bestfiction Chapter 674 Observations (2)
Chapter 674 Observations (2)
"I see."
Li Mingyuan suddenly realized that collecting sanitation fees from merchants and then using those fees to pay cleaners' wages was an excellent idea.
"Besides sanitation fees, opening a shop in Chenjia Village also requires purchasing land, hiring workers to build the shop, and so on..."
Shopkeeper Wu continued, "But generally speaking, opening a shop in Chenjia Village is much simpler than opening a shop in the city. At least you don't have to deal with the officials who come to your door from time to time, or those idle thugs and ruffians."
"That's the truth!"
Although Li Mingyuan had never been a merchant, he knew that petty thugs were difficult to deal with. Don't underestimate those thugs and hooligans who were not very capable; if they wanted to ruin a shop, it would be too easy for them.
"And another thing is, the villagers of Chenjia Village are rich!"
Shopkeeper Wu continued, "These days, the wealthiest people in Taiping County are the villagers of Chenjia Village. Only those with money can buy things in shops. Don't you think that makes sense, sir?"
"indeed so."
Li Mingyuan nodded. Taking the people of Liangzhou as an example, how could they possibly go into shops to buy goods when they couldn't even get enough to eat?
On the contrary, in Chenjia Village, because everyone has a stable and decent income, the villagers have extra money to spend in shops, allowing the merchants to earn more profits.
"To be honest, sir, since I opened my cloth shop in Chenjia Village, my monthly profits have increased by at least 50% compared to before."
Congratulations, Manager Wu!
Li Mingyuan congratulated him with a smile. From Manager Wu's words, he could tell that Manager Wu was very satisfied with Chenjia Village.
This is also a microcosm of the attitudes of everyone Li Mingyuan has met towards Chenjia Village since he arrived.
Whether it's elderly cleaners, street vendors, or shopkeepers, everyone is quite satisfied with Chenjia Village because this place has truly benefited them and given them a better life.
"Chenjia Village is truly a wonderful place!"
Shopkeeper Wu said with deep emotion, "When I ran a cloth shop in the county town, I saw countless poor people and beggars. They were emaciated and lived a humble life by begging. But in Chenjia Village, everyone can have enough to eat and everyone can wear warm clothes. This is what a human life should be like!"
Upon hearing this, Li Mingyuan nodded secretly. He felt this even more deeply than Manager Wu, after all, he had just come from Liangzhou.
The people of Liangzhou were indeed much as Manager Wu had described: everyone was starving and cold, their expressions were numb, their eyes were lifeless, and they were not living like human beings at all.
And what about Chenjia Village?
Everyone in Chenjia Village looked exceptionally energetic and had a radiant complexion; hunger and cold seemed to have no relation to the people in this village.
Next, Li Mingyuan chatted with Manager Wu about many things related to Chenjia Village for a full quarter of an hour before getting up to say goodbye.
As Li Mingyuan walked out of the fabric shop and looked at the crowds coming and going on Chencun Avenue, he felt even more emotional.
The happy smiles on the faces of the people coming and going on the street made Li Mingyuan feel both unfamiliar and warm.
It felt unfamiliar because he hadn't seen such a smile on the faces of ordinary people for a long time.
The reason for his warmth was... his deepest wish was for every citizen of Xia to have such a smile on their face, instead of a numb and sorrowful expression.
"Uncle Li, where do we go next?"
Li Qiao, who had just finished eating braised food and still had some oil on his lips, asked.
Let's go check out the drill ground in Chenjia Village!
During his conversation with Manager Wu, Li Mingyuan learned that the reason why Chenjia Village had such good public security was because there was an army stationed there.
Manager Wu's words were full of praise for Chen's army, so Li Mingyuan also wanted to see what this army, which was so respected and loved by the villagers of Chenjia Village, was like.
"Row."
Not long after, Li Mingyuan and Li Qiao arrived at the drill ground of Chenjia Village and saw the incredibly strong men there.
It was already quite cold in Qingzhou in August, but on the training ground, the men were all dressed in shorts and sweating profusely under the afternoon sun.
"kill!"
With a loud shout, more than three hundred men on the training ground simultaneously drew their long swords. The three hundred men were as one, and the killing intent they unleashed was astonishing, causing Li Mingyuan to involuntarily narrow his eyes.
As the former prime minister of the Xia Kingdom, Li Mingyuan had certainly seen the army, and he even personally oversaw the reform of the Beijing Garrison.
Even the most elite soldiers of the Beijing garrison he had ever seen were no match for these men before him.
Within the Beijing garrison, due to the serious corruption and ghost-paying of salaries by the generals, the soldiers of the Beijing garrison lived in a very miserable state. Not only were they short of men and horses and lacked training, but they also couldn't even get enough to eat.
Under such circumstances, the three major camps in the capital that once followed Emperor Taizu in establishing the dynasty were no longer of any use. The soldiers were all extremely thin and weak, and their fighting spirit was pitifully weak, not even as good as farmers who were starving.
In contrast, the soldiers of Chen's army in front of them were all burly and strong, and it was clear at a glance that they were exceptionally capable in combat.
The only downside is... there are too few people.
"These soldiers are all martial artists!"
Just then, Li Qiao's solemn voice came from beside him.
As a first-rank martial artist, Li Qiao had sharp eyesight and judged the situation of these soldiers with just one glance: "Moreover, they are all at least eighth-rank!"
"You mean, all three hundred or so people are martial artists of the eighth rank or above?"
Li Mingyuan stared wide-eyed and asked, "What does 'more than three hundred martial artists' mean?"
Even in Taiping County, you couldn't find this many martial artists, could you?
"Not bad!"
Li Qiao nodded solemnly: "The lowest rank is eighth grade, and some are seventh grade."
"hiss!"
Li Mingyuan gasped. More than three hundred eighth-rank martial artists, including some seventh-rank martial artists...
No wonder the Chen family army has such a small number of soldiers; it turns out that Chen family village follows the principle of "quality over quantity" in military strategy!
An army composed of more than three hundred warriors is probably no less powerful than three thousand elite soldiers!
Note that this refers to elite soldiers.
If it were against those beggar soldiers from the three major camps of the capital...
Chen's army of about 300 men could probably defeat 10,000 beggar soldiers from the Beijing garrison, because the fighting spirit of the Beijing garrison soldiers is almost zero. As long as the casualties are slightly greater, the Beijing garrison soldiers will immediately collapse. There is no need to kill them all one by one.
"It's truly astonishing that Chenjia Village has such an elite army!"
Li Mingyuan couldn't help but sigh, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I doubt anyone would believe that such an invincible army was hidden in this village at the foot of the vast mountains."