Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 214 General Assembly ([-])

"newspaper?"

"Oh, this is it." Marpon took down a large piece of paper from the newspaper shelf of the cooperative, which was full of words and phrases.

"What is written on it?"

"It's all kinds of news: about Bairen City, Dongmen City, and the whole county. Recently, there's also business news about Guangzhou." He turned it over, "These editions are all about writing novels and singing songs. Things are beautiful."

Fu Buer can't read, so naturally he can't understand the benefits.It's better to bring it back and show it to the people in the village who can read -- it's also a rare thing.Just to be careful, he added a question:

"There are no illegal words here, are there?"

"No, several copies of this newspaper are sent to the county government office every day. You can take one if you want, and the conference delegates will give it to you for free," said the female clerk.

Fu Buer was relieved.I took a copy and folded it carefully and hid it on my body.Wandering around the store again, I saw a lot of high-quality silk and foreign cloth, so I wanted to buy some back. The welfare agency accepts copper coins, scrap silver and circulation coupons. Fu Buer bought a few bolts of foreign cloth, Tell the houseboy to take it.Seeing that the female clerk drew similar patterns on the account book while preparing the plate, the patterns on the so-called towels also have the same pattern. I remembered that Ma Peng said that these are called Arabic numerals, which are much easier to use for bookkeeping than Suzhou codes. After reading it, I became interested, looked there for a long time, and even had a conversation with the clerk—it turned out that this woman only learned to read and learn arithmetic in the past few months, and now she can not only calculate, but also keep accounts.

"The proprietress is really a kind-hearted person!" The female clerk was obviously very satisfied with her treatment. "Food and clothing are all included, and I also teach skills. I can still get a commission of a hundred yuan a month for selling goods."

Fu Buer saw that the shop was magnificent, the staff had a sense of advancement and retreat, and everyone seemed to be literate, able to write and count. In addition to beating hogweed and herding cattle, it is of no use. It is better to send it here as an apprentice. After learning the skills, it will be of great help to me.Immediately, he asked Ma Peng whether he would accept apprentices, how many children he would send to apprentice, and he would also subsidize the food expenses.

"I don't know about this," said Ma Peng. "After the meeting, you can tell the chiefs yourself. If you want to send someone to study, it is probably a sure thing."

After leaving the cooperative, Fu Buer followed Ma Peng to go around Dongmen City a few times.Not to mention the cleanliness of the street, there is not even a beggar or a gangster. Even the prostitutes standing on the street soliciting customers are standing under the special yellow wooden sign. Pull hard to pass by.

Policemen dressed like Ma Peng can be seen on the street from time to time, and it seems that they are wandering around the street all the time.No wonder it's so peaceful here.

"There are no such people here." Ma Peng told him, "If you catch them all, send them to the quarry to collect stones or go to the river to sieve sand. As for whether they can come out, it's hard to say." He laughed triumphantly, very Satisfied with his prestige.The yellow signposts are dedicated places for prostitutes to stand on the street. There are eight signboards in the entire east store. All prostitutes who want to solicit customers have to line up under that signboard. The former one can do business, and the latter one can continue to solicit customers. No jumping in line is allowed.

"The chief and the gentlemen can be regarded as sympathetic to the old and the poor. This time, the local prostitutes don't even accept donations. As long as you get a certificate, you can do business here."

Fu Buer looked intently, and sure enough, every prostitute had a sign similar to his, except it was yellow.

Seeing that Fu Buer was looking at her, the prostitute immediately put on a charming smile: "Master, come to play, all copper coins, silver, and banknotes will be accepted."

Ma Peng scolded: "Go, go, don't solicit customers randomly, this is the representative of the conference."

The prostitute seemed to be quite afraid of the policeman, so she pursed her lips and fell silent.

Fu Buer asked Ma Peng, "What is this ticket? The shop of the cooperative asked me if I had any."

"It's money notes. It's also called circulation notes here. All the merchants in Dongmen City use this." He said and took out a few colorful pieces of paper from his pocket.

"Can you buy things with this piece of paper?" Fu Buer couldn't believe it.

"That's what we pay, can there be fakes?"

Fu Buer looked at the pieces of paper for a long time, and muttered to himself.In his impression, he remembered hearing from the elders in the clan that the imperial court had issued such paper money notes many, many years ago. At that time, the government insisted that the common people receive such money when buying things in the government, but they refused to pay taxes. No matter how many words are written on the paper, nothing can be bought in the market, and ordinary people treat it as waste paper.He remembered, it seemed to be called Baochao or something.

"Brother Ma, can this thing work? The government did it before. It's worthless waste paper." Fu Buer said in a low voice.

"Of course it works. You can buy a catty of rice for one yuan. You can buy it anytime." Ma Peng seemed very unhappy with his doubts. "So many merchants in Dongmen City are idiots? Don't you always think this is Daming treasure notes issued by the government. This is issued by the chiefs."

According to him, the short-haired people are much more trustworthy than the Daming government.But Fu Buer doesn't think the government has any credibility at all.I was just surprised that Ma Peng would trust this group of "kun people" with unknown origins so wholeheartedly.

"This is the Delong Grain Store, and they are the ones who issue the circulation coupons." Ma Peng said, pointing to a big shop in front of him.This shop is more grand than the cooperative just now. It is a two-story brick building located on three steps. The wide windows are luxuriously decorated with beautiful cast-iron patterned railings. Two stone lions.This style can't even be compared with the county government.

"Brother Ma, why don't you see people buying and selling grain in this grain store?" Fu Buer was seriously suspicious.

"This is on the counter. Those who deliver the goods all enter through the door next to it. There is a big courtyard inside, which is huge."

Fu Bu'er was a little timid when he saw the situation of the food store. If it weren't for Ma Peng, he probably wouldn't have dared to go in.Inside was a tall hall with a row of wooden counters like those in a pawn shop, only not so high.The windows are wide and big, and the light that comes in is so abundant that he is very uncomfortable, and the only sound in his ears is the sound of the abacus.Hey boy, the battle in this grain industry is scary enough.

There is a wooden sign hanging on the wooden counter on the far left. Ma Peng told him that this is the exchange office. The rice is gone.

"This one yuan can be exchanged for a big catty." Ma Peng took out a green ticket. The so-called big catty means that this 500-gram catty is heavier than the current space-time catty, so it is named big catty.

Fu Buer knew a little about the big catty, because when the long-term worker was sent to sell grain, the long-term worker said when he came back: there is no need to lift the bucket for the short hair, but directly weigh it with a scale.At that time, in order to help the aborigines figure out how much a catty is, every big household who came to sell grain received a standard one catty stone weight.Fu Buer still has that stone guy in his house, and it will be used again when he sells grain in the coming year.

After tossing and turning, I looked at a few tickets of Ma Peng for a long time.Fu Buer was still a little puzzled, he didn't know how this piece of flower paper could be used, he vaguely realized that the key was that this piece of paper could be exchanged for food here.That's why merchants are willing to accept it.

"It's really eye-opening." Fu Buer became more and more determined to send a few houseboys as apprentices. Not to mention, this group of short-haired people had more twists and turns than others.However, he wanted to make all the family-raised children learn to be good, so what about his son?Can you still beat them?If something happened to me, wouldn't it be difficult to protect my family property?The group of people in the clan may not be reliable.But he was really reluctant to send his son as an apprentice.

After leaving the food store, I went sightseeing in Dongmen City again, seeing everything new and interesting.I secretly felt that I was right to come to the meeting this time, and this knowledge alone was enough to go back and brag about it for three to five years.

Seeing the sky full of red clouds, it will be late, so I have to go back to the hotel.But Ma Peng wanted to invite him to dinner:

"Master Fu's family, I have eaten a lot of your meals in the past, so this time it will be mine."

Fu Buer thought to himself that this poor boy is a little more developed now, so he must want to make a good face in front of his former boss, and follow him.Besides, I have some things to say at the dinner table, so I agreed immediately, and sent the family boy back to the hotel first.

The far end of the side street of Dongmen Street is farther away from the city center and is already close to the periphery of Dongmen City. There are not many pedestrians and it is very quiet.The shops opened here are all small shops, which are the business of the commune members and laborers in Bairen City.There were several small restaurants and taverns, and they were all lit up at this time. Ma Peng usually had nothing to do after work, so he would drink and chat with a few colleagues here. Sometimes Director Hou Dugu would also come to join in.I have become acquaintances with the shopkeeper and the guys.

This is a small restaurant with only six tables.There are plates of cold dishes on the wooden cabinet at the entrance, most of which are local seafood, covered with bamboo cages, and a jar of boiled peanuts in salt water-these are all appetizers.

Ma Peng went into the store and asked the waiter to find a seat inside for them.I ordered four dishes, a pot of wine, and two bowls of raw fish porridge.After a few rounds of teasing and drinking, Fu Buer cut to the topic:

"Now you are also a policeman here in Shorthair. Are you living a good life?"

"That's right, it's much better than doing hard work." Ma Peng said, "Recently, the reform of the currency system has been carried out. A policeman like me can get 200 yuan a month and can buy 200 catties of rice. My mother and I They are all full, and they can add some new clothes.” He took a sip of wine, “I, Ma Peng, came out to work when I was 12 years old, thinking that my whole life would be a poor life as a coolie, but I didn’t expect to be here today! This day is really like a dream!"

"That is, that is." Fu Buer wanted to find out the details of this meeting, so he kept persuading him to drink and serve dishes, and said a lot of flattering words. Seeing that the atmosphere was already warm, he asked:

"Brother Ma, why do you think this short-haired chief wants people from all over the country to come to the meeting?"

Ma Peng shook his head and said, "I don't know! The chiefs think deeply, we don't understand."

Fu Buer was slightly disappointed, and deliberately provoked him with words: "Short hair usually doesn't show a little bit of speech? You can be regarded as their confidant."

"What kind of confidant am I?" Ma Peng laughed: "It's far away. Let's talk about our director. He is not a big man in the short hair. I heard that it is not the turn of the leaders to discuss matters. "He took a sip of his wine, "But this time the chiefs attach great importance to the matters to be discussed, and specially built some kind of grand viewing platform. They also told us to take good care of the representatives of each village—anyway, to satisfy you .”

When Fu Buer saw that there was a door, he hurriedly struck while the iron was hot: "You can always guess something, right?"

Ma Peng thought for a while before saying: "It's probably about 'cooperation'. I don't understand what cooperation is. But what the chiefs mean is that all villages should jointly organize group training and train together. There are other "benefits" to be given to the villages. As for what the benefits are, I don't know."

"Didn't you say that you will send food and errands?" Fu Buer didn't care about the so-called benefits-it would be considered a favor from the heavens if the short hair didn't force them to go too far.

"I haven't heard of this, but there is a shortage of manpower here, and we need people to run a regiment. Around the time of the discussion, we will ask the villages to send missions. I don't think there is any need for food. There are plenty of people here."

This is easy to handle.Fu Buer thought, if it was a dispatch, the big deal would be to send all the shabby residents with foreign surnames in the village, and it wouldn't hurt the village's muscles.

Fu Buer took out a silver coin, and quietly handed it to Ma Peng from under the table:

"Brother Ma, this is a trivial matter. I hope you will take care of the village more in the future. Everyone is from the village—"

This ingot of silver is one or two weights, although it is not rich, it is not a small amount for ordinary people.This time, the village decided to take out 20 taels of silver for him to use in Bairen City.

Ma Peng quickly refused: "No, no, Mr. Fu, you are hurting me! Take it back quickly."

Fu Buer thought it was just a pretentious gesture to evade, but seeing Ma Peng's panicked face, it was obviously not an affectation, so he had to take the money back.

Ma Peng quickly looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, so he continued in a low voice, "Master Fu, Shorthair hates this the most. I will charge you money, and you will have a share in your job. Put it away."

Fu Buer said: "What are you afraid of? Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know and I know—"

"The problem is that the chiefs know everything." Ma Peng said something frighteningly. A policeman in the office took money from several shopkeepers.Unexpectedly, Director Dugu found out the next day.Then the man disappeared—now working as a coolie in a quarry, it is said.

"What's weird is that there was no one else present except for a few of them—it was said that the chiefs had the power of ghosts and gods. I dare not commit such a thing."

Fu Buer also told him that his spine was chilled, thinking of many strange things about the short-haired people, he felt a little hairy in his heart.

At this time, the waiter brought the raw fish porridge, and also brought a plate of thin and crispy porridge to drink.Ma Pengyin had to work half the shift after dinner, so he didn't persuade him to drink too much, and ate the porridge hungrily, while Fu Buer said he was full after drinking the porridge.After dinner, Ma Peng paid for the account, and Fu Buer thanked him repeatedly.The two went out together and disappeared into the lights and crowds after dusk.

As the clerk cleared the table, Goubli got up from behind the counter and went into the closet.He took out a piece of paper, a bottle of ink and a quill pen from the locked cabinet, and wrote a line of words in crooked simplified Chinese characters under the candle:

"Surveillance report on the meeting between police officer Ma Peng of the Dongmen City Police Station and representative Fu Buer of Meizhi Village in the store."

(End of this chapter)