Chastity Layman

  Chapter 1159 Under the Zhengyang Gate

  Drank a pot of crushed tea soup at the pier, and listened to the half-day talk of the one-armed shopkeeper.

  The old shopkeeper is just an old gold digger with a broken arm, and the tea shop here has not been opened for a long time, but after all, only half of the city wall has been built in the entire Xinjinshan City, and Xinjinshan has no history.

  Although they are all hearsay, the news heard from the bottom level also represents the true attitude of the bottom people in Xinjinshan towards this place.

Generally speaking, everyone is quite satisfied with this place. Everyone respects Lao Huang, the mayor, and respects Zhang Chao, the security captain. , were all forced to work in Xinjinshan for half a month.

   Dig trenches, ram walls, or build houses.

  Although it is said that there is wages, the food is not bad, and you can get a gold rush map after half a month, but everyone still complains a little bit, but fortunately, the complaints are just a few private complaints.

   When Qin Lang left, he threw another silver coin to the old man.

  The old man was very grateful, and said that if you encounter any problems in Xinjinshan, you can come to him, and he will definitely help.

  Leaving the pier, approaching the half of the city wall, I found that it was indeed well repaired.

   After all, it is on the riverside of Yimapingchuan, and this wall already has the feeling of overlooking all the mountains and small ones.

   Half of the city wall, but there is a very impressive city gate building in the middle. The city gate hole is actually covered with bricks, and the city gate building is also made of colorful beams and green tiles, which has the flavor of the Central Plains.

  One gate has three holes, and three large characters are engraved on the door hole, Zhengyangmen.

   Looking closely at these three characters, one can tell that they are actually written in Qin Lang's calligraphy. Ah Huang specially asked someone to select these three characters from Qin Lang's calligraphy works.

   "Don't rent a donkey, start with five cents!"

  In front of the city gate, there were quite a few people standing there with donkeys, horses and mules. Seeing that Qin Lang was well-dressed, he immediately came up to greet him.

   "Drink, I didn't expect there to be donkey renters here."

   Donkey rental is equivalent to taxi service. In the past, there were such big cities as Chang'an, Luoyang, and Yangzhou. The city was too large and it was inconvenient to walk without transportation, so someone specially started this kind of business.

Although Xinjinshan is still a new city, and everything is under construction, the enclosed area is still quite large, and there are many traders here. These people have money and time is precious, so some smart people started to do this. The business of renting donkeys and horses.

  Qin Lang smiled, and said to the old stewards, "Why don't you rent one end and turn around first."

"good!"

  The group of people rented a donkey, horses and mules, all the donkeys were summoned. These donkey renters polished the mounts to a glossy finish, the donkey tail and mane were neatly trimmed and tied into flowers, and the matching saddles were not bad.

  After riding up, they are responsible for leading and walking in front, wherever they want to go, and also act as guides and commentators.

  These people are very eloquent, talking freely, all kinds of hearsay, legends and gossip can be piled up, and they talk endlessly without stopping.

   Speaking of Xinjinshan, everyone is very proud.

  Sometimes they said that new golden seedlings have been discovered recently, and there was a lucky one who picked up a dog's head gold, and then they said that they opened a new business recently, and they were recruiting apprentices.

   Then he talked about which restaurant has good food, which restaurant has the best wine, and which restaurant has a new girl.

   "How did you come up with this business?"

  Qin Lang asked.

"Originally, I also came here to pan for gold, and then I did this." Speaking of this, the big man who rented the donkey was straightforward, saying that he originally came for the gold in Treasure Island, and later dug it in San Francisco. After a few months, I didn't make a fortune. I made some small money, but the more I dug, the more I lost.

  Later, I found out that there was a huge demand for leasing donkeys, so I decided not to pan for gold.

Of course, there is another very important reason not only that he was unlucky and couldn't find gold, but also because he was injured and was bitten by a poisonous snake while panning for gold in the mountains. Disabled, it would be inconvenient to pan for gold again, so I simply did this donkey rental business.

   "Where did you get this donkey?"

"Rented." He said bluntly, the donkeys and horses they rented were all rented. They were originally transported by the Qin family for transportation, and then some were eliminated due to injuries and other reasons, so they did some work in the city Live juice for carrying people.

   "How much can I earn in a day?"

"There is always one or two hundred dollars. Sometimes when I meet a generous customer, I ask for some news by the way. If the news is good and they are satisfied, they will also tip some money." He also said that they also talked to those Newly opened shops have cooperation, such as inquiring that customers want to eat, entertain or do business, etc., and bring customers to the cooperative shops, and they can also get some money for running errands.

  A small amount of money is worth a lot. At the end of the day, even if you take out the cost of renting a donkey and add some money for fodder, there will still be a lot left.

Generally speaking, they must be much stronger than they were in the Central Plains before. Those who are willing to come here to pan for gold are mostly poor people in remote places in the Central Plains, and they belong to the proletariat. For me, I dare not think about it, maybe I won’t be able to save so much in one month.

   "Is it expensive here?" Qin Lang asked.

"There is no expense, like we are all single, one person is full, and the whole family is not hungry. The food is cheap here, and the salt is also cheap. We can buy some food and cook for ourselves. Sometimes we will catch some fish by ourselves. Shrimp and some wild vegetables are cheap, and you see, there is almost no winter in this place, so you have to save a lot of clothes and quilts."

   "You do this business, do you have to pay other money besides the rent?"

"No."

   "Not at all?"

"We are a small business, earning some hard money for running errands. The city hall doesn't charge us money. Now, farmers need to collect some land rent, and those who open shops need to pay some likin. You know likin, one out of a hundred is also very low."

   "There are no other expenses, no apportionment of anything? Such as sanitation fees, security fees, management fees, etc.?"

   "What kind of fees are these, no, anyway, I have been working here for almost three months, and I haven't paid them."

  According to what the man said, this place is very free. Although the security team of the city hall also registered them and gave everyone an ID card, which must be carried at all times for inspection, etc., but there is no restriction other than that.

  The law of the Tang Dynasty is the same as in the Central Plains, but the security team is responsible for maintaining law and order, and the city court is responsible for judiciary, but the punishment is relatively lighter.

   Those who steal will be compensated and fined, and will also be sentenced to hard labor. Those who fight will also be compensated for soup and medicine fees and sentenced to hard labor.

  The killer dies!

  In order to maintain justice, the court also set up a jury. According to the regulations of the city hall, the jury of the court is composed of the settlers of Xinjinshan City, and thirteen people are selected each time as the jury. Their role is to supervise the trial of the case to ensure the fairness as much as possible.

Jurors can put forward their opinions during the trial of the case. This jury is somewhat similar to a hearing. Although the power is not very large, the final decision-making power still rests with the court, but there is such a thing. Very novel.

But it was just launched, but it has a good reputation. For many immigrants, the Qin family is not an official after all, so when handling these cases, this new method makes everyone feel more like a negotiation, and everyone can participate. It makes everyone highly motivated and feels that their rights can be guaranteed, which is more fair and just.

Qin Lang thought of the night-time conversation between them before Ah Huang came. He did mention a few things about the positioning and governance of Treasure Island. Among them, he also said a few things about legislation and justice. For example, legislating hearings, listening to the will of the public as much as possible, allowing both parties to put forward their opinions and debates, trying judicial cases, and setting up juries to maintain justice as much as possible.

   Unexpectedly, Ah Huang listened to it and immediately tried it here.

  Now there are no taxes here, which is a good thing.

Agriculture only has land rent, commerce only has likin, and there is no import and export tariff. It will undoubtedly be of great help to the development of this virgin land. Although it will also affect the income of the Qin family, but the current stage is originally a stage of burning money, and Qin Lang has already made up his mind The idea is to invest a lot of money in.

  Therefore, there is no intention to impose heavy taxes on those who kill the goose and take the eggs, and even at this stage simply use a very simple and light tax system to attract people.

Fortunately, the Qin family has made a good start in gold mining, gold and silver processing, and salt drying on the island, and the whaling wax industry, logging industry, sugar cane planting, sugar processing industry, cotton planting and textile industry have also begun to deploy. up.

  What Qin Lang needs now is population. The continuous influx of a large number of people is not only gold diggers, but also immigrants who are willing to stay as guests.

  In front of Zhengyang Gate, a group of men with red cuffs embroidered with the word "security guard" stopped them.

Not asking for money, just routinely asking if they are here for the first time, and then asking them to do an entry registration first, and fill in simple identity information on the side, where is the name, age and gender, what are you doing here, how long are you planning to stay, and where are you planning to stay? wait.

  After the registration, they were directly given an ID card for each of them, and they were required to carry it with them during the Xinjinshan period, and then they were warned to obey the law.

  Qin Lang fabricated his identity, claiming to be Zhao Laojiu in Hangzhou, so he wrote to the convenience. He claimed that he was a businessman who was going to open a gold and silver shop here. The other party welcomed him and reminded him that he could go to the city hall first to meet with Mayor Huang, saying that he was now attracting investment, and Mayor Huang would definitely welcome him.

  Qin Lang was very satisfied with the politeness of these people, and also secretly observed their equipment, etc. There were about a hundred security guards on duty at Zhengyang Gate, except for a team on duty in front of the city gate, there were people on the city walls and towers.

  Crossbows can also be seen on the city.

  The gatekeepers have spears and horizontal knives, as well as bows and arrows on their backs. They look very elite.

  These people still wear cloth face armor, and the weather is still very hot. Although wearing this body is much more comfortable than iron armor, it is still very stuffy, but they did not show any signs of impatience.

  Entering the city, I found that there are also patrols on horseback in the city, but the word patrol is written on their armbands.

  The street is planned to be very wide. Although it is still a dirt road, the road is well rammed. The road has also been planned with water canals and street trees.

  The donkey renters who led the donkeys didn’t show any fear when they saw these patrolmen on tall horses, they just led the donkeys to the right.

  On both sides of the road, foundations are being dug and houses are being built everywhere, which is very lively.

"We in Xinjinshan are in charge of city defense and public security. The security brigade is under it. There is also a cavalry team, also known as the Mounted Police Brigade, and a patrol room, also known as the patrol police. There is a police station in the gold mining area outside the city. It is said that there is also a special police. The team is well-equipped and very tough. And there are coast guards and marine police teams in the bay and inland rivers. These brothers are treated very well, with three silvers a month and six buckets of food per month."

  The old king who rented the donkey said enviously.

   "That's not too high, is it?"

"That's just basic money and food. They also cover food and housing, and even clothes all year round. There are also welfare payments during the New Year and holidays, and all the police officers in the security brigade can get a hundred dollars each." Twenty acres of land, and enjoy the benefits of 10% rent reduction."

   "They work in the security team, how can they have time to plow the fields?"

   "Turning the fields collectively, farming in turn, and hiring some people, and finally distributing the proceeds, it's very good."

  In the eyes of Lao Wang and the others, these police officers are all dressed in brand new clothes, very airy, well paid, and not tired of work, and what he just mentioned is just the treatment of the most ordinary police officers.

   And if you do a good job, if you can be a leader, you can immediately increase your salary and benefits.

   "It's a pity that I'm disabled, otherwise I really want to join the security brigade."

Although Lao Wang could not enter the security brigade, he had a good impression of the security guards in Xinjinshan. He felt that these people were quite disciplined and would never try to blackmail everyone. Speaking of Captain Zhang of the security brigade, he used to be the head of Wei Gong's family, and he also learned a lot of methods of commanding troops under Wei Gongna, so leading the security brigade is naturally submissive."

  An old manager said that it was because of the high welfare benefits provided by the Qin family. Otherwise, no matter how strict the discipline is, it will not be able to prevent people from exploiting the common people. But with the increase in benefits and strict discipline, of course it can be restrained.

  If the Qin family wants to manage Treasure Island as their own independent kingdom, they must have a management class, which is essentially no different from the officials of the Tang government in the Central Plains.

  Treasure Island has no army for the time being, only the security team, which is still affiliated with the city hall. In essence, this is only a security force.

   In the future, Qin Lang plans to consider organizing another Treasure Island township regiment, but for the time being, it will only focus on maintaining law and order and put it under the city hall.

It only took half an hour to ride a donkey around Xinjinshan City. There are construction sites everywhere. Even the most prosperous commercial street that Lao Wang said is actually just a dirt road, with the roads on both sides Some huts and many tents.

   But after walking around, I found that although it is not as good as San Francisco, it is relatively complete, including money houses, pawnshops, restaurants, restaurants, teahouses, and even polo fields, brothels, and gambling stalls.

   Basically everything that should be there is available.

  Although the streets are all dirt roads, they are really clean and there are many public toilets.

   Asking Lao Wang to send them to the city hall, it was considered as the end of the trip, Qin Lang paid 20 qian for rent, and gave another 1 silver as a reward.

  Old Wang was overjoyed, and a basketful of good words came out of his mouth.

   "Next time you use Donkey Officer, just say hello."

   "Okay." Qin Lang smiled and waved his hands, then turned around and strode into the three-story city hall wooden building, which was simple in appearance but already stood out from the crowd in Xinjinshan City.

Lao Huang was having a meeting in the living room. When he saw Qin Lang and his party coming in, he was stunned for a moment, then quickly stood up and strode up to greet him. The people who were in the meeting were all businessmen who came to Xinjinshan to open shops and invest. characters.

Seeing Lao Huang's surprise at this move, Qi Qi turned his head to look, but saw a tall young man leading a group of old men. Many people didn't recognize Qin Lang, so he was surprised. Which big company representative was this? up?

   It wasn't until Lao Huang yelled "San Lang" that someone with a keen sense realized who it was!

  (end of this chapter)