"Director Yang, have you finished surveying and mapping?" In a village outside Yuyao County, the sun is setting in the west, and Yang Wang Zhiyuan, who has been busy all day, and his partners have just finished work and are ready to have dinner. On the way back, they met a wounded veteran of the 11th Mixed Battalion of the former Army, who is now the militia chief of the village, who often cooperates with them and is very familiar with them.

"How many times have I said it, my surname is King Yang, not Yang, why can't you remember it." Yang Wang Zhiyuan agreed angrily, and then said, "What are you going to eat tonight?" In the past few days, all I have eaten in the wild is dry food, and a bird has faded out of my mouth. ”

"Hey, you're earning it tonight! The village killed a pig and collected some wild goods, and the dinner was hearty. The director of the militia stepped forward to help Yang Wang Zhiyuan pick up a box, and said with a smile: "In addition, there is also a member of the county who came down and sent some rice wine, fruits or something to everyone, saying that it was hard work for everyone, and he came to comfort everyone on behalf of the Huizhou Merchant Guild." ”

At the same time, the village militia director is also the designated logistics supplier for Yang Wang Zhiyuan and his surveying and mapping team, helping them with the daily living expenses of the surveying and mapping team of more than 20 people. And this is actually a disguised subsidy for these "own people" who are rooted in the grassroots on the East Coast, otherwise, why would they go to the food and other daily necessities opened by this disabled veteran's family, why not find someone else?

To put it bluntly, it's not about doing everything possible to enhance the government's influence on the grassroots! Regardless of their personal character and ability, the government has tried their best to arrange for these veterans to serve as militia directors and the like, because they have served in the army for a long time, have good obedience and discipline, and still have some loyalty to the army and the government, and this is enough. At least for their living generation, the government's influence in the countryside has not been completely zero.

Of course, some people say that the countryside in Ningshao – or the countryside in Chinese mainland – has been very xenophobic since ancient times, and the cadres arranged by the top are afraid that they will not be able to carry out their work effectively and are doomed to be squeezed out by the clans. Hehe, of course this happens. However, in the Ningshao area, which has experienced the baptism of new culture for decades and the pace of life is gradually getting faster, even the clan elders in the countryside are not ignorant fools, and they also know a little about the situation in the outside world. What's more, the East Coast talent has just broken the Qing army for a few years, and it is the time when the momentum is at its peak, who has a hole in their brains to provoke them? It's really annoying these militia directors who can be called cadres stationed in the village, and they go directly to the government to complain, can you afford it? Do you really want to go to the Kuril Islands or even the bitter cold place like the Black Blind Harbor to be accompanied by black bears?

Therefore, these veterans are generally okay in Ningshao Village, and they can be described as "peaceful" with the clan people, and when government cadres go to the countryside for business, they will generally contact them first. Just like the surveying and mapping team of the Southern Railway Company, the daily food purchase is all entrusted to the militia director, so that he can also earn some money and maintain loyalty to the government for a longer period of time.

"Merchants of the Huizhou Gang?" Yang Wanglin took out a pack of cosmic brand cigarettes from his pocket, and after lighting the cigarette with a match, he took a puff of smoke comfortably, and then asked in surprise: "These guys are moving fast, it seems that they have made up their minds to enter the railway board, hehe, there are ideas, I like it." ”

Yang Wang Zhiyuan is the grandson of Yang Wanglin, the former director of the State Railway Administration on the east coast, and directly entered the Southern Railway Company after graduating from Meilin Railway College (a specialized school for cultivating railway talents run by the State Railway Administration, located in Meilin County). Born in 1653, he is now in the position of deputy director, and he can be regarded as a young and promising cadre, and he is one of the Mesozoic cadres trained by the Southern Railway Company.

Director Yang Wang has been in the Far East for a year, and has been working on the Jiaoyan railway line for the first half of the year, maintaining the railway while also being familiar with the local situation. Later, the news that the Southern Pioneer Team's plan to build the Shangding Railway was approved by the local government came, and the Southern Railway Company began to transfer personnel from within the Jiaoyan Railway System to the south to make preliminary preparations for the construction of the Shangding Railway, and Yang Wang Zhiyuan came to Yuyao County at this time.

Now, he has lived in this small southern county with a very different environment from Denglai in the north for almost half a year. The surveying and mapping work is progressing smoothly, the raising of railway funds is also very smooth, and it is said that a lot of railway equipment has also been produced locally, and it is almost time to load and leave the port - this is the equipment that the government of the Southern Pioneer Team has put out its old face and asked the local Tieling Heavy Industry Consortium, the railway machinery processing plant and other units to produce on credit - if all goes well, civil work can start by this time next year.

Before that, in fact, they were most worried about the issue of fundraising. Don't look at Ningbo's abundant private capital, but no one dares to guarantee whether the money is willing to flow into the railway, after all, this is a new thing, and it is common for everyone to be cautious. However, at present, it seems that Ningshao's merchant group is more enlightened than expected, and after giving them the right to participate in the construction of the railway, they quickly subscribed for a total of 3 million yuan in construction funds, which gives people a new understanding of their financial resources.

The businessman who came to visit Yang Wang Zhiyuan today was a representative of the Huizhou Merchants' Guild, which had subscribed for 600,000 yuan in construction funds. After all, the daily operation of the railway after the completion of the railway still depends on the cadres and staff of the Southern Railway such as Yang Wang Zhiyuan, and everyone will deal with it a lot, and it will not hurt to get acquainted with each other in advance.

Yang Wang Zhiyuan soon met the "forester" at the home of the militia director, and after the two sides exchanged pleasantries, they did not talk about the railway, but talked about the business in the Ningshao area.

"Ningbo's business has developed to this point, and your financial support is really crucial." For the sake of the large number of gifts sent by others, Yang Wang Zhiyuan vigorously touted the merits of the Huizhou Gang businessmen, which made the forester smile with joy.

Of course, although he blows, he is not completely targeted. In fact, Ningbo's business has developed to such an astonishing scale, and the financial sector plays a huge role in economic operation and import and export trade. In addition to the new banks (i.e., the Northwest Reclamation Bank and the Bank of Taiwan), the financial institutions of various names such as money banks, ticket numbers, money shops, silver furnace houses, public adjustment bureaus, pawn shops, etc., are also an important part of the composition of this financial circle, even the most important part, because although there are no accurate figures, it is agreed that their total turnover exceeds that of the new banks run by the government.

Among these private financial institutions, although the local businessmen in Ningbo are extremely strong, the foreign businessmen (mainly Qing businessmen) are not to be underestimated. Taking the Xinyi Money Village opened by Huizhou merchants as an example, the tea in Huizhou and even in southern Anhui is picked, processed, and then transported to Ningbo for sale, and Xinyi Money Village provides one-stop financial services throughout the process, which greatly stimulates the production of tea in Huizhou, and the number of exports to Ningbo is steadily increasing every year, which can be seen.

Now the financial services of these Huizhou merchants have slowly penetrated into the Ningshao area, especially in Yuyao, Shangyu, and Shengxian, which have not been occupied for a long time, and the Huizhou merchants have focused on their operations and have achieved considerable results. In Yinxian, Dinghai, Fenghua, Cixi and other areas of the former Ningbo Prefecture, they were too disadvantaged when competing with local businessmen in Ningbo, so it was better to find another way, first open up the situation in Shangyu, Yuyao, Shengxian and other places, and then find a way to achieve further development in Ningbo and other places.

"Finance is to modern business and industry, like a blood bank, and its significance is extraordinary. Yuyao's silk textile, tea production and marketing and other industries, nine times out of ten, rely on money and banks, which can be said to be the key to the key. Outside of the forester, I've heard of you, your family has already been naturalized on the East Coast, right? This is very good, in the future, Ansheng will develop in Ningshao, if there are any relatives and friends in his hometown, he can call him. Yang Wang Zhiyuan said with a grin.

He knew that Lin Yuanwai was one of the shareholders of Xinyi Qianzhuang, and this money bank was very famous in the Huizhou area. Such a person, if he can be pulled over, then it is definitely a profitable business, just like some Qing merchants who have been naturalized on the East Coast before.

Of course, there are Qing merchants who are willing to naturalize on the east coast, and naturally there are also those who are unwilling. After operating in Ningbo for several years, some people still retain their original identity, and they are still hungry to collect all kinds of knowledge and books on the east coast, and try to pass them back to their hometowns. Objectively, these people played a role in propagating new ideas, new knowledge, and new culture, and they had the attribute of progress, injecting a clear stream into the somewhat dull ideological circles of the Qing Dynasty.

These new things from the outside world were especially valued by the newly rising Han civil and military officials, who especially wanted to know why they had repeatedly lost at the hands of the East Coast. Although the Manchu court was somewhat dissatisfied with this, it had to rely more and more on Han officials when it was surrounded by enemies, so it was not easy to ban these new ideas, and could only accept them selectively. That is, those that are conducive to his rule or the enhancement of national strength are vigorously promoted throughout the country, and the advocacy of republican ideas and a new political system is naturally banned, and of course, anything related to the black history of the Manchu Qing Dynasty cannot be included.

All in all, after so many years of direct and indirect influences – especially after peace with the East Coast and the full opening of trade and borders between the two sides – the Qing state is very different from a few decades ago! Although the magnitude of the change is not as drastic as that of Shunguo, it is still quite impressive. Compared with them, the most backward and corrupt force in Chinese mainland today is the Southern Ming court, which is quite interesting to say.

"Director Yang Wang is right. The previous time, Xiao Lao'er had already written to his family, and more than ten people from his sons and nephews came to Yuyao. Most of these are veterans who have been engaged in the pawnbroking, pen and ink and tea industries for many years, and they have rich experience and will surely be able to contribute to Ningbo's industry and commerce. The forester replied with a smile: "The Great East Coast has created a good business environment for our businessmen since ancient times, everyone cherishes it very much, and they all want to come to Ningshao for development. ”

Yang Wanglin nodded after hearing this, and smiled without saying a word. Of course, he knew that there were many untruths in the words of the foresters, and there were many merchants in Huizhou who were naturalized on the east coast, but there were not a few who did not want to be naturalized, and he had heard of a certain "Sangzi in his heart", and returned to his hometown to write to the Manchu court, requesting the opening of a silver dollar bureau and a copper dollar bureau, using a machine to mint coins, and innovating the currency system, and it was adopted by the imperial court. Cover this Qing Dynasty at that time, for various reasons, the currency circulating on the market is varied, extremely chaotic, including both the east coast of the silver dollar, copper coins, as well as the original silver taels (but the size is different, all depend on weighing, the fineness is also very complicated), the private coins and foreign trade from the European continent silver coins are even more numerous, greatly affecting the development of commerce, "the people are very bitter".

Therefore, after seeing the beautiful shape and uniform color of the currency minted by the East Coast people's machine, the merchant suggested that he buy a hydraulic stamping mint from the East Coast people and dredge the market coinage: the initial plan was to mint large silver dollars (weighing seven coins and two cents), two silver dollars (weighing three coins and six cents), five silver dollars (weighing one coin and four cents), and ten kai silver dollars (weighing seven cents and two cents), as silver coins for uniform use throughout the country. In addition, the Copper Yuan Bureau will also use machines to cast ten copper dollars and two copper coins to unblock the whole country, and even intends to unite many money banks and ticket numbers (especially the one in Shanxi that is strong) to issue money tickets in units of 1,000 copper coins, so as to facilitate daily use and promote commercial development.

There is no doubt that the above measures can greatly increase the fiscal revenue of the Qing government, which is not only the revenue of seigniorage, but also the huge dividends brought about by the great development of industry and commerce in the country after the unification of the currency system, and the dividends of the latter are several times that of the former. These merchant groups chose their hometown and chose to cooperate with the Manchu government, which still made Yang Wanglin very unhappy, but he didn't mind too much. East Coast people pay attention to coming and going casually, free trade, and naturally will not pick up their own brand.

In any case, the merchant groups in Ningbo began to influence all aspects of society more and more, and the Manchu merchant groups, after seeing many new things overseas, also began to indirectly influence national policy through Han officials writing to the imperial court. With the continuous baptism of new foreign ideas, the continuous enhancement of the strength of the merchant group and the increase in the voice of Han officials, this influence will definitely become deeper and deeper.