Looking at the bustling crowd around him, all of them came from the iron prison, everyone was red-faced, Quan Erlang drank a glass of wine, slapped the cup on the table, and said hatefully: "Why am I so fateful!" The same is to pull fiber, the same to Jingxi Yingtian, why was I sent to cultivate the land and farm, not in the iron prison! Look at you, as soon as you come, you will have a new house to live in, money and food, and you will have fun during the holidays, where do you dare to think of such a good life! If there is such a good life, I will stay too, why bother to leave without knowing it! ”

Geng Xin, who was sitting opposite, said: "Erlang, you don't just want to see the good ones. Our days are good, but the requirements are also strict, and we can't be a little bad when we do our work. If you make a mistake, you will be reprimanded, fined and kicked out. ”

Quan Erlang said disapprehantly: "This is a common thing, what's there!" When we used to pull fiber, it was not the same! For which to contribute and which not to contribute, quarrel every day, what is there! ”

Chai Fu said: "How can it be the same? That waiting, the fiber rope is set to the body, as long as the force is contributed. Now there are rules everywhere, where to do things, where to go, where you can touch and where you can't touch, and you can't do anything wrong. We who do things also have to learn to read and write every day. If you learn slower than others, your status, money, and food will be compared to others. Your temperament can't stay even more. ”

Quan Erlang was stunned: "Do things hard, but also learn to read and write?" How could the Iron Supervisor do such an unreasonable thing? ”

Geng Xin sighed: "It's not just about reading and reading, you have to learn everything." We have been in the iron prison for half a month, at the beginning of the day is an hour a day to learn to read, three days a test, five days a competition, good and bad all the record. In the last few days, I have heard that the stove is going to be built, and I have to learn other things. You are a coal-filled fire, so you have to learn how to fill coal-fire-"

Hearing this, Quan Erlang laughed "sneering": "It's funny, what do you have to learn to burn the fire!" ”

Chai Fu said: "Don't you want to learn to burn the fire?" What kind of coal you have to learn, how much to fill at a time, and how many catties can be estimated as soon as the big shovel coal pile comes out. It also depends on the color of the fire in the furnace, and knows whether the fire is strong or not, and when to add it. Telling you to fill coal and make a fire is the easiest thing to do, and there are many other things to learn. In the iron prison, the strength is not as much as before, but you have to use it here! ”

Speaking of this, Chai Fu pointed to his head.

Quan Erlang was stunned for a moment, he couldn't think of what Chai Fu said had anything to do with the fire, and he couldn't speak for a while.

Geng Xin said: "From learning literacy to learning how to do things, everything must be tested, and if you don't pass the test, there will be many difficulties." The people who work in the iron prison are hierarchical. When I came in, I realized that those of us who didn't pass an exam for the first time were just a trial, what is it called. Only after passing the literacy level and passing the exam in the line of work that you do can you really have a job, which is called a correct name. ”

Quan Jiro became curious and asked, "What's the difference?" ”

"What a difference! Only by correcting the name can we really be qualified to do things, and those who borrow the name can only start it. Not to mention the money and food issued, the correct name is one level higher than the borrowed name, and there are all kinds of rewards, daily subsidies, and the borrowed name is not eligible. That's a lot worse! ”

This is actually the intern system, and after training, you can really take up the job. The treatment of the iron supervisor is set at such a high level, it is impossible to enjoy it when he is transferred. All slender men, only after passing the assessment, can be regarded as regular employees of the iron supervisor, otherwise they are just temporary workers. The low salary is one thing, and more importantly, you can't enjoy the treatment of the iron supervisor, and there is no chance of promotion. It's easy to become a regular, study actively, and just pass the exam.

Geng Xin and Chai Fu were friends that Quan Erlang had met in the Xiang Army before, and they had a good fate and were assigned to the iron prison. These days, there is good food and drink in the iron prison, and the living conditions make the slender man who comes very happy. But the annoying thing is that in addition to building houses and smelting furnaces for those who come after them every day, they also have to study every day. It's not enough to study, but often take exams and constantly divert people. Those with good brains quickly learned to read and write, and then went to learn specific industry knowledge, and the level rose up one after another. In half a month, there were top soldiers among the soldiers, and they got twice as much money and food as others. With this process, the original organizational form of the Xiang army was disrupted, and the capital was completely controlled by the officials who were sent.

Geng Xin and Chai Fu are both less than the top and more than the bottom, and they are medium. Both of them have learned some words and are now learning the expertise of the work they will do in the future. Chai Fu diagram is simple, choose a type of coke work, mainly to fill coal, distinguish the type of coal every day, observe the flame, make the head as big as a bucket. Geng Xin is casting steel ingots, and he has learned more.

Seeing that the two of them were worried, Quan Erlang said: "You don't have to be anxious, what is there if you learn slowly, and the iron prison will not fire you." ”

"How do you know not to open the leather?" Geng Xin shook his head again and again. "If you just learn slowly, it's really nothing, it's just a lack of money and food, and there is no future. But it is not the same if you make mistakes often, especially if you are casual and do not listen to your commands. Especially those who like to make trouble, such as gathering crowds to gamble money, blackmailing people for money, fighting and fighting, but leave immediately! ”

Speaking of this, Geng Xin pointed to a few people who got off the ferry not far away, carrying their burdens: "See, those few were ordered to leave the money prison because of gambling money." A few days ago, several people fought over the bones in the broth, and they were sent away. ”

Quan Erlang looked at those people for a while, didn't know them, and asked in a low voice, "Where are these people going when they leave the iron prison?" ”

Geng Xin said: "Naturally, I went to the village of Tuntian in Tangzhou to open up wasteland and farm. The vacancy they leave behind will be filled by the homes of those who came from the front. I read the list and said that I wanted to be a strong, intelligent young man between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, and I wanted to be guaranteed by the village to have no bad conduct. ”

Quan Erlang listened and didn't speak again. With his own temperament, he entered the iron prison, but I am afraid that he was also the first to be driven away. In fact, there is another one Geng Xin did not say, that is, there are no tattoos on the body, and the net worth is innocent. Quan Erlang's embroidery is difficult to stay in the iron prison.

To give generous conditions, of course, there are higher requirements, and the iron prison is not a place for the elderly. From the very beginning, Du Zhongxiao had no intention of giving these people an iron rice bowl, whether they could keep food and clothing depended on their own. The requirements are simple and clear, stay if you do it, leave if you can't do it, and it's better to keep things simple. Grass-roots officials and officials have no power to come and go, and if they are caught violating the law, they will leave immediately, and there is no emotion to talk about. Only in but not out, the forbidden army and the box army are already a lesson. If they don't do their job well, they are not satisfied, they are not satisfied with their money, they are unable to ensure their livelihood, and they are not satisfied.

Quan Erlang sighed: "Alas, it seems that nothing is easy in the world. If you don't give riches, how can you live a good life! ”

The furnace has been opened and smelted outside the Qian Yuan, and Quan Erlang has helped to do a lot of things and has some rewards. However, the process of opening the furnace is unsatisfactory everywhere, Qian Yuanwai is now in debt, and his attitude is far from being kind when he came, and Quan Erlang is unsatisfied. Gao Ji'an's illness has recovered, and now he is also helping to do some things and make some money. The two discussed, in a few months, they would go to Kaifeng Mansion after saving some money, and it would be meaningless to stay any longer.

After drinking a few more glasses of wine, Geng Xin asked, "Erlang, I heard that you helped someone else do things, how are you doing?" ”

Quan Erlang said: "Don't mention it, that person is a rammer and can't be relied on for a long time." A few months ago, when the iron prison was first established, the guy looked at the land selected by the iron supervisor, planted seeds, and said that it was his ancestral land, and he wanted to make money. The yamen was generous, and recognized the land as his, but he had to pay taxes for decades. The land here is vast and sparsely populated, the land is not valuable, where is it worth decades of taxes? That guy lost hundreds of dollars in vain, and since then he has been stingy. I helped him choose land for mining and build a smelting furnace, and I didn't get much money. ”

Chai Fu said: "Erlang, you can't do this, you always have to find a job to live and live." ”

Quan Erlang said: "I have already planned, wait a few days, save some entanglements, and then go to Kaifeng Mansion to find a life." I have a friend who has some ways in Kaifeng Mansion, if everything goes well, it is not difficult to get rich! ”

Seeing Quan Erlang's confident look, Geng Xin said: "Erlang, we are all ordinary people, we used to suffer from fiber pulling, as long as we are full and warm, it is rare. You can't expect to climb to the sky in one step, and you will be rich and rich. ”

Quan Erlang straightened his face and said, "I don't believe it!" Those princes, generals, high-ranking officials and ministers, are they all brought by fate? It's nothing more than a coincidence, they just happened to happen! If there is a chance in front of me, I can seize it, and I can be rich and boundless! ”

Geng Xin and Chai Fu glanced at each other, shook their heads secretly, and stopped persuading. Quan Erlang is such a person, he has been eating and working hard since he was a child, and he always sighs that fate is unfair, and Hangerlang doesn't have to do anything, he just thinks that the opportunity has come and he will take a step to the sky.

In a few days, the money allocated by the treasury arrived, and the iron supervisor deliberately paid half a month's salary in advance, so that the first group of people to come out to relax, and at the same time buy some daily necessities. After coming for half a month, in addition to working, they also had to study every day, and they were uncomfortable.

Bounded by the Li River, there are many shops gathered here at the ferry on the north bank, and it is very lively. Three thousand households, not to mention Yexian County, even Ruzhou City does not have this kind of population size. Many people see business opportunities, and people from several nearby states come here to do business. If it weren't for the ban on buying properties under his rule, Du Zhongxiao's family would still want to open a store here. It's a pity that in the past half a month, the people with the most spending power are working in the iron prison, only women and children come to visit from time to time, and the shops are eager to wear. Today finally came, this area is extremely lively, and before you know it, it has become a bazaar.

After chatting for a while, Geng Xin and Chai Fu said goodbye to Quan Erlang and hung out together. Relax today, free again, I don't know which day.