Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2276 Life ([-])

On May 1695, 5, in an ordinary village in the northwest of Lanzhou, a new day had just begun.

This is a messy village, and the shacks built with broken wooden boards are of poor quality, as if they could collapse when the wind blows.In front of the shack, some black coal gangue was randomly piled up, which is fuel for people to cook.Strictly speaking, things that are more like rocks are basically brought back from nearby mines, and the supervisors don't care much, after all, they can't be sold at a price.Coal miners live a hard life, and they can save a little bit.

It would be six o'clock in the morning, and some children had already woken up, sitting sleepily at the door of the house, beating big pieces of coal gangue with hammers or wooden sticks.Their mother cooks breakfast in the shack. Because of the high price of food, they can only drink a bowl of batter with a few wild vegetables in the morning.

And their father was sitting on the threshold, looking out silently.In another hour, it was time to go down the well again.The underground well is dark, narrow and cramped, and there is a danger of collapse everywhere. It can be said that every man who goes down the well is desperate for his life.But what can I do?If you go down to dig coal, you can get an income of one dime a day, which is three yuan a month. This is not a small amount of income in the Northwest. After all, being a frontier soldier only costs a little more than two yuan a month—— Well, they might be able to get some more pickles, and they could get a whole set of clothes in spring and autumn, and maybe some rewards during the holidays, but the income levels of the two parties are really on the same level.

Going down the well to dig coal has now become the preferred choice of many people in Lanzhou!

The villagers who live in this spontaneous village today are either coal miners or their families.These people were originally farmers in the vicinity, who lived by renting and planting land, but the land was barren, and eating from the soil all year round might not be able to feed the whole family.Not to mention, the imperial court and the Mongols on the grassland are now fighting fiercely, and the pressure of various taxes has made the people unable to straighten their waists.If you don’t want to make some money, you are afraid that you will be forced to ruin your family by the tax collectors. Therefore, digging coal in the well has become the best choice for many people, because this is one of the few places in Shaanxi-Gansu, a society dominated by agricultural economy. Opportunity to receive direct cash income.

Similar to digging coal in wells, there are workers who transport coal and wash coal.Although these people don't have to go down the well, their work is still extremely heavy, and they don't have any labor protection measures. They are ordered around by the supervisors all day long, and they are even beaten and scolded, but most people still flock to them.

In the early days of the emergence of industrialization, it was indeed cruel to workers!

"Don't be dazed, hurry up and eat and pack up, and you're going to work soon." There was a sound of horseshoes, and two knights galloped one after the other on the dirt road in front of the village. They knocked on the gong in their hands and pulled apart Shouting, reminding the miners living here not to miss the time, otherwise Master Yuan will be angry.

Master Yuan is Yuan Baodi, who is now the number one coal merchant inside and outside Lanzhou City. He has two coal mines with stable coal output under his command.It stands to reason that such a lucrative business should be followed by many people, and Yuan Baodi's coal mine may not be too secure.But who are they?The celebrities in front of Gansu Admiral Zhao Liangdong had friendship with many generals of the Sixth Town of the New Army stationed in Lanzhou (Zhao Liangdong’s Hanzhong New Army was reorganized into two towns, and the fifth town was stationed in Suzhou), and even those in Xi’an Jieshu has accepted his benefits, how can this position be unstable?

Recently, I heard rumors that the imperial court intends to increase investment in the Lanzhou Gun Bureau and Lanzhou Textile Bureau. Among them, the hydraulic machinery of the Gun Bureau will gradually be replaced by steam machinery, and the Textile Bureau has also purchased some new-style textile machines from England. Under the guidance of several foreigners, it was installed and debugged in order to increase the output.

Undoubtedly, after this major technological innovation is completed, the demand for coal will rise to a new level. At that time, Yuan Baodi's business will only get better, so he is trying to find ways to increase coal production. , to keep up with the pace of future consumption.

Some people may ask, why did the imperial court suddenly think of strengthening the strength of the Lanzhou Gun Bureau?You must know that it is not easy to transport the steam engine and its auxiliary equipment from Tianjin Wei to Lanzhou City, and the cost is very high, which should not be the case.But who made Zhao Liangdong do such a good job recently?From the middle of last year to May of this year, this admiral Zhao cooperated with the Qing army stationed in Zhangjiakou, Gubeikou, Xifengkou and Monan Grasslands, repeatedly went out from Gansu to attack the flanks of the Galdan forces, and gained great success. results.

Especially during the three-month battle.Zhao Liangdong led the sixth town of the new army and more than 2 old troops. Together with more than [-] people from the Ningxia General Army, they went out to the north together. As a result, they intercepted a horse team on the grassland that was transporting supplies from Moxi Mongolia to the east. Annihilate them all.The victory of this battle made the Galdan forces stranded in Monan Mongolia more and more embarrassed, and the conditions for the Qing army to launch a large-scale decisive battle were ripe.At the same time, they also judged from it that there are still some forces loyal to Galdan in Moxi Mongolia. At present, the Qing court has sent envoys to Dashigan (Tashkent) urgently to discuss with Tserwang Arabtan and conquer it as soon as possible. Those tribes that have no ties to Galdan completely cut off their support—once the supply of weapons and ammunition from the Western Regions is cut off, then Galdan will become a toothless tiger, and there is nothing to be afraid of.

It is reported that Cewang Arabtan agreed in principle to the Qing court's proposal, but he asked for a delay in taking action on the pretext that the Kazakhs in the territory rebelled and the Russians were also ready to move.The Qing court didn’t really believe in the rhetoric of Allah Butan, but they wouldn’t say it face-to-face. Beijing just wrote Xi’an’s excellent book, asking him to urge troops from Shaanxi and Gansu provinces to advance westward, while consolidating the Hexi Corridor. , took the opportunity to seize some strategic points.The Moxi Mongolian forces in the Western Regions will be dealt with sooner or later, no matter whether their leader is Galdan or Cewang Alabutan, it's the same!

Against such a background, the Lanzhou Gun Bureau has received unprecedented attention.All kinds of machines and talents began to depart from the Beijing-Tianjin area and were transported to Lanzhou.According to a conservative estimate, once all the equipment arrives and is debugged, the production capacity of the Lanzhou Gun Bureau will be fully tripled, and it will be more than enough to supply the new army in the two towns (the new army is a big consumer of guns and ammunition), and even Even the consumption of the old army will be largely replenished, and long-distance transshipment will no longer be required.

So, you can now imagine what kind of pinnacle of life Yuan Baodi will usher in with two mines in hand.If he can successfully expand production capacity, it is basically equivalent to sitting on the ground and counting money, because no matter how much coal is produced, it can basically be sold.Therefore, he has recently issued a deadly order to the management of the mines to increase the production capacity of the two coal mines by half before the end of this year, otherwise everyone will go home to pick up their children and replace them!

When Master Yuan gave the order, there was a flutter of chaos in the coal mine.The supervisors seem to have taken aphrodisiacs recently, urging the workers to work in the mine every morning, and for the first time, they also packed lunch, which is equivalent to increasing benefits in disguise, so that the miners can work more at ease.

Compared with coal mines, other industries in Lanzhou City have also been developed to a certain extent.Not to mention the catering industry and the maintenance industry that serve the coal mines, these are all prosperity and loss with the coal mines.In other words, other industries, such as the textile industry (mainly the Lanzhou Textile Bureau), the metal processing industry, and the transportation industry have all developed to a considerable extent.Many original farmers entered these sweatshops without food and clothing, and started their tragic life. The increase in the number of workers has a certain relationship with the war. Because of the frequent collection of corvee, many farmers have no time to cultivate their fields. , and the land rent and government taxes cannot be reduced or exempted, so in the end, the whole family can only abscond, leave the countryside, and work as refugees in the city to make ends meet.

Of course, in addition to these refugees, there is another group that is quite eye-catching, and that is Hexi Huihui.To be honest, the Qing court distrusted these people very much, because they rebelled many times in history, and they didn't pay much taxes. At the same time, they collude with the people from the former Turpan Khanate, which made the Qing court very angry. In the end, there were several crackdowns.

The crackdown led by the Fifth Township of the New Army was swift and brutal.These returnees were forced to leave their hometowns where they had lived for many years, and went to work near Lanzhou to make a living.Some of them went down to work as coal miners, some went to build roads, and some went to work in other factories. In short, life was still very difficult, but objectively they made contributions to the industrial development of the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, combining these two factors, the labor force of the booming modern industry in Lanzhou is actually sufficient.While life for these early industrial workers was undoubtedly difficult and arduous—sometimes even threatened with death—society ultimately offered all a different option than exhausting themselves in the barren soil of their homeland The choice of energy but nothing, although this choice still has a great possibility that they will continue to get nothing.

Suffering, sweat and life, industrialization always requires sacrifices.

After the overseers passed the news, the miners living in the shantytowns immediately sped up their actions.They finished their breakfast in two mouthfuls, then picked up their tools and set off on the road with sad faces.After they leave, the women will also go to nearby coal washing plants or pulp washing plants to earn income by selecting and washing coal and mending laundry.As for the half-aged children, they will go to pick up coal gangue near the coal mine, and some older ones will help pull carts to transport coal.And if they have enough time, they may return home halfway, take care of the livestock raised at home, and find some wild vegetables to put away, which is indispensable for dinner at night.

Life in an industrial society is not easy.

I went out to play for a while, and I was so tired that I didn't want to go to work tomorrow. . . . . .

(End of this chapter)