At Pukou Pier, I suddenly remembered the sound of a bell.
A large number of people were driven away at least two feet away from the river.
Immediately, the wooden fence was closed, and several government officials wearing soap uniforms and white belts, holding waist knives, kept shouting and scolding the people who did not walk in time.
Immediately afterwards, a thick-waisted government official banged the gong at the top of his voice and shouted: "The ship is coming, hurry up and line up, come one by one!"
Jia Yan stood on tiptoes and kept looking around, with a look of eagerness on his face.
"Hey, brother, why are these government officials here at the pier? Do they have to queue up to pick up people?"
At this time, a businessman dressed as a businessman spoke a strong Wu dialect. Although it was Mandarin, it was difficult to understand.
After listening for a while, Jia Yan finally understood and couldn't help but say:
"At first glance, you just came to Nanjing and don't understand anything."
"Have you seen the white armbands of these yamen servants? They are called auxiliary servants. They were also white servants before. Now they are considered as yamen servants. Their monthly salary is only 70% of that of a regular servant. It can only be made up when the yamen servant retires from old age and illness. "
Seeing that there was no sign of the ship, Jia Yan couldn't help but gushed:
"As for the fence, queuing, as long as the copper bell sounds, everyone has to wait in line."
"Why is this?" The businessman was surprised.
"Hey, we are on a high tower. We stand high and can see far. We know that the ship is coming. Let us wait!"
Jia Yan smiled and patted him on the shoulder as if he had been there before: "Brother, this is Nanjing, you need to see more."
As everyone knows, waiting for the dock is only two months away.
In fact, in response to the war, the imperial court was deeply aware that the regulation of transportation played a great role in autumn grain and the turnover of money and grain.
Under the emperor's intervention, Nanjing's docks instantly began to be regulated.
All piers, nearly 70% of the berths, are occupied by the government, and the remaining 30% are for civilian use.
Therefore, in order to more effectively utilize 30% of the berths without affecting people's livelihood, the imperial court carried out a series of planning and management.
For example, five miles away from the dock, all civilian cargo ships and merchant ships have to wait, and they can arrive at the pier at once every two hours for unloading.
As for yamen servants, due to the abolition of their lowly status and conversion to civilian status, yamen servants were also highly sought after. In order to deal with complicated matters, auxiliary servants also came into being.
“This is Nanjing!”
At the dock, a large number of cargo ships lined up and slowly arrived at the dock, without any competition or rush, in an orderly manner.
"Get off quickly, get off quickly -"
The shipowners constantly urged the passengers to disembark, so that they could use the remaining time to unload the cargo.
Gouzi took his luggage and hurried off the ship with his mother, Jia Wang, who was holding his sister, and met his long-awaited father.
As soon as Jia Yan saw his wife and son, he immediately became excited. Their daughter, who was nearly one year old, was sleeping soundly while his wife was sleeping.
"My dear, my Lan'er slept so well."
Jia Yan looked at his daughter's cute little face and said happily.
Immediately, he looked at his cheap son who was growing up, and couldn't help but patted him on the shoulder: "Gouzi, that's good, you took good care of your mother."
"Dad, why did we move to Nanjing again?"
Gouzi said displeased: "I just learned Mencius from my husband, but I'm not proficient yet!"
"Yes, sir, our fields are in Huguang. Now that we have traveled all the way to Nanjing, what should we do with the fields?"
Mrs. Jia Wang was also very tired and looked puzzled.
"Say it on the way!"
Jia Yan left the dock with a bundle in each hand and a few people.
On both sides of the pier, a large number of mule carts, donkey carts, and carriages were parked, forming a queue like a crowd.
Jia Yan took his family to a mule cart, put their luggage on it, and asked his mother-in-law, daughter, and son to sit on it. He walked beside him:
"I knew you were tired, so I hired a mule cart specially."
As he spoke, he said excitedly: "The reason why I called you here is because I have something good to tell you."
"What's the matter?" Jia Wang asked.
"Hey, His Majesty, in order to commend us, the ministers of the Dragon, has specially allowed us to be naturalized in Nanjing. In other words, we will be citizens of the capital from now on."
Although it is said that over the past hundreds of years, the imperial court has relaxed its nationality and established the system every ten years as empty talk, the capital city is different. Except for high-ranking officials, it is difficult for ordinary people to become naturalized.
There are too many advantages to being born in Gyeonggi, such as imperial examination quota, corvee service, taxes, etc. For ordinary people, the temptation is too great.
"I have already thought about the fields at home. Now I just collect rent every year. When we get old, we can go back to take care of ourselves..."
When Gouzi heard this, he lost interest.
He kept looking around and saw that there were densely packed shops along the road, merchants traveling from north to south, speaking various dialects, and even red-haired people of different kinds.
"Dad, why is that man's hair red?"
The dog was shocked and turned pale.
"Oh, those, they are Franji people, just like monks and Taoists."
Jia Yan has seen a lot these days, so it's not surprising.
"There are such people in the world, just like that Rakshasa!" Mrs. Jia Wang patted her chest and covered her daughter's eyes for fear of scaring her.
The mule cart traveled for nearly three hours before arriving at the outer city of Nanjing.
After walking for another half an hour, the task was completed.
Jia Yan was distressed and paid out fifty coins, and said enviously: "If you have a livestock, you can make more money."
Arriving at a relatively dilapidated house, Jia Yan said: "There are few people in the outer city and this house is cheap, so I bought it."
"That's a lot of money, right?" Mrs. Jia Wang said distressedly, but she was extremely satisfied with the two floors.
Although it is a bit dilapidated, this is a house in Nanjing.
"Didn't King Yu ascend the throne? Each member of the army was rewarded with ten taels of silver. In addition to the salary for the first two months, he also borrowed some from his colleagues and bought it with fifty taels of silver."
"Oh my god!" Gouzi's mouth opened wide: "Dad, this is your salary for two years!"
"Your father is now the captain. He has hundreds of people under his command. His monthly salary is already two thousand yuan, which is less than two years' salary."
Jia Yan said proudly.
Recently, the imperial court has been collecting silver and releasing silver yuan and copper yuan, which has caused the price of silver to rise. Each tael can be exchanged for 600 copper coins.
It increased by more than 20%.
Realizing this situation, although Jia Yan did not know about inflation, he knew that silver was valuable and spent it immediately.
"Dad, you are amazing."
Gouzi said in admiration.
Ever since he had this father, he has never been hungry. In his little heart, he only thinks that his father is the most powerful.
"Gouzi, from now on you will live on the first floor, and your mother and I will live on the second floor."
"Great, I can finally have a peaceful sleep at night." Gouzi shouted.
However, Mrs. Jia Wang's face turned red. Now that she had no worries about food and clothing, she actually felt ashamed.
"You have to be King Yu, otherwise how could you have such a good life?"
At night, he hugged his mother-in-law and muttered.