Lu Ming

Xiong Dao stood on the bank of the river with his hands behind his back, looking at the rolling waves of the river, but he heard the sound of chant on the construction site behind him.The voice was very loud, and the folk husbands were full of spirits, even the noisy waves couldn't cover it up.

Turning around to look at the construction site in full swing, and then turning his head to look at the field to the west that was still being plowed vaguely, Xiong Dao couldn't help but sigh: since the deduction can't make any good results, then let's admit it honestly.With my current level of bronze level strength, don't pretend to be a hero to toughen up the king.In the end, the entire opening of Hong Kong was implicated, and the public and private parties suffered a great loss.

After figuring this out, Xiong Dao stopped being hypocritical and immediately started a series of adjustments.

First of all, he found Feng Guanjie, and then told him clearly: the operation to take the land to the west will be suspended, so Feng Guanjie had better start revising the plan now and arrange the location of the dock on his own land.

Then Xiong Dao went back to the house.

In the secret room in the backyard, he paced slowly, while the telegraph operator on the side waited with bated breath for him to speak the telegram.

"Since neither the strength nor influence of our department meets the conditions..."

"Temporarily give up contact with Mrs. Xu and the rest of the gentry..."

"Request the headquarters to provide strategic support, and dispatch powerful people who are familiar with the gentry to listen to me..."

After finishing this long telegram, Xiong Dao still shook his head helplessly: Although objectively it is the reason why the enemy army is too strong, in any case, it is not so good to admit that our side can't handle it and needs a lot of support from the rear. It is easy to speak out.

After sending this telegram, Mr. Xiong, who has been making troubles in Jiading County for the past few months, seems to have fallen silent overnight - all land acquisition projects have been suspended, and the port area is no longer trying to expand. A large number of construction workers began to concentrate on digesting the existing site.

Anyway, it's time for halftime.

……

Zuo Baoliu was squatting beside Hebutou outside the village, smoking the bamboo tobacco stick in his hand vigorously, while staring at the wooden boat going away with red eyes, as if the boat was pulling his lover.

However, for Zuo Baoliu, who had been working in the mulberry garden for half his life, the person on the boat was really his good friend: it was the last batch of mulberry trees to be packed away.

Zuo Baoliu stood up slowly until he could not see the hull of the ship, took two final sips of the cigarette rod with a gloomy face, and then tapped the pot on the tree trunk beside him.After packing up his things, he slowly hunched over, hands behind his back, and walked towards the rented inn.

For more than a month, Zuo Baoliu and the other workers, under coercion, worked from dawn to dusk, and finally moved all the mulberry trees in the mulberry garden onto the boat today.

While they were digging away the mulberry trees, the remaining farmers in the village kept bringing in the soil with a kind of delicate cart.

The soil was collected when the village flattened the land and dug irrigation canals - too many ridges and roads were leveled, and now Zuojia Village is full of neat fields, which Zuo Baoliu has never seen before.

All the soil transported by the trolley was filled into the mulberry pit.Zuo Baoliu knew that before long, this mulberry garden without mulberry trees would also be plowed and irrigated, and then those strange crops would be planted...

There are several kinds of crops brought by the new owner by boat. The only one Zuo Baoliu knows is sweet potatoes, and the rest are called potatoes and corns, which he has never seen before.

However, these are not the focus of Zuo Baoliu's attention: his mind is always on the mulberry garden.However, no one cares what he thinks. In the end, the mulberry garden will be connected with the rest of the land, and there will be no traces of the past.

This made Zuo Baoliu very sad.

Chapter 360 Going to Zhoushan

With a gloomy mood, Zuo Baoliu slowly walked into the small courtyard of the rented inn.

People are coming and going in the small courtyard that has actually become the village committee, and the farmers' hoarse voices can be heard from far away.

From this point of view, Zuo Baoliu has no complaints about the new owner - being able to speak in a loud and full of spirit is a symbol of good nutrition.

After Zuojia Village was reintegrated, nearly one-third of the left-behind farmers changed their identities and started working as salaried workers.

The new owner's family spends a lot of money, and every male laborer is given a monthly salary of one tael or five dollars, and the women can also receive one tael of silver.According to the accountant, the salary is actually paid according to one tael or eight qian, and the three qian deducted is used to pay off the old debt before.

You don't have to worry about droughts and floods, and you don't have to worry about the government servants who press taxes and grains. This kind of life compares the previous days when the villagers get the white money.

Later, considering the rise in food prices, and found that the villagers only saved money and did not spend it, and some people were still malnourished, the owner brought back brown rice from outside, opened a canteen, and converted part of the wages into meals.

In this way, it is tantamount to compulsively increasing nutrition.The effect appeared quickly: the sumptuous meals made the villagers ruddy, strong, and full of energy in their speech.

Zuo Baoliu is also the beneficiary.He, his wife, and three sons are no longer working together. They go to the "public stove" every day to fill their stomachs and get their wages.So in terms of life and evaluation of the new club, Zuo Baoliu can't say anything bad.

The reason why he was full of frustration was because of the loss of the mulberry garden.

Walking into the room, Zuo Baoliu waited until the person in front went out, then silently took a step forward, lowered his head, and just stood there silently.

The village accountant with a gray beard and wearing a pair of tortoise-shell reading glasses is from the neighborhood, but he has been working under Hangzhou Station all year round to make a living.Recently, I heard that this place is engaged in development, so I applied for a transfer, which can be regarded as returning to the roots.

After burying his head in the account book, the old accountant looked up and saw that it was Zuo Baoliu, and asked him kindly, "Have you cleared all the mulberry trees?"

Zuo Baoliu nodded.

"Well, that's it: the construction site by the river is short of people right now, so if you want to go to Baoliu, you can register to work tomorrow. The monthly money by the river is very high, two taels of silver per month, and you can even take care of the food."

After a pause, the old accountant continued, "If you want to stay in the village to farm, that's fine. Just the day before yesterday, Zuo Dou was hit by a bull and broke his leg, so you can take over his job."

... After Zuo Baoliu heard these two arrangements, half a day passed, and he still stood there without saying a word.

The old accountant smiled: He has seen too many farmers who are so dull and inarticulate.Feeling Zuo Baoliu's dissatisfaction, the old accountant cleared his throat and changed the subject: "Baoliu, do you know about Zhoushan Island?"

Of course Zuo Baoliu of Zhoushan Island knew.Although he has never been to sea, people in the village know that Zhoushan is just outside the Qiantang River, because people often go fishing in that area.

Seeing Zuo Baoliu nod his head, the old accountant continued: "Baoliu, to tell you the truth, the mulberry trees in the mulberry garden were transported to Zhoushan Island by the owner. There is now a large mulberry garden with a thousand acres of land on the island. There is also the silkworm house. If you still want to use your old business, you might as well go to the island to live your life."

Zuo Baoliu suddenly raised his head.He didn't expect it to be like this at all. Those trees were all transported to Zhoushan?

Seeing Zuo Baoliu's reaction, the old accountant seemed to know what he was thinking, and added empathetically: "The monthly money on the other side is even more, and it is also given to the house, and there is a public stove. With your ability, go You can be a long-term foreman if you don't say much. Take the family to go, you must know what kind of person the boss is, and you will never be wronged."

After Zuo Baoliu went back in a daze, he only thought about it for a day before making a decision: the whole family went to Zhoushan.

Yeah, why not go?When I went there, I could not only work in the mulberry garden, but also receive money every month, and have good meals.Besides, Zhoushan is not far from Zuojia Village, if it is really impossible, it will not be too late to go back home.

After thinking it over, Zuo Baoliu immediately went to the village committee, and signed a lease agreement with the old accountant: Zuo Baoliu rented the director of his house to the village committee.

After signing the agreement, he packed up his belongings, waited patiently for the notification, and then took the woman, three cubs, and two small bundles to Zhangsutan Wharf—the accountant told him that he didn’t need to bring anything, the owner Haokuo, there is everything in the land, and the family of five only needs to go to the pier and wait for the boat.

……

On May 1629, 5, a very commemorative day: Zhangsutan Wharf welcomed the first batch of overseas visitors.Three Chinese-style galleons with a bit of a weird style parked near the newly built trestle, taking turns to unload.

These ships are the 500-ton new lock ships that have been finalized.The standard new ships with shallow draft, dual purpose of passenger and cargo, and sail/gas auxiliary power are gradually replacing other original transport ship types.

The newly developed Shanghai Port has greatly improved the cargo environment on the Ming side and saved the precarious Hangzhou Tangzhuang Wharf.

If the Qiantang River’s tides are turbulent, the water level is shallow, and there are many sediments, these problems can be survived before, then with the increasing trade volume between Hangzhou and Taiwan, Fujian, the small Tangzhuang Wharf has long been overwhelmed .

It's all right now, once the Shanghai port opened, the pressure on Hangzhou's side was greatly reduced.In fact, there were four cargo ships in the fleet going north this time. Three of the new lock ships carrying building materials all came to Shanghai, and only one general cargo ship with a shallow draft turned into the mouth of the Qiantang River.

Since the Yangtze River estuary has sufficient water and sufficient water depth, the fleet easily stopped outside Zhangsu Beach without considering the tide situation.

The Zhangsutan Wharf, which took thousands of workers nearly two months to build, came in handy as soon as it was completed.This wide wooden high-piled wharf reaches as much as 60 meters deep into the water, and it can completely moor more than three cargo ships at the same time.

But today is a bit special.This is the first official operation of the port area, so for the time being, only one boat is moored to run the port team.

The run-in effect is still good.The commander who was blowing the whistle kept waving the small red flag in his hand, and the team pushing the carts divided into left and right sides on the trestle bridge, going up and down neatly without interfering with each other.

Even without power machinery, the loading and unloading speed on the dock is far faster than that of the natives.The use of chain hoists and small hand-operated booms allows the cargo in the ship to be transported out quickly.

There is no need for the kind of bag bearers that were common in ancient times.After the vat of cement was hoisted out of the cabin, it fell directly onto the trolley waiting under the boat.The workers pushed the trolleys and easily stored the goods in the newly built warehouse at the wharf.

When Zuo Baoliu's family arrived at the pier, the second cargo was already being unloaded.Zuo Baoliu, who was holding the "letter of introduction", was quickly placed in a temporary work shed at the pier.In the next few days, many bald-headed immigrants arrived by boat from Hangzhou.

When the number of people was enough, nearly 900 people waiting for the ship, together with some iron materials, saltpeter, raw silk and other miscellaneous goods, were all loaded into the cabin.Zuo Baoliu's family was no exception. Because they had three children, they were able to reunite as a family and were assigned to a separate cabin.

"Renren is coming, and Zhoushan is not far away." After living in the dark and cramped cabin, Zuo Baoliu fed some pastries to the children, and then said comfortingly.

As a result, this patience lasted for a full ten days.

In fact, on the third day, Zuo Baoliu, who kept vomiting in the shaking cabin, knew that he had been cheated.

Although he has never been to sea, he still has the experience of selling raw silk in Suzhou and Hangzhou in a small boat in the past.So when the ship left for three days, Zuo Baoliu was very sure: the ship had already passed Zhoushan... What Zuo Baoliu didn't know was that two days ago, when he took a shift to go to the deck to let wind and fetch water, he saw people passing by the side of the ship. That big island is actually Zhoushan Island.

Knowing that he was cheated, there was nothing he could do about it, but he couldn’t help himself when he boarded someone else’s pirate ship—although water was provided on time on the ship, and sick patients could be taken care of by doctors, but the vicious stewards and sailors were no joke. All dishonest boaters were helped to "whiten their skin" on the mast.

So even if Zuo Baoliu was full of doubts, he could only hide in the cabin and silently pray for the blessing of Buddha.

Thankfully, prayers do work.After wandering around on the ship for more than ten days, finally on a scorching afternoon, the fleet returned to Dayuan Port.At this time, Zuo Baoliu's family realized that they had been dragged thousands of miles away to the island of Lao Shizi, Taiwan.

And after arriving at the grotesque base camp of the thieves, the Zuo family has no time to think about whether they have been deceived—the bustling and noisy Taijiang River, beautiful and strange buildings, strange machines, red-haired and blue-eyed barbarians, all these Everything makes them dizzy.

Before the peep show had time to finish, the Zuo family members were dragged into a bath in fear, had their hair cut, had their chrysanthemums broken, and checked their bodies.

When everything was over, the bald Zuobao Liumu sat blankly on the head of the bed in the quarantine camp, looking at the three bald boys foolishly playing in front of the door, his thoughts actually drifted to a very strange place: now he finally understands Why are Zhang Sutan's foremen bald?

The teachers in the quarantine camp were very enthusiastic, so Zuo Baoliu finally figured out everything after the Zuo family spent the time of "learning the rules" in the quarantine camp.

The next step is to assign work and housing.Zuo Baoliu and his wife, one who can plant trees and the other who can raise silkworms, are the kind of skilled workers that the Ministry of Agriculture prefers, so the couple were directly assigned to the mulberry field and the adjacent silkworm farm.

Standing in the endless mulberry garden, Zuo Baoliu was full of joy.On the first day of work, after looking around, he quickly found among the newly planted mulberry trees the batch of tree species he had carried—every scar on these trees, every knot He knows everything.

Zuo Baoliu put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly.

Chapter 361 Visiting Group

People's ideas and concepts change very quickly.When wandering around in the cabin, Zuo Baoliu gritted his teeth at the old tent in the village: The old man is too bad, what will happen when the man returns to the village one day...

As a result, when Zuo Baoliu was allocated a house in the community and started to work, he was full of gratitude for the old stuff again.Yes, the old man really didn't lie to him except that he misremembered Chikan as Zhoushan.

No, Zuo Baoliu soon lived a life of pain and happiness in the Sang Cocoon Company under the Ministry of Agriculture.

I say happy because life here is like heaven: a beautiful environment, rich food, and regular wages, no bullying by officials and landlords, and no pressure in life. Ordinary people can live a good life as long as they work honestly.

It is said that the pain is because of learning.Although Zuo Baoliu is a good player in mulberry planting, his level is obviously not enough here, so he has a very difficult time in the night school.People who lack basic theories find it difficult to understand concepts such as various bacteria, soil components, microorganisms, and pests and diseases.

The relaxed life with a little bit of hardship quickly changed Zuo Baoliu inside and out.He was no longer the dull, clumsy man who exuded sadness all over his body.The current Zuo Baoliu is happy to be in contact with people, speaks loudly, and walks in a hurry. He has been biased by the fast-paced industrial society.

The women of the Zuo family were also changing at the same time.This peasant woman Zuo Hu who didn't even have a name first picked up a nice and fashionable name at the beginning of disembarkation registration: Hu Yuehong.

After that, Hu Yuehong was assigned to the Canfang.Then, as she went home after get off work every day and excitedly broadcasted the live broadcast, Zuo Baoliu also learned how powerful the silkworm house under the General's Mansion is at the same time - he has been trained now and knows who is paying his salary .

Then one day Zuo Baoliu took the opportunity of giving mulberry leaves and finally took a fantasy trip: he first saw the inside of the silkworm house with his own eyes.

The industrialized clean conservatory shocked him a lot. Heating heaters, large-format windows, thermometers, thick white tissue paper... Zuo Baoliu has heard countless times from women about the functions of these miraculous things, and now he sees them with his own eyes. After that, he couldn't help but sigh.

Compared with the traditional method of raising silkworms that the husband and wife had in the village in the past, the silkworm house here is the difference between heaven and earth: baskets of pure white finished silkworm cocoons can prove it.

Tainan is warm all year round, so sericulture can be carried out year-round.The finished silkworm cocoon with a large silk uniformity, white cocoon color and luster is called "shangche cocoon" here, which means top-grade mulberry cocoon that can be reeled by machine.

After Zuo Baoliu delivered the mulberry leaves, he was happily caught and took the cocoon basket to the silk reeling workshop to deliver the cocoons.Here he saw the semi-manual and semi-mechanized silk reeling production line.After watching the machine reeling with half understanding, Zuo Baoliu was caught again, drove the carriage, and took the finished raw silk to the wharf warehouse.

The quality of the raw silk produced from the silkworm eggs of later generations is rare in this plane.Now all the businessmen know that the clothes woven from the raw silk produced by Dayuan are not only smooth and even, plump and smooth, but also have good elasticity, high fastness, and even coloring. They are the top silk products.

Therefore, the self-produced silk named "Chiffon" by the Textile Corporation has now occupied the top of the raw silk market in East Asia, and the price has soared to 300 taels of silver per load, which is still in short supply.

Then Zuo Baoliu's fantasy journey ended here - after he finished the delivery at the Chikan warehouse, he stood cheerfully at the door, stretching his neck to watch a bunch of merchants auction raw silk.The next moment, a few red-haired and black-haired people fought for some reason, and then Zuo Baoliu was blown away by an auctioneer's small copper hammer amidst the laughter, whistles and the footsteps of the police coming. He came over and smashed his head inexplicably, and was sent to the hospital afterwards.

……

Zuo Baoliu let the flying strange thing smash his head, and then the police came to arrest the Dutch businessman and the Spanish businessman. The scene was watched by a few people not far away who were looking at the scenery of the Taijiang River.

"Hmph, a group of demons dancing wildly, with no culture or education, what a gentleman!"

The person who spoke was a fair, square-faced, middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in lake silk and straight embroidered.It is already June when the temperature is rising. On the Taijiang pier where there are work jackets and linen T-shirts everywhere, this person can still wear soft feet and a formal dress, so there is no doubt that this master is from From Ming Dynasty.

"Pine Weng doesn't need to care about small things." At this time, a handsome man in his thirties and wearing a thin robe standing next to the middle-aged man said with a smile while waving a folding fan.

"Alas, a land outside of Huaxia..." The middle-aged man shook his head at this moment, with an angry look on his face: "Let's go, first go and see the crops. Farming is the foundation of the country, so don't take it lightly."

After finishing speaking, he took the lead and led a few people to the taxi.

The master's surname is Bu, and his name is Bu Daxing.

Mr. Bu was a native of Xianyou County, Fujian Province. He was titled as the inspector of Fujian Province, and his real job was the deputy envoy of Xingquan Bingbei who was in charge of Xinghua and Quanzhou reserves.According to the understanding of later generations, this official position is probably the deputy director of the provincial police headquarters and the deputy director of the People's Armed Forces Department of a certain city. In short, it is an idle job.

So why did Master Bu appear in Chikan?This is a long story.

It is said that since Cao Chuan worshiped Chongzhen as the boss and put on the official skin, exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have increased rapidly.

This is a very normal process.In fact, most of the subjects of a certain pocket empire are subjects of the Ming Dynasty before Fujian and Zhejiang. The relationship between the two sides is very close, and there are flights departing every day.So gradually, some high-level officials of the Ming Dynasty also began to notice this place of alienation that was isolated overseas.

Officials in Fujian were the first to set their sights across the strait.After all, many of them knew businessmen, villagers and poor relatives who went to the big officials to beg for a living, and the distance between the two places was close, so the officials could easily get detailed information on the other side.

In addition, the industrial products pouring into Fujian like a tide, such as salt, building materials, daily chemicals, hardware, etc., also made conservative and slow officials start to face up to the new power of the Cao family.

After all, the time-travelers are different from Zheng Zhilong in history: the Zheng family only cared about themselves, and charged high tolls everywhere; while the time-travelers from the counterfeit Cao Chuan and Zhang Dongdong were all sent to Fujian, all of them were legends God of Wealth.

Now there is a consensus in both officialdom and shopping malls: as long as you can get in touch with the Cao family, you will definitely make a fortune.There are too many examples of this point. Countless little people who have represented a certain industrial product to sell back to their hometown, or participated in a certain development project, have become rich overnight because they seized the opportunity.

So the current officials are happy to communicate with the Cao family, both public and private: Didn't you see that there is already a two-story building in the backyard of the governor's office, with a toilet?Who said that being an official does not repair the government, it is because there is no enthusiastic person!

Therefore, Master Bu Daxing received an official document not long ago.

This official document was forwarded to Master Bu's immediate superior, Mr. Jiao, the military preparation envoy.

Document content: In view of the lack of military equipment in the Xingquan area, the battalions and guards in various places are outdated, and many of them are in a state of decay, so Xingquan military equipment road plans to send capable personnel to Taiwan for investigation. It is said that there are indigenous people in Taiwan. , good at making superior weapons.If the investigation is correct, Bingbeidao intends to use this year's government procurement quota on this.

When Mr. Bu first received the official document, he was also confused.You must know that his deputy envoy never does anything, and it is even less his turn to sign such important documents involving government procurement.

So Master Bu sent someone to inquire after he returned.After inquiring, he figured out the whole story: Mr. Jiao's brother-in-law just went to the opposite bank not long ago, and when he came back, he became the general agent of the Xinghua Mansion of the Dunhill Fire Sickle.

After trying to understand the joints, Master Bu immediately scolded a thousand silverfish in the study.