The time is the end of April of the first year of Kaicheng, and the city of Toyosu is full of green trees and flowers.

In a clearing in the southeast corner of the city, hundreds of soldiers armed with sharp axes, iron picks, and shovels, chopping down miscellaneous trees, cutting thorns, and leveling the land. A group of disabled veterans at Les Invalides maintain order in front of a bamboo hut with a recruitment notice.

The people of Feng'an City looked at everything that happened in front of them with a novel and complex vision, feeling the shock that this new Lord Thorn brought to the people of Feng'an. On this land that is being leveled, a new workshop called the "Blanket Factory" will soon be built. In the new workshop, hundreds of weavers, men and women, young and old, will work together. Of course, it is not only the scale of the new workshop that is surprising, but also the fact that its internal management and process processes are very different from those of the old workshop.

Apprentices here are collectively called workers, and there are no restrictions on men, women, and children, as long as they can pass the test, anyone can earn a salary to support their families by their trade. The workers entered the factory in three shifts to work, each of them worked for no more than five hours a day, and gave half a pillar of incense time to drink tea and eat snacks for every hour of work.

There are dormitories and canteens in the new workshop, and workers who live far away from the city can apply for accommodation in the new workshop. All the workers are given a free meal after two hours of work, and I dare not say how good the food is, but it is absolutely enough. The new workshop is paid on a monthly basis, which is slightly lower than that of a master in a normal workshop and higher than that of an apprentice.

Unlike the old workshop, where a master only brings one or two apprentices, the master in the new workshop has to bring a dozen or even dozens of apprentices. Each master here only teaches the apprentice the same ability, the tufting master teaches the apprentices tufting, the sewing master teaches the sewing and weaving, and the jacquard master only teaches jacquard, because the art has a specialization, the apprentices learn fast and learn fine. When working, everyone only needs to complete their own work, and the rest is left to the workers below.

Because everyone can focus on what they do best, the efficiency of the new workshop is significantly higher than that of the old one, and the quality is not much worse than that of the experienced master. This has been confirmed by the "small factory" that was previously piloted in the back alley of the Assassin's Mansion.

"Factory" is the name given by Lord Thorn Shi Yang, and consciousness is the place where craftsmen work together, and the reason why the word "small" is added in front of it is because a larger "factory" will be built in the future. The factory, which was founded in a dilapidated courtyard in the back alley of the Thorn Mansion, started with only five masters and twelve novices. At first, it went unnoticed, but after just one month, the "small factory" produced more than three times as many blankets as a workshop of the same size, while reducing costs by three percent.

Some of the most discerning workshop owners began to observe and imitate the practices of the "small factories", but their attempts soon ended in failure. At this time, the officials of the Assassin's Mansion took the initiative to come to the door and proposed that everyone raise funds to build a new factory that was more than ten times larger than the small factory. The new factory is a joint venture between the government and the business, with the Assassin Mansion providing the plant, land and main sales channels, the merchants providing capital and distribution channels, and the workshop owners providing equipment, manpower and technical support.

Under the unremitting lobbying of the officials of the Assassin's Palace, almost all the merchants and workshops in Feng'an City that were engaged in the blanket business became shareholders of the new factory. Eighteen powerful merchants raised 7,300 taels of silver, and the workshop owner provided dozens of experienced masters. Most of the retail investors who did not have a stake also signed a collaboration agreement with the new factory, and the new factory will outsource part of the process to them. Retail investors with insufficient funds can also apply for a working capital from the factory.

Of course, just like the praise, surprise, suspicion, hostility and criticism that all new things have to face when they appear, the emergence of new factories has also aroused the hatred of some people, some of whom are insulted in person, some of whom are cursed behind their backs, and there are not a few who fan the wind and light the fire.

Some people say that the history of assassination is a great human power, and the financial resources are greater, so there is no need to pay attention to these dark winds and fires; Some people also say that there is a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in Feng'an City, and it is true that Lord Thorn Shi is a strong dragon, but the old saying doesn't say that a strong dragon is difficult to suppress the head snake on the ground. Who is right and which is wrong, no one can tell, whether it is true or false, and outsiders have no way to peep at it, and only the party Yang Hao knows it in his heart.

Whether it is laughing, scolding, reputation, or slander, Yang Hao resisted it in the end. After a month of intense preparation, the blanket factory has been ready to come out with drawings and ideas. Yang Hao stroked the two blood blisters on his hands, looked at the rising walls, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back at the chimneys of the brick factory that rose on the wasteland outside the city, and prayed secretly in his heart: "God bless, give me Yang Hao three years, and I will return a brand new Feng'an City to Datang." ”

Yang Hao put down the iron pickaxe and went to the worker recruitment office for a turn. Compared with the hot scene of the crowd a few days ago, there are only a few people in the recruitment shed at this time. Wan Min'an, the treasurer of Feng'an, patiently explained to the applicants the differences between the new factory and the old workshop. Wan Min'an is an old man in Feng'an officialdom, capable and upright, but his shortcomings are that he has a bad temper and a big shelf.

The recruitment of workers was personally assigned by Yang Hao. Wan Minan was very dissatisfied when he received the task, he thought that Yang Hao was making excuses to rectify himself, but after a few days, Wan Min's resentment was gone, and although he sat in the recruitment shed, his lips were dry and his brain hurt, but he was much more decent than those officials who were driven by Yang Hao to shovel grass and level the soil.

The officials were tired and had backache and blood blisters on their hands. But no one dares to complain about being tired, there is no way, Lord Thorn Shi is also holding an iron pickaxe to dig the roots of the tree, and one person does the work of two people, what else do you have to say?

The new factory will recruit 400 workers, and it is up to everyone to say who will enter or not. Wan Min'an has a violent temper, but he is meticulous and loyal in his work. In order to distinguish between the good and the bad, he had to patiently talk face-to-face with the "Diao Min" he hated and hated. One person, two people...... When he talked to the hundredth person, his heart was deeply touched, it turned out that the "Diao people" were so respectable and lovely, and he did have too much prejudice against them before.

Wan Min'an no longer called the people "Diao Min", and his tone and expression when he spoke became much richer, and he began to call his fellow recruits of his own age brothers, and joke with young boys and girls. In response, he also changed from the cold "treasurer" in the mouths of the people to an uncle, an elder brother, and an uncle...... I used to have back pain and cold knees after sitting in the office for a while, but now I don't feel sleepy at all after spending a day in a bamboo shed.

Wan Minan saw Yang Hao walking into the bamboo shed in casual clothes, and hurriedly dropped the bamboo sticks in his hand to greet him. Some of the people who applied for the draft knew Yang Hao, and according to the rules, the people had to bow when they saw their parents and officials, and everyone was about to kneel. Yang Hao politely refused on the grounds that he did not wear the official mansion.

Yang Hao looked through the books of the newly recruited personnel and specially instructed Wan Min'an: "In addition to virtue and talent, we must also take proper care of the poor and orphaned people." When Wan Min'an heard this, he turned around and said to the people of the city: "Have you heard, we have such a good official in Feng'an, isn't it a blessing for the people of the city." "When you meet a Qing official in troubled times, how can you not bow down? This time, Yang Hao couldn't avoid everyone's bowing. Yang Hao burst into tears with excitement on the one hand, and felt panic and anxiety on the other, adding a sense of unavoidable mission to the heavy burden on his shoulders.

Out of the recruitment shed, Yang Hao Pegasus rushed back to the Assassin's Mansion. As a state assassin, Yang Hao not only has to announce edicts, thick customs, persuade farmers, settle prison lawsuits, build schools, manage finances, and have a real household registration. He also has to lead the defense of Feng'an City. The food and clothing of hundreds of officials and thousands of soldiers in two counties in Feng'an Prefecture fell on him alone.

Yang Hao is not greedy for power, nor is he confident enough to dictate the cadres alone, his ideal is that all officials can be self-disciplined and honest for the people. But the fact is that Feng'an's officialdom has long been rotten from face to the bottom. It's not that there are no honest officials, and not all officials don't want to be honest, it's really forced by the general trend and it's hard to return.

Yang Hao knew that even if he had three heads and six arms, he would not be able to create a new Feng'an on his own, and what he had to do now was to let the officials of Hezhou understand his determination to eliminate maladministration and the new concept of governing the locality. I don't expect them to understand it immediately, but I hope they can carry it out according to the gourd drawing.

Freezing three feet is not a day's cold, how can Feng'an officialdom, which stirs up a pool of stagnant water, be able to make contributions overnight?

The reform of the rotten Feng'an officialdom has made Yang Hao work hard, and controlling the thousands of soldiers in and out of the city has made him feel exhausted. Although there were two veterans Ling Tong and Li Tong to assist, Yang Hao did not feel any relief. Thousands of people eating, drinking, and Lazar are already a headache, and the strong enemies outside the city are even more uneasy, and the defection of the white water fox has brought unprecedented challenges to Yang Hao.

Han Sui was killed, and the white water fox was shot and injured by Ling Tong instead of earning the city. The injured and escaped Baishui Fox did not return to Jiuniang Pass, but took hundreds of cronies to the Murowei people. The White Water Fox has half of the Murwei blood. More than 20 years ago, his mother's village was breached by the Murowei people, who brought him to the grassland as a trophy. A year later, when his mother was rescued by Tang Jun, she was already pregnant, and the baby in her womb was the white water fox.

The day after the White Water Fox fled north, Li Tong was ordered to lead 500 people to take over Jiuniang Pass. was rejected by the guards of Jiuniang Pass. The left-behind soldiers elected the captain Zhuang Yunqing as the general, and sent someone to send the book of all people who recommended Zhuang Yunqing to the Assassin's Mansion. Yang Hao knew in his heart that the three thousand defenders stationed at Jiuniang Pass had been transformed into his own private army by Han Sui. Although Han Sui died, his influence did not disappear in Jiuniang Pass, and this Zhuang Yunqing, like the White Water Fox, was also Han Sui's close confidant.

Li Tong characterized the defenders' actions as mutiny and demanded that Yang Hao give the order to conquer Zhuang Yunqing. Ling Tong also advocated cutting off food for the Jiuniang Pass garrison and forcing them to accept Feng'an's military orders. At this time, rumors abounded, some people said that the white water fox who had taken refuge in the people of Murowei secretly sent a letter to Zhuang Yunqing, and made an appointment to raise troops to capture Feng'an.

There are also rumors that Wang Qian sent an envoy to Jiuniang Pass at night to talk secretly with Zhuang Yunqing, and Wang Qian promised that as long as Zhuang Yunqing sent troops to attack and occupy Feng'an City, Zhuang Yunqing would take up the post of Feng'an assassin. Yang Hao laughed at these two rumors. He did not adopt the ideas of Ling Tong and Li Tong, but was ready to agree to the invitation of the army and officially appoint Zhuang Yunqing as the general of Jiuniang Pass, in addition to giving Zhuang Yunqing a new title: Deputy General of the Tiande Right Army. In this way, Zhuang Yunqing went hand in hand with Ling Tong and Li Tong and became the highest-ranking leading general in Feng'an.

In response, Zhuang Yunqing must draw a clear line with Baishui Fox and Wang Qian with practical actions. Without too much bargaining, Zhuang Yunqing quickly accepted Yang Hao's appointment. He officially declared the departure of the White Water Fox from the army as a rebellion, and symbolically led the army to chase more than 100 miles north. Later, he sent his troops to cross the Yellow River at night to break through Wang Qian's two camps, beheaded more than 30 ranks, and sent the head to Feng'an City to report the victory. In order to prove that he and Wang Qianshi are in the same water and fire rather than the rumored hook-up is not clear.