The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Wang Wenlong even taught Tai Chi, and the people in the Trinity Church were very grateful to him, so they naturally agreed to the promotion of new crops.

The four bosses all had churches under them, and each had a small treasury. They immediately called their disciples who were in charge of relevant affairs, and first took out the religious properties used for lending in their own churches and deposited them into the bank.

Wang Wenlong also took the initiative to take a thousand taels. This money was just used for loans. It would be recovered when the time comes, and the loss would not be much.

In the following days, the Trinity Church's disaster relief bank was officially established, and all the directors of each department were selected.

Wang Wenlong solemnly reported on the disaster relief work of Trinity Church in the "Xunbao" and promoted new crops.

The Trinity Church was in need of someone to promote it. Seeing that Wang Wenlong was so sensible, everyone felt satisfied and became more and more interested in promoting new crops and mobilizing donations from the congregation to raise funds.

……

"Everyone who wants to borrow money is lining up!"

"Everyone, you must remember that this is money borrowed by our Trinity Church specifically for disaster relief, and the interest rate is only 10%. It is really a good intention, all because our Trinity Church has such a heart to help the world and save the people. You took the sweet potato seedlings and corn and planted them back, and it took you through the lean years to realize how good our Trinity Church is..."

Many farmers and landowners who wanted to borrow money and borrow seeds gathered in front of a Trinity Church temple. These people were at least from rich peasant families, but at this time everyone had an eager look on their faces. Even if it was a cold spring, they still wanted to borrow seeds. They all gathered here and queued up honestly, and they didn't look like the rich and wealthy people in the countryside at all.

The followers of the Trinity Church maintained order on the side and kept driving out those who cut in line. They were still shouting to maintain order: "Whether it is borrowing food or borrowing money, you are not allowed to cut in line. This is the line that reached the temple in front." We just separated, don’t try to take advantage of any loopholes!”

A young man in his early twenties and a teenage child stood at the end of the team, looking anxiously at the slowly advancing team in front of them.

The young man looked at the endless queue in front of him and couldn't help but worry and said: "There are so many people, don't borrow all the money in this temple. If we can't borrow it when it's our turn... a whole family should How to live..."

The teenage boy's name was Yan Siqi. Compared to his adult brother, he was calmer. He comforted his brother and said, "Brother, don't worry. The fact that the Trinity Church hasn't kicked out people yet means that there is plenty of money in the temple. Let's Borrowing and repaying, there is no reason for them not to borrow."

Yan Siqi's brother sighed and comforted himself by saying, "I think so."

This year's cold disaster has swept across Fujian, with Zhang and Quan being the most severely affected. The reason is simple: these two places are very good for business, and the people are accustomed to doing business rather than farming. If you look at the sweet potato and corn distribution map of the Qing Dynasty in later generations, you will know that until the early Qing Dynasty, the sweet potato and corn planting area in Zhangquan was still much lower than that in other places in Fujian.

It doesn't matter on weekdays, but when famine strikes, food prices soar, and many people in Zhangquan run out of food.

Spending money to buy food is not unacceptable to the people of Zhangquan. However, in recent years, the tax inspectors and eunuchs sent by the emperor have been focused on collecting taxes from the second government of Zhangquan. During the disaster, people in other parts of Fujian have become homeless. Still, Gao Yin was also afraid that imposing too much tax would trigger a civil uprising, but how could he suffer a loss?

Therefore, the tax reductions and exemptions in other places were taken to the wealthy Zhangzhou and Quanzhou to make up for it. Even though it was the year of the disaster, the tax quotas of the two Zhangzhou and Quan prefectures were increased. The merchants and people complained endlessly, and many businessmen went bankrupt because of this.

Yan Siqi's family is not poor. He owns dozens of acres of farmland and runs a tailor shop in Haicheng County that has been passed down from generation to generation. The family has tailoring skills passed down from generation to generation, so he can live a decent life on weekdays.

But this year, the Haicheng County Tax Supervisor forcibly allocated a large amount of money and food to their family. They said it was for "disaster relief," and all the working capital was taken away in one fell swoop. In fact, Yan Siqi and his brother knew that this was a way for Gao Yin's tax inspector to seize their family property.

Their land is the best paddy field handed down from their ancestors, and it happens to be in front of two paddy fields owned by a large local landowner. Every year, the landowner's fields have to pass through the water from the Yan family's land. The landowner wanted to buy the Yan family's land several times, but was unwilling to pay a high price.

In the past two years, he had somehow hooked up and became Gao Yin's tax supervisor, so he used the method of apportionment to seize the Yan family's ancestral property.

Caught between the two, the Yan family fell into difficulties in an instant. Not only did they lose the money to plant seeds in the ground, but they almost ran out of food at home.

At this time, the landlord came with money and offered to buy the Yan family's land. The money he gave was less than half of the land's value, which was simply coercion.

The Yan family was helpless, but land was the foundation, so Yan Siqi's brother had already planned to sell the store to fill the shortfall.

Yesterday, he saw on the application that Trinity Church had a disaster relief food platform that could lend money to families with insufficient funds. When he was desperate, the Yan Siqi brothers came to try their luck.

The amount of money at the disaster relief food table is limited, and not every family who wants to borrow money is willing to borrow money. Yan Siqi's brother looked at the people lining up in front of him and entered the temple. When it comes to money, some people are frustrated.

Seeing that it was his turn in the team, Yan Siqi's brother was a lackadaisical person and couldn't help but whisper to his brother who was several years younger than him: "I heard that only those who believe in Trinity and have a good relationship with this church are the only ones among them." Only then can we borrow money. You said that we brothers, who just converted to Christianity yesterday, cannot be kicked out by him, right?"

Yan Siqi said: "I heard that this disaster relief bank is run by the Jianyang Government in Fuzhou. Jianyang Government has a reputation for benevolence and will always help those of us who are suffering... Brother, if it doesn't work, I will grow up quickly now." It’s too big, why don’t we brothers go to sea.”

"Go to sea?"

Yan Siqi nodded: "You are being bullied here in the Ming Dynasty, why not go to sea to seek wealth!"

They are from Haicheng County, Zhangzhou, which is where Yuegang is located. Yan Siqi has also heard about the experience of many people going to sea to make a living since he was a child. He is already twelve years old and can barely be regarded as half a laborer at this time. He always feels that it is better to suffer like this. If people bully you, it is better to go to sea and make a career.

Yan Siqi's brother did not expect that his young brother would have such ambitions. Just as he was about to persuade him, he was already pushed into the temple by the people behind him. He could only say: "Wait for me to come out. This matter has to be done." Let’s discuss it carefully.”

Yan Siqi waited outside the temple, but half a day later he saw that the others who went in together had already come out. He happily took the loan receipt to the nearby warehouse to exchange for seeds or gold and silver, but there was no news about his brother.

Yan Siqi sighed inwardly, knowing that his brother would probably not be able to borrow the money.

At this moment, he saw a large group of people coming out of the temple and coming to the roadside in a lively manner, as if they were going to welcome some important person. Soon he saw a dozen fast horses coming with a lot of dust.

Yan Siqi was curious when he heard someone next to him say: "Master Zhu and Duke Jianyang have arrived!"

(End of this chapter)