Zhang Shan drove a three-wheeled truck, followed by more than 30 three-wheeled trucks. Together they came to the gate of Tongzhou Wanshou Flour Mill.
He braked and the three-wheeled truck stopped immediately on the cement road.
He immediately closed the oil valve, and the roar of the diesel engine quickly disappeared.
Zhang Shan looked at the obese middle-aged man in front of the winery, wearing silk and satin, with a big gold chain around his neck. He nodded and bowed and said: "Mr. Fu, what is the status of this villain? How can I allow you to receive him personally?"
Fu Wenxiu glanced at Zhang Shan, who was smiling, but because of his ferocious appearance, his smile was uglier than his tears.
He said disdainfully: "Who are you? How could I wait for you.
Go in from the small door to find Shopkeeper Zhao, and the freight guys all go to Shopkeeper Zhao.
For the sake of being polite, I'll leave this job to you.
Don't stop me from waiting for distinguished guests at the door. "
"Excuse me." Zhang Shan bowed respectfully, left here immediately, and entered the factory through the small door.
He's here to take over a job. What's going on at the factory? That has nothing to do with him at all.
When he entered the factory, he heard the roar of shopkeeper Zhao.
"You guys should act quickly and clean up the warehouse quickly.
The grain drying plant and dryer are ready. The newly harvested wheat must not be allowed to become moldy again.
The last time moldy wheat was used to grind flour, two people died and 36 people were hospitalized. The reputation of our flour mill was greatly damaged, and the former owner was arrested by the court.
This time when the new owner takes over the flour mill, anyone who performs poorly will definitely be fired. "
Zhang Shan felt his stomach churn when he heard Shopkeeper Zhao shouting like this, and he almost retched.
Changshou Flour Mill is the largest flour mill in Tongzhou, which mainly produces pasta in the north.
Tongzhou is close to the Grand Canal and railway and is an important transportation hub in the country.
Rice from the south can be easily shipped to Tongzhou, but local flour is cheaper.
They are all ordinary people. A bag of flour is three to five copper coins cheaper, so they would rather buy local flour.
Shopkeeper Zhao saw Zhang Shan's performance, he curled his lips and said: "There is a problem with the flour, what does this have to do with us.
My family is reluctant to eat white flour steamed buns every day. Hybrid noodles composed of wheat, potatoes, and corn are the staple food for people like us.
Two bags of mixed noodles per month can save half a tael of silver coins, which is six taels of silver coins a year.
With six taels of silver coins, wouldn't it be nice to buy new clothes for the whole family?
The wheat flour in the mixed noodles is too little to kill people.
People were eaten to death in restaurants in the capital, so this matter could not be suppressed.
Besides, when the new owner arrives, he immediately upgrades the equipment of the flour mill. We even have a dryer, so we no longer have to worry about continuous cloudy days causing the wheat to become moldy. "
Shopkeeper Zhao simply explained that the new owner had taken over the factory, and he had to clarify this matter for the sake of his lucrative position.
Zhang Shan saw that Shopkeeper Zhao's mood had calmed down, and he quickly asked: "Shopkeeper Zhao, I greeted Mr. Fu outside the door just now, and Mr. Fu has promised us work in the factory.
Of course, we understand the rules. The silver coins that should be given to Shopkeeper Zhao will not be less than one tael. "
Shopkeeper Zhao saw that Zhang Shan was very good at handling things, and he said with a smile: "Your caravan, oh, no, you should call the transportation company now.
Can your transportation company haul 10,000 acres of wheat in three days?
The wheat field is in the countryside of Tongzhou. There is a cement road leading directly to the field. It is about five kilometers away from the flour mill.
Ten acres of wheat, I'll give you one or two silver coins for shipping. "
The total shipping cost for this job is one thousand taels of silver coins. Each of his brothers can pay 20 taels of silver coins, and then give Shopkeeper Zhao a 50 taels of rebate, so that he can make a net profit of 350 taels.
After this job is completed, the loan on the three-wheel truck can be paid off in advance, and he will be debt-free from now on.
Zhang Shan gritted his teeth and said, "We've taken over this job. Even if people park their cars and work all night long, we'll finish it for you."
Shopkeeper Zhao said with satisfaction: "Come on, let's settle it. We will sign the contract under the witness of the township head, and I will pay you a deposit."
Zhang Shan and shopkeeper Zhao immediately came to the township office. Witnessed by the township chief, the two signed a contract, and Zhang San received a deposit of three hundred taels of silver coins.
When they are involved in important transactions, they will basically ask officials to witness it. With such a contract in triplicate, if one party breaches the contract and goes to Dali Temple to file a lawsuit, he will definitely win the case.
This has certain binding force on both parties to the contract.
Officials are also willing to bear witness. The contracts reached one after another are the most important achievements of officials in governing the local area.
Officials only serve as witnesses to prove the authenticity of the contract. They do not need to take any risks, but they can gain a political achievement that no official will refuse.
Zhang Shan took the contract and deposit, and came to the convoy to hand out money to everyone.
"I got a big job this time. Each person can earn thirty taels of silver coins. This is thirty taels of silver coins.
We used to run horse-drawn carriages, and after working hard for a month, we could only earn more than a dozen taels of silver coins.
Now we only have three days to complete the task of pulling wheat, and these thirty taels of silver coins belong to us. "
Many truck drivers heard that there were thirty taels of silver coins available, and they looked at the ten taels of silver coins in their hands, with happiness in their eyes.
"Boss, we all listen to you, what do you say to do? We will do whatever you want!"
"Boss, there are 10,000 acres of land in three whole days. If we work continuously for three days without taking a break, a car accident will easily occur.
If the car falls into a ditch, at most one car of wheat will be lost.
Once it is hit by pedestrians or other vehicles, we really cannot afford to pay compensation.
Especially for a car that collided, the repair cost was only a few hundred taels of silver coins, and we couldn't even afford to sell it. "
Zhang Shan angrily said: "You don't have any brothers or friends, let them help you drive for a while.
If you don’t have the ability to eat alone, then you have to share some of the money you earn. "
“Boss, my mother-in-law can drive a three-wheel truck, just a car, it’s a simple matter.
I let my mother-in-law do the work, so I don't have to worry about sharing the money with others. "
“My mother-in-law can’t drive, but my brother can.
If my family hadn't been poor, I would have bought a three-wheel truck for my brother and the two of us would have made money. "
When the drivers heard that they could earn ten taels of silver coins a day, they would definitely not miss this opportunity. Even if they had to spend money to hire a fellow driver, they would still want to earn this money.
Zhang Shan put the contract away and immediately drove the car to the location where the contract was stated.
The most important reason why he was able to work for a construction and transportation company was that he was literate.
He is a hereditary military household, and he usually farms land for hundreds of households to make a living, just like an ordinary tenant farmer.
But when the war is tense, you must carry a spear on the battlefield.
Zhang San became a prisoner after being confused on the battlefield. The luckiest thing about him was that he learned the Chinese characters of Xin Dynasty while he was in a labor camp.
The three-wheeled truck was billowing black smoke as they headed towards their destination.
The black rubber tires twisted on the rough concrete floor, leaving no trace at all.
On this less populated concrete road in the countryside, the three-wheeled truck was unloaded and drove more wildly.
Zhang Shan likes the feeling of strong wind blowing on his face. The speed of the three-wheeled truck has exceeded the speed of the trains he has often seen before.
When he felt that the speed of the three-wheeled truck was slowly decreasing, he immediately blurted out: "Fuck, we're out of gas."
"A three-wheeled truck is much better than a horse-drawn carriage. The only problem is that it burns too much oil."
He immediately parked near the roadside, took out the iron oil can hanging on the car, unscrewed the fuel tank and poured oil into it.
“Boss, you ran out of gas so quickly.
Today's oil is really expensive. One liter of oil costs five copper coins, and filling the tank requires two hundred and fifty copper coins.
I think we only have 250. It would have been great to have a carriage back then. "
Zhang Shan couldn't help but said: "Fart, you don't raise horses at all, you don't know how hard it is for your father to raise horses.
Horse food is not cheap at all, and they are prone to diseases.
For one treatment, several hundred copper coins were given to the veterinarian.
The three-wheeled truck is so easy to take care of. You don’t need to eat fried food and you won’t get sick.
The most critical point is that the three-wheeled truck can run continuously for several days without rest.
If a horse pulls a cart at high intensity for a long time, it must rest for a while.
A three-wheeled truck can pull more than ten tons of cargo, but how much can a freight carriage pull? "
When Zhang Shan reprimanded his men, he poured all the oil in the tank into the tank.
“Five copper coins per liter of oil is not expensive.
If it weren't for the imperial court controlling oil prices, would you believe it would cost five silver coins per liter of oil? At this price, only the rich can afford to drive a car. "
Zhang Shan continued to drive on the road. Occasionally, the convoy ran out of gas. He stopped to replenish the car with fuel. They quickly caught up with the large group.
They retreated and quickly reached their destination, which was a dense field of wheat.
A village chief with a somewhat gray beard was shouting at a young man.
"What's going on at your flour mill? The harvesters I hired have arrived, but why haven't the flour mill's transport trucks arrived yet?
We signed a contract with the flour mill at that time, which means that when the wheat matures, the flour mill will take it away immediately.
The weather waits for no one. From this good weather, we must harvest wheat as soon as possible, otherwise the wheat will sprout in the ground if there is bad weather with continuous rain. "
"Village Chief Li, don't get angry. Since our flour mill has made an agreement, we will definitely come to harvest wheat."
Village Chief Li felt relieved when he heard the flour mill boy's promise.
Due to the bumper rice harvest in the south this year, especially in the two main rice-producing areas of Cochin and Siam, the railway network in the territory has been completed.
A large amount of cheap rice directly impacted the empire's market, causing the price of rice to fall, which in turn caused the price of flour to fall.
The prices of rice and flour have both fallen, and it is impossible for rice and wheat prices to be maintained.
The contract price between their village and the flour mill was based on last year's price.
This new method called contract farming is said to be piloted by the big shots above.
Village Chief Li doesn’t know whether to try it or not. He is afraid that the flour mill will not recognize the order, so he will have to deal with the wheat in the field at a low price.
When Zhao Shan heard the quarrel between the two, he came over with the contract and said, "I am sent by the flour mill to pull wheat."
After the boy at the flour mill read the contract, he nodded and said, "The contract is correct. I will follow Mr. Zhang's motorcade back to the flour mill.
The owner has given instructions in advance that as long as the wheat is put into the warehouse, the silver coins will be settled according to the price in the contract. "
When Village Chief Li heard the news, he was immediately overjoyed and informed the harvester that he finally summoned to go to the wheat field to harvest wheat.
Zhang Shan directed his men to drive the three-wheeled truck to the designated location beside the field.
Next to this location, a vehicle that looks like a small crane is parked.
He looked at the harvester that was slowly entering the field.
Zhang Shan knew about harvesters, but they used to be steam harvesters, which were somewhat inefficient. The machines often broke down and were rarely used in other places except for the empire's large farms.
The current harvester has the same diesel engine as the one on their three-wheeled truck.
The harvester has two iron chains. It is like a train rolling on the rails. There are some small iron wheels pressing the chains to roll forward.
In front of the harvester is a very sharp rolling cage.
The rolling cage rolls across the wheat field, and the sharp blades on it suck the wheat ears into the harvester.
Zhang Shan knew that there was a threshing machine-like structure inside the harvester, which threshed the harvested wheat ears into individual grains of wheat.
After the harvester passed by, the crushed wheat straw was left behind, paved with yellow lines.
Zhang Shan saw that the harvester quickly stopped harvesting, and he stopped next to the crane.
The crane pulled out a large iron box from the harvester. He lifted the large iron box to the front of the three-wheel truck body.
The driver of the harvester directly pulled out the latch of the iron box.
The opening at the bottom of the iron box opened, and a large amount of wheat flowed out of the iron box.
The wheat in the iron box quickly filled the body of a three-wheeled truck.
With quick eyesight and quick hands, the harvester driver immediately closed the newly opened opening.
Zhang Shan was shocked when he saw the speed at which wheat was harvested, loaded and unloaded.
He immediately directed his team to switch vehicles and let an empty vehicle pick up the wheat in the box.
The space inside this box is very large, enough to fill a truck body and a half.
In just ten minutes, one acre of land was harvested by the harvester.
Zhang Shan was so surprised that he could hardly close his mouth. This is the power of technology.
When he was a child, he farmed for hundreds of families. The whole family went out together and harvested less than two acres of land in a day.
The harvester can easily harvest more than a hundred acres of land in a day, and the improvement in efficiency is terrifying.
As the efficiency of farming increases, rural areas do not need so many laborers. They can leave the countryside and live a more exciting life.
Zhang Shan was surprised at the power of the harvester, but Village Chief Li led his men to light the crushed wheat stalks on fire.
The smoke produced by the violent combustion floated into the sky.
Zhang Shan saw that when Village Chief Li was waiting for the harvester to be far away and there were no people around, he ordered the straw in the ground to be ignited.
He was not surprised at all by this incident.
The ready-picked harvester cannot retain intact straw, and the finely divided straw is difficult to clean.
If the straw is not ignited, there will be insect pests in the straw, resulting in a significant reduction in production next year.
After this wave of wheat is harvested, the next wave of winter wheat needs to be planted.
Straw left in the ground will compete with crops for nutrients, and the best way to deal with it is to burn it with fire.
The ash from burned straw can also be used to fertilize fields.
When Village Chief Li saw the efficiency of the harvester, he said with emotion: "There are really more and more new machines like this now.
Someone has already gone to the village to promote agricultural machinery. The subsequent plowing and sowing do not require humans or cows to complete the work.
As technology continues to develop, the time when two people can easily sow a field of a hundred acres is not far away. "
Zhang Shan nodded and said: "The most outstanding thing about agricultural machinery is that it allows women with weak physical strength to cultivate multiple acres of fields.
Strong laborers can go to cities to work.
In this way, if two people in a family make money, they will definitely be happy. "
Zhang Shan has never left the countryside, and he feels that the changes in the countryside are too drastic.
People who have never been to the countryside will be even more shocked when they see the new changes in the countryside. The current countryside is completely different from the countryside they imagined. (End of chapter)
