Chapter 24: An Unexpected Encounter in Huai'an Prefecture

  Unexpectedly, when entering the city, some more trouble occurred. The useless road guide unexpectedly ran into them!

  Fortunately, there was a car style on one side to make up for it, and Yang Bo spent some more money to grease the wheels, only then did he safely enter the city. This unexpected event made Yang Bo determined to settle down here with a household registration, otherwise, next time he might not be so lucky.

  Xuzhou, a place where six provinces meet, is far away from the war and famine, so as soon as Tie Niu and others entered the city, they felt its prosperity. In the past few years, many northerners have fled south, and Xuzhou's population has increased several times. With the influx of a large number of laborers and technicians, this originally small region of South Zhili Province has surprisingly shown signs of budding capitalist commerce? However, Yang Bo was not very excited about this so-called sprout, which is actually just an illusion created by the control of officials and bureaucrats over capital. To him, it didn't have much positive significance.

  The power of the gentry here is much greater than in the north, and not only do they command the military, but even the governor, when encountering a certain rural official, has to bow his head and address him as "Mr."

  As soon as they entered the city, they witnessed the power of the scholar class. A group of people dressed as scholars were besieging a government office, and an official in uniform was bowing and scraping, begging for something, with spittle flying from his face. Yang Bo and his companions didn't even have a guide, so how could they dare to provoke trouble? They avoided it from afar.

  Of course, in Yang Bo's plan, Xuzhou was just one of the many targets that didn't stand out.

  Two days later, after careful preparation, Yang Bo's gambling business quietly opened in a low-key manner. He invested all his capital, including several feet of cloth, a piece of silk, two sheep, and a cage of chickens. With Yang Bo's silver tongue, they even managed to secure some sponsorships from nearby merchants. Compared to the initial monotony, Yang Bo is now heading towards a path with lower thresholds and higher returns.

  The population base here is not comparable to a small county town, in order to attract more people to participate, Yang Bo prepared a large number of worthless but essential small items in life.

  For example, a prize draw may have returns such as: five eggs, three handkerchiefs, a bottle of oil, two kitchen knives... and so on.

  Yang Bo's thinking is in line with the requirements of the masses today, the entire lottery scene was high-pitched and non-stop, exhausting the few people responsible for collecting money. And the continuous winning messages further stimulated those people's desire to consume, the scene went crazy...

  Yang Bo took advantage of the momentum to organize activities for three consecutive days, and the activity obviously caught the attention of many people. When the people he brought in could no longer calm down the scene, Yang Bo knew it was time for him to leave again. The heat generated by the activity did not subside with Yang Bo's disappearance, and soon other forces joined in. Although they were not very familiar with the game rules and made a lot of jokes, the businessmen who seized the business opportunity quickly grasped the trick.

  Although power is arrogant, it will not be absent from this grand banquet. In these few days in Xuzhou, whether day or night, undercurrents are surging everywhere, and everyone is talking about this strange gamble.

  But these are no longer related to Yang Bo, they are marching towards their next goal - Huai'an Prefecture!

  On a spacious carriage, Xiao Mo Xiang and his sister were counting the silver in their trunks, while Yang Bo was deep in thought with half-closed eyes, and everyone else was extremely excited.

  Apart from the necessary protection fees, they made a net profit of over 500 taels of silver, and also had a lot of private money that was not bad. This made Yang Bo's total wealth increase by no small amount. In just three days, their capital had increased tenfold, and Tie Niu's mouth had never closed.

  "It's just a pity it didn't last a few more days..." Zhang Gou'er seemed somewhat regretful.

  "It's a good thing I've sorted out my household registration." The young ox was indeed honest and he was even more pleased with his new clothes.

  "What's there to regret? If it weren't for the young master's quick thinking, I'm afraid those people would have swallowed up both the principal and interest..."

  Yang Bo smiled silently: "When we arrive at Huai'an Prefecture, let's go and have a good meal first. Everyone has worked hard!"

  The carriage was suddenly filled with applause and laughter, even Xiao Yulan, who had always been timid and shy, raised her head and smiled sweetly at Yang Bo.

  The little girl has made great progress after several days of recuperation. What surprised and delighted Yang Bo was that Xiao Yulan had a natural talent for numbers, and many accounts were quickly grasped by Yang Bo with just a few pointers, even surpassing her brother Xiao Moqiu, it seemed that this girl was born to be a good accountant.

  Yang Bo's least favorite, Zhang Dog, excelled in another aspect. He was responsible for selling the most lottery tickets among everyone, even surpassing Yang Bo, who had countless advertising ideas. When facing numerous onlookers, Zhang Dog not only didn't shy away but also encouraged many people to roll up their sleeves and join in to try their luck.

  "This guy is just a great material for pyramid schemes!" Yang Bo finally understood where the problem lay. Previously, he evaluated a person mainly by looking at his shortcomings, which was the biggest mistake he made. To become a good leader, an excellent leader, he must go and discover the strengths of his subordinates and reasonably allocate them, this is the difference between ordinary people and superiors?

  Yang Bo suddenly remembered his superior whom he had never gotten along with...

  Life began to stabilize, as the saying goes, with money in hand, I have everything under control. The prosperity of Jiangnan is indeed well-deserved, and along this route from Pei State, Suqian, Xinyang, and Huai'an Prefecture, they reaped countless benefits.

  Huai'an Prefecture - The most lively Nanmen Street

  Yang Bo strolled around while thinking about his plan in his mind, Tie Niu followed behind him, looking for excitement. Every time they arrived at a new place, Yang Bo would go to the most prosperous area to experience it personally and understand the local officials' information. He was no longer a novice who relied on tricks like "empty-handed white wolf" to make small gains.

  All along the way, Yang Bo relaxed his mood and took Tie Niu for a stroll. Suddenly, the noise in front of them caught their attention.

  Yang Bo curiously parted the crowd to take a look, and found that a silk store entrance was surrounded by people. The person was in his fifties, but most surprisingly - he had a head of golden hair!

  It's a foreigner!

  Yang Bo was shocked in his heart, unexpectedly this place could still see foreigners?

  Aren't they usually active in coastal cities?

  That old foreigner was wearing a typical scholar's attire, looking somewhat comical and pretentious, surrounded by a crowd of curious onlookers who were all pointing and staring at him.

  The owner of the silk shop seemed somewhat afraid, constantly bowing to the foreigner, clearly unwilling to let him enter the store. Perhaps it was the countless curious glances around that made him feel uneasy. The foreigner sighed and prepared to leave.

  Yang Bo, who was watching from the side, secretly curled his lips. The owner of this store really didn't understand how to do business and wasted a great opportunity for publicity. Huai'an Prefecture is not like those coastal cities, where the local customs are relatively conservative, and people have no mental preparation for a sudden appearance of a red foreigner on the main street, so it's no wonder that this foreigner was rejected.

  Seeing this foreigner's appearance, Yang Bo didn't know why he felt a sense of closeness, although he insisted that

  This foreigner is definitely a scammer...