Time entered December. Just after the month passed, a blizzard swept across the land of Guanlong. The strong winds mixed with the blizzard raged for two days and two nights. On the fourth day of December, the heavy snow stopped. The sun came out and the entire city of Chang'an was covered with thick snow.
It was covered with snow, and there was a blanket of white snow everywhere, and even several pine trees were knocked down by the heavy snow.
As soon as the heavy snow stopped, there were obviously more people on the street. Long queues lined up at all the three-coarse shops in Chang'an. Coarse noodles, coarse cloth and coarse sugar are basically necessary for every household, and they are especially popular with the people at the bottom.
Coarse brown sugar is the fastest to be absorbed. It is now popular in Chang'an to cook cheese, coarse brown sugar and tea together. It has a rich milky aroma and is deeply loved by young people and children. This tea is called Jinwang Tea. It was invented by Jin Wang Guo Song. In the newspaper
After continuous reports in the newspaper, it became popular throughout Chang'an, and now it has also become popular in Guanlong and Hedong.
In the morning, Guo Song and Zhang Qianyi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, came to inspect the Sancou Store at the entrance of the West City. The ministers from the Political Affairs Hall were divided into four groups and went to various places in Chang'an to check the snow conditions and deal with the roof collapse and other disasters.
There was also a long queue at the Sanku store next to the gate of the West Market. Five or six young waiters were busy collecting money and delivering goods, and they moved very quickly.
Of course, this is because all goods are weighed in advance. Raw sugar is packed in paper bags per pound, with a limit of one pound per person. Coarse salt and coarse noodles are sold by the bucket and packed in white porcelain flat jars.
, then pour it into the guest's pocket at once, and the coarse cloth is rolled into a piece.
One clerk is responsible for collecting the money, two are responsible for delivering the goods, and two more are weighing behind them. There are five people in total. They work together very well. Although they are busy, they are in an orderly manner.
Guo Song sat in the carriage and observed quietly, while Zhang Qianyi lined up and chatted with the people in front and behind.
"Of course I am satisfied. Our income is low and we cannot afford fine and fine things. Sancoo Store first allows everyone to have full stomachs. I think this is the greatest merit."
Another person next to me laughed and said: "Not only can I have a full stomach, but I can also save a little money every month. I couldn't imagine it before!"
"That's right! That's right!" Everyone agreed.
"The New Year will be in one month. What changes do you hope to see in Sanchuan Store in the new year?" Zhang Fengyi asked with a smile.
"It's better to add more varieties and turn it into a five-coarse shop or a six-coarse shop." Someone laughed.
“Then what kind of variety do you think would be better?”
“Better cheese and tea!”
Someone blurted out this, and the crowd burst into laughter. Cheese and tea spoke to their hearts.
A young man sighed, "It is so enjoyable to drink a bowl of hot and sweet milk tea in winter. Unfortunately, cheese is too expensive and there are not many cheap teas, so I can only drink it once in a while."
"Cheese probably can't be brought into Sanku's store. Those things are always very expensive, but coarse tea can be brought in. It's just a simple meal!"
Zhang Qianyi bought a bag of coarse sugar, got on the carriage, and the carriage started slowly and drove towards the West Market.
Zhang Qianyi said with a smile: "Your Highness must have heard it too! Everyone is clamoring for cheese and coarse tea to enter the San Chou shop. Your Highness's Jinwang tea is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people!"
Guo Song smiled and asked, "Does Zhang Xiangguo think it's possible?"
Zhang Qianyi is the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and this is his scope of authority. He said calmly: "Our Sanku store is actually a cheap store. There is no profit, no rent, only the clerk's wages, but our salt tax and
The sugar tax is included. The more I sell, the higher my tax will be. However, the coarse salt sold in the San Coarse Store is not very good. I suggest His Highness cancel the coarse salt and replace it with coarse tea and cheese. It is really unrealistic."
Guo Song nodded. Although the price difference between coarse salt and fine salt is thirty cents per bucket, coarse salt tastes very bland and consumes more. It is not as cost-effective as fine salt. Everyone would rather pay an extra thirty cents for fine salt.
Ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty consumed a lot of salt. Unlike modern people, who only add a small spoonful of salt for seasoning. The land was basically used to grow food and there were very few vegetables. Fresh vegetables were very expensive. Many poor families in the Tang Dynasty had almost no vegetables.
Just use salt as food.
In addition, ordinary people eat a lot of pickled vegetables, which consume a lot of salt. Moreover, the saltiness of salt is far inferior to that of today’s refined salt. It is normal for a family to eat a bushel of salt a month, so
The salt tax became the financial pillar of the late Tang Dynasty.
Guo Song said calmly: "There are three coarse teas in more than just Chang'an! There are them in every county in the world. How much crude tea do you need?"
"Don't you know, Your Highness? The three-coarse shops in every county in the world are the real three-coarse shops. They only have coarse noodles, coarse cloth and coarse salt. Currently, coarse sugar is only supplied by Chang'an. In the future, coarse tea can only be supplied to Chang'an."
Guo Song nodded, "It's good if the Ministry of Revenue has this understanding. The original intention of opening a Sancun store is good, to solve the food and clothing problem of the poorest people. If we also supply cheese, it will deviate from our original intention, and we can't afford it."
Starting, as for coarse tea, it depends on the output. The output is large enough and the price is low enough. You can consider using it to replace coarse salt. If the quantity is not enough, then we should continue to maintain the status quo."
"Weichen remembers it!"
At this time, a commotion nearby caught Guo Song's attention. Only then did he realize that there was a sea of people in the open space in front of the Changping Department Gate of West City. There were at least thousands of people gathered. Everyone stood on tiptoe and stretched their necks to look inside.
It seems like they are doing some kind of activity.
"Go and see what's going on?"
Guo Song gave an order to his guards, and two cavalry guards ran over.
They were riding horses, with a high position and could see clearly. They came back after a while and said: "Your Highness, the merchant is demonstrating household bellows, briquettes and ignition coal."
Guo Song nodded. After the household bellows was published in the newspaper, the businessmen immediately saw the business opportunities. They went to Taixue to buy the drawings and began to make and promote them. In fact, they have already promoted them to wealthy families. It seems that they are planning to target middle-class families for promotion.
.
As for briquettes and ignition coal, they are also called marching coal. They are used to bury pots and make meals when the army is marching. Briquettes are very simple. They are pressed with yellow mud mixed with coal powder. Each shape is like an orange. This has long been done in Chang'an.
Promotion, every household is using it.
The key inside is the ignition briquettes, which are mixed with a lot of nitrate powder and sulfur powder, and are covered with small penetrating holes. You can use a fire stick to ignite the briquettes at once. This is called ignition briquettes, and it is a little more expensive.
, but important for lighting the stove.
At this time, the people watching around cheered together. It was obvious that the ignition briquettes were lit. Someone could faintly hear someone shouting: "This is much more labor-saving than dead branches and wheat straw, and it is not expensive. One ignition briquette only costs five cents, and it is used every day."
It costs more than five cents to use wheat straw to make a fire for cooking! And if you buy thirty briquettes from us, you will get one briquette for ignition. Next, I will show you the bellows. It is very easy to use. We have sold thousands of them."
"Your Highness, do you want to take a look?" Zhang Qianyi asked with a smile.
Guo Song shook his head, "No need to look any further, just go to the silk and cotton store!"
The carriage bypassed the crowd and drove to the west. Not long after, the carriage arrived at the silk and cotton shop. All the cloth, satin and other clothing items were moved to the east market, but there was still a little bit left in the west market, mainly raw materials, such as silk, linen and cotton.
Velvet furs, etc. After a heavy snowfall, the Silk Cotton Store was crowded with Chang'an people, mainly buying cotton.
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At present, the cotton grown in Anxi is mainly grown by the military, government and private individuals. The cotton fields have reached tens of thousands of hectares. The cotton produced by the military cotton fields is mainly supplied to the army, while the government and private cotton fields supply the market. Today's cotton is still relatively expensive. One pound
At 800 yuan, it takes three pounds of cotton to make a quilt, but it is still much cheaper than cotton and velvet, which are sold at the same price, and ordinary people can never afford it.
If you buy cotton with seeds, it only costs 500 yuan per pound. You can go home and peel the seeds yourself. For example, Bai Juyi's cotton robe is made by buying two pounds of cotton with seeds. You can peel the seeds at home and make cotton wadding by yourself, and then sew them yourself.
There are detailed tutorials on it. If your family is a little poorer, it is very cost-effective to buy seeded cotton and make cotton-padded clothes at home.
"Your Highness, can't the cotton be brought to Guanlong or Shuofang for planting?"
Zhang Qianyi said a little dissatisfied: "For several years, the price of cotton has been unable to come down. The main reason is that the output is too small and transportation is inconvenient. If it can be widely promoted here, can the price come down?"
Guo Song pondered for a while and said: "I have considered this issue carefully. The main reason is that the grain yield is too low, resulting in insufficient food. We must protect the grain fields. Like this Central Plains epidemic, if we did not have grain in the warehouse, this disaster relief would be
It's far from that easy.
I have introduced excellent rice seeds from Linyi State. I will try to plant them in Quanzhou first. After Quanzhou is successful, I will spread them to the south of the Yangtze River, and then to the entire south of the Yellow River. Our grain output will increase several times. When the grain is guaranteed, this
Then we can promote cotton in Longyou, Shuofang, Central Plains and other places, which will take about ten years."
Zhang Qianyi stroked his beard and said leisurely: "If the food can be increased several times, the population will also be doubled!"
At this time, a guard reminded Guo Song, "Your Highness seems to be the proprietor of the Dugu family!"
Guo Song looked back and saw Dugu Changqiu standing in front of a store from a distance through the sand window, looking around.