I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 351 "The Scholars" is gone too
Jiangsu, Ganyu County.

Wu Jingzi, who was only 24 years old, returned home from the county school.

"My husband is back!" His wife, Mrs. Tao, quickly came to greet him and put away the cotton coat he was wearing.

"Daddy!"

His six-year-old son Wu Xi also came up to him and shouted sweetly.

Wu Jingzi smiled and said: "Hong'er, have you been lazy in studying today?"

Although Wu Xu was still young, he showed a maturity that was beyond his age range. He said seriously: "My child has never been lazy. Please take the exam for school!"

Wu Jingzi said: "There is no need to take exams. Studying is like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. My son must remember that even talented people should always study hard, otherwise they will regret it when they grow old."

Wu Xu said: "My child, please remember your father's teachings!"

Wu Jingzi was a well-known talented scholar in Ganyu County and a county scholar. His successor (adopted) Wu Linqi was a lecturer during his lifetime, and he was also known for being strict and meticulous.

When it was the turn of his son Wu Xang, he was already outstanding at a young age. Not only was he a natural child prodigy, but he was also famous in the county at the age of six.

It can be said that there are three masters in one discipline!
The father and son chatted for a while, and then his wife, Mrs. Tao, came over to remind her: "It's time to eat, sir, Xinger!"

The family comes to the dinner table, showing warmth in this increasingly cold winter.

After dinner, he taught his son for half an hour, and then came to the bedroom.

Wu Jingzi was lying on the bed: "I may have to come back later this month. If it's too late, you don't have to wait for me to come back for dinner."

Tao said, "Is the county getting busy again?"

Wu Jingzi nodded: "Yes! The county has reopened the county school, and also opened a new calendar subject. In February next year, the imperial examination will be reopened in the new dynasty. Now the official affairs of the entire county school are very busy. . In addition, many teachings have gone to Shandong, so the work has become busy. Fortunately, there is more work here, and the salary and silver are also more."

Mrs. Tao said: "My husband works hard, so don't exhaust yourself just for a little money."

Wu Jingzi smiled and said: "Haha, it's just teaching and educating people. Your husband is very strong."

After laughing, he seemed to remember something and couldn't help but sigh.

Wu Jingzi was not from Ganyu County, but from Quanjiao, Anhui.

However, his heir father, Wu Linqi, was an evangelist in Ganyu County during his lifetime, so he brought young Wu Jingzi to live in Ganyu County.

Then, Wu Jingzi inherited his father's legacy and inherited Wu Linqi's teaching position.

I originally planned to go back to my hometown for a visit, but it coincided with the war in the south and the rise of the Ming Dynasty.

The old and frail Wu Linqi died in Ganyu County. He was busy with funerals and the Ming army regained Anhui. Wu Jingzi was never able to return from Ganyu County.

It wasn't until this year that I finally had the opportunity to go back once, just to move Wu Lin's grave.

Since his successor Wu Linqi passed away, Wu Jingzi was required to observe mourning for three years, so he was destined to miss the start of the course next year, and it happened to be the last year.

This is where Wu Jingzi sighed.

However, it can only be said that it was a blessing and a misfortune. His fate has changed much compared to history.

Although his biological father still passed away, because of the war, he had no chance of encountering such nasty things as bullying by relatives and attempts to seize family property.

His beloved wife Tao was not stimulated and died in depression.

Now that the war in Jiangsu has ended, Wu Jingzi's family can be said to be harmonious and happy.

It's just a pity that Hu Shih said he was the best writer in China, and that he had never written "The Scholars".

Well, there is a high probability that it will never come out, just like the "Dream of Red Mansions".

……

Liguo Mine.

Located 37 kilometers due north of Xuzhou, it is composed of more than 100 ore bodies including Dongshan, Moshan, Ximazhuang, and Wuzhuang. It is a medium-sized rich iron ore.

It has been mined since the Han Dynasty. There were 7 iron offices in the Western Han Dynasty and 4 iron offices in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Moreover, the iron ore mining was all open-pit.

Liguo Iron Mine is a rare natural open-pit mine that continued to develop from the Han Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties.

In the fourth year of Taiping and Xingguo's reign (Zhao Guangyi), Li Guojian was finally established here, which became one of the four major mine supervisors in the country and held a decisive position.

By the time of Yuanfeng's restructuring, Liguojian had an annual output of 150 million kilograms (770 tons) of iron and paid 30 kilograms (154 tons) of iron to the state treasury, ranking third in the country.

However, in the fifth year of Shaoxi's reign in the Southern Song Dynasty, Du Chong, who stayed behind in Tokyo, dug a Yellow River dam in Yangwu, Henan to defend against the Jin soldiers, and the surging Yellow River water passed through Xuzhou and entered the Huaihe River.

Afterwards, it burst and flooded several times. A large amount of silt accumulated on the river bed, blocking the swimming channel from entering the Huaihe River. The water stagnated and formed a mountainous lake, submerging most of the mines in Liguo. The Dongshan Mountain sank into the lake and became an isolated island.The Liguo Iron Mine was just ruined.

From the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, mining sites near the lakeside were successively mined. However, due to the inability to eliminate the water gushing from the pits, mining was finally completely stopped in the mid-Ming Dynasty.

But now, it has been reactivated by Zhu Yijiong.

Although new steam engines are still being improved, the original Newcomen steam engine is already ready for mass production.

This steam engine model is originally used for mine drainage, and its effect is better than the previous generation.

As for the fuel issue, the Liguo Iron Mine not only produced iron, but also coal. The Manchu Qing Dynasty mined large quantities of coal here.

"Dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang-dang..."

The whole mine was filled with the loud sound of steam engines pumping water, and the mine supervisor was whipping and cursing: "You are working harder for me, haven't you even eaten?"

"Crack~pop~~!"

This is the sound of a whip being whipped. Every blow will always fall on a miner.

These miners, without exception, were all unkempt. Although some messy hair had grown, the braids on the back of their heads were still clearly visible.

These people are all Eight Banners mining slaves, or Manchu Eight Banners mining slaves, there are also Han Eight Banners mining slaves, and they are still working as coolies on the other side.

They were sent to this mine a few months ago, and then they worked in the mining area endlessly.

As of now, nearly [-]% of those prisoners of the Eight Banners are now dead.It’s not that he was exhausted from working, but that he couldn’t bear the pressure and collapsed and committed suicide.

There are also a few who fell ill in the mining area and died without receiving treatment.

The entire Liguo Mine is filled with a rich and depressing atmosphere, almost like a prison... No, this is a prison.

"Clap!"

The Eight Banners mine slave, who had a pigtail wrapped around his neck, didn't pay attention, and the wheel of the mine wheel hit a stone.

The mine cart overturned, and he was thrown into the mud.

When a mine supervisor saw it, he immediately rushed forward and whipped him and cursed him: "Fuck you, you bitch, you dog-Tatar and boar-skin, get up and work quickly! Don't let me laze around here!"

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

The whip came down one after another, and the Eight Banners mine slave could only barely protect his head and face, and his body was continuously beaten by the whip.

Although it hurts, it is not fatal.

Not only that, now the Eight Banners mining area can also have enough to eat, and even eat meat during the holidays.

This kind of treatment is better than that of the Green Camp soldiers in the past.

This is of course not Zhu Yijiong's kindness, but the previous method caused the Eight Banners mine slaves to die too many too quickly.This is not conducive to continued mining in the mining area. After all, these Eight Banners mining slaves are also human resources!
Moreover, they were left alive like this and spent the entire second half of their lives in the mining area.

Not only can they continue to psychologically humiliate and torture these Eight Banners mining slaves, but they can also continue to contribute to the construction of the Ming Dynasty.

Jueluo Manbao's life was very good. He had only been in the mining area for half a month when he got cold due to an autumn rain and couldn't bear to fall ill.

After the diagnosis, the doctor in the mining area felt that the treatment was troublesome and a waste of good medicine, so he simply gave up.

They just lay there in the shack, sometimes forgetting to give them water or rice.After struggling for almost half a month, I finally couldn't hold it any longer.

What's ridiculous is that before this guy died, he still shouted: "Prince Regent! Prince Regent..."

But in fact, Yinhu never asked for him from beginning to end, not even a captured Manchu who was demoted and demoted.

Jueluo Manbao is dead!

A Manchu Qing Confucian general who once led hundreds of thousands of troops and fought in both the south and the north, and was a close confidant of Yongzheng.

He died in a shack in the mining area. When the mine supervisor found out, he was wrapped in a straw mat and buried in a mass grave.

Thanks to Zhu Yijiong's decree, the corpses of Eight Banners mine slaves cannot be thrown around casually to prevent the accumulation of corpses and the outbreak of plague.

Otherwise, it may be difficult to even bury him.

(End of this chapter)