Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2200 Degeneration

"Xiaoyazi, go away!" There was a loud shout, and Chen Ergou, who was pasting cardboard boxes by the side of the road, hadn't figured out the situation before he spun around for a while, and then rolled into the stinky ditch next to him.

His father, Chen Laoshi, was heartbroken for the cartons that rolled into the water conservancy with his son, and at the same time knelt down on the side of the road in fright and kowtowed repeatedly.He is a farmer in Xiangyin County, Changsha Prefecture. Because of the flood in his hometown last autumn, his livelihood was difficult, so he gritted his teeth and left his hometown. With the little money left to make money, the whole family went to Changsha City to join relatives.

His relatives were the first batch of people who came to work in the city back then, and they are doing well now, working as foremen in a small textile workshop.But even a small foreman has the right to recommend workers to enter the factory, especially when this workshop is producing quilts for Shunjun, they are short of people.

Chen Laoshi's wife joined the workshop because she was spinning and weaving when she was in her hometown. She was paid one yuan and fifty cents a month (the size of the silver dollar in Shunguo is basically the same as that on the east bank), and she could also have a lunch in the workshop. , although very crude, but also very good.

As for Chen Laoshi himself, he works in a blacksmith's shop, because he is relatively tall in this age and still has a lot of strength, so it's good to do some chores in the blacksmith's shop that require strength.It's a pity that the blacksmith's shop doesn't serve lunch at noon, and Chen Laoshi has to go home to cook for himself and his two children—usually multigrain rice, the portion is just that, it's not delicious, but it can barely fill his stomach.

By the way, Chen Laoshi's two sons didn't go to school—in fact, they couldn't afford it either. Shunguo didn't have universal compulsory education—but they got some paper and paste from a small carton-making workshop in the neighborhood and helped them at home. Paste paper boxes and earn a little money to subsidize the family.Don't underestimate the change, at least the family of four spent on oil, salt, sauce and other condiments in daily life, which is very important for the urban working class who are generally not well-off.

Today, Chen Laoshi and his two children finished their lunch indiscriminately, and while there was still some time, they sat at the door of the rented dilapidated house and pasted cardboard boxes together.As a result, he was very confused. When he met a group of officers and soldiers in fresh clothes and angry horses, an old soldier walking in the front seemed to have a bad temper. Son Chen Ergou.

After Chen Ergou fell into the ditch, he didn't dare to shout, and just lay there, tremblingly waiting for the group of soldiers with guns and knives to pass by.The common people in Changsha all know that these soldiers came back from the south recently, fought there for several years, and were extremely murderous.If they are provoked, a beating would be light if they come up directly, and the beating is basically for nothing. Changsha County will not care about it. Like a kitten, you can't count on it at all.

It took a long time for a group of dozens of soldiers to pass.Chen Laoshi raised his head, seeing that these people had gone far away, he beckoned his son to climb up, and then looked at the few cardboard boxes still held by Chen Ergou, his heartache was beyond words.The carton has been soaked, so I have to lose money!It's not easy for Lao Lin, he made a living by pasting cardboard boxes because of the pity of their family, so he can't cheat others.

"I heard that they all came back from the south, General Wang's men. After several years of fighting abroad, they came back to rotate." After the soldiers left, a group of neighbors popped up from every corner and began to spread their gossip.

"Which General Wang? South? Where is that? Baoqing Mansion?"

"Of course it's Guangxi! Where else can it be in the south? Baoqing Mansion has always been our territory in Dashun." A middle-aged man in linen clothes said, "I work in the back camp in the Mainland. I came back a few days ago to talk to me. After a meal of wine, I said that I will go to the south of Guangxi to suppress bandits in the Shiwanda Mountains in a few days. I don’t know when I will come back this trip, so I can only say that it is not easy.”

"General Wang was the general who was handpicked by the Holy Majesty back then. He fought bloody battles with the Tartars for seven days and seven nights. It is said that he loved the people like a son. How could his soldiers be so brutal?"

"General Wang is always busy, how could he notice such a trivial matter of his subordinates? He must have been deceived by treacherous people!"

"Hmph, don't all the big soldiers have the virtues? They oppress the common people. In Yurou Township, the government doesn't dare to take care of them. Let me tell you..."

"Okay, Scholar Luo, stop talking! You've come to our place, why are you still so outspoken? I lost my job as a clerk back then because of your bad mouth, right?"

"Fart! Pork Zhang, someone was framed, otherwise how could he have lost the secret document? Master Liu still valued me very much back then, but it's just—it's hard to say, alas!"

Chen Laoshi ignored the comments of the people around him, and when he found that his youngest son was fine, he sighed and beckoned them to continue squatting outside to glue paper boxes.Not to mention the small space inside the house, it is impossible to open it, and the light alone is not good enough. I can't see clearly in broad daylight, so I can only sit under the sun at the door.

Chen Ergou didn't change his clothes—in fact, he didn't have any extra clothes to change. The wars have been going on for the past few years, the government has been urgently urging him to teach, and the family really has no money left—he is already ten years old and knows A lot of things, but also very sensible.Since their family left the place where there was not enough to eat in the countryside, their life has improved slightly, but it is not much better than before. After all, the old men who run workshops in the city are not good people. It's not easy.

Especially last year when there was a flood in the countryside, a large number of people flooded into big cities such as Changsha and Hengyang, and they were overcrowded for a while.Many people can't find work and have no livelihood, so they can only rely on odd jobs to make ends meet.But in recent years, the war in the south has been too fierce, the government has frequently collected taxes, and the market has been severely depressed. Everyone's life is very difficult, and life is not easy.Not to mention being kicked, Chen Ergou would be happy to be beaten a few times if he could find a job to eat.

Chen Ergou was silently pasting the cardboard box while spreading his thoughts.The soldier with the red forehead on his head and the armor on his body just now left a deep impression on him. With such strength, he should be able to eat a full meal, right?For some reason, Chen Ergou suddenly had an uncontrollable envy in his heart, he also wanted to have a full meal!

It's a pity that I'm still young, and my body is too thin, so I might not be as tall as a gun when I stand up.Maybe when I'm a few years older and can carry a gun, I can join the army, right?In Chen Ergou's pure heart, the idea of ​​serving as a soldier and eating food emerged, and it was very strong, but it was temporarily buried in his heart because of his unqualified conditions.

Unlike Chen Ergou who yearned to serve as a soldier and eat food, his father Chen Laoshi didn't have such complicated thoughts.This man, who has been bent over by the burden of life, is now focused on working, working, and working again.He was very afraid that he would never be able to return to the village and that he would not be able to find a job, and that his family would become beggars one day, which would be too tragic!Mr. Chen's only wish now is that his employer (the owner of the blacksmith shop) has a prosperous birthday, so that he can work there for a longer period of time.

Of course, neither Chen Laoshi nor Chen Ergou understood how much the ongoing wars against bandits in Shunguo had affected their livelihoods.In order to ensure the supply of the army, the Dashun court not only restricted the market circulation of many goods, but also issued a large amount of banknotes, which dealt a big blow to the budding capitalist industries that had just flourished in Shun.

After the circulation of goods is reduced, the production of various factories will also be reduced. The workers who have finally left the countryside face the risk of being laid off. Many people's lives are in trouble overnight. It's something that actually happened.

The excessive issuance of banknotes exacerbated the degree of inflation, and many self-employed or small workshop owners with small capitals suddenly fell into trouble.They instinctively reduced the scale of production and laid off the hired helpers in order to reduce costs as much as possible and maintain the competitiveness of their own products.But what's the use?Especially for those small workshops that produce minsheng department stores, when many workers lose their regular income due to layoffs, their product sales will naturally encounter a crisis. This is very clear.

Therefore, this long-lasting war has really suppressed the economic development of Shun Country to a considerable extent.Those that have been positively affected are probably only some industries related to the military industry, and the rest of the life is very difficult.But fortunately, the vitality of capitalism is strong. After businessmen tasted the sweetness brought by factory production, they embarked on a road of no return.As long as the Shunguo government ends the war as soon as possible, cuts military expenditures, and then cancels the exorbitant and miscellaneous taxes temporarily imposed due to insufficient military expenditures, restores the free circulation of goods, and restrains the impulse to issue money at will, then Shunguo's economy can still recover quickly of.

On this point, the upper echelons of Shun Country were not so ignorant.At least, they are also trying to find a way to study the economic thinking of the people on the east coast, and have a little understanding of the Taoism in it.Strong support for merchants has basically become the consensus of the military leaders of Shun Kingdom, because only merchants can quickly raise money, food and materials for them, there is no other way, isn't there?

Shun country's society and economy have unknowingly begun to undergo a profound degeneration.

Watching the national football game, the update is late, and it is a little short and weak. . .

Today's martial arts king is really awesome, awesome!

(End of this chapter)