"You are a smart person, smarter than many people." Fang Yun said with a smile.
"Well, I don't know much. I just heard it from some scholars. I heard that the scholars almost got into a fight because of the papermaking workshop."
"Oh? Could it be that some educated people agree to build a paper-making workshop?"
"Yes. Some people say that this papermaking workshop belongs to the Zhao family business. Unlike the shameless Qingjiang business, the Zhao family business is a royal business after all. The papermaking workshop they built has an additional decontamination workshop that is specifically designed to reduce wastewater. The wastewater discharged is only 20% to 30% of that of ordinary papermaking workshops. Even if this wastewater is discharged into the river, it will not be a big problem."
"But another group of people disagreed and insisted on stopping the papermaking workshop. Then those who supported the construction said that Xiangzhou had been harassed by Qing State for many years and could not stand any more trouble. Xiangzhou was very rich in the past, but now it has been surpassed by Jiangzhou. Even the income of the entire Ning'an County is comparable to that of most of Xiangzhou. In order to restore the prosperity of Xiangzhou, some sacrifices should be made. The two sides kept arguing, and I was afraid of trouble, so I stayed away."
Fang Yun nodded slightly and said nothing.
The middle-aged driver said, "In fact, people in other parts of Baling City don't care much. It's mainly people in the north of Baling City and some counties and towns to the north who are against it. Those towns and villages to the north are downstream, and anyone who depends on the Yangtze River for their livelihood doesn't want to see a papermaking workshop upstream. Alas..."
While driving the carriage, the driver talked about the papermaking workshop, and his tone was full of contradictions.
The carriage left the north gate of Baling City and soon arrived at the north workshop area, then moved forward along the workshop area.
Fang Yun drew aside the curtains and had a familiar feeling, because this place was very similar to the workshops on the river bank of Ning'an County. A large number of workshops were in operation, with many carriages and workers coming in and out, busy and orderly.
When the carriage was about to reach the northernmost section of the North Workshop area, Fang Yun clearly heard someone shouting loudly.
"Drive away the wastewater workshop and restore the blue sky to Baling!"
"Once the wastewater comes out, the water monsters will all run away. How can people still live here?"
"Thirty years ago, my youngest son was poisoned to death by the water in the paper mill. He was only thirteen years old! You beasts!"
"Brothers of the yamen here, you are also from Baling, you are also from Xiangzhou, are you just going to watch the papermaking workshop harm people?"
The cursing continued and the carriage suddenly stopped.
"Master Tongsheng, do you plan to take a detour or stop here? They have blocked the road." said the coachman.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "You can go back. I just happened to be there, so I'll take a look at the excitement."
The middle-aged driver lowered his voice and said hurriedly, "Please don't make a fuss! There are many things going on here. I suspect that things will get out of hand. I only told you because you are a good person. If it were someone else, I would definitely not tell you."
Fang Yun smiled and asked: "Then I must thank you, but can you explain it in detail?"
The middle-aged driver hesitated for a moment and whispered, "There are many twists and turns here. There is not only Baling City on the Yangtze River in Xiangzhou, but also several county towns or towns close to the Yangtze River. It is said that when Zhao's company was choosing a location, many prefects and county magistrates were vying for it. After all, if the local area makes money, it will be easy for officials to get promoted if they have high evaluations. Later, the papermaking workshop was settled in Baling, and the county magistrates of several other places were not satisfied, so they secretly obstructed the papermaking workshop and wanted to build the papermaking workshop in their own counties."
"This kind of thing is not uncommon." Fang Yun nodded slightly.
"Not only are several other counties obstructing us, but Qingjiang Trading Company has directly hired a number of thugs to cause trouble. They really dare to do it. I heard that if Baling is determined to build a paper workshop, they might set it on fire. So I say, you must not join in the fun." The middle-aged coachman looked at Fang Yun seriously.
"Oh, I understand. I won't get involved in their affairs and will just go look for my friends. Okay, I'm leaving now. You go on with your work." Fang Yun said politely and walked forward.
The middle-aged coachman looked at Fang Yun, sighed softly, then looked further away and saw thousands of people standing on the street. Hundreds of yamen soldiers were stopping those people. Behind them was a workshop under construction, but there was no one inside and work had stopped.
There are many workshops near the papermaking workshop. In the early morning sunshine, some workers are chatting and watching the fun.
The autumn wind blew, and the air became cooler. Fang Yun walked slowly forward and soon approached the crowd.
Except for a few people who glanced at Fang Yun, most of them didn't care. Some shouted and cursed, while others just watched the fun and said nothing.
"Move the workshop away and give me back the clear water!" a student shouted excitedly, and many people followed suit.
"Move the workshop away and give me back the clear water..."
Thousands of people shouted together. Fang Yun thought about it and also shouted: "Move the workshop away and give me back the clear water..." After shouting, he looked up at the sky. No one knew what he was looking at.
Inside the Xiangzhou government office, Governor Dong Wencong, Director of the Ministry of Works Xue Li, and Prefect of Baling Yan Xiao were holding official seals and using them to monitor the area around the papermaking workshop. Dong Wencong suddenly showed an expression that did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"Master Dong, why is this?" Yan Xiao asked.
Dong Wencong still had a look of confusion on his face, and asked, "Did you see the student who just arrived?"
"Yes, I saw it. It came in a carriage."
"I just happened to use the official seal to detect the talents of those people, and found that the person should be our governor."
“This…” The official seal in the hall hurriedly used the official seal and found that the man was actually the Grand Secretary. He immediately believed what Dong Wencong said.
"The Governor is really working hard in shouting slogans." Xue Li said, feeling both amused and helpless.
Yan Xiao, the prefect of Baling, looked the worst. He said, "It seems that the governor is afraid that we can't handle it well, so he went to take a look in person."
"Once everyone is gathered, we will discuss it and report the result to the Governor-General to prevent him from worrying."
"well… "
Fang Yun continued to stay in the crowd, occasionally shouting slogans, but most of the time he was talking to the people present, listening to their real thoughts and understanding the truth of the matter, instead of standing on a high temple and bragging about understanding the people.
At noon, someone came to distribute dry food and water. Fang Yun, like most people, ate the dry food and drank water for lunch and did not leave until nightfall.
Fang Yun went to the back street of the provincial government office, removed his disguise, revealed his true identity, and then entered the provincial government office.
The Governor's Office had not been built yet and Fang Yun was having trouble working, so he wandered around the provincial government office to see how the officials did their work.
As a result, the officials in the provincial government were frightened. They thought something big had happened. Wherever Fang Yun went, the officials all stood up and dared not move.
After visiting several places, Fang Yun felt bored and was about to return to his residence when he heard discussions coming from Dong Wencong's office. So he went around to the door, signaled the guards at the door not to make a sound, then walked in and sat in the small pavilion in the yard to listen to the discussion of the officials in the main hall of the house.
After listening for a quarter of an hour, Fang Yun snorted coldly and said, "Ridiculous!"
The discussion in the room came to an abrupt halt.
"It's the Governor." Dong Wencong said, and hurried out with a group of officials.
.(To be continued.)