After following the chief official of the palace into the small building and taking a look around, Xie Dang felt that his eyes were not enough.
The exterior of this house is already exquisite enough, and the furniture inside is also extremely refined, elegant, and very practical. He plans to decorate his own house in the same way after returning to Chengde.
"Thank you, sir. How about this house?"
"Great! I'm tempted to buy it, but unfortunately, I can't afford it."
When he said this, Xie Dang's eyes were still on the tea table behind the floor-to-ceiling window.
The tea table was so exquisitely built that water spilled on it flowed directly into the sewer. Even he, an old man who didn't like drinking tea very much, found it novel.
Why don’t I ask about the situation later and see if I can get one back.
This table can't be that expensive, right?
Xie Dang was thinking in his heart.
"If Master Xie agrees to take his apprentice with him to survey the mines abroad, this small courtyard will be yours. In addition, the prince will pay you one thousand taels of silver for your resettlement. After you go abroad, the court will cover all your food, clothing, and other expenses. A monthly salary of ten taels of silver will be delivered to your wife and children on time."
"If you unfortunately encounter a disaster... your wife and children will receive a pension of two taels of silver every month, for a minimum of ten years."
The Changshi's voice was full of temptation.
He knew that for these low-level officials, it was futile to talk to them about the interests of the country and the nation. What really attracted them was real money.
As expected, as soon as he finished speaking, Xie Dang's eyes immediately lit up like a candlelight at midnight.
"Is what your Excellency said true?"
One thousand taels of silver as settling-in fee, plus this small courtyard. If he agreed, he would immediately get a house and silver worth more than two thousand taels. He had been doing exploration for half his life, and had only saved more than two hundred taels of silver so far.
Including the land and houses in Chengde, his total property would not exceed eight hundred taels of silver.
Now, as long as he nods, he can immediately obtain such a huge fortune. If Xie Dang says he is not tempted, he feels that he is deceiving himself.
"Of course. How dare I lie to you about this? Honestly, if I weren't so bad at this, I would have signed up to go abroad."
The Chief Secretary smacked his lips, his tone full of envy.
Before his salary was increased, his annual salary was only 130 taels, including the rice allowance, which averaged only about 13 or 14 taels per month.
He is a third-rank official, what is Xie Dangcai's rank?
Just a minor official of the seventh rank.
This salary is really not low.
But he was just talking about it. He was reluctant to go abroad to a barbaric land where he didn't know the details.
Even if the conditions were doubled, he would not go.
The infrastructure in the capital is complete, and there are all kinds of places to eat, drink and have fun. Outside of the Qing Dynasty, can the living standards in the barbaric lands be so high?
I'm afraid I can't even get enough to eat.
The chief historian was only reluctant to go abroad, but he still tried his best to persuade her.
"Thank you, sir, for taking a look at this courtyard and this house! If I didn't have to wait for the prince's instructions all the time, I would have bought a house here!"
Seeing that Xie Dang was struggling, the chief officer decided to increase his strength. He pointed at the bicycle in the shed outside.
"See that bicycle outside? Just nod and it's yours! Everything in this yard is yours."
"Also, a college will be built nearby in the future. When your descendants grow up, everyone living here will be able to attend the college!"
After hearing this, Xie Dang finally made up his mind.
“I’ll go!”
Why did he try so hard to curry favor with his superiors?
Isn’t it just for the wife, children and the elderly at home to have a life without worries about food and clothing?
Now that the opportunity is right in front of him, he will accept it even if he unfortunately dies outside!
The chief secretary was overjoyed and immediately took him to the yamen to sign the contract.
Afterwards, Xie Dang was politely sent back to the outskirts of the city.
Xie Dang checked into the courtyard that night and stayed there for the night. When he got up and washed up the next day, all the hesitation and regret in his heart had disappeared.
He now only wanted to bring his wife, children and elders to the capital as soon as possible so that they could also enjoy the benefits of this house...
After Xie Dang had settled his family members, he set off with the team with trepidation.
He was surrounded by twelve people, all of whom were students urgently selected from official schools in various places. These people were over 20 years old and had not yet passed the examination to become a scholar. They had average talent for studying, but they also wanted to pave the way for their relatives at home, so they had the same idea as Xie Dang and decided to give it a try.
In addition to the people brought by Xie Dang, there was also a director of the Ministry of Works who brought more than 20 craftsmen and followed them to that strange country.
After all, Xie Dang's skills are surveying and mining. The collected ore must be forged into steel before it can be transported back to the Qing Dynasty. The person in charge of the Ministry of Industry is responsible for building the steel plant.
It was not the first time for Xie Dang to come to a place like the port, but looking at the huge ship docked at the pier, his heart was still filled with great shock.
When he came here ten years ago, he was already shocked by the size of the ships. He never expected that there were ships in the world that were even bigger than those ships.
The students around him were all shocked.
"Wow……"
“What a huge ship!”
"This ship can carry several thousand people at a time, right?"
"It would be worth it even if I died now to see such a spectacular scene in my lifetime!"
"This is the sea, this is the harbor! I've only heard of it before, but seeing it today, it's truly extraordinary!"
Xie Dang listened to the discussion among the students around him and let out a deep breath.
His sense of pride, superiority, and belonging to the Qing Dynasty have now reached its peak.
When he was led onto the ship closest to the dock, standing on the bow, smelling the salty sea breeze, and looking at the ships on the distant sea that seemed to be coming from all nations, his restless heart suddenly calmed down.
How lucky he is to be born in such a powerful country!
There were seventeen teams like Xie Dang and others. These teams were scattered in various countries and regions. For a long time thereafter, they continuously supplied steel and other metal minerals to the Qing Dynasty.
Even among these teams, some students learned the essence of farming from their elders at home, and began to cultivate land in their local area, teaching local people how to grow crops. Just by collecting rent, they lived a better life in the local area.
The grain they collected, which they could not eat, was eventually transported back to the Qing Dynasty by the sea transport fleet. This was a pleasant surprise, and the grain did alleviate the food pressure of the Qing Dynasty to a certain extent.
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