Rebirth of Shuangshu

Chapter 193 Re-entering the Song Dynasty

Needless to say, Lin Xiaoxiao was warmly welcomed by the villagers when she returned to Laiqi Mountain.

Xiao Yingzheng and Xiao Ding were surprised by the various constructions of Laiqi Mountain, especially the electric lights and fans in the cafeteria.

Lin Xiaoxiao didn't remove the power supply system when she left, leaving the power to Lai Qishan.She has traveled almost all over Qin, but she still likes Mount Laiqi, and she has no plans to move her base to other places for the time being.

The current Laiqishan model is a bit like the previous commune, but it is more open to personal interests.

All the grain in the village has been harvested and put into storage.Then the villagers will be more relaxed.Lin Xiaoxiao's project plan for this season is still to build aqueducts.

In the cafeteria, Lin Xiaoxiao listened to the work report of the village committee and asked about the situation of each household one by one.Xiao Yingzheng attended the whole process.

At night, it is customary for the whole village to hold a banquet in the cafeteria.Lin Xiaoxiao made an opening speech.We ate hot pot, and the girls and boys in the village sang and danced for fun.

The next day, Lin Xiaoxiao discussed with the village committee the construction of the village before winter, including the construction of canals.Xiao Yingzheng still listened to the whole process.

"The aqueduct built this time is on the side of the farmland. When the snow melted this spring, the water from the mountain almost flooded the field. Let's build an aqueduct before winter this year to prevent this from happening again next spring."

"The hunter team intends to wipe out some of the beasts on the mountain, afraid that those beasts that don't sleep in winter will come down the mountain to find food."

"The small city walls should also be cleaned and reinforced before winter."

"The village ordered a batch of cotton-padded clothes with the handicraft workshop. This year, the village plans to distribute two new cotton-padded clothes to each villager."

"How is the expenditure in cash in the village?"

"Chongyifang has been reopened for more than a year. It is far away from Xianyang, so it is less affected by the mourning period. Although there are fewer caravans from Qin State than in previous years, the number of caravans from Song State and Wei State has increased. The income has not decreased but increased. The business of our family’s grocery store and tea library has been very stable. Affected by the increase in businessmen, this year’s income has increased slightly.”

"There is one more thing. The tea tree planted by shopkeeper Cui has branched this year. It is expected to produce tea next year, but the quality is not as good as the original one."

"The age of tea trees can be up to 200 years, and more and more new tea trees will be separated in the future. So, in the future, the tea leaves will be picked separately and marked with the age of the trees to sell. The older trees are more expensive, and the shorter ones are cheaper. Special grade, first grade, second grade, third grade."

"This is the account book of two shops"

Lin Xiaoxiao put the account book aside, she will check it carefully later.

"Since the income of the store has increased this year, the wages for this season's labor will also increase for everyone. Let's see how much dividends you can save, and find a reason to distribute some to each family, and take care of the poor households in the village. We are in Chongyi. Opening a shop in Fangfang is not only for making money, but also for the villagers to use the money earned.”

"There is one more thing to report to Shannu. Fei Nong, the new owner of Ruicheng, and Fei Mi, the head of Chongyifang, sent invitations to see Shannu. At that time, Shannu was still in Xianyang. When the girl returns, she must wash the dust for the mountain girl."

"They are newcomers, so why not let them treat guests, let me treat them, and I will let Mr. Hu handle this matter later."

Lala mixed a lot of things.Lin Xiaoxiao handled it methodically.Xiao Yingzheng seemed to understand while listening.

On the third day, Lin Xiaoxiao hosted a banquet at the Sajin Building in Ruicheng, Fei Nong, the city lord of Ruicheng, and Fei Mi, the head of Chongyifang, and Hu Zigui accompanied Xiao Yingzheng during the banquet.

On the fourth day, Lin Xiaoxiao and his party hurried on the road.They continued to go south, intending to go to Song State for a walk.

After the second military alliance, Wei and Jin ceased their troops, and Song finally got a chance to recuperate.

It is said that Fahrenheit's influence in the Song Dynasty has further expanded, and the monarch is now almost a canary raised by Fahrenheit in the palace.

The people of Song Dynasty were very good at doing business.During the war before, the caravan had never heard of it.Now that it is peaceful, business is even more prosperous.

Lin Xiaoxiao was curious about how good the people of Song State were in doing business, so she took Xiao Yingzheng over to have a look.

But not long after the chariots and horses drove into Song Kingdom, Lin Xiaoxiao frowned.

Now that the autumn is crisp and the weather is good, Lin Xiaoxiao rode a donkey when she left Laiqi Mountain, and Xiao Yingzheng also imitated her riding a donkey.Riding a donkey can reduce the burden on the horses pulling the cart, and you can also enjoy the scenery better.

Hu Zigui didn't know where to get a folding fan, since it was very cool, he insisted on holding it in his hand and shaking it.

Hu Zigui rode a horse, and walked beside Lin Xiaoxiao, saw her expression, and asked strangely, "Shannv, what's wrong?"

Lin Xiaoxiao said: "We passed a plain just now, but the weeds in the field are taller than people. It can be seen that the fields on that plain have been idle for a long time. There has been no war in Song Dynasty for nearly two years. It stands to reason that the population should have increased compared to before. There should be more land cultivated."

Hu Zigui said: "This place is too close to the border, and the savages may have some concerns and don't want to come here to reclaim the fields."

"I hope so." Lin Xiaoxiao said.

It took several days to go all the way to Taoqiu.

Along the way, there are rest stations at intervals.The post stations here are more luxurious than those in Qin State.Not only provide board and lodging, but also provide entertainment, and even singers and dancers can provide services.

The prosperity of the post station industry in the Song Dynasty was driven by the frequent traffic of caravans.

But the problem that Lin Xiaoxiao was worried about also appeared.

When they settled down at the inn, they ordered a table of meals, but they almost got into a fight when they paid the bill.

There were six of them, and they ordered three vegetarian dishes and one meat dish, four noodle soups and two pancakes.When it was time to settle the bill, the guy offered a sky-high price of 220 yuan.

Generally, staple foods such as soup noodles and noodle cakes in snack bars only cost three or four yuan. Even if the price at the station is several times higher, ten yuan is the best, but it turns out that the price of a soup noodle at the station is [-] yuan, and the noodles cost fifteen. money one.Meal money is the same as food money.

A Wu and Xiao Ding thought that the post station deceived them because outsiders deliberately charged high prices. After arguing with the staff, they realized that food in Song Kingdom is really more expensive than vegetables and meat.

Because Huashi encouraged commerce and trade, the commerce of Song State developed rapidly.Seeing that those merchants and shopkeepers are making a lot of money, many people go to do business instead of farming.Many people even bought their own land property and ran to do business.

Last year was better, no problems.But this year the problem is serious.Because no one is farming, the country of Song has not produced enough grain this year, which has led to an increase in grain prices.

Fahrenheit reacted quickly, and immediately issued policies to encourage businessmen to buy grain from other countries, and for this purpose, they also gave subsidies in the name of the monarch.

Those merchants bought grain from neighboring countries, but they were not willing to sell grain at a low price.A merchant was still selling grain at a high price while holding the subsidized money from the imperial court.In order to prevent food prices from falling, they even estimated to hoard food.

Since grain was concentrated in the hands of merchants, the imperial court did not have enough reserves to stabilize grain prices.Originally, after the autumn harvest, grain prices should be the cheapest, but in the Song Dynasty, there was a small increase in five days and a big increase in ten days.

For example, the noodle soup they ordered was priced at 21 yuan five days ago, and it went up by [-] yuan five days later.It is said that the price of food has not reached the peak yet, and in five days, the noodle soup will rise to [-] yuan.

Take the post station as an example, because they are closer to the border, the price of food is cheaper.The farther you go to the territory of the Song Dynasty, the more expensive the food price will be.

After eating this exorbitant meal, Lin Xiaoxiao and his party never ate at the inn.There is a lot of food in Lin Xiaoxiao's warehouse, which is enough for them to eat all the way.

Lin Xiaoxiao came to Taoqiu to visit Zhaoxu and Anan.By the way, let's take a look at what the city of Song Dynasty looks like now.

Speaking of Tao Qiu, Lin Xiaoxiao made a big fuss here back then, and now the Chao clan still enshrines the Nine Forged Diamond Arrow that killed Chao Yan.

A group of people entered the city in a low-key manner and found an inn to stay.

Hu Zigui took Ah Wu to the imperial palace and handed him a letter of worship.I was told that both Zhaoxu and Anan had gone out and would not be back until tomorrow.So Hu Zigui left a message, and then returned to the inn.

Lin Xiaoxiao didn't intend to enter the court, but just asked Zhao Xu and Anan to come out in the name of Hu Zigui.Since Anan and the others are not here, they will go shopping around the city by themselves first.

Taoqiu City looked more prosperous than when Lin Xiaoxiao came last time, with restaurants and shops lined up.There were also more people than last time, and looking at the brightly dressed people on the street, most of them looked like rich people.

The shopping street where Lin Xiaoxiao once assassinated Chao Yan was also renovated.Almost all shops have been added to the third floor.Moreover, the entire street was bought by the Chao family, and each shop sold different things.

The Chao family was one of the best merchants in the Song Dynasty.There are also a lot of caravans in the Chao family.Many of their stores sell foreign goods, which are obviously different from other stores, and the quality is much better.

"Tao Qiu is so prosperous." Xiao Yingzheng couldn't help sighing.

However, Lin Xiaoxiao shook her head: "Flowers are blooming, and fire is cooking oil. There are often huge hidden dangers hidden behind the surface prosperity. If the upper echelons of the Song Kingdom have not realized the problem, the Song Kingdom will not be destroyed for too long. "

Xiao Yingzheng was puzzled and said: "Song Kingdom has no more wars now, and it is time to recuperate. It is the right time to vigorously develop. What hidden dangers are there? Could it be the army?"

Lin Xiaoxiao said: "Xiaozheng, you have to remember the saying 'Food is the paramount necessity of the people'. If a person doesn't have enough to eat, no matter how beautiful the clothes are, he won't be interested."

Hu Zigui frowned and said, "Shannu is referring to the food price issue in Song?"

"It's autumn harvest now, and the price of grain has changed every five days. What will the price of grain be like in winter or even next spring?" Lin Xiaoxiao asked.

Huzi returned: "Hua Yuan is not a fool. If he thought of getting merchants to buy grain from abroad before, he should know that the current grain price is deliberately hoarded by merchants. If the Song Dynasty really starts to lack grain, Hua Yuan only needs to use the merchants. Kill one to warn others, and I don't believe that other merchants dare to fight against him."

Lin Xiaoxiao shook her head: "When a business can earn half the profit for merchants, merchants dare to take risks; if they can earn double the profits, they dare to ignore the law; if this business can earn three times the profits , they dare to commit any crime. Throughout the ages, the status of merchants has always been at the bottom, why? Have you ever thought about it?"

Hu Zigui still said: "But without merchants, the Song Kingdom would not be as prosperous as it is today."

"Is it prosperous?" Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the shops on the street, "All I see are bubbles that can burst with a poke."

Lin Xiaoxiao sighed and said: "The process of business development is no different from 'big fish eat small fish, small fish eat dried shrimps, and the rest can't eat anything'.

Take a look at this Taoqiu city. Most of the shops on the street are three-story buildings.Such a store can be maintained by ordinary small businesses?
Like the street we are on, the whole street is owned by Chaojia, and all the money earned by these shops belongs to Chaojia.How many streets are like this in Taoqiu? "

The few people around followed Lin Xiaoxiao's gaze and looked at the high-rise shops, their eyes full of confusion.

"If the state of Song continues to develop like this, a large amount of finances will be increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few families, while ordinary people will not even be able to fill their stomachs. If this continues for a long time, the foundation of the state of Song will be destroyed."

Lin Xiaoxiao patted Xiao Yingzheng on the shoulder.

"Xiaozheng, you have to remember that the foundation of a country lies in the people. When the people live well, the country is prosperous. It is not how extravagant the life of the upper class is."

Xiao Yingzheng looked confused.But seeing Lin Xiaoxiao's serious look, he subconsciously nodded.

"Of course, when the water is clear, there will be no fish. As the lord of a country, you can relax business policies appropriately, but never forget your roots and the people."

Lin Xiaoxiao suddenly looked at Hu Zigui: "Do you still remember how Hua Kingdom perished?"

Beard Gui felt cold.

Duke Hua had a similar idea to Hua Yuan, he estimated business development and made money to support the army.But he didn't make much money, and his military strength didn't increase much, but Huaguo fell into the predicament of food shortage.As a result, the purchase of food led to the introduction of wolves into the house, which was wiped out by South Korea.

Hu Zigui murmured: "The country of Hua is due to natural disasters that have led to a reduction in food production, and the country of Song"

"The weather in the Song Dynasty is good, but the price of food remains high due to man-made disasters. The harm of man-made disasters is often more terrible than natural disasters."

"Man-made disasters may be avoidable."

"That depends on when and how Fahrenheit acts."

Lin Xiaoxiao looked at Xiao Yingzheng and said, "Remember, the most important thing for the common people is to fill their stomachs. As long as the monarch feeds the people, the initiative is in the hands of the monarch. But in the current Song Dynasty, if Huashi can't be determined Otherwise, it won’t take too long to lose the initiative.”

"But the people who sell grain at high prices are merchants, not Fahrenheit." Xiao Yingzheng said.

"But the common people know that merchants can grow big because of Huashi's wrong strategy. They only know that Huashi supported those merchants."

"That is to kill those merchants and grab the food back and distribute it to the people." Xiao Yingzheng said.

"Merchants hoard food deliberately to raise prices. This behavior will shake the foundation of the country. As a king, don't hesitate to attack such merchants. Be decisive and serve as an example to others."

Hu Zigui looked at Lin Xiaoxiao: "What if it hasn't caused the price of food to rise too high? For example, people in Song Dynasty haven't starved to death because of the high price of food."

Lin Xiaoxiao said: "Hell is ahead, no matter if he takes one step forward or two steps forward, he will go to hell."

(End of this chapter)