will not be a Lunar New Year, but a torture. It is a pity that there is no television now. Otherwise, no matter how far away they are, they can watch the program. "
Wang Juan followed beside Zhang Xiaobao. The two of them walked around in the courtyard, thinking about how to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Zhang Xiaobao was also thinking that it would be better if things were like in the past. Everyone worked in the same place, so he could just call them over and those people would come over. Now that he had a house, and everyone's situation was different, it would be impossible to continue learning the method of going up the mountain.
After walking a few more steps, Zhang Xiaobao stopped and said to Wang Juan, "Since we can't gather everyone together to celebrate the New Year, then we'll let everyone live their own lives. Every county should organize a New Year activity. Let's teach them some methods and let them find someone to learn the crosstalk or skit.
Let's think of some local songs and dances. The main thing is to have fun. Let's make some small games and let everyone participate. We'll also take care of firecrackers, dumplings, and new clothes. When the time comes, my father will stay here. You and I will go to one place, and your father will go to another place. Then, we'll find people from the Inner Yard to go to other places. "
Zhang Xiaobao actually wanted to celebrate the New Year with his family, but looking at the current situation, this idea could not be achieved. He could only disperse the people and let the people here feel the goodwill of the government.
After Wang Juan heard this, she shook her head, "I'm not going. I want to be with my family. Aren't there still so many people from the Inner Yard? Let them represent us. I will stay in Ulei County and celebrate the New Year with the people here. "
Zhang Xiaobao saw that Wang Juan did not agree, and he happened to have the same idea, so he agreed, "That's fine. But we will all be from the Inner Yard, so the effect will not achieve the original goal. After all, if we personally go somewhere, our identities will be different."
"How can it not be good? The commoners won't think so much. As long as we give them those clothes and things, they won't care who goes there. They can just send someone to represent the government. Since there's still time, let your father deliver these things one by one. You don't have to deliver everything to the commoners. When your father goes there and brings the things, the commoners will know what it means.
Now that those officials are honest, we don't have to worry about people being greedy when giving out things. When the time comes, give more things to the officials and they will be happy to do things well. "
In fact, Wang Juan had always been very unfamiliar with this place. This kind of unfamiliarity was mental. Even though she was able to arrange the people here very well, she always felt that they were not from the same place. If the family members left during the New Year, they would feel very lonely.
"That's it then. When the time comes, remember to organize the gifts properly. Don't send too many spiritual gifts. The main thing is to send things that can help in daily life. Let's go back and get a list. We'll see what we need."
Zhang Xiaobao followed and pulled Wang Juan into the house to write the list. Although there would be a lot of things to take out for the New Year this year, these things were worth it to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. When the time came, the people in the surrounding provinces would also know about this matter.
Perhaps some people would come. In that case, there would be more people in Lu Zhou. In this era where production tools were not so developed, people were the best productivity. When they left this place, the people here could provide a lot of money to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan every year.
This did not mean that the people would directly give them money. Instead, when the various chambers of commerce operated, the more people there were, the richer they would be, and the higher the output of the chambers of commerce would be.
While the two of them were busy preparing for the new year, the others were thinking about the new year as well. This was especially true for the places that were affected by the disaster. Although they had obtained the items from the imperial court, the difference in their speed of recovery was like heaven and earth compared to Lu Zhou.
The officials of these provinces were not fools. They knew that if they could win the hearts of the people during the New Year and let the people have a good New Year, it would be good for the future. They had learned about Zhang Zhong from their own channels. In the past, he would spend the New Year with the people, and the Zhang family would pay to buy some New Year goods for the people.
They thought that this was a good idea, but they did not have that much money. In the end, they thought of a solution at the same time, which was to let the local merchants pay for the New Year goods. After buying the New Year goods for the people, they could still keep a part of the money.
Those merchants did not know that the lords of the provinces had their eyes on them. They were still doing business with Lu Zhou. At the same time, they applied to join Lu Zhou's chambers of commerce. This required negotiation.
They wanted to join directly. They did not need to take any money, and they did not need to be strictly controlled by the chambers of commerce. In other words, these merchants from the other provinces wanted to reach some kind of unrestricted cooperation with Lu Zhou's chambers of commerce.
Zhang Xiaobao knew about this. Naturally, he did not want to do it. This was clearly a threat made by the chambers of commerce because they could control the trade activities around Lu Zhou. In the beginning, they meant that if they cooperated, Lu Zhou would have to give them a part of the goods shipped from Lu Zhou at a lower price.
At the same time, Lu Zhou's chambers of commerce would not casually trade with them. If they wanted to trade, they would have to go through them first. If they did not agree, they would block Lu Zhou's trade to various places so that Lu Zhou's goods could not be sold.
This blockade was not only to block the roads, but they did not dare to do so. They were targeting Lu Zhou. They would join forces and not sell or buy anything from Lu Zhou. They felt that they had the ability to do so. As long as they joined forces, it would be difficult for Lu Zhou to do business with them.
For example, if they had good goods to buy, they could raise the price of such goods first. After all, they were in an alliance, and they would not lose money. Even if the people wanted to sell their goods to Lu Zhou, they would have to consider if they still wanted to buy from these merchants in the future.
Their plan was not bad. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were also willing to cooperate, but they definitely did not want to cooperate under such circumstances. The two of them proposed a new idea. The merchants outside were willing to join the chamber of commerce, but the price of the goods had to be fixed according to the price set by the chamber of commerce.
They were not allowed to raise or lower the price at will. If there was anything they needed, they could apply to the chamber of commerce separately. They could not decide on their own before applying.
Another point was that these merchants would have to pay two sets of money to join. One was the entrance fee, which was fixed and collected according to the scale of each merchant. The more they paid, the higher the proportion of the goods they received from other places. The lowest fee would be 100 strings of coins. If the fee was less than 100 strings of coins, it meant that the scale was not good enough, and the Zhang family would not cooperate.
The 100 strings of coins or more could not be taken back. Only the Zhang family's chamber of commerce would get it. The other sum of money was a deposit. In order to prevent some people from disobeying the rules and secretly selling goods or raising or lowering the price, they would need to pay a deposit. If they did not abide by the rules, the deposit would not be returned.
Similarly, they would collect according to the scale of each merchant. In addition to this, they would also ask the merchants outside to make an additional guarantee. In terms of sales, it was impossible to give them as many goods as they wanted. What if they could not sell them? What if they deliberately took all the goods and held back the goods? In the end, it would affect Lu Zhou's chamber of commerce.
The benefits given by the Zhang family's chamber of commerce was to help them advertise, including their local advertising. This money would be paid by the chamber of commerce. Of course, if they wanted to increase sales, they could advertise themselves. If they sold more goods or bought more goods that the chamber of commerce needed, there would be additional rewards.
The merchants had to admit that this method was very good to control the people who joined. However, they just did not want to be restricted like this. Therefore, they were still negotiating with Lu Zhou's chamber of commerce.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had also thought of a way to deal with this matter. That was, they would attack them one by one. As long as there was a compromise, it would be a good way. This method was very useful. They would find some merchants who were not very strong and let them get the benefits first. After that, they would tear open the gap and the other merchants would have no choice but to compromise.
Naturally, they would not get the same benefits as the previous merchants. When Zhang Xiaobao was about to make a move, he was stopped by Wang Juan. Wang Juan felt that they should wait a little longer. If they used such a method now, those merchants would turn against each other. If there was a vicious competition between them, not only would they cause losses to themselves, but even the local economy would be affected.
Of course, this vicious competition would benefit the people and the various chambers of commerce of the Zhang family. However, it would have a negative effect on the development of the entire region in the future.
Only then did Zhang Xiaobao stop. Otherwise, with his methods, he would be able to gain a lot of benefits after stirring up trouble here.
However, at this moment, the surrounding officials of the provincial capitals stepped in. They wanted to learn from Zhang Zhong and win the hearts of the people, but they did not have that much money. Therefore, they reached out to these local merchants.
The local merchants had just recovered recently. They relied on the goods shipped by Lu Zhou. They did not buy the goods and sell them locally. Instead, they sold them to the nearby provinces that were not affected by the disaster. That way, they could earn some money. After all, Lu Zhou sold them the goods at a high price.
Fortunately, Lu Zhou did not go to the extremes. Otherwise, after selling the goods to them, he would sell the remaining goods to them at a lower price. They would not be able to bear the same price as they would have to pay for the transportation fee. After all, they would not be able to bear the cost of selling the goods at the same price.
When the local area was affected by the disaster, their business was greatly affected. Now that they had earned some money with great difficulty and survived the crisis, they were invited by the officials to have a meal.
The provincial capital of Lianzhou City, the provincial governor of Lianzhou City, personally came to accompany these merchants. If it was during normal times or when there was no disaster, these merchants would be very happy when the officials came to look for them. They would even be willing to give the officials some money. At that time, there might be benefits waiting for them.
However, the local area was still recovering. What benefits could there be? It was almost the new year. When the merchants heard about this and received the invitation, they were scared. They guessed that it was not a good thing. Otherwise, why would the provincial governor of a province send them an invitation?
It wasn't a big deal for some of the more powerful people to receive the invitation. The invitation looked pretty good, so the cost of making it wouldn't be low. The problem was that some of the small businessmen who usually did business also received the invitation. What was the meaning of this?
Small merchants could not afford to work with the officials. If that was the case, why did they also invite them? The merchants did not understand, but they did not dare to not go. They could only instruct their families and go personally.
When they arrived, this should be the entrance of the most expensive restaurant. Unexpectedly, Governor Fang personally stood there to welcome them. Such generous treatment made the merchants even more worried.
As the merchants entered one by one, Governor Fang counted all of them. After confirming that all of them were present, he also followed them upstairs. In order to make it more convenient for them to stay together, more than 100 merchants were arranged in adjacent rooms. Those with screens would be removed. Those with walls would have to be removed. Those with walls would also have to be removed.
The place suddenly became big. More than a hundred merchants sat there anxiously, waiting for Governor Fang's arrangement. They had already thought about it. If Governor Fang asked for money, they would take less and give it to him directly. They would let Governor Fang have a good new year.
"Everyone, this official is fortunate to have gathered with all of you today. Alas, this is really rare. It seems that this is the first time since this official took office. It doesn't matter. We will gather more in the future. After all, there is always a first time. Regardless of whether you are from far or near, you have already given this official face by coming here. Let me propose a toast to all of you first."
Seeing that everyone was here, Governor Fang put down his arrogance as he picked up his glass and started to say something. Hearing his words, all the others followed him and said that they should toast to Governor Fang. Soon after that, they all drank up their glasses of wine.
Everyone continued to wait for Governor Fang's next words. They did not believe that Governor Fang, who was usually very difficult to meet, would not have any request for them at this time.
"Everyone, the flood a few months ago really made the local people suffer a lot. I think all of you have a deep understanding of it. People are the root. Without those people, you will not be able to do business well. Am I right?"
Governor Fang didn't wait for the others to eat before he stood up with a cup of wine. Seeing the others nod, he continued, "Here, I want to thank you all. It is because you put in so much effort to buy and sell things from the outside, and it is also because you sold local things that this place gradually recovered. At this time, I would like to propose a toast to you all. Without you, there would be no prosperity in Lianzhou."
After saying this, Governor Fang drained his cup. Of course, the other merchants did not dare to not drink. Hearing Governor Fang's praise, they became more scared. If an official could say such words, what price would they have to pay?
After Governor Fang finished drinking, he sat down again and prepared to eat some dishes. A clever merchant immediately stood up and said to Governor Fang, "Lord Fang, in fact, Lianzhou Province could survive because of Lord Fang's contribution. Without Lord Fang's arrangement, how could those people know what to do? How could we, who do small business, earn money?
I don't know about the money I've earned these days, but I've managed to recoup my losses. This is all thanks to you, Milord. In a few months, when I've earned more, I'll definitely repay you, Milord. "
What he meant was that he didn't have any money now. He had just earned a capital, so if he wanted money, he should wait for another two months. The other merchants also followed suit. They mainly praised Governor Fang and mentioned that they didn't have any money.
Since Governor Fang could sit in this position, how could he not know what these merchants were thinking? When he saw someone taking the lead to complain about being poor, he looked at that person and did not say anything. He looked at that person until he was sweating. Then, he said with a smile.
"Boss Zhang, right? I've heard that you're dealing in grain. You've gotten a lot of good grains from Lu Zhou and sold them to other places. You've bought some poor grains for the local people. You've done a good job. Otherwise, the people might have starved to death. You've made a great contribution. I must reward you well.
Well, good. Who said that merchants do not care about the lives of the people? "I don't think so. At the very least, Boss Zhang is able to think of the common people in times of disaster. How rare. The common people will definitely remember you. There are a few others who are the same. I will write a notice in a while to let the common people know who is helping them behind the scenes.
Don't worry, this official knows that your family can be considered big. This official won't take your money. That's right, I won't use this money to seek benefits for myself. Although this official's family isn't very rich, we can still take out a hundred strings of coins. Today, this official has brought a hundred strings of coins.
It's not for you. I want to use this money for the people to celebrate the New Year. It has been a year and there is a disaster. The people have not had it easy. Don't you think so? Now, it will be difficult to count on the people to celebrate the New Year with their own abilities. Therefore, I thought about it. Do you want to know what I am thinking? "
Governor Fang stopped talking. He asked someone to bring the 100 strings of coins over and put it aside. Then, he looked at the merchants and asked.
"What are you thinking about, my lord? Do you want us, who do small business, to help transport some goods? My lord, don't worry. Even if the goods are not available locally, as long as the people need them, we will help you buy them. As for the price, it can't be too expensive. If it really can't be done, we will charge you. "
At this time, Zhang Dongjia had no choice but to speak up. After all, he was the one who spoke just now. When he saw Governor Fang looking at him again, he immediately spoke up.
"That's not true, that's not true. You're only thinking of one aspect. Indeed, this time, we need you to transport things over, especially some goods that are not available locally. You have to help transport them. This official thinks that since you can help the people get through this, you will definitely be able to let the people have a good year.
I know that 100 strings of coins is actually not a small amount. However, if this money is used to celebrate the New Year, it is far from enough. You know Lu Zhou's Provincial Governor Zhang, right? Many merchants on his side have banded together and are willing to fork out money to buy New Year goods for the people.
I was worried about this matter, but now I don't have to worry about it anymore because I found that all of you here are more benevolent than the merchants on Lu Zhou's side. Now that they are willing to band together to fork out money, I think you will do better than them. This is the will of the people. You are all good people and should be loved and respected by the people.
That's all. I know that you have been looking for opportunities to do more things for the people, but you haven't found any. It's all thanks to Lu Zhou. Otherwise, I wouldn't have thought of such a good way to fulfill your wish of doing good things for the people and at the same time, help the people have a good New Year.
Come, let's have another toast for this New Year. Let's make the people happy and let everyone and me rest assured. Drink, after drinking this cup of wine, you can tell how much money you are willing to fork out. Look at me, a person who doesn't do business, I can only fork out 100 strings of coins. I am ashamed, ashamed. "
As soon as he finished speaking, Provincial Governor Fang drank the wine. The other merchants were dumbfounded. They hadn't said anything yet, so why did they have to fork out money? No wonder Sir said that he didn't want money. They thought that he really didn't need to fork out money this time. Now, they understood that it was not that they didn't need to fork out money, but they had to fork out more. At least 100 strings of coins. If they were to fork out less, they would not be able to compete with Sir who didn't have money.
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