The misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River was like silk and fog, and almost no raindrops were seen, but after a while, the whole body was wet. The rubber raincoat seemed a little less romantic when worn on the body, and the ancient coir raincoat paired with a bamboo hat was very suitable for the occasion.

Li Xiao has always believed that the so-called misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River is actually the result of saturated air humidity. With the blessing of the spring breeze, it has a silky and foggy effect.

As for the bamboo hat and raincoat... Li Xiao wears these two things purely to keep warm.

Anyone who truly appreciates spring in the south of the Yangtze River knows how important it is to keep warm in spring. Anyway, Li Xiao felt a little scared when he thought of that serious cold.

Li Lin's little hands are warm, and holding them in his hands can act as a hand warmer.

Taking a deep breath, the moist air filled his lungs and felt cool and indescribably comfortable. In Li Xiao's eyes, this was the only benefit of the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River.

At the mouth of the Yangtze River, the surging Huangpu River flows into the sea at Huating City. Relying on its geographical advantages, Huating has developed very rapidly in recent years. The flat-bottomed boats that are rampant in the Yangtze River need to change to sharp-bottomed sea boats when they get here. Then they can go all the way south.

, a large ship can directly cross the vast South China Sea to Singapore. A small ship must be re-exported to Quanzhou, or transfer to a larger ship in Guangzhou.

After ten years of development, the shipping industry in Ming Dynasty has made great progress. Especially after several large shipyards in the north were opened to private capital, ships as big as mountains can be seen on the sea, blowing smoke and heading into the wind.

Different from Yangzhou, whose population is shrinking, Huating is now crowded with people. Especially around the port, the port has driven employment, and when there is employment, people will gather. This is an eternal truth. Huating is a small county town, and now

It has become a large city with a population of more than 800,000.

Looking from a distance from Shiliupu Pier, both sides of the Suzhou River are filled with densely packed wooden houses. The scattered wooden houses are crowded with eyes, in sharp contrast to the tall Huating County on the other side.

Li Xiao doesn't know when Huating changed its name to Shanghai, but now this place is called Huating, and Li Xiao has no intention of changing this place into a magical city.

The magistrate of Huating County has written eight times to expand Huating County. This is a fool's errand. The war situation has changed dramatically, and the defense method of city walls has become seriously outdated. Don't say that you are a coward like you from Huating County.

The city walls, even the city walls in the capital where four carriages were running side by side, could be destroyed by cannons.

The city wall should not be expanded, but demolished.

Li Xiao had no way to tell the stupid Huating County Magistrate that this place would develop into a giant city with a population of more than 20 million in a few hundred years. He also had no way to tell him how magical the Magic City was.

"Daddy! It stinks!" The wooden houses on both sides of the Suzhou River are very close to each other. There is only an arm's length between the windows. If a neighbor farts, he will be immersed in the scene.

No matter how enlightened a society is, slums are a typical example of filth and chaos. Mosquitoes and sewage are rampant, which is the most basic state here. Of course, there are worse ones. Li Xiao has only seen them in words, but has never had the opportunity to see them with his own eyes.

.

Now he has seen it with his own eyes. Only two people can walk side by side on a one-meter-wide road. As long as there is a person coming from the opposite side, you have to turn sideways, especially those with children like Li Xiao.

I still had to protect Li Lin with both hands. There were already several pairs of malicious eyes staring at Li Lin. The longevity golden lock around his neck exposed the fact that he was the son of a wealthy family.

In such a narrow place, there were ragged children squatting on the ground and fighting for food with a group of chickens. Li Xiao and Li Lin had to move close to the wooden house and let them pass sideways instead of directly doing what the big man coming from the opposite side did.

Go over the children's heads.

After turning a corner, it seemed to be a main street. It was about three or four meters wide. There were drainage ditches on both sides of the road. Under this hazy mist and rain, the drainage ditch flowed very slowly, and in some places it did not flow at all.

The dark green water was bubbling and emitting a pungent smell. Not to mention Li Lin, even Li Xiao felt so bad that his brain ached.

Li Xiao has no doubt that if there is a plague, this place will be the hardest hit area. Of course, if there is a fire, this place will be a hell on earth. Those children who were squatting on the ground to grab chicken food will definitely be burned.

Before dying or being smoked to death, they were trampled to pulp by the fleeing people.

The poorest families of dock workers live here. Some of them are members of the Cao Gang who have escaped, some are farmers who have lost their land, and some of them are people who came to Huating to make a living after a disaster in their hometown. Anyway, there are all kinds of people in Linlin!

Li Xiao had no doubt that there was probably a fugitive that the court wanted to capture.

He took a look inside and saw that the room was as small as a pigeon cage. An old woman was shivering on the bed covered with a bed of tattered cotton wool. Li Xiao could imagine that in this weather, the bed of tattered cotton batting must be so wet that water could be squeezed out.

"Dad! Why do they live in such a place? Why don't they live in a building?" Li Lin looked around and asked his father in confusion.

Li Xiao really didn't know how to answer. This was so similar to the young emperor who didn't eat minced meat. This couldn't be blamed on Li Lin, who stayed in the compound all day long. When he finally went out, he was looking at Tongzhou New District in the capital.

Where is Tongzhou New District? It was a demonstration area for the entire Ming Empire. There are white marble railings on both sides of the Chaobai River, and there are street lights every ten meters. Cleaners sweep the road three times every day. There are iron trash cans beside the road, and there are people there every day.

Remove garbage regularly.

"Because they have no money." The child couldn't understand the overly complicated place, so Li Xiao could only tell Li Lin the simplest reason.

"They don't have money, so dad, why don't you just give it to them?"

Li Xiao's eyes immediately filled with black lines, "There are too many places like this in the world, and dad can't afford them."

"Oh!" Li Lin felt a little disappointed. Before this, in his eyes, Li Xiao was an omnipotent existence.

"Let everyone in the world have food to eat, good houses to live in, and good clothes to wear. This is a university question. No one as powerful as Grandpa Sun can do it, and dad can't do it now. But dad is doing it now

Work hard and maybe if you come back ten or twenty years from now, the situation here will be completely different."

"Oh!" Li Lin didn't quite understand what Li Xiao said and just nodded in agreement.

Li Xiao felt more and more that it was really worthwhile to come to Huating. It not only educated his children, but also educated himself. When reading the memorial, he always stayed in the impression of the prosperous Ming Dynasty. But when he really came to this place, he was in the illusion of the prosperous Ming Dynasty.

He was instantly shattered.

It turns out that there were beggars in ragged clothes in the Ming Dynasty, and there were people in the Ming Dynasty who were struggling to have enough food and clothing. It turned out that the Ming Dynasty was far from being as powerful as imagined.

No wonder Sun Chengzong always said that the most trustworthy thing in the world is the memorial, and the least trustworthy thing is the memorial.

The Ming Empire was split into two parts with the Qinling Mountains as the boundary. The traditional northern region north of the Qinling Mountains has now entered the process of industrialization. Although it is only the beginning of industrialization, it has still exploded with huge production energy.

The large-scale cultivation of high-yielding crops such as potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes has made the north's heavy reliance on grain from the canal a thing of the past. For the first time, the north of the Ming Empire could feed itself without relying on grain from the south.

The high yield of crops has led to a large number of laborers entering cities and working in factories. This has further promoted the industrialization process!

The south is different, because the remnants of the Southern Ming Dynasty have controlled local political power for a long time. As a result, the south has not carried out the process of industrialization. Today, Jiangnan is still in the agricultural era. Not only the income of the people cannot be compared with that in the north, but the productivity is even worse than that in the north.

Method comparison.

Jiangnan Li Xiao was also helpless. The Donglin Party's zodiac sign should belong to Xiaoqiang. One wave of killings followed another. In the end, Ao Canghai led a division and slaughtered the Donglin Party almost in a bloodbath.

Although local power was regained in this way, the price paid was that almost all the scholars in the south were killed.

Almost the entire southern provinces entered a state of anarchy, and most of the government orders issued by Sun Chengzong were in county towns. This was because generally only the county magistrate, magistrate and masters in the entire county were literate, and the rest were basically illiterate.

The fight against local tyrants to divide their land led to another kind of turmoil. Landlords and their families fled their hometowns one after another, and eventually they all gathered in coastal areas. Many people took boats and went overseas, to places like Yizhou, Hainan and Java.

Recruit refugees and give them land as long as they go there.

Those who are still hesitant are all concentrated in places like Huating. They are usually the most influential people in the village, but when they get here they can only build a house with some wood and thatch, and live a life without humans or ghosts.

Li Xiao can smell the decadence, helplessness and hopelessness here!

Shiliupu Pier is a famous transit terminal between Suzhou River and Huangpu River.

Countless workers in tattered clothes were working on the dock. Li Xiao saw white-haired old people and young men of thirteen or fourteen years old. Many of them were skinny and had protruding ribs. It was obvious at a glance that they were suffering from chronic malnutrition.

.

"roll!"

A loud shout attracted Li Xiao's attention!

There was a table placed more than ten meters away, and behind the table sat a tall man with a beard. The guy who looked like a thug next to him was whipping the young man lying on the ground with a whip.

"Damn it! Look at your body, you can't do much work, and you still want to advance your wages. If you run away, I will look for you wherever you go. Work honestly, and your wages will be paid every day." The thug kicked the ground.

The young man put away his whip and sat on a chair to drink tea.

Li Xiao shook his head helplessly. These days, he was already a pretty good person if he could pay his wages every day and not be in arrears.

"Mr. Cheng! Please be kind. My father injured his lung while working in the cement kiln. The doctor said that the medicine cannot be stopped. If I stop, my father will die...!" The young man knelt on the ground, holding the hand with both hands.

The legs of a bearded man.

"Your father is sick, and it's my fault. Boy! Just ask me, I don't bully others, but that doesn't mean I'm a fool. You're such a bear, how can you pay back the money you borrowed? Don't tell me that I'm a bully.

If you work as a horse, there are so many strong laborers here. I wonder if you work as a cow or a horse?

What I can do is to pay you wages every day so that you rotten people can support your family. Work faster, and those who don’t work should get out. If you disturb me from drinking tea again, I will throw you into the Huangpu River to feed the fish.

"Master Cheng kicked his foot and pushed the young man far away.

"Big...!" The young man got up and wanted to beg again, but his clothes were suddenly grabbed by a pair of hands.

"Here, go get some medicine for your father." Li Xiao held two silver coins in his hand and stuffed them into the young man's hand.

"Uncle! You...! Thank you very much, uncle! Thank you very much, uncle! Please leave a name. In the future, when my father recovers from his illness, I will return the money to you." The young man lay on the ground and kowtowed.

"Forget it, take the money and leave. Your father's illness can't be delayed any longer!" Li Xiao patted the young man's shoulder and sighed helplessly. The burden of life prematurely pressed on these young shoulders.

superior.

"Thank you, uncle! Thank you, uncle!" The young man knelt on the ground, kowtowed twice, took two silver coins and ran away without looking back.

"Humph! That's quite generous. There are not five hundred but three hundred consumptives living next to the cement kiln. Let's see how many you can save." The guy who looked like a thug looked at Li Xiao coldly and said with a smile.

"So many people have tuberculosis?" Li Xiao frowned. Tuberculosis is the tuberculosis of later generations. This disease is an infectious disease. Once infected, the sick person will quickly lose the ability to work.

"Brothers from the Liao Army from the north?" Mr. Cheng glanced at Li Xiao.

"Well, my ancestral home is Liaodong."

"You can tell by your hair style that you are a brother from the Liao Army. I, Old Cheng, used to serve under Commander Yuan of the Second Division. I don't know which army your brother belongs to."

"First division, under Master Ao!"

"Hey! From the First Division, please sit down and have a cup of tea. Warm yourself up in the cold weather!" Upon hearing the name of the First Division, Mr. Cheng stood up immediately and invited Li Xiao to sit down and drink tea.

Li Xiao pulled Li Lin to sit down. Sure enough, the title of First Division was very useful.

"I know you are kind-hearted, but since you are our brother from the Liao Army, I can't help but nag you a few words about how old you are. There are so many people like this at the cement kiln. Even if you are rich, you can't fill this pit.

.”

"how so?"

"It's not that the amount of cement is too large, but the talents there are really treating people poorly. Our cement kilns in Liaodong and Shandong and Hebei all have to wear pig's mouths to prevent lung disease.

Then the cement kilns here don't even wear masks. You...!" The guy who looked like a thug said a few words, but Mr. Cheng stretched out his hand to stop him.

"Stop gossiping, your mouth needs a slap in the face." Mr. Cheng looked at the thug angrily.

"They don't even wear masks?" Li Xiao suddenly realized that he had been working in a cement kiln all year round without even wearing a mask, and he was haunted by pneumoconiosis. Oh my God, patients with this disease have their alveoli gradually squeezed.

, and was finally suffocated to death. The death was miserable!

"Your local government just doesn't care?"

"Control? Who dares to control the business of the Marshal's family?"
Chapter completed!