Chapter 478 This Country Is Full of Hope

In April of the twelfth year of Qingli in the Song Dynasty, outside Xiangyang City, Xiangzhou, on the southwestern road of Beijing, a passenger ship drifted in.

After stopping at Xiangyang Pier, a family of five got off the passenger ship.

The male host was about forty years old, with a shaggy beard, red eyes, and a slightly haggard face.

The hostess was dressed simply, without any makeup, and she was between thirty and forty years old. She was not sure whether she was tired from the journey and was covered in travel dust and fatigue.

On the other hand, the first daughter and the second son are in good spirits. The eldest daughter is about eighteen years old, has a good face, and looks around curiously.

The eldest son should be about sixteen years old. He is standing on the bow of the boat and looking at the same view.

The youngest son is about fourteen years old, tall and slender, with slightly precocious eyebrows.

This family of five is Su Xun's family.

The male host is Su Xun, and the female host is Mrs. Cheng. Daughter Su Baniang, sons Su Shi and Su Che.

This time, Su Xun and his family set off from their hometown in Meizhou, Sichuan, took a boat down the Yangtze River, then took the Han River to Xiangyang, and finally took a train to Beijing.

This trip to Beijing is for survey and selection.

After getting off the boat, I saw construction sites everywhere outside Xiangyang City, and some high-rise buildings were being built.

The ancient city pool is well preserved and has not been demolished.

Even though there were cement factories, brick factories and steel factories in various places in the Song Dynasty, they still advocated expansion outside the city and the original city was used as the old city.

This has nothing to do with the need to protect historical relics. It is simply that local finances only have so much money, and most of it is used to build basic industries. There is no extra money for demolition.

Just like the large-scale demolition in later generations of our country will not be implemented until after the millennium, when national fiscal revenue has increased significantly.

In the past, when we had no money, we could only develop industry first and raise income before we could engage in development.

Su Xun glanced around. The dock was crowded with people, various large cargo ships were parked, and countless workers were busy carrying goods to some rubber-tired pallets toward the west city.

"Father, that's the train station over there."

Su Shi asked someone to ask, and then told Su Xun: "I heard that the train comes from a bridge built around Changshou Island in the upper reaches of the Han River, so the station is to the west of the city."

Su Xun looked at the bank of the Han River in the distance. At this moment, a construction team was pouring cement pillars on Taohua Island in the center of the river.

Obviously, since the Song Dynasty has conquered the technology of building bridges on the river, Xiangyang is now planning to build a bridge across both sides of the Han River. Xu trains will no longer have to take a long way to come from Changshou Island, the narrowest river in the upper reaches.

"Should we go to the train station to buy tickets to go to Bianliang today, or should we rest in Xiangyang for a day first?"

Su Che asked: "I almost lost my energy on the boat."

"Then let's rest for a day and then go on our way."

Su Xun said: "Anyway, when you get to Xiangyang, it's faster to go to Bianliang. It is said that you can get there in one day, and it's not less than this day."

"Then we'll just take a stroll around Xiangyang."

Su Shi said happily: "I heard that the imperial court is still continuing to build a railway to the south, and it will go to Guangzhou through Jiangling. In two years, maybe we won't have to take a boat to Xiangyang, and we can take a train from Jiangling to Bianliang."

"Not only that, the railway from Chengdu to Chang'an has also been repaired. It's a pity that the railway from Chang'an to Bianliang has not been repaired. Otherwise, why would we have to go down the river?"

Su Che said: "In a few years, I'm afraid we will be able to take a train directly from Chengdu to Bianliang."

"Um."

Su Xun nodded and sighed: "I have wasted five years at home. Although I often read newspapers to know about the changes in the Song Dynasty, but if I look carefully, I will only know what it means to be spectacular when I see it."

Su Shi smiled and said: "Although my father has stayed at home for five years, the court has not forgotten him, let alone"

As he said that, he looked at Su Baliang and said, "Sister, I walked away from the hell gate and came back to life. Now I am safe and sound. Isn't this a good thing?"

"good."

Su Xun glanced at Mrs. Cheng and her daughter, smiled and said happily: "It's best if the family is safe."

After that, he said to everyone: "It is up to the Zhiyuan to help in this matter. The Zhiyuan is like the reborn parents of my Su family. You must remember the kindness of the Zhiyuan, you know?"

"Yes, father."

Su Shi and Su Zhe responded.

Su Baniang smiled slightly and responded in the same way.

Compared to the year before last, when I almost died of illness and almost lost my breath, I am much more radiant now.

All this started because she was asked to marry by the Cheng family.

Twelve years ago, Su Xun went to Beijing to take the exam. In high school, he ranked fourth in the first class, second only to Wang Anshi, the top pick, Su Song, the top pick, and Huang Shu, the second best. For a time, he was proud of his ancestors and had unlimited glory.

He was first granted the title of Guangning Supervisor, equivalent to the Guangning County Magistrate, and was in charge of the local copper-making industry. Due to his outstanding political performance, he was transferred to Mizhou Tongpan in the third year of Qingli.

In the sixth year of Qingli, Su Xun, who had done well in the position of general magistrate of Mizhou, had a prosperous official career and was transferred to Daozhou as the magistrate.

As a result, less than a year after arriving in Daozhou, I had to hear bad news.

His father Su Xu died of illness at the beginning of the seventh year of the Qingli Dynasty. For this reason, he and his brother Su Huan had to resign and return to their hometown to honor their father Ding You.

In ancient times, Dingyou was not three years, but twenty-seven months, that is, two years and three months.

Under normal circumstances, you can continue to serve as an official by the beginning of the ninth year of Qingli.

For example, after Su Huan and Ding You were over, they returned to Bianliang to report. However, as soon as they arrived in Bianliang in March of the ninth year of Qingli, they were taken away by Zhao Jun and taken to inspect the world.

But Su Xun, like Bao Zheng, was quite filial, and at that time the Cheng family came to propose marriage. Mrs. Cheng's brother, Su Shi's uncle Cheng Jun, wanted Su Baniang to marry his son Cheng Zhicai.

In order to arrange a marriage for his daughter, Su Xun extended his mourning period and continued to stay in his hometown of Meizhou to observe mourning.

Unexpectedly, during this period, Su Banniang was abused in her husband's family. Su Xun was very angry about this and wanted to sever ties with the Cheng family, trying to get Su Banniang to divorce Cheng Zhicai.

However, in ancient times, it was usually only when the woman made a mistake that the husband's family divorced her. Even if the man made a mistake, it was rare for the woman to take the initiative to divorce.

Because a man's divorce does not prevent him from continuing to marry, but if a woman divorces, it is often easy to cause criticism and it is difficult to marry again.

So under the persuasion of Mrs. Cheng, they can only stay in this stalemate for the time being.

But in order to support Su Banniang, Su Xun's original plan to return to Beijing for the selection after Su Banniang got married was delayed again, and he had to continue to stay in Meizhou.

After all, although Su Xun was also in Meizhou in history, he had no official status and could only watch Su Banniang being abused to death by the Cheng family.

Now he was an official, just temporarily resigned, and his social status was there. Su Xun thought that as long as he stayed in his hometown and intimidated the Cheng family, the Cheng family would not be too presumptuous.

But he still seriously underestimated the shamelessness of the Cheng family.

Although Su Banniang was no longer beaten, she was often coldly spoken to by the Cheng family, all kinds of weirdness, corporal punishment and humiliation, so that she fell seriously ill and almost died out of sorrow.

Su Xun then took Su Banniang back to recuperate, but it was this incident that completely ignited Su Xun's anger.

He explained the matter in a letter to Su Huan.

The original intention was to tell Su Huan about this matter. After all, Su Huan was the head of the Su family and the patriarch of the Su family, and he needed to ask for his opinion on this matter.

In addition, Su Huan had a relatively high official position. If he supported this matter, he could compete with the Cheng family and successfully complete the divorce.

But unexpectedly, Su Huan was following Zhao Jun to tour the world at that time, and Zhao Jun naturally knew about this matter very quickly.

Zhao Jun was very unhappy when he learned about this.

Because Zhao Jun has been actively improving the status of women in recent years, and has written articles in newspapers many times to criticize the feudal ethics that restrict women and encourage women to be independent.

And the Ministry of Justice has made laws.

If a woman has been subjected to domestic violence for a long time without reason and wants to divorce, the local government should actively provide help, establish the woman's husband as a shameful model who only bullies weak women, and establish the woman as an independent and self-reliant woman.

If the woman's family is in difficulty and cannot make a living, the government can provide her with some jobs in light industries such as textiles, tea, wine, leather, etc. to help her make a living.

From this, it can be seen that in addition to improving the status of women, Zhao Jun also has strong political intentions.

That is, he hopes that women can be liberated, freed from feudal ethics, and actively participate in the construction of light industry that produces consumer materials.

Just as the great man of later generations proposed that "women can hold up half the sky", this will not only improve the social status of women, but also greatly increase the labor force and improve productivity, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

As a result, when Zhao Jun wanted to achieve this political intention, he encountered the incident of Su Banniang.

Su Xun is now an official, and even officials are like this, let alone ordinary people?

So Cheng Zhicai was caught in the crossfire.

Zhao Jun was just about to use the powerful to establish his authority and warn the world that domestic violence men will be severely punished by the court. Tell the bullied women in the world that the court is your strong backing.

So the Cheng family can only be blamed for their bad luck.

Zhao Jun immediately asked Su Huan to write back to Su Xun, ordering Su Banniang to divorce Cheng Zhicai, and banning Cheng Zhicai from participating in the imperial examination for life because of his domestic violence record!

Then, with an order, the Political System Institute issued a handwritten order to Chengdu Prefecture Road.

The Cheng family was immediately established as a model, and the Chengdu Prefecture Road Transport Envoy and local officials in Meizhou were directly instructed by Zhao Jun to promote it in newspapers and Meizhou.

Moreover, when Zhao Jun passed by Chengdu in the 11th year of the Qingli period, he also went to Meizhou specifically, and criticized the Cheng family as a negative example in front of so many officials and local nobles.

Under the crushing of the highest level of power, even though the Cheng family was a famous family in the local area, they were soon killed by the society, and had to move away from the local area and disappeared in Meizhou.

Su Banniang's matter was finally resolved, but after this incident, Su Banniang's health has not been very good, and she has to recuperate at home.

Su Xun has not left because his daughter is weak.

It was not until the beginning of this year that Su Banniang's health improved a lot, and then she left her hometown and went to Bianliang for grinding.

It has been five years since Su Xun left his post.

His fellow Jinshi in that year, who did better like the champion Wang Anshi, followed Zhao Jun to travel around the world, and was transferred to the Judicial Court of the Central Three-level Department as the Director.

Because of his two years of traveling around the country, he was gilded, skipped the fifth rank and fourth rank, and became a fourth rank official like a rocket.

There is also Su Song, the runner-up, who did not go to the local government to serve as an official, but has been studying science in the Academy of Sciences.

In his early years, he was promoted to the fifth rank of the Academy of Sciences for his contribution to the structural research of steam engines. Later, he was promoted to the fourth rank of the Academy of Sciences for assisting Zhao Zhen in perfecting the law of universal gravitation. Now he is the vice president of the Academy of Sciences' School of Physics, also a fourth rank.

And because the Academy of Sciences has a very special status, the scientific researchers there are highly valued by the court. Although it seems that there is no power, the problem is that the Academy of Sciences has two presidents.

One is the full-time president Jia Xian, and the other is the honorary president.

This person is called Zhao Zhen.

Moreover, Zhao Zhen often summoned academicians from the Academy of Sciences to his Houyuan laboratory for academic exchanges.

Therefore, after leaving the Academy of Sciences, even the fourth-grade deputy deans of the subordinate colleges and the ministers of the second-grade and first-grade departments dare not offend easily.

Even those who are not very successful, even those who are ranked lower among the top two, as long as they are not caught for corruption and bending the law, or if they really have no management ability, they can basically become a fifth-level magistrate of the state.

He is the only one who ranks fourth in the First Class, and his current level is only from the fifth level. He doesn't know what position he will be given when he goes to Bianliang this time.

Su Xun and his family followed the flow of people into the city.

The ancient city of Xiangyang covers an area of ​​2.4 square kilometers and has high and thick city walls. It has been known as a fortified city since ancient times.

In the past, it was just an ordinary city economically, and its economic development was only slightly better than other land cities, but not much better.

Because the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal were responsible for more than 70% of the commercial trade of the Song Dynasty, the land trade carrying capacity was too small, so medium and large-scale trade would take the canal, and only small trade would take the Han River to Xiangyang, and then take the overland road to Bianliang.

However, in the context of the industrial age, Xiangyang built trains, steel factories, textile factories, cement factories, and brick factories, attracting a large influx of people from surrounding counties and villages, allowing the city to develop rapidly.

Reinforced concrete bridges were built on the moat, and high-rise buildings were erected outside the city. Boats came and went from Tanxi Pier outside the west city, bringing a large amount of industrial raw materials to the west industrial zone, and then turned into steel, clothes, and cement.

As Su Shi walked in the city, the buildings in the city had not changed much, but he saw bicycles shuttled through the streets, newsboys selling newspapers, and telephone poles erected.

Not long after the family entered from Beicheng, a rickshaw came over to inquire.

Su Xun felt sorry for his wife and daughter, so he rented two cars, one for his wife and daughter, and one for him and his two sons.

Two rickshaws headed towards Xicheng.

They will find an inn in Xicheng to rest for the night and continue their journey tomorrow.

Su Shi sat in the car. After entering the city from Beicheng, most of the place was no different from an ordinary city. There were many vendors on the streets and alleys, signboards hung high, swaying in the wind, and various shouting sounds.

When we got near Xicheng, the scene became different.

Since when the train was first built, there was no way to solve the problem of building a bridge on a river as big as the Han River, so the train bridge was built from the upstream river, where there is Changshou Island. The narrowest part of the river is less than ten meters, and the bridge piers can be placed on the island. built on.

As a result, the train station could only be located in Xicheng, and the west of the city was also close to the steel production area. In later years, areas such as Shiyan, Gucheng, Baokang, and Fangxian were rich in iron ore. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of my country, the Second Railway Station was located in Shiyan.

Therefore, the entire west side of Xiangyang City has become the gathering point of a large number of factories. The inside and outside of the west side of the city have also been affected by the factories. Various five- and six-story buildings have been built one after another, forming a great contrast with the old city in the east of the city.

It was noon, when the city's workshops were getting off work for lunch, the door of a Xiangyang steel factory's processing plant in the city opened, and groups of workers came out.

They wore blue shorts made of linen and blue trousers. Some of them didn't even take off their gloves. They were dirty, but they were all smiling. They walked on the road, and their whole bodies were filled with confidence.

On the brick wall outside the factory, it was written, "Workers are the cornerstone of the country!"

"Dingle bell!~"

The gates of nearby textile factories soon opened.

The ringtone is crisp and pleasant.

The female workers’ laughter sounded like silver bells.

They wore long sleeves covered with flowers and trousers underneath, with their hair simply pulled up.

After coming out of the factory, some went home to eat, and some went to nearby restaurants.

There are also slogans on the brick wall outside the textile factory, which read excerpts from articles written by the Zhiyuan in newspapers many times: "Women are not inferior to men", "Men and women receive equal pay for equal work", and "Women hold up half the sky."

"Come on, come on, give in, give in."

"Where should we eat today?"

"Lao Li, help me pick up the child after work in the afternoon."

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!~~"

"Jingle Bell."

The conversations between various workers, the ringing of bicycle bells, the roar of the factory steam engines, and the Song Dynasty dragon flag flying from the workers' school in the distance outline a world completely different from that in the city.

Su Shi looked at them with bright eyes, and there was a glimmer of light in his eyes. He heard someone singing "We workers have power, hey, we workers have power!"

This country is full of hope.