"I've met Censor Zhang!" Ma Zhou naturally greeted him as soon as possible when he saw Censor Zhang's arrival.
"I have seen Ma Shui Envoy." Zhang Xuansu did not have any arrogance and gave Ma Zhou a gift of rigorously.
"Mashui envoy, this time the saint asked me to come because the cold winter was cold. Zheng Baiqu still let the corvee workers freeze their work in the cold weather, so they came to inspect and see if the corvee people had excessive corvee work in this project."
Zhang Xuansu said straight to the point.
Although Ma Zhou heard Zhang Xuansu's words straightforward, his attitude was quite kind. He put down his mind and said,
"It's better to let Zhou accompany the Censor to walk around the Zhengbaiqu project. If the Censor has any doubts, Zhou will try his best to answer."
"So... very good!" Zhang Xuansu did not refuse Ma Zhou's kindness when he heard Ma Zhou Wanzhu's words.
To be honest, after wandering around the Zhengguo Canal, Zhang Xuansu already knew that the local people were actually very enthusiastic about participating in the Zhengguo Canal Project.
Because as long as you come to Zhengguo Canal to move bricks, you will be responsible for food, so the people around you are happy to move bricks.
After all, in this era, managing food itself is enough to make many people take the initiative to sell their labor.
However, fewer people go to move bricks after winter, because most of the local people are temporary workers, not corvee labor under Wang Zhenru, the official Zhengbaiqu Project.
So they don’t have cotton clothes, scarves and gloves. If they don’t have this thing in winter, how can they keep warm and how can they work in the middle of winter?
Therefore, only a small number of people who have cold clothes in winter come to move bricks.
However, their willingness to work as temporary workers in the middle of winter is not for food, but for coal!
Because Li Tai completed the unification of the coal industry in the entire Guanzhong region, coal resources began to be valued.
The coal balls traded on the market, related coal products, and even the entire coal system were slowly created by Li Tai bit by bit. From digging coal to making finished coal balls for sale, the entire one-stop belongs to Li Tai.
For Li Tai, what he really had to pay was actually manpower wages and time costs. In the feudal era, it was enough to stuff silver coupons and food coupons for them.
Therefore, if these coal balls are really sold at the market price, you will definitely make a fortune.
But if you just bypass the currency and use a few kilograms of coal to pay the people's labor force for a day, Li Tai will not lose anyway.
For many people, after all, the amount of cold-proof materials they can save is limited.
In this case, they are happy to work one day a week (six days) and get the amount of coal needed for a week.
But in fact, many people nearby feel that they are idle in the middle of winter, so they come to Gaoling to move bricks, eat and live in, and have money to get it, so why are you not happy?
In this case, people without cotton coats will borrow cotton coats and people's clothes. At most, when they send coal back, they will give the other party a kilogram of coal, which is considered as a rental fee.
So Zhang Xuansu knew that although Zheng Guoqu started construction in winter, it was supported by the local people. If anyone cut off this path, it would not have been torn by the local people.
Ma Zhou stayed at the Zhengguo Canal Project all day long, but he did not pay attention to Zhang Xuansu's arrival.
Because the Zheng Baiqu project itself involves Ma Zhou too much energy, Ma Zhou has no intention of dealing with the intrigues of the court again.
So when Zhang Xuansu came, Ma Zhou also took Zhang Xuansu to various aspects of the project according to the normal reception.
Zhang Xuansu came to the actual construction site, but saw that the corvee was wearing uniform cotton clothes, while some people were wearing thick brown clothes, and there was a clear distinction on the construction site.
Among them, those corvee-service dressed in uniform clothes basically work together, such as carrying huge rocks, digging canals together, and some people lay down stakes together...
As for those who wear different styles and colors of clothes, it is different. They basically carry gravel and soil here, and even shovel snow.
In short, some things that must be collaborated are handed over to those corvee labor that are uniformly dressed, and those work that can be basically completed by one person are all those corve labor that are wearing colorful and thick clothes.
"These corvee labor seems to be divided into two groups?" Zhang Xuansu looked at Ma Zhou with some confusion.
Ma Zhou quickly explained:
"Those who wear uniform cotton clothes are corvee labor, while the others wear different clothes are only the local people who come to help.
They were just temporary workers in Zheng Guoqu, and they only came to help like this for lunch and dinner, and coal mines.
So they can only do some simple but large-scale jobs."
"So that's it!" Zhang Xuansu touched his beard and asked in confusion, "Since that's the case, why don't you accept them and become corvee labor, and then carry out unified management?"
"The labor service in Gaoling has to pay wages, and a lot of basic equipment is also required to provide labor service, such as cotton coats, cotton pants, shoes, etc. in winter.
Forget this, in fact, Gaoling's corvee needs to know how to read and count. If it becomes corvee, it also needs to consider that when they are promoted to managers in the future, they need to be counted and planning.
Therefore, the cost of Gaoling corvee is very high, and many people will never be in charge of the matter in their entire lives.
Unless he is particularly capable of working, recruiting in will delay others' future!"
Ma Zhou explained to Zhang Xuansu that Gaoling corvee was not a labor service for the court to work for free, but a profession.
Li Tai directly used the rent-and-in-law regime to help them pay for the corvee labor that these people had to bear.
Therefore, becoming Gaoling corvee labor service is at least for ordinary people, it is considered to have eaten half a bit of public food. Not to mention how good it is, at least it is to find a backer, which can give them some support.
"I'm afraid I can become a minor official, and even have the potential to become an official!" Zhang Xuansu murmured.
Hearing Zhang Xuansu's words, Ma Zhou looked at Zhang Xuansu with some surprise. Unexpectedly, Zhang Xuansu was so optimistic about these Gaoling corvee labor services, although Ma Zhou also thought what Zhang Xuansu said was correct.
To be honest, this is Ma Zhou who didn’t know Zhang Xuansu’s experience, so he underestimated Zhang Xuansu.
You must know that Zhang Xuansu had been with Dou Jiande, because he knew clearly how the people at the bottom went from disorderly and chaotic people to orderly righteous soldiers, and even became a domineering man in Hebei.
If it weren't for meeting Li Shimin, a fierce man from heaven, Dou Jiande would actually be the most likely person to unify the north.
Therefore, compared with officials in the court who were from aristocratic families or royal nobles, Zhang Xuansu was truly a person from the bottom.
He understood that if Gao Ling was too proud of his corvee service, he would look at them, but if he understood mathematics and planning, he would be a qualified grassroots management in the internal affairs system anywhere.
It is like basically the talents possessed by talents in a county town can govern the entire country.
To a certain extent, these people cannot become so-called geniuses, but if you have the opportunity, training will definitely become the backbone of the country.
Of course, Zhang Xuansu can only talk about this model, the most important thing is that the Tang Dynasty cannot follow this model.
The main reason is that the Tang Dynasty had no money.
That's right, raising a corvee like this is more expensive than raising a soldier.
How could a normal person choose this method to use corvee service? Only Li Tai is rich and powerful, so he uses this mentally ill-treated method to operate.
Although such corvee service was actually quite envious of the efficiency of operation of the court.
After the Wei River was built, Du Ruhui reported this and wanted to establish a new corvee system according to the Gaoling model.
But after calculating the cost of each corvee in the draft, the entire plan was thrown into the garbage can.
Because it is really too expensive to popularize this system, and it costs a lot of money every year.
So, Li Tai said so arrogantly in the court at the time, but no court official stood up and said, I could do it too.
A very important reason is that Li Tai really doesn't know how to use Gaoling to support the economy that could not be supported.
Zhang Xuansu secretly remembered these things in his heart. After all, when he went back to the court to report, he had to make it clear.
At this time, Zhang Xuansu continued to look, but a dam appeared on the Jia canal. He couldn't help but be stunned. He had never seen this thing before, which made Zhang Xuansu feel a little curious, "Is this?"
"This is a concept of raising the water level proposed by King Yue to facilitate the ship's upstream, and to build dams in some places with large drops in water levels.
After the ship sails inside, it stores water or releases water to achieve the countercurrent or downstream of certain ships.”
Ma Zhou said, "Because it will be useful when carrying out canal transportation plans in the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal in the future!"
"So that's it, Zhang Xuansu nodded. King Yue was able to come up with such a technique, but it was amazing!" Zhang Xuansu said.
"This technology has actually appeared in the south, but it is rarely used on the waterways in the north!"
Ma Zhou pointed to the stone tablet not far from the gate dam and said, "So after King Yue proposed the idea, some masters who knew southern techniques designed it, and a stone tablet was erected here.
The first master to realize this dam will be able to contract the dam here for daily maintenance.
His name is engraved on this gate!”
Zhang Xuansu nodded, but looked very knowledgeable, so he followed Ma Zhou to continue to check the entire project.
Soon, Zhang Xuansu discovered that there seemed to be a lot of alien people here. Although they also wore uniform corvee uniforms, they were in a unified black color.
Zhang Xuansu said to Ma Zhou curiously, "It seems that there are many aliens here?"
"They are undergoing labor reform!" said Ma Zhou, "Let them work here, while accepting Chinese and texts, while washing away their habits on the grassland. Basically, these characters may not be fully recognized, but they can already speak Chinese language.
A few words."
"Speaking of this, why are there so many aliens?" Zhang Xuansu said curiously when he heard Ma Zhou's words.
“Isn’t it good to hand over their work to our people for corvee?”
"What should I say?" Ma Zhou thought for a while and said, "In the entire Zhengbaiqu project, our officials are responsible for the overall planning.
Next is corvee labor and master craftsmen, who are responsible for splitting the plans we proposed into specific projects to complete them one by one.
Then some relaxed and repetitive activities were handed over to our local people and temporary workers to make some money.
Next are these aliens. They will be responsible for the hardest and most tiring work, and even many are in danger of life.
For example, sometimes they need to touch the water to drive piles, and some places that are prone to collapse need to be reinforced.
These tasks are better to be given to aliens than to sacrifice our local people!
For example, the Zhengbaiqu project is being promoted in winter. If it is handed over to ordinary people, it would be too cruel.
But if we leave these things to these alien races, at least our people don’t have to worry about being hurt.”
"Are the people who work here mainly interracials these days?" Zhang Xuansu was relieved when he heard this, "Where are so many interracials?"
"The King of Yue entrusted the Honglu Temple to purchase it from the Turkic nobles in Chang'an." Ma Zhou did not hide it.
Because this matter was not illegal in the Tang Dynasty, there were also slaves and treacherous acts, which were legal transactions.
Basically, as long as you don’t abuse these people, even if you die in an accident, the court actually doesn’t care.
"Do you use alien races to replace the people for labor?" Zhang Xuansu touched his beard when he heard Ma Zhou's words.
To be honest, this kind of thing is not rare for the Tang Dynasty, but if you really use these alien races to various infrastructures, you have never seen such an operation.
For a moment, Zhang Xuansu also felt like he was eye-opening.
"Yes!" Ma Zhou nodded at this moment, "However, we did not abuse these aliens.
At least they are all food and clothing like our corvee service, at most they have no wages.
Because they are forced to learn Chinese and understand Chinese characters, they understand the value of our food coupons and buy what they want.
However, in this process, they need to redeem directly, that is, they must earn at least ten yuan of money for King Yue before they will be released.
Every time the food coupon or charcoal coupon is issued, a part of this money is directly collected and paid in installments."
"In this case, how long will it take for them to pay off their debts? Complete the self-redemption?" Zhang Xuansu asked curiously.
"It's almost five years, but if you save money, it's almost three years enough. If you perform well and become the manager of the alien itself, then maybe one year will be enough!" Ma Zhou was quite clear about Zhang Xuansu.
road.
"Is it just a year? Is this time too short!" Zhang Xuansu frowned!
"When they really get free, they will find out where they can go in Chang'an where they are not familiar with the place.
That is, it is safest to continue working in Zheng Baiqu or find a job in Gaoling.
As for other places, to be honest, for the vast majority of them, they are no longer home.
This is their home!" Ma Zhou sighed.
Zhang Xuansu was stunned, but also understood what Ma Zhou meant.
Because they were sold by the Honglu Temple by nobles from their tribe.
To some extent, they belong to people who were abandoned by their tribe, and they were already homeless.
Now even if Li Tai gives them freedom, can they return to their hometown?
No, they have nothing left! After all, people need reasons to live, and it is unrealistic to live without purpose.
Now, only by holding the King of Yue tightly in Gaoling, holding the Chinese culture tightly, and integrating themselves into the Chinese culture, can these Eastern Turkish people find new reasons to survive.