A few days ago, Hwang Tae-gil and his entourage left Tianjin and headed towards Tangshan. Limited by his lack of knowledge and experience, he despised and loathed Tianjin's prosperity from the bottom of his heart when he found out that the Lady Zhenren could not compete with the Revolutionary Army in terms of culture and influence. He was even more convinced that the Han people only knew how to enjoy life and could not endure hardship.
However, no matter how strong they were, they had to bow their heads in the face of reality.
"As long as I can find the craftsmen who produce the armaments for the Revolutionary Army, I, Dajin, can still win everything on the battlefield. No matter how well these Han people build the city, aren't they still lambs waiting to be slaughtered? " Leaving Tianjin, Hwang Tae-gil had been repeatedly reinforcing this idea in his heart as a way to encourage himself. This was also to find a way out for the Lady Zhenren's predicament.
Liu Fucheng led the team to the northeast and soon found the construction site of the Tiantang Wooden Rail Project. It was a straight two-lane road; one side was for carriages while the other side was being built with wooden rails. Due to the construction of more than a hundred kilometers, there were two hundred construction teams working on the road.
To prevent the villagers from stealing materials and damaging the road along the way, the patrol team was patrolling back and forth 24 hours a day.
"The newspaper said that the Revolutionary Army will spend millions of silver dollars to build this road. They hope to finish it within a year. However, there's news recently that due to the lack of construction experience, the budget will be increased and the construction period may be extended to one and a half years. " Liu Fucheng paid special attention to the Revolutionary Army's newspaper as there was often information that could make money in it.
Hwang Tae-gil stood by the side of the road and watched. The road-building workers treated them as local tycoons who came to watch the bustle. They were used to it and continued with their work. Hwang Tae-gil could not understand spending millions of silver dollars just to build a road. However, he was very clear about the benefits of building a road. Whether it was for logistics or troop movements, roads were very important infrastructure.
"Should we abduct a few craftsmen who know how to build roads?" Hwang Tae-gil thought that the Revolutionary Army's road was built quite well. However, the laborers in front of him were all bare-chested and sweating profusely. They did not look like capable craftsmen. In his mind, a capable person would not do the work himself.
"These are just labourers, not craftsmen." Hwang Tae-gil walked forward silently. Finally, he saw someone who looked like a foreman. The man shouted loudly, assigning tasks to the workers and pointing out their shortcomings. He also held a few pieces of paper with drawings in his hand and glanced at them from time to time. "Could this be a blacksmith?"
However, this craftsman was too young. His mouth was bald, and he was only in his teens. At most, he was an apprentice.
There were dozens of people at the construction site, but none of them were experienced and steady.
Hwang Tae-gil walked in circles around the construction site. How did such an ordinary-looking team manage to build such a good road? He could not help but step forward and ask the supervising 'apprentice', "Who supervised the construction of this road?"
"It's me." Sang Quanlai, who was holding the blueprint in his hand, was also extremely annoyed. Recently, the construction of the road was gradually going on the right track. Slowly, this spacious road became a scenic spot, and people kept coming to visit. There was also an endless stream of people asking him how to build the road. Everyone was curious as to why a fifteen or sixteen year old youth like him could build a road.
Now, there was someone who came out of nowhere to question Sang Quanlai's ability. He was really angry.
"Is it difficult to build a road? It's fine if you can understand the blueprint. "Sang Quanlai raised his head and puffed out his chest when he said this. He was just short of saying that he had graduated from high school. Nowadays, there were more and more people in the Revolutionary Army who had completed their elementary education, but there were still very few people who had graduated from high school.
Hwang Tae-gil was stunned on the spot after being contradicted like this. He looked at the blueprint in Sang Quanlai's hand again, but he could not understand it either. Sang Quanlai saw that his eyes were filled with doubt, so he pointed at the blueprint like a teacher and said, "This is the roadbed. There are many layers, and the materials used are all different. Sigh … Even if I tell you, you won't understand. This is something you need to learn. Don't get in my way if you don't have anything to do. Go away. "
In fact, Sang Quanlai himself did not know much. He relied on rote memorization of some road building tips. He was afraid that if he said too much, he would be exposed if someone asked him a few questions. He would stop immediately after he gained some satisfaction.
However, when Sang Quanlai looked at Hwang Tae-gil again, he realized that this person suddenly had a ferocious expression and was staring at him while gnashing his teeth. It was as if he was going to draw his sword and slash at him in the next second. He was so scared that his heart skipped a beat. He quickly took a few steps back and thought to himself, 'Why is this person so fierce?'
Hwang Tae-gil had never been humiliated like this in his entire life. Moreover, the person who humiliated him was a kid. If this was Shenyang, this kind of Han slave wouldn't even dare to look him in the eye. He could clearly kill this kid with a single breath, but he could only endure it and turn around to leave.
The attendant that accompanied him took a few steps forward and asked in a low voice if he wanted to kill this kid who didn't have eyes. However, Hwang Tae-gil shook his head and walked forward along the road with a gloomy face. The attendant could only turn his head and glare fiercely at Sang Quanlai before following closely behind. Sang Quanlai was quite frightened by this group of fierce people, but he had no idea that he had just taken a trip to the gates of hell. He scratched his head and even spat at Hwang Tae-gil's back.
From time to time, carriages carrying coal ran past the two-way road. These were all produced by the few small coal mines in Tangshan that had already been built. The population in the direction of Tianjin was increasing. It was necessary to stock up on coal while the weather was still warm to avoid the cold of winter.
These carriages were pulled by two horses and moved very quickly on the flat road. Each carriage carried a full load of 1.5 tons. This was several times more than the previous two-wheeled carriages that could only carry 300 to 400 kilograms. The transportation efficiency was greatly increased, but the cost was also reduced.
Hwang Tae-gil originally wanted to ride the carriages and move forward. However, the road guards immediately ordered them to leave the road and not to stop the carriages. They said it was some kind of 'traffic control'. Hwang Tae-gil could only step aside and stand by the side of the road. He counted the number of carriages that passed by in the past two hours. In the end, it was determined that a coal carriage would pass by in half a quarter of an hour. The overall transportation volume was still relatively large.
"I remember that the newspaper said that one car was sold every hour, but now it's sold every quarter of an hour. Let's not talk about how much coal we have to transport, just these carriages alone are more than a hundred. "Liu Fucheng calculated carefully. Just the cost of the carriages alone was several thousand taels of silver. "Looking at the posture of the Revolutionary Army, there will only be more carriages and more coal in the future."
"Why does the Revolutionary Army need so much coal?" Hwang Tae-gil was puzzled again. He looked at Gu Yuanwei, seeking an answer. However, Gu Yuanwei didn't know either. He could only guess, "It's probably for the winter."
"Yes, it's for the winter." Liu Fucheng said, "The houses built in Tianjin now are more special than before. The walls were thick and hollow in the middle, which was said to keep people warm. But the bricks and stones used to build a house were many times more than in the past. The newly built houses had at least two stories, and there were many three-story houses as well. All of them were equipped with heaters and fireplaces. That's what they burn. "
Although Hwang Tae-gil didn't know that the end of the Ming Dynasty was the Little Ice Age, he knew that a large number of weak slaves would freeze to death during the winter. It was precisely because the servants at the bottom had become consumables that the Daoist Master had to constantly obtain new strong servants and plunder from all directions. Because of this, it was very difficult for the Kennu to train a large number of skilled slaves.
A slave society was truly a cannibalistic society.
Just the simple matter of keeping warm showed that the Revolutionary Army took good care of the lower class. If they only served a small number of nobles, they wouldn't need so much coal. Hwang Tae-gil nodded and said, "Fu Shun also has coal. When I go back, I will order people to mine more and let those slaves live a better life."
Hwang Tae-gil's words were simple, but Gu Yuanwei wanted to say something but hesitated. He noticed that the tools used by the workers just now were very sophisticated. Shovels, hoes, shovels, crowbars, and the like were all made of metal. In comparison, most of the Enlightened Lady's slaves were still using wooden tools. Their efficiency was worlds apart. Would digging coal with wooden tools make the slaves' lives better or worse? It was hard to say.
In addition, digging coal was a heavy physical labor. The slaves had to be fed well, otherwise, there would be a large number of deaths. It was hard to say if the Enlightened Lady had such a kind heart. Her management ability alone was a challenge. Gu Yuanwei couldn't bring himself to talk about these problems.
Due to the road being closed, the Tiantang Wooden Railway prohibited outsiders from using it. Hwang Tae-gil's inspection team could only take the small path, moving slowly from the villages and towns along the way. They did not travel far in three to four days. However, walking slowly, Hwang Tae-gil still noticed something strange.
Due to the large number of construction workers needing to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, staple grains like rice and wheat could be transported from the rear, but vegetables and fish were often purchased on the spot. After seeing the meals of the construction workers, Hwang Tae-gil and the rest exclaimed in disbelief. Forget about the Enlightened Lady feeding the slaves, even the Han landlords could only fill their stomachs with rice at most. Meat and fish were rarely seen.
Farmers would usually prepare a small pot of lard at home. It was only used to mix it with rice when plowing, transplanting, harvesting, and other heavy labor during farming season to preserve their stamina. Otherwise, they would die of exhaustion. However, the meals of the Revolutionary Army's construction site were too good. Even Hwang Tae-gil thought it was too much. What puzzled him even more was that the farmers near the construction site were actually willing to send their chickens and ducks over.
Each construction site was a small market. Those who could work on the construction site were all rich people. They received a monthly salary, so they had the ability to spend. Although most of them were poor, they were reluctant to spend money. As long as they bought some necessary daily necessities, they could create a prosperous market.
At every construction site, one could see farmers carrying loads to buy vegetables. Foremen like Sang Quanlai would haggle with them over the price. There would also be one or two hawkers selling the cheapest goods to provide services to the workers. There were even prostitutes who could be had for a few cents, soliciting business everywhere and doing it behind the trees in the wild.
Other than the large amount of construction materials, the Tiantang Wooden Rail, which cost up to a few hundred thousand to a million silver dollars, also required a huge expenditure on salaries. The money was dispersed to all corners of society through the construction workers, greatly boosting the economic development. It allowed the people at the bottom to naturally attach themselves to the Revolutionary Army.
"Why are they all farmers? Where are the rural gentry? " In Gu Yuanwei's impression, such money-making activities were organized by the gentry, village elders, clan leaders, and government officials who were entrenched in the rural areas. They would never allow the peasants who lived alone to take advantage of this.
"There are no more gentry." Liu Fucheng lamented, "They have either escaped or died. This is the most ruthless thing about the Revolutionary Army. They send their troops mercilessly, killing people like mowing grass.
I didn't understand it before, I always felt that the Revolutionary Army would not last long without the support of the gentry. Now that there are no gentry, there's no one who dares to go against them. Those peasants are overjoyed when they receive benefits. The officials in the imperial court say they don't understand it. Haha … How could they not understand it? They obviously don't want to see it. "
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