Chapter 157: Ten Years of Changzhi
Just when everyone was at a loss, Chen Lun and his apprentice Jiang Yidao started cheating again.
The two used the principle of steam movement to create the first woodblock printing press.
However, this type of printing machine also has many shortcomings, the most serious problem is that the front and back sides cannot be printed evenly.
The printing on both sides of a book is not aligned or the handwriting is crooked. How can banknotes be issued and used if they are not printed well?
The people in the research department spent another month and finally developed a double-sided printing machine by the end of the year. Not only can it print both sides at the same time, but the printed patterns are neat and not blurred. Then it is cut into fixed sizes, and the banknote is ready!
The first batch of banknote samples were delivered to the palace, and Song Yuzhu distributed them to the ministers during the morning court session.
Each person has five pieces, ranging from one cent to one hundred cents, and all of them are exquisite, like works of art.
The ministers marveled at the paper money. They originally thought that paper money was like the Jiaozi of the past, just a piece of straw paper with a seal on it.
Who would have thought that it was such a beautiful coin? Everyone was curious about how the pattern was printed on it, but they all knew that it was a state secret, so no matter how curious they were, no one dared to ask.
*
Winter comes and summer goes, autumn harvests and winter stores, and in the blink of an eye, it is autumn again.
On a quiet path, an old man was driving a bullock cart loaded with more than ten sacks of grain. These grains were all newly harvested corns, which were ready to be transported to the town to sell for a good price.
There were two little girls sitting on the ox cart, the oldest was no more than seven or eight years old, and the youngest was three or four years old. They were the old man's granddaughters, and they followed their grandfather into the city to sell grain today.
"Grandpa, how long will it take us to get to town?" The one who spoke was the eldest granddaughter. She was wearing a cherry red dress and two hair buns on her head. She was dressed neatly and looked very rare.
"It will be here in one hour."
The little granddaughter asked in a baby voice: "Grandpa, how long is one hour?"
"I can't explain it clearly. When you see the sun is almost overhead, we've arrived." The old man wore a straw hat on his head and held a cow whip in his hand. He leaned on a sack with a smile on his face.
The two little girls lay on the sacks and looked at the sky. After a while, they could not open their eyes and began to snore.
The old man was afraid of bumping the child, so he slowed down the car and hummed an unknown song.
This year is a good year with good weather and good harvests. The harvest of the family's fields is good, especially the newly planted corn, which has been harvested for more than ten carts. I heard from the villagers that there are merchants in the town who buy grain, and they can sell one bushel for 18 coins. This cart can be sold for almost 2,000 coins!
The old cow staggered and finally arrived at the town at noon.
Today is the eighth day of the first lunar month, and there happens to be a market in the town. The streets are bustling with people coming and going, and all kinds of hawking sounds can be heard, waking up the two little sisters in the car.
The eldest granddaughter rubbed her eyes and said, "Grandpa, I'm hungry."
The old man took out a ten-cent note from his pocket and handed it to her, saying, "Go and buy some food, little girl. Don't wander around. I'll sell the corn on the cart and come back to pick you up."
"Hey!" Dani took the money and took her younger sister off the ox cart, then went into the market and started shopping.
The old man drove the ox cart towards the grain station in the town. Many people came to sell grain today, and people from the same village were also waiting in line.
Seeing the old man, he said hello: "Uncle Gao, are you here to sell grain too?"
"Hey, this year's corn harvest is good. We can't finish it all. I'll sell it and buy some clothes for the children."
"Yes, the harvest of corn is much better than that of millet, and we don't have to bother to take care of it. My father said that we should plant two more acres next year."
Old Man Gao nodded in agreement: "I also plan to plant two more acres next year."
"It's a pity that the cornmeal is not tasty, otherwise I would have kept it for myself." The cornmeal ground by the old-fashioned stone mill is very rough and a little bit irritating to the throat. It tastes much worse than white flour.
Old man Gao said with a smile, "You are still young, and you have caught up with a good year. Let's not talk about the distant past. Even ten years ago, people in our village couldn't eat white rice or white flour. Rich families ate yellow rice, and poor families ate bean cakes. In the spring, children would fight over picking some elm seeds to sweeten their mouths. Who would pick elm seeds to eat now?"
The man laughed heartily: "Hahaha, uncle, you are right, we are in a good year!"
The two of them chatted and laughed until they reached the front of the line. The man had more than ten bags of corn on his cart. Old Man Gao stepped forward to help him unload the cart. The grain collectors were responsible for pumping the grain, and there were yamen runners nearby who were specifically responsible for watching over it to prevent the merchants from shortchanging them.
There are a total of seventeen stones at the pump, which is one hundred and seventy dou, totaling three thousand and sixty coins.
The merchant handed him the written note, stamped it with a red seal, and took it inside to exchange for money.
It was Gao Laohan's turn next, and the man helped him unload the cart. The two sat beside each other waiting to be weighed. Gao Laohan had less corn on his cart, but it was still 15 dan, and at 18 wen a dou, he earned 2,700 wen.
The two of them took the slips and went into the house to get money. It was convenient to get money now, and they used 100-wen notes. The accountant at the counter counted the money for the two of them and handed it to them. After counting, the two of them put it in their arms and left.
"Uncle, are you going back?"
"I still have to go catch two piglets, and then pick up Big Ni and Two Ni to go together."
"Then I'll go first."
Old man Gao nodded and went to look for his granddaughters while whipping them. Da Ni and Xiao Ni sat obediently in the pancake shop waiting for their grandfather. They would wait here every time they went into the city.
The two of them bought a bowl of wontons and two sesame cakes with the ten cents given by their grandfather. The rest of the money was kept by Dani to buy notebooks and pencils for school.
"Nier!" The voice of Old Man Gao came from outside the door.
Two girls ran out: "Master, shall we go home?"
"If I don't go home, your grandma asked me to catch two piglets to raise."
"Oh, we're going to raise piglets too!" Dani carried her sister onto the ox cart and climbed up herself. The cart was much more spacious without the corn, so the two sisters sat sideways on the cart and asked with a smile.
"Yes, after school, you have to take Xiao Ni to pick grass for pigs."
"Okay! I will definitely raise the piglets to be plump and white!"
The grandfather and his two grandchildren came to a nearby livestock market, where there were many people selling calves and foals. Walking further, they saw a man selling piglets. There were more than a dozen chubby piglets in a wooden box.
The black and white piglets look cute. This is a new breed that has emerged in the past two years. I heard that they are bred from pigs brought back from the West.
Not only do they grow fast and have a lot of meat, but they can also give birth to more than ten piglets in a litter, making them much easier to raise than the black pigs of the past.
Old Man Gao walked over, grabbed a piglet and looked at it: "How much is this piglet?"
"Two hundred and eighty." The sister-in-law who sells pigs said while cracking melon seeds.
"Can it be cheaper?"
"If you catch more, I'll give you a discount of ten cents."
Old Man Gao still felt it was a bit expensive. Two piglets cost more than five hundred coins, almost the price of half a mature pig.
He put the piglets down and strolled forward with his granddaughter for a while. He asked several pig sellers, and the prices were not cheap. In the end, he spent 510 coins to buy two piglets.
The two sisters returned to the ox cart with the piglets in their arms, grinning from ear to ear. At their age, it was time for them to play, and the piglets were so cute that they immediately became their playmates.
On the way back, he passed by a cloth shop and bought two more pieces of cloth to take back. One piece was brightly colored and could be used to make skirts for the maids, and the other was navy blue and could be used to sew a few pairs of pants for his grandchildren.
The ox cart returned to the village just before sunset. As the sky grew darker, smoke rose from every household.
At the gate of Gao's house, Old Mrs. Gao had been waiting for a long time with a kerosene lamp in her hand.
"Grandma! Grandma!" Dani and Xiaoni saw the old lady from a distance.
The old lady came forward and asked: "Why did you come back just now?"
Old man Gao got out of the car and held the reins and said, "It took a little longer to buy the piglets."
"You bought it? How much?"
"Two pigs cost more than five hundred coins!"
Old Mrs. Gao was shocked: "It's not cheap. Come in quickly, or the food will get cold."
Old Man Gao unloaded the cow and took it to the cowshed to feed it hay. Old Mrs. Gao locked the newly bought piglets in the woodshed. They would have to build a pigsty for them tomorrow.
For dinner, there were steamed buns stuffed with leeks and eggs. Old man Liu washed his hands, sat on the kang table and poured himself a glass of sorghum wine.
After eating, Da Ni and Xiao Ni ran to their parents' room to sleep.
Old man Gao had not finished his drink yet. He ate some peanuts and said, "I bought corn for a total of 2,700 wen, and sold the pigs for 510 wen." Then he took out the remaining money from his waistband and handed it to the old woman.
Old Lady Gao spat and counted the money, finding not a penny missing. She opened the box and pulled out a handkerchief from the bottom, which contained a stack of brand new 100-wen bills.
"We will save this money to buy seeds and fertilizers for next year. The third son is not young anymore, so we will rebuild the house in the backyard for him to get married." The couple has three sons. The eldest and second sons are married. The third son is 18 years old this year and has already been engaged. He is just waiting to get married next year.
"Okay." Old man Gao picked up the wine glass and took a sip of wine. The spicy wine went down his throat and burned his lungs.
"Next year I plan to reclaim another two acres of wasteland to plant corn." In recent years, the imperial court has encouraged the people to reclaim wasteland. Only half of the tax is collected on the newly reclaimed land in the first three years, and normal tax will be collected after three years.
In the past, no one was willing to open up wasteland because wheat and rice could not be grown on wasteland, only beans could be grown. However, beans were worthless and land tax had to be paid. Naturally, no one would open up wasteland because it was a thankless task.
It is different now. Corn is not picky about the land, the harvest is good and the price is fair. It will not be a loss to pay taxes in the future if you reclaim a few more acres of wasteland.
"Okay, I'll do as you say. Hurry up and drink those two mouthfuls of cat urine, clean up the table and go to bed."
Old man Gao drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.
Old Mrs. Gao cleared the dishes on the table and turned off the kerosene lamp. A crescent moon was reflected on the window, and she felt more and more hopeful as time went by.
This was the daily conversation of an ordinary family on October 8, the tenth year of Changzhi.
Living and working in peace and contentment is no longer a dream, but the daily life of the people.
In recent years, Daqi has entered a period of rapid development. First, paper money was officially issued. People rejected it at the beginning, but gradually adapted to it. Now it has almost completely replaced copper coins.
The second is the popularity of corn and the increase in population.
When the population census was conducted in the early years of Changzhi, Daqi had a population of more than 41 million. At the end of last year, the population census showed that it had reached 87 million, more than double the number!
Especially after the abolition of the Ding tax, people no longer had the burden of having children, which greatly accelerated the population growth rate.
The most direct manifestation of population growth is a larger market and more business opportunities. The abundant labor resources also bring relatively higher economic benefits.
Factories have blossomed all over the country, from the earliest steel mills, coal mines, textile mills to today's clothing processing, chemical raw materials, printing and dyeing, furniture and wood products, food processing, etc. While increasing employment for the people, it also made Daqi's economy soar.
The commercial tax in the ninth year of Changzhi was 310 million taels of silver, more than ten times that of the beginning of the year!
Another point from a statistical point of view is that the increase in population also brings with it an increase in outstanding talent.
There are more than 40 universities in the country today. Some of the graduates from these universities stay in the local area to work, while others continue to study in Beijing.
The imperial examination is no longer the only way to select talents. Starting from February last year, the six ministries have publicly recruited members from universities across the country for the first time.
This recruitment is open to all, regardless of place of origin, gender, and age as long as you are under 30 years old!
This was undoubtedly a warning to everyone that the emperor was going to employ female officials!
(End of this chapter)
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