Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 268 Contract Slave

Thanks to the hard work of everyone in Qiwei Escort, sugar cookers and other sugar workers in all sugar houses have been recruited. Too old, too little, and the technology is not very good, at any rate, all sugar houses have caught up with the cropping season.Wen Tong informed the five sugar houses under his name that all the sugar cane from other villages who are willing to process on behalf of them will only charge [-]% of the sugar produced as a processing fee, so as to attract small sugarcane farmers without sugar houses to process and earn more brown sugar.At the same time, he asked various sugar houses to open up to purchase various sugar products, including brown sugar, sugar bricks, and molasses left over from processing. They are also welcome to buy them together.

"Tell them that bagasse is also needed!" Wen Tong excitedly shouted to Wen Xiu and Wen Qing who were acting as envoys. Because of their proficiency in Chinese and Mandarin, these two brothers became Wen Tong's secretary and envoy, and spent two days in Leizhou. Running around the territory to convey various orders, his face was tanned a lot.Wen Tong wrote every day to the stewards of Tangliao and Zhuangzi whom he had just recruited to give various instructions, and at the same time asked these people to report to him regularly.In order to facilitate the transmission of information, Liao Dahua specially bought several sedan chairs and raised a group of bearers to pick them up at any time.

As for the short-term workers in the sugar cane fields, Wen Tong soon found that he could not recruit enough people from the local area.The price of short-term labor during the sugarcane harvest season skyrocketed, and because they started late, almost all the idle labor in the countryside was recruited by other sugarcane farmers and sugarcane farms.Wen Tong had no choice but to wait for labor from Guangzhou.

Guangzhou is going to send the first batch of 200 people, and he originally wanted more.However, the dilapidated houses on the Zhuangzi and Tangliao simply cannot accommodate so many people, and most of the only houses need to be repaired, and supporting kitchens and toilets need to be built.Food and drinking water need to be prepared, and even pots for cooking for these people have to be bought.In the 17th century, it was difficult to arrange food and lodging for so many people, and everything had to be done by oneself.

Fortunately, there is a semicolon here to take care of Qiwei Escort, including purchasing food, asking craftsmen to repair houses, negotiating with the government and other things are all arranged by Liao Dahua, which is a great help.

In Guangzhou, Zhang Xin asked Sun Changlai to take charge of organizing the first batch of immigrants to Xuzhou.Because from Xu Wenlai's letter, we know that the conditions in Leizhou are poor, and people will not only have to harvest sugarcane, but also do a lot of chores after they go, so the first batch of immigrants selected by Sun Chang are all young and middle-aged, without diseases.Moreover, he only chooses those who have a family and a family, and he does not choose anyone who is single.Zhang Xin was puzzled and asked him why.

"The villain heard that the environment in Leizhou is very difficult. If there are people who have nothing to worry about, they will all flee if there is a mistake. Wouldn't the hard work and money of these days be wasted? Those who have a family and a family Just be on the safe side." Sun Chang replied.

"You're really thoughtful." Zhang Xin admired the thoughtfulness of the housekeeper who was born as a house slave.

"It's not a villain who is thoughtful. I used to be in the mansion of Mr. Gao. Although I was a small servant, I have seen a lot of people in the Gao family and recruiting people. I am familiar with all the disadvantages of it."

Sun Changyou invited Guo Yi to go out to the governor's yamen to pay a visit to Lu Yizhong, who praised the painting, and bought one of his famous cards for 100 taels of silver.Although hundreds of young and middle-aged immigrants can go to Leizhou by boat, they will inevitably travel through the city and across the countryside after landing, and the government will question them everywhere they pass.It's much easier to deal with it if you have a piece of film in your hand.Here, the first batch of immigrants were organized in a militarized form of squad-platoon-company, with leaders at all levels.Everyone brings their own bedding, tableware and five days' worth of dry food.

The route is to depart by boat from Guangzhou, disembark at Hai'an in Leizhou, and then arrive at Xuwen on foot.After arriving in Xuwen, they will be assigned to nine sugarcane farms according to each person's situation.

Qiwei Escort also made sufficient preparations at various branch offices and cabinets along the way in Leizhou, sending bills in sections, and contracting relays. As soon as the immigration team entered the country, someone would greet them as guides, set up rest points along the way, and supply boiled water Steamed bun.Some places are too desolate and there are no rest stops, so the cooking team starts a fire to boil water and eat dry food.They do not drink unboiled water on the road, and they have accommodation arrangements every night, so they never sleep in the open.This kind of pick-up and drop-off section by section, the immigrants eat well, rest well, and will not get lost.The bodyguards escorted them. They had government posts in their hands, and the immigrants had sticks and knives for protection. No one dared to provoke them along the way in Leizhou, which is not a peaceful land.It didn't take me two days to arrive at Xuwen, and my health was very good, there was not a single sick or injured person on the way.After arriving, you can take a short rest and start working immediately.

Wen Tong said that the more than 200 immigrants were scattered and sent to various sugarcane farms according to shifts. Although they lived in temporarily repaired thatched huts, the weather in Leizhou was warm and they would not suffer from the cold.As soon as the immigrants arrived, they devoted themselves to the agricultural production of harvesting sugarcane.According to Wen Tong's instructions, enough rice, vegetables and meat were purchased from nearby villages to ensure that the immigrants could get enough food during the busy farming season.Harvesting sugarcane is very labor-intensive. If they are not fed well, some people will soon be unable to persist and flee.

The first batch of immigrants settled down. After working for half a month, they saw that their hearts were relatively stable.Guangzhou began to send the second batch of immigrants, including the wives and children of the first batch of immigrants. The main purpose of sending women is to meet the logistical needs of these immigrants, helping with cooking, sewing and so on.

In the end, a total of about 400 people were transported from Guangzhou, including men, women, and children. Wen Tong, Chang Shide, and Liao Dahua scattered them to various sugarcane farms and used them as long-term workers—in fact, their status was contract slaves.Everyone owed Zi's enterprise 50 taels of silver in the contract, so they had to use labor to pay off the debt.Guo Yi believes that this model can somewhat curb the tendency of some refugees to flee when they are full.

The situation of recruiting refugees was quite good at the beginning, especially when the turnover rate of shipments to Lingao was relatively fast.The half-starved refugees were happy to go to a new place with work and food.But when the speed of transshipment began to slow down and more and more people were accumulated in the refugee camps in Guangzhou, after eating a few full meals and recovering, it was heard that they would be immigrated to Qiongzhou.Many people who are nostalgic for their hometown have thought of running away - they came to Guangzhou in order not to starve to death, now that they had enough to eat, seeing that spring is coming again, some people slipped away one after another.Guangzhou Station was completely helpless at the beginning-there were not enough manpower to take care of these people, but the matter could not be delayed, otherwise it would soon become a trend.Guo Yi and others came to a conclusion: just giving carrots is not enough - there must be a big stick to cooperate.

In order to minimize the escape of refugees, in addition to adding various brainwashing measures and advocating the prospect of a better life after going to Qiongzhou, Guo Yi finally asked the Executive Committee to implement the contract slave system.

All displaced persons who have been taken in must sign a contract and use loans to pay for their food, clothing, housing and medical services in the refugee camp.For this reason, they have served Zi's enterprise for at least seven years, and they can get their contracts back after the expiration.

According to the contract, during this period their meals were provided free of charge, and their wages were also paid.There is no need to pay additional redemption fees after maturity.

With this contract, Guo Yi can legally use the power of the government to control them in Guangzhou.Let the little people who are particularly afraid of the government not dare to escape at will.Especially after he used Liang Cunhou's film to report to the Yamen of Nanhai County and arrested more than a dozen refugees who had escaped. After each person was sentenced to [-] to [-] sticks in the Yamen, the phenomenon of fleeing was brought under control.It completely cut off the idea of ​​many people going back to their hometowns when they find an opportunity.Some other people also gradually doubted the meaning of their desperately returning to their hometown to live the life of eating bran, swallowing vegetables, farming the land and paying rent-if they want to farm and work, is it right to work for an owner like Guo Dongzhu? Even better, at least enough food and new clothes to wear.

After tossing and tossing for almost a month, the sugar industry of Crossing Group in Haikang and Xuwen counties finally got on the track of normal operation.Although there were some annoyances during the period that the amount of sugar was scrapped due to the poor craftsmanship of the sugar cooker, the overall operation was still very stable, and brown sugar was produced continuously.According to Wen Tong's instructions, all the brown sugar, molasses, and bagasse produced in the Tangliao were transported to Xuwen's central sugarcane farm. According to his instructions, Liao Dahua managed to buy some land to expand the boundaries of the sugarcane farm to By the river——If you can't get the power of a steam engine or a diesel engine, prepare to press with a hydraulic machine.

Van Dong intends to build a demonstration sugar cane plantation here and build a sugar factory with new equipment.He named it the South China Demonstration Sugar Factory - this is to commemorate Xuwen's earliest modern sugar factory, South China Factory.At the same time, several shareholders of the factory who have made great contributions to China's sugar modernization industry named the other four sugar houses as: Guoxin Factory, Qichong Factory, Zhi'an Factory, and Qiwen Factory.These factories can only maintain the old production methods for the time being, and make technical improvements after the demonstration sugar factories are fully operational.

Therefore, the model sugarcane farm in South China has become the place that receives the most immigrants, and nearly 150 men, women, old and young have settled here.Because Chang Shide didn't know how to grow sugar cane, he became the manager of civil affairs.Zhuangzi registered household registration according to the "Manual of Civil Affairs Management and Organization" compiled and issued by Wu De, established grassroots organizations, selected young and virtuous people from among the immigrants as village heads, and selected witty and eloquent people as deputy.The militia was established in accordance with the principle that all the people are soldiers-according to the local name, it is Xiangyong.Equipped with knives, guns, bows and arrows transported from Lingao, even matchlock guns.Under the guidance of the bodyguards, the militiamen practiced gradually in their spare time-Wen Tong didn't want them to be a musketeer team, but only wanted to be able to defend themselves when bandits invaded.Although Chang Shide and Wen Tong expressed deep doubts about the loyalty of these militias, the public security situation here did not allow them to think about it any more. Relying on a few bodyguards to defend the nine properties in two counties was far beyond the basics. Wei Escort's strength in Leizhou has grown.

"Even if it's not for us, we can only hope that it's for themselves." Chang Shide said, "At least they have food and clothing now, the whole family is reunited, and they should do their best to defend their homeland."

"Then they have to treat this place as their own home." Wen Tong was still rather pessimistic.

"The two shopkeepers are too worried." Liao Dahua persuaded, "There is food and shelter here, the climate is warm, and there is no frost or snow. It is a good place that can't be frozen, and you meet a kind person like the Australian master. What else can these refugees expect? ?”

"I hope so." Wen Tong looked at the newly built thatched huts scattered in Africa. "After this harvest season, we will build new houses for all villages, according to the standard B-type housing."

"It's too much investment——" Chang Shide saw the B-shaped building built for Baitu Village in Bopu. It was simply a fortress-shaped building, and it seemed to be much larger than the A-shaped building like Tongzilou.

"The sugar factory will be our cash cow in the future. If we want to gain a firm foothold in Leizhou, we have no self-protection ability." South China Sugar Factory lives up to its name.

Wentong now has two directions for improvement. One is to make white sugar. Wentong knows several techniques for making white sugar, but he doesn’t have the equipment. Make sugar.The so-called yellow mud should be a porous material such as clay.From a different point of view, yellow mud is not necessarily necessary. Activated carbon and diatomaceous earth can act as adsorbents.

The second is to increase the yield of raw sugar.There are many things that can be improved, the easiest way is to increase the juice yield.According to Wen Tong's general inspection, the juice yield of sugarcane rolled three times with Tutangliao's wooden rollers does not exceed 40%. The so-called bagasse also contains a large amount of cane juice, which is a great waste.The juice yield of modern sugar factories is at least 70%.

After thinking twice, I decided to start with sugar production - after all, this thing has a high profit margin.

Wen Tong did not attempt to try all kinds of messy adsorbents. They still can’t make activated carbon. As for diatomaceous earth, it has to be transported from Lingao, which is inconvenient. Although clay such as yellow mud is not everywhere, there are still local easy to find.If it doesn't work out, I'm thinking of another way.

According to the description of the technological process in "Tiangong Kaiwu", Wen Tong first had people melt the brown sugar, then poured it into a tile with straw stuffed underneath, and pulled out the thatch after the red sugar was completely solidified.Chang Shide asked someone to pick a few loads of pure yellow mud from outside, pour it into a water tank, and stir it vigorously to form yellow mud water.After standing still for a while, use a ladle to scoop up the solution in the upper layer of the yellow mud water, and pour it into the tile slip spoonful by spoonful.

"This method is so weird." Chang Shide couldn't believe it, can white sugar be produced by pouring brown sugar in yellow mud water?It looks dirty enough.

(End of this chapter)