Chapter 62            The Rising Shuozhou

In fact, since Zhou Mengchen took power in Datong, the biggest changes have not been around Datong, but around Shuozhou.

Zhou Mengchen made drastic moves in Datong, but in fact, he was fundamentally restored the system of Emperor Taizu. He used extraordinary means to eliminate the corrupt people. The methods were a little more fierce. But in fact, there were not many innovations. Many famous officials and generals in ancient times also did this.

However, the changes around Shuozhou have never been seen before.

When Zhou Mengchen established Shuozhou Supervisor in Shuozhou, it had already brought changes to Shuozhou.

Nothing else, Yin Zhengmao brought from Beijing was just hundreds of craftsmen. These hundreds of craftsmen are the essence of Beijing military weapon supervision. However, what hundreds of craftsmen can do is extremely limited. Many things need to be done by the people below. Not to mention anything else, just mining coal from Shuozhou coal mines to Shuozhou supervision city has no technical content. Naturally, it is impossible for these craftsmen to do it.

The number of people in Shuozhou Supervisory has almost expanded. There have been as many as thousands of people in the Battle of Shuozhou.

Most of the thousands of people in Shuozhou Supervisors are strong laborers, and the troops guarding Shuozhou Supervisors have a total of more than 10,000 people, which are also the ones that Shuozhou Supervisors have been defended under the siege of the Tatars.

But this is not the end of Shuozhou Supervision’s development. The real great development of Shuozhou Supervision was still after the Battle of Shuozhou.

Although the Battle of Shuozhou was a great victory with a turning point for the Ming Dynasty. However, it inevitably brought profound pain to the people of Shuozhou. Just think about it, there were nearly 200,000 troops in front and behind. Although the Tatars were busy with war and did not specifically plunder. However, the Tatars never had military discipline. They would take the killing to wherever they went. Not to mention that when cavalry fought, they were maneuvering on a large scale, and the entire pursuit battlefield was spread across the southwest of Shuozhou City.

Most of these flat lands are plowed fields.

Thousands of troops fought a war in the plowing fields. How much did the harvest last year?

But what Zhou Mengchen could do was to exempt Shuozhou from a year of taxes. Even the soldiers had to work hard to get the rewards. The compensation to the local area was something that he didn't even think about.

There is no accident in Shuozhou, and there is a big reason why Shuozhou Supervisory exists.

After the disaster, the local people were willing to do almost anything in order to survive. The price of labor was almost nowhere. The Shuozhou Supervisor also suffered a lot of losses in the war. Rebuilding the Shuozhou Supervisor was also the thought of Yin Zhengmao and his successor Ling Yunyi.

Coal is almost costly, labor is almost costly. Except for the price of iron ore, the cost of steel production in Shuozhou Supervisor is very low. In order to make money, Shuozhou Supervisor increased its steel production. When Zhou Mengchen came here again, Shuozhou Supervisor had more than 10,000 people.

Moreover, many affairs were also derived from Shuozhou Supervisory, which were naturally undertaken by the locals in Shuozhou.

That is, the military disaster in Shuozhou, coupled with this year's drought, has accelerated the development of Shuozhou Supervision.

At this moment, Zhou Mengchen was on the Shuozhou Jiancheng Wharf, which directly connected to Shuozhou Jiancheng, but was a distance from Shuozhou Jiancheng. But at this moment, Zhou Mengchen could not see any trace of wilderness. A cinder path stretched for several miles. In the distance, he saw rolling black smoke rising into the sky.

As for this several miles long road, there is no free place on both sides, and most of the houses are still urgent. They are wood and thatch. They look very simple. But above the dock, Zhou Mengchen saw the first three-story building, which was a restaurant. There are several courtyards behind the restaurant. It is probably an inn.

Think about it, too. Although there are many shops on both sides of this road, they are either the lower-level coolies in Shuozhou Supervisory, or the Lifu on the Sanggan River Wharf and the boatman on the boat. The boundary between these three is not cleaned.

But it is not without some high-level consumption needs.

Zhou Mengchen and his group did not fight the ceremonial war and walked on the street in a conspicuous manner.

Zhou Mengchen looked at the series of shops on both sides and felt a new life.

Indeed, he never expected that things would develop so quickly. He was sure that it would not exceed three years to build Shuozhou Supervisory here. However, within three years, there was almost another Shuozhou City here. This speed would be too common in later generations. But in the Ming Dynasty, it was simply a miracle.

Zhou Mengchen became more confident and felt more and more like a thing. Everyone yearned for a better life. If Zhou Mengchen could prove that science and technology could bring more welfare, he would not worry about no one pursuing it.

Some people may think that working hard on the mine, working as a porter at the dock, and being a boatman on the boat has already a series of tasks that require heavy physical labor. Is it a blessing for the people of the Ming Dynasty?

Of course yes.

Anyone who does not understand this means he does not understand what life the lower class of the Ming Dynasty live. It can be said that people who grow grain have never eaten food. The food must be paid to the landlords and taxes, and most of the remaining food is eaten wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. The impermanent people also bear many obligations for the landlords.

For example, Zhou Mengchen. He had an imperial village outside the capital. He immediately had more than a thousand people and could use them at will. From Zhou Mengchen's perspective, it was naturally convenient. However, for the people of the imperial village, they had no personal freedom at all. They were not much better than tenants and serfs.

Even ordinary self-cultivated farmers may not be much better.

In addition, the output of land is limited. The land they own is so large, no matter how hard they cultivate, it is useless. And even the hardest and most tiring jobs here are better than farming.

Even Zhou Mengchen was like this, Yang Jisheng was even more dreamy. He glanced over the shops on both sides, and even went in from time to time to check the prices and ask about the situation. His eyes were full of doubts and incredible. He still didn't understand why this place rose like mushrooms after a rain.

What is the reason?

When they arrived at Shuozhou Supervisory Bureau, their identities naturally could not be kept secret. Ling Yunyi immediately came to pay homage to Zhou Mengchen.

Zhou Mengchen visited Shuozhou Supervisory City. Now the space in the city has been used up. There are countless coal, iron ore and other auxiliary materials entering every day, and then there are unknown amounts of iron transported out. Even Zhou Mengchen's allocation to Shuozhou Supervisory City is still the largest investment in Shuozhou Supervisory City. However, since then, iron sales revenue is rising steadily.

Zhou Mengchen looked at the accounts carefully. Although he didn't notice any problems, he knew that there was actually something wrong with this account. It was nothing more. The Yin family and Fengcheng Hou Mansion became the largest dealers of Shuozhou Jian's takeaway iron, which itself represents a problem.

But Zhou Mengchen didn't ask in detail. It was impossible for him to ask in detail. He could never dig his own foundation. He asked: "Is there any problem here in Shuozhou Supervisory?"

When Ling Yunyi was in Beijing, he followed Zhou Mengchen, and he was also considered a former subordinate of Zhou Mengchen. This is also the reason why Zhou Mengchen was able to give Ling Yunyi such an important position in Shuozhou Supervisory. However, the relationship between Ling Yunyi and Zhou Mengchen is not as good as the relationship between Yin Zhengmao and Zhou Mengchen.

Ling Yunyi said: "Sir, when Lord Yin was there, he had planned to expand the Shuozhou City Supervisory City. Now the number of railway furnaces in Shuozhou City Supervisory City has increased, and there are many other workshops, palm thunder, cold weapons, muskets, cannons, and railway tracks. There is really no place to squeeze together like this."

"Shuozhou Supervisory does not need to allocate funds, just ask Shuozhou to allocate some more land."

The Shuozhou Supervisory Agency is two lines from Shuozhou. The magistrate of Shuozhou cannot manage Shuozhou Supervisory. When Yin Zhengmao was in Shuozhou Supervisory, he had a Taotai. He could even be said to be the boss of Shuozhou Supervisory. But now it is different. Although Ling Yunyi has the official position of Shuozhou Supervisory Officer, he does not have the title of Daotai. Although his official position is above the magistrate, he cannot manage the magistrate. Logically speaking, the places outside Shuozhou Supervisory Officer are all from Shuozhou.

Therefore, if Shuozhou Supervisory City is to be expanded, a superior must nod.

After hearing this, Zhou Mengchen thought about it and said, "This matter is stopped. Shuozhou Supervisory City is so big, just repair it."
Chapter completed!