By April, the entire Northeast region has entered summer, with continuous rains.
Chang'an County is originally the western gateway to Shenyang, and is connected by a Pu River. It is also home to a large number of merchants, and you can see several merchants coming and going.
Whenever they encountered merchants, the county town would just return it, and the villages in the countryside would take out their housekeeping goods one after another as if they were celebrating a festival, hoping to exchange for what they needed.
People wanted to exchange for needles and thread, iron pots and hoes, cloth axles, and oil and livestock livestock.
However, Li Shizhen and Cao Xi had no time to spare and could only send those who took the provincial examination to Shenyang; three days later, they had to be busy inspecting the warehouses to dry them; and then they inspected the dams of the Pu River...
Local officials are always the busiest.
Li Shizhen couldn't stand it anymore, so he resigned and concentrated on preparing for the imperial examination at home.
Cao Xi had no choice but to go on duty alone.
On this day, Cao Xi wandered to Li's house with two fish: "This fat-headed fish is very fragrant. Add two pieces of tofu to stew it."
"Shizhen, I feel that I can't hang around anymore."
"Oh? You also want to take the imperial examination?"
"No, I want to continue to be an official." Cao Xi said awkwardly: "I'm not as knowledgeable as you, so I'd better be an official!"
"Tingshu, there is a shortage of officials in Jilin. I am the ninth rank in the county government office. If I go to Jilin, can I be the county magistrate?"
As he spoke, his face was filled with questions.
"It's a good idea." Li Shizhen put down the book in his hand and said calmly: "County Prime Minister, the general judge is from the seventh rank, and the promotion official is the eighth rank. If you can become the promotion official, you will be promoted by two levels."
"Even so, you may not have an official vacancy."
Hearing this, Cao Xi's enthusiasm waned and he felt helpless.
"Stop, are you giving up now?" Li Shizhen shook his head, feeling helpless for his friend.
"Although you don't have any connections, others do!"
Cao Xi was dumbfounded and even more confused.
He and Li Shizhen were different from the other office clerks in the county government. Because they were previously awaiting return, their official positions depended entirely on promotion by the county magistrate, and officials were scarce and well-informed.
Nowadays, the population of Liaodong is increasing day by day, and there is a shortage of farmers, but there are a lot of officials.
Who works in the county government and has few connections?
Li Shizhen continued to raise the point: "Although your book office only has the ninth grade, there are many people waiting for you."
"Just like when I revealed the news that I was resigning, Yi Cheng, Cang Ambassador, Inspector, Dian Shi (Prison Officer), Hebo Ambassador, etc. came directly to my house from the ninth rank, and they all were very attentive and gave me money and fields. "
"Why? You just want me to make the final recommendation when the county magistrate resigns."
Cao Xi suddenly realized.
Just because he didn't ask for directions himself doesn't mean that those who want him to sit in his seat have no way.
Although the official rank of the ninth-grade book office is low, it is a threshold and can directly cross to the eighth-grade official.
Li Shizhen shook his head and chuckled: "Ambassador Cang, he has a fellow countryman who works in the yamen of Jilin General Mansion. Although he is just a swordsman and pen official, he works in the official's office——"
Cao Xi finally showed a smile, from the bottom of his heart.
Soon, he established connections and was transferred to Jilin Xingdu Division as a county official, responsible for litigation.
Chang'an County is too close to Shenyang, so it went north directly with a group of people exiled from Chongbian.
Before leaving, Cao Xi rarely showed a hint of sadness: "Shizhen, I will never forget you when I succeed in my career."
"Don't think too much." Li Shizhen struck mercilessly: "If I pass the scholar examination next year and take the provincial examination, I can directly become the county magistrate. If I win the imperial examination again, I can directly be promoted to the county magistrate."
"When the time comes, I will promote you."
Cao Xi laughed dumbly and left with a sullen face.
The team was not long, only about 300 people, and there were actually more than a hundred vehicles accompanying them. The old, weak, women and children were all sitting in the vehicles, and they were accompanied by a large amount of food rations.
There was only half of the team in custody, led by a deputy. He had no armor, just a few sets of bows and arrows, and the muskets were a deterrent.
Cao Xi asked: "Where did there come from so many cars??"
"If you can't bear the punishment, you will flee far away"
This is the origin of exile, and these people are well-dressed, well-fed and well-fed, and even have carriages to ride in. They don't look like they are exiled, but like they are moving.
The deputy team member just knew his official status and held up his hands and said: "Jilin was concerned about the difficulty of the journey and was afraid that these refugees would be damaged, so they sent special personnel to escort them. These carriages also belong to our Jilin..."
Hearing this, Cao Xi was speechless.
Good guy, Jilin is crazy about the shortage of people. In order to fear that this group of prisoners will be bullied, they are not only afraid that someone will escort them specially, but they also provide carriages to ride in them.
While sitting in the carriage, he was chatting with the deputy captain.
"Nowadays, except for the most heinous crimes in Guan, all other crimes such as theft, manslaughter, unfilial piety, corruption, etc. are all punishable by exile——"
"I heard that the ships from inside the customs to outside the customs, every year after autumn, hundreds of ships have to be used to pick up people..."
"In this case, why is Jilin still short of people?"
Cao Xi was confused and said that in his opinion, Liaodong was the most lacking of people at present.
You must know that the entire Liaodong is not only responsible for the material supplies of Jilin and Heilongjiang, but also needs to feed back the capital and contribute food to Taicang.
Nowadays, exiles from various provinces in the north have gone to Jilin, and there must be quite a few of them in recent years!
"Hey, to be honest, you only need to go to Jilin to know." Dui Zheng sighed: "Our general is eager to open up wasteland and build cities, and treats everyone like dogs."
"That's all. The Heilongjiang General's Mansion is short of people, so they have to pull people from us from time to time. No matter how fast they are replenished, it's not enough!"
Talking and laughing along the way, Cao Xi's family wandered for half a month and finally arrived at Jilin City.
Compared with before, Jilin City today is already a big city.
Thanks to the gift of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Jilin City is more than three feet high, more than ten miles in circumference, and more than one foot thick. Tens of thousands of households live here, and nearly ten thousand troops are stationed outside the city.
Horqin and other troops often come and go here to exchange needed supplies, so there are often long queues at the city gate.
Cao Xi didn't waste any time and handed the post directly outside the general's mansion asking for an audience.
However, even though he was a mere promotion official, General Jilin still received him.
Jilin Xingdusi is different from the mainland and Liaodong Province. It implements a ruling system that combines military and political affairs.
In other words, General Jilin is not only the head of the military in various places in Jilin, but also the head of the civilian officials.
He is also the commander-in-chief and has the power of governor in one body.
For the local people, a single word can determine life or death, whether a Jurchen is born or a Jurchen is wild, and can even decide whether to raise troops to fight when necessary.
In a sense, he is a local emperor.
"Xin Wencheng, General Xin, has been in Jilin for almost five years. He is extremely powerful! I don't know what kind of person he is."
Muttering in his heart, Cao Xi soon met Xin Wencheng.
Compared with other generals, Xin Wencheng is thinner in stature, but he moves like a dragon and a tiger, showing his power, and his narrow face is full of thoughts.
"Cao Xi, right?" Xin Wencheng glanced at the skinny scholar in front of him, feeling a little impatient in his heart.
Although he prefers those literati who are powerful and powerful, there is no other way. Civil servants must be used to govern the people, and warriors with heads as thick as paste can only sit on wax.
"You took the initiative to go north. Although you are only serving as a promotion official, you are very courageous. Jilin Xingdu Division needs you."
Xin Wencheng encouraged: "But you should know that the further north you go, the colder the weather will be, and the more grumpy people will be."
"So, you should hurry up now, eat more and exercise your body."
Cao Xi was confused. Why couldn't he understand this?
Xin Wencheng patted his shoulder and asked, "By the way, can you drink?"
"Your Excellency, General, may I ask which man doesn't know how to drink?"
Cao Xi was furious and couldn't help but patted his chest.
"Hahaha, that's right. Practice drinking more."
Finally, Cao Xi learned about his official position - Changchun County Recommendation Officer.
Changchun County is in the southwest of Jilin. In other words, this county is on the way to Jilin City and closer to Liaodong.
After a banquet in the Yamen, he finally understood the general situation of Jilin Xingdusi.
At this time, Jilin Xingdusi was actually built on official roads, and almost all cities were built along official roads.
Except Ninggu Pagoda.
At this time, the area under the jurisdiction of the Jilin General Mansion was centered on the main city of Jilin, with four new cities spread across hundreds of miles.
To the southwest of Jilin is Changchun County, with only 3,000 households and a garrison of 500 troops.
In the northwest of Jilin, there is a fortress near the grassland, Nenjiang City.
To the northeast is the famous Ninggu Pagoda, which was once the northernmost boundary of the Manchu Qing garrison.
Nowadays, due to the establishment of Heilongjiang General Mansion, the population of Ninggu Tower is also increasing, and its scale has expanded to one thousand households.
"Then how many people are there in Jilin as a whole?"
Cao Xi asked hurriedly.
"About 30,000 households."
The knife and pen official who was eating the wine said without hesitation: "There are also many families of soldiers included here."
"Although the number of exiles in the customs has increased day by day in recent years, in the entire ten years of Shaowu, only about two thousand families came here. As time goes by, I don't know when we will reach the point like Liaodong..."
With all his thoughts on his mind, Cao Xi came to Changchun County.
Good guy, within two days of taking office, his yamen was beaten seven or eight times.
There were six cases of drunken fights alone.
Since there is no clan mediation in the city, and some officers and soldiers' families are causing trouble, he must enforce the law impartially.
This made him wonder: "Why are there so many fights?"
One day, he left the county government office and wandered around the streets to observe the sentiments of the people. Good guy, he understood it directly.
In May and June, the summer rain is pouring, and the whole street is full of wine shops.
Of the ten shops, nine of the ones open for business sell liquor.
How can we avoid conflict under such circumstances?
…
At this time, hundreds of miles away, Heilongjiang City was experiencing the busiest moment of the year.
The Jilin area only thawed in March, while the frozen soil in Heilongjiang only melted in April and was frozen in August and September last year.
In other words, the prime time is only about five months.
In such a short period of time, growing food can only be regarded as relying on the weather, and can only rely on fishing and nomadic herding to survive.
The Heilongjiang City was newly built near the sea, not in the old city of Nuerqian, but further south, where Vladivostok was later located.
Wang Shiguo climbed onto the city and looked around, all seeing sails.
If Jilin is built on official roads, then Heilongjiang City is built on the sea.
If you rely on the mountains, you can eat the mountains; if you rely on the sea, you can eat the sea.
After the new construction of Heilongjiang City, the first project was the shipyard.
Although the construction of the fortifications was relatively short, Heilongjiang City had a lot of logs, so there was quite a scarcity of wood.
However, at present, all the ships in Heilongjiang General Mansion come from domestic merchants and Koreans.
Domestic merchants mainly come and go to obtain furs at close range, while Koreans come and go for fish and sell large amounts of food and other basic supplies.
Compared with the Jilin area, North Hamgyong Province in North Korea can be said to be a fertile land.
After all, no matter how small the number of people is, there are still two to three hundred thousand.
Scarce salt and fish can be obtained from the Koreans, as well as food, ironware, and cloth. It can be said that there is mutual benefit.
And although the Joseon Dynasty requires that trade can only be done on Yeongjong Island, relying on its shit-like control over local areas, basically it can only be a joke except for Gyeonggi.
"Instead of hoping to attract people from Jilin, it is better to attract people from North Korea!"
Wang Shiguo fell into thinking.
Heilongjiang is different from Jilin. It relied on thousands of people to directly come to Ninggu Pagoda, and then, with the support of Jilin, it took three years to organize nearby tribes to build the city.
There are less than 10,000 Han people in Heilongjiang.
The remaining nomadic tribes number about a hundred in size, with a total population of over 20,000.
In other words, there are less than 30,000 people.
After all, Jilin still has four or five cities, and Heilongjiang City asked him to do his best.
It can be said with certainty that if you want to develop and grow, it is difficult to immigrate from the country, so you can only start from North Korea or Japan.
"General, it looks like there will be a bumper harvest this summer."
At this time, Master Qianliang came over with a smile on his face: "According to the household registration office, the commercial tax amount reached 3,000 yuan last month, and it will double this month. This year's commercial tax amount will reach at least 20,000 yuan -
—”
There's no reason why he wouldn't be happy about this.
All the income of General Heilong's Mansion is used for the Bank's headquarters, and the imperial court implements financial subsidies. Inadequate military expenditures are subsidized by the Ministry of Household Affairs, but as long as there is enough, they will not interfere.
In other words, the fiscal surplus is almost entirely controlled by the Heilongjiang generals.
As a staff member, the rewards are certainly not small.
Of course, with the financial harvest, this situation will not last long.
"Of course." Wang Shiguo sighed: "A good black bear skin can be sold for at least 500 yuan in the capital, but for us, 100 yuan is the highest price."
"Tiger skin, fox skin, mink skin, deer antler, deer whip, which one is worthless?"
"No, we have to pull people." Wang Shiguo shouted: "The money has been made by those businessmen, and the food is all brought by boats. We have to grow it ourselves-"
"Corn can survive in Jilin, and it can also survive in Heilongjiang."
Outside the city, as the ice and snow melted, a large number of tribes began to slowly enter the city. In addition to paying tribute, the tribal gates also wanted to take the opportunity to trade with Han merchants in exchange for daily necessities.
The tribesmen filing in made Wang Shiguo smile.
Soon, a memorial letter from him to lure Korean and Japanese people into Heilongjiang was sent directly to the cabinet.