Zhou Village, under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou Mansion in Shandong, is the famous silk hometown of Shandong, and there are many people who are engaged in silkworms for a living, just like Huzhou in the southeast. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info is only limited by funds, and the scale of these silk households is very limited, and the output is not high. Silk reeling is a very hard thing, the output of soil method silk reeling can not go up, people are also very hard, to reel silk, the whole family has to do it, day and night to catch up.

Cocoons can only be sold to cocoon shops or compradors for a very low price. If you reel the silk yourself, the speed is slow, and the second is not forbidden, and it is difficult to sell it if you put it slightly. Although silk is no longer monopolized by Chinese merchants as in the past, the overseas silk industry has developed rapidly and has a tendency to catch up. But the profits of this industry are still very high. It's just that the profits are either in the cocoon or in the hands of middlemen, and the silkworm farmers certainly don't get benefits, and the government doesn't have much tax to take.

But this year, the situation in Zhoucun has changed. The most neat woman in the village is Sister-in-law Li. Her family does not have a large population and no men, but every year when it is the season of silk harvesting, she can always take out the most silk and exchange it for silver in the silk shop. Although she was not yet forty because she stayed up late, her eyes were not very good, but she was satisfied when she saw that she could marry a daughter-in-law for her two sons.

This year, she plans to buy another dowry for her youngest daughter, and her last concern will be gone. But before it was time to reel the silk, she found that a group of strangers came near the village, tossing and turning on a piece of land to build a house. The most suspicious person is that there are several foreigners in it.

Shandong is quite sensitive to foreigners because of the boxing, so she carefully asked the women in the village, "Here, is there going to build a church again?" ”

The third wife, whose son was a transcription student in the yamen, was quite irritated and smoked a cigarette pouch, "It would be nice if the church was repaired." The governor who should be killed, he is not building a church, he is a factory! The three boys of my family told me, we are here, we want to set up a factory, and there is no way for anyone to live! ”

"Factory? What factory? ”

"What else can there be, silk reeling factory. It is said that Futai bought Taixi's machine from a simple foreign woman and set up a silk reeling factory here! In the future, all cocoons are only allowed to be sold to the government, and after the government reels silk, it will be sold to the foreign village. When the machine heard that it was eating coal and spitting smoke, it shook the ground like a monster. The speed of the machine reeling is much faster than ours. If you want me to say, this factory can't let it open, and if the factory does, we won't have anything to eat. ”

Sister-in-law Li and several other women, all craftsmen who rely on silk reeling for food, all nodded their heads and agreed when they heard this. But there is no good way to close the factory. After all, there are foreigners in the factory, and since the fist, Shandong is very taboo about beating foreigners, and if you are not careful, you will be condemned as a boxer, which will kill the whole family.

The third woman said: "Don't be afraid, at night, we will quietly go to the vicinity to set a fire, the foreign devils are not there at night, only the workers keep vigil." Don't get on the edge of the fist, don't be afraid. As long as their houses are burned, they know that it is terrible, and they will not dare to build factories in Zhouzhuang anymore. We have relied on craftsmanship to eat all our lives, and we can't let foreigners' machines smash our jobs! ”

As a kind citizen, Sister-in-law Li is still quite afraid of arson. Especially when I think of the lawsuit, I want to be caught in the yamen to show the public, how to lose face, I am even more hesitant and cowardly. But she was more afraid than breaking the law, her daughter did not have a dowry to support the scene, and the women of the whole village smashed their jobs.

Daughter Xiaoying is not at home, I don't know where to run, Sister-in-law Li's man was in Yuxian when he was in Shandong, because he was said to be a robber, he was killed. After the two sons got married, they separated and lived separately, and there was no one else.

As soon as she thought of setting a fire at night, Sister-in-law Li's heart tightened into a ball, and she was in a hurry, and she didn't stop all day, but she didn't know what she had done. It wasn't until late in the evening that Xiaoying came back from outside, and as soon as she entered the house, she put a few Jinyang on the table.

"Mother, this is the money I earned, hurry up and put it away."

Sister-in-law Li didn't touch those snow-white silver oceans, but her face sank, it was not a good phenomenon for a big girl who had not left the cabinet to get back such a large sum of money. She asked sternly, "What are you doing?" Mother's eyes are not good, you know, if you don't work hard at home, where are you going crazy? Where did this money come from? ”

"I'm going to recruit workers. Lord Futai, build a factory in our Zhou Village, and recruit female workers to reel silk. I went to report my name, and the uncle who recruited the worker knew that I was skillful, so he directly advanced me for a month's salary. You see, four dollars a month, which is the least, because there is no work, you can only get four yuan. After the start of work, as long as you do a good job, there are bonuses and overtime pay, the factory takes care of food, clothes, and the factory pays for medical treatment when you are sick. When I entered the factory, I was in charge of everything. Look at it, how good this is, it's better than our own silk reeling. You see, this factory has not been built, from the construction of the factory to the start of construction, it will take two months, these two months, the workers are paid for nothing, where to find this good thing. ”

"Salary for nothing? How can there be such a good thing in the world, and which person in charge of recruitment is not lying to you and trying to move your bad thoughts? Although our family is poor, we can't make this money from unknown sources! Sister-in-law Li stared at her vigilantly, but Xiaoying smiled:

"Where do you want to go, this is given by Futai, who dares to be greedy for ink. The Song Shuban in the yamen watched from the sidelines, registering and making a book according to his fingerprint, if anyone dared to deceive the handsome, he would be arrested and eaten on the board. ”

She hugged her mother's shoulders and smiled sweetly: "Mother, I've counted it." Twelve months a year, plus bonuses, I can earn more than 60 yuan. You don't need to work so hard to reel, your eyes are not good, and it is time to rest. In the future, I will support my mother. ”

Sister-in-law Li has lived for nearly 40 years, and it is the first time she has encountered this kind of thing, and she has not started work, so someone gives money, and if she does not work, she also gets paid. She carefully blew on each coin, put it to her ear and listened to judge the authenticity, and the amused daughter giggled.

"How can the handsome spend fake money? Let me tell you, the handsome man is good, and he said that he also wants to teach us female workers to read and write, and there are benefits to being workers. Even when a man beats, the government gives his head. We are about to live a good life. I also had a meal at noon, and the factory made it better than our family's cooking, and I put more oil than at home. ”

She recalled what the worker said to herself, "Mother, Dashuai is a person who does business, not Yuxian's bastard!" Not only to build a silk reeling factory, but also to build a printing and dyeing factory, run our dyeing workshop, earn money for Zhou Village, and find jobs for our villagers. When our dyeing workshop and silk factory are set up, we will be able to live a good life when the time comes. ”

When Sister-in-law Li heard this, she was also quite happy, "This relationship is good, it seems that this Lord Zhao is a good official." If he can come to Zhou Village to have a look, his mother will give him pancakes to eat. You Nizi, why don't you call your mother when you go to the factory? Who are you going to see? ”

"There are me, there are three shows, there are Xiaoqin, and there are big twins."

Sister-in-law Li smiled and patted her daughter's back, "They are all stupid girls, a few bundles together, and they are not as good as their mothers." Mother is going, it must be better than you. ”

"That's a good feeling! They're going to stay here for a long time, and my mother will go to work tomorrow, if you can go to work. Our mother can earn more than 100 yuan a year, and she will soon become a rich man. ”

Sister-in-law Li also looked forward to the scene of her family earning more than 100 yuan a year, and suddenly woke up...... Not good! Xiaoying, tell your mother to go to the people in the factory and tell someone that someone is going to set fire to the factory! ”

The newly established silk reeling factory is a joint venture between government and business, which is quite beneficial to local businessmen, and the two sides share interests, and the only one who suffers is the cocoon and the original compradors.

However, the strength of these people is not enough to shake a governor, and after several negotiations, they can only change to co-operation or find another place. The new machine, rumbling, announced that the old way of reeling silk is gone.

The compradors incited some villagers to smash the machines, only to find that in addition to the police, there was also a new army stationed near the factory. The army was loaded with guns and ammunition, and the murderous appearance scared the silk households back, after all, the guns and bullets were ruthless, and if they rushed hard, they would definitely not end well.

In addition, there is priority admission for silk households, as well as compensation with varying numbers, and under the combination of carrot sticks, silk households have chosen Zhao'an. Go to the factory, go to work, and be able to support your family.

The printing and dyeing industry in Zhoucun was originally not slow, after the government injected funds and realized the joint venture between government and business. Shandong's government-run dyeing workshop, in cooperation with Meng Siyuan's textile factory, weaves and dyes one-stop, and has formed a national industrial chain.

Another source of revenue for Shandong is road construction. According to the provisions of the treaty, a number of railways should be built in Shandong, including small branch lines such as Jiaoji, as part of the reparations. The right of way for this part of the railway was vested in Prussia for a number of years, and the indemnity was paid off, after which the Dajin was returned. In terms of capital contribution, Daikin borrowed money from Prussian banks on the basis of the service life.

The construction of these railways requires manpower first, followed by materials. Zhao Guanhou took advantage of this opportunity to also let a large number of young and strong children in Shandong find jobs, and the young and strong among the large number of refugees were conscripted, depriving them of the right to gather in the mountains and forests and rob their homes.

In addition, the infrastructure of Shandong Province has also been further developed on the original basis, and the roads in the city have been repaired, and the roads have been heightened, widened and hardened, so that the horse-drawn carriages can run fast. In the city, Western-style sewers were built and drainage networks were built to cope with the possible rainy season.

As a result, the Prussian minister, Marquis Liman, took the initiative to invite Zhao Guanhou to ask Dakin's construction team to cooperate with Prussia's own engineers to carry out a large-scale repair of the underground drainage facilities in Jiaozhou Bay. In return, the Marquis of Liman was willing to help Shandong procure a considerable loan for the purchase of weapons and the development of armaments.

The Yankee railroad king, Berman, suffered a lot outside the customs, and in order to catch up with the schedule, he bought sleepers and rails in advance, and even the locomotive had already been bought. Not wanting to be boycotted by Fusang businessmen and the military, prohibiting him from building roads outside the Guan, Zhao Guanhou came forward to say that the project was carried out once, and the result was that Fusang's resistance was more resolute, making it difficult for the Yankee billionaire to move an inch.

In order to reduce losses, these materials had to be disposed of at a low price to Shandong, saving a lot of money for the construction of Shandong Railway. In the future, the transportation of troops in Shandong Province will never be difficult, and the first contribution is the railroad tracks and locomotives provided by Berman.

In terms of minerals, in addition to Zhaoyuan Gold Mine, there are also many gold mines in various parts of Shandong, and some people have thought about mining. However, mining inevitably clashed with local farmers, often leading to fights, and the government's attitude towards mining was always erratic.

Taking advantage of the treaty, Shandong's mines were banned and opened, and the model of cooperation with merchants led by the government was very popular in Shandong. For example, Zhaoyuan's gold mining rights were successfully controlled by Mrs. Jensen, and there were foreign stocks behind her, so she was not afraid of any bigwig in the court intervening. The rest of the mineral deposits are also about the same, Prussia, Albion and other countries take advantage of the benefits, and the Shandong government itself can also get a piece of the pie.

For this reason, Zhao Guanhou wrote several enthusiastic long letters to Hannah, looking forward to his little angel coming to Shandong as soon as possible to provide technical guidance for himself. Due to the instability of China, Hannah was not convenient to come to Shandong for a while, but she replied quickly, saying that she was also studying in Prussia and would not come for a short time, but technical guidance could be provided. The letter was accompanied by a number of geological survey books and her analysis of Shandong's mineral deposits. These materials have also provided a lot of help for the development of mineral deposits in Shandong.

Shandong Arsenal has also been jointly established by government and business, China and foreign countries in the hands of Zhao Guanhou. In fact, through a series of ghost accounts created by Xia Manjiang, more than half of the shares of the arsenal were resold to Siheng and Jensen Foreign Company, and at the same time, Zhao Guanhou's newly developed egg grenade patent was sold. Subsequently, Xia Manjiang forged a large deficit in the Shandong Arsenal and a large amount of arrears owed by the Fifth Town to Jensen Foreign Company.

With these things, even if the imperial court sends someone to try to take over the fifth town in the future, it will face a practical problem. There is no food or pay, and weapons and ammunition are not guaranteed. The Ludi Arsenal could not start construction on time, and it would face serious diplomatic disputes, and it was likely to be pursued by foreign businessmen. With this guarantee, when the imperial court wants to seize the seal, it has to calculate the cost.

Shandong is adjacent to the sea, the fish industry is developed, led by the Shandong government, combined with the local government and foreign banks, the Shandong Fish Industry Company came into being. Large-tonnage fishing vessels were purchased from Albiang for fishing operations. On the one hand, the seafood caught is sold to foreign farms, and on the other hand, it is supplied to the military to provide meat for the new army.

The diet of Dajin's officers and soldiers was originally mainly coarse grains, supplemented by pickles, and meat was a very rare thing. The officer naturally didn't have to worry about the rough food, and no one cared about Qiu Ba's life. Zhao Guanhou relied on Jensen and Siheng dispatch in the past, and he could barely maintain it. Now with a large number of marine fish, and with the addition of salt, the situation has changed dramatically.

Shandong's salt production capacity is very strong, can produce 400 trillion salt per year, but the quality is inferior, far less popular than Lianghuai salt. It is the salt of the Shandong salt field, which belongs to the introduction of no branch, the salt merchants are unwilling to support the salt, and the stove households cannot get the silver, forming a vicious circle.

Zhao Guanhou is to improve the salt method, implement the salt drying method, and improve the quality of salt. The second is to change the salt law, and first establish a military salt bureau. After purchasing a part of Lu salt, it was exclusively used for the military, and cooperated with Shandong's developed fish industry to provide guaranteed meat for the soldiers. Of course, Count Ryanstein complained about this for a whole month, and looked at the mountain of cans in the munitions warehouse, and cursed through gritted teeth, "Look at you salted fish!" ”

The other part of the salt is used as reserve salt to stabilize the salt price in Shandong, and whenever the salt price is high, it will be sold at a low price. It is based on salt in other places as a source of profit, but in Shandong, salt emphasizes protection, not profit.

In addition, a large amount of salt was used as an industrial raw material, and through the mediation of Mrs. Jenson, the patent for joint alkali production was purchased, and the Huabi joint venture alkali factory was opened in Shandong, which found a place for these salts.

In addition, another major change in Shandong is the study of politics.

The first thing for the imperial court to implement new laws is to promote new learning. The original imperial examinations were gradually abolished, and scholars learned new learning, and officials were awarded with new academic examinations. All over the country, the trend of private schools has emerged. In addition to the schools that teach the arts of Taixi, even the sports schools that teach military gymnastics have also sprung up everywhere. The students in these schools go out every day, just like the military, and some of them are even equipped with firearms.

Shandong bans guns, and also prohibits private military schools, and instead of them, Shandong government-run new schools. Including the church school co-founded with the Catholic Church Bishop Andrew, Shandong University, Shandong Normal University, Shandong Middle School, and Primary School. New schools have sprung up to replace the old ones.

The new style of textbooks, schools, and teachers has replaced the Five Classics and the Four Books and Mr. Teaching. Even the unprecedented emergence of a women's school in Shandong, those female students wearing moon-white upper body student uniforms, black knee-length skirts, black cloth shoes and white cloth socks have become the latest targets hunted by Shandong dignitaries/

Whoever can marry a female student from Shandong Women's Normal School has become a face-saving thing. The local gentry had protested several times, but in the face of bayonets, this protest was meaningless, and they could only restrain their daughters from participating, but the fact that everyone had escaped from school was repeatedly prohibited.

The squires and conservatives were resentful, but they also had to admit that this governor was a very good magistrate, and at least one governor who could personally visit the river workers had not appeared for a long time. Moreover, he can bring economic prosperity to Shandong, bring stable and considerable income to everyone, and some other problems, you can turn a blind eye. Besides, it was his father-in-law who was in charge of the pivot, and he knew that he couldn't touch it at all.

Either fear, or compromise, the gentry gradually accepted such a hairless governor, and also accepted the changes in Shandong. The whole of Shandong, in this case, accompanied by dizzying changes, entered the era of Zhao Guanhou's rule. (To be continued.) )