Sitting on the four-wheeled carriage, Emperor Hongzhi was still thinking about the words of Li Mao, the owner of the newly built cement factory.
Emperor Hongzhi also read newspapers every day, but as the highest power in the Ming Dynasty, what he saw and thought was naturally different from ordinary people.
"It would be great if everyone understood this."
Emperor Hongzhi sighed in his heart and looked at Liu Jin standing aside.
Ming Dynasty is really lucky to have Liu Jin!
As Emperor Hongzhi opened the curtain again, he looked out at the bustling and lively streets.
It's been a while since I went out for a private visit incognito. Seeing the bustling streets and busy pedestrians felt very fresh.
"This bicycle is already very popular now~"
Emperor Hongzhi also laughed when he saw a group of young people whizzing by on bicycles.
The prince Zhu Houzhao liked riding bicycles very much, and even rode a bicycle in the palace. Emperor Hongzhi said that he did not look like a prince at all.
"Yes, Your Majesty, bicycles have become very popular now, and they are quickly becoming popular. Young people especially like to ride these bicycles."
Li Dongyang on the side replied with a smile.
"It seems that I have to learn how to use this bicycle, otherwise it will be a bit old-fashioned."
Emperor Hongzhi smiled even happier. Thinking of what Zhu Houzhao said about him being old-fashioned, he also wondered if he should learn from it.
"Your Majesty, actually there are many benefits to riding a bicycle."
"Cycling can exercise your body. Do more exercise. It is good for your body. Many ministers in our court now like to ride their bikes to go to court in the morning."
Liu Jin also smiled and said after hearing this.
It is not easy to live in the capital. Not every minister has a huge industry and a wealthy family like Liu Jin. Some lower-ranking officials, in order to save money, cannot lift a four-wheeled carriage, so they simply buy a bicycle to commute to get off work. , convenient and affordable, and can also exercise.
"Yeah, let's learn from it later."
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately burst into laughter.
Everyone was walking in a four-wheeled carriage, and soon they arrived at a vegetable market. The vegetable market is always a very lively place, with many people buying vegetables and a large flow of people.
"Wet market?"
"Where is this vegetable market?"
Emperor Hongzhi saw the sign of the vegetable market and the large flow of people at the door, and asked curiously.
"Your Majesty, this vegetable market is a place dedicated to buying and selling daily necessities, such as vegetables, meat, rice, etc."
"It's similar to the vegetable market entrance in the inner city, except that on the New Town side of the southern district, unified planning and construction has been carried out, a vegetable market has been built, and sheds have been built, so that it does not need to be exposed to wind and rain."
Liu Jin quickly replied.
"Caishikou~"
"Let's go, let's go in and have a look~"
Emperor Hongzhi understood immediately and immediately asked someone to stop the car and prepare to go in and take a look.
"Your Majesty, this vegetable market is a dirty place. Why don't we go there?"
Liu Jian looked at the vegetable market and could smell all kinds of smells outside. After thinking about it, he suggested to Emperor Hongzhi.
"What are you afraid of? The more this happens, the more you want to go in and take a look."
"This vegetable market is related to the daily lives of ordinary people. Only by understanding more can you know how ordinary people live. If you always stay in the palace and approve memorials, it is difficult to truly understand the lives of ordinary people."
Emperor Hongzhi didn't take it seriously. He took the lead and drove away in a four-wheeled carriage. Then he looked at the vegetable market in front of him with interest.
The vegetable market in front of you is built according to the vegetable markets of later generations. There are a large number of stalls and various shops. There are many shops on both sides of the entrance.
There are grain and oil shops, morning tea shops, bun shops, noodle shops, etc., all kinds of them. Liu Jin even saw a cooked water shop that specializes in selling boiled water. This is a new type of shop that only sells boiled water.
The business in each store is very busy, people are coming in and out, and they are very busy. The boss and the waiters are very busy.
Emperor Hongzhi was the first to come to the grain and oil store. Food is the most important thing for the people. This is what he cares about most. Whether the people can have enough to eat and whether the food is expensive or not are very important things.
When he came to the grain and oil store, the boss was very busy and had no time to entertain him. Emperor Hongzhi took a look at it for himself. All kinds of rice and flour were neatly arranged. At the same time, the prices and prices were written in Arabic numerals next to them.
Origin.
"Nanyang rice, 5 cents per catty~"
"Suzhou rice, 6 cents per catty~"
"Liaodong white noodles, 4 cents per pound~"
"Henan white noodles, 4 cents per pound~"
"Rouge rice, 12 cents per catty~"
"Sweet potatoes, 1 cent per catty~"
"Corn, 2 cents per catty~"
"..."
The prices of various grains were clearly written. Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly while reading them, and picked them up randomly to take a closer look.
They are all high-quality grains. The rice is ground with a new steam rice mill, which is smooth and complete. As for the flour, it is also high-quality flour ground from a flour mill.
He remembered that during the famine, the food in the food store was not only extremely expensive, but also of very poor quality. Sand seeped into the rice and the flour clumped together.
Look at the food in front of you. The price is cheap and the quality is good. The key is the aunt and the little girl who buy the food in the store are still picking and complaining.
"Boss, your rice is not good. It's not white enough. Lao Li's rice is prettier and whiter than yours, and every grain is perfect."
"Oh, my aunt, the whiter the rice is, the better. The rice from Lao Li's family comes from the Tianjin Rice Milling Factory. The Tianjin Rice Milling Factory uses the latest rice milling machine to polish the rice.
Yes, it looks whiter and prettier."
"But the layer of coating on the rice has also been thrown away. Many people have told me that their rice does not have the same aroma when cooked."
When the owner of the store heard this, he quickly explained.
"It's all rice, but it doesn't taste the same."
"Cheaper, cheaper, I'll buy a hundred pounds."
"There's really no way to make it cheap. It's all a small business and you can't make any money."
"Who believes you? You are the richest and most profitable with these grains."
"Oh, that's the old calendar. In the past, food was very expensive and not much food could be produced in a year. Of course food was expensive, but now, there are too many places where food is produced in Ming Dynasty, and transportation is convenient. This food trade is
It’s all just a small business.”
"Nowadays, those who have money are those who open factories, engage in maritime trade, and go overseas. Those of us who engage in grain trading are just making ends meet."
"It seems to be the same. It's cheaper. It's cheaper. I buy a hundred catties at a time."
"You come here often to buy rice. You are an old customer. How about this? I'll give you a few kilograms of sweet potatoes and two corn cobs. That's okay."
"That's pretty much it. I'll give you the money. Remember to send it to me."
"Okay, I'll arrange for someone to send it over later. Is it Unit 302, Building 8, Shuxiangyayuan?"
"Yes, yes, boss, you have a really good memory."
"Haha, there is no other way. To do this small business, I just rely on getting to know everyone and relying on acquaintances to take care of me."
The owner of the grain and oil store was chatting with his customers, while Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jin and others were listening quietly.
A lot of information was also revealed from their conversations.
Nowadays, many of the rice and flour have begun to be processed by steaming rice mills and mills. There are specialized flour mills and rice mills for this business, which is a big progress.
Because the yield of rice in the past was not only low, but also the key was that it took a lot of manpower and time to turn the rice into rice. Rice pounding was a very painful thing, otherwise no one would be punished to pound rice.
Judging from the grains sold in grain and oil stores, the types and origins are very wide. There are many kinds of rice alone, coming from different places, including Nanyang, Suzhou, Huguang, glutinous rice, fragrant rice, pearl rice, etc.
Although there are differences in prices, they are all relatively cheap, costing only a few pennies per pound. For ordinary people today, there is no pressure at all.
More importantly, the high-yielding sweet potatoes and corn introduced from Golden Continent are very cheap because of their large yields. Sweet potatoes cost 1 cent per catty, and corn costs 2 cents per catty. This price can be said to be very cheap.
The key point is that it seems that these sweet potatoes and corn have now been reduced to the point of becoming gifts.
Just from here, we can know that the food in Ming Dynasty is very abundant now.
Emperor Hongzhi also knew that last year, the entire Ming Dynasty once again had a bumper grain harvest, but only in Liaodong. Because the tax holiday had passed, the people who farmed in Liaodong began to pay grain taxes.
In Liaodong alone, the grain tax collected last year was very huge, far exceeding the grain tax received by the entire Ming Dynasty in previous years, so much so that the imperial court had to build several large granaries in Liaodong to store this grain.
Rice and flour are freely available to everyone, and sweet potatoes and corn have become coarse grains. As supplementary grains, a large part is now used to feed livestock.
"Well, the people of our Ming Dynasty can finally have enough to eat."
Emperor Hongzhi nodded happily. In the past, he was always worried that the people would not have enough food and clothing to keep them warm. Now that he saw that the Ming Dynasty had enough food, he was naturally very happy.
Just when Emperor Hongzhi was going to visit other stores, the boy who delivered goods at the grain and oil store had already returned, riding a bicycle. As soon as he returned to the grain and oil store, the boss immediately said: "Put this hundred kilograms of rice and
Several kilograms of sweet potatoes and corn were delivered to Unit 302, Building 8, Shuxiangyayuan~"
"Okay~"
As soon as the waiter heard this, he skillfully carried a hundred kilograms of rice and put it in a special delivery box on the back of the bicycle, and then went to deliver the goods as fast as he could.
"This bike is really practical."
Seeing this scene, Emperor Hongzhi also laughed. As for Zhang Mao, he looked at the triangular logo on the bicycle and said regretfully: "Why didn't I invest in the Mercedes-Benz Bicycle Factory~"