The Great Industrial Ming Dynasty Started from Beiping

Chapter 97 The Beginning of the Iron Smelter

Everyone knows that Wansan has 1 taels of silver.But people have never seen Wansan taking money at home.

1 taels of silver weighs a thousand catties, and it takes a trailer to transport it back.

As usual, Wansan went home empty-handed, not to mention 1 taels of silver, and didn't even have a bag on his shoulders, which disappointed the neighbors in Dongbeitai Village very much.

"Old Wan, don't you just bury your money outside?"

An old man came straight and said, "It's not as safe outside as this village."

Dongbeitai Village is the location of Beiping's iron smelting, so the security is indeed better.

"What do you miss every day?"

"What do you think it will do? You don't want to open your eyes."

Wansan believes this.

Neighbors in Beiping City will be thieves, but Dongbeitai Village will not.

"The silver is in the factory."

"Aren't you going to take it back?" The old man pretended to look around, then leaned forward and said in a low voice, "If the nobleman repents one day, you won't even have time to cry."

"Humph."

Wan San sneered twice, ignored the old man, left the big locust tree, and went back to his home.

The mother-in-law of the family, knowing that the head of the family will come back one day every ten days, cooked the meal with the daughter-in-law and made a drink.

There is also a boy and a girl.

A family of five eats around the table.

Table Mountain has eggs.

Wan San didn't eat it, and every time he took a sip of wine, he took a fennel bean.

Fennel beans are fava beans.

Similar to peas, but not the same.

Broad beans flowed into China during Zhang Sai's mission to the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, it was brought back by Zhang Sai.

"Tomorrow Tierpa will come back, you ask your daughter-in-law to kill the chickens at home, and then you go to the town to make a pot of good wine."

Tie'er is the nickname of his grandson.

When Wansan was young, he had five children.

Three daughters and two sons.

In the previous dynasty, a daughter died young because of lack of food. Later, another daughter died of starvation, and a son died of illness.

Quickly marry the eldest daughter to someone and eat her husband's food.

Only one youngest is left.

Later, the years suddenly became peaceful, and the officials were still the same officials, but they became kind, and their craftsmen were also free.

Although he has to serve with the government every year, when he is not serving, he can support his family with his skills.

Every day gets better.

Talked to the youngest about his daughter-in-law and gave birth to two children.

He brought a group of apprentices with him.

Gradually, the number of blacksmiths in Dongbeitai Village increased, and the local jobs became less and less, and those who were capable went out to make a living.

Many people found jobs in the iron yard. Seeing this, the youngest wanted to go out and make a fuss, but Wan San didn't stop him.

The youngest is young, so he should go out and fight.

As for the month that the government required the craftsmen to serve, Wan San went to do it himself.

The youngest fought hard, not only stood on his feet, but also rented a blacksmith's shop, and sold some ironware in the city every day.

Wan San didn't say anything, but he was always very proud in his heart.

"This wine is not enough for you to drink? The court should continue to ban alcohol."

The old woman was dissatisfied.

What do people drink.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court issued a ban on alcohol. I don’t know why, but the imperial court relaxed the ban a few years ago.

Wansan likes drinking the most. When he was poor, he couldn't afford it. Later, he drinks a few cups every month.

Later, the court banned alcohol.

After the imperial court let go, Wansan changed it to drink once every few days.

Now it is a must drink every night.

After work in the factory, I drink a few sips in the evening, and drink a few more cups when I go home every ten-day vacation.

When the young woman heard that her husband was coming back, she was happy and curious, but she was too embarrassed to ask her father-in-law, and she was not in the mood to eat. She sat quietly next to her mother-in-law, just like when she was in the kitchen.

When guests came to the house, she and her mother-in-law ate in the kitchen.

When her father-in-law's apprentices were still there, she also stayed in the kitchen with her mother-in-law to eat.

Later, my father-in-law went to the factory, and my father-in-law's apprentices also went to the factory. The house was much deserted, and it was rather boring.

Knowing that her daughter-in-law is a dull gourd, the old woman was a little surprised and complained before asking.

"Okay, why did Yao'er come back?"

"I sent him the letter I entrusted."

"You don't understand, don't ask about some things outside."

Wan San waved his hand impatiently.

the next day.

A dark man appeared in Dongbeitai Village.

"Tie Wa is back."

"uncle."

"Tie baby."

……

After seeing his wife and children, he had a drink with his father in the evening. The old man was a bit overwhelmed by alcohol, but the black-faced man who had been on the road all day and drank a lot in the evening was still full of energy.

"Father, you only asked me to come back in your letter. I thought something happened at home and I put down my work, but everything at home is fine."

"What's the matter? You're in such a hurry."

"Don't open your shop, come back and follow me to work in the factory."

The black-faced man froze for a while, watching his father unable to regain his senses for a long time.

Not only did he know what happened to his father and the nobleman, but he also knew about the 1 taels of silver, but his father never told him to come back, and he didn't want to come back either.

shop.

It was he who saved money with great difficulty and spent a lot of effort before renting it from others.

For that shop.

He didn't know how much blood was shed.

"I do not."

"The wings are stiff, aren't they?" Wan San squinted his eyes, looking like he was going to get started.

The black-faced man remained silent.

Looking at the sinews on his son's body, Wan San withdrew his hand again. It didn't hurt him to beat him, but his own hand hurt in the end.

"The nobleman wants to build an iron smelting plant."

"I see. Dad wants me to work in a nobleman's iron smelting factory? But how is that different from a steam engine factory? Didn't Dad say that eggs can't be put in one basket? Why have I changed my mind again?"

"The past was the past, and the present is the present, you know what."

Wansan was a little annoyed when his son mentioned this obscure matter.

He was embarrassed in his heart, and felt that his original thoughts were sorry to his apprentices, so he didn't want to mention it too much.

A son is always a son, no matter how close the apprentice relationship is, it is only half a son.

The nobleman is powerful.

If one day they turn their backs, wouldn't the entire family be wiped out.

So Wansan never mentioned the matter of bringing his son back.

But after being in contact with the little nobleman for a long time, Wansan no longer doubts it. Wansan has never been in contact with other noblemen, but the little nobleman is a good person.

If that was the case, Wan San would not let his son come back.

"Little nobleman has set up a coke refinery."

"heard about it."

"The coke produced by the coke refinery is not only better in quality than outsiders, but also lower in cost."

"Little nobleman will not only build a coke refinery here, but will build it in the whole of Beiping in the future." Wan San paused for a moment, with a look of melancholy on his face.

"The coke workshops in Beiping City, no matter which craft they are, will only go out of business. These people will either go back to farming, or change careers to find jobs, or come to work in the coke refinery."

The black-faced man understood his father's troubles, and also knew why his father was so anxious to let him come back.

My father was worried that the iron smelter would, like the coke forest refinery, deprive all blacksmiths of their livelihood.

But the black-faced man didn't believe it.

Our ancestors have been doing this for thousands of years. How can a small nobleman cut off their livelihood if they occupy half of the iron smelting plant?

"You do not believe?"

"Have no idea."

The black-faced man said honestly.

Wan San was so angry that he wanted to hit someone again.

He sometimes couldn't understand what the little nobleman said, but Wan San kept every word in his heart.

For example, what a factory does, the first unlucky one is the workshop.

He didn't understand before.

Now that he saw the coke refinery and saw what the little nobleman said with his own eyes, he understood the meaning of the little nobleman's words.

According to the explanation of the little nobleman.

No matter how many people are employed in farming, the output will have its own fixed number and will not change.

But factories are not. In a specific environment, such as compared with small workshops, the more people invested in a factory, the larger the production line, the output will not only increase, but the cost will also decrease.

Therefore, the coke refinery does not have to worry about sales, because he can take away the jobs of all small workshops.

Now that the little nobleman wanted to set up an iron smelting plant, Wan San made up his mind to call Yao'er back and take advantage of the opportunity of the establishment of the iron smelting plant to do a good job.

"Believe it or not, you do what I tell you, or I will break your leg."

Wansan can't learn the general principles of the little nobleman, so he can only convince others with "ceremony".

The black-faced man's face became even darker.

Now my father is much older, and he can't beat people anymore. When I learned the craft from my father before, it was called ruthless

Not only did he beat his apprentice hard, but his son was even harder.

The two father and son broke up unhappy.

The two children fell asleep, and the black-faced man rolled into his wife's bed.

For a while.

The woman asked the father-in-law why he called him back.

After listening, there was a silence for a while, and the woman said softly, "You said you would take us, but houses in the city are expensive."

"Father is rich now."

"My father-in-law asked you to come back, but if you don't listen, can he give you money?"

The black-faced man stopped talking.

"The children are growing up, and they miss their father, and I miss you too, and don't want to be separated anymore." The woman buried her head in the black-faced man's arms.

"Father has been in charge of the family all his life and has never done anything wrong. You can have the credit of your father today, so why should you disobey him?"

The daughter-in-law stays at home all year round.

Now that China Heavy Industry is famous, many people who watched from Dongbeitai Village have also gone to work there, saying that the father-in-law has a high status in the factory, and he is right.

So she felt that her father-in-law was better than her husband, so she couldn't be wrong about what she said.

The man hesitated.

Not to mention anything else, if my father can earn 1 taels of silver, even if he sells his whole body, it will not be worth a fraction.

The madam knew that she had persuaded her husband, and persuaded: "Eunuch can still hold grudges against you. Tomorrow you will confess your mistake to your father. Eunuch will naturally be happy and forget about the unhappiness tonight."

the next day.

Wansan, who got up before dawn and was about to rush to the factory, had a very ugly face. His son was getting older and disobedient, which made him sulky all night.

But he saw his son get up too, hesitating at the door.

"doing what!"

Wansan shouted.

The dark-faced man just repeated what his wife told him yesterday.

It turned out to be a change of mind.

Only then did Wansan show a smile.

"Go back and transfer the shop in your hand. I'll meet the nobleman today."

"What about the son, does the father want to tell the nobleman?"

The black-faced man was flattered.

"Of course I want to mention it, I have to show my old face." For the sake of his son's future, Wansan went to seek favors from the nobleman.

(End of this chapter)