After interrogating Gao Ligong, Li Zhi decided to go to Jinghai County to see what happened there.
The distance between Jinghai County and Fanjiazhuang is very close. It only takes 40 minutes by train. Li Zhi took Li Xing, Cai Huaishui and Gao Ligong to the train station. The stationmaster of the train station quickly added a parking space to the nearest train.
A special train took Li Zhi to Jinghai County.
Arriving at the train station outside Jinghai County, Li Zhi discovered that this originally quiet town had gradually entered the industrial age.
Near the train station is the industrial zone of Jinghai County. There are many small and medium-sized factories as far as the eye can see, and steam engine chimneys are erected everywhere.
However, after the host-customer fight, the workers obviously stopped working. There was no smoke coming out of the chimneys at this time, and at first glance, there was a somewhat solemn atmosphere.
The magistrate of Jinghai County didn't know how he got the news, and he took the county magistrate and several important officials from the government to guard the train station, waiting respectfully for Li Zhi's arrival.
When Li Zhi got off the train, the service staff inside the train station knelt on the floor and kowtowed to Li Zhi. The magistrate of Jinghai County prostrated on the ground, looking a little trembling.
The magistrate’s name is He Ganyi, who is a demobilized member of the army. He used to be a company commander in the army, and later he worked in local areas and became a county magistrate. Thirty-seven people died in this civil war, and he was not worried about himself.
His official position was lost, but he was worried that Li Zhi would kill him.
Li Zhi looked at the magistrate on the ground and snorted coldly.
After looking at the factory chimneys around the train station, Li Zhi asked: "How many factories are there in Jinghai County now?"
Cai Huaishui raised his hands and said: "Back to your lord, there are no state-owned factories in Jinghai County now. The industries here are all private factories. In recent years, many small private factories that cannot bear the high monthly salary and high prices of goods in Fanjiazhuang have moved south to Jinghai County. According to my understanding,
There are 167 large and small factories in Jinghai County, most of which produce shoes, socks, furniture and porcelain."
Li Zhi asked: "Is porcelain produced here?"
Cai Huaishui replied: "Exactly, Your Majesty! In recent years, the factories in Jinghai County have used the new factory specifications and new machinery passed down from Fanjiazhuang to produce porcelain, and the cost of the porcelain produced has dropped significantly. Although the artistic value is worse than hand-fired porcelain
Some, but the advantage is that the price is cheap, and it is now very popular.”
Li Zhi nodded.
Cai Huaishui continued: "Because there are a large number of factories in Jinghai County, there is a huge demand for labor. The locals' monthly salary is more than five taels, and the factories cannot afford to hire them, so they start to hire outsiders. In recent years, many people from Beizhili and Shanxi have
Migrant workers came to Jinghai County to work hard and built houses in the south of Jinghai County, forming a gathering area. Especially the Hezhuang area in the southwest is now called 'Shanxi Street'."
Li Zhi often told his subordinates some later-generation words, and these words became common words in one town and nine provinces. For example, Cai Huaishui used later-generation words like "migrant workers" very smoothly.
Li Zhi's influence on the Ming Dynasty was not only in terms of technology and culture, but also in terms of language. Li Zhi also had a great impact on the people around him. People hired by Li Zhi have continued to learn the vocabulary of later generations from Li Zhi over the years, and often
The people of Ming Dynasty who saw them for the first time were dumbfounded.
Nowadays, official documents from one town to nine provinces are increasingly written in vernacular.
Li Zhi asked: "How many migrant workers are there?"
Cai Huaishui looked at the magistrate on the ground.
The magistrate on the ground noticed that Cai Huaishui was giving him a chance to speak, raised his head and glanced at Li Zhi, and quickly spoke.
"Your Majesty, there are 15,000 migrant workers from Beizhili in Jinghai County, and there are more migrant workers from Shanxi, more than 22,000."
Li Zhi was stunned when he heard this.
It turns out that the number of outsiders in Jinghai County has reached such a huge scale. You must know that the population of Jinghai County is only about 100,000, and the population of the county town is no more than 20,000. Calculating this, the number of outsiders in the county is more than the locals.
From this point of view, the management of host and guest groups in the county is indeed a difficult point.
After pondering for a moment, Li Zhi said: "Go to the county seat and have a look."
With a sneer, Li Zhi said: "Go and see my birthplace first!"
Hearing Li Zhi's sneer, the county magistrate on the ground trembled with fright. But this was not the time to tremble, so he quickly got up from the ground and called for a few horses.
Li Zhi led a group of people into the county town and walked to the main street of the county town.
Before he reached the gate of the county government office, Li Zhi saw the roof of the tall main hall of the "Prince Dasheng Shrine" after a long distance.
The main hall of Nasheng Temple adopts double-eaves verandah roof in terms of specifications.
Such regulations made Li Zhi frown even more.
The double-eaves verandah roof is the most regulated architectural style of this era, and it is logical that it can only be used by the royal family. Of course, in some Buddhist temples with a long history, monks also use this kind of roof to reflect the momentum of the temple due to the large number of pilgrims. For the temple's
If it is exceeded, the Ming court can only turn a blind eye.
But Li Zhi never expected that the people of Jinghai County would dare to use the roof of the double-eaves veranda and build it so tall even if they built a shrine for themselves.
Fortunately, the roof of Nasheng Temple is not made of golden glazed tiles, but black tiles.
But even with the black tiles, the main hall of Shengci looks magnificent enough. It is obviously the tallest building in the county. Looking from the street two miles away, the roof of the main hall of Shengci looks like a gorgeous building.
The palace. Compared with the main palace, the county government office on the right side of the main street looks like a dilapidated and dilapidated building.
Li Zhi took a breath and felt more and more that the people's worship of him had gone too far.
Riding his horse to the entrance of the Sheng Temple, Li Zhi found that the incense in the Sheng Temple was very prosperous.
The entrance to the Sheng Temple faces the county government gate. It was originally a small square, but it was already occupied by local children playing here. Those children held their arms one by one and chased and fought at the entrance of the Sheng Temple, completely ignoring the opposite side.
The solemn county government took it seriously.
Some vendors were selling candied haws on their shoulders, and two candy painters were painting candies on copper plates.
The candy painting man painted all pictures of tigers, and while selling, he shouted loudly: "Eat a bunch of Prince Tiger Candies! You don't have to worship the tablet every day to get the protection of the white tiger! Prosperity and descendants will be everywhere!"
As he shouted, he suddenly found that the children in front of him had stopped running and all looked behind him.
He realized something was wrong, turned his head, and saw Li Zhi, who was wearing the red uniform of the Tiger Army commander, looking at him. Next to Li Zhi stood a bunch of high-ranking officials in red official robes, and the county magistrate He Ganyi who came in and out of the county office looked like
Standing at the back of the crowd like a follower.
Obviously this is the real prince coming.
He was so frightened that his face turned as white as snow, and he knelt on the ground with a plop, shouting loudly: "Your Majesty, please atone for your sins! The common people stole the name of your Majesty and sold candy! You deserve death! Your Majesty, you atone for your sins!"
Li Zhi frowned and did not talk nonsense to the vendor. He flicked his sleeves and walked towards the gate of the Shengsi Temple.
