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

Chapter 526: The complicated situation in Jiujiang County and the tough people
The twenty-fifth year of the Han calendar, February 8th. Jiujiang County, Shouchun Wharf.

County Magistrate Yao Yuan brought a group of Han officials from Jiujiang County to welcome Zheng Qi and others who were carrying out reforms.

I saw a steam passenger ship slowly approaching the dock, and hundreds of people got off the ship.

Zheng Qi immediately bowed and said, "I didn't expect that the county governor would come to greet us."

Yao Yuan smiled and said, "We, the people of Jiujiang, have long been looking forward to the arrival of the military supervisor and others."

Yao Yuan can be regarded as one of the founders of the Han Dynasty. He was one of the 100 Confucian scholars who followed Kong Yu. After more than 20 years of trials and tribulations, a large number of Confucian scholars have become ordinary people, or have been exiled overseas for breaking the law.

Yao Yuan was considered one of the elites among this group of people. Not only did he become a prefect of 2,000 stones, he also held the status of viscount. However, he was already sixty-three years old this year. According to the system of the Han Dynasty, he should retire within two years.

Originally, he didn't want to make any efforts. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get promoted. He might as well retire and return home to raise his grandchildren. But the Han officials under Jiujiang County also wanted to make progress. In this day and age, if Han officials wanted to make progress, they had to show results.

It just so happened that Jiujiang had very bad luck. Chen County, which was separated from them by a river, was thriving. It had not been as well developed as their Kuaiji County in the past, but with the dividends of the Age of Discovery, it suddenly turned around and became one of the top two economic counties in the Han Dynasty.

As a result, Jiujiang County became a sandwich, unable to compete with Chen County in industry, nor could it compete with Kuaiji County in trade. The young people of Jiujiang either went north to Chen County to work, or went east to Kuaiji County to join the Age of Discovery.

All the young people have been sucked away. How can Jiujiang County develop? Even after more than 20 years of prosperous industry in the Han Dynasty, Jiujiang County is still a large agricultural county.

Here is a sad statistic. After more than 20 years of peace in the world, the population of Jiujiang County only increased by 5 people, while the population of Kuaiji County increased nearly fivefold, reaching nearly 300 million people, and the population of Chen County more than doubled.

Over the past 20 years, there have been some arrogant Han officials who wanted to change the face of Jiujiang County. They also wanted to develop industries and change the backward appearance of Jiujiang County. But in the end, these people were hit hard. Developing industries is a state of the strong getting stronger. Those industrial areas that have formed scale advantages will rely on costs to beat the industrial capacity of backward areas. Jiujiang County is a typical example of falling behind step by step.

The Han officials in Jiujiang County finally understood what it meant that an individual could not resist the trend of the times. Those with connections fled this land, and those without connections could only stay here and live like a salted fish, watching a colleague achieve results and get promoted.

Originally, they planned to do their job as usual, but Chenjun's government reform gave them hope. Therefore, in recent years, the Han officials in Jiujiang County have been applying for a pilot program to be expanded to them. Zheng Qi's arrival was an opportunity to change the fate of many Han officials in Jiujiang County.

After exchanging polite words, the group headed towards the county governor's mansion.

During this time, Yao Yuan asked, "I don't know where the military supervisor plans to start the official reform. This government can introduce the big factory in Jiujiang County to the military supervisor."

Zheng Qi shook his head and said, "Reform is about the right time, the right place, and the right people. Chen County's government-run reform took advantage of the economic crisis. In terms of location, Chen County was originally a large industrial county. At the same time, a large number of workshops went bankrupt, and the workshop owners had to seek help from the court, which created the right people for the reform.

These are all things that the current Jiujiang County does not have. If we force the government-run reform, the workshop owners will only resist, which will affect the overall situation. I need to inspect Jiujiang County before deciding how to reform. "

Yao Yuan nodded and said, "This is what an old minister says about his country, but this government has a suggestion. Chaohu area has the largest iron ore in the whole Jiangnan area. Chenjun Steel Plant and Kuaiji County Steel Plant all buy iron ore from Jiujiang County. In recent years, I have also thought about building a steel plant in Jiujiang County. This can not only improve the finances of Jiujiang County, but also prevent the people of Jiujiang County from leaving their homes to work.

Unfortunately, Jiujiang County is short of financial resources, and the imperial court has rejected the proposal to build a steel plant in Jiujiang County because of the overheated investment in the steel industry in the past two years. Therefore, the plan to build a steel plant has never been implemented. Now Jiujiang County has also become a government-run pilot project. Can the military supervisor propose to the imperial court to build a steel plant in Jiujiang County? "

This is also one of the pain points for the people of Jiujiang. They clearly have the largest iron mine in the entire Jiangnan region, and the quality of the iron ore is extremely high. It is the kind of magnetite with very few impurities. The steel mills in Chenjun, Kuaijijun, and Nanyangjun all like to use their iron ore.

In recent years, the Han Dynasty has vigorously developed industries. Everyone knows that selling ore is definitely not as profitable as selling steel, but Jiujiang County developed too late and is surrounded by three steel centers. These three steel centers have also formed economies of scale and can produce hundreds of millions of kilograms of steel every year.

It's not that there were no private merchants in Jiujiang County who built steel mills, but they closed down soon after and could not survive. Jiujiang County can be said to have been made and destroyed by the Yangtze River.

Because of the Yangtze River, the largest shipping channel in the Han Dynasty, their iron ore can reach the three steel centers at the cheapest price, but also because of the Yangtze River, the steel from the three places can also reach Jiujiang County at the lowest price. This makes Jiujiang County's steel mills completely unable to compete with these steel centers.

Of course, this is also related to Xu Fan's restrictions. He believes that the current Dahan Steel Industry Center is sufficient to cover the entire country, and there is no need to build a new steel center.

If private capital wanted to build a steel plant in Jiujiang County, he would be happy to see it, but he would not agree to ask the Han court to pay for it. He had experienced too many such things. As the saying goes in later generations, if you grasp it, it will be tight, and if you let it go, it will be chaotic.

How much tuition money has been wasted on this in later generations. When they see an industry is booming, they rush in. In less than 10 years, there is over-investment, the industry declines, and then there are huge losses.

It should have been enough to pay the tuition fee once for this kind of thing, but it happened not once, twice, three, four, or even five, six, or seven times, and I am still paying the tuition fee.

This is like paying tuition fees over and over again but never learning. This is not how the landlords and rich people make their money.

Xu Fan didn't know whether those students had learned it or not, but he had learned it. He would rather slowly increase Dahan's steel production capacity than spend huge amounts of money to build a huge steel production capacity, only to end up not making any money but also losing a lot of money and having to go through a painful process of de-capacity.

So when Jiujiang County wanted to build a steel plant, Xu Fan's attitude was that if you could find private businessmen to invest in the steel plant, or even if Jiujiang County was willing to invest in building the steel plant, the imperial court would not refuse and would even provide convenience. However, the survival of the steel plant would depend on market competition.

Jiujiang County suffered a lot here. They used the county's finances to build steel mills twice. However, due to their small scale, poor craftsmanship, poor product quality and high prices, the steel mills have been losing money since their establishment. Both times, the Han officials of Jiujiang County could not bear the losses, so they had to sell them to private merchants.

At the same time, they also paid a huge price. Han officials in other places worked hard for a year and not only received adequate salaries, but also a lot of welfare materials and bonuses. However, Han officials in Jiujiang County not only received none of these welfare benefits, but also had to have 30% of their salaries deducted every month to repay debts.

This big man doesn't have any talk of drinking three glasses of wine as punishment or paying tuition fees. What he believes in is the right rights and responsibilities. You have to bear the price for what you have done.

The losses caused by the Han officials in Jiujiang County had to be borne by themselves. Even if the Han officials were transferred out of Jiujiang County, the debt would still follow them. Only after they had repaid the debt, their welfare benefits would return to normal.

It is because of this policy of equal rights and responsibilities that, after more than 20 years of education, Han officials have finally developed a relatively cautious attitude towards developing industries and will not rush into anything that is booming.

Even if they want to develop industries, they will let private merchants go first. This is the case in Jiujiang County. Under the instigation of local Han officials, they took over the steel mills, but still could not solve the defects of poor steel quality and high production costs. Three merchants have been cheated and went bankrupt. As a result, the steel industry has almost become a taboo topic in Jiujiang, and Zheng Qi's arrival today has given these people new hope.

The reason why the Han officials of Jiujiang County remained true to their original aspirations despite suffering heavy losses in the steel industry was that the steel industry was a high-input, high-tech, and high-output industry. As long as a steel center was established, Jiujiang County would be able to get rid of poverty and become rich in an instant.

Zheng Qi said calmly: "The emperor said that if you don't have the right to investigate, you don't have the right to speak. How about building a steel plant or waiting for me to do some research in the local area before making a decision?"

Chen County and Jiujiang County are separated by only a river. Although he was not very clear about the situation of Jiujiang's steel industry, he had heard some things about it. Naturally, it was impossible for him to dive into this pit of unknown depth without knowing anything.

Yao Yuan could only nod. On February 9, Zheng Qi began to inspect Jiujiang County. Yao Yuan arranged for the minor official Wu Jia to lead Zheng Qi.

The first stop he visited was the Chaohu Iron Mine. When Zheng Qi arrived at the Chaohu Iron Mine, he could see countless craftsmen pulling ore out of the mine, loading it onto trains, transporting it to Shouchun Wharf, and then loading it onto steam transport ships to be transported to Nanyang, Chen County, and Accounting County.

Wu Jia said: "The Chaohu Iron Mine can dig out more than 600 million shi of iron ore every year, with an annual output value of 1 million coins. It can be said to be the money bag of our Jiujiang County."

The polarization in the Han Dynasty is now extremely serious. In the counties with industrial zones, not only has the wealth increased by leaps and bounds, but it has also siphoned off wealth from the surrounding areas. The various industrial counties in the Han Dynasty are rich enough to rival a country.

For agricultural counties like Jiujiang, although the income has increased, the increase is extremely slow. The fiscal revenue is not much different from the agricultural era, and it is almost just a living. If you want to build any project, you need to transfer the wealth of the court to complete it. Therefore, the Han officials in the agricultural counties of the Han Dynasty are particularly looking forward to embracing industrialization.

Xiong Ju, who was following Zheng Qi, said, "The Chaohu Iron Mine is full of high-quality magnetite. It is indeed suitable for building a steel center. It is a pity that they were born at the wrong time. The current situation in the Han Dynasty no longer has the soil for them to survive. Unless the court is determined to build a steel center here, the steel industry in Jiujiang County will not be able to develop. Not only do they lack money, they also lack sufficient craftsmen."

Wu Jia was not convinced and said, "Although my Jiujiang County is not as good as Chen County and other places, it still has 60 people. How can you say that there are not enough craftsmen? It's because the court is unwilling to invest in my Jiujiang County."

Xiong Ju said: "There are too many Baiyue people in Jiujiang County. These people are lazy by nature and are not suitable to be steel workers."

Chenjun and Jiujiang are too close, separated by a river. A large number of Baiyue people from Jiujiang County also go to Chenjun to work. It can be said that they have simple folk customs, but it can also be said that they are casual by nature. Various accidents always occur when working in the steel mill. They are not suitable for doing things that require too strict discipline. In fact, even the farmers in Chenjun are only slightly better.

The steel plant's favorite craftsmen are actually those soldiers who have just retired from the army. After three years of military life, they are already able to obey orders and can become qualified craftsmen with a little training. If they recruit farmers, they must undergo at least three months of military training. If they recruit people from the Baiyue, then the training will take at least half a year.

And the most important thing is that they used to live in a semi-agricultural and semi-fishing social state and had not experienced the influence of industrialized society. You can't imagine what they would do. All the Baiyue people in Chen County generally do some heavy physical labor, and no one dares to hire them for positions that require a little bit of technical skills.

Next, Zheng Qi inspected each county in Jiujiang County, but the situation in Jiujiang County still made him frown. He thought that this place would be worse than Chen County, but he didn't expect the gap to be so big.

There are almost no large factories in Jiujiang County. All of them are small workshops such as flour mills, textile mills, brick kiln factories, cement factories, etc. that meet local needs.

From the countryside to the county town, there is a pastoral scene everywhere. You can't even see a few chimneys. But in this era, chimneys represent factories, chimneys represent wealth, and pastoral idyll represents poverty.

And there was one thing that Zheng Qi never expected, that is, there were a large number of Yue people in Jiujiang County. Many villages were Baiyue tribes. These villagers still had some Baiyue customs and costumes, and it was obvious that they were different from the people of the Han Dynasty.

Zheng Qi was puzzled and asked, "Jiujiang County was also the original homeland of the Chu State. It was established hundreds of years ago. How come there are so many Baiyue people?"

Wu Jia said helplessly: "Our Jiujiang County is poor, and the people have all flocked to Chen County and Kuaiji County. In order to fill the population deficit, the successive governors of Jiujiang County have continuously recruited Baiyue people from Lujiang County, helped them build barracks and settle in the village, and guided them to reclaim land and grow food. Fortunately, these Baiyue people are also willing to come down from the mountains to live on the plains. In addition, with the preferential policies of the court, the population of our Jiujiang County can maintain a balance. Now half of the population of Jiujiang County are recruited Baiyue people."

"The current situation in the counties of Jiujiang is that most of the Han people live in the counties, while most of the villages are inhabited by the Baiyue people."

Then Zheng Qi witnessed what it meant to have a tough folk character. These Baiyue people had a strong sense of territory. During his patrol, he was stopped more than a dozen times. If it weren't for Wu Jia's leadership, he would have been robbed.

March 9, Anfeng County.

Zheng Qi and his entourage were walking on the highway.

"Kill!" Suddenly, a shout of killing came from near the road.

The frightened guards following Zheng Qi immediately formed a circle and protected Zheng Qi and his group inside the circle.

"What's going on? Could these be robbers?" Zheng Qi said.

Wu Yue said awkwardly: "The bandits in Jiujiang County should not dare to rob officials so blatantly."

A guard went to investigate the direction of the shouting and killing, and soon came back to report: "Military Supervisor, there are two groups of villagers fighting with weapons, and there are about 200 young and strong men on both sides."

Zheng Qi thought for a moment and said, "Let me go and take a look."

Then they found a high point suitable for observation.

It turned out that the two groups of villagers who were fighting were quite orderly. They marched in neat square formations. The villagers in the front row even had leather armor on their bodies. There was also a flag in the back, and next to the flag were two villagers beating drums.

Guided by the fierce drum beats, the villagers on both sides kept shouting "kill" and then slowly approached each other. Fortunately, they were not holding swords, but long-handled farm tools such as hoes and shovels, otherwise the casualties on both sides would be unimaginable.

The village heads and pavilion chiefs on both sides had some commanding ability, so they did not rush in and fight like a mob. Nor did they engage in a head-on battle.

Both teams split up into several small groups, trying to outflank the other side.

As a result, these small teams fought first, and the fighting was extremely fierce. The commanders of both sides also constantly mobilized the villagers. In this fight of more than 200 people, various tactics such as luring the enemy deep into the territory, outflanking from both wings, and besieging and attacking reinforcements were actually done in a very decent manner. With just these 200 villagers, they gave them the momentum of tens of thousands of troops.

"Have the people of Jiujiang County become so tough? If they were to be equipped with formal equipment, I'm afraid they would not be inferior to the regular army of the imperial court?" Zheng Qi said.

Wu Jia said with a bitter face: "The people of Baiyue are ignorant of education and like to resolve conflicts by fighting with weapons. Fortunately, the county governor's office has conveyed an order not to allow them to use swords or kill people. The fighting is still under control."

Faced with the armed fights among the Baiyue people, the Han officials in Jiujiang County were also in a difficult position. If one or two tribes chose to fight in this way to resolve conflicts, they could still punish them. However, if most of the tribes chose to fight in this way to resolve conflicts, the county magistrate's office could only choose not to punish the majority. After all, the main function of Han law was to maintain stability.

A large number of Han people were attracted away from Jiujiang. The size of the Baiyue tribes in Jiujiang County was too large, and they formed a state of coexistence with the Han people. The people of the Han Dynasty naturally influenced them, but they also influenced the people of the Han Dynasty. This kind of armed fighting had become a custom in Jiujiang County.

Zheng Qi sighed and said, "Jiujiang needs to be governed by Shang Yang's methods."

(End of this chapter)