As soon as September comes, the weather in the north becomes increasingly bad. When the city of Beijing begins to sort out the ditches and prepare for pickling cabbage and radishes, the newly established Tianjin Prefecture is bustling with activity.
Tianjin Prefecture is composed of three Tianjin guards, so it is also called Tianjin Guard. It has jurisdiction over six counties and is located in Dagu Town, near the Bohai Sea, with a population of nearly 200,000.
Customs, shipping, and government establishment have completely made Tianjin prosperous, with an endless stream of merchant ships traveling from north to south.
Once the shipping routes are familiar, merchants will rush forward. Especially during the window period of heavy snowfall in the north, merchants can't wait to go south for the winter and send off the last trip.
Official ships, merchant ships, cargo ships, fishing boats, etc. were piled at the pier, and the tax collectors were so busy that they were sweating profusely due to the sea breeze.
"Master, please slow down, be careful if you slip."
Tang Jiashu stepped off the ship and saw the busy Tianjin wharf, with officials, merchants, boat owners, women, children, and handymen coming in an endless stream. It was a prosperous scene.
"Thank you!"
Seeing the leaves under his feet being swept away by the old man, and seeing that the ground was clean and tidy, Tang Jiashu breathed a sigh of relief.
It was the first time I took a sea boat to go north. I was frightened and I couldn't help but sigh, it was too fast.
"Sir, this way we can study with peace of mind for half a year."
The servants on the side also marveled at its speed and beamed with joy.
The canal can also freeze, especially after reaching the Shandong section, making it even more difficult to walk. A journey of half a month can take two or three months.
Although the Bohai Sea is frozen, it will only take a month and a half at most before navigation can continue.
"Walk--"
Tang Jiashu nodded slightly and led a group of followers to the city.
This trip to Beijing is for the general examination in March of the fourth year of Shaowu, the Spring Festival.
The bustling Fucheng is not inferior to Jiangnan, but it is a little more rough and a little less soft.
"Master, I have gone to the capital. You can leave all your affairs in Tianjin to me."
The steward of the store sat in the carriage and spoke respectfully.
Tang Jiashu nodded and said: "The capital is not in a hurry. I will stay in Tianjin for a few days to see the prosperity of this place."
The grunting sound of wheels rang in his ears. He closed his eyes, but Tang Jiashu heard something different.
"Um?"
He has been aware of the family business since he was a child and is no stranger to textiles. At this time, the carriage was traveling on the road and the sound of the machine could be heard.
"Tianjin is learning from the south, but where is the silk and where is the cotton?"
Tang Jiashu suddenly opened his eyes: "Uncle Xiang, are there many Orihu households in Tianjin?"
"Not much."
Xiang Laosan shook his head and said without thinking: "If we talk about weaving households, there are quite a few in Beijing. They are weaving in swaths, but they are not weaving cotton like us, but wool."
"I bought it from the Tatars and weaved it hard. I heard it was for the army to change their clothes. As long as it is produced, it can be sold. A woolen sweater among the people can get two or three yuan!"
"Wool?" Tang Jiashu shook his head. Where can sheep be raised in the south? Wouldn't it be nice to grow cotton?
wrong--
"How come there are wool weavers in Tianjin?"
Suddenly, he realized that something was wrong here.
"The carriage turns left and stops in the alley."
With the command, Tang Jiashu's sensitive nerves were stirred, and he wanted to know the reason.
Such a loud sound can be heard on the street, so its scale must be quite large.
It is unusual to open a large textile factory in the north.
Soon, the carriage stopped. Following the sound, the group of people walked slowly and finally came to a wide courtyard.
"Sir, someone is watching!"
"No rush!" Tang Jiashu said calmly: "I think it must be important, so we have to go explore it."
Fortunately, the steward on the side was a little quick-witted, and suddenly thought of something, and said: "Sir, I heard that the Chai family in the north of the city opened a large weaving yard, and it caused a lot of jokes last month. Now it seems to be true."
"Yeah?"
Tang Jiashu's face showed deep thought: "Now it seems that things are going well."
He didn't go in hastily.
The next day, Tang Jiashu led a group of servants and held famous invitations to ask for an audience with the wealthy Chai man.
Sure enough, the Chai family is also a business, and the principle of making money through harmony means that he will not offend people easily, so he can only open the middle door to welcome guests.
After laying the groundwork for a while, Tang Jiashu declared his intention:
"Your family has a weaving yard in the south of the city. I'm sorry for my stupidity, but Tianjin Mansion has no raw silk, no cotton, let alone the newly popular wool. Isn't your mansion at a loss?"
"But the next time I saw him, he was very busy, which aroused curiosity."
"Hahaha, it's nothing."
Chai Gui shook his head and laughed: "I heard that the young master is going to Beijing to take the exam. I think you will be able to understand it as long as you pay attention."
"I might as well tell you."
"Although there is no cotton in the north, there is a lot in the south. It can be reached by sea ship in half a month. Although it is a bit more expensive than what you get locally, it doesn't matter. It saves a lot of travel and offsets the problem."
"The difference between losing one pound of cloth or one pound of cotton is more than ten times!"
Hearing this, Tang Jiashu suddenly understood, but also felt it was unbelievable.
It is strange to transport cotton from the south of the Yangtze River to the north, weave it in Tianjin, and sell it to the entire Shandong, North Zhili, and Shanxi. It is simply unimaginable.
"Hehe!" Chai Gui suddenly laughed lowly at this moment: "Besides this, there is another advantage, but it has made a certain person a huge profit. Forgive me for being speechless, my dear nephew, let's go to Beijing to see it!"
"My dear nephew, more and more people will set up events in Tianjin. I just arrived early."
Tang Jiashu was stunned for a moment, and while he was thinking about it, he was served tea to see off the guests.
I had no choice but to give up and leave.
Enough has been said.
Thinking of this, he lost all thoughts of visiting Tianjin and went to Beijing in a hurry.
After some open and covert investigation, I finally got the general idea.
"ZTE machine?"
Tang Jiashu murmured, and he was truly shocked at this moment.
The efficiency has increased several times, one machine is better than three machines, and the labor and time saved are difficult to estimate.
"No wonder, no wonder we have to go to Tianjin to open the show. The cotton from Jiangnan, the labor from Tianjin, and the market from Beijing. How can we have all these advantages?"
"Quick, go and ask the master to come."
Tang Jiashu immediately thought of this opportunity to bring his family to a higher level, and hurriedly gave instructions.
Mr. Tang was getting older, and when he heard his son say this, he was just a little surprised, and said helplessly: "I have also heard about this machine, but it belongs to the royal family, and you have to pay for it."
"Our family has no means, so I'm afraid there's nothing we can do."
"Can't it be imitated privately? Just the other way around."
Tang Jiashu didn't think so.
"Don't talk nonsense. I heard that some families didn't abide by the rules and their homes were ransacked by the Jin Yiwei. The whole family went to Taiwan to farm."
Mr. Tang said with trembling fear: "Those gangsters are cannibals."