Chapter 323 Liaodong Specialties

After entering late October, the temperature in Liaodong area dropped sharply. In just a few days, the temperature dropped below zero degrees.

However, the cold weather did not affect the development of Tenglongwei.

The training of the soldiers is still going on. Whether it is ordinary soldiers, camp soldiers or navy, none of them have stopped training.

Of course, some things are affected by the temperature, such as the salt fields. As the temperature drops, the salt fields enter a closure period and will not open again for salt drying until March next year.

Although this would cause the salt field to be unable to dry salt for four or five months, the output of the salt field had already been increased in the previous two months. In just two months, the salt field produced more than one million kilograms of salt, enough to support the consumption of all the people in Jing'an Prefecture for a year.

In addition to the salt fields, the engineering teams were also affected. However, the construction tasks within the city have basically been completed, and there is only some carpentry work left, which is not affected by the temperature.

The task of road construction will be carried out next year, and the government office must complete the overall road planning of Tenglongwei before the end of the year.

According to Yang Zhengshan's request, four official roads will be built within the jurisdiction of Tenglongwei, leading to Jing'an Prefecture, Qinghua Prefecture, Liao'an Prefecture and the wharf respectively. These four roads will be built in accordance with the requirements of official roads.

In addition, Yang Zhengshan also plans to renovate all the roads leading to the Qianhu Suo, Baihu Suo and Tunbu.

I don’t ask for every road to be wide, but I ask for every road to be flat and not muddy on rainy days.

To be rich, build roads first.

Building roads is the most practical construction.

In addition to building roads, Yang Zhengshan also plans to carry out literacy campaign.

The training of soldiers actually includes reading and writing, but ordinary soldiers only learn simple words. Most soldiers can only learn a few dozen simple words in more than a month of basic training.

As for the soldiers in the camp, they were required to be able to read and write daily words proficiently.

When he was in Anyuan City before, Yang Zhengshan also made such a request. The officers and soldiers in the garrison camp were all literate, and many of the soldiers in the guard post were also literate.

Now in Tenglongwei, Yang Zhengshan would do the same.

He could not guarantee that every soldier would be able to read and write everyday words, but he would plant the seeds so that as long as they were determined, the children of military households would be able to read and write.

Among the new military households, there are many people who can read and write and can act as teachers.

Yang Zhengshan required that every hundred households must have a school, and children between the ages of eight and twelve must go to school.

It is actually not difficult to achieve this. A hundred-household unit consists of one hundred military households, and there are at most a hundred children between the ages of eight and twelve.

Two classrooms and two teachers are enough.

There are only more than 200 centurions in Tenglong Guard, so we only need to find more than 500 literate people.

Yang Zhengshan was only trying to eliminate illiteracy, not letting them take the imperial examinations. The schools in the guard posts only taught people to read and write, so there was no need for very good teachers.

The tuition fees for these teachers are all distributed uniformly by the government office, and they can be given according to the standards of food and wages for the soldiers in the camp. There is no need to give them too high.

Training and school are next year’s tasks, but the government office must make preparations before the New Year.

In addition to these two things, there are two more things that need to be done next year. The first is maritime trade, and the second is attracting investment to the Acropolis.

In early November, Luo Shang brought Luo Zhen to Tenglongwei again.

In the government office tea room, Yang Zhengshan looked at the increasingly mature Luo Zhen and asked gently, "How is Anyuan City? Have you encountered any trouble?"

Luo Zhen poured tea for Yang Zhengshan and Luo Shang, and said with a smile: "The adults are very caring towards our Luo family. No one will cause trouble for us!"

Although Yang Zhengshan left Anyuan City, Lin Shoude was still the prefect of Anyuan, Xu Jin was still the military governor, and most importantly, Han Cheng was the garrison commander.

These three people are the highest-ranking officials in Anyuan City. With them around, who would dare to cause trouble for the Luo family?
"Where is Chongshan Pass?" Yang Zhengshan looked at Luo Shang again.

Luo Shang thought for a moment before saying, "Chongshan Pass has changed a lot recently. After General Ji took office, he attracted many merchants. Although he did not target us, it will be difficult for us to continue to expand in Chongshan Town!"

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly. This was expected.

After Liang Chu returned to Beijing, Ji Feiyu was promoted to the general of Chongshan Town. In the first half of this year, Ji Feiyu was probably busy with the affairs of regaining power and restoring the state, and only in the second half of the year did he intervene in the business affairs of Chongshan Town.

The business environment of Chongshan Town is a typical military economy. Almost all commercial activities revolve around the military. Especially after the opening of Fuzhou, the business environment is mainly centered on the General's Office and the Northern Lieutenant General's Office.

In fact, Chongshan Town now has many development opportunities, such as horse farms and farming.

There is no need to say much about the horse farm. Chongshan Town has obtained a large tract of grassland. In the future, Chongshan Town will inevitably become Dayong’s most important horse breeding area.

As for farming, not to mention other things, there is a lot of fertile land around Fuzhou City, which was formerly Fushan City.

The Hu people in Donghai were not good at farming and could only let these fertile lands grow weeds. But now Fuzhou is already part of Chongshan Town, and in addition to the land occupied by the garrison, a lot of fertile farmland can still be reclaimed.

Now, going to the north, whether building a horse farm or reclaiming wasteland, is a business that is sure to make money.

However, if you want to do these things, you must have connections. It doesn't matter if the Luo family does small things, but if they want to expand the scale, that won't work.

After all, Yang Zhengshan had already left Chongshan Town, and Liang Chu and Zhou Lan had also left.

Although Yang Zhengshan still has many connections in Chongshan Town, he can no longer support the Luo family's continued expansion.

"That's it for the business in Chongshan Town. From now on, your Luo family's focus should be on Tenglongwei." Yang Zhengshan said casually.

There are many opportunities in Chongshan Town, but there are even more opportunities in Tenglongwei.

Salt fields and maritime trade make much more money than horse farms and land reclamation.

Now the Luo family not only owns a share of the Tenglongwei Salt Field, but also has obtained salt permits for Ningyuan Prefecture and Qinghua Prefecture from Zheng Xiao.

Having controlled the salt trade in the three prefectures, Luo Shang now no longer cares about horse ranches and land reclamation.

"What does your Excellency need us to do?" Luo Shang asked.

Yang Zhengshan waved to his attendant, who immediately brought over a map of the Acropolis. "This is the current situation in the city. The city can be divided into four areas: the government area, the market area, the residential area, and the commercial area!"

"There is no need to explain much about the government office area. It is mainly used as an office and residence for government officials!"

"The market area is for the military households around the Acropolis. Next year, we will encourage them to come into the city to set up stalls and buy things, whether it's fruits and vegetables, dried goods and herbs, or handicrafts, etc. As long as there are people who want to buy, they can come and buy. There are 300 stalls in the market area, and it only costs one penny a day."

The reason for charging a fee is to prevent people from occupying the space without using it.

"Residential area, your Luo family can buy a house here. I think that big house is nice, you should buy that one!" Yang Zhengshan said bluntly.

The Luo family is his subsidiary, so naturally they will be the first to support his work.

Let the Luo family set an example first, so that other businessmen can come and buy houses.

"As for the commercial area, there are a total of 48 shops, 12 of which will be reserved for the government office, and the remaining 36 will be rented out!"

"These are more suitable for inns. Would you like to rent one?"

Yang Zhengshan looked at Luo Shang with a smile.

Luo Shang's eyes flickered, "Sir, can these three inns be given to our Luo family?"

He is a shrewd businessman. If Tenglongwei really develops as Yang Zhengshan expected, then the inn will unintentionally become one of the most stable and profitable businesses.

Currently, there is almost no business in the entire Tenglong Guard. Military households rely almost entirely on peddlers walking the streets to buy things. In fact, these peddlers are also military households. They will buy some things from the surrounding counties and send them to the guard posts and garrisons to sell.

As for inns, restaurants and the like, there is not a single one in the entire Tenglongwei.

In the future, these three inns in the Acropolis may be the only inns in the entire Tenglongwei.

Luo Shang's idea was good, but Yang Zhengshan shook his head and said, "That won't work. I want to attract a few more wealthy businessmen with these three inns!"

"Then~~" Luo Shang thought for a moment and said, "Then our Luo family needs an inn, a cloth shop, a gold and silver shop, a teahouse, and a brocade workshop!"

"As for the mansions, we have one large courtyard with three entrances, five small courtyards with three entrances, and ten small courtyards with their own doors."

"Thirty low-rent apartments!"

“……” Yang Zhengshan looked at him speechlessly.

What is this old guy doing? Is he buying goods?
Are you planning to do second-hand house trading?
"Why do you need so many yards?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"For the shopkeeper and the master chef to live in!" Luo Shang said as a matter of course.

"There are five shops and five shopkeepers. Each of them has a small courtyard with three entrances. The inn needs a chef, the gold and silver shop needs a goldsmith, and the brocade shop needs a Xiuniang."

"Ordinary employees can live in low-rent housing, but the shopkeeper and the chef must live in their own house!"

Yang Zhengshan was speechless for a while. Well, Luo Shang, the boss, was still very generous.

"If there weren't so few houses in this yard, I would like to have a few more!" Luo Shang said with some reluctance.

"No, that's all. I'll give it all to you. If other merchants come, they will have no place to stay!" Yang Zhengshan hurriedly stopped this rich man.

The Luo family is really wealthy now, and they buy dozens of yards at a time.

"You can choose them yourself later. Just don't forget to pay the government office!"

Yang Zhengshan was too lazy to argue with Luo Shang and continued, "Next March, I plan to send a merchant ship out to sea. What kind of business do you think would be best to start with?"

"Where does your Excellency intend to send the merchant ship first?" Luo Shang asked.

"Jiangnan!" Yang Zhengshan said without hesitation.

"Silk, silk, tea, and porcelain." Luo Shang said without hesitation.

"Then what goods should we bring over?" Yang Zhengshan continued to ask.

"Medicinal herbs, dried goods, furs, serpentine jade."

"Fur? Is there a market for fur in Jiangnan?" Yang Zhengshan asked in surprise.

"Of course, but ordinary fur won't work. Pure-colored fox fur is more popular!" Luo Shang replied.

Scarcity makes things valuable. Although Jiangnan’s winter is short and warm, it is a wealthy place and there will always be people who like to hunt for novelty.

In Jiangnan, fur is more ornamental than practical.

Yang Zhengshan nodded in understanding, "Where's the serpentine jade?"

Serpentine jade should be a specialty of Liaoan Prefecture. It has a tough texture, is delicate and warm, has a bright luster and rich colors. It is a very good jade carving material.

It also has many disadvantages. The rich colors mean that the colors are relatively mixed. It is difficult to find pure-colored jade, let alone jadeite.

Therefore, serpentine jade is most suitable for carving large ornaments.

"The jade carving industry in Jiangnan is very prosperous, and large jade carving materials such as serpentine jade are very popular. However, large jade is difficult to transport, so in Jiangnan, the larger the serpentine jade, the more expensive it is!" said Luo Shang.

Yang Zhengshan didn't think of this.

Transportation is indeed a problem.

If you want to transport a large stone from Liao'an Prefecture to Jiangnan by land, it is hard to say how much manpower and resources it will take.

But if it is shipped by sea, it will be much easier.

(End of this chapter)