In a high-end community on the outskirts of Songjiang Prefecture, Shi Liqun drove the Qixiang sedan he had just picked up, slowly into the road of the community, and then parked steadily on the flat ground in front of his small courtyard.
As soon as we parked the car, a neighbor came over.
"Brother Shi, how is the car driving?" The visitor was wearing a family robe and holding a folding fan.
Shi Liqun took a look and saw that it was the male owner who lived next door. His surname was Chen Guandeng. He was also engaged in the financial industry. He was two years younger than Shi Liqun, but his career was not bad and his income was not worse than Shi Liqun's, and even slightly higher.
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After getting out of the car, he immediately said loudly: "It's okay, it's smoother to drive than the West Lake car, but as you know, this car is just a cheap mobility scooter, and the comfort is still not as good as the West Lake car!"
Chen Guandeng had already walked over. After hearing this, he nodded slightly and said, "I think this car is quite good. As for the comfort, it's a bit less comfortable, but it's more convenient. I'm thinking about getting one too!"
As he spoke, he complained: "You don't know, my coachman asked for leave again, this time for half a month. He said he wanted to go back to his hometown. He said he was not allowed to take leave. If not, he would say that his employer was mean.
!”
"Oh, it's not easy to invite people these days!" In response, Shi Liqun also nodded.
Hiring a coachman sounds respectable, but you have to pay for food, drink, clothing, and wages, which can cost at least a hundred yuan a year.
So Shi Liqun immediately suggested: "Actually, Brother Chen, you can really get one. It will be more convenient for you to drive to and from get off work in the future."
After the two chatted for a while, Shi Liqun entered the courtyard. After entering the door, he heard his wife say: "You are back. Take a look and see if all the things I packed are complete?"
Shi Liqun looked at the pile of things in the living room and felt helpless: "We are just going for an outing in the countryside, not moving, what are you doing with so many things?"
But his wife shook her head and said: "Why, there are so many. These are all needed. Look at these clothes. They are to prevent the weather from suddenly getting windy and cold. Even though it is spring, it is late for spring cold."
. Just bring some extra clothes, it doesn’t matter if you get cold, we two can’t stand the cold wind!”
Shi Liqun looked at a large box of clothes, looked at his wife's serious expression, and finally said: "Then take it with you, the suitcase of the car is big enough anyway!"
However, Shi Liqun's wife prepared too many things. When the next morning, after loading several large boxes in succession, she felt that it was a bit too much, and finally put down a lot of things, but
After bringing some necessary things, I got in the car and went out with my three-year-old son.
Along the way, Shi Liqun didn't dare to drive too fast, but moved at about the same speed as an ordinary carriage.
In fact, this car only has four horsepower, so it can't go very fast.
On the road, Shi Liqun received attention as frequently as before, and many passers-by frequently cast curious glances at his car.
Although cars have appeared in Datang for a long time, and West Lake brand luxury cars have been sold for a long time, for a long time before, cars were very typical luxury accessories, only for the rich.
After all, no one except the rich can afford a car that costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Nowadays, Qixiang brand cars still cannot get rid of the attributes of luxury accessories. The price of 2,600 Tang Yuan is not cheap.
The annual income of contemporary Datang people, ordinary workers and other practitioners is only a few tens of yuan. Datang officials have been promoting the expansion of middle-class families. According to the official standard introduced in 1942, it refers to the annual income of a standard five-member family.
Reaching two to six hundred Tang Yuan.
A Qixiang car requires more than ten years of income from an ordinary middle-class family.
Therefore, even though Qixiang Automobile, which claims to have significantly reduced costs, its target customers are still not ordinary middle-class families, but high-income families with an annual income of more than 1,000 yuan.
And if these people are simply counted, there are a lot of them. Otherwise, the order quantity of Qixiang Automobile Company would not go bankrupt quickly, and the annual sales volume is expected to exceed 30,000 units.
However, these high-income earners still belong to a very small minority in the entire Tang Dynasty society.
Those who can afford Qixiang cars are still very few, because the current social structure of Datang is still a typical pyramid structure.
Even though the Tang government has been promoting the increase of people's income over the years, and redistributing and adjusting social wealth through taxation and other methods, trying to establish an oval structure with the middle class as the main group.
However, the number of people in the Tang Dynasty whose standard annual household income exceeds 260 Tang Yuan still accounts for only about 18% of the total population.
There is still a considerable distance from the 50% or even 60% goal that the government wants to achieve.
However, this is only an official standard. In fact, if we use private standards to classify, the data will be even lower.
How do people judge whether a family belongs to the middle class?
Two words: decent!
It is not easy to show dignity in food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Taking Songjiang Prefecture as an example, a middle-class family that is recognized by everyone should live in the suburbs and own a single-family courtyard building.
For daily travel, although most of the time you take a public carriage or urban train, you can also take a taxi frequently, or you can ride a horse or drive a two-wheeled carriage.
Not to mention clothing, a decent middle-class gentleman is indispensable for a fine cashmere business suit and a silk formal suit, and these two items alone will cost at least hundreds of Tang Yuan.
When it comes to eating, not only do you need to be full, but you also need to eat well so that you can go to a restaurant every now and then.
Then there is education, which can at least support the children's middle school education at their own expense.
Then there are the occasional outings, trips, etc.
There is another less standard but absolutely reliable way to classify people, that is, in a community, see if you have been invited to participate in some local charity activities.
If so, congratulations, you have entered a middle-class family.
If not, keep going!
Why?
Because these charity activities require donations, no matter how you raise funds, you have to donate money when you go there.
According to these private standards, many officially recognized middle-class families cannot meet this standard. For example, in Songjiang Prefecture, the annual family income of 500 Tangyuan is enough. Only Shi Liqun's annual income exceeds 1,000 Tangyuan or even 1,000 Tangyuan.
Only a higher class can achieve all of the above, and others will be more or less lacking.