Gao Xiaozhuang took a long time to go there, and he didn't even make it back in time for lunch. It was almost midnight before he braved the wind and snow and rushed back to Gaofu. The sky was already starting to get dark.
Gao pragmatic saw that there were wet marks everywhere on his coat, and his hair was even dripping with water droplets. He asked with concern in a reproachful tone: "Don't you know how to go out wearing a raincoat or holding an umbrella? How did you do it?" Are you looking like a drowned rat?" He waved to him and pointed to the charcoal stove in his study: "Come here, come and warm yourself up, if you catch a cold... well, it won't be good if you catch a cold."
"Thank you, Master." Gao Xiaozhuang didn't care much: "Actually, I wore a raincoat and a hat when I went out, but I couldn't stand it. The wind in the capital was too strong, and the snowflakes were floating as if they had eyes. Yes, I hope I can pour it into my coir raincoat. A hat can only block the top of my head, and there is nothing else I can do... But it’s okay, it’s just some floating snow, and it can be dried by the fire without even a stick of incense.”
Shangyue brought a small bench to Gao Xiaozhuang. Gao Xiaozhuang thanked him somewhat bewilderedly. Gao pragmatically smiled and told him not to be polite and to sit down and talk. After he sat down in the lower position with half of his buttocks, Gao Pingshi asked: "Have you asked about the prices of those things? What's the price of alkali? Is it expensive?"
Gao Xiaozhuang replied: "I have never bought alkali before, and I don't know whether it is expensive or not. In short, one tael of silver can buy two hundred catties of soil alkali and one hundred and twenty-five catties of refined alkali." [Note: Data. It comes from "Miscellaneous Notes of Wanshu", "Instructions for the Factory Warehouse of the Ministry of Industry", etc., and is quite authoritative. ]
Gao Pangshi was startled for a moment and asked in surprise: "So cheap?" He had some doubts in his mind. It is said that although the soda ash in the capital should be oral alkali, it was installed and sold directly by the Mongolians from the alkali lake in Hetao, but from Hetao to the capital The distance is not very close, and there are no trains or cars at the moment. With the transportation capacity being low, the transportation fee should be very high?
But after a second thought, I realized it: not only is the alkali price cheap, but more importantly, the silver is valuable! After all, it is equivalent to one-quarter to one-fifth of many people’s monthly income! This is like the average family in the previous life spending four to one-fifth of their monthly income to buy alkali. For example, buying alkali for 1,000 yuan...that's more than 600 kilograms (wholesale price).
When you think about it this way, the price becomes much more normal. Gao pragmatic nodded and asked, "Where's Lime?"
Gao Xiaozhuang regained his energy, sat up straight and said: "Speaking of this lime, it seems to be very cheap. I asked three or four stores, and the prices are all about the same. One tael of silver can buy a hundred dou, but there is one thing. What’s not good is that they only care about shipments but not delivery.”
Gao pragmatic nodded, calculated silently in his mind, and remained silent for the time being.
One bucket is equal to ten liters, and one liter is about three kilograms, so let’s calculate it as three kilograms. In other words, one bucket weighs thirty kilograms. According to the price Gao Xiaozhuang inquired about, one tael of silver can buy one hundred buckets, which is almost three thousand kilograms... Even if the lime weighs heavily, three thousand kilograms of lime is worth it. One tael of silver, no wonder the other party is not responsible for the transportation.
In fact, this is really a pragmatic misunderstanding. Those stores are unwilling to deliver goods not because the labor costs are too expensive, but because there are not so many means of transportation. You must know that even if it is a wooden wheel cart, it will take more than ten or twenty trucks to transport three thousand kilograms of lime. And for the store, it is definitely better to use so many wooden wheel carts to deliver lime. Compared with purchasing goods and delivering goods to buyers of smaller quantities, sending lime is not cost-effective. And their purchasing channels are not far away - there are many lime mines around the capital, and the limestone is transported to them by the mines. These days, miners are really working hard. They have always sold the hardest labor and earned the least money. It is really miserable. Therefore, miner uprisings have been a very dangerous situation since ancient times - you have labor and you are not afraid of death. , can it not be serious?
So the problem is with the cars, not the people. The labor cost really doesn't matter. The income of the real "brick movers" who work hard these days is quite low. How low is it? A long-term worker wakes up early every day and works until late at night, but his salary is only three taels of silver per hundred days. The only benefit that can be considered a benefit is that the store will provide a lunch. Fortunately, although this meal may not have much oil or water in it, at least it is basically enough.
Yes, manpower at this time is so cheap that people who grew up in modern society can hardly believe it.
In fact, regarding this issue, Gao Pragmatic later asked someone from the "Gao Party" who worked in the Ministry of Works. At that time, workers in various departments of the Ministry of Works were divided into two levels: craftsmen and husbands, and craftsmen and husbands were divided into long-term workers. Compared with day laborers, the wages of craftsmen are higher than that of husbands, and the wages of long-term workers are higher than that of short-term workers, but the difference is not very big, and the wages in different departments also vary. Generally speaking, the wage level of jobs with high technical content is higher than that of jobs with low technical content, with the highest wage level being 0.07 taels per worker [Note: Each worker means one person’s work per day. ], the lowest is 0.03 taels per worker, which is more than double the difference. [Note: The data source is still the "Instructions for the Factory Warehouse of the Ministry of Industry". This book was compiled by He Shijin, an engineer from the Engineering Department who had twice inspected the factory warehouse. It was written in June of the 43rd year of Wanli and has a total of 12 volumes. From volume three to volume one and two, the book records in detail the amounts and unit prices of various materials "produced" and "purchased" by various agencies affiliated to the Ministry of Industry, as well as the labor prices of some departments, totaling more than 400 items. The prices of many items in this book will be recorded with reference to the book and will not be explained separately in the future unless there are special circumstances. ]
Next, Gao pragmatically asked about the prices of various major fats and oils, and by the way, the corresponding meat prices. Overall, I can describe it in two words: cheap. If I had to use three words, it would be: cheap!
The current price of pork in Jingshi is one tael of silver and fifty-five and a half kilograms. Lard is about three times more expensive than pork. One tael of silver can only buy eighteen kilograms and three taels. Beef is cheaper than pork, and one tael of silver can buy it. It weighs seventy-seven kilograms, and butter is also cheap. One tael of silver can buy twenty-nine and a half kilograms. The price of mutton is basically the same as that of beef, but mutton fat is more expensive than butter. One tael of silver can only buy twenty-three kilograms. But still cheaper than lard.
"Why are beef and mutton cheaper than pork?" Secretary Gao, who grew up in a later generation and was highly pragmatic, said it was difficult to understand. He frowned and asked: "There is also lard, but why is it more expensive than beef tallow and mutton fat? What's the truth? "
In Secretary Gao’s view, the difficulty of raising pigs is so low, and the output of pigs is many times that of cattle and sheep. How could the price be higher? He subconsciously thought that there was something wrong with the price, and it was a big problem. Was Gao Xiaozhuang being deceived?
Unexpectedly, Gao Xiaozhuang also had a look of surprise on his face and said in surprise: "Young Master doesn't know about this situation either?"
Gao pragmatic was stunned for a moment, then asked: "What's going on?"
What could possibly happen? Could it be that swine fever broke out near the capital during this period and all the pigs died?
