Chapter 1139: The New Economy
Mrs. San's down jackets instantly became a massive hit.
However, the crowds who frantically rushed to buy them quickly discovered that the stock was even scarcer than that of the wool sweaters.
Not only were they more expensive than the sweaters, but there were only about a hundred pieces in the store. In the blink of an eye, they were all snatched up. When customers asked the clerks when they would be restocked, they were told there was no end in sight.
This was simply outrageous!
A group of wealthy patrons, desperate for the jackets, questioned the clerks for a long time before understanding why the item was so rare. It turned out that a single goose could produce only a mere tael of goose down, and ducks produced even less, with one duck yielding just two qian of duck down.
A top-quality down jacket required ninety percent duck or goose down.
Even a slightly lesser quality one still needed to be filled with seventy percent duck or goose down.
The scarcity of raw materials naturally led to the scarcity of the finished product.
"We can't buy them!"
But for those with flexible minds, a different kind of light dawned in their eyes.
A person living by Horseshoe Lake near Bai Family Fortress immediately remembered the vast expanse of the lake right outside their home. Raising geese and ducks there would be incredibly convenient. Why not seize this opportunity?
And clever people are rarely alone!
Suddenly, everyone who lived near a small river, lake, or pond began to consider raising ducks and geese.
What individual households could raise was negligible; large merchants, however, started to entertain the idea of establishing duck and goose farms.
A new wave of economic activity had begun to ripple through the land—
Sichuan...
The Standard Heavenly Lord Avatar stood on a boat, slowly sailing towards Chaotianmen Pier in Chongqing.
After traveling extensively within the diorama box, Li Daoxuan found himself back in his hometown.
Chongqing in the Ming Dynasty looked vastly different from its modern counterpart.
Today, Chongqing's Chaotianmen Pier is dominated by the massive Raffles City, towering like sails. But in the Ming era, the most magnificent structure at Chaotianmen Pier was, of course, Chaotianmen itself.
Chaotianmen was where the people of Chongqing received imperial decrees.
For over a thousand years, eunuchs would travel by boat up the Yangtze River to Chaotianmen Pier, disembark, and stand beneath the gate to proclaim imperial edicts.
Thus, this place had to exude grandeur.
Li Daoxuan disembarked at this very imposing location, stepping onto the shore.
Cheng Xu followed closely behind, trailed by a large contingent of guards who accompanied both men ashore.
Their impressive procession was no less imposing than a celestial being. The porters at Chaotianmen Pier immediately sensed that a significant figure had arrived, and many began to retreat.
The honest common folk knew one thing: it was always safer to keep a distance from important figures.
After all, such dignitaries rarely treated them as equals and were prone to arbitrary bullying.
Just as they started to shrink back...
They heard Li Daoxuan speak, calling out in authentic Chongqing dialect: "Brothers, are you free? A few of you, come help me out."
The porters at the dock collectively froze, bewildered.
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Li Daoxuan waved to them: "Come on, come on, help me unload the things from the boat. Everyone gets ten copper coins as wages, alright? I don't mess around; if I say I'll pay, I'll pay. If you're short even a single copper, I'll have my own head on the block."
The familiar local dialect sounded so warm and reassuring, and the workers' faces lit up with joy. They rushed forward with a cheer, gathering around.
They began to unload the cargo!
Cheng Xu stood by, listening to the Heavenly Lord rattle off a stream of Chongqing dialect. He couldn't help but feel a little confused. *The Heavenly Lord is an immortal; it's not surprising that he's fluent in various local dialects. But he never spoke with a Shaanxi accent when we were there, so why is he spouting Sichuanese now? Could it be that the Heavenly Lord achieved immortality by cultivating in the Shu Mountains?*
He couldn't resist asking cautiously, "Heavenly Lord, you seem to know this place very well?"
Li Daoxuan chuckled, "Indeed. I used to hang around here."
Cheng Xu was startled: *Sure enough, the Heavenly Lord really did achieve immortality here. Damn it, isn't this practically the Heavenly Lord's immortal dwelling?*
Cheng Xu gazed at this "sacred land" with boundless admiration.
Li Daoxuan, however, was thinking about something else.
He scanned his surroundings, observing Chongqing's city walls winding along the riverbank, with many dilapidated houses both inside and outside the walls, layered haphazardly along the river. Few people seemed to live in these houses; the entire city of Chongqing appeared sparsely populated. Especially outside the city walls, nearly nine out of ten houses stood empty.
As someone from Chongqing, he knew perfectly well why.
Just a few years prior, She Chongming, the Yongning Pacification Commissioner and an Yi chieftain, had rebelled, once capturing Chongqing. Later, Qin Liangyu led her army to provide aid, and together with Sichuan Governor Zhu Xieyuan, they defeated She Chongming and retook Chongqing.
But this conflict had cost Chongqing dearly.
In the following years, Zhang Xianzhong would come, and then the Daxi Army, Qing Army, and Southern Ming Army would take turns occupying Chongqing, slaughtering one another repeatedly...
This situation persisted for nineteen grueling years!
By the fourth year of Kangxi in the early Qing Dynasty, only three thousand people remained in Chongqing's main urban area.
Everyone else had perished.
It was an absolutely horrific thought.
Li Daoxuan's gaze swept over the porters laboring tirelessly on the dock, helping him unload goods. He thought to himself: *If I don't manage this place properly, all these people I see before me will be slaughtered.*
Just as this thought crossed his mind, An imperial official emerged from Chaotianmen and, from a distance, cupped his hands in greeting to Li Daoxuan: "Esteemed guest, I apologize for failing to greet you earlier. My deepest apologies."
Wang Xingjian, the Prefect of Chongqing, had arrived.
Wang Xingjian was a very young official, only twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He had passed the imperial examinations this year and was originally assigned to a post in Nanjing. However, with the great chaos in Sichuan and large bandit armies entering the province, anyone with connections was unwilling to serve as an official in Chongqing.
Thus, the newly appointed Wang Xingjian was put forward as a human shield, sent to Chongqing to serve as prefect.
He knew the dangers of Sichuan and had been cautious since taking office, prioritizing his own survival.
A few days ago, he received news from Qin Liangyu, the Shizhu Chieftain, stating that she had invited a highly capable gentry leader to bring his militia to Chongqing for assistance. This delighted Wang Xingjian immensely.
So, upon hearing of Li Daoxuan's arrival, he personally came to greet him, speaking very courteously, without any pretense of his official rank.
Li Daoxuan cupped his hands in return: "Prefect Wang, a pleasure."
Wang Xingjian replied, "Master Li, your arrival couldn't be more timely. A few days ago, a bandit army was hovering outside Jiangbei City. This official stationed a large number of militia in Jiangbei City, and the bandits haven't dared to approach for now, but the main rebel army could attack Jiangbei City at any moment. That much is certain; heaven knows when they might secretly strike. I have no regular troops under my command, only low- 전투-power militia, and I am constantly worried, unable to sleep at night. It's truly wonderful that Master Li has brought such a large militia force to help. My heart feels much more at ease. "
Li Daoxuan nodded: "No need for formalities, Prefect Wang! It is a blessing that Chongqing City has been held under your defense. But I fear the countryside outside the city has suffered greatly, and many common folk have likely been coerced by the bandits. My purpose in coming this time is to resolve this very issue."
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