Chapter 761: A Gluttonous Feast

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it is the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Winter is approaching, and there are already a lot of furs on the market. After reaching a certain number, the number of hunters in the north finally stopped increasing. The output of furs has also reached a roughly stable number.

China has already produced a considerable amount of furs, but the Russians are still shipping furs to China, even if the price and profit of those furs are getting lower and lower.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a major festival in China. Nanjing is decorated with lights and colors. In the days before and after, Nanjing will be rejoicing day and night, singing and dancing until dawn.

As time approaches the end of the year, the residents of Nanjing are increasingly looking to the east - that is, paying attention to the war reports in North America.

Compared with the battle that may end on the west coast of North America, the news that the 19th Division of the Yunnan Frontier Defense Army of the Southwest Military Region entered Myanmar did not attract people's attention at all. A month before this, the whole of China implemented newspaper control, and the news of Myanmar was almost extinct from the newspapers. Tens of millions, hundreds of millions of Chinese people have no idea that in just one month, there were more than 4,000 fights between the Mon and Burmese, large and small fights - that was a fight, how could it be a fight? The total number of casualties on both sides reached more than 30,000, and more than 100,000 Burmese were arrested by the Siamese army. Together with their families, it is estimated that no less than 300,000 Burmese were taken back to the country by the Siamese. This number reached one-tenth of the number of Siamese citizens.

As for those numbers that could not be counted, and the number of Burmese fleeing as a result, the whole of Myanmar became a hell on earth that even the heavens could not bear to watch in July and August.

The Burmese who were severely destroyed by the Siamese really fled westward in large numbers. It is estimated that there are at most one million Burmese living in the territory of Central Myanmar, of which the Burmese may be less than one-third, and most of the rest are Mon people, and a small number of Shan people and Chinese.

There are only a few hundred thousand people in a land the size of two Koreas, and the Mon people, who account for more than half of the population, are relatively friendly to Chen Han. When the Burmese were in power, they were slaves of a conquered country. So since they are all slaves of a conquered country, why not change to a more powerful master?

Maybe some of the Mon people thought so at the beginning.

It's a pity that such a powerful victory cannot attract the attention of Nanjing people. North America, thousands of miles away, is the paradise in their eyes.

There is a vast land comparable to the entire Central Plains. There are no people in the wild land for thousands of miles. There are only some wild people and millions of wild cattle living there, and there are also a large number of wild horses. There are also gold mines, super large gold mines, moderate climate, and moderate rainfall.

Chen Han's tireless propaganda over the years has long formed a deep-rooted impression in the minds of many Chinese people-a country given by God, and North America is a perfect country given by God.

Compared with the vast future of North America, what is Myanmar?

In addition, there is no accurate information about the war situation in North America so far, and the news sent back only says that the final attack has begun. Twenty thousand coalition troops set out from Manzanillo and headed straight for Mexico City. But the final outcome is still unknown in the mainland.

The war in North America is still full of uncertainty, while the war in Myanmar was settled a month ago, and the heads of their kings were made into wine vessels by Tibetans. Who would care about an established fact?

The citizens of Nanjing City are all standing in a relatively neutral position. Almost no one among them will immigrate to North America or Myanmar, so the focus of these people can best represent the emotional tendencies of the vast majority of people in the mainland.

You should know that Chen Han had sent envoys to North America in the middle of last month, and had sent people to Europe earlier. That was last year. Before China and Britain reached the agreement in Jinghai, Chen Ming sent a fleet of two warships to Europe. In addition to carrying some necessities, the warships also conveyed Gao Yanming, who was still stranded in Europe, that all power was in his hands, and he had all the rights to start negotiations with the Spanish royal family and conclude a treaty.

Chen Ming still has this trust in his cousin.

Therefore, during the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, Nanjing was very lively, and many people were already thinking about the beauty of victory in the war. The national debts, war bonds, and land bonds that they bought from banks and stock markets did not even need to wait until the war was won to collect dividends.

Nanjing was the political center of Chen Han. It was not the first time that Chen Han had issued national debts, war bonds, and land bonds in these years. Relying on the good reputation that Chen Han's court had established before - Emperor Chen had never cheated the common people in this regard, the common people and middle and low-level merchants in Nanjing also contributed their own efforts to the court.

Now it was time for them to "harvest".

The final battle situation in North America had not yet been reported back, but few people believed that the expeditionary force would lose.

In fact, since August, the value of North American war bonds and land bonds has begun to rise slowly. Whether it is a land bond issued at a 95% discount or a war bond issued in full, the interest rate is very low. It can be said that even if this kind of bond is used for profit, it will not make much money. But who let China have land now?

The collateral for these bonds, the collateral for those treasury bonds, was the land held by the Chen Han court.

Holding North American war bonds, you can use the price of three yuan per mu of land [bond currency value] to buy land in North America. If you are lucky enough to circle a mine during this period, the minerals belong to you, and the property tax can be halved.

The price of agricultural land at three yuan per mu is a price that makes many people crazy.

And what about war bonds? Its restrictions are wider than North American land bonds. In addition to enjoying all the rights of land bonds, this type of bond can also be used in places outside North America-such as Nanyang, Burma and Nanmingzhou, and in the snowy Xiangzhou and Lake Baikal, while the land price in Nanmingzhou and Xiangzhou is only one yuan per mu. Of course, the mining areas that have been explored still have other prices, but in general, it is much cheaper than buying them directly with money.

The same is true for national debt.

Therefore, the merchants who purchase these bonds are the real source of profit for the small owners of these bonds.

The war bonds with a currency value of only ten yuan, the exchange price offered by the bank, and the interest added up for several years may be less than one yuan, but the merchants who buy these bonds can buy them in large quantities at a price of fifteen or twenty yuan.

It is because the merchants who pay twice the premium still have a lot of benefits in this feast. Therefore, those who wave money to buy bonds are not only the rich and powerful, the big landlords, but also the big merchants.

Perhaps some people will say that since bonds are so profitable, why didn't these big merchants just pay for the bonds? Did they have no confidence in Chen Han?

Of course not.

No one said that these big merchants didn't buy bonds at the beginning. It's just that everyone's financial resources are limited, the working capital is limited, and people's greed is unlimited. No one will stop doing a business because the profit of a business has dropped from 200% or 300% in the past to 100% or 50% now.

It is still a lucrative business, and the profit is already a lot, but it is less than in the past.

This is also a kind of national interest party. The audience for making money is the entire group, not just the top merchants.

This can stimulate the centripetal force and cohesion of the people of the whole country, and also allow the national government to build its own prestige, majesty and credit, build its own credibility, and build the national character of the whole country.

Wealth is gathered from countless people to the country, and the country then invests this wealth in the war - snowflakes of orders fall into the hands of merchants, and snowflakes of banknotes fall into the hands of soldiers and military families. Thus, a good cycle is formed.

The entire war cost countless, and a large part of the funds raised by these bonds and treasury bonds were invested in the treasury, smoothing out a lot of the court's fiscal deficits. In a few years, the amount involved in the entire loan body was in units of 100 million yuan. It was not these funds that were wrong. Chen Han had no money long ago.

And these bonds and treasury bonds were transformed into land property rights owned by nobles and merchants themselves in the "division of interests" after the victory of the war, into land capital under the names of large and medium-sized companies and enterprises, and into their fixed assets and their respective heritage.

As time goes by, science and technology grow and develop, and the population multiplies, these things will sooner or later earn them huge profits. Businessmen may have short-sightedness. After the final fight and merger, the merchants who have invested in the bond market will eventually survive and become invincible in the future.

This time may be long or short.

Perhaps the people who are making trouble now will become only one in ten in ten years, and only one in a hundred in twenty years, but this can only mean that the game in the business world also requires a long-term vision. The real gold can only be seen after the big waves wash away the sand. This sentence applies not only to the group, but also to the guests.

What Chen Ming wants to do is never to share wealth with the middle and upper classes of society. All he needs is a good interest cycle.

The court relies on war to seize land, and merchants and dignitaries "borrow money" from the court to let the army go to war, and then part of the land obtained belongs to the merchants and dignitaries who borrowed the money. This is a very healthy interest cycle.

The common people don't need to look far ahead, they only see money. Every time there is a "gluttonous feast", there are always common people who are out early. They know that the bonds in their hands may rise sharply in the future, but they can't resist the temptation of immediate interests, so they sell the bonds in their hands to the buyers early, and then watch the bonds rise sharply, calculate how much money they have lost and regret it, but when the next opportunity comes, they can't control themselves...

Or they have been holding on to the rare goods, asking for a very high price, so that they really hold on to them in the end.

In this drama, there are all kinds of life, nothing is strange.

These common people gather in groups of three or two on the river bank, lakeside, riverside, flower boat, courtyard, both sides or on the tower, chatting with each other or really looking at the moon in the sky, and one by one, the Politburo of mouth cannons is established in such opportunities.

The common people are always very curious about the movements of the officialdom and the royal family.

The gossip party is by no means a product unique to the 21st century. At this time, the scale of the gossip party in Nanjing is also expanding.

Anyway, the Chen Han Dynasty is not like the Qing Dynasty. Although there is no explicit provision that does not commit a crime of speech, it has really relaxed the rules for the people. And making a mouthful of nonsense is always the favorite of ordinary people.

Besides, the current Nanjing City is under the feet of the emperor, and they are the people under the imperial city. If you imagine the Beijing brothers in the previous life, you can also reflect the current Nanjing City. Everyone is a joke teller!

Compared with the officials and nobles who are worried about being punished or even losing their jobs if they say something wrong, these ordinary people are bolder and more unscrupulous when they are in the mood.

For example, for the upcoming election of the third cabinet members, and the court recommendation that is about to be officially implemented, the red line is still drawn to the third rank. Whether it is the third rank or the third rank, you can express your own suggestions for the candidates of cabinet ministers. However, in addition to the senior officials in the court, the nobles can now also express their opinions, but they must be above the earl, no matter whether they are noble or noble, at least the county earl.

Noble-county earl is equivalent to the third rank, and noble county earl is equivalent to the third rank; and so on:

Noble-marquis is equivalent to the second rank, and noble marquis is equivalent to the second rank. Then there are dukes, but not princes.

For a certain position, they have the right to recommend candidates they approve of, and then the emperor will recruit people to summarize and decide on a list of candidates - five to seven people. Then the third-rank civil officials in Beijing and the local areas can recommend candidates based on this list.

This matter can certainly be public relations, but if "public relations" can turn it into not bribery, it will test people.

This is a real craft and a great knowledge.

China is building this knowledge bit by bit from scratch, which requires strong observation and insight into the other party's thoughts and needs. Perhaps there is no way to avoid the exchange of interests, but this will also be of great help to China's future politics.

At least Chen Ming thinks so.

Let him think about the word "public relations" himself. If you remove public relations corruption, eating, drinking, entertainment, flirting or bribery, there will only be a little bit of interest exchange in Chen Ming's brain.

He himself is also ignorant of this. So he can only hope that his ministers can turn their smart heads and complete this proposition well.

Moreover, the time has come for the eldest prince to find a wife. The whole of Nanjing, the whole of Jiangnan, and the whole world are watching this matter. The busybodies in Nanjing ranked the ladies of the right age in the capital, which can be said to be extremely bold.

…

Beside the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, at Gao Leisi's mansion. In a small room with a closed door, a middle-aged maid in her thirties or forties was carefully writing down what she had seen and heard in the past few days in a notebook.

"This place is extremely wealthy. Every citizen is well-dressed and has a ruddy complexion. I have been in this city for a month and have never seen a beggar. I heard that all the beggars and poor people in this country were sent to Southeast Asia, Northeast China, and North America, and each person can get five acres of land. Here, white bread is available in every family, and meat is often available.

... The city is extremely prosperous. There are shops on both sides of the street. There are shops in every corner of the city, which are filled with goods shipped from all over the world. Some fine products that are hard to see in Europe can be seen everywhere here. And the price is several times cheaper...

The whole city is covered with cement and stone. The former paves the streets, and the latter is more paved than the former. It is more beautiful, especially the avenue in the center of the city, which is wide enough for ten carriages to run side by side. It is said that hundreds of thousands of bluestone slabs were consumed in total. There are many large shops on both sides, which are very luxuriously decorated. Most of them sell high-end luxury goods such as gold and silver treasures, precious silks, jade jewelry, etc., with a total number of more than 500.

Qinhuai River is the main entertainment area of ​​the city. It performs dramas, variety shows, puppet shows, acrobatics, shadow plays, storytelling and other operas day and night. Tens of thousands of citizens and businessmen come here for fun and leisure every day.

They have countless populations, well-trained navy and army, advanced weapons and huge wealth.

Men here generally know how to shoot guns, because the Chinese government has set up a large number of special shooting ranges in private places, and you can shoot here for very little money. There are a lot of paper bullets fired here. I can feel that many Chinese men like to shoot guns. Every year, the community will hold shooting competitions, archery competitions, bare-handed fighting competitions, weapon fighting competitions, and horseback shooting competitions.

The Chinese government gives great support to such events.

In addition, people here will flock to the sports field before the holidays, and football is loved by the public here. So much so that a league project based on football games has been successfully held in many large cities in China.

…………, China has its own beliefs. The native Taoism and the localized Buddhism introduced from India have a profound influence here. There are small temples and Taoist temples on many streets. It is difficult for the Lord's holy light to light up here, not only because of the original beliefs here, but also because The cultural tradition of worshipping ancestors.

The Chinese respect their ancestors very much and hold special sacrificial activities at different times every year. Some rules of the Vatican touch their bottom line.

As a person loyal to Paris, the only thing I am glad about is that this huge country is too far away from Europe, but this does not make us sit back and relax. The earth is getting smaller, this is what the Chinese say, and the connections between the continents of the world are becoming more and more numerous and more and more convenient.

Maybe I will not see the day when Chinese people appear in large numbers in Europe, but I think my children and grandchildren will always see it.

One day they will appear in Europe, and perhaps they will deal with white people like the Spaniards dealt with the Indians in the New World...

..."

The maid carefully checked the contents of the notebook, gently closed it, locked it in the cabinet in her room, and finally tidied her clothes, opened the door and walked out.

Then, she was going to work.