Chapter 82: Expanding the Team
Zhao Yingong looked at the dozen or so children of different sizes sitting or standing in the yard in front of the foyer. They were all unkempt and slender. Some looked healthy, while others reluctantly walked in, but sat down immediately. Unable to get up from the ground. [No pop-up novel website]
I couldn't bear it, but I felt itchy all over - I brought the girl back a few days ago, and also brought back the fleas and ticks on her body. That night, she was bitten and scratched all over, and she got a lot of red envelopes. and pimples. I had to get up, take a shower, change clothes, and apply insect repellent. Looking at the people in front of him, he didn't need to think about it to know how many parasites were peeking at his vagina under his rags.
"Everyone kneels down and kowtows. They have seen the master." Cai Shi shouted loudly.
A few knelt down, and some staggered directly to the ground. Zhao Yingong couldn't bear it and said: "No need to salute." After looking carefully, most of them were boys, and there were also a few girls. The youngest one is only four or five years old, and the oldest one is thirteen or fourteen years old. However, Zhao Yingong knew that the children of poor people were malnourished and generally had delayed education, and their actual age might be older.
"Are they all orphans?" Zhao Yingong asked, "Did they voluntarily surrender to my house as slaves?"
"It's true." Cai Shi said quickly, and then shouted to the children: "Speak for yourselves!"
"It's true." The voice was sporadic, slow and long.
"Masters, look..." Cai Shi turned to a dry and thin clerk next to him - this is the household clerk in Renhe County. He was specially invited to register the certificate today. Generally speaking, this kind of thing does not have to go through the government, but when they were receiving training, they were warned that they should be cautious in taking in people in places beyond the power of the traveling group, because at that time, there was only one vote of gangsters to This is a career, and it is easy to lose both people and money. The intelligence agent is alone and inconvenient to directly conflict with others.
"Okay, okay, I've seen it all." The bookkeepers took a big red envelope and felt happy, so of course they wouldn't pick on you, "Let's make a deposit."
Cai Shi cheered up and asked the children to put their fingerprints on the deed of prostitution, and then took them all to have their heads shaved, take a bath, and change clothes. Zhao Yingong renovated several rooms on the abandoned garden of the mansion and temporarily used them as dormitories. A doctor was hired to treat the children, and a full set of "purification" procedures were followed. Someone was sent to take care of it. The dozen or so attendants he brought with him were all from the purification camp and were no strangers to this system, nothing more than specific details. After the orphan recovered a little, he took the children to clear an open space in the abandoned garden to serve as a playground. They did exercises and runs every day to exercise. They also grew vegetables and raised chickens in the abandoned garden to exercise and supplement their food. Zhao Yingong asked Fenghua to become a literacy teacher and provide primary education in accordance with the requirements of the C diploma.
Zhao Yingong knew that it would be very difficult for him to make a big difference in housing and educating the population at the moment, especially because he lacked enough manpower. Therefore, he paid special attention to the older children aged thirteen or fourteen who were taken in, focusing on the cultivation of personality and knowledge - in the future, they will be the basic cadre talents that can be quickly put into use at Hangzhou Station. As for children under ten years old, they will still have to be transferred back to Lingao to study in batches.
Only the little girl who was taken in from the bridge he decided to stay by his side and teach her personally. Name her He Ning. He also named the other children one by one. Among them, the six eldest children over the age of twelve were named by him: Donghua, Xihua, Funing, Furong, Lizheng, and Yanhe. These names, like Fenghua and Hening, are the names of palaces in the Song Dynasty.
The older children live in a separate dormitory, and Zhao Yingong spends a certain amount of time every day to teach them in person. Although older children have more mature minds, children who have been wandering and begging for a long time may have distorted personalities and may develop various bad habits. Lingao has a whole set of methods for managing and educating refugees, which can be used by anyone. But he had to be cautious here, so he paid special attention to Cai Shi when taking in children. He did not want any wandering beggars with good temperaments and smart words. For the time being, he only took in those children who were about to starve to death or were abandoned.
As a result, he felt that the manpower was really short now. At present, Cai Shi and Sun Wangcai are being advised to take in those with reliable sources who are willing to sell themselves - all of them will have a "definite contract".
In addition to taking in children and expanding his team of slaves, Zhao Yingong also spent a few days conducting field visits to Hangzhou's main markets and various goods markets. Have a general understanding of Hangzhou's trade status. It seems that the easiest way to make money in Hangzhou is the silk industry and the tea industry.
Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, Jiangnan has been famous for growing mulberry and raising silkworms, especially in the Ming Dynasty. Especially Suzhou and Huzhou in the lower reaches of Taihu Lake. Songjiang, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Hangzhou are all important sericulture producing areas, producing massive amounts of raw silk and satin every year. Hangzhou is an important transportation hub. Not only goods from Zhejiang province circulate here, but also goods from South Zhili Silk products from Suzhou and Huzhou are also distributed and traded here.
As for tea, Zhejiang itself is a major tea-producing province, and neighboring Wannan is an important tea producing area. Every year, a large amount of Anhui tea is transported to Hangzhou through the Huihang Ancient Road, where it is processed and distributed locally.
Both silk and tea were important commodities in overseas trade and were also popular commodities in domestic trade. If Shiyicha can be controlled in Hangzhou, its profits will not be much worse than Leizhou's sugar.
However, Zhao Yingong was still unsure about how to intervene in these two industries. He was unfamiliar with both the sericulture and tea industries, let alone the conditions in the 17th century.
After much deliberation, I still need to find someone who is familiar with the industry to lead the way - just at this time, Cai Shi took in a family named Shen from outside, saying that he was willing to join the house as a slave.
"His family would like the whole family to join the government." Cai Shi said and handed over a post. It lists the names, ages, and gender of this family.
Zhao Yingong saw this new family on the post: a couple in their thirties and three children. The oldest is thirteen years old and the youngest is only five years old.
They were all sold for only ten taels. I can't believe how cheap it is - not to mention, their thirteen-year-old daughter alone can be sold for at least twenty taels if sold by Ren Ya. Zhao Yingong was a little hesitant. What was the origin of this family's prostitution?
Cai Shi said that this family is a sericulture farmer in Renhe County. They originally had several acres of mulberry land at home. However, there was a shortage of mulberry leaves when they were raising silkworms last year. They borrowed loans at usurious rates and the creditors took away all the land and houses of the family. Now, Desperate, he is willing to sell himself into slavery. It only requires two clauses in the deed: "Family and flesh cannot be separated" and "The owner's family will be free to redeem themselves if they move far away from Hangzhou."
No wonder they only had ten taels of silver, Zhao Yingong thought, it turned out there was a foreshadowing here. I have long heard that Zhejiang people are smart and capable. It seems that this is due to a long historical tradition.
"Master, they were originally sericulture farmers. They are experts in raising silkworms, growing mulberry and reeling silk. If I buy a few acres of mulberry land and let them take care of it, I won't have to worry about spending a hundred and ten taels of silver every year... …”
Cai Shi said it with enthusiasm - recently he saw that the master often paid attention to matters related to satin and raw silk, and thought that he must be interested in it, so he added this.
Zhao Yingong nodded to express satisfaction: "Not bad. Just stay."
"Do you want to kowtow to the master?"
"Of course. Call them."
After a while, Cai Shi brought someone over. The whole family crowded under the steps and kowtowed to Zhao Yingong. Zhao Yingong took a look. Although they were people working in the countryside, they were still in good order. Especially the mistress, who is twenty years old, looks small and exquisite, has delicate features, and looks like a woman from a Jiangnan water town. Her eldest daughter has not yet had a child, so she is very cute. Moreover, mother and daughter are both talented - Zhao Yingong is very satisfied.
"First allocate a room in the lower room." Zhao Yingong told Cai Shi, "Follow the rules. All the necessary clothes and food will be allocated according to the rules, and there will be no shortage."
"Yes, I understand, little one." Cai Shi bowed and said. Then he scolded, "Why don't you thank me quickly?"
Several people quickly knelt down and kowtowed. Zhao Yingong asked: "Are you silkworm farmers?"
"Yes, I used to grow mulberry and raise silkworms..." the man said quickly.
"So you are very good at raising silkworms?"
"Little people used to make this their business," the man said. "The little ones grew mulberries, while their wives and daughters raised silkworms and reeled silk. They reeled the silk and sold it to silk customers, and they made a living."
"Well, then tell me, what is the sericulture business here? Come and tell me the details."
"Yes, Master!" The man had just joined the family. He was originally uneasy. But now he heard that the family wanted him to talk about planting mulberry and raising silkworms. He thought that the family master had something to lend him, so he cheered up and started talking. .
He spoke a Hangzhou dialect, and he was less familiar with country people than others, so his speech was not coherent and his speech was unavoidable. Fortunately, Cai Shi was there to translate and explain, so Zhao Yingong got an idea.
To raise silkworms, you must first have mulberry leaves. Therefore, every family that raises silkworms must have several acres of land used to grow mulberries and collect leaves. If you don't have enough land or mulberry leaves, you have to rent it from others or outsource it. Therefore, there has been a "leaf market" specializing in trading mulberry leaves for a long time. In the former, you pay a deposit in advance and pick the goods when the time comes; in the latter, you pay as the market goes. After raising silkworms for three years, the consumption of silkworm leaves is extremely high. If the land is small and the market for mulberry leaves is high, the silkworm farmer has to buy mulberry leaves at a high price and often borrows usury.
But sericulture is very profitable: if the market for dried cocoons and raw silk is still decent that year, the remaining income after the sericulture farmers pay off their principal and interest will not only be enough to pay taxes, but also cover the whole family's expenses for a year. In terms of income, it is much better than growing rice and cotton. But if the cocoon market goes bad that year, it will be reduced to selling land, houses, or even sons and daughters to pay off debts. Roa.
