At night, it started to rain heavily. Although it was not heavy, it rained all night. It cleared up again before dawn.
The sky is as blue as a mirror, the air is exceptionally fresh, and the surrounding countryside has a completely new look.
More than a hundred horsemen were guarding Li Chengzhi, and the horse was marching eastward like a rein. Li Chengzhi was sitting on the horse, wearing only a blouse, which was very cool.
Li Song was still thinking about yesterday's establishment ceremony, and he always felt that Li Chengzhi was a bit anticlimactic.
After planning for so long and even exposing the Ren family to the public eye, Lang Jun didn't kill anyone in the end?
Even if you kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, you should chop off a few heads...
Li Chengzhi patiently explained: "Don't just know how to fight and kill. Power can certainly frighten people's hearts, but it is only temporary, not a long-term solution..."
From the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, in order to curb cliques and weaken the powerful class, the twenty-four dynasties lost countless heads and shed countless blood, but what could be done?
I dare not say that every dynasty was destroyed because of this, but at least 70% of them perished due to irreconcilable class conflicts.
To borrow a very classic saying from later generations: As long as there are people, there will be classes.
This is an age-old problem that will never be solved no matter how many years or how talented the genius is. Li Chengzhi naturally knows that he will not be an exception.
All he can do is to alleviate, reconcile, and try to formulate and leave a perfect system to contain and avoid greater conflicts.
And today’s trip is just for this purpose...
Only two moments after leaving the Yamen, the group arrived at the west bank of Weishui in the north of Heli Mountain. After Li Chengzhi arrived in Hexi, he ordered Li Song to gather the people to dig a branch canal and build a paper yard here.
Neither Li Song nor Li Shiliang, including the scholars who came with him, most of them didn't understand what a paper mill had to do with the class conflict Li Chengzhi mentioned. But Li Chengzhi couldn't explain it.
But after all, there are no allusions to what happened next, let alone old examples to follow. Just like he eliminated the clans and suppressed the family, even if he explained the truth, no one could understand it.
Then just don’t explain it, just execute it...
The most fundamental reason why a clan becomes a clan, and why a noble family becomes a noble family, is because they possess knowledge and regard it as their own lives. They cherish their knowledge and will never give it to anyone except the children of their own family.
This is the same as the saying in later generations: "Teach the apprentice and starve the master to death."
And the ruling class is not ignorant of the harmful effects of wealthy families. Regardless of the distance, it is only said that Xiao Tao of the Southern Dynasty and Yuan Ke of the Northern Dynasty, a pair of emperors at the same time, made countless efforts to restrict the wealthy families, but why did they achieve little effect?
Li Chengzhi thought that either the two emperors failed to grasp the key point, or they were pretending to be deaf and dumb even though they knew it well.
It is nothing more than vigorous promotion and popularization of knowledge, but accordingly, new problems have emerged.
The people can follow it but cannot know it. This sentence is definitely not just a saying.
If you still don’t understand, you can take a look at the servile education and obscurantist policies of the Qing Dynasty.
Therefore, Li Chengzhi suspects that both Xiao Yan and Yuan Ke are doing this intentionally: they only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.
Although Yang Sui later learned from the experience and lessons of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, he took too many steps and was in trouble. In the end, he became a Yemeni clan and lost the Yemeni clan.
As a master who never forgets the past and the future, Li Tang did not dare to achieve success overnight, and could only boil frogs in warm water. Therefore, when it came to the Tang dynasty, whether it was politics or imperial examinations, it still did not get rid of the control of the clan, and fairness was only relative.
After that, Huang Chao went on a killing spree, but still failed to fundamentally solve the problem.
Just because the framework is still there, whether it is the Sui or Tang Dynasties, there are more restrictions on poor families than on the aristocratic families, let alone educating all the people, so it is like weeds on the plains that cannot be burned away. Even if you kill all the old families,
Whenever a new dynasty is established, new families will be born.
On the contrary, in the Song Dynasty, why did the clan suddenly disappear?
Li Chengzhi believes that, first, it depends on the sages, such as Yang Jian's establishment of the imperial examination, Li Yuan and Li Shimin's restrictions on the prominent families in the county, Wu Zetian's suppression of the aristocratic family, Huang Chao's massacre of the aristocratic class, etc.
But the reason is that the maturity of papermaking and printing in the Song Dynasty allowed culture to be spread to the bottom as much as possible, and then promoted the imperial examination system, which strengthened the common people and landlord class and replaced the clans.
Although it is still impossible to completely eliminate the emergence of class contradictions, there is still oppression and exploitation, but at least it is not like India, where the bottom class is worse than pigs and dogs...
It’s easier to draw on white paper.
Nowadays, Hexi is in a state of ruins waiting to be revitalized, and the population is only over 100,000 households. If he cannot make this determination at this time, Li Chengzhi in the future will either be like Yang Jian, who is willing to compromise and be led by the family. Or he will be like Yang Jian.
Yang Er, fell all over the place.
Therefore, when Li Chengzhi first arrived in Xihai, his military affairs were completely clueless, and his government affairs were in a mess. However, he still fought against all opinions and suppressed the only nobles in Xihai. He also took some time off to build universities, paper mills, and printing plants. Since you have relived your life, you can’t just be alone and selfish, so you have to do something else, right?
……
The paper factory was supposed to belong to the Ministry of Industry and be under the jurisdiction of Li Liang. But now Li Liang not only has to manage cannon manufacturing, but also builds mines, and is also responsible for preparing a large amount of gunpowder. But when he has some free time, he still helps Li Chengzhi manage the army.
,Reorganize the army.
No matter whether he is busy or not, everything is like the lifeblood of the Li family, and Li Chengzhi would not dare to leave it to others.
Therefore, Li Chengzhi simply placed the paper factory and printing factory under the Ministry of Civil Affairs and handed them over to Li Song.
After all, Li Song is also a veteran with many years of experience. He has served as party leader for nearly ten years and has managed the Li Family Fort in an orderly manner. Coupled with Li Chengzhi's words and deeds, Li Song is now even more capable.
It has only been a little more than two months since Li Chengzhi selected the site and started construction, and the paper factory has already been built on a large scale.
It is as wide as one hundred and fifty acres, with one shed next to another, well-proportioned.
Under Li Chengzhi's guidance, every shed is equipped with assembly line operations in order to save labor and improve efficiency as much as possible.
The advantage of the assembly line operation is that it is simple, unlike a small workshop. Anyone who operates it needs to know the principles of papermaking and be familiar with the entire process. Those who transport the materials only need to transport the materials, those who only need to crush the hay, and those who cook
After steaming, hammering and ramming, it only needs to be smashed into pulp, then squeezed to form, and finally dried into paper.
Every process is very simple and can be understood at a glance, and can be done by just one person. Therefore, there are many old people and women under the work shed.
The wages for the elderly and women are lower, about one gold per month, which is one hundred gold. The night workers are all men, and the wages are slightly higher, about one and a half gold.
According to the official selling price, one gold can buy two dan of grain, but among the people in Xihai, at least five dan can be purchased. In this way, an old man or woman who works for one month can earn enough grain to support herself for two years.
, can you see the crowd of people who responded?
Fortunately, Li Chengzhi had the foresight to tell Li Song that when posting recruitment notices, he must indicate that he was only recruiting military dependents or military reservists, and that he was recruiting in batches.
Even so, on the day the paper factory opened, there was still a sea of people surrounding the door, almost breaking my head.
Li Chengzhi saw that the effect was so good, and his imagination suddenly opened up, and he added another item: When changing shifts in the morning and evening, set aside half an hour each time to practice literacy.
And it's not compulsory: you don't have to study, and you can come half an hour later, it's up to you. But as long as you come, the three meals a day will be provided by the official, and they will contain meat.
Of course, there will be an assessment every ten days. If you cheat, your meal money will be deducted from your salary.
When formulating this article, Li Chengzhi also expected that there would not be many volunteers, only 20 to 30%, and only 40% would be able to support it.
Because for some people, even if they are allowed to carry a knife and fight on the battlefield, just don't let them study.
For example, Li Shi, Li Chengzhi wanted to promote him, but couldn't find one.
But surprisingly, 60% of them persisted, which really made him overjoyed.
Let’s not talk about how much literacy these people can play, but every family has children. Once a good atmosphere and custom are formed, at least they can teach by words and deeds...
Because he left early, when Li Chengzhi entered the venue, it was the time for roll call to be handed over between the two shifts.
Outside each work shed, both men and women stood neatly. The foreman took a roster and put a check mark on the roster for each person. At the same time, there was a paperwork in the queue to collect the homework of the previous shift.
Not much, I only teach two or three words every day, just to make them familiar and memorized. They are all adults, at least their brains are fully developed, so it is not difficult.
Even if there is someone like Li Shi who is not enlightened, even if it is for three meals a day, it must be engraved in his mind.
But the writing is a bit ugly, on the light yellow linen, it looks like earthworms have crawled over it.
Li Song had already made arrangements for everyone in the venue to perform their duties, so Li Chengzhi's arrival did not cause much commotion.
Hearing loud noises everywhere, he ordered Li Cong to guard the yamen with his personal guards, and wandered around with only a few close friends.
At dawn, the cooks had already started making rice, which was being rolled out on trolleys and transported to various sheds. After the workers had finished cooking, the meals could be served after morning classes.
Li Chengzhi took a look and saw that the food was very ordinary, just vegetable soup and corn cakes. There were a few oil stars floating in the soup.
In the two meals in the afternoon and near night, you can only see meat in the soup, and there is not much. It is a bit bland, but at least it is filling. And this alone made the military household burst into tears of gratitude to Li Chengzhi.
He stirred it with a spoon and took a sip. When he saw that the saltiness was just right and there were a lot of vegetable leaves in the soup, Li Chengzhi nodded with satisfaction: "Food is the most important thing for the people. A person's life is nothing more than having food to eat."
Eat. So it’s either don’t do it. If you want to do it, you must do it well. You must not pass it off as good, or embezzle or deduct!”
Li Song hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, Sir, I'll spare you the trouble!"
This is a lesson learned from past mistakes.
In order to build cannons, the ordnance industry must be expanded, and there are nearly five thousand people from top to bottom. With more people, there will be more loopholes, and naturally some people will use crooked ideas.
Someone was depriving workers of their meals. Li Chengzhi found out and chopped off more than thirty heads in one go.
The deputy director of the arsenal is Li Liang, the old blacksmith of the Li family. He has worked very hard, but he even broke his head and failed to save his nephew's life.
Li Chengzhi even shed tears and beheaded Ma Su, directly ordering Li Liang to become an official.
And Li Liang is nearly sixty years old, and he can't work for a few more years even if he insists on it. But he, Li Song, is only ninety-nine in his thirties. If he is demoted or dismissed for such a trivial matter, wouldn't he die unjustly?
So he doesn’t pay ordinary attention to...
After walking around and looking around, the workers had finished their morning classes, had their breakfast, and officially started work.
Li Chengzhi returned to the work shed.
The summer is hot, so most of the work sheds are semi-open. As soon as you enter the door, you can see a huge crushing platform. It is piled with bark, branches, reeds, and hay.
Originally, wood was used, and wheat straw was better, and the paper produced was the strongest and extremely thin. But now the West Sea is full of waste. Wood must be used to build houses, and wheat straw must be used to feed livestock and even be used as marching fodder.
So we can only settle for the next best thing.
The process is orderly: the peasants use a horse-drawn carriage to bring the raw materials under the shed, and then work in pairs, one feeding and the other cutting, to chop the raw materials into pieces.
The driver transporting the forage will clear out the scraps, put them into the steam barrel on one side, mix them with lime, and then set up the steamer.
This process is a bit time-consuming and requires repeated operations. The first is to remove impurities and analyze the fibers, and the second is to bleach it into white, or even light yellow in the worst case.
After the raw materials are cooked, they are poured into a stone pool and smashed into a paste. The rest is filtered, squeezed, and dried.
Compared with the current stage of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, this set of technological processes can be said to be groundbreaking: First, the raw materials have been changed, from only using flax paper to using local materials, and the toughness of the paper has been increased, so that it will not fall when touched.
, it will rot if it gets stained with ink.
The second is the addition of steaming and bleaching. In the past, papermaking did not have this process. It was just smashing the hemp into a paste and then sticking it on the wall to dry. Not to mention it was time-consuming and took up a lot of space.
Just imagine how many walls a big workshop can have? So just this one extra wall can more than double the efficiency.
This set of procedures did not gradually take shape until the Song Dynasty. It is also the fundamental reason why ordinary people can use paper and read books...
The latest worker arrived nearly two months ago, so he was very familiar with it. The whole process was orderly and not chaotic at all. Seeing that it was exactly as expected, Li Chengzhi was also very happy and specially praised Li Song.
.
Before Li Song could smile, he explained emphatically: "Both the fodder and the paper made from it are flammable, so you must pay attention to fire prevention on weekdays, remember to keep the steamer far away, and never give it to anyone."
There was a fire under the shed..."
After a pause, Li Chengzhi smiled coldly again, "If there is a fire, only a handful of ashes will be left in this huge paper factory. By then, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Before the smile on his face could bloom, Li Song felt his tailbone tighten: "Don't worry, Sir, I will come to see you when the day comes!"
It won't be a problem if you bring your head up to see him, but Li Song, the chief, may have to go down several levels.
With thoughts swirling in his mind, Li Chengzhi said again: "It's getting late, let's go to the printing factory and copper factory to have a look."
He plans to spend two to three days taking a tour of factories related to people's livelihood...