bookcurios Chapter 121: Weizhou 2 - Autumn Harvest
Chapter 121: Weizhou 2 - Autumn Harvest
Before leaving, you still need to make arrangements at home.
Zhao Sheng stayed with Li Shuya at the Princess's Mansion for a few days, and bid farewell to his two little treasures in tears.
"Remember to come back more often. The little girl can talk now. If you don't come home often, your daughters won't know who their father is."
After sending the person to the door, Zhao Sheng reluctantly handed Dabao over under Li Shuya's instructions.
"I'll come back after I've arranged things over there. I'll then transfer Chen Da back. The governor is there, so Chen Da can just follow me."
"Zhao Yongsheng is doing a good job here. Luancheng's security is well managed, but you need to pay more attention to Shigang Village."
"With Zhao Erniu and Zhao Hu in Shigang Village, there won't be any trouble!"
After leaning over and kissing Ning Yue and Xin Yue on the cheek, Zhao Sheng still got on the carriage.
This time, all 100 of the Prince Consort's personal guards were equipped with horses, all of which were Mongolian horses captured from Xiaolong Mountain.
Liang Dong has become more mature and experienced since the last battle in Junzhen. When he passed by Junzhen Post Station again, he saw Zhang Cheng and left a pot of wine as a thank you for his hospitality.
"Do you think Zhang Cheng can manage this post station well?"
Zhao Sheng suddenly asked Liang Dong. He could see that Liang Dong had some feelings for this postmaster.
"I can't say for sure, but I always feel that this postmaster is a pretty good person."
"Oh? How did you figure that out?"
“He is humble and gentle, and always makes people want to make friends.”
"That's it?..."
"That's it!"
Following Liang Dong's answer, Zhao Sheng fell into deep thought. Is Zhang Cheng really that good?
With the development of Weizhou and other places, the military town will obviously become an important transportation hub. It must be built and Ma Biao's independent regiment will be placed here.
Zhao Sheng thought about it in his mind, then took out a piece of paper and wrote it down with charcoal.
The charcoal pencil was invented by Zhao Sheng after he discovered that there was a kind of very crystal-clear charcoal block in the coal mine, which left a deep mark on paper. So he used this property to make a charcoal stick, which was die-cast in a metal tube and squeezed through a small hole in a log, so that he could write.
Perhaps pencils in later generations were not made like this, but Zhao Sheng was not good at using a brush, and even with the memories of this body, his handwriting was not good.
When he came to Guangchang County again, Sun Jiping was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. Zhao Sheng was simply the savior of their county, and good things appeared one after another.
When Sun Jiping was building blockhouses and digging caves to store food according to Zhao Sheng's requirements, a group of craftsmen came for mineral exploration and discovered coal and sulfur mines here.
"Prince Zhao, should we mine the coal mine or the sulfur mine first?"
Sun Jiping was obviously impatient, as he felt that these things would mean money.
"Coal mines, these coal seams contain a lot of sulfur and sulfides. We have to desulfurize them before we use them, otherwise our county will be ruined."
"Ah, desulfurization, what is desulfurization?"
Sun Jiping was confused by Zhao Sheng's words and was completely overwhelmed by the unknown knowledge. At this time, he felt that he was particularly stupid. How could the prince consort know so much?
"Let's first look at the terrain, build a coal washing plant near the coal mine, and then do the rest step by step."
In fact, Mr. Zhao is not omnipotent. Some of his knowledge is the result of his years of experience abroad, which has led to blind spots in his knowledge that he has intentionally or unintentionally integrated.
Sun Jiping began to recruit coal mine workers, paying them three times the wages of ordinary workers.
In order to recruit people, these two counties offer wages twice as high as those in other counties, and three times as high for skilled workers. Even the wages of female workers here are the same as those of strong laborers in other counties.
Young men working in Weizhou and other places can basically support a woman. A woman can work before she has children, and can also support her children after she has them.
As long as you are willing to work hard and gain more work experience, you can become a skilled worker and earn three times the salary.
If you want to make a direct leap, general workers in coal mines will get three times the salary, and skilled workers will start with five times the salary.
Prisoners of war were the first choice for coal miners. They had no wages for three years, but they were well fed and well slept.
It seems inhumane, but the people who work here are very happy. They can eat and dress well, and in the future they can live like normal people and be free from war. This is the life that everyone yearns for.
As a result, residents of Dai County and Changshan County came to Weizhou and Guangchang County to work.
Before the snow fell, the coal mine and coal washing plant were built, and the iron mine at the junction of Guangchang County and Weizhou was also mined.
"Today, the administrative teams of Dingzhou and Weizhou are meeting together. Let me first explain that the lines from Dingzhou to Tongzhou and Qingzhou are about to be completed, and the line to Shangjing is almost done.
We don't have any good things to ship out of Weizhou, we only have aid from Dingzhou. The cotton harvest is coming soon, and we need a lot of manpower. To do this, our county must provide good reception services, especially since there are more women, so we have started picking cotton!"
Mr. Zhao thought his opening remarks would win warm applause, but everyone ended up whispering to each other.
"Prince Consort. Is this cotton a good thing?" Zhang Chun asked bravely.
"Um, you don't know what cotton is?"
Mr. Zhao was a little confused. This county magistrate didn’t know anything about cotton?
Everyone looked at Zhao Sheng as if he were a monster: Should we know what cotton is?
Well, it seems that some popular science is needed, Zhao Sheng thought to himself.
So, Mr. Zhao took out a cotton ball and a ripe cotton with shell.
"Look, this is the cotton growing in the field that can be harvested. After picking it, we need to take out the cotton inside. This is the work that is urgently needed down there. I've seen what you've sown. It's all over the mountain, and we need a lot of people to pick it.
First, count the number of elderly people, children, and women in the county. The amount of fruit picked will be calculated by weight, and those who complete their task on the same day will be given two meals."
Although under Zhao Sheng's command, the people in Weizhou were not starving to death, and everyone was trying to find a way to have a good meal, some families still could not get enough to eat.
The purpose of harvesting cotton this time is to provide everyone with an environment where they can have food to eat and earn money.
The largest cotton planting area is in Guangchang County. Because everyone in Weizhou is engaged in infrastructure construction, there are not many cotton planting areas, mainly because the population is small, and the new troops have all participated in the infrastructure construction tasks.
"The safety of this cotton picking is a major issue. Regardless of where the women and children come from, we must ensure safety precautions. Whoever fails in their management and governance will be brought to justice."
Accidents happen from time to time on the border, and the new troops deployed here not only have to guard the mines, but also protect the safety of the people.
Soldiers patrolled frequently, wandering around where people worked to prevent any evildoers from causing trouble.
The Xiongnu and other ethnic merchants who stayed in Yangshan County soon sensed the business opportunities in Weizhou and sent merchants to communicate with this side many times.
What they didn't expect was that the Great Zhou army in Weizhou did not exclude them, but instead provided measures to protect them.
Li Gengbao, a Di merchant, highly appreciated the actions of the Weizhou army and went to Weizhou many times to engage in fur business.
Whenever we talk about Dadi, we mean Dadu.
The "Guoyu" says: "When the celestial turtle appears, the river dries up."
Wei Zhao said: "Tianyuan is located between Kang and Di." Add a "一" below the character "氏". "一" is pronounced as "zhilueqie". This is a pictophonetic character.
There is no word for "low" in Xu Shen's book. One way to say "bottom" is "below".
The Di tribe existed in the Zhou Dynasty, and later became the Di Kingdom. The Di in Qiang and Di is the current Di.