Qing Yao

Chapter 108 No one can delay Teacher Zhao
Given that Lao Ding is currently just a member of the speculative camp and has not yet developed a grand historical perspective, Zhao An cannot tell him that in order to completely get rid of the debt, it would be best to kill the creditor's entire family. Only in this way can he achieve true financial freedom without worry and smoothly pass on his wealth to his descendants without having to worry about the creditor's descendants suing him.

If they really gave him a little more information, Old Ding would probably hang himself tonight.

After all, Old Ding, who came from a traditional scholar-official background, had a heavy ideological burden, and as a member of a vested interest group, it was difficult for him to have the awareness to transcend his own class and fight against the old master's family with Teacher Zhao.

We can't just throw away those we've managed to get on board; the local officials with real power still wield considerable influence.

If you want to keep getting loans from the old man's bank, the best way is definitely to package it, package it, and package it again.

This is why Zhao An reported the concept of industrializing education to the head office in the capital through the manager of the money shop.

As long as Zhongtang believes that this PPT project is indeed a quick way to make money, Zhao Youlu will not only enjoy Zhongtang's special treatment, but will also be able to continuously bring the old master's money into his own home.

Since the old man still has nine years until he passes away, Zhao An definitely has to repay the money within those nine years; otherwise, the debt will likely explode before the old man even passes away.

Borrow 100,000 and repay 10,000; borrow 1 million and repay 100,000. In short, it's like maintaining a credit card account—you have to satisfy the bank staff while rapidly increasing your credit limit to become the biggest debtor in the country.

At the same time, we must continuously enhance our personal value.

What is the best embodiment of personal value?
Of course, it refers to official rank and grade.

A seventh-rank official can borrow 100,000 taels, and a sixth-rank official can borrow 200,000 taels. If a governor or provincial treasurer doesn't borrow a few million taels to spend, he would be doing a disservice to such a lucrative source of money.

There's too much information; Lao Ding needs to go back and think about it carefully to digest it.

While we're at it, let's brainwash Lao Song a bit more, forming a small trio that uses loans to pay off other loans.

After wandering around for a while, Zhao An found his way to the Salt Commissioner's Office in Lianghuai. He handed over his business card, explained his purpose, and slipped in a two-tael red envelope. The gatekeeper hurriedly went to inform him, and soon came out to respectfully invite Professor Zhao to sit in the Commissioner's office.

Censor Zheng Bowen was writing "internal reference" materials, which, apart from daily trivial matters, included the rare story of a "Loyal Professor" emerging in Yangzhou.

Despite being a former bricklayer in the Imperial Household Department's Construction Division, Lao Zheng mastered the basic format of report writing through self-study, and his writing was no less impressive than that of seasoned officials.

He showed the materials to Zhao An in front of him.

After reading it, Zhao An nodded repeatedly. Old Zheng's writing was at least 80 points, if not 90. Despite feeling extremely distressed, he gritted his teeth and took out all his savings from his working years and placed them in front of Old Zheng.

Based on legal wage levels, this is roughly his total wage income over three hundred years.

Apart from two 1,000-tael notes, the rest were small denominations of 500 and 300, forming a thick stack.

The paper and size of those banknotes looked similar to those of large denomination Hong Kong dollars in later generations.

"Lord Zhao is straightforward, and I am equally forthright. Rest assured, my memorial will be sent to the capital tomorrow. Lord Zhao, please go back and wait for the good news."

Old Zheng casually pinched the banknotes in his hand, counted them without even looking, and put them into the drawer on the lower right side of the table.

Drawers aren't something that only appeared on office desks in later times; they existed as early as the Tang and Song dynasties, specifically for storing important materials, including valuable items.

There was no receipt, no promise, just a message to be sent back.

Is it really that hard to ask someone for a favor?

Zhao An had no choice but to obediently go back and wait for news. He had no connections in the capital.

If Old Zheng wasn't lying to him, he would submit the materials to the capital tomorrow, probably one after the other with the money shop. On one hand, there was loyalty in his heart, and on the other hand, there was a money-making expert, and with the advanced deeds of voluntarily paying the penalty money, Zhao An couldn't imagine how the Grand Secretary would view him, or how the old master would comfort him.

Liu Xiaolou returned to the office to report for duty. It was through the request of the county school instructor, Song, that Master Ji helped with the transfer.

Liu Xiaolou was a temporary worker in the tax office. Zhao An had specially transferred him here, so he was sure to give him the treatment of a clerk. Therefore, he instructed the vice principal, Ma Xuezheng, to process Liu Xiaolou's formal employment procedures at the prefectural school, and to pay him double the salary.

With one copy from the tax office and one copy from the prefectural school, Liu Xiaolou was overjoyed, thinking that working with Brother Zhao meant there was hope for the future.

In fact, Liu Xiaolou knew Zhao An's true identity, but he did not know that the "Lord Zhao" referred to by everyone in the prefectural school was not called Zhao An in the official records, but Zhao Youlu.

Cousin Wang Wanquan was assigned to be the director of the school office by Zhao An, but Liu Xiaolou was not assigned to any department by Zhao An. Instead, he was made Zhao An's personal attendant so that Zhao An could run errands and handle things for him, which would save Zhao An a lot of trouble.

The first thing Liu Xiaolou did when he got to work was to be sent by Zhao An to the Xiaguan Wharf to inquire whether Sun Laosi had returned.

“If he comes back, tell him you’re going to meet him at our usual spot to discuss something.”

Previously, when Zhao An was doing certification work at the Tax Bureau, he hired a group of Green Gang members. When Liu Xiaolou dealt with these people, he learned that Zhao An had also sent invitations to the Green Gang members, but he didn't think much of it because such things were common and nothing to be surprised about.

For the next few days, Zhao An had nothing much to do except take some time to have a casual meal with Ma Xuezheng and the people from Tongzhaihang.

At the dinner table, it was officially agreed that the dormitory project for temporary students would be fully funded by Zhaihang, and the profits would be split 40/60 afterwards.

There's a problem: not all tenants are willing to move for the sake of local education, and some landlords are taking the opportunity to raise rents, so local coordination is necessary.

Zhao An made a special trip to the county government to visit Lao Ding, who, without a word, instructed the yamen to send dozens of yamen runners to assist the Zhaihang in clearing out the debts.

Even so, there are still some difficult and troublesome ones.

It's not that I'm really reluctant to move out of the rental, but I hope to get more compensation.

However, Zhao An treated everyone equally and was unwilling to give these troublemakers more compensation, because he felt it would be unfair to the tenants who agreed to move out.

The landlords, on the other hand, had heard that the school was going to implement a policy of allowing students to transfer to other schools. They believed that once there were more students, the surrounding houses and shops would definitely increase their prices. There was no reason why the school would benefit so much that they wouldn't even get a sip of the soup.

This has led to a number of companies collectively raising prices.

Not much, just double it.

That is indeed a market economy behavior.

However, the landlords' idea of ​​collectively raising prices did not align with Zhao An's interests, and Zhai Xing was also unwilling to be the sucker. In addition, which of the landlords did not have relatives or friends working in the government, both legitimate and illegitimate? As a result, Zhai Xing's efforts were somewhat stalled.

The matter was quickly reported to Zhao An. The large-scale enrollment was scheduled for next month, and if the dormitory project was not implemented quickly, where would the students live?

How can you charge money if there's nowhere for someone to stay?

"The imperial examination system is a long-term plan for the imperial court, and the students are the future of Yangzhou. This matter concerns the success of the examinations, and we cannot allow these short-sighted people to delay it!"

At the coordination meeting with relevant personnel from Zhaixing and Ganquan County, Zhao An first set the tone, then threw a list in front of the relevant personnel and said in a very tough tone: "From today onwards, all people on the list must stop their current work, and their monthly salary will also be suspended. They are to go and persuade their families to agree to rent a house. They can return to the yamen when they have succeeded. If they cannot succeed, they can stop doing this job."

Finally, let me emphasize: "No matter who it is!"

(End of this chapter)