Chapter 917 - 96: The Qihuan Reforms and the Changes Among the Common People

Time flies, and the years pass swiftly.

The entire Great Song, in such a delicate and fragile balance, entered a period of over ten years known as the "Initiation Era of Prosperity."

This leap forward was not without its turbulence; amidst the undercurrents of factional struggles, the new and old forces repeatedly tugged on every policy detail, yet the overall trend, like the river flowing eastward, was irreversible.

The two major economic lifelines, canal transport and maritime trade, fully revitalized under the new system, have become the dual wings lifting the country’s fortunes.

On the canal, a thousand sails compete in the flow.

The standardized warehouses and tax networks of the Cao Sea General Control Department have matured, reducing the grain transport time from Hangzhou to Bianliang by nearly twenty percent compared to the old dynasty, and significantly lowering the loss rate.

Government and private fleets flow continuously, carrying more than just grain.

Jingdezhen’s fine porcelain, Suhang’s silk fabrics, Jiangxi’s summer cloth and paper, and even the official salt from the Two Huai areas, all circulate efficiently along this golden waterway.

The newly emerging towns along the river are like bamboo shoots after rain, with teahouses, inns, carriage and horse offices, and repair docks neighboring each other, supporting a large number of citizens who have left the land.

The canal has truly become a major artery for logistics and wealth.

The sea represents an even broader and imaginative world.

From Japan, south to Zhan City, Sanfoqi, westward to Zhu Nian, the ports where the sea merchants congregate, the silhouette of Kyushu’s sea ships has become a regular sight.

The ships holding "authorization documents" not only bring back spices, gems, and hardwood from the Southern Ocean, silver and sulfur from Japan, fine horses and ginseng from Goryeo, but also continuously import improved rice seeds from Zhan City, sweet potatoes from Lusong, and even intricate mechanical diagrams and mathematical works transmitted from the distant west.

The three major ports of Guangzhou, Quanzhou State, and Mingzhou State are crowded with giant ships, docks being expanded again and again, and the silver treasury of the Maritime Trade Office fills year by year.

Among them are various thoughts of the people.

Which, along with the differing environments and lifestyles, continue to change substantially!

....

Outside Lin’an City, at the canal dock.

As dawn breaks, the steam baskets at "Zhang’s Tea and Meal Shop" by the dock are already steaming hot.

The shopkeeper, Zhang the Fifth, is a lean man in his fifties, having been here since the previous dynasty and witnessed the dead silence of the dock when the Jin Soldiers came, enduring the desolation when the war first settled.

Now, he swiftly hands hot buns and simple tea to the hurried footmen and boat workers, while attentively listening to the idle chatter of the travelers in the tea shed, coming from both north and south.

"Have you heard? Yesterday, the Shunfeng came back from Mingzhou with a shipload of new rice seeds from Lusong, said to yield ten percent more than our local varieties! The officials from the Agriculture Department are urging all villages to collect them, free for the first three years!"

A man wearing a slightly worn silk shirt, seeming to run errands for a commercial firm, sips his hot tea with a loud voice.

Beside him, an old boat worker with a weathered face grunted, "New rice seeds? It’s proper for Heaven’s bounty to feed us!"

"I only trust the strength in these hands."

"But the ’tender ships’ of the Transport Department are becoming increasingly domineering, us old helper boats can hardly secure good berths."

"Old chap, that’s not quite right." Another younger man, resembling an accountant, adjusted his glasses, evidently wanting to show off the new item devised by the Gu Clan, showing pride on his face, "The tender ships deliver goods, timely and with less wastage, the owners love to use them."

"Besides, the Transport Department issued a notice for drawing lots to allocate public berths, strictly prohibiting private occupation, right?"

"I heard the ’investigators’ just caught a few local hoodlums occupying the docks in Zhenjiang last month."

Zhang the Fifth listens quietly, his hands busy.

He knows nothing about rice seeds or berth allocation, but he sees the tangible changes.

Nowadays, those who come to him for breakfast aren’t just the haggard and thin laborers; there are plenty more clerks and accountants dressed cleanly in short outfits, speaking with various regional accents, and even a few young men wearing those blue tunics from the Gu Clan school, eating while debating "tax rates" and "navigation calculations."

The coins they pay with are newly minted "Initiation Currency," substantial, clearly outlined, unlike those badly cast coins from the previous dynasty.

His eldest son, previously carrying heavy loads at the dock, was spotted by a frequent sea merchant from Quanzhou State last year, and followed him aboard a ship, said to go see the Southern Ocean.

Over a year has passed, with only a letter sent back through someone and a few colorful Southern Ocean fabrics.

His wife secretly cries with worry, but Zhang the Fifth keeps the fabric away, feeling a vague sense of pride and hope.

At the very least, it seems his son has taken a completely different path than him, who wielded a shoulder pole and carried heavy loads.

And for today’s Kyushu, going to sea is far from degrading.

Not far away, Zhou’s Silk Cloth Shop opens its door at dawn.

Zhou, the shopkeeper’s only daughter, Zhou Qiao’er, now eighteen, is deftly counting the newly arrived Songjiang fine cloth behind the counter.

Two years ago, she was still a girl who never stepped out of the main gate or second gate, though her family was small, they adhered to feminine virtues.

Change began when her mother fell gravely ill, and the family struggled; coincidentally, the newly opened "Cloud’s Garment Weaving Workshop" in the west of the city was hiring a large number of female workers, with decent wages. Zhou Qiao’er gritted her teeth, went against her parent’s objections, and went there.

The work in the workshop was very tiring; the huge looms still shock her even now when she recalls them.

But the "Gu Clan steward wife" managing the workshop established rules—male and female workers were separated, bullying female workers was forbidden, and daily wages were paid daily.

Zhou Qiao’er, being thoughtful and quick to learn, soon became the loom operator in her group, earning more than ordinary male workers.

She used her earnings to buy medicine for her mother and support the household, gradually, her parents said nothing more, and the neighborhood gossip, faced with tangible silver, gradually faded.