Chapter 1049: A Joke of History
Chapter 1049: A Joke of History
With a series of "sizzling" sounds, pieces of thin ring-shaped cakes passed through the oil pan and instantly turned golden - no, emerald green.
In fact, the color has become much lighter, because the reed oil used in the market is of very good quality and has been filtered multiple times, so it is no longer that kind of green paste.
Today is April 20th, the fifth day of the Luoyang market. Shao Xun, along with Empress Yu Wenjun, Consort Guanqiu, and several princes who had not yet been assigned tasks, came to the top floor of the attic in the northwest corner of the market without alerting the merchants.
I brought Yu Wenjun here purely to keep her company and relax.
The reason why he brought Guanqiu here was that he felt that he had neglected her too much in the past and he felt guilty and wanted to compensate her. It was not because her brother Guanqiu Lu was a leader in Daliang's business front, nor was it because her clan member Guanqiu Ao was the governor of Yizhou and the military supervisor of Badong in the Jin Dynasty.
As for the princes, of course they came to feel the flow of money.
However, the first thing that entered their noses was the aroma of lunch——
The fried thin ring cakes were served on the table.
Shao Xun sniffed the aroma and made small talk with Yu Wenjun: "Do you still remember the oil presser in Xuchang?"
"Did your husband invite her from the Luoyang Palace?" asked Yu Wenjun.
"That's right." Shao Xun said, "One of his sons was exposed for paying someone to serve in the army on his behalf. Later, he was conscripted to transport grain and grass. He fell into a valley and was crushed by a cart and died. Another son and a daughter died of illness that year, so the family business was passed on to his son-in-law. This man is named Zheng Qian. He is not a descendant of the Zheng family in Xingyang, but a descendant of a soldier in the Bajiao Longxiang Mansion in Chenliu. Now he is a wealthy businessman in Xuchang. He makes a living by collecting perilla and white perilla, pressing oil and selling it. He divides the perilla oil into two grades, A and B, and sells it in Yingchuan, Xiangcheng, Xingyang, Runan and other counties. His reputation is gradually growing."
"How do you recognize this person, my husband?" Yu Wenjun asked curiously.
"We met once in Guangchengze." Shao Xun said, "We talked about the old days and felt quite emotional. He is here today and is right over there."
After saying that, he pointed with his hand.
Yu Wenjun looked out the window and saw a middle-aged man arguing with several people in front of a shop with a big flag with the word "Oil" on it.
From the faint sounds, it can be heard that the two sides are arguing about the price.
Next to Zheng’s oil mill, there are several shops selling similar products: selling reed oil, sesame oil, and flax oil.
Sesame oil (sesame oil) is produced in very small quantities and is expensive.
Sesame oil (linseed oil) is produced in large quantities and is very cheap.
The output of neem oil is neither large nor small, and the price is moderate.
The latter has emerged in the last two or three decades and is more popular in Henan Province.
In the past, there was also ren oil, but the quality was not good, the whole was a semi-solidified paste, and the taste was not good, so it was mostly used as hair oil or lamp oil. Now it is very different. The technology spread from the Luoyang Palace has gradually spread to Yingchuan, Xiangcheng, and Luonan. Ren oil has emerged as a new force, eroding the market of sesame oil.
If we calculate the output of edible oil carefully, it must have increased greatly in Henan today compared to 30 years ago. This is mainly because a large amount of edible oil has entered the market, driving down the prices of other oils.
No one grows purple basil and white basil specifically, but you can always find a lot of them in the yards around houses or in the wilderness. You can take them to the oil mill to exchange for oil, or sell them directly at the market, which helps a lot in household expenses.
It can be said that Shao Xun artificially added an extra type of edible oil to the market, which greatly increased the supply side and brought real benefits to the people.
The argument in front of the oil mill lasted for a long time and finally ended with Zheng Qian giving in with a "painful face".
Several merchants surrounded him and went to the government office to register their transactions.
The martial arts student acted as the recorder, and recorded the income and expenditure in the account books of several people with great speed. He then stamped each of them, keeping one copy for record and giving one copy to them to take away.
After completing the deal, Zheng Qian returned to his oil mill with a smile on his face.
The wife and children came forward one after another, some brought water, some wiped the sweat, and were very attentive.
However, before they could rest for long, two more people came over, and a new round of bargaining began.
"Did you see the expressions of those oil merchants nearby?" Shao Xun asked again.
Yu Wenjun took a look and chuckled.
The surface is like the bottom of a pot!
Tiger Head leaned over to take a look, then grinned and said, "His wife and children didn't bring any water to wipe his sweat."
Several other princes also came over and had different expressions after reading it.
Shao Xun looked at his sons and asked, "What do you think they should do?"
Hu Tou said carelessly, "It's not difficult at all. Back then, my grandfather funded Zheng Qian's uncle to open an oil mill on the condition that he would take in more apprentices. Now most of them are scattered in Yingchuan and Xiangcheng counties. I'm afraid there are also some in Luonan, Xingyang, and Chen County. Think of a way to learn. If you don't learn, you can't sell it. His oil is oil, and your oil is ointment. How can you sell it?"
"It costs money to learn." Chunlang said.
"Learn. After you've learned it, go back and revise it. Otherwise, you still won't be able to sell it when you come to this market next year." Liang Nu said.
This is basically what other people mean.
Shao Xun smiled and said, "Look, if you put them together, it's clear who is good and who is bad. Those who can't sell their products should learn from their mistakes and then be brave. If they don't learn real skills, they should stop doing this business in the future. Tell me, isn't this good for the whole world?"
"Yes." Everyone nodded. It was obvious.
"But..." Shao Xun changed the subject and said, "If you don't learn, you can survive for a while, and the country folk will still buy it, but it's not as good as before."
"Father calls it 'competition'. If there were no merchants reselling the oil, but the manor collected and pressed the oil by itself, the quality of the oil would be uneven, and there would even be no change for decades or even hundreds of years. This is the case with ren oil, and so are other things? Without competition among merchants, many things would be difficult to improve." "Father is not saying this to ask you to learn how to press oil or make mechanical things, which are the work of craftsmen. If you become an official in the future, what you have to do is to protect the merchants and let them compete. The Zhang family's ren oil is of good quality and cheap, and the Li family is catching up to make their oil of better quality and cheaper. This is what you have to do."
"Grandpa, what if someone robs me?" Tiger Head said, "He's just a businessman. He steals my business and cuts off my source of income. Can't I just fabricate a crime and arrest him?"
Shao Xun smiled and said, "Hutou, it's great that you can think of this. Liang Nu, do you have a solution?"
Liang Nu thought for a moment and said, "Grandpa, if the family doing this business is a high-ranking official, it wouldn't be so easy to frame them, right?"
When Yu Wenjun heard this, she looked at Liang Nu, then at Shao Xun, with a different look on her face.
"Haha." Shao Xun smiled and said, "Liang Nu is right. My father once wanted to eradicate the gentry, but later found that it was impossible. In this case, we should adapt to local conditions. For example, your second brother's mother's family is the Lu family of Fanyang, a famous family in Hebei; your wife's family is the Zu family of Fanyang, a family of two thousand stones. These two families are evenly matched in the oil business. If their in-laws, the Cui family of Qinghe and the Liu family of Zhongshan - oh, the Liu family of Zhongshan, fall, then what will happen if the big families such as the Liu family of Pingyuan, the Hua family of Pingyuan, and the Shi family of Leling join the competition?"
"Perhaps they would divide up their territory and sell it to one or several counties. But over time, when there are five or six kinds of neem oil in Hebei, and the quality and price vary greatly, some people would take risks and sell the good quality and cheap neem oil across counties and counties to other places. In the end, the families that produced those poor quality and extremely expensive neem oils were forced to learn from them for face or other reasons, and then they all improved."
"Of course, the reality may be more complicated. But it is always good to have competition. Gradually, there will be gains, which is much better than a stagnant pool of water. This is the use of business apprentices, and you must not underestimate it. Give them a piece of sky, and no one dares to say what the world will become."
After hearing this, the older children all had their own thoughts.
Yu Wenjun frowned and said, "My husband, be careful when you say 'eradicate the aristocracy'."
"I know, I know." Shao Xun smiled and said, "I am still working for the welfare of the nobles. Who dares to say that I want to eradicate the nobles? The entire South has been promised to them. What else do they want? Come, come, eat Ren Bing."
Shao Xun picked up a piece with chopsticks and brought it to Yu Wenjun's mouth.
Yu Wenjun tilted her head back and glanced at the children.
"Grandpa, I don't want to eat anymore. Let's ask Tong Qianjin to take us for a walk. It's too stuffy here." Hu Tou stood up and called his brothers to go downstairs.
Everyone laughed and followed him.
Yu Wenjun's face turned red, but she no longer refused. Instead, she gently put it into her mouth and started eating.
"Xuanzhu, have one too." Shao Xun picked up another reed cake and brought it to Guanqiu's mouth.
Guanqiu smiled and ate generously.
"Husband, it would be nice if you could always be like this." Yu Wenjun said softly after eating a piece of reed cake.
Shao Xun looked at his wife's bulging belly, his heart softened, and he said, "Husband knows he is wrong, please change for the better in the future."
"Really?" Yu Wenjun's eyes lit up and she said in surprise.
"Really." Shao Xun said: "The things that happened before..."
Guanqiu covered her mouth and laughed secretly.
Yu Wenjun reacted, and after a long silence, he sighed and said, "Liang Pushe's grandson is sick again, let's talk about it later..."
Seeing her like that, Shao Xun fell silent.
Yu Wenjun is still willing to forgive him, as long as he doesn't mess around in the future. This weak and kind little wife can easily be bullied to death.
Some people may think that since he is the ruler of the world and has great prestige, it doesn't matter whether his wife forgives him or not. But that's not the case. At least Shao Xun still cares about it.
But then again, it's only a wrong name, not a wrong nickname. Shao Zei is Shao Zei, and his various feelings of guilt and emotion are all limited in time. Who knows if he will return to his old ways after a while.
After the three of them shared the reed cake, they drank some tea.
The merchants outside gradually dispersed and went to have their meals.
At this time, Shaofujian Yu Hua was led up by his personal guards, followed by officials from the municipal office.
"City Office" is a general term. In fact, there are further subdivisions. For example, the office that manages the market town in front of us is called "Luoyang South City Office". The chief official of the office is called "Ling", that is, Luoyang South City Ling, and there are two assistant officials, called "Cheng".
Under the magistrate and chancellor, there were also a number of clerks and recorders.
The Municipal Office is now under the jurisdiction of the Shaofu, but this may not be the case in the future.
If the important officials in the cabinet found that the city taxes were increasing, they would absolutely not tolerate the Shaofu controlling this source of income, even though they had been able to live normally without this source of income before.
"Your Majesty, the South Market of Luoyang has been open for five days, and 127 merchants, big and small, have bought and sold 4,100 dragon coins." Yu Hua said, "Based on a tax rate of 20%, this is -"
"More than two million coins." Shao Xun smiled and said, "Yes, Henan West Market should not be much different. Unfortunately, this year only five markets have been opened in Luoyang, Bianliang, Yecheng, and Taiyuan. More will have to be opened next year."
The trading demands of merchants that had been suppressed for many years were suddenly released, which is truly a dividend of reform.
This income was almost nothing in the past, but will gradually increase in the future.
The world is changing slowly but steadily.
Shao Xun always felt that the thread of history was very clear, but now he discovers that there are hidden forks in the road!
Since the implementation of "One Liang, Two Systems", the time traveler's advantage in foresight has been greatly weakened, and now he can't figure out which way to turn.
The day when we have to cross the river by feeling the stones is probably not far away.
(End of this chapter)