Early in the morning, the back door of Shenyang Wang Kai Wong Yuanwai's private residence was slightly opened. A round-faced man wearing a skullcap and a moustache stuck his head out of the doorway and looked around.
The alley outside the back door was deserted, only mottled walls and grass in the corners could be seen. The round head squeezed out of the door, revealing the body of a fat man. He carefully followed the corner of the wall and walked out of the alley. Before he reached the mouth of the alley, he heard someone talking outside.
"We must see this Wong Yuanwai today. No matter what, we must get back the money we invested in 'Money Making Treasure'."
"Get it back? I think it's difficult. Ever since I heard that there was a war in Fushun, my heart has been pounding. I took a look at the 'Money Making Treasure' prospectus and guess what I saw? There were many small words written in the densely packed clauses, including 'In the event of war or other unavoidable circumstances, this financial product will not guarantee compensation'. Don't you think this is clearly a scam? "
"That's right, that's right. This Zhou kid is too unscrupulous. My master has already sent the money to the Liaodong Inspector-General Lord Li. No matter what, we have to get the money back. "
"It's no use complaining to Lord Li. Sir Li Weihan originally wanted to buy dry shares, but Zhou Qingfeng refused to do so. Lord Li was so angry that he sent people to find Zhou Qingfeng's superior, Shangguan Li Yongfang, but it didn't work. In the end, he coveted the profits and invested 20,000 taels in 'Money Making Treasure'. Now the Inspector-General is also anxious and has sent his own camp to Fushun to ask for money. "
"Sigh … it's no use going to the camp. Haven't you heard? That Zhou Qingfeng is amazing. At such a young age, his cultivation is already the best in the world. The leader of the camp was originally dissatisfied before he went to Fushun, but after he went there, he was as obedient as a cat. I heard that he was beaten and couldn't win at all. "
"I've also heard of this strange thing. Now the entire Liaodong officialdom is saying that this small Fushun Baihu is too domineering. Even a few officials can't do anything about him. Now that Fushun is at war, we have no choice but to look for Wong Yuanwai. If we can't get the money back, we'll eat that black-hearted Mr. Wang Kai. "
Fatty, who came out from the back door, heard the discussion and cursed in his heart. However, he could not continue forward and could only turn around. But as soon as he turned around, the person at the entrance of the alley looked at his back and immediately shouted, "Aiyo, Wong Yuanwai has come out. Quick, catch him, don't let him escape. "
"Fatty Wang, what do you mean? Do you think we won't recognize you just because you wear a hat and a moustache? "The alley was narrow, but a dozen or so people rushed in from the outside. Fatty couldn't run and was caught up in a short while. He could only wave his hands and shout, "Everyone, everyone, please wait."
"Wang Kai, return the money."
"You black-hearted fatty, if it weren't for your encouragement, why would we invest money? You must be in cahoots with that Zhou Qingfeng. "
"If you don't return the money, we'll take you to the officials. If we don't get the money today, we won't give up. "
The people surrounding him kept shouting and cursing. The fatty who was surrounded was Wang Kai, who had once supported the 'money-making treasure'. He looked at the angry crowd around him and knew that he could not show weakness, so he shouted, "Enough, enough! Do you still want the money? If you want the money, shut up. "
Those who owed money were more unreasonable than those who wanted it. The group of people who wanted money really quieted down and stared at Wang Kai. Wang Kai caught his breath and tidied up his clothes, which were wrinkled from being pushed. He was annoyed, but there was nothing he could do. He waved his hand and shouted, "If you want the money, come to my house. Everything can be discussed."
Fatty Wang had just come out from the back door, and now he led a large group of people back home. Several servants in the house also knew that their master had been in trouble recently. The scene in front of them made them all panic, and they did not know what to do.
Back in the hall of the private house, Wang Kai shouted, "Everyone, I also invested money in the 'money-making treasure' like you. When you were greedy for profits, you all begged to invest. Now that you feel that there is a risk, you all want to withdraw your money. Why do you want to withdraw your money from me? As long as you can bear the 5% handling fee, you can naturally go to Fu Shun to get your capital back. "
The crowd began to shout and curse again. They just wanted to make profits, not to lose money. They couldn't lose even a copper coin. But Wang Kai shouted again, "All of you shut up. If you want to sue the officials to arrest me, go ahead. I want to be in prison for a few days. I'll be straightforward. There is no way to get the money back from me, but I have a business here.
Cloth and grain are two items with a 50% premium and can be traded in cash. This is also a money-making treasure. If you want to do it, then do it. If you don't want to do it, then get lost. Don't think that I am afraid of you. Now that war is about to break out, I am the only one who is willing to trade in cash.
I also want to remind you that we all know how bad our Liaodong border is. I'm afraid Fu Shun can't be defended. Don't count on hoarding and waiting for a good price. When the time comes, the imperial court will issue a military order to buy the goods in your hands at a fair price. You can cry. I've already said this, so it's useless to stay here. Think about it yourselves. "
As soon as his voice fell, how could those who came to ask for money leave? The hall continued to be noisy. Wang Kai could not leave, so he could only stay to accompany them. He was ordered by Zhou Qingfeng to come to Shenyang to purchase supplies. After he arrived, he did not have a good time.
Liaodong's inspector-general and commander-in-chief also summoned Wang Kai for questioning. All kinds of threats and promises were useless. Zhou Qingfeng had firmly taken control of Fu Shun in the name of military control. With a formidable enemy in front of them, no one's face was useful. A group of high-ranking officials were afraid to shoot at the rat for fear of breaking the vases, so they did not dare to do anything to him. In the end, they could only release Wang Kai.
After arguing for a long time, someone finally had no choice but to cry and beg, "Wong Yuanwai, this old man has invested 5,000 taels in this money-making treasure. This is my family's savings for decades. If I lose this money, I can only hang myself. But is it true that you just said you will receive the goods with a 50% premium? "
Wang Kai casually took out a booklet from his pocket. After spreading it out, he said, "As long as the various goods in this catalog are shipped to Shenyang, I will quickly send someone to Fu Shun and have Zhou Baihu go downstream to pay for all of you. One hand of money, one hand of goods, honest to all.
"I won't hide it from you. Lord Li has already sold 20,000 dans of grain to us. The price I gave was 4 taels and 5 qian per dans, which is 90,000 taels. Lord Li has only invested 20,000 taels in the money-making treasure, and he has already earned back his capital. If you don't do business with me now, when the money in the money-making treasure is spent, you can cry. "
The Hun River passed through Fu Shun and also flowed through Shenyang. Anyway, it had to be transported downstream, so it was the same to board a boat in Shenyang. As soon as Wang Kai said this, everyone in the hall was suddenly shocked. No wonder this black-hearted profiteer could sit here calmly. It turned out that he had already fed the inspector-general of Liaodong. With the greed and black-hearted of the officialdom, it was true that they would rather die than die. No one cared about the life and death of others.
Now that the situation had reversed, the idea of doing business to make a fortune began to rise. The people in the hall originally unanimously condemned Wang Kai, but Wang Kai provoked their anxiety. The side with more people influenced each other and became irrational. More and more people were willing to do business to make back their capital.
Seeing that the situation was not right, many stubborn creditors who lacked cloth and grain immediately beat their chests and stamped their feet. They also wanted to sell their goods at a premium price, at least to reduce some losses. However, when it came to non-cloth grains, Wang Kai had a different attitude.
"What do you have? Farmland and real estate? No, no, no, no, in the chaos of war, who wants this thing that can't be taken away? I have thousands of mu of land in Fu Shun. One tael per mu, do you want it? "
Usually, one mu of land cost at least a dozen taels, but when Wang Kai offered one tael per mu, there were really greedy people who wanted to take advantage of it and buy it. After all, Daming's officials had not yet tasted the power of Nurhachi. Although some people felt that the border trouble was serious, it would be settled in at most half a year or a year. Now was a good time to buy at a low price.
Wang Kai took out the land deeds on the spot, and even sold the real estate in Fu Shun at a discount. He not only sold his own, but also those of Li Yongfang and other Fu Shun officials. He didn't want money, he wanted to exchange the land for goods. In a short time, this ultra-low price industry was in short supply. It had to be coordinated by the proportion of investment in the 'money-making treasure,' so that those who invested more could take advantage.
Seeing all kinds of real estate in Fu Shun being crazily bought, Wang Kai couldn't help but sigh. If he hadn't followed Zhou Qingfeng and clearly knew that the war in Liaodong would be out of control, he would definitely have been one of the buyers. Now he was responsible for collecting money and goods — it was really important to follow the right boss, otherwise, no matter how perfect the calculation was, it would all be lost.
In addition to cloth and grain being bought at a premium, other goods were bought at a discount. For example, employees.
Every time there was a war, a large number of refugees would be created, and the price of population would become very cheap. Displaced people would sell themselves for a mouthful of food. Wang Kai bought technicians, women, and children for Zhou Qingfeng. At present, he mainly bought skilled workers.
There were many workshops in Shenyang and Liaoyang, and many of them were craftsmen controlled by the government. These people had no personal freedom, their living conditions were extremely bad, and their work attitude was even more perfunctory. But Zhou Qingfeng still decided to buy a batch of them at a low price. This only needed to strengthen management, and it was slightly less troublesome than training them himself.
In addition, Wang Kai bought a lot of things, from needles and thread to rice, oil, salt, pots, bowls, ladles, and all daily necessities. Carriages, horses, cows, sheep, knives, axes, spears, transportation tools, and weapons were also needed. In any case, he desperately spent money, not wanting to leave a single copper coin.
These goods were either transported by water or by land, in short, they had to be transported to Yingkou, which was hundreds of miles away. After waiting for a group of creditors in the hall to be sent away with great difficulty, Wang Kai found that outside, the sun was already setting. Thinking about how he originally wanted to sneak out early in the morning, he now felt that his stomach was rumbling and he was starving to death.
"Where is everyone? Where the hell did they all go? " Wang Kai sat in the hall and loudly scolded, "Master, I'm starving to death, quickly go and cook a bowl of noodles for me."
The entire private residence was quiet. After shouting for a long time, a manservant came in and said, "Master, didn't you arrange for your family to leave along the river to go to some Yingkou?"
"There's no one left at home?" Wang Kai asked curiously.
The manservant laughed bitterly, "There are only people like me who live in Shenyang and refuse to leave. The servants and children you bought have all left. If you're hungry, I'll go to the streets and buy you a few steamed pancakes? "
Steamed pancakes? I haven't eaten that stuff for many years.
But right now, even the cooks at home have probably left, and there's no one to cook. Wang Kai could only nod, took out a few taels of silver from his pocket and handed it over, "Buy some more, I'm sure you're hungry, eat with me."
"Thank you, Master." The manservant quickly left and quickly returned. The master and servant relied on a few steamed pancakes and two bowls of noodle soup to fill their stomachs. After eating and drinking to their heart's content, Wang Kai sighed and said to the manservant, "I know that you Shenyang locals don't want to go with them. But I, your master, am kind enough to remind you to buy more rice and grain and quickly go to the countryside to seek shelter with your relatives. "
The manservant quickly laughed and asked, "Master, you must be joking with me. Is it not enough that Nurhachi attacked Fushun, and dared to attack Shenyang?"
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