Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 45 Changes
April 1590, 4 AD.Wuzhaibao Dadong Street.

Compared with last year, the street appearance of Wuzhaibao has changed a lot in the past few months. First of all, there are more people on Fort Nei Street, especially in the area of ​​Dadong Street.Due to Huang Laifu's recruitment of colonists and the insufficient population of Wuzhai Fort, some households and refugees from other places came to Wuzhai Fort, which greatly increased the population of Wuzhai Fort.The reaction on the street is that there are a lot more people on the street.

Secondly, the appearance of everyone in the castle has also changed a lot. There were fewer ragged and skinny people in the streets before. Everyone's face was rosy, and many people even put on new clothes.Compared with the numbness and despair on the faces of the military households in the fort, now everyone’s faces are full of smiles full of hope and longing for life. The smiles seem to bring vitality, which makes the whole Wuzhai Fort look very different.

Now the houses beside the street are not all thatched huts full of openings, those openings are basically blocked with new mud, the grass on the roof has also been replaced with new grass, and even new brick houses have appeared in some places.For example, Liu Zongqi's thatched hut that was about to collapse was replaced by a new tile-roofed house.This makes Wuzhaibao no longer look like a den of beggars, more or less like a new town.

The last change in Wuzhai Fort is that the number of businessmen from other places and the villagers who came to sell things in the fort increased a lot, which made the business atmosphere in the fort much stronger.

Wuzhai Fort plus the various military forts under the jurisdiction of other places originally had a population of about 6000, and the headquarters of Wuzhai Fort had a population of about 6000.Among the 3000 people, more than 18 are strong laborers aged 50 to 1000, and more than 15 are elderly and women who can work.There are also children who can do things between the ages of ten and fifteen.However, these people are basically working in farms and livestock farms in Wuzhaibao.

In addition to the original population of several thousand in Wuzhai Fort, there are about 2000 refugees and households from other places working in various farms in Wuzhai Fort.If Wuzhaibao is compared to a large farm or a large factory, there are some stable workers inside. They have a fixed monthly salary (monthly grain) and daily meals, which is equivalent to the food and housing of later generations of large factories. .

These nearly [-] people form a large market, and it is still a market with relatively strong consumption power.Especially now that Wuzhai Fort is still in the production stage, food, cloth, vegetables, meat, etc. have to be purchased from outsiders. Therefore, in the past few months, many businessmen have been attracted to come.

Especially those Shanxi merchants with sharp hands and eyes and keen senses, as soon as they sensed the business opportunities in Wuzhai Fort, they continued to flock to Wuzhai Fort, built houses and shops in various places in Wuzhai Fort, and settled down.

Especially on the Golden Street and Dadong Street in Wuzhaibao, during these days in April, a new store of a Shanxi merchant opened for business every few days.Compared with the few merchants in Wuzhai Fort last year, even if there were, they were just a few small sesame mung bean merchants, which is really like a dream.

With the arrival of businessmen one after another, the present Wuzhai Fort has a taste of boats and horses.Grain, cotton, salt, cloth, coal, bamboo, wood, tea, tung oil, lacquer, medicinal materials, koji wine and other materials are traded here, making Wuzhai Fort more and more lively.

In addition to the shops, there are also many plainly dressed, wrinkled, honest-looking villagers and businessmen on the street, carrying some of their own local products, shouting and buying in the street with hope.

They sell more vegetables, garlic, onions, leeks, fennel, loofah, bitter gourd, etc.Or they caught their own fish, ducks, geese, chickens, pigs, etc., hoping to sell some money for some daily necessities such as salt and cloth to go back.

Although the arrival of businessmen one after another made the food, cotton, salt and other daily necessities in Wuzhai Fort worry free, but these vegetables, meat and other daily food items were not convenient for them to escort. Provided a new way of life hope.

Originally, in the past few months, seeing that this year's situation is not good, and the grain harvest in the fields seems to be poor by the end of the year, this life is really difficult.The households in the nearby minbao are all sad. Some of them have people who work in various farms in Wuzhaibao, and they can get enough food and clothing. What about others?

They all regretted why they didn't go to the various farms in Wuzhaibao to recruit Tun Ding.It was in vain to take advantage of those refugees from other places. Anyway, they are also from Wuzhaibao.I don't know when it started, these Minbao people have already regarded themselves as Wuzhaibao people.They used to despise those poor military households in Wuzhai Fort.

It's a pity that the recruitment work of various farms in Wuzhaibao has stopped now. People have inquired from many sources and learned that Master Huang Laifu of Wuzhaibao will be recruiting again until the end of the year or early next year.In fact, Huang Laifu really wanted to recruit Tun Ding again, but he had big plans in mind.

It's a pity that his money is almost used up, and he has to keep the rest of the money for emergencies. This is really hard for a clever woman to cook without rice.If you want money, you have to wait until after the autumn harvest to see how it goes.

But the eyes of the people are discerning. For food, salt, cloth, etc., the farmers in Minbao Township have no way to provide them. They quickly discovered another huge demand in Wuzhai Fort, which is the vegetables in Wuzhai Fort during these times. and meat prices are rising.Therefore, some households in the nearby minbao began to vigorously grow vegetables and raise livestock.

On the third, sixth, and ninth market days of Wuzhai Fort every month, they carry their own agricultural products and walk more than ten miles, or even dozens of miles, to sell things in Wuzhai Fort, or Make a living, or sell some money for some living materials such as salt cloth.

※※※

"Third son, after you sell all the vegetables, you will tear a few feet of floral cloth for your mother and your daughter-in-law to make new clothes."

Next to a rice shop of a Shanxi merchant on Dadong Street, the third son's father had a satisfied expression on his face. He lifted up his sleeves and wiped his sweat, and smiled at his son Zhang Dasan who kept looking around.

The third father had a reason to laugh. Some vegetables, radishes, chickens, ducks, eggs, etc. that he brought today were almost sold out not long after he came here in the morning.Presumably in an hour at most, all the things he and his son brought today will be sold out.The heavy broken silver and copper plates in his arms made his heart happy.

Thinking of my mother-in-law and aunt who have been with me for decades and have not changed a few new clothes, and my daughter-in-law has not lived a good life after entering the house for three years. People make new clothes to make them happy.

His son, Zhang Dasan, didn't seem to notice what his father said, and just looked greedily at the scene on the street.Compared with the small mountain village of Xinglingzi where I live, Wuzhaibao is really a big place, especially this Dadong Street, no one can get enough of it.

There are many shops on the street, and the sound of setting off firecrackers from newly opened shops is constantly heard, accompanied by the shouts of hard work from the guys, there are steaming chowder noodle stalls and mutton bone stalls everywhere on the street.Pork, tofu, vermicelli, and fennel are stewed together, and a large bowl of mixed noodles is full. A large bowl is only three yuan. If you eat a bowl, you will definitely be full.

There is also the mutton bone soup. The mutton with bones is chopped into pieces and stewed together with cute radish. It is hot, and the aroma is everywhere, which makes people salivate. Chowder noodles and mutton bone soup must have a bowl.

There is also the Dale Building on the other side of Dadong Street. Today is the market day. I don’t know which businessman invited a troupe to sing an opera. The opera is so beautiful that Zhang Dasan is reluctant to move away.

He sighed in his heart, this is the life he dreamed of. As before, what is the future of planing in the ground every day?Like my father, I have been digging for decades, but I still don’t have enough food and clothing. When will it be the end of such a day?Zhang Dasan made up his mind that he must stay in Wuzhai Fort if he had the opportunity. He heard that Young Master Huang Laifu would be recruiting troops next year, so he couldn't miss it no matter what.

The third father glanced at his son, and there was some helplessness in his eyes. His son has been restless since he was a child, and he always had strange thoughts in his mind, which were completely different from what he thought. Son "communication" is good.In fact, the situation between the two of them is common in later generations. Isn't there a word called "generation gap"?

"Old man, how do you sell this dish?" A military woman from Wuzhai Fort came over with her head held high and asked.

The third son's father busily smiled, and respectfully said: "So that this aunt knows that leeks cost one penny per catty, green vegetables cost three pennies per catty, garlic costs three cents per catty, and fennel whites cost two pennies per catty."

"It's too expensive. If it's cheaper, I can buy five catties of each item." Women from military households bargained skillfully.

The third son's father smiled brightly on his wrinkled face, and said: "I see that you are really good at bargaining, that's okay, my dish is almost sold out, if it is sold out as soon as possible, and the stall is closed as soon as possible, I will sell it to you at a lower price. "

The two were weighing and selling vegetables, while Zhang Dasan watched impatiently from the sidelines, and looked at the woman's rosy face with jealous eyes, and the newly cut clothes were obviously on her body.I snorted in my heart, thinking: "Isn't he just a military household? Now he is living a good life, how could he be so proud before."

Huang Laifu implements a strict hierarchy in the various farms of Wuzhaibao. The treatment of military households and civilian households is different. When recruiting troops outside, priority is given to the military households of Wuzhaibao’s various military forts. This is inevitable. It gave the military households of Wuzhaibao a sense of superiority.It also gave up the idea of ​​giving up the civilian household registration and joining the Wuzhaibao military household registration in some non-local civilian households.

This kind of idea can be said to be the first time in the history of Wuzhai Fort. In the past, the civilian households in the civilian fort heard the most about when the military households in the fort escaped again, and when did they hear about the current situation? This "black and white upside down" thing happened?But the facts are before our eyes. Although they are contradictory and unwilling, they have gradually changed the thinking of many people.

(End of this chapter)