Winter days are boring and boring, but there are exceptions. After a few snowfalls, the temperature dropped to more than 10 degrees below zero, and everywhere there was water, a thick layer of ice was frozen, and a group of people with all kinds of tools were clanging on the ice.

Ice harvesting is a very old profession. It is said that there were relevant records in the Zhou Dynasty, and they were included in the state system and carried out in an organized manner. At that time, the ice pickers had a special name called "Ling Ren", which was passed down from generation to generation, and Ling's surname came from this!

The time of ice mining is generally in mid to late December every year, that is, around the Laba Festival, when the temperature is the lowest, and the ice is the thickest, strongest and most transparent.

Start by finding a piece of ice and draw a grid on it, the size of which is determined by the thickness of the ice. The thicker ice grid is smaller, and vice versa. This is to facilitate transportation, and the ice cubes are too large to be carried by manpower alone.

After drawing the grid, first use a long-handled metal chisel to carve out a trench or two deep in the grid line, then dig holes in the intersection points to penetrate the water, and then use a large shovel-like tool to chop a few times along the grid line, and the neat ice blocks are separated from the ice surface, hooked by iron hooks, and dragged along the pre-built wooden planks to the river bank.

The ice cubes are transported to the ice cellar and stored for use the following summer. An ice cellar is similar to a basement, the deeper and more sealed it is, the better. First, use wooden boards and dry grass mats to act as a thermal insulation layer on the ground, and then cover the ice cubes with quilts or dead grass to seal the door, which can keep the ice cubes for more than a year.

This year, there are also traces of ice miners on the Liangshui River in the self-management area, standing on the ice and waving their tools vigorously against the cold wind, sending crystal clear ice blocks to the river bank, and watering them while putting them on the wagon. This is to freeze quickly and prevent slipping when transporting.

The horse-drawn carriage drove into the building to the west of the trade center, where there was a car park four floors deep underground, which had been separated by bricks and stones, and there were many small single rooms lined with thick bedding and straw to form a ready-made ice cellar.

"I said shopkeeper, can you sell so much seafood in winter?" Along with the vehicles carrying the ice cubes in the market, there is also a convoy from the east, and you don't have to look at it to smell it to know what is being loaded, it's so fishy!

After checking the shipping documents, the leading handlebar asked curiously while receiving the cigarette from the cargo owner. They are vehicles that specialize in transporting seafood and know the seafood market very well. Autumn is the fattest and best-selling seafood, followed by spring and summer, and winter is the best season.

Due to the low temperature and poor transportation conditions, many seafood that could have been alive will quickly freeze to death, affecting sales. At this time, the vendors in the market are all buying in small quantities, and anyway, it is not far from Jinmen Port, and there is a supply of goods at any time.

But today's batch of goods is a bit of the opposite, not only a lot but also much more than the usual number of purchases, except for the alliance base and the New Year, private vendors will not enter so many seafood at one time.

"It's not much at all, as long as the price is right, I plan to buy another batch before the Spring Festival. Come on, unload, unload, don't get in the way, you'll be punished! "The seafood vendor didn't explain why he had to buy so many goods at once, he just urged to unload the goods.

Not to mention a trade secret, even if the secret is small, it is a secret, and if you can keep it secret for a day, you can eat more meat. Winter is the season, the market is not good, the price is much lower, if you can properly store it until next spring when the seafood is expensive and scarce, you can definitely make a difference.

In fact, everyone who is engaged in seafood trading understands this truth, but it is useless to understand it, and no one can store seafood on a large scale. But with the official establishment of the ice cellar in the self-management area, the idea can become a reality.

For a small storage fee, any merchant can store goods such as seafood, meat, eggs, milk, vegetables, etc., which need to be stored at low temperatures, in the ice cellar. If you are willing to spend a little more, you can also rent a separate Xiaoice cellar to store your own goods.

This is also one of the services provided by the market management office for merchants, just a few merchants can not afford the construction cost of an ice cellar, but it is much easier for the market management office to raise manpower, choose the venue, and arrange management personnel.

Although it is not free, it is still a great thing for merchants who need it. It is reasonable to spend money on renting, and that little money is nothing in the cost of goods, and when the time comes, it will all be earned back for a few cents per catty.

In addition to the ice cellar, there are several other services such as escort and delivery services. In the past, when a large number of or high-value goods came in and out, it was up to the merchants to find a way to ensure safety, which was not only costly but also insecure.

Well, now the Crossroads Market offers escort services. Pay a commission according to the price of the goods, and the market management office will provide a loaded joint defense team member to escort the car, and you want to make a few of them. However, the current scope of escort operations is limited to the eastern and southern security zones, which require a permit to enter.

Delivery service is a supplement to the escort service, if someone wants to buy a certain goods, but is too lazy to run, and the number is not too high, then just call the special channel of the crossroads market management office, explain clearly the type of goods, price and address, there will be a special person to deliver to the door, the charge is relatively cheap.

Although these facilities and services are just a small fight, they do not seem to have much profit margin, but they really provide visible convenience for merchants operating in the crossroads market, and can also attract more customers to come, increasing sales in disguise.

At the same time, it has also provided many jobs for displaced people in self-management areas, so that more people can rely on their labor in exchange for payment. For example, ice pickers, ice cellar staff, escorts and delivery people.

When more displaced people have income, there will naturally be a need to spend money, which will lead to the prosperity of the local market and economic growth. In turn, a booming market and a growing economy will create more jobs. And then ...... This is a virtuous circle, one ring after another, which grows over a relatively long period of time.

In fact, this is not a very clever trick, and it is the most basic common sense in economics. But knowing and doing are two different things, and there are more opportunities for the same kind in the other safe zones, but there has been no virtuous cycle for so many years.

Could it be that the top level of the East Asian Alliance does not understand the economy and did not think of this method? The answer is obviously negative, economics is Hong Tao's weakness, he has not studied systematically at all, and even a bottle less than half a bottle is not counted, at most it is a half-understanding.

However, there are many relevant professionals in the upper echelons of the alliance, and they don't know how many times more clever they are at the level of pure knowledge. It's not that they didn't think of this solution, but they can't do it!

Why, because of power, or profit. Having government agencies provide services and find ways to make the lives of displaced people better is not in line with the concept of traditional culture.

Since ancient times, officials have been ruling and managing, and they have no concept of service at all, and they are not used to putting down their bodies to put themselves in the shoes of the people at the bottom. In the same way, the bottom does not have the idea of letting the officials serve themselves, the officials and the officials are all masters, so they are naturally high, how can they be grandsons.

In addition, the short-term effect of this type of service is very limited, in other words, it does not make quick money and does not get immediate results. In this way, both capital and officials have lost the motivation to think and do with their hearts.

The displaced people did not have the right to vote, and their good or bad life had nothing to do with the appointment and promotion of Union officials. The ancients said well, don't try to benefit anyone who gets up early! Businessmen are more profitable, in fact, officials are more profitable, and they will not do anything that is not beneficial to themselves, unless they can't do it.

However, in the self-management zone, displaced people have the right to vote, and most of the positions of the management committee are voted for by them. If they want to be re-elected, if they want to get power, if they want to not be spurned by others, the officials here must dig out their minds and rack their brains to think about a problem: how to get the displaced people to vote for themselves!

There seems to be only one answer, to make the lives of the displaced people change for the better as much as possible, and we must not rush for quick success, but must think about the long-term, otherwise even if we step down, we will be held accountable and discredited.

See, this is the motivation, and at the same time the benefit. It is an indisputable fact that everyone understands that it is good to be an official, because if you can get power, no matter how honest you are, you will benefit from it.

Since the establishment of the state, mankind has been groping for how to make officials use their power rationally through innovation and failure, and after thousands of years of summing up, there is only one way so far. As much as possible, power should be turned into public ownership, and at the same time, property should be made private, and as long as these two things do not meet, everything will develop for the better.

Whether it is the best way or not, obviously not, but at this stage, Hong Tao can only do this. He can neither innovate nor break through, but can only find some inspiration from the long river of history. As for how to develop in the future, to be honest, he doesn't know it himself, so he will take the first step first, and then talk about it, and explore as he goes.