Chapter 581 - Continued Travels in East Gate Market

"I didn't expect that your Third Master Liu is not only a famous doctor but also proficient in the art of commerce."

"Third Master is indeed a remarkable man!" The steward praised sincerely. "That Runshitang has its current standing is truly thanks to Third Master's assistance."

"So the Australians are quite capable then."

"Who says otherwise? Farming, manufacturing, fighting, building, trading—they're good at everything. There's hardly anything they can't do."

"Let's go, find a place to rest." Li Luoyou closed his fan.

Gu Baocheng knew his uncle's intention was to do business with the Australians, yet upon arriving at the place for Australian wholesale goods, he remained unmoved. Finding this strange, he hurried to remind Li Luoyou.

"No matter." Li Luoyou shook his head. " This is a wholesale place for small clients; we'll just look." Li Luoyou had his own calculations. He had come specifically to talk business with the Australians; they would certainly give him a much larger discount. Li Luoyou believed the resources in his hands were sufficient to ruthlessly negotiate prices with the Australians.

Just as they were about to leave, there was a commotion at the door. A female clerk from the Cooperative in a blue skirt suit waved a small triangular flag, leading a dozen people bursting in through the main gate.

"Come, honored guests! This is Lingao's largest wholesale market—the Cooperative Main Store! This store possesses over a thousand varieties of goods. From mirrors used by the Empress down to pickles eaten by commoners... Everyone take a good look, all kinds of Australian goods are here, buying them back guarantees profit! It's not easy coming to Lingao; if you don't buy more goods, you'll be letting down your own two legs..."

The female clerk shouted through a triangular paper cone while waving the flag. Following behind was a group of merchant-looking types. Suddenly arriving in such a magnificent and opulent shop, they looked around, somewhat timid and shrinking.

"Everyone drink some tea first, don't stand on ceremony. Look slowly, choose carefully, there is plenty of time." As she spoke, other female clerks were already bringing out tray after tray of cups containing hot tea, herbal tea, kombucha, and kvass, allowing the petty merchants who had just disembarked, queued for half a day at customs, and sat on an ox-cart for a while to recover.

These were petty merchants coming to Lingao to traffic goods. Ever since the rescue of the Hai family's five-masted ship, merchants on board discovered a much closer source of goods, so later they flocked specifically to Lingao to stock up. Xiong Buyou of the External Liaison Department, intending to promote the transmigrator collective's light industrial products, quickly discussed with the Executive Committee: should they organize an "East Gate Market One-Day Tour" for these people?

Thus, this East Gate Market One-Day Tour activity continued. Once petty merchants passed customs, they would be organized, loaded onto specially prepared ox-carts in groups of a dozen, and taken to shop in batches.

The prosperity, cleanliness, and order of East Gate Market opened the petty merchants' eyes. The dazzling array of goods made their hearts itch. There were too many novelties here unseen on the mainland: thick "towels" currently becoming popular among Guangzhou city dwellers, sewing needles with excellent steel tips, snow-white granulated sugar, colorful candies, light, soft, and breathable knitted socks, small wooden sticks that ignited with a simple scratch anywhere without needing flint, snow-white smooth paper... and many various unseen foods and liquors...

The dazzling goods left the petty merchants overwhelmed, each calculating which items could sell for big money back home. But to buy these things, silver and copper coins were useless; here they only accepted "paper slips"—circulation notes.

A long queue formed in the hall of Delung Grain Bank. Petty merchants all ran to Delung, first using silver to buy rice tokens at the day's listed grain price, then exchanging rice tokens for circulation notes at the counter.

Over time, for customer convenience, besides the exchange point at East Gate Market, Delung also set up temporary exchange points in some designated shops.

Previously there was only one Commercial Hall for wholesale shopping. After the Second Plenum, wholesale points expanded to multiple locations, including the "nationalized" Cooperative, Tianchu Sauce Garden, and even Runshitang joined this system accepting large amounts of circulation notes. Yang Shixiang was willing to accept large amounts of circulation notes mainly considering the need to pay for services like buying machines from the transmigrator collective.

There was also a newly opened specialized Rattan Goods Store. It displayed many novel styles of rattan ware never seen before, including various rattan furniture, daily necessities, and tools—Lingao traditionally exported red and white rattan as its largest commodity. Wu Kuangming felt it was a pity to export such good resources only as primary products. He set up a special rattan workshop to develop rattan products. These products had certain specificities requiring large display spaces, making them unsuitable for consignment by the Commercial Hall or Cooperative, so the Ministry of Commerce opened a dedicated rattan store.

After petty merchants selected their goods, the shops collected shipping fees and packed them, then the post office unified collection and consignment. When they boarded Gaoguang Shipping's return boats, the packed goods would already be loaded in the hold.

Gaoguang Shipping's routes also expanded from strictly Guangzhou-Lingao to regular scheduled routes like Guangzhou-Qiongshan, Guangzhou-Xuwen, and Lingao-Qiongshan. This introduced the concept of regular liners and expanded the source of customers.

Under the transmigrator collective's vigorous promotion, the East Gate Market Shopping One-Day Tour gradually gained traction. Petty merchants welcomed such thoughtful arrangements. Merchants coming to Lingao to traffic goods increased; besides those simply bringing cash to purchase, many began bringing goods to trade. Many goods now didn't need Guangzhou procurement but were brought directly by mainland merchants, satisfying not only the transmigrators' needs but also ordinary people's daily necessities. This was also beneficial for Lingao's social supply—the transmigrator collective couldn't manufacture everything themselves.

Li Luoyou watched with interest as this group of petty merchants loudly commented on the goods' quality and calculated potential profits in the store. First-timers didn't know the rules and tried to haggle; the female clerks just pointed to the "No Bargaining" sign with a smile, saying nothing.

The Australians not only welcomed big business but also spared no effort for such small clients, fearing only that care was insufficient. What was the purpose of such practices? And judging from the steward's introduction and his own observations, the Australians didn't like silver; they wanted goods—not silk or porcelain, the most popular export goods, but ordinary commodities: iron, coal, cloth, grain, timber...

He suddenly startled—what the Australians wanted were all necessities for state and people! This thought suddenly intruded into his mind. He thought of when the Jianzhou Jurchens traded with him; they valued grain and iron tools most, often willing to pay high prices—this was similar to the Australians.

Seeing they were somewhat tired coming out of the Cooperative, the steward opened a private room in the Cooperative Restaurant. Li Mei was checking accounts in the restaurant; hearing distinguished guests had arrived, she personally came out to entertain.

Li Luoyou saw this female Australian who "did big business" wearing only a very simple blue cloth skirt and jacket, with ear-length short hair, not a single piece of jewelry on her body, nor an inch of silk. This attire couldn't compare even to a slightly respectable maid in a Guangzhou great household.

Doing such big business yet enjoying such simplicity—Li Luoyou admired this greatly; at least he couldn't do it.

Li Mei knew of this Manager Li's arrival long ago, and was now extremely attentive. She specially presented the highest grade bird's nest coconut milk mixed fruit sweet soup—smooth, fragrant, and cool, containing many unknown fruits, making even Li Luoyou, who didn't favor sweets, feel extremely satisfied. As for Quark, he ate with eyes glazed over.

Li Luoyou sought opportunities to inquire about the Australians' internal affairs, but although this female Australian was attentive, she either diverted his probing questions or merely smiled.

Quite a tough character! Li Luoyou thought. According to the steward's introduction, this Li Mei should be a powerful figure among the Australians, apparently some "Minister." Since they had met, he should curry favor properly; she might be useful in the future.

With this thought, he changed the topic, his words becoming very earnest, and praised the Cooperative's operation. Sure enough, a look of pride appeared on Li Mei's face.

Seeing the timing was about right, Li Luoyou signaled with his eyes. Saoye was prepared and took out a brocade box from his carried bundle.

"A trifling local product from Liaodong, I hope you will accept it with a smile." He cupped his hands. "In the future, there will be many areas needing Minister Li's care."

"Where do you start? You are too polite, sir—" Li Mei smiled like a flower. Taking the box and opening it, she saw a ginseng root with full whiskers and leaves. Even by this spacetime's value, it was an expensive gift.

This made her hesitate. Recently she did want to buy a few ginseng roots for herself and her husband for winter tonic use. But according to regulations, valuable gifts had to be turned over; if she wanted to keep it, she had to buy it at market price. She didn't begrudge the money—this ginseng was of such good quality that buying it herself would be a bargain. But this Manager Li's relationship with their side wasn't clear yet; would accepting the gift rashly cause any sequelae? She had suffered once before, so she had to be cautious in this regard.

After considering again and again, she returned the ginseng.

"This gift is too heavy," she said. "I am ashamed to receive it."

Despite repeated offers, the other party still politely refused. Li Luoyou used ginseng as a brick to knock open doors; it worked everywhere, yet now the other party strictly refused. He was quite surprised.

Li Mei exchanged pleasantries with them a bit longer before excusing herself. A while later, someone brought four cotton bags. The bags were exquisitely made, with dense and neat stitching. On the bags, colored silk threads embroidered the words: "With Compliments of the Cooperative."

"This is a small token from Minister Li."

Not accepting his gift, but giving him a gift instead. Wondering, he opened it to see the most popular and mass-market Australian product: one large and one small towel. Blue and white patterns, dyed very fastidiously.

Although popular Australian goods and quite practical in a place like Lingao, they were ultimately low-value items. Sending them specially—was there some significance?

These Australians' minds were truly different. Li Luoyou had a strange feeling: he had more common language with the Jianzhou Jurchens; at least he could understand the barbarians' thinking. With this group, he felt completely lost.

"Go, let's stroll some more." Li Luoyou waved his fan.

Reaching a crossroads, he saw a building made of the best red bricks. Asking, he learned this was the place managing market trade. There were people standing guard at the door, likely a yamen-like place. But commoners went in and out the main entrance steps, and the guards didn't stop or question them. Interested, Li Luoyou wanted to go in and look.

"Nothing to see inside," the steward said. "Just places for handling affairs."

"No matter, I just want to see how affairs are handled." Saying so, he stepped onto the stairs.

This yamen indeed wasn't much to see. Australian buildings used massive amounts of glass for windows, so rooms were always bright. This made Li Luoyou, accustomed to dim interiors, uncomfortable; he couldn't imagine handling affairs in such a room.

In the center was a large table displaying three items: a huge balance scale with many weights beside it; a ruler seemingly made of steel; and a small bucket made of sheet iron.

Before the large table stood a sign reading "Public Scales." According to the steward, this was specifically for standard measures. Anyone buying or selling on the street who doubted dimensions or weight could come here to re-check. If they didn't know how, specialized clerks would help.

Li Luoyou nodded, approaching to examine closely. The measurements seemed different from the Great Ming's. Looking carefully, the ruler's graduations were called "gongchi" (meter), the weights "gongjin" (kilogram), and another unit "gongshi" (quintal); the small bucket was volume, called "gongsheng" (liter).

"These weights and measures must be brought from Australia."

"Must be." The steward said. "Different from this dynasty's standards." He pointed at the meter ruler. "This ruler is about three chi and a bit of this dynasty's construction ruler."

"And they just use it like this?"

"Since East Gate Market opened, these three measures were set up," the steward said. "Originally, whether a foot was long or short, a catty heavy or light, everyone claimed theirs was most accurate. With these three measures, there's a standard. In trading, there's no dispute over quantity—those unconvinced just come here to weigh and measure. Everyone found it convenient, so they all use it."

Privately establishing weights and measures. Li Luoyou added another crime to the Australians. Turning around, he saw a large room on the left of the atrium separated by a waist-high wooden fence. The fence had a gate, currently locked. Inside were long tables arranged in a horseshoe shape. The middle table sat high above. On the wall behind the middle table hung a huge wood carving, looking somewhat like a European coat of arms. On top was a red sun, in the middle a balance scale, below were wave patterns.

"Looks like a court." Quark suddenly said.

This reminded Li Luoyou; it indeed looked very much like a European court. Asking, it really was a "place for judging cases," formally called "East Gate Market Summary Court."

According to the steward, this court specifically managed all sorts of trivial cases: littering, fighting, short weights, theft, also handling small trade disputes and issuing notarized documents. Trials were simple: a few words, facts clear, immediate judgment. Half a day could clear a dozen cases.

General public order cases had no plaintiffs or defendants; the court judged and closed them directly. For instance, theft caught by police was just a formality in court; judgment read, then dragged directly to the labor reform team as free coolie labor. As for cases with plaintiffs and defendants, both sides had to pay money first to buy standard official paper to fill out complaints. This official paper was unified format, unified printing; all legal documents were written on this paper.

"They handle notarized documents here?" Li Luoyou suddenly interjected.

"Yes, they do, but few people do it. Most don't quite understand..." The steward pointed to a row of framed notices on the wall. "It's all written up there."

"Go, let's take a look." Li Luoyou called to Quark.

Li Luoyou read carefully, exchanging a few words with Quark occasionally. Quark could speak Chinese but not read it, judging only by Li Luoyou's translation.

"...From what you say, this group of Australians uses a European legal system." Li Luoyou said. "At least Great Ming doesn't have notarized documents."

"Indeed, and these statutes. If the Australians wrote these, the drafters must be very familiar with Roman Law and various continental codes." Quark said. "I only know a little law, but based on what you say, the Australian judicial system clearly relates to Europe, but is different." He shook his head. "I have a feeling they might be more advanced than us."

"More advanced than your motherland?" Li Luoyou joked.

"Hehe, how can my motherland compare." Quark didn't hide it. "If an overseas colony can achieve this, who knows what the mother country looks like. I really want to go see."

Coming out of the administration office, the sun was gradually slanting west. Pedestrians on the street had dispersed somewhat. The streets became empty and quiet. Quark bought some trinkets on the street, saying he planned to send them back as gifts.

Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound came from the sky, from far to near, as if some monster was screaming one after another. Gu Baocheng's face turned pale. Li Luoyou also felt a chill, just about to check the source. The steward hurriedly reassured: "No matter! It's the steam whistle for the morning shift getting off work."

The whistling sound, one long and one short, rang seventeen times. Shortly after, groups of people in oil-stained blue coarse cloth clothes began to multiply on the roads. Like a tide, they instantly crowded the entire East Gate Market.

Workers laughed and talked loudly, flocking into cheap wine shops and eateries. Roadside snack stalls also perked up, shouting their wares with vigor.

East Gate Market was instantly filled with a strange mix of sweat, oil, and food aromas. The street market, which had grown somewhat lonely, instantly became vibrant again.

(End of Chapter)