Even if Zhao Fuxiang is as thick-skinned as a city wall, he still can't accept it when Zhang Wenming gave him Jin Liang's nickname.

Zhao Fuxiang said sternly: "Brother Zhang, isn't this cousin a bit too strong? I have little talent and little knowledge, so I really can't handle it!"

Zhang Wenming glared: "What are you afraid of? Although Brother Yu is not a big shot, he is still quite famous in Qiongzhou Prefecture. If anyone dares to laugh at you, just say that this cousin was chosen by Brother Yu for you. Let's see who dares to say more?"

Zhang Wenming has the style of a madman from the Wei and Jin Dynasties. He could even give himself the nickname Junfeng to commemorate Hai Rui. It was not a big deal to give Zhao Fuxiang Jinliang. Although Zhao Fuxiang was not satisfied with this nickname, he

I was afraid of offending Zhang Wenming, so I had no choice but to grit my teeth and accept it.

By this time, the dishes and drinks had been put out, and the rice wine had been cooked. Zhao Fuxiang quickly got up and poured a glass of rice wine for Zhang Wenming, and then said, "I would like to thank Brother Zhang for the gift of words today!"

Zhang Wenming drank and asked with a smile: "Brother Xian, you have spent so much effort, don't you really want to invite Brother Yu to a bar?"

Zhao Fuxiang's little thought was exposed, but this guy was very thick-skinned. He laughed to ease the embarrassment, and then said: "Brother Zhang, I really want to ask Brother Zhang for help with something!"

After Zhao Fuxiang finished speaking, he stood up and opened the window. The Guangdong Building is in Dongcheng, not far from the Nandu River Pier. Standing upstairs, you can clearly see every move at the terminal.

Zhao Fuxiang pointed to the rows of shacks beside the Nandu River pier and said: "Brother Zhang, as a person from Qiongzhou, can't you see the tens of thousands of refugees outside the city? Or is it just a show of indignation that you showed just now, Brother Zhang?

Are you just trying to gain fame and reputation like ordinary scholars?"

The refugees from the south are basically concentrated outside Dongcheng. It is the closest to the dock and can do some odd jobs. It is also close to the Nandu River and the water source is guaranteed. However, there are a large number of refugees gathered outside Dongcheng, and the smell is unpleasant, so the people in Fucheng

The entrance and exit of people were changed to the south gate.

"Brother Zhang, you scholars, as carnivores, just watch these common people suffer? They fled thousands of miles to Qiongzhou, and were bullied by subordinate officials. Not only did they sell their children, but their own lives were at risk.

It can’t be saved, Brother Zhang, shouldn’t you think of some ways to do something?”

Zhao Fuxiang's words really made Zhang Wenming blush. Zhang Wenming sighed and said: "These foolish brothers have also thought that the government will give up some porridge from time to time, but the number of refugees is too large. Too many monks and too little porridge will not help the urgent situation!"

After hearing what Zhang Wenming said, Zhao Fuxiang sat down and poured another glass of wine for Zhang Wenming, and then said: "Brother Zhang, I have a way to solve this problem! The number of refugees is too large and we cannot rely on relief alone. We can have the government provide guarantee to let the people in the city

The merchants' workshops hire these refugees, which not only ensures a way for the refugees to survive, but also allows the merchants in the city to hire low-cost labor. What do you think, Brother Zhang?"

The method proposed by Zhao Fuxiang is indeed feasible, but it is not that Zhang Wenming has never tried it. Not to mention the merchants in the city, it is difficult to communicate with the scholars. They all promised to provide money and food, but when it came to the actual implementation, they failed.

Just talking nonsense and refusing to show any actual benefits.

Zhang Wenming had long been disappointed with these intellectuals and wealthy households. Now that he heard that Zhao Fuxiang wanted to rely on them to solve the refugee problem, Zhang Wenming became angry and laughed angrily: "Humph, you want to rely on those guys who have nothing to lose, it's just a daydream!"

Of course, Zhao Fuxiang knew that he could not trust these guys, but Zhao Fuxiang believed Ma Shengren's words even more: If there is a 20% profit, capital will be ready to move; if there is a 50% profit, the capital will take risks; if there is a 50% profit, the capital will take risks;

If there is a 100% profit, capital will dare to risk hanging; if there is a 300% profit, capital will dare to trample all laws in the world.

Zhang Wenming, you only use big principles to deceive others. Those scholars are not fools. Who would do it if it doesn’t bring any benefit at all?

Zhao Fuxiang chuckled and said, "Brother Zhang, you just need to introduce me to them, and the rest will be handled by yourself!"

Zhang Wenming didn't believe that Zhao Fuxiang could accomplish this, but seeing that he was committed to it, he agreed to come down and help him. After all, the tens of thousands of refugees outside the city would benefit from this success.

In fact, the reason why Zhao Fuxiang is willing to put in so much effort is not because he really wants to pity the refugees because they are well fed, but because the development of the Zhao family has encountered a bottleneck, which is the problem of manpower.

When I went back this time, Zhao Fuxiang found that his family was prospering, but many projects could not be advanced because of lack of manpower. Zhao Zhikuan only had more than 40 people. If he wanted to build a brick factory, he could not build anything else. This was especially true for Zhao Fuxiang's sugar factory.

In fact, this was also a problem encountered in the early stages of the British Industrial Revolution. When machinery could not be widely used in the early stages, the only way to engage in large-scale industrialization was to use manpower.

Zhao Fuxiang also saw this, but the Ming Dynasty was different from the UK. The UK could pass legislation to give farmers a certain degree of freedom, and forced landless farmers to work in factories through the sheep cannibalism incident. However, in the Ming Dynasty, most of the farmers were stuck in the countryside due to land issues.

On the land, especially in a vast and sparsely populated foreign land like Hainan Island, even the lowest military households can be allocated three to five acres of military land. Although they cannot make a fortune, they can basically survive.

This is also the reason why the Zhao family has traveled through time for more than a month, and Zhao Zhikuan still has only more than forty people. In order to quickly develop his power, it is definitely not possible to hire locals as laborers through legal means, so Zhao Fuxiang focused his attention outside the city.

On those refugees.

Because these refugees are outsiders, the locals in Qiongzhou Prefecture do not like them very much. In addition to the government's secret oppression, the gangs on the dock also attack these poor people. With the combination of these two factors, the lives of the refugees are really miserable.

Although Zhao Fuxiang wanted to help these refugees and solve his own problem of lack of manpower, Zhao Fuxiang was also a foreigner. Without the help of the government, it was basically impossible to complete this task.

This was one of the reasons why Zhao Fuxiang came into contact with Zhang Wenming. He wanted to use Zhang Wenming's prestige to open up relations with the government, gain manpower and at the same time win over the relationship between the government and the local ruling class. This was Zhao Fuxiang's plan.

Zhao Fuxiang, who was born in an officialdom, knew very well that China is an official-centered mentality. Without the endorsement of the government, it is basically a fantasy for an outsider to develop industry stably. At the same time, in addition to the government, Zhao Fuxiang also has to win over local scholars, and he can only connect with these local scholars.

If we come together and form a community of interests, our position in Hainan will be as stable as Mount Tai.

Therefore, Zhao Fuxiang must make good friends with Zhang Wenming. Although this guy is a bit angry and has a very bad character among the literati in Qiongzhou Prefecture. But Zhang Wenming’s teacher is so awesome that even those literati are annoyed with him to death.

But it also needs to be greeted with a smile.

After preliminary discussions were completed, the food and wine had been served. Zhao Fuxiang asked the waiter to find the singer who sang the ditty. The three of them exchanged glasses in the box and started drinking.

Zhang Wenming was very angry at being plotted against by Kong Shouzhen today. At that moment, he asked under the influence of wine: "Kong Shouzhen, I am so foolish that I, Zhang, regard you as a friend, but you plotted against Zhang!"

Zhang Wenming had already called him by his first name very rudely. Kong Shouzhen knew that his boss was asking for help from Zhang Wenming, so it was inconvenient to get angry. He could only pick up the wine glass and said: "Brother Zhang, please forgive me for this resentful little brother!"

Chinese people have always paid attention to face. Now that Kong Shouzhen has bowed his head and admitted his mistake, someone else would definitely accept it. After all, it would not be good to offend a scholar for this matter.

But Zhang Wenming is not an ordinary person. This guy is similar to Hai Rui. He doesn't save face for anyone. Kong Shouzhen can't put his hands down when raising a glass.

Kong Shouzhen blushed with humiliation, put down the glass with a heavy grunt and left. Zhang Wenming looked at Kong Shouzhen's back and said, "This guy has a deep mind, dear brother, you have to be careful with him!"

Zhao Fuxiang laughed and advised: "Brother Zhang, blame me! It was my idea too, and it has nothing to do with Kong Shouzhen!"

But Zhang Wenming shook his head and said, "Brother, you and Kong Shouzhen are different! You are a businessman and have not been taught by saints. It is normal to lie and deceive others. But Kong Shouzhen is a scholar, but he has forgotten loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. We should not have close friendship with such people!"

After listening to Zhang Wenming's strange remarks, Zhao Fuxiang cursed this stinky old man in his heart. Why should he look down on himself? Can a businessman lie and deceive others?

In fact, this is also the current situation of ancient Chinese intellectuals. The moral level of saints is too high and not everyone can reach it, but if you can't reach it, you can't say that you have bad morals, so hypocrites came into being.

Zhang Wenming is similar to his role model Hai Rui. They both strictly follow the standards of a saint. Not only are they strict with themselves, but they also require others to do the same. As a result, it is easy to imagine his reputation among the scholars in Fucheng.

Zhao Fuxiang did not want to discuss too much on his own moral issues, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "What does Brother Zhang think of the current situation?"

Zhang Wenming just came back from the north a few years ago. Along the way, he saw many scenes of people starving and dying everywhere. Hearing what Zhao Fuxiang said, he sighed and said, "What else can I do? It's a scene of the end of the world!"

After listening to what Zhang Wenming said, Zhao Fuxiang asked tentatively: "Brother Zhang, since the north is no longer viable, don't you think it's possible to persuade the emperor to move?"

"When I was in the capital, someone in the court spread the news that they wanted the emperor to move the capital, and some even persuaded the emperor to let the prince avoid trouble in the south of Zhili! But the people in the court who were wrapped in corpses not only disagreed, but also showed the evidence of the year in which

Shaobao's example was to persuade the emperor to defend the capital, these guys really deserve to be killed!"

Zhao Fuxiang nodded after hearing what Zhang Wenming said and said: "Brother Zhang is really a great talent. The north is so corrupt now. It is time to retreat to South Zhili to reorganize and fight again. At worst, we can segregate Jiangnan by relying on the natural dangers of the Yangtze River! But now it is good, not only

The emperor cannot be saved, and the Tatars in the north may also have the opportunity to go south. It won’t be nice if everyone shaves their heads and grows braids together!”
Chapter completed!