Chapter 888 884 [The Chinese countryside in the eyes of the French messenger]
Chapter 888 884 [Chinese countryside in the eyes of the French envoy]
While writers and artists from France were enjoying Chinese paintings, architecture, music, and operas, French ambassador Colbert was trying to decipher the secret of feces.
From Guangzhou to Nanjing, Kolber was surprised to find that these big cities were all very clean, and there was no scene of stinking feces.
Colbert asked the Chinese envoys many times, but the Chinese always laughed and said nothing.
On this day, Kolber got up very early and finally met the manure collector.
"Dong dong dong~~~"
At three o'clock in the morning, that is, at 4:12 in the morning, the drum tower players started beating drums.
The soldiers stationed on the city wall have been transformed from police officers to patrolmen. After hearing the sound of drums, the gatekeepers began to get up and wash up. Many people who wanted to enter the city were already waiting outside the city gates.
"Dangdangdang~~~"
I don’t know how long it took, but the morning bell rang again and all the city gates were opened on time. At this moment, the sky was only dim.
The engraved devices in the Bell and Drum Towers were all changed into clocks in the New Dynasty of Datong. Every city has a sundial, and the error caused by the clock can be adjusted by using the sundial on a sunny day.
People of all kinds line up to enter the city. Although they do not pay city taxes, they still have to undergo routine inspections.
For example, dung trucks without lids were strictly not allowed to enter the city. There were some people making trouble about this at first, but the residents in the city were very supportive, otherwise the stench would be overwhelming when the dung trucks crossed the street.
Colbert stayed on guard before dawn, following a group of dung collectors through the streets.
Throughout Nanjing, there are at least more than 4,000 feces-related practitioners. Not only do they come into the city to collect feces, there are also people who sort and process the feces after it is transported outside the city.
Colbert followed all the way and soon saw a strange scene.
Three different groups of people came to the alley one after another.
One group came to deliver water, using mules to drag the water cart forward. If those households without wells needed to buy water today, they would hang a water sign at the door the night before. When the water delivery man saw the water sign, he stopped the mule cart.
, knocking on this door.
One group is here to collect swill. Food scraps, soup, water, etc. will be put in swill buckets, and some people will buy them to feed the pigs.
There is also a group of dung collectors.
There is no fee for excrement disposal, just take it away and each party can get what they need. But it also runs a toilet washing business. If a resident needs to wash the toilet, he will take you out of the city directly and send it back to you the next morning. This is what you need.
Cleaning fees are charged.
A dung cart was quickly filled with several toilets hanging on it, and the toll collector drove the mule cart out of the city.
Kolber, who had been floating at sea for more than a year and was able to converse in Chinese, followed up and asked: "Hello, how much does it cost to ask someone to take away the feces? Is it monthly or daily?"
The manure collector smiled and said: "Collect money? In the past, our Xiangtou had to pay people!"
The money was given to the housekeepers of wealthy families. It was not money to buy dung, but a private bribe. Of course, there is no need to give it now, and even dung bullies have been banned.
Kolber became more and more confused: "You guys clean up people's feces, and you still have to pay those people?"
"That's the truth." said the manure collector.
Colbert couldn't figure this out: "Why?"
The manure collector said: "The night fragrance is a good thing."
"What is night fragrance?" Colbert asked.
The dung collector said: "The night fragrance is dung."
Colbert asked: "What does feces do?"
"It is sold to farmers to fertilize their fields," the dung collector explained. "There are several grades of night incense. The most expensive is the night incense from the palace, and many farmers are rushing to buy it. The night incense from nobles is also expensive, and the cheapest is from the small door.
Xiaohu, city people are also suffering, haha, they can’t eat well, so what kind of fertility can be gained from the night fragrance?”
Kolber followed all the way outside the city and finally figured out what feces could do, but could it really make crops grow better?
Soon, Colbert was stunned.
Outside Nancheng, he saw a large feces industrial park.
This was centralized at the request of the imperial court. In the past, it was scattered everywhere. The residential areas inside and outside Nanjing were divided into more than ten "dung tunnels" by the government, which were contracted to excrement treatment companies. They were concentrated in the south, east and west of the city.
processing and distribution.
There was no company before, and the court didn't bother to take care of it. It was all up to the dungsters to grab the territory themselves.
If the collection of dung crosses the boundary, there will be a fight. In the second year of the Republic of China, a large-scale fight broke out. Hundreds of dung workers got into a fight, killing four people on the spot and injuring dozens of others.
The incident even alarmed the emperor, because there was a fight in the street and excrement was spread all over the street.
Therefore, the imperial court ordered the formalization of the feces industry.
Divide areas and open tenders.
Dung heads must first register a company and undergo a qualification review, such as how many qualified dung trucks they have. The bidding prices vary depending on the region, and the price in the Forbidden City is the most expensive.
If you encounter cross-border behavior in the future, you are not allowed to fight privately. You will report it directly to the officials, who will fine those who cross the boundary. If you dare to fight privately, you will be fined lightly. If you cause casualties, your manure collection license will be revoked!
Kolber observed the river water near the excrement industrial park and found that the river water was not dirty.
Even when cleaning the toilet, the sewage is not discharged but is stored in a pool. This kind of pool water that has been used to wash the toilet can also be sold, and the price is the cheapest, so it is very popular with nearby vegetable farmers.
Dry manure and wet manure are poured into different pools. This is distinguished when collecting manure in the city. The manure truck is equipped with several large wooden barrels.
There is even more refined management. A few large wooden barrels are placed separately, with labels on the barrels: Feige's hometown, Liu Shangshu's family, Zhang Shilang's family...
"Dang-dang-dang!"
Suddenly someone rang the bell and shouted at the top of his voice: "We have a distinguished guest!"
But a ship came, and it was full of farmers.
More than a dozen households of farmers in a certain village jointly hired a boat and recommended experts in picking up excrement to come here to transport the goods back to the village. This was far from the city, while those nearby farmers came to pick it up or carry it away in person.
.
“Does the guest want dry goods or wet goods?”
"We came all the way by boat, of course we need some useful food."
"Then please come here. The fragrances in our factory are all good. Although they are not as good as the heavenly fragrances from the Forbidden City, nor as expensive as the fragrances from the officials, they are all the rich fragrances from a wealthy family. If you are in a hurry, we will
There is also fermented fat in the factory, but the price will definitely be much higher."
"Where's the dung stick?"
"You know you are an expert when you see a customer. The stick is here, you can mess with it and look at it as you like."
"..."
Colbert was allowed to visit, and when he saw these scenes and conversations, his whole outlook was shattered.
The feces that has plagued Paris for hundreds of years has actually formed an industry in China!
"What are you wearing?" Kolber asked a worker.
The worker replied: "The government says that masks must be worn, and those who don't wear them will be fined. They also spread lime every ten days, saying that they can kill fecal poisons, and only by killing fecal poisons can you not get sick. I heard that these rules were set by Long live the Lord."
.Long Live Lord is the reincarnation of Ziweixing, and he even knows how to do shit. It is said that Long Live Lord also picked up dung before he started the army."
Kolber was really exhausted and left the place early.
He knew that Louis XIV and the Paris nobles all hated the feces in the city. If he could solve this problem, he would definitely be appreciated by the king and support from countless nobles.
But this thing is not easy to do. You have to convince farmers to fertilize their fields with manure, and you have to get the support of lords or landowners. It is as difficult as winning an international war.
After thinking about it, Colbert decided to give up. He would not do anything thankless, and he would rather study China's industrial and commercial policies. Louis XIV liked money, and as long as he could make money for the king, he would definitely gain favor.
Colbert did not return to the city immediately, but went to the countryside for a walk.
At this time, the rice is in its jointing stage, which requires a lot of water and fertility. There is a slight drought this year. There are farmers riding water trucks on the Qinhuai River. The river water is lifted into the diversion canal and flows to the surrounding rice fields.
Throughout the aqueduct, there are some small waterwheels that can be driven by one person.
Farmers tread water to irrigate their fields. They open gaps in the fields far away from the canals, so that the river water can flow through the nearby fields and into the farther rice fields. If these paddy fields belong to different families, then the farmers' association
It worked, and everyone discussed and worked together.
The men who are responsible for treading water are rotated from house to house, and those who are lazy will definitely be poked in the back.
When all the rice fields in a certain area have been irrigated, the gaps between the fields will be blocked.
Then, I apply my own fertilizer. The fertilizer is piled dry manure, and plant ash is also added. Hang a bamboo basket on your waist, just like spreading fertilizer in later generations, and spread it all the way. If the children at home are on vacation, they can also go to the fields to help.
, mainly to pull out weeds in the fields.
In the middle of the morning, the woman went home to cook.
When it was almost noon, the peasant women came out with food, went to the fields chatting and laughing together, and called their husbands to come and eat.
People gathered under the shade of the trees or sat on the ridge of the fields, holding clay bowls in one hand and chopsticks in the other, chatting anecdotes while eating. From time to time, there was a burst of laughter, but it was someone telling a joke.
Even when fertilizing, there is a focus, and the "field-friendly method" is generally used.
For example, if you have ten acres of land at home, choose two acres this year and double the amount of various fertilizers. Next year, change to another two acres and make key investments. You can rotate the ten acres of land in five years. In ten years,
As long as you fertilize enough and take care of it properly, all thin fields can be turned into fertile fields.
This fertilization theory in ancient China was summarized over thousands of years, and is called: the soil can be replenished, the soil is always fresh, and although the soil is barren, manure is often added to enrich it.
The focus of the field-friendly method is to add fertilizer. Mainly before transplanting rice seedlings, the oil residue of pressed soybeans and rapeseeds is made into fertilizer and mixed with plant ash and spread.
The farmers in front of me were also killing insects while fertilizing and weeding.
The tobacco stems left over from tobacco production are useless in Europe, but they are a sought-after pesticide in China. After breaking the tobacco stems into pieces and throwing them at the roots of rice, many types of pests can be controlled.
Colbert looked at the farmers. They were all very energetic. Although they were covered in mud, they were far stronger than the French farmers.
What are French farmers like?
Thin, dull, lifeless, like a humanoid tool that cannot think.
The previous hundred years or so was an explosive period of land annexation in France. It was different from the British land enclosure movement. French farmers were forced to go bankrupt by rising taxes, and nobles, businessmen, and lawyers took the opportunity to buy land at low prices.
These landowners can bargain with tax collectors, or simply become tax collectors themselves. They pay less or even no taxes themselves, passing the taxes on to ordinary farmers, forcing more farmers to go bankrupt, and then taking the opportunity to continue to annex land.
.
In addition, since grain cannot be sold at a high price, they grow grain on public land to avoid taxes and use private land to raise high value-added livestock.
As for infrastructure such as roads and canals, no landowner is willing to spend money.
When Colbert looked at the water canals extending in all directions in front of him, he knew that France was hundreds of years behind China. And these Chinese farmers, just looking at their mental outlook and health status, were all comparable to the small landowners in France.
"China is a paradise for farmers... The rural system here cannot be replicated in France, otherwise it will provoke a nationwide war, and even the king may be sent to the guillotine." Colbert wrote in his diary.