Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

The New Year is approaching, and the people in the countryside have gradually ended their busy year and begun to prepare for the festival.

For most people, they are lucky to be able to live another year safely. Taking a break from the busy schedule near the end of the year, sleeping a little more in the morning and eating a few more bites at dinner is already a rare enjoyment, and they really don’t have the energy or financial resources to go out of their way to do it. What to do to prepare for the festival.

But there is one place that is an exception, and that is Shangyuan, which is located on the east bank of Luoshui River and under Wuxiang County.

Today's Shangyuan is a well-known wealthy town. In terms of prosperity and liveliness, it is not far behind the capital city of Huazhou.

Even the most inconspicuous houses in the countryside are large brick houses with three bays, with one or two side rooms on both sides. One of them must be the housewife's weaving room, and the other may be used for storage. Cars and horses, or farm tools.

As for the more luxurious houses, they can be entered in two or three, and the halls and halls are accumulated. A family of more than ten people can still live in a comfortable house, and there are also several Jihu male and female slaves.

The living environment in the countryside is already so grand, and the supply of various livelihood supplies is even more abundant. The Shangyuan Market offers all kinds of fashionable goods from all over the world, with a wide variety and dazzling array. Not only did it meet the various needs of the people of Shangyuan, but there were also many merchants from Zhoucheng, Chang'an and even further places who came here to buy goods.

People in the Shang Yuan Dynasty also had various ways of making a living. The middle-aged men and women either worked in various workshops or farmed, weaved and raised livestock in their households.

No matter what they do for a living, the annual income of a couple is enough to maintain the family's life and rent, and there is still a surplus left over from the rent. Moreover, for the men and women who work in the workshop, the owner of the workshop also pays a portion of the money to the union, and the union is responsible for the rent. Let Shi Wu solve it.

Li Xiao rode his horse on the neat gravel roads in the countryside, looking frequently to both sides. The surprise on his face could not be concealed: "In the early years, I only heard that Guanzhong is a small place and the people are poor and their livelihood is difficult. But when I really came to this town, I couldn't hide it." I didn’t expect it to be so rich and beautiful. Hebei used to be called rich, but it’s far inferior to this town in comparison!”

Wu Jingyi, who insisted on leading Li Xiao's horse, heard Li Xiao's emotion, looked back and said with a smile: "The old news about Ming Gong is not false. Before Shang Yuan, it was indeed a poor village in a narrow countryside, and the livelihood was not prosperous. But under Lang Jun After settling in the country, everything changed..."

When it comes to the changes and gains that Li Lang brought to Shangyuan, any Shangyuan citizen can talk endlessly. No matter how much he talks, there is only one meaning in summary, that is, without Li Lang, there would never be Shangyuan. Today's Shang Yuan!

Therefore, soon after Li Tai and his father returned to Huazhou, the villagers repeatedly urged Wu Jingyi and other old relatives who had stayed in the hometown to invite Li Tai and his father back to their hometown.

What Li Xiao had seen before was only the warm welcome of his son by the people in Kansai on human occasions. Today when he went to the countryside, he actually saw the various contributions Li Tai had made in the countryside. He was very happy in his heart. He looked at Li Tai and said with emotion: "I was a little uneasy when I heard my son's arrogant words before. But now that I see how much I have accumulated in my hometown, what else do I have to worry about?"

Shangyuan City is now larger, and at the end of the year, people and goods gather all day long. In order to avoid unnecessary commotion, Li Tai had specially told Li Zhusheng to the villagers not to hold any too grand a welcome ceremony. The villagers wanted to celebrate the reunion of his father and son, so they set up a running water table in his village and just came in to have a drink.

After leading his father to visit Shang Yuan, Li Tai and his entourage returned to the village. At this time, there were already a large number of people coming to congratulate the manor. The county magistrate Zheng Man and the county government officials were here to preside over the situation in person, and they were sweating all over their foreheads.

"How is this going?"

Li Tai asked when he saw a large amount of dried candied delicacies and other various ingredients piled on one side of the shop.

Li Zhusheng, who returned to the village first, came up and explained with a wry smile: "They are all gifts from the villagers. I have tried to persuade them many times, but I just can't stop them."

Li Tai knew that although the living standards of the villagers had greatly improved, they only had enough food and clothing. These delicacies were nothing to him, but when placed in the homes of the villagers, they could prepare a rare meal, so he I plan to distribute it back to the staff.

At this time, Party leader Zhao drove another ox cart, which was also full of dry goods.

After the car stopped, Party Leader Zhao got out of the car and said with a smile: "Although the people are clumsy in words, they are deeply affectionate. When they learned that Lang Jun finally came back from his visit, he was deeply happy for Lang Jun, but he was also afraid that Ming Gong I don’t like the local customs here, so I prepare local flavors and bring them. I hope that one of the hundreds of flavors will make Ming Gong appreciate and miss me, and I will fall in love with this place from now on!”

Hearing Party Leader Zhao say this, Li Tai also laughed and announced that the flowing water banquet in the village will last from today until the seventh day of the first month of the next year. During this period, all villagers can come to the village to eat.

After hearing this, people in Zhuangzhong Township also high-fived and cheered to express their thanks, and some even started singing and dancing.

The banquet in the village soon got under way. Li Tai saw that his father was also affected by the atmosphere, with a smile on his face. He was far more relaxed and comfortable than when we had a banquet with the masses in Huazhou City earlier, so he also asked his father Introduce the villagers here and ask about some interesting things about the village.

Li Tai feasted with his father for a while, and then asked party leader Zhao and others to continue to accompany him. He invited Li Zhusheng, Wu Jingyi and other leaders of the channel alliance into the village to discuss matters. After Zheng Man was promoted to the county magistrate, although he no longer served as the head of Qumeng, he was still very concerned about the affairs of Qumeng, so he also went inside to discuss matters.

Today's Qumeng is no longer limited to rivers, canals, bridges and other matters, but is a comprehensive civil union covering several nearby states.

Although the construction and maintenance of civil canals, dams and other works are still its main business, the sideline business has also penetrated into all aspects, the most important of which is lending.

The lending of Qumeng is divided into two forms, namely, the business of silkworm, mulberry, silk and linen looms for small civilian households, and the lending to various workshop owners. The former provides production raw materials and tools, returns silk cloth and other items, while the latter provides a series of support such as cash, technology and market sales. As long as the production scale and product standards required by Qumeng can be met, even interest can be waived.

Li Tai does not operate Qumeng as a profit-making organization, but as a platform to integrate local resources from various parts of Guanxi, and what he does is to promote the development of productivity.

Today, there are more than 50,000 looms registered in Qumeng, and one loom returns 100 pieces per year, which is a cash flow of more than 5 million pieces of silk per year. Although 70% of them are to be returned to the weaving households in the form of goods, there is also a gross profit of more than 1.5 million pieces of silk. Gao Aocao is becoming less and less valuable to him.

However, the management costs and initial investment of so many weavers are also very high, and the depreciation will also increase as the scale increases. The profit that actually falls into the hands of Qumeng is not as much as it seems. The most important thing about this business is that it provides Qumeng with a large amount of cash flow every year, which can be used to develop other industries.

At the beginning, there were not many workshops supported and invested by Qumeng. Only a few people in Shangyuan and the surrounding areas wanted to test the waters. What they took over were some upstream processing that Li Tai ceded.

After all, the current concept is still to take farming and weaving as the basis, and industry and commerce as the end. A thousand pieces of floating wealth are not as good as three hectares of thin land. But who would go into debt to live if they were hardworking and decent families? If there is a famine again, the products in the workshops will not be enough for food and clothing.

However, Guanxi has had a good harvest for several years, and the trade in Shangyuan and other places is becoming more and more prosperous. There are more and more commodities on the market, and the self-sufficient manor economy is increasingly being compared to the lack of cost-effectiveness.

Even some civilian households only rely on a few looms to weave diligently, and they have more than enough food and clothing in a year. In the second year, they take a bold gamble and borrow money to set up workshops. The site, technology, labor and other series are all provided by the alliance. They recover their investment in half a year and see profits in half a year. The income is actually more than that of several hectares of fertile land!

Last year was a year of blowout in the number of workshops in the alliance. The alliance invested dozens of brick and tile workshops alone. A considerable part of the people in Shangyuan can afford to build brick and tile houses because of this.

As for other types of handicraft workshops, they are also very prosperous. Oil pressing, papermaking, ink making, etc., basically, Li Tai's own manor industry has gradually handed over various processes to other workshops cultivated by the alliance for production after the technology is mature, so as to increase production capacity and obtain more products.

Nowadays, Li Tai's own manor no longer produces various daily necessities. Even the original core industries such as soap and fragrances have been gradually released to the outside to establish a complete production supply chain. Li Tai's own manor still retains only the two cores of military industry and scientific research.

Of course, Li Tai did not share all the technologies selflessly. For example, he had never leaked the water conservancy spinning wheel to the outside world. Now, even the one set up along the Luo River has been dismantled.

Although this tool is incredibly efficient, it is not suitable for use in Guanzhong, where the water resources and environment are relatively fragile. Once it spreads out, it is foreseeable that local tyrants will compete to block the river and set up weirs. Li Tai can find goods everywhere to meet the needs of some Shangyuan people to switch from farming to working, but if the whole Guanzhong really does this, it will be a lot of fun.

So today, one of the core issues that Li Tai convened the people of the Qu League to discuss is that the Qu League will go south and transfer the funds of Guanzhong to Mianbei, Jianghan and other places, where both geographical resources and development prospects are better than the current Guanzhong.

For many years, the leaders of the Qu League have been accustomed to following Li Tai's instructions in the general direction. It is also a fact that the development of the Qu League is booming. Although they have not even been to Mianbei, when Li Tai proposed the plan to go south to Wuguan, they all nodded and agreed, and each said that they would start preparations next.

Zheng Man also had great confidence in Li Tai. He looked at Li Tai pitifully and said, "I followed you to this village last year. The scenery in the village has gradually improved, but I can't see you. It's really miserable. When you return to the town next year, can you take me with you?"