Recently, the Leizhou Sugar Company found a wheelmaker in Leizhou - almost every household of Leizhou's sugarcane farmers has an oxcart. However, the wheelmaker it could find specialized in making a spokeless plate type for the local oxcart that transports sugar cane.
The wheels hold up pretty well, but are too bulky to be used at all.
"What kind of wheel is it made of? Does it have spokes or not?"
"Is it still called a wheel without spokes?" Huang Ande asked in confusion.
The man he was talking about was called Bao Lei, who opened a wheel-making workshop in Foshan. Bao Lei was not a local, but a wanderer from the north. He settled in Foshan more than 20 years ago.
Theoretically, Bao Lei is a fugitive criminal - his family has been an official craftsman for generations, specializing in manufacturing vehicles for the army, and has a unique skill of making wheels.
Being an official craftsman in the Ming Dynasty is a hereditary job. This is a kind of compulsory obligation imposed by Zhu Baba when he came to power, not welfare. It is different from the high welfare and high treatment of workers in this time and space who cut their brains and want to join the power supply bureau -
―In the Ming Dynasty, the status of official craftsmen was slightly better than that of slaves.
Bao Lei grew up in such a family of official craftsmen, and the wheel-making craft was passed down from his ancestors. But he soon discovered: Some people say that being an official craftsman is like being a slave to the government. In fact, the life of an official craftsman is worse than that of a slave.
Slave owners also knew how to give their slaves a few good meals so that they could work hard, while officials and craftsmen were almost starving to death.
So one day, Bao Lei ran away.
Bao Lei's escape was not thrilling, and he did not cross barbed wire or climb over a wall. One day, he packed up some of his family's belongings, loaded them into a cart he made himself, and helped the old and young away.
No one asked him where he was going. After a while, the official who had already complied with the story put his whole family on the list of "lost".
Abandoning one's craftsmanship and not paying for one's labor service was tantamount to running away. However, this kind of thing was no longer a thing in the Ming Dynasty. Even so, Bao Lei's family still felt guilty and simply ran away to Guangdong in one breath - this
It is already the southernmost point of the Ming Dynasty in their concept. If they had known that there was Qiongzhou further south, they might have gone to Hainan Island.
However, Bao Lei's life was limited after his escape. He found that people here didn't use cars much and had good skills, but the business had been very deserted. Fortunately, there were some car dealers in Foshan, a place with developed business, and he could still make ends meet.
day.
Now Bao Lei's life couldn't go on. The government didn't know why he suddenly remembered him - the whole province of Guangdong was building cannons, and the demand for artillery carriages suddenly increased greatly, so all the craftsmen related to the manufacture of carriages in the province were ordered
Bao Lei's family was also in trouble. He and his sons were also sent to official posts - his eldest son, who was originally an apprentice to Master Man as a craftsman from a colleague in Guangzhou, was also recruited to Foshan. Mo Mingqi
It would be great to have a father-son reunion.
"Since they are official craftsmen, how can we take them away?"
"Don't worry, shopkeeper, it's just for sale." Huang Ande whispered, "Here we work day and night to build the artillery carriage, and we don't even get a single amount of money. We even withhold food. I heard that many people have died.
This Bao Lei sold all his belongings in the Foshan workshop, bribed the supervisor, and finally got out of trouble."
It was difficult to escape, but he also became impoverished, and half his life's savings were wiped out. The eldest son Bao Boqing still had a place to go, and he went directly back to his original workshop in Guangzhou to continue working. Although the hardship was harder, he could still survive
Bao Lei, his wife and their young son had nowhere to go, not even a place to stay.
"These days, the whole family is living in a dilapidated temple. The father and son are working as carpenters in the market, and they are almost unable to survive. They would rather go to Lingao with the shopkeeper."
When Huang Ande brought Bao Lei, Huang Tianyu took a closer look at the man in front of him. This man was similar to the common people in this time and space he saw in the refugee quarantine camp in Lingao. He was thin and shriveled, and his exposed skin had become dull due to years of toil.
He was rough and his eyes were cloudy and dull. For a moment, Huang Tianyu thought he was blind.
The man looked very old. Huang Ande told him that Bao Lei was about fifty years old. He was already half buried in this time and space.
"Your name is Bao Lei?"
"It's...little Bao Lei." Bao Lei showed the inherent dullness of people who have worked hard all year round.
"Are you a wheelmaker?"
"Yes, the young one can make wheels," Bao Lei continued, "and he can also do ordinary carpentry work..."
"Want to go to Lingao?"
"Yes." Bao Lei nodded, "As long as the shopkeeper is willing to give me some food."
"Do you have any other requests?"
Bao Lei's request was also simple. He hoped to hire his youngest son. In this way, the whole family would finally have food to eat. Huang Tianyu fully agreed. Not only did he agree to hire him, he also said that he could bring his wife with him - there was plenty of work in Lingao.
Can be done.
After taking in Bao Lei's family, Huang Tianyu recruited a dozen craftsmen with nowhere to go among the craftsmen who had been bought and released from the craftsmen's labor camp. They had various types of work, related to car building, and could basically be equipped.
There was a complete vehicle workshop. In the end, not many foundry workers were recruited, but at least a complete team of vehicle builders was recruited, which would be of great use to the Work Capacity Committee after being sent back.
The workers recruited in Foshan and the materials purchased were all arranged and transported by Qiwei's semicolon. Liu San was busy visiting guests and attending banquets - since he was invited by Lin Baihu once, he suddenly became a local celebrity. Liu San
San Ye was happy to socialize with Yang Shixiang everywhere. The more business contacts, the better.
"Dr. Liu is running around pharmacies these days," the waiter said. "He buys all kinds of patent medicines such as pills, pills, ointments, and powders. There are quite a few of them when he buys them. The younger one saw that he has written signatures one by one. I don't know if there are any.
What's the use?"
Li Luoyou was sitting in the study, listening to a young boy reporting on the activities of Yang Shixiang and Liu San - he cared more about these people than Lin Ming.
"A shopkeeper named Huang next to Dr. Liu never goes to the drugstore. He only goes to the kilns, foundries, and teahouses. His people are recruiting workers everywhere..."
"Recruiting?" Li Luoyou listened carefully and asked at this time.
"I have inquired about it, and it seems that they want all kinds of jobs, including drugstore clerks, kiln workers, foundry craftsmen, carpenters, turners..." the clerk said, "he is old and frail, and he takes in all the craftsmen that other families don't want. Even his family members.
I promise I can take them with me."
In the old business habits, with larger fonts, employees had room and board in the store, and were not allowed to go home for the night. They were given a few days off every month, and some even only gave a few days off every year. For those who live far away from home,
It takes almost three years to take a leave of absence and return home. This is not only true for ordinary clerks, but even if they become the head clerk, manager, or shopkeeper, as long as they are not the "owner", there are no exceptions. Therefore, it is quite strange for a clerk to bring his family.
Li Luoyou nodded, rewarded the waiter five coins, and let him go. It seemed that the Australians were building their own factories and workshops in Lingao. That's why they didn't care about recruiting a large number of craftsmen in the industry. The so-called Australian products were actually
Lingao goods - at least it will be like this in a short time.
The reason for agreeing to take away the family members was to allow the craftsmen to work safely in Lingao, and probably also to prevent them from escaping.
"I would like to see what medicine they are going to sell in the gourd in Lingao."
"Selling medicine?" Quackchon's voice came from outside the door. He came back from outside, and he just took a look at the newly delivered silk samples and chose a few.
"Yes, does anyone want to sell medicine?" Li Luoyou said, "Have you made your choice?"
"The choice has been made." Quark didn't have much capital. He was a typical British small businessman similar to Swift's. He traveled across the ocean with a few hundred pounds in capital to find wealth. He is very shrewd, and every time
The goods purchased from Li Luoyu are all carefully selected, and the goods that can obtain the greatest profit are not excluded.
Leroy used him to contact the British East India Company and even the British mainland. He was no longer satisfied with just doing business with the Portuguese. As for the Spanish in Manila, Leroy was extremely disgusted, thinking that these people were doing things with the slaves.
They were both rude and barbaric. They blindly oppressed and exploited the Han people, and were always restricting and hostile. They were almost comparable to He Jiannu. The massacre in Manila during the Wanli period made Li Luoyou even more worried. So he
I have never done business on the Manila route.
Quark's direct connection with Britain also brought him the possibility of purchasing European books and instruments directly. These things can also be obtained from the Jesuits, but it is obvious: will the Jesuits purchase certain books that the church does not like?
For him. In comparison, Protestant Britain is more relaxed.
"You're talking about those Australians."
"It's them." Li Luoyou said with a smile, "These Australians often do unexpected things." Then he told the waiter what he had learned.
"...It's okay to build a fortress in Lingao. I'm afraid I'm going to start a workshop in Lingao." Li Luoyou shook his head and said, "I really don't understand. If it's for trade, building a commercial hall, building a
A fortress will suffice. Why recruit so many workers?"
After hearing this, Quark shook his head and said, "I'm afraid the Australians didn't come here for trade. They seem to want to colonize."
"Colonization?" Li Luoyou was surprised. He knew a little about colonization, which generally meant immigration and settlement.
"No." He shook his head. "If you want to colonize, you need to find open wilderness. For example, you told me last time, what is Ameizhou called?"
"America..." Quark said.
"Exactly, I heard that the land there is fertile and has always been uninhabited. There are only some savages. It makes sense to immigrate and colonize. Lingao is a county under the Ming Dynasty. It has been a prefecture and county of the imperial court since the Han Dynasty. How can outsiders come to colonize!"
"It's hard to say." Quack said, "I heard that they have the same culture and species as China. Maybe they think they have this power."