Chapter 381: Jingshui Ditch Coal Mine
Liu You sold all three cartloads of flour to the grain merchant in town, earning a substantial sum of silver. He then hired a horse-drawn carriage for his wife and son to ride in.
With one horse-drawn carriage and three ox-carts, they left Heyang County town and slowly made their way to the Jingshui Ditch Coal Mine.
When he arrived, Li Daoxuan happened to be peeling spicy shrimp while observing the construction at the Jingshui Ditch Coal Mine.
After Gao Yiye and San Shier visited the Jingshui Ditch Coal Mine previously and finalized the "private operation" agreement with Feng Jun, this coal mine became a key area of focus for Li Daoxuan.
After all, the coal mine was the progenitor of the Industrial Revolution; without that foundation, the revolution couldn't develop. And the Industrial Revolution, in turn, was the bedrock of modern society. Without it, the ideologies of an agrarian society would find it difficult to undergo fundamental change.
As Master Ma once said, "Content and form must align." An advanced political system requires advanced productive forces to match it. If the productive forces are insufficient, the political system cannot evolve. Conversely, if the political system lags, productive forces will also struggle to develop.
Li Daoxuan could currently rely on his divine assistance to help Gao Family Village stabilize its "new ideologies," but if anything were to happen to him, or if he were to pass away from old age, losing the cheat code of productive forces, all the new ideas would crumble with him.
Improving the productive capacity of the villagers themselves was an urgent priority.
Three engineering teams were busy at the coal mine. One team consisted entirely of people from Heyang County, tasked with the simple work of road construction.
The third engineering team was the most advanced, composed entirely of `Blue Hat` workers from Gao Family Village, mixed with a young `Red Hat` gentleman. This gentleman, dressed in white, was `Bai Gongzi`.
Now almost seventeen, `Bai Gongzi` was distinguished and handsome, a talent capable of taking charge independently at his age. He was currently sketching and scribbling on a blueprint, occasionally glancing up at the coal pit, then returning to his drawings.
His blueprint depicted a small rail track extending from outside the pit down into it, with a small cart on the track connected by an iron cable that stretched out to a pulley system.
Having nearly finished the drawing, he held the blueprint up to the sky: "Heavenly Lord, please examine this blueprint I have drawn. Is it feasible?"
Li Daoxuan tapped out a few words. The printer whirred, and a moment later, he displayed the paper: "Do not ask me about feasibility. Test it, conduct experiments. Only through practice can true knowledge be gained."
`Bai Gongzi` quickly bowed deeply: "The Heavenly Lord's instruction is correct."
With that, he swiftly handed the blueprint to a nearby `Blue Hat` worker: "Commence work immediately. Construct the coal transport cart according to this blueprint. Once it's built, I will test its functionality. When this is complete, miners will no longer need to exhaust themselves carrying coal up from the pit floor."
A large group of `Blue Hat` workers studied the blueprint for a few moments, then began shouting instructions to the `Yellow Hat` laborers, filling the entire coal pit with a lively clamor.
It was in this atmosphere of feverish excitement that Liu You arrived.
His carriage and ox-carts were all parked beside the mine. He peered over at the bustling construction site and felt a little unsettled. "Was this still the Jingshui Ditch Coal Mine he knew? How had it transformed so completely?"
A grimy coal miner approached him: "Esteemed sir, what brings you here?"
Liu You was a bit bewildered by being called "esteemed sir." On second thought, he understood: with his carriage and carts, and his clean attire, in the eyes of the poor, he had reached the status of a "gentleman of means."
His spirits lifted, a hint of smugness touching him: "I'm here to buy coal. With all this construction, do you still sell coal?"
"Yes, of course we do!" The coal miner brightened immediately, turning and shouting, "Boss! Boss! Someone's here to buy coal!"
A moment later, the person in charge of the Jingshui Ditch Coal Mine arrived.
It wasn't a newly appointed leader from Gao Family Village, but the mine's original foreman. This foreman used to be a local underling for the government, managing the coal mine on behalf of Heyang County officials and receiving official wages. But where would the government get money to pay wages? They couldn't even pay the border army's payroll; how could they be expected to pay coal miners?
So, for a long time, the Jingshui Ditch Coal Mine had relied on secretly selling coal to make up for the wages the government should have paid.
Feng Jun knew about this but couldn't do anything, as he also had no money to disburse. He could only turn a blind eye, allowing the miners to support themselves.
Now that the coal mine had been taken over by Gao Family Village, San Shier had already issued their wages. Cherishing these hard-earned good wages, and fearing to lose their livelihood, they no longer secretly sold coal. Instead, they recorded the coal sales and submitted the money to Gao Family Village, which would give them a certain amount of silver as a "commission."
This greatly motivated their work! The more they earned, the more commission they received.
The foreman stood before Liu You: "So, you're here to buy coal?"
Liu You nodded: "Three cartloads."
The foreman was overjoyed; this man was buying three cartloads right away! They were about to make a hefty commission.
Liu You: "As for the price..."
The foreman said: "The price hasn't changed; it's the same as before. If you buy three cartloads at once, a larger quantity, I can even give you a small discount."
This time, it was Liu You who was overjoyed: "Excellent! Fill them up, fill all three carts to the brim!"
The coal miners immediately set to work, carrying it on their shoulders and lifting it with their hands, quickly bringing large quantities of coal to load Liu You's three carts to capacity.
Liu You was giddy with delight. Once this coal was transported back to Gao Family Village, it would be used to boil water for fresh hegele noodles. How many bowls could they cook? Spread across each bowl, the cost of the hegele noodles would be significantly reduced. From now on, life would be absolutely wonderful...
As he was engrossed in these pleasant thoughts, a massive convoy arrived. It was the large fleet of carts dispatched by San Shier, dozens of vehicles stretching for hundreds of yards, filling the entire mountain road.
Madam Liu poked her head out of the carriage and asked, "A'You, are all these carts here to be loaded with coal and hauled back to Gao Family Village? What kind of village could possibly use all this coal?"
Liu You chuckled: "You'll know once you go to Gao Family Village. It's not just a small village at all; calling it 'Gaojia City' wouldn't be an exaggeration. The Craftsman Well constantly burns with fires, billowing black smoke. There's a great school there, with many students studying inside, and our child can go to school too. The Gao Family commercial district is lively and prosperous, the best place I've ever seen."
[END OF RESPONSE]
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