"I didn't expect that we are still the same family, and someone's surname is Wu." Wu Xingzhen smiled and patted Sister Wu's assessment results on the table, and praised: "This word, this calculation, it is really excellent."
"Thank you, Master Wu, for the compliment." Sister Wu bowed slightly.
"Now, let me introduce you to the general situation. Dongjiang Town has two management agencies, Jinzhou Guard and Fuzhou Guard. Government officials are divided into three levels: village, town and county. The ones who have just arrived are trainees. After three months of study,
During this period, you will receive one tael of silver and one hu of rice per month, and you will have a dormitory to live in and eat in a canteen; you can also build a separate house and live alone outside..."
Wu Xingzhen was kind and cordial. He was very satisfied with Sister Wu's assessment results and began to briefly introduce the treatment after inclusion.
Among the new batch of immigrants, there are only a dozen people who have reached the standard of education, and there is only one female, Sister Wu. Although Dongjiang Town is also cultivating its own people, compared to the speed of territory expansion, it is still very lacking.
Sister Wu, whose full name is Wu Qing, was listening respectfully to the official's introduction, and occasionally asked questions that she didn't understand.
"How much does it cost to live in the dormitory and eat in the cafeteria?" Wu Qing asked carefully: "The slave family doesn't have much savings, what if..."
"Because I am an agency official, there is a subsidy. I don't have to spend money on food and accommodation, but I have to deduct one tael of rice." The official said with a smile: "One tael of silver is just ordinary pocket money. If you save a little, you can basically save it."
"In addition, if you want to go out and live alone, the house will be free, and some farm tools will also be distributed for free. This benefit is available at any time, so there is no need to rush."
During the internship period, the salary was one tael of silver and one dendrobium of rice, and when officially hired, it could be raised to two taels of silver. Wu Qing roughly calculated that it was enough for her expenses and she could also save some money.
If you live alone outside, even though you have a home, it is always troublesome to cook and clean by yourself.
Anyway, you can go out and live alone whenever you want, so there’s no need to rush. It’s not too late to decide based on the situation in the future!
Wu Qing nodded, feeling quite satisfied.
After hesitating for a long time, she asked cautiously: "There is a sister in the slave family, who also has a hard life, and now she is alone. May I ask, sir, does the Yamen, um, agency recruit people like handymen?"
Wu Xingzhen thought for a while and said: "Fuzhou's management agency is short of some handymen, mainly cleaning, serving tea and water, cooking and other chores. Can your sister do it?"
"Yes, she is from a farmer's background. She has no problem doing these chores." Wu Qing answered quickly, fearing that Xiaoqin would not be able to find a place to live and would be sad to be alone.
Wu Xingzhen nodded and said: "Common servants can also eat in the canteen and live in dormitories. The salary is half a tael of silver per month. Rice will also be deducted."
After a pause, Wu Xingzhen added: "All new arrivals will receive a resettlement fee of three taels of silver. You can purchase some daily necessities yourself, such as cloth, clothing, bedding, etc."
For one person, it would cost almost twenty taels of silver to purchase all daily necessities. Usually people save and save, wear old clothes again and cover themselves with old quilts, and try to keep as much money as possible for emergencies.
If everything is handed out in a big package, the government will be under great pressure, and some people may not be in urgent need of it. Now they are giving out money instead, and both the government and the people find it convenient.
Wu Qing found a job for Xiaoqin, and at least she didn't have to worry about food and accommodation, so she couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
But she still had doubts in her mind, so she asked again: "Dare I ask, sir, in Jinfu Gai Sanzhou, that is, on the territory of Dongjiang Town, all money spent is made of paper?"
Wu Xingzhen nodded and said with a smile: "People who have just arrived will almost always have this doubt. In our territory of Dongjiang Town, the banknotes are called 'Liao Miao', and they have been issued and circulated for two years. The commercial goods on the market,
You can buy it with banknotes.”
"Moreover, the value of banknotes is linked to rice and grain. The prices of other commodities fluctuate, but when it comes to buying rice and grain, they never change. Because of this, the soldiers and civilians in Dongjiang Town trust Liao banknotes, and it is convenient to spend them.
"
"If you want to leave Liao in the future, you can take the Liao banknotes in your hand and exchange them for silver coins at the government office. It will not affect your ability to live again in another place."
After Wu Xingzhen explained, he gave Wu Qing a Liao banknote totaling four taels of silver for salary and resettlement fee, and asked her to sign the booklet.
The newly arrived people may not be very supportive of Liao banknotes, but there is nothing they can do about it. In Dongjiang Town, all Liao banknotes are circulating in the market, and they are not traded in silver.
If you have some savings, you can either keep the silver or exchange it for Liao banknotes and spend it. As time goes by, you will have confidence in Liao banknotes and no longer care whether it is silver or banknotes.
Paper money is easy to use, from the smallest one, to ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, and then to two, one by one. Unlike using silver, you have to use silver scissors and weigh the silver.
's son.
For ordinary people's buying and selling transactions, banknotes are easier to count, more intuitive, and less prone to errors. From this aspect, it still promotes economic development and prosperity.
Although military tickets are useful, the casting of silver coins is also on the agenda. Imitating the silver coins of the Western Yi, each coin contains seven and a half silver, but the currency value is one tael.
Seignorage tax, also known as "currency tax". Under the metal currency system, the difference between the actual cost of minting currency and the surface value of the currency belongs to the minter as income.
To put it bluntly, after excluding the manufacturing cost of each silver coin, the government can make a profit of more than two cents for every silver coin minted. Moreover, minting silver coins can also solve a major source of corruption, which is the problem of waste.
Of course, silver coins are more profitable than printed banknotes, but they are easier for people to trust. Supplemented by banknotes, they can be circulated more widely and can be better integrated with overseas trade.
After listening to Wu Xingzhen's explanation, Wu Qing was still worried, but as the locals do, when they get here, they have to follow other people's rules.
Since the military and civilians of Dongjiang Town have been using it for more than two years, the credit and value of the banknotes should be good.
Besides, it's not personal, and no one is forced to exchange all the money they have into banknotes. Wu Qing feels that if she is picky, she will be very ignorant and ignorant.
With joy in her heart, Wu Qing exited the office, hurried back to her residence, found Xiaoqin, and told her the good news.
Xiaoqin was overjoyed, and immediately went back to Wu Qing to go out, went to the office, and went to Wu Xingzhen to go through the registration procedures for the handyman.
"I remember you were four people living in one room?" Wu Xingzhen asked with a smile: "The other two are probably alone too. Are they willing to work as handymen?"
In terms of appearance, Wu Xingzhen would like more female handymen. Anyway, the work is not heavy and they usually look good.
Fuzhou, like the original South and North Jinzhou, will enter the stage of large-scale reclamation and development this year. With the Shahe River as the boundary, it is temporarily divided into three districts, which means that three management agencies are needed.
As for those who can serve as handymen in institutions, it is more suitable for single men and women. They don't have so many worries. If they have room and board in an institution, they can be on call at any time, which is more convenient.
"Let's go back and ask them. If they are willing, we can bring them over." Wu Qing readily agreed to help. It seemed that she would be able to get into the role very quickly.
Wu Qing and Xiaoqin left the office and chatted while walking. They solved the big problem and both of them felt relaxed.
"That soldier surnamed Yang -" Wu Qing hesitated and glanced at Xiaoqin, a little surprised that she would agree to work as a handyman so readily.
Xiaoqin smiled bitterly and said: "Brother Yang, he has a family. Although his wife and children are trapped in the slave-ruled area and they don't know whether they are alive or dead at the moment, he must wait for the exact news, no matter how many years."
Wu Qing sighed softly and said: "Maybe after the Liao Dynasty is annihilated, we can know the situation of our family. I'm afraid it will take several years, and he will have to wait. He is really a good and honest man."
Xiaoqin nodded helplessly and said: "This is fate, I can't rely on others all the time. I must at least be able to support myself. Those who don't come will be laughed at, saying that I have to rely on him to support me before I take the initiative to post."
.”
"You're right to think so." Wu Qing gently hugged Xiaoqin's shoulders and said: "I now fully understand that it is better to rely on yourself than to rely on anyone. Fortunately, Dongjiang Town has arranged many ways to survive, so that
We can support ourselves."
After a pause, she continued to say to Xiaoqin: "We are still living together when we arrive in Fuzhou. When I have free time, I will teach you how to read and arithmetic. In a few years, you will be like me. How can you do it all the time?"
Where’s the handyman!”
Xiaoqin nodded vigorously and said, "I'm just afraid that I'm stupid and can't learn and make you angry."
Wu Qing chuckled and said: "As long as you study hard, you will definitely learn it. Those who say they are stupid just don't want to learn and are looking for excuses."
"If you want to learn, of course you want to learn." Xiaoqin took Wu Qing's arm affectionately, and the two continued to talk and laugh, and walked towards their residence.
………………
Climbing the technology tree and never getting tired of it seems to be a common problem among time travellers.
As the level of technology continues to improve, after overcoming each difficulty, if the performance of weapons and equipment is not continued to be improved, travelers will feel uncomfortable.
The Fran cannon won Guo Dajing's favor with its maneuverability and high rate of fire. However, when dealing with Jiannu's carriage, its power was insufficient, which made Guo Dajing dissatisfied.
The work of manufacturing field artillery had already begun. Guo Dajing was in the attitude of research and experiment and was not in a hurry to equip the troops.
"Made of bronze, it fires ten kilograms of solid iron shells. It is quite powerful and the total weight of the cannon is nine hundred kilograms." Portuguese technician Dornaro led Guo Dajing to inspect several artillery pieces and did a more professional
Explanation.
A ten-pound artillery shell, according to Western standards, is almost a twelve-pound cannon. Guo Dajing remembered that there was a very famous front-loading field cannon in history, which was the Napoleon M1857 12-pound field cannon.
"These two artillery fire about five kilograms of shells, the power and range are lacking, the total weight of the gun is more than five hundred kilograms." Dornaro pointed to the other two artillery and said: "The maneuverability is naturally better.
a lot of."
Guo Dajing looked at the muzzle carefully and found that the barrel of the twelve-pound cannon was quite thick. This may be one of the reasons why its weight was close to a thousand kilograms.
Dornaro noticed Guo Dajing's observation and continued to explain: "Bronze cannons are extremely strong and can withstand the explosive force of heavy charges or double charges without breaking."
This is an advantage, but if we consider it comprehensively, Guo Dajing feels that reducing the weight of the artillery and double the charge are not very practical.
The ten-pound cannon and the five-pound cannon are equivalent to the twelve-pound cannon and the six-pound cannon. Guo Dajing finally cast his sights on the five-pound cannon.
The ten-pound cannon weighing more than a thousand kilograms was really heavier than he expected.
There are thousands of kilograms of Hongyi cannons with similar performance, so why spend time and money to mass-produce so-called new artillery.
"How is the performance of the five-pound cannon?" Guo Dajing did not show too much disappointment. He walked to the small cannon again, observed and asked.
Dornaro said: "It is also made of bronze and has an effective range of five hundred steps. To destroy the carriage, sometimes it is difficult to do it with one shot."
Guo Dajing lowered his head slightly and sighed inwardly: It is really not easy to achieve the balance between power, range and maneuverability.
Bronze-cast cannons are strong and durable and seldom explode, but they are very heavy. If breakthroughs can be made in practical wrought iron and steelmaking technology, the weight of cannons can be greatly reduced.
Unfortunately, even Guo Dajing could only rely on the ingenuity of the craftsmen to achieve this kind of advancement in smelting technology, which could not be completed in a short time.
Fortunately, in terms of artillery, the Jiannu were even worse, and the Dongjiang Army had an overwhelming advantage. In this way, there was no need to worry too much about the range, because there was no need to worry about the counter-artillery weapons and firepower of the Jiannu.
Guo Dajing walked back to the ten-pound cannon thoughtfully, raised his head slowly, and said: "Shorten the length of the barrel, make the thickness of the barrel thinner, and reduce the weight. Five or six hundred kilograms is more appropriate."
After a pause, he added: "Our enemy is the Jiannu. They don't have artillery with very good performance, and their number is very small. We don't need to consider artillery battles, as long as we can destroy the enemy's carriages within three to five hundred meters, and
Towing easily is the ultimate goal.”
The idea Guo Dajing expressed was no longer a cannon imitated from the Hongyi Cannon, but a mountain howitzer close to a short barrel.
Historically, a 12-pounder ordinary howitzer required a six-horse trailer to carry it.
A 12-pound mountain howitzer and two ammunition boxes can be placed on the backs of three mules to cross mountains, forests and rivers without being restricted by roads.
Use whatever kind of weapon you face. It has the longest range and the greatest power, but it may not be suitable for the battlefield.
This is why Guo Dajing did not make it clear. He needed an artillery that was light and flexible and could follow the infantry in combat.
"I may understand what Mr. Guo means." Dornaro nodded and said: "Because the enemy is weak in artillery, the artillery we create does not have to pursue too much range, but has enough maneuverability.
sex."
"In other words, what Mr. Guo wants is not a simple scaled-down version of the Hongyi cannon, but a lightweight artillery that is more practical. Within a range of more than 500 steps, as long as the power can destroy the carriage, it is qualified."
Guo Dajing blinked and thought about what Dornaro said. Finally, he nodded vigorously, thinking that there was no problem with Dornaro's understanding.