After the morning meeting, Lu Yan and Guo Jia rushed to Xuchang together.
The last time I came to Xuchang, most of the palaces in the city were just foundations, but today I saw that many buildings had already been built.
I have to say that there is a reason why China is called the infrastructure madman, and it still has a legacy...
Cao Cao moved his family from Juancheng to Xuchang, so that Cao Ang could go home from time to time.
In the past few years, the household registration reform under Cao Cao has been basically completed, and its effects are slowly becoming apparent.
Almost all the people under Cao Cao's rule were allocated land, and the people had clear household registrations, which made it much more convenient no matter what they did.
Take workers on construction sites as an example. Those with household registration will be hired first and the wages will be good. Everyone knows the basics, so they can use them with confidence.
Moreover, the common people can still farm during the farming season and move bricks in their free time to earn some living allowance. In addition, the commerce in Chenliu and Yingchuan is very developed now, and they can also use their craftsmanship to sell local specialties from their hometowns.
Thanks to these changes, almost every household in Chenliu has surplus money, which further boosts commercial consumption.
With more consumption, taxes will rise, which will bulge the government's pockets, and then there will be more infrastructure and more jobs.
Under such a virtuous cycle, the rapid development of Chenliu Yingchuan was copied by other counties in Yanzhou, and then led to rapid development under Cao Cao's entire rule.
A single move affects the whole body. Without a solid foundation, high-rise buildings cannot be built. The household registration system and official centralized management of land are the foundation for all this.
Too far away...
At noon, Lu Yan and Guo Jia arrived at the general's residence. In the study, they saw Cao Cao, who was taking exams for Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, and Cao Zhi.
After bowing to Cao Cao, Lu Yan solemnly said: "Mr. Cao, we have something important to discuss with you."
Cao Cao nodded, then smiled and said to his three sons: "You go and play for a while, and come back later to do your homework."
"Here!"
The three little kids pretended to bow before running out with smiles on their face.
Cao Cao looked at his three sons and couldn't help but smile and said: "Pi'er and Zhi'er both have good reading talents. Even Zhang'er doesn't like reading and has no talent..."
Cao Zhang is a fierce general!
In the official history, he led his army to conquer Wuhuan and surrendered Xianbei in Liaodong. It can be said that he defeated the alien tribes and made them flee.
Lu Yan liked this kind of person who was awesome in foreign wars, so he was thinking about when to get Cao Zhang under his command and train him...
But Cao Zhang is still young and is not in a hurry.
Lu Yan smiled and closed the door of the study, and then said to Cao Cao: "These young masters are all the best among men. Mr. Cao should be happy."
Cao Cao knew that Lu Yan knew the direction of history, and he might know what his sons would achieve in the future.
So Cao Cao rolled his eyes and asked tentatively: "I would like to ask, sir, how do you evaluate these sons of mine?"
"Really?" Lu Yan's heart tightened, "Forget it, these people didn't end up well in the end... I'm afraid they'll be beaten if they say it..."
Historically, Cao Ang was killed by your boss Cao, Cao Zhi, and Cao Zhang were killed by Cao Pi... By the way, there was also Cao Chong, who was probably killed by Cao Pi.
Siblings can kill each other! This is really unspeakable.
Lu Yan thought hesitantly for a moment, and then said: "Mr. Ang has a generous temperament, is diligent and self-disciplined, and is most similar to you, Mr. Cao, in all aspects."
After hearing this, Cao Cao nodded silently. Cao Ang was his most satisfied and favorite son. He had always been cultivating him as his successor.
"Master Pi is smart, Master Zhang is brave, and Master Zhi is heroic. They all inherited some of your advantages."
Lu Yan only talked about their advantages but did not reveal any more information, but Cao Cao did not want to ask too deeply for fear of arousing Lu Yan's suspicion.
So, Boss Cao finally remembered to ask more serious questions: "By the way, why did you come to me for something important?"
Lu Yan originally wanted to speak on his own, but when he saw Guo Jia sneaking aside and drinking some wine, he immediately felt unhappy, "Fengxiao, since you proposed this matter, it's up to you to report it to Mr. Cao."
Explain."
After Guo Jia entered the door just now, he took advantage of Lu Yan to talk to Cao Cao. He found a bottle of wine from the secret room of Cao Cao's study with ease and started to drink by himself.
Judging from the look of this guy, he must have been here many times.
As soon as Guo Jia took a sip of wine, Lu Yan put the pot on his forehead.
"Cough cough!! Cough cough cough!!!" Guo Jia choked heavily and it took a while to recover.
Cao Cao also looked at Guo Jia curiously and said, "Oh? Fengxiao brought it up? Then Fengxiao, you can tell me."
After Guo Jia wiped away the drink he coughed up, he glared at Lu Yan without leaving any trace, and then he said to Cao Cao: "Actually, it's the papermaking thing that Lu Yan mentioned to you before."
"It turns out it's about papermaking..." Cao Cao suddenly realized, and then asked: "How is it? Do you have any clues?"
Guo Jia put away the expression on his face and said solemnly: "New paper has been made!"
"Oh." Cao Cao said oh, and then said nothing.
In his mind, there is nothing special about the new paper. After all, there is Caihou paper now, but it does not bring much change.
Guo Jia saw that Cao Cao didn't take it seriously, and then said: "My lord, the main material of the new paper is bamboo, and its cost is extremely low!"
"Oh?!" Cao Cao said again, but this time his tone was higher. He was obviously interested in Guo Jia's words. "Did you bring some new paper? Let me take a look."
"I just have it here." Guo Jia nodded, then took out a piece of bamboo paper from his sleeve that was obviously better than Caihou paper, and said, "My lord, please take a look!"
"This paper..." Cao Cao took the bamboo paper and couldn't believe that it was new paper made by Lu Yan and Guo Jia. "Why is this paper so smooth, so soft and tough?"
"No, this paper still has a lot of room for improvement!" Lu Yan finally spoke.
When Cao Cao and Guo Jia heard this, they were immediately surprised and said: "Is there still a lot of room for improvement?"
Lu Yan took the bamboo paper from Cao Cao's hand, touched the paper surface which still had some bumps, and said: "Yes, the paper surface is not smooth enough, the color is not white enough, and the flexibility is not good enough... It seems
I still have to go to the workshop myself."
Guo Jia and Cao Cao looked at each other, and Cao Cao asked: "If, I mean if...if the paper is produced according to your requirements, how much will it cost?"
After Lu Yan thought for a moment, he said: "If the craftsmanship is mature, I think a pound of paper can be sold for twenty cents!"
Nowadays, one stone of rice in Yanzhou sells for almost forty cents, and one stone weighs about one hundred and twenty kilograms.
If calculated by the price of grain, Lu Yan feels that this price is still a bit expensive.
After all, twenty cents can buy half a stone of grain.
"Pfft!!!" The wine Guo Jia just drank in his mouth spat out Boss Cao's head and face with a pop.
Although Cao Cao was sprayed in the face by Guo Jia, he seemed to be unconscious and stared blankly at the paper in Lu Yan's hand.
"What's wrong? Is it too expensive? How about fifteen cents per pound?" Lu Yan asked tentatively.
Guo Jia came to his senses, and while hurriedly wiping Boss Cao's face with his sleeves, he turned his head and shouted to Lu Yan:
"Damn it! Are you selling paper by the pound? Twenty or fifteen cents per pound???"