This place is full of mud and sand silted by the Yellow River, and the soil is soft. After a long time, Lu Fang led people to dig the soil next to the cement canal. The small canal was dug out of the soil and turned into a large sink. Lu Fang found a few stones to support it.

Xu Ping stepped forward and pointed to the large sink and said to Chen Yaozuo: "Please look at the water in the canal, and it will not leak. If the cement is good, it will be here. It will harden in the water and will not leak. It is best to use it to repair the canal."

Chen Yao stepped forward and looked around, thought for a while and said, "I just don't know how much time I can afford it."

"If there was no accident, the top would be sealed to prevent wind and sunlight, and it would not leak out for a few years. In previous years, when I was in Yongzhou, I built a lot of canals, and it would be fine after several years of use."

Chen Yaozuo was skeptical: "If this is the case, the canals will be covered with this cement, so won't it last a hundred years?"

Xu Ping stood up and smiled, "It's not that easy. First of all, the price of cement is expensive. If you have to open a kiln to make it, the manpower and material resources are very considerable. Both are afraid of tide, and it is not easy to store or transport. Also, the cement castings are exposed to wind and sun, and the weather is cold and hot, and if it is not well stored, it will crack. Therefore, it can only be used in some key places, and it must be properly cared for. It is impossible to use it to repair the canal."

The cost of cement is closely related to the entire industrial system. When the industry was underdeveloped, both production and use costs were very expensive, so he could not use it as a stone. Moreover, the cement technology is still very rough, and it ages heavily under natural conditions and has no foundation for large-scale use. Xu Ping just wanted to fill the cracks in key areas and use them in key areas near the docks. The entire canal was paved with cement, which he didn't even dare to think about. Since it started to be burned in Yongzhou, cement has been used to build water conservancy facilities, and Xu Ping has not yet been willing to use it in other aspects.

Chen Yaozuo walked around the large cement sink several times. When he saw it for the first time, he was not sure how this thing performs or how it will be used in the future. He thought secretly in his mind.

Xu Ping looked at the beginning of the day and said to Chen Yaozuo: "Mr. Lu Fang will take some people from the Bridge Road and Road Army here in the future. If you have any questions, just ask him. Since he was in Yongzhou, Lu Fang has been working in the Bridge Road and Road Army. He is an expert in building bridges and roads. He is diligent and down-to-earth, so his husband just needs to use it with confidence."

Chen Yaozuo nodded and said nothing. He did not want to rely too much on the bridge and road army. He had his own set and it worked. He succeeded in many places. What was the case with relying on others? However, after all, he built this section of the canal to do something to let the court see it. He was determined to build it perfectly and beautifully. He would not reject the use of useful techniques. He thought about it and that, and he was inseparable from the conflict.

After finishing what he should say, Xu Ping didn't want to worry about Chen Yaozuo anymore. No matter what, Chen Yaozuo could build this section of the river in a decent way. It was nothing more than icing on the cake, and it was not necessary.

When he turned his head, he saw a teenager standing on a big rock and looking around here. Xu Ping recognized that it was the Sun Erlang he had met when he came to Heyin last time, and wanted to ask him about his current situation. At that time, Jiang Dayou, the number one tycoon in Heyin, handled it himself, and set the tone of future development here. I wonder what they are doing now.

By the next year, once the commodity economy with cotton as the core rises, these places will inevitably be affected. In particular, Xu Ping has not decided whether to change the silk cloth in the two taxes under the control of West Jing Road to food, or to cash, or to work.

The basis for the division of fifth-class households, the adjustment of the two taxes, the adjustment of distribution, and the corresponding changes in taxes and service are the top priorities that Xu Ping should do in addition to building rivers this winter. If this is done well, it can reduce social shock and make the entire reform develop in a better direction. If a bad thing is caused, it will cause local turmoil and cause very large adverse effects.

The two taxes are usually harvested in autumn and cloth and copper coins in summer. According to Xu Ping's idea, the tax collected from farmers should be mainly based on physical goods to minimize the plunder of cash. Because in commodity trading, farmers are always in a weak position, from ancient times to the present, and never change. When the harvest is good, the prices of grain will fall, and grain merchants and governments will pass on the losses to farmers, and the low grain will hurt farmers. When the disaster occurs, the farmers will not have any excess grain in their hands and are unwilling to sell them. Even if they want to sell, the grain merchants will not give the benefits of rising grain prices to farmers. If you sell grain for one hundred cents, the price of other necessities will increase by 200 cents, so that you can take out the extra money, and the farmers who grow grain will not get a slight benefit. In commodity exchange, farmers are always in a passive position. If they exchange more, they will be exploited more.

The commodity economy is largely a monetary economy. The wider the currency circulation, the more developed the commodity economy will be. But it does not include the grain in the hands of farmers. Just like commodity capital does not include land capital, monetizing taxes is actually a double exploitation of farmers. Now, only part of the summer tax is cash collection, which will cause a seasonal shortage of money during tax collection in Jiangnan and Zhejiang areas. When the government collects taxes, farmers cannot exchange for food in their hands and can only sell them at a low price. If all the cloth in the summer tax is changed to collect money, I am afraid that there will be those who sell their children and daughters at that time.

Money is used to exchange goods, so we should make it in the cycle of the commodity economy as much as possible, rather than roaming everywhere in society. Agriculture is a weak link in the commodity economy, so it should be protected. The commodity economy is a monster. If there is no reins and it is placed where it should not be, it will bite the society all over.

In this impact, farmers' self-service cooperation is very important, and they are the buffer to protect them.

After all, this society is still an agricultural society. Only when farmers are stable can social stability. When society is stable, the reforms conceived by Xu Ping can proceed smoothly. As long as a small-scale civil unrest occurs due to reform measures, all reforms may die. Xu Ping is promoting his own changes alone in this world and cannot tolerate any mistakes.

After talking to Chen Yaozuo, Xu Ping took Tan Hu and a few guards away from the river beach and arrived at the entrance of Honggou.

Sun Erlang jumped off the big stone and happily ran to him to salute: "Little Sun Erlang, I have seen the deputy envoy."

Xu Ping smiled and said, "I am no longer in Sansi. I am working as a transfer commander at Jingxi Road and I am considered to be on this road."

Sun Erlang touched his head embarrassedly: "I have heard from someone that the joyfulness in the Sansi Shop said that the new Ducao official was the former deputy envoy. I don't believe it, so I even argued with him for a while."

In the eyes of the common people, an official is an official. How big is an official? They have no clear concept. After so many years in this world, Xu Ping has become accustomed to it. He just smiled at Sun Erlang and said nothing. It is already difficult for them to remember themselves, and they should do something for them.

Seeing the furnishings in the hut next to it from outside the door, Xu Ping pointed and said, "Is this your business and sales club?"

"Yes! I'm here now, and I go every time I buy goods!"

"Okay, I'll go in and see if it's okay?"

"Okay, okay, okay, we have all the goods here!"

As Sun Erlang said, he followed in front and led Xu Ping into their small thatched hut trading club.

The villagers around pointed at Xu Ping and discussed it. Some guessed Xu Ping's origin and some guessed his purpose. Seeing Xu Ping's expression was kind, they relaxed and chatted and kept talking.

When I entered the business and sales house, I first saw a large counter, which divided the small house into two. Behind the counter was a row of shelves of several grids, with various goods placed. There were not many goods and the shelves were not full. This was a countryside, and villagers only bought things that they had to buy in daily life, including oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, needles, thread and other toys to coax children to eat.

At the end of the counter are three large jars, the largest one has the word "wine" on it, one is "vinegar" and the other is "sauce". When Xu Ping was in the Salt and Iron Store, the three shops sold soy sauce long ago, but the price is more expensive than ordinary sauce, so the villagers naturally chose cheaper ones.

After seeing this pattern, Xu Ping smiled. The small shop is similar to the convenience store in his previous life. It seems that the most convenient thing for such a small business is this. It has been passed through thousands of years and remains unchanged.

When he arrived at the counter, Xu Ping looked at the various goods placed behind him. Sun Erlang was well-behaved and crawled into the underside of the counter on the other side of the wine tank. He stood behind the counter and just exposed his head, looking at Xu Ping.

Naturally, there is no thing Xu Ping wants to buy here, all of which are cheap goods sold from Sansi Shop. However, local local products, because this trading company does not aim for profit, they will naturally not sell them.

Seeing a booklet on the counter, Xu Ping pointed at Sun Erlang and asked: "Is this a booklet for accounting?"

Sun Erlang nodded vigorously: "Yes, no matter who bought anything, he will have to keep the account!"

"You need to read the bookkeeping. Who do you keep the bookkeeping here?"

Sun Erlang stretched his chest hard: "It's me, I remember all the accounts here! I know a few words, so I roughly remember them."

Xu Ping smiled and said, "It's good to read, but you can know a lot of things when you read. Can I take a look at the account book?"

"Officials need to see it, of course!"

Xu Ping casually opened the account book on the counter and smiled. Sun Erlang said that he was not humble in his rough reading of a few words. Not only did the words on the account book be crooked, but the name of the goods was obviously drawn from the goods.
Chapter completed!