Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 354 Heluo Wind and Thunder 7
"Clap clap clap clap..."

Amidst bursts of crisp firecrackers, the Nanyang Parliament Building, located in the center of Nanyang City, was officially put into use.The building has been under construction since January, and its structure is quite simple. It is just an oval white hall, covered with milky white floor tiles, with three-dimensional glass windows as tall as a person, without a single pillar.There are hundreds of tables arranged in an arc in the hall, which is enough to accommodate thousands of people for a meeting. In the center of the hall, there is a podium specially used for speeches, which is one meter higher than the entire hall, and it is specially used for big names to speak.By the way, Yang Menglong still didn't know where to find some ancient paintings, no matter if they were real or fake, they just pasted them on the wall, and the work was considered completed.Overall, this building, whose overall structure is a bit like the Dome of the Rock, can be regarded as a successful building. It uses a lot of steel bars and cement, which is very strong, and the interior is spacious and bright. What about a meeting here? Yes, it must be very comfortable.

Not to mention, it's just for meetings.Amidst the noise, the county magistrates, township heads, and town heads of the thirteen counties in Nanyang, businessmen with huge investments in Nanyang, gentry and celebrities, and even the people of Nanyang Fucheng gathered together in a hall that could only seat a thousand people. Heck, 3000 people were squeezed out, and basically every place where people could stand was full of people.Now that the autumn harvest is over, Mr. Fang said that he would report the results of the first half of the year to the entire Nanyang Mansion, and at the same time discuss with everyone the development plan for next year. This is really novel.Common people don't know what's the use of opening this, development?Isn't it better to plant more wheat when the weather is good, and to plant some rapeseed crops when the wheat is harvested?The common people have been living like this for thousands of years, so there is no need to discuss it?Never mind, Mr. Fang said that everyone should come to the meeting, so come here!

After everyone was seated, Fang Yizhi walked up to the rostrum with a group of military and political dignitaries from Nanyang Mansion smiling.Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see that bastard Yang Menglong was among them, waving to everyone solemnly.Everyone chuckled and applauded unanimously. Yang Menglong was very satisfied with this.

After the applause paused, Yang Menglong said to Fang Yizhi: "Let's start."

Fang Yizhi was a little uncomfortable: "I... I don't know what to say, Mr. Zhang, you come first."

Zhang Tong looked at the huge crowd of people, felt trembling in his heart, and waved his hands again and again: "No, no, sir, you are the highest official in Nanyang, of course you are the first to speak, how can I steal your limelight?" ?”

Fang Yizhi said: "My throat is a little uncomfortable, please say a few words for me first."

Zhang Tong said: "No, no, adults should come first."

Yang Menglong muttered: "Really, I can't do such a small thing!" He stood up and said loudly: "Everyone, we have asked Mr. Fang to report to you this year's grain output and financial expenditure! Everyone applauds!" After that, I took the lead in applauding myself.In fact, the grain output and fiscal expenditure have never been announced before. How much grain was harvested and how much tax was collected were all a mess. Now that they are being announced, everyone is naturally curious and applauded. .Fang Yizhi had no choice but to open the documents in front of him, coughed and said, "Dear colleagues and fellow squires, Nanyang has suffered another severe drought this year. It has not rained heavily for two whole months. Fortunately, In the past two years, all villages and towns have been actively drilling irrigation wells and building canals, and farmland irrigation has been effectively guaranteed. Coupled with sufficient fertilizer, we have achieved a bumper harvest!"

"This year, Nanyang Prefecture has harvested 120 million shi of wheat, 80 shi of cotton, 280 shi of sweet potatoes, [-] million shi of potatoes, [-] shi of rapeseed, and [-] shi of beets..."

The statistical report was written in a very simple and clear way, and Fang Yizhi just read it.At the beginning, everyone was still in a daze, but they quickly realized that every time he reported a number, there would be thunderous applause from below, including the county magistrates sitting beside him, who were all excited and applauded.They all knew that Nanyang had a bumper harvest this year, but they didn't dare to imagine that the harvest would be so huge!So much food is enough to feed the whole Nanyang for several years!Farmers in ancient times worked very hard. They often had to harvest three consecutive years before they could save a year's surplus of grain. Once floods, droughts, locusts, and hailstorms caused a large reduction in grain production, famine would occur.Now that they have heard that so much food has been harvested, can they be unhappy?
Fang Yizhi was also excited by the series of exaggerated figures, and his voice raised a lot: "This year, Nanyang Prefecture should pay as much as 30 shi for grain and 11 taels of tax and silver, all of which have been paid as early as a month ago. ..."

Everyone shouted excitedly: "Okay!!!" From the time they can remember to the present, probably this year has been easy, no wolf-like tax collectors came to the door to force them, no miserable crying, and no one They sold their wives and daughters and even hanged their families. It was so easy to pay off the wheat storage tax before it was due!

Fang Yizhi said: "Potato noodles accounted for the vast majority of all the food that was handed over. From this we can see that potato planting is promising. All county magistrates must pay close attention to potato planting work when they go back. It is best to let everyone Farmers plant a season of potatoes every year, which is related to the stability and prosperity of Nanyang Prefecture, and must be treated with caution!"

All the county magistrates nodded again and again, saying that they must pay close attention to planting potatoes in the future.

Fang Yizhi went on to read: "The two 50-jin steel-making blast furnaces in Wuyang County broke ground two months ago and are expected to be put into operation in February next year. By then, Nanyang will have the capacity to produce 3000 million jin of steel every month. ability, from now on we can completely say goodbye to stone and wooden farm tools!"

Everyone ecstatically shouted: "Good!!!" No matter how stupid people are, they know that steel is a good thing. With enough steel, they can have excellent knives and agricultural tools, greatly improve their productivity, and live a much easier life.It's just that those guys who are in the steel business don't look very good. The two 250-ton steel-making high-grain production in Wuyang is naturally great news for the common people, but it is no less than a disaster for them—— —Who can compete with this behemoth! ?Even if they all join forces, they will only be hanged and beaten!

The data on the report is very nice. Through the series of numbers, everyone knows that Nanyang has built no less than 150 kilometers of cement roads. It is estimated that in June next year, a cement road with a total mileage of 40 kilometers will be completed. It will be fully completed. This kilometer is centered on Nanyang City, connecting thirteen counties together. Taking a horse-drawn carriage, they can reach any corner of Nanyang within two days, which is several times faster than before.The phosphate fertilizer factory in Tongbai County has been put into operation, producing 6 tons of phosphate fertilizer every month, plus the Wuyang side, enough to supply the four counties of Wuyang, Biyang, Tongbai, and Ye County.The phosphate fertilizer factory at Chengguan in Nanyang will be put into operation in three months, with a monthly production of 54 tons of phosphate fertilizer, plus dozens of tons of bone meal shipped back from Shaanxi every month and various supplies provided by the Heluo Xinjun poultry farm. The manure is enough to meet the fertilizer needs of Nanyang. In other words, the common people no longer need to worry about the lack of fertilizer.Nanyang has built as many as 10,000 new factories with more than [-] employees this year, plus the number of factories opened in the past two years, the number of factories in Nanyang has reached an astonishing [-] or more, and it is still showing a strong growth momentum...Agriculture and The inevitable result of the thriving industry is the influx of people from the surrounding areas. In the first half of the year, the population from Shaanxi, Jingxiang and other places flooded in, and the population registered in Nanyang reached an astonishing [-]. As for those who came to work, they were not counted. Inside.Now Nanyang's population has reached [-], a full increase of [-]+ compared to three years ago.This large population means a huge market, and the prospect of Nanyang Prefecture is promising.

Fang Yizhi's speech drew unusually warm applause, and everyone was so excited that they applauded and applauded vigorously until their palms turned red.Who doesn't want to make their hometown prosperous and strong, everyone is very happy to see Nanyang develop so well.Then, the county magistrates also reported on their achievements in the past six months, so that everyone can know how their county is developing.The best developed one is Wuyang, where light and heavy industries and agriculture are fully blooming, and grain harvests are bumper year after year. Among the taxes paid by Nanyang Prefecture, Wuyang pays one third.Biyang is also good. A large amount of cultivated land has been reclaimed, and the water canals that have been in disrepair for a long time have been repaired, making Biyang faintly have the potential to become Nanyang's granary.The situation in Xixia County is relatively bad. It is close to Shaanxi, and there are a large number of refugees passing through the border every year. The law and order has not been improved. In addition, there are many mountains and little land. It is not easy to get rich.However, the charcoal and dogwood in Xixia County have also become famous in Nanyang. Many blacksmith shops have to order a large amount of charcoal from them. Winter is the best-selling season for charcoal. Everyone relies on charcoal for heating. As long as they persevere, this county will surely survive. Have a good day.

Yang Menglong also generously reported the situation of the Heluo New Army: Wuyang Guard has completed the expansion, with 200 soldiers, 60 horses, 26 mules and horses, [-] camels, and [-] camels. Tian is expected to reach [-] mu within this year, and military households will reach [-].The number of military households in Luoyang has reached [-], and the military farmland has reached [-] mu... All walks of life in Nanyang gave him warm applause. It will be unreservedly loved by the people, not to mention that this army can not only support itself, but also create countless jobs for the local area!
"Wuyang Wei and Luoyang Wei have opened a total of 26 health schools, one for each thousand households, with a total of [-] students enrolled. In one month, there will be a school like Nanyang Technical School Starting construction in Fucheng, all students will enter these two schools for further study after completing four to six years of basic education!" Yang Menglong was in high spirits, and he was so proud that he was in a mess.What a great cause it is to provide tens of thousands of people with the opportunity to receive education. He is so proud that he has done it!Those military households burst into tears.Who doesn't want their children to excel?They have had enough of the hardships of not being educated, and now that their children have met a nobleman, they don't have to be illiterate like them for a lifetime!
However, someone immediately questioned: "General Yang, you are very good at setting up a school to teach and educate people, but as far as I know, the children who go to school are not only descendants of military households, but also many children of ordinary peasant households." ——Of course, I am very happy that farmers can send their children to study, but many children are from other places, so you also treat them equally and let them study in the health school, isn’t it a bit inappropriate?”

Yang Menglong asked: "What's wrong?"

The one said: "We business people have donated money to run the health school. We hope that the health school can provide us with a large number of talents who can write, calculate, and understand various technologies in a few years. No problem, but those children who come to study from other places, can they really be used by us? We bear a large part of the cost of their education. If they leave after finishing their studies, we will lose everything gone?"

From the Nanyang Technical School to the health schools in various health centers, businessmen and even local gentry have borne more than half of the funds. Firstly, they want to please Yang Menglong. Secondly, they naturally hope that these schools can really do what Yang Menglong said. They provide a large number of talents to make their career bigger and bigger.After spending money, of course they want to get something in return. Those children who may run away after finishing their studies naturally become the object of their worries. If you run away, where can I get back the investment?
(End of this chapter)