THE BEGINNING
Chapter 1 The Beginning of a Dream
On the Guanghui Great Plain, the fields are neatly arranged like squares. The quiet Don River runs through the vast plain, nourishing the arable land; the black soil below the ground is rich in nutrients for the growth of crops.
Between the blocks is a green forest, scattered around the newly cultivated land;
The public land, interspersed among the various fields, has farms and wooden houses built of pine wood;
There are wells scattered around the cultivated land, and small rivers and other rivers are everywhere. The river is clear and there are small fish swimming; tall windmills stand on the fields, like giants standing, with the windmills turning, grinding flour for the wheat.
The breeze came, and it was refreshing, with the beauty of the countryside.
In the vast and boundless fields, there was a sudden clatter, and then a steel monster spewing black smoke appeared, dragging its huge body, and the carriages hung behind each other, making a sudden noise, accompanied by a violent roar, constantly moving forward.
The steel monster, the speed of advance is very slow, not as fast as the speed of the carriage, but it is strong and durable.
Chu Chu!
Accompanied by a strange cry, it came from afar.
Walking into the distance, it gradually disappeared, only the black smoke still filled the air.
The black smoke has a choking smell. Taking a deep breath, it has a disgusting smell, but this is the breath of industrial civilization.
A few days later, a noble with leather boots on his feet, a high hat on his head, and a civilized cane in his hand appeared.
Behind the nobles, there are vicious thugs, some with wooden sticks, some with long knives, all of them are fierce.
Huhuhu!
The wooden house was set on fire, and the fire was burning.
The peasants were crying and resisting.
The thugs drove forward, and the peasants who resisted fled one after another. Some fled slowly and fell to the ground with blood on their chests.
The expulsion continued, and the peasants lost their land and entered the city on a large scale, becoming beggars.
At the same time, countless arable lands are connected together, and small pieces of arable land have become large pieces of arable land. On the periphery of the arable land, fences are used to connect together to surround the large piece of arable land. The arable land is no longer planted with wheat but mainly for pasture. Sheep.
...
Radiant Empire.
Karan City, a slum.
The enclosure movement caused farmers to lose their land, and countless farmers gathered in cities, forming slums one by one.
The house was built at will with wood, barely able to protect from wind and cold. The house was dark, and all kinds of daily clutter were piled up, messy, messy, and crowded.
There are no good drainage facilities here, and the dirty water after washing is poured on the roadside at will.
Less than 100 meters away, there is a garbage dump, and many garbage are piled together.
In the summer time, there is a foul smell, flies fly around, mosquitoes scream, and maggots crawl everywhere.
The population here is dense, but there are nearly 100,000 people in the small urban area.
In a small wooden house in a slum area, a ten-year-old child opened his eyes, his pupils were changing, he seemed to be shrinking, he seemed to have lost his light, but in the next moment, it was bursting with endless light.
"who I am?!"
The ten-year-old child stood up, the smell was sour and stinky, and the smell on his body was very stinky. He didn't take a bath for almost three consecutive years.
He touched his head, stretched out his hand and grabbed a handful of fleas.
With fingers pinched, a few lice were strangled to death.
I touched it again, and there were several lice.
Looking at himself again, there was black mud on his nails.
The palms are thin and dry, like chicken feet, and the arms are dry and seem to have been malnourished for a long time.
Huhu!
He took a deep breath and looked around. There were no electric lights or oil lamps.
Natural lighting.
On the ground, put on shoes.
The shoes are leather shoes. They are not as gorgeous as the leather shoes of the previous life. They are just a few simple sheepskin sewn together, which are neither beautiful nor comfortable.
She was wearing woolen clothes with a few holes.
tattered.
Looking outside, it seems to be a garbage dump.
"There is no such broken old city in China... Could it be that this is an Indian slum, or a Brazilian slum!" Su Ming wondered, his eyebrows were beating, his mind was heaving. At this moment, one after another memory transmission came, and the memories of the two people were intertwined, chaotic and disorderly.
A memory, going through nine or ninety-six for housing loan, sub-healthy, complaining about rising pork prices, can't afford pork, can only eat chicken; can't afford a thousand-yuan suit, can only buy a hundred-yuan suit, looking in the mirror Self-pity.
Dreaming of a job, more money and less work, close to home.
In one memory, a ten-year-old child lived in a slum, ate black bread, worked in a coal mine, five copper coins a day, and dreamed of becoming a servant of a noble young master.
Memories are messy and disordered, gradually becoming clear and real.
Su Ming closed his eyes and opened them again.
Traveled through and came to another world.
Radiant Empire...
Enclosure sports, sheep cannibalize people...
The peasants entered the city, and slums appeared one by one...
The eldest sister died of starvation, the second sister died of illness, and the fourth brother also died...
There are father, mother, him, and a four-year-old little brother at home...
In my father's memory, being a serf was really happy, and I could eat enough every day; but after I became a worker in the city, my family was often hungry.
In order to subsidize the family and to eat enough, Su Ming went to work in a coal kiln when he was eight years old.
The owner of the coal kiln is kind, and the workers only need to work twelve hours a day, and they can get five copper coins and be paid on a daily basis.
No vacation.
The factory owners here are very stupid. They don't pay by piece.
Not performance pay, but pay based on hours worked.
"My amulet has also passed through!"
Su Ming touched his chest and found the amulet.
She took off the small golden bag from her neck and took out the grey stone.
Holding it in his hand, the gray stone is like flowing water, seeping into his body and disappearing without a trace.
I want to look for it, but I can't find the slightest trace.
...
"Su Ming, it's time to eat!"
"understood!"
On the table, food was placed.
The staple food is mainly potatoes, brown bread, and broth.
The black bread was as hard as a stone, and it had to be soaked in the soup before it could be swallowed.
The broth is mainly old meat.
Potatoes, mainly mashed potatoes, or in soups.
These are the staples of the day.
"Mother..."
Su Ming looked at the diet and was a little worried.
The moment you can eat it is a matter of course.
After eating, Su Ming went to the coal mine to dig coal.
...
The dark entrance of the cave is dark and deep, like the mouth of a devil.
The entrance of the cave is about one meter high, half a person wide, deep and unfathomable, heading to an unknown area.
At the entrance of the cave, stood a foreman, next to three or five thugs holding sticks, murderous and vicious.
Beside it, there are baskets.
There was a neat queue in front of them, about a hundred people, most of them were child laborers, the youngest was only eight years old, and the oldest was twelve years old. Su Ming was among the crowd, very inconspicuous.
"It's still the old rules, work a day, pay a day's wages, adults are 15 copper coins a day, women are 10 copper coins."
The foreman said.
Then, the workers entered the mining area one by one and began to mine coal.
Su Ming also entered the coal cave and began to follow the adults to dig coal mines.
Mining coal mines is primitive and inefficient, without all kinds of coal mining equipment, mainly adults pry open the coal blocks, and child laborers are responsible for picking up the coal, putting it in the basket, and pulling the basket out.
At the passage of the coal mine, some kerosene lamps are set up to illuminate.
With the roar of the steam engine, the demand for coal increased, and large and small coal mines appeared in the Radiance Empire, among which the small and medium-sized coal mines were the main ones.
Underground coal mining, as well as coal transportation, are mainly artificial.
The tunnels in the wells are dug deeper and deeper, requiring a very short stature to enter, which is very suitable for child labor.
In addition, adult male wages are generally high, requiring fifteen copper coins, but only five copper coins are needed to hire child labor. In order to save money, many child laborers are hired.
Under the involution of wages, a large number of adult men are unemployed, but child labor is easier to find a job.
In this coal mine, there are one hundred and five coal miners, of which about seventy-five are child laborers.
...
PS: New book, new atmosphere, new beginning.