Digging a wine cellar

In the study, Fu Zhiqiao was doing the accounts. She had spent far too much money in the past few months; her once bulging wallet was now almost empty.

"How many people are needed? How long will the project take? How many bricks, tiles, and timber are needed? Please add up all these expenses and give me a rough estimate."

Wen Jiang glanced at Fu Zhi Qiao with surprise, his eyes clearly showing the question, "How does this young lady know these things?" He had been by her side for some time now. Before, he had been stationed in the outer courtyard and had never met her. All he knew about her was from rumors. He had hesitated about whether he should be loyal to her. Now he could say with certainty that he had made the right choice!

"Please rest assured, young lady! I will compile it into a booklet when I get back and give it to you in a couple of days."

"Oh, right, remember to sign a contract with the supplier."

Wen Jiang was completely confused. He had looked into the contract before, so what was this supplier?

"Uh... I mean those people who sell us bricks and tiles. We don't want to run out of bricks and tiles when the houses are half-built."

Oh, you can learn new things by following girls.

"If there are no problems, let's start construction!" Fu Zhiqiao recognized the abilities of the Wenjiang and Wenshan brothers.

A group of people, armed with shovels and hoes, dug a pit. Without modern machinery, digging a pit about two meters high by hand with only hoes and shovels was no easy task. Fortunately, many hands make light work. When they were short of manpower, they recruited workers from neighboring villages. After more than half a month, the pit had taken shape. It was believed that the wine cellar would be completely completed in another two months.

Although Wenjiang would regularly report to her on the progress of the winery and cellar, Fu Zhiqiao would still take the time to inspect them in person.

Another half month passed in such a busy manner. Fu Zhiqiao brought Defu and Yinxing to inspect the construction progress. Her purpose for the trip was to see how the wine cellar was being built, because Old Man Gao's wine was almost out of storage space, and the construction of the wine cellar had to be accelerated.

Halfway there, I saw people arguing ahead.

Several workers were shoving each other, and there were people trying to break them up. The scene was very chaotic. Fu Zhi Qiao frowned and did not step forward. She asked De Fu to notify Wen Jiang to handle the situation. She only had Yin Xing and De Fu with her. It would be bad if she were accidentally injured by these agitated tenants.

A short while later, Wenjiang came to report the reason for the commotion.

It turned out that a dispute arose among the workers. Some were diligent and conscientious, while others were lazy and gossiping, but in the end, they received the same wages.

Why should they? Some workers couldn't stand it anymore and complained about the lazy workers who were delaying the progress, which led to a fight between the two sides.

The lazy person was Liu Dashu from Liujia Village. When he first came to the winery, he was diligent and hardworking, but later he found that no one was supervising him and started to slack off. He didn't expect to be pointed out by people from other villages, and he lost face, so he got into a fight with them.

Because the conflict involved people from two different villages, and was witnessed by the owner, the news quickly spread throughout the entire manor.

As luck would have it, Liu Dashu's wife, Yuan Jinhua, was one of the people who came to cook for the winery workers.

Upon hearing the news, she rushed over and grabbed Liu Dashu by the ear, yelling, "You shameless Liu Dashu! Now you know how shameful you are? Why didn't you feel ashamed when you were slacking off? You even had the nerve to fight with people! You've completely disgraced our Liu Family Village!"

Many people from Liujia Village nodded in agreement. Although villagers should help each other, Liu Dashu was really a drag on the team. He was caught slacking off and had even damaged the reputation of the entire village.

The people of Liujia Village are utterly disgraced!

"Hiss~ Jin Hua, I was wrong, I'll never do it again." With his ear being pulled, Liu Dashu quickly admitted his mistake.

"Come on, let's go apologize to the boss."

Yuan Jinhua pulled Liu Dashu in front of Wenjiang before letting go of his ear.

"Officer Wen..."

Liu Dashu wore a look of utter despair. He was known in Liujia Village for being afraid of women, but no one actually mocked him; it was just teasing.

Yuan Jinhua is shrewd and capable. With three brothers supporting her from her maternal family, she gave birth to a son and a daughter after marrying into Liujia Village. She stands tall and confident wherever she goes.

After Wenjiang learned the whole story, he came back and told her everything that had happened.

Fu Zhiqiao was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

Henpecked? That's interesting! This kind of family situation is quite rare in Dawei. It seems that Yuan Jinhua is indeed an interesting person.

Fu Zhiqiao admired Yuan Jinhua's style of doing things. In this patriarchal era, she could suppress her husband so well that she must be a very special person. She decided to give Liu Dashu a chance and said that since it was his first offense, she would not send him away and let him continue to work here. However, the jobs assigned to him were all physical labor and were not easy at all.

Wenjiang came out and announced the results of the investigation into Liu Dashu.

Yuan Jinhua and Liu Dashu expressed their gratitude profusely, saying they would definitely work hard and stop slacking off.

A combination of kindness and firmness is necessary to achieve better results.

After this incident, countless eyes will be watching Liu Dashu, so he will naturally dare not slack off anymore. His example will also serve as a warning to those with ulterior motives.

After the minor incident, Fu Zhiqiao considered reshuffling the workers. This incident, which appeared to be a quarrel among the workers, actually exposed the winery's problems in personnel management.

Most of the villagers are hardworking and honest, but there are also some who are cunning and deceitful.

Digging, chopping wood, building houses—although everyone was assigned tasks, some were arduous while others were easy, which caused dissatisfaction. This was indeed an oversight; managing so many people is difficult, and a reorganization is necessary. The tendency to slack off must be stopped immediately.

After a moment's thought, Fu Zhiqiao decided to distribute the work according to the results.

The reorganization of tasks was essentially a process of grouping the villages into teams, assigning tasks to a team leader for each village, and letting them resolve problems internally. Only when they encountered unsolvable issues would they report to the person in charge.

Wenjiang took the lead in gathering everyone together. People from various villages stood in twos and threes, clearly divided into groups.

"Everyone has worked hard! I've gathered you all here today to redistribute the tasks."

As soon as everyone heard that tasks were to be assigned, they immediately started chattering amongst themselves, and they kept glancing at Liu Dashu. Even though Liu Dashu had a thick skin, he couldn't withstand so much attention, and he shrank back into the crowd, not daring to make a sound.

Wenjiang coughed twice, and the crowd quickly quieted down before he continued, "From today onwards, we will be divided into groups based on different villages. The group leader will be responsible for managing their group members, assigning tasks, and distributing wages according to the weight and difficulty of the work. Those who do more work will receive more wages."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

As he spoke, Wenjiang had someone post a job classification chart. Jobs requiring skill and strength paid more, up to fifty coins a day. Next were the workers digging and logging, and the rest were relatively easier jobs.

Diligent people beam with joy, while those who want to slack off turn pale.

"Now, here are the group leaders from each village. Those whose names you hear, come forward." Wen Jiang was calling out the names of the group leaders. Each group leader was a respected person in their respective village, someone who could keep the place in check.

He gave the workers a meaningful look. "Did everyone understand? If anyone doesn't want to work, go register with your village group leader. You don't need to come back tomorrow after you get paid today."

The offer of a day's work for a day's pay is incredibly tempting. With the busy farming season just over and villagers having nothing to do at home, it's a great opportunity to work here, earn wages, and save up for a good New Year. Who wouldn't want that?

"Don't worry, boss, we will definitely work hard!"

"Yes, don't worry, boss!"

Liu Fangyuan is Liu Pinggu's eldest son and also the group leader of Liu Family Village. His father contacted the manor to find workers, so he knew more than others.

Knowing that his new employer was a kind and benevolent person, he was the first to stand up and support her.

He worked here for half a month and was never late in getting paid. He worked here to earn more money to supplement his family's income. When the villagers who hadn't signed up for the work found out about their wages, they were extremely envious and regretted not signing up themselves.

After the personnel were assigned, the workers' efficiency greatly improved. People from different villages supervised each other, and everyone worked very hard. Soon, the entire framework of the wine cellar was completed.

The cellar is surrounded by soft soil, which is not strong enough to support it. Therefore, the wood is dried and attached to the underground walls to form a framework for support. Then, a layer of stone wall is built on top to prevent it from collapsing, making the entire cellar indestructible.

Several teams worked simultaneously on tasks such as digging the foundation, felling trees, and laying bricks, making construction very fast.

Old Chen from Chashugou is over forty years old. He is a well-known house builder in several nearby villages. He is wearing a gray long coat and trousers and has a pipe in his hand. He is directing people to build the house beams.

Several burly men were dragging large pillars, slowly placing them on the roof beams.

After the roof beam is raised, the next step is to lay the tiles, which is a big deal. Usually, a banquet is held to celebrate after the roof beam is raised. With Wen Jiang overseeing the construction, Fu Zhi Qiao doesn't need to worry about it.

Her focus was on the interior of the wine cellar.

The wine cellar is crucial for the aging of the wine and is key to further enhancing the purity of its aroma.

Wines have specific requirements regarding temperature, light, and humidity. Furthermore, since wines are aged in cellars for extended periods, they should not be moved easily; ideally, they should be stored in one location. Unstable storage environments can cause chemical reactions in the wine, leading to spoilage and off-flavors, which is extremely detrimental to its quality.

Furthermore, excessively high or low temperatures can alter the wine, affecting not only its flavor but also potentially causing it to spoil.

It requires experienced winemakers to monitor the temperature and humidity of the wine cellar daily.

Therefore, when designing the wine cellar, she specifically reserved small water channels on both sides so that water could be poured in during dry weather to achieve the effect of cooling and increasing humidity.

Wine cellars are located underground, where it can be quite damp. Therefore, bluestone bricks are used to pave the cellar to prevent moisture buildup. High humidity can lead to an imbalance in the microbial community within the cellar. Additionally, several skylights should be opened for ventilation to ensure proper air circulation.

There is also the most important issue of fire prevention. The wine cellar is located underground and is very dark. You may need to use candles when entering and leaving. However, Taibaijiu is a high-proof liquor that has been distilled and is flammable. If it is accidentally ignited, the consequences will be unimaginable.

To this end, she strictly established three rules and also arranged for special personnel to patrol and guard the wine cellar.

Article 1: Before entering the wine cellar, you must change your shoes, wear clean clothes, and wear a hat and smock as standard practice.

Article 2: A full body check must be conducted before entering or leaving the wine cellar, and it is forbidden to bring any unrelated items into the wine cellar.

Article 3: No foul language, shouting, or horseplay is allowed in the wine cellar.

After establishing the rules, Fu Zhiqiao personally trained the workers in the wine cellar, striving for perfection in every aspect.