Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 27 Construction
In the entire Jiangnan Province, Zheng Guohui only listened to the calls of Jiangnan Admiral Fu Zhuhong'a, and declined the calls from others.

If the Jiangnan Governor Fuzhu Hong'a ordered the release of smuggled salt (note: the salt transported by the Wang and Zheng families), it would not be impossible. Zheng Guohui would just obey the order, but he would not have to take Fuzhu Hong'a's share.

The entire illegal salt business is in chaos, so how can we share the profits?

Of the profits from smuggling salt, Zheng Guohui gave 20% to Fuzhu Hong'a alone, and less than 10% to officials in various prefectures and counties. The specific amount of silver given was calculated based on the sales volume of smuggled salt.

The most prefectures and counties can get two to three thousand taels of silver per month, and the least can get four to five hundred taels. This is extra income that is higher than the salary. Who wouldn't be tempted?
The Du Biaoying was stealing from the government. On the one hand, they acted as law enforcers, and on the other hand, they were engaged in the business of smuggling salt. They were really doing it smoothly.

The prefectures and counties below divided the spoils among themselves, and the two sides were in collusion with each other, with many shady dealings involved.

Zheng Guohui only took out 10% of the profits, which was now about 15,000 taels of silver per month, dragging a large number of officials from more than a dozen prefectures and counties into the trap.

One glory and one glory.

Jiangnan Admiral Fuzhu Hong'a plays the role of a protective umbrella, and his ability is certainly not worth 20%.

The key point is, isn’t there still the big Buddha statue of his father, the Minister of Rites Fuzhu Shoushan?

If you calculate it this way, it's totally worth it.

Every month, the 3% profit from illegal salt trafficking was close to taels of silver.

Zheng Guohui sent eight to nine thousand taels of silver to the Jiangnan Governor's Office for this royal family fool to squander and live a decadent life.

The remaining 2 taels of silver were accumulated and waited to be escorted to the capital after the New Year.

The destination is self-evident. It was the regular silver presented to the Minister of Rites, Lord Fuzhu Shoushan, or the protection fee.

The matter was submitted to the desk of Fuzhu Shoushan, the Minister of Rites in the capital, through a written document, and he was advised to "be cautious in words and deeds, and never publicize it", and a tacit understanding was formed.

Without such a strong background, Zheng Guohui would not dare to act rashly.

Now that we don’t have such concerns, we have to be more ruthless.

The Du Biao Camp openly detained the goods and even the people of the two major salt merchants, Wang and Zheng, at the Qinhuai River checkpoint. This was an attempt to offend the two major salt merchants, Wang and Zheng, to death, leaving no room for them.

At Xiaguan Wharf

Zheng Guohui patrolled along the tall city wall, chatting with Dong Huanzhang, and soon reached the wall on the west side of the city.

He placed his hands on the bluestone city wall and looked around. A feeling of ambition and passion surged in his heart: "I am the master of my own territory." This must be the charming allure of power.

After a while, he came down from the tower

He saw his aide Zheng Jialiang coming hurriedly, and Zheng Guohui stopped and waited for him to come over.

"General, some officials from Jinling Prefecture left the city today and arrived at Maigao Bridge. They want to tax our brick kilns, timber mills, and mule and horse carts. They're also asking for exorbitant taxes, demanding the money we're owed."

"Oh, are you sure it's the bailiff from Jinling Prefecture?"

"Yes, sir, but among the yamen runners, I saw He Jiuhua, the chief clerk of the Provincial Administration Office. I have come into contact with him many times during the cleaning of the land registers, so I recognize him."

"Oh no, it turns out that old ghost took action. He wants to disgust me." Zheng Guohui immediately understood and raised a sarcastic smile at the corner of his mouth.

He said that Jinling Prefect Cao Yucheng would not do such a thankless task.

It was the Governor Elong who took action. Last time, Zheng Guohui threatened this person privately.

Ten days later

Lao Gui finally couldn't hold it in any longer and wanted to use his power to trip up Zheng Guohui and set up obstacles. Anyway, he couldn't let you make money comfortably.

The governor is the highest official in charge of a province's government affairs, and he has this right.

After understanding the whole process, Zheng Guohui turned around and looked at Qian Jiang, the captain, and said calmly, "Jinling City has just been recaptured. It seems that there are many bandits outside the city, and it has been unstable for a long time."

"Sir, that's true. I will go and supervise immediately." Qian Jiang understood what his superior meant, clasped his hands together, and turned to leave.

Since the general has given the order, the security outside Jinling City must be bad, and there must be bandits wreaking havoc.

As luck would have it, they ran into a group of yamen runners from Jinling Prefecture who were inspecting taxes in the countryside...

After Zheng Guohui made the arrangements, he walked forward with ease.

When he arrived at the official quarters under the city wall, soldiers naturally served tea, snacks and other things for the general to enjoy while he rested.

Aides and advisors like Dong Huanzhang and Zheng Jialiang also had a role. These were his trusted subordinates who had helped him do many shady things and were trustworthy enough.

They sat below the general, and judging by the expressions on their faces, they were no longer worried that the Governor Elong would secretly cause trouble.

Those yamen runners who went to the countryside, as well as He Jiuhua, the clerk of the provincial government, probably wouldn't see the sun tomorrow, let alone return to the city.

Send a signal

It’s so dangerous to go out of the city, so it’s better to stay in the city.

He Jiuhua was at least a seventh-rank official. "Killing an official is equivalent to rebellion" was a court rule since ancient times, but none of the advisors and military officers present thought it was inappropriate.

Because they followed General Zheng Guohui, they had committed too many conspiracies and rebellions.

They concealed and allowed rebels to flee, smuggled salt, stockpiled munitions, seized farmland and property, bribed officials, threatened important officials, suppressed dissidents, and fabricated charges to frame loyal officials...

Each of these cases would be a serious crime. Adding the charge of "colluding with bandits and killing imperial officials without authorization" doesn't seem to be a big deal.

After some tea and snacks, Zheng Guohui asked, "How is the construction of this package going?"

The person in charge of this construction package is the staff advisor Zheng Jialiang. He is a very strict and rule-abiding person, and he is also very tight-lipped, making him very easy to use.

Dong Huanzhang was in charge of the illegal salt line, Zheng Jialiang was in charge of the construction line, and Zheng Guotai was in charge of the external line. Now he was entrusted with an important task and went to Shanghai with Zheng Xin to act secretly.

Hearing the general's question, Zheng Jialiang quickly put the teacup on the table, stood up and bowed in reply;
"Sir, students..."

"No need to be so polite, just sit down and talk." Zheng Guohui waved his hand and said.

Zheng Jialiang clasped his hands together and bowed, then sat down and replied respectfully;

“My Lord General;
The number of people building this area has now grown to more than 8730, and they are mainly settled in several villages near Maigaoqiao, taking advantage of the situation and developing nearby.

There were a small number of masons and carpenters, less than a thousand in number, who were placed on construction sites within the city.

There are currently 67 houses under construction in the city, with each construction site employing between to and to craftsmen.

The foreman is responsible for all materials, labor and construction at the construction site. Anything needed is reported to the manager. Several managers in the city will compile a list of the required materials and transport them into the city by a team of mules and horses the next day.

Maigao Bridge outside the city
On the basis of the original five brick kilns, there are now 12 new brick kilns, totaling 17 brick kilns, which can produce green bricks every day, which can roughly meet the construction needs within the city.

before the end of the year

We are no longer accepting new construction business, but we still have more than 200 projects on hand, enough to last until May or June next year.

Current staffing statistics

There are about 2,100 people working in the brick kiln factory, most of whom are manual laborers with no special skills. They just need to do some hard labor.

Several sawmills in Maigaoqiao employed more than 870 people, who were mainly responsible for transporting doors, windows, beds, cabinets, tables and other items into the city for sale, as well as providing prepared wooden boards and planks to construction sites.

The mule and horse transport team had more than 800 carts, and the total number of people who drove the carts, grooms, leather workers who made lassoes, blacksmiths who nailed horseshoes, apprentices, etc. was more than 1,500.

Construction sites in the city

In addition to experienced bricklayers and carpenters, there are more than 1700 laborers entering the city every day, totaling more than 2680 people.

During busy seasons, we need to add another three to five hundred people.

These are the destinations with the largest number of workers. The rest of the people are mostly in several villages in Maigaoqiao, running grocery stores, blacksmith shops, bamboo shops, tofu shops, breakfast and snack shops, wine shops and restaurants, etc., which is considered a way to make a living.

It's the busy farming season
Everyone had to stop what they were doing, go to the fields to harvest wheat and weed, and do what they could.

Take stock
After deducting various expenses, he could earn more than 20,000 taels of silver every month, not counting the harvest from the fields.

This is mainly because in the past few months, many houses in several villages near Maigaoqiao have been renovated and newly built, and the cost of money has been relatively high.

If calculated on a monthly basis, the extra expenditure would be several thousand taels of silver.

The above is an overview of the construction of this area. Please understand, General."

"You've worked hard. Sit down, have a drink of water and take a break." Zheng Guohui saw that he was thirsty and nodded with a warm expression.

The personnel involved in the construction of these camps were basically the remnants of the Taiping rebels who were collected by the Du Biao Camp in the city.

Zheng Guohui didn't want to commit more murders, so he gathered together the remnants of the Long Hairs, screened them, and arranged for them to live in several villages near Maigaoqiao.

Of course

Those who had been leaders of the Taiping Rebellion and some old bandits were all eliminated and executed directly, leaving no hidden dangers.

The remaining loose sand is easy to pick up.

Most of these people were from the vicinity of Jinling City who were forced to join the bandits. The ones who were far away were locals from Huai'an Prefecture, Weiyang Prefecture or Zhenjiang Prefecture, and there was no abnormality in their accents.

This is different from the group of people sent to Chongming Island. Most of those people have accents from Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi regions, and staying in the city is like a beacon in the dark night.

Maigao Bridge is located outside the Xuanwu City Gate and is a must-pass place to go to Yanziji Wharf on the riverside.

Due to the wars over the years

The fields in these villages are deserted, the population has fled, and the houses in the villages have collapsed and been severely damaged.

During the two years of the siege of Tianjing City, the Tongzhou militia was stationed in Maigaoqiao Village, and together with several other local militias, they blocked the Xuanwu Gate and were very familiar with the place.

Naturally, they used the old methods of the Hunan Army, digging long trenches, deep trenches, and building strong strongholds. The first five brick kilns were also built at that time, mainly for firing blue bricks.

Most of these militia leaders were born into wealthy families, and the Qing army officers and officers could not squat in deep trenches with the soldiers for years, with their legs covered in mud.

The houses built at that time were basically distributed to the militia leaders and officers. This situation was common in the Qing army camp with tens of thousands of people during the two years of the siege.

The kiln in the east city was fired at Yaohuamen, the kiln in the south city was fired at Yuhua Village, the kiln in the west city was fired at Fenghuangli outside Shuiximen, and the kiln in the north city was fired at Maigaoqiao, which was the base of Tongzhou militia.

It's worth spending a little money to make your life more comfortable.

(End of this chapter)