Ang Lee was about to leave Cordova. Before he left, he naturally had to prepare some local specialties. He would bring some famous local specialties back. Among them, he would bring less fruits because they were easy to spoil. He would bring more delicacies that could be stored for a long time back to the Tang dynasty and give them to his favorite people as gifts.
Most of these local specialties were selected by his subordinates. Only a few products were selected by Ang Lee himself. Because the Tang dynasty soldiers were strictly disciplined and did not offend the people, the local people were somewhat reluctant to part with them after learning that the Tang dynasty soldiers were about to leave.
After all, the Tang dynasty soldiers were too kind to them. Not only did they take care of the local people's business, but they also showed their various weapons to the people. Even when naughty children climbed onto the roof of the armored vehicles, the Tang dynasty soldiers did not make things difficult for them. Instead, they very politely asked the children to be careful and not fall down. With such care, it was no wonder that the local people had a good impression of the Tang dynasty soldiers.
However, the Tang dynasty soldiers still had to leave. They could not stay just because the local people were reluctant to let them leave. It was time for the soldiers to return to the Tang dynasty and reunite with their families.
"Assistant Minister Li, did you see that? The people here are very polite to the Tang dynasty soldiers. I heard that they are reluctant to let the Tang dynasty soldiers leave. Many people have repeatedly asked them to stay! "
While shopping, the subordinate looked at Ang Lee and said.
Li An smiled and said, "That goes without saying. Our soldiers are a group of Gods of Fortune. They eat, drink, and look for women. They don't care about money at all. Is there anyone in the world who hates Gods of Fortune? Hahaha! "
This was true. Because the Tang dynasty soldiers were treated better and had a higher salary, they had enough spare money to be carefree and happy. Moreover, the number of Tang dynasty soldiers was not small. Weren't they a group of Gods of Fortune? Moreover, they were very high-quality Gods of Fortune. How could the local people, especially the businessmen, dislike the Tang dynasty soldiers? When they heard that such a large group of Gods of Fortune was going to leave, of course, they were reluctant to let them go.
"Assistant Minister Li is right. Our soldiers are the Gods of Fortune in front of the local people. Hahaha!"
The subordinate said and laughed. He was in a good mood.
The streets of Cordoba were the largest and best in the entire Rahman Kingdom. The number of merchants and peddlers was relatively high, and there were all kinds of local specialties. Although the scale of this place was far inferior to the Great Tang's Chang 'an and the Eastern and Western Markets, it was still very good in the region of Europe.
This was the huge gap between the East and the West. In later generations, the West might be synonymous with power and advanced technology. But in the era of the Tang dynasty, whether it was technology, culture, economy, or military, the East's Tang dynasty was the most powerful. When a big country was mentioned, the first thing that came to mind was the Tang Empire.
At this time, the customs of Europe were relatively simple. There were fewer people who committed crimes. The people were more trustworthy. They rarely cheated. They would never cheat the soldiers of the Tang dynasty. The goods were sold for as much as they were worth, and there were even extra discounts.
Beef was a relatively common food in the local area. It was not expensive. An ordinary soldier of the Tang dynasty could buy five catties of beef in a day's salary. The local people working in the local area could buy half a catty of beef in a day's salary. The difference between the two was ten times.
Of course, for those rich businessmen, it was not a problem to buy a hundred catties of beef in a day's salary. But these rich businessmen were a minority. The proportion of them in the population was less than one percent.
Most of the small businessmen and workers had lower incomes. In other words, there were not many people who were richer than the soldiers of the Tang dynasty in the whole of Cordova. Only in this way could the rich treatment of the soldiers of the Tang dynasty be reflected.
There were also some bold people who took the initiative to chat with the soldiers of the Tang dynasty and ask about the income of the soldiers of the Tang dynasty. When they learned that the income of the most ordinary soldier of the Tang dynasty was ten times that of their own, many local workers wanted to join the army of the Tang dynasty.
Unfortunately, Ang Lee did not plan to recruit local soldiers. Otherwise, he could easily recruit tens of thousands of soldiers. It was clear that as long as the treatment was good, there was nothing that could not be done.
The reason why the ordinary soldiers of the Tang dynasty could be treated so well was inseparable from the huge national strength of the Tang Empire. Because the Tang dynasty was rich enough and had sufficient financial support, the ordinary soldiers' income could reach such a high position.
For example, in a big country in the future, the ordinary people's income was about ten times that of the Hua Xia. That was because they had the national strength. Therefore, their wages were generally higher. If the national strength was weak and the economy and technology were not developed enough, high wages would not be able to support the people's lives.
Therefore, the development of high-tech industries was very important. Only with a huge high-tech industry could it be possible to let the people live better and better lives and earn a lot of wealth for the country.
Hua Xia has been relatively rich since ancient times because we have mastered a lot of core technologies that others have not mastered, such as silk technology and porcelain technology. These are the quintessence of Hua Xia. For thousands of years, Hua Xia has been superior to other countries in high-tech industries.
Take silk as an example. This technology was monopolized by the ancestors of Hua Xia for thousands of years. During these thousands of years, all live silkworms and related technologies were strictly prohibited from being exported. Otherwise, it would be a capital offense.
Because the countries in the west had never been able to obtain live silkworms, they could not develop the silkworm industry. As for developing silk, it was even more impossible to talk about.
In this way, Hua Xia's silk could be sold to the western countries at a relatively high price, making enough money for the Tang dynasty.
It was said that in the ancient Roman era, Hua Xia's silk had already spread to the west. At that time, the price of Hua Xia's silk was equal to that of gold. In other words, one jin of silk could be exchanged for one jin of gold. It was obvious how expensive it was.
According to some people in the future, selling silk was more enjoyable than selling heroin. It was too easy to make money. Since it was so easy to make a lot of money, why didn't the western countries do this business?
This involved the blocking of technology and commercial monopoly. All the people in Hua Xia who were involved in the silkworm industry had to have a certificate. The imperial court was completely aware of the situation of these people. These technical talents were not allowed to leave Hua Xia without the imperial court's permission. This was to prevent these technical talents from wandering to the small western countries and bringing their technology over.
In addition, the most important thing in the silk industry was silkworm babies. Without silkworms, the silk industry would not be able to develop. The dynasties of Hua Xia had ordered that silkworm babies were not allowed to be taken out of the country. Otherwise, it would be a felony.
In this way, silk could only be the only industry in Hua Xia. It was a profiteering industry that no one else could control. It could lead Hua Xia to prosperity.
Silk originated from Hua Xia. This was an undisputed matter. Silkworm breeding naturally originated from Hua Xia. It was said that silkworm breeding had already begun as early as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. It was the Emperor's wife, Leizu, who invented the technology of silkworm breeding.
As for who invented the finished product of silk, there had always been a controversy. No one could determine the inventor of silk. Some people also regarded Leizu as the inventor of silk. After all, it was Leizu who invented the technology of silkworm breeding.
However, the archaeology of later generations was certain that silk appeared five to six thousand years ago, which was the period of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. By the time of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, which were recorded in civilization, silk technology had developed to a considerable level. There were even complicated jacquard fabrics.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the development of silk was even more powerful. The unification of the Qin and the establishment of a centralized system laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Han Dynasty. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the implementation of the policy of cultivation with the people promoted the rapid development of the economy. The large-scale official silk industry was established. Its products mainly satisfied the needs of the palace and the government. The private silk industry also developed greatly. Some workshops formed their own product characteristics and popularity. The silk production area developed compared to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty, Sichuan brocade in the southwest region became a nationally famous silk product.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, not only did the silk industry develop greatly, but with the large-scale expansion of China's influence in the Han Dynasty, the silk trade and export reached an unprecedented level of prosperity. During the Emperor Wu period, he attacked the Xiongnu in the north and controlled the Hexi Corridor leading to the Western Regions. Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions twice to communicate with the interior of the Central Plains and the Western Regions. The promotion of trade further developed the economic and cultural exchanges between the Central Plains and the frontier, China and its neighbors, and thus formed the famous Silk Road.
The development of silk in the Tang Dynasty was naturally more developed. It could be said that during the Tang Dynasty, the development of silk had entered a period of prosperity. Whether it was the output, quality, or variety, they had all reached an unprecedented level.
Moreover, in order to increase the income of the empire, the Silk Road increased to three channels, and the frequency of trade also increased unprecedentedly. It could even be said that the prosperity of the silk trade promoted the prosperity of the Tang Empire. The silk trade played an important role in the prosperity of the Tang Empire. Without the silk trade, there would not be the brilliant civilization of the Tang Dynasty.
Of course, in addition to the huge profits of the silk trade, Hua Xia also had monopolized industries such as ceramics and papermaking, which could also make a lot of money.
For example, the raw material of ceramics was only mud. After burning it with fire, it would become exquisite porcelain, which could be sold at a high price. Especially exquisite ceramics with patterns and thoughts, they could be sold for more than gold.
A lot of porcelain from the Tang and Song Dynasties were unearthed by archaeologists in later years, and they were all intact. Any one of them was priceless.
It was the same for papermaking. It should be known that the materials of papermaking were also very poor, such as rotten leaves, rotten fish nets, and other materials. After a little mixing of these materials and processing, they could make exquisite paper, thus making money for Hua Xia.
Of course, in the end, due to an accident, many of the Tang Empire's technologies were leaked. For example, Silkworm Babies were not allowed to leave seclusion, but someone secretly hid Silkworm Babies in wooden crutches, thus avoiding the detection of the soldiers at the checkpoint. This allowed Silkworm Babies to take root in the countries in the west, giving Huaxia's silk a competitor.
However, because of the water and soil, the quality of silkworm in the western countries was always not as good as that of Hua Xia. The quality of silk was also very different. Therefore, Hua Xia's silk was still very popular, but the value was inevitably reduced.
Papermaking technology had not been leaked in Ang Lee's era. Of course, this was entirely because of Ang Lee's arrival. Otherwise, it would have been leaked.
In history, the paper-making technique was leaked in the middle of the Great Tang's reign. After the defeat at the Battle of Talas, a portion of the Tang soldiers were captured by the Abbasid Caliphate and escorted to the western countries. Some of these captured soldiers had the technology to make paper, and for the sake of a better life, they chose to offer up their papermaking technology. While being valued, they also brought the money-making technology to the Abbasid Caliphate.
Of course, the ceramics technology was leaked in the end. After all, there was no technology in the world that could not be leaked, and all technologies had the possibility of being leaked. It was already very difficult for Hua Xia's technology to maintain its superiority for a thousand years.
This also meant that only by maintaining a monopoly on technology could one live the best lives and allow the common people of one's country to become rich.
The Hua Xia of the future was relatively poor primarily because many of the new technologies were in the hands of other countries. And these countries naturally would not leak their technology to Hua Xia. Moreover, they would sell their high-tech products at several times the price so that the common people of Hua Xia would have to foot the bill.
Because they have high technology, they can raise the price unscrupulously to squeeze us dry. However, the price of our low-end products must be very low. It is already very good to have a profit of a few percent, not to mention several times or even dozens of times the profit.
Products that had a monopoly on technology could be sold for ten times the profit without fear. If you weren't willing to buy, you wouldn't be able to obtain it. Meanwhile, companies that produced low-end products had to sell them at very low prices. If the price was too high, no one would buy them. In any case, there were many countries that could produce low-end products, so there was plenty of room for choice.
In his last life, whenever Ang Lee thought about how all the new technologies were in the hands of other countries, he would always feel a little melancholy and unhappy. But after coming to the Tang Dynasty, Ang Lee's resentment was instantly swept away.
Even if he didn't start industrialization, just the technology of the Tang Dynasty alone was enough to surpass all the other countries. This unique sense of pride made Ang Lee very happy.
"Cordoba's beef is very good. I should buy some more and bring it back."
Ang Lee walked up to a beef stall and said.
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