Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1554, Going to the vegetable market
"Family, country, world~"

Sitting on the four-wheeled carriage, Emperor Hongzhi was still thinking about what Li Mao, the owner of Lijian Cement Factory, had just said.

Emperor Hongzhi also read newspapers every day, but as the supreme ruler of Ming Dynasty, what he saw and thought about was naturally different from that of ordinary people.

"If only everyone understood that."

Emperor Hongzhi sighed in his heart, and then looked at Liu Jin beside him.

What a great fortune to get Liu Jin!
As Emperor Hongzhi opened the curtain again, he looked out at the bustling and lively streets.

It's been a few days since I have visited Weibo privately. Seeing the bustling streets and busy pedestrians is also very refreshing.

"This bicycle is very popular now~"

Emperor Hongzhi also laughed when he saw a group of young people whizzing by on bicycles.

The prince Zhu Houzhao liked to ride a bicycle very much, and even rode a bicycle in the palace, which made Emperor Hongzhi say that he didn't look like a prince at all.

"Yes, Your Majesty, bicycles are very popular now, and they are rapidly becoming popular, especially young people like to ride this bicycle."

Li Dongyang on the side replied with a smile.

"It seems that I have to learn this bicycle, otherwise it will be a bit old-fashioned."

Emperor Hongzhi smiled even more happily, thinking of Zhu Houzhao's old-fashioned things about him, and wondering whether he should learn it too.

"Your Majesty, there are still many advantages to riding a bicycle."

"Cycling can exercise the body, exercise more, exercise, there are still many benefits to the body. Many ministers in our court now like to ride bicycles to the morning court."

Liu Jin also said with a smile when he heard it.

It is not easy to live in the capital. Not every minister has a huge property like Liu Jin, and his family is well-off. Some officials of lower rank, in order to save money, cannot raise a four-wheeled carriage, so they simply buy a bicycle to commute , not only convenient and affordable, but also able to exercise.

"That's right, I'll learn from it later."

When Emperor Hongzhi heard it, he immediately smiled and renewed.

The four-wheeled carriage that everyone was riding in walked, and soon they came to a vegetable market. The vegetable market has always been a very lively place. There are many people buying vegetables, and the flow of people is very large.

"Food market?"

"Where is this vegetable market?"

Emperor Hongzhi asked curiously when he saw the sign of the vegetable market and the large crowd of people at the door.

"Your Majesty, this vegetable market is a place dedicated to buying and selling the necessities of life, such as buying vegetables, meat, rice, etc."

"It's similar to Caishikou in the inner city, except that in the new town of the southern district, a unified planning and construction has been carried out, a vegetable market has been built, and a shed has been built, so that it doesn't need to be blown by wind and rain."

Liu Jin quickly replied.

"Caishikou~"

"Go, go, go in and have a look~"

Emperor Hongzhi immediately understood, and immediately asked people to stop, ready to go in and have a look.

"Your Majesty, this vegetable market is a dirty place, why don't we go there?"

Liu Jian looked at the vegetable market, and he could already smell all kinds of smells outside. After thinking about it, he also suggested to Emperor Hongzhi.

"What are you afraid of? The more this is the case, the more you have to go in and have a look."

"This vegetable market is related to the daily life of the common people. Only by knowing more about it can we know how the common people live. It is difficult to really understand the life of the common people by always staying in the palace and approving memorials."

Emperor Hongzhi didn't take it seriously, and took the lead to leave the four-wheeled carriage, and then looked at the vegetable market in front of him with great interest.

The vegetable market in front of me is built according to the vegetable market of later generations. There are a large number of stalls and various shops. There are many shops on both sides of the entrance.

There are grain and oil shops, morning tea shops, steamed stuffed bun shops, noodle shops, etc., and so on. Liu Jin even saw a boiled water shop, which is a new type of shop that only sells boiled water.

The business in each store is very hot, coming in and out, very busy, the boss and the guys are very busy.

Emperor Hongzhi first came to the grain and oil store. Food is the most important thing for the people. This is what he cares most about. Whether the common people can eat enough and whether the food is expensive are very important things.

When I came to the grain and oil store, the boss was very busy and had no time to entertain. Emperor Hongzhi looked at it by himself. All kinds of rice and flour were neatly arranged, and at the same time, the prices and prices were written in Arabic numerals. origin.

"Nanyang rice, 5 cents a catty~"

"Suzhou rice, 6 Wen a catty~"

"Liaodong white noodles, 4 cents a catty~"

"Henan white noodles, 4 cents a catty~"

"Rouge rice, 12 cents a catty~"

"Sweet potatoes, 1 penny a catty~"

"Corn, 2 cents a catty~"

"..."

The prices of various grains were written clearly, and Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly while reading it, grabbing it at random and taking a closer look.

They are all high-quality grains. The rice is all milled with a new type of steam rice mill, which is smooth and complete. As for the flour, it is also high-quality flour milled by a flour mill.

He remembered that during the famine, the food in the food store was not only expensive, but also of very poor quality, with sand seeping into the rice and flour clumping together.

Look at the food in front of me again. The price is cheap and the quality is good. The key is that the aunts and girls who buy food in the store are still picking and choosing.

"Boss, your rice is not good. It's not white enough. Old Li's rice is better-looking than yours. It's also white, and every grain is complete."

"Oh, my aunt, this rice is not as white as possible. The rice from Lao Li's family is imported from the Tianjin Rice Milling Factory. This Tianjin Rice Milling Factory uses the latest rice milling machine to polish the rice. Now, it looks whiter and more attractive."

"However, the layer of coating on the rice was also thrown away. Many people told me that the rice from his family does not have the same fragrance as before."

When the boss in the shop heard this, he quickly explained.

"It's all rice, and it's not enough to have two flavors."

"Cheaper, cheaper, I'll buy a hundred catties."

"There's really no way to make it cheap, it's all a small business, and you can't make any money."

"Who will believe you? You are the richest and most profitable food."

"Oh, that's the old calendar. In the past, grain was very expensive, and you couldn't produce much grain in a year. Of course, grain is expensive, but now, there are too many places in my Ming Dynasty that produce grain, and the transportation is convenient. This grain is sold. It's all small business."

"Right now, those who have money are the ones who open factories, do sea trade, and go overseas. Those of us who trade in grains just make a living."

"It seems to be the same. It's cheaper, cheaper, and you can buy one hundred catties at a time."

"You have come here to buy rice often, and you are a regular customer. How about this, I will give you a few catties of sweet potatoes and two corn cobs, it should be okay."

"That's about the same. I'll give you the money. Remember to send it over for me."

"Okay, I'll arrange for someone to bring it over later. It's Unit 302, Building [-], Scholarly Garden, right?"

"Yes, yes, boss, you have a really good memory."

"Haha, there is no way, this small business depends on being familiar with everyone, and relying on acquaintances to take care of them."

The owner of the grain and oil store chatted with the customers, while Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jin and others listened quietly from the sidelines.

A lot of information was also revealed from their conversation.

Many of the current rice and flour have already started to be processed by steaming rice milling machines and milling machines. There are special flour mills and rice milling factories for this business, which is a great progress.

Because not only the yield of rice in the past was low, but the key point is that it takes a lot of manpower and time to turn the rice into rice. Pounding rice is a very difficult thing, otherwise no one would be fined to plow the rice.

Judging from the grains sold in grain and oil stores, the types and origins are very wide. There are many kinds of rice alone, from different places, such as Nanyang, Suzhou, Huguang, glutinous rice, fragrant rice, pearl rice and so on.

Although there are differences in prices, they are all relatively cheap, with a few pennies per catty. For ordinary people today, there is no pressure at all.

More importantly, the high-yield sweet potatoes and corn introduced from Huangjinzhou are very cheap because of their large yields. Sweet potatoes cost 1 cent a catty, and corn costs 2 cents a catty. This price can be said to be very cheap. The point is that it seems that the sweet potatoes and corn have now been reduced to the point where they have become gifts.

Just from here, we can know that Daming's food is very rich now.

Emperor Hongzhi also knew that last year, the whole country of Ming Dynasty had a bumper harvest of grain again, only in Liaodong, because the tax holiday had passed, and the people farming in Liaodong began to pay grain tax.

In Liaodong alone, the grain tax collected last year was very large, far exceeding the grain tax received by the entire Ming Dynasty in previous years, so that the imperial court had to build several large granaries in Liaodong to store these grains.

Everyone can afford rice and flour. Sweet potatoes and corn have become coarse grains. As supplementary grains, a large part is now used to feed livestock.

"Well, the people of my Ming Dynasty can finally have enough to eat."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded happily. In the past, he was always worried that the people would not have enough food and clothing. Now that he saw that Daming had enough food, he was naturally very happy.

Just when Emperor Hongzhi was going to visit other stores, the delivery boy from the grain and oil store had already returned, riding a bicycle. As soon as he returned to the grain and oil store, the boss immediately said: "Take this one hundred catties of rice and Send a few catties of sweet potatoes and corn to Unit 302, Building [-], Shuxiang Yayuan~”

"Okay~"

When the shop waiter heard this, he skillfully picked up a hundred catties of rice and put it in the special delivery box behind the bicycle, and then flew to deliver the goods.

"This bike is really practical enough."

Seeing this scene, Emperor Hongzhi also laughed. As for Zhang Mao, he looked at the triangle logo on the bicycle and said regretfully, "Why didn't you invest in the Mercedes-Benz bicycle factory at the beginning~"

(End of this chapter)