Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 364 Trip to Foshan ([-])

Recently, the Leizhou Sugar Company found a wheelmaker in Leizhou—almost every sugarcane farmer in Leizhou has an ox cart.However, the available wheel makers made a kind of plate-type wheels without spokes for the local oxcarts transporting sugar cane.

"What kind of wheels are made? Are there spokes?"

"Is it still called a wheel without spokes?" Huang Ande asked suspiciously.

The man he was talking about was Bao Lei, who opened a wheel-making workshop in Foshan.Bao Lei is not a local, but a wanderer from the north, and settled down in Foshan more than 20 years ago.

Theoretically speaking, Bao Lei is a criminal fugitive - his family has been an official craftsman for generations, specializing in manufacturing vehicles for the army, and has a unique skill of making wheels by hand.

Being an official craftsman in Daming is a hereditary errand.This is a kind of compulsory obligation that Zhu Baba made when he came to power, not a welfare.It's different from the people in this time and space who cut their heads and want to get high benefits and high treatment for the workers who want to enter the power supply bureau-in Daming, the status of official craftsmen is a little better than that of slaves.

Bao Lei grew up in such a family of official craftsmen, with ancestral wheel-making skills.But he soon discovered: Some people say that being an official craftsman is simply being a slave to the government.In fact, the life of an official craftsman is worse than that of a slave. A slave owner knows how to feed his slaves so that he can work, but an official craftsman is almost starving to death.

So one day, Bao Lei ran away.

Bao Lei's escape was not thrilling, nor did he cross the barbed wire or climb over the wall.It was just that one day he packed a little belongings at home, put them on a cart he made himself, and left with the old and the young. No one asked him where he was going.After a certain stage, the officials who had already responded to the story put his whole family on the list of "lost".

Abandoning the craftsman's registration and not paying the service fee is tantamount to fleeing privately.But this kind of thing is no longer a thing in Daming.Even so, Bao Lei's family was still very guilty, so they simply ran to Guangdong in one breath-this is already the southernmost point of Ming Dynasty in their conception, if they knew that there is Qiongzhou further south, they might go to Hainan Island up

However, after fleeing, Bao Lei's life was limited.He found that people here don't use their cars very much and have good skills, but the business has been very deserted.Fortunately, there are still some car dealers in Foshan, where commerce is developed, and they can barely make ends meet.

Now Bao Lei's life can't go on.For some reason, the government suddenly thought of him—the whole province of Guangdong built guns, and the demand for gun carts suddenly increased, so all the artisans in the province related to the manufacture of cars were sent to the government, and Bao Lei's family collapsed. mildew.He himself and his sons were also sent to official posts—the eldest son who had been apprenticed as a craftsman by a family in Guangzhou was also conscripted to Foshan, where he had a father-son reunion for no apparent reason.

"Since they are official craftsmen, how can we take him away?"

"Don't worry, shopkeeper, it's bought and released." Huang Ande whispered, "Here day and night rush to build gun carts, not to mention not getting a single apocalypse money, even food is deducted, I heard that many people have died. This Bao Lei sold all the workshops in Foshan and bribed the supervisor, so he is out of trouble."

It was hard to get out, but he also became impoverished, and his half-life savings disappeared.The eldest son, Bao Boqing, still has a place to go. He just went back to his original workshop in Guangzhou and continued to work. Although it was a little bit harder, he could barely survive.Bao Lei, his wife and their young son have nowhere to go, not even a place to stay.

"These days, their whole family lives in a dilapidated temple. The father and son are doing odd jobs as carpenters in the market, and they are almost unbearable. They would rather go to Lingao with the shopkeeper."

When Huang Ande brought Bao Lei, Huang Tianyu looked at the man in front of him. This man was similar to the ordinary people in this time and space that he saw in the refugee quarantine camp in Lingao. Unbearably rough, his eyes were cloudy and dull, for a moment Huang Tianyu thought he was blind.

The person looked very old, and Huang Ande told him that Bao Lei was about 50 years old.In this time and space, he is already half buried in the ground.

"Your name is Bao Lei?"

"It's... the little Bao Lei." Bao Lei showed the inherent dullness of a person who has worked hard all year round.

"Are you a wheelmaker?"

"Yes, the small one can make wheels," Bao Lei went on to say, "you can also do ordinary carpentry..."

"Willing to go to Lingao?"

"Yes." Bao Lei nodded, "It's fine if the shopkeeper is willing to reward you with food."

"Is there any other request?"

Bao Lei's request is also simple, hoping to hire his youngest son as well.In this way, the whole family has food to eat.Huang Tianyu agreed with all his mouth, not only agreed to hire, but also said that he could bring his wife with him - Lingao has plenty of work to do.

Bao Lei's family was taken in, and Huang Tianyu recruited a dozen artisans who had nowhere to go from among the artisans who had bought and escaped from the artisan camp through him. The whole vehicle workshop.It’s just that not many foundry workers were recruited in the end, but at least a complete car-making team was recruited, which will be of great use to the Workers’ Energy Commission after sending them back.

The workers recruited in Foshan and the materials purchased are all arranged by Qiwei's semicolon for transportation.Liu San was busy visiting guests for banquets—since he was invited by Lin Baihu once, he suddenly became a local celebrity.Liu San was also happy to socialize with Yang Shixiang everywhere, the more such business connections, the better.

"Doctor Liu is running all over the street in drugstores these days." The clerk said, "I buy all kinds of medicines such as pills, pills, creams and powders. There are still a lot of them when I buy them. I see that he has written signatures one by one. I don't know if there are any. What's the use."

Sitting in the study, Li Luoyou listened to a young man reporting on the activities of Yang Shixiang and Liu San—he cared about these people far more than Lin Ming.

"There is a shopkeeper surnamed Huang next to Dr. Liu, but he never goes to the pharmacy. He just keeps running around the kiln, the foundry, and the teahouse. The people under him are looking for workers everywhere..."

"Recruitment?" Li Luoyou asked at this moment, listening carefully.

"I asked about it, and it seems that they want all kinds of jobs, pharmacy clerks, potters, foundry craftsmen, carpenters, wheelwrights..." the man said, "Old and frail, he accepts craftsmen that other families don't want. Even the family members Promise to take them with you."

In the old business practice, with a relatively large shop size, the employees are all boarded and lodging in the store, and they are usually not allowed to go home overnight. They are given a few days off every month, and some even only give a few days off every year.It takes almost three years for the guy whose home is far away to take a leave of absence to go home once.This is not only the case for ordinary guys, even if they become the head counter, steward, or shopkeeper, as long as they are not "bosses", they are all exceptions.So it's a rather peculiar thing for a guy to bring his family.

Li Luoyou nodded, rewarded the man with five qian and let him go on his own.It seems that Australians are setting up their own factories and workshops in Lingao.That's why we don't care about the large number of craftsmen recruited in the industry.The so-called Australian goods are actually Lingao goods-at least it won't be long before that happens.

The reason for agreeing to take away their family members is to allow the craftsmen to work in Lingao with peace of mind, and probably to prevent them from escaping.

"I would like to see what kind of medicine they are going to sell in Lingao's gourd."

"Selling medicine?" Quark's voice came from outside the door.He came back from the outside, and he just went to see the newly delivered samples of silk and satin, and chose a few.

"Yes, does anyone want to sell medicine?" Li Luoyou said, "Have you chosen?"

"I've chosen." Quark has little capital, and he is a typical British small businessman similar to Swift's.Traveling across the ocean with a few hundred pounds in his pocket to find wealth.People are very shrewd. Every time they buy goods from Li Luoyou, they choose thousands of times, and they don't buy the goods that can get the biggest profit.

Leroy used him to communicate with the British East India Company and even mainland Britain.He is no longer satisfied just doing business with the Portuguese.As for the Spaniards in Manila, Li Luoyou was extremely disgusted, thinking that this group of people was exactly the same as the slaves, they were rude and barbaric, not counting blindly oppressing and exploiting the Han people, and they always restricted their hostility.Comparable to Jiannu, the Manila massacre in the Wanli period made Li Luoyou even more brooding.So he never did business on the Manila route.

Quarkpoor's direct links with England also brought him the possibility of purchasing European books and instruments directly.You can also get these things from the Jesuits, but it is obvious: Jesus will not buy some books that the church does not like.In contrast, Protestant Britain is more relaxed.

"You're talking about the Australians, aren't you?"

"It's them." Li Luoyou said with a smile, "This group of Australians often have unexpected things." He told him the news that the man had inquired about.

"...It's fine to build a camp in Lingao, but I'm afraid I'm planning to build a workshop in Lingao." Li Luoyou shook his head and said, "I really don't understand. If it is for trade, set up a business hall, build a A fortress will do. Why recruit so many workers?"

Quark Poor heard this, shook his head and said, "I'm afraid the Australians didn't come here for trade. They look like they want to colonize."

"Colonization?" Li Luoyou was taken aback. He knew a little about colonization, which roughly meant immigration.

"No." He shook his head, "If you want to colonize, you need to find an open wilderness, like what you told me last time, what is it called Amei Island?"

"America..." said Quarkpoong.

"Exactly. I heard that the land there is fertile, and it has never been inhabited. There are only some savages. It is reasonable to immigrate and settle. Lingao is a county under the Ming Dynasty. It has been a prefecture and county of the imperial court since the Han Dynasty. How can outsiders come to colonize!"

"It's hard to say." Kua Keqiong said, "I heard that they have the same language and the same species as the Chinese, maybe they think they have this power."

(End of this chapter)