Strange things happen every year, but this year there are especially many. The scene of the Great Qi Dynasty this winter is different from previous years.
In previous years, after the autumn crops were harvested, farmers basically had nothing to do.
As soon as the weather gets cold, the whole family stays at home to hibernate, reducing activities as much as possible to avoid energy consumption.
At this time, people generally only eat two meals a day to save food.
For farmers of this era, every winter was undoubtedly a war.
It’s okay if there is surplus food at home, but once there is no food left, then this home may no longer be a home.
For ordinary people, everyone has to tighten their belts in winter.
But this year is different, at least the people living along the Grand Canal have a different life this year.
Dazhuang got up in the morning and drank a bowl of porridge. He took the bag from his wife and said, "You and the children stay home. I'm going to find some work by the canal. Let's see if we can have a good year this year."
Men who used to stay at home during the winter now leave most of their food for their wives and children at home and go to the canal to find a living alone. This is the situation in most families nowadays.
In the past, performing corvee labor was what the common people worried about the most. It was compulsory, there was no pay, and some people even had to provide their own dry food.
It would be fine if the corvee labor could be completed quickly, but in many cases the corvee labor would affect the sowing of the following year.
Once a man in the family goes to perform labor service, life at home will become very difficult.
Therefore, when it came time to perform labor service every year, everyone tried their best to avoid going, and many people even fled into the mountains.
But the situation is different now. Building the Grand Canal is not forced labor, you can get paid!
I heard that on the construction site of the Grand Canal, there were not only warm houses to live in, but also three meals a day, and every meal was white rice and flour, not that kind of porridge that fools people.
Da Zhuang's brother-in-law worked at the construction site for a while two days ago. When he returned home, he not only brought money, but also a two-pound piece of bacon and a jar of good wine.
With such a good thing happening, he naturally wanted to help his brother-in-law.
What Lu Chen said was right. Nowadays, not everyone is welcome to work at the canal construction site. If you really want to get in, you have to have some connections. Some people do bribe the supervisors.
After all, the reason is that you can make money here, more money than growing crops.
This money was allocated directly by the Central Bank, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Censorate, and the Ministry of Industry were jointly responsible!
Everyone supervises each other and no one tries to take advantage of it, so the wages will be paid to the people in full.
As for why the treatment is so good, it is naturally because the work is all physical labor, and how can one meet the deadline if he is not well fed?
Although the government officials along the way had no way to interfere in the construction of the Grand Canal, they could still benefit from it after it was built.
Not to mention anything else, just the tax revenue along the way and the promotion of local economic development are enough to make them drool.
In addition, several people from powerful departments were hanging around in the area under their jurisdiction all day long. Even if nothing happened, it was still quite scary. So the local government also took out some money, hoping that the workers would eat better and quickly repair their section of the canal.
There are no fools among officials. They are all as smart as monkeys and are willing to take advantage of others.
Since there is no benefit in terms of money, then let's gain fame.
As expected, the people enjoyed the meal and could take money home, so their families had a prosperous year. The people then spontaneously gave umbrellas to some officials.
I heard that in the past two months, dozens of officials have received the Wanmin Umbrella from the people. This has almost become a trend, and has greatly reduced the value of Da Qi's Wanmin Umbrella.
But no matter what, the people along the canal did benefit from it. The construction of the canal did not lead to a scene of war and smoke everywhere, which is the most crucial thing.
Li Zhuo was so happy about this that he couldn't sleep for several days. Who could have thought, my family, that such a project that took all the country's efforts would go so smoothly? The most important thing is that he didn't seem to have spent a penny. Who can he complain to?
In fact, Li Zhuo sometimes wondered why Lu Chen’s central bank was so magical, and why it could support such a huge project just by printing some money?
So Li Zhuo brought Li Xiang over and told her his doubts.
"Father, I once asked this question, and my teacher answered me like this. To understand this question, we must first understand the meaning of wealth and money."
"What is wealth and what is money? Perhaps to ordinary people they are the same thing, but in reality they are not the same."
"Money is a concrete form of currency, a measure of wealth, and wealth is material itself. In other words, without the support of wealth, money is nothing more than a pair of scrap metal."
"Whether it's silver, gold, or even the paper money we print, if we can't spend it and it's left in our hands, it's just a pile of rubbish that we can't eat or drink."
“Only when the money is spent and turned into wool, coal, steel, or grain, can it be transformed into real wealth.”
"This is what the central bank is doing now. It uses waste paper to exchange for a lot of supplies from the Western Xia, Liao, and Jin dynasties. Through large-scale projects like the Grand Canal, these supplies are distributed to the people. This way, the people's wealth increases, and their lives become better."
"As for the waste paper in the hands of the Xixia people, when we say it has value, it has value. When we say its value decreases, then the things it can buy will become less."
Li Zhuo widened his eyes. Although what Li Xiang said was not comprehensive, the basic logic had been expressed and Li Zhuo understood it.
After pondering for a while, he could not help but clapped his hands and exclaimed, "The Imperial Master is truly a god!"
"This is why the teacher wants to buy wool from outside. He buys the wool here so that the people of Daqi can make it into sweaters, and then sell it to the people of Xixia. This way, the people of Daqi can make some money. I estimate that many families will really have a prosperous New Year this year."
"Hmm? People are making sweaters now?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, you may not know that ordinary people don't have much to do in winter. Now, my wives and daughters are all knitting sweaters by the stove. Even if the income is small, it is still an income, much more than before."
"Xixia should also know about this. Don't they have any objections? Don't their people know how to knit their own sweaters?"
"Of course they can. Knitting a sweater is actually very simple, but we have a monopoly on the production process of wool yarn. They can't make it! The teacher said this is called a technological monopoly, and monopoly can make money!"
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