*** Today is New Year’s Eve. Happy New Year to everyone. I wish you all the best, family reunion, happiness and health.
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Before Huitong Bank opened, Xu Yingjie did a lot of publicity. Not only did Li Xiangjun invite the dignitaries in Jinling City to a banquet, but Xu Yingjie himself also hosted banquets for business colleagues for several days to promote Huitong Bank's various businesses.
Another way was to send people to the streets to distribute leaflets and spread the news widely. Another way was to allow some people to visit the bank's vault and use the vault full of gold and silver to prove the strength of Huitong Bank.
On the opening day, the bank was bustling with gongs and drums, lion dances and theatrical performances. Before the sound of firecrackers had died down, merchants from Jiangxi and Huguang rushed to the bank to handle deposits and exchange transactions. Batches of gold and silver were shipped in, and the shopkeeper at the counter had to check the quality of the gold and silver, and the clerks had to weigh and count them, and they were very busy.
Nowadays, the world is full of bandits, and it is extremely dangerous to travel with large amounts of silver. As the saying goes, an innocent man is guilty unless he possesses a treasure. Bandits love to rob fat sheep like this. Sometimes, being robbed of money is a small matter, but they are afraid of losing their lives.
On the other hand, it is precisely because of the chaos in the world and the difficulty in the circulation of goods that businessmen can often make huge profits. People die for money, birds die for food, and the number of people who venture out to trade will not decrease much just because the world is in chaos.
On the one hand, there are unpredictable dangers, and on the other hand, there are astonishing profits. Many businessmen are taking risks in doing business for the sake of money. Now Huitong Bank offers them a balance between the two that is hard to refuse.
The use of the method of cross-regional remittance can not only greatly reduce the risks of traveling merchants, but also enjoy the huge profits brought by traveling merchants, so merchants naturally flock to it.
Especially the merchants from Jiangxi and Huguang, they all knew something about the relationship between the Xu family and Qin Mu. Qin Mu was a man who did big things. Whether in Jiangxi or Huguang, he always kept his word. The policies he formulated had never been unfulfilled. The merchants in the two places still trusted the reputation of Huitong Bank.
Following the arrival of the merchants, some of the prominent families in Jinling City, as well as the residence of Han Zanzhou, the eunuch guarding Nanjing, also brought gold and silver to the bank. The amount of silver deposited by each family varied, but it was not important. The key point was that they came, which greatly improved the reputation of Huitong Bank.
Some merchants and common people who were waiting and watching also began to deposit some of their silver into the bank with some doubt. Some deposited it in the morning and cashed it out in the afternoon to test the bank's credit.
Of course, there were also people who spoke ill of and spread rumors to defame Huitong Bank. Huang Lianshan would invite such people to have tea with him. However, most of those who were invited to have tea would start to speak well of Huitong Bank the next day.
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Qin Mu was very happy. Ma Yongzhen and Su Jin, with the power of a great victory, took Wuchang in one fell swoop. Ling Zhan took advantage of the opportunity and snatched Jingzhou. Meng Ke also controlled Jiujiang without any suspense. Looking around, there was no force that could threaten Huguang and Jiangxi for the time being.
Now even the bank has opened smoothly. Yes, Han Zanzhou is good. Yes, with him, the eunuch guarding Nanjing, the operation of the bank has saved a lot of trouble. At least the original money houses did not dare to make any trouble for the time being.
As the saying goes, if you give a peach, you should get a plum in return. Putting aside those powerful people, it seems that it is time to give Han Zanzhou some hope.
Just when Qin Mu was feeling relaxed, there were some short-sighted people who came to make trouble for him.
Li Shi hurried into the government office and reported that many students in the academy were making a fuss. The reason was that Qin Mu stipulated that all students in the academy must study geometry, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and also learn miscellaneous subjects such as agronomy.
The term "chemistry" itself was new, and many students found it difficult to accept. They admired the School of Mind, but after all, the School of Mind was derived from Confucianism. Although the School of Mind advocated the knowledge of things and the unity of knowledge and action, it did not mean that they could accept these miscellaneous studies. Four professors also joined the ranks of opposition.
When Qin Mu received the call from Li Shi and reported the time, it was raining outside and the north wind was blowing, bringing chill to his body. However, the anger in his head made him feel hot all over.
Qin Mu didn't say anything and immediately took a group of guards to the academy's temporary teaching location on Yuedong Street.
Wearing the uniform of a governor and holding the Juque sword, Qin Mu stepped into the messy school building in the rain. All the noise suddenly disappeared, and nearly two hundred teachers and students looked at him in unison.
"Spit out what you ate from me, and return what you spent from me."
No one expected that Qin Mu's opening remarks would be like this. He slapped the teaching plan, looked at the two hundred students with a stern look, and shouted coldly: "Spit it out, you are not worthy of my food. You don't have a stomach as big as the sea. I am afraid that you will be stuffed to death."
The two hundred scholars below were silent. Most of those pointed at by Qin Mu lowered their heads. Only a few of them held on with their necks stiff.
With a "clang!" sound, Qin Mu suddenly drew out the Juque sword, and the cold light slashed down diagonally, cutting off a corner of the teaching case beside him. Then he placed the sword on the ground and shouted murderously: "You only respect Confucianism and reject other doctrines. You think you are the best in the world. But in fact, are you really Confucian disciples? Let me ask you, the six arts advocated by the saints are ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. How many of them have you learned? Have you really achieved the unity of knowledge and action advocated by Mr. Yangming? How much do you know? How much do you practice? You are now like this desk, incomplete, you are a bunch of cripples! And you are still here pretending to be noble and self-righteous."
"When I rebuilt the academy, I made it very clear that what I need is talent for governing the country, talent for benefiting the people, not people like you who are lazy, ignorant, and can only talk nonsense."
"Now, anyone who is dissatisfied, get out of the academy immediately, get out!"
Qin Muhe's voice was like thunder in winter, making the heads of the two hundred students below buzz. Of course, not everyone succumbed to his tyranny. Some people actually walked away in anger, but there were not many, only about twenty or so, including professors from three colleges.
Well, it's not surprising that there are a few stubborn ones. For such stubborn people, Qin Mu hopes that they leave as soon as possible. Even if all the two hundred people below leave, Qin Mu will not change his concept of promoting new-style education.
At worst, we can start from the children. Many people sell their children for food, let alone let them go to school. At worst, we can spend more time and start teaching from the beginning of literacy.
"Who? Who else? Who else wants to leave?"
"You are silent, right? Well, those who are willing to stay are welcome to stay, but don't let me hear any more nonsense from you. You have no right to speak about things in this world that you don't understand. Most of you don't understand the several subjects I promote. What makes you conclude that these subjects are not good? From the perspective of military strategy, only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle. If you want to prove that these subjects are not good, first understand them, and then convince me."
After Qin Mu finished speaking, he sheathed the Shique sword, glanced at the students below him again, and then strode out of the school. Guo Jintai and Song Yingxing followed him out.
“Governor…” Guo Jintai didn’t know what to say for a moment.
"Master Guo, there is no need to say more. You should continue to teach as you should. Those who do not want to accept the course do not need to be forced. You can let them leave the academy at any time and will not be retained. Is there still a shortage of people willing to study in this world? After I return to the yamen, I will immediately order each state and county to find 200 literate boys around ten years old and send them to the academy to be taught by Master Song. Again, I do not believe that without Butcher Zhang, we will have to eat hairy pigs."
After Qin Mu left, none of the more than 100 students who stayed behind dared to make a fuss. Everyone knew what the situation was like in the world, and everyone knew the situation in Huguang even better. In Huguang, Qin Mu was the de facto emperor. If you wanted to survive in this world, or to have a chance to make a name for yourself, you could offend anyone, but never offend Qin Mu.
After Qin Mu returned to the governor's office, he was very clear about it and immediately asked Yang Shen to draft an order, ordering all prefectures and counties in Huguang to select and send students under the age of twelve, who must be literate. Children of this age are still malleable.
Of course, Qin Mu did not force men to join the army. He decided that any child who met the requirements would be exempted from the corresponding taxes and labor service once admitted to the academy.
Qin Mu believes that just for this reason, many parents will flock to it.
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ps: Dear friends, don’t forget to check your ticket folders during the Chinese New Year. Please vote for your monthly tickets quickly, don’t waste them. (To be continued..)
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