Chapter 148 The North is so poor!
Beiping.
It’s August, midsummer.
There are not many people on the streets of Peiping. The few places where people gather are under the trees in the forest.
Xia Zhibai walked leisurely in the city.
He was not affected by what happened at Prince Yan's Mansion just now.
Xia Zhibai is very interested in this future capital.
Because I have never been here.
He walked in the city for a while, counted the time, and then walked towards the place he agreed with Heiwa when he came. It was not a secret place, it was just a dining room next to his residence.
The wind blows on the willow treetops, and the branches and leaves are steep.
On the west side of the river surrounding the city, Xia Zhibai slowly stopped. Hei Wa on the side seemed to have arrived a long time ago. He was squatting on the river bank in boredom, looking at the wild ducks still playing in the water under the gurgling water.
Seeing Xia Zhibai arrive, Hei Wa walked over with a happy face.
"Brother Xia."
Xia Zhibai nodded, looked at the scorching sunlight, and looked around for a herbal tea stall.
The two of them sat down casually.
"How did you go about what I asked you to inquire about?" Xia Zhibai's face was a little hot, and while the child was bringing herbal tea, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves.
Hei Wa said: "How dare I not do what Brother Xia has asked me to do seriously?"
"I have asked about everything."
"Now one pound of salt in Peking Thirty-nine articles.”
“Thirty-nine articles?” Xia Zhibai’s eyes were a little surprised.
Hei Wa was quite excited and said: "Brother Xia, I still say this is low. The price of salt in several stores is almost fifty cents."
"The salt here is different from Yingtianfu."
“It seems to be a franchise or something. Anyway, it is different from other places.”
“The imperial court also acquiesced to such a high salt price.”
“It is said that Further north, the price of salt and rice is even higher.”
At this time.
The child brought over a pot of herbal tea.
Hei Wa took it with a smile. He didn't even need the waiter to set the bowls, so he took the initiative, poured two full bowls, put one bowl in front of Xia Zhibai, and then directly picked up his own bowl. Bowl, took a big gulp and drank.
Drinking very happily.
He traveled most of Peiping today.
I have been thirsty for a long time.
After drinking two large bowls in a row, I reluctantly stopped.
Xia Zhibai took a sip while thinking about the price of salt in Peiping.
Eventually.
He thought of opening the middle method.
This should be the reason for the high salt price in Beiping.
Merchants transported grain to various guard posts in the north and exchanged it for salt from the court. In order to make profits, they naturally had to raise the price of salt.
Beiping is a big city, and the price of salt cannot be lowered.
Other places will naturally be higher.
The population in the north is too small and the commodity economy is underdeveloped, which is destined to raise prices.
Xia Zhibai said: "Except for salt, I'm afraid other food, clothing, etc. will be much higher than Yingtianfu."
Hei Wa nodded: "Yes."
"Just That kind of inferior Gebu costs five or six cents per foot. "Yingtian Mansion only costs thirty or forty cents." >
"A piece of better silk is worth three or four taels of silver."
"This is not selling cloth. It's obviously selling people's lives. It's a damn thing if this cloth can be sold."
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Hei Wa couldn't help but complain a few words.
Xia Zhibai smiled, Ming Dynasty did not have any freedom of 'dressing'. Most families, or even a whole family, wore the same clothes. Most of the time, whoever went out wore it, so in the streets and alleys You can often see a woman or a half-year-old boy wearing ill-fitting clothes online.
As for the cloth in the cloth shop, it is not sold to the poor.
Those who have spare money in their pockets or have wealthy families will think about how to dress. As for the current situation in the Ming Dynasty, silk and other brocade clothes were mostly bought by powerful and wealthy officials and landowners. As for the common people, Only when you are getting married will you bear the pain and buy something.
But most of them are woven at home.
Hei Wa added another bowl of herbal tea to himself, glanced around with a pair of black eyes, and whispered: "Brother Xia, you don't know, when I was outside those silk villages, but Seeing those shopkeepers all wearing silk clothes, if this were in Yingtian Mansion, these people would have lost their heads."
Xia Zhibai laughed.
The Ming Dynasty indeed prohibited merchants from wearing brocade and silk.
But how could it be banned in private? Even if they are wearing coarse cloth clothes on the outside, the lining on the inside is mostly silk and satin.
This place has always turned a blind eye to these things.
Even Zhu Yuanzhang himself was the same.
Xia Zhibai also knows the reason for this.
Just like the prohibition on 'showing off wealth' in later generations, people all over the world are living a miserable life, haha. As a result, a group of low-status people wear gold and silver every day. What do the people think?
"Where's the price of rice?" Xia Zhibai asked. Heiwa put down the tea bowl, without caring about his image at all, he wiped his mouth with his hand and said: "One stone of rice is almost nine coins, which is one coin more than Yingtian Mansion."
"One stone of rice is almost one hundred and twenty kilograms, and nine hundred Wen is a bit high."
Xia Zhibai whispered, although the cheapness of the grain hurts the farmers, whether the grain is cheap or not has nothing to do with the people at all, because the decision It is not the people who set the price, but the government and the merchants who collect the grain. The price of the grain is just the price of the grain collected, not the price of the grain sold.
In many cases, the price of grain is intentionally lowered by the government, which wants to use it to collect more food from the people and then earn huge profit margins.
Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the government has successively established "levelling orders".
But Ming Dynasty did not have it.
The so-called ‘accuracy’ depends entirely on the official’s mouth.
If the court feels that it is too high, it will suppress it with force. If the court feels that it is low, it will lift it up.
What a child’s play.
There were too few officials in Ming Dynasty.
There are only more than 10,000 people above the ninth level.
Most of the others are subordinate officials, and some are in the service.
It was good during the Zhu Yuanzhang period. These subordinate officials still had room for advancement and could become 'officials' by virtue of their own talents. However, starting from Zhu Di, this upward path was abolished. Zhu Di was a person with clear distinctions between love and hate. He is never stingy with rewards for those he likes, and he hates those he doesn't like so much that he prohibits them in various ways.
Also starting from Zhu Di, the "all over the world" employment policy during the Zhu Yuanzhang period was completely destroyed.
The "officials" in the Ming Dynasty had no way to rise and could not see any political future. As the largest and most powerful group in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, the only purpose of "officials" working hard was to use their positions. For convenience, corruption, extortion, and exploitation of people's livelihood.
Under this political ecology, the politics of Ming Dynasty was completely distorted.
It has also been completely formed that one test determines life.
In this abnormal political ecology, the emergence of the Donglin Party is almost inevitable.
Xia Zhibai actually didn’t have much feelings about the Yongle rule that was highly praised by later generations. As a scholar, his feelings were the most intuitive.
Following Zhu Di's words, "From now on, the imperial censor must not reuse officials again", the Ming Dynasty's court was completely crooked.
The censor cannot appoint officials, but can the county magistrate and county magistrate appoint officials? Can the heads of the six departments use officials? Ke Dao talks about whether officials can use officials.
Although Zhu Di did not say it clearly at the time, in the cautious environment of the officialdom, how could officials in the Ministry of Personnel take risks? In this case, the safest way is to make every effort to cultivate Hanlin Academy scholars, lower one level to cultivate ordinary Jinshi, and selectively cultivate outstanding scholars.
At the same time, the door for ‘officials’ to enter the officialdom is closed.
However, Zhu Di never thought that the Jinshi students had personal connections, such as being in the same year, and the Imperial Academy concubines had worked together in the same compound for many years. After they ascended to high positions, it would almost be natural for them to stick together for warmth. , forming various gangs.
As for subsequent corruption or evading imperial power, it is all logical.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, it is best for the world to let people in the world live in peace and order. However, Zhu Di, as a person with a silver spoon in his mouth, cannot understand, sympathize, or sympathize with the bottom class at all.
His eyes are born with dignity and inferiority.
Xia Zhibai didn't pay much attention to these, and he asked Hei about others one after another.
Hei Wa answered them all.
Sitting in the tea shop, Xia Zhibai drank herbal tea and cooled down from the summer heat, but he was thinking about his future business layout.
After the iron plant is opened, priority must be given to ensuring the production of salt in the salt plant. Xia Zhibai is not too concerned about it. He is only concerned about how to quickly expand the follow-up and how to save costs to the greatest extent.
The lack of people in the north is a big problem.
Having fewer people means spreading the market, which requires more financial resources.
He didn’t have that much money to throw into it.
a long time.
Xia Zhibai had to sigh: "The north is too poor."
It's poor and expensive.
Now he has figured it out. If he just opens a salt shop, he may not be able to recoup his capital, at least in the short term. He must find other ways to make a living.
He thought for a while and only thought of one.
It's the postal service.
Now that Zhu Yuanzhang has relaxed the restrictions on the post station, it seems that he can take advantage of the opportunity to operate letter transportation. Although many of the soldiers in the guard station are accompanied by their families, many of them go north alone. , when you are away for a long time, you will inevitably feel homesick. It is indeed feasible for him to do the post office by the way.
As for maintaining high salt prices, this is not what Xia Zhibai wants.
What he wants is for the north to develop as soon as possible.
That will inevitably lower the price of goods in the north.
Let it benefit the people.
Only in this way can we attract people from the south or central China to move north, fill the population in the north, and further accelerate the development and recovery of the north. However, there is still good news, that is, there is plenty of coal in the north.
Coal is sold at a lower price than in the south, which can still reduce costs to a certain extent.
A long time.
Xia Zhibai couldn't help gritting his teeth and said: "We still have to publicize the situation of the Kyoto Salt Industry so that people can look forward to the salt shop opened by Xia Zhibai. Propaganda can spread the word and further expand influence.”
"Finally occupy the market efficiently and conveniently."
"Build your reputation first, and fill in the rest slowly."
Xia Zhibai decided on the strategy.
Just when Xia Zhibai was clarifying his business ideas, a figure appeared in the tea shop.
Seeing Xia Zhibai, the visitor showed a smile.
Then walked in casually.
Immediately, he said with a smile: "Seller, bring me another pot of herbal tea. I will sit at the same table with these two people."
I didn't adjust, and I owe two chapters
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(End of this chapter)