Chapter 107 Market Changes

After walking across the suspension bridge and entering the base, the two shopkeepers suddenly discovered that the houses built inside the village wall were all neat and uniform. Even the drainage ditches under the eaves were as straight as a knife. The road was clean and tidy, and there was no Yazhou.

The chaotic scene in the city, not to mention the livestock excrement that may appear everywhere. Although the place is not big, it appears to be very orderly. There are some coconut trees in the gaps between the houses, so that the base can

There is no shortage of green embellishments in the space. In addition to the natural fragrance of grass and trees, there is no stinky smell emitted by domestic garbage in Yazhou City.

The two shopkeepers were shocked and felt that although the environment here was not bad, most of the houses seemed a bit small. They didn't know why these wealthy Haihan people were willing to live in such a place. From this point of view, their opinions

This is in agreement with Luo Shengdong, the commander-in-chief of Shuizhai. Luo Shengdong also believes that with the material and financial resources of the Haihan people, it is simply unacceptable to not build some comfortable courtyards but instead live in such collective dormitories similar to military camps.

understand.

Except for a few people who are currently staying in Victory Port and are stationed on the "New World" to take care of the daily maintenance of the ship's equipment, the vast majority of them are still living in prefabricated houses at Base No. 1. Because for a few months

Due to the continued shortage of manpower, there are now only a few limited masonry structures in Base No. 1, and they all have special uses and are not used for human habitation, such as canteens and kitchens that require the use of open fires, and arsenals for storing firearms and ammunition.

, a computer room that houses large database servers, and a telecommunications center that manages wireless communications in the entire Shengli Port-Tiandu area, etc.

It’s not that the Travelers intend to continue living in such hardship and simplicity. It’s just that there have been more important infrastructure projects than building dormitories being carried out since time travel, so everyone can only accept this kind of accommodation conditions for migrant workers. However, the Executive Committee intends

After the Tiandu River Hydropower Station is completed and put into operation, a group of brick-and-stone dormitories will be built on the island in the middle of the river next to the hydropower station to solve the housing problem that has plagued Chuandu for a long time. This place is adjacent to the hydropower station and the future industrial base on the east bank of the Tiandu River.

It is more convenient to secure electricity or go to work. In addition, it is surrounded by natural rivers, making it easier to build basic defenses.

Of course, even if masonry-structured residences are built in the future, they will not be the courtyard-style buildings that the Ming Dynasty thought they should have. The Ministry of Construction has long had plans to build dormitories based on the structure of later tube buildings. By then, individuals or

As for the construction of truly comfortable housing, the Executive Committee believes that it will not be put on the agenda until at least the development of the "Two Rivers and One Port" area in Sanya in the future. At that time, it may really

Be able to have the energy and resources to carry out the construction and development of commercial and residential buildings.

Entering the conference room, which was also made of prefabricated houses, the two shopkeepers discovered that the house was originally neither stone nor wood, but made of boards that had always seemed to be extremely thin. Now they were even more concerned about these Haihan people.

I am in awe of the craftsmanship.

After Tao Donglai warmly invited the two guests to sit down, he asked, "It's a bit hot today. Would you like some iced drinks to relieve the heat?"

Shopkeeper Zhang was surprised: "Is there ice available here and now?"

Tao Donglai smiled and said: "We have our own method of making ice, and ice is available all year round."

Shopkeeper Li was also surprised and said: "Well, I need to see it first."

Both of them have been in Yazhou for a long time, and they have never heard of any local household having ice available at this time of year, not to mention that Tao Donglai's "ice making method" can make ice all year round. Li

The shopkeeper knew that some wealthy families in Guangzhou used saltpeter to make ice, but saltpeter was not produced locally in Yazhou, so no one used this method to make ice. Could it be that these Haihan people had been purchasing large quantities of saltpeter in Yazhou just to make ice?

Drinking ice cubes in the summer? But it seems unreasonable that the Haihan people live in such "simple" houses and are so extravagant in food.

Naturally, the people who traveled through time would not use the saltpeter they worked so hard to purchase to make ice, which is a precious raw material for making gunpowder. As for the method of making ice, of course it came from several large commercial freezers purchased before time traveling. The capacity alone exceeds

There are four 800-liter freezers, mainly used for fresh food preservation at the two bases. In addition, there are several small freezers for the scientific research needs of agriculture, metallurgy, chemical industry and other departments.

The two shopkeepers watched in stunned silence as Tao Donglai picked up a small black box and said a few words, and then soon someone came in with several bowls of mung bean soup and a small bucket of ice cubes.

"You two, please help yourself." Tao Donglai made a gesture of invitation, indicating to the two of them to put ice cubes in the mung bean soup.

When the two of them saw that the small bucket of ice and the tongs used to hold the ice cubes were so bright that they could reflect the figures, they had the same thought in their minds: "I thought this Haihan man didn't want to be extravagant, but it turns out he was just looking away.

Take a look, even the ice cube equipment is clearly made of fine steel!"

The ice cubes in the ice bucket were all half an inch square, with the same size and shape. The two shopkeepers knew at a glance that these were indeed ice cubes specially made for cold drinks. Shopkeeper Li of "Fu Ruifeng" hesitated for a long time.

Or he asked: "Is it possible that you purchased saltpeter in large quantities just to make ice cubes during the hot weather?"

Tao Donglai and Schneider were stunned at first, and then burst into laughter. Tao Donglai waved his hands and said: "We have a special method for making ice, and it is not made with saltpeter. This ice is not for making cold drinks for ourselves.

, it’s just that the two of you came from afar today, so we just took it out to entertain the guests.”

The two shopkeepers ate a bowl of iced mung bean soup, and their whole bodies were immediately refreshed. They felt that the fatigue from the journey had been reduced a lot, and they immediately turned to the topic. They each took out the order list and handed it to Tao.

Give two people.

The contents of this manifest mainly include the cash that has not been settled in the last transaction, as well as some goods used to offset the price in accordance with the requirements of the Cliff Office, mainly including coal coke, saltpeter, sulfur, ropes, etc.

Schneider noticed that the price of some of the goods had changed from the first transaction price, and asked: "I remember that the last time the price of coal was eight cents of silver per hundred catties, how come it has risen to two cents of silver after just a short time?"

?Could it be that the coal you two transported this time is better than the last time?"

Shopkeeper Zhang waved his hands repeatedly and said: "This is not because our two companies intend to raise prices, but the price of coal on the market has indeed increased a lot."

Shopkeeper Li continued: "Most of the coal used in Yazhou comes from Danzhou and Qiongzhou Fucheng. In the past, when the supply was sufficient, it was indeed priced at eight cents per hundred catties. But recently, it is said that a large number of civilians in the north have been expropriated, resulting in insufficient manpower.

Coal is mined, so the price has skyrocketed.”

"Why did a large number of civilians suddenly be recruited? Is there some kind of war?" Tao Donglai was keenly aware of the unusual smell.

"It's not just the She'an Rebellion in Sichuan and Guizhou. The imperial court fought back and forth for six years but still couldn't wipe out the rebels. Now the war is said to have reached the Chief Secretary of Guangxi. The Guilin government gave the imperial court a discount and asked the imperial court to organize reinforcements.

.After an imperial edict came down, the entire Guangdong and Guangxi became busy, even Qiongzhou Prefecture was no exception. The civilian men recruited were sent to Guilin Prefecture to be responsible for transporting baggage." Shopkeeper Li, who was relatively well-informed, introduced it casually.

What he knows about the changing times.

The She'an Rebellion broke out in Sichuan and Guizhou in the first year of Tianqi. The cause was that She Chongming and An Bangyan, the chief chieftains of the two places, tried to establish a local Yi government, so they rebelled against the Ming court. This battle to quell the rebellion was historically important.

Lasting for more than ten years, the war spread to the four provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangxi. The total number of casualties on both sides exceeded one million, and the property losses were countless, which greatly accelerated the collapse of the domestic situation in the late Ming Dynasty.

Now this civil war has entered its sixth year. Although the frontline battlefield is far away on the mainland, it still inevitably has an indirect impact on the distant small town in the South China Sea, and the momentum of this impact has spread to the Chuanchuan Group. Although every 100 kilograms

Even if the price of coal rises to two cents, it is not a sky-high price, but what Tao and Shi think about is the impact that coal supply shortage will have on the production of Chuanchuan Group.

Schneider immediately asked: "Then what will happen to Yazhou if there is no coal shipped from the north?"

Shopkeeper Zhang said with a bitter face: "Then everyone will have to burn firewood to survive. However, the adults in your Cliff Office are quite foresighted. They purchased a lot of coal in advance and made a kind of coal called 'honeycomb briquette'

The briquettes are very resistant to burning. I see that there are many such briquettes stored in the Cliff Office, so I guess I won’t be troubled by this problem in the near future.”

At this time, He Xi went to the big database to look up some historical information, otherwise he could have told the frustrated shopkeeper Zhang that this was not something foresighted by the Cliff Office, it was just something created by Zhang Guang on a whim.

Shopkeeper Li added: "Yazhou is short of coal, so it can only be shipped from farther away Guangzhou, and the price will probably double. If you still need to purchase large amounts of coal and coke in the near future, I'm afraid you will have to find a way elsewhere.

"

Tao Donglai and Schneider looked at each other. They both thought that the development plan of Hongji Port seemed to be rushed to the shelves and had to be carried out in advance. Nowadays, the price of coal in Yazhou has risen to two cents per hundred catties.

That's almost four taels of silver per ton, and shopkeeper Li said that the coal shipped from Guangzhou would probably have to double this price. Even if the price is eight to ten taels of silver per ton, the monthly demand for coal would be 300 tons.

For the above-mentioned Cross-Crossing Group, the expenditures that may be involved in this procurement project are not a small amount. If this coal tension situation lasts for a long time, then Cross-Crossing Group will only spend on purchasing coal in a year.

It would cost tens of thousands of taels of silver. After all, the cost of mining a coal mine by yourself would be relatively less.
Chapter completed!