Dominate the Country

New Year's Day is the most important festival for the Han people. It starts from the first half of the month, with lights and colorful decorations on the streets, and red silks catching people's eyes like fire. Then it is not until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, after the Lantern Festival, that the flavor of the New Year fades away. During this one-month period, the whole of China was filled with joy. Even in the frontline positions where the two armies were facing each other, the soldiers' lives improved for three consecutive days. Fat pigs and sheep, chickens, ducks and fish.

During the New Year period, whether it is the sticky pole hiding place or the secret camp hidden in the darkness, all of them have a temporary rest. This is a potential tacit understanding between the Manchu and Qing Dynasties and Chen Han, because no one on either side dares to completely cross the line. In that case, the destructive power will be endless.

Firecrackers resounded through the streets and alleys, and a thick layer of red cannon paper accumulated in front of the door, glowing brightly.

The Chinese New Year is a day for consumption. Whether it is the current era or the 21st century, when the New Year taste is getting weaker and weaker in Chen Ming's previous life, this is the most expensive time of the year.

Countless Chinese people take the money they have saved for a year and transform into philanthropists in these days. The poorest families will try their best to eat a meal of dumplings on New Year's Eve and give three feet of cloth to their children and mothers.

There was an endless stream of people visiting the Prince's Mansion every day before and after, and Chen Ming only selected a few of them to meet. The rest are left in the courtyard. There is a tea room where you can sit for a while, drink a cup of tea and warm yourself up, and then you can go. This can be considered as sitting in the prince's mansion, right? It's not like losing face.

Chen Ming learned this trick from the Manchu officialdom.

In fact, for Chen Ming and his family, this Chinese New Year is not a break at all, but a drudgery that is busier and more tiring than usual.

Not only do you need to enter the palace, you also need to have banquets with officials, and you also need to interact with people.

The annual gifts sent by officials from various places are different from the filial piety during the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The gifts given by Liu Dezhao, Shen Guozhen, Chen Erbao, Pang Zhenkun, Yan Xishen, Zheng Wen and others are all local specialties, absolute local specialties, although they are Cars after cars are brought to the house, but they are not valuable, but they must be taken seriously, and they must be given appropriate specifications in return. The people who need Chen Ming to give gifts are his father, mother, grandmother, plus uncle, second uncle, uncle, seventh uncle, ninth uncle, etc.

Thanks to the presence of Li Xiaomei, another hostess, Chen Ming was freed from the preparation of gifts this time. Li Xiaomei brought Liu Wanyun over again, and the two of them divided the work and cooperated. Chen Ming didn't worry about this aspect. If Chen Ming had to take care of these things while going out and meeting guests, he would be ruined this year!

Of course, Chen Han's annual leave will not last until the 16th day of the first lunar month, and he will open his office on the 6th day of the lunar month. But the number of soldiers returning home to visit their relatives was still overwhelming after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Wang Zhizheng set out on his way home on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month. He had a full month off and overspent next year's family leave.

Wang Zhizheng was beaming with joy, his face full of longing for his relatives he hadn't seen in three years. Wang Zhizheng was desperate when he failed to find his parents in Suzhou. Unexpectedly, after the war in Jiangnan subsided, Wang Zongquan returned to Dantu with his mother-in-law and children. Then we got in touch.

Before the city of Suzhou was destroyed, Wang Zongquan fled to Shaoxing, Zhejiang with his wife and children. When Shaoxing also faced attacks from the Fuhan Army, Wang Zongquan took his family and fled to Hangzhou, and then the city of Hangzhou was also destroyed. Wang Zongquan could no longer escape. He was tired and felt desperate. But the war did not affect his little family.

In the year when the Fuhan Army withdrew from Jiangnan, Wang Zongquan's family struggled to make a living, and their daughter was almost sold as a concubine. When the resurgent Fuhan Army captured Hangzhou again, Wang Zongquan took his family back to his hometown of Dantu. Even if he dies, he must die at home!

As a result, Wang Zongquan, who was so poor that he only had a small life left, actually took back the original land and the dilapidated house from the Fuhan Military Yamen with the original house and land deeds. Things turned around for the four members of the Wang family who had occupied the edge of the cliff. Wang Zongquan sold five acres of land at a low price, and the family's living standard immediately returned to that of a small landowner. What made Wang Zongquan's family even more delighted was that their eldest son, younger brother, and elder brother, Wang Zhizheng, who they thought were dead, suddenly received news that they were alive.

Wang Zhizheng is not only alive, but also alive and well. He became a military medical apprentice of the Fuhan Army!

After this news was confirmed, the Wang family immediately gained a military field of twenty acres. Wang Zhizheng, who is not yet eighteen years old, is now an official military doctor. This is good news. He wanted to go home in person, see his parents, siblings, whom he had not seen for three years, and tell them the great news in front of them.

Wang Zhizheng wore a uniform with a brass five-star on his round collar, which was the symbol of a corporal. As a formal military doctor, Wang Zhizheng is a corporal.

At the same time, in the warm spring-like Hongji Port, a young man who looked like he had just had his hair twisted was quietly hiding on the side of the cabin window, carefully inspecting the Hongji Port not far away.

As a spy who has been in the industry for a certain period of time, Lin Ahai has seen ports. Although he has not seen Guangzhou Huangpu Port, he has seen the largest wharf in Fuzhou, for example. But the dock we thought of in the past is really different from the current Hong Kai Port.

tidy!

The first impression of Hongji Port on Lin Ah Hai was that it was clean and tidy. The biggest impression was also that it was neat and tidy. The dock area, residential area, reserve area, garrison, and fort were all clearly visible.

The entire Hongji Wharf is paved with a kind of grayish-white "stone", which is very flat, but Lin Ahai knows that it is not stone, but something called cement. Not far from the port area, there is a brick kiln area, which is where cement is produced.

His master has sent people to explore the cement manufacturing process many times, but they never returned.

This time, Lin Ahai pretended to be a Guangxi citizen who fled to Nanbei, Annam, and a refugee who wanted to make a living in Hongji City. His ultimate goal was not to explore any secrets, but to live honestly in Hongji City for a period of time and grasp the mood of Chen Ni in Hongji City.

Lin Ahai's master is Chen Jie, who fled from Guangxi to Liangshan. After they fled to Liangshan, the Fu Han Army did not continue to attack them, but Chen Jie, Yang Wenjie and Wu Xiongguang always remained extremely vigilant against the Fu Han Army. This is like a rabbit at the tiger's mouth. The tiger doesn't want to eat rabbit meat, but can the rabbit dare to take it lightly?

Especially after learning that Lord Zheng had sent an envoy to Lushan to congratulate the King of Han, this remnant army felt like a sharp blade was hanging over their heads. They now hope to grasp the attitude of the Fu Han Army towards them, but Lushan is not something they can reach. Where can they go?

——Only Hongji City!

There are many people who have the same mission as Lin Ahai. After entering Hongji City, these people will try their best to integrate into the people of Hongji City, so that they can better know all kinds of gossip.

This is the way the "three heroes" have no choice, and now they can only do this.

If Lord Zheng in Hanoi asks Chen Ni for help, no matter whether the Fu Han Army agrees to send troops or not, Hongji City is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed. Lin Ahai's task is to work honestly in Hongji Port and observe every move of Hongji City. If there is no major discovery, don't contact your superiors.

The railway track in the port area of ​​Hongji Port has been determined, and many supporting facilities have been built. Just waiting for the Shilu Ironworks in Qiongzhou to produce rails.

In horse-drawn trains, um, perhaps it should be called trams, the rails of this era are all light rails, without sleepers - even if sleepers are equipped, they must be recessed under the surface, and all the space between them must be filled, so that the rails and the road surface are completely level, just like urban light rails. The rails of this era can even be embedded [ground] concave carriage tracks. Anyway, they cannot trip the horse's hooves and hinder the speed and safety of the horse. So although the current rails are very similar to train tracks at first glance, there are still big differences between them.

The carriage tracks of the Fu Han Army are narrower than the carriage tracks in Europe in history, because the horses currently used by the Fu Han Army are smaller than European horses, and of course the pulling force is much smaller. The only thing that is praised about the current Mongolian horses is their endurance and ease of feeding. As for the southwestern horses, the mountain troops formed by the Fu Han Army are equipped with a lot of such horses, and they are still very good as pack horses.

Improving the horse breed is not something that can be done in a short time. The only place that the Fu Han Army has now is Jeju Island, which is suitable for raising horses. It is now crowded with Korean refugees and is not suitable for raising horses. Before completely conquering the north and overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, Chen Ming does not expect to have large-scale cavalry and sufficient horses.

Don't even think about rolling out the tram in the country in a short time. Not only is there a sticking point, but there is also a shortage of horses. Chen Han is now able to ensure that a small number of key areas are laid out, which is already very tight. For example, Hongji City in Annan not only has some Mongolian horses, but also sent two batches of southwestern horses. The First Division has now taken over half of Guizhou, so it is certainly not difficult to collect some southwestern horses. And among the short southwestern horses, Guizhou horses are still considered tall among the short ones. That head can make people cry!

If Lin Ahai had waited another half year to come to Hongji Port, he would have seen all kinds of straight roads and tracks crisscrossing, horse-drawn carriages and trams side by side, whistles and shouts one after another. If in another twenty years, if steam engines can be used in large quantities, large and small chimneys will spew black smoke into the air, and the entire dock will be covered with a layer of smoke and dust like clouds.

This ship that Lin Ahai was on was not the first time to come to Hongji Port. The harbor was full of ships, but the ship owner was familiar with the way and called the pilot, and soon took the ship to the berth to dock.

As soon as the ship stopped, a small team of public servants rushed over. The five people in the lead were all wearing public uniforms - three black and two red. The black public uniforms were for civilian positions, and the red public uniforms were for military positions. The former were responsible for checking goods, collecting management fees, and handling ship registration certificates, etc. The ship owner could take their forms to the customs to handle formalities. The two military positions, one represented the water police, and the other represented the customs inspection.

Lin Ahai already knew these very basic situations. Chen Ni's workers only have two kinds of official uniforms, one black and one red. The official uniform itself is just a simple long robe, without patches, and not silk, but cotton. They wear black black hats without wings on their heads.

All the public servants under Chen Han wear this, and the formally qualified officials restore two wings on the black hats. Their coming to the ship is a routine, but for Lin Ahai, it is also the first test he will face.

At this moment, everyone in the same cabin stood up, gathered at the window, and looked at Hongji Port.

Some of these people still have braids, and they are dragging their children. They are the refugees who really come to Chen Ni to earn a living. There are also people like Lin Ahai who are alone, but they are rare, but fortunately there are some.

Lin Ahai's face was not obvious. Don't look at his skinny appearance, as if he was about to die. He was an elite under Hong Yinghui, and Hong Yinghui was Chen Jie's most profitable spy leader. If he couldn't even pass this level, Lin Ahai's sneaking into Hongji Port would be empty talk.

Everything went smoothly. The people on both sides were familiar with each other. The ship owner brought a boatload of people over and made a lot of money for himself, because there were many Mingxiang people on this boat, and their treatment was obviously better than that of Lin Ahai and others. With the certificate, the ship owner can go to the customs to pay taxes, and then buy preferential iron materials, tea, silk, etc. from Hongji Port first. Although this amount may only be one or two percent of the entire ship's carrying capacity, as long as it is transported to Hanoi or the north, it is several times the profit. Even if other goods are purchased at normal prices, they are transported to Guangnan, which is also profitable.

Behind the five public servants were a dozen "hangers". For Chen Han's temporary workers, they were "hangers and white servants" in Lin Ahai's eyes. In fact, they were all from the Labor Service Department. They didn't wear official uniforms, so they looked like temporary workers. For the locals of Hongji City, the Labor Service Department was more popular than the Labor Recruitment Department under Nguyen Xuan.

There were only a small number of Annan people in it, and the first requirement for Annan people to enter the Labor Service Department was that each of them could speak Chinese, or at least understand a few sentences. They were all brave and fearless, and were the gold medal fighters of the Labor Department. The rest of the people, like the people who were boarding the ship for inspection now, were either Mingxiang people or refugees from Guangdong and Guangxi who came to Hongji City to make a living.

That was also Lin Ahai's short-term goal.

Hangers and white servants, these people were more informed than ordinary people.

Both military officers had short hair, and such people were either retired soldiers or "fashionable". Among the other dozen people, half of them were Mingxiang people with long hair. They were very friendly to their fellow Mingxiang people, smiling constantly, comforting those Mingxiang people to put their minds at ease. But when it was Lin Ahai's turn, his eyes immediately jumped to the top of his head.

These people could not wear black hats, but rattan helmets, with a short stick hanging around their waists, short clothes on their upper bodies, and straight pants on their lower bodies. The whole outfit looked indescribably strange to Lin Ahai.

When he got closer, Lin Ahai could see clearly that these people also had a small white sign hanging on their chests, on which were written in black ink the group number of the labor service office, the names of the members, and the individual numbers.

All of them had ruddy faces, and at first glance, they looked like they were raised on good food and drink. This reminded Lin Ahai of their team hiding in the mountains. As he was sighing, he heard a few words from the boat owner and Chen Zegong: "Okay, we have brought you another 150 or 160. There are 50 or 60 people from Guangming Township..."

"Hehe, when wealth comes, it can't be stopped. We just sent people to walk inside and found more than a dozen families. There are still several families who are unwilling to move. They really don't know what's good for them." The boat owner knew why those families didn't want to move. Wasn't it just for a few acres of land? How could their little land be as much as the boat owner's? They are not a wealthy family. The boat owner has made so much money these days, and his family has moved to Hongji Port? They don't know what's good for them.

"Everyone has their own ambitions, everyone has their own ambitions." Chen Zegong said indifferently. Taking a cigarette handed by the boat owner, a group of people stood at the bow of the boat and puffed out smoke.

After getting off the boat, Lin Ahai and his group were sent directly to an independent camp. Lin Ahai knew that since several epidemics had occurred in Hongji City, Chen Ni had established a so-called isolation system. Anyone who wanted to earn a living in Hongji City would be isolated for half a month. During this half month, they had to take a bath, shave their hair, cut their nails, etc. frequently.

After Guangxi was pacified by the Fu Han Army, many people who fled to Annan from Guangdong and Guangxi returned to their hometowns one after another. Those who were still willing to stay in Annan, such as the "Three Heroes", were some people who could not or did not want to go home. The stories of these people in their hometowns have been drowned in the smoke of gunpowder, but how easy is it to make a living in a foreign country?

In the past year, not only the Mingxiang people, these former Ming survivors, but also many refugees who went south have come to Hongji City.

Lin Ahai's head was shaved clean. After entering the isolation camp, he wore a very cool sweater and fat-legged pants. He felt like he had entered a monk's temple. But the emotions of the people here are very stable, and they are full of expectations for the future.