It can be said that it is one of the oldest fortresses on the Great Wall.
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, the Jin State set up beacons here to guard against the Di people in the north.
By the early years of the Warring States Period, the three families were divided into the Jin Dynasty.
In order to maintain and strengthen the border, the newly born Zhao State separated Langmeng Fortress from Jinyang and established it as a separate county, named: Langmengyi.
This is also the origin of the wolf rush.
Since then, Wolfmeng Fortress has become the dividing line between civilization and barbarism. Until today, everything has changed.
Standing on the hill on one side of the Langmengsai straight road, Sima Qian looked at the dense business travelers rushing on the straight road in front of him, and his eyes almost popped out of his head.
"There are at least hundreds of heavy-duty carriages here, right?" Sima Qian sighed: "The supplies carried by these carriages weigh at least ten thousand stones!"
Several other young people accompanying him also nodded and sighed.
There was even a young man dressed as a Confucian scholar who said indignantly: "Jia ** is ruining the country and the people, wasting the people and hurting the money!"
Others are also more or less disgusted and tired of merchants in their hearts.
After all, none of us are fools, let alone nerds who stay at home, ignore what is going on outside the window, and only read books by sages.
In today's world, nerds are not popular!
In the past, there was a famous chicken soup article.
It tells the story of Dong Zhongshu, the giant of the Gongyang faction, when he was young.
It is said that when Dong Zhongshu was a boy, his father built a garden specifically for him in order to give him a place to play. After the garden was completed, the neighbors were amazed, and the surrounding friends came to join in the fun and play.
Dong Zhongshu alone had never even entered the garden gate.
Buried in the study, studying poetry and books.
This is the once famous story of Not Peeping in the Garden for Three Years.
Countless people have taken this story to encourage their children: Why can Dong Zi achieve what he does today? He is just that he studies very hard. He doesn’t even play when he is playing, and he just immerses himself in reading. Look at you! He is always mischievous and mischievous!
I don’t know how many young people were taught and spurred by their parents and elders on this joke when they were young.
But in the past two years, the situation has changed.
Even Dong Zhongshu's disciples were unwilling to mention the matter of "not visiting the garden for three years".
The protagonists of the story about parents pushing their children have also been changed from Dong Zhongshu to Zhang Tang, Ji An and Yan Yi.
The story of Zhang Tang's trial of a mouse when he was eight years old is well known all over the world.
And behind all these changes, it is not only because of the emergence of talents from generation to generation, but also because of the changes in the hearts of the world.
In the past, the king of Chu had a thin waist, and many people died of starvation in the palace.
Nowadays, the emperor likes people like Guan Zhong and Wenhou of Beiping.
People in the world naturally vote with their feet and make their own choices.
Now, young people ranging from princes and ministers to scholar-officials and bureaucrats have begun to travel.
Depending on the financial situation and ability of each family, the scope of travel also varies.
And the number of nerds has plummeted.
Especially the generation that grew up in the Yuande period, they wanted to go out and have fun, and they also knew how to use the banner of "collecting style" and "study tour".
The older generation are a little uncomfortable with it.
Just like those born in the 70s feel that those born in the 80s are taking pills, those born in the 80s feel that those born in the 90s probably have to kneel down.
Things are grouped into groups, and people are divided into groups.
The quality of Sima Qian's companions who traveled all over the world was certainly not that different.
Basically, they are all elite children of scholar-bureaucrats and official clans.
Moreover, basically all of them had followed their fathers and had experience in the yamen, so they knew the current social situation and the subtleties of the current situation.
Even a historian like Sima Qian knew it clearly in his heart.
Although now, in order to support the war against the Huns, the court and local governments have vigorously repaired and widened roads, and began to build rail carriages for transportation.
However, logistics costs are still prohibitively high.
The stories of the Battle of Mayi and the Battle of Gaoque tell people that on average, for every fifty shi of food and fodder sent out of the fortress, 20 shi were consumed on the road.
This is assuming there are no accidents or natural disasters!
But now, these heavily loaded carriages are carrying such a large amount of supplies out of the country in peacetime.
It is foreseeable that their costs will definitely be higher than those of the imperial court.
If half of the fifty shi of grain and fodder can reach the destination, you should be smiling.
And what can be exchanged for these many supplies?
They are nothing more than gold, jewels and furs that cannot be eaten or worn, and are of no use to the country and its people!
No one will forget the lesson of the fall of the Qin Empire.
Everyone knows that the fall of Qin was caused by the imperial court's unscrupulous efforts to increase the burden on the people.
Nowadays, the emperor and the court treat the people with light corvees and low taxes and reward farming, but the merchants are desperately trying to undermine the country.
In order to make a small profit, China's grain and grass are transported to the grassland!
How do young people not get angry?
Sima Qian was even more confused in his heart: "Your Majesty asked me to go out of the fortress and go to Dragon City to find the answer... Can I really find the answer in Dragon City?"
"If not, may I ask?"
So Sima Qian said to the Confucian scholar: "I once heard that a man in Chu State was studying, and he saw something in the book: the mantis waits for the cicada to block the leaf, and can become invisible. So he was overjoyed and thought: If someone can get that leaf,
Wouldn't it be possible to hide oneself? So he went to look for it under his own tree. When he found it by chance, he reached out and picked it off. Unexpectedly, he missed it and the leaf actually fell to the ground. There were already fallen leaves under the tree, but they were mixed together and could no longer be identified. This person
I had no choice but to pick up all the leaves, pack several buckets home, try out the leaves one by one at home, and ask my wife: Can you see me? At first, my wife kept saying: "You can see me." Later, he tried it out one by one.
After struggling all day, his wife was tired and impatient, so she lied to him and said: "I can't see it!" When the man heard this, he was secretly happy, and hurriedly put the selected leaves in his arms and ran to the street.
When he arrived at the busy city, he held up leaves and took other people's things in front of them as if no one was around. As a result, he was caught on the spot by the government officials and escorted to the county government. When the county magistrate interrogated him, he honestly recounted the whole story. The county magistrate listened.
He couldn't stop laughing and let him go without any punishment."
This story is a fable of Chu once told to him by his teacher Sima Jizhu.
At this moment, when Sima Qian said it, others naturally understood what Sima Qian meant immediately. Although they were unhappy, they were young people after all and had no thoughts. They all said, "Brother is right, we can't be that Chu people!"
One fact that has to be said is that nowadays, the term Chu people in the Han Dynasty is just like the Henan people in later generations, who are typical scapegoats.
In general fables and folklore, fools, fools or negative examples are all Chu people.
I don’t know who started the trend.
In short, you can find out just by looking at the idiom dictionary.
What are you saying about being crowned a monkey, making up for the loss, being arrogant, being irrelevant...etc., etc., all are Chu people as the protagonists.
Nowadays, the protagonist of Sima Qian's story is also from Chu.
It can only be said that Heichu people have a tradition that goes back hundreds of years.
But unfortunately, the creator of most of these stories is Chu Ren himself...
For example, Zhuangzi, for example, Sima Qian and his teacher Sima Jichu...
So a group of people walked down the hillside and came to the side of the road. They found a group of merchants who were repairing on the side of the road. Sima Qian took the lead and walked forward, cupped his hands and saluted, saying: "I am a junior in school, traveling around the world, passing by here, and meeting your merchants.
I'm curious and came here to ask for advice..."
Among the caravans, a man who looked to be in his thirties came out after hearing this. He bowed his head and returned the salute, saying: "I don't dare! Young masters, if you ask questions, tell me everything!"
Sima Qian then asked: "I wonder where the things you are transporting are going to?"
The man laughed when he heard this and said: "I want to go to Shunde..."
"What is there in Shunde that makes you travel thousands of miles to go there?" Sima Qian asked again.
The man smiled slightly, took out something, handed it to Sima Qian, and said, "We are here for this thing!"
Sima Qian took it and saw that it was a bunch of white wool!
What can wool do?
Sima Qian didn't know, and everyone was also confused.
Only the Confucian scholar had an unknown luster in his eyes, apparently thinking of something!
"Is this what the young master wants?" the Confucian scholar asked.
Hearing this, the businessman looked at the other person a few more times, and then said with a smile: "Exactly! The young master is currently trying his best to purchase this thing. One stone of wool can be exchanged for one thousand, and in Shunde, a cart of corn can be exchanged for
More than ten stones of wool!”
Sima Qian was surprised when he heard this.
In Guanzhong, the price of food remains between fifty and sixty yuan all year round.
This kind of heavy-duty carriage can transport thirty to fifty dan of grain.
The market value is about 2,000 yuan. If you ship it to Shunde, you can make a profit of more than ten times if you resell it!
This is really crazy!
The businessman continued: "Of course, we don't just want wool... we can collect all leather, livestock, gold, pearls and jade!"
He was obviously in a good mood and patiently said to everyone: "It takes a month for my carriages to go back and forth from Taiyuan to Shunde, but the profit can be twenty times! It only takes three trips a year, which is enough."
Next year we will add ten more cars and hire one hundred workers..."
"Moreover, running this business is very safe. The whole process is protected by the Zhongyong Army, Lou Fan Army and Guiyi Chanyu's cavalry. There is no need to worry about bandits. It is most cost-effective!"
"When I work for a few more years, I will probably be able to save enough money to buy a house in the school district in Chang'an, send my eldest son to the martial arts academy, and be among the heroes. I will be able to account for my ancestors."
!”
Everyone was stunned when they heard this.
It’s really terrible that the benefits of industry and commerce have reached this level!
Even the cheapest houses in the school district of Chang'an are now priced at four to five million!
And this person actually said that he only needs to work for a few more years to save enough money!
fear!
horrible!
Until the caravan set off again, Sima Qian and his party were feeling dizzy.
"My lord has an official residence of thousands of stones, and is a magistrate of Chang'an. His annual salary, rewards, and allowances add up to only two hundred thousand a year..." Someone said with emotion: "As for a merchant, his appearance is just that of a middle-aged man.
Their capital is only a few hundred thousand, but they can buy a school district house in a few years..."
There were also those who were clear-headed and murmured in wonder: "Wool? What does the young master want for that thing?"
"Weaving..." the Confucian scholar replied softly: "My uncle served in the Shaofu Western Weaving Order. He once told me that Lord Jiayuan improved the loom and invented a machine that can weave wool into clothing.
technology……"
"Nowadays, this type of woolen clothing has become popular among the princes, princes and kings as a reward from the emperor..."
Seeing that everyone was confused, the Confucian scholar explained: "You just need to understand wool as something similar to a silkworm cocoon..."
With this explanation, everyone figured it out instantly.
The sericulture industry has always been an important pillar of Han Dynasty agriculture and one of the pillars of the small-scale peasant economy.
Especially for small and medium-sized landowners and poor families, in the past, a major part of their family economy was the income from women raising silkworms and weaving silk.
In recent years, with the rise of the workshop industry and water conservancy construction, the income from sericulture and silk weaving has taken a backseat.
But in the vast southern region, this is still the case.
Most families basically rely entirely on income from sericulture for their activity funds.
Now, Shaofu has overcome the technical barriers to weaving wool clothing.
There is no doubt that this will cause shock.
First, the price of silkworms may fall, then the price of cloth may fall, and finally, the entire financial industry will be shaken.
At this time, Sima Qian remembered that he had seen some files in Shiqu Pavilion, which were memorials reported to the emperor by the young master. They talked about cotton cloth and cotton weaving.
It's just that he couldn't remember clearly.
But there is no doubt that the emperor has been secretly promoting the development of Shaofu's textile technology.
In other words, lowering the prices of cloth and silkworms is a national policy!
But Sima Qian knew that even as the cotton textile industry developed, the wool textile industry also formed a large scale.
But the price of cloth is unlikely to come down.
The price of cloth will remain high for a long time.
It was not until the age of industrialization that cheap woven cloth made it possible to destroy the handicraft industry.
Of course, the price reduction is certain, but the magnitude of the price reduction will certainly not be much higher.
Because this is China, a China with a large population.
If every person in the country consumes one piece of cloth, that’s 50 million pieces of China!
Clothes are as necessary as food. It is impossible to say that I will not wear clothes if I don’t have money.
That's not possible, even if you are patching up, you still have to wear clothes.
Therefore, the huge capacity of this market is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
However, Sima Qian and his friends now know that these merchants do not go to Shunde just to do business.
They carry a more important mission!
"Your Majesty ordered me to visit Dragon City to find the answer..." Sima Qian thought in his heart: "Maybe Dragon City really has the answer!"
So, he and his friends packed their packages and walked towards Semen in the distance.
They were allowed to leave the border crossing only after undergoing strict inspection and interrogation and providing corresponding certification documents.
Moreover, in order to protect or monitor their group, Langmengsai also sent a team of fifty cavalry to escort them.
