Both the stone and the craftsmen must be selected carefully.

After customizing these, he went to the escort agency to find a group of people and hired them for a period of time.

He selected people, paid deposits, assigned things and other trivial matters one by one, and did not return until the sun set.

Su's mother and her three companions went out of the city to buy a house, and then hurried back to the inn before the city gate was about to close.

"Did you find it?"

Su Baozhu took a big sip of warm tea and waved her hand, "Don't mention it. The price of the manor we're interested in is too high. They want to take advantage of us!"

Su Baozhu changed the subject, "Fortunately, my aunt is very capable. She easily controlled the manager and the boy. We found a manor halfway between Tangquan City and Hutou Village. The manor is very big, with many beautiful houses, courtyards, gardens, and hundreds of acres of paddy fields outside. When spring comes, we can plant crops and it will be so beautiful."

It can be seen that Su Baozhu likes that manor very much.

"Yinyin, guess how much the manor is worth?"

"Ten thousand taels." Su Yin randomly reported a number.

Su Baozhu shook her head. "It's not worth that much. Auntie said that the land in the northwest is not valuable. The only valuable things in that manor are those relatively new houses and the rockery in the courtyard that cost some money. The rest are worthless."

When Su Baozhu thought of the steward and the boy bragging about valuable things, such as how much the best wood was worth, she and her sister-in-law were both stunned and felt that the farm must be very expensive.

After hearing the quote, I even felt it was cheaper than I thought.

But unexpectedly, the aunt directly exposed the manager and the boy's concerted efforts. The precious objects they boasted about were actually worthless things. In the words of the aunt, those things were just fancy-looking decorations.

When they saw the manager and the boy change their faces, they realized that they had been fooled.

Fortunately, my aunt went with them, otherwise she and her sister-in-law would have suffered.

Su's mother smiled and said, "We only spent 7,000 taels. Your grandmother is amazing. She bought the manor worth more than 10,000 taels directly for 7,000 taels."

"Brother, how are things over there?" Su Baozhu turned to look at Su Xiaozhong.

“The materials have been purchased, but we still need to recruit workers.”

Su Yin looked at her brother, "Xinguang, after the work starts, you will need to transfer a group of obedient and loyal people to supervise the work. Su Wuming will be in charge of this group. I have two letters here that need to go through your secret cabinet. Please deliver one to Nangong Jingzhi and the other to Xinyang. The faster the better, as this is related to whether Xinyang can quickly establish its prestige in the northwest."

"good."

After discussing, the family went to the lobby for dinner.

Everyone is exhausted after the whole day, and there will be work to do tomorrow.

A platform was built in an open space in the suburbs. Su Xiaozhong ordered people to rush to build this platform yesterday for today.

A young beggar was squatting at the city gate, his skinny body covered with tattered clothes, shivering with cold. He didn't know how long he could hold on. Perhaps after tonight, he would not see the sun tomorrow.

His body was covered with blue and purple from the cold, and he was shivering all over, his whole body very stiff. The supplicant looked at the passers-by coming and going, wanting to ask for some food, but he was too cold to bear it, and could not utter a complete sentence. Often, he had just said two words when he had already walked away.

Su Yin came out of the city gate and saw the beggar at a glance. The beggar was very excited to see someone standing in front of him. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he heard the other party speak first.

"Would you like to eat?"

The beggar nodded continuously.

"If you want to eat, go one mile forward and sign up at the open space in front. As long as you sign up, you will get a meal."

Upon hearing this, the beggar uttered three words tremblingly, "Really?"

"You'll know if you take a look."

The beggar thought about it and it made sense. He stood up with difficulty and walked in that direction. After walking for a while, he saw other refugees who had become beggars like him, all heading in the same direction.

He could not help but quicken his pace, and soon he saw a platform set up on the open space in front of him. There was a thatched shed on one side, with several large pots inside. The aroma of rice wafted into everyone's nose along with the cold wind.

“There’s porridge!”

“This is someone distributing porridge.”

"Very good."

Seeing that there was food, everyone walked with more energy, fearing that they would be a step late and would not be able to grab it.

The first beggar who arrived reached out to take it, but was stopped by an escort.

The beggar was surprised and said, "Porridge!"

The escort drew out his knife and said, "It's not the right time yet. Wait over there."

It's not that the escorts are cold-blooded and heartless, but the more such things happen, the more ruthless they have to be. Otherwise, it will easily encourage their evil courage, because when people are extremely hungry, they can do anything. Only if they are scared at the beginning will they dare not cross the line.

This is the only way to better maintain order and prevent the situation from developing to the point of bloodshed.

Sure enough, after his cold shout, the beggar dared not move. The other beggars who came also did not dare to approach. They all listened to the escort's words and waited aside.

At the same time, in a dilapidated temple outside Tangquan City, a ragged refugee hurried in and shouted to his fellow villagers: "Everyone get up, everyone get up, there is work to do."

The refugees who were huddled together stood up when they heard this. An older man immediately asked, "Xiao Liuzi, what did you just say?"

The boy named Xiao Liuzi repeated excitedly, "I just heard news outside that someone is recruiting workers in an open space a mile outside the city. They need a lot of people. I heard that food and accommodation are provided, and there are wages."

When everyone heard such good news, they became excited.

"Hurry up and go, hurry up and go."

"Yes! Hurry up and go. If you go too late, there will be no spots left."

A woman asked cautiously, "Xiao Liuzi, if my man is recruited, can we go with him?"

If they can't go, what will happen to the women and children left behind?

Before Xiao Liuzi could speak, a man said, "It's already late. Let the men at home earn money first so that you can have food. If you want to do this, do you think you can just give up work?"

"Yes! There are so many people competing for the job now, so we can't be picky."

Others said, "Let's go!"

The woman who had just asked the question was scolded by everyone and had to lower her head, not daring to face other people.

Xiao Liuzi quickly said, "I just forgot. It seems that the notice said that there is no restriction on gender. It seems that women can go too."

"real?"

"I remember that."

"Ouch! Never mind, just go over there first."