The Great Seminary

Chapter 6: The Fire Eater
The caravan arrived at the town hall, the center of power in Blackwood Town.

According to the system of the Ming and Song dynasties, towns and villages were the most basic administrative units, with public offices and managed by the ninth-rank town or township officials.

Under them were various "chiefs", who were ninth-rank officials and were in charge of taxation, public security, agriculture, animal husbandry, water conservancy and other responsibilities.

However, overseas private yamen like Kuroki Town was adapted to local conditions. Apart from the chief steward Zhang Yan, there were more than twenty officials under him, which was quite bloated.

The caravan entered an office whose regulations were comparable to those of a county government office in the imperial court.

In the main hall, I saw Zhang Yan, who was wearing a black official uniform of the ninth rank, and two stewards, who were wearing brown official uniforms with black patches and the ninth rank.

Zhang Yan is a seven-foot-tall man with a square face and thick eyebrows, and he has an awe-inspiring demeanor.

Although he is already in his seventies, he looks like a middle-aged man, speaks in a gentle and friendly manner, like a serious official in the court who is both civil and military.

As soon as they met, he called out Zhang Jiujiang, "Who is Zhang Jiujiang, the new manager of Luan Ya?"

Zhang Jiujiang swallowed his saliva, lowered his head, and stepped out from the crowd, raising his hand and saying, "Steward, I am Zhang Jiujiang."

"An isolated island overseas cannot possibly receive the emperor's grace, so in order to intimidate the foreign court, the barbarians are given other names.

Manager Zhang can be called 'official' and I can be called Zhenzheng."

"Yes, yes, nice to meet Zhenzheng." Zhang Jiujiang said readily.

Seeing that he was obedient, Zhang Yan's expression softened. He instructed the servant beside him, "Go and bring up the clothes of the Jiujiang official.

Xihui, Jiujiang's elder brother is the new top student in our clan. He must be a talented young man.

Is there any important position vacant in this town?"

Guan Xihui, who was sitting at the lower right with a three-goat beard and a teacher-like appearance, twirled his beard and replied awkwardly:

"There are already twenty-seven town officials, and the positions are full."

Zhang Jiujiang's heart sank when he heard this.

Fortunately, Zhang Yan seemed to think highly of him and said thoughtfully, “It’s okay for an ordinary person.

It is not easy for a talented person like Jiujiang to stay idle. He needs to have a "position" to be successful.

If it really doesn't work, just make a dent and let him do it.

Well, the town has been prosperous in the past two years, and a new Dongfang City has been built. Let’s separate it from the management of Chief Yajō and let Chief Jiujiang manage it.

What do you think, Jiujiang official?

The temple is small and the wind is strong, and the pond is shallow and there are many bastards.

Zhang Gui, who was present, knew that Zhang Yan was setting a trap as soon as he heard what he said, but he had no way to remind his friends at this time.

What's more, Zhang Jiujiang is no longer a loser student in a private school, but an official in Hei Mu Town. Blocking someone's future is like killing his parents.

Even if he could block it, could he stop it?

As expected, Zhang Jiujiang agreed with a happy expression: "It's all up to you, Lord Zhenzheng."

"Since this is the case, Xihui, you can take the Jiujiang officials with you to take up your posts."

Guan Xihui had a strange smile on his face, "Yes."

He left with Zhang Jiujiang, who had changed his clothes.

Most of the remaining caravan members are veterans, with Zhang Gui being the only newcomer.

Zhang Yan actually noticed him, but just asked a question indifferently and then casually assigned him to the new official Zhang Jiujiang.

Then someone explained to Zhang Gui:
Kuroki Town was built around the mining of iron ore and the imitation of weapons and armor.

For decades, it has insisted on not only producing and selling its own products but also bartering, and has gradually become an overseas trade center with the circulation of weapons as the link.

The Zhang family of Pingyang was the master of this place, and even a small servant like Zhang Gui was superior, not having to sell his labor. This insider information was unknown to Zhang Gui on the mainland, and it made him look up to Zhang Yan, the founder of Heimu Town, and he felt that he had to be more cautious in his dealings with him.

After the elder brother who was giving him pre-employment training finished his words, he gave Zhang Gui a few pieces of paper with a secret seal and said proudly:
"The big businesses on the shore all have their own flying notes, which are exchanged for gold and silver. These are the flying notes of our Kuroki Town.

In the town, all official transactions must be done using this flying banknote.

I wanted to leave the town and exchange gold and silver for a lot of money at the bank.

These ten taels of silver are the custom money for you to support your waist.

From then on, in addition to the regular salary from the business, I also received three or two taels of hard-earned money from the town every month.

If you work for Zhenzheng for a day, you can earn a day's salary. You should remember this favor."
The economic systems of the countries in Dongshengzhou are all based on the "gold standard", supplemented by silver and copper as general equivalents for small and medium-sized trade.

In normal years, one tael of pure gold could be exchanged for twenty-eight to thirty-two taels of pure silver.

One tael of pure silver can be exchanged for about one hundred copper-zinc brass coins.

One copper coin could buy two fist-sized, steaming steamed buns, or a fragrant, hot sesame fire cake...

Half an hour later, they were assigned a tiled house on the west side of a quadrangle courtyard as their residence.

After settling down and getting a half-day holiday, Zhang Gui took the silver and money he had exchanged at the bank.

I spent three copper coins to buy two steamed buns and two sesame cakes, and ate them while walking on the street. I recalled that when I was exchanging money at the bank just now, the merchant next to me exchanged a stack of silver banknotes for a plate of gold ingots, and no one asked a single question.

He once again looked up to the economic strength, security environment and Zhang Yan's control over Heimu Town.

There are dragons and pythons hidden in the grass. It would be fine if such a person does not encounter an opportunity to rise to power, but once he encounters an opportunity, he may become a dragon and a fish.

"Damn it, it's true that troubled times bring about chaos.

The Ming and Song dynasties had just had a tyrant ruler who brought disaster to the world for more than a decade, and there were already so many talented people ready to take action.

I finally became an adult and seized a great opportunity, and ended up meeting a small python on a deserted island overseas.

Isn’t Zhang Yan like me, the illegitimate son of a bureaucratic capitalist family, but actually comes from the proletariat and working people?

He doesn't look like a time traveler.

How come they are carrying out currency reform overseas and using it to carry out financial kidnapping of their subordinates?

Is this reasonable? This is unreasonable! "

After taking a big bite of the sesame pancake, he strode back to the yard where he lived.

The city intelligence has been collected almost completely, and it is time to plan your future actions based on the newly acquired intelligence.

The courtyard where Zhang Gui lived was located on Duofu Street in Heimu Town, which was Zhang Gui's street.

The houses are similar in size, all square with a courtyard at the entrance.

It is surrounded by four tiled houses in the east, south, west and north directions.

There is a well in the courtyard, and there is also a jujube tree planted in the yard where Zhang Gui lives.

The tree canopy covers the entire yard, and it is difficult to see the sunlight even at noon.

All the other guys in the yard were working, but Zhang Gui went home, lit a fire, and roasted the sweet potatoes and ground beans he had just bought.

The fire brought warmth to the cold house.

He sat on the stool, stretched comfortably, and tentatively put his tongue into the fire.

At the moment when the tip of his tongue touched the flame, the fire turned into a stream of fire and penetrated into Zhang Gui's abdomen, and the stove went out with a "whoosh".

A wisp of green smoke rose from the surface of the coke and slowly dissipated.

(End of this chapter)