Gao Xiaozhuang has been gone for a long time, and he couldn't rush back after lunch, and he rushed back to Gaofu in the wind and snow at about the time of Shen, and the sky was already dark.

Gao Pragmatic saw that his coat was full of wet marks, and his hair was even falling down with droplets, and said with a reproachful tone: "Won't you go out in a cloak or an umbrella, how did you make this look like a chicken in the soup?" As he spoke, he beckoned to him and pointed to the charcoal stove in his study: "Come, come over and bake the fire, catch a cold...... Well, it's not good to catch a cold. ”

"Young Master Xie." Gao Xiaozhuang didn't care much: "Actually, the little one went out wearing a coat and a hat, but he couldn't stand the wind of the Jingshi, and the snowflakes were floating like they had eyes, and they looked at the clothes pouring indiscriminately." The hat can block the top of the head, and there is no way to do it anywhere else...... However, it's okay, it's all snow, and it doesn't take a stick of incense to dry up on the fire. ”

Yueyue moved a small chair to Gao Xiaozhuang, Gao Xiaozhuang thanked him a little helplessly, Gao pragmatically smiled, and told him not to be polite, sit down and talk. After he sat down next to half of his buttocks, Gao Shishi asked, "Have you asked about the prices of those things?" What is the alkaline value? Is it expensive? ”

Gao Xiaozhuang replied: "The small one has never bought alkali before, and I don't know if it is expensive or not, but one or two pieces of silver can buy two hundred catties of soil alkali and one hundred and twenty-five catties of refined alkali." [Note: The data comes from the "Miscellaneous Notes of the Wan Department", "Instructions for the Ministry of Industry and Warehouse", etc., which are quite authoritative.] ]

Gao was slightly stunned and surprised: "So cheap? He had some doubts in his heart, although the soda ash in Jingshi should be mouth soda, which was directly loaded by the Mongolians from the alkali lake in Hetao to sell, but the distance from Hetao to Jingshi is not close, and there are no trains and cars at the moment, in the case of low capacity, this transportation fee should be very high?

But after thinking about it, I understood: not only the problem of cheap alkali, but also the value of silver! After all, it's equivalent to one-quarter to one-fifth of many people's monthly income! This is like an ordinary family in the previous life who took out four to five of their monthly income to buy alkali, for example, to buy alkali for 1,000 yuan...... That's more than 600 kilograms (wholesale price).

When you think about it, the price is much more normal. Gao pragmatically nodded, and asked again: "What about the lime?" ”

Gao Xiaozhuang came to his senses, sat up straight and said: "Speaking of this lime, the small one is very cheap, and the small one asked three or four stores, and the prices are about the same, one or two silver can buy a hundred buckets, but one thing is not very good, that is, they only ship the goods, but they don't care about transportation." ”

Gao pragmatic nodded, calculated silently in his heart, and was silent for the time being.

One bucket is equal to ten liters, and one liter is almost three catties, so let's count it according to three catties. That is to say, there are thirty catties in one bucket, and according to the price inquired by Gao Xiaozhuang, one tael of silver can buy one hundred catties, which is almost three thousand catties...... Even if the lime is very pressing, but three thousand catties of lime are only worth one or two silver, it is no wonder that the other party is not responsible for transporting it.

In fact, this is really a pragmatic misunderstanding, and those stores refuse to deliver not because the labor cost is too expensive, but because there are not so many means of transportation. You must know that even if it is a wooden wheel car, it takes a dozen or twenty cars to transport three thousand catties of lime, and for the store, so many wooden wheel cars are used to deliver lime, it is definitely better to take it to purchase and deliver goods to some buyers of smaller volumes, so it is not cost-effective to send lime. And the channels for them to buy goods are not far away - there are many lime mines around the capital, and those limestones are transported to them by the mines. In these years, the miners are really bitter haha, they have always sold the hardest labor and made the least money, which is really miserable, so since ancient times, the miners' uprisings have been a very dangerous situation - both laborers and not afraid of death, can it not be serious.

So the problem is with the car, not the person. Labor costs really don't matter, the real "brick movers" who sell coolies these years have a very low income. How low? A long-term worker gets up early every day and is greedy for night, and he has to work all the time, but his salary is only three taels of silver for a hundred days, and the only benefit is that the store will take care of a lunch. Fortunately, although there is not much oil and water in this meal, at least it is still basically full.

Yes, the manpower at this time was so cheap that it was almost unbelievable for people who grew up in modern society.

At that time, the laborers in various departments of the Ministry of Industry were divided into two grades: craftsmen and husbands, and craftsmen and husbands were divided into long-term and short-term workers, and the wages of craftsmen were higher than those of husbands, and the wages of long-term workers were higher than those of short-term workers, but the difference was not very large, and the wages of different departments were also different. On the whole, the wage level of high-tech jobs is higher than that of low-tech jobs, and the highest is 0.07 taels per work. ], the lowest is 0.03 taels per worker, a difference of more than double. [Note: The source of the data is still the "Instructions for the Ministry of Industry and the Warehouse", which was compiled by He Shijin, who had twice inspected the factory and warehouse, and was completed in June of the 43rd year of Wanli, with a total of 12 volumes. From volume 3 to volume 12, the book records in detail the amount and unit price of various materials that are "available" and "called" by various institutions under the Ministry of Industry, as well as the labor prices of some departments, totaling more than 400 kinds. The prices of many items in this book will be recorded in this book, and will not be separately stated in the future unless there are special circumstances. ]

Next, Gao pragmatic mainly asked about the prices of various major oils and fats, and by the way, asked about the corresponding meat prices. Overall, it's just two words: cheap. If there were three words, it would be: thieves are cheap!

At present, the price of pork in Jingshi is fifty-five and a half catties of one tael of silver, and the price of lard is about three times more expensive than pork, and one tael of silver can only buy eighteen catties and three taels; Beef is cheaper than pork, one tael of silver can buy a full seventy-seven catties, and butter is also cheaper, one tael of silver can buy twenty-nine and a half catties; The price of mutton is basically the same as beef, but mutton fat is more expensive than butter, and one tael of silver can only buy twenty-three catties, but it is still cheaper than lard.

"Why are beef and lamb cheaper than pork?" Gao Shishi, who grew up in later generations, said that it was difficult to understand, and asked with a frown: "There is also lard, how can it be more expensive than butter and mutton fat?" What makes sense? ”

In Secretary Gao's view, the difficulty of raising pigs is so low, and the pig production does not know how many times that of cattle and sheep, how can the price be higher? He subconsciously thought that there was a problem with this price, and it was a big problem, Gao Xiaozhuang, this kid was afraid that he was not fooled, right?

How did you know that Gao Xiaozhuang was also surprised, and said in surprise: "The eldest young master didn't know this situation before?" ”

Gao was stunned for a moment, and asked rhetorically: "What's the situation?" ”

What can be the situation, could it be that there was swine fever near Jingshi during this time, and the pigs died?