This natural disaster from south to north brought great wealth and business opportunities to the nobles in Donglin in the south of the Yangtze River and in Nanjing.

In addition to gold and silver, all kinds of antiques, calligraphy and paintings, jewelry, and rare things are all kinds of strange things, in addition to these movable properties, there are also a large number of real estate such as shops, houses, gardens, etc., which have changed hands.

Some places with excellent scenery have already been surveyed there, demolished the original dilapidated houses, and prepared to build villas such as "grass house" and "mountain house" here, so as to chant the wind and the moon and appreciate the poetry and painting.

Their wealth was given by the uniform price of rice everywhere, four taels of silver and one stone, and japonica rice mixed with sand and gravel. But this rice price is also unbearable for the people of Jiangnan. If in previous years, when encountering such a year, a large number of people will starve to death, many mansions, garden villas, storefronts and shops are sold at low prices and no one cares, the more prosperous the business is, the more depressed the market is, and it is extremely strange.

This year, however, a different and strange scenario has emerged.

Everywhere in Susong Taihang Jiahu, a large number of bankrupt machine owners and weavers were bought by Nanzhong merchants at low prices and became their creditors.

According to the history textbooks, during this period, there were signs of early industrialization in Jiangnan, and capitalism also appeared in the relations of production, and a large number of machine owners and weavers received raw materials from merchants or machine room owners, and received processing fees after processing according to the processing requirements of merchants. Countless families rely on spinning cotton and weaving silk to make a living.

But. A great flood left them destitute.

Houses have collapsed, looms have been destroyed, and there are only mouths to eat, and in the face of high food prices and contracts they have signed, these weavers who have nothing have become overwhelmed.

"Two paths. One is that we go to the Yamen to fight a lawsuit, and you either return the money to us, or give us cotton yarn, cotton cloth, raw silk and silk according to the contract; If you can't hand it over, the yamen will sentence you for your crimes according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, and you, your wives and children, young and old, will not be sentenced to be slaves by the officials. Another way. That's the signing of this contract. Come with us to Canton, where you will go back to your old business and pay off your debts with the wages we give you. ”

"In the meantime. We will provide you with three meals a day. If you work overtime. There will be late meals and overtime pay. There will be a stipulation in the wage contract. ”

How can a person not bow his head under a low eaves? Suzhou Mansion, Songjiang Mansion, Hangzhou Mansion, and Huzhou Mansion, there are countless Husi sisters, spinning masters, and weaving masters. It was transported by boats by the merchants of Long to Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, where a hastily built wharf and makeshift houses. Transshipment to Canton and more distant Hue.

When they boarded the southbound ship with half excitement and half confusion, mixed with the expectation of a new life and the fear of an unfamiliar environment, they did not know that a similar scene was also happening in the distant Jiangbei and Shandong. However, the slight difference is that the victims of the disaster in Shandong have signed long-term labor agreements with several large farms that grow cotton in Shandong, and they are ready to work in these farms for a few years according to the wishes of the owners in exchange for grain and rice that can keep the whole family alive.

On the wharf of Guangzhou, there is another scene.

Outside the wharf, on the newly paved official road mixed with burnt ash mixed with bluestone strips, heavy wheels rumbled against the road with a loud rumbling sound, and hundreds of various carriages, wheelbarrows and board carts were busy going to and from the stacks and warehouses near the wharf, transferring all kinds of goods stacked and stored here to other warehouses.

The road surface is newly repaired and smooth, and although the vehicles are full of all kinds of heavy baggage materials, the people do not feel it difficult to walk with the carts, and only a few fine beads of sweat are seen on their foreheads.

In the work area of the wharf, it is a different picture.

A plywood ship with this blooming tulip painted on its sails as its family crest was slowly approaching the designated berth under the command of the pilot, and was close to the flagship of Zuo Tianpeng, the commander of the right wing fleet of the sailors. The Dutch sailors, known as the Red Maoyi, did not care to look at the bustling Guangzhou wharf, but peeked at the gunboat in front of them, whose gun positions were denser than the sail lines on the mast.

"Nice to meet you! My old friend! ”

Fan. Basten enthusiastically threw his arms out to An Tianhong, the head of the ceremonial department who was waiting for him, but his high altitude made it impossible for him to see the belly of his little brother Cheng Dù by himself, but he could not hug An Tianhong.

"Only the great general and your summons can make me cross the waves of the Atlantic Ocean to this mysterious and rich East."

Seeing that he couldn't hug An Tianhong, Fan. Basten had no choice but to bow his hand to An Tianhong.

And General González, the commander-in-chief of the Portuguese Restoration Army, who was standing behind An Tianhong, kissed Miss Basten standing behind Basten in accordance with European royal etiquette.

"Lord An, I haven't seen each other for more than a year, and your demeanor is still the same as before! The general's exploits and the army are even more preliminary! "Basten has been in Europe in recent years, and several royal families and emperors have given him the titles of earl and viscount, and there are even royal families with a lot of debts who plan to give him the title of marquis, just hoping that he can temporarily ease the process of asking for debts and interest increases. However, in front of his benefactor, Basten, who dominates Europe and can make the war repeat in an instant, does not dare to make a mistake at all.

Smelling the strange smell that was blown into her nose by the gusts of river wind, An Tianhong Rao was extremely well-cultivated, and couldn't help frowning slightly.

"Mr. Basten has worked hard all the way. Please go to the hall to freshen up first, rest for a few days, and then ask the lord to meet with Mr. and his son. ”

"Tell the General that Basten will always be his most humble and loyal servant!"

With a few polite words, Basten glanced twice at the huge carriage on the dock that walked on top of two long iron bars on the burnt pavement, which crewed from time to time. Some reluctantly boarded the bus.

"Grandpa, what are these red-haired people doing when they come to see the lord?"

Hu Licheng, the old fox at that time, the gray hair on his head had been thinned at this time, he could only pull a small haircut, and he walked slowly with a cane, accompanied by his grandson Hu Xinhai, patrolled back and forth on the wharf that had just been assigned to the name of Shunfeng Xing, supervising the coolies to carry the goods on the rail carriage to where they should go.

"The lord does things, it has always been the dragon that sees the beginning and does not see the end, you and I only need to do a good job of the main bus and do our part well." Although the old fox man has entered his old age. But the idea is still very clear. He slowly walked along the concave carriage track embedded in the ground: "Just like this track, the lord asked me that day, if this iron bar was laid on the dock in Guangzhou, the cost would be paid by us." He gave us this pier for twenty years. Ask your grandfather if I'd like to. I didn't even say a word at the time. Immediately ask the lord for instructions, when will the money be paid to the account? ”

"Not to mention that grandpa Jiang Gui's nature is old and strong! The dock is laid with railroad tracks, and the number of workers employed is 20% less. The color of the goods handled has increased by more than seven or eight percent! ”

"So, you just remember one thing, whether the lord wants you to contribute money or effort, especially things that have never been heard of elsewhere, you must take one bite to accept, and the benefits you get are several times or dozens of times more than what you have invested!"

Hu Licheng's words of educating his grandson can be said to be his experience in following Shouhan all the way in the past 20 years.

Among the earliest people who defected to Shouhan, several families such as the Hu family and the Hu family could be said to be wealthy, with fields, forest farms, sawmills, mines, iron factories, meat workshops, and letter bureaus all over Nanzhong, Luzon, Fusang, Siam, and Tianzhu, but the more so, the more loyal these dozen families were to Shouhan.

"If we hadn't seen the opportunity that day and voted under the command of the lord, now, where would there be such a day that I can't even think of?"

When his yin house was completed, Hu Licheng invited a few old brothers to drink and talk together, and said something from the bottom of his heart after drinking.

"Money!"

As the red sun gradually set in the west, the surface of the Pearl River was dyed red. The docks erupted in cheers of coolies.

People were happily talking and shouting, comparing each other with the number of bamboo sticks in their hands. This is the proof of the completion of their task, each time the goods are carried will be issued a bamboo skewer, the color of the bamboo skewer is also different, with different colors to distinguish different types of goods, weight. The coolies on the wharf, their income is based on the amount of goods transported by each person reaches a certain distance, the so-called piecework wage system, otherwise a random person wandering on the wharf for a day, will also run to receive a day's wages?

If you are willing to work hard and spare no effort, you can get more wages than others for the same work and carry more goods, and in addition to the normal salary, there is also a reward food allowance.

The coolies began to line up to receive their wages and the food allowance of the reward, the warehouse was distributed by a special clerk who was in charge of the wind, the lid of the two cash boxes was opened, and it was full of shiny tongbao and silver dollars, and several piles of rice bags and all kinds of canned meat, cured meat, roasted meat and other things were piled up next to it, and in a huge grain bucket, the white rice was sharpened, and the bucket containing the rice was also a standard share, not the kind of bucket that did the hands and feet.

"Xiaohai, how is the food allowance paid today?"

After glancing at the long queue for payouts, Hu Licheng suddenly asked.

"Our quota for the wind is to carry fifty times a day, at least four thousand catties, and if it exceeds this standard, for each additional thousand catties, fifty yuan will be rewarded. Now that the lord has a military order, there are many food and materials to be transported to the west and Fusang, and a few days ago, it was discussed here, for every extra 1,000 catties, a food allowance of 100 wen will be given......"

"You scumbag!"

The old fox's voice suddenly increased, so that the coolies who were queuing up to receive the money could hear it clearly.

"Didn't you say that it would only increase to seventy? How did you increase it to 100 wen? Do you think that we old guys are about to fall into the ground, and if you don't use it, you can act recklessly?! ”

The old man's voice spread far away in the evening by the river, and the many coolies who heard it were all shocked, could it be that the money he deserved for his hard work to carry the goods would be thrown into the Pearl River because of the roar of this old man?

Hu Xinhai was also a little overwhelmed by his grandfather's actions, and he said that he would give an extra 100 wen food allowance for every 1,000 catties he had, because Ning Yuanbo's Mansion had a lot of material consumption in the Fusang and Tianzhu regions. The military situation is like fire, so this is the arrangement of all the docks along the wind. But why does grandpa just pick bones in the eggs on the Pearl River wharf that he manages?

It was easy to persuade Hu Licheng, who was furious with a cane, to leave, and Hu Xinhai dropped a sentence to the somewhat confused and overwhelmed steward, "According to a hundred texts!" ”

Behind him, a low cheer was heard.

"Xiaohai, grandpa scolded you just now, are you angry?"

Walking to a secluded place, Hu Licheng looked left and right to see no one, and then asked the eldest grandson in a low voice.

"Xiaohai doesn't dare."

"Grandpa, this is also a helpless move. We've just taken over this dock. The coolies on the docks were less used. It can only be sustained by wages. However, you know the truth of Shengmien's fight against Mimi. If I hadn't done what I had just done, these people would have made more demands in the future. And if you give them money under my pressure, this generation is bound to have a good impression of you in my heart. When you speak, you have authority. This is the so-called 100 gold standing trees. As for me. I live in Hue, and I don't necessarily come to Guangzhou once a year, even if they scold me behind my back. I can't hear it either! ”

"Thank you grandpa for making it happen!"

Over there, the coolies on the wharf happily received their wages, and the small turmoil just now made them worry that their sweat beads fell to the ground and fell eight petals in exchange for bamboo skewers in the end, but in the end, they could not be cashed into real money, but after Hu Xinhai's words just now, all the worries and doubts disappeared, and many people cursed Hu Licheng in their hearts, and decided that they would carry more tomorrow!

Of course, for these coolies, in order to support their families, they still take some grain and rice every day to avoid the fluctuation of food prices, and the rest of their wages are in their pockets.

The scene of the payment of wages was carried out under the supervision of the two officials of the customs, although this could not have much intersection with the customs itself, but if the coolies on the wharf shouted in unison, it would inevitably have a huge impact on the entry and exit of goods at the customs. Therefore, when the wages are paid every day, there will be two servants here to supervise and see if there is a conflict between the wage deduction and the employer and the coolie, so as to facilitate mediation.

According to the official system of the Ming Dynasty, the officials are divided into four classes, including the officials, the officials, the officials, and the officials, but even if they are the officials, they are still petty officials who do not enter the stream, and it is extremely difficult to be promoted.

However, within the Nanyue military system, this system has long been quietly abolished, and the so-called integration of officials has been practiced for many years. Regardless of the officials, they all received salaries in the shogunate, and the kind of officials who served the officials and the officials paid salaries to the officials under them was unthinkable in the Nanyue military system.

However, after a few years of study, these officials either went to serve as village mayors, or served in various yamen of the shogunate, and then gradually promoted to each other's posts within a few years.

The two small officials in front of them have served in Guangzhou for many years, and they were originally working in Longsheng, but after Shouhan entered Liangguang, they changed from the stewards of the firm to the customs officials. However, because these people are old, they have long passed the stage of making contributions and competing for power, and they just want to follow the path and live a stable life. But even these people, in the eyes of outsiders is also extremely rare, once a traveling scholar said with emotion: "Yu has always only heard that the official is as clear as water, and the enemy is as smooth as oil, but since entering Guangdong, he has been in charge for more than a month, but he has seen that the officials are strict and solemn, everyone is frugal and respectful, faithful and dutiful, just like the good officials of the ancients." ”

Two days later, Ning Yuanbo's Mansion sent out invitations to Gonzales, Basten and others, while An Tianhong, Hu Licheng and others attended the dinner together as the hosts of the Nanyue Army.

Standing on the steps, Shouhan, who was waiting for the guests, saw Hu Licheng staggering all the way from the second gate with the support of Hu Xinhai, and hurriedly stepped forward.

"Lao Hu! You are old, and your legs and feet are not good, so let them drive the car into the second door, so why should you suffer this sin? ”

"Lord, although Lao Hu is a little older, he is still a subordinate of the lord, what is it to walk a few steps? As long as the lord has orders, Lao Hu can cross the horse and carry a knife on the land, and he can use artillery to bombard the enemy at sea! A few words of loyalty and grandeur were not finished, and Hu Licheng was already out of breath.

"Lao Hu, you have a bony body, I'm afraid that I can climb into bed every night! What else do you say about carrying a knife and straddling a horse?! Shouhan ridiculed Hu Licheng, turned around and instructed Li Huaning, the third son who was standing on the side: "Go, go to the back to find the housekeeper's mother-in-law, find out the Jiaolong jerky sent by your Siamese grandfather, and go back and get some for your Grandpa Hu to take home, that thing is the most effective treatment for asthma!" ”

The dragon in Shouhan's mouth is the bay crocodile we are familiar with, this behemoth is much bigger than its cousin in the Yangtze River basin, the Yangtze crocodile is generally up to six meters long, and it is distributed on the coastal water surface of Siam, and the cheap father-in-law of Shouhan has often been disturbed by this ferocious animal before, and there are water buffaloes and people bitten to death by bay crocodiles every year.

However, after Shouhan provided him with more than a thousand arquebuses, the danger of this animal was brought under control, and there was a tendency to turn waste into treasure.

Crocodile jerky can be used to treat asthma, while crocodile eggs are rich in good cholesterol, which can eliminate fat in blood vessels and help blood vessels unblock. Crocodile gallbladder has the effect of detoxification, anti-heat, de-pampellation and metabolism, and has a significant effect on fatty liver and liver cirrhosis and other rich diseases; Moreover, it is also a panacea for women's infertility and menstrual irregularities. As for the crocodile whip, this thing is even more magical than that little blue pill, and more importantly, it is completely natural and has no side effects.

In order to deal with Ao Lei Yilan, Li Muhua, Yan Mei'er and others, Shouhan had to quietly order someone to get him one every now and then to supplement it.

Now, Shouhan plans to be a Zhou place, turning this dangerous "dragon" in Siam, Shizhou and other places into a resource to earn a large amount of silver for the Nanyue army. Turn ferocious crocodiles into moving cash boxes. (To be continued......)