Two days after Chen Gui, Xie Qian and others arrived, Wang Ruohai and Yingzhou Zhizhou Xi Yi arrived. At this point, the chief officers of the nearby state armies, except for Yu Huan of the Xinyang army who was relatively far away, had all arrived in Xiangyang to greet Zhang Jun.
Zhang Jun and his party of nearly 20,000 people set out from Ezhou and headed north along the Han River. Because it is a countercurrent and there are many ships, the speed is not very fast.
Everyone had breakfast that day and had nothing to do. Several magistrates wandered around Xiangyang City together. Chen Yuyi and Shao Ling brought dozens of guards to follow them to prevent accidents. Since the wheat harvest was abundant and sold at a good price, the turmoil in Xiangyang has decreased. In the past few months, from time to time, the powerful powerful people under the rule led people to cause chaos, either going up the mountain or going into the water, causing countless things. However, their scale was not large and they were quickly put down.
Looking at the bustling flow of people on the street, Jie Qian said: "Xiangyang is located on an important road, with ships from the south and horses from the north gathering here. It is a rare prosperous place. When I saw it today, it was indeed the case. There is no place for the surrounding state troops. It’s so prosperous.”
Chen Gui said: "Since the king observed Xiangyang, taxes were reduced and reduced, and no major wars were launched, the people have really benefited. Only when the people live a better life can merchants prosper. No wonder Wang Kuan did not collect money from the farmers, and the industry and commerce in the city prospered, which gave him such confidence. "
While talking, several people were envious. At this time, the most difficult thing for each state is to raise troops. Raising troops requires money, and collecting too much money will inevitably affect people's livelihoods. The surrounding state troops are all worried about this matter.
In fact, just collecting industrial and commercial taxes, how could Wang Xiaolie support an army of tens of thousands? The main way to bring in money is through government-run industry and commerce. In addition, the army does not rely on recruiting soldiers, so the cost of raising an army is greatly reduced. Of course, there are conditions for this reduction in military expenditures. In fact, local governments will share part of it.
Not far away, I saw a dense crowd in front of a building, which was particularly lively. Chen Gui asked Chen Yuyi, "Where is that place?"
Chen Yuyi handed over his hand: "That's the newly built supply and marketing cooperative mall in the city. Because the goods are complete and the prices are cheap, the business is particularly prosperous."
"When I was in De'an Prefecture, I heard that there is a supply and marketing cooperative here in Xiangyang. The supply and marketing cooperative collects the surplus grain in the hands of the people. The price is much higher than that of the grain merchants, and the people benefit. Unexpectedly, they also opened a shopping mall. Let's go. , go and take a look.”
With nothing to do, a few people strolled outside the mall. What I saw was a two-story building with the words "Supply and Marketing Cooperative Shopping Mall" written on it. It was such a big door, with countless people coming in and out, like a market in the countryside.
Several people entered the mall. As soon as you enter the door, you will see a huge vegetable market. The counter is arranged in a circle with various fruits on it. Vegetables, salespersons sell goods inside. At this time, the weather in August is the harvest time, and all kinds of fruits are available. Such as water chestnuts, young lotus roots, eggplants, etc., are displayed in abundance. People were surrounded by people, picking all kinds of vegetables.
Chen Gui said: "If you sell vegetables this way, you must have a big vegetable garden. Will the supply and marketing cooperative still grow vegetables after leaving Fei?"
Chen Yuyi said: "The supply and marketing cooperative does not grow vegetables. However, Xiangyang Prefecture has a special vegetable garden with all kinds of vegetables. In addition to selling the vegetables here, it also supplies several government-run restaurants in the city. This vegetable garden is to make money. Another way to cultivate new vegetable species to benefit the people."
Several people nodded together. To make money from growing vegetables, it is not unusual for the government to set up a vegetable garden. But conducting research on vegetables and cultivating excellent varieties shows that they are serious. This is a characteristic of the government-run industry and commerce run by Wang Xiaolie. In addition to making money, it is also used for research.
After passing by the place selling vegetables and fruits, you came to the place selling dry goods and seasonings. It has reached the end now, but the stall extends all the way outside. Next comes meat, followed by fish, chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, everything. In this open space, there are also sellers of live cattle, live donkeys and horses, live pigs, and even feed sellers nearby.
Jie Qian looked at it and smiled bitterly: "How can people in the city buy such things?"
Chen Yuyi said: "That's right. People outside the city can only come into the city to buy these. Outside the city, they can only be sold in the market. The supply and marketing cooperative will also go to the market every time, and the business there is also particularly good."
Xi Yi nodded: "It's good to have such a shopping mall. The goods are concentrated together, and people can come to buy whatever they want."
Chen Yuyi said with a smile: "The main role of the supply and marketing cooperative is not to run shopping malls, but to exchange what is needed. As long as within these few states, the supply and marketing cooperative will purchase all useful goods and sell them to various places. In this way, the supply and marketing cooperative makes money With the money, the people will get profits from selling goods, and those who buy goods will get convenience, and everyone will be satisfied. It is still just the beginning, and the goods are not very complete."
Everyone's eyes lit up after hearing this, and they understood what Chen Yuyi meant.
No matter where you are in the world, there are more or less specialties. The people actually don't get much benefit from just relying on merchants to sell. Not only do merchants lower prices, but their transportation and sales losses are also high. The supply and marketing cooperative's network is large enough, its sales channels are wide enough, and its capital is sufficient. It can collect specialties from various regions and transport them to the city for sale. In this way, buying and selling are communicated and a business network is formed.
This is the original intention of the supply and marketing cooperative. One supply and one sales connect a commercial network. The shopping malls in the city are actually not important. In fact, Wang Xiaolie is planning to set up a separate shopping mall to distinguish it from the rural market model of the supply and marketing cooperative. Compared with later generations, although supply and marketing cooperatives also have shopping malls, their scale is small and they are mostly located in counties and towns. The city's shopping malls were department stores and later supermarkets, which are often landmarks of a city.
Compared with shopping malls, supply and marketing cooperatives play a more important role in rural areas, while shopping malls focus on cities.
Several prefects saw it and knew it was a way to make money. But he only manages one state, but this business requires the wider the scope, the better. It is best to have goods from all over the world. I can only feel pity.
When you get to the second floor, it's not as noisy as the first floor. Near the stairs is a bookstore with a variety of books. This is the specialty of a literati, and several people came together to look at it. The most numerous are naturally Confucian classics, as well as "Tang Poems", "Han Changli Collection", "Liu Hedong Collection" and so on. In addition, there are also legends about the Tang Dynasty and various miscellaneous histories. In the end, there was actually a script for this time. There are five or six types of stories commonly told by speakers on the market, and of course the most common ones are three-part stories.
Chen Gui picked up a book and opened it. Seeing the vulgar language and rough stories, he couldn't help but frown and said to Chen Yuyi: "Qu Fei, where did these books come from? Are they sold to the people, aren't they meant to teach people bad things?"
Chen Yuyi said: "This is specially written by Observation. Observation said that our states are different from other places in setting up schools to teach people to read and read. Not all literate people like classics, some people just like to read stories, so I specially found someone to compile these story books. It is said that after people become literate and do not read for a long time, it is easy to forget. These books are not teaching people, but just letting people read stories."
Putting down the book, Chen Gui shook his head and said nothing. He looked very dissatisfied.
Rulers often say that an important task of officials is to educate their people. The so-called culture is also based on culture. A literate person must of course read the classics. Otherwise, what's the use of literacy? After all, Wang Xiaolie was not from the imperial examination, so he didn't know how powerful he was.
Walking further inside, there are various stationery supplies. Next, there are specialties from various places. For example, porcelain from Ruzhou, Chengni inkstones from Guozhou, local lacquerware from Xiangyang, chestnuts from Tangzhou, mushrooms and fungus from Neixiang, all kinds of things are dazzling.
Xi Yi said: "These things are all famous products from various places, and we often hear about them. But it is not easy to sell them in one place."
Chen Yuyi said: "The supply and marketing cooperatives are newly opened, and the current collection of local specialty products from various places is incomplete. In a year or two, things will definitely change. We intend to allow the supply and marketing cooperatives to collect local specialties from various places and market them all over the world."
Chen Gui praised: "If it can be done, it will be unprecedented!"
Although the supply and marketing cooperatives of later generations were not always unified across the country, they basically achieved this. Of course, with the development of society, this role no longer needs to be performed by the supply and marketing cooperatives, which is another matter.
In an era when industry was underdeveloped, the role of supply and marketing cooperatives in society cannot be underestimated, and it greatly promoted economic development.
After walking a few more steps, I saw a counter selling various iron products. Several people came forward and saw the word "Bearing" written on the front of a counter, with various bearings placed on it. They couldn't help but look at it carefully.
Of course everyone knows about bearings. Starting from the ancient carriages, bearings are indispensable. By the Song Dynasty, there were even more varieties. In particular, Kaifeng Prefecture had several types of water mills that were huge in scale and used a lot of bearings.
Bearings at this time were made of wood, bronze, and of course steel. However, whether it is bronze or steel, it is mostly cast and relatively rough. The bearings here are different, almost entirely made of steel. There are various specifications and sizes, and they all look extremely exquisite. Placed on the counter, they looked extremely bright, without a trace of rust.
Chen Gui pointed at the bearing and said, "Why is there such a thing? Although it is useful, there is no need to put it here."
Chen Yuyi said: "We set up a bearing club to study bearings. After more than half a year of hard work, they made some and specially sold them here. People with ingenuity can make many machines based on this."
Jie Qian said: "Looking at the appearance of this thing, it must be expensive. Who is willing to spend money on this?"
Chen Yuyi said: "I can't understand this matter. But if observation is useful, the people below naturally dare not underestimate it."
In the machinery industry, the role of bearings cannot be underestimated. Generally speaking, machinery is divided into power part, transmission part, working part and control part. Among these parts, almost everything that rotates is inseparable from bearings. The development of the bearing industry can greatly promote the development of the machinery industry. Even if there is no steam power or electric power, a large number of machines can be developed simply by relying on water power, manpower, and animal power.
Machinery can greatly liberate manpower and improve work efficiency. This cannot be overemphasized. As a basic industry for the development of machinery, if bearings can be promoted, it will greatly promote social development.
