In Shilu City, Changjiang County, Qiongzhou Prefecture, most of the shacks and houses that were originally paved all over the mountains have disappeared, and the large wilderness under the Jinniu Mountains is smooth and tidy. On both sides of the rudimentary passageway paved with rubble and muck, long buildings rise from the ground. It is covered with the sloping roof and wide eaves of the southern dwellings, but at the bottom is the stilted building piles unique to Shanyi.

The long building that has been built is three stories high, and the lowest floor of the street is a large open surface, where there are shops, coarsely woven cotton and linen, pots and pans, and all kinds of miscellaneous goods are dazzling.

A young woman in linen and no makeup walked down the street with a bamboo basket containing fruits, vegetables and river fish.

"Miss Ruxi, is there enough for dinner? Let's have another nest of green bamboo shoots. ”

"The corridor has been swept, Miss Ruxi doesn't have to worry about it anymore."

"Feng Zhixian accompanied some big man to come, and he went to find Miss."

"Annoyed Miss Lao Ruxi and Steward Gui mentioned that we have already dealt with the gang of wanderers in Building Ding 18, and Lao Lao doesn't have to mobilize the crowd anymore."

"The "Zhongliu" newspaper that Miss asked me to find is here ......"

The woman returned the blessing without repeating it, and should hand it over and take the newspaper.

Up to the third floor, there are more than a dozen doors lined up in a long corridor, push open one of them, inside is a delicate house, placed in the past when it was still the prefect's daughter, but the size of a hall in the house. The floor is gray and dark mud stone, and the wall is plastered with a layer of white ash, which is extremely simple, and with a few crystal glass windows that can let in sunlight, but without wind and dust, it looks quite strange.

There are rough tables and chairs in the house, and the food basket is also simple ingredients, but for Ru Xi, who has been stuffy for more than half a year before, and even relied on a coarse noodles and dry buns every time for a while, it is like a fairy palace.

"Sure enough, the fourteenth elder brother was defeated, but how could it have anything to do with the fourth elder brother? How could the emperor deal with it like this!? ”

Unfolding "Zhongliu", a series of reactions of the Qing court after the Battle of Yizhang were reported, and the small complacency on Ru Xi's face was gone.

"Ruxi, do you remember your last name, Maltai? How can you forget Ben because of the thief's little kindness? How can you forget why you stepped forward in the first place because you have accomplished something small? ”

Ru Xi's eyes sank and looked north.

"Don't be afraid, Ru Xi is still there, Ru Xi is still working hard......"

There was a knock on the door, and the stiff face suddenly dissipated, and a weak face was changed, Ru Xi opened the door, as she expected, a green-robed official stood outside the door, it was Feng Jingyao, the magistrate of Changjiang.

"This change, I still worry about Miss Ru Xi to clarify with you."

"Ru Xi knows that this is also a good deed for the people of the Banner, Lord Feng can rest assured."

The Shilu Iron Mine was being transferred from the Nanyang Company to the newly established Qingtian Mining Company, and Shilucheng was also returned to Changjiang County under the Nanyang Company. The Qihan laborers who worked in Shilu had a lot of miscellaneous thoughts, and they had everything to say. Some were worried that the original contract would be invalidated, and some were worried that they would be sent farther to the South Seas like the captives of the Battle of Yizhang. The official has been appeased, but it also needs a "non-governmental channel" like Ru Xi, after all, this little woman has stood up for the banner man for half a year and won the hearts of many people.

Leaving Ru Xi's residence, Feng Jingyao came to a building outside the house, which was the future Changjiang County Ya, but it was still surrounded on all sides by scaffolding, thick iron bars woven into a column net, covered with wooden planks, and workers were dragging long pipes into the net, pouring viscous mud into the net.

A purple-robed young man was looking at the construction site with his hands in his hands, Feng Jingyao stepped forward to salute respectfully, and then watched together.

"The court is still quiet on all sides, and there are still too many places to spend money, why is there a lot of construction here, and even to favor those who are servitored?"

After a long time, Feng Jingyao couldn't help but confide in his heart, building a new city with the mine as the support, recruiting people, and making Changjiang County from a remote place with less than 10,000 people to a large county with more than 100,000 people, which is of course a good thing for him to be happy about. But he didn't understand that the Qihan laborer was so gentle and sprinkled such a silver coin.

"If you don't build civil engineering, how can these tens of thousands of laborers be turned into citizens of Changjiang County?"

Senate in the study hall of the Tianwang Mansion, Liu Xingchun, director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, said this.

"In all dynasties, there was a system of sending soldiers, and it can be done with a decree."

Feng Jingyao was a little unimpressed, as long as the imperial court ordered it, wouldn't these laborers become county citizens.

"The former Ming Taizu moved to Jinling to fill Fengyang, what was the result? Fengyang flowers are all over the world. ”

Liu Xingchun shook his head, this Feng Jingyao was born in the wild road after all, and he also regarded government affairs as a matter between pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Feng Jingyao paused for a moment, only to feel that this young man was worthy of being the arm of the Heavenly King, and his vision was broad, and to be a Yinghua official, there was too much to learn...... Liu Xingchun looked at the other young man in front of him who was discussing affairs with the foreman, and said in his heart that it was not just for you to build a large number of buildings for Changjiang County. That young man is Shen Fuyang, before the British and Korean salt reforms, Shen Fuyang encouraged his father Shen Shisheng to respond positively, and the family not only became one of the leaders of the salt industry in the new dynasty, but also almost monopolized the salt export business in the direction of Fujian.

Shen Fuyang was very ambitious, not satisfied with continuing to bury himself in the salt industry, and conforming to the new style of industry and commerce in the British Dynasty, he set his sights on many new industries. Shen Fuyang's eyes are also very vicious, and he has taken a fancy to the business of cement, glass and other infrastructure materials. The glass industry was divided by Li Shi to the old irons such as An Jia and Han Jia, and Shen Fuyang entered the cement industry and infrastructure industry.

Not only Shen Fuyang, but also many people regard the infrastructure industry as the focus of investment, but although the industry has a good return, it is far from the blowout level that Li Xian envisioned. There are two reasons, one is that the people are not very accustomed to using cement and glass to build houses, and the supporting facilities and convenient designs such as water supply and drainage are even more hindered by tradition. The second is that the new materials are not cheap enough, and there are few craftsmen who can build this "new infrastructure", and the labor is expensive.

Li Shi laid the groundwork early, and Huangpu New Town was set up for this, but during this period, new materials, new processes and new designs were still not used much, after all, they had not undergone too many practical tests, and if they were too radical, it would be difficult for people to accept.

Therefore, in addition to roads, bridges and public buildings, tapping domestic demand for the infrastructure industry and supporting businessmen who invest in this industry has become an important government affairs of the Tianwang Mansion.

Using Shilucheng as a test field, on the one hand, to appease the laborers, on the other hand, to cultivate technology, expand the market, and promote the cost reduction of building materials, it has become a matter of killing two birds with one stone, anyway, the workers have no choice.

"There's no problem with the laborers?"

Liu Xingchun asked about one of the questions he was most concerned about when he came to Changjiang.

"They have already received a lot of favor, but now this small change, if ordinary persuasion is not stable, it must be someone behind their backs, trying to deceive people."

When it comes to this kind of detail, Feng Jingyao is very good at it.

"It's the ...... Are you happy? ”

Liu Xingchun knows something about the name.

"That's not it, not only has the lower officials been staring, but the flag worker steward Gui Zhen has also put a lot of effort into it, and he didn't see any vision of Ru Xi, he just focused on coordinating the government and the flag workers."

Speaking of this person, Feng Jingyao and Liu Xingchun have similar thoughts, they only think that this little woman is insignificant, but she has dealt with Li Xian face-to-face, and she has just been stained with a little light.

His mind quickly turned away from this person, Liu Xingchun waved his hand, and the entourage handed Feng Jingyao a document.

"Then I'll help you again and announce this plan to the POW laborers in the mines."

After taking the paperwork and taking a cursory look, Feng Jingyao took a cool breath.

"There is such a good thing!?"

It's a home buying scheme, and the new residential buildings are not offered free of charge to the laborers, who get a rent of two cents a month. But if they are willing to settle down at the end of the contract, they can enjoy the treatment of buying a house in installments, with a monthly payment of three pieces of silver, which is almost half of the salary they received in the mine, and it will be paid in ten years. Of course, it can also be paid in one go, but the price is high, about forty or fifty taels of silver for a set.

The corners of Liu Xingchun's mouth curled slightly, is this a good thing? Relying on this ten-year contract, most of the Qihan laborers can be tied to Shilu, especially the Qiren, who no longer know how to farm, and their real estate and houses in Guangzhou have also been confiscated.

"If it's a good thing, explain it to them. I remember the teachings of the Heavenly King, there are things that are suitable for the strength to solve, and there are things that are suitable for the tongue to solve, and the troubles are caused by not understanding the difference between the two types of things. ”

Liu Xingchun explained, and then the topic turned to private matters.

"Your son is going to Nanyang, aren't you worried?"

Feng Jingyao smiled reluctantly, his son Feng must have been the commander of the left battalion of the Fubo Army, recently the British and North Korea pushed the Nanyang Company to the south, and the Fubo Army also went south to Siam, as a father, how could he not worry.

Liu Xingchun comforted: "Don't worry, the King of Heaven has set his sights on Nanyang, and your son is by no means alone." ”

Feng Jingyao frowned, but it was for business: "The north hasn't been cleaned yet, why do you want to turn to the South Seas?" ”

Liu Xingchun shrugged: "This is not a question I can answer. ”

Shen Fuyang's voice in the distance rose up: "Twenty days!" Twenty days must be completed! We must not spoil our Shen family's speed! ”

Liu Xingchun tilted his head at the guy: "I only know that this is also related to that guy and the gang behind that guy." ”

In the Tieshi Port of Changjiang County, a large number of sea ships have been moored before, waiting to carry ore. Today, however, the harbor was occupied by a string of masts of colorful flags, graceful and long ships, with the gun doors on both sides of the hull tightly closed, and a steady stream of food, fresh water, and supplies of all kinds were brought to these ships.

"I heard that the King of Heaven is going to send a general to the South Seas, but how could it be you!?"

Liu Xingchun, who arrived at Tieshi Port and was about to go back, was shocked when he saw someone.

"I was assigned, that's all."

The young man crossed his arms, his nose and eyes facing the sky.

"Wu returned to Fujian and cut down more than 1,000 Tartar soldiers who attacked the place, and used their heads to erect a big banner with a human head under the city of Zhangzhou, so he was ...... by the king of heaven."

An Wei, the battalion leader under Wu Ya, explained unwillingly.

"Head trafficker Wu Ya...... Sure enough, it lives up to its name. ”

Liu Xingchun shuddered, and said in his heart that this guy should also be under control, in the earlier battle of Shaozhou, he cut off hundreds of heads without authorization to hang people's heads and bead curtains, and later fell in love with the braided big flag, and was reprimanded several times by Li Xian. Now that the system of this dynasty is gradually becoming more and more detailed, this guy has not changed his surname, and he has finally suffered.

However, Wu Ya was originally under the command of the Eagle Yang Army, and he was in charge of the situation in Fujian with Xiao Sheng before, and now he has relegated Wu Ya to Nanyang, what should he do in Fujian?

"With Boss Xiao here, the Tartars have to be strictly defended from Fujian to Jiangnan, and even Shandong, how can there be so much effort to fight us from the direction of Fujian."

An Wei explained, and Liu Xingchun breathed a sigh of relief.

"You are the right-hand man of the King of Heaven, the King of Heaven is reluctant to let you waste time in the South Seas, you don't have to ......"

Liu Xingchun was still persuading Wu Ya, but Wu Ya nodded perfunctorily.

"It's not a waste of time for me to go to Nanyang...... I'm a little tired of it, what new tricks should I play? ”

Turning his face sideways, Wu Ya smiled very coldly.

(To be continued)