Chapter 1201 Induction Training
Han Zhengshan looked at the hammer in his hand. The style, size, and weight were exactly the same as the hammer he had used in the Zhoushan hard labor camp. It seemed to be the standard equipment for this job. I had been knocking stones in Zhoushan for a month, and I thought I would be out of trouble after going south. I didn't expect that after traveling thousands of miles by sea, I would still have to continue doing this boring labor task.
Complaints are complaints. In order to have enough food and clothing, and to gain valuable labor points, Han Zhengshan had no choice but to give in. He sat down on the ground and started knocking. Fortunately, the labor intensity in this immigration camp is much less than that in the hard labor camp. People like Han Zhengshan who have been "tempered" find it quite relaxing.
According to the foreman, this is to give the immigrants something to do while they are waiting for assignment. The living conditions the immigrants enjoy now are not given in vain. Everyone has to do something and use labor to compensate for the generous treatment they receive. Of course, there is nothing wrong with such an arrangement. After all, to support thousands of immigrants, the daily cost of food and accommodation is a huge amount. Even if Haihan has gold and silver, he will not be so extravagant as to support without asking for anything in return. them.
Almost all of the people who were packed here by immigration ships from all over the country were as impoverished as Han Zhengshan. They could only make a living by selling their labor force. Apart from unconditional obedience to such an arrangement, it was difficult to have any resistance. After all, now we have to rely on the Haihan government to provide food, clothing, housing and transportation, so we have no choice but to be obedient.
Of course, there are also some lucky ones among these immigrants who, by virtue of their skills or background, became the first batch of people selected. These people are basically craftsmen or craftsmen with a certain skill. Even entry-level bamboo craftsmen who can only weave a dustpan and basket will be given priority. There are also some people who were originally from the Ming army. After being captured, they joined the Haihan army, and now they have become the targets of recruitment by the Haihan army. I heard that as long as you join the army, you can immediately obtain Haihan nationality, eliminating the long inspection period and application procedures. Many people, including Han Zhengshan, couldn't help but feel envious.
The immigrants had already had a preliminary understanding of the differences in treatment between Haihan nationals and non-citizens through lectures given by civil affairs cadres. Naturally, they also understood that if they want to live in Haihan for a long time, obtaining nationality is the first goal that needs to be achieved. For new immigrants, it may take more than half a year to do this, but these people can become naturalized as long as they join the army. With such treatment, even Han Zhengshan can't help but be tempted to join the army. In his eyes, the Haihan Army has few rivals, and joining the army does not seem to be a particularly risky business. Moreover, he heard that the Haihan Army's military pay is generous, which will definitely be much higher than his future income from pounding stones. But before Han Zhengshan could figure out the pros and cons, civil affairs officials summoned him to the camp management office for a private conversation.
"Before you came here, you were working as a police officer in the Yamen, right?" The civil affairs cadre sitting on the wicker chair opposite Han Zhengshan was young, probably in his early twenties, with extremely short hair and a tea cup in one hand. Holding a document in one hand, he said to him arrogantly: "The registration information says that you have worked in the government office for more than ten years. Is this true?"
Han Zhengshan had been smoothed by reality along the way from Hangzhou. He knew that when the other party took the initiative to ask about his past experience and background, this might be an opportunity for him to turn around, so he respectfully raised his hand and responded: " Reporting back to the chief, Han entered the Qiantang County government office at the age of seventeen, and became a policeman at the age of nineteen. At the age of twenty-three, he personally captured the bandit leader who had robbed the official silver, and was personally promoted to Hangzhou Prefecture by the prefect. He worked in the yamen and took the position of being the head catcher at the age of twenty-seven. He has never been able to solve any cases and is quite famous in Hangzhou. ”
"The qualifications are quite good!" The civil affairs cadre nodded repeatedly, but he was not disgusted by his self-reported resume answer. He raised the document in his hand and said, "I have gone through all your information. Although you made some mistakes when you were in Hangzhou, it was not a big problem. You also spent some time in the hard labor camp, right? Have you deeply reflected on your past mistakes? ”
Han Zhengshan thought to himself, who can't say self-reflection, and immediately responded: "Han had many misunderstandings about the Haihan Kingdom at the beginning, but now he has regretted it and is fully aware of all the inappropriateness in the past. He is willing to do his best to serve the Haihan Kingdom in the future. Han Guo serves! ”
Although Han Zhengshan didn't know the purpose of the other party's inquiry, he was still very proficient in using this kind of flattery after serving in the yamen for many years. Now, insisting on the position of the people of the Ming Dynasty will no longer help improve his situation. Considering the actual situation, Han Zhengshan naturally has to seize the opportunity to fight for himself a chance to get ahead.
The cadre seemed to be very satisfied with Han Zhengshan's statement, and then continued: "Since your previous job was as a police officer to maintain local security, we plan to assign you to a department with the same function. What do you think? ”
Han Zhengshan was confused when he heard this, but he also knew that the other party was asking for his opinion on work assignments, so he immediately responded: "Han should obey the assignments from the chief and don't dare to be picky."
"In that case, then you go back first and wait for the assignment notification!" The cadre put down the teacup, wrote a few words on the information, and then sent Han Zhengshan away.
After Han Zhengshan walked out of the office, he was still a little uneasy. After all, the other party had not promised anything to him, but looking back on the conversation just now, he seemed to see a glimmer of light. He now knew that the "policeman" in black clothes and black trousers was the agent of Haihan Kingdom, and he couldn't help but imagine what he would look like in that outfit.
Sure enough, after two more days of pounding stones in the immigration camp, Han Zhengshan was taken out of the immigration camp and headed to another training center affiliated with the Ministry of Justice. However, due to the long distance, Han Zhengshan and several other similarly selected immigrants had to take a boat to Sanya Port with the police officer leading them, and then disembark to take the train. Han Zhengshan didn't know what a train was, but he just took it as it came and just followed it.
The traffic boat that everyone was riding on bypassed the west side of the Luhuitou Peninsula and entered the Sanya Port formed by the estuary of the Sanya River and the Linchun River. Only when he arrived here did Han Zhengshan understand why this place was called the first port in the South China Sea. It was the first time in his life that he saw so many sea-going ships at the same time, densely distributed in various docks such as harbors. The 400-material Dafu boat, which was rarely seen on the Qiantang River outside Hangzhou, was just an ordinary sailboat with a medium-sized hull here. Huge sailboats twice as big were everywhere, which made Han Zhengshan stunned.
The banks of the two rivers are covered with docks for miles, and there are countless ships moored there. However, this is only one of the two ports in Sanya. It is said that the other one was built earlier and has more complete facilities, the Victory Port. The size of the port is even greater than that of Sanya Port. With Han Zhengshan's knowledge, he could not imagine what that scene would be like, but based on what he saw, the title of the first port in the South China Sea was indeed well-deserved. After landing at Sanya Port, Han Zhengshan officially saw the appearance of Sanya city. There are no tall city walls here, the wide roads are bustling with people and cars, and there are rows of shops on the streets. It is not like Hangzhou or other cities he has visited that are full of stinky smells. The Haihan people have extremely strict requirements on hygiene, so it goes without saying that the neat streets are the result of their control. From time to time, you will see people wearing green vests on the street, holding dustpans and brooms, constantly cleaning up the excrement of passing livestock.
The appearance of the pedestrians on the road is also diverse. In addition to the majority of Han Chinese, there are also Persians with deep eyes, high noses, curly beards, Westerners with blond hair and blue eyes, black people with skin as dark as carbon, and Japanese ronin with weird moon-shaven heads. , and there are also local Li people with various patterns tattooed on their bodies. Han Zhengshan didn't know what an international city was, but it could be seen from this that businessmen from many countries came and went from Sanya, and its economic and trade status in the South China Sea was also evident.
Han Zhengshan was dazzled as he walked and watched. He followed the team to a place that looked like a government office. However, the plaque hanging above the gate said "Sanya Port Railway Station" in large characters. Han Zhengshan guessed that this was the place. The place to take the "train". The police officer leading the team bought the tickets and distributed them to everyone. He warned: "When you get on the bus later, give this ticket to the person checking the tickets at the door. Don't crowd and queue up to get on the bus. From now on, you must This is how it works when riding this train.”
Han Zhengshan took the ticket and saw that the small piece of paper only had the words "single person, single ride" printed on it, which was nothing surprising. However, there was no car anywhere within the field of vision, but there were two seemingly iron tracks laid on the sleepers on the gravel road next to it, extending to both sides to the end of the field of vision, and it was unknown where they led. There were dozens of people waiting for the bus nearby, all standing within the yellow line drawn on the ground, and they seemed to be in good order.
Han Zhengshan had seen similar tracks in the Zhoushan hard labor camp. The carts pulled by animal power were used to transport stones and stones broken by prisoners on this iron track. However, that kind of track was much smaller than what he saw in front of him. Han Zhengshan saw that the track was almost as thick as his own calf, and he couldn't help but sigh that Haihan had invested a lot in building this track. He didn't know how much fine iron was used alone. And I don’t know how big this “train” is to accommodate so many people, or it needs to be divided into several cars.
When Han Zhengshan was thinking wildly, the sound of a siren sounded in the distance, calling him back to reality from his thoughts. He turned his head to look at the place where the sound came from, and saw a black thing with white smoke coming along the track. From a distance, he could feel the vibration of the ground as it traveled. After the train slowly entered the station, Han Zhengshan saw clearly the true identity of this big guy. The whole body was made of black iron. There were two rows of huge wheels underneath on the track, but there were no pack horses or other livestock in front or behind. Dragging, I don’t know how such a big iron guy can run on the track. And then there were several carriages connected in a series, which were the seats of the passengers.
Before Han Zhengshan could figure out how the train operated, the team began to board the train. Sure enough, there was a person at the door who collected their tickets one by one. Han Zhengshan entered the carriage and found a seat to sit down. He couldn't help but ask the leading police officer: "Why is it that the driver does not collect the fare directly, but there is an extra step to print it as a ticket and sell it?"
The police officer responded: "This is not simple. First, it is to prevent the person who collects the money from being corrupt. If you don't have a ticket, you can't get on the bus. The person who collects the money must give you a ticket. As long as you count how many tickets are sold, you will know how much you have collected. The second is It is convenient to count passenger flow and adjust train schedules. The third reason is to shorten the time it takes to get on the train. How much time do you think it will take if you line up at the door to collect money? ”
When Han Zhengshan thought about it, it made sense. This system was extremely thoughtful, and he immediately asked: "Then why is this called a train? There are no oxen and horses dragging it outside, so how can it travel automatically?"
The police officer responded: "You have passed me. I only know that this train is coal-fired, so it is named a train. As for how to travel automatically, that is a secret that only the leaders know."
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While he was talking, the train started to move again. Han Zhengshan looked at the scenery outside the carriage that was gradually retreating, and then he was convinced that he was really moving forward. Although he didn't understand the operating principle of this thing at all, he immediately thought of its terrible function-if this thing was used to transport troops, wouldn't it make great strides?
But when he thought about it, he realized that he had missed an important condition. This thing could obviously only travel on paved tracks, and the construction of such tracks would definitely take many years to complete. He wanted to rely on this to transport troops. I'm afraid it's not realistic to go to the battlefield.
Thinking of this, Han Zhengshan felt inexplicably relieved. He felt that although this train had amazing transport capacity, it was still very limited. It had to build roads and burn coal. Even a wealthy man would not be able to build it. Go to the Ming Dynasty. The stuff is good stuff, but it seems to only have so much use.
With Han Zhengshan's knowledge, of course he could not quickly understand the great significance of trains as a means of transportation for industrial development and social change. However, the convenient transportation brought by it was obvious, even if it was his first time to ride a train. We soon realized the significant role of this mass transportation in improving people’s travel efficiency.
However, Han Zhengshan's first ride experience ended quickly. Soon after arriving at Fort Victory Station, the police officer leading the team greeted everyone to get off the bus. After gathering on the platform and counting the number of people, he took them out of the station and went to the station next to the station. Report to the Police Department.
After leaving the station, Han Zhengshan's eyes were immediately attracted by the broad Victory Square and the Victory Fort in the distance. Although it looked like a small castle, he saw that the city was covered with the two-color flags of Hainan and Han fluttering in the wind. and the surrounding moat, Han Zhengshan could roughly guess that this was an important place.
(End of chapter)