open sea

Chapter 799 Freshmen
In the noisy Bohai Bay, on a sea that is more crowded than during the first phase of the Beiyang voyage, the majestic fleet is ready to go.

On the tall Liujia ship, the young martial arts champion Yuan Zizhang was wearing the armor of a general. His eyes swept over the huge ship with hunting flags flying on the sea, and focused on the civilian ship that stretched to the sky in the distance.

He was the number one in the martial arts examination in the second year of Wanli. He studied literature and martial arts since he was a child, and hoped to be the champion of martial arts to seek a family background. However, in this environment of turbulent military technology, it is really not so wise to take the martial arts exam. decision.

From the examinee to the examiner, there was embarrassment both openly and secretly.

After 20 years of practicing martial arts, let alone being a general in battle, even if you are a soldier, how can you justify shooting someone to death with a gun?
The family is used to dancing with a hundred catties of heavy knives and a hundred catties of heavy bows. He was admitted as a Wu Jinshi. He thought he could be a general, but he didn't want to be dismissed by Tan Lun, Minister of the Ministry of War. He packed up his bags and went to Xuanfu to give a lecture. Wutang, another two and a half years.

Although the martial arts examinations in the Ming Dynasty were not so reliable, and the examinees learned the dragon-slaying technique to the examination room only to find that the examination question was to kill chickens, the selection process of the imperial examination itself was very scientific.

Whether it is Wu Jinshi or Wen Jinshi, they are undoubtedly the best among all the candidates in those three years through multiple selections. They have near-perfect hard work and excellent learning ability, which will enable them Most of the problems encountered in the road of life can be easily solved.

In the martial arts hall of Xuanfu Mansion, people often compare him with Yang Tingxiang of Guangzhou Jiangwu Hall, but there is no more praise in words. People praise Yang Tingxiang as the second Yu Dayou, but no one thinks that Yuan Zizhang is the second so and so.

In any case, he was like a sponge, absorbing all the knowledge about the new military, but he didn't have such good luck. After leaving the martial arts hall, he only got a thousand-household position without much real power in Zhongtun, Yao'an Prefecture, Yunnan.

But fortunately, the prefect Li Zhi admired him very much, not only often exchanged his experience with him in the military, but also often informed him of the latest news of the world's general situation in letters from friends from all over the world.

Li Zhi often encouraged him, thinking that his talent could make great achievements in a changing world.

Finally, he made up his mind to look for a new future. Entrusted by the turning relationship, he was recommended by Yu Dayou to the second phase of the Beiyang Army, and began to walk in the world as a Beiyang general.

He spent almost the first half of his life training and studying, which led him to name the Liujia warship built in Nanyangwei as the Chuiyun, and the infantry under his command was also named Chuiyunying.

This warship with 32 cannons and its [-] Beiyang army are the wings of Kunpeng, which can help him soar.

The adjutant on the ship stood by his side, followed Yuan Zizhang's gaze, and said with emotion: "The second phase of Beiyang started two months later than originally scheduled, but the scale is more than three times larger than that of the first phase. I really don't know what Chen Shuai will do in the past." think."

"Don't you feel proud?"

Yuan Zizhang turned his head and glanced at the adjutant, pointed to the sea and said, "There are [-] seagoing ships. There is probably no place in the world where such a huge fleet can be assembled."

The adjutant's blunderbuss rested on the deck, holding the upper end of the blunderbuss in his hand, with the exquisitely crafted blunderbuss sticking out of his waist, he shook his head slowly and said: "I don't want to go with them, if I can go with the Shandong people All right."

What the adjutant was talking about was not the Mongolian Jurchen army, but the people from all over the world who responded to the emperor's call and went to the East to find wealth.

Yuan Zizhang shook his head and said: "In these years, the changes have been too fast. No one would have imagined that the world will be like this. Ten years ago, who would have thought that even the tenants could not be found in the capital area, and the horse meat shops were closed one after another. Woolen cloth?"

It sounds like a bit of a jump, and the fields seem to have nothing to do with the eating habits of Beizhili, but the adjutant can understand it, and anyone who has lived in this place in this era can understand it.

There is only one reason for this - industrialization.

The industrialization of Zhili in the north and south developed rapidly with the support of officials and the pursuit of profits by merchants. Large factories in all walks of life entered the era of collective labor. From the closure of factories to horse meat shops, there was a huge game in all aspects.

The factories guarding the coastal routes have the boundless market dividends of Daming Overseas, which makes each of them want to expand production capacity. The booming shipbuilding industry triggered by the Beiyang expedition last year alone has driven many chain industries. Those who manufacture ship wood, iron parts, Canvas merchants all chose to introduce steam engines when it was difficult to recruit workers.

It is easy to build a factory in Daming, but if you want to build a large-scale factory, for example, with more than a thousand workers?Don't even think about it!

Because of the existence of parents and officials, they will never allow a large number of people in a county to leave farming and cause the fields to be abandoned. This is related to tax revenue and their political achievements.

Officials can restrict, but they cannot be firm in the face of the need to expand production capacity, especially in Beizhili near Beiyang, and a large number of iron ore deposits in Zunhua have been discovered. Mining; the background of various factories in Beiyang is stronger than the officials, which is not something that local officials can stop if they want to.

Unable to recruit suitable workers, some merchants began to train their own workers. The easiest to become workers were refugees and tenant farmers. The relatively higher income made them more willing to become workers, which further increased the remuneration paid by the landlord to the tenant farmers, and then the factories The bid is higher, and the two sides compete for manpower.

During this period, Lord Wanli issued a decree to Huangzhuang, prohibiting Huangzhuang from participating in the robbing of tenant farmers and encouraging industrial development. Huangzhuang was the first to use horses for farming, and the horses for the farmland were drawn from horse meat restaurants in various places. Afterwards, the landlord followed suit and almost Take all the ingredients of the horse meat restaurant from the source.

People can't eat horse meat anymore.

The thriving industry has increased the mobility of the population in the north and south of Zhili, and the law and order has also deteriorated. The number of unemployed people wandering in various cities has increased. This kind of thing was reported to the court by the local officials. Zhang Juzheng adopted another method.

Encouraging these unemployed vagrants to go to sea to find new development opportunities, just like Emperor Wanli was willing to share overseas development with Alta, Jurchen, Korea, and Japan.

In Zhang Juzheng's view, the fact that Dongyang is fighting is not important. He doesn't think that the Asian strategy will lose to anyone or any army, especially the Spaniards who were once defeated. A big question—how could there be no Ming people in the land of the Ming Dynasty?
It was precisely because of this subjectivity that after Zhang Juzheng discussed with the emperor, the officials of the Ministry of Households reported that the cabinet approved the order of "transfer of homeless people from four provinces to Yashu".

At this moment, no one knows what this order means, but Yuan Zizhang, the general of the Beiyang Chuiyun Battalion, and everyone on the more than [-] ships that set sail in Bohai Bay know that their new life - has begun !

(End of this chapter)