kvmb Chapter 663 Observations (1)
Chapter 663 Observations (1)
"This shop was purchased by the villagers of Chenjia Village."
Zheng Qiuyan explained, "Most of the products we sell are local specialties transported from Chenjia Village, such as yellow-feathered chickens, white-feathered ducks, and vegetables unique to Chenjia. Because they are of good quality and inexpensive, they are very popular with the people in the county town, so the business is very prosperous."
In fact, nowadays, San Gou General Store is no longer the only store selling Chenjia Village goods in the area near the North Gate. Since Chenjia Village lifted its purchase restrictions, many small merchants in the county have also obtained the distribution rights for Chenjia Village goods and have used this as a selling point to set up shops in the county.
However, because San Gou General Store was the first to open and has always had a good reputation, most people in the county town would prioritize buying goods from San Gou General Store when purchasing goods from Chenjia Village. Only when San Gou General Store was out of stock would they choose other stores.
"I see."
Li Mingyuan suddenly realized, looking at the bustling scene inside the shop, he had even more expectations for this trip to Chenjia Village.
After pausing briefly in front of San Gou's General Store, the three of them went straight through the North Gate and arrived outside the city.
However, the moment Li Mingyuan stepped out of the city gate, he was stunned and stood there.
In Li Mingyuan's memory, all the official roads outside the city were dirt roads, but at this moment, the official roads outside Taiping County were...
But it was a brick road!
Feeling the solid ground beneath his feet, Li Mingyuan exclaimed in disbelief, "This is the official road outside the city?"
If the city gate weren't right behind him, Li Mingyuan would hardly believe that he was outside the city and not inside, because the brick road under his feet felt so solid, unlike any other official road he had ever traveled.
Not only Li Mingyuan, but Li Qiao also stared blankly at the brick road beneath his feet, momentarily at a loss for words to express his shock.
Over the past few years, Li Qiao accompanied Li Mingyuan on countless official roads, however...
Never before had an official road given him such a tremendous shock as the one before him!
The brick-paved road, with its solid and hard feel underfoot, gave him an extremely surreal feeling.
"This is indeed the official road outside Taiping County."
Zheng Qiuyan's beautiful eyes were full of surprise. Because she often went to Chenjia Village, she was quite familiar with the official road outside the north gate of Taiping County.
But the last time she passed by this official road, it was clearly a dirt road. How did it suddenly become a brick and stone road?
"This……"
Upon receiving Zheng Qiuyan's affirmative answer, Li Mingyuan's mouth dropped open, his mind somewhat confused. He had seen many official roads, but this was the first time he had ever seen one paved with bricks and stones.
"Old man, is this your first time visiting our Taiping County?"
At this moment, a middle-aged man with rough skin passed by Li Mingyuan and his two companions and asked with some amusement.
The official road from Taiping County to Chenjia Village can now be considered a major spectacle in Taiping County. Almost everyone who comes to Taiping County is amazed by this road. Li Mingyuan and his group are not the first, nor will they be the last.
"This is indeed my first time here."
Coming to his senses, Li Mingyuan nodded. He and Li Qiao had taken a detour from Jingzhou when they went to the county seat, so they hadn't passed through Taiping County. It wouldn't be a problem to say that this was their first time in Taiping County.
Of course, if you include his experience as an official when he was young, Li Mingyuan actually visited Taiping County quite a few times.
"Why is the official road in Taiping County like this?"
Li Mingyuan couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"This is naturally thanks to Lord Xu and Chenjia Village!"
The middle-aged man said with a smile, "In order to facilitate the people of the county town to go to Chenjia Village for work and to transport goods, after discussing with Mr. Chen of Chenjia Village, Lord Xu decided to jointly fund the construction of this official road from the county town to Chenjia Village."
It was actually a joint venture between the county town and a village...
Li Mingyuan was dumbfounded. In Xia Kingdom, building bridges and paving roads was always the government's responsibility, but in Taiping County... the government and the villages jointly funded the road construction. He had been an official for so many years and had never seen anything so bizarre.
"But...isn't this brick and stone road a bit too expensive?"
Li Mingyuan asked this question.
Why were the official roads in the Xia Kingdom all dirt roads?
Did the imperial court and government officials not know that brick and stone roads were better? They were easier to maintain and more conducive to business.
of course not.
The reason is that the cost of building brick and stone roads is too high, and the official roads in the countryside are much longer than the roads in the city. Therefore, it is simply unrealistic to build all the roads outside the city into brick and stone roads. Even the imperial court could not afford such a high cost.
"what is this."
The middle-aged man chuckled dismissively, "Everyone knows how wealthy Chenjia Village is. Spending a little money to repair an official road is just a drop in the ocean for Chenjia Village. It's nothing at all."
When talking about Chenjia Village, the middle-aged man's face was full of longing. Like most people in Taiping County, he longed for Chenjia Village and hoped that he could become a villager or a formal worker in Chenjia Village.
"Is that so?"
Li Mingyuan was skeptical. Chenjia Village might be wealthy, but don't forget what the middle-aged man had said before: this official road was jointly funded by the government and Chenjia Village. Chenjia Village may be rich, but what about Taiping County?
With this question in mind, Li Mingyuan bid farewell to the middle-aged man and walked forward with Zheng Qiuyan.
Before long, the three of them saw a bustling scene.
In order to complete the project as soon as possible, the official road from Chenjia Village to the county town was not built from one end, but from both ends simultaneously.
Under Chen Hou's leadership, the 700 recruited workers were divided into two groups: one group worked from Chenjia Village to the county town, while the other group worked from the county town to Chenjia Village. This was done to speed up the construction process as much as possible.
At this moment, Li Mingyuan and his two companions arrived at the end of the brick road leading from the county town to Chenjia Village.
Looking at the busy workers ahead, Li Mingyuan stopped and a strange look flashed in his eyes.
In the Xia Kingdom, whenever bridges and roads needed to be repaired, the government would often resort to conscription, which meant forcibly taking able-bodied men from farmers' households, making them bring their own food, and sending them to the places where roads needed repair without pay.
Because it was a forced conscription without any compensation, and people were required to bring their own food, the vast majority of people forced to perform corvée labor were actually very dissatisfied.
Therefore, whenever the government conscripted laborers, the people were full of complaints.
In fact... Li Mingyuan had even witnessed many rebellions that broke out due to forced labor.
Putting aside everything else, just take Yuzhou as an example. Weren't those people who initially rebelled because they couldn't bear the exploitation of forced labor, which led to their rebellion and ultimately caused a huge upheaval?