In the early morning of July 1, the 13th year of Yuanping in the Han Empire…
The sun had not yet risen, the sky was pitch black, and the stars were still hanging high in the sky. In the manor at the foot of Longqi Mountain south of the Imperial Capital, four carriages with horse lanterns hanging on them had already driven out of the manor's gate one after another.
"Xiao Wu, be careful on the road. You must deliver the goods to the delivery point in the city on time. You can't delay the shopkeeper's business. Do you understand?" Xu Enda said to the drivers of the following carriages while sitting in the first carriage.
Although the injury on Xu Enda's leg has not yet healed completely, Xu Enda has come to the farm on Longqi Mountain since yesterday and started to help. Last night, everyone worked until midnight and lived in the farm. This morning, when the time came, everyone got up, packed up, ate something to fill their stomachs, and drove the car to be the first batch to enter the city when the gate of Dijing City opened, and deliver the newspapers printed yesterday to the four sending and receiving points in the city. The four sending and receiving points were exactly the four shops in the East, South, West and North cities of Dijing City that were previously owned by Shunyi Bookstore. In the past few days, the four shops were taken back, and the books inside were all sold at a discount. There was almost no need for any transformation, and the four shops became the sending and receiving points of the "Han Empire Times" in Dijing City.
"Don't worry, Brother Xu. Even if our legs are broken, we will deliver these newspapers to the sending and receiving point on time. Besides, Brother Hu and the others are still following us, so nothing will happen..." Xiao Wu, who was driving the carriage, called to Xu Enda from behind.
At this moment, in addition to several thick stacks of newspapers, there were three or four people in each car. The ones driving the car were Xu Enda and his friends, and following the car were a few friends called by Hu Haihe. Those people were all soldiers from the Imperial Mabu Division. Although they had left the Imperial Mabu Division, each of them was a local tyrant in the capital, and they knew everything about it. At this moment, those people were sitting in the car with knives hanging on their waists. When the ordinary gangsters in the imperial capital saw this, they didn't dare to provoke them.
In addition to the coachmen and the guards, there were two writers who wrote articles for newspapers on each carriage. They had to go to the sending and receiving point and were responsible for accounting and newspaper distribution. In addition to writing articles, these writers could also do accounting and other work, so Fang Beidou assigned this task to them. The writers sitting in the carriages were the most excited when they thought that what they wrote would soon appear in various restaurants, teahouses, and streets in the imperial capital and be seen by thousands of people.
Four carriages left Longqi Mountain and got on the official road. After a while, the four carriages separated. One went towards the west gate, one went towards the east gate, and the other two were going to enter from the south gate at the same time. They would separate only after entering the city.
Early in the morning, horse-drawn carriages waiting to enter the Imperial Capital formed long queues at various city gates. Most of those carriages were carrying coal, firewood, rice, and vegetables. A city like the Imperial Capital, from the moment people opened their eyes every day, turned into a behemoth that devoured all kinds of daily necessities. The various materials consumed by the Imperial Capital's millions of people was a huge number. As soon as the city gates were opened every day, those endless supplies would be delivered to the Imperial Capital. The livelihoods of countless people depended on the goods pulled by horse-drawn and ox-drawn carriages.
Mao time is from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. Mao means opening a door. It is also the same as Chinese character Mao, which means the sun coming out. Because rabbits leave their nests at this time to eat dewy grass, all the gates of the imperial capital city are opened at Mao time to let the carriages and horses lined up outside the city enter.
A few days ago, due to the assassination of an important court official in the Imperial Capital, the city's ban became extremely strict. But these days, the heat of the incident has gradually passed, and the soldiers in the Imperial Capital have worked hard for many days but have not caught a single bird, so everyone has gradually become tired, and the city's ban has slowly returned to its previous state. The vehicles entering the city were allowed to enter the city without any difficulties.
What Xu Enda and his companions who were driving the carriages did not notice was that shortly after their carriages entered the city, a group of horse-drawn carriages also arrived at the city gate. Those carriages were also carrying coal, but the coal on those carriages was different from the coal on the other carriages. When the soldiers guarding the city gate saw the coal on those carriages, they all gathered around.
"What is that on your cart?" A flag officer curiously used the iron fork he used to check the coal cart to fiddle with the pieces of stuff on the cart. "Why is this thing round and has a hole on it..."
"Sir, this is coal, lotus root coal..." A man who looked like a manager got off the car and explained to the soldiers at the city gate.
"Why is the coal like this?"
"This is what we process from coal. When paired with a special small stove, it burns better than ordinary coal, is easier to use, and saves money!"
"Really?" Officer Xiaoqi said, and smashed one of the pieces of coal with the iron fork in his hand, then twisted the coal slag inside with his hand, and after checking that there was no problem, he waved his hand, "Go ahead..."
"Thank you, thank you!" With a wave of his hand, a string of horse-drawn carriages carrying carts of lotus root coal entered the city, leaving a group of soldiers at the city gate marveling at the sight.
"Brother Niu, this is really amazing. I didn't expect that a piece of coal could be made into so many things. I just saw the lotus root coal on the car and thought it was a batch of black bricks ordered by a wealthy family in the city. I didn't expect it was something to be burned?" A sergeant guarding the gate came up to the officer with the small flag and said.
The officer with the small flag had just moved his eyes away from the convoy carrying the lotus root coal, touched his chin, and was thinking in his heart, if this lotus root coal is really cheap and easy to burn, then he can try it this winter. Otherwise, the family will spend a lot of money every winter to burn coal for heating...
Xu Enda and his companions' carriage turned left and right and came directly to a street a few miles away from the South City Gate, and stopped in front of a closed shop. Xu Enda got out of the car, took out the key, opened the door lock of a shop on the street, and then they all moved all the newspapers in the car into the shop.
Just after this was done, four or five children aged eleven or twelve came to the shop. They looked curiously at the piles of newspapers in the shop and listened to Xu Enda's lecture.
"You all understand what I said before, right? This newspaper costs six copper coins. Each of you takes 40 copies and sells them in restaurants, teahouses, and streets in South City. After you sell them all, you have to pay back the money you paid for the newspapers. Then you can get the next batch of newspapers. Remember, you can only hand over newspapers to people after you pay them. You can't let people read the newspapers and then return them without paying a copper coin. Do you understand?"
"Got it!" Several teenagers nodded.
"Shout out something so I can hear it..."
"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! The Han Empire Times is freshly published. If you want to know what's happening in the Imperial Capital, come and buy it now..."
"No, no, the voice is too soft, it should be louder. If you shout like that when doing business at home, no one will come. It will only attract flies..."
The teenagers were a little uncomfortable at the beginning and they were a little hesitant to let go, but gradually, they found the feeling and their voices became louder and louder and could be heard within dozens of meters around.
Seeing that the teenagers were almost ready, Xu Enda asked them to put on specially made red newspaper-selling vests, took the newspapers, and went out one by one.
These kids selling newspapers were introduced by friends or relatives of Xu Enda and Hu Haihe, and they also had guarantors. They heard that there was money to be made, at least twenty copper coins a day, with a free lunch, and the work was not hard, and even teenagers could do it. Many people with children at home were tempted and sent their children over to try. Although Dijing City was big, it was not easy for teenagers to find a job to make a living.
…
Just this morning, when many young and old men in the Imperial Capital went out on the streets or sat in teahouses and restaurants, they found that on the streets and even in the restaurants and teahouses, there were several young men wearing red vests shouting, "Newspapers for sale, newspapers for sale, the Han Empire Times is freshly published. If you want to know the big and small things happening in the Imperial Capital, come and buy it quickly..."
(End of this chapter)