Capital Datang

ww.x.om As soon as Li Ke and Li Yin's boat docked, they immediately disembarked impatiently. This was mainly because Li Yin was eager to see the achievements of Shanghai's construction this year.Originally, in their identities, they would definitely be greeted by local officials when they came to Shanghai, but Li Yin didn't want to be surrounded by a group of people. At that time, he couldn't take a closer look at the city of Shanghai, so he begged Li Ke to come back secretly. , No one notified, and Li Yin couldn't stand Li Yin's pleading, so he finally had to agree.

Both Li Ke and Li Yin were dressed in ordinary clothes, they looked like two ordinary rich men, with a few tall guards around them, and then walked into the crowd, but there were still many palaces around them Guard secret protection.

The port in Shanghai is full of boats, and the people on the pier are also busy. Li Min and Li Ke walked in the crowd, and it felt like they were going to a big market. If there were not a few strong guards around to help squeeze people, The two emperors and nobles had to be squeezed into adult movies.

The pier is also divided into areas. For example, some areas can only berth cargo ships, some areas can only berth passenger ships, and some can only berth private boats.In order not to reveal his identity this time, Li Yin rented a large passenger ship, but when he disembarked, there were also passengers disembarking from the ship, and there were also people boarding on the shore, so it was naturally crowded.

After finally getting out, the two of them were not in a hurry to enter the city, but wandered around on the pier, but compared to their leisurely manner, the people who passed by them all seemed in a hurry Among these people are businessmen, craftsmen, and many boatmen on board, which makes Li Yin a little strange. He often goes to the port of Dengzhou, but he has not noticed that the people on the port are so hurried, but In Shanghai, the word 'fast' has almost become Li Yin's first impression of Shanghai.Capital Datang 339

"Second brother, why are all the people here in such a hurry?" Li Yin looked at the crowd who were almost trotting around him, and asked very puzzled.

After hearing this, Li Ke smiled and said: "It's not because of the lack of docks. Now Shanghai has only repaired three docks, but there are a huge number of ships that come to Shanghai to berth and merchants gathered on land. In order to use these docks as effectively as possible The berths on the wharf, so the port has made some corresponding regulations. For example, taking ships as an example, there is a limit on the berthing time of the ships. If the ships want to berth beyond the stipulated time, some extra fees will be charged. In addition, there are similar regulations for goods on the port. Therefore, in order to save a little time, almost all of these people are in a hurry."

The two walked and talked, and they just came to the area where the cargo ship was berthed. There were relatively few people here, and most of them were rows of coolies loading and unloading goods. However, Li Yin found an interesting phenomenon among these coolies, for example, they were closer to him. Among the row of coolies, many are Jurchens with braided hair, and there are also dark-skinned Kunlun slaves, who are actually Nanyang natives.In addition to these two kinds of people, there are also some prairie barbarians.But no matter what kind of person.The faces of these bare-chested coolies are all branded as slaves. Needless to say, these people are all bought slaves.

Seeing Li Yin paying attention to these slave coolies, Li Ke said with a smile: "Liu Lang, loading and unloading goods is hard work, and the wages are not high. In the past, some people were willing to do it. But now more and more factories are opened, and the wages are getting higher and higher. , even driving a cart in a carriage shop is better than being a coolie. So now this kind of work is becoming more and more difficult to recruit. Finally, someone saw a business opportunity and spent money to buy a group of strong slaves. Contracting the loading and unloading work on the wharf, until now almost all the wharves in Shanghai are slaves doing coolies."

Li Yin also smiled slightly after hearing this. He is the biggest slave leader in the Tang Dynasty. At least half of the slaves in front of him were obtained directly or indirectly through his Qi Palace, but he has never cared much about these slaves. The whereabouts of the slaves who went out, I didn't expect someone to use it like this.However, this method is not bad, at least it can liberate a group of strong laborers, but if you want to promote it in Dengzhou, you may have to wait for a while. After all, Dengzhou is not Shanghai, where the population is densely populated, and there is no need for foreign slaves to come. Compete with the Han people for jobs.

Li Yin stood here and watched these slave coolies, and found that although these people were tired and sweating profusely, their faces were very rosy. It was obvious that they had not been abused in terms of diet, and besides there was a There is water in the big bucket, which can be used at any time, but each team of slaves has several supervisors, these people are not free, if any slave moves slowly, he will be whipped immediately.

In fact, it's normal to think about it. These slaves are bought to earn money for the master's family, and they do heavy work, so the master's family will definitely not be too harsh, but if these slaves dare to be lazy, then it's okay You can be polite.

After wandering around the pier for a long time, Li Yin even went to look at a pier under construction next to it, only to find that slaves accounted for more than half of the labor force. After Li Ke explained, Li Yin knew that it turned out that the labor force is now working. In the busy season of spring, many peasants went home to farm. In addition, with the construction of the Shanghai port, the transportation of silk became more convenient, so the price of silk rose, and the sericulture industry also flourished, so many peasants went home to plant mulberry. Sericulture was done, after all, in their view, that was the right job, so slaves accounted for more than half of the main force building Shanghai.

Among the remaining civilian husbands, there are still many workers recruited from Baekje and Silla. These people are not slaves and can receive a certain salary every month, but because they are not Han people, their wages are greatly reduced. These wages will also be converted into food and distributed to their families.

After walking around the pier a few times, Li Yin also felt a little tired. At this time, he happened to see a restaurant in front of him, so the two walked in excitedly, intending to sit there and rest for a while.

Li Yin and the others arrived in Shanghai in the morning, and they spent half a day wandering around the pier. It happened to be time for lunch, and there were a lot of people on the pier, so the restaurant was overcrowded. Fortunately, they were lucky. Yes, there was a guest in the private room on the second floor who just checked out, but was immediately booked by Li Ke's guards.

The name of this restaurant is Wanhelou. Li Yin went into the restaurant to have a look, and found that the area of ​​the restaurant was not small. There were dozens of tables in the lobby on the first floor, and they were all filled with people. Surrounded by the noise, it made people's heads ache.Fortunately, the guards had already booked a private room, and immediately led Li Yin and Li Ke upstairs.

The layout of this restaurant is no different from that of other restaurants. Usually, next to the stairs is the counter where the shopkeeper is. At first, Li Yin didn't care, and walked to the second floor, but Li Ke who was next to him suddenly gave a light snort, and Li Yin turned his head. When I took a look, I found a playful smile on the other party's face.

Following Li Ke's gaze, I happened to see the counter next to the stairs, and behind the counter were two young men and women who were busy. Judging from their appearance, they should be a couple. Among them, Li Ke was staring at the Look at the young woman.This made Li Yin a little strange. After carefully looking at this little woman, she found that she was only sixteen or seventeen years old. Such a woman should not attract Li Ke's attention.

At this time, Li Ke also found that Li Yin was looking at him with strange eyes, and immediately smiled and said: "Liu Lang, don't you think this little woman looks familiar?"

"Eh?" Li Yin was taken aback when he heard this, and looked carefully at the busy little woman behind the counter, only to suddenly realize that the other person looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. other side.

Maybe she noticed the eyes of Li Yin and Li Ke, the little woman who was busy suddenly raised her head and met Li Yin's eyes.Originally, the little woman was still a little angry, but when she saw the faces of Li Ke and Li Yin clearly, the little woman's eyes were confused for a while, and then her whole body was shocked. The account book fell to the ground all of a sudden, with a look of shock on his face, obviously recognizing the identities of Li Yin and the two.

At this time, Li Yin also suddenly remembered that he had indeed seen this little woman in front of him. When he brought Li Ke, Li Yun and Li Zhen to the deserted Shanghai for the first time, he was in a He sat in the country shop for a while, ate a pot of steamed wild vegetables by the way, and met the magistrate Xie from Huating County in the shop.The owner of this country shop is an old man, whose surname seems to be Sun, and he has a teenage granddaughter with him. If I remember correctly, the little woman in front of me is the granddaughter of the old man Sun, but I didn't expect this. In just one year, the girl from back then has already married a woman.

Seeing that the little "woman" behind the counter had recognized her identity, Li Yin couldn't help but nodded to her with a smile, then gave a few instructions to the guards around him, and then dragged Li Ke upstairs .Capital Datang 339

The guard who received Li Yin's order turned and went downstairs, then went to the counter and said to the little woman: "My lady, my master told me, if it's convenient for you, can you go upstairs, the master has some questions to ask." ?”

This little "woman" surnamed Sun has long been petrified. Although she had only met Li Yin's four brothers at the beginning, she was deeply impressed. The conversation with her grandfather made her remember Li Yin's appearance even more firmly, so when she met again today, she immediately recognized the identities of Li Yin and Li Ke.

"I... I'm free, please... please wait a moment, my lord!" After finally realizing it, the little woman replied hesitantly.Since His Royal Highness Qi Wang has the order, she, a little woman, naturally dare not refuse, and she also accepted Li Yin's love, otherwise she would not have a rich life today.

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