Chapter 196 Patriotic Businessman
He patted the scholar on the shoulder and turned around to look for the merchant who wanted to exchange the money.

The crowd made way for him, and some smart people took the initiative to follow him and said, "Boss, you will have to carry a lot of silver later, let me help you."

Wang An smiled and didn't care about what these people were really thinking. He just let anyone who was willing to follow him follow.

Fortunately, with the help of these veterans, Wang An quickly found the business name on the receipt given to him by Chongzhen and took out all the silver.

After asking for three thousand taels of silver in change, Wang An returned to the inn under the escort of the excited veterans.

At this time, the scholar had already borrowed tables, chairs, and four treasures of the study from the innkeeper and began to register the veterans.

Wang An placed the box containing the silver next to the scholar and asked someone to guard it. After completing the registration, he could take three taels of silver and leave.

The space in front of the inn was not very wide to begin with, and it was immediately blocked by these hundreds of veteran soldiers.

Fortunately, there were not many passers-by today, and they were all very curious about what it meant to distribute money on the street, so they stopped to watch.

When these able-bodied passers-by learned that it was the imperial merchant from the capital who was recruiting people and that the monthly salary was as much as one or two taels of silver, they became excited.

They all found Wang An and asked if they could also apply, and expressed their willingness to leave their hometowns and follow Wang An to the capital.

But before Wang An could respond, the old soldiers who sensed the danger hurriedly drove away the passers-by who came to ask questions, swearing at them, which made Wang An laugh.

The registration process lasted for two or three hours, and the inn was bustling with people for two or three hours. Almost all the people in Datong Prefecture came to hear the news.

Normally these people were hated and despised by the devil, but now someone was actually hiring them for a high price of one or two taels of silver, and they were also asked to give them a three-month advance payment to settle the elderly and children. The people all wondered if they had heard it wrong.

Especially the families of the veterans. Before Wang An went to the grassland, he had heard from the veterans about the recruitment of imperial merchants, but they were all skeptical, suspecting that the imperial merchant was just lying for the sake of Man Gui and Sun Zushou's face.

When they come back, they will definitely regret it.

But now they saw that it was actually true, and they could even get an advance on money to settle down, and they were all so happy that they couldn't contain themselves.

Some of those who had already received the silver, when they saw their family members in the crowd, could not wait to run to their families, holding three taels of silver in their hands to share their joy.

"Look, old lady, what is this?"

"You've had a hard time these days. Let's go buy some meat today."

"Take this money. When I get to the capital, I'll give you one or two taels of silver as salary every month!"

"We can't delay our son's illness any longer. Thank you, boss, for the advance. We have to take our child to see a doctor!"

The crowd was filled with joyful veterans and their families, as well as ordinary people who were in disbelief and envy.

Some people even complained with envy, "Why can these cripples do jobs that pay only one or two taels of silver, but we, who have healthy limbs, are not hired?"

"Yes, this shopkeeper must be mentally ill. What can he do by hiring these cripples?" "Haha, I guess this shopkeeper will regret it in a few days. By then, won't these cripples have to go back to Datong to wait for death?"

The crowd's discussions were getting louder and louder, but the veterans listened without saying a word. Some of them even lowered their heads and began to wonder if Wang An would really drive them back once he realized that he could not work as fast or well as normal people.
The journey is long, and I, a disabled person with no money, will be able to return to Datong safely?

However, even with such concerns, these veterans do not intend to give up this opportunity.

To put it bluntly, even if Wang An really regrets it, what does it matter?

At least the three taels of silver in my hand were actually obtained.

If he could get three taels of silver to temporarily solve the crisis of his wife, children and the elderly and let them have a few full meals, it would not be unacceptable for him to die in a foreign land.

However, the veterans heard the discussions in the crowd, so how could Wang An not hear it?
Wang An stepped on the stool indignantly, glancing at the passers-by, but said to the veterans: "Brothers, I, Wang, can promise you here that from now on, you can't say you can't eat delicious food or drink spicy drinks. At least I can guarantee that you will have enough to eat three times a day!"

"This is just the beginning, so I'll give each of you one or two taels of silver as wages. If you do a good job in the future, I, Wang, can guarantee that the wages will be increased!"

"And I'm also going to give everyone dormitories so that everyone can bring their wives and children to live in Beijing. Beijing is the capital of the country, not a small place like Datong!"

The crowd became even more upset after hearing this, and some people couldn't help but sneer, "You've said all the nice things, and then when the time comes, you'll despise these cripples, and even if you throw them out in the wilderness to fend for themselves, no one will know."

Wang An sneered, "Anyone who says this is either stupid or has ulterior motives. I, Wang, am an imperial merchant registered with the court. Let's not talk about whether I can do such a thing."

"Even if I have a really evil heart, I often have to go back and forth to Datong Prefecture. If I really do something so heartless, General Man will be the first one to not forgive me!"

The veterans, who were originally a little agitated, immediately felt relieved after hearing this.

They may not trust Wang An, but they will definitely trust Man Gui.

The passerby was frustrated, but he refused to give in and said, "So what? When you find out that these cripples can't do much work, you send them back to where they were!"

Wang An said angrily, "Don't compare yourself to a patriotic businessman like me. Do you know what a patriotic businessman is?"

"Look at why these veterans are disabled. Isn't it all for the country and the court? If they hadn't used their bodies to defend the border, how could a useless person like you have the right to scream and scream?"

"You keep saying you're disabled, but compared to them, you're not even as disabled as they are! How dare you go to the battlefield and fight the Tartars? You don't dare, because you're a coward!"

"How dare you, a coward, laugh at these veterans who have fought for our country? If I were the general, I would capture you and take you to the battlefield first!"

The veterans were deeply moved by what they heard and began to blame the passerby.

Some people who still had some conscience pointed at the passerby and started to curse him. There was even an old soldier who recognized the passerby and said sinisterly, "Gou Huairen, I know where you live. Don't run away!"

The man named Gou Huairen immediately became timid after hearing this.

(End of this chapter)