"Scheeren Xiao, we have already entered the territory of Hanzhong County. We will rest in this post house for the night and set off tomorrow.”
"We will reach Xianyang City in three days at most.”
The escort officer wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Thank you."
"It just so happens that I also want to visit Hanzhong County.”
Xiao He put down the book in his hand and said.
The journey from Pei County was already thousands of miles long. As Xiao He's experience increased, he became even more curious about Fu Su.
What kind of person was this crown prince, who was rumored to be an immortal who had descended to the mortal world?
Hanzhong County, which was Fu Su's experimental site, became Xiao He's main target to understand Fu Su.
After settling his family in the hostel, Xiao He started to tour around the county town under the guidance of the hostel.
It was currently dusk. When they arrived at the city gate, they saw a group of commoners dressed in civilian clothes. There were hundreds of them, and all of them had happy expressions on their faces.
"Why are these commoners so happy?”
Xiao He couldn't help but ask in surprise.
The autumn harvest hasn't arrived yet, right?
"Scheeren Xiao, you might not know this, but these commoners are all workers of the newly opened coal workshop in the suburbs of Southern Zheng.”
"Coal?"
A trace of doubt flashed across Xiao He's face.
"It's called the Burying Stone. Some places are also called Black Cores.”
"This thing was also recorded in the original book, but no one knew its use. They thought it was no different from ordinary stones.”
"Fortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince discovered that this material could be used as fuel, which was much better than charcoal. Therefore, he specially sent people to search for it in Xianyang and Hanzhong Prefecture and established several coal workshops.”
"These commoners are all hired to work in the coal workshop.”
"As long as you work, you'll have a guaranteed income of two yuan a day. With the commission, those who are strong can easily get three to five yuan a day.”
"This is much more than what they earned from plowing the land. The people are very grateful to the Crown Prince.”
The inn quickly explained.
Xiao He was shocked again.
One had to know that in this method, a bucket of corn was only three coins.
Three coins a day was enough to easily feed a family.
No wonder the commoners were so enthusiastic.
However, Xiao He soon discovered a new problem.
"With so many workers, even if each person can only extract dozens of catties a day, it would still be several thousand catties. Aren't you worried that it will cause a stockpile?”
Xiao He asked curiously.
"Several thousand jin?"
"Scheeren Xiao, you underestimate this coal workshop.”
"This workshop has a radius of more than ten miles. There are thousands of people mining at the same time. The daily output is at least hundreds of thousands of catties.”
" Even so, the moment the coal is mined, it will be snatched up by the merchants outside and then transported to the surrounding counties for distribution. The supply is completely in short supply.”
"It is said that His Highness the Crown Prince has already arranged for the craftsmen to design a new type of machinery that can increase the production of a coal workshop by more than ten times.”
Xiao He calculated in his heart and suddenly became even more puzzled.
According to Great Qin's laws, only those with a population of 10,000 or more could have a county magistrate. Those with less than 10,000 households were called county magistrates. In other words, many counties did not even have 10,000 households.
And this coal workshop alone had thousands of people working at the same time. It was almost all the young and strong labor force in some small counties.
In addition to the merchants and transportation personnel who participated in the transaction process, Xiao He could not help but blurt out,
"With so many people working or doing business, who will farm?”
"Great Qin has always valued agriculture and restrained commerce. Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?”
"Scheeren Xiao, you'll know once you continue listening.”
"Actually, when His Highness the Crown Prince first brought this up, the entire court was as worried as you."”
"However, after it was implemented, they realized that most of the people actually chose to stay and farm.”
"Under the guidance of the farm disciples recruited by the crown prince, the farmers who stayed behind learned more advanced farming methods. In addition, the cattle and horses that the crown prince seized from the Xiongnu were distributed to the villages for intensive farming. Not only did the yield not decrease, but it also increased.”
"At this time, many families with a large population have a surplus of labor force without having to do corvee.”
"At this time, many young men tried to join the workshop and found that the income of working was much higher than farming. Now in the counties of Hanzhong, young men who work are very popular with the older girls.”
" As for the prefectural and county governments, they were surprised to find that ever since the workshop was opened, not only did the agricultural tax, which was the mainstream, not decrease, but it also increased. The commercial tax, which was originally ignored, soared many times in a short period of time. Now, it has reached more than 30% of the agricultural tax, and it is still rising.”
"According to this trend, it won't be long before the commercial tax exceeds the agricultural tax and becomes the main component of the tax.”
"Under such circumstances, even the most stubborn person has to admit that emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is indeed somewhat outdated.”
"Agriculture and commerce should develop together and complement each other.”
"Your Highness, you have already started to set up more workshops in the various counties. One of them is to allow the people of Xianyang and Hanzhong County to go to the countryside to collect common wild grapes and other fruits in their spare time. They can buy them in large quantities for one or two catties of money and then brew them into fruit wine in the wine shops and sell them to all parts of Great Qin.”
The inn said with a smile.
"Now, in the entire Hanzhong, every household, who doesn't remember the kindness of His Highness the Crown Prince?”
"It is His Highness the Crown Prince who has freed the commoners from their days of poverty. As long as they work hard, they can realize their dreams of having ample food and clothing, and even have a surplus.”
"Every three to five days, the whole family will gather together and buy some meat for a meal. This was almost unimaginable in the past.”
Xiao He took a deep breath.
After unifying the six states, the First Emperor had gathered all the wealthy merchants around Xianyang, making it the wealthiest area in the world.
However, the lives of ordinary people were still very difficult.
It couldn't even compare to Chu, Kuaiji, Pei County, and other places.
But now, under Fu Su's change, hundreds of people in Xianyang and Hanzhong County had experienced a change that no one had ever experienced before in a short period of time.
What kind of ability was this?
Xiao He, who was originally proud of his own abilities, was now full of admiration for Fu Su.
This was a benevolent lord who truly cared about the people of the world.
This was a wise ruler worthy of his death!
Xiao He wished he could fly to the Crown Prince's residence immediately and ask Fu Su for advice.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。