The next day, Brother Wei didn't get up. Ruan Zhuqing smiled coquettishly and took Yang Fan to the county government office to go through the household registration procedures. The blacksmith shop Wei Bancheng gave to Yang Fan and a hill outside the city needed to be transferred to the government and Yang Fan.
Ruan Qingzhu is indeed a local snake. He is as familiar with the Sixth Section of the County Government as he is at home. He bows and bows everywhere and can say a few words to everyone.
Let's make an appointment to have tea someday, and reminisce about a certain little guy in Li Chun Building, and while joking, the naturalization and property transfer procedures were completed in one morning.
He also took Yang Fan to visit Ruan Dafu, the master of the county magistrate.
Ruan Dafu is in his fifties, fair and plump, and he doesn’t understand much of the Nanjing Mandarin.
It turns out that Ruan Qingzhu is Ruan Dafu's cousin.
Came here with my uncle. My uncle worked as a tutor for the county magistrate, so he worked as a tutor for the biggest local tycoon.
Yang Fan exchanged pleasantries and found that being friends with the county magistrate's master would be of great benefit to his development in Zunhua.
Then take a carriage to the northeast corner of the city and hand over the blacksmith shop.
This was the first time for Yang Fan to visit a complete ancient city, and he enjoyed watching it along the way.
However, the sanitation situation in ancient cities was really poor. There were stinky ditches everywhere, and rats and flies were everywhere.
The main streets are okay, but the deeper areas are full of dilapidated thatched mud houses. The citizens are also sallow and thin, and there are many children running around in tattered clothes.
Overall, Zunhua City is not too big. The city has a circumference of 1,251 feet, which is more than six miles in total, but less than seven miles.
The city foundation is 30 feet thick, which is about ten meters, and it is 3 feet and 6 feet high, about 12 meters. There are 1,341 crenellations on the city wall. There is a city gate on each of the east, west, south and north sides, and a turret on each of the four corners of the city. There is a moat outside the city gate, which is 2 feet deep and 3 feet wide.
In terms of the overall layout of the city, a Bell and Drum Tower is built in the center.
A temple to Emperor Xuandi was built on the city west of the north gate.
In addition to the four gates, there is a water gate on the west side of the north gate and a water gate on the west side of the south gate. In addition to being used for defense, it can also ensure the circulation of waterways in the city.
There is a river flowing through the city. Master Ruan said that don't underestimate this river. If this river flows upstream, you can go to Bashang Grassland and Xinglong County.
Downstream boats can first go east to Jixian County, then turn southeast and go straight to Tianjin Beitangkou to enter the Bohai Sea. This river has abundant water and is called Ji Canal.
If you go upstream again in Baodi on the way, you can go directly to Sanhe County, which is not far from the capital.
Yang Fan knew that Sanhe County was most famous for Yanjiao, which was one of the four major sleeping towns in the capital city. People working in the capital city could not afford houses in the city, so they could only buy houses here and go home to sleep at night. A place where there are no ghosts during the day.
This river passing through the city is the most prosperous place in the entire Zunhua City. There are many stone arch bridges and wooden arch bridges on the river.
Ships, large and small, stayed on the river banks. The sails are densely covered. There are docks along the river, and many coolies are moving goods.
Yang Fan took a closer look and saw that they were mostly made of iron ore and finished iron ingots. He could also see made farm implements and tools, such as waist knives, spearheads, and bundles of arrows. It was probably a military town. of ordering. And charcoal and the like.
In addition, daily necessities such as vegetable oil, grain, vegetables, meat and eggs were also shipped. After all, this is the steel industry center in northern Ming Dynasty.
Hundreds of thousands of people produced iron products, which also required a large amount of food, cloth, and other daily necessities.
In this city and surrounding towns, there are countless blast furnace chimneys, and large and small iron-making workshops abound. There are hundreds of thousands of people employed in mining, mineral processing, iron smelting and blacksmithing. Including their families, there are four to five million people.
Three feet of ice did not freeze in a day. Zunhua began to smelt iron as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the city was formed due to iron smelting. It has taken nearly a thousand years to develop to this scale.
Along both sides of the river, there are wide roads paved with bluestones. On the roadside, there are shops, restaurants, and even brothels, gambling houses, bathhouses, etc.
From the Bell and Drum Tower in the center of the city
Go south to the South Gate and the Xunmen Gate becomes South Street;
Going north to Gongji Gate, that is, the North Gate, is North Street;
Going east to Zhenhaimen, that is, the east gate is East Street;
Going west to Daijingmen, that is, the west gate, is West Street.
Yang Fan asked Master Ruan about the places of interest in the city. Master Ruan introduced.
There is a temple to the south of East Street and east of Southwest Street in the city, that is, in the southeast of the city. Incense is popular here, and many people seeking children come to offer incense. You can often see wives and young ladies from wealthy families. There are also many young and beautiful maids. As he spoke, he gave Yang Fan a look that any man would understand.
There are many buildings in the northeast of the city, mainly the Zunhua County Government Office. To the west of the County Government Office is the Examination Courtyard, and to the west is the Guandi Temple. To the east of the county government is the Fire Temple, and slightly to the southeast is the Guerrilla Bureau. This is the area for rich people and officials. The Wei Family Courtyard is also here.
The main buildings on the west side of North Street and the north side of West Street are, from east to west: Wu Temple, City God Temple, Railway Government Office, Guandi Temple, and Xuandi Temple on the north wall of the city.
From east to west in the northwest corner are: Zisun Temple, Wenchang Temple, Yaowang Temple and Huoshen Temple.
The area between the south side of West Street and the west side of South Street is commonly known as Saidai Temple.
There are Guanyin Hall, Guanghui Temple, Fiti Temple, and Confucius Temple, which is the Confucian Temple, also known as the Academy. In front of the Academy is the Nanchi Villa and Lingyang Temple, and to the south of the Academy is the Guandi Temple.
Coming to the northeast corner of the city, under the turret of the city wall, there is a dilapidated scene. This is a slum area. The people living here are families who work as coolies. The men work as blacksmiths and coolies in various shops, and the women work as servants. People make a living by washing clothes.
Many children have no clothes to wear and are running around naked. The hygiene is even worse, and there are many smelly ditches.
There are also a lot of wastelands in this generation, and there are a lot of smelly blisters, and weeds and reeds are as tall as one person. Wild dogs haunt the barren hills.
Yang Fan stepped on dog poop as soon as he got out of the car, which was so disgusting.
Could this be the legendary beginning of getting off the bus?
The blacksmith shop is more than a dozen thatched sheds built with wooden frames. It doesn't even have decent brick walls. The Tupi wall collapsed in all directions, like a dog gnawed. It can't protect against thieves and wild dogs, let alone thieves.
The factory building doesn’t even have walls, and is surrounded by straw mats.
A group of craftsmen in rags and beggars stood at the door to welcome the new owner.
Yang Fan looked around and saw that there were about thirty people, mostly old men. There are also some children of twelve or thirteen years old. Really old and young.
Master Ruan was a little embarrassed and said, "You haven't given me any gifts to the new owner yet."
The management here is not good, the location is poor, not close to water, and transportation is not convenient. The master has taken away all the young and middle-aged people, leaving only the old, weak, sick and disabled, which is indeed not very good-looking.
“Meet the owner”
"Meet the master"
Most of the people here are domestic slaves who sold themselves, so they are called masters, and a few are accountants and clerks. They are all hired, so they are called bosses. It is a chaotic place.
Yang Fan saw that each of these people seemed to have not had enough to eat for a long time, and they were staggering with hunger.
Sighing, he walked into the workshop door.
The workshop occupies an area of about ten acres, with adobe walls on all sides, and a door opening to the south. Along the walls on the east and west sides are simple workshops made of wooden pillars and straw curtains, and on the north side is a warehouse. In the middle of the south is the gate, and on both sides are the places where craftsmen live.
Walking to the middle of the yard, I saw three earthen blast furnaces in the open space in the middle. They looked very primitive, even more primitive than the remains of the earthen blast furnaces left by Dai Yuejin in Yang Fan's hometown.
Looking at the blast furnace covered with dust, it is very dilapidated and I don't know if it can still be used.
"Why didn't work start?" Yang Fan asked.
"Who is the leader? Come out and speak."
"To tell you what, sir, I haven't been paid for three months, and I've run out of food. I've been drinking wild vegetable porridge these days, and I really don't have any energy."
Yang Fan! ! !
What's happening here.
