"Archive One!"
"Okay, file it!"
The guys carried a thousand fully registered files and bamboo slips in baskets to the archives.
The archive room is tall, with bookshelves almost reaching the roof.
The guys placed each file in Room A1 according to the serial number.
"Are they all put away?" the steward asked as he walked into the archives room.
"Everything has been put away and checked. Everything is arranged according to the serial number. There are no mistakes."
The manager took the search booklet and randomly checked, and easily found the file he was looking for in the bookcase.
Not bad, not bad. Just make sure the order is right.
"Did you put the medicine in?"
"I've put some medicine bags there. I guarantee even bugs and rats won't dare come."
When storing files, the most feared things are insects and rats.
Therefore, you should frequently replace the insect and rodent repellent medicine bags.
The steward pointed at the ceiling and asked, "Have the medicine bags in there been replaced?"
"I'll change it right away."
Several guys climbed up to the ceiling with a ladder and replaced the medicine bags inside.
After finishing the work, the clerk asked the manager, "How do we check the files of those shareholders from other places when they collect their dividends? What if someone falsely claims the dividend?"
The steward said, "Don't worry about this. The higher-ups have already thought of it. Chief Steward Chen has been traveling extensively for years, even reaching Jiangnan. He has a wealth of information at hand. I'm not exaggerating, but when it comes to investigating individuals, we at Sihai are more efficient than the local authorities."
Chen Erzhuang led the mission to go deep into the vast countryside and promote the rural agricultural economy.
After running through every county, every township, and every village in the capital, I headed south and reached Jiangnan.
Wherever the guys from Sihai Agricultural Cooperative Bank went, no matter how isolated the village was, they could get to know the situation inside and out.
Population, names, and economic conditions of each family.
There are complete records of local customs and habits, the fertility of the land, what crops are suitable for growing, etc.
All these records are stored in Sihai's "Inner Study" database, classified into different categories.
Sihai Agricultural Cooperative Company, in cooperation with other cooperative companies, has brought trade into the countryside.
We conduct continuous and effective observation and recording of these villages and towns, accurately grasping the population changes and economic growth and decline of these villages.
Although these materials may seem complicated, they are extremely valuable to the government.
When the late emperor was still alive, Gu Jiu revealed some scraps of information.
After Emperor Wende ascended the throne, Gu Jiu did not reveal any information about demographics.
The treatment of the emperor's grandson and the emperor's son is always different.
Chen Erzhuang has not been in Beijing in recent years, and I'm afraid many people have forgotten how the Sihai Meat and Vegetable Shop was established.
Forget about the development of the rural market in Gyeonggi Province, it was all thanks to the Sihai Meat and Vegetable Store.
People inside Sihai never bring up this issue on their own initiative.
After a while, no one talked about it anymore.
People only care about the daily price fluctuations at the Sihai Meat and Vegetable Shop, and no longer care where the meat and vegetables come from. Even less do they care about what the impoverished villages they remember are like now.
But there was one person who cared.
Wang Xuecheng's hometown is in the most remote mountainous area of Gyeonggi Province.
Their village is one of the poorest in the entire capital.
Because his father was a carpenter, their family lived a decent life and was one of the few wealthy families in the area.
If it were placed somewhere else, it could only be considered as having barely enough food and clothing, and could not be considered a wealthy family at all.
Wang Xuecheng took a leave and went back to his hometown.
He truly felt the changes in his hometown.
The road leading to the village has been widened twice as much, and the section near the town has been paved with cement.
In the village, only his family and the headman's family had brick and tile houses.
Today, there are several more brick houses in the village.
Every household raises chickens and ducks in front of and behind their houses, and grows sweet potatoes on the mountains.
Sweet potatoes can be used to make wine and can also be used as food.
This is a poor village, but it is gradually getting better by growing sweet potatoes, medicinal herbs and raising poultry.
Now that life has improved, everyone wants to renovate their old house and buy some new furniture.
As famous carpenters in the area, the father and son of the Wang family received more and more carpentry work.
The income is enough for the family's food, clothing and housing.
The Wang family, father and son, all had carpentry skills, and they had a lot of work to do.
However, the village remains conservative and isolated.
The Universal Transport IPO, which was making a lot of noise in Beijing, was completely unknown in this small mountain village until Wang Xuecheng took leave and returned.
When Wang Xuecheng talked about buying shares, everyone in the Wang family remained silent.
Their attitude was surprisingly consistent: Money is only money when it's in your own hands. If it's in someone else's pocket, is it still money? I'm afraid they'll have sleepless nights.
What shares or no shares? That's all a lie to fool people.
Waving hands, no buy, no buy, not interested at all.
Wang Xuecheng was completely surprised that his family was so conservative.
Before, he never thought his family was conservative.
This time, I came back, but I felt conservative, isolated and backward everywhere. The village would remain unchanged day after day, for decades or even hundreds of years.
He wanted to explain to his family what shares and carriages were.
But faced with the cold gazes of his family, Wang Xuecheng stopped talking.
During the few days he was at home, he helped his father work in the fields.
Carpenter Wang grumbled to him, "Your elder and second brothers went to the village earlier, saying they had to do corvee labor. They planned to buy their release, and the money was ready, but then the government changed its tune. They said they don't have to do corvee labor this year. You're in the capital every day, so tell me, what exactly do the government mean? If they don't have to do corvee labor this year, will they have to double it next year? Isn't that just a waste of time?"
Wang Xuecheng smiled and said, "Isn't it better not to do corvee labor?"
"I'm afraid the court will do something new. There's a war going on in the north, and according to past rules, this year's corvée service will be doubled. Fortunately, you passed the examination and exempted your nephew from the corvée service."
Wang Xuecheng said, "I haven't heard of this. I'll go back and ask around. When I have news, I'll write back."
"It's time to write back and tell me about it."
When the holiday was over, Wang Xuecheng returned to Shanhe Academy with local specialties from home and managed to buy shares in Universal Transport.
Yang Ji went to the northwest, so he had to ask Yan Ci for news.
"Won't the imperial court conscript labor at the end of the year? With the war going on in the north, are they going to conscript civilians directly from the northwest?"
Yan Ci was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses.
"I'll ask for you about this. Is there anyone in your family who has to do corvée labor?"
"My eldest and second brothers had planned to buy us out, but the government said we don't have to do corvée labor this year."
oh!
Yan Ci was very curious, "You are a scholar, and you have several exemptions from corvée service. Why didn't you give them to your elder and second brothers?"
Wang Xuecheng said: "I gave it to several nephews at home, and also gave two places to the village head's family."
The family needs human connections.
The quota for exemption from corvee labor is the best favor.
This was the result of discussion among the Wang family.
The Wang family has many members and heavy taxes. If they don't build good relationships with the village head, they will always find a way to make things difficult for the Wang family.
Wang Xuecheng was in Shanhe Academy, far away from home, and couldn't take care of the trivial matters at home.
The Wang family must have someone to look after them, and what could be more practical than the care of the village head?
Yan Ci understood, "Wait for me, I'll go find Boss Cui. Boss Cui has a lot of connections and information, he must know why the court exempted the corvée in the capital this year."
Having said that, Yan Ci ran out.
Cui Qi works in the bookstore, checking the newly published sample books.
Yan Ci found him and asked him about the corvee labor.
Cui Qi flipped through the pages of the book and said casually, "I just heard my father mentioned this matter casually. I heard that Sanhe Express has contracted the task of transporting supplies for the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War.
The Ministry of War placed an order with Huanyu Transport, and the first batch of goods has already been delivered. The special four-wheeled carriages are said to be able to carry over a thousand pounds. All supplies are being escorted by Sanhe Transport. As expected, the first batch of supplies has already left Beijing several hundred miles away.
Yan Ci was secretly shocked when he heard this. "To transport so much supplies, if we were to conscript civilians, we'd have to recruit at least 100,000 men. How can Sanhe Express, with only a few people, be able to undertake such a large transportation volume? Aren't they afraid of delaying delivery and being held accountable by the Ministry of War?"
Cui Qi smiled and said softly, "Conscripting 100,000 civilians was a thing of the past. Now, the cement road from the capital to the northwest has been built. Sanhe Express has been running for nearly ten years and has extensive experience. With the addition of special four-wheeled carriages, we don't need many people to deliver supplies to the Northwest Camp on time."
Yan Ci was surprised.
He asked curiously, "How many people does Sanhe Express plan to use to transport these supplies?"
Cui Qi casually said, "I estimate it's only about 10,000 people. Let me tell you a little bit of gossip. I heard that Sanhe Express has built a delivery point on the grassland."
puff!
"Why build it on the grassland? There's no one there."
"There's a war on the grassland! Where there's war, there are people, and where there are people, there are needs."
Yan Ci was dumbfounded. "Aren't you afraid of being plundered by the Beirong army?"
Cui Qi smiled and said, "Maybe there is some way to save my life."
Yan Ci felt dizzy and told Wang Xuecheng the news he had heard.
Upon learning that Sanhe Express had contracted the Ministry of Household Affairs' task, Wang Xuecheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Ordinary people were not afraid of performing corvee labor, but they were afraid that the court and the government would do something unexpected and catch them off guard.
Since Sanhe Express is cooperating with the Ministry of Household Affairs, there is nothing to worry about.
Wang Xuecheng wrote a letter and sent it home, and then he no longer paid attention to the matter.
…
Great Northwest.
Ma Gui, a veteran employee of Sanhe Express, hid in the turret, looking down into the distance.
This is a large fortress isolated on the grassland.
The four sides are surrounded by high and deep walls that are one meter thick. There are arrow towers built on the four corners of the walls, so people can go up and have a look far away and defend and counterattack.
Inside the wall are two neat rows of concrete houses and a warehouse.
The warehouse is already filled with various supplies.
Nearly five hundred fully armed soldiers were stationed in this fortress.
The leader was Zhao San, a guard who had served Liu Zhao.
Zhao San is no longer the same as before. He is now a third-rank general.
Ma Gui carefully looked outside through the observation port. There was a vast grassland with no end in sight, and no enemies in sight.
He said to Zhao San, "General Zhao, it's time to eat. We have fresh mutton today."
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