Beloved Concubine

Chapter 10
More than 200 Wen a catty, four or five catties is nearly a thousand Wen.

Chen Xiaodao: "Wouldn't it be a disadvantage to you? Let's weigh it."

"No, no, no. You don't want my car money, and the extra is just car money."

Chen Xiao saw that the young man was very forthright, so he didn't say anything more.

The carriage was galloping on the official road, and the driver deliberately drove the carriage faster.He wanted to get to the county seat earlier, maybe he could return to the town today.

In the carriage, Chen Xiao chatted with the young man, and knew that his surname was Shi, and others called him Xiao Shitou. He was 14 years old this year.His father died, his mother remarried, and he lived alone.

He has been hunting and selling snakes for several years, and his income is not bad, but the risks are also great.

Generally, when small snakes are caught, they will be sold to pharmacies; if big snakes are caught, they will be sold to restaurants.

Of course, the so-called big snake is only two or three catties.He has also seen bigger snakes, but he dare not catch them.Because the big snake's strangling power is too strong, he can't control it alone.

Xiao Shitou grew up in the county seat, and he traveled to many places in order to catch snakes.Sometimes when no snakes were caught, he would buy some local items and sell them in the county town.

Knowing that he was from the county seat, Chen Xiao asked him about the situation.

The county they went to was called An County, which was located in the foothill basin and was an important hub and traffic artery connecting the east and west of foreign countries.

If you go east from An County, you can go all the way to Xiaguo; if you go west, you can go to Xiling.To the north, it leads to Liangcheng, the capital of Nanyue Kingdom.

It is said that more than ten years ago, Xiling attacked Xia State and occupied a large area of ​​Xia State's territory.Xia Guo blocked the border trade and cut off the business relationship with Xiling.

However, for businessmen, Xiling has many things that Xiaguo needs, and Xiaguo also has many commodities that Xiling needs.So the merchants bypassed South Vietnam and traded through a third country.

An County is located on this trade road, and because of its flat terrain and open land, it has become a material distribution center and a trading center.

There are people here from all over the country, domestic and foreign.Xiaoshitou's family came here from other counties to do business, but later the business lost money, his father died, his mother remarried, and he became a man.

He didn't want to say more about the situation of Xiao Shitou's house, so Chen Xiao didn't ask any more.But knowing that he came to the county at the age of four, became an orphan at the age of nine, and relied on kind neighbors to help him, he did not starve to death.Later, I realized that catching snakes was very profitable, so I started catching snakes.

Chen Xiao admired this young man for being self-reliant at a young age.

Fang Yu asked Xiao Shitou, "Which is the best restaurant and inn in the county?"

"Da Madian, Ruyi Building."

"Damadian?" Fang Yu thought the name was very novel.

"Da Madian is the largest inn in the county. It has a special horse resting yard, which can rest more than 300 horses."

Hearing this number, Fang Yu could imagine how big this inn was, almost catching up with a battalion of the army.But they don't rest their horses, so such an inn might not be in the city.

"Is Ruyilou a restaurant?" Fang Yu asked.

"Yes, Ruyilou is the best restaurant in the city. A meal in their family can range from a few taels of silver to as many as dozens of taels."

A meal costs dozens of taels of silver, and Chunhong's jaw dropped in shock.Their family earns more than ten taels of silver a year, and one meal is enough for their family for several years.

Fang Yu felt that tens of taels of silver for a meal was not expensive, but "he" left in a hurry, carrying only 600 taels of silver and a dozen taels of silver with him.

Thinking of the bank notes, he asked:

"Is there a bank in the county that can exchange Xiling banknotes?"

This is the Nanyue Kingdom, and the bank notes of the Xiling Kingdom cannot be used directly here.

"Is it a commercial ticket? Or an official ticket?" Little Stone asked.

"Silver ticket" is a kind of easy-to-carry withdrawal certificate, which was first issued by firms.

For example, "Shop A" in the south needs 1000 taels of silver to buy a batch of things in the north.It is very dangerous to take 1000 taels of cash on the road, so I issued a silver withdrawal certificate in the south, and when I arrived in the north, I took out 1000 taels of cash at "Shop A".

This kind of withdrawal requires "A firm" to have firms in both the south and the north.There are limitations.

As a result, several major firms that had business dealings, such as "Business B" and "Business C", reached an agreement among them to recognize each other's bank notes.Therefore, the bank notes of "A firm" in the south can withdraw cash from "C firm" in the north.

From this, a special institution for withdrawing and exchanging was derived-Qianzhuang.

Of course, the function of the bank is not only to withdraw and exchange, but also to deposit silver and borrow money.At the same time, the bank also issued its own banknotes.The same as a commercial ticket.

As long as there are commercial banks, commercial tickets can basically be used.However, the bank notes issued by the government are very good in the country, and any bank will accept them, but it is not necessarily the case when they go abroad.

"It's an official ticket." Fang Yu said.

Xiao Shitou thought for a while and said, "It's best to go to the Xiling merchant to exchange the Xiling official ticket."

"Why?" Chen Xiao didn't understand.

She knows what the ancient bank is for, which is equivalent to a modern bank.But she doesn't understand the "transnational financial settlement" here.

Little Shitou said: "Go to the bank to exchange, they will charge you at least [-]% of the fee. If you exchange it with the Xiling merchant, he can charge less."

"Twenty percent?" Chen Xiao was surprised.

For 100 taels of silver, 20 taels will be deducted, which is too exaggerated.

Xiao Shitou said: "Foreign official tickets are collected in this way in South Vietnam. If you don't believe me, just go and inquire."

In the exchange of commercial tickets, there is also the value of the goods in it.But the exchange of official tickets is purely a piece of paper, which can only be exchanged for cash after returning to the country.

The money bank received foreign official bills, and it did not go abroad to do business, so it had to exchange the silver bills to merchants in that country in the end.Among them, the bank receives [-]% and the merchant receives [-]%, so the total is [-]%.

Businessmen are there to make a profit, not to help others.

Fang Yu did not expect that the exchange fee was so high. 600 taels of silver bills, only 480 taels in hand.This level of shrinkage is a bit unacceptable even for him.

In Xiling State, the official ticket is Sittui.That is, 100 taels of silver bills are exchanged for 100 taels of cash.The exchange of commercial bills is between two and five cents, that is, 100 taels of silver, with a deduction of two to five taels of silver.

——This is why many people like to store cash. If it’s only a few hundred taels, it’s not a big deal. If it’s tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of taels, the cost is not a small amount.But for businessmen, safety on the road is the first priority. Taking a few large boxes of silver on the road, being robbed is not worth the loss.

Fang Yu didn't expect the bank notes to be redeemed before, but it was a bit painful to remove so many at once.

They will still live here in the future, more than 400 taels of silver, how can it be enough.

Fang Yu asked Xiao Shitou, "Do you know people from Xiling?"

Knowing that he wanted to exchange silver, Little Stone asked:
"How much do you want to change?"

"600 taels."

Xiao Shitou lowered his brows: "The Xiling people I know can't afford so much money."

The Xiling people he knew came to South Vietnam to work with their employers. Their income was not bad, but they couldn't afford a few hundred taels of cash.

Fang Yu said: "Can you help me find out, who can exchange money for me?"

"sure, no problem."

Fang Yu said again: "Why don't you change it to 100 taels first."

"Huh?" Xiaoshi didn't understand for a moment.

"Replace it first."

He only had a few taels of silver left on him, and then they had to stay in a hotel and eat, and a few taels of silver would not be enough.

"Well, I have to ask first."

Xiao Shitou felt that the Xiling people he knew could afford 90 taels of silver.But it's hard to say, you have to ask first.

(End of this chapter)