Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 293: People spread the word!

Ten days later.

It's already November.

The weather has gradually become colder, and people on the streets have put on more clothes.

The roar of the steam engine never stopped.

The machine demonstrated by Zhou Ning was placed at the entrance of the market. Every time the market opened, someone would come over and add a few fires to start the machine. Although it did not have much practical use, it allowed the people who came to inquire about it to have close contact with it.

Ten days.

No less than a thousand people came to watch.

Even people from surrounding states and counties come here to visit.

Today, the market entrance has become a tourist attraction in Yuhang. Almost everyone who comes to Yuhang will stop here to take a close look at the "machine". The existence of the steam engine has also spread to the world and is known to people in more places.

Local people's resistance to the machines also gradually weakened.

At present, there are several "guide"-like people who are explaining the "machine" to people around, so that those who are not familiar with it can have a deeper understanding of the "machine".

The market entrance.

It was already midday.

There were fewer people on the streets, as everyone went home to cook and rest.

But at the entrance of the market, there were quite a few people coming.

They were all dressed simply, with serious faces, and a bit of uneasiness and panic. Led by a middle-aged man, they stood in front of the "steam engine" that was emitting thick smoke.

Fang Erniu said: "Li Dali, Wu Anquan"

Fang Erniu called out names one by one. These were the salt workers who were called by other governors to attend the "Workers' Conference". He was familiar with these names, and now that he had actually seen them, he was completely relieved.

At least the government didn't lie.

The stove owners who were the "leaders of the riot" in various provinces were indeed called in.

"Is this the machine?" Li Dali stood in front of the 'steam engine' and walked around the roaring machine twice, his eyes full of shock and confusion. It was this piece of iron that made them lose their livelihood?
No matter how he looked at it, it didn't feel real.

Fang Erniu smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Li, let alone you, how could I believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes? We have been cooks for decades, how could we lie about such a thing? This thing is called a 'steam engine', and it is used to make salt in those factories."

"We were all replaced by him!"

"This is just an empty frame for people to see."

"Wait until they say they'll build a device to extract the brine below, and then build something above to speed up the evaporation of the brine."

"This is much faster than doing it ourselves."

Li Dali nodded.

In fact, none of them had ever seen the "machine", although they had indeed thought about seeing it, and even thought about entering the "factory", but the people in the factory didn't want them at all. Therefore, their understanding of the machine had always been based on their own imagination and the descriptions of other people outside.

Now I really see it.

He just stood there in a daze, speechless for a long time.

Fang Erniu said a few simple words and said nothing else. In fact, he had received quite a few outside cooks during this period of time, and there had always been many people with the same expression as Li Dali. Not to mention them, even he himself, even though he had seen him many times, still felt shocked and excited when he saw him again.

This metal machine gives people a very strong sense of oppression.

Let them not have any thoughts.

In a trance, Li Dali subconsciously reached out his hand, which also scared Fang Erniu. He quickly pulled his hand back and said hurriedly: "What are you doing? Don't you want your hand? You are all boiling water, is it okay to touch it?"

"Even in the factory, except for adding coal here, everything else is in the back."

"Don't be confused."

Fang Erniu gave a reminder.

Li Dali smiled awkwardly and said quickly, "Isn't this the first time I've seen it? I'm a little itchy and subconsciously want to touch it. This thing is indeed good, but if it can use so much iron, how can it be a bad thing?"

"But if this happens, we will really lose our livelihood."

Fang Erniu said: "It can't be broken."

"This machine also requires people, and the imperial envoy specifically said before that he went south to solve this problem. I heard from someone privately that the imperial envoy actually didn't think of rolling out this thing in the south. It was some people in the south who secretly took other people's drawings and built it themselves."

"That is to say."

"We've all been tricked." "The imperial envoy is here to clean up these people's mess."

Hearing Fang Erniu's words, Li Dali nodded and cursed, "I knew something was wrong. These bastards are just greedy for money. They saw that this thing can make money, so they built it for themselves in various ways. They didn't care about our lives at all. I said, your Majesty cares about the people, how could he allow such a thing to happen."

"These bastards should have been killed in the first place!"

Fang Erniu's face froze and he said, "Don't say that nonsense."

"The Imperial Commissioner is in Yuhang now, and he is here to solve these problems. When the meeting is held in two days, I will ask the Imperial Commissioner to consider us more and at least find a way for us to make a living. According to what the Imperial Commissioner said, no matter how hard it is, it will not be as hard as being a cook."

“If you think about it this way, we actually made a profit.”

Li Dali snorted coldly and did not comment.

earn?
Where did they earn?
This period of time was spent in fear.

Recently, they have been relying on others to help them survive. In the past, although life was hard, it was not as miserable as it is now. If they were not really unable to survive, they would not be willing to make peace with the government. If it were not for the various news, they would be ready to fight to the end.

However, the arrival of these "bad" news one after another completely broke down their psychological defenses.

That's why they chose to come.

Of course, he did not deny that the government's attitude had indeed changed. At least they were not so easy to kill. Instead, they just asked them to participate with a cold face, showing that they had long been impatient with them.

Li Dali said, "Lao Fang, you have been here for a long time. Can you tell us brothers what the government's attitude is?"

"How does he want to accommodate us? Can he really solve it for us?"

"Will we be held accountable by the government in the future?"

"."

Li Dali asked a lot of questions in a row.

All of which are of pressing concern to them.

Fang Erniu gave a bitter smile.

How would he know?

He just attended one lecture and watched the steam engine a few more times every day. He had some understanding of the steam engine, but he knew nothing else.

Fang Erniu said: "Brothers, you guys..."

"I am also a cooker."

"How can the government tell me what it is doing?"

"But it's been so long, the government should have thought of a solution, otherwise they wouldn't have gathered so many people together. And I heard before that the local government has made a big concession, saying that they will abolish the household registration system in the future, and we won't be restricted by the household registration system anymore."

"I heard there are some more, but I don't know if it's true or not."

"From my perspective, this imperial envoy is quite capable. He was able to come up with so many things and explain the reasons clearly. He is at least much better than the local officials."

Li Dali said coldly: "Stop talking to them."

"They are all birds of a feather."

"These officials have no good intentions."

"But since we're here now, it might not hurt to go and take a look."

"It will be clear then."

"If they are lying, or just tricking us into coming here, I have already told the other brothers when I came here. If we don't come back in a month, they don't have to wait for us. The government will definitely go back on its word. Let them continue to fight the government to the end!"

“We have no way to survive.”

"I'll make them lose a few heads too!"

Li Dali spoke in a murderous tone, with an attitude of fighting to the death.

But everyone else was not interested in this. Their eyes were fixed on the huge machine in front of them, and their eyes were a little dazed.

The longer they looked at it, the more unusual it seemed, and the more frightened they became.

They really seemed to be unable to win.

Li Dali and others were not the first group to come, nor would they be the last. They were not even the first people to have such strong emotions. However, all emotions could only wait for the workers' meeting two days later.

(End of this chapter)