50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 639 A Devout and Great Cause
“If it gets damaged, we’ll need to replace it. We can’t possibly pay for that ourselves, can we?” Sun Zhiwei said to Owen, startling him.

This Irving is an orphan who grew up in a church.

Although he received Bishop Wilson's full support because of his piety and excellent academic performance, he worked in the church after graduation and did not have much savings.

"Ah, but I don't have much money." Owen quickly shook his head nervously.

"Those who don't have money, shut up. Take notes." Sun Zhiwei pointed to the notebook, signaling him to be quiet.

“Oh, okay.” Father Owen could only shut up and bury his head in taking notes.

"What I was talking about were wall tiles, which cost $1 each. These materials are mostly donated by ordinary believers."

“We’ll let the wealthier believers donate other expensive items.”

“The cost of a marble slab is $5, so the ‘real name marble slab’ will be priced at $100.”

"The beams and pillars are made of precious wood, and the transportation distance is very long, so they are quite expensive. That means they are priced at $1000 per beam."

"The glass panels are all locally made, which makes them cheaper, but they are also the most easily damaged, so they are priced at $50 each."

"That's about it. If there are any other building materials in the building that can be engraved, do the same for them all. Do you understand?"

"Understood, I've written it all down." Good, although his mind isn't the sharpest, his execution is fine, and that's enough.

"Okay, that's not enough. We also need to erect a monument to commemorate this righteous act."

“Choose an exterior wall on the completed building and have all the donors’ names engraved on it.”

"With a wall like this, if the letters are written in a small size, it's no problem to carve tens of thousands of names."

“And the main donors can even have their own monuments erected in their honor.”

"They've spent a lot of money and made a great contribution; you can't expect them to remain unknown, can you?"

"Isn't it right to write down their names so that future generations can admire them?"

“The inscription can say something like: On such and such a day, a gentleman/madam donated a temple. The Lord will see his offering. Amen.”

"Even thousands of years from now, people will remember this stone tablet. It was because of their contributions that this church was built. What a devout and great undertaking this was."

In just half an hour, Sun Zhiwei explained this crowdfunding trick for building temples, which was frequently used in mainland China in later years.

Back then, it was so common for believers to contribute bricks and tiles, money and labor, to help others build a new temple.

At this point in time, no one has used this tactic before, but he can guarantee that it will definitely work.

I gave the church three ideas, one big and two small, and that was about it.

As for more elaborate items like marriage charms, love locks, couple trees, eternal lamps, sutra copying, as well as activities like releasing animals, consecrating, blessing, and offering the first incense, those are a bit complicated and not suitable for St. John's Cathedral at the moment.

Actually, the three things that are more popular are seeking education, having children, and making money. If you can achieve these three things, you're sure to have a lot of money coming in.

Unfortunately, this is someone else's church. If it were his own church, he would definitely have put all these things up.

For now, there's no need for that.

However, it wouldn't be accurate to say that these barbarians are stupid.

At least they started selling indulgences in the Middle Ages; they still had some tricks for getting something for nothing, it's just that those methods aren't popular now.

By the time Sun Zhiwei and his wife came out of the church, it was already evening. He felt too embarrassed to have dinner there. The bishop, to save money, only ate mashed potatoes and onions for dinner.

As for red wine and black tea, those are necessities for the church, used to enhance its prestige when serving to the public, but their standards are noticeably lower when catering to guests inside.

Tong Jiajia, however, was not very clear about the situation of the church. She asked somewhat confusedly, "Is St. John's Church rich or poor?"

"We have money. But we can't act rashly."

"What do you mean?"

“This church is the property of the Anglican Church, but because it has always been in deficit, Bishop Wilson was sent here to manage it.”

"Of course, these managers are not like company employees who can be dismissed at any time. As long as Bishop Wilson manages things properly and doesn't make any major mistakes, he won't be transferred."

"But Wilson was placed in this position with a mission: to continue building St. John's Cathedral."

"According to the original plan, this church is only half-built now, and there are still many buildings to be constructed."

“Normally, every month, the church sets aside a certain percentage of its income into a reserve fund for the ongoing construction of the church.”

"Although this deposit is a drop in the bucket for building the church, the actual amount is not small. I estimate it to be around a million dollars."

"That's why I said they have money."

"But this money isn't readily available; it can't be used casually. If Wilson borrows it temporarily, he'll have to pay it back quickly."

"In this way, the church is short of funds. Wilson actually has very limited funds at his disposal, so they live very frugally."

“Red wine and black tea are both high-end goods,” Tong Jiajia suddenly added.

"It's just for show. They only bring it out to serve us because we are their guests. They don't usually drink these things themselves."

"Didn't you notice the documents on the bishop's desk? That's the budget for next month's church activities."

"I see there's a lot of deleted or altered content. Our bishop is also racking his brains over next month's expenses, haha."

"But will the ideas you give them really work?"

"It works, it's effective, I'm not lying about this."

“If they do as I say, the financial situation of St. John’s Church will improve significantly in three months at most. Just you wait and see.”

Sun Zhiwei smugly shook his head and returned to the church parking lot with Tong Jiajia.

Zhu Hongfei, Zhao Wanting, and Du Qiaoqiao, who were waiting there, drove two cars to escort them back to their home near Central Park.

As for team leader Dong Haoyang, he is currently leading a team to inspect the security measures of various companies.

He has been appointed by Sun Zhiwei as a detective at Pinkerton, primarily responsible for corporate security.

Originally, the four members of their security team were introduced by Xu Yimin because they had family difficulties.

Sun Zhiwei paid them quite well: Zhu Hongfei, Zhao Wanting, and Du Qiaoqiao each received $5000 a month, and Dong Haoyang, as the team leader, received an additional $500.

In addition, there are daily subsidies for clothing, transportation, food, and insurance, which adds up to $1000 per person.

(End of this chapter)