Section 24 Dongmen City Travel Notes
Yang Shixiang's family banquet that night was very exquisite. It wasn't just five or five tables that didn't taste good, nor was it set up with lion fairy candies or fancy dishes. [No pop-up novel website] Twelve small plates of appetizers, plus ten hot dishes. The local flavor is mixed with Guangdong's official cuisine, making it unique. Although Li Luoyou only tasted it briefly, he still felt that it had a unique flavor.
After dinner, tea and fruits were served, accompanied by two singers given by Yang Shiyi, singing songs and giving orders. Although Quark knew nothing about this, he was excited when a woman was around, and he kept giggling and cheering. That night, he actually licked his face and asked Sao Ye if he could find a woman to sleep with him. This made the group of people look down upon him.
Li Luoyou was tired from the journey and got up very late the next day, not getting up until close to noon. After lunch, I told the steward who came to serve me that I wanted to visit the county seat and Dongmen City and see the local scenic spots. I wonder if the ground here is quiet? How many people should you take out?
The manager smiled and said: "The ground is very quiet, the gentlemen just want to play." After saying this, he hurriedly called people: "Prepare the car."
Li Luoyou worked as a mule driver in the capital, and he was so shocked that his insides almost turned inside out. When he heard that he was about to be driven, he frowned. Sao Ye hurried over and whispered a few words to the steward.
"It's okay," the steward said. "This is an Australian carriage, not a large saddle carriage from the north. It's more comfortable to sit on than a sedan that doesn't lean on all sides."
The Laide car is naturally a Hongqi carriage, but the model has been improved: the number of leaf springs has been increased, ball bearings are installed on the wheel axles, and the interior of the carriage has also been improved to some extent. As for the exterior of the car, it was decorated by skilled craftsmen from Zizhenzhai from Guangdong. It is elegant and luxurious.
Because the number of horses was limited, only two of these carriages were built. They were not used on weekdays and were only used as a courtesy.
"This is very similar to the European carriage." Li Luoyou sat in the carriage, with a spring cushion under his buttocks... The springs rolled out by the factory are not qualified for use in the manufacturing industry, and they can barely make sand. used.
"It's much lighter and more comfortable than the British carriage." Quark looked at the interior of the carriage, "It looks like the cool sedan we used to ride in." The weather in Lingao was relatively hot, so this carriage abandoned the traditional carriage used by the first Hongqi. The interiors such as velvet and satin are replaced with cool and smooth bamboo, rattan and gauze.
The car windows are inlaid with glass and covered with green screen frames, and there are thin bamboo curtains for sunshade. In addition to the two rows of chairs facing each other in the car, there is also a low stool on the side. This is specially designed for the national conditions of Ming Dynasty. The carriage was so fast that it was impossible for the servants and maids to follow on foot like they were sitting in a sedan chair. If they were riding in the same carriage, how could an ordinary gentleman be willing to let his servants sit shoulder to shoulder with him, so two low stools were specially designed for him.
Saoye was sitting on this low stool, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Master, this car is really strange."
The so-called strange thing is the hidden cabinet on the wall of the car. When you open it, you will find two rattan-shell bottles inside... They recognized them in the room yesterday. They are thermos bottles. Put boiling water in them overnight and pour them out. So hot.
With this thing, you can take it wherever you go, and you can have hot water anytime and anywhere. Saoye feels that this Australian product is much more practical than mirrors and other things.
One bottle contained boiling water, while the other large-mouth bottle was filled with crushed ice. In addition to hot water and cold ice, there were several glass bottles of kvass sealed with corks, and several bottles of red drinks. I didn't know what they were. Quark was anxious and simply opened a bottle to drink.
"What does it feel like?" Li Luoyou teased him.
"It's sweet, sour, and has a strange aroma." Quark licked his lips, "It tastes good."
After drinking a bottle of kombucha, Quark became drunk again, but there was no rum in the cabinet. Let this Englishman just scream "stingy".
The carriage left the county town and went straight onto the road. It was a sunny day, neither hot nor cold, with good weather. Farmers were going to the fields, workers, traders, walking or pushing carts to carry loads, and there were many pedestrians on the road. This two-horse carriage passed proudly through the middle of the street, and in the sound of wheels and the shadow of whips, people kept pointing. Li Luoyou turned a blind eye and just sat steadily. He secretly regretted that it was too ostentatious to go out like this.
The car stopped after a while, and the steward got down from the driver's seat and announced: We have arrived at Dongmen City.
"Please tell me, sir, should I get off the car here and enter, or should I drive directly to the city?"
"Get off right here."
When we got out of the car, we saw a gray dam across the river. The river sloped down from the top of the dam, with white water vapor swirling around it. The scene was quite magnificent. Looking not far away, there is a large area of red houses on the river bank, surrounded by high earthen ramparts with towers on them.
In the center of this pile of houses stood a tall iron tower that he had never seen before. On the other side of the river was another cluster of red houses, continuous like sawtooths, with large and small red brick chimneys standing high and low into the sky. Breathing black, yellow and white smoke. Li Luoyou almost forgot about it. This kind of scene has never appeared even in the weirdest dreams.
There was a faint rhythmic roar and the sound of hammering in the wind. A pungent smell wafted in the air, vaguely like sulfur. Li Luoyou shuddered. The sun was shining under the blue sky, but he felt the smell of hell.
Quark couldn't help but cross himself.
"Masters, please leave here."
The prosperity of Dongmen City quickly attracted them. The prosperity here is certainly not as prosperous as Guangzhou Foshan. But the neatness of the houses and the smoothness of the roads are unprecedented. The weather in the market is a hundred times better than that in Guangzhou and Foshan. The road surface is clean, not to mention garbage, there is not even a peel to be found, and there is no water on the street. Although the street trees on both sides are not big, they can already provide some shade.
What is puzzling is the tall poles along the street, with iron mesh and glass covers on top.
"What is this?" Li Luoyou asked.
"It's a street lamp," the steward replied.
Li Luoyou also guessed it was a street lamp. However, they were lined up like this along the street. This kind of aura was probably only found in the palace... When he was listening to the eunuchs chatting in the capital, he said that there were stone lanterns on both sides of the long lane in the palace, which were lit every night.
It would be too extravagant to have street lights in such a town. Even if the night market is prosperous, businesses will light the lights themselves, so why bother. Li Luoyou disagreed.
Walking on the street, there are many people on the road, both rich and poor, running around and busy. Among them are local aborigines, foreign traders, and some Australians wearing blue, gray, and khaki double-breasted coats with short hair like monks. people. At a glance, there are quite a lot of Australians. Just from the accents they spoke, I could tell that most of them were from Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian. This is probably the so-called "false Kun".
There is no way to verify the true size of the Kun. But there are many false condyles. If you pay a little closer attention, you will find that although the fake Kun is dressed similarly, you can still see the specific occupation in the details.
Those wearing brimmed hats, belts around their waists, and daggers hanging on their waists are soldiers; those wearing rattan helmets and hats with open chests and rolled sleeves are probably craftsmen in workshops; those wearing straw hats and rolled up trouser legs do not use They are said to be farmers working in the fields. The last group of people were neatly and meticulously dressed, and most of them were carrying a bag. Li Luoyou couldn't figure out where they came from, so he asked the manager.
"This is an Australian bureau," said the manager. "It specializes in handling affairs and administration for Australians."
"They are the scribes in the government office." Li Luoyou nodded.
"Yes, and no," the manager said, "It's complicated inside. This book office alone has three, six, and nine ranks, which are called 'cadres' internally. There are many tricks in it that we outsiders can't understand. But Sir, you see, if you are a 'cadre', your jacket will have four pockets. If it is an ordinary bookstore, there will only be two pockets on the bottom."
Looking over, it was true. Li Luoyou nodded and suddenly saw another woman wearing similar clothes.
"What? Australians still have female clerks?"
"Exactly." The steward told him as if it was news, "There is no distinction between men and women in Australia. Women are also officials and managers. Some factories and workshops even recruit female workers. It is not surprising that there are several female bookstores."
There are none of the beggars and gangsters that are common in bustling markets here. There is not even a single figure in the world who is a horse racer and sells solutions. Li Luoyou looked at it and secretly wondered: Could it be that this place was specially cleaned and tidied up just for him? I don't think I have such a big reputation.
At the moment, I just walked around the market and saw that there were many shops here with all kinds of goods. Li Luoyou casually walked into a few stores and found nothing unexpected. All kinds of Australian goods sold here can also be bought in Guangzhou. But the houses here left a deep impression on him.
Almost all houses are two stories or above, with three stories being common. One building is next to another, densely packed, and the style is different from those in the Central Plains. Quark shook his head after looking at it, saying that it was slightly similar to the houses in Europe, but it was definitely not the same.
It's hard to say whether the house is good-looking or not, but this kind of house obviously saves land. Li Luoyou has always been puzzled. There are so many wastelands in Lingao, why is it necessary to be so frugal?
In front of me was a large shop with five bays, which was very busy with people coming in and out. Wandering past, I saw several female waiters in blue cloth dresses at the door of the store greeting customers in various dialects from time to time, sometimes in Cantonese vernacular, sometimes in Hakka, sometimes in Leizhou dialect, and sometimes in Fujian dialect... Li Luoyou frowned secretly. , do you still use female assistants in this business? It's almost like using sex to attract people.
But when I walked in, I realized that the so-called sex appeal was nonsense. All of these female waiters are big-bodied and round-waisted, and none of them are graceful. They have wooden name tags hanging on their chests. But there are three big characters on the back of the clothes: "Cooperative".
"Is this your first time here, sir? All kinds of fresh and easy-to-sell goods are available in whole or in pieces. Our store also packs and consigns the goods on behalf of customers, so we give priority to large quantities."
A female waiter saw Li Luoyou stopping to watch and quickly came over to enthusiastically promote it. Li Luoyou didn't refuse and simply went into the store to have a look.
The store is very large, with an atrium in the middle that reaches directly to the roof, and the second and third floors are all pavilions. Standing in the middle of the room, the aura of Gao Kuang made people speechless.
The most surprising thing is the roof, which uses open tile skylights.
Of course, open tile skylights are not uncommon. In order to let in light, some people use translucent mica, horns or thinned clam shells to make open tiles on their roofs. But it's just a small piece.
Here is a glass tile, and it is very large. The entire atrium is made of a frame made of iron bars, with a whole piece of glass inlaid on it. The sun shines through the open tiles, illuminating the three-story building extremely brightly, which is very different from the dark feeling in ordinary stores.
"What a big gesture." Li Luo couldn't help but praise.
There is a large plaque hanging on the three-story building, with a black background and gold plaster, and the three characters "Cooperative" written on it. On both sides of the large plaque, there is a wooden pillar with the inscriptions: "High quality and low price" and "No counter-offer".
Li Luoyou asked the manager: What does this cooperative mean?
"Young ones don't even know." The manager said, probably the name was brought from Australia.
There is a circular counter in the atrium, and there are five or six female waiters in blue skirts. These few are different from the waiters outside. They are all beautiful-looking women in their 24s and 20s. There is something like a small box in front of everyone. When a customer comes over, the female waiter will press something on it from time to time, and then there will be a clear "ding" sound, and a drawer will pop out of the box. Li Luoyou was fascinated, but he didn't understand what he was doing.
"This is collecting money." The steward said, "The money must be put into this drawer."
Li Luoyou didn't know the meaning of this. He asked the manager, but he didn't know either. However, Australians seem to like using this thing very much. Whenever they collect money, they use this pop-up drawer box.
Outside the counter, there were female clerks standing all over the atrium. When they saw some customers who were stunned and didn't know what to do, they went up to greet them and guide them in the direction of shopping and viewing.
"It's true, it's true," Gu Baocheng, a young man who had never seen such a formation before, blushed, "It's not a serious place."
"This can be considered a kind of business." Li Luoyou doesn't think so, "If there is no real money to make money, what's the use of just a few women?"
"The manager of this shop is a female Australian, so all the waiters in the shop are women." The manager interjected interestingly.
"Oh? This is a strange woman."
"Who's to say otherwise?" the manager said as if it was news, "This old lady is very good at doing business. She has more ideas than any other. Look at this shop, from building the house, selecting the assistants to setting up the shop rules... everything came from her. Handwriting."
"I would like to meet him if I have a chance," Li Luoyou said.
There is no counter in the store, only treasure racks inlaid with glass, on which various goods are displayed, which can be seen but not touched. Next to each piece of goods was a piece of cardboard with the price written on it. Li Luoyou looked at it and found that there were three prices, retail, whole piece and whole batch. There is also a "large quantity" at the end, which says "negotiable".
The variety of goods is dazzling. Looking carefully, most of them are daily necessities and local products. It’s the same as Li Luoyou’s guess: the so-called Australian goods are actually Lingao goods. Cooperatives are mainly batch-based,
Customers are choosing goods in front of these treasure racks. When they like something, the female waiter writes a ticket on the spot. The customer takes the ticket to the counter in the middle to pay, exchanges it for a small ticket, and walks back. I don’t know what the trick is?
"The rules here are like this," the manager explained to him. "You can see the samples in the front, pay and issue the invoice, and you can pick up the goods with the ticket in the back."
Quark asked: "We only have samples of the goods, but the quality of the goods we get does not match the samples. What should we do?"
"This is absolutely impossible. The most important thing about the goods here is that they are genuine." The manager said: "The biggest advantage of Australian goods is that the quality of the goods is exactly the same. The goods are what they look like. Even if there are some differences, they will be the same. Within millimeters.”
He then asked another question: "What is the 'yuan' in the price? I see that silver and copper coins are not used to collect money."
"Use circulation coupons."
After hearing what the manager said about the circulation certificate and seeing the actual sample of the circulation certificate, Li Luoyou fell into deep thought. What he saw and heard today gave him a lot of surprises and shocks, but none of them could compare to things like circulation coupons.
Li Luoyou is not an economist and does not understand what monetary economics is. But with his businessman's mind, he would not fail to understand the difficulty of promoting paper currency and the huge benefits it would bring once the promotion is successful.
The entire Ming Dynasty did not pay much attention to coining money, and the people suffered from the lack of coins and inconvenient circulation. Therefore, the private coinage of small and bad money is rampant, and the government cannot help it. Tokens similar to circulation coupons are also used in places, but they are not used on such a scale. And from the mouth of the manager, I know that Australians have a strict system for the use and exchange of circulation coupons, and a special grain store has been set up to manage it. , these practices are by no means ordinary expedient measures to solve the shortage of money.
The Australians have tried their best to promote circulation coupons here. This effort is not as simple as settlement trade. Li Luoyou had another layer of doubt in his heart.
The second floor of the cooperative is still filled with various glass display racks, but the third floor is filled with small rooms, all with their doors closed. Occasionally, people come and go. The manager said that if there is a big deal, the clerk will invite people to this small room, serve cigarettes and tea, and someone will naturally talk to you slowly and carefully.
"...Our shopkeeper also did business here."
"Mr. Yang also purchases goods here?"
"No, it's selling goods."
It turns out that this cooperative not only sells a variety of Australian products, but also purchases them locally. Some of the "umesu balls", "secret tangerine peel", "lotus leaf tea", "hay grass tea", "stew spices" and the like that are mass-produced by Runshitang are also sold here.
In the past, there were many such things sold in traditional Chinese medicine stores that were neither medicines nor medicines, and they did not account for a large part of the business. Pharmacies don’t try to make money through this, they mainly want to build relationships with local customers. Therefore, the price is not high, it is convenient for people to use at home, and it is very popular. Liu San attaches great importance to this business and believes that these products have great sales in the vast rural market, so he manufactures them in large quantities and sells them in unified packaging. Although the profit earned from this is limited, it has a miraculous effect on branding. u! ~!
