Qian Heng became the deputy inspector of the Prefecture Inspection Department under the recommendation of He Zhiyuan, and is now responsible for the safety and security of the entire Hejia Town, which is actually the safety and security of the He family.

"How do you behave suspiciously?" He Zhiyuan asked, he knew that since it was Qian Heng who came to report to him, there must be conclusive evidence.

"The two men have been moving around the mill and sometimes following the women who commute to and from work." Qian Heng replied.

"Stalking a female worker? Could it be a womanizer with bad intentions? He Zhiyuan asked.

Qian Heng shook his head and said, "No, the two of them don't have any bad actions except for tracking, as if they are recording their commuting rules." ”

"What else did you find?" He Zhiyuan's heart moved, and the first thing that came to mind was commercial espionage.

"We checked the inn where they were staying, and according to the owner, both of them were from Zhoucun in Jinan Prefecture. One is called Su Dongqin, and the other is called Qi Hengyu, and they have been here for six days. Qian Heng replied, and then said: "The innkeeper also said that these two people do not seem to be in business, and they rarely go out except for wandering around the textile factories outside the city. ”

I heard that it was from Zhoucun, and He Zhiyuan was even more sure that he was a commercial spy. And he was sure that these two people were either sent by the Zou family or by the He family. The Liu family is now in a hurry to cooperate with him, and it is impossible to do such a thing.

He Zhiyuan thought for a while and said to Qian Heng: "As long as they don't make deviant acts, don't alarm him, I guess their target is the textile mill's loom machine, you just need to pay close attention to their movements on the periphery of the textile mill, and if there is any misdeeds, arrest him immediately." ”

"Okay, I see." Qian Heng replied, thought about it and said, "If they don't have any misdeeds, how should we deal with them if they leave?" ”

He Zhiyuan thought for a while and replied, "You only need to ask their names and addresses, and don't worry about anything else."

Qian Heng said yes and left.

Subsequently, He Zhiyuan called the patrol team in the textile factory and told them that some unscrupulous people had recently coveted the machinery and equipment in the textile factory, and asked them to patrol day and night, especially the strange men who entered the factory. Arrest those who are found to be wrongdoers.

Su Dongqin and Liu Hengyu are spies sent by the He family to spy on the new loom, they have been in Hejia Town for seven days, they have been around the textile factory for four or five days, and have figured out the number of people in the textile factory and the law of commuting, but the security in the factory is very strict, there is no chance to enter the factory, let alone the intelligence of the textile machine.

Later, they found out that someone was following them, and they didn't dare to act rashly. So the two of them discussed for a long time and agreed that they had been exposed, and according to the instructions of the owner, they decided to withdraw immediately.

When the two returned to Zhou Village, they immediately reported the situation to He Peijia: "Master, the textile factory in Hejia Town is very well guarded, and there are patrols in the factory that patrol day and night at all, and the soldiers in the town have noticed the two of us and have been following us. ”

He Peijia had a displeased expression on his face when he heard this, and Su Dongqin immediately said when he saw this: "But we also found out some news, according to our observation, there are a lot of people in this textile factory, about 1,500 people, every 500 people have a shift, and each shift works for four hours, it is estimated that people do not stop looms." ”

"I already know what kind of news this is. You've been there for more than ten days to find out about this? He Peijia asked angrily.

Qi Hengyu hurriedly said: "Also, a large factory area has been built next to the textile factory, and a fence has been built around it, and the house layout inside is the same as that of textiles, and it is estimated that it is another textile factory." ”

The walnut in He Peijia's hand suddenly stopped, and asked suspiciously: "Another textile factory was built?" Wouldn't that double production? ”

"The little ones don't know if it's a textile factory, it's just a guess." Qi Hengyu replied.

Su Dongqin added: "We also found that there was a female weaver who had been to the He family's compound with He Zhiyuan during her work, presumably a key person, and the two of us focused on her work rules and where she lived. This woman lives in a grass shed area outside the city, presumably a victim of the relocation from Shaanxi. ”

"Oh? That's valuable news. When He Peijia heard the news, his face immediately turned cloudy, and then he asked the woman in detail about her appearance and specific address, and then sent them down to receive the reward.

After the two of them went down, He Peijia found the shopkeeper Gu and instructed: "You immediately find a guy who can speak honestly and reliably, I have important things to explain to him......"

At the end of March, after almost a month of preparation, the construction of the spinning mill had been completed, and 500 spinning machines had been produced, enough for the current use.

At the same time, the recruitment of weavers was carried out immediately, and this time the recruitment was easier, and the requirements for weavers were lowered, and soon the first batch of 500 female workers was recruited. According to He Zhiyuan's plan, Lu Chuanmei trained the first batch of 50 spinners, and these 50 people went to train the newly recruited 500 apprentices, and after these 500 apprentices learned and became proficient, they recruited another 1,000 apprentices, each with two apprentices to complete the training, and then tried to implement a three-shift system.

At this time, the work of the textile mill and the spinning mill was very smooth, and the spies of Zhoucun who came to explore the textile machinery also retreated, and the Academy of Sciences, the mechanical processing workshop, the steam pumping machine manufacturing workshop, and the Luoquanzhuang coal mine were also carried out in an orderly manner. And the construction of the city wall of Hejia Town is supervised and followed up by the state government workshop and his father, so he doesn't have to worry about it at all. Moreover, it has made rapid progress since the beginning of spring, and now it has entered the final stage, and it is estimated that it will be completed in more than ten days.

The construction in the city has also been fully rolled out, after the bidding, the winning merchants have begun to start construction, the various functions of the government Yamen have already started construction last year, the house has been built, the interior decoration is underway. It is estimated that the office will be able to move in this summer.

At noon on this day, a young merchant carried a burden and shouted all the way into the grass shed area in the north of the city. It was full of people who had just moved in, most of them very poor, and despite his hard work, he didn't have much business. The old man with good deeds said to the merchant: "Young man, don't bother here, here are all poor people who moved from Shaanxi, you are shouting here in vain, and you have no business." You'd better go to town. ”

The young merchant was not discouraged, and replied politely: "Thank you for the reminder, I am in the business of the poor, as long as I live at home, I will always have someone to buy these needles, threads, brains, cloth heads, candy people, etc." ”

Saying that, let's go with the burden.

The old man shook his head, sighed and said to himself: "This descendant is still a stubborn donkey, in this grass shed, he can't buy a few copper plates a day, and I don't know what he eats, what a strange person......"

The merchant walked to the door of a family, perhaps tired, and sat down at the door to rest, still shouting.

After a while, a little girl of seven or eight years old came out of this family, and the merchant asked amiably, "Little sister, is he a sugar man?" I'm a sweet sugar man! As he spoke, he pulled a candy man from the merchant's cabinet and held it in his hand.

The little girl shook her head and said, "Mom won't let me ask for anything that is human." ”

"Uncle is not a bad person, take it." As he spoke, the merchant shoved the candy man into the little girl's hand.

The little girl finally couldn't resist the temptation and happily ran home with the candy man.

"Grandma, I've got sugar man!" The little girl said happily to her grandmother.

"Where? You want something from someone else! Her grandmother said angrily.

"It was given by the uncle at the door, and he said he didn't want money, but gave me food." The little girl said innocently.

So the old lady led her granddaughter to the door, and when she saw the young merchant, she asked him to give him money. The young merchant was very polite, and said again and again: "Coax the child, what money do you want?" ”

Although the old lady said that she was poor, she was also real, and said apologetically: "How can it be done, it is not easy for you to walk the streets and alleys." ”

The young merchant said: "You really don't need to give money, if you always pity us, it's not easy, just ask for a bowl of water." ”

The old lady naturally agreed, and hurriedly invited the merchant to come to the yard and find a coarse porcelain bowl to hold a bowl of hot water. While waiting for the water to cool down, the merchant chatted with the old lady about family life.

"Why are you and your granddaughter at home?" The merchant asked casually.

"There are three children who have gone out to play, his father has gone to work in other places, and his mother has gone to work in a textile factory." The old lady replied.

"It's really strange that you have a place where women can work and earn money?" The merchant asked in surprise.

The old lady said proudly: "It's not like that, both of our family earn money, and the old man can earn dozens of dollars a day when he goes out to help others." ”

"It's such a good place, I said there are so many new workshops." The merchant said with some envy, and then pointed to the east and asked, "The child is working in the workshop over there, right?" ”

"Yes! Not far from home, the salary is still high, the owner is really bold, there are three or four taels of silver a month. The old lady had a satisfied smile on her face.

"So profitable! That's more than I earn in a year. The merchant was even more envious, and then said suspiciously: "But I have never heard that the textile workshop has such a high wage, and the maximum is only two taels of silver a month. ”

The old lady shook her head and said, "How can the owner lose money? I heard from my daughter-in-law that there is a new loom in the workshop, which is four or five times faster than the original loom! How can the owner lose money? ”

When the merchant heard this, a faint smile appeared on his face......

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