At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 443: The spiritual hometown of Chang'an and the economic center of Hami

Jia Sheng said, "A kerosene lamp is absolutely a priceless treasure. Think about how many households there are in the Han Dynasty. According to the data published in the Han Dynasty Monthly Report, there were more than 7 million households last year. Oil lamps are something that every household needs, but the price of oil lamps is not low. The price of a pound of soybean oil in Chang'an City has exceeded 100 coins, and the price of candles is even more expensive, coins per candle. The price of dragon candles is even more ridiculous, coins per candle. Only nobles and wealthy businessmen can afford them."

Wan Yu said disapprovingly: "A pound of soybean oil is enough for several days."

There are many kinds of oil in the Han Dynasty, and the prices are also different. The most expensive one is whale oil. Dragon candle has always occupied the high-end market in the Han Dynasty. Even the nobles of Ji State use dragon candle.

The next level is candles made from animal fats such as lard, the next level is soybean oil, and the last is palm oil from Southeast Asia. However, due to quantity restrictions, palm oil is currently only used in coastal cities like Kuaiji County.

But in general, as Dahan's breeding industry becomes more and more prosperous, the soybean planting area is getting larger and larger, and there are more and more palm economic parks in Nanyang. The latter three types of oil are showing a general expansion trend. That's why Wan Yu doesn't care about Jia Sheng's kerosene, because Dahan has no shortage of oil at all.

Jia Sheng said: "But the price of our kerosene can be lower. We can refine hundreds of kilograms with simple equipment. If it is popularized on a large scale, the cost of kerosene can be as low as one cent per kilogram. Including transportation costs, the price of kerosene per kilogram will not exceed 3-4 cents. What does this mean? This means that the kerosene we make can occupy the market of tens of millions of households in the Han Dynasty. A household uses 50 kilograms of kerosene a year, which means 5 million kilograms of kerosene. We make 2 cents per kilogram, which means we can make billion a year. Even after deducting some operating costs and freight, this is a business that can make hundreds of millions a year."

The more Jia Sheng calculated, the more excited he became. His eyes lit up. He originally thought it was just an insignificant little thing, but now after careful calculation, he realized that it was a huge gold mountain. He said excitedly, "This is the wealth that God has bestowed upon us. If we don't take it, we will be punished. If we don't promote kerosene now, when others discover it, they will be the ones who will get rich."

Chen Cheng said unhappily: "If you can get rich by settling accounts, then there will be rich people everywhere in the world. Let alone whether the Han Dynasty has kerosene, even if it does, can we occupy this resource with our small bodies?

"Don't forget how many rangers are captured every year in the coal mines of the Han people. They risk their lives to occupy a small coal mine. Can your small body occupy all the fierce fire oil fields in the world? Without fierce fire oil, where do you get kerosene?"

Wan Yu was also not optimistic and said, "There is definitely no share of the fierce fire in the Han Dynasty. Even if it is the fierce fire oil in the white tree, it is not ours, but Duke Ji's. Even if Duke Ji asks you to develop coal stove kerosene, this place is about 4000 miles away from Chang'an City. With such a long distance, let alone transporting fierce fire oil, even if you say you are transporting a piece of stone, you will lose money if you can't sell it at the price of gold. Kerosene lamps are just for fun. It's good enough to use them in the white tree. Don't always have these unrealistic daydreams."

After the calculations by his two friends, Jia Sheng quickly became discouraged. He was sure that kerosene was a good thing, but he was not sure whether the Han Dynasty had pyrotechnic oil. Even if there was pyrotechnic oil, he would not be able to take it. Baishuli, where pyrotechnic oil was found, was too far away from Chang'an. The cost of transportation from here might be more expensive than that of Longzhu. It seemed that his dream of becoming a billionaire was just a dream.

But he still retorted: "You still have to have dreams, maybe they will come true. The Western Region will not remain poor forever. As long as it has one-tenth of the wealth of Guanzhong, the people of our Ji Country will need kerosene lamps, and then kerosene will be useful."

"The land below our Baiyangli is a treasure land. Sooner or later it will be as famous as the Spice Islands. We must occupy this land well, otherwise our descendants will definitely blame us."

Wan Yu and the other man smiled calmly and did not refute their friend's daydream.

After dinner, the villagers of Baishuli gathered at the government office because Wanyu also had an educational mission. He was responsible for teaching the villagers of Baishuli to speak Chinese, understand 500 commonly used Chinese characters, and complete primary education for the children.

Everyone had things to do during the day so naturally they had no time. It got dark quickly in the Western Region at this season, so it was not suitable for night activities. But Jia Sheng invented a kerosene lamp and solved the lighting problem, so everyone came back to the township office at night.

The second wish was very simple. The township office had a heater made by Chen Cheng. At night, the township office was the warmest place in the entire Baishu, and they were also happy to come to the township office to keep warm.

This school was also very simple, with Jia Sheng making a simple blackboard at the front.

Wan Yu wrote on the blackboard, Confucius said: "Isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?"

Wan Yu wrote this line on the blackboard and then read it again in Chinese.

Near Wanyu were the thirty or so little kids from Baishuli. They studied very hard, and after reading along, they wrote on straw paper with charcoal pencils.

The people of Baiyang Village naturally had no straw paper, which was an educational material issued by the Ji State. Ji Bu was very strict about educating people, after all, there were too few Han people in the Western Regions, and it was too far away from the Han mainland, so he could hardly receive support from the Han.

If the Ji Kingdom wanted to take root in the land of the Western Regions, it had to educate the people in this land to become Han people, so that the Han people would not become a minority in this land. Therefore, most of the income of the Ji Kingdom was spent on education. In each village of the Ji Kingdom, there must be a teacher responsible for educating the local people.

Surrounding these little kids were some women and children. Some of them were curiously looking at the contents on the blackboard, while others didn’t care at all about the sweaters on their hands.

After Jia Yi invented the spinning wheel, he found that Baishuli had no shortage of sheep, and naturally no shortage of wool, so he simply spun a large amount of wool, and at the same time found four knitting needles in the Great Han Encyclopedia and taught them to the local women and children. The women and children in Baishuli learned weaving very slowly, but they learned knitting very quickly. They could knit a scarf in a few days, and an ugly but warm sweater in a month. Now some of them can be turned into patterns.

Compared to cotton-padded clothes, sweaters in Baishuli are becoming more and more popular. Now women and children in Baishuli will start knitting sweaters whenever they have free time, and half of the young and strong people in Baishuli have already worn sweaters.

In another room of the government office, it was crowded with villagers from Baishuli, who were fascinated by what the village husband was saying about Chang'an City.

After Jia Sheng came to Baishuli, he sometimes talked about his past experiences in Chang'an. He found that the villagers liked listening to him very much. Every time after listening to the stories about Chang'an City, the villagers would be peaceful for a long time. So he developed the tradition of telling the villagers about things in Chang'an City at night.

Jia Sheng said excitedly: "Back then, Nai Gong was the main striker of No. 26 Middle School. In the Chang'an Middle School League, he scored goals in one season. Do you know what this means?"

Of course these people cooperated and shook their heads to indicate that they didn't know.

Jia Sheng said: "This is the standard of a first-class striker. In the entire middle schools of Chang'an City, there are no more than ten people who are better than me. They can all join the professional league. You know how much money the players in the Chang'an Professional League make. They earn tens of thousands of dollars every month."

However, Tielang and his men obviously had no idea about the income of tens of thousands of coins. Jia Shengye noticed this and said, "This amount of money can buy 20 dan of wheat in Chang'an City, and the annual salary can buy 240 dan of wheat.

"Wow!" The villagers had some idea of ​​what 240 stones of wheat meant. It could be considered a huge amount of wealth in the Western Regions. It could be said that even the leader of a small tribe might not be able to accumulate so much wealth.

"You don't know that Chang'an City has a professional football stadium that can accommodate 20,000 spectators to watch the game. Just imagine the scene, 20,000 people cheering for you. How motivated would it be to play football in such an atmosphere?"

Tielang was surprised and said, "This football stadium can accommodate 20,000 people. Is it a city?"

Jia Sheng said: "Yes, it is a city. The highest point of the football field is more than 50 meters high. If it is transformed into a city, it must be unbreakable."

Tielang suddenly said, "According to Mr. Qiang, is playing football really that profitable?"

Jia Sheng said: "Of course they make money, but more importantly, they are celebrities in our Chang'an City, admired by thousands of people."

But Tielang had a different idea. He said, "Qiangfu, you are a top ten striker, but you can't beat me. Then I am more powerful, at least a top five striker. Then I can also earn the 1 salary!"

240 shi of wheat is equivalent to the total wealth of a small tribe. If Tielang knew where Chang'an was, he would want to go to Chang'an City right now.

Jia Sheng was stunned. He didn't expect that the boomerang would hit him. Chen Cheng couldn't help laughing when he heard this. Although Jia Sheng was good at playing football, he was only good at the amateur level. He was not at the level to play in the real football league.

There are not many entertainment facilities in the Western Regions, and the easiest thing to play in this vast area is football.

So when he was free, Jia Sheng would organize the villagers to have a hearty game of football. In the beginning, Jia Sheng did show his level as a first-class striker. He would score goals in every game, and sometimes even perform a hat trick, fully demonstrating his strength as a first-class striker.

But after the villagers mastered the rules of football and learned the techniques, the situation began to slowly improve. Among them, Tielang, because of his big physique, strong strength and good endurance, soon dominated Jia Sheng after mastering the rules of the football game and became the undisputed first striker in the entire Baishuli.

Jia Shengyou said angrily, "Football is just a toy after all. We can just play with it in the Western Regions. Don't take it too seriously. The planting technology in Chang'an City is what you should learn. The farmland in Baishuli is no worse than that in Chang'an, but look at the results you have achieved. Tens of thousands of acres of high-quality farmland have grown 8000 dan of grain. I feel embarrassed. This result is a disgrace to our No. Middle School. You know that this result is considered a reduction in production in our Han Dynasty. The court will issue an order to provide relief to the local area."

Grain is indeed a problem that annoys Jia Sheng. The land in the Western Regions is similar to the Loess Plateau, which is easy to cultivate. Moreover, the land they reclaimed in Baishuli is not virgin land, but a cultivated land called Puguo Reclamation State. At the beginning, Jia Sheng came to Baishuli with great enthusiasm and led the villagers to reclaim tens of thousands of acres of land. According to his calculations, one acre can produce three stones of grain, and Baishuli can harvest 3 stones of wheat this year. Half of this wheat will be used by the villagers of Baishuli, and the other half will be handed over to the country. He can surprise the entire Ji State, and become a county magistrate with this merit. After accumulating merit for a few more years, he can become the prime minister of Ji State in one fell swoop, glorify his ancestors, and then return home rich and famous, surprise everyone in Yong'anli, and make his stubborn father admit that he was wrong and underestimated him.

But the reality completely shattered Jia Sheng's fantasy. After a year of hard work in Baishuli, he did not even produce 3 shi of grain, let alone 6000 shi. After paying taxes, there were less than shi of grain left in Baishuli, which was barely enough for the villagers of Baishuli to eat for four months. The situation in other townships was similar. His performance was not outstanding.

"Most of the farmland in Chang'an can produce three shi per mu. Did you know that there is a canal in Chang'an called Zhengguoqu? There are probably tens of millions of mu of irrigated land there. Not only can this piece of land support the entire population of one million in Chang'an, but it can also fill the Lantian granary with grain. Do you know how much grain is in the Lantian granary? A full 30 million shi, enough for our Ji country to eat for three years."

"Wow! If there is a kingdom of God in this world, it must be Chang'an City," Tielang said with yearning.

Even now, the villagers in Baishuli still haven't solved the problem of hunger. When they are busy, they can eat enough, but when they are free, they still have to save food. Now the villagers in Baishuli can only say that they have escaped the brink of starvation, but they are still a long way from having enough food and clothing. When these villagers know that there is a place where they can not only eat and drink enough but also have tens of millions of tons of grain in stock, this place is already a kingdom of God to them.

In fact, what these villagers like to hear most is not the various entertainment facilities in Chang'an City, but the various granary goods in Chang'an City. Through Jia Sheng, they know that Chang'an City is a place where food is not to be eaten up, wine is available to drink as much as you want, and there is also rock sugar that is as white as snow and as sweet as honey. A Chang'an City with sufficient supplies and no hunger is what they like to hear most.

Jia Sheng said: "So we have to work hard this winter to build karez in the fields. As long as there is sufficient water, with the fertility of this land, it will definitely not be a problem to produce 3 shi of grain per mu. By then, everyone can eat steamed buns to their heart's content."

Chen Cheng immediately stopped him and said, "Don't go crazy. With the population of Baishuli, it's already a great effort to bring the karez to the fields in three years."

But Tielang asked: "If we just bring the karez into the fields, we can increase the grain production capacity three times?"

It was obviously difficult for Chen Cheng to understand the desire of people who were always hungry to eat. For them, being able to have a full meal was the best thing in the world.

Jia Sheng said: "According to the research of farmers, they found that as long as there is sufficient water, the grain production capacity can be doubled. If we also apply farmyard manure, it is very likely that the yield per mu will be three stones."

Tielang said firmly: "This winter, we will build the karez below the fields."

Jia Sheng smiled and said, "I, Bai Shuli, must have this determination."

Tielang then said, "Mr. Qiang, you should tell us more about the things in Chang'an City."

For the villagers of Baishuli, Chang'an City has become their spiritual home. They gather at the township office every day just to listen to Jia Sheng and others talk about Chang'an City.

Jia Sheng smiled and said, "I will go get the new issue of the Dahan Monthly and read the news about Dahan to you."

After saying that, Jia Sheng took out the latest issue of Dahan Monthly from his room. Of course, it was the latest one because it was two months ago. This outdated newspaper cost him a full five hundred coins, which was a quarter of his salary. He cherished the Dahan Monthly, which he usually even found hard to use to wipe his butt, and he would keep it safely even after reading it.

Under the expectant gaze of Tielang and the others, Jia Sheng took out the Great Han Monthly Report and looked through the first page, saying, "The Emperor of the Great Han said during his inspection of the Bashang Steel Plant that the entire steel plant should bear in mind the aspirations of Datong and make due contributions to the construction of a well-off society for our Great Han~~~~."

"The Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, Xiao He, presided over the completion ceremony of the Yellow River Bridge in Dongjun. He said: "The Han officials of Dongjun must give full play to the geographical advantage of Dongjun being in the core of the Central Plains and build it into a transportation center of the Central Plains~~~~."

Jia Sheng was very familiar with these contents. His classmates in Chang'an had summarized the process of the Han Dynasty Monthly Report. At the beginning, the emperor was very busy, in the middle, the prime minister and the prefects of each county were very concerned about everyone's life, and at the end, everyone was told that the vassal states of the Han Dynasty were very wealthy and those who wanted to get rich could go there. At the same time, one or two examples were reported, such as which poor boy dug up a piece of gold nugget or Hetian jade, brought it back to the Han Dynasty, became rich, married a village beauty, and lived a wealthy life.

After arriving in the Western Regions, Jia Sheng realized that although the above statements were true, only half of them were true. There were indeed a lot of Hetian jade and mutton-fat jade in the Western Regions, and he even picked up several pieces here, but in the Western Regions, Hetian jade was just a stone and had no value at all. What was valuable was bringing these jades back to the Central Plains. But a round trip from the Central Plains to the Western Regions would take thousands of miles, which could cost a person half his life. Ordinary people could not go back after coming to the Western Regions.

What is valuable here are grains, cloth and various tools, which are the least valuable in the Central Plains. Life here is much poorer than in the Han homeland.

"The 2nd Han Steam Expo will be held in Chang'an City in the th year of the Han calendar. The emperor calls on all nations in the world to bring their local specialties to Chang'an City to participate in the Steam Expo."

This news made Jia Sheng's eyes light up. Isn't this the opportunity he has been waiting for?

He immediately threw the monthly report to Chen Cheng and said, "Help me read the monthly report. I have something to do."

He went to his office, found paper and pen, and then began to write a memorial to Duke Ji.

On October 25th, the 15th year of the Great Han calendar, Ji State, outside Hami City, Jishui River.

This river was originally a semi-arid seasonal river and had no name. But when Ji Bu established the Ji State here, it got its current name.

The source of the Jishui River is the melting water of ice and snow on both sides of the Tianshan Mountains. In summer, there is the most abundant water accumulation and rainfall. The abundant melting water irrigates millions of acres of land on both sides of the river, and also turns the Jishui River into the main road of the Ji State. At the beginning of the establishment of the Ji State, Ji Bu understood the importance of this river to the Ji State. He recruited civilians to straighten the Jishui River and dredge the river mud. Now, transport ships with a capacity of thousands of tons can also transport goods here.

Although the river was frozen at this time, the dock on the river bank was still bustling with porters carrying heavy goods and piling them on the sleds beside the dock.

These sleds will quickly transport supplies from Hami City to various parts of Ji State along the banks of the Jishui River. The scene at the dock is extremely lively. You can hear the shopkeeper shouting at the porters to hurry up, and you can also see the hot air from the porters instantly condensing into water.

Ji Bu was wearing a thick fur coat and looking at the lively scene at the dock with a serious face.

Following behind him were Ji State's prime minister Tian Shu and a group of Ji State officials.

Uncle Tian said excitedly: "This Jishui River can be regarded as the mother river of my Ji country. This river irrigates millions of acres of land in my Ji country, and there are thousands of villages on both sides of the river. Now this place has become the granary of my Ji country.

At the same time, this is also the economic center of our Ji Kingdom. The cotton cloth woven in Hami is sold to other parts of Ji Kingdom through here. In just three years at most, the cotton cloth of our Hami can not only meet the needs of the people of the entire empire, but can also be sold to all parts of the Western Regions. "

Although the Western Regions were the core of the Silk Road, the local textile industry was not well developed. Most of the silk that was sold was transported to other kingdoms in Central Asia, except for a small amount sold to local nobles and officials.

The local textile industry cannot even meet its own needs. Even though the price of Han cloth has increased fivefold, there is still a market for it here.

Of course, there is only a small market like this among nobles and big merchants. There is no other way. The people in the Western Regions are too poor. Although they have needs, they have no money, so they naturally cannot afford to buy the cloth from the Han Dynasty.

It was a great irony that the local people in the area with the largest cotton production could not afford to buy a few pieces of cotton cloth. In order to solve this problem, Ji Bu imported a large number of spinning wheels and textile machines from the Central Plains. It happened that the steam textile machines replaced the water-powered animal-powered textile machines in the Han Dynasty. Merchants from Ji State bought a large number of second-hand textile machines at low prices, and then established a small textile industrial zone in Hami, which can now produce 30 pieces of cotton cloth a year.

The prosperity of the textile industry has injected strong economic vitality into Hami City.

In addition to Hami's local coal mines and iron ore resources, all of Ji's coal and steel need to be transported from here. The three pillar industries have made Hami City the first economic center of Ji's country, accounting for 30% of Ji's fiscal revenue.

Now, merchants gather around Hami, and the once uninhabited wilderness has become a dock market. Hami already looks 70% like a prosperous town in the Han Dynasty. Ji Bu is very satisfied with this.

Ji Budao said: "The emperor wants to hold a steam expo again and ask us to bring special products to Chang'an. What do you think, Prime Minister?"

Uncle Tian said awkwardly: "My Ji country does not have the special products that the Han Dynasty needs. Hetian jade and agate are luxury goods. If we sell them too low, it will not be cost-effective."

(End of this chapter)