Thanks to the hard work of everyone in the Qiwei Escort Bureau, sugar workers such as sugar cooks and other sugar workers in various sugar houses have been recruited. Although it is a little late to recruit people now, the best masters have been invited away, and the remaining old ones
Wen Tong notified the five sugar mills under his name that they would only charge sugar cane from other sugar cane factories that were willing to process it.
Thirty percent was used as a processing fee to attract small sugarcane farmers without sugar mills to process and earn more brown sugar. At the same time, he allowed various sugar mills to purchase various sugar products, including brown sugar and sugar bricks, including
Molasses left over from processing is also welcome and purchased together.
"Tell them, we want sugarcane bagasse too!" Wen Tong shouted excitedly to Wen Xiu and Wen Qing, who were acting as envoys. Because these two brothers were fluent in writing and Mandarin, they became Wen Tong's secretaries and envoys, and were in Leizhou every two days.
Running around the country delivering various orders, his face became quite tanned. Wen Tong wrote to the stewards of the sugar house he had just recruited every day. The stewards of Zhuangzi issued various instructions and also required these people to report to him regularly.
.In order to convey information conveniently, Liao Dahua specially bought several sedan chairs and kept a group of sedan bearers on standby to pick them up and drop them off at any time.
As for the day laborers in the sugar cane fields, Wen Tong soon discovered that he could not recruit enough people from the local area. The price of day laborers during the sugar cane harvest season soared, and because they started late, almost all the idle laborers in the countryside were recruited by other sugarcane farmers.
Wen Tong had no choice but to wait for labor from Guangzhou.
Guangzhou was preparing to send the first batch of 200 people, and originally he wanted more. However, the dilapidated houses in various villages and sugar houses simply could not accommodate so many people, and most of the only houses needed to be repaired.
It was necessary to build supporting kitchens, toilets, food, and drinking water, and even pots for cooking for these people had to be purchased. In the 17th century, it was very difficult to arrange food and lodging for so many people.
Do it yourself.
Fortunately, the Qiwei Escort Bureau was here to take care of everything, including purchasing food, hiring craftsmen to repair the house, and negotiating with the government. Liao Dahua took care of the arrangements, which was of great help.
In Guangzhou, Zhang Xin asked Sun Changlai to be responsible for organizing the first batch of immigrants to Xuzhou. Because he knew from Xu Wenlai’s notes that the conditions in Leizhou were rudimentary and that after arriving, people not only had to harvest sugar cane but also had a lot of chores to do, so Sun Changlai chose
The first batch of immigrants who came out were all young and middle-aged people with no diseases. Moreover, he specifically selected those who had families and families, and single people were not selected. Zhang Xin was puzzled and asked him why.
"I heard that the environment in Leizhou is very difficult. If people with no worries go there, they will all escape if they make a mistake. Then won't all the hard work and money spent these days have been wasted? If you have a family and a family,
It's safer." Sun Chang replied.
"You are really thoughtful." Zhang Xin was impressed by how thoughtful this housekeeper, who was born as a domestic slave, could be.
"It's not a villain who thinks carefully. In the past, when I was in Master Gao's house, even though I was a small servant and a servant of the Gao family, I also saw a lot of recruitment matters, and I am familiar with all the disadvantages involved."
Sun Changyou invited Guo Yi to go to the governor's office to visit Lu Yizhong, a famous painter, and bought a famous post from him for one hundred taels of silver. Although hundreds of young and middle-aged immigrants could go to Leizhou by boat, they had to wear clothes after landing.
When passing through the city and countryside, the officials in various places will inquire. It will be much easier to deal with it if you have a piece of paper in your hand. The first batch of immigrants here are organized in a militarized manner of squad-platoon-company, with leaders at each level.
Everyone brings their own bedding, tableware and five days' worth of spare dry food.
The route is to take a boat from Guangzhou, disembark at Hai'an in Leizhou, and then arrive at Xuwen on foot. After arriving in Xuwen, they will be assigned to Jiusuo Sugar Cane Farm according to everyone's situation.
The Qiwei Escort Bureau also made sufficient preparations at various branches and counters along the way in Leizhou. It sent rolling orders in stages and guaranteed relays. As soon as the immigration team entered the country, there were people to greet them and act as guides. Rest points were set up along the way to provide boiled water.
Steamed buns. Some places are too desolate and there are no rest stops, so the cooking team will make fires to boil water and eat dry food. They do not drink raw water on the way, and accommodation is arranged every night, and they never sleep in the open. In this way, the immigrants eat well during this period of transportation.
They had a good rest and would not get lost. They were escorted by bodyguards. They had government documents in their hands, and the immigrants had whistle sticks and waist knives to protect themselves. No one dared to mess with Leizhou on the whole journey. It was useless.
I arrived in Xuwen the next day, and I was in good physical condition. There was not a single sick or injured person on the road. After arriving, I could get back to work immediately after taking a short rest.
Wen Tong said that the more than 200 immigrants were dispersed and sent to various sugar cane farms in shifts. Although they lived in temporarily repaired thatched huts, fortunately the weather in Leizhou was warm and they would not be exposed to the cold. As soon as the immigrants arrived, they went to work harvesting sugar cane.
According to Wen Tong's instructions, enough rice, vegetables and meat were purchased from nearby villages to ensure that the immigrants could get sufficient food during the busy farming period. The labor intensity of harvesting sugar cane was very high and they were not allowed to eat enough.
If you eat well, some people will soon be unable to hold on and flee.
After the first batch of immigrants settled down and worked for half a month, they saw that people's hearts were relatively stable. Guangzhou began to send the second batch of immigrants, which included the wives and children of the first batch of immigrants. The purpose of sending women was mainly to satisfy these needs.
Logistical needs of immigrants, help with cooking, mending clothes, etc.
In the end, a total of about 400 people were transported from Guangzhou, including men, women and children. Wen Tong, Chang Shide and Liao Dahua dispersed them to various sugar cane farms and used them as long-term workers - in fact, their status was that of indentured servants.
.Everyone owes Zi Enterprise fifty taels of silver in the contract, so they must use labor to pay off this debt. Guo Yi believes that this model can somewhat curb the tendency of some refugees to escape when they are full.
The situation of the refugee recruitment policy was quite good at the beginning, especially when the turnover speed of transportation to Lingao was relatively fast. The half-starved refugees were still happy to go to a new place where there was work and plenty to eat. However,
When the transfer speed began to slow down, more and more people were accumulated in the refugee camps in Guangzhou. After eating a few good meals to calm down, they heard that they would immigrate to Qiongzhou. Many people who were attached to their hometown
People began to think of running away - they came to Guangzhou not to starve to death. Now that they had eaten enough and saw that spring was coming again, some people slipped away one after another. Guangzhou Station was completely helpless at first - there was not enough
There are many people to look after these people, but the matter cannot be delayed, otherwise it will soon become a trend. Guo Yi and others came to a conclusion: just giving carrots is not enough - there must be a big stick to cooperate.
In order to minimize the number of sheltered refugees from escaping, in addition to increasing various brainwashing measures and advocating for a better life prospect after going to Qiongzhou, Guo Yi finally asked the Executive Committee to implement the indentured servitude system.
All refugees who are taken in must sign a contract and pay for their food, clothing, housing and medical services in the refugee camp by borrowing money. For this reason, they must serve Zishi Enterprises for at least seven years, and they can get back the contract after the expiration of the term.
According to the contract, during this period, they were provided with free food and wages. After expiration, they did not have to pay additional redemption fees.
With this contract, Guo Yi can legally use the power of the government to control them in Guangzhou, so that the common people who are particularly afraid of the government do not dare to escape at will. Especially after he used Liang Cunhou's film to report to the Nanhai County Yamen for arrest.
After more than a dozen refugees were beaten with forty to eighty sticks each in the Yamen, the phenomenon of fleeing was brought under control. Many people were completely cut off from the idea of returning home if they had the opportunity. Others gradually became suspicious.
What's the point of returning to my hometown to live a life of eating bran vegetables, growing land and paying rent? If you want to work on the land, wouldn't it be better to work for a boss like Dongzhu Guo? At least you can have enough food.
, and also gave me new clothes to wear.
After struggling for almost a month, the sugar industry of Chuanchuan Group in Haikang and Xuwen counties finally got on the track of normal operation. Although during this period, there were some cases where a large amount of sugar was scrapped due to the poor skills of the sugar cooks.
Despite the trouble, the overall operation is still very stable, and brown sugar is continuously produced. According to Wen Tong's instructions, all the brown sugar, molasses and bagasse produced in the sugar factory are transported to the central sugar cane farm in Xuwen -
- According to his instructions, Liao Dahua managed to buy some land and expand the boundary of the sugar cane farm to the river - if he could not get the power of steam engine or diesel engine, he would prepare to use hydraulic machine for crushing production.
Wen Tong planned to build a demonstration sugar cane plantation here and build a sugar factory using new equipment. He named it the South China Demonstration Sugar Factory - this is to commemorate Xuwen's earliest modern sugar factory, the South China Factory.
The other four sugar factories are named after several shareholders of the factory who have made great contributions to China's sugar modernization industry: Guoxin Factory, Qichong Factory, Zhi'an Factory, and Qiwen Factory. These factories can only maintain the old ones for the time being.
Some production methods require technological improvements after the demonstration sugar factory has matured.
Therefore, the model sugar cane farm in South China has become the place that accepts the most immigrants, with nearly 150 men, women, and children settling here. Chang Shide became the manager of civil affairs because he did not know how to grow sugar cane. One village after another
Zhuangzi registered household registrations in accordance with the "Civil Affairs Management and Organization Manual" compiled by Wu De, established grassroots organizations, selected young and virtuous people from the immigrants to be village chiefs, and selected people who were witty and eloquent to serve as deputies. According to the principle of "all the people are soldiers"
In principle, a militia team was established - according to the local name, it is Xiangyong. It was equipped with swords, guns, bows and arrows transported from Lingao, and even matchlock guns. The militiamen used their free time to gradually practice under the guidance of the bodyguards -
Wen Tong did not want them to serve as musketeers, he just wanted them to be able to defend themselves when bandits invaded. Although Chang Shide and Wen Tong deeply doubted the loyalty of these militia teams, the security situation here did not allow them to do more.
After thinking about it, relying on a few bodyguards to protect nine properties in two counties really exceeds the strength of the Qiwei Bodyguard Bureau in Leizhou.
"Even if it's not for us, we can only hope that it's for themselves." Chang Shide said, "At least they have food and clothing now, their whole family is reunited, and they should do their best to defend their homeland."
"Then they must regard this place as their home." Wen Tong was still relatively pessimistic.
"The two shopkeepers are worrying too much." Liao Dahua persuaded him, "Here is a good place with food and shelter, a warm climate, no frost or snow, and a good person like Mr. Australia, what else can these refugees expect?
?”
"I hope so." Wen Tong looked at the newly built thatched huts that resembled an African patchwork. "After this harvest season, all villages will be built with new houses, built according to the standard B-type residential houses."
"The investment is too big -" Chang Shide had seen the B-type building built for Baitu Village in Bopu. It was simply a fortress-type building, and it seemed to be much larger in scale than the A-type building like Tongzilou.
"The sugar factory will be our cash cow in the future. If we want to gain a firm foothold in Leizhou, we can't do anything without the ability to protect ourselves." Wen Tong said, next, he will start to improve the process and machinery - only in this way can his
South China Sugar Factory lives up to its name.
Wen Tong now has two directions for improvement. One is to make white sugar. Wen Tong knows several techniques for making white sugar, but without equipment, he can only use the local method in "Tiangong Kaiwu" and use yellow mud as an adsorbent.
To make white sugar, the so-called yellow mud should be a porous material such as clay. If you look at it from this perspective, it does not necessarily have to be yellow mud. Things such as activated carbon and diatomaceous earth can act as adsorbents.
The second is to increase the yield of jaggery. There are many areas that can be improved. The simplest way is to increase the juice yield. Wen Tong has roughly tested that the juice yield of sugarcane rolled three times with a wooden roller in the sugar cane does not exceed 40%. The so-called
Sugarcane bagasse also contains a large amount of cane juice, which is a huge waste. The juice yield rate of modern sugar factories is at least 70%.
After much consideration, I decided to start with sugar production - after all, this product has a high profit margin.
Wen Tong didn't try all kinds of messy adsorbents. They couldn't make activated carbon yet. As for diatomaceous earth, it had to be transported from Lingao, which was inconvenient. Although clays such as yellow mud were not everywhere, they were still available locally.
It's easy to find. If it can't be made, I'll think of another way.
According to the description of the technological process in "Tiangong Kaiwu", Wen Tong first had people melt the brown sugar, then pour it into a tile with straw stuffed underneath, and wait until the brown sugar completely solidified before pulling out the thatch. Chang Shide
Ask someone to pick up a few loads of pure yellow mud from outside, pour it into the water tank, and stir it vigorously to form yellow mud water. After letting it sit for a while, use a ladle to scoop up the solution in the upper layer of the yellow mud water, and pour it on the tiles one by one.
inside.
"This method is so weird." Chang Shide didn't believe it. Yellow mud water and brown sugar can produce white sugar? It looks dirty enough.