I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 704 It’s actually him!

Captain Huang looked very pleased with himself.

"To be honest with you, my second son was recruited to work in the cigarette factory, my eldest son-in-law was recruited to work in the enamel factory, and a nephew was recruited to work in the thermos bottle factory, so I know that these three factories produce hemp stuff."

"Captain Huang, you are really great."

"I was running a scheduled ship from Tongzhou and Tianjin to Yangzhou. Most of the passengers were officials like you on official business. They heard the news faster than the average person. As soon as the news came out, I asked my family to make arrangements.

To be honest, working in a factory now means you have a stable job, you will never have to worry about food and drink, and even the matchmaker will consider you first when arranging marriage proposals."

"Captain Huang is really a wonderful man. Then tell me, what exactly do these cigarette factories, enamel factories and thermos factories produce?"

"Producing hemp? They are all good stuff!" Captain Huang said as he took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and gave one to each of Ren Boan and the other two.

"what?"

Captain Huang chuckled and signaled them to just follow him.

Under the gaze of the three people, Captain Huang put the cigarette in his mouth, took out a brass lighter, opened the lid casually, turned the wheel, and a spark flashed to ignite a fire.

Captain Huang lit a cigarette with the fire, took a deep puff, and exhaled a cloud of smoke, looking very satisfied.

Ren Boan and the other two looked at each other in bewilderment. Is this the latest trend in Gyeonggi? It looks magical, with clouds and mist, just like burning incense and worshiping gods.

But it looks very stylish.

Captain Huang gestured to the three men to put the cigarettes in their mouths, turned on his lighter and lit them.

The three of them coughed a few times in succession, but soon got used to it and started smoking again.

“This feels a little weird.”

"I feel good and comfortable."

"interesting."

Captain Huang chuckled and said, "This is the latest cigarette, the Lugouqiao brand, produced by the Tianjin Cigarette Factory, which is the place with few chimneys that I just pointed out.

Just a few days after the launch, my second son gave me a few lighters. This lighter was given by my second son-in-law, who works at Tianjin Precision Machinery Factory, and this lighter was produced by their factory.

Captain Huang took the bright yellow lighter, deliberately showed it off in his hand for a few times, and then carefully put it into the bag around his waist.

"And what about the enamel factory?"

"Enamel Factory," Captain Huang turned around and called out, "Xiao Yu, bring me my water tank."

A sailor brought a large water cup. The mouth of the cup was as big as a rice bowl, and it really looked like a miniature water tank. The tank had a white base and was surrounded by brightly colored peony flowers, red, green, and yellow, which looked beautiful.

"This is an enamel cup. It's made of iron inside and a layer of enamel outside, also called enamel. My eldest son-in-law said it's a simplified version of cloisonné."

Ren Boan and the other two passed the enamel water cup around and looked at it. It had a handle and a lid, was very convenient to hold, and looked elegant overall.

"Cloisonné, I've heard of it, it's enamelware, very valuable."

"Sir, you are really a scholar, you know everything. Yes, my eldest son-in-law said that this enamel is similar to cloisonné, but the process is simplified and improved, and it is produced industrially.

I don't understand it either, I just know that this thing is selling very well. Tianjin Enamel Factory started production in March this year, producing enamel cups, bowls, and basins, which are economical and easy to use. Look at these flowers, plants, birds, and fish, how beautiful.

Everyone was scrambling for goods. If you go to the entrance of the enamelware factory, you will see that it is full of merchants from the capital, waiting at the entrance, just like mice digging holes to steal rice, just thinking about getting some goods to sell.

"And a basin?"

"Yes. Basins for washing faces. Nowadays, in the capital area, especially in the vicinity of Tianjin, if a newlywed couple can buy a pair of beautiful Peony brand enamel basins, it will be very impressive!"

"So hot?"

"You see it? There, where I pointed, where the two chimneys meet."

"I saw it."

"That's the enamel factory. There's a large construction site next to it. Do you see it? There's the elevated tower."

"I saw it."

"That was their newly expanded factory. The enamel they produced was in short supply, so they had to desperately expand the factory and recruit workers. They expanded while producing. They worked so hard that smoke rose from their mouths, but people still blocked the door to demand goods.

Who has ever seen such a successful business since the beginning of time? Therefore, Yang Caishen is the real God of Wealth, there is no denying it. "

"Is this another project supervised by the Shaofu?"

"My in-laws told me that the cabinet was building a light industrial center in Tianjin and spent a large sum of money to build connections and level this wasteland.

There were also some tax reduction policies, and then the Shaofu Supervisor Yang Caishen led a few owners to take a look around here, and decided what kind of factory to build and which one to build with just a flick of his finger, and the decision was made in the time it took to eat a meal. "

Qiu Qizhuo asked again: "What is that thermos bottle factory?"

"It's a good thing. The outside is made of rattan and bamboo, and the inside is a glass gourd pot. I don't know what secret technique was used to keep the water warm in the glass pot."

"Keep warm?"

"Yes, in the morning, fill the thermos with boiling water and then plug it with a wooden stopper. It's freezing outside in the middle of winter, and when you pour water out of the thermos at night, it burns your mouth."

"real or fake?"

"Is this true? I have one at home. The hot water is still hot after a day, and the ice water is still ice cold after a day. It's amazing!"

"Is this thermos bottle available in the market?"

“Yes, they are sold in the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and Lianchang Department Store. But it depends on luck, as they are sold out as soon as they are put on the shelves.

Government offices at all levels, now called government agencies, bought the most. These officials really know how to enjoy themselves. In the morning when they go to the government office, they fill a thermos with boiling water, which can be used to make tea for the whole day, and they drink it from the time they go to the government office until the end of the day. "

The three of them were chatting with the captain, and the boat unknowingly arrived at Dingzigu Town.

There were so many boats at the dock that there was no empty space at all. The boat carrying the three people had to go around the north of Dingzigu Town and lean against the Wei River, only then did they find an empty space and slowly approach.

"Captain Huang, what's that?"

Yang Guian had sharp eyes and saw two sturdy piers standing on both sides of the Wei River, more than a mile away. The surging river water was separated when it hit them and flowed away from both sides of the piers.

Captain Huang took a look and said, "Oh, that's the pier of the bridge."

"The bridge? The bridge from the Wei River to this side?"

"Yes. We need to build a bridge across the Wei River from north to south, and it also needs to not affect the movement of ships on the river. I don't know what it will look like."

“Who will fix it?”

"I don't know. I just heard that in Luanzhou, a bridge was built over the Luan River. There are rail cars running on it, but it doesn't affect the boats on the river below.

Now they are also going to build a similar bridge across the Wei River.”

"Then why are there only two piles?"

“There’s a story here.”

"what story?"

"During the dry season last winter, the surface of the Wei River shrank by half, so a construction team came and built two large circles on the riverbed, then dug a pit.

I had nothing to do that day, so I followed everyone to see what was going on. Wow, there was a circle of dams there to keep the water out, and a deep pit was dug inside, so big and deep that the West City Tower of Tianjin could fit in. Later, I sailed back and forth, watching them dig the pit, tie up steel bars, pour cement, erect a few pillars, and then lay big stones around it, and finally built a pier like this, leaving it empty and unattended.

At first I wondered how much it would cost to build two such large pillars? Wouldn't it be a waste of public money? Later, a guest, an engineer from the Ministry of Industry's Bridge Design Institute, cleared up the mystery for me.

Captain Huang suddenly stopped and shouted to the sailors, "Throw the rope over and tie it up. Hold on tight, and don't point the bamboo pole at anyone. If it breaks and flies away, someone might get hurt!"

The three of them listened with great interest and were eager to know what the mystery was. However, Captain Huang had important things to do, so he had to wait by the side, scratching his head.

Captain Huang stared at the sailors, steadily moored the boat on the pier, and turned to the other passengers and said, "We will stay here for three hours and leave at two o'clock in the afternoon.

You can go ashore to have lunch and do some shopping. But I have to remind you that the boat waits for no one. The boat will sail as soon as the time is up.

So please remember to come back on time when the boat leaves at 2pm, and don't miss anything."

"Okay, I'll remember that." The passengers responded in unison, and then some went ashore in groups, some went back to their cabins to play mahjong or sleep, and some strolled on the deck.

Captain Huang stood at the bow and continued to give orders.

“Brothers in the driver class, thank you for your hard work. We may be in the same boat again next time.

You maintenance team, hurry up and check the condition of the ship. Why are you still waiting for me to ask you for help?
Kitchen team, hurry up and go ashore to buy rice and vegetables. My boat will have to sail for another day and night and will not arrive in Tongzhou until noon tomorrow. Do you want to starve us to death?"

Ren Boan and the other two stood beside Captain Huang and watched him give orders, feeling that he was taking advantage of the power of the other.

The three of them had been on the ship for about ten days and were very familiar with it.

This is a scheduled ship belonging to the North-South Shipping Company, which was converted from a water post transfer station that was previously responsible for river transportation.

The boat is a recently launched six-wheel paddle steamer, that is, there are three paddle wheels on each side of the boat, three meters high, half of it is in the water, and it is driven by pedaling a waterwheel in the cabin.

Three sailors pedaling a cart at the same time are called drivers.

A team of 36 drivers, 18 people in a group, took turns to work. They started from Yangzhou and changed to a new team in Huai'an. They went north to Xuzhou, Jining, Dongchang, Dezhou, Cangzhou and Tianjin to change to a new team.

These drivers used to be boatmen and now also belong to the North-South Shipping Company, but they belong to the labor section, while Captain Huang belongs to the passenger section, which are different departments of the same company.

After the rise of maritime transport, the canal's business plummeted.

The imperial court adopted a policy of letting nature take its course regarding the canal.

As the demand for river transportation gradually decreased, a large number of canal workers had nothing to do, so the imperial court incorporated them into the River Maintenance Bureau and shipping companies, and they became workers who maintained the canal channels and facilities, and sailors, oarsmen, and paddle-wheel drivers on passenger and cargo ships.

After Captain Huang had arranged everything, Ren Boan and the other two hurried forward, smiling.

"Captain Huang, we are done."

"Busy working!"

"We are still waiting for you to point out the mystery you just mentioned."

Captain Huang was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, "You scholars are really curious about everything. If you don't understand everything, you can't eat well or sleep well."

Ren Boan and the other two also laughed, "That's right, Captain Huang, please tell us the truth, otherwise we really won't be able to eat or sleep well."

Captain Huang pointed to the two large cement piers in the distance and said, "The guest, you are the engineer from the Bridge Design Institute of the Ministry of Industry. Please explain to me that building two cement piers in the water is actually a test."

"test?"

"Yes, that guest said that the currents of different rivers, and the same river at different times, are all different. If the current is fast, the impact is very strong and everything will be washed away."

"The water is rushing and the stones are floating." Qiu Qizhuo interjected.

"Yes, that's what I meant. The guest said that the most important thing in repairing a bridge is to repair the piers. If the piers are stable, the whole bridge will be stable.

But how to repair the bridge piers and whether they can be stable must be proven in practice.”

"Proven in practice?"

Such a familiar word.

"Yes. The bridge in Luanzhou was built in the same way. First, the height and thickness of the bridge piers were designed based on the hydrological data of previous years. Water was pumped out of the dike during the dry season. Then a pit was dug, reinforced with steel bars and poured with cement. Stones were laid on the outside. After the bridge was built, it was left there to wait for the floods in the rainy season.

We will go back during the dry season to check the condition and see if there are any external or internal injuries.

The guest said that an experienced craftsman could look around the block and hit it left and right with a hammer to see whether it was intact.

It's okay, this pier is reliable, so let's continue repairing the bridge."

Ren Boan and the other two suddenly realized, "Captain Huang, listening to your speech today is really worth ten years of reading."

“Traveling a thousand miles is better than reading a thousand books. It is true. It is all because of people like Captain Huang who are well-informed.”

After being praised by the three scholars, Captain Huang's face turned red with joy, as if he had been drinking good wine for half a year.

The passenger ship took Ren Boan and the other two to Tongzhou on schedule. They then transferred to a centipede boat at the dock bound for Datong Bridge Wharf in Beijing and had a smooth journey.

After getting off at Datong Bridge Wharf, they called a carriage, put their luggage away, and said goodbye to each other reluctantly, agreeing to meet again during the holidays and visit the capital together.

Ren Boan and Yang Guian took a car directly to the law department of the former Jintai College, now the Law and Politics School of Wanli University.

Qiu Qizhuo went straight to the Civil Service College.

The Law and Politics College is still located at the original site of Jintai Temple.

When Ren Boan and Yang Guian arrived there, they found the student department, took out their letters of introduction and identity papers and reported in. They officially began studying in the legal and political talent training class organized by the Law and Politics College jointly commissioned by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Ministry of Justice, the second half of the second year of Wanli, a total of the eleventh class.

The Wanli Dynasty had new rules. In any department, no matter the central government or local government, those who were promoted from eighth rank to seventh rank, sixth rank to fifth rank, and fourth rank to third rank, as officials in the officialdom had to go through the three hurdles of man, earth, and heaven before they could be promoted, had to attend a study class for three to six months.

To be promoted from a human level, one only needs to attend a provincial-level training class. To be promoted from a ground or heavenly level, one must attend a central-level training class.

Because they shared part of the military merit, Ren Boan was promoted from the sixth rank to the fifth rank, and Yang Guian was promoted from the sixth rank to the fifth rank, so they went to the capital to study together.

After nine days of classes, tomorrow is a day off. I can do whatever I want after classes are over and there will be no dormitory checks tonight.

After class, everyone is free to do whatever they want and arrange their own colorful spare time life.

Ren Boan and Yang Guian made an appointment to find Qiu Qinzhuo and go to the restaurant downstairs of the famous Beijing restaurant for a feast.

As soon as they left the dormitory, a teacher from the Political Work Department stopped them.

"Ren Boan, Yang Guian, someone is looking for you."

The two looked at each other, "Who?"

"follow me."

The two followed the teacher around the campus for a few minutes and came to a remote and quiet office area.

In front of an office door, two burly men stood on the left and right, and three men dressed similarly stood around them.

"They are Ren Boan and Yang Guian." The teacher said to the man at the door.

The man on the left nodded, stretched his right hand back, and pushed the door open, "You go in by yourselves."

Ren Boan and Yang Guian walked into the office suspiciously, and their faces changed when they saw someone sitting inside.

It was him!

(End of this chapter)