The sudden heavy rain soon stopped. The city of Yangzhou was washed and looked radiant and graceful.
Purple smoke and white pagoda, green and fat, red and thin, river-like ribbon, green grass.
In the countryside, there are thousands of hectares of fertile fields, the wheat is golden in color, and a good harvest is in sight.
On the Yangtze River, ships are dotted with sails, thousands of miles apart, and they return in one day.
When spring arrives, the warm breeze intoxicates tourists. It is said that it is this breath that left many romantic poems and romantic legends in Yangzhou.
Jiangzuo Xingsheng, Guangling Rongle, I don’t know how much masculinity has been wasted.
Shao Shude has special feelings for Yangzhou, but he also knows that he cannot fill that feeling in this time and space. All he can find is loss and sadness.
What he saw everywhere were the familiar creeks and green fields, the rural countryside of smoked villages, and the ancient paintings of crowing cocks and dogs barking, instead of the derricks, docks, ships and high-rise buildings that had been blurred in his memory.
In fact, this is good, really good.
He arrived at the dock.
At that time, the spring sun was melting and the gentle breeze was bringing warmth.
A few days ago, someone advised him to come back to the pier at night and see another spectacular scene.
Shao Shude refused.
He doesn't like the night a little now, because as soon as it gets dark, he starts thinking wildly and becomes emotionally unstable. Only during the day can he deal with many things with a more calm attitude.
The pier is full of ships, and it is clearly divided into two parts.
The first part is the small rivers connecting various ports of the Yangtze River. The rivers are densely packed with various small boats.
The boat's draft is very deep, and the hull of the boat is not much higher than the river surface.
The cargo was heavy and covered with felt. The spring breeze lifted a corner, revealing the colorful silk in the cabin.
Shao Shude climbed to a high platform and looked into the distance.
Good guy! At the end of the small river ditch, you can still see some vague silhouettes of boats. The boatmen shook their oars and slowly came to the dock.
On the dock side, small boats one after another drove into the dock on a first-come, first-served basis, and then unloaded the goods for delivery.
Some merchants who couldn't wait even walked through the reeds, wanting to trade directly with the merchants so that they could go home quickly. But it was difficult to calculate taxes outside, so after being warned by the tax police, they could only return home unhappy.
In Pierfang City, continue to wait.
The second part is naturally the dock where ships gather.
Food merchants, Persian merchants, Brahmin merchants, and Japanese merchants, who have become increasingly active and wealthy in recent years, looked around on the deck and from time to time sent people off the ship to ask if the goods they ordered had arrived.
Merchants who sell meals and drinks row boats, hand the meals on board, pay with one hand, and deliver the goods with the other.
The "vulgar" atmosphere of money flows everywhere, there are exciting large-scale transactions everywhere, and there are smiling people everywhere who are obsessed with money.
The businessmen speak different languages, and sometimes they don't even wait for an interpreter to translate. They talk to each other directly, stretch out their hands to gesture, and then laugh and hug, and they can actually negotiate a business.
Shao Shude watched from a distance for a long time and laughed.
As I get older, I don’t have much fun. I can watch these scenes of sitcoms. Today is not in vain.
"Guangzhou and Yangzhou are not enough. Quanzhou, Mingzhou, and Haizhou have to catch up slowly." Shao Shude got tired from standing, sat back on his chair, and said, "That's all, I know it's a delusion.
Haha. It would be nice to have two or three big ports, where trading can be centralized and the court can easily collect taxes."
"Grandpa, after Guangzhou, Yangzhou is the second largest port in Daxia and an important sea trade town. Last year, it collected more than 500,000 yuan in customs duties, second only to Guangzhou's 800,000 yuan." Shiro Shao Guancheng said at the side.
"Have you been depressed these past few days?" Shao Shude glanced at his son and asked.
Shao Guancheng was a little embarrassed and said, "I should have given up those bad habits long ago."
Shao Shude snorted and said: "Stay with me honestly and don't think about running around."
"yes."
"Tell me, is there anything else that needs to be improved in the Yangzhou Shipping Department?"
"Grandpa, this place still needs to be expanded. It's the end of February now, and Hu merchants can't delay much longer. When the sea breeze turns, they won't even be able to cry." Shao Guancheng said: "It's best to add a few more trestles.
Recruit more laborers, recruit more calculation students, speed up the delivery, and do the accounting, so that the merchants can leave as soon as possible. In fact, these things are already being done."
"Do you want your father to praise you?"
"It's okay for father to praise..."
Shao Shude's mood improved inexplicably. If this lazy guy hadn't been a little talented and good at work, his legs would have been broken long ago.
"Over at Fanfang, you need to coordinate more with the governor." Shao Shude said: "Daxia is not a gangster's den. You can't do things like killing people and robbing wealth. I still want to lose face, and so does Daxia."
"yes."
The so-called "Fanfang" is where Hu merchants live together.
In fact, they do not want to live together, but since the Tang Dynasty, they have been required to live together in one place, choose their own representatives, and manage themselves. If there are any conflicts, they should resolve them internally and do not involve others. If they cannot be resolved, they should be resolved by others.
Official referee.
Therefore, to a certain extent, Fanfang is a "rich area". Therefore, there are many people who covet their wealth. Shao Shude means to strengthen public security management and deter Xiaoxiao.
"Are there any Hu merchants buying tea?" After talking about public security issues, Shao Shude mentioned another thing.
"have."
"How does it compare to previous years?"
"This year it has increased by more than 30%."
"Why the increase?" Shao Shude asked: "Is there any investigation?"
"When I heard about it, I felt something strange. Although tea sales have been increasing in recent years, it is really slow and even declines in some years." Shao Guancheng said: "I asked an acquaintance of Hu merchants about their sales.
The answer is more interesting..."
"Are you trying to get along with me?" Shao Shude glared at him and said.
Shao Guancheng laughed sarcastically and said: "Some Persian Hu Shang mentioned that Master Wang fought fiercely with the Samantha Dynasty for several years and won many battles. It is rumored that drinking tea made him powerful, hearing and seeing. Although it is nonsense,
But many people became interested in tea, so they bought more and went back to sell it."
"There are also Da Shi merchants who think this is a very good medicinal material, unique to Da Xia, and very precious. I don't know what they think. I feel like they have lost their minds."
"The third type of people admire the splendor of China. After hearing that nobles like to drink tea, they buy it in large quantities and go back to present it to nobles, officials and even the king."
"There is also a group of people who have simply lived in Daxia for a long time and love drinking tea. Based on their preference, they plan to return to China to promote it, at least to let their relatives and friends have a taste."
Shao Guancheng listed the four major categories. After listening, Shao Shude nodded to express his approval.
He knows that things in the world often have quite complex factors.
To put it bluntly, the country's influence has increased.
Such nonsense as the legend of having endless powers after drinking tea. If the Forbidden Army of Daxia had not won the victory on the battlefield and spread to all the "vassal towns" in Daxia, would such a thing be possible?
The greater your influence and strength, the easier it is for others to accept your things.
If the empire he built can continue to maintain a strong civilization and expanding influence, tea sales will only get better and better.
In fact, this is not only true for tea, but also for other products.
Shao Shude has known for a long time that some Hu merchants like to buy handicrafts with Chinese characteristics and sell them at high prices. Just like the Central Plains will also buy exotic armors and handicrafts. Everyone is curious about the outside world and is willing to know each other's
Culture, if the family has extra money, they don’t mind buying some to come back to appreciate and play with.
In this process, the party with stronger culture buys less.
The culturally weaker party buys more.
If the culture is extremely weak, then you can't wait to imitate the other party's lifestyle completely.
Influence, also called soft power, is an important part of national power. If used well, it has the power to turn corruption into magic.
According to Shao Shude, Daxia is still very strong in this regard.
For example, a Dashi businessman went to the place where porcelain is produced, talked to the porcelain merchants and kiln owners alone, and customized a batch of porcelain with Chinese elements and relatively in line with Dashi's aesthetics according to his personal requirements - mainly
reflected in the pattern.
Of course, some people also specialize in ordering porcelain with Creator elements. These are all trends that have emerged in recent years.
It is a well-known fact that handicrafts are easy to sell and the profits are extremely high.
But how to sell handicrafts and sell them at high prices is the key.
This requires the cooperation of national influence.
Once the country's power weakens, these transactions will inevitably be affected.
Therefore, there is no doubt that weakness must be all-round weakness.
"You should think more about tea." Shao Shude warned: "Don't ruin your reputation. If this business lasts for a long time, it will be great, and there will be big profits in it. Not only the merchants will be profitable, but also the various tea farms.
Great benefit."
"Yes." Shao Guancheng responded.
He knew that some rogue businessmen were so cunning that they bought the lowest quality tea and sold it as the best tea when they returned home, which completely ruined the reputation of Daxia tea. But it was not easy to deal with this matter, because you don’t know what others bought it for.
To whom it was sold.
The only solution is to continuously increase tea sales and sell all varieties of tea. Over time, there will be fewer deceptions.
"Yangzhou is a good place." Shao Shude stood up and looked into the distance.
There is a blue sky without a trace of cloud, and the bright sunshine shines on this ancient city.
Once upon a time, this place was repeatedly attacked by war and was in constant mourning and chaos.
When Sun Ru, the thief of Cai, took over Yangzhou, he even hawked human flesh on the streets.
After the Cai thieves were wiped out, Yangzhou took difficult steps and went through the development process again.
The river tide has ebbed and flowed, and thirty years later, Yangzhou has taken on a completely new look.
Zooming into the entire history, the land of China has gone through many changes, the world has traveled backwards and forwards, and generations of passers-by have passed. After everything has settled, the people living on this land are still so tenacious.
I am just a passer-by.
Shao Shude feels sad in his heart, but he will try his best to leave his mark.
(There are a lot of things going on tonight, the early morning chapter will be updated tomorrow)