Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 585 Zhuge
"In the past, there was a poem that said, 'This fragrance is from a foreign land, and the color is better than that of an immortal. Drinking tea temporarily adjusts Qi, and Wuwan likes to attack evil spirits.'"

"Stop singing, isn't it Heli Leye? Pretend I don't know?"

"Then will you buy it or not?"

"Bought it!"

The small envoy of the liquidation bank was sweating profusely transcribing the transactions between the two parties.As the last stroke fell, the bell rang just right, and the little emissary breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "That's it for today, the market will be closed for two days, and it will reopen in two days."

After finishing speaking, he hurriedly left the table with the account book in his arms, and went to work behind.

It was almost evening, and the merchants had finished their day's transactions, and they could immediately go back to the concentrated residence next door, drinking and having fun, playing games and so on.But they still have to burn the night to carry out remittance and settlement.

As the most important service organization for exposition transactions, the work of the liquidation bank affiliated to Hucao is definitely not easy.

When a grand trade fair comes to an end, the collected books often have thousands of pages.

Every transaction must be settled, and everyone's account must be counted.It is impossible to make statistics after all the transactions are over, and merchants can't wait, so usually the transactions are suspended for two days after a few days, and the accounts are settled uniformly, and then new transactions are started.

The work is heavy, but it is also extremely necessary.Merchants no longer carry copper coins in carts and carts for trading, and they don't have to blush and neck thick because of the fineness of copper coins and the value of silk, which leads to the failure of business.Everyone uses silver dollars, an accounting currency that weighs eighteen baht and is nine copper in fineness, to settle accounts, which saves a lot of trouble.

The merchants save trouble, and the clearing bank has to increase the workload.But since you want to collect taxes, it is naturally impossible to do nothing, and there is no such good thing as sitting back and enjoying the benefits.

After Zhuge Zhongbao left Fangshi, he lived in a building separated from Fangshi by a wall.

The museum building is newly built. It used to be a wooden house, but now it is a brick house, and even the walls of the square have changed from rammed earth to blue bricks.

Lingxia's changes were visible to the naked eye, which made him very emotional.

Zhuge Zhongbao started his business this year, importing some tea from Xingyuan Mansion and transporting it to Lingzhou for sale.

Zhuge Zhongfang, the governor of Shannan Xidao, didn't want to talk to his cheap brother at first, because he had old grievances after all.But after knowing that his niece Zhuge had given birth to Shao Shude a boy who was healthy and healthy until he was six years old, he changed his attitude immediately and became warm.

Man, it is so realistic.In the face of interests, everything can be abandoned and everything can be changed.

Zhuge Zhongbao ordered a jug of fine grape wine and poured himself a drink.

The two sons sat diagonally across from each other, still chatting and laughing, maybe the tea was sold out, and they were happy.

"Hearing that the sage gave rewards to the soldiers of Yushan City, Shi Zan received a silver dollar ticket, and tore it up in a rage. He shouted, 'Soldiers guard the palace gate day and night, give me the paper alone?' Later, I heard that the 'paper' could arrive Tongzhoufang City exchanged silver dollars, and became angry again, and almost made a noise."

"Xuzhou soldiers, I think sooner or later there will be chaos, and the saints can't control these arrogant soldiers."

"Yan Bing is also very fierce. Li Kuangwei won't occupy Chang'an and become emperor like Zhu Wei?"

"It's hard to say, Wufu's mind is hard to guess, maybe he will do it on impulse."

Zhuge Zhongbao glanced at them and continued drinking.

The eldest son followed him to do business, and the second son went to study, so he followed him today to increase his knowledge.

What Erlang studied was not Confucian classics, but arithmetic.He has been very interested in accounts and other things since he was a child, but he can't read the Bible first, and often falls asleep after reading.

Math is actually pretty good too!After you have completed your studies, you can go to Chang'an to take the math test, and you can get an official after you pass the exam.

And it is not easy to learn arithmetic these days.

Such students either study in official schools in Chang'an or Luoyang, or are taught by their families. It is actually not easy to find a gentleman who is proficient in arithmetic from outside.

It is an unprecedented move for Lingxia to set up mathematics school at the state and county levels.

For this reason, almost all the students who flocked to Chang'an to take the math test were collected, and now they recruited heavily every year, regardless of their level, to serve as math teachers at the state and county levels.

Trade fairs require a large number of miscellaneous tasks proficient in mathematics, and this is undoubtedly very scarce, which can be seen from the fact that the silver dollar bills at various trade fairs are not yet in free circulation.

So far, the silver dollar bills issued at the fairs in Lingzhou, Xiazhou, Suizhou, and Yanzhou can be used mutually, but not in other places.For example, if you take a silver bill issued by Lingzhou Clearing Bank and go to the same state trade fair to do business, you will definitely be rejected.

The reason is that there are not enough mathematical talents to keep accounts, which is very fatal, and it is also one of the important reasons that hinder the further promotion of silver dollar bills.

"Erlang, you have been in school for one year, and now you are asked to go to Fangshi to settle the accounts, can you count?" After putting down the wine bowl, Zhuge Zhongbao asked.

"Grandfather, hasn't your son been studying arithmetic recently?"

"Huh?" Zhuge Zhongbao raised his head, surprised and a little annoyed: "If you don't study, you're wasting your time?"

"No." Zhuge Erlang said: "My son is learning Dashi characters from Master Mani, and plans to translate some manuscripts of Dashi and Daqin. Master Mani understands Chinese, Uyghur, Persian, and Dashiwen. He is pedantic about heaven and man. My son is very interested, so I am willing to learn."

Master Mani has also entered the Xia Palace as an official now. It is said that he may add an additional post of "mathematics", which is opposite to "literature". But Shao Shude made it clear that there is geometry besides arithmetic, so it was renamed mathematics.

The mathematics of the states and counties will soon be renamed as mathematics, but for now, the teaching is still the same old stuff, because the doctor of mathematics only understands mathematics and does not understand mathematics.These are the same things that are tested in Chang'an's Mining and Mathematical Examination.

Master Mani didn't know much. He was actually just a porter (translator), not a professional researcher.

"Is it useful to learn these things?" Zhuge Zhongbao asked.

"It's useful." Zhuge Erlang said: "It's not very interesting to be a Ci poet or an artist, and it's very common for a townsman and a peddler. Only a translator can know both inside and outside, and broaden his horizons. It's quite interesting."

Zhuge Zhongbao thought about it, and felt that it seemed reasonable.But he does not start from the perspective of interest, but from the perspective of utilitarian thinking.Perhaps, being proficient in foreign languages ​​and astronomy and geography is another better step forward?

Master Mani's background is very complicated, he knows a lot of characters, and has a lot of knowledge. Even King Xia often asked him questions when he was in Lingzhou, and he seemed to be a remarkable person.It might be good to learn his skills.

"That's all, I don't care about you." Zhuge Zhongbao sighed: "However, mathematics also needs to be learned. If I am kicked out of the school, I can't afford to lose face."

"I understand." Zhuge Erlang replied.

After the question and answer between father and son, there was nothing to say all night.

On the second day, Zhuge Zhongbao walked around the square market and found that there was nothing he wanted to buy, so he went to the clearing bank to get the silver bills and left.

The clearing bank is very interesting now. For some big businessmen who have a family and business in the local area, they can even advance you silver dollar bills, which facilitates a lot of transactions.

It's a pity, it's still the same sentence, the accounts cannot be settled, and the silver dollar bills cannot pass through the whole territory, otherwise the effect will be too great, and it can be directly used as money.

But for now, silver bills still play a big role.Otherwise, there would not be so many copper coins in the homes of ordinary people, and the business of cattle and sheep, cheese, and dried fruits would be tied up and could only be bartered.

Rich families in the city hired people, and they could only pay rice.

Brickyards and forest farms recruit workers, and some people come for a few days and are paid ten cents a day. Life without copper coins is very difficult.

Yesterday he even saw a merchant from Youzhou in Fangshi, pulling a cart full of gold and silver wares to do business.

Do not laugh!In the Guo Dynasty, gold and silver wares of different shapes often appeared in the business field, not as commodities, but as money.Some people in Dunhuang bought rice with silver bowls, and it was very troublesome to calculate the accounts. Some people would rather not do these transactions than argue with others about the value of their silver bowls.

In addition to gold and silverware, silk, corn and the like can also be used as money.However, the origins of silk silk are different, the size is different, the year is different, and the pattern and the like are also different.This kind of thing is used as money, which is a kind of torture for both parties in the transaction.

In the evening, Zhuge Zhongbao got a message from the merchants in Shu: the dragon sword festival made Zhao Jian's attack on the Maozhou Qiang people defeated.

In addition, Dongchuan Jiedu sent Zhu Mei to attack Peng, Han, Man Cun, Li Yu and others asked for help, and was just rescued by Ximen Wentong, who was named Li Maozhen by the imperial court. The three families joined forces and defeated Zhu Mei at the foot of Pengzhou City.

After Zhu Mei returned to Zizhou, she did not suffer much loss. She was planning to regroup and attack Li Maozhen again. The brothers Wang Xingyu and Wang Xingyue rebelled and separated Mian and Lingzhou to stand on their own.

Zhu Mei was furious and wanted to conquer. The Wang brothers asked Li Maozhen for help.Li Maozhen promised that the second war between the two sides is about to begin, and it seems that Li Maozhen still has a considerable advantage, and he is also a capable person.

"Zhu Mei is defeated!" Zhuge Zhongbao is very sure: "Dongchuan is small in the first place. After rebelling against the two states, the situation is even more delicate. The battle in Central Shu will take one or two years at the earliest, and at the slowest three or four years, it will all be defeated by Li Maozhen. Take it all. Zhu Mei is not very good at winning over her subordinates, and the benefits she gives are not enough, and sooner or later she will be destroyed by the Li family."

Zhuge Zhongbao had some regrets.If he still controls the three prefectures of Bi, Tong, and Kai in Banan at this time, he can go south to participate in the war in central Shu, and maybe he will rise up by taking advantage of the situation.

The separatist rule of Shu, like the separatist rule of Guanzhong, has extremely obvious geographical advantages, and it is more than enough to be a prince of one side.

After leaving Fangshi, Zhuge Zhongbao went straight home.

On the way, I saw a large number of ships setting sail and going down the river, fully loaded with military supplies such as food, forage, and equipment.

The fiscal and taxation policy of living within one's income makes the state's annual tax revenue completely uncertain.But even under the background of Shao Shude and Zhu Quanzhong's repeated battles, Lingzhou didn't collect any extra taxes, and it was useless to collect them.

And the amount of money and food sent to other places is less, so the part of "staying in the state" will be larger. This may be King Xia's original intention-local construction also requires a lot of money and food. I want to see what you will do.

"We have to fight again." Zhuge Zhongbao sighed softly.

(End of this chapter)