Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 186 Novelty affairs
Two days after Chen Gui, Xie Qian and the others arrived, Wang Ruohai and Xi Yi, the magistrate of Yingzhou, arrived.So far, the chief officers of the nearby state army, except Yu Huan of the Xinyang Army who is relatively far away, have all arrived in Xiangyang to welcome Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun and his party of nearly 2 people set off from Ezhou and headed north along the Han River.Because it is against the current and there are many ships, the speed is not fast.

On this day, everyone had breakfast and had nothing to do. The prefects wandered around Xiangyang City together.Chen Yuyi and Shao Ling brought dozens of guards along the way to prevent accidents.Since the wheat harvest was abundant and sold for a good price, the turmoil in Xiangyang has been reduced.In the past few months, from time to time, powerful households under the rule led people to riot, or went up the mountain, or went into the water, causing countless things.However, their scale is not large, and they were quickly suppressed.

Looking at the bustling crowds on the street, Xie Qian said: "Xiangyang is located on an important road, and ships from south to north gather here. It is a rare and prosperous place. I saw it today, and it is so. There is no place for the state army around It's so prosperous."

Chen Guidao: "Since the king observed Xiangyang, the tax was reduced and exempted, and there was no big war. The people have really benefited. The people's life is better, and the merchants can prosper. No wonder Wang observes that he doesn't collect money from the farmers, and the industry and commerce in the city are prosperous. "

While talking, several people were envious.At this time, the most difficult thing for the states is to raise soldiers.Raising soldiers requires money, and too much money looted will inevitably affect the livelihood of the people.The surrounding state troops are all worried about this matter.

In fact, it is only collecting industrial and commercial taxes, how can Wang Xiaolie support tens of thousands of troops?The most important way to get money is government-run industry and commerce.In addition, the army does not rely on recruitment, and the cost of maintaining the army is greatly reduced.Of course, such a reduction in military spending is conditional, and in fact part of it is shared by the localities.

Not far away, I saw a dense crowd in front of a building in front of me, which was extremely lively.Chen Gui asked Chen Yuyi, "Where is that place?"

Chen Yuyi cupped his hands: "There is a new supply and marketing cooperative mall in the city. Because the goods are complete and the prices are cheap, the business is particularly prosperous."

"When I was in De'an Mansion, I heard that there was a supply and marketing cooperative in Xiangyang. The surplus grain in the hands of the people was collected by the supply and marketing cooperative. The price was much higher than that of the grain merchants, so that the common people benefited. I didn't expect them to open a shopping mall. Let's go , go and have a look."

Having nothing to do, a few people strolled outside the mall.It is a two-story building with the words "Supply and Marketing Cooperative Shopping Center" written on it.Such a big gate, countless people come in and out, just like a market in the countryside.

Several people entered the mall.As soon as you enter the door, there is a huge vegetable market.The counter is surrounded by a circle, and various fruits are placed on it.Vegetables, where the salesperson sells goods.At this time, the weather in August is the harvest time, and there are all kinds of fruits.Such as water chestnut, tender lotus root, eggplant, etc., are fully arranged.Surrounded by common people, they choose all kinds of vegetables.

Chen Gui said: "If you sell vegetables like this, you must have a big vegetable garden. Go to Fei, does the supply and marketing cooperative still grow vegetables?"

Chen Yuyi said: "The supply and marketing cooperative does not grow vegetables. However, there is a special vegetable garden in Xiangyang Prefecture, which has all kinds of vegetables. The vegetables grown here are not only sold here, but also supplied to several government-run restaurants in the city. This vegetable garden is to make money. Let’s cultivate new varieties of vegetables to benefit the common people.”

Several people nodded together.To grow vegetables to make money, it is not uncommon for the government to set up a vegetable garden.But carrying out vegetable research and cultivating excellent varieties is enough to show our intentions.This is the characteristic of the government-run industry and commerce run by Wang Xiaolie. In addition to making money, it is also used for research.

After passing by the sellers of vegetables and fruits, you will arrive at the place selling dry goods and seasonings.At this time, it has come to an end, but the stall has been extended to the outside.Then there is the sale of meat, followed by the sale of fish, chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, everything that one expects to find.In this open space, there are also those who sell live cattle, live donkeys and horses, and live pigs, and there are even those who sell feed.

Xie Qian looked at it with a wry smile and said, "Why would people in the city buy such things?"

Chen Yuyi said: "That's right. The people outside the city can only come to the city to buy these. Outside the city, there are only markets for sale. Every time they go to the market, the supply and marketing cooperative will go to the market, and the business there is also very good."

Xi Yi nodded: "It's not bad to have such a shopping mall. The goods are gathered together, and people come to buy whatever they want."

Chen Yuyi said with a smile: "The main role of the supply and marketing cooperative is not to run shopping malls, but to communicate with each other. As long as they are within these states, any useful goods will be purchased by the supply and marketing cooperative, and will be sold to various places. In this way, the supply and marketing cooperative will earn money." With the money, the common people get profits from selling goods, the buyers get convenience, and everyone is satisfied. It’s still just the beginning, and the goods are not very complete.”

Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this, and they understood what Chen Yuyi meant.

No matter where it is in the world, there are more or less special products.Only relying on merchants to sell, the people actually don't benefit much.It's not just the merchants who lower the prices, but also the loss of transportation and sales.The network of the supply and marketing cooperative is large enough, the sales channels are wide enough, and the capital is sufficient. They can collect special products from various places and transport them to the city for sale.In this way, buying and selling are communicated, forming a business network.

This is the original intention of the supply and marketing cooperative. One supply and one sale form a commercial network. The shopping malls in the city are actually not important.In fact, Wang Xiaolie is planning to set up a separate shopping mall, which is different from the model of rural fairs like supply and marketing cooperatives.Compared with later generations, although the supply and marketing cooperatives also have shopping malls, they are not large in scale and are mostly located in county towns and towns.The city's shopping malls are department stores, and later supermarkets, often a city landmark.

Compared with shopping malls, supply and marketing cooperatives play a more important role in rural areas, while shopping malls focus more on cities.

A few prefects knew that this was a way to make money.But I only manage one state, but this business requires the larger the scope, the better. It is best to have goods from all over the world.I can only feel sorry.

On the second floor, it is not as noisy as the first floor.Near the stairs is a bookstore with various books.This is the job of a literati, and several people gathered together to see it.The most popular ones are naturally Confucian classics, as well as "Tang Poetry", "Han Changli Collection", "Liuhe East Collection" and so on.In addition, there are strange novels of the Tang Dynasty and various miscellaneous histories.In the end, there is still a script at this time.There are five or six kinds of stories that are commonly told by speakers on the market, and of course the most common ones are three-point stories.

Chen Gui picked up a book and opened it.Seeing the vulgar language and rough stories in it, he couldn't help but frowned, and said to Chen Yuyi, "Qu Fei, where did these books come from? Isn't selling them to the common people to teach them bad?"

Chen Yuyi said: "This is written by Observation specially recruiting people. Observation said that our states are different from other places in that we set up schools to teach people to read and write. Not all literate people like classics, some people just like to read stories, so I specially asked someone to compile these story books. It is said that people do not read for a long time after they have learned to read, and they are easy to forget. These books are not for teaching people, but for people to read stories."

Putting down the book, Chen Gui shook his head and did not speak.It seems very dissatisfied.

Rulers often say that one of the important tasks of officials is to educate the people.The so-called culture is also based on culture.Literate people, of course, must read the classics.Otherwise, what is the use of literacy?Wang Xiaolie was not born in the imperial examination, so he doesn't know how powerful these things are.

Going further inside, there are all kinds of stationery.After that, there are specialties from all over the world.For example, porcelain from Ruzhou, Chengni inkstone from Guozhou, local lacquerware from Xiangyang, chestnuts from Tangzhou, mushrooms and fungus from Neixiang, and so on.

Xi Yi said: "These things are famous products from various places, and we often hear about them. But it is not easy to sell them in one place."

Chen Yuyi said: "The supply and marketing agency is newly opened, and the collection of specialty products from all over the country is not complete. After a year or two, the situation will definitely change. Observe that the supply and marketing agency intends to let the supply and marketing agency collect local specialty products from all over the world and sell them all over the world."

Chen Gui praised: "If it can be done, it will be unprecedented!"

Although the supply and marketing cooperatives of later generations were not always integrated across the country, they basically achieved this.Of course, with the development of society later, this role no longer needs to be assumed by the supply and marketing cooperatives, which is another matter.

In the era of underdeveloped industry, the role of supply and marketing cooperatives in society cannot be underestimated, and they have greatly promoted economic development.

Walk a few more steps and see a counter selling all kinds of iron products.A few people approached and saw the word "bearing" written on the front of a counter, and various bearings were placed on it, so they couldn't help but look carefully.

Of course, everyone knows the bearing.Bearings have been indispensable since ancient carriages.In the Song Dynasty, there were more varieties.In particular, there were several kinds of water mills in Kaifeng Prefecture back then, which were huge in scale and used a lot of bearings.

The bearings at this time are made of wood, bronze, and of course steel.However, whether it is bronze or steel, most of them are cast and relatively rough.Here the bearings are different, almost entirely made of steel.They come in all shapes and sizes, and they all look exquisite.Put it on the counter, it looks very bright, without a trace of rust.

Chen Gui pointed to the bearing and said, "Why is there such a thing? Although this thing is useful, there is no need to put it here."

Chen Yuyi said: "The Observation has set up a special bearing company to specialize in the research of bearings. After more than half a year of hard work, they have produced some and sold them here specially. People with ingenuity and ingenuity can make many machines based on this."

Xie Qian said: "Looking at the appearance of this thing, it must be expensive. Who is willing to spend money on it?"

Chen Yuyi said: "I don't understand this matter either. But observation is useful, and the people below naturally dare not underestimate it."

In the machinery industry, the role of bearings cannot be underestimated.Generally speaking, machinery is divided into power part, transmission part, working part and control part.In these parts, almost all rotating parts are inseparable from bearings.The development of the bearing industry can greatly promote the development of the machinery industry.Even if there is no steam power or electric power, a large number of machines can be developed only by water power, human power, and animal power.

Machinery can greatly liberate manpower and improve work efficiency, so it cannot be overemphasized.As a basic industry for mechanical development, if bearings can be promoted, it will greatly promote social development.

(End of this chapter)