Chapter 140 Development
Xiao Qingchi was rewarded for his contribution in controlling locusts. However, he decided to stay in Xizhou for a year to eradicate the locusts and prevent them from coming back next year.
Because winter is a good time to kill locusts, by taking advantage of the idle winter season and leading the people to turn over the locusts in the farmland and freeze and dry them in the sun, the occurrence of locust plagues in the following year can be greatly reduced.
When Song Yuzhu saw the memorial he handed back, he was greatly impressed and appointed him as the Tongzhi of Xizhou with a stroke of his pen. He was told to let him know if he had any requests for locust control!
The next morning, Song Yuzhu specially took out the memorial and read it in front of all the civil and military officials. The country needs such talents, and even more so, good officials who are down-to-earth and serve the people!
After hearing this, everyone had only one thought in their mind: this kid had won the emperor's favor and was going to be promoted.
*
In the blink of an eye, the weather turned cooler and Binzhou's port was about to be completed.
Binzhou was just an ordinary civilian port before, but later it became a naval base due to the construction of the Hope. However, the port has not been repaired much, and has been using the old port left over from the previous dynasty, which looks a bit simple.
A good dock can drive the economic development of a region. Take the port of Antuntepe as an example. In the 11th century, it was just a small fishing port.
Later, after several generations of investment and construction, it gradually became one of the main ports in Europe. Because of its convenient docking facilities, it attracted many merchant ships and gradually developed to its current size.
Binzhou Port is more than 30 meters deep and can accommodate large ships with very deep waterlines. Song Yuzhu decided to build a large trading port here.
The port is mainly composed of docks, breakwaters, levees and revetments.
Since the Hope set sail, the Ministry of Industry has begun to build this place. Now the basic facilities have been completed and can be put into use.
The entire pier is made of reinforced concrete structure and looks very spectacular.
A number of warehouses were also built around the port because there was a lot of rubber on the Hope, which needed to be processed before it could be used. Instead of transporting it to other areas, it was more convenient to store it directly here.
These warehouses will not be wasted in the future. They can be leased to ship merchants from all over the country to store goods, and the money earned can be used for the subsequent maintenance of the port.
*
In November, the Hope had reached the waters of Fuzhou, and mountains could be seen not far away across the sea.
There was a soldier from Fuzhou on the boat. He pointed excitedly at the mountain path in the distance and said, "That's Taimu Mountain! When I was a kid, I went there with my father to pick wild vegetables!"
Although the others had never been there, they were also infected by him at this moment and ran to the side of the boat to look at the hills in the distance.
The further north you go, the colder it gets.
On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Hope stopped at Dongzhou.
Because many of the soldiers on the ship were from Dongzhou, Zhao Xiao directly asked them to disembark and go home for the New Year, and then return to Shangjing after the New Year.
This was a pleasant surprise, and the soldiers hugged each other excitedly and cried with joy.
Zhao Xiao did not let them leave the ship empty-handed. He gave each of them fifty gold coins as a reward for their trip to the sea.
Fifty gold coins are equivalent to about fifty taels of gold, which is equivalent to more than five hundred taels of silver!
Many people could never earn that much money in their lifetime, but Charles admired his generosity.
Money can sometimes win people's hearts and appease their hearts. General Zhao is indeed a person worth following.
Before getting off the boat, Zhao Xiao warned in a stern voice: "You have come such a long way with me, I cannot let you go back empty-handed."
"But let's be clear in advance. I'm not giving you money to squander. If you're unmarried, use the money to marry a wife, and if you're married, use the money to support your wife and children. If I find out that anyone dares to use this money to gamble, I'll chop you to pieces!"
"Yes!" everyone answered in unison.
They knew that General Zhao was a man of his words, and they would let him know that he would not be let off easily.
The soldiers from Dongzhou got off the ship, and the Hope suddenly lost more than half of its people and became a little deserted.
However, Charles was full of enthusiasm. When he saw the bustling scene of people coming and going in Dongzhou Port, he knew that Daqi was far more prosperous than he had imagined, and he finally felt relieved.
On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Hope was less than 70 nautical miles away from the Binzhou coast and would arrive at the port tomorrow morning!
The soldiers were not sleepy that night, and they all spontaneously walked out of the cabin and sat on the deck to chat. The weather was cold, so Zhao Xiao ordered someone to light a stove on the deck, and he sat with them.
Everyone was discussing what New Year's goods to buy when they go back home, because the New Year is just in four days, and having earned so much money they must improve their family's life.
"I'm going to go back and buy ten chickens, two sheep, and a pig, and then kill them and eat the meat during the New Year!" The speaker was a fat soldier.
Zhao Xiao knocked him on the head and said, "Still eating, you won't be able to walk when you come back next year!"
"Hahahahahaha." Everyone burst into laughter.
Another soldier with a long face said, "My mother always says that our family is poor and she has never worn new clothes in her life. This time when I go back, I will buy her five pieces of cloth so that she can make a few more new clothes to wear!"
"Good boy." Zhao Xiao patted him on the shoulder and praised him for being filial.
Ge Zhongshun bravely asked, "General, what do you want to do most when you return?"
What does he want to do most? Zhao Xiao's face turned red. He wants to be the emperor most... But he dare not say this carelessly.
He coughed lightly and said, "I want to go back and eat the osmanthus chicken at Xiangyunlou and drink the Shaodaozi at Xingfang. My mouth is almost dry."
"Hahahahaha, I want to try it too."
"I heard that Guangyuanlou's pork elbow with rock sugar is also delicious."
"And the grilled lamb chops from Zhuangyuanlou!"
Everyone was swallowing their saliva and talking at once, it was very lively. Zhao Xiao looked at them with a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
Gradually, the sky began to turn pale and a red sun slowly rose from the east.
Everyone washed their faces, tied up their hair, put on clean winter clothes and armor, and lined up neatly on the boat.
"Raise the flag!" First mate Yao Qing shouted.
The sailors hung a brand new Daqi flag on the railing.
One thousand meters, five hundred meters, one hundred meters.
When the Hope docked, everyone was shocked by the spacious and magnificent new dock!
Duke Charles was particularly excited. He was incoherent and kept asking Song Yutang, "What is that? Is that Daqi? Oh my God! Is the ground paved with a whole piece of stone? It's simply a miracle!"
Before coming to Daqi, he thought that Antontepu Port was the best port in Europe, but compared with Daqi, it was so simple that it was not worth mentioning.
The magnificence of this place was so great that he couldn't describe it with any known language. He could only keep shouting "On my God!"
Song Yutang said proudly: "This is where the Hope departed."
Song Yuzhu had been waiting on the shore for a long time. In order to welcome them back, he brought all the officials to Binzhou the day before yesterday.
Despite the cold weather, no one complained at all, because the civil and military officials were equally curious about what the Hope brought back from the distant West.
As the ladder descended, Zhao Xiao was the first to get off the ship, followed by Ge Zhongshun and Chen Jing, followed by the ship's doctor, sailors, and logistics workers. Song Yutang and Charles and his daughter walked at the end.
Zhao Xiao held his breath, walked to Song Yuzhu, clasped his hands in front of his forehead, knelt down and said: "I have fulfilled my mission and returned with grain seeds, vegetable seeds, sheep and white pigs."
Song Yuzhu pulled him up, ignoring the eyes around him, and hugged him tightly, calling his name softly: "Axiao."
Zhao Xiao's body stiffened for a moment. He looked at the ministers around him vigilantly. When he saw that no one looked at them strangely, he breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, his throbbing heart finally settled down, and he held Song Yuzhu's back and deepened the hug. Smelling the familiar herbal scent, Zhao Xiao's eyes became hot, and he wished he could rub him into his body.
4
He had fantasized about this scene for hundreds of days and nights, and today it finally came true.
After a while, Xu Bing stepped forward and said, "General Zhao, thank you for your hard work!"
Zhao Xiao let go of Song Yuzhu, turned around and hugged him. He knew that Xu Bing was helping them out.
Other officials did not dare to approach and greet the man without permission. They were friends who had fought for the throne together and they did not have the nerve to do so.
The soldiers on the ship also disembarked. They did not come down empty-handed, but drove herds of pigs and sheep down with them.
Zhang Qikai pointed at the sheep and said in surprise: "Why do these sheep look like that? Their hair is curly."
Ji Mingli also said: "This pig is also very strange, it actually has white fur."
It was not surprising that they only brought back a few cattle and sheep from such a long distance, but what happened next was even more shocking: the soldiers carried heavy leather boxes off the ship.
Because the gold coins were so heavy, one of the boxes couldn't bear it and fell apart, and the bright orange gold coins inside fell out like running water.
The officials of the Ministry of Revenue were stunned when they saw all this gold? Remember when the Hope left, the ship had silk and porcelain on board, but they sold them for so much money?!
Liu Lin couldn't help but stepped forward and asked, "General Zhao, is this box filled with gold coins?!"
Zhao Xiao nodded: "All from the sale of silk and porcelain, a total of more than 500,000 taels."
"This... is so valuable?" Liu Lin was stunned by the number.
After fifty boxes of gold coins were carried out, everyone had no objection to the Hope's journey. This was simply a profitable business!
Liu Lin was almost grinning when he saw so much money going into the Ministry of Household Affairs. However, Song Yuzhu did not plan to go directly into the Ministry of Household Affairs, he had other plans in mind.
The currency used in Daqi is still mainly copper coins and broken silver. Although banks in various places also use silver bills, the face value is too large to be circulated among the people except between merchants.
With this gold, Song Yuzhu planned to issue paper money. Paper money has many advantages, the best of which is that it is easy to carry. As a medium of exchange, it reduces the cost of exchange and improves the efficiency of exchange.
Think about it, ordinary people need to spend 150 coins to buy a piece of cloth. Using copper coins requires counting one by one, which is not only a waste of time but also prone to mistakes. Using paper money is clear at a glance.
This matter will be put on the agenda after the New Year. There are still many rubber balls in the cabin. Song Yuzhu directly ordered the local officials to unload the rubber balls and store them in the warehouse.
All the other soldiers on the ship were given leave to go home and prepare for the New Year!
After settling down, the group prepared to return to Shangjing.
Charles quietly asked Song Yutang: "Is that the king of your country?"
"Yes, that is our emperor."
"He's really young."
Song Yutang said proudly: "Of course he is young, he is only 22 years old."
It is 170 miles from Binzhou Port to Shangjing, which takes two days by horse carriage, but they don't need to take a carriage because Binzhou has opened a special train line to Shangjing.
The group arrived at Binzhou Railway Station. With a whistle, the long train stopped in front of them.
This time, not only Charles was shocked, but even Zhao Xiao was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.
"This...is this a train?!"
Song Yuzhu smiled and nodded.
When Zhao Xiao left, the train was still in the experimental stage. Unexpectedly, two years later, the train has been put into use!
Looking at the huge monster in front of him, Zhao Xiao's blood boiled. It seemed that Daqi's development in the past two years was beyond his imagination!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
