When the news about the boatload of silver at Songjiangkou was released, there was actually already an uproar.

In fact, since the massive construction of railways began, the production of steel, coal and other workshops has begun to boom.

However, despite the excitement, the merchants are still cautious.

Although the current business is easy to do, and the demand in the market is also great, the railway company has taken several measures to prevent the supply of materials from remaining high and even hoarding of goods.

On the one hand, there is the steel workshop under the jurisdiction of Qixia Trading Company, which produces large-scale steel products by itself.

On the other hand, all purchases are limited to a maximum price, which means that there must be a profit, and it is quite a lot, but there is also a limit.

Because of this, many mines, logging workshops, machinery manufacturing workshops, and steel workshops involved in this process, although they saw profits and took advantage of this opportunity to make a lot of money, did not dare to expand production aggressively.

After all, huge amounts of real money have been invested in these things. This year’s business will be good, but who can guarantee next year?

In particular, the imperial court's annual expenditure of tens of millions of taels of silver was obviously unsustainable in the eyes of many people.

By the time you have expanded your new workshop and everything is complete, a year and a half will have passed. By then, once the heat has passed, you may have lost all your money.

But now, after the news spread, many workshops have begun preparations to expand production.

The emperor has plenty of money. From this point of view, the railway will continue to be built year after year. Whoever expands production first will earn more.

As a result, almost everyone in Qixia was talking about steel and smelting, and it was very lively.

Zhang Anshi was in the capital, but he had to ask about the situation of the Chief Envoy of Jiangxi Province almost every day.

As the railway project continues to advance, various problems are arising. Under normal circumstances, Zhang Anshi will not deal with them specially. It is good to know that there is such a thing.

Next, let’s see how Zhu Zhanji handles it and the aftermath.

Zhang Anshi only cares about one thing, and that is to use the Ministry of Railways to build several universities about railways.

With the expansion of railways, talent is the most important thing, whether it is the craftsmen who build the roads, the people who explore and design the railways, or even the people who improve the steam locomotives, as well as the arithmetic, medicine, literature, etc. who surround the railways.

Wu and other personnel.

The recruited personnel are roughly divided into three categories, one is academically sophisticated, those who have passed rigorous examinations and further their studies.

The other is to recruit students from various provinces, with relatively relaxed conditions and a two-year schooling period.

There is also a method where craftsmen and laborers from below are recommended for one-year training.

Now the Ministry of Railways does not lack money, but it only lacks people.

At this time, Raozhou Station.

Jiangxi Railway Department has moved away.

With the opening of Raozhou Station, the headquarters of the Railway Department was also moved to Nanchang Prefecture.

What remains here is still just the Raozhou Station.

Almost every day, rumbling steam locomotives pass by here.

In particular, there is an endless stream of steam locomotives transporting rails, sleepers and other various raw materials deep into Jiangxi.

Raozhou Station is not only responsible for the iron fares but also the railway expenses.

At the same time, it is also responsible for the markets, schools, hospitals and other facilities around the site.

Here, a market has gradually taken shape.

Many merchants flocked here following the steam locomotives, so slowly a shop opened.

The goods from Qixia are displayed on various shelves.

Merchants with various accents, as well as the people who gradually poured into the railway jurisdiction, discussed the prices of goods.

Of course, these merchants are just small merchants.

Some large commercial banks have actually already established their presence here.

They have built many warehouses along the line. In addition, they have also focused on many cheap resources in Raozhou Prefecture.

Such as raw silk, raw hemp, and various minerals.

For some goods that they thought could be sold locally, they used these cheap raw materials to build several workshops on the spot and perform some simple cotton spinning. Others were transported to Zhili by steam locomotive.

Naturally, various mountain products are also in high demand. Jiangxi is already mountainous and populated with outstanding people. Merchants who came here to purchase large quantities of mountain products would traffic them to Zhili.

As for Hu Mu at this time, his headache was the influx of a large number of people.

After serving as a secretary for less than four months, due to the vacancy of the pian official at Raozhou Station, he was finally promoted to the pian official position.

At this time, he was considered to have a serious official status. At least if he was in other yamen, the clerk would indeed belong to the ranks of officials, but... he was not very popular.

Of course, his authority is much greater than that of an ordinary clerk.

He is more like a brick. Wherever it is needed, it needs a little edge.

But now, everyone in the station is worried about the people's affairs.

In the beginning, it can be said that the station and the people of nearby states and counties had no offense against each other.

Although workers have been recruited, there are only a few applicants after all. The local people still need to take care of the one-third of an acre of land. In their view, recruiting workers is tantamount to corvee labor. Who dares to come?

But gradually some people ate the crabs and got their salaries. Gradually, some people began to focus on it.

Bold people began to come in, and later, people discovered that here, even if they were not building railways and doing coolies, they could even go to the land under the jurisdiction of the railway company to work in workshops or be responsible for the construction of houses.

, I also go to a shop to show people the shop, and I actually get a salary. This salary... can actually support my family.

The four words "supporting a family" may mean nothing to the nobles far away in Zhili.

But for these ordinary people, it has a fatal attraction.

In the past, when people rented land to farm, they would not have enough food or clothing to keep them warm throughout the year. At the end of the year, they might even have to owe rent or debt to maintain their income.

But here, it is a real deal, and you can really have a full meal.

Not only that, Raozhou Station began to overhaul dormitories and provide them for rent. Although they are all small rooms, they can barely provide shelter from wind and rain.

But when many people saw it, they realized it was made of bricks.

This is much better than those huts with thatch roofs and mud walls.

As long as you are willing to work hard, you will have a way to survive.

So...many people came with their families.

Although Zhili is prosperous, after all, it is still too unfamiliar to the people thousands of miles away. No one is willing to leave their hometown, and no one dares to take the risk of leaving their hometown thousands of miles easily.

But the Raozhou Station is right at the doorstep. Even if there is something, at worst, you can still walk a day or two on the mountain road back home, so this kind of attraction is unmatched by ordinary people.

So a large number of people began to move in.

The clerks at the station must register everyone who enters and issue household registers to ensure that the population can be controlled.

In addition, a large number of people come with their families and have no place to stay. Therefore, measures need to be taken. Otherwise, chaos may arise.

Therefore, Hu Mu kept his feet on the ground and took his people to set up a temporary resettlement site in the area near the west of the station. Because the construction of dormitories could not keep up with the rate of population inflow, he simply hired people to build many resettlement sites.

Large temporary work sheds were set up in various places. Although everyone was forced to squeeze in here, they finally had a place to stay.

But the more such a place is, the more likely it is for chaos to occur, and even quarrels and fights to occur. In addition, there are hygiene issues and many inconveniences for the female family members.

If left unchecked, it will easily become a place for filth and evil.

In the ministry hall, things have been going down for a long time. The more such a place is, the more efforts must be made to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

Therefore, the station dispatched a lot of patrol inspectors, doctors, and even hired some volunteer teachers.

With these guarantees, people's hearts are actually at peace. We don't have to worry about our baggage being taken away at will, and we don't have to worry about our women being harassed.

Even the idle children now have a place to go, and they are taken away one by one. Although the conditions are relatively simple, all they can actually teach is to recite the Thousand-Character Classic, but this kind of calming effect is more effective than other things.

There is no substitute for anything.

"Your Highness is so admirable!"

Hu Mu, who had just inspected the medical clinic from the temporary resettlement place and was about to return home, was holding a bamboo hat on his head and facing the scorching sun. He didn't know that he thought of it, and let out such a sigh.

Liu Zhan, the assistant secretary who was following behind, couldn't hear clearly, so he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand and said, "What?"

Hu Mu turned around and glanced at Liu Zhan. At this time, Liu Zhan was a little embarrassed, his clothes were a little wrinkled, and a few strands of his hair, which had been neatly combed, were hanging down.

Hu Mu couldn't help but think of the scene just now.

Several doctors from the medical clinic just now made a lot of complaints about the lack of timely medicines at the station. They also asked for an increase in the population. They must be careful about the sanitary conditions of the temporary resettlement site, even though autumn is about to begin.

, but we still need to prevent epidemics.

After all, Hu Mu was a magistrate, so they couldn't complain, so they just dragged one another around and chatted with Liu Zhan, the secretary.

Liu Zhan looked bored at this time and seemed a bit depressed.

Hu Mu then smiled and said: "Hygiene matters are indeed important, and we definitely can't mobilize people. Why don't we just rely on the mountain and let the station allocate some money to select some careful people from the soldiers and civilians in the resettlement site?"

, clean up every day, especially the garbage and feces that occur every day, and dispose of them properly."

Liu Zhan sighed quietly and said with a grimace: "I'm afraid the station won't approve."

Hu Mu said: "If you say we need to be clean, you will definitely be reluctant to approve it. But if you say we need to prevent the plague, then take the words of those doctors and say that the doctors said that the epidemic may be rampant this year. Let's see if the station is willing."
To be continued...