Lu Ming

Chapter 676 Returning to the North
noon.

With the loud siren, the cotton mill was off work.

Shanghai No. [-] Cotton Spinning Factory is one of the first batch of key "state-owned" enterprises established by the Ministry of Light Industry in the Shanghai Port Industrial Park.

The so-called "key point" means that at least five people from across the crowd participated in the whole process of preparing the factory full-time.Even after the establishment of the factory, there will still be two time-travelers who will be responsible for the administrative and technical management of the factory for a long time.

This kind of operation was not possible in the early days.Because the number of crossing people is too small, they can't stand the pepper-like expansion.

Fortunately, with the Second General Assembly and Mr. Cao's "pro-government", fresh time travelers appeared in the seventeenth century one after another, filling the skeleton of the time-traveling regime and enabling many plans that were originally on paper to be implemented.

Now, three years later, Shanghai No. 2500 Cotton Spinning Factory has a total of 2000 employees, including [-] female workers. It seems to be the most modern and largest textile enterprise in the [-]th century.

With the sound of the siren, the bells of the various workshops of the factory also sounded.

At this time, the steam power workshop located in the middle of the factory area first closed the valve.In the tall chimneys, the white smoke is gradually thinning.

At the same time, the long door of the iron casting factory with slide rails was slowly opened.On the inner horoscope wall similar to the yamen, the walls on both sides are inlaid with eight big characters with red glass fragments: serious, united and lively.

All kinds of trendy slogans have been extended along the outer wall to the end of the factory area.

"The times have changed. Women hold up half the sky."

"Women from all over the world will start a business together, and create thousands of high-quality products all over China."

In the next moment, as many as [-] female workers were chatting and making noise, and the tide poured out of the factory gate.

Such a "hot and lively" scene was completely unimaginable in the old days.There is a sea of ​​people, wearing shirts and trousers, showing off the curves of the eldest daughter and daughter-in-law, enough to make the aborigines stunned when they see it for the first time.

The vitality that comes with the female workers, and the youthful atmosphere that permeates the surroundings, attract countless opposite sexes like a magnet.

Nowadays, the front of the cotton spinning factory has already become a battleground for military strategists.I don’t know how many old, middle-aged and young people are waiting at the door every day. Some are picking up their wives, and some are picking up their girlfriends. The most frequent bachelors are swallowing their saliva and widening their eyes.

For most bachelors, "squatting" at the gate of the cotton spinning factory on the rest day is a good entertainment program.The lucky ones among them can get the right girl without spending a penny. From then on, their wives and children are hot on the bed, and they start a happy life of dual employment.

Of course, most people still take the usual route: go to work, save money, look after the female worker they like, hire a matchmaker, get married and have children.

Today, the bustling entrance of the cotton spinning factory is still bustling.Young men and women in work uniforms are bustling everywhere.

However, beside the wide red brick road, there seems to be a "strange" combination.

Yes, in today's "National China", a place where industrial civilization is expanding, there are no more Ming Dynasty scholars wearing green robes.

The combination of talents is naturally Wu Fazheng's master and servant.

Today is September 1635, 9.It has been a month since Wu Fazheng accompanied Du Shao to visit the Hong Kong area.

During this month, the scholars can be said to have reposted all the open content in the port area.

It can only be said that the process is hard, the harvest is plentiful, and the shock is lasting.

After that, after fully feeling the new meaning represented by the word "strength", the young and receptive young master of the Du family, Du Shaowei, finally made up his mind to go to Xiong Dao Xiong after several long talks with Wu Fazheng all night. The master's house posted a famous post.

Master Xiong's name is known to everyone in the south of the Yangtze River.And the so-called Xiong Mansion is actually the layout of the small office building in the backyard of the Port Authority, where people live in the front and sleep in the back.

Master Xiong, who has fought against the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River with his own strength, has already turned the situation around, and is familiar with Young Master Du's tricks.

As soon as he saw the post, the personal secretary helped Mr. Xiong pull out the background information of the Du family from the notebook—including several key figures in the Du family, including their network, political orientation, and even the evaluation of their influence. Master Xiong went over the scores one by one.

After that, there was a meeting.

The meeting was naturally friendly and harmonious.The host and guest had a comprehensive, candid and in-depth exchange of views on a package of issues of common concern such as win-win cooperation.Taking this opportunity, the two sides further enhanced mutual understanding and reached consensus in many aspects.

After the meeting, in order to show sincerity, Du Shao and his party were able to visit the steam power workshop that they were not qualified to enter.

It was here that Wu Fazheng, as an accompanying guest, first saw the "monster power of water and fire". The powerful steam engine.

At that moment, Wu Fazheng's first thought was: "The earth-shaking power. Zhu will hang down tomorrow."

A few days later, Du Shaowei went back home.Young Master Du's trip went smoothly and he successfully completed the set task.Now he must return home as soon as possible, report to the adults and discuss the follow-up.

And Wu Fazheng, after saying goodbye to his friends, took his old servant and simply stayed in a hotel in the port area.In the following time, Wu Fazheng took a look around under the brand name of the Du family, carefully visited every inch of land and every enterprise in the port area, and gained a lot.

Today, coming to the cotton spinning factory to "view the scenery" is the last thing Wu Fazheng does in the port area.Because time waits for no one, it is now autumn. Wu Fazheng has been traveling away from home for more than two years. According to the agreement, he will return to his hometown in Shanxi by the end of this year at the latest.

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Standing in the crowd, facing the curious eyes coming and going, Wu Fazheng touched his face helplessly after feeling the rush of people coming off work in a big factory, and said to the old servant who was always following behind him: "It's noon, find a place to use Let's order some food."

The old servant has nothing to say.So the two found a small restaurant near the road, ordered food, rice and tea, and sat under the awning in front of the door to eat.

At the end of the day, Wu Xiucai put down his body and chatted with the male and female young workers at the same table after he was full of food and tea.

The young young worker still has three points of respect for the young scholar master, so the two sides can talk very well.However, the situation introduced by the young workers is probably not much different from other information that Wu Fazheng has obtained these days. In today's primary industrial zone, the factories are not much different except for the type of work.

Wu Fazheng, who realized this, immediately lost interest in the conversation.After inviting someone to drink a pot of tea, the scholar got up and went home.

Back at the hotel in the port area, the master and servant began to pack and salute. The boat will leave tomorrow, and the ticket has already been bought.

When Wu Fazheng returned to his hometown this time, he would not go north along the Grand Canal.Ming people who have traveled all over the world now know that sea transportation is much faster than river transportation.

Prior to this, in fact, the Ming Dynasty had always had a sandboat shipping system, with the starting point being Shanghai and the terminal point being Tianjin.It's just that the shipping conditions in this era are poor and the navigation technology is backward, which leads to huge risks in shipping, so it hasn't become the mainstream.

And in the past few years, since the traversers built a high-speed and cheap coastal logistics transportation line, the Ming natives' fear of the sea has gradually decreased.Nowadays, many north-south cargo owners who want to trade in bulk will buy the cargo ship warehouse of the Shanghai Port Shipping Corporation, and then purchase a value insurance.

Even if you buy it in this way, compared with the layers of checkpoints on the canal and the slow speed of the boat, the service of the shipping company is still cheap.

Wu Fazheng also chose shipping this time.Even though he has never been on a sea boat, even as an inlander, he is naturally afraid of the sea.

The next day is the National Day of the old world, and the sailing day of the new world.

Wu Xiucai, who was standing upright on the pier in a green robe and square scarf, was looking around the port area with his hands behind his back, unable to calm down for a long time.Before he came here, he would never have imagined that there is still a place like Shanghai Port full of "iron cows and horses" and even incredible "organs" in the world.

"How did the imperial court allow you to take root here?"

Wu Fazheng did not know about this issue.

But he knows one thing: the approximate production capacity of each workshop in Shanghai Port, and the amount of grain shipped from the south to Shanghai Port every year.

These are not confidential figures, and interested businessmen can find all kinds of data by collecting a few local newspapers.

The day Wu Fazheng finished counting this number, he was sure of one thing: Daming was really going to die.

"The building is about to fall, how can we protect ourselves?"

After a long time, after hearing the whistle of the liner, Wu Fazheng finally stepped on the tall liner with another question that he could not answer.

Twelve noon, auspicious time.

With a long whistle, the Shanghai-Tianjin single-cylinder steam logistics fleet composed of two passenger ships slowly set off from the passenger terminal.

After sailing, the two-ship formation did not go far, but got off the anchor chain at the outer harbor and waited. There are also six cargo ships forming formation at the inner harbor and will come to meet soon.

And at this moment, the guests who were bored out of the cabin to look at the sea suddenly started clamoring together with the boatman.

Wu Xiucai, who heard the sound, suddenly saw an acquaintance. Familiar boat.

The huge ship that has been docked in the dock for more than a month, at this moment, surrounded by more than a dozen gunboats of various sizes, is emitting a column of smoke thicker than all the black smoke, swaying unrecognizable ups and downs, shouting back and forth With no eyes left, he swaggered out of the port.

Not long after, not far from the two passenger ships, the giant ship with a mountain-like hull passed by.

At this moment, the standard passenger ship, which was originally considered tall, looked so small.Wu Xiucai, standing at the bow of the boat, was oppressed by such a huge monster in the sea for the first time in his life, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

In a panic, Wu Xiucai raised his neck and saw the three big characters on the side of the huge ship: Fujian.

A thought flashed through his mind like lightning: "What a name! Such an arrogance, I am afraid that Fujian is no longer owned by the imperial court!"

(End of this chapter)