At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 503: Chen County, full of Legalist spirit and industrialization concept
On the 15th day of the sixth month of the 21st year of the Han Dynasty, at Chenjun Wharf, Yang Xiong traveled from north to south across most of the Han Dynasty and finally arrived at the most important industrial center in the south of the Han Dynasty.

Chen Aimin has been extremely busy in the past six months. Yang Xiong took Chen Aimin north to Shangjun to inspect the kerosene refinery in Shangjun.

Chen Aimin had lived in the countryside of Shangjun for two years with a farmer's family and was quite familiar with Shangjun. What impressed him most was not the terrain with thousands of ravines and gullies, but the poverty of Shangjun. From the poverty in the countryside to the poverty in the county town, it was only one step away from Guanzhong, but it formed two different worlds.

But now that he was in Shangjun, he felt that things had changed a lot in three years. First of all, his biggest feeling was that the local people were getting richer, there were more people on the streets, and the people were dressed better.

The kerosene refinery brought 3,000 high-paying jobs to Shangjun, tens of thousands of jobs in the upstream and downstream supporting industrial chains, billions of wealth, and countless caravans to Shangjun to pull kerosene. In addition, Shangjun was the first batch of pilot projects for agricultural reform in the Han Dynasty. This year, local people only had to pay 20% of the land tax, and the extra land tax paid last year was returned. With the combination of various factors, the poor Shangjun finally felt a little wealthy. Even the asphalt road, which was very new in the Central Plains, was laid for hundreds of miles in Shangjun. Gaonu County is no longer inferior to the wealthy cities in Guanzhong.

After inspecting Shangjun, Yang Xiong and his party crossed the Taihang Mountains and came to Handan County, the steel center of the Central Plains of the Han Dynasty, to inspect the local steel industry.

Chen Aimin felt that Handan County was in chaos. There were a lot of rangers here, and there were also a lot of steel trains transporting coal. Handan was not only the steel center of Central Plains, but also the coal center of Central Plains. Because the tracks passed through Handan, 70% to 80% of the coal consumed in the entire Central Plains was transported from Handan.

Coal brought wealth, but also chaos. Even though the Han people rectified the coal industry every few years and killed a group of rangers who occupied the coal mines, they still multiplied rapidly like weeds and occupied those remote small coal mines.

The current management capabilities of the Han Dynasty are not enough to manage all the coal mines near the Taihang Mountains. On the one hand, the Han court is popularizing the law in the local area, and on the other hand, it is severely suppressing those rangers who are particularly evil and capture civilians as mine slaves. For this kind of evil forces, basically one is found and one is arrested. The rangers and their thugs are basically hanged and then hung outside the mine. All the money they earn will be confiscated, and the whole family will be exiled to the Western Regions. In short, they are not allowed to gain any benefits from their evil.

Under the strong suppression of Han law, the local rangers dared to hire civilians to steal coal mines and capture people as slaves. They never dared to do such taboos again. Of course, this does not mean that the number of civilians will be reduced. Small coal mines like this have poor safety facilities and coal mine collapse is also a common occurrence. The Han court can only reduce casualties, but cannot avoid them.

In fact, even the official coal mines of the Han Dynasty had mine collapse accidents from time to time. Even if the Han Dynasty government gave them a death quota, it was useless. In most cases, the death quota was almost used up. The mines would be closed for rectification and resume mining next year after the quota was renewed.

After coming to Sanchuan County from Handan County, Chen Aimin noticed another atmosphere. There were a lot of small businesses in Luoyang City, and the business atmosphere was particularly strong. The competition pressure in Sanchuan County was too great. Under the suppression of these private factories, the local factories in Shaofu did not develop as well as other places.

Although the factory of the Shaofu is not developing well, the local industry is extremely prosperous. Sanchuan County has the most prosperous textile factory in the entire Han Dynasty, the top five steel production capacity in the entire Han Dynasty, and the top two carriage industries in the entire Han Dynasty. Although the machinery industry is not as prosperous as Guanzhong, there are many small machinery factories here. The machinery industry is rapidly becoming the pillar industry of Sanchuan County. Chen Aiming's feeling about Luoyang City is that it is chaotic but full of vitality.

Going south from Luoyang City, we arrived at Chen County, which is now the pilot area for the Han Dynasty’s reform.

Under the guidance of the dock workers, Yang Xiong and his steamer slowly approached the shore. Chenjun Wharf was unusually prosperous, surrounded by horse-drawn carriages, wheelbarrows and other craftsmen transporting supplies.

Under the command of the dock managers in uniform, they acted in an extremely strict manner, and the entire dock was busy but not chaotic. It was extremely coordinated and orderly.

Yang Xiong sighed, "As expected of the Legalists, the influence of the Han Dynasty in Chenjun in the past 20 years is not as great as their influence in one year. If the world had not changed, I would have thought I had arrived in Guanzhong during the pre-Qin period."

Chen Aimin asked curiously, "Shaofu Ling, have you also been to Guanzhong during the pre-Qin period?"

Yang Xiong smiled and said, "Although I am Chu Mo and have been active in Chu, I also traveled around the world when I was young. At that time, the Qin Dynasty was the most powerful country in the world, so it was naturally a country that scholars from all over the world had to pass through. At that time, scholars from the six countries were all proud to join the tyrannical Qin Dynasty."

Chen Aimin asked curiously: "Why? Is it because the tyrannical Qin was so powerful?"

Although Chen Aimin grew up in Guanzhong and had heard a lot about the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, it was difficult for him to imagine that his wealthy hometown was considered the most brutal place in the world decades ago.

Yang Xiong laughed and said, "Because at that time, the tyrannical Qin was the only country in the world willing to accept a large number of scholars and to pay them very high salaries. In the words of the emperor, the money was sufficient."

Chen Aimin was stunned and said, "How is this possible? During the Warring States Period, there were four great princes in Guandong, and everyone knew that they valued scholars. However, the tyrannical Qin did not do that. This shouldn't mean that the six states in Guandong valued talents more."

Yang Xiong said disdainfully: "If the six kingdoms of Guandong valued talents, how could there be the four great princes? It is precisely because these talents could not seek refuge in the country through normal channels, and they could only rely on the powerful and wealthy, that the four great princes had three thousand retainers, but how many of these retainers were actually used? Do you think the scholars at that time would be willing to seek refuge in the Qin Dynasty or the six kingdoms of Guandong? Although the Qin Dynasty was brutal, it did not mean that the six kingdoms were any better."

"Chen County Chief Clerk Xie Yu greets the Minister of the Imperial Household!" Xie Yu, along with a group of Han officials, saluted to Yang Xiong.

Yang Xiong said, "You are too polite, Chief Clerk. We came to Chen County only to train several workshops under the Shaofu. You don't need to accompany us."

Although Yang Xiong just spoke well of Daqin and the Legalists, it does not mean that he likes Daqin and the Legalists. In fact, Yang Xiong is extremely disgusted with Daqin and the Legalists who destroyed the State of Chu. It is only because Daqin was destroyed by the Han Dynasty that he avenged the hatred of the destruction of his country, so he can talk about the advantages of Daqin in a relatively calm manner.

Xie Yu smiled and said, "Chen County has changed a lot in the past two years, so I will lead the way for Young Master Yang."

After that, Xie Yu led the way for Yang Xiong and his group. The group walked all the way from the dock area to the city of Chenjun, chatting as they walked. Along the way, Yang Xiong and his group could see carriages driving along fixed roads. Even flatbed carts and wheelbarrows had their own roads, and no car dared to drive around randomly. There were many open spaces on the road, and there was a square grid inside. In the square grid, there were carriages parked one after another. The carriages were neatly arranged, and even the horses inside did not dare to cross the white line drawn.

On the streets, you can see a lot of people with the words "sanitation" written on them. Judging from the uniforms they wear, they are also hired workers by Chen County, cleaning the streets. In the center of the road, there are people with commands written on them, constantly directing the traffic around with gestures. They either forbid pedestrians to trespass or forbid carriages to move. If someone dares not to obey the order, a whistle will be sounded immediately, and people with red armbands will come from all directions to catch and punish those who don't obey the order.

Yang Xiong said: "It is indeed the style of the Legalists. Even the simplest walking must be strictly regulated, and the people are not allowed to overstep their boundaries in the slightest."

Chen County already made Yang Xiong feel uncomfortable. Although very strict rules were formulated in the factories of the Han Dynasty, this was to protect the lives of craftsmen and the normal production of the factories. But now the Legalists were extending their own rules to a city. He felt that the air in Chen County was filled with the atmosphere of the Legalists, which made people feel uncomfortable.

Chen Aimin was surprised and said, "But this is not very efficient. Although Chang'an City has simple streets divided into different areas, it is not as efficient as Chen County. I think the court should promote such command rules."

At this time, Zhang Yang behind him pulled Chen Aimin down. This is a nerd. He looked very unhappy when he didn't see the Shaofu Ling coming to Chenjun. After six months of getting along, Zhang Yang and his friends found that the Shaofu Ling would take Chen Aimin with him wherever he went, and sometimes they would get along alone. Zhang Yang and his friends understood that Chen Aimin's identity was not simple. Many founding fathers of the Han Dynasty were surnamed Chen, and the Han Dynasty's high-ranking officials also had the tradition of sending their own children to serve as minor officials. So Zhang Yang and his friends thought that Chen Aimin was a descendant of the elders, a second-generation noble, and the nephew of the Shaofu Ling, so the Shaofu Ling valued Chen Aimin so much.

Xie Yu said: "Chen County is the industrial center of our Han Dynasty. Every day, tens of thousands of horse-drawn carriages, flatbed trucks, and wheelbarrows enter and exit. Before the establishment of these traffic rules, Chen County had traffic jams every day, which greatly affected the development of the entire Chen County industry. The most important thing is that pedestrians often hit pedestrians who cross the road randomly. The year before last, more than 600 people were killed or injured by horse-drawn carriages in Chen County. Since my Legalists have formulated perfect traffic rules, pedestrians and vehicles have gone their own way, and the efficiency of the roads has been greatly improved. There has been no congestion, and the number of people killed or injured by horse-drawn carriages has been reduced by more than half. It has greatly protected the lives of ordinary people.

“This is the benefit of making rules. Mohism also has the saying of sticking to the old ways.” Xie Yu finally said flatteringly.

Yang Xiong said: "We stick to the old rules, that's only in times of war. We Mohists will not use military law to control the people in times of peace."

Xie Yu could only keep silent. The Legalists had finally been able to influence the Han officialdom on a large scale. Although it was only a pilot project in Chen County, no one in the world understood the monarch's will better than the Legalists. As long as the monarch wanted to achieve something, he could not do without the help of the Legalists.

After reporting this set of traffic laws formulated by the Legalists to the court, they were highly praised by the emperor. It is said that the court has planned to promote it throughout the country.

The group continued walking and found a large number of Han officials from Chen County. They had words like "management", "patrol" or "on duty" written on their bodies. It could be said that these people could be seen more or less on every street.

Chen Aimin was surprised and asked, "Can Chen County afford to support so many Han officials?"

Everyone knows that the more people you manage, the better. However, how to support these people has been a problem for emperors from ancient times to the present. Where does the money come from? This has troubled countless monarchs. Even the genius Shang Yang came up with a ratio of one official to one official to one hundred civilians.

Xie Yu said: "My colleague, we in Chen County do not call ourselves managers. These people serve the people of Chen County. Most of these people are not Han officials. Some are retired Han elders. They are willing to continue to serve Chen County. We in Chen County will also give them some compensation, usually 100 coins as salary."

The Han Dynasty had a pension system. Elderly people in their sixties could receive 2 dan of rice per month from the Han Dynasty court, and then some oil, salt and other daily necessities, depending on the local wealth. Poor counties could only get a few kilograms of salt (Han Dynasty salt was not valuable), while wealthy counties like Chen County would get an additional kilogram of oil and a kilogram of sugar. These foods could ensure the elderly's later years.

After the Legalists took over Chen County, they also faced a shortage of manpower, but it was obviously impossible for the Han Dynasty to play the same tricks as the Qin Dynasty. So they looked at the labor of these elderly people, and hired these elderly people to help with some work that did not require much effort and energy. They paid them 100 coins a month, which was enough to make these elderly people the strictest supervisors.

Xie Yu had already noticed that the atmosphere was not right and wanted to ease it. After all, it was now their Legalists who had to please the Mohists. Even if the Legalists wanted to regain control of the Han Dynasty court, they would need the help of the Mohists.

But there were shrewd people all around, and Zhang Yang and his companions obviously did not dare to risk offending the Shaofu Ling by getting close to the Fa family. Only Chen Aiming was a curious baby, curious about everything in this city.

Chen Aimin asked, "You noticed that most of the vehicles on the roads in Chen County are large passenger buses or transport carriages, and private carriages are rarely seen?"

You should know that in Chang'an City, private carriages even occupy the vast majority of the roads. There is no way around it because carriages are too cheap. A two-wheeled carriage that does not pay much attention to quality can be bought for 2000 coins. Even if you have the ability to buy parts and assemble them yourself, you can build a carriage for more than 1000 coins. An ordinary horse costs at most 4000 coins, which means that in Chang'an City, you only need five or six thousand coins to make a carriage. Most craftsmen in Chang'an City can buy a carriage with three months' salary.

It is now popular in Chang'an to buy a horse-drawn carriage and take the whole family out for an outing during holidays. It is somewhat similar to the holiday peak in later generations.

Chang'an was the place where the four-hour work system was most strictly implemented. After work, most young people would drive their own carriages to the outskirts of Chang'an for fun. Weekends were the most popular time for them. Nearly half of the people in Chang'an would rush to the outskirts of Chang'an to relax or have a picnic. The tourism economy began to develop in Chang'an.

Xie Yu smiled and said, "Chen County has vigorously developed the public carriage industry. Most people can travel by public carriage. Although there are private carriages, they have to pay relatively high management fees. Therefore, the people who drive carriages in Chen County are relatively wealthy people."

Yang Xiong asked, "How dare you raise taxes at random?"

Xie Yu said: "My Chen County is a pilot project of the Han Dynasty. Since it is a pilot project, of course we have to try everything. This asphalt road is very expensive, and the increase in costs is also for the maintenance of the road. Our Chen County has also reported to the court. This is also to better serve the people of Chen County. The Han Dynasty has more and more vehicles of all kinds, and they must be managed to reduce casualties. However, management requires manpower and financial support. The court's taxes have a place to go. It is not the case that people who ride carriages enjoy the benefits, while ordinary farmers and craftsmen in our Han Dynasty have to subsidize these rich people."

"As expected of the Legalists, they have changed so quickly." Yang Xiong said. Serving the people was a new term proposed by the emperor, and these Legalists were quick to learn.

In such a tense atmosphere, Yang Xiong and his party came to the Chenjun Carriage Factory. The factory director Chen Lie happily took Yang Xiong to see the surname carriages in their carriage factory.

"Mr. Yang, we have further improved the standardization of this carriage. This is a passenger and cargo carriage we developed. If you want to make it a passenger carriage, you can add a canopy here. We have made several very practical slots and support poles on the outside of the carriage. When you put canvas on it, it becomes a passenger carriage. At the same time, we have designed some small slots inside to firmly clip the row of seats onto the sturdy wooden board.

But if you want to transport goods, you can unload all these things in half a cup of tea. These parts are standardized and professional, easy to disassemble and easy to assemble. In this way, a car can transport goods or be used as a passenger car. The most important thing is that the price is 30% cheaper.

Yang Xiong touched the carriage. Although it was not a breakthrough innovation, it was also a product of extreme standardization. The emperor attached the most importance to their Shaofu, which was to increase the production capacity of a certain product, reduce the price, make it standardized, and make it easier to promote. And this carriage was the product of this thinking.

Zhang Yang asked, "Wouldn't it be easier for the carriage to break down?"

Chen Lie smiled and said, "If it breaks, just replace the parts. These parts are very cheap and don't cost much. This is one of the advantages of our carriage. All parts can be replaced. If an important part breaks, the carriage won't be unusable."

It's a helpless thing to say, the Han Dynasty valued the spirit of craftsmanship the most. Craftsmen of this era generally liked to make heirloom-like things, hoping that a piece of goods could be passed down for three generations, and the people would leave but the things would remain. But the technological level of this era was like this, and if you wanted to increase the durability of the items, you could only stack armor. The so-called stacked armor is another way of saying stupid and clumsy in later generations.

But in the industrial age, people pay more attention to the price and functionality of an item. Passing something down for three generations is simply a cruel joke in the industrial age. There is a joke in later generations that the world's first incandescent light bulb has been lit for 105 years and has not yet gone out, but the company that originally produced this bulb has gone bankrupt because the bulbs they produced are so durable that one can be used for a lifetime.

Of course, in later generations it went to the other extreme, from practicality to regular scrapping, and even if you didn't scrap it, they would force you to scrap it.

(End of this chapter)