What free trade is, not to mention that the merchants in the north do not understand, even within the 'revolutionary army' few people understand. For example, Wang Kai, who is in charge of business and trade activities, does not understand very well, and he doesn't even understand why his boss reacts violently to the establishment of cards and taxes in the direction of Tongzhou. It wasn't until he got an answer at an economic work meeting within the Commerce and Trade Section.

"The establishment of cards to collect taxes is a symbol of centralized power, and we are now going to attack the central authority of the Ming court in the north, and prepare for the peaceful recovery of the north as much as possible. How is it possible to watch it collect taxes? ”

"In addition, once the north and south carry out commerce, Tongzhou is the commercial transit point of water transportation. Not to mention that it has been a year or two, even if it is half a year, they will all make a lot of money. If the Ming Court sets up cards everywhere to charge, but we don't care, isn't this tantamount to being an enemy? ”

"We should forcibly reduce logistics costs and encourage the private sector to develop agriculture and industry, so as to obtain the agricultural products and raw materials they need. Waiting for the development of private enterprises will sooner or later be our tax collection target. ”

"At the same time, we also have to screen the merchants who cooperate with us, and all the merchants who are not in our interests are the target of our crackdown. When our business network is large enough, we can isolate people and forces that violate our laws and values. Make sure the enemy finds out that he doesn't have a partner to work with. ”

At the meeting, Wang Kai suddenly realized that his boss's vision was long-term, or that his mind was poisonous enough. However, Tongzhou was only the only way to Tianjin in the direction of the capital, and the population and factories of the 'revolutionary army' were constantly swallowing all kinds of goods, so another more important land passage was being planned and constructed.

"What the hell is this Zhao Gezhuang?" Stone took the map and searched between the villages, sweating profusely.

Song Yingxing became Shi Stone's deputy, although he was still in the stage of reading materials and completing his knowledge, but some of the daily administrative management and technical guidance work was replaced by Shi Stone. Shi Dong had time to come from Liaodong to the land of Gyeonggi to find the legendary Tangshan 'Kailuan Coal Mine'.

Ancient and modern maps vary greatly, and place names vary. In these years, there is no satellite positioning, and it is even dangerous to go far away. Shi Dong led the team, pulled Wang Kai, and even brought Li Weihan who came from the capital, plus the manpower in charge of security and planning, two or three hundred people appeared in the boundary of Tangshan.

"Set up camp first, go and find the surrounding villagers, and ask if there is any coal and stone in the open air. Mobilizing the masses will also facilitate our subsequent large-scale exploration. Stone was tired of running, so he casually found a stone and sat down to rest.

Li Weihan, who came from the capital, smiled and ordered the servants to come forward to serve, and he was very considerate to the big thief chief of the 'revolutionary army' in front of him. With the friendship formed at the head of the Tartar in the Tiger Skin Post last time, the former governor of Liaodong is now considered to be stepping on two boats.

Li Weihan thinks that he sees the general trend in the world clearly, and feels that 'being in the Ming camp and being in the revolution' is the best way to survive. In the last three months, he has been procuring iron materials from Liaodong and Gyeonggi and shipping them to the 'revolutionary army'. This guy is not small, and he has transported nearly 1,000 tons of pig iron, accounting for nearly half of the production capacity of Jinzhou Iron and Steel Plant in the same period - this amount is not small in the Ming Dynasty.

"Minister Shi, if your ministry wants to open a mine here, how many taels of silver do you plan to invest?" Li Weihan leaned in cheekily and wanted to know this. He was also accompanied by more than a dozen powerful businessmen from the direction of the capital, who either came in person or sent slaves, all of whom wanted to inquire about the news.

"Our exploration has not yet begun, and it is the approximate location for now. However, according to the plan of our Ministry of Mines, the initial investment will not be less than 500,000 silver dollars, and the later investment will definitely be 3 or 4 million silver dollars. In addition, we also plan to open a light-duty wooden rail from Tangshan to Tianjin, the length of this track is 100 kilometers, and the investment will not be less than 600,000 silver dollars. ”

Listening to the hundreds of thousands and millions of numbers popping out of Stone's mouth at every turn, Li Weihan and the others were in an uproar. But someone immediately asked worriedly: "Minister Shi, we all admire your ministry's ability to open mines and do business." But the noble ministry has always been harsh on the gentry, how can it reassure us? ”

Stone suddenly sneered, "For those who bear blood debts, treat the people harshly, and run rampant, our 'revolutionary army' has always been ruthless, and there will never be the slightest accommodation. But for the enlightened gentry, we still have to appease. Besides, whether you want to cooperate with us or not is your business. Without you, we could have done the same.

Don't complain, sign the contract and you can supply us. Large-scale construction will soon take place here, wood, masonry, livestock, etc. are all needed, and if you want to make money, don't hesitate to make money. As for what will happen in the future, it will depend on how much you have contributed to the revolution. Zhou Dashuai is also reasonable, at least he doesn't kill his own people. ”

The last sentence made everyone's hearts tremble, and even Li Weihan was silently thinking about whether he could be regarded as his own person in the 'revolutionary army'. And Shi Dong faced the so-called local village sage in front of him, and he was extremely disdainful in his heart. He knew that even if these people could pass Zhou Qingfeng's level, they wouldn't be able to pass Xu Bing's level, and the Administration Department had already begun to ponder about engaging in 'public-private partnerships'.

Revolutionization is actually a process of redistribution of wealth. The 'revolutionary army' categorically did not have a reason to let the super-rich of the past continue to hold a large amount of wealth, and at most let them keep a part of their property, and the big ones still had to be spit out.

The investment in the development of industry is extremely huge, and a mine or a factory requires millions of silver dollars at every turn. Where does this money come from? Either knock out the bones of the people at the bottom, or harvest the original wealthy class. As a new force, the 'revolutionary army' doesn't need to think much about how to choose.

Several traversers of the 'revolutionary army' have long had a consensus that the territory is too large and the population is too large, and it is easy to suffer from indigestion and eat itself. It is better to develop industry first and grasp sufficient production capacity. At present, the population of the 'revolutionary army' is already sufficient, nearly one million on the Liaodong Peninsula, and even more than one million in Tianjin, but capital has begun to restrict industrial development.

Money is never enough.

Shi Stone didn't bother with these things, he took a dozen or so mining apprentices he trained to wander around the Tangshan area for half a month, and with the help of local villagers, he selected more than a dozen open-pit and shallow mines that were more convenient to mine. They first had to mine the coal, and then they had to find the iron ore.

Tangshan is a particularly suitable place for industrial development, with abundant mines, coal and iron, excellent water resources, and flat terrain suitable for development. After the mine site was determined, Tianjin immediately organized a 30,000-strong militia and migrant worker team to march along the way, first, to clean up the area, second, to build roads, and third, to carry out the construction of the mining area.

The 'revolutionary army' made great moves to develop Tangshan, and the local government of the Ming court was completely unable to cope with it. A large number of county towns surrendered directly and were taken over, and the small number of recalcitrant people could not be dispatched by the guards, and the militia could take them down. Next, a large number of accelerated cadres who received half a year's education arrived by ship from Golden State University to rebuild the local management system.

The construction of the new system is bloody, and all those and forces that are considered to be possible obstacles to the construction of the 'revolutionary army' will be purged. Ordinary green-skinned scoundrels and bandit bullies were the first to be screened out and executed. Then came the stubborn gentry, but these people often fled when they heard the news, and went to the capital with some money and food, or crossed the mountain customs to Liaoxi.

The local people were trembling and welcoming a team of engineers wearing rattan helmets, wearing standard homespun cloths, riding in horse-drawn carriages, and holding iron shovels in their hands. The team's eating, drinking, and sleeping alone triggered a market boom.

The engineering team built roads and houses along the way, and it was too much of a loss to transport timber and masonry from the rear, so it was the most cost-effective to produce and purchase them locally. The youngest son of the carpenter, Sang Quanlai, who was only sixteen years old, was the captain of the engineering team, and he was in charge of a team of fifty people. He was responsible for counting, receiving, and distributing the materials to be used by the fifty men.

Road construction requires exploration and planning, but there is a lack of people in the 'revolutionary army' who understand civil engineering. Only a group of people under Li Shuwei who have accumulated some experience in last year's farmland and water conservancy construction.

Among them, the outstanding work received intensive training at Golden State University last winter and taught himself a lot of knowledge about civil engineering. Some of them stayed in school to continue their studies and engage in education, while others drove ducks to the shelves to build roads and open mines.

In front of Sang Wenlai, there were several fledgling engineers tinkering with several self-made topographic equipment from the Ministry of Machinery, the most important of which was a tripod with a telescope and scales. This thing is said to be produced by the newly established instrument factory of the Ministry of Machinery, but it is a pity that a few engineering rookies don't seem to be very good at using it, and they can't measure accurate data when they are busy sweating.

Fifty migrant workers are building a row of warehouses on the side of the road, which will be used to stack building materials for road construction. The Golden State Machinery Factory produced a large number of hydraulic machinery that would be transported for wood processing, and the raw materials for processing would be supplied by merchants from the north.

While the migrant workers were working, they squinted at the rookie who was engaged in road surveying. The latter has a salary that is much higher than that of migrant workers, and the food and drink subsidies are enviable. But as soon as they came to work, they were ridiculed by a large number of illiterate migrant workers.

"What the hell is going on?" Sang Quanlai was also sweating anxiously. The surveyors have been working for a day and haven't made a name for themselves, although he doesn't understand it, but he thinks he is in the same group as these engineering rookies. The other party is uncomfortable, and he is also uncomfortable.

Seeing that a day was wasted, a few engineering rookies who came out to work alone could only admit defeat. The person who took the lead said with a bitter face: "This optical latitude and longitude rangefinder is a new thing, and it is very valuable, one is tens of thousands of silver dollars." We've only learned the principles before, but we haven't learned much about them, let alone used them. I don't understand this use at all today, and I'm really ashamed and ashamed. ”

"A piece of tens of thousands of silver dollars?" Sang Quanlai listened and smacked his tongue, wondering how this thing could be so expensive? "So what are you going to do?"

"We can only go back to Tianjin for training again, and we can only admit it if we want to be punished or scolded." Several engineering rookies are all wilted, they are all in their teens and twenties, and they originally came out to engage in construction with high enthusiasm, but they encountered problems in the first task.

"I'll arrange a carriage for you, and you should be able to get to the nearby county seat before dark." Sang Quanlai couldn't help if he wanted to, so he could only do his best.

As soon as the rookie walked away, the migrant workers who built the warehouse suddenly shouted mockingly: "These boys have done nothing." That's a day's wages for nothing. ”

"What's the use of reading? He couldn't be an official, but he came to work as a coolie with us poor men. If my child reads such useless books, I will kill him. ”

"I was so angry when I came, but now I know that I don't even fart, right? The errand of building roads has to rely on our hard work. ”

In the face of the ridicule of migrant workers, Sang Quanlai was also ashamed. Although he was the head of fifty men, he couldn't subdue these rough men at all. Most of the people at the bottom are not of high quality, let alone open-minded, and they are very unpleasant to the engineering rookies who take a lot of money but do not show their ability, and they say too many cool things. After the migrant workers ridiculed the rookie who escaped, they looked at Sang Quanlai's eyes full of disdain.

Sang Quanlai sighed and hung his head. It seems that this actual work is very different from what I learned in school!