Chapter seven hundred and fortieth eight stunned Guedes
The fifth update is asking for the guaranteed monthly pass after 12 o'clock. There is another chapter at 12 o'clock. I will update it on a rainy day today!
On this day, Gerdes, like everyone else in the Franco mission, wore their most decent clothes and dressed up carefully before going out with the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Because this was their first time to really go deep into the ancient country of China, and it was also the capital of the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, they were not willing to dress in rags, so they all dressed up like a dog.
Like a rooster, as soon as he went out onto the street, he immediately attracted many people to watch.
Most people these days actually live in a very narrow circle and have never seen a foreigner in their lives. Therefore, when Gerdes and others appeared on the street, they inevitably became monkeys in everyone's eyes.
In the teahouse, a few scholars were leaning on the railings and looking towards each other, while commenting: "These people are the Folangji people mentioned in the newspaper. Tsk tsk, their appearance is indeed very different from that of our Chinese people."
ah!"
"It's just like a monster. If you saw it in the middle of the night, it would probably scare a lot of people!"
"And these clothes are also colorful and messy. They are even more ugly than the barbarians on the northern grasslands and the Western Regions!"
In the eyes of Gerdes and others, everything on the street makes them extremely curious, but similarly, for the people in Zhaoqing City, they are also very curious about them.
However, although the two sides would be curious and even watch each other, there was a group of Guards soldiers watching on the side, but no one came close to look, and they all looked at it from a distance.
Gerdes was watching and sighing at this time. This place is worthy of being the capital of the Tang Dynasty. It is extremely prosperous. What is more interesting to him is that the quality of the residents in this city is so high that it is outrageous.
The phenomenon can be seen everywhere, and I didn’t see anyone urinating or defecating anywhere.
In addition, he also saw an intersection with many people and horse-drawn carriages. Originally, he thought that with such a flow of people and many horse-drawn carriages, there would be chaos at the intersection, or even a blockage. No matter what, the crowd would panic and avoid the horse-drawn carriages.
But what surprised him was that when some carriages arrived at the intersection, they actually stopped in front of the intersection and let the carriages on the other side pass first. After waiting for a short while, the carriages on this side passed one after another, and more importantly
Yes, this is not only true for carriages, but also for pedestrians.
Pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages go their own way, and in an orderly manner, so that there is no congestion at this intersection with a large flow of people and dense horse-drawn carriages.
Seeing this scene, Gerdes was stunned!
He has traveled all over the country and has never encountered this kind of thing in other places. Whether it is the big cities in Europe or the colonial cities in the Americas, Southeast Asia, etc., he has never seen such a scene.
Naturally, he didn't know that this intersection traffic mode was also brought by Li Xuan. Of course, it is currently only used at a few intersections with very dense traffic. When there is a peak period, there will be patrol police on duty.
Use hand gestures to direct traffic at intersections and avoid heavy traffic jams!
The cleanliness of the entire city of Zhaoqing is also surprising. This city is even cleaner and tidier than the business district.
Originally, he thought that the cleanest and tidiest city in the world should be the suburban business district of Guangzhou. When he first arrived at the business district, he was amazed at how clean and tidy it was.
He has been to so many places, but he has never seen a city that is as clean and tidy as the business district. The buildings on both sides of the entire street are very neat, and there is no clutter.
But I didn’t expect that the cleanliness and tidiness here in Zhaoqing would be even better!
He didn't know how much hard work the city management office under the Zhaoqing Patrol Police Bureau had put in and how much fines it had fined in order to make Zhaoqing's city appearance meet Li Xuan's requirements!
After two years of renovation, we have achieved the results we have today!
As time goes by, people have become accustomed to not urinating anywhere. If they are not at home or in a shop, they need to go to a public toilet to relieve themselves. Otherwise, if they are caught by the people from the city management office, the fine will not be a big deal.
small amount.
And sometimes when you encounter someone with a bad temper, they will just talk about the police baton and hit them directly, not to mention the fine!
You must abide by the rules when living in Zhaoqing City, and those who do not abide by the rules often end up in a miserable state!
After two years of hard work, Zhaoqing's city appearance has reached the level initially required by Li Xuan.
In fact, Li Xuan's requirements are not high. They just want it to be cleaner and sanitary, and people need to know how to line up and not rush in to do everything. But even so, it took Zhaoqing City Management Office a full two years!
Of course, in fact, the city management office did not express dissatisfaction with this work. They were quite satisfied because there were fines!
Most of the fiscal revenue of the Tang Dynasty was used for military expenses, and administrative funds were quite small, and each department had one cent, which would be even less1
Although the salaries of civil servants in local governments at all levels, such as the patrol police, are paid by the local finance, the local taxes on the local finance are not much, and the burden is also heavy. Therefore, from top to bottom, except for the tax department
Except for this special department, other departments are basically extremely short of funds.
Even the many factories under the Ministry of Industry, which have a lot of funds and can still earn military expenses, are severely short of money. Otherwise, the Zhaoqing Machinery Branch Factory would not be allowed to specialize in producing some civilian machinery and equipment and then sell them to make profits.
Already.
It’s all about money!
Due to the large number of patrol police offices in various places, funds have always been tight. Although most of the income after fines will be turned over to the local finance for unified distribution, as the main executors, they will naturally be able to share the profits.
More.
Therefore, although the work of rectifying the city's appearance is very difficult, the city management offices everywhere are quite happy to do it!
As the current capital of the Tang Dynasty, Zhaoqing has higher requirements for city appearance and has a large population, so it is more difficult to govern, but you have to do it even if it is difficult!
Of course, Gerdes did not know these inside stories. Although he had come to China for trade several times, he had always gone to the Guangzhou Trade Zone before and could only stay in the trade zone. He had not even entered Guangzhou City.
Pass.
The trade area is extremely special. It is not a normal city at all. There are only trading houses there. It is a super large exchange. And even if the Chinese want to enter, they have to submit an application. If not,
People working in the trade zone basically cannot obtain permission to enter the trade zone.
So today is actually the first time for Gerdes to truly visit a city in this ancient country of China!
What he saw made him feel that this ancient country was even more beautiful than the rumors said!
Yes, he didn't use the word "rich" or "powerful", the word he used was "beautiful"!
From his perspective, this city was almost like the legendary paradise, so clean, so smelly, and even the people looked like angels.
This place can be compared to those cities in Europe that are full of stinking ditches and feces and urine!
At this moment, he even had the idea of not wanting to leave and live here forever. As a daring pirate captain, he immediately asked the translator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs next to him: "Excuse me, if I want to settle here, where should I go?"
Where can I apply?"
Want to live in Zhaoqing for a long time? Of course this is not possible!
So the translator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't even ask the superior on the side, and answered directly: "No, according to the laws of our empire, foreigners who come to China for trade can only live in the trade zone, and are not allowed to enter or leave other places. What's more,
Don’t talk about coming to Zhaoqing!”
Although he had guessed that he might be rejected before, he still showed obvious disappointment after hearing such a clear answer.
He didn't know that, let alone in this era, even in the 21st century, it is very difficult for foreigners to settle in China for a long time and get a Chinese green card, and it is even more difficult to become a Chinese citizen.
It is even more difficult. Except for extremely special groups of people, such as great scientists, there is basically no hope of being able to naturalize in China.
After getting a negative answer, Gerdes sighed, and then continued to follow the rest of the mission to browse the streets and alleys of Zhaoqing, and later went to a restaurant that had been prepared in advance to have an authentic Chinese meal.
For lunch, although he had eaten Chinese food many times in the trade area, he still stuffed himself this time!
The taste of this Chinese food is so good that it can make people swallow it all in their tongues!
Later, I went to several shops that were also prepared in advance and bought some specialties, which were all small gadgets. Among them, everyone bought a lot of expensive soaps. Some people even asked if this kind of soap could be used.
After buying in large quantities, they want to ship it back to Europe to sell it!
This soap is a good thing. Europeans have a strong body odor. They stink all day long, so they can only cover up the body odor by spraying perfume. This kind of soap can be used for bathing, and at the same time it still smells good after washing.
If the soap with some fragrance is shipped back to Europe, it will definitely be sought after by the dignitaries! When the accompanying foreign ministry officials heard that these foreigners liked the soap, they immediately said with a smile that they would definitely buy this soap if there is demand.
If so, personnel from the Ministry of Commerce will discuss it with them in detail.
At the same time, he also said that most of the products in this shop can be exported!
Most of the people in the Folangji Mission were overjoyed when they heard this. Although some of these products are not suitable, there are some that are extremely suitable for shipping back to Europe. Once shipped back, it will be huge profits.