Zhang Fei reminded Chen Maoqian that he was only worried that it would attract the intervention of the imperial court and cause unnecessary trouble, and he was not really afraid of driving up housing prices and affecting the country. As for the situation in the Northern Song Dynasty, even if housing prices were really driven up, it would not affect the people.
Because ordinary people simply can’t afford it.
Those who are clamoring for six pockets, please buy and cherish it.
... ...
Not surprisingly, no deal was made today.
Zero income.
And some money for tea.
The reason is simple, because this is a place to borrow money, not a place to buy a house.
But it doesn’t matter. The visible traffic and the special identities of these customers are enough to impress Fan Yong and others to join.
at dusk.
The Ma Family Pawnshop, which had been bustling all day, finally became quiet.
“Fourth brother!”
Ma Tianhao had just seen off the last group of distinguished guests when he heard someone shouting. He looked up and saw a middle-aged man of medium build and a rough face walking towards him quickly.
He couldn't help but frown.
The middle-aged man came to Ma Tianhao and bowed repeatedly, saying, "Fourth brother, congratulations, congratulations."
Ma Tianhao clasped his fists and said, "Thank you very much! Thank you very much!"
The middle-aged man said, "I'm so sorry, Fourth Brother, you are so forgetful that you may have forgotten to send me the invitation. I have been so busy these days that I didn't pay attention to it. I heard about it from my shop assistants. I'm late, so I hope Fourth Brother can forgive me."
"No, this is my negligence."
Ma Tianhao turned sideways and said, "Please come in, sir."
"Thank you very much."
This middle-aged man is none other than Fan Li, one of the eight great tea connoisseurs.
Arriving at the hall, Ma Tianhao asked the servants to leave after they prepared tea and snacks, and then he said to Fan Li, "Brother Fan, I also have something to discuss with you."
Fan Li was startled. This is not good!
Their Fan family has always been helping the Ma family deal with contracts and disputes, and the relationship between the two families has always been good. However, this time the Ma family made such a big fuss but did not send him a message. Fan Li waited for a whole day, but saw that there was no message yet. Finally, he could not bear it any longer and rushed over in person.
Originally, the Ma family was a big client. Now with what has happened, one can imagine how much profit is involved. They cannot afford to lose this big client!
"I wonder what Fourth Brother can advise me on?"
"I don't deserve your advice."
Ma Tianhao coughed and said, "The thing is, our cooperation may decrease in the future."
What you fear will come true. Fan Li immediately said, "But because of Zhang San, his current situation, Fourth Brother should be very clear that the government will not buy his account."
"No, no, it has nothing to do with him."
Ma Tianhao shook his head repeatedly and thought, it sounds like I can afford him.
He only dared to ask Zhang Fei to draft some important contracts. He didn't dare to ask Zhang Fei to draft trivial contracts. It would be a waste of money.
Fan Li asked again: "Why is that?"
Ma Tianhao said: "It's mainly because I've been cooperating with Baifanlou recently, so I might hand it over to Li Xingshou for processing. You know, Baifanlou has been looking for the Li family."
Fan Li felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, but he still maintained the demeanor of a tea drinker, forced a smile to show his understanding, and then said goodbye.
Looking at the distraught Fan Li, Ma Tianhao felt bad and sighed, "Don't blame me. It was you Fans who killed Zhang Yide."
... ...
Zhang Fei also left around dusk. Although he did not entertain those officials, he was worried that the Ma family might not explain clearly and cause misunderstandings, so he kept watching them.
When he returned to Xu's house, Xu Zun had already gone home from work and was chatting with Xu Zhiqian.
"It looks like business is good over there!"
"Has my benefactor heard about it too?" Zhang Fei asked.
Xu Zun laughed and said, "Do I need to hear it? Half of the people in the imperial city are missing today."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "You are joking, benefactor. However, many officials did go there to inquire."
Xu Zun said: "I don't usually see it, I never thought so many people wanted to buy a house."
Zhang Fei asked, "Does the benefactor have any ideas?"
"You want me to buy a house?" Xu Zun was stunned, as if he had never thought about this.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "A gentleman loves money, but he gets it in a proper way. Using your salary, buying this house will not be a big burden. The house prices in Bianjing will definitely rise. If you don't buy it now, when Dalang wants to buy a house, I'm afraid you really can't afford it."
The Dalang he mentioned was Xu Zhiqian's elder brother.
Xu Zun sighed and waved his hands: "I can't afford it!"
Zhang Fei was surprised and said, "With your salary, you shouldn't be unable to afford it!"
Xu Zun smiled bitterly and said, "It's a lot of flowers!"
"ah?"
Zhang Fei looked at Xu Zun in surprise. Just for your three meals a day and these two pieces of cloth, how much money can you spend? After saving for so long, it should be no problem to buy them in full!
Xu Zun sighed and said nothing.
Xu Zhiqian said: "My father often gives money out of his own pocket to help the people, and I... I also spend a lot, so there is no spare money at home."
As she spoke the last part, her cheeks flushed and her voice became as soft as a mosquito's hum.
They, father and daughter, had no hobby of spending money. They ate and wore ordinary clothes. They used the money to help people like Li Si. Didn't Xu Zun also use his own money to help Zhang Fei in the beginning
Now when Xu Dalang is mentioned, both father and daughter feel extremely ashamed.
I really didn’t leave any money for Dalang!
Zhang Fei also reacted. He had a deep understanding of this. The father and daughter were indeed kind and generous. Seeing Xu Zhiqian ashamed and silent, he thought, "It's okay! Madam Xu will be able to save the money soon."
Xu Zhiqian was surprised and asked, "Where can I get the money?"
Zhang Fei said, "The money from the last draft contract has not been divided yet. Now I am negotiating a draft contract worth several hundred guan. If nothing goes wrong, you can at least get three or four hundred guan."
He had just negotiated so many deals, he couldn't let this gunman go.
"So many?" Xu Zun asked in shock.
Zhang Fei said awkwardly: "It's okay, not too much."
Xu Zhiqian didn't care about it. She was already used to it. She thought, yes, I have to try my best to pay back the money to my brother.
... ...
Mrs. Wang returned home, feeling very nervous. She knew her cousin's character too well, so she cooked three delicious dishes herself in the evening.
However, for Wang Anshi, no matter how delicious the food was, it could not compare to the fragrance of books.
Books contain golden houses and beautiful women.
He didn't notice it at all and continued reading and eating as usual.
Mrs. Wang felt a little disappointed, but she was used to it and said in a low voice.
"Cousin, I went to the Ma family pawn shop today."
"Um."
"I asked around, and the mortgage interest rate was reasonable, and I didn't have to pay much back every month."
"okay."
"Do you remember that I had my eyes on a small house before?"
"Remember! Remember!"
"I think we will go home to live in our old age, and our children may have to stay in the capital. If we have a house, they will not be homeless, and we two old people can enjoy a peaceful and happy life."
"Yeah."
"I was thinking, why don't we buy that house? I calculated that the money we have saved now is enough to pay the down payment."
"Hmmmm."
when!
Mrs. Wang suddenly put the chopper in her hand on the bowl, and there was a sound.
Wang Anshi suddenly raised his head, still holding a mouthful of rice in his mouth, and looked at his wife in astonishment. He swallowed the rice in his mouth and asked cautiously, "Cousin, what's the matter?"
He and Mrs. Wang are cousins, so they have been calling each other cousins for decades.
Mrs. Wang straightened her dress and said expressionlessly, "Nothing, I just suddenly remembered that I forgot to add salt."
Wang Anshi looked down at the three almost empty plates on the table. He didn't know what he had eaten. He smiled and said, "It seems to taste quite good! Not bad! Not bad!"
Mrs. Wang was amused by Wang Anshi's dazed look, but she suppressed her smile, rolled her eyes at her husband, and said angrily, "You are not enjoying the food, you are enjoying the sight!"
Wang Anshi smiled awkwardly, and seeing that his wife looked unhappy, he quickly put down the book with his left hand and the clapper with his right hand, and said, "My cousin seemed to have mentioned the house just now."
As he said this, he was startled, "Does my cousin also want to borrow money to buy a house?"
Mrs. Wang nodded and said guiltily, "If we don't borrow money, we can't afford it!"
Wang Anshi waved his hand and said, "Why buy a house? We are not very rich. Besides, this is a good place to live."
Mrs. Wang said, "You only think about yourself and don't consider the family. It's good for you to live there, but what about Pang'er and the others? We can't let them rent a house forever. I think what Zhang San said is very good. The housing prices in Bianjing have been rising. You can't lose money by buying a house. At worst, you can sell it later. We couldn't afford it before, but we can afford it now, so why not buy it? We are saving money like this, for the sake of our children, right?"
Wang Anshi was surprised and said, "How can we be frugal?"
Madam Wang pointed at the empty plates on the table and asked, "Is the Imperial Academy scholar just eating plain tea and rice all day long?"
In fact, the dishes tonight were quite exquisite, but she knew that Wang Anshi certainly didn't pay attention.
Wang Anshi said helplessly: "This is not called frugality, this is called not wasting. How much can the two of us eat? Eating delicacies from land and sea every day will also make you sick of it."
Mrs. Wang said, "I am not interested in delicacies from land and sea, but I really want to buy a house so that I can live in it now and leave it to Pang'er and others in the future."
Wang Anshi saw that his wife was obsessed with it, and he muttered, "How ridiculous! Zhang San, that stinky boy, actually tricked me into doing this to my cousin."
Mrs. Wang was unhappy when she heard this. "Zhang San is so smart and knows how to manage the household. You are nothing but a reader. You don't care about anything at home."
Wang Anshi saw that his wife was really angry, and he was also frightened. He coughed and said, "Well, I will go ask Zhang San to see if it is really worth buying. What do you think, cousin?"
Only Lady Wang could make the stubborn husband so humble.
Madam Wang glanced at her husband and felt that she had gone too far. She nodded and said, "It's fine to ask clearly, but you are not allowed to threaten Zhang San. He meant well and didn't force us to buy it."
Wang Anshi was puzzled, "Cousin, you have only met Zhang San once, why are you so protective of him?"
Mrs. Wang said, "Aren't you protecting him too?"
"I'm... OK, OK, I'll go ask tomorrow."
Having said that, Wang Anshi was still angry. Early the next morning, he sent someone to call Zhang Fei to the Municipal Taxation Bureau, which had not yet been established.
"You are such a good boy, you dare to ask my wife to borrow money to buy a house?"
Wang Anshi paced back and forth, pointing at Zhang Fei's nose and said.
He really hates these materialistic things, not to mention borrowing money to buy a house, which he cannot accept.
Zhang Fei felt extremely wronged and said hurriedly, "Master Wang, please understand. I did not do anything wrong. It was Madam Wang who came to me herself."
Wang Anshi said: "Then you should also stop her!"
"Mrs. Wang is extremely wise and good at managing the household. She is as capable as any man. She knows right from wrong very well. How can I stop her?" Zhang Fei explained.
Wang Anshi said: "With your eloquence, you won't be able to stop it. I think you must have ulterior motives."
This... is this a sinister thing? Zhang Fei was also unhappy about this accusation, "Let's talk about the facts. If we talk about eloquence, Wang Daxueshi is better. Can Wang Daxueshi convince Madam Wang?"
This remark made Wang Anshi's face turn green, and his temper flared up again. He waved his hand and said, "I don't care. This matter started because of you. You must make my wife give up this idea."
Zhang Fei said: "It's too late!"
Wang Anshi asked, "What do you mean late?"
Zhang Fei said: "If Grand Secretary Wang is free now, you can go with me to a place. After we get there, Grand Secretary Wang will understand."
Half an hour later.
Wang Anshi and Zhang Fei sat in the shabby carriage and quietly came to the Chen family dental shop in Fangya, Bian Jing.
"I guarantee that Madam Wang is either here or on her way here." Zhang Fei leaned back and drew open the curtains with one hand.
Wang Anshi turned his head and saw that Chen's dental shop was crowded with people, all of them old acquaintances.
Zhang Fei asked again: "Let me ask Madam Wang, if she sees this situation, will she listen to anything I say?"
Wang Anshi slapped his thigh heavily, "Hey! I, Wang Anshi, have lived for decades, but I have never owed a penny. Now you want me to owe you..."
He was in a panic.
So this is the reason why the reform failed. Zhang Fei suddenly realized and said, "Master Wang, I have something to say, shall I?"
Wang Anshi angrily shouted, "If you have anything to fart, just fart it."
Wow... a scholar? Zhang Fei said tremblingly: "What I want to say is that the national finances are now in deficit, and it can be said that they are in debt every year. If Wang Daxueshi has no experience in debt, how can he manage the national finances well?"
Wang Anshi sneered with his eyes bulging: "So you know that being in debt is not a good thing, then you told my wife that borrowing money to buy a house will not be a loss."
Damn it, why did I say that? This old man is a famous debater in history! Zhang Fei trembled and said aggrievedly: "I just want to prove that my eloquence is really not as good as Wang Daxueshi."