Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2074 Foshan Furnace Room
Lin Ming originally wanted to ask someone to demolish the archway, so as not to make the Australians see it, after all, this "loyalty" is so loyal to Daming.I was concerned that the local gentry would definitely object if I brought it up - after all, he was considered half a native of Foshan, and it was no joke to annoy these "elders".

He looked at the majestic "Commander Xi" who was holding a long knife and wearing a thin, straight gray woolen military uniform with a sense of bamboo poles wrapped around his waist. He didn't look angry when he saw the archway. Put most of it.

Xi Yazhou came to Foshan, of course, not for sightseeing—speaking of which, he also came to Foshan in the past, but it is completely different from Foshan in the 17th century.Even the ancestral temple, the one in the Ming Dynasty is quite different from the one in his impression.

"I heard that the smelting and casting in Foshan is very developed. Where are they?"

After walking for quite a while, shops and halls stood row upon row, and some small handicraft workshops were seen, but none of the legendary smelting workshops was seen. After asking Lin Ming, he found out that these workshops were mainly concentrated in the area under the gate.That is, the area where Foshan developed earlier.

Lin Ming said that in the past, these iron smelting workshops were mostly concentrated in front of the ancestral temple during the Xuande period. Because of the smoke and fire, it was easy to catch fire and spread to the ancestral temple, and it was unfavorable in Feng Shui, so they all moved away.

"Take me to see these workshops." Xi Yazhou said, "Call some local practitioners over."

Lin Ming thought to himself what's so good about this iron smelting workshop. It's dirty and hot. Even though the furnaces are closed now, the iron materials, charcoal, and ashes inside are piled up like a mountain. It's gray and black, and if you stay a little longer, your saliva and snot will all be black.

But he has been to Lingao, and he knows that the chiefs like "Baigong" the most, and even praised Baigong's skills to the sky.So he responded sensibly and simply.Call a servant and tell him to call the leader of the local Furnace Guild.

The leader of the local furnace industry is Wu Xianlong, who is in his 50s.I have been in the furnace room industry all my life, and my family business is considered the top few in the furnace room industry in Foshan.The smelting and foundry business in Foshan is booming. Although pig iron and ironware are regarded as cold goods in traditional commerce, the furnaces in Foshan are always in full swing.

But in the past few years, the furnace room in Foshan has not had a good life, because of the arrival of Kuntie.

At first, there were some Australian ironware on the market, which were not only exquisite and easy to use, but also more durable than local ones.However, the price is quite high, which does not hinder the sales of local goods. However, a few years ago, the thieves suddenly began dumping a large number of Australian ironware on the market.The most terrible thing is that the price is much lower than that of local products, which will kill the old life of the furnace—the price of ironware on the market plummeted, many small furnaces closed down, and the shopkeepers jumped into the river, hanged themselves, and escaped. have.Fortunately, although the Australian Railway is easy to use, it can only radiate to a small area in Guangdong.The prefectures and counties far away from Guangzhou still habitually use Foshan products.The big furnace room is maintained by the old sales relationship in various places, and in addition to the fact that the government has cast a lot of cannons in recent years, it can barely maintain its operation.

Wu Xianlong, as the leader of the meeting, was so worried about the furnace industry in Foshan that his hair was all white.The Australians came to Guangzhou suddenly, and all water and land transportation was interrupted for a while. The goods that had been made could not go out, and merchants could not come in. In particular, some of them were for foreign merchants. It's about to miss the sailing schedule for going overseas—this is terrible, although it doesn't matter if the iron pot is left for a year or so, at most it will be saved for the next sale, but the reputation of these years will be destroyed in one go.

In some furnace rooms, shopkeepers or cashiers went out to collect money, and when the traffic was cut off, there was no news.He didn't know where the man was, what was good or bad, the family members were in panic, and they all came to him to ask him for advice, Wu Xianlong himself was at a loss what to do, he could only speak comfortingly and perfunctorily.

From the time the door was opened to surrender, shopkeeper Wu lived in the clubhouse, just for the purpose of negotiating with the mayor appointed by the Australians when he arrived.All he knew was that Australians had always had strict military discipline.When they first attacked Guangzhou, the Clippers passed through Foshan many times. As long as there was no hostile action, the life and property of the gentry and common people in the villages and towns were safe, and the cost was only a small amount of "reasonable burden".This time the Australians are going to send someone to be a magistrate, I don't know what is the way?Shopkeeper Wu was very uncertain.

Fortunately, Lin Baihu, the Jinyi guard in the town, turned out to be a lurking "fake Kun". This Lin Baihu, shopkeeper Wu, had a lot of dealings in the past, and in short, he was a fairly easy-going official who was willing to do things with money.He became a "liaison officer", and shopkeeper Wu was somewhat relieved-it would be easy if he had an acquaintance!
However, this Lin Baihu only maintained the situation and did not make any decisions. It is said that he will wait for the "mayor" appointed by the Australians to come. Officer", there is nothing more to say.

At this moment, when he heard "the Chief has an invitation", Wu Xianlong suddenly regained his energy, he knew that the so-called "Chief" was "True Kun", and he was the most honorable person among the Kun thieves.Immediately ask the servants to change into the clothes they brought out.

"Are you the leader of the local stove?" Xi Yazhou glanced at the leader Wu who was bending over "waiting for instructions", and handed the big red name card to the side.

"It's a villain." Wu Xianlong realized that the "chief" in front of him was actually a "Military Lord", and he couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat—Qiu Ba was the most difficult to provoke since ancient times, and he couldn't explain why, "This is all flattered by colleagues."

Look around again, it's on the street - what road is this? Since the "chief" sees himself, whether it is to answer a few "remarks" of the story, or to have a heart-to-heart talk, it must be in the house, how can he talk on the street?However, he didn't dare to ask any more questions, he bowed his back and waited for orders.

"Since you are the leader of the stove room industry, the stove room must be quite big."

Wu Xianlong was taken aback by these words, what is the meaning of these words?Could it be that the thief has taken a fancy to his furnace room?He couldn't figure out the number of the "chief" in front of him, and carefully considered his words: "The small furnace room is not the largest in the local area, but it is a small one with a few years of age, so the colleagues in the industry would like to listen to what he said. , was promoted as the leader of the meeting..."

"That is, there is a furnace room. Take me to have a look." Xi Yazhou said, "I heard that Foshan is famous for its smelting and casting. Come and have a look today."

"Yes, yes." Wu Xianlong couldn't refuse, so he had to agree.

The furnace room for smelting copper and iron is different from the furnace room for casting gold and silver in the big cities, as long as there are tall houses and open rooms.Because the size of copper and iron castings is generally relatively large, a large amount of fuel, copper and iron materials and molding materials are required, so there must be a large open space for handling and stacking materials.Therefore, most of the furnace houses are located on tidal flats where rivers gushed in the past, so the land price is cheap and water can be fetched nearby.

A group of people headed south all the way, and Xi Yazhou saw that the buildings in this area were starting to become sparse, and the houses were not elegant. There were many long bamboo fences along the street. Lin Ming said that these were all furnace houses.

Looking in through the gaps in the bamboo fence, the so-called furnace room is actually very few houses, only a few, but they are made of bricks and tiles-in order to prevent fire, iron materials, charcoal and castings are piled up like mountains on a large open space.In the middle of the open space stood several iron smelting furnaces and melting furnaces of different sizes, all of which were now smoldering, slowly emitting smoke.

Xi Yazhou asked about the production situation, and Wu Hanlong took the opportunity to lament the bitter experience: together with the war, land and water transportation was impassable, so the business would naturally fail, and the finished goods could not be shipped out, and the iron materials and charcoal used could not be brought in.Even if you want to start working, you dare not do it.

"...The furnace room can't be opened, and the artisans have no food to eat. If it weren't for the National Army guarding here, and the daily porridge in the meeting, these cunning people would have risen to make trouble and loot."

Xi Yazhou was very disgusted with their attitude towards the craftsmen, but he also knew that what shopkeeper Wu said was not a lie.The estrangement and wariness between craftsmen and capitalists is completely naked.

"...Half of the people in our Foshan Fort eat ironware. If this thing can't be transported out, it can't be eaten or worn. Everyone is very worried. Besides, there has never been much food in the local area, and it is difficult to maintain it. It's only a month or two."

"You can rest assured that we will quickly restore order and smooth roads. In less than ten and a half months, the traffic in all counties of Guangzhou Prefecture will be restored soon. Next, we will restore the main traffic in the province within three months ,” Xi Yazhou said, “You have to organize the furnace owners to resume production as soon as possible.”

"Yes." Wu Hanlong replied. He was a little surprised. He thought that the Australian Senate would be like the bureaucrats of Ming Dynasty, saying a few empty words in response to the story, but the Chief Chief not only answered his question directly, but also made it clear that he needed time.Not perfunctory or putting on airs.

"With the words of the chief, the younger ones will be at ease."

As he spoke, he had already arrived at the door of Wu's furnace room.This house is no different from the ones seen before: a large tidal land surrounded by bamboo fences, with a size of seven or eight acres, and a small brick courtyard inside.

Standing at the door were two strong men with fierce faces and round waists, holding whistle sticks in their hands.Wu Hanlong said that this is the nursing home he hired.

"How many nurses have you hired?" Xi Yazhou walked all the way, and saw that almost every furnace has such a nurse.Xindao, the rich people here are willing to spend a lot of money on their own safety!

"Seven or eight." Wu Hanlong said with a wry smile, "If you talk about the expenses, it's really not small. But it won't work if you don't hire them. There are bandits and water bandits outside, and the craftsmen and servants are not easy to deal with. They are often called rest. There is a cause for trouble."

The steward of the stove room saw that his master had come back, so he hurried out to greet him.Seeing another "Zhen Kun" come, he was so frightened that he quickly knelt down and kowtowed.

Wu Hanlong signaled him to go down: "Make tea for the chief and Lin...the liaison officer."

"You don't need to make tea, just take me here to have a look in the furnace room."

　PS: Section 260 of Volume [-] - Guangzhou Governance will be updated tomorrow

　　
　
(End of this chapter)