I

  Chapter 210 208 [Records of Xu Xiake’s Experience]

  In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Xu Xiake traveled for the 16th time and the last time in his life.

  Originally, his original travel route was from Fuzhou to Ji'an, visiting Guifeng, Longhu Mountain, Magu Mountain, Qingyuan Mountain and so on along the way. But the Luling Zhao thief made too much noise. Hearing that the abbot of Qingyuan Temple was abused (rumor) and died, Xu Xiake could only go to Nanchang to inquire about the situation.

  He hired a boat and came here with a lot of luggage. He brought a long bag with him, and the crew on the ship helped carry one bag, and he had to ask coolies on the dock to carry two bags.

  There is a dew pavilion on the pier, which is actually an advertising board, with a lot of commercial information, and sometimes the emperor's decree and government notices.

I saw a group of people gathered there, and a scholar read aloud: "Mr. Zhao from Luling, we sincerely hire people who can build water-turning mills and water-turning spinning wheels. There will be preferential treatment for both households and craftsmen. If you make a machine , reward twenty taels of silver, those who wish to stay as officials can be given official positions, and those who want to move their families can share the land with their families! Those who can improve the loom will also be rewarded!"

  As soon as this remark came out, everyone was in an uproar.

  A down-and-out scholar said angrily: "The bandit Zhao from Luling is so arrogant that he posted the notice to Nanchang Mansion!"

   "Liu Xianggong, don't you just scold, do you dare to tear up the notice of the rebels?" A familiar person next to him teased.

  The poor scholar immediately blushed: "I...why wouldn't I dare? There is an urgent matter at home today, I have to go back quickly, I will tear it up another day!"

   "Hahahahaha!"

  Everyone laughed.

  Xu Xiake was inexplicably shocked when he heard it. The rebels posted the notice in the provincial capital, but no one dared to tear it up.

  Are all the officials of Jiangxi’s Third Division deaf or blind?

   "I know about Water Turning Mill, but what is Water Turning Spinning Wheel?"

   "It's water turning spinning wheel."

   "Oh, it's a pity that I can't, otherwise I will definitely apply for the job."

   "Speak carefully, don't let the officials hear you."

   "What are you afraid of? Sooner or later, Nanchang will be taken over by the Zhao thieves. I heard from friends who have been to Linjiang Mansion that the people there live a good life, and the Zhao thieves don't collect exorbitant taxes."

"This old cousin is right. My niece married and went to the countryside of Fengcheng. She got married quickly when the land was divided at the beginning of the year. I heard that as long as she married in time, she would be able to get four acres of land for herself. After she married, she really got it. "

   "Then your niece is lucky, it's time to catch up."

   "..."

  Xu Xiake felt that there was something wrong with his ears. This is the provincial capital of Jiangxi, and a group of people were actually discussing the topic of thieves in a serious manner.

  Xu Xiake couldn't help but ask the coolie he had hired: "The Luling bandit Zhao, why is he so arrogant?"

The coolie replied with a smile: "During the autumn harvest, Mr. Zhao won a big battle. I heard that tens of thousands of officers and soldiers were lost. Now everyone is looking forward to it. Mr. Zhao will occupy Nanchang sooner, and the future will be brighter." "

   "Farmers can divide their fields, what can you get?" Xu Xiake asked.

  The coolie said: "Under Mr. Zhao's rule, homeless people also have household registration."

  Xu Xiake was speechless for a moment. With only one household registration, the coolies were willing to follow the thief.

  The reason is very simple. The imperial court does not issue household registrations to homeless people, and tacitly assumes that there are a large number of such black households. But black households are black households after all, not only officials can oppress them at will, even ordinary people can bully them. Even if these vagrants were cheated out of money, they could not go to the Yamen to file a lawsuit.

   On the way to the inn, Xu Xiake asked again: "The Luling thief Zhao, what is the job of recruiting a craftsman who can make water and turn a large spinning wheel?"

   "I don't know." The coolie shook his head and said.

   Of course it is to develop the textile industry!

  When it comes to the textile industry in the Ming Dynasty, it is Susong, Changhu and other Jiangnan provinces.

  But Jiangxi also has four major cotton-producing and textile areas, namely Jiujiang, Guangxin, Yuanzhou, and Ji'an, two of which belong to Zhao Han's territory.

  The "Ji'an Mansion Chronicle" recorded in the Wanli Dynasty: "The land is not sericulture, and the kapok is worn."

  Before the orthodox dynasty of Yuanzhou Mansion, it was very inconvenient for farmers to transport cotton cloth and ramie (hemp) cloth to Anqing to earn grain for autumn. Zhou Ying, the magistrate of Fenyi County in the orthodox dynasty, asked the court to use cotton cloth and ramie cloth to directly fold rice into the tax, and the court agreed.

  Farmers in a prefecture use cotton cloth and linen instead of autumn grain to pay taxes. It is conceivable that the local textile industry is very prosperous.

  However, the scale of the Jiangnan prefectures did not form, and no large-scale textile factories appeared. All weavers spun at home by themselves.

  Now Zhao Han is formulating an economic development plan—

  Linjiang Prefecture focuses on the development of medicinal materials, iron smelting, and commerce.

  Yuanzhou Prefecture focuses on the development of textiles, iron smelting, ceramics, and commerce.

  Jian Prefecture focuses on the development of textiles, cloth dyeing, ceramics, and commerce.

  Ganzhou Prefecture focuses on the development of commercial crops (tung oil, wood lacquer, camellia oleifera, tobacco, etc.) and trade.

  Why is there commerce?

   Because there are important water transport towns, commerce and trade are already developed!

  After Zhao Han abolished exorbitant taxes, the commerce and trade within the jurisdiction became more prosperous, and many merchants from other places were willing to do business. The development of commerce and trade can expand the market for various commodities, and merchants will bring local specialties and sell them to various provinces.

  As for the water-turning spinning wheel, it was born in the Southern Song Dynasty. Its work efficiency is more than 30 times that of a manual spinning wheel, and it can spin more than 100 catties of flax yarn every day.

  Unfortunately, the cotton fibers are too short for this hydraulic spinning wheel.

   Therefore, after the popularization of cotton cloth, the hydraulic spinning wheel was also eliminated, and it almost disappeared by the end of Ming Dynasty.

  Zhao Han decided to take three steps:

  The first step is to rebuild the water-turned spinning wheel and weave a large amount of hemp yarn. Then sell the linen yarn to the weavers, and the weavers weave it into linen. There is also a market for this linen.

  The second step is to improve the water-turned spinning wheel, making it suitable for spinning cotton yarn, and gradually giving birth to a large-scale industry.

  The third step is to improve the loom. When cotton yarn can be produced in large quantities and quickly, looms cannot adapt to industrial development, and merchants must invest in improving looms themselves, and a virtuous circle of technology research and development is formed.

  Jiangxi is densely covered with water networks, it would be a pity not to use hydraulic machinery!

  Come to stay at the inn, Xu Xiake began to sort out his diary and revise his articles about visiting Longhu Mountain and Magu Mountain. At the same time, he also wanted to record what he saw and heard just now. "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes" also wanted to write about events, and secretly used the spring and autumn style of writing. Only the Jiangxi Travel Notes satirized several people.

   "Boom boom boom!"

   There was a knock on the door next door, followed by another conversation.

   "Brother Shizai, look what good things I got."

   ""The Record of the Female Generals of Datong"? I have read this book, and it is not a woman who obeys women's morals."

   "Hey, open it again and have a look."

   "Hey, there are illustrations, which bookstore printed them?"

   "I don't know, anyway, someone secretly sells it, and the price is quite expensive."

   "Don't worry, let me have a look at the painting skills."

   "..."

  Xu Xiake has read "The Collection of Datong", and that stuff has spread to Fuzhou and Raozhou.

  What is this "The Record of the Female Generals of Datong", it sounds like a propaganda book for rebels. However, not only did it spread unimpeded in Nanchang, but there were also booksellers who took the initiative to print illustrated editions to make money.

  I can only say that Jiangxi is really a magical place!

  Actually, Zhao Han also can’t laugh or cry, “The Record of Female Generals of Datong” is for women. Prostitutes, maids, among them literate women, after reading it, they must be yearning for it.

   I didn't expect that men would like to watch it too. It was entirely out of curiosity, and the speed of transmission was faster than "Datong Ji". As a result, unscrupulous booksellers quietly pirated copies, and now they even produced illustrated editions.

  Specialized in the art industry, as expected of a bookseller, he understands the psychology of readers very well.

  The neighbor is still chatting—

"If you want to talk about the one hundred and eight female generals of the Datong, the Tianying star Zuo Shangyun is the most pleasing. She is from a branch of a wealthy family, not a prostitute or a maid, and she has excellent poetry. The novel "The First Battle of Qingjiang" "Qing Jiangyue", the libretto comes from this woman's handwriting. Alas, if she is not a thief, she is also a talented woman."

   "I prefer Tianweixing Pan Saisai. It is rumored that she was born as a famous prostitute in Ji'an Prefecture. She has a charming appearance, a graceful figure, and her voice is especially clear when she sings. This illustration is also well drawn. I don't know which artist it came from."

"This day's killing star Liu Fengying is also extraordinary. Brother, let's read the book. He was helping to divide the land in Wugong Mountain, but he suddenly encountered dozens of thieves. The chief officer was afraid and wanted to retreat, but Liu Fengying remained calm in the face of danger. More than ten people waved flags and shouted in the forest, and led the crowd to rush out suddenly, and captured more than fifty bandits on the spot. They are really heroines, and I can't wait to see her face!"

   "..."

  Xu Xiake laughed in the room, but at the same time deeply felt the cunning of the rebels, so he actually played tricks on the scholars.

  Zhao Han could only yell that he was wronged, he didn't want to play a beauty trick. It's those unscrupulous booksellers who produced a **** of an illustrated version, drawing all the female missionaries beautifully, which caused the stinky man who read the book to become lustful.

   If it continues like this, it is estimated that there will be storytellers in the teahouse, and all those female missionaries will be made into legends!

  Beauty and novelty are really easy to spread. The folk influence of "Datong Female General Record" can throw "Datong Collection" out of a hundred streets.

   Knowing that thief Zhao didn't kill people indiscriminately, Xu Xiake only stayed in Nanchang for one day, so he took a boat and went straight to Qingyuan Mountain outside Jishui County. The Qingyuan Mountain in the Ming Dynasty was not just that one peak, the surrounding mountains were collectively called Qingyuan Mountain.

  It was late autumn at this time, Xu Xiake went into the mountains and found sweet potatoes growing everywhere.

  Only a few mountain people are taking care of the fields, but most of the mountain people are building roads. Both men and women, even young and old, come to help.

  Four-year compulsory education cannot be extended to the mountains for the time being, and children still do farm work at a young age.

  Xu Xiake couldn't help walking over, clasped his fists and asked, "Old man, is the corvee heavy here?"

   "Building your own road, what kind of corvee?" In fact, the old man is not old, he is only in his fifties, but he has gray hair and wrinkles.

  Xu Xiake had no choice but to ask again: "Since it is not a corvee, can the government pay wages?"

  The old man said with a smile: "How much do you pay for building your own road?"

  Xu Xiake was puzzled and said: "If you don't pay wages, it's not considered a corvee, so what is this road construction?"

The old man said happily: "Mr. Zhao asked us to build the road, so we will do our best. All the mountain roads in this area belong to Dashu'ao (village). When the road is repaired, it will be easier to go down the mountain. If you have nothing to do at home, it's better to come and repair it." The road cannot be repaired this year, and it will be repaired next year, and it will be repaired sooner or later."

   "Did the government force you?" Xu Xiake asked.

  The old man was still laughing: "Do you need the government to force you to build your own road?"

  In fact, the reason is very simple. In the past, the biggest beneficiaries of road construction were the landowners in the mountains.

   Now road construction, the beneficiaries are all farmers!

  The old man opened his mouth and said "build his own road", which means he has a sense of ownership. They could not call the shots before, but now they can call the shots. They themselves are the masters of the mountain road.

  From the founding of New China to 2000 AD, Chinese farmers also built village roads in this way.

  Do not take any wages from the government, bring your own tools and dry food, dig mountains and rocks, and build your own roads. After the repair is completed, it needs to be maintained every year. Men, women and children are working hard.

  (end of this chapter)