"The population of Qingdao County has grown rapidly in recent years, especially in urban areas, which has increased by 300% in 20 years, mainly due to the growth of industrial and commercial population, and its population density is also far higher than that of most areas on the east coast - including rural and urban areas, perhaps only the capital Dongfang County can match it, but it is also a step worse, especially after many economic and financial government departments moved to Qingdao Port." On the street of the Expo, where every inch of land is valuable, Liang Qiangdong, the CEO of Qiangdong Trading Co., Ltd., is writing hard to prepare handouts for the students of Bingtuanbao who will be going to give lectures next week.

“…… According to the definition of the relevant departments, small towns with a permanent population of less than 3,500 people are small towns, and small cities with a permanent population of between 3,500 and 10,000 people can become large cities if they have a population of more than 10,000. In this way, there are still quite a few large cities on the East Coast, but I would say that this was the standard many years ago, and at the moment of rapid population growth, it is indeed a bit inappropriate to divide it into such a division, and it should be considered that only cities with a population of more than 30,000 people and more than 70% of the people engaged in industry and commerce can become a metropolis. In this way, Qingdao, Dongfang, Ping'an and other eastern regions in the country developed earlier, and not many cities are qualified to fight for the title of big cities. ”

**********

And when Liang Qiangdong was writing handouts, in a small two-story house at the end of October Avenue in Dongfang County, the capital of the east bank, Tristan Henry brought his desk to a pavilion in the courtyard, and while enjoying the cool breeze that could not blow in the house, he wrote and painted: "...... The United Provinces have issued a number of royal decrees on trades, establishing the principle of freedom of occupation, i.e. every adult may engage in business activities in all trades, including handicrafts, commerce, agriculture, etc., after purchasing a State business license or permit. Of course, the implementation of the principle of professional freedom does not mean that restrictions on all professions are completely relaxed, and doctors, pharmacists, building owners, shipbuilders, etc. need licenses; Actors, taverns and innkeepers require permits from the security department, and some trade associations are closed off from outsiders. But even so, it was an extraordinarily progressive law that laid the foundation for the success of the United Provinces, and Amsterdam became a large city with a population of 150,000 to 200,000 people, almost all of whom were engaged in various business activities, such as industry, commerce, fishing, etc., which were fundamentally different from the so-called 300,000 people in Naples, where most of the population was engaged in agriculture. ”

"The Eastern Republic also has professional freedom, and further, it has had a positive impact on the development of non-agricultural industries such as industry and commerce, and navigation. In the various professional guilds on the East Coast, the entry and withdrawal were entirely personal preference, and the guilds gradually changed from a binding cooperative organization to a general private association, and of course the government also had considerable influence over these guilds. The guild is no longer a closed semi-monopoly organization like Paris and London, but has become a service-oriented salon organization, such as discussing the development of the industry together, helping each other economically, centralized procurement to reduce costs, etc., and there is far more than one guild in the same industry and the same region, and there is no danger of monopoly. There is no doubt that the direct benefit of this is the increase in the number of artisans and enterprises, in addition to the decline in the number of artisans in some sectors of production that are in excess of demand, which is entirely the result of professional freedom. From this point of view, the Old Continent, whether it is the advanced United Provinces or the backward regions of France, England and Germany, is far inferior to the people of the East Coast, and the development of urban commerce cannot be talked about without a continuous injection of vitality. ”

**********

“…… An important indicator of the start of urbanization is the expansion of the level of urban and rural economic development. Once upon a time, because of the relationship of 30 acres of land per adult man and woman, the agricultural population has always lived more comfortably than the urban workers, and the income level was also a line higher, especially in the first ten years of the founding of the country. However, with the gradual rise of overseas trade, this situation was soon reversed! ”

“…… First of all, because of the existence of facilities such as exchanges, bond markets, banks, telegraph companies, gas companies, and street car companies, the advantages of cities in markets, information, and transportation have become more and more obvious, and they have gradually become the preferred places for craftsmen and merchants, so the distribution of artisans in cities and villages is becoming more and more different. According to statistics, in 1675, the average ratio of urban craftsmen to rural craftsmen in the country has reached 34:1, and urban craftsmen are mainly in the hardware industry (processing and production of gold, silver, copper, iron, tin) and textile workers, and the same is true in the countryside. ”

“…… In the last two decades, although the scale and scope of rural trade have expanded, it should only be seen as an important part of the extension of certain industries in the cities, i.e., the prevalence of goods produced in the cities. The difference between urban and rural production capacity can be seen from a set of data: urban artisan masters (only craftsmen) in the eastern prairie counties employ an average of 121 helpers per 100 people, and less than 30 in the countryside, and the higher the ratio of helpers to skilled craftsmen, the higher the level of industrial development and trade development. ”

Liang Qiangdong smoked while writing, and he was also full of emotion in his heart, and at the same time, he was also very proud of the fact that the group of people of his father's generation had "pulled" the country in just 50 years, and had completed the course that other countries might take hundreds of years to go through, which is the pride and style of the founders!

Compared with them, he and many of his friends can only be regarded as a generation that enjoys their success in the shadow of their father, although they have also made hard efforts, but the effect is not as good as before. But it doesn't matter, now that the country has embarked on its own track, if there are no major changes in the future, it will continue to follow this path, leaving other countries far behind, and becoming a beacon guiding the progress of human civilization until this road fails. And he and his family are also reaping enough benefits from the rise and peak of this wave of the Great East Coast, laying the foundation of the ruling class, and becoming one of the most influential old families in this country and even in the world, which he Liang is deeply confident in.

**********

“…… In terms of the number of handicraft workshops, the cities on the east coast also have an overwhelming advantage compared to the countryside, and the gap between the number of master craftsmen and apprentices is even greater, because the larger the city, the more workshops there are, and the more freelancers in them. But what kind of situation is this in France? In terms of hardware manufacturing, the number of workshops in rural areas is several times that of cities, and even those that can effectively demonstrate the advantages of cities in the machinery manufacturing, slaughtering industry, weaving industry and footwear industry, the number of workshops in rural areas is half or even double that of cities. ”

It's a frustrating comparison, but it makes sense when you think about it. Because of the continuous wars and the heavy burdens they entailed, the number of visits to the cities by tax collectors increased greatly, so many craftsmen and apprentices fled to the countryside to take refuge, and returned to their old professions, producing all kinds of goods. But there is no doubt that this production was helpless and inefficient, and they could not find enough markets in the countryside, nor did they lack advanced equipment, and the road transportation and other facilities increased the cost of transportation, so that the Kingdom of France was still in the Middle Ages compared to the people of the East Coast. ”

At this point, Tristan Henry, the new ambassador of the Kingdom of France to the East Bank, also put down his pen and thought for a while, and then re-dipped himself in ink, and continued: "Here, noble pen, your faithful servant earnestly requests you, first of all, to issue an edict allowing all subjects to practise freely in any profession, to break the monopoly of the professional guilds, which have been reduced to backward, old-fashioned, and closed blood-sucking organizations, and to increase the number of enterprises, the number of craftsmen, and the abundance of goods. In this way, Your Majesty will be able to collect more taxes, and your subjects will be able to enjoy more wealth, which is good for everyone. England's industrial technology was ahead of ours, but they were plagued by a guild system, which forced many new businesses to set up in the countryside to avoid the constraints of urban guilds. Manchester is the biggest example of this, as the new town, now a faint centre of the UK's cotton, linen and silk textiles, was once a completely barren rural village, and would not have prospered if it had not been for the conservative professional guilds that did not allow unintroduced investors to set up similar businesses. It is particularly important that the French can no longer repeat the detours of the English, and must learn from the advanced ideas and relaxed management systems of the pagans on the East Coast, and at the same time establish a system of regular introduction of science and management techniques from the East Coast. Believe me, Great Majesty, for this will have an incomparable positive effect on the development of commerce and industry in the Kingdom of France, and will also provide more taxes for your invincible army to set in motion, crush all the forces of resistance, and spread your fame throughout the continent, and eclipse every crown before you. ”

Having written so much in one breath, Tristan Henry was also a little tired, and saw him leaning comfortably on the back of his chair, enjoying the slightly floral air, and his mind was still thinking about the future of France. Now, only the upper echelons of every country in the Old World talk about the rise of the East Coast, except for people who are not blind or seriously prejudiced, and the difference is only to a profound extent.

In Paris, the proud French also had to admit that their country was already far behind the East Coasters in terms of industrial and military technology, and even the English were too far ahead of them. Therefore, a few years ago, at the suggestion of his favorite minister Colbert, King Louis XIV of France issued the famous "Edict of Dunkirk" in the northeastern town of Dunkirk, that is, to encourage the country's top craftsmen and scholars to contribute their wisdom and wisdom to overcome the difficulties in the production and application of high-performance (because the inefficient steam engine is no longer an obstacle) steam engine, so as to apply it to all aspects of industry, agriculture and military - because of the content of this edict, the "Edict of Dunkirk" is also called " The Steam Engine Edict.

Unfortunately, Louis XIV had also planned to spend a huge amount of 5 million livres from the treasury as a supporting fund to reward those individuals or companies who made breakthroughs in the process. It's just that because of the protracted war and the financial difficulties of France, the people had to raise taxes, so it was naturally impossible to talk about this fund, and yes, the research enthusiasm of the people was frustrated to a certain extent. But in any case, the promotion effect of the "Dunkirk Edict" is still obvious, because at least the number of steam engines used in France has increased greatly, and at the same time, there are some incidental tax reduction policies in this decree, such as tax reduction policies for related supporting industries, so the impact on mechanical processing and other industries has a positive effect, and should not be underestimated.

**********

“…… The rapid development of industrialization and the refinement of the division of labor within the manufacturing industry, and the strengthening of the ability to cooperate between enterprises, have caused changes in the organizational form of enterprises, and the factory system of modern large-scale production has more and more gained the upper hand. The reform of economic organization has increased the degree of specialization of individuals and enterprises, accelerated the evolution of the division of labor within enterprises, between enterprises, and between industries within the manufacturing industry, and increased the number of intermediate products, which is called the economic model of roundabout production. Due to the inseparability of industrial production, as well as the transportation costs and fixed transaction costs between products, the production of the manufacturing industry is required to be concentrated in a certain range, and the transaction costs are reduced through infrastructure construction to achieve the economic effect of agglomeration. The agglomeration of production space often produces industrial cities, such as several typical cities brought by our country's textile, mining, metallurgy, and machinery manufacturing industries: Dongfang, Ping'an, Tieling, Meilin, and so on. ”

"In addition, due to the fragmentation within the manufacturing industry, the number of transactions and transaction costs of products have increased, and middlemen who specialize in product trading have emerged. Their existence can effectively improve the professional level of individuals and enterprises, bring about a specialized economy, and produce a market center. As the scale of intermediaries grows larger, there is also a differentiation within them, which can improve the degree of specialization and form a service economy. As a result of this agglomeration of trades, commercial cities often take shape, such as Qingdao, a major commercial port, and other commercial cities that are a little more specialized. ”

Writing this, Liang Qiangdong also stretched his waist deeply, it was too much effort to teach the future backbone of the country in the Corps Fort, and it was too consuming for his own energy. However, this is not without benefits to yourself, if others want to ask for it or not, it is better not to talk nonsense, and continue to write handouts reluctantly!