Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1475 Consumption
It has been more than half a month for Shengjia Xixing.Unknowingly, subtle changes have taken place in the lives of the people in Chang'an.

The first to benefit are the merchants who deliver the water.

Places like the capital are densely populated and do not pay attention to sanitation, and domestic sewage is discharged in an orderly manner, which easily pollutes groundwater sources.However, the renewal cycle of groundwater is still very long, which has brought about serious water quality problems.The problem is even more serious if the groundwater source is also affected by mineral factors.

Chang'an is facing such a situation.Thus, the business of delivering water came into being.

The water sources are taken from places far away from Chang'an, and are divided into several grades due to the distance, quality, and difficulty of water fetching.High-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen mainly use mountain spring water, which is the most expensive, but they can afford it.

Well-to-do citizens, officials, and military academies use the farther river.

As for ordinary people or soldiers of the imperial army, they can only rely on digging wells to get water, and they don't seem to care, they are not consumers.

But even so, the income is still very impressive.

The water workers driving the carts lined up outside the city gate before dawn, waiting and saying hello.

"I really hope that the sage will stay in Chang'an for ten or eight years." An old man sighed: "When the sage was in Luoyang, many high-ranking households left eastward, and merchants followed suit. Like an abandoned wife, no one cares about her, and she is extremely miserable."

As soon as the old man said this, several people nearby laughed.

When doing business these days, you have to know who has money in their pockets and is willing to spend it, and who has no money in their pockets.

Officials, aristocratic families, and warriors are the richest and willing to spend money.

Merchants have money, but their business is really hard to do, bargaining, be stingy.

Once officials, aristocratic families, and warriors leave, many businessmen will follow. During the examination, merchants also came here upon hearing the news. Han Jian collected millions of dollars from merchant taxes, and of course Zhu Quanzhong got all the money in the end.

Although it is profitable to do business for ordinary people, and in many cases the overall profit is greater than that of a wealthy family, but it is really difficult to do, the competition is fierce, and it is troublesome to be picked around.

What's more, the sergeants and their families among the common people are bold and have a large number of people. They follow the emperor.If the emperor is in Luoyang, this piece of fat can only be earned by the merchants in Luoyang. If the emperor is in Beiping, the benefits will be taken by the merchants in Peiping. Only when the emperor comes to Chang'an can they get a share.

Of course, among the three capitals, merchants in Luoyang and its surrounding areas are the most profitable.

The soldiers of the Forbidden Army ran with the emperor, but they couldn't move the house.

The families of the Tielin Army are in Ruzhou, the families of the Wuwei Army are in Zhengzhou, the families of the Tianxiong Army are in Henan Prefecture, the families of the Yicong Army are in Henan Prefecture and Ruzhou, the families of General Tu are in Shanguo, and the families of the Jinglue Army are in Henan Province. Heyang...

The area around Luoyang is the area where Guochao is the wealthiest, most dynamic, and the best place to do business.

When the emperor was in Dongdu, they made a lot of money.

When the emperor toured the northern or western capitals, they also made a lot of money.

These days of hugging money all day are really enviable!
"Everyone says that Luoyang is better than Guanzhong. I don't think the saint will stay in Chang'an for long."

"What's so good about Luoyang? How many people can be supported by such a small place?"

"The saints who came out of our Guanxi should all be in Chang'an."

"That's right. The queen is also from Kansai, and Chang'an is the most suitable."

"Haha!" A young man sneered, and said, "A group of people complain all day, and they know nothing! If Chang'an is good, saints and officials will still drink the water you sell?"

Well, young people can be called topic terminators, and everyone will be speechless and then dejected.

"Qin Sanlang, why are you squeezing?" Someone said angrily, "Stand back. What is on your car? Why is it so smelly? Don't dirty my water."

"Can't you see what it's pretending to be?" Qin Sanlang stared.

As the car swayed, ducks and geese croaked, and the stench spread far away.

A mule cart behind Qin Sanlang was full of dried vegetables and wild goods, and the driver hurriedly covered them with things to prevent them from being contaminated by duck feces and making them unsalable.

After finishing all this, he glanced at Qin Sanlang and cursed.

Qin Sanlang was furious, and pulled out a wooden spoon from under the car, making a gesture to hit someone, but he was quickly stopped.

"The sage is lucky to be in Chang'an. People eat horse chews. Spring water, winter vegetables, charcoal, poultry eggs, meat and fish, fruits, and even rice wine. The daily purchases are so large that you can't stop your mouths." A middle-aged man Walking over from the front, he reprimanded: "On weekdays, everyone sighs, saying that the fruits at home, the pigs and sheep in the pen, and the vegetables in the field can't be sold at a high price. Isn't the opportunity coming now? But they keep making noises, what's the matter?" ?”

The middle-aged man seemed to be very prestigious. Once he opened his mouth, the others stopped talking, and even the most rebellious Qin Sanlang closed his mouth and lowered his head to pick up the fallen goose feathers.

The middle-aged man glanced at him again, and left, and the team fell silent.

After a while, there was a commotion ahead, and the city gate opened.

Everyone stood on tiptoe and reached for their heads, watching and urging.

The city gate guard cheered up and checked more seriously than before, causing everyone to complain endlessly.

But no matter what, horse carts, ox carts, mule carts, and donkey carts still entered the city one after another, and all kinds of supplies rushed in to supplement the sudden increase in consumption in Chang'an.

******
"Chang'an City is awake." On the tower, Shao Shude, who got up early, watched silently.

Yue Liduo, Yeluzhigu mother and daughter, one on the left and the other on the right, held his arms and watched the beginning of a new day in this huge city.

This is already Shao Shude's seventh consecutive day observing Chang'an in the morning - except for the court meeting day.

Huge consumer groups have created a prosperous commodity economy.

If he brings hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops here, he can immediately create the most prosperous commercial city in the world.

Consumers are the key!
During the reign of the aristocratic families in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the market was not prosperous enough, because under the system of nobles and serfs, the number of consumers was not large enough.

The Forbidden Army warriors may not be the richest, but they are relatively rich, and they have a high willingness to spend money. Wherever they go, they will bring a wave of consumption frenzy.

"I have been in Chang'an for one year, and the people in Chang'an, Wannian, and even Lantian, Yuyu, Zhaoying, and Gaoling counties will benefit greatly, and their income will double." Shao Shude said: "Staying in Chang'an for two or three years will make the people who were originally The common people who grew food changed to grow fruits and vegetables, and raised livestock. After staying in Chang’an for more than five years, some people even started to grow flowers in large quantities.”

Having said that, he exerted a little force, hugged the mother and daughter in front of him, and said, "This is commercialized agriculture, the magic of the economy."

The mother and daughter are six to seven points alike, one mature and charming, the other youthful and beautiful, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

"What about the food?" Yelu Zhigu asked.

Shao Shude lightly pinched his pretty face rich in collagen, and said, "Naturally, we have to rely on transshipment from other places. People in Chang'an would rather grow fruits, vegetables and flowers than grain. In the past, the Kanto states would send a large amount of grain to Beijing. , first stored in the Weishui warehouse near Tongguan, and then shipped to the Weiqiao warehouse east of Chang'an."

"What about Luoyang?" Yelu Zhigu asked again.

"Hanjiacang City stored grain with millions of stones, of course it was transported from Henan and Hebei. The canal goes straight into the city, which is actually more convenient than Chang'an." Shao Shude said: "If the waterway in the south is also connected, then It's even worse."

Many years ago, he sent people to survey the terrain at Fangchengkou and its surroundings at the southern end of the Wanye Corridor.

Fangchengkou is actually neither high nor long.Otherwise, Song Taizong would not have sent people to dig more than once. If he failed, he would not give up. He would dig again in a few years, and if he failed again, he would continue after a few years of silence.

Zhao Er is so persistent because there is a ready-made water system in the south of Fangchengkou, and there is also a ready-made water system in the north of Fangchengkou.These two major water systems are separated by mountains and cannot be connected. They can only be shipped in sections within their respective regions.And Fangchengkou is a gap between this mountain range, as long as it is dug through, the north and south can be unblocked.

The Northern Song Dynasty government did not act randomly.In fact, they have carefully investigated and believed that it is still possible to communicate with the north and the south, but in fact it was only a little short in the end.

Because of Zhao Er's lesson, Shao Shude didn't plan to excavate directly, but found another way to build a ship lift system like Lingqu Doumen.

Ship lift, the name sounds lofty.In fact, if you go to the Lingqu Canal, you will know that it is to store and discharge water, and artificially adjust the water level to make the boat go up and down.

But the condition of Lingqu cannot be reproduced in Fangchengkou.After sailing along the flow of the Tangbai River to Fangchengkou, Gein's ship needs to ascend, enter the interior of the Wanye Corridor, and then connect to the local water system.

That is to say, the water needs to be raised to a high place.The Lingqu is water flowing downhill, and the two are completely different.

But—as long as the thinking does not slip, there are always more solutions than difficulties.

Under Shao Sheng's personal "care", the Ministry of Industry and the Metropolitan Water Supervisor spent many years traveling all over the mountains and rivers north of Fangchengkou, carefully investigating every river, every swamp, and every pool, and finally decided to Construct multiple reservoirs as water sources for ship lifts.

Yes, I have no way to raise water to a high place, but I have a way to flow water from a higher place - this method, which was widely used in the European Renaissance, supported a large number of mathematicians, engineers, and The term "Hilltop Canal" was coined.

As of last year, the construction of the reservoir has been basically completed, and some rivers in the south of Ruzhou have also been artificially diverted to flow into the reservoir as its water source.

This year, the river course south of Fangchengkou will be strengthened and the steep gate will be built. If it is completed, the ship will slowly rise from the south of Fangchengkou, and then use the existing river course to sail north for more than [-] miles, and then slowly It descends slowly and connects to the river system extending in all directions in Henan.

This is much more efficient than the horse-drawn track, and the transportation volume is also much larger.The only disadvantage is that once the rainfall is scarce and the storage capacity of the reservoir on the top of the mountain is insufficient, it will greatly affect the shipping. After all, it is quite water-consuming to raise a boat once.

Shao Shude is not sure how little rainfall will be in the next few decades.He was a little worried that this project, which had been in progress for more than ten years, would "explode thunder", but the matter had come to this point, and there was nothing to say, so he could only continue to go on.

"After conquest of the Western Regions, I'm going to Fangchengkou to have a look." Shao Shude touched Zhigu's face, then patted Yue Liduo's buttocks, and said with a smile: "Maybe it will be completed by then. I only rely on this water system , we can communicate with Jianghan, and Luoyang’s position will be further stabilized. Son of Heaven, you need more than just a military strategy. A Baoji will never fight again, and he will not be able to fight against me who owns the Central Plains.”

Yue Liduo looked at Shao Shude amusedly.This is the virtue of a man!
Yeluzhigu blushed suddenly, Abaoji was her Yeye, but sometimes she also...

(End of this chapter)