The big man has a living father

Chapter 87 Concrete Road ( daily updates, please subscribe)

After everyone was seated, Cao Xiang introduced them one by one.

Huo Hai had studied half of the people here when he was studying the fat sheep. Now he pretended not to know them and got to know them one by one.

However, there was one person who surprised Huo Hai a little.

Cao Xiang pointed at a fat middle-aged man and said, "This is Lei Lin, a famous wealthy businessman in Chang'an and a building materials merchant."

Huo Hai pinched his chin and said, "This name sounds familiar."

Lei Lin smiled and said, "Master Huo, my son-in-law is an acquaintance of yours."

Huo Hai looked at Lei Lin and retreated tactically: "Wait a minute, your son-in-law's last name is Sima, right?"

Lei Lin's fat face was filled with smiles: "Yes."

My goodness, Sima Xiangru's father-in-law looks like he is no more than 35 years old. How old is his new wife? She can't be only 15, right?

Huo Hai had heard of Lei Lin before, but he had never met him.

This guy is the material supplier for the construction of Maoling.

Because he admired Sima Xiangru's talent, he married his daughter to Sima Xiangru.

Usually he kept a low profile, because Maoling was so profitable. After all, it was a mausoleum built by wealthy people who moved their families from all over the country. How could it not make money? Lei Lin, who made money, probably didn't want to be famous, and wanted to complete the class transition.

That's why he married his daughter to Sima Xiangru, but he himself didn't have much activity in Chang'an and few people knew him.

If he comes, is it some civil engineering project?
After everyone had finished their introductions, Liu Guang raised his glass and said, "In recent years, Chang'an has become more and more prosperous under your majesty's governance, but in this prosperous era, the most dazzling one is Lord Huo."

Huo Hai didn't buy it at all: "You mean my brother? My brother is indeed brilliant. Except for the general, no one has made more military achievements than him since the founding of the Han Dynasty."

Liu Guang was choked and said it was hard to say. He couldn't say that the most dazzling person was not the General of Cavalry but his younger brother, right?

After Liu Guang was defeated, Liu Sheng asked the dancers to dance.

Huo Hai watched with great interest.

Liu Sheng laughed loudly: "Speaking of people in this world, when it comes to writing poetry and prose, there was Qu Yuan before and Sima Gong after, and both of them wrote poetry and prose like this!"

Liu Sheng gave a thumbs up: "But..."

Huo Hai knew what he was going to say and interrupted him directly: "Although Sima Gong is good at writing, I think Qu Yuan is still better."

Liu Sheng was interrupted but was not in a hurry. He smiled and said, "Master Huo is also a top expert in this field. He is not inferior to them in terms of poetry and prose, and he is even better in terms of literary talent! I don't know why Master Huo said that Qu Yuan is better than Sima Gong?"

Huo Hai slowly picked up a piece of meat and put it into his mouth to eat, then he said: "Everyone knows that Zhang Qian returned to Chang'an two days ago, right?"

"Zhang Qian, at my request, brought back a man who knows everything about astronomy and geography, his name is Luoxiahong."

"I heard that His Majesty sent Luo Hongxuan away and he has not returned yet. I guess he wants to ask him to formulate a new calendar."

"This new calendar is said to be related to the sun and the moon, and it must be able to accommodate both the timing of farming and the schedule of holidays for merchants, workers and officials."

"I heard that one of the holidays is called the Dragon Boat Festival. In order to commemorate Qu Yuan, there will be a day off on the fifth day of May every year."

The people present looked at each other.

No one really understands.

Why commemorate Qu Yuan?

Huo Hai saw that everyone had stopped eating and was looking at him.

Huo Hai was puzzled for a moment, then suddenly realized: "It is the other counties and prefectures across the country that have a day off to commemorate Qu Yuan's unyielding struggle for the country and his spirit of dying to make his will clear. We in the hometown of Sanqin have a day off to celebrate Qu Yuan jumping into the river."

Everyone laughed.

Although the Han Dynasty has replaced the Qin Dynasty, we are all Qin people after all. Although many people are aristocrats, after all, "once you come to Chang'an, you are a Chang'an person", and everyone has inherited the Xianyang lineage.

How can we commemorate Qu Yuan?

But the fact that Qu Yuan jumped into the river is worth celebrating!
So people in other places ride dragon boats and make rice dumplings, while people in the Sanqin hometown make Qu Yuan steamed buns, which are ring-shaped baked buns worn on the hands. Eating them symbolizes the elimination of demons and monsters, disasters, dangers and difficulties.

This is not something made up by later generations. Nowadays, the baked cake in Chang'an is called Qu Yuan Momo.

Even later generations deliberately distorted the name and changed it to Qulianmo and Piyuanmo, with one character changed in both names to protect Doctor Qu.

However, in this era, people do not have such a strong sense of protection, and now baked steamed buns are simply called Qu Yuan baked cakes.

After everyone finished laughing, Liu Sheng raised his glass and said, "Let's raise a glass to celebrate the fact that Qu Yuan's suicide was made into a holiday!"

Everyone raised their glasses and drank.

Then, a few more people wanted to praise Huo Hai.

They were all distracted by Huo Hai.

Huo Hai, a famous non-stick pan in Changan, is very good at opening the pot and now it has three non-stick properties.

Everyone else was looking at each other, not knowing what to say. Only Xiao Guang could see what kind of character Huo Hai had. He knew that Huo Hai would not accept any indirect attack, so he raised his glass and said, "Master Huo, I have a question for you."

Huo Hai picked up the wine glass: "Please speak."

After drinking it in one gulp, Xiao Guang asked directly: "Master Huo, the road is now flourishing, but after all, it is for the public use of Chang'an County and Wannian County. It is possible that one day Master Shi Qingshi will learn from Chang'an County's methods to develop Wannian County. By then, this political achievement will be gone."

"I wonder if Lord Huo has any plans to build a road connecting Chidao and Lingxian in Chang'an County."

"Directing commerce down this road?"

When the others saw Xiao Guang speak out directly, they all held their breath and looked at Huo Hai. At first, after the villages along the Chidao Road started doing business, they all set their sights on these shops.

Even many nobles have purchased houses along the roads in various neighborhoods and started to dismantle the outer walls of the neighborhoods, preparing to do business on the small roads.

A lot of people have been buying bricks and cement recently, many houses are being renovated, and more and more shops have opened on the alleys.

In fact, there are nine markets in Chang'an. Although the most prosperous one is the East and West Market, there are really not many shops.

Now, there are twenty-five neighborhoods and hundreds of shops on the highway. It's terrifying.

Moreover, the small shops that have been renovated in each neighborhood still have a large flow of customers.

Everyone noticed that there were more and more shops and there was no sign of stopping. Everyone felt that in the future, perhaps all the houses along the roads in Chang'an County would become shops.

By then, there will no longer be any special market, as the market and residential areas will be directly integrated together.

People live inside each li, while the outer circle is filled with shops.

Those small nobles and wealthy people who used to like buying land have now invested in buying houses. Now the housing prices in the entire Chang'an County have been pushed up.

However, in the eyes of the great nobles and businessmen, these are just minor matters.

what is this?
Let Cao Xiang buy a shop that is about ten meters wide on both sides, with a yard that can accommodate twenty tables and can accommodate about a hundred coachmen at mealtime?
If this business was done by an ordinary person, it would definitely be a great success. However, if Cao Xiang was asked to do it, not only would he not make any money, but he would also be embarrassed.

These great nobles all had the same idea, so they thought of another possibility.

In addition, a road as big as the Chidao was built, which also led to Ling County from the coal mine and other factories.

The road is closer and more convenient.

In this way, the drivers will definitely choose to take the new road.

They have to do this whether Huo Hai agrees or not.

Because this section of the road will be seven kilometers long!
All the properties along the seven-kilometer route have been bought by them.

By then, this road will be the most prosperous road in the entire Chang'an, the entire world, and the entire world.

The farmland along the seven-kilometer road is not worth much, but what if it is all turned into shops? Just sell it at the current market price, what will the price be? If you hold it for a long time and collect rent, it will be a permanent asset, which is more profitable than collecting taxes on the fiefdom!

The only problem is that the authority to build the road is now in the hands of Lieutenant Huo Hai.

Huo Hai agreed and they started repairing.

Since Huo Hai disagreed, they would unite and find a way to get rid of Huo Hai, and then start the repair.

The reason why I am embarrassed to say it out loud is that the plan itself is threatening.

They want inducements.

A section of the street stretching several hundred meters long was given to Huo Hai.

But now that Xiao Guang has said it directly, the nature of the situation has changed.

This is not a question of interests.

Huo Hai smiled. He already knew what this group of people were going to do, but he just wouldn't accept any flattery and insisted that they tell the truth.

Looking at the people present, Huo Hai smiled and said, "Do you think that if a better shortcut is built, the drivers will not take the Chidao Road anymore, and the business on the Chidao Road will decline, and all the business will be transferred to this new road?"

Everyone looked at Huo Hai, with a look on their faces saying: Isn’t it?

Huo Hai: "Have you ever thought about this? There are only 20,000 drivers now, but the business is so prosperous. If there are 50,000 or 100,000 people with such high income, how prosperous will the business be?"

Everyone couldn't understand.

Huo Hai: "Your plan is too naive. I am not interested at all. If you really build such a road, it will be eliminated by the times in two years at most."

"Let me give you an unpleasant example. The vehicles invented by my Huo's Vehicle Shop can carry more and more loads. After you plan this road, it simply won't be able to withstand so many vehicles running over it every day. It won't be long before it becomes full of potholes and impassable."

"I have had a plan to build a road for a long time, but my plan is to build a concrete road. The so-called concrete is the cement you see used to build stoves and pillars, mixed with sand and pebbles."

"This road can withstand the continuous rolling of vehicles weighing tens of thousands of pounds."

“Moreover, I designed this road not only from the current Beichidao Wharf to Tongling County, but also to go around Chang’an, a complete circle.”

Liu Guang: "Why go around in a circle? There are no houses or people on the south or east side!"

Huo Hai: "How many people are there in Chang'an now? But how much money is concentrated here? How much have prices soared? The price of millet in Chang'an is 70% higher than that in Luoyang! The prices of other items are also much higher. Won't the things from these places be shipped here? How many horsemen and coachmen will there be by then?"

A group of people looked at each other.

Liu Sheng shook his head and said, "A cart can carry a load of 10,000 jin? How is that possible?"

Huo Hai: "Nowadays, a car can barely carry a few hundred kilograms, but if it is replaced by my car, it can carry about 2,000 kilograms (Hanjin). If it is driving on a flat concrete road, it can withstand 4,000 kilograms! And my people are still researching horse-drawn carriages, so that lighter carriages can carry heavier goods and are easier to pull and control."

"We can't pull 10,000 kilograms now, but we will be able to do so in a few years."

Liu Sheng said solemnly: "That's fine, but how much does it cost to build a road like this? Using cement to build a road is like throwing money away! I can afford it, but can I get my money back?"

Huo Hai smiled: "Don't cement workers eat or buy things after getting their wages? What about the drivers who transport goods and the laborers who build roads? Don't they buy things after getting their wages?"

"They are the first customers after the road is built! Driven by them, more people will come to do business, and the people who build the road will earn more."

"If you don't believe me, let's calculate the amount of work on this road and the number of workers needed. When they have money in the future, won't they spend money just like the driver I employ now?"

Everyone was convinced.

Cao Xiang pinched his chin: If the cars in the future can pull ten thousand pounds, then we will need a lot of oxen and horses. I think I should raise horses!
(End of this chapter)