After resting all night, Chen Qing began to listen to reports from the main officials the next morning. After a busy day, he was really a little dizzy, so he simply took his wife and children with him for a stroll.
Of course, their tour was not walking, but sightseeing in a carriage. The carriage slowly entered the county town. The county town, like the wharf, was full of hustle and bustle, with people coming and going everywhere, shops on both sides, and the sound of hawking.
After the Song Dynasty court plundered the finances of maritime merchants, it severely hit maritime merchants from all over the country. Only Quanzhou's maritime merchants flourished. Maritime merchants from various places moved to Quanzhou one after another, which further promoted the development of Quanzhou's overseas trade.
Quanzhou, like Jingzhao, has now become an international metropolis. Businessmen from all over the world are everywhere, and various languages can be heard.
"Father, some businessmen sit in shops and some carry backpacks. How do you tell them apart?" Chen Ji couldn't help but ask.
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "The shop owner is called a merchant, who specializes in purchasing overseas goods and then transporting them to the inland market for sale. At the same time, he also purchases silk and porcelain from the inland market and sells them to overseas merchants and merchants. Every time he goes in and out, he earns a profit.
The profit is not high, but fortunately it is relatively stable. Backpackers are like traders. They go overseas to trade, and they go in and out at the same time. The profit is relatively high, usually five times the profit."
"My child saw that there were many merchants. Do they all have their own ships?"
Chen Qing laughed, "Do you think it's possible?"
Chen Ji blushed and said, "It's really impossible!"
Chen Qing said slowly: "There are two types of ships going to Nanyang for trade now. One is private ships. There are about eighty ships. Most of them are ships with five thousand stone. There are also ships with ten thousand stone, which are relatively few. They can be used every year.
We went to Nanyang twice, but more than a dozen Wanshi ships also went to sea. All private Wanshi ships only went to sea once a year, and it took half a year; the other was the official ship, there were a hundred of them, and they went to sea every year.
Two times, we only went to Nanyang. No matter whether it was an official ship or a private ship, tickets were sold to outsiders. For merchants, they just took the ship to go to sea, go to sea on time, and come back on time."
"Does the private ship organize samurai to protect the ship? I just saw a dozen samurai walking over."
Chen Qing shook his head, "Those warriors are only responsible for maintaining order on the ship. They do not deal with pirates. To deal with pirates, it is our navy. Every time an official ship travels, there will be two navy warships accompanying the escort, and private cargo ships will also follow. They go to big ships.
The food cargo ship will also come back before October and follow our last batch of official ships back to Quanzhou."
"My child just heard from a businessman that there are no merchant ships going to sea in Guangzhou, and they have all come to Quanzhou."
Chen Qing said calmly: "In the past few years, the imperial court has killed chickens to obtain eggs, forcing maritime merchants to buy guilds. The ships have been expropriated and taken away without compensation. All the chickens have been killed, so how can there still be eggs?"
"My child understands!"
At this time, Yu Lian pointed out the window and asked curiously: "Guanren, where are those dozen women from? They are dressed so weirdly!"
Chen Qing glanced at it and saw a group of Japanese women, about a dozen of them, all with their faces painted white, wearing bamboo hats and Tang-style kimonos. After the route to Japan was opened, many Japanese prostitutes came to Quanzhou.
You can make a living, and even have a capital.
Chen Qing laughed and said: "They are Japanese prostitutes, coming from Japan."
Yu Lian read the newspaper every day and knew about the Japanese prostitutes. When she heard that they were prostitutes, she curled her lips in contempt.
"Guanren, those people are so dark!" Yao Mei also discovered something new.
Chen Qing also saw it and said with a smile: "Those are the black slaves who came with their masters from far away Dashi. Look at the Dashi merchant in front in white robes, he is their master."
"Could they be the Kunlun slaves of the Tang Dynasty?" Yao Mei thought of an allusion she had heard.
"Forget it!"
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "Most of the Kunlun slaves in the Tang Dynasty were black people from Tianzhu. They were different from them, but there were also some who were just like them, called Kunlun slaves."
The carriage passed through the city and went to the wharf. The goods were still being unloaded on the wharf. Thousands of people were slowly walking down the gangplank carrying bags of heavy goods, and then used wheelbarrows to push the goods to the warehouse. Chen Qing
His brows furrowed slightly. He did not expect that Quanzhou's wharf was still so backward and was a waste of manpower.
At this time, he saw Zhang Jing, the commander of the Municipal Shipping Department, and said: "I'll go take a look and I'll be back soon. Please wait a moment!"
Several soldiers followed Chen Qing and walked over. Zhang Jing turned around and saw His Highness King Yong. He was startled and hurriedly came over to greet him.
Chen Qing glanced at the civilian workers who were transporting supplies and said, "Do other cargo ships transport supplies in this way?"
Zhang Jing said uneasily: "It's always been like this!"
"This is too laborious. You should go to Jingzhao to see how to unload the goods. It is much less laborious than this."
"I will definitely study hard next time I go to Jingzhao."
Chen Qing waved his hand, "No need to go to Jingzhao, I will tell you what to do now!"
"Please give me your instructions, Your Highness!"
Chen Qing said calmly: "Three things should be done. First, prepare a batch of loading and unloading boxes. Each loading and unloading box is three feet square. There must be no error at all. All materials should be placed in the loading and unloading box for transportation.
"
Zhang Jing was anxious, "Your Highness, it's too heavy to carry a big box three feet square."
"Of course I know it's very serious, and then I'm going to say the second thing. Please be patient and listen carefully!"
Zhang Jing wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and did not dare to interrupt anymore.
"The second thing is simply to erect the pole and pull the rope. Erect an iron pole on the dock and insert it deeper to make it strong enough. Then there must be a pole on each ship, and there must be a pole between the two poles.
Lift up the rope, hook the loading and unloading box on the rope with an iron hook, and slide directly off the ship, do you understand?"
"I understand that the iron rod must be very strong."
"The principle is very simple. You figure out how to do it yourself, and then use large pulleys to load the goods, and use animal power to pull the goods onto the ship. Let me tell you the third thing, use donkeys to pull the carts to the warehouse, not people pushing the carts.
In a warehouse, the truck should be as low as possible and made into a flat plate to facilitate lifting the loading and unloading boxes from the vehicle. The size of the truck is a little more than three feet square, which can fit a loading and unloading box. There should be fixed buckles below to prevent the loading and unloading boxes from falling from the vehicle.
The cart slipped. In addition, the floor to the warehouse must be made flat to make it easier for the donkey to pull the cart."
"I completely understand my position and will definitely comply with it."
Chen Qing added: "I want to remind you that the dimensions of the loading and unloading boxes are the same everywhere and are not allowed to be changed without authorization. You can be smarter and make traps on all sides of the loading and unloading boxes to facilitate the removal of the goods."
What Chen Qing is talking about is a standard similar to that of a container, but there are no forklifts now, so it can't be that big. Three feet long, wide and high is enough. The key is to unify all places. In the Qin Dynasty, there was "cars on the same track, books on the same text", so boxes
The same rules are completely acceptable to everyone, and it’s clear in one point.
Zhang Jing fully understood King Yong's instructions, and he immediately started to implement them. Three months later, all goods were unloaded and loaded using the four magic tools of loading and unloading boxes, unloading slide ropes, loading pulleys and donkey-drawn box carts. Although
There are still so many people on the dock, but the efficiency of unloading and loading has increased several times.