There is a home in the depths of the white clouds

Chapter 379 The New Look of Shanghai

This kind of prosperity is not only reflected in the living and working in peace and contentment of the local people, but also in the envious eyes of the foreigners and the continuous stream of caravans doing business.

Shanghai County is not as big as Beijing, but it is full of vigor.

There are so many of them walking on the road, it is inconspicuous, because some caravans have more people than them, and they are dragging large carts of goods.

It's true that people come and go from south to north, and there are people from all places.

Wang Zhi may also be holding back in the palace, and he let himself go when he went out.

There is a kind of Wunijing handmade cotton textile technique in Shanghai County, which is inherited from the textile technique brought back by Huang Daopo from Yazhou.

Huang Daopo is said to be an innovator of cotton textiles in the Yuan Dynasty.

Also known as Huang Po.

The year of birth and death is unknown.

According to legend, Huang Daopo was a child bride-in-law when she was a child. Because she could not bear the abuse of the feudal family, she bravely escaped from her home and came to Yazhou in Hainan Island.

Since then, she has lived in Hainan Island for more than 30 years.

During her stay in Yazhou, she humbly learned textiles from the Li people. Not only did she master all the advanced technology, but she also brought back the textile tools used by the Li people in Yazhou to her hometown. The level of textiles in the region has improved.

In Wunijing, where "the people were not given food", after Huang Daopo taught new tools and technologies, the cotton weaving industry has developed rapidly.

Songjiang, where Wunijing is located, also became the center of the cotton weaving industry at that time, winning the reputation of "clothes and quilts all over the world".

In the Ming Dynasty, the production center of this craft was still in Songjiang. It was said among the folks at that time that "Songjiang cloth can't be bought, and Weitang yarn can't be harvested." Cloth, dingniangzi cloth, youdun cloth, eyebrow weaving cloth, cloth, brocade cloth, silk cloth, cloud cloth, purple flower cloth, twill cloth, three shuttle cloth, etc.

The most famous of them is Sansuo cloth, because it is a special cloth for making underwear by the emperor of Ming Dynasty. It is as delicate as silk, and the price is quite expensive, and it cannot be bought outside.

The imperial court also forbade this kind of exclusive cloth to be sold outside.

The second is cloud cloth, also known as fine silk cloth, which is a silk-cotton mixed fabric with silk as warp and cotton yarn as weft.

Wu Youwei introduced this kind of cloth to Wang Zhi: "This kind of cloud cloth is very popular in Shanghai County, and the price of each piece is not expensive. Rich people almost wear clothes made of cloud cloth, even poor families. There are also underwear made of cloud cloth, and clothes made of ramie can be worn outside. The ramie cloth is cool and ventilated, which is very suitable for the climate of Shanghai County.

Wang Zhi looked at Wu Youwei's clothes: "Our family saw that your clothes are also made of ramie?"

"Yes!" Wu Youwei admitted generously: "It's a blend of ramie and cotton, it's not as abrasive as pure ramie, and it's not as airtight as cotton, so it's very comfortable.

In his time, he didn't know much about the blending of ramie and cotton, and it was said: the poor wear mink, the rich wear cotton, and the rich wear casual.

Most of the casual clothes are made of cotton and linen, which is comfortable.

Wang Zhi straightened his eyes.

Isn't sackcloth something poor people wear?

It's just that Wu Youwei's clothes are made of cotton and linen, but they are not rough, they are very delicate and comfortable to the touch. He came in a hurry yesterday, Wu Youwei was wearing official clothes, today he is wearing casual clothes.

And there are quite a few people in the same clothes as Wu Youwei around.

Wu Youwei likes primary colors, not dyeing. Besides, the ancient dyeing techniques are not very good, because they are all plant dyes, and they become a little dull after a few washes, so he likes primary colors the most.

So Wu Youwei's clothes were very simple, but the purse and sachet he carried were very delicate, and at first glance, he was not rude.

"Then our family will also make two clothes and one dress." Wang Zhi became interested and tailored the clothes on the spot.

Wu Youwei was familiar with this cloth shop, and it was the only cloth shop that insisted on staying in Shanghai County.

It is said that she is also a descendant of Huang Po.

The owner's surname is Huang, and he personally received them. They already have a weaving factory, Wu Youwei helped set it up, and improved the loom.

However, they can only weave their own cloth, not expensive fabrics such as silk.

This also saves the embarrassment of competing with high-end products for the market.

Take the path of small profits but quick turnover.

Shanghai County is already recovering economically. At this time, it happens to occupy a blank market.

Songjiang cloth is very expensive, so it is not as easy to sell as this kind of cheap goods produced by itself. In addition, Songjiang is not a place like Jiangsu, and it does not produce expensive silk and other silk products.

Therefore, for the high-end market, this kind of civilian fabric from Shanghai County cannot shake the market yet.

Wu Youwei told Wang Zhi these things while watching Wang Zhi measure the clothes, but when the measurement was over, Wang Zhi said: "Our family doesn't remember very well, so let's do this first, anyway, this kind of fabric is more convenient than anything else. .

Zhang Shen just smiled: "Don't talk about convenience, it's the sailors, and they wear this kind of fabric for training in summer."

Mainly light, comfortable and strong.

"Really?" Wang Zhi said, "Go and see inside some other day."

Boss Huang finished calculating the price, and the housekeeper went to pay.

Wang Zhi saw that Boss Huang accepted the money unceremoniously, and asked the housekeeper a little bit: "Now the small shop has a discount, but if you make more than two sets of clothes, including two sets, all are [-]% off, and more than ten sets That's [-]% off."

Wang Zhi became interested and even talked to Boss Huang himself, he asked Boss Huang: "How much is [-]% off?

"There is no [-]% discount, customers!" Boss Huang shook his head: "[-]% discount means you can only earn some capital, and [-]% discount means you have to lose money, and there is a big order that no one is allowed to disrupt the market through price wars.

Wu Youwei smiled and said nothing, and when he was out of the store, Wang Zhicai said: "I never thought that Wu Shidu is not only talented, but also good at business."

"Business is very particular. In business, everyone must abide by the rules and not engage in price wars. In that case, wealthy merchants are of course not afraid, and small merchants will suffer." Wu Youwei said: "And planting The hemp farmers will also suffer. Wang Zhi thought deeply.

The commercial streets in Shanghai County planned by Wu Youwei are very distinctive. There is a street for cloth, a street for snacks, a street for restaurants, a street for gold and silver, and so on. It's easy to shop around.

Especially in the inn street, who has good conditions, good service, good attitude, and good hygiene can be known by comparison.

Some people who don't pay attention to open a hotel, the room is dirty and not cleaned, thinking that Shanghai County is prosperous and they don't have to worry about the source of customers, but then they die.

Because their house was too dirty and messy, the business was bleak compared to the neighbors, so they had to clean it up diligently to attract a few residents.

A lot of things like this happened. I think in Shanghai County, it is not uncommon for people to fish in troubled waters, but after Wu Youwei's "one street" strategy, they lost their temper in a daze.

Wang Zhi also bought fried rice cakes like a child, and ate them while walking: "There is no such flavor of rice cakes in Beijing.

Yellow sticky rice is used for rice cakes in the north, while glutinous rice is mostly used in the south.

Squeeze into long strips, cut into slices, and sprinkle with sugar after frying. It is sweet, glutinous and soft.

"I'll have to eat fishball noodles later." Wu Youwei introduced, "That's delicious. It's all freshly caught big fish, the kind without spines. There are vegetables, kelp shreds, and tofu skin in it." Wait, pour a spoonful of hot soup, put a few fish balls on it, sprinkle a spoonful of chili oil, and some old vinegar, the taste is absolutely amazing!"

Wang Zhi was so greedy, he and his group walked to the snack street at noon, and found a small fish ball noodle shop.

As soon as these people came in, the shop was crowded, but the shopkeeper was so happy that he said, "In the past, you didn't have time to invite your parents, but this time, you brought so many people."

Everyone laughed, and Wu Youwei said, "You've made money this time!"

"I'll give you a [-]% discount!" The store happily said, "By the way, each table will give you two side dishes!"

"Well, serve fish ball noodles, um, the kind with heart-wrapped fish balls." Wu Youwei's heart-wrapped fish balls are very famous in Shanghai County.

"Great!" The store owner happily went to the back kitchen, and bowls of fishball noodles came out after a while.

Sure enough, as Wu Youwei said, green vegetables, white fish balls, and light yellow thin cornmeal noodles are pressed out with a simple noodle press. Use a pasta machine.

But the noodles are mixed with egg white, which tastes smooth when eaten, the fish balls are firm and springy, the green vegetables are also delicious, and there are sesame seeds in the chili oil.

After eating the fishball noodles, the butler went to pay the bill, and the group continued to stroll around. There were quite a few people like them, because many people had heard of Shanghai County but had never been there, so there were many merchants who visited Well, rich people never go out alone. At least the master and the young master go out, and when they go to a strange place, they will take them with them. There are often attendants, servants, and even shopkeepers. Those who knew Wu Youwei's identity, and those who didn't, thought they were just like those people. According to Wu County Magistrate, they were all merchants who came to "investigate the market".

Wang Zhi saw a lot of things along the way, and he admired Wu Youwei in his heart. All the eunuchs in the palace knew the joke, but now they were stunned to let Wu Tanhua manage this place so prosperously.

In the evening they came back from the pedestrian street, and they ate dinner in a restaurant. There was no big fish or meat at all, just ordinary meals.

After eating, they walked from the restaurant to the Yamen, which can be regarded as digestion.

When they were almost at the gate of the yamen, Zhang Shen pointed to the commercial street they passed by: "Eunuch Wang, have you noticed anything?"

Um? Wang Zhi came back to his senses: "Why?" "

"In the county town of Shanghai, there is no brothel Chu Guan." Zhang Shen reminded.

Wang Zhi was taken aback.

As eunuchs and rootless men, they really seldom pay attention to the brothel Chuguan, because it's useless to pay attention, and they can't go in and consume.

I have money, but I don't have any usable items on my body.

But after Zhang Shen's reminder, Wang Zhi just remembered that he looked around, Shanghai County, whether it is the old city or the new city, is indeed full of flowers, but there is really no... Brothel Chu Pavilion.

"Because, brothels and Chu halls are not allowed to exist in Shanghai County." Wu Youwei said indifferently: "No secret door, Xianggong Tang, are allowed to appear.

Wang Zhi was stunned.

Zhang Shen smirked again and said, "There is another place that you didn't pay attention to.

Wang Zhi looked back at him: "Which place?"

"Gambling!" Zhang Shen said: "Shanghai County is also not allowed to operate gambling houses, casinos or even underground casinos.

Because the inner eunuchs are not considered as whole men, they are not lewd.

But because they have no roots and their bodies are like duckweed, they want to hold on to one thing, and that is money.

Therefore, eunuchs are not lustful, and what is good is wealth.

They value power because power allows them to earn money, otherwise who would have the spare time to take care of government affairs?

The big eunuchs who hold great power also climbed up from the era of the young eunuchs, and the young eunuchs were all ordinary eunuchs before they made a fortune.

Their entertainment is jamming.

The amount of gambling varies, but it is undeniable that this is the only entertainment for the eunuchs.

But in Shanghai County, there is no such thing as "gambling"!

Street stalls don't count. "Wu Youwei said not at all afraid of offending others: "Small bets are fun, but big bets are harmful to the body. Bets exceeding one or two taels of silver are not counted. Bets exceeding one or one tael of silver are subject to education, and more than ten taels of silver are handed over to the elders of the family. Dealing with more than a hundred...then have to go to labor reform.

When the one hundred taels of silver is earned enough, the reform through labor will be considered to be over.

"Then what if it's more than a thousand taels?" Wang Zhi asked a little timidly, because when he came, he passed by a state capital and his hands were itchy. , the one who wins is him, and the one who loses is the opponent

.....