Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 257

The blacksmith battalion is the most tiring of the begging army. They learned from Genghis Khan. Every time they fought in a county, Song Qingshu, a craftsman built by the government and the private battalion in the county, would fool around. He also set up an additional battalion with more than 700 people. A few days ago, I selected skilled refugees from Qinzhou and Yuanping. When Sun Chuanting fled the famine, he saw that Xinkouzhai was selected. They are strong and strong men, and Sun Chuanting almost broke his face in the autumn harvest a while ago, Song Qingshu didn't let them help in the autumn harvest.

Although it is called a blacksmith camp, they are responsible for the production of soap, bayonets, muskets, cotton armor, and yellow gunpowder for the beggars.

After all, the new year is almost here, and the people in the blacksmith camp thought they could take a vacation to relax, but the black-hearted capitalist Song Qingshu delegated a lot of production tasks and was busy producing sewing machines. These people are so busy that they almost hit the back of their heads. .

Fortunately, the sewing machine is not difficult to build. The gears and the like can be made of pig iron, and the rest can be made of wooden shells. In a month or so, more than 300 sets can be produced, and the technology is the same. The sewing machine It also inspired these blacksmiths. Before sharpening the blade, they had to use a whetstone to grind slowly. After seeing the sewing machine, they also learned to make a pedal device. When the foot pedal is stepped on, the circular shape on the top The millstone spun quickly.

Song Qingshu didn't know that if he was not careful, he brought a technological innovation to the industry of sharpening scissors and inserting kitchen knives.

During the Spring Festival, it was rare for Song Qingshu to give the entire system of the begging army a day off. Even the soldiers of the musketeers went home to celebrate the new year. Duobao's shopkeeper, buddies, and many squires from Daixian County who cooperated with the beggar army came here. Song Qingshu also learned how to make a mountain sculpture, held a banquet of hundreds of chickens, and learned how to organize personnel to perform at the Spring Festival Gala of later generations. Sketches, singing and dancing, and a Ming version of the Spring Festival Gala.

These days, the entertainment for the dignitaries is nothing more than drinking flowers and wine, and they have two troupes singing at home to sing ditties. There has never been such a lively show, but let the gentry in Dai County watch the singing and dancing. Really enjoyable!

This year is over, and after seven or eight days of rest, the seventh day of the lunar new year has passed, and the whole Dai County has become busy again. Although the ice and snow have not yet melted, everyone is starting to prepare for spring farming.

Food has always been a big problem that plagued the beggar army, Song Qingshu is the most important thing to pay attention to, especially this year, he still has big plans in Yuanping.

A huge shed is tightly covered, only a few small skylights are opened on the top, a ray of light shines in, the outside is still a few degrees below zero, the temperature inside is already over 20 degrees, and there are more than a dozen coal stoves Heating is provided 24 hours a day, and the huge greenhouse of thousands of square meters is already covered with greenery.

In ancient times, there were no green vegetables in winter. The sauerkraut in the Northeast, the kimchi in South Korea, and the pickles in the south of the Yangtze River were all eaten in response to the winter. The fresh vegetables made him popular in Dai County, Xinzhou and Taiyuan's newly opened restaurants, and now it has become a good place to grow seedlings.

The buds cut from the sweet potatoes and potatoes have already emerged green, and the corn, peanuts, etc. are also green. Sow seeds outside.

In ancient farming, it was said that we depended on the sky for our food. Planting seeds is the first gate of hell, because no one knows whether the seeds planted will be able to grow. With this seedling raising technology, at least it is much more reliable.

Not only seedlings, but also animal power and tools. The busiest time for farmers every year is spring plowing and autumn harvesting. Where there is no cattle plowing, relying on manpower to open up the land bit by bit and loosen it is enough to exhaust people. Now In the Ming Dynasty, many places were abandoned because the people could not afford to raise cattle, but for the beggar army, this is not a concern now. Last year, the trade with Kouziwai did not bring much gold and silver, horses, cattle and other animals. In exchange for a lot, the begging army now has tens of thousands of horses and more than 1000 cattle, and Luzhou produces iron. As early as years ago, Song Qingshu bought enough iron plows from merchants. This year's land reclamation will definitely It is much more efficient than last year, and it can save more manpower.

Looking at the green shoots, he went around the conservatory, and said hello to Wan Jinyou Tang Ruowang. Song Qingshu came out in a happy mood. Who knew that just after leaving the gate, a reckless and stupid girl rushed over , unexpectedly collided with him all at once.

"Tell me about you! You are so big, you are not stable at all!"

It's not safe these days, Song Qingshu can wear a breastplate, while rubbing Caiwei's little head that hurts from bumping, while laughing and blaming it.

Tears flowed out in pain, and it was hard to slow down, but Caiwei hurriedly reported again.

"Brother, it's bad, we're running out of raw materials!"

"Impossible? Xinzhou grabs..., ahem, isn't there still a lot of fabrics bought back? Besides, what about our own textile factory?"

Song Qingshu was really amazed, there was still a lot of raw material cloth from years ago, it's only been less than a month now, is it gone?
"Brother, when have I lied to you? If you don't believe me, just follow me!"

Pulling Song Qingshu's sleeve, Caiwei ran out again recklessly.

Not to mention, the warehouses for hoarding cloth are really empty, but the boxes of ready-made clothes next to them are full. On the other side, in the nearby garment factory, the sound of sewing machines is rumbling, and there are constant noises at the door. Some workers ironed the newly produced garments with hot water soil irons, folded them neatly and packed them into boxes.

The emergence of this sewing machine has really brought about a revolutionary improvement for light textiles. More than 2000 female textile workers and more than 400 sewing machines have completed the original workload of half a year in a month, and the ready-made garments with embroidery accounted for [-]%. One-third, the value is much higher than before.

Going back to pick up the account book with Caiwei, Song Qingshu had a hard time. For the first time, the supply of production raw materials began to restrict productivity!
Shi Tianfu is in charge of the business of the Qihuo Army, but the calculations are checked by two girls from Song Qingshu's family, after all, you have to be careful.Here Li Gu'er played a greater role than Caiwei, and the abacus was crackling, and this Li Gu'er was already a professional secretary to calculate an account for Song Qingshu.

"Last year there was a severe drought in Shaanxi, and with the fact that Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, conquered the border thieves in Yanqing, the output of cotton cloth in Shaanxi has been reduced by more than half this year, and the price is estimated to have increased by [-]%. It’s a lot, but with the current productivity of our textile factory, we can produce thread at most in a month, yarn [-] spindles, and weave more than [-] pieces of various cloth, which can’t meet the needs of the garment factory at all.”

"Officer, if it doesn't work, let's raise the price?" Putting down his calculations, Li Bao'er suggested with a financial obsession.

The cost has risen, and the price increase is normal, but Song Qingshu shook his head with difficulty. Now Daixian ready-made garments have just been rolled out, relying on the advantages of low prices and large-scale production to reduce costs. For the market opened, there will definitely be a huge blow. The best way is to expand production.

But once again, manpower has become a problem for the mighty peasant army. Now Song Qingshu's stall has used almost every manpower of the begging army. Last autumn's autumn harvest manpower was not enough. Sun Chuanting has been complaining for a long time. This year, more than 3 starving people from Yuanping and Xinzhou were recruited. They did not expand their army, but formed more than 300 production teams. They are just waiting for the beginning of spring to enter the abandoned land in Yuanping County to open up wasteland. Among them, Song Qingshu More than 3000 men and women have been drawn into the workshop for production, and then the old and weak will be removed. If they draw more people, it is estimated that Sun Chuanting will come over to fight with him again.

"Then we have to stop the sewing machine first and transfer people to the textile factory. It's a pity. Li Yuanwai from Quwo and Zhang Yuanwai from Luoyang have placed a large order, and we can't take it now!"

After fiddling with the abacus beads for a long time, Li Bao'er's fleshy little face looked like a husband and wife and was full of pain. He said distressedly that he had also calculated for a long time, and Song Qingshu, who was staring at the ledger in a daze, suddenly showed a smile on his face. There was a ruthless look.

"Zuo'er, have you ever heard of sheep cannibalizing people? I want your officials to eat people like horses!"

"Sheep eat people? Horses eat people?"

Not only Li Gu'er, but Caiwei also had a bunch of greetings popping up on her little head.

Without explaining to them, Song Qingshu turned his head and yelled outside after making a fool of himself.

"Come on, go invite Ji Yuanwai to the mansion!"

(End of this chapter)