The next day, Brother Wei didn't get up. Ruan Zhuqing smiled coquettishly and took Yang Fan to the county government office to go through the household registration procedures. The blacksmith shop Wei Bancheng gave to Yang Fan and a hill outside the city needed to be transferred to the government and Yang Fan.
Ruan Qingzhu is indeed a local snake. He is as familiar with the six departments of the county government as he is at home. He bows and bows everywhere and can say a few words to everyone.
Let's make an appointment to have tea someday, and reminisce about a certain little boy in Li Chun Building, and while joking, the naturalization and property transfer procedures were completed in one morning.
He also took Yang Fan to visit Ruan Dafu, the master of the county magistrate.
Ruan Dafu is in his fifties, fair and fat, and he doesn't understand much of the Nanjing Mandarin.
It turns out that Ruan Qingzhu is Ruan Dafu's cousin.
I came here with my uncle. My uncle worked as a tutor for the county magistrate, and he worked as a tutor for the biggest local tycoon.
Yang Fan exchanged pleasantries and found that being friends with the county magistrate's master would be of great benefit to his development in Zunhua.
Then take a carriage to the northeast corner of the city and hand over the blacksmith shop.
This was Yang Fan's first time to visit a complete ancient city, and he enjoyed watching it along the way.
However, the sanitation situation in ancient cities was really poor. There were stinky ditches everywhere, and rats and flies were everywhere.
The main streets are okay, but the deeper areas are full of dilapidated thatched mud houses. The citizens are also sallow and thin, and there are many children running around in tattered clothes.
Generally speaking, Zunhua City is not too big. The circumference of the city is 1,251 feet, which is more than 6 miles in total, but less than seven miles.
The city base is 30 feet thick, which is about ten meters, and it is 3 feet and 6 feet high, about 12 meters. There are 1341 crenellations on the city wall. There is a city gate on each of the east, west, south and north sides, and a turret on each of the four corners of the city. Outside the city gate.
The moat is 2 feet deep and 3 feet wide.
In terms of the overall layout of the city, a Bell and Drum Tower is built in the center.
A temple to Emperor Xuandi was built on the city west of the north gate.
In addition to the four gates, there is a water gate on the west side of the north gate and a water gate on the west side of the south gate. In addition to being used for defense, it can also ensure the circulation of waterways in the city.
There is a river flowing through the city. Master Ruan said that don't underestimate this river. If this river flows upstream, you can go to Bashang Grassland and Xinglong County.
Downstream boats can first go east to Jixian, then turn southeast and go straight to Tianjin Beitangkou to enter the Bohai Sea. This river has abundant water and is called Ji Canal.
If you go upstream again in Baodi on the way, you can go directly to Sanhe County, which is not far from the capital.
Yang Fan knows that Sanhe County is most famous for Yanjiao, which is one of the four major sleeping cities in the back city of Beijing. Those who work in the capital cannot afford a house in the city, so they can only buy one here and go home to sleep at night. During the day
A place where there are no ghosts.
This river passing through the city is the most prosperous place in the entire Zunhua City. There are many stone arch bridges and wooden arch bridges on the river.
Ships of all sizes are parked on the river bank. Their sails and sails are densely covered. There are docks along the river, and many coolies are carrying goods.
Yang Fan took a closer look and saw that they were mostly made of iron ore and finished iron ingots. He could also see made farm implements and tools, such as waist knives, spearheads, and bundles of arrows. It was probably a military town.
Orders. There are also charcoal and the like.
In addition, daily necessities such as vegetable oil, grain, vegetables, meat and eggs are also transported. After all, this is the steel industry center in the north of the Ming Dynasty.
Hundreds of thousands of people produced iron products, which also required a large amount of food, cloth, and other daily necessities.
In this city and surrounding towns, there are countless blast furnace chimneys, and iron-making workshops of various sizes abound. There are more than hundreds of thousands of people working in mining, mineral processing, iron-making, and blacksmithing. Including their families, there are enough
Four to five million people.
Three feet of ice did not freeze in a day. Zunhua began to smelt iron as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, iron smelting formed a city. It has taken nearly a thousand years to develop to this scale.
Along both sides of the river, there is a wide road paved with bluestones. On the roadside, there are shops, restaurants, and even brothels, gambling houses, bathhouses, etc.
From the Bell and Drum Tower in the center of the city
Go south to the South Gate and the Xunmen Gate becomes South Street;
Going north to Gongji Gate, that is, the North Gate, is North Street;
Going east to Zhenhaimen, that is, the east gate is East Street;
Going west to Daijing Gate, that is, the west gate is West Street.
Yang Fan asked Master Ruan about the places of interest in the city. Master Ruan introduced them.
There is a temple in the city south of East Street and east of Southwest Street, that is, in the southeast of the city. Incense is very popular, and many people seeking children go to offer incense. You can often see wives and ladies from wealthy families. There are also many young and beautiful maids.
He gave Yang Fan a look that any man would understand.
There are many buildings in the northeast of the city, mainly the Zunhua County Government. To the west of the county government is the Examination Courtyard, and to the west is the Guandi Temple. To the east of the county government is the Fire Temple, and slightly to the southeast is the Guerrilla Bureau. This is a wealthy area and
The official area and the Wei Family Courtyard are also here.
The main buildings on the west side of North Street and the north side of West Street are, from east to west: Wu Temple, City God Temple, Railway Government Office, Guandi Temple, and Xuandi Temple on the north wall of the city.
From east to west in the northwest corner are: Zisun Temple, Wenchang Temple, Yaowang Temple and Huoshen Temple.
The area between the south side of West Street and the west side of South Street is commonly known as Xidai Temple.
There are Guanyin Hall, Guanghui Temple, Fiti Temple, Confucius Temple, which is the Confucian Temple, and the Academy. In front of the Academy is the Nanchi Villa, Lingyang Temple, and to the south of the Academy is the Guandi Temple.
Coming to the northeast corner of the city, under the turret of the city wall, there is a dilapidated scene. This is a slum area. The people living here are families who work as coolies. The men work as blacksmiths in various shops, and the women work as servants.
People, or starching clothes to make a living.
Many children had no clothes to wear and were running around naked. The hygiene was even worse, and there were many smelly ditches.
There are also a lot of wastelands in this generation, and there are also a lot of smelly blisters. Weeds and reeds are as tall as one person. Wild dogs haunt the barren hills.
Yang Fan stepped on dog poop as soon as he got out of the car, which was so disgusting.
Could this be the legendary beginning of getting off the bus?
The blacksmith shop is a dozen or so thatched sheds built with wooden frames. It doesn't even have decent brick walls. The walls are collapsed in all directions, like those gnawed by dogs. It can't protect against thieves or wild dogs, let alone thieves.
The factory building doesn't even have walls, and is surrounded by straw mats.
A group of craftsmen in rags and beggars stood at the door to welcome the new owner.
Yang Fan looked at the crowd and saw that there were about thirty people, mostly old men. There were also some children aged twelve or thirteen. They were really old and young.
Master Ruan was a little embarrassed and said, "You haven't given me any gifts to the new owner yet."
The management here is not good, the location is bad, not close to water, and transportation is not convenient. The master has taken away all the young and middle-aged people, leaving only the old, weak, sick and disabled, which is indeed not very good-looking.
“Meet the owner”
"Meet the master"
Most of the people here are domestic slaves who sold themselves, so they are called masters, and a few are accountants and clerks. They are all hired, so they are called bosses. It is a chaotic place.
Yang Fan saw that each of these people seemed to have not had enough to eat for a long time, and they were staggering with hunger.
Sighing, he walked into the workshop door.
The workshop occupies an area of about ten acres, with adobe walls on all sides. A door opens to the south. Along the east and west walls are simple workshops made of wooden pillars and straw curtains. The north side is a warehouse. The south side is in the middle and has a gate on both sides.
This is where craftsmen live.
Walking to the middle of the yard, I saw three earthen blast furnaces in the open space in the middle. They looked very primitive, even more primitive than the remains of the earthen blast furnaces left by Dai Yuejin in Yang Fan's hometown.
Looking at the blast furnace covered with dust, it is very dilapidated and I don't know if it can still be used.
"Why didn't work start?" Yang Fan asked.
"Who is the leader? Come out and speak."
"To tell you what, sir, I haven't been paid for three months, and I've run out of food. I've been eating wild vegetable porridge these days, and I really don't have any energy."
