pdf-ebookys Chapter 220: Benefit Source
Chapter 220: Benefit Source
"What should we do with these people?" Zhou Chang turned around and asked Cui Bian, who was accompanying him. He suddenly felt his breathing blocked. "Should we gather them together to facilitate treatment?"
"Reporting to His Royal Highness Prince Yi, your intention is good, but it is not feasible." Cui Bian replied.
"Why?" It was Zhou Chang's first time to come to such a place and he had never seen such a tragic scene.
Prince Yi's consciousness began to tremble uncontrollably.
Cui Bian reported truthfully: "Your Highness Prince Yi, the entire West City District covers a wide area, accounting for about one-third of the entire Jindu City, and half of it is filled with shanty dwellings like this. The area that Your Highness has seen now is still considered to have roofs over the heads and houses to live in. Further in, there are large areas of thatched huts and even open-air tents, where a large number of homeless people who have become beggars gather. There are so many people that there is no way to provide centralized relief. The government has neither the space nor the manpower, let alone the money."
As Zhou Chang listened and glanced casually, his heart tightened.
Everywhere I looked, on both sides of the road, I couldn't tell whether they were living patients or cold corpses.
Even though she was walking in the middle of the road, surrounded by people, she couldn't stop feeling cold.
"Your Highness Prince Yi, if you go any further, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear it. Why don't we..." Cui Bian followed by him all the time and noticed that Zhou Chang was not in good condition.
Zhou Chang didn't dare to look at the corpse not far ahead, but he thought of Qin Shou again and asked, "Where is Qin Shou?"
Cui Bian hesitated for a moment and pointed forward: "I just saw Lord Qin leading two medical officers to the front."
"Then let's go and take a look." Zhou Chang didn't think Qin Shou would be really obedient, so he had to go and take a look himself.
"Your Highness..." The skinny monkey grabbed Zhou Chang.
"No problem, go quickly." Zhou Chang strode quickly, and he could sense that Prince Yi was getting more and more excited, so he urged Cui Bian, "Lord Cui, send someone to look for Dean Qin. Don't let him leave first while we're still looking for him here."
"Yes." Cui Bian waved his hand and asked people to disperse and search.
The further Zhou Chang walked, the more he felt as if he was walking on the road leading to the entrance of hell.
Suddenly, I saw a fairly neat wooden house among the thatched houses on the corner of the street.
Looking closely, one could vaguely see that the doors and windows of the house were closed, and under the eaves lay a beggar, whose life or death was unknown. Next to him stood a wooden board with three large red-painted characters "Li Sheng Yuan" written on it.
It seemed that Zhou Chang had just mentioned these three words. A wild cat on the roof missed its step and fell from the roof, landing directly on a beggar under the eaves.
The beggar was originally half lying and half leaning under the eaves. When he was hit by the cat, his body tilted and fell to the side without any reaction.
The cat nimbly turned over and jumped away without a trace.
It was unknown whether the beggar was dead or alive. Several beggars nearby rushed up to him and snatched the clothes on his body and the tattered cotton quilt underneath him.
Zhou Chang was already used to it, and pointed to the large red characters on the wooden board: "Mr. Zhong, did you mention 'Lishengyuan' just now? But that?"
Zhong Yushun looked over and frowned, "Why is there something here too?"
"What on earth is that?" Zhou Chang tried his best to look upwards and ignore the gazes on the ground on both sides.
Zhong Yu frowned and said, "Speaking of 'Lishengyuan', it is a business model that has been popular in Jindu City for 20 years. An organization collects the money of some rich people and then uses it to do business. If there is a profit, they will pay the corresponding interest. If there is a loss, everyone will share the risk."
Isn’t this fundraising? And it may even be illegal fundraising.
Zhou Chang thought so in his mind, but did not say it out loud and continued to listen to Zhong Yu.
Zhong Yu talked as he walked, but he did not shy away from the scene in front of him, just shook his head repeatedly: "In the beginning, those who participated were all rich people, and I heard that they really made money. Then some wealthy small households followed suit, and I heard that most of them made money over the years. Because there is a threshold to join, ordinary people can't join even if they want to. However, in recent years, the scale of 'Lishengyuan' has been expanding, and I heard that it has lowered the threshold to absorb ordinary people, but it still requires a hundred taels of silver to start."
"How can this kind of thing guarantee making money? In the end, the people who suffer the most are definitely the common people who don't know how to do business." As he turned the corner, Zhou Chang passed by the wooden sign of "Lishengyuan" and took a last look.
"I don't know the specific situation. Firstly, I don't have the spare money to participate. Secondly, I always feel that there are some unpredictable aspects in it. However, I often hear people talking about making money." Since they talked about this topic, Zhong Yu's tone inevitably revealed his regret for Mr. Zhang.
Zhou Chang didn't understand finance in his previous life, but he knew from common sense that when everyone says that stocks are making money, it means that the stocks are about to start losing money. It would be dangerous to enter the market at this time.
I can't help but say: "There is no business in the world that is guaranteed to make a profit without losing money."
"Not entirely." Zhong Yu's voice suddenly lowered, leaning towards Zhou Chang's ear, "This 'Lishengyuan' seems to have had several organizations behind it for many years, but in fact, the rumors all say it has only one backer."
The only businessman Zhou Chang knew was the Yuan family.
Zhong Yu didn't keep the secret and directly said two words: "He family."
"He?" Zhou Chang felt very unfamiliar.
Zhong Yu's voice was so low that only the two of them could hear it: "Princess Rong He's father is the Imperial Censor He Tao. Your Majesty must have seen her."
"Oh..." Zhou Chang still had some impression of the Chief Censor.
"The name He not only represents the He family, but as the Princess of Rong, she also represents His Royal Highness the Prince of Rong and Empress Shun." Zhong Yu seemed to be afraid that Zhou Chang didn't understand, so he added this sentence.
From Prince Yi's memory, Zhou Chang thought of Concubine Shun Tian, the mother of the eldest prince Prince Rong.
Concubine Shun was of humble origins and was originally just a maidservant to the late queen. However, she gave birth to the emperor's eldest son, who was named Prince Rong. She also worked hard over many years to rise to the position of concubine.
He also used his own power to secure He, the daughter of Chief Censor, as a wife for Prince Rong, and naturally the interests of the two families were connected.
As for this "Lishengyuan" business, it is estimated that anyone with a status in Jindu City will have his own way to make more money, and it is understandable that they want to find ways to make more money.
Zhong Yu continued, "I heard that most of the business done by 'Lishengyuan' is south of Peishui River, and most of them are profitable. Therefore, many wealthy people have joined over the years. Some people even treat it as gambling and lose all their fortunes. However, due to the complicated rules and the support of Prince Rong, no one dares to question it."
"As for Prince Rong's character, he would not do such things personally. It is probably taken care of by the He family or the male relatives behind the scenes." Zhou Chang had also come into contact with Prince Rong several times, and in the memory of Prince Yi Fengming, Prince Rong has always been a good brother.