I want to be emperor

Chapter 691
On the Liuhang No. 150 steam passenger ship, this steam passenger ship with a displacement of only more than [-] tons uses a high-pressure ship-borne steam engine produced by Guangzhou Machinery Company, and adopts a very typical paddle wheel propulsion method on both sides.

In addition to steam power, it is also equipped with sails, but they are not traditional Chinese hard sails or Western soft sails, but gaff sails that have been widely used in the civil shipping industry in recent years.

This kind of sail is easy to operate and requires very little manpower, so it is very suitable for use on civilian merchant ships that have strict control over personnel costs.

Moreover, it is not only suitable for fast sailing in the ocean, but also very suitable for sailing in shallow water areas, especially the strong ability to catch wind against headwinds, and it is especially suitable for sailing in rivers and lakes.

So in fact, since the appearance of this kind of sail, this kind of schooner has also widely appeared in the rivers and offshore waters of the empire.

Steam power and sails are used together, and the use of motor-sail hybrid power is also a major feature of the steam ships of the Great Chu Empire in the past two years.

So far, except for a very few special ship types, such as tugboats used in ports, guide ships and other special ships, all steam ships on long-distance voyages basically use sail power.

At this time, on the deck of the Liuhang No. [-] passenger ship, a group of people stood on the bow deck looking at the scenery on both sides of the strait. The leader was Wang Tu, who was wearing an ordinary Confucian uniform, and behind him was the person sent by Heping County Officials, as well as the director of the Heyuan Prefecture Office of Civil Affairs accompanied him to take office.

It's just that these people, even the director of the Heyuan Prefecture Official Affairs Office, are actually of the same grade as Wang Tu, but they still stand respectfully behind Wang Tu and dare not disturb Wang Tu Enjoy the scenery on both sides of the Dongjiang River.

To be honest, in the entire Heyuan Prefecture, and even the entire Huizhou Mansion, no one in the entire Heyuan Prefecture can be more powerful than Wang Tu, who was born in the Secretariat of the Imperial Academy, in terms of background!

If you want to say who is his background... nonsense, who else can he be? As the secretary of the secretariat, his backer is only, and can only be, one, and that is the emperor Luo Zhixue!

Why would this kind of proud son of the emperor, the darling of the official career, and a close minister of the emperor, go to work in this mountain bump in Heping County, Huizhou Prefecture?

Why else, everyone knows that he is here for gold plating!

After all, if he wants to continue to rise and go further, then the experience of the party in charge must definitely be indispensable. Now, if he is not young and his grade is low, he chooses to be a county magistrate, so he will continue to hang around in Gyeonggi ah?

After they all become fifth-rank or even fourth-rank officials in the future, it will be very difficult for them to give up opportunities to try to dominate the party.

Because the positions of prefects are limited, but there are many officials, the competition between such mid-level officials is even greater, and it is even more cruel.

Once you don't have the experience of being in charge of one party at the middle and lower levels, then you don't even want to become a party member.

You don't even have the experience of governing hundreds of thousands or millions of people, how can you rest assured that you can manage millions or even tens of millions of people?
As for the governor, it is fine for officials with relatively strong vertical professional fields such as industry, justice, and finance. They basically have no experience in governing the local area.

But for officials who follow the normal channels, it will be a big trouble... An official who has never been a governor, don't expect to be a minister.

If you want to enter the imperial study room, don't even think about it!
At least this is the case now in the 23rd year of Chengshun!
Wang Tu is naturally ambitious, otherwise he would not have chosen to do a good job in the Secretariat of the Imperial Academy. He was favored by the deputy directors of the Secretariat, and even praised several times by Luo Zhixue for his hard work. Resolutely take the initiative to apply for external release.

His choice, to be honest, made many people not understand.

Wang Tu, he is not from an ordinary background, but he was born No. 19 in the Jinling Palace Examination in the 5th year of Chengshun. According to the relevant system of the imperial examination, he was awarded the grade of the seventh rank just after he passed the imperial examination. Work at the Secretariat of the Hanlin Academy.

After working in the secretariat for three years, his working experience is very good, and he is highly valued by his superiors. Last year, he was promoted to the official third-class secretary of the secretariat, which is a position from the sixth rank.

Even though he is only a third-class secretary, to some extent, he can already get into the sight of some bigwigs, because the secretariat is an important organization that assists Luo Zhixue in handling many military and political affairs.

In fact, there are not many official secretaries in the whole secretariat. There are only thirty or so in total. In addition to the first secretaries who are also the deputy directors and the second secretaries who accompany them every day, the remaining There are actually not many third-class secretaries below, only a dozen or so.

According to Wang Tu's background and his employment history, as long as he doesn't make troubles or be stupid, even if he is driven out step by step, he will be transferred out of the Secretariat in about two years, and there is a high probability that he will be transferred to various ministries. This trip is basically a promotion, and after a few years in the ministry, you can continue to go up.

I don't dare to say that I am taller in this life, as long as I don't make mistakes in the middle and don't stand on the wrong team, then there is absolutely no problem with being a third-rank. If you are lucky, you may be able to be a director or something.

In the Great Chu Empire, the chief of the third rank is considered a real high-ranking official.

But... Wang Tu wanted more!
He still wants to be in charge of the government, and he also wants to be a minister, that is, to realize the many ambitions in his heart, and more because the power is too tempting.

Working in the secretariat, he has met too many high-ranking officials of the empire, not to mention third-rank and second-rank officials, even the top group of important ministers in the empire, that is, the ministers of affairs. We can meet each other twice in three days.

He has been in contact with the top officials of the empire for a long time, and he is very aware of the huge power of these top officials of the empire!
Don't look at these Ministers of Counseling, the co-organizers were all respectful and respectful when they met the Holy Spirit, and they thought they were honest little old men if they weren't paying attention.

But these people are outside, and there is one who is all in charge of the wind and rain, especially the ministers of the civil service group, who will cause policy changes and market turmoil if they speak casually.

This has been seen a lot, and Wang Tu naturally hoped that he would become such a top civil servant one day.

But... If you want to become a Minister of Counseling, no, even if you want to become a co-organizing minister, it is extremely difficult...

The imperial examination is already a single-plank bridge, and the road leading to the Imperial Study Room is a straight, hard-to-climb steel wire rope that is ten thousand feet long... Below is an abyss, once you fall, you will be crushed to pieces.

Over the years, not many nobles on the side of the military officer have committed crimes, but there are quite a few in the civil servant group. Almost every year, civil officials of the third rank or even the second rank will be dismissed due to various problems, and the light ones will be dismissed. The unlucky guy was sent to prison and shot.

It's not that Luo Zhixue treats civil servants harshly. In fact, Luo Zhixue is quite tolerant towards his courtiers. As long as the influence is not too bad, he usually pretends not to see it.

So why are there so many unlucky people in the civil service group?Because the civil servants are too fierce among themselves... In order to compete for the top position, they can't wait to chop up their competitors and throw them into the Pacific Ocean. They are very cruel.

Especially when it comes to the change of the position of the imperial study, although there are nine ministers in the imperial study, apart from two for the military, one for the Imperial Academy, and one for the judicial system, there are only five ministers for the traditional civil service group. .

Among them, the Hanlin Academy and the judicial system, although they can barely be regarded as civil official factions, but the successive ministers of the Imperial Academy have always been the imperial party...the civil and military officials outside the bird...people who have had close contacts with outside civil and military officials Basically not in this position.

On the other side of the judicial system, the Zuodu Censor of the Procuratorate is the main one, but how did the previous Zuodu Censors come to power?They all rose to power by killing countless traditional civil servants.

If you want to become the censor of Zuodu, you don't have the blood of a servant or a governor-level official on your hands, and you basically have no hope of getting a position.

And these six have to count the ministers of the judicial system who actually have nothing to do with the traditional civil service group,
Therefore, although the Hanlin Academy and the Inspectorate are barely regarded as the civil service system, they are not the same as the traditional civil service faction.

There are only five positions for traditional civil servants, one carrot and one hole!

But the main body of civil servants in the imperial officialdom is still these traditional civil servants. The major governors, ministers, and ministers of all ministries are all staring at these five positions!
With so many people competing for just five seats, one can imagine the intensity of the competition!

In order to compete for the top position, there must be countless dirty things, and the loser will be arrested and imprisoned if he is a little careless.

Sometimes Luo Zhixue has to protect some courtiers who have failed in the political struggle... Otherwise, according to the ruthless methods of those civil servants fighting among themselves, several second-rank high-ranking officials would have to die every year. The influence is too great.

It is not easy for him, Luo Zhixue, to train second-rank officials who can do things... how can they let them kill each other and kill a few every year, and then put a dozen in prison... In this way, the high-level officials of the empire don't need many Years are wasted.

But Luo Zhi learned to protect them, but the civil servants' fighting methods were indeed ruthless, and sometimes they could produce convincing evidence to kill their opponents.

For this situation, Luo Zhixue can only say that the loser is too unlucky, and then deal with it according to the law.

Therefore, being a civil servant in the Great Chu Empire, especially a high-ranking civil servant, is actually quite dangerous.

Of course, if he could go all the way to the imperial study room and become the co-organizing minister, then his safety would be basically guaranteed.

Even if it is to avoid political turmoil, Luo Zhixue will not let his courtiers mess around!
In addition, these top civil servants are actually quite busy and need to assist Luo Zhixue in handling a lot of government affairs. Fuck off.

Therefore, the outcome of the successive Ministers of Counseling and Co-organizers is generally relatively good, but it is more dangerous in the stage of competition to enter the imperial study.

Wang Tu has seen the situation in the center and appreciated the demeanor of power, so he naturally has ambitions in his heart.

And he is also a very determined person. Now that he has ambitions, he decisively applied for release after making up his mind.

This has to be done as early as possible, otherwise, if he stays in the capital for a few more years, he might be higher than the sixth grade... It will be too troublesome to release the party in charge at that time.

At that time, it was just right when it was from the sixth rank. After being promoted to the sixth rank in the lower part, it happened to be a deputy in the local state government office for a few months.

Wang Tu took this path. He arrived in Huizhou at the beginning of the year. He first served as the sixth-rank experience in Heyuan Prefecture. After a few months of transition, he was transferred to Heping County in the north as the county magistrate.

In other words, today's Huizhou Prefecture is very large, stretching from Jiangnan Dingnan in the north to Haifeng on the coast in the south, and finally reaching the sea. It borders Chaozhou Prefecture on the east and Guangzhou Prefecture and Shaozhou Prefecture on the west.

But in terms of area, it is currently the largest province in Guangdong. Because of its large area and complex terrain, there are coastal areas, small inland plains, and continuous mountainous areas in northern Guangdong. In addition to coastal cities, there are also A Dongjiang River flows through.

As for this kind of big mansion, the Great Chu Empire would generally set up a number of additional mansions and prefectures within its jurisdiction.

Heyuan State is a state established under such circumstances, and Heping is under the jurisdiction of Heyuan State.

In the north, Heping County is located in the mountainous area of ​​northern Guangdong. Although it has a large area, it has a small population and an extremely backward economy. Moreover, there are not small conflicts between natives and tourists in the area, and there are often armed fights.

Even though the Great Chu Empire has unified China for many years, it has continued to carry out high-pressure internal suppression for many years, and it has also launched industrialization, but it is still very troublesome to deal with some conflicts in rural areas.

When you talk about arresting people, the whole village is mobilized... There are even men, women and children in battle.

If you really want to arrest, that means arresting the whole village, including the old and the weak, women and children. This is unrealistic... Although the law does not punish the public, it is nonsense, but the reality exists.

Besides, you really want to arrest the whole village, and the villagers will not be arrested by you obediently. I'm afraid it won't work for you to send a few patrolmen to arrest people... Send a large number of military police over there, the villagers are real Some people will come out with muskets and small earthen cannons... In this way, the fighting will become a rebellion!
The nature has changed!
No one can afford the huge negative consequences of inspiring the civil uprising!

After all, fighting with weapons is not about attacking the government, it's just fighting for water and land. You have to take care of the government's shit and arrest people. The villagers won't talk to you about the reason, so they just pulled out the gun...

Once this kind of yes occurs, the nature will change, and the trouble will be big.

Therefore, every time a large-scale weapon fight occurs, the local government will have a very headache. No matter what, the two sides of the weapon fight can really fight real fire, causing a lot of casualties.

Let it go, people don't appreciate it and it's easy to get burned.

If you manage too much and arrest people, they will stop fighting with weapons and turn around to attack your government...

Who told you to meddle in your own business and arrest people!
As for what law?
If the laws in these places made sense, there would not be such large-scale and frequent armed fights.

Fighting with weapons has become a local tradition, and you can fight if you have nothing to do!
Wang Tu had a little understanding of these things before, but after he actually went to work in the mountainous area of ​​northern Guangdong, he realized that the situation was more brutal than what he had read in writing when he was in Jinling City.

In February of this year, he had just arrived in Heyuan Prefecture to take up a post. When he first took office, he encountered an incident involving weapon fighting. At that time, he was not the main person in charge, so he just went to see it.

Good guy, there are thousands of people on both sides of Nima Weapon Fighting, and there are more than 2000 people facing each other. Food and drink are provided, and a group of half-grown children and elderly people continue to transport things from the village to the front line.

Not to mention the cold weapons such as swords and spears, many people are still wearing simple armor made of simple iron sheets!
And even muskets, matchlocks and even flintlocks!
When the two sides were facing each other in formation, what Nima listed was still a serious line formation...

This, there is a fight with weapons, damn it, even a serious war is nothing more than that.

Just looking at the young and strong formation and armaments in front of them, I am afraid that many small indigenous countries can be wiped out if they are pulled out.

Looking at the logistics supply for the elderly, weak, women and children in the rear, a large number of countries in this mobilization system will be ashamed to see it.

Such a posture of confrontation led to the emergency dispatch of the local garrison. However, after the local garrison was dispatched, they did not dare to act rashly... they could only stay on the sidelines and did not dare to directly suppress it.

It is easy to suppress, but the people in front of them are all the people of the empire, and they are not rebelling, but are fighting for survival resources.

The old man and the child play together to survive!

Even those indifferent officers who have received regular military school education and regard life as a number; and those soldiers who only obey orders in their eyes, advance when the officers above tell them to advance, and shoot when they shoot, seeing these people That's why I can't do it!
Therefore, Wang Tu saw with his own eyes a young lieutenant colonel with a bright future, who probably looked like a dog outside, said all kinds of good things in front of the villagers of both sides, just to persuade the two sides to disperse.

It's a pity... there are no birds!
After holding each other for a long time, the two sides started to fight under the eyes of more than 1000 garrisons!

After the garrison stepped forward to forcibly disperse and separate the two sides, more than 30 people died on both sides and dozens of people were injured.

The total casualties are directly hundreds!
Nima, these human fights are really ruthless. The wooden spears and iron-headed spears made by myself really stab at people's bodies, and the muskets are all close to shooting people in the face!
This fight with weapons made Wang Tu truly see what it means to be a villain out of a poor country.

I understand more about the surging industrialization of the empire, and behind the prosperity and prosperity, there are still countless dark corners hidden deep.

Most of the people in the empire did not live as well as he imagined!

But these did not frighten Wang Tu, on the contrary, they aroused the fighting spirit in his heart!

Why does it lead to troublemakers in poor mountains and bad waters?
Why is there such a large-scale fighting?
Many people say that this is a local tradition, that it is the hatred accumulated by many local villages for tens or even hundreds of years, and that there are conflicts among local residents and so on.

But in Wang Tu's view, these are just appearances, and there is only one real reason: poverty!
He consulted a lot of local materials and found that most of the many fighting in the past 20 years were caused by fighting for water and land.

And water resources and land mean survival!

In the mountainous area of ​​northern Guangdong, the farming conditions are harsh, and people barely survive on the land in the ravines, which is already extremely difficult.

Once there is too little precipitation in a certain year, fighting for water will basically lead to fighting.

This kind of fighting with weapons is often particularly cruel, and large-scale casualties are common.

It is human nature to fight for survival resources!
You can't let them obediently watch the crops die at home, and then obediently wait at home to die, right?

Survival is a human instinct.

So how can we change this situation?
What Wang Tu thinks is to mediate the conflict between the two parties. If this conflict can be mediated, it will have been mediated long ago, and it will not be a battle for hundreds of years!
Although it is necessary to collect civilian guns and cold weapons, it is actually unreliable. In many battles where there were a lot of casualties, both sides did not have a musket, but they were holding various self-made cold weapons and even wooden sticks. Fighting with bamboo guns and the like would result in more casualties than fighting with muskets!

Wang Tu believes that in order to truly solve the problem of fighting with weapons, other means are auxiliary and secondary. The real key is to improve the local economic level, so that the local people can obtain other sources of income and get rid of the need for land. dependency.

When the economy is up, people have money in their pockets, and if they can't starve to death, they will naturally change from unruly people to obedient people.

Then it is supplemented by means of adjusting conflicts, dismantling clans, sorting out land in each village, and allocating water resources, in order to completely solve the local tradition of fighting with weapons that has existed for many years.

Only when you can eat enough and live a better life can you talk about other things, otherwise it is all nonsense.

So when he traveled northward along the Dongjiang River on the Liuhang No. [-] steamer, Wang Tu seemed to often enjoy the scenery on both sides of the strait, but in his heart he was still thinking about how to develop the local economy.

There is no need to count on agriculture. There are many local people and little land, let alone flat land. In order to survive, the local people have even built terraced fields. If they want to do any reclamation, it is basically useless to engage in the food industry.

Even if you want to engage in agriculture, you also need to engage in some economic crops. Wang Tu thought, maybe planting tea is a feasible business?

It happens that many local mountainous areas can be used without having to vacate the arable land that was originally used to grow food.

In the future, we can also rely on tea planting to develop the tea industry. The tea industry is a serious light industry these days.

In addition, when the destination is mountainous and forested, the wood will naturally be indispensable. At that time, it may be possible to engage in logging, but the export of wood raw materials is not successful, and the added value is too low.

It is best to introduce a factory that produces various types of wood, such as making furniture and selling it.

We need to survey the local area again to see if we can find a mineral, whether it is coal, iron ore, copper ore, etc., as long as we can find one that can be developed on a large scale, then we will make a lot of money.

When Wang Tu arrives, he plans to do some research to see if there are local specialties suitable for commercial operation.

In short, Wang Tu had already made up his mind that he had to do a good job as the magistrate of Heping this time, and he had to do it beautifully.

After he has enough political achievements, it will be a matter of minutes to quickly rise to the top by virtue of his background.

(End of this chapter)