Ruan Degong sat in front of the room, squinting his eyes and basking in the sun comfortably. A few small servants in the store stood behind the shelves, busily selling goods.

Peng Yuanwai walked over and arched his hand: "It's so good, sitting here basking in the sun, it's really a fairy-like day." ”

Ruan Degong opened his eyes and said, "You can do the same." What do you do before and after? Come over and we'll talk. ”

Peng Yuanwai sighed: "I'm different, many families, waiting for dinner." The inn's house is rented from the camp field, and there is rent money every month, and you can't owe it a day, where can you compare to your own house, and the business is so prosperous. ”

Ruan Degong said: "Who is to blame for this?" Before the rice was harvested, I asked you to come here with me to buy a house and do some business, but you only thought that no one would want to suffer a big loss. When you have harvested the rice and sold the land, you will have many houses. ”

Peng Yuanwai just sighed: "As soon as the chess is missing, it will be out of control." Now I want to buy a house, but I can't sell it. Renting a house to do business, a lot of the money earned has to be handed over to the field work, which is really unwilling. ”

While talking, he went to Ruan Degong's side, leaned against the wall, and the two talked.

Seeing that Peng Yuan was carrying a bottle in his hand, Ruan Degong asked, "You brought a bottle, do you want to make lamp oil?" As I said a long time ago, why bother? Buy a bucket and go back, the lamp oil is used up, and there is an iron bucket, which is worth a lot of money. ”

Peng Yuanwai said: "I also know this truth, but how much is a barrel of oil?" I don't have many customers in the store, so I can't light up so many lights. ”

After Shi Daqing was severely punished last time, the staff of Zaoyang County saw the attitude of the camp and field affairs clearly, but they were powerless to resist, and they each looked for a way out. Ruan Degong was a local senior official, and his mind was flexible, so he went to the camp in time to do business and built this shop as his way out. At that time, everything in the camp was newly built, and it was not strictly managed, so it was relatively easy to buy the land. Others thought about harvesting the rice first and then waiting and seeing. Unexpectedly, as soon as he hesitated, the vacant land here was covered with shops by the yamen, and the control of the land was extremely strict, and it was impossible to build a shop by himself. Peng Yuanwai was later on, and he could only rent a shop to do business, and he was not as carefree as Ruan Degong.

Now most of the customers in Zaoyang County have invested in the field work, and the outsiders in the countryside have no way to continue and find their own livelihoods. Most of them went to the county town to do all kinds of business, and a small part went to Yingtianwu. The most stubborn is the historian, who resolutely refuses to sell the land, threatening that even if the land is all wasted, he will never sell it to the camp and the field. The Shi family increased the wages of customers and retained some people, and I don't know what will happen next year.

Peng Yuan opened an inn, the place has not yet developed, there is not much business, and it can take care of the capital. The family's land has been sold, and there is no money to be made from opening a store, so he is careful to make a budget. Nguyen opened a grocery store, and business was much better, making more money than before.

After chatting a few words of gossip, Peng Yuanwai said: "Your family's Erlang, I heard that he was sent to Yexian to learn how to strike iron, how are you doing?" ”

Ruan Degong said: "Outside the staff, what Ye Xian learned is not ordinary iron, and he can make a lot of things. When my family arrived there, it was really an eye-opener, and I couldn't imagine that there were so many exquisite things in the world. The meaning of his letter is that after he has learned, he will work in the iron prison, and I will not allow him. ”

Peng Yuanwaiqi said: "You have capital at home, how much is it good to come back and open your own shop, why does Erlang want to enter the iron prison?" ”

"Life is good in the Iron Prison. I went to see them a few days ago, and their barracks were clean, the streets were smooth, and when it rained, there was not even a puddle on the ground. And the children there enter the school at the age of five or six, and if they learn well, they will learn all the way, and they will not worry that there is no way out, which one will not like it. However, when I send my child out to study, I want him to come back and inherit the family business, so how can I let him stay there? Moreover, near the Iron Prison, many shops have been opened in the past two years, and most of them are made by people in the Iron Prison. What makes cars, plows, and oil lamps, the business is very prosperous, and the money is very easy to make. He learned some crafts and returned to Zaoyang County, but he was worried that he wouldn't be able to make a lot of money in the future? ”

Ruan Degong had a long-term vision and knew that the previous days could not go on, so he was the first to take a train to Tangzhou to take a look. After coming back, he sent Erlang to Ye County to learn mechanical-related knowledge. The countrymen didn't understand, and they all said that he went to learn to strike iron.

When the young man went outside, he was immediately attracted to the iron prison, which was a completely different way of life from the countryside. Rich, civilized, it's just another world. Ruan Erlang got there, and after a few days, he wanted to study well, and then go to work in the iron prison and no longer return to Zaoyang. Ruan Degong took the train and went there to live there for a few days, and after the investigation, he came to the conclusion that he still had a future when he returned.

No matter how good the iron prison is, there are always people who feel dissatisfied. People are constantly coming out of it, using the technology they have learned, and opening small workshops. Some succeeded, some failed, and in total they still made a lot of money. If you fail, you can also work in someone else's small factory, and you will not face an existential crisis. The iron prison is on the south bank of the Li River, and a large number of small factories are gathered on the north bank of the Li River, which is more prosperous.

If you can run a factory there, how can you not do it in Zaoyang? Ruan Degong asked his own Erlang to learn knowledge and learn more about how the small factories in that area did business. After a few years of study, he went home and paid his own money, let him set up a factory, and he will definitely have a future in the future.

Many of the goods sold in Nguyen Duc Khanh's grocery store are made in small factories nearby. The small factory is flexible and cheap, and although the quality is not as reliable as that of the iron supervisor, it can always be used. Now there is a shortage of goods, and the people around them have limited money, and these goods are easier to sell.

The iron supervisor is engaged in a large business, and these small shopkeepers are not popular in the first place, and it is inconvenient to buy goods. Not only do you have to wait in line for a long time every time you buy an order, but because the amount is small, you often have to make orders with other shopkeepers. You buy dozens of goods, ten or twenty pieces of each, and the superintendent doesn't want to do this business. At this time, the benefits of small factories are revealed, not only do they not dislike it, but the price is also cheap.

Listening to Ruan Degong's introduction to the situation in Yexian Iron Supervisor, Peng Yuanwai said: "Alas, the world has changed, and life cannot be passed as before. After a few days, I will also let my eldest man go there to learn some crafts, otherwise what will I do in the future? Guarding this small inn, you can't make much money. ”

Ruan Degong said: "The schools in Ye County are all run by the Yamen. There are two kinds of students, one is talented, no need to pay money, as long as they study well, the school still manages food and housing. There is also a kind of average talent, and you have to pay money to study. My family Erlang looks smart, but when he gets there, he can't learn. After studying for three months, I took the exam once, and if I didn't do well, I had to pay tuition. Even tuition and food and housing are not small money. ”

Peng Yuanwai said: "This money is spent, and I always learn the craft, not in vain." If you don't go to this kind of place, if you want to spend money to learn a craft, others won't teach it. ”

Ruan Degong nodded yes. The craftsman's craft is the reliance on eating, where is it easy to teach people? It's all about working for others, learning by yourself, and looking at your personal understanding. Rich people can't do it, they are taught to read and write, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, how can they teach people the craft of eating? The schools in Ye County, as long as you pay money to enter, have special people to teach, and there are also teaching materials, which cannot be compared with other places.

These employees in Zaoyang, who have relied on farming for several generations to eat, suddenly changed their life mode, everyone is uneasy, and they always feel unsteady in doing business. It's much better to learn the craft than to start a small business. Ruan Degong took the first step, and many people were ready to move.

At this moment, a small boat on the muddy water stopped at the pier, and a young couple got off the boat. Looking left and right, the two came to Ruan Degong and Peng Yuanwai, and Shi Li said: "Dare to ask the two members, is there an inn nearby?" ”

Peng Yuanwai hurriedly said: "My family is an inn, do you want to stay in the hotel?" I don't know if it's for business, or to visit relatives and friends? ”

The young man said: "In Xia Tsui Hark, he is a talent who travels to study. There is an old relationship with the officials of this place, and they came to visit. ”