Lu Ming

Chapter 614 Daytime in Guangzhou

On the broad river, a large group of private boats surround the pier-shaped ferry, like a school of fish swimming around Da'ao.

It took a full 40 minutes for this large school of fish with complex species to cross the wide and vast Jiangwan District in the [-]th century after departing from Guangzhou Nanmen Wharf, and slowly arrived at the new area wharf on the other side of the Pearl River.

Under the rising sun, the new district, which has brought infinite wealth and hope to the aborigines, exudes a faint golden light, which looks warm and full of vitality.When the school of fish came to the shore, they scattered in an instant and disappeared among the functional piers.

At this time of day, the new district has already woken up and started its daily operation.In fact, thanks to the development of lighting systems, factories and steam power, this industrial city has not slept as much as it has since.

Seeing a large number of ships entering the port, the dock workers who replaced the night shift workers were ready.The moment the ship docks is the beginning of the busy dock workers.They operate all kinds of lifting equipment, unload the ship's cargo as quickly as possible, and then transport the cargo to where it needs to go.

The first batch of goods to come with the ship, most of them are fresh food.There are not only pure natural organic farmyard manure vegetables grown by farmers, but also various kinds of rice, lotus root, melons and fruits, fungi and yams picked by mountain people, as well as freshwater fish and sea fish, etc.

Agricultural products are usually packed in bamboo baskets and sent to the wharf by simple equipment such as chain hoists.Due to the subsidy policy, the handling cost of agricultural products is very low.After all the goods on the boat are hoisted onto the four-wheel cart, the wrinkled farmers can abandon the boat and go ashore, pushing their own produce to the farmers' market.

The carts rented out at the wharf are standardized products, with bearings and perfectly round mechanism wooden wheels, which are very labor-saving to use.The farmer and his wife can easily push hundreds of kilograms of goods to the destination along the smooth "dragon dung" road.

Lined up along the south side of the pier in the new district are a series of large wholesale markets.There are not only farmers' trade, but also professional markets for building materials, labor services, seafood, etc.

After the farmer and his wife came to the farmer's market, they found a familiar wholesaler.These merchants are all financially strong, and they usually have fixed shops and warehouses in farmers' markets.

The next step is to weigh and settle accounts. The whole process is smooth and hassle-free at high speed. There is no harassment from hooligans or bullying from officials.In order to win over regular customers, wholesalers usually offer sufficient prices, not to mention short catties.So the farmer quickly got some banknotes and some shiny coins.

Nowadays, many indigenous people who often deal with the new area and even the entire crossing force no longer reject the "banknotes" with Cao Datou printed on them.Not to mention the exquisite printing of this banknote paper, you can also buy all kinds of goods in the new area, and you can also pay taxes at the same time.

In this way, the advantages of easy portability and anti-counterfeiting of banknotes are reflected.The promotion of new coins is a subtle effort, and there is no need to enforce it.With the development and growth of time and this power, money will naturally be accepted by followers.

After the farmer got the payment, he happily pushed the cart, bought some cheap large-grain salt on the spot, and then took his wife to the grocery market next door to make a big purchase—the farm products were cobbled together in the village, and the daily necessities purchased Go back and share it with everyone.

During this process, the farmers were not taxed by anyone.

Today's new district government still pays close attention to food security.As far as the sale of grain is concerned, the lowest tax rate is basically operated, and such small transactions are not taxed at all.The entire wholesale market, that is, the bulk grain trade, will charge some nominal fees.

You know, the time-traveling forces don't just care about the food and drink of the people under them in Guangzhou.Today, including Fujian and the Jiangnan construction area, the cross-travelers are "intervening" across the country, and they are also shipping grain to distant Tianjin and Guanglu Island for secret deployment. These actions require additional grain reserves.

In addition, in emerging industrial cities like the New District, a large number of working class popping up out of thin air need to eat "commodity food".

In this way, food security has become a sharp knife that is always hanging over the head.What's more, it is now the Little Ice Age, and the climate in various places has become colder, and traditional grain-producing areas like Guangdong have been affected by the low temperature.

In short, food is always the most responsive strategic issue until the tropical rice production areas in Vietnam and Thailand are well established.

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Just as the farmers went to the grocery market to make big purchases, another "goods" that arrived in the same batch also found a buyer.

This cargo is people.

Since the current construction speed of the new area is far behind the influx of surrounding labor forces, just like later generations, there are now aboriginals who come to work every day by boat from nearby.

Most of these aborigines have bald or shaved hair, wearing blue or yellow thick cloth work clothes, and carrying various tools.Except for their short stature, at first glance, they are no different from the construction workers of later generations.

All the aborigines who are eligible to come to work belong to the registered workers, and these people have actually been brought under the control of the new district.Although the time travelers are not yet able to climb the camera technology tree, even if it is a black and white photo, the workers under these rule are still uniformly issued an identity plate with simple personal information on it, which can be regarded as the first generation of ID card.

The aborigines still cherish the "number plates" issued to them.Because of the number plate, even if they are doing work for Dashuai Cao, they can enjoy all kinds of advanced public services in the new area, such as kindergartens with free meals, public canteens and welfare housing.

Although the houses allocated to low-level migrant workers are not good, but no matter how bad they are, they are in accordance with the standards of the people who travel through. At least they are red brick dormitory buildings with public toilets and kitchens.Compared with the bamboo and straw houses these farmers usually live in, that is the difference between the sky and the ground.

Not to mention that these houses are almost free-for the indigenous people of the Ming Dynasty, a house where the whole family lives in first and then pays for it in installments over 20 years is really free.

In addition to these "old" workers who can be seen from the outside to carry out work in the new area, there are more or less newcomers who come with the boat every day.

Most of these newcomers wore tattered earthen cloth robes and carried a flowered cloth burden on their backs.Standing in the "modern" wharf area where various large machines dance, the newcomers are cowering, not knowing where to go.

At this time, the dock management wearing a big cap and red armbands appeared on the stage.After pulling the newcomers together with a short stick, the management will take them to the nearest check-in point.

The registration point is a temporary building made up of long sheds, and in each shed there is a teacher wearing glasses.

Next, the master will interrogate these newcomers in detail.This process usually takes a lot of time, because many farmers in Muna have communication difficulties.

After recording the newcomer's name (many people don't have a name), age (many people can't tell the detailed age), place of origin (many people can't express where the village is) and other identity information in as much detail as possible, the master will finally write to the newcomer with a hard pen. Newcomers get a hard paper temporary ID card.

After receiving their ID cards, these people will be taken to take a shower, shave their heads, check their bodies, hair and clothes, and become honorable people's laborers.

In this process, newcomers will be asked what skills they have.Most farmers are unskilled and end up on construction sites.Those with additional skills such as carpenters, shoemakers, and bamboo craftsmen will be assigned to corresponding workshops as apprentices.

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Usually in the afternoon, the ships carrying the third batch of goods will also come to the wharf of the new area along the ubiquitous water system in Guangdong from surrounding areas.

The third shipment was mostly industrial raw materials.For example, the coal mines in Shaoguan, the iron mines in Yuanzhou, the limestone, cement and red bricks in Zengcheng, the thenardite in Jieyang, and so on.

After these heavy-duty ships arrive in the new area, they will enter a dedicated mining terminal.There are gas and steam-driven cranes here, and there are matching rail steam trains on the pier as a means of transportation.

Industrialized cities have an extremely strong ability to absorb resources from surrounding agricultural areas.Since Cao Zongbing came to Guangzhou, with this as the center point of radiation, the surrounding agricultural areas have become "resource supply places" without resistance.

Even Guangzhou, the provincial capital across the river, has sent a lot of blood to the new district—most of the low-level clerks in the new district are from Guangzhou, which has the highest literacy rate.

In addition, the wealthy people in Guangzhou have provided a lot of investment funds to the new district in recent years.Some of these funds have entered the high-end real estate industry, and some have entered the industry and service industries, which has strongly supported the construction of the new district.

In this way, with the continuous injection of human resources/industrial resources in the surrounding areas, the industrial pulse of the new district becomes stronger every day at dawn.

This trend is irreversible, and when industrialization has accumulated to a certain extent, there will be outbreaks: most of the steel mills and fertilizer plants that are currently under construction will be completed in the first half of 1633.At that time, the industrial production capacity of the entire traversing force will have a qualitative improvement.

However, as the saying goes: there are unpredictable things in the sky.

Just as the construction of the new district was in full swing, God really turned his face.

Since the end of October 1632, Fujian, Guangdong and other regions have experienced a wave of weird weather: the temperature in many places has dropped, significantly exceeding the same period in previous years.

In the past ten years or so, this situation has happened slowly, but the cooling rate has not been large, so most southerners don't feel it so obvious.

However, time passed to 1632, and for the first time, the climate of the Little Ice River, which ravaged the north, came to the south of Wuling, which is known as the four-year-like spring, with full of malice.

At that time, the temperature in the entire Guangdong area dropped sharply and the wind was fierce, which stunned the aborigines who did not know what cold was all year round.

Another month later, the big move came.Historical records: The Wusong River was frozen three feet, and Guangzhou suffered from blizzards year after year.

Yes, since November, there has been continuous heavy snowfall in most parts of Guangdong, and the production and life of the whole region have encountered a huge disaster.

(End of this chapter)