Section 24 Dongmen City Travelogue

Yang Shixiang's family banquet that night was very exquisite, not five or five seats that he couldn't eat, nor did he set up lion fairy candy and set up dishes. Twelve small plates of appetizers, plus ten hot dishes. The local flavor is mixed with the official cuisine of Guangdong, which is unique. Although Li Luoyou tasted it slightly, he also felt that it had a different flavor.

After dinner, tea and fruit were served, accompanied by two Kabuki presented by Yang Shiyi, singing songs, although Quark didn't know anything about it, but there was a woman who was excited, and a strong smirk applauded. That night, he actually licked his face and asked Sweeping Leaves, can you get a woman to sleep with? made the group very disdainful.

Li Luo was tired from the journey, and got up late the next day, and didn't get up until near noon. After lunch, I told the steward who came to serve that I wanted to go around the county seat and Dongmen City, and by the way, I would see the local attractions. I wonder if the ground is quiet here? How many people should I take out?

The steward smiled: "The ground is very quiet, and the old man just has to play." Saying that he was busy calling: "Prepare the car"

Li Luoyou had worked as a mule cart in Beijing, and he was almost shocked to the point that his internal organs were almost turned over, and when he heard that he was going to be carried, his brows were already wrinkled, so he hurried over and whispered a few words to the steward.

"Out of the way," said the steward, "this is an Australian carriage, not a saddle carriage from the north, and it is more comfortable to sit on than a palanquin that is not leaning on all sides." ”

Naturally, the car came to Hongqi Carriage, but the model was improved: the number of leaf springs was increased, ball bearings were installed on the axles, and the interior of the carriage was also improved. As for the appearance of the car, it is decorated by skilled craftsmen who transferred Zizhen Zhai from Guangdong, and it is generous and luxurious.

Because of the limited number of horses, only two of these cars were built, which were not produced on weekdays and were only used for protocol purposes.

"It's very similar to the horse-drawn carriage in Europe." Li Luoyou sat in the car, and under his buttocks was a spring cushion that he wanted to refuse and welcome—the springs rolled up by the factory were not good enough for the manufacturing industry, and the sofa could barely be used.

"It's much lighter and more comfortable than the English carriages." Quark looked at the interior of the carriage, "It's like a sedan chair we've been in." "The weather in Lingao is relatively hot, so this carriage has abandoned the velvet and satin interiors used in the first Hongqi and replaced it with cool and smooth bamboo rattan and yarn.

The windows are inlaid with glass and covered with green screen frames, and there are thin bamboo curtains for shading. In addition to the two rows of chairs sitting opposite each other, there are also low benches on the side. This is specially designed for the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty. The carriage is fast, and it is impossible for the little maid to follow on foot like a sedan chair, if it is the same car, how can the average old man and official be willing to let his subordinates sit side by side with him, so two low stools are specially designed.

Sweeping Ye was sitting on this low stool, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Master, this car is really strange"

The so-called strange is the dark cabinet on the wall of the car, and when I opened it, I saw that there were two rattan shell bottles inside -- they recognized it in the room yesterday, this was a hot water bottle, and the boiling water was still hot when it was poured out overnight.

With this thing, take it wherever you go, and have hot water anytime and anywhere, Sweeping Leaf feels that this kind of Australian product is much more practical than things like mirrors.

One bottle was filled with boiling water, while the other was filled with crushed ice. In addition to the hot water and cold ice, there are still a few glass bottles of kvass, sealed with cork, and a few red bottles of drink, I don't know what it is. Quark was in a hurry, so he simply opened a bottle and drank it.

"What does it taste like?" Li Luoyou teased him.

"It's sweet and sour, and there's a strange aroma." Quark smacked his mouth, "It's delicious." ”

After pouring a bottle of kombucha, Quark was in the mood for wine again, but there was no rum in the cupboard. Let this Englishman shout "stingy".

The carriage left the county seat and went straight onto the main road. The weather will be fine, it will be lukewarm, the wind and rain will be good, the farmers are going to the fields, working, merchant, or on foot or cart to carry the burden, and there are many pedestrians on the road. This two-horse carriage passed proudly through the middle of the street, and in the sound of wheels and whips, there were constantly people pointing and pointing. Li Luo turned a blind eye and just sat steadily. He secretly regretted in his heart, it was too ostentatious to go out like this

The car shop stopped after a while, and the steward got down from the driver's position and announced: It has arrived at Dongmen City.

"Please tell me, do you get off the car here and enter, or drive the car directly to the city?"

"Get off right here."

When I got out of the car, I saw a gray embankment running across the river, and the river water sloping down from the top of the dam, and the white water vapor was swirling, and the scene was quite magnificent. A short distance away, on the banks of the river is a large area of red houses, surrounded by tall earthen ramparts and towers.

In the center of the pile stood a tall iron tower that he had never seen before, and on the other side of the river was another red house, which stretched like jagged teeth, and red brick chimneys of all sizes stood tall and low, spewing black, yellow, and white smoke into the air. Li Luoyou almost forgot about his god when he saw it. This kind of sight has never appeared in even the most eerie dreams.

There was a faint rhythmic roar and hammering in the wind. A pungent smell wafted through the air, vaguely smelling of sulfur. Li Luoyou shuddered, the sun was shining under the blue sky, but he felt a smell of hell.

Quark involuntarily drew a cross.

"Gentlemen, please go here."

The bustle of Dongmen City soon attracted them. Of course, the prosperity here is not as good as that of Guangzhou and Foshan. But the neatness of the houses and the smoothness of the roads have never been seen before. The weather in the market is more than 100 times better than that of Guangzhou and Foshan. The road surface is clean, not to mention garbage, not even a peel can be found, and there is no stagnant water on the street. The street trees on both sides are not large, but they already provide some shade.

What is puzzling is the high poles along the street, with a wire mesh glass cover on them.

"What is this?" Li Luoyou asked.

"It's a street lamp." The steward's answer.

Li Luoyou also guessed that it was a street lamp. But this kind of courage is probably only found in the palace when he was listening to the eunuchs in Jingshi, and there are stone lanterns on both sides of the Yongxiang in the palace, which are lit every night.

It's too much of a luxury to have street lamps lit in such a town. Even if the night market is thriving, the merchants will light up their own lights, so why bother. Li Luoyou disagreed.

Walking through the streets, there are many pedestrians, rich and poor, each running busy, including local aborigines, foreign traders, and Australians wearing blue, gray, and earthy yellow cardigans with short monk-like hair. At a cursory glance, there are really a lot of Australians. Just the accents that came out of the mouth could be heard, and most of them were from Liangguang and Fujian. This is about what is called a "wig".

There is no way to verify the number of real hairs. But there are many wigs. After a little attention, I found that although the wig was almost worn, the details could still show the specific practice.

Those who wore brimmed hats, belts around their waists, and short swords were soldiers; Those who wear rattan helmets and open sleeves are about the craftsmen of the workshop; Those who wear straw hats and pull up their trouser legs are not to mention farmers who go to the fields. Zuihou and others are neatly dressed, meticulously dressed, and most of them are carrying a bag, Li Luoyou couldn't see what the way it was, so he asked the steward.

"This is an Australian book." The steward said, "Exclusively for the Australians." ”

"It's just the scribes in the yamen." Li Luoyou nodded.

"Yes and no." The steward said, "It's complicated inside, there are 369 and so on in this bookstore alone, and they are called 'cadres' internally." There are many tricks in it, and we outsiders can't understand it. But you see, sir, if you are a 'cadre', your jacket has four pockets. If it is a general bookstore, there are only the following two. ”

Looking at the past, sure enough. Li Luoyou nodded, and suddenly saw a woman wearing similar clothes again.

"What? Do Australians still have a female scrivener? ”

"Exactly." The steward told him as if it were news, "Australians have no defense between men and women, women have the same official management, and some factories and workshops even recruit female workers to work." It is not surprising that there are several female scriveners. ”

There are no beggars and gangsters in the bustling market. I can't even see a single character in the rivers and lakes such as running horses and selling solutions. Li Luoyou looked at it and secretly wondered: Didn't you come here to clean up and rectify it for him? I don't think I have such a big face.

At present, I only strolled around the market, and I saw that there were many shops here, and all kinds of goods were complete. Li Luoyou casually went into a few shops to take a look, and there was nothing unexpected, and all kinds of Australian goods sold here could also be bought in Guangzhou. But he was impressed by the houses here.

Almost all houses have more than two floors, and third floors are common. One by one, densely packed, and the style is different from that of the Central Plains. Quark shook his head when he saw it, saying that it was slightly similar to a European house, but it was by no means the same.

It's hard to say whether a house looks good or not, but it's obviously a land-saving house. Li Luoyou has always been puzzled, there is a lot of wasteland in Lingao, why should he be so economical?

In front of me is a large store with a five-bay façade, and people are very lively. Walking past, I saw a few female guys wearing blue cloth dresses at the door of the store from time to time greeting customers in various dialects, one Cantonese vernacular, one Hakka, one Leizhou, and one Hokkien...... Li Luo frowned secretly, do you still use a female partner in this business? It's like a hue solicitation.

But when I walked in, I found that the so-called hue solicitation was nonsense. These female fellows are all big-shouldered and round-waisted, and none of them are graceful, and they have wooden name tags on their chests. On the back of the clothes, there are three big words: "cooperative".

"This guest officer, this is your first time in the local area, right? All kinds of fresh and easy-to-sell goods, dismantling the whole package can be done, and our store also packs and consigns on behalf of customers, and the quantity is preferred."

A female guy saw that Li Luoyou was stopping to watch, and hurriedly came over to promote it enthusiastically. Li Luoyou didn't shirk it, and simply went into the store to have a look.

The store is very large, with an atrium in the middle that reaches to the roof, and the second and third floors are all horse buildings. Standing in the middle of the room, the lofty momentum made people speechless.

The most surprising thing is the roof, which is used with a bright tile skylight.

Of course, the skylight is not uncommon, and some homes use translucent mica, cow horn or thinned large mussel shells to make bright tiles on the roof for lighting. But it's only a small piece.

Here it is a glass tile, and it is a very large side - the whole atrium is covered with a frame made of iron bars, and the whole piece of glass is inlaid on it. Sunlight shines through the tiles, illuminating the three-story building in a very bright light, which is very different from the swarthy feeling of ordinary shops.

"What a big stroke" Li Luo couldn't help but praise.

There is a large plaque hanging on the three-story horse building, with a black bottom and gold sign, and three big characters "cooperative" on it. On both sides of the large plaque, there is a wooden pillar, inscribed: "high quality and low price", "refuse to bargain".

Li Luoyou asked the manager: What does this cooperative mean?

"I don't know if it's small." The steward said that it was probably a name brought from Australia.

There was a circular counter in the atrium, and there were five or six women in blue dresses in it, and these people were different from the guys who greeted outside, they were all twenty-four or five-year-old women with beautiful faces. Everyone has a small box-like thing in front of them. When a customer comes over, the female guy presses something on it from time to time, and then a crisp "clank" sound is heard, and a drawer pops out of the box. Li Luoyou was fascinated, but he didn't understand what he was doing.

"It's collecting money." The steward said, "The money will come into this drawer." ”

Li Luoyou didn't know what the meaning of doing this was, and when he asked the person in charge, the person in charge didn't know. However, Australians seem to love it, but whenever they collect money, they use this box that pops out of the drawer.

Outside the counter, there are female guys standing all over the atrium, and when they see a customer who is standing and not knowing how to be haode, they go up to greet them and guide them in the direction of shopping and looking at the goods.

"Really, really," Gu Baocheng was young, where had he ever seen such a formation, his face turned red, "It's not a serious place." ”

"It's also a kind of business." Li Luoyou didn't see it that way, "There is no real money to make money, what's the use of just using a few women?" ”

"The person in charge of this shop is a female Australian, so all the guys in the store are women." The steward interjected playfully.

"Oh? This is a strange woman. ”

"Who said no," said the steward when the news generally said, "this old lady is very good at doing business, one is better than the other, you look at this shop, from building a house, choosing a man to setting up a shop...... It's all from her. ”

"I'd like to see you if I have a chance." Li Luoyou said.

There is no counter in the store, only a treasure rack inlaid with glass, on which all kinds of goods are displayed, which can be seen but not touched. Next to each piece of goods is marked a piece of hard cardboard, on which the price is written, Li Luoyou looked at it, there are three prices, retail, whole piece and whole batch. Zuihou also has a "large amount" that says "negotiable".

There are a variety of goods in a dazzling array of goods. If you look closely, most of them are daily necessities and local products. is the same as Li Luoyou's guess: the so-called Australian goods are actually Lingao goods. Cooperatives are mainly wholesale,

The customer chooses the goods in front of these treasure shelves, and the female guy issues a ticket on the spot, and the customer takes the ticket to the counter in the middle to pay, change a small ticket, and go back, I don't know what tricks it is?

"The rule here is this," explained the steward, "that the front looks at the sample and pays for the bill, and then the back picks up the goods." ”

Quark asked: "There is only a sample of the goods, and the color of the goods taken does not match the sample, what should I do?" ”

"It's impossible. The goods here are the most authentic. The steward said: "One of the biggest advantages of Australian goods is that the color of the goods is exactly the same, and the goods are what the goods look like." Even a little difference can be made in the millimeter. ”

He then asked another question: "What is the 'yuan' in this price?" I saw that money does not seem to be collected with silver and copper. ”

"It's a negotiable ticket."

After listening to the steward say what a negotiable coupon is, and seeing the actual sample of the negotiable coupon, Li Luoyou fell into deep thought. What he saw and heard today shocked him a lot, but nothing compared to such a thing as a negotiable ticket.

Li Luoyou is not an economist and does not understand what monetary economics is. But with his businessman's mind, he will not fail to understand the difficulty of promoting paper money and the great benefits it brings once it is successfully promoted.

The whole Ming Dynasty did not attach much importance to coinage, and the people suffered from the lack of coins and the inconvenience of circulation. Therefore, the private minting of small money and bad money are rampant, and the government cannot help it. Tokens similar to negotiable coupons are also used in places, but they are not used on such a scale, and from the mouth of the steward, it is known from the mouth of the steward that the Australians have a strict system for the use and exchange of negotiable coupons, and there is also a special grain bank to manage them, which is by no means an ordinary expedient solution to the shortage of coins.

Australians have gone to great lengths to promote circulation vouchers here, which is as simple as the Tunju trade. Li Luoyou's heart had another layer of doubt.

The second floor of the cooperative is still a variety of glass display shelves, but the third floor is a small room, all with closed doors. Occasionally, people come and go. The steward said that if there is a big deal, the man will invite someone into this small room, serve cigarettes and tea, and naturally someone will talk to you slowly.

“…… Our shopkeeper has also done business here. ”

"Master Yang is also buying here?"

"No, it's selling."

It turns out that the co-op not only sells and wholesales all kinds of Australian goods, but also buys them locally. Some of the "Umesu Balls", "Secret Tangerine Peel", "Lotus Leaf Tea", "Dry Herb Tea", and "Stewed Meat Spices" that are mass-produced by Runsedo are also sold here.

In the past, there were many such things that were not considered medicines and were sold in Chinese medicine stores, and they did not occupy a large part of the business. Pharmacies don't try to make money from this, mainly to win over local customers. Therefore, the price is not high, and 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 a great market in the vast rural market, so they are manufactured in large quantities and packaged and sold in a unified manner. The profit earned on this is limited, but it works wonders when it comes to playing cards.