Cultivation of chastity

Chapter 17 Differences in Understanding

For Li Tai, Zheng Fengchi was really just an episode, and if it wasn't for the lack of cash in his hands, he wouldn't have hooked up with him.

At this moment, after Li Tai bought the land in Chang'an's various square cities, he asked the construction team who were already familiar with the kang construction skills to start building the service facilities that integrate boiling water and bathing, and even saunas, and they charged a fee.

If you only come to get a catty of boiled water, it costs one penny. If you come to take a bath, it is five pennies, plus ten pennies for sauna service.

In other words, as long as any common people pay, they can take a hot bath in winter.

Of course, Li Tai also understands that after he created this, when the business booms, there will inevitably be imitators.

But other content aside, the most important thing is that there will be two checkpoints, one is coal.

I have gathered the refugees so that I have enough labor to mine coal, so as to guarantee the price, and why should others.

The second is the kang.The kang technology has been practiced by Li Tai, so it has become more perfect.

This time, after Li Tai bought the house, he carried out a comprehensive renovation, and carried out a comprehensive waterproof upgrade on the basis of the kang technology. Although the investment was slightly large, it was quite worth it.

In this way, people will not feel cold in the house, especially when taking a bath, the soles of their feet are warm.

This makes it difficult for other bathhouses to imitate.

With these two moats, Li Tai does not mean that this boiling water bathhouse can unify Chang'an, but it definitely has a strong competitiveness.

And only if the boiling water bathhouse has the possibility of making a profit, then this basic good deed can truly last forever.

Otherwise, any act of helping others is only temporary after all, because human beings are profit-driven creatures.

When there is no profit to be made, then this wave of kindness will eventually be consumed by reality.

As the first snow fell in winter, the people of Chang'an discovered that a shop selling boiled water began to appear in the square market.

"Aye, King Yue's boiled water bathhouse is open for business. Because it costs one penny per catty of boiled water, many people around are willing to fetch water!"

Zheng Mingshang looked at Zheng Fengchi, hesitated and said,

"Aye, the King of Yue is a nobleman after all, if he is lucky, he might even be the emperor, we can't afford to mess with him.

And down jackets are so popular, Yue Wang really did us a favor, so don't cause trouble! "

"Which of your eyes looks like I want to provoke the King of Yue!" Zheng Fengchi lightly tapped Zheng Mingshang's head and said:
"We didn't have a relationship with the King of Yue, this matter must only rot in our stomachs.

But in front of outsiders, we have to act as if King Geng Yue has a relationship!

We don't care about other places, but as long as we are in business, we must help! "

"I said Dad, what are you trying to do!" Zheng Mingshang said, "I heard that King Yue is only eight years old, younger than my daughter!"

"He can control locust plagues at the age of eight, but you are now 38 years old, can you support my Zheng family's business!"

When Zheng Fengchi said this, he couldn't help panting heavily. After all, he was a little old, and continued,
"At the beginning, I shouldn't get carried away and show off my abilities in front of the Supreme Emperor. How many people in the court are staring at our house now!"

"Even so, the imperial court must follow the rules!" Zheng Mingshang said weakly, "Will not come to rob our family's money!"

"It's good to grab it, I just pay the money to keep it safe! I'm afraid that others will not be satisfied!" Zheng Fengchi said solemnly:
"After the sage pacified the world, he killed his brother and imprisoned his father, but he is a ruthless character!
When he first came to the throne, the Turks didn't give face to attack, fearing that they would get angry and fight with the Turks in the future.

When a fight really starts, it will definitely cost money, and we businessmen will definitely change our ways and be beaten to the bone.

At that time, let alone wealth, thank God if the family is not ruined. "

"No way, will we fight Turks?" Zheng Mingshang couldn't believe it.

"The sage built the world with his own hands after all, and the losses of the Weishui Alliance will definitely be repaid!" Zheng Fengchi said affirmatively,

"But you don't know how long this war will be fought.

Think about how long it has been since the big man fought against the Xiongnu and Goguryeo in the previous dynasty, so we businessmen are the worst!
If he can get on the line of King Yue this time, how much can he be safe in the event of an accident! "

"Since it's all about connecting, why don't you find a way to find the prince?" Zheng Mingshang said weakly, "That's the way to go!"

"I really want to! The problem is that the prince hasn't even got married yet, and he's in the palace. You're telling me how to get on line with the prince!"

Zheng Fengchi looked at his silly son and said,

"Don't think about it too much, what we businessmen want for our family's wealth is not to earn a lot of money, but to be safe.

Since there is the line of the King of Yue, then try to grasp this line. Only aristocratic families are qualified to ride a donkey to find a horse.

What we can do is to play the cards we have better! "

"Then what should we do?" Hearing Zheng Fengchi's words, Zheng Mingshang couldn't help saying, "Why don't we go buy boiled water every day?"

"What are you going to do with all the boiling water you bought!" Zheng Fengchi asked, touching his chin when he heard Zheng Mingshang's words.

"It's down..." Zheng Mingshang said proudly, "It's only a penny anyway, our Zheng family has a lot!"

"Touch!" Zheng Fengchi gave his son a brain-breaker when he heard Zheng Mingshang's words, and said,
"Do you want to disgust King Yue, or Laozi? If you don't want your whole family to be implicated, you'd better not come up with bad ideas!"

"Then what should Aye do?" Zheng Fengchi couldn't help covering his head when he heard Zheng Mingshang's words, it really hurts!
"Open a hot food shop nearby that needs boiling water, and buy the boiling water directly from next door..." Zheng Fengchi thought about it.

"Aye, our family is mainly made of cloth, and we have never been involved in industries such as food and lodging before!" Zheng Ming said commercially.

"From today onwards, it will be involved!" Zheng Fengchi said firmly, "I will leave this matter to you."

"Okay, Aye!" Zheng Mingshang said weakly to Zheng Fengchi.

Soon, next door to Li Tai, there were many inns opened by the Zheng family.

In an instant, the catering industry in Chang'an was somewhat jittery. Every businessman with a keen sense of smell knew that the Zheng family, the richest man in Chang'an, had begun to enter the catering industry.

It's just that the Zheng family has always been engaged in the trade of silk and silk cloth, why did they suddenly change their careers!

But when doing business in Chang'an, who doesn't have a lot of backers behind them, and soon found out that the Zheng family spent five thousand gold to buy a down jacket from Yue Wang, and now both parties still have economic exchanges.

Immediately, these businessmen understood that after Li Tai built the boiling water bathhouse, the Zheng family set up a place for Li Tai.

In other words, the Zheng family was the richest man in Chang'an, so Li Tai opened a hot water bathhouse on his heel, and Zheng Fengming bought the land next door on his heel, and then converted it into a board and lodging hotel to provide food and accommodation for passers-by.

"King Yue, that Zheng Fengchi is here to give gifts again..." Ma Zhoulue returned the work to Li Tailai with a bit of a joke.

"What?" Hearing Ma Zhou's words, Li Tai couldn't help but be a bit puzzled, and said, "I don't seem to have bought anything!"

"They opened a boarding and lodging hotel next to our boiling water bathhouse, so they gave me a gift and asked if I could directly supply boiling water to their hotel in the future, and the price is a little cheaper, seven yuan per boiler!" Ma Zhoudao.

"What did you give?" Li Tai couldn't help asking when he heard Ma Zhou's words.

Ma Zhou said: "I gave you 20-year-old fine wine, but I asked you to give you a pair of Hetian jade pendants."

"Accept it if you want!" Li Tai waved his hand, "I can only say that it makes sense for this guy to become the richest man in Chang'an!"

"Then let's go back!" Ma Zhou replied calmly when he heard Li Tai's words, "At least these shops have been established in various workshops. For us, at least the start is considered stable!"

"Eh..." Li Tai thought for a while, and said, "How much boiled water each store bought every day, how much coal was used, and how many people visited. Make a statistics for me every month, especially the first one. of the month."

"Oh?" Hearing Li Tai's words, Ma Zhou couldn't help being stunned, and then Ma Zhou thought of something, and said, "Your Majesty is going to ask the saint for credit? I'm afraid he will be eager for quick success!"

"No? I plan to use the data to attract investment." Li Tai shook his head and said, "I remember that in a while, there will be a scientific examination!"

"The scientific examination is held in January, and the rankings are released in February. Most of the candidates will rush to Chang'an to take the examination papers and pass the rankings after the end of autumn!" Ma Zhou couldn't help but feel a little gloomy when he thought of this. Those who were brushed off the row volume and the general list.

"Executive volume? Tongbang?" Li Tai couldn't help but feel a little dazed when he heard this term, since he had never heard of it before.

"These are just some rules before taking the exam!" Ma Zhou said to Li Tai:
"The so-called "Xingjuan" means that before the exam, the candidates will choose the best poems and proses they usually write into a book, and submit them to famous officials and dignitaries, social sages, asking for their appreciation, creating reputation, and presenting them to the examiner. recommend.

The so-called general list means that the examiner can interview the candidates' prestige in the society and make a "poster". refer to. "

Hearing this, Li Tai was a little stunned, and said, "Then how does the chief examiner determine the candidates during the exam?"

"The name of the candidate is on the test paper, how could it be impossible to be sure?" Ma Zhou asked Li Tai rhetorically.

Hearing this, Li Tai opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't know what to say. Is it okay to not get confused in the exam? !
Li Tai somewhat understood why when Li Shimin was in power, most of the talents selected were mainly from the gentry, and there were still very few talents from truly poor families. Even Ma Zhou did not pass the imperial examination.

It wasn't until Wu Zetian came to power that the system of ambiguous names was adopted, and talents from poor families slowly entered the court, and even developed into a struggle between the Niu and Li parties.

It can be said that although the imperial examination system appeared in this era, the imperial examination system is still very imperfect. At the same time, the power of the gentry is still quite large. At least if the emperor does not implement this policy, basically whoever touches it will die!

Li Tai said that this is a pit, and anyone who is willing to jump into it will basically be regarded as an enemy by the gentry.

"That's good, at least I know where to find our school's teachers!" Li Tai couldn't help but smile.

Li Tai said to Ma Zhou, "Since the engineering team has built the bathrooms in sevens and eighties, it's time to build the teaching buildings and teacher dormitories of our agricultural college. After this scientific examination is over, our teachers should be able to They are recruited in sevens and eighties."

"Are you eyeing the candidate who failed the ranking?" Ma Zhou reacted immediately when he heard Li Tai's words, but Ma Zhou still shook his head and said, "It's winter now, and the weather is getting colder and colder. It's impossible to work!"

"Can't work?" Hearing Ma Zhou's words, Li Tai couldn't help but wonder, "Can't I be fed and clothed?"

"My lord, it's not that you don't know that the wind blowing in such a cold day is like a knife. When you are working, your hands or feet are exposed outside, and if you are not careful, you will freeze." Ma Zhou said, " It might even snow in a few days!"

Li Tai couldn't help but blinked when he heard Ma Zhou's words, which was obviously not expected by Li Tai.

Li Tai suddenly realized that the times were different and the productivity was different. That's why Yang Guang was called a foolish king, but after the great development of productivity in the future, countless people wanted to reverse Yang Guang's case.

Most people think that Yang Guang is just in a hurry, but in fact he is still a hero with great strategic vision.

The most important point is that the productivity of the two eras is completely different. In the future, almost all operations will be completed by manipulating various machines. Even if labor is really needed, they will wear gloves and wear helmets on their heads. security measures.

Therefore, Yang Guang developed the canal by himself, which is definitely a large infrastructure connecting the north and the south, no one would say yes.

But the reality is that in this era, if you are an ordinary person, you can only rely on the thick calluses on your hands to grab the hemp rope, and then put it on your shoulders that have been worn out and bleed to drag stones that are almost as heavy as people. Going to serve corvee in the howling cold wind.

When I finish this corvee, I am lucky enough to survive, but if I am unlucky, I may die directly in the corvee. Even this kind of corvee happens every year, and there is no end in sight. Then you will still think that Yang Guang is Mingjun?
Li Tai suddenly realized, and even thought of the refugees he had recruited in the past to dig coal mines.

Li Tai can know that their life of digging coal is absolutely uncomfortable, but Li Tai doesn't know that their life is more difficult than he imagined.

Li Tai was silent for a while, looked at Ma Zhou and said, "Zheng Fengchi seems to be a big silk merchant in Chang'an!"

"Yes." Ma Zhou nodded, unexpectedly, Li Tai's thoughts jumped to Zheng Fengchi again.

"Let him come to see me!" Li Tai said, "He wants to join me, so I'll give him a chance!"

(End of this chapter)