Chapter 514 Going to the Countryside
After the World Expo, the number of outsiders in the Principality of Wesson suddenly increased.
Farmers in other places have finished their autumn harvest, and the matters in the farmland can be left to women. Under the organization of the landlords, men have come to the Principality of Wesson to work as part of their corvee service.
The landowners have calculated an account. In the past, farmers were forced to farm the land as corvees. Now they are brought all the way to the Principality of Wesson to work and earn more than farming. They can also buy the next year's land. seeds, fertilizers and agricultural tools.
But this is something that only the landowners along the Rhine and Elbe rivers can do. They can do this with the help of convenient and cheap waterways, but it will be difficult to walk on two legs.
These people have little skills and don't have much strength, so they just do some work of paving roads outside the city.
The roads these days are most afraid of water accumulation. If there is too much water, it will turn into mud. In severe cases, horses can sink into their stomachs.
The road designed by Frederick is just a gravel road. The earth roadbed is rammed, and it is tamped into an arc with a high middle and low sides to facilitate drainage. There are drainage ditches on both sides of the road, and there is a layer of about 20cm on the earthy roadbed. The gravel should be high in the middle and low on both sides. Finally, a layer of gravel about 2 cm in size should be laid on the top layer. This layer of small gravel can be replaced and filled.
Such a gravel road protects the roadbed from being soaked by rainwater and is enough to support more and more vehicles. The gravel absorbs energy without causing too much damage to the horses' hooves, and it is also in line with the current productivity level.
Nowadays, the roads in the three new states of the Principality of Wesson are built with soil foundations after the rainy season. In autumn and winter, migrant workers can pave the stones, which is much faster.
The carriage traveled on the seven-meter-wide gravel road without much bumps. Sitting in the carriage, Baron Turgot felt that it was no different from walking in the city.
Baron Turgot took advantage of his students to accept government contracts today and followed a convoy to Faya.
This motorcade is composed of many departments, including the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Health, the Court, the Procuratorate, the Police Department, the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Department of Taxation, etc., all of which are closely related to people's lives.
At first Baron Turgot thought this was a team like a circuit court, but the more he looked at it, the less likely it was, because the largest number of people was a drama troupe hired by the Ministry of Culture, and his students guest-starred as screenwriters in the troupe. There are more than two doctors summoned by the medical department, and there are only one or two people from other departments.
The leader of the team is Allers, who is in his early forties. He was originally a servant in the castle and later worked for the state government.
Ahlers welcomed Baron Turgot's participation in the "Cultural, Medical and Legal Mission to the Countryside" at his own expense. There is no need to worry about this year's work report. The number of words in the report can be filled by highlighting the reaction and opinions of a foreign friend.
Eating fresh seafood is now popular in Weissenburg. Not long ago, the live lobsters the size of arms turned the market into a zoo. After Allers learned that Baron Turgot came from the sea, he Keep asking.
Halfway through the convoy, another person came across someone who wanted to ride with the car. As soon as Ahlers heard that he was an acquaintance, he let him get in the car.
The driver of the car was a young man in his early twenties, wearing a beige blacksmith's uniform and carrying a big schoolbag. After entering the car, he greeted him with a smile: "Uncle Ales, I haven't seen you for several years. "Yes, I didn't expect to see you here."
"It's little Dank." Alers also smiled and greeted the young man, "We have a guest here, and this is from the Kingdom of Gaul." Baron Turgot"
After greeting each other for a while, Alers asked Dank: "How is your father doing now?"
Dank replied: "Father and mother are still working as cooks in the castle, and now the master's new palace It’s settled, and I’ve been worrying about whether they will be needed in the new kitchen.”
Ales said nonchalantly: “What are you worried about? The master has always been very kind to us old people. Isn’t it okay if the palace doesn’t want them?” We have a new building in the Executive Yuan, and there is a kitchen there as well. We can talk about it then."
"Let's not talk about them. How are you doing now? I heard that you graduated from college last year. , Are you now working as an iron rice bowl in Faya Prefecture?" Dank said a little embarrassedly: "I failed the exam last year and could not serve as an iron rice bowl, and now I am working as a hired technician at the agricultural technology station."
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Baron Turgot had been listening to the conversation between the two people, but now he couldn't understand it anymore, so he couldn't help asking: "Excuse me, gentlemen, what is the iron rice bowl you are talking about?"
He thought this iron rice bowl must be It's not a literal iron rice bowl, it should be some kind of metaphor.
Ales explained: "It's like this. There was a case in Putz State last year. Someone in the medical bureau there planned to scrap a batch of medicines on the books and then secretly sell them to Boheme. People over there.”
“A staff member at the medical bureau didn’t want to work and didn’t sign the form, so he was fired directly.”
“The staff member’s family was sick. I spent a lot of money on medicine, and now my job is gone, so I jumped into the river when I couldn’t think about it.”
"At that time, several people were fishing lower down the river. They rescued him and asked him what happened. They took him to Weisenberg City to report."
"Later, our government employee system was reformed this year, unless it was If you hit the red line, you will generally not be fired. At best, you will be assigned to a position where there is nothing to do, which will give employees the confidence to refuse illegal behavior. "
Baron Turgot nodded on the surface, but in his heart. Think: That’s it?
Isn’t it natural for officials to resell supplies? In any government where employees are not the second sons or relatives of noble families, or from local gentry families, firing them would be a slap in the face.
Baron Turgot stopped thinking about this and asked Dank curiously: "Sir, you just said that the place where you work is an agricultural technology station. What kind of place is that?"
He studies agriculture, but he cannot understand what this agricultural technology station is like or what it is used for.
Danke explained helplessly: "It is a bitter place. We are required to guide the farming in several surrounding villages, such as when to sow seeds, how much fertilizer to apply, and how to deal with insects. Something like that.”
“But the farmers didn’t listen. They just nodded when I said it, and continued to go their own way as soon as I left.”
“Like this spring, I said. Don’t use too much urine essence. When I left, they kept spreading it into the fields, and the wheat seedlings all died.”
“There was also a village where there was rust on the wheat leaves in the field. , I asked him to boil two kilograms of cow urine in ten kilograms of water, let the water cool and spray it on the wheat leaves. "
"As a result, the man was lazy and only used less than one kilogram. The whole village's wheat was infected, and the output was reduced by half."
Baron Turgot could hear that Dank's words were full of complaints, and life was not going well. Better off.
He thinks this agricultural technology station is a good thing and has learning value.
Allers said to Dank: "Here just joined us last year. It was always like this from the beginning. The drama we came here this time is to promote technical farming. When those people taste the benefits, they will know that you are the treasure. "
Danke said: "That's all."
(End of this chapter)