The changes in Raozhou Station can be said to be rapid.
Hu Mu said he was a civil servant, but in fact, what he did was no different from that of a handyman.
Because there was a shortage of manpower in the government office, household registration had to be managed, projects had to be monitored, new arrivals had to be accommodated, and merchants had to coordinate. He was not used to it at first.
However, following Secretary Wang every day, his feet never touched the ground, and he didn't even have time to think too much.
Occasionally, when I have free time, I can't help complaining in my heart. I can't understand why my father wants to come here by himself and do such despicable things in the eyes of scholars!
This is clearly a handyman, except for the official salary.
The tribesmen who came with me heard that a cousin could not bear it anymore and resigned from his job and returned to his hometown.
Others also came to Hu Mu one after another to discuss whether they should simply edit Hu Guang's books or simply resign.
Hu Mu was tempted, but in the end he gritted his teeth and held back.
One is afraid of being scolded by his father.
Secondly, he has a simple temperament and always feels that things cannot be done until the end. At this time, he still has many things to take care of.
The school will be built soon. Spring has begun, and the rain is getting heavier. We have to rush to finish the work before the rain continues. Now he is the only one watching the construction site. Without people, Secretary Wang is afraid that he will not be able to do anything at all.
.
There is also a half-year-old child who came here with his father and brother, but he was separated from his father and brother. Hu Mu has registered him in the register, but if the household registration needs to be done, he still has to find his father and brother after all. If Hu Mu lets go
, if the new replacement wants to get familiar with the situation, it will take an unknown amount of time.
There was an old woman scavenging nearby. Perhaps all her family members had died during the famine last year. Seeing how pitiful she was, Hu Mu had already begged his superiors to let this woman be responsible for mending the clothes of the craftsmen, so as to find an excuse to help them.
Eat in one bite.
It's just that this matter has not yet been settled, and we still have to wait.
There are also a few strong men from Zhili who come here to work. These people actually work and study at the same time, and they can barely read and digit. Unfortunately, there are still some shortcomings. They hope to be admitted to the Railway Academy.
It was hopeless, so I asked Humu if he could find a way to pay attention to the admission indicators for labor force selection. Such a recommendation would make the exam easier and would specifically target laborers working on the railway.
These people, all from humble backgrounds, were able to persist in working from morning to night. They only relied on newspapers to learn how to read at night. There were almost no one to teach them. Hu Mu saw their handwriting and was pulled by them.
, read through the newspaper in person, and couldn't help but admire these people.
When he was studying, of course he had read the allusion of chiseling a wall to borrow light, but he was a scholar after all, and it was really hard for him to imagine that he was able to do this with such hard work, and that it actually happened before his eyes.
If he leaves, these people will inevitably have to hire new civil servants. The newcomers may not be willing to pay careful attention to the selection situation, and these laborers may lose hope.
Whenever Hu Mu has the thought of retreating, he suddenly realizes that he still has thousands of things at hand. Even if he solves one problem, there will be no time to celebrate, and there will inevitably be another thing waiting for him to deal with.
So after hesitating again and again, he decided to continue to stay, and also encouraged people of the same clan to stay for a while. If you really can't adapt by the end of the year, it's not too late to say goodbye.
People generally live in groups in the environment and are affected by it at all times.
When he was studying in the past, Hu Mu only felt that he was a standard scholar anyway.
But now, mixed among these three religions and nine streams, they gradually began to influence each other.
For example, many people who dealt with Hu Mu seemed to have begun to imitate Hu Mu, who always had a handkerchief at hand. If they didn't have a handkerchief, they would prepare a coarse cloth and hide it on their body instead of wiping their noses directly with their sleeves.
Some people have also begun to learn to use green salt to rinse their mouths.
Naturally, Hu Mu also began to learn to squat on the ground like ordinary people, holding the food wrapped in lotus leaves, and devouring it regardless of appearance.
The dishes here are by no means bland. Hu Mu used to be afraid of fatty food, unlike others, who felt as if they were celebrating the New Year when they saw the hairy pig skin!
But now, Xu's daily physical exertion is not small, and he is hungry, but he is also used to such meals that are heavy in oil and salt.
If there was any emotion about life, Hu Mu had no time to imagine how deep it was. All he could think about was that the greasy food he had despised in the past turned out to be delicacies in the eyes of many people.
After more than three months, the school and medical center were finally set up.
As a result, those doctors who originally only taught people to read or treated people in work sheds and huts finally had a spacious place.
Especially the doctors from Zhili were all delighted and kept saying that this was great and that they could finally treat the disease seriously.
What they complained in the past was that the conditions were too harsh and the disinfection conditions were not ideal. Most of the wounds worsened due to this, and the vast majority of the patients suffered from external injuries.
Therefore, they couldn't wait to build a silkworm room in the new medical center. They heard that it was similar to the place where eunuchs were castrated in the capital, and it was to prevent wound infection.
One of Hu Mu's cousins teaches here. Now he has moved into the new school building. He has settled down, especially the conditions have become ideal. He seems to be quite happy, and he has never asked to resign.
.
It's strange to say that his cousin was quite pampered at the beginning. When he first came here, he couldn't help but complain about the harsh conditions here. Now the conditions are a little better, although they are far from what he had when he was in Jishui.
He came to open his mouth, but it was only slightly better than before, so he was satisfied and actually very happy.
Of course, the one who has changed the most is Hu Mu's younger brother Hu Sui.
Hu Sui is the third among the brothers and the youngest. He was originally ordered to manage entertainment.
The so-called entertainment is actually a few grass-stage groups recruited to start singing as soon as the night comes, and they won't stop until the end of the day.
Who would have thought that Hu Sui would find the energy to write a storybook for the troupe, and then teach the troupe to sing.
Over time, he became somewhat famous in Raozhou.
Of course, Hu Mu was also speechless for this third brother who had a loose nature. Every time Hu Sui found time, if everyone was dissatisfied and booed or yelled at him after his words were sung, he would become indignant and say to Hu Mu: "
Second brother, you don’t know how ignorant these people are.”
But if he is a new storyteller and is called Kuai, his face will glow brightly and he will say: "Second brother, they still know what they are doing."
Of course, there were inevitable complaints, and he was even filled with righteous indignation, saying: "The most fashionable thing now is to go to the sea, and the people just want to do something new. But a few days ago, I wrote about a poor scholar who went to the sea, and on the boat, he...
I met a young lady. This young lady had a marriage contract because her parents had promised to be an official. However, because she met this poor scholar on a boat, she was hindered by the world and could not get close to each other, but they admired each other. Finally, they met on the boat.
The wind and waves hit the rocks while avoiding the wind and waves. The ship capsized. After all, the scholar and the lady inevitably ended up parting. Second brother, look at how good this story is, but when the ship capsized, the onlookers started to make a fuss and insisted.
You can't tear down the stage, and you won't stop yelling and scolding."
Hu Mu: "..."
Hu Sui then added: "So, I had a better memory, so I had to write that after the sea, the big ship entered the ocean. A poor scholar followed the ship to an island. The island was covered with gold and treasures, and there were many more.
The beautiful women, these women are all graceful and stunning, and they all admire this scholar. When the onlookers heard this, they all clapped their hands and applauded loudly."
"Second brother, tell me, is it possible to sail on this sea without wind and waves? Our Ming Dynasty is the country of Middle-earth, with all the wealth in the world, and all the overseas countries are barbarians. Women with unkempt hair must be ugly, let alone have
There are countless gold and treasures. These onlookers are really unreasonable, but they prefer to listen to these and are still enjoying it. Three or five stunning women are not enough, and from now on there will be ten or eight..."
Hu Sui sighed and smiled bitterly.
But for brother Hu Mu, his gloomy face was only temporary, because he soon smiled, and within two months, some people in the tribe said that he was spending money like water and how happy he was.
Hu Mu was very worried after hearing this, so he called Hu Sui over and asked immediately: "What did you do?"
Hu Sui is still a little afraid of this second brother.
At this time, a hint of guilt flashed across Hu Sui's face, and she said hurriedly: "I didn't do anything."
Seeing that he was not honest, Hu Mu said with a straight face: "Where did the money come from? Don't talk about the money given to you by your family. My father has always been very strict with us. He would never go all the way to send money to you. You don't have to give money to you every month."
The monthly salary..."
Hu Sui hurriedly said: "I...I..."
He opened his mouth for a long time, as if he mustered up his courage, and then said: "I met a friend."
Hu Mu was frightened and said: "What friend? What does he want you to do? Is it related to my father? You are confused..."
Seeing that the second brother was getting more and more angry, Hu Sui hurriedly said: "He gave me a lot of money. At first, he gave me a hundred taels. Later, he said that I had a great influence, and he will give me three hundred taels a month from now on..."
Three hundred taels a month, which would be more than three thousand taels a year. As soon as Hu Mu heard this, he knew there must be something fishy behind it.
So Hu Mu's face became more solemn, and he stared at him and said: "Where can someone give you money for nothing? Don't you understand that you are either a traitor or a thief if you show your courtesy for nothing? Hey... you are confused!"
Seeing that her second brother was really angry, Hu Sui had to explain: "I thought it was strange at first too! Second brother, don't blame me. I'm not stupid. Naturally, I didn't dare to accept the call at first, but later, the other party didn't invite me."
Whenever I help him with anything, I also make it clear to him that my father never accepts requests from others, so he has given up on this idea."
Hu Sui paused and then said: "But this man said: "Actually, he only taught me a small favor and complimented me on how well I wrote the script. Now not only my script is sung here in Raozhou, but also in Zhili
All the opera troupes sang along with it. I just said that if I write a story in the future, especially a story about going to sea, I won’t make up names like Treasure Island and write about Java. That’s what I told you last time.
In that story, treasures, gold and silver, and many beautiful women were obtained on the nameless island, but the story was changed to find treasures in Java..."
Hu Mu: "..."
Hu Mu showed a look of disbelief and said with some doubts: "Is it because of this... that I gave you so much money?"
Hu Sui nodded and said: "I don't believe it either, but the other party really gave it to me. Not only did he give it to me, he also invited me to dinner."
Hu Mu was still worried and continued to ask: "Will I ask you for anything from now on?"
Hu Sui shook his head and said: "No, even if they came to me, they only encouraged me to write a storybook. They also said... I would introduce the owner of a printing workshop to change my storybook into a novel.
, sell it out.”
Speaking of this, Hu Sui lowered his voice: "He actually made a merciless request, saying...if anyone else comes looking for him in the future, you can go to him again! In short, you can talk about anything and discuss anything.
."
Hu Mu thought for a while, and seemed to feel that no matter how picky he was, he just felt that since he left Jishui's study, the world was so weird and bizarre that he couldn't understand it more and more.
In the past, I only thought that a scholar could know the affairs of the world without going out.
But in fact, when I really came to Raozhou, I dealt with three religions and nine streams. These people came from Fujian or Zhili. Some used to run ships, some worked in a large workshop somewhere, and some traveled all over the country to work as foot traders.
Only then did I realize that things in the world were completely different from those in the book.
Now I realize that the so-called knowing the world is just looking at the sky from the bottom of a well.
What really shocked Hu Mu was that the railway line from Zhili to Raozhou Station was finally connected.
In fact, this line is only a hundred miles long from the Zhili section to Raozhou, and it goes straight to the station. With the help of Raozhou Station, it radiates to the entire Jiangxi.
But when the rumbling steam train really started to rumble along the railway track, coming from the direction of Zhili with thick smoke, Hu Mu, who was standing along the line, saw this scene and felt that his heartbeat was beating with that
Roaring and jumping, his pupils couldn't help but shrink as he looked at the huge steel beast.
And the steam train brought loads of cargo that Hu Mu could not imagine.
He saw with his own eyes that almost an entire warehouse of goods was being loaded and unloaded. They were all supplies for the construction site, as well as equipment for future railway laying.
This cargo, which is enough to fill a warehouse, would have required hundreds or even thousands of men and horses if manpower was used, but this... was easily solved using only the steam train.
The impact of this steam locomotive put Hu Mu in a strange state for many days, and the shock seemed to linger in his mind.
In early summer, the weather gets hotter and hotter.
In this hot summer day, the steam locomotives carrying bags of pear melons were actually there.
They were all grown on the farm, and a lot of them were picked. They were given priority to be supplied to Raozhou Station, and they were specially sent to express their condolences.
In fact, even if there are a lot of pears and melons delivered, in fact, there are so many people going up and down this Raozhou Station, and each person can only try two or three of them.
However, it was particularly festive up and down the construction site.
Everyone has a salary, and can eat and drink well, and they are not greedy for a few melons. It's just this sudden surprise, and the big shots in Zhili still think about me, it always makes people happy.
At this time, Hu Mu had actually completely integrated into this small world.
Today was surprisingly strange. Secretary Wang was nowhere to be seen all morning. It was not until noon that he came to see Hu Mu with a jug of wine.
He smiled and said to Hu Mu: "After finishing the meal later, bring it back, come here to eat, and have a drink with me on the way."
"This..." Hu Mu looked at Secretary Wang in surprise and said, "I'm afraid it's inappropriate."
Secretary Wang was obviously in a good mood. He smiled and said, "I'm not drunk. Besides, I'm leaving for Nanchang Mansion in the afternoon."
"Ah..." Hu Mu said in surprise: "Go to Nanchang Mansion, you... this is..."
Secretary Wang said cheerfully: "The Railway Department just came with the news that Nanchang Station is about to start construction. It is necessary to mobilize key personnel to coordinate first. The Cleaning Office of the Railway Department summoned me and asked me to be the chief clerk at Nanchang Station. In the world,
It’s urgent, we’ll leave in the afternoon.”
After hearing this, Hu Mu couldn't help but say congratulations and was sincerely happy for Secretary Wang.
The chief clerk at this station may only be from the seventh rank, and he also receives the salary from the seventh rank. Now is the time for the Railway Department to employ people, so there are a lot of exceptions to promotions.
Even though it is just the master register of a station, in fact, the Nanchang Prefecture corresponding to Nanchang Station may only be in charge of the railway line of Nanchang Prefecture, but it is also in charge of civil affairs, military administration, education, criminal affairs and transportation affairs along the coast.
And it is only under the jurisdiction of the Jiangxi Railway Division.
At this time, Secretary Wang sighed and said: "Isn't this a shortage of people? What is there to congratulate? This trip is going through thorns and thorns, and everything is difficult at the beginning. And... I am the candidate for the Secretary, who is in charge of the Qing Dynasty?
Bian also asked, but now there is a shortage of manpower, and they are also stretched, so I recommended you, and they agreed to investigate. If nothing goes wrong by then, you may be in my position. In the future, Ji'an will also be established.
Station, Ruizhou Station, Jiujiang Station, who knows, one day you and I can still work together!"
Hu Mu felt hot in his heart and opened his mouth to say something. In the past six months, he had been under the guidance of Secretary Wang, and he had learned a lot from him. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was his teacher. Faced with the unexpected
The separation and the possibility of a new job gave him an indescribable feeling.
In the end, he suppressed his complicated emotions. Immediately, he took a deep breath and said, "I'll go get some food first."
The two drank some wine at noon and talked a lot, until suddenly
A car is coming to pick up Secretary Wang.
Hu Mu then hurriedly sent Secretary Wang out. This was a modified cart. It was originally used for loading cargo, but now it is used for both passengers and cargo. It was bumpy, but it was better than walking.
Official Wang was about to board the carriage when he suddenly turned around and saw Hu Mu about to bow and salute.
Secretary Wang grabbed his hand and suddenly said: "Just try hard."