After digging in the mud for a whole day, the other poor people were happily talking about the good lunch and the five cents they earned in the afternoon. Only Liu and Zhang were almost paralyzed from exhaustion when they returned to the small temple where they were hiding. They did not even have the strength to speak.
The conditions in the temple were poor. There were few wells where the poor people lived. In addition, living next to the smelly ditch, the well water was often bitter and smelly. The people here used to suffer so hard in the past. They couldn't see any hope for change. But today, there was a heated discussion about the new government's cleaning work. On the way back, Liu Fucheng heard the neighbors talking about how they were looking forward to having a good life after the cleanup was over.
"This damn Zhou Qingfeng, why does he like to take care of these poor people?" Liu Fucheng returned to the temple. He was dirty and couldn't go into the wing room to rest. He sat on the futon in the main hall, leaning against the pillar. He was exhausted and murmured, "Why is he so stupid?"
"Grand Marshal Zhou is stupid? I think he is the smartest person in the world. " Zhang Rushen was also tired after a long day. Instead, he felt closer to Liu Fucheng, who was in the same boat. After all, the two of them were in the same boat. No one could avoid the mud in the ditch behind the temple. "He started by being poor. Look at the poor people here. Which one of them doesn't have a long life memorial tablet for him?"
"But he spent so much money." Liu Fucheng's focus was on money. "If he used money to bribe us, he wouldn't need so much." This referred to the Revolutionary Army's investment of tens of millions of silver. Almost all of the money was spent on the common people.
"Bribe? I'm afraid he doesn't like us. "Zhang Rushen didn't understand this kind of thing. He was a businessman. He paid attention to the immediate interests. At most, he would look at the future for five years and think about his own interests. The Revolutionary Army was looking at the interests of at least 50 years, and its focus was also the whole world.
These two people didn't understand how much consumption could be driven by a huge investment in infrastructure. In order to maintain this consumption, the Revolutionary Army strongly developed agriculture. They didn't even hesitate to open up overseas colonies. They used sufficient agricultural products to meet the living needs of the people after they became rich.
Without sufficient agricultural products, a large number of people would be trapped on the land. Without a strong infrastructure, the small-scale farming economy could not be broken. Without sufficient industrial products, there would be no cheap production tools, and there would be no infrastructure. And if the population is trapped on the land, the industry can forget about.
All of these were interconnected, and none of them could be left unattended. But with such a new economic cycle system, a new social structure could be developed. Once a virtuous cycle was established, it would continue to improve on its own.
Liu and Zhang were limited by their own vision and could not see the essence behind a mere construction site. All they knew was that everyone in the temple was exhausted, and there was no one to boil water. Some novice monks just took off their dirty and smelly robes, casually poured some cold water to wash their hands and faces, and then went to sleep. The two of them had never been so sloppy in their lives, but they could only put up with it.
The next day, both of them still had to go to work. They did not dare to pretend to be sick because pretending to be sick would attract the anti-slow-work inspectors of the Revolutionary Army, and they would definitely be exposed once they investigated. However, when they started work again, there were new changes in the construction site.
Yesterday, only Chinese food was provided, but today, even breakfast was provided. It was said that the cook was a chef from a marquis's family, and he was good at steaming steamed buns. In addition, there was also a group of engineers from the Revolutionary Army who came to help.
These soldiers were strong, and they shouted slogans as they lined up, startling the people on the construction site. There were not many of these soldiers, only about a hundred. But they did not slack off in their work, and they did not play tricks. They worked very hard. They had never seen such a team that was not afraid of suffering, not afraid of tiredness, and took the initiative to go to trouble. They rushed to do the work that others did not want to do. The people were stunned.
This kind of army was unheard of!
About a company of engineers worked for the whole morning, and they did not stay for lunch. After the work was done, about a hundred people carried shovels, hoes, and other tools, and walked away while singing. Even though they were dirty and smelly, their spirits were excellent, and they did not look dispirited at all. The work done by these soldiers was equivalent to the work of hundreds of people in a day.
"This is so strange. Are these soldiers also stupid? " Zhang Rushen watched silently as he worked in the morning. After watching for a long time, he really did not find any soldiers who slacked off. He asked Liu Fucheng again, "Aren't you known as the 'Revolutionary Expert'? What's going on? "
Liu Fucheng also frowned, and his heart was full of confusion. He had been to Tianjin many times, and he had even opened a warehouse in Tianjin for half a year. However, his understanding of the Revolutionary Army was superficial, and he was only interested in things that could make money. He did not understand what was going on with these soldiers who took the initiative to come to work without any benefits.
During the noon break, the public servants who were in charge of cleaning the ditches brought over a dozen water trucks, which were specially provided for the people who came to work to wash their hands and faces. Liu Fucheng used his hands to wash his face, and he could not help but take a small sip to moisten his throat. He was surprised to find that the water was actually cool and delicious. He asked the person in charge of delivering the water in surprise, "Where did this water come from?"
"Outside the city, Yuquan Mountain."
"Ah …!"
Liu Fucheng was very surprised.
The quality of the well water in Beijing was very poor, and most of it was bitter. If there was a sweet water well, the water could be sold for money. The officials and nobles in the city would send people to transport water outside the city, and their first choice was Yuquan Mountain.
"You actually transported water from Yuquan Mountain?" Liu Fucheng thought to himself, 'You guys are too extravagant. This is a treatment that only the nobles in the palace can enjoy.'
"Hahaha …" The person who delivered the water laughed and said, "The Grand Marshal knew that the people in the city were short of water, so he said that he wanted every family to have good water. So he could only modify hundreds of carriages and install sealed water tanks for the people to drink. We've been busy for half a month for this, and from now on, everyone will have sweet water to drink. "
Liu Fucheng was even more puzzled when he heard this, and asked again, "There are so many people in the city, can you transport it over?"
"I can't transport it over." The person who delivered the water was very honest. He shook his head and said, "I heard from the higher-ups that they're already thinking of a way to build a sweet water plant. They said that they want to use some filtering method to purify the water. They also said that it's probably not enough to rely on purification, so they want to build a reservoir in Miyun. In short, it'll cost a lot of money. "
The water supply was related to thousands of families, and everyone was concerned about it. Soon, a large group of people gathered around the person who delivered the water. Everyone was chattering and asking questions. Although they couldn't drink sweet water freely now, the meals on the construction site were all made with the water from Yuquan Mountain. Not only were the breakfast and lunch sumptuous, but the taste was also much better. It was said that even dinner was provided on these two days.
"As long as you work hard, not only will three meals be provided, but everyone will also be guaranteed to have sweet water to drink." The civil servant in charge of the organization spread the news everywhere, making the construction site lively. Everyone was happy. They could eat, drink, and earn money. Such a good thing was something that couldn't be begged for in the past.
Not long after lunch, the group of engineers who came to work in the morning came again. They still carried their tools and appeared singing. After they came, they didn't talk nonsense and focused on digging the mud in the smelly ditch.
The common people were usually afraid of meeting soldiers. In the morning, they didn't dare to approach, let alone talk too much. But in the afternoon, some people were asking around — what song did the Grand Marshal's soldiers sing this week? It sounded quite exciting. The beginning seemed to be something like "Revolutionary Soldiers Must Remember" …
"Hmph … They're just deliberately pretending to deceive some ignorant people."
Seeing the common people getting close to the soldiers, Zhang Rushen said strange things. However, he could only say this to Liu Fucheng. He didn't even dare to say it out loud. Because of the drive of these soldiers, there was a wave of work on the ditch construction site. Everyone had just eaten their fill and learned that they could drink sweet water in the future. Their morale was high.
"Sigh … this is exactly what these fools want. I'm looking forward to the Jian State's army attacking and having a good fight. Regardless of victory or defeat, this' Revolutionary Army 'will be in chaos. Only then will we have a chance to escape, "Liu Fucheng said in a low voice. He wouldn't be moved by this bustling labor scene. He would only hate the traitors who had taken away his property and status even more.
Zhang Rushen was the same. He only hoped that there would be a force that could chase the 'Revolutionary Army' out of the capital so that he could return his freedom and property. For the past few days, he had been dreaming about how to take revenge if he could overthrow the new regime. He knew that the collusion between the Ming court and the Kennu was done by Liu Fucheng. He asked tentatively, "When will the Jian State's army come?"
"I don't know." Liu Fucheng shook his head. "I'm afraid that Liaodong has just received the news. It will take some time for them to send their troops here. In addition, I vaguely remember that there was news from Jiangnan. They said that they found some Taixi people who are good at ships and sea to counterattack Tianjin. I don't know the details. Sigh … it's a long story! "
Liu and Zhang's half a month was like a year. Every minute and second was torture. They watched as the 'Revolutionary Army' obtained money, won the hearts of the people, carried out construction, and carried out good governance. They did more things in a month than the Ming court did in a few years. In the long run, they were really worried that they would never be able to go back to the past.
After finishing work in the afternoon, the officials in charge of the canal project brought over a dozen carriages of sweet water. They allowed the labor activists selected that day to bring buckets of sweet water home. Naturally, Liu and Zhang did not have a share in this kind of good thing. They could only watch as the hundred or so people who had benefited happily brought the water home. They could only feel sour at the side.
"It's just a few buckets of water. What's there to be proud of?" Liu Fucheng expressed that he did not care. "Master Liu is tired of eating delicacies. I don't care about this at all."
Zhang Rushen glanced at Liu Fucheng. He felt that he could not show weakness. He said, "Only by suffering can one become a person above others. Let's go, we should also go back. Let's cultivate here for the next few days. "
But when they returned to the cold and cheerless temple, their faces fell again. After a hard day's work, they stunk even more. Without the servants and maids, they could not live. There was not even hot tea in the temple. When they were thirsty, they could only drink some bitter well water. Now that they thought of the sweet water that was distributed at the construction site in the afternoon, they missed it very much. Only now did they know how hard life was for the poor.
"We still have to go to work tomorrow?" Liu Fucheng sat in the main hall of the temple in a daze. He felt that if he continued to work like this, he would have to hang himself.
Zhang Rushen also had no strength. He even collapsed on the ground and sighed. "When will these days end? Will the Jianzhou army come? If that slave chief comes, I will be the first to open the city gate as a spy. "
They sighed and talked for the whole night. Unknowingly, the two fell asleep. When dawn broke, the people from the neighborhood committee knocked on the door outside the temple again. "You wild monks, don't think of slacking off. Hurry up and get to work!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
