After broadcasting the ancient times live, I handed the system over to the state.

"By the Song Dynasty, some of the grass markets had their trading hours extended, and some even gradually evolved into residential areas. With more people, did these places become villages, towns, or even county towns? And did these grass markets located nearby become new commercial districts with streets?"

Yi Mei gave an example: "To give a very clear example, which is also recorded in historical records, is Nancaoshi in Ezhou. Because of the rise of the Yangtze River waterway, it eventually became a scale of tens of thousands of households along the river."

"At first, the trade consisted of aquatic products or daily necessities such as salt and wine. As more people came, food and beverage facilities were added, and the place completely transformed into a huge commercial complex, just like a shopping mall in later generations."

"They could eat, drink, and have fun, and they could also do business. You can imagine how bustling the business was."

As Yi Mei narrates, everyone can imagine this scene. Although "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is not a bustling market, everyone can still deduce that scene from here.

Soon after, Yi Mei also played a short video.

This video was filmed directly at the grass market. The vendors on both sides of the river were calling out their wares, and the boats on the river were constantly coming and going. The grass market was crowded with people, and you could even hear a merchant talking to another person about where to store goods at a cheaper price...

Under the Canopy

(Oops, isn't that me? They actually took a picture of me!)

(Haha, even though it's just a silhouette, you can tell it's not me, right?)

(If it were still during the Tang Dynasty, how could we be so happy?)

……

The screen was instantly filled with comments from people from the Song Dynasty.

Few people were resentful, because a dynasty that could send bullet comments must also be able to see the sky, and they dared to say that sooner or later their dynasty would also change.

Who doesn't want their life to get better? Even monarchs wish they had more money in their hands.

However, those dynasties that already had markets and other similar systems weren't in a hurry, as there were plenty of ways to earn money back then.

"Once the business environment was opened up, it also attracted a large influx of people, including merchants from all over the country and even people from other places..." Her stick gently pointed to a corner of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".

Here, people even saw camel caravans of Hu people who frequently engaged in trade.

The people under the canopy brightened up, realizing they had found the perfect way to appreciate the painting.

"According to records, during the Xining era of the Northern Song Dynasty, the government's fiscal revenue from agricultural taxes fell to around 30%. By the Chunxi era of the Southern Song Dynasty, non-agricultural taxes had even reached as high as 85%. Therefore, among all the dynasties, the Song Dynasty is the only one in which commercial taxes exceeded agricultural taxes."

Yi Mei said.

The Song Dynasty emperor sitting below looked proud, finally regaining some of his confidence.

"Leaving aside other factors, just considering the total cultivated area, it was definitely more in the Song Dynasty than in the Tang Dynasty."

As Yi Mei finished speaking, a subtle smile appeared on her usually serious face.

Zhu Qinggu seems to have learned something, such as land annexation. The Song Dynasty had the most arable land at the beginning, but it decreased instead of increasing later. Some fields were encroached upon, and even the fields of the Xiangjun or Jinjun garrisons were forcibly bought and sold.

This kind of thing wasn't unique to the Song Dynasty; it was common in every dynasty except the Song Dynasty.

"As you have seen in the Industrial Revolution, what drives technological development? It is also profit. And now, the increase in arable land is also prompting the improvement of farming tools and technology."

"The increased efficiency led to the development of handicrafts and commerce. Due to the geographical location of Bianjing (Kaifeng) in the Song Dynasty, long-distance transportation also began to flourish. What kind of changes would this bring?"

Yi Mei spoke softly, guiding everyone to think of the following answer.

The people below had already spoken out in unison—

"Jiaozi", "Huizi", "Qianyin"...

“That’s right!” Yi Mei nodded. “At that time, the currency used was still precious metal currency such as copper coins and iron coins. However, it was inconvenient to carry so many coins for large transactions, so another commercial credit mechanism gradually emerged in the transactions.” Yi Mei asked everyone to look at the screen.

The above is a relevant record fragment, which mentions credit instruments such as trading tokens, tea tokens, salt tokens, and incense tokens.

Then these things gradually evolved into something new—a bill of exchange.

Finally, the paper money was invented.

"At this time, due to many cross-regional and even cross-border transactions, the government established a sound financial institution. This institution was called 'factory affairs' and is also reflected in 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival', right here where the character '解' is written."

She displayed the Qingming Scroll once again, and this time everyone could see it clearly.

Those sitting below remained silent, as Yi Mei was simply describing their daily lives, while for the Tang Dynasty officials, it was merely something new to see.

Sitting below, Zhu Qinggu also felt that many modern things had already taken shape in ancient times. Over thousands of years of development, apart from the unchanged social system, many other aspects have changed.

When I first started reading the novel, I saw that every time traveler had to boil salt and castrate pigs. In fact, pig castration existed as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, and people in those times knew that castrating pigs would make them fat and delicious.

The method of boiling salt has existed for a long time.

Later, Zhu Qinggu learned why people in ancient times, even though they knew that castrating pigs could make them fat, didn't eat much pork—it was because the breeds of pigs in ancient times were different.

The reason why modern pigs don't taste as gamey is because they are specially bred breeds.

There's also salt boiling. The reason why salt boiling wasn't widespread in ancient times was because it required firewood, and back then, which piece of land didn't belong to the landlord?

Even the trees in the wild belonged to the government. Some dynasties even had a period of rest for logging. Of course, it wasn't that trees couldn't be cut down everywhere. In short, boiling salt consumed a lot of firewood, and later they all turned to sun-drying salt.

Actually, people in ancient times didn't always wear long robes in the hot summer; they wore relatively light clothing at home...

As Zhu Qinggu travels through different times, he gains more and more knowledge.

Looking back now, it's quite amusing how cautious they were when they first traveled through time to the Tang Dynasty.

The above Yi Mei not only describes these contents, but also goes on to expand on some economic characteristics of the Northern Song Dynasty from the map.

First came the water transport network, then the street markets, and then portable currency... all of these together constituted the economy of the Northern Song Dynasty.