Chapter 233 Colonizing Iron Furnace Port
Yazhou is a place with high mountains and rivers. Those who are sent here to serve as local officials generally have little power, and they cannot do anything worthy of being transferred back to the mainland to serve in their posts. After arriving, they often have to work until they retire. Next year, there will be a wave of retirements among high-level local officials. It is time for several officials in charge of local military affairs to retire, but before that, these adults are still preparing to make another fortune for their retirement lives. pension.
This phenomenon is nothing new, not to mention that corruption is already common in late official circles. Even after hundreds of years, it is not uncommon for officials to become corrupt before they retire. Even the annual "Blue Book on the Rule of Law" released by the country Xanadu has a special name for this - the 59-year-old phenomenon. Tao Donglai only listened to the first half of Luo Shengdong's words and already understood the general ins and outs. However, he didn't quite understand some details and needed to ask again.
"You said that the area in Phoenix Town is basically unclaimed land, so why don't the adults just put the land under their own names or the names of their relatives?" Tao Donglai asked.
Luo Shengdong explained: "The unowned land is mostly wasteland, so what's the use of enclosing it? My lords are not going to settle in Fenghuang Town. Instead, we have to organize tenant farmers to open up wasteland and farm. Isn't it troublesome? And it's encircled under your own name. , but it will be revealed and your reputation will be damaged.”
Tao Donglai thought to himself that he was so corrupt and why did he care about his reputation? He sneered and said: "That means that we will occupy the land in Fenghuang Town, and then wait for us to cultivate the fields, and then take out two thousand acres of mature fields. Is this what you mean by giving it to a few adults?”
Luo Shengdong nodded repeatedly and said, "That's exactly what I mean. Mr. Tao, don't think that you have suffered a loss. Think that Fenghuang Town has a flat terrain, and there are always tens of thousands of acres of fields. Take two thousand acres of it as The exchange is worth a thousand dollars! If the number of workers in Yazhou was not declining, I don’t think the adults would be willing to go through such a big circle.”
How could Tao Donglai be fooled so easily? He smiled and said: "To apply for a land deed for such a large area, you should have to pay a lot of deed tax to the government, right?"
Luo Shengdong looked around and said cautiously: "The four adults can each pay one thousand taels of silver, and the matter can be handled by the government. The procedures will be complete and there will be no mistakes."
Tao Donglai laughed and said: "Mr. Luo Ba is so eloquent. I think you should stop being an officer and open a dental shop. With your qualifications, you should be able to do very well!"
Luo Shengdong waved his hands and said: "Mr. Tao, don't make fun of this. Everything I said is true and not fabricated."
Tao Donglai put away his smile and said: "Even without the instructions of the adults in Yazhou, we went directly to occupy Fenghuang Town, what could Yazhou do?"
Luo Shengdong's face became a little ugly: "Well...of course you have to pay the deed tax and grain tax to the government..."
"Deed tax and grain tax? Are you relying on the Phoenix Inspection Department to collect it?" Tao Donglai said with a hint of ridicule on his face: "We can ask them to try it out then."
Yulin Inspection Department Wei Ping and his gang are still being kept as livestock by the Haihan people in Shengli Port. Luo Shengdong knows this very well. If the Haihan people really take over Phoenix Town, then the Phoenix Inspection Department will definitely enjoy the same treatment. As for paying taxes? The second season of rice grown by the Haihan people is almost ready to be harvested, but I have never heard of them mentioning that they are prepared to pay the grain tax. If the Haihan people refuse to pay the grain, Yazhou really has no good solution. If they send tax collectors, they will definitely get nothing. If they send troops to collect food, they will probably not be able to defeat the Haihan militia, all equipped with muskets.
When Luo Shengdong thought of this, he felt a little regretful about why he had to take the initiative as a lobbyist. Although the title of Mr. Qian was attractive, it was not as good as the cash benefits given by the Haihan people. If Tao Donglai is offended, this private salt business will no longer be possible. What should he do with this large group of brothers who are accustomed to eating and drinking with him? Once your financial path is cut off, how will you support your family with meager military pay in the future?
Luo Shengdong's mind was so confused that he couldn't even think about talking nonsense with Tao Donglai anymore. It was Tao Donglai who took the initiative to start the conversation again: "I heard that Mr. Luo Ba has been married to Zhang Tongpan's family in Yazhou?"
"Ah? Mr. Tao is indeed well-informed. This is true. I am planning to marry Miss Zhang next year." Luo Shengdong responded quickly: "I would also like to invite Mr. Tao to Yazhou for a drink at that time."
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"Well, let me know in advance when the time comes... I would like to ask, if Master Zhizhou and Master Tongzhi retire at the same time, is it possible for you, the father-in-law, to mention it to your superiors?" Tao Donglai then asked.
"This..." Luo Shengdong hesitated: "This matter may not be controlled by the local people."
Zhizhou starts from the fifth rank, and Tongzhi and Tongpian are from the sixth rank. In fact, there is only half a level difference. However, the appointment of officials at this level requires direct notification from the Ministry of Personnel. It is basically impossible to operate directly in secret locally. .
If placed in other places, the vacant official positions would probably cause the candidates to compete for the positions, but this place is Yazhou, so that is a different matter. Almost no one would voluntarily come to serve in this remote area where prisoners were exiled. Therefore, the entire Qiongzhou Prefecture officials basically worked around the island, slowly working their way up one level at a time. Only those who are lucky enough to get to the level of magistrate or magistrate can hope to leave here and be transferred to the mainland to serve. However, the current Yazhou officials are obviously a little bit unlucky. They have finally reached the peak of their careers and have reached retirement. age. As for the positions vacated after their retirement, it is very likely that local officials in Qiongzhou will take over - Luo Shengdong's father-in-law, Zhang Tongpan, is naturally one of the candidates.
Compared with other competitors, Zhang Tongfan's advantage is that he has been in Yazhou for a while and is familiar with the local people. The handover of work will definitely be much smoother than that of a new outsider. If the superiors consider it from a business perspective, Zhang Tongpan is undoubtedly very competitive. Of course, there is no guarantee that there will be other competitors in the middle. After all, Qiongzhou Island is governed by one government and three states. There is more than one official of the sixth grade, Zhang Tongpan. Maybe there are others who have already targeted Yazhou. edge position.
But Tao Donglai has some new plans for Yazhou based on the information he has learned so far - if Luo Shengdong's father-in-law can be managed to become the leader of Yazhou, what will happen in the future? ?
Tao Donglai asked again: "If I could get a recommendation from the resigning magistrate, wouldn't the possibility be greater?"
When Luo Shengdong heard Tao Donglai repeatedly ask about this matter, his heart began to get excited - his father-in-law was not yet fifty years old. If he could be appointed as the magistrate at this age, it would be entirely possible for him to be transferred to the mainland in the future. Target. If you lose this fight, you will just continue to be a sixth-grade general judge, but if you win, you will be a local emperor who is in charge of politics.
Thoughts flashed through Luo Shengdong's mind, and he quickly replied: "If there is a recommendation document from the current magistrate, it will naturally increase the chance of winning."
Tao Donglai nodded and said: "In that case, you might as well think of a way in this direction. Well... also ask your father-in-law what he wants. If he also has this wish, then we might as well cooperate."
"What about Phoenix Town..." Luo Shengdong asked tentatively.
"There is no rush in Fenghuang Town. We are not in a hurry to develop that land now. Those adults in Yazhou just want benefits. This is not easy. As long as they are willing to jointly recommend your father-in-law to take over the post of governor, They will benefit from it later." Tao Donglai patted Luo Shengdong on the shoulder and said, "You know I always do what I say!"
Luo Shengdong quickly lowered his head and responded: "Mr. Tao is true to his word, and I deeply admire you. Please wait until I return to Yazhou to make plans for this matter!"
"Don't be in a hurry, take your time. Anyway, we won't know until next year at the earliest." Tao Donglai said with a smile: "As long as you cooperate with us well, the benefits in the future will be more than just Zhizhou and Qian." Fleet It took half a day to go around Yalong Bay and slowly sail into the gorge where Tieliang Port enters the harbor. Luo Shengdong, as the commander-in-chief of the navy, can be regarded as a professional after all. He couldn't help but comment: "I have visited this place many times, but when I saw that the water channel here is narrow and winding, I didn't go further inside. I didn't expect that you would actually see it." Go here.”
Tao Donglai said: "When this place is completed and put into operation, the salt output will exceed that of the salt farm commune you have visited before. Most of the salt produced here will be sold to Fuzhou and Guangzhou provinces, and even further afield. We also It will become the largest salt merchant in the South China Sea, and you, Mr. Luo Ba, will also become one of the largest salt merchants in the entire Qiongzhou Island.”
Luo Shengdong thought to himself, "I have worked hard and dedicated my life for Haihan, isn't it just for this day?" But with an extremely respectful expression on his face, he said: "This is all thanks to the support of Mr. Tao and the officers of Haihan!"
Although the waterway extending into the inland harbor is not too long, due to the topography, the waterway is winding and winding, and the ships cannot pick up speed at all. Therefore, it took a full hour for the fleet to finally reach the inland harbor. , this is Iron Furnace Port in the true sense.
To the east of Tielugang is the waterway leading in and out of the harbor, to the south is adjacent to the east-west Yalong Ridge, and to the west is the narrow valley leading to Tiandu Industrial Zone. However, it is still in a virgin forest state at this time. If you want to open up this more than ten miles long The passage will take a lot of time. To the north of the harbor is the key development area of the new salt farm, a tidal flat area three times the size of the Shengli Port Salt Farm Commune.
The early expedition team had already built two trestles near the shore for the large troops arriving this time to dock. The "Speed", which had a shallower draft, slowly sailed to the shore before anchoring. Several crew members lifted out a long gangplank and built it to the shore from the ramp at the stern.
In terms of the content of the work, this time the colonization of Tieliang Port basically repeated the landing pattern of Victory Port and Black Earth Port. However, after the experience of the first two times, the entire landing process now seems more orderly and organized. .
All ships, including the warships in Shuizhai, were numbered one by one before departure. What materials were loaded on each ship? In what order should they dock at which trestle to unload the goods? What were the various unloaded goods? Detailed planning and arrangements have been made in advance as to where to transport and stack the products. Therefore, the entire landing site seemed busy and orderly, without any sense of chaos.
This was the first time for Luo Shengdong to witness such a colonization operation organized by the Haihan people. He was greatly impressed by this orderly scene. After watching it for a while, he couldn't help but turn around and scold the few close followers standing behind him: " Look at what others do, and learn from it! If there is such an orderly arrangement for loading and unloading, our trip around the island can be shortened by at least a day or two!”
After Luo Shengdong finished the training, he saw that several of his close associates were hanging their heads and not daring to respond. He couldn't help but cursed: "Why are you just standing there stupidly, just to see if you can learn? Why don't you all go and help!"
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The residential area planned by the Ministry of Construction is mainly to the west of the harbor, close to the north and south sides of the Tiandu-Tielu Port valley exit. The initial construction plan was for a residence of 500 people. However, after Tao Donglai came back, the executive committee decided to place North Vietnamese immigrants here for centralized resettlement, so the original construction plan has been modified. The first phase of the residence will be The number of people was directly raised from 500 to 500 households, which can accommodate about 2,000 residents to settle here.
Of course, with the current shortage of building materials such as masonry, cement, etc., the residential area here will still be based on the boat-shaped house with bamboo and wood structure. Only a small number of warehouses and confidential rooms will use stronger masonry. structure.
The production areas are directly arranged on the coastal beaches around the harbor. With the daily ebb and flow of the tide, the natural rise in sea water levels in these places can save a lot of lifting and irrigation operations, and the production efficiency will exceed the existing Shengli Port. Saltworks Commune.
Large quantities of logs and planks were unloaded from the ships and carried by ox-drawn carts to areas that had been demarcated. Because the structural dimensions of the houses are highly unified, these building materials have been prefabricated in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Construction when they arrived in Victory Port. All building materials are stacked in categories. When using them, they only need to be built simply according to the prepared structure. Okay, this efficiency will be far better than when the Victory Port and Black Earth Port were developed before.
For this colonization project, the Executive Committee had to suspend some existing projects and transported nearly 400 laborers from Victory Port. It will take them nearly half a month to build two large villages in the north and south that can accommodate 2,000 people. The construction of the production area here will be carried out through construction and production at the same time, and it is expected that it may last for a long period of time. There is nothing we can do about this. After all, the Saltworks Commune in Victory Port still has a large area that has not yet completed the reconstruction and expansion project. The production area in Tielugang can probably only be built by the members here through their own efforts.
An hour after arriving at the landing site, the first ships to dock had unloaded their cargo and began to turn back. The amount of construction materials transported to Tieliang Port this time is relatively large, and the existing ships alone cannot transport it all in one trip. It will take at least two trips. There are thousands of standard load-bearing beams and columns required to build a boat-shaped house alone. Most of the boats used this time are of small tonnage. Many of the longer columns cannot be stuffed into the cabin and can only be stacked on the deck. , so the carrying capacity is extremely limited.
Since the entire landing and unloading process was extremely tightly arranged, the workers could only have lunch in batches. However, the Executive Committee has always had a policy of preferential treatment for hard work, and this time is no exception. Workers participating in the operation will be able to eat meat.
The most desperate people among the time-travelers are undoubtedly the people from the Ministry of Construction. If the Shipping Department played the leading role when I came here, then after arriving here, the leading role has become these people. Liu Shanxia spent the whole morning directing on the shore with a tin microphone. His voice was already hoarse by the time he had lunch. However, after finishing two bowls of dry rice, he wiped his mouth from the bowl and went back to the construction site.
After Luo Shengdong sent all his subordinates and cronies to the construction site, he has been watching with cold eyes. Although this was not the first time he had seen such a large-scale labor situation, he was still shocked. This is not the feeling that the strength of the working people is enough to create new things, but the feeling that these Haihan people are all capable and can be pampered and become big bosses. But on such an occasion, almost everyone came on stage with their sleeves rolled up. The work done by many people is not much easier than that of laborers. He really didn't understand what these Haihan people were thinking and why they had to do such cumbersome things by themselves.
Taking advantage of Tao Donglai's opportunity to come down from the construction site to drink water, Luo Shengdong asked him this question that had been bothering him for a long time. After hearing this, Tao Donglai laughed and said: "The reason why we do these things is not because of how diligent we are, nor because we are idle, but purely to speed up our development. What we are doing now The more you have, the sooner the day will come when you can sit down and enjoy happiness.”
Luo Shengdong looked confused, still not quite understanding the connection between the two.
Upon seeing this, Tao Donglai added: "For example, with the current construction of this salt farm, we estimate that after it is fully completed, the daily output can reach at least 20,000 kilograms. Even based on the salt price we are giving you now, early on If we achieve this goal in one day, we will gain thousands of taels of silver. Ten days ago, we will have tens of thousands of taels. And with this extra time, we can use it in other places to make more money. If it were you, would you have enough energy? ”
Luo Shengdong clapped his hands and said: "Mr. Tao, when you talk about money, I immediately understand. When it comes to how to make money, you are indeed an expert. Before I met you, I could make a hundred dollars a year. Two taels of silver would seem like a luxury to me, but now I am receiving thousands of taels of money every month. It’s like living in a dream.”
Tao Donglai smiled and said: "Is a thousand taels a lot? You can work hard with us. Don't talk about a thousand taels for a few more years. You can still make a monthly income of ten thousand taels."
Luo Shengdong said intoxicatedly: "If that day comes, I will resign from this military position and become a rich man with peace of mind."
"Why resign? If you keep working hard, we will slowly turn you into a general!" Tao Donglai said with a smile: "Don't set the end of your life at the level of the general manager."
(End of chapter)