"Everyone is here. The first battalion and the regiment headquarters of the first regiment of the Beijing Infantry Regiment will assemble immediately." Zhu Yang, the commander of the first regiment, shouted loudly.
Five miles south of Guihua City, the Dahei River Pier is full of officers and soldiers from the Beijing camp who have just disembarked.
They boarded the boat from Jiuyuan City, and the tugboats took ten canoe boats in order, heading east along the Yellow River, and then turned into the Dahei River. Turn to the northeast and disembark at Guihuacheng Pier.
This is the water transport terminal in Guihua City, and not far away is the Guihua Railway Station. Yang Fan's newly built Suiyuan Commandery Department Building is also here.
The officers and soldiers of the Beijing Camp will be stationed here, and then take trains back to Beijing in batches.
Now the railway is still advancing towards the west non-stop. A railway bridge is being built on the Dahei River, using cement piers and steel truss bridges. More than 30,000 migrant workers are working on the wasteland from Guihua City to Jiuyuan City in sections.
When these soldiers from the Beijing camp got off the boat, they felt that their eyesight was not enough.
The wasteland south of Dahei River is full of tents and material storage sites. Countless railway construction workers wearing sturdy work clothes and wicker safety helmets were busy.
It had only been a few months since they left here, but they didn't expect that the wilderness of Henan would be so lively.
Nowadays, the railway workers and their families live in Nancheng of the capital. The Railway Construction Company started building a huge workers' community in the wasteland of Nancheng.
Inside the high walls of the community are densely packed five-story tube buildings. Many of these workers who have made money in the past two years have bought houses in the railway community.
The houses here are not expensive in total because they are small in size.
This kind of house is a side-room building with five floors and two semi-underground and underground floors. In the middle of each floor is a two-meter-wide corridor. The corridor runs from north to south. The ground floor is for sale and the semi-basement is used as dormitory for single staff. The entire basement is used as a warehouse. 33
On both sides of the corridor are single rooms in Tongzilou. It is three meters wide and ten meters long. With a balcony three meters wide and two meters deep. The living area is only thirty square meters.
Each house is divided into three suites in the front, middle and back. Each room is about ten square meters. The two rooms at the back are illuminated by long wooden windows one meter high at the top of the brick wall.
The couple lived in the innermost room, the children lived in the middle, and the elderly lived in the room near the door.
These residents use the public bathroom and kitchen on the same floor.
Land in Nancheng is particularly cheap, and most of it is wasteland. Therefore, these buildings cost nothing except cement, bricks, and labor. This is also the reason why the price is cheap.
Yang Fan is quite particular and has not imitated those unscrupulous developers in terms of building area.
These houses have a usable area of 30 square meters, and a balcony of 6 square meters is provided as a gift. The balcony can be used as a kitchen or to dry clothes. Very practical. If they are willing to go to the public kitchen to cook, they can go to the public kitchen. If they are willing to build a stove on the side of the balcony, they can cook on the balcony.
There are relatively complete convenience stores in the community, including small restaurants, large canteens, and shops for washing and mending clothes. Many singles can also spend money to solve life problems.
Despite this, the area is really not large. If the population is large, the whole family will be crowded into the tube building, and they can only sleep on bunk beds and draw a curtain to ensure privacy. However, they are already very satisfied. They are all farmers who have lost their land and fled to famine.
Instead of starving to death, he found a job again. There is also a small house, where the family can be protected from wind and rain, and the briquette stove can be used to keep warm in winter. What else is there to be dissatisfied with?
The key is that this tube building is really cheap. You can buy one for thirty taels of silver. One tael of silver per square meter. They can afford it with their annual income. Payments can also be made in three-year installments.
There are bathhouses and markets, various shops and various convenience services in the community. When heating, each household relies on its own briquette iron stove. To use water, go to the water house to fetch water and come back to fill the water tank. There were steam engines pumping out underground water.
To keep costs down, running water was not installed. After all, everything goes up, and house prices also go up. These workers and their families are laborers. They have good physical strength and have no problem carrying water.
Cold water is free, but boiled water is charged. A bucket of boiled water in a tin bucket costs one copper coin. Now people in Yang Fan's system have been forced to get used to drinking boiled water. They buy a bucket of boiled water, which is enough for the whole family to drink for a few days.
These workers now feel at ease at home, with their wives taking care of the children and taking care of the housework. If there are elderly people at home, the family members can also start a small business or go to work in a workshop.
Various convenience shops in the railway community are run by family members, which can be regarded as an increase in income.
The compound is very large, with a kindergarten and a school inside. Children of workers can go to school. Only ten copper coins are charged for tuition and book fees per semester. Workers can afford it.
Now, they have no worries and remit any money they earn back home.
The soldiers in the Beijing camp looked at these road construction workers with envy.
They have all heard that it is very profitable to do this now. Railways and trains are both businesses run by marshals. The treatment is very good.
Because the railways are built in barren mountains and wild ridges, not to mention hardships and dangers. This era is not peaceful.
Wild animals, poisonous insects, snakes, ants, and various infectious diseases. There are also bandits and the like, and the natural environment is also harsh.
So the salary is very high. They work hard and have good food. There is a salary of one silver dollar a month, a bonus for completing tasks, and a year-end bonus at the end of the year.
A railway road construction worker has more than thirty silver dollars a year. Their meals also ensure one meat meal every day. It's basically braised fatty pork. The staple food is cornmeal pancakes, which can be eaten as much as you like without any limit.
If you can't eat, you can't do this job. Whether it is lifting rails, laying ballast gravel, lifting sleepers, or installing sleepers, it is all heavy physical labor.
Although this job is very tiring and hard, it is much more than what I earn in Jingying.
They served as soldiers in the Beijing camp, and the emperor gave each of them five coins a month. This was the highest military treatment in the Ming Dynasty. Because this money is actually distributed, through Xinghe Bank, every penny is transferred to their bankbooks every month.
Although it is said that the Guanning Army in Liaodong was given 16 taels of cavalry a year, they often owed military pay for a year and a half. Moreover, after all kinds of drifting, only five taels actually reached the hands of the soldiers. Moreover, prices in Liaodong are soaring, and all kinds of daily necessities shops are opened by civil servants and military leaders, who still have to plunder them.
These soldiers from the Beijing camp got off the ship and looked at the railway workers working enthusiastically. They were very envious and whispered. It would be great if I could leave Beijing and work on the railway.
After they got off the boat, they needed to form a team one by one and go to the waiting area to wait for boarding. The officers and soldiers who had not taken their turn stood here with envy and watched the workers at work. They feel that compared to training, these hardships are nothing.
When the commander trained them, they felt like they were being exhausted to death. The training will not stop until the last of their strength is drained. I really don’t think these jobs are hard to come by.
Some people died, but not completely...
