Li Shimin was a controversial emperor.

However, it is undeniable that he was an emperor who wanted to make a difference, and indeed did.

Although the conditions in the Daming Palace are very good, it is very comfortable to stay.

However, in order to grasp the dynamics of the people in Chang'an City in a timely manner, Li Shimin will still engage in a private visit to the micro-service.

No, after the early dynasty, Li Shimin changed his clothes and took Li Junxian and Li Zhong out of Daming Palace.

Xishi is the most lively place in Chang'an City.

To understand the situation in Chang'an City, going to the West Market is a good way.

Li Shimin naturally has a clear understanding of this.

"I haven't been to the West Market for a few months, but it seems to be more lively here."

Li Shimin is dressed as a businessman, Li Zhong and Li Junxian, one is dressed as a housekeeper, and the other is dressed as a guard.

Of course, it is inevitable that some disguised Baiqi and Qianniuwei will be followed nearby.

"Lang Jun, this West Market is now the largest market in the world, not only the merchants and people of the Tang Dynasty like to come here to take a look, but also the Hu merchants and Yi people from all over the world, as long as they arrive in Chang'an City, they basically come back to the West Market to have a look. Especially for those who come to Chang'an City to do business, the West Market is almost a must-visit. ”

Li Zhong explained softly on the side.

Although he rarely has the opportunity to come to the West Market in person, he has to read the various news of the Baiqi Division every day, and he knows a lot of all kinds of things.

"Emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, this is the policy that almost all dynasties have implemented, but Kuan'er said that the development of commerce is very important to the Tang Dynasty. If we want Datang to become an existence beyond the Qin and Han dynasties, the prosperity of commerce is indispensable. I was skeptical before, but now it seems that there is a reason for this point of view. ”

Looking at the flow of people, Li Shimin sighed.

This kind of scene is definitely not something that can be understood after a simple text description in the play, and it must be experienced in person.

"Yes, now the commercial tax collected by the household department has accounted for as much as 30% of all taxes, and it is still increasing, according to this trend, it will not take ten years for the commercial tax to become the largest tax source in Datang. There are also the taxes paid by each workshop, if you add up, basically our Datang's taxes are not very dependent on agricultural taxes. ”

Li Zhong is the most aware of the changes in Datang over the years.

In the early years of the founding of the country, the annual tax of the household department was less than 1,000.

And now?

Although it will take more than a month to pass the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, the tax data that has been counted alone has exceeded 20 million yuan.

According to Li Zhong's estimates, it is almost inevitable that the annual tax will exceed 25 million yuan.

This kind of growth rate, if it relies on exploiting the people, then it is not very significant.

The country is rich and the people are weak, and this is not a situation that can be sustained for a long time.

However, now the people of Datang are also noble, and their income is increasing year by year.

Even for farmers, life is much better than before.

This situation is too hard-won.

"That bread new language, it's the son who cooperated with others, right?"

Li Shimin looked at a lively bread Xinyu on the street of Xishi, and stopped to observe.

Although he also knows his son's new bread language, the business is very good, and it is quite profitable.

But listening to it, now seeing the crowd in line with my own eyes, the feeling is different again.

"That's right, this bread Xinyu now has more than a hundred branches in Chang'an City, and I heard that Her Royal Highness Princess Jinyang is still considering whether to open bread Xinyu to Luoyang and Liangzhou."

Li Zhong is worthy of being a qualified leader of the Hundred Cavalry Division, basically Li Shimin can answer a little bit about what Li Shimin asks.

"A hundred branches? You need at least ten guys for a branch, right? Isn't that the bread new language has more than a thousand guys? ”

Li Shimin was taken aback by the scale of the bread new language.

I thought they were just making a small fuss, but I didn't expect such a big Mac to come out.

If the branches continue to open in other state capitals, won't there be tens of thousands of bread and new language guys by then?

"Your Majesty, there may be more than that. There are two types of branches of this bread new language, one is simply selling things, and the other is that there is a special restaurant for customers. The former type is basically enough for a dozen guys, but for the latter type, you need at least twenty guys. And Bread Xinyu has a branch of the back type in each workshop, and there are almost 1,500 guys now. ”

"Fifteen hundred guys for a bread whisper? Wouldn't the other workshops have thousands of craftsmen at every turn? ”

Li Shimin had a worried expression on his face.

With so many guys belonging to the same owner, it's easy to get into trouble.

"Your Majesty, it's not that exaggerated. Except for a few workshops such as wool thread workshops, bicycle workshops, and horse-drawn carriage workshops, most of the workshops have no more than 2,000 people. Most of them are workshops with less than 500 people. ”

In this era, it is very stressful and difficult to run a workshop with more than 1,000 people.

That is, there is such an outlier as Li Kuan, otherwise except for some mines, there would not be a workshop with so many people in Datang.

"Jingle bell!"

"Jingle bell!"

With the ringing of bicycle bells, Li Shimin and his party walked slowly in the West Market.

"I heard that a new bicycle workshop has opened in the prefect's house, specializing in the production of those three-wheeled bicycles, could it be that these three-wheeled bicycles are from the prefect's house?"

Li Shimin saw a guy next to him from time to time struggling to pedal a three-wheeled bicycle, which was full of goods, and couldn't help but ask curiously.

"The three-wheeled bicycles walking in Chang'an City are either from General Cheng's Mansion or from Zhao Guogong's Mansion. In Chang'an City, there is no third company that is making three-wheeled bicycles. It seems that the one that just passed by Lang Jun should be from the Zhao Guogong Mansion, and the one in the back is from the General Cheng Mansion. ”

Li Zhong is secretly glad that he attaches enough importance to the new thing of bicycles.

Otherwise, Li Shimin's question, he really couldn't answer it.

"Oh? Is there any difference? They all look pretty much the same. ”

"The appearance is similar, but there is still an essential difference between the bikes of the two companies. The three-wheeled bicycle on General Cheng's mansion, like the permanent bicycle workshop under the Chu Palace, uses a chain drive to drive the wheels to walk; However, the bicycle on the Zhao Guogong Mansion was carried out in an ingenious way using gear transmission. ”

"Chain drive? Gearing? Are there any differences between them? ”

Although Li Shimin is very clear about the major events that happened in Chang'an City, it is impossible for him to understand such details so deeply.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have to sleep at all, and he wouldn't have enough time to read all kinds of materials every day.

"There's still a difference. Although some people say that the reason why the bicycles on the Zhao Guogong Mansion use gear transmission is to avoid being said that they are plagiarizing others; However, the subordinates think that the most fundamental reason is that in addition to the workshops under the Chu Wangfu, there are no other workshops that can produce qualified chains. Unless the Chu Wangfu allows the chain to be sold to you, other workshops will not be able to produce qualified chain drive bicycles.

At this time, the geared bike solves this problem very well. In addition to being a little more laborious, the geared bike is actually very easy to use, so after it was launched, it sold very well. Of course, this also has something to do with the fact that the production capacity of the permanent bicycle workshop is not enough to meet everyone's requirements. ”

Li Zhong felt that when he returned to the field, he could go to the restaurant to tell stories.

He basically understands all kinds of things in Datang.

"These bicycles are a good thing, because with them, the need for horses is not so urgent, and we can have more horses to fight and plow the land."

Li Shimin looked at the bicycles that passed by from time to time, and a smile appeared on his face.