Chapter 24
The day after arriving in Yichun, everyone was in good spirits because they went to bed early.
Perhaps because she was in a safe environment, Yao Chunnuan slept very soundly. After waking up, she felt relaxed all over.
Luo Suyi even got up early to make breakfast.
Xiao Jieming also got up and brought back two buckets of water.
The river water here is melted snow from the mountain tops and soaked in the forests. The water source is clear and there is no industrial pollution. Yao Chunnuan doesn't mind drinking it, and it doesn't necessarily require well water.
The three of them had a simple breakfast, during which they exchanged some newly acquired information.
They had been consciously gathering information since entering the city. Actually, it was she and Xiao Jieming who were doing this, while Luo Suyi was more suited to logistics.
Yao Chunnuan feels that when arriving in a new environment, the most important thing is to grasp the current situation, analyze the situation, choose the best way to survive, and then build up the capital and foundation for one's own survival as soon as possible.
The person they need to understand most right now is, of course, their immediate superior. They can't just be in the dark and bow down to him, right? Who knows what kind of person he is?
Just after the brief exchange, Yao Chunnuan heard the soldier calling for assembly. Before leaving, she quietly took some calcium supplements.
When they were leaving the house, they happened to run into two men and a woman from next door. The woman snorted coldly when she saw them.
Yao Chunnuan was speechless. Perhaps this was just a case of "there can't be two tigers in one mountain"? She wasn't about to put her warm face on someone else's cold butt, so she glanced at Xiao Jieming.
Xiao Jieming greeted the two men with a smile, "Big Brothers, what are your names? We just arrived yesterday and have been very busy. We didn't find time to come and visit you until this evening. Please forgive me for that."
The two men were obviously not good at socializing. Facing Xiao Jieming's smiling greeting, they hesitated for a while before saying, "Our two brothers' surnames are Zeng, and Taohua's surname is Li."
Li Taohua's temper was obviously not very good. When she heard the two brothers mention her, her face immediately turned cold. "I'm asking you two brothers, just talk about your own things, why are you bringing me up!"
After these two short sentences, Yao Chunnuan had an idea in her mind. It seemed that Yichun, the place of exile, was not bad. In addition to the good mental outlook of the three people, someone like Li Taohua could have such a temperament. It must be that her life and environment were not bad.
For a moment, Yao Chunnuan added a little more points to her impression of the little boss Chen Jin.
Li Taohua fell behind them and looked at Yao Chunnuan's slightly protruding belly with a sneer. They were all prisoners, and her waist was so tight, but she still wanted to be treated preferentially?
The group gathered quickly, and about forty or fifty prisoners stood in groups of three or four, looking at each other.
Yao Chunnuan discovered that among the forty or fifty prisoners, there were very few young and strong men. Almost half were elderly, weak, sick, disabled, and pregnant. All of them looked pale and in poor spirits. As far as the prisoners were concerned, their expressions were relatively good, with some sadness but no despair.
According to the information they collected in the past two days, Chen Jin, the small leader in charge of the forty or fifty prisoners, was one of Zhao Hong's personal soldiers. He was a loyal and righteous man. He once blocked a knife for Zhao Hong during the expedition and was always under his watch.
In the military settlements of Yichun, a centurion was considered a minor position, receiving three taels of silver per month, plus one hundred dan of grain. A thousand-man commander, however, was officially a military officer, recognized by imperial documents as receiving eight taels of silver per month, plus three hundred dan of grain, and commanding five personal soldiers.
Centurion Zhao Hong is considered to be one of the top ones in this group. Because of his strong ability, he has a good reputation among the senior generals.
As the year draws to a close, the imperial court will increase the number of military officer positions accordingly. Zhao Hong will compete for the position of captain of a thousand men, and if nothing unexpected happens, he should be able to get it easily.
But he hadn't yet become a thousand-man commander, so he was in competition with the other centurions. Competition wasn't just between himself and his opponent; it involved many aspects, such as the performance of the soldiers on both sides in managing the military settlements and the degree of mission completion.
In this case, it involves not only the management ability of the personal guard leader, but also the quality of the prisoners under his command.
Many prisoners were sentenced to lifelong exile, never allowed to return to Beijing. Even if their future was shattered, as long as they were alive, they still wanted to live a better life. So they also had their own aspirations.
Chen Jin himself was fortunate, always receiving talented prisoners. However, he came from a poor background and had no connections in Yichun, making him less promising than his fellow guardsmen. Furthermore, he lacked ambition. Some exceptionally capable prisoners would secretly maneuver and be transferred to favored managers. Gradually, the remaining men under his command were the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the pregnant.
Chen Jin cleared his throat and said, "Okay, everyone is here. Since there are new prisoners joining us, I will briefly explain how the prisoners in our military settlement usually do things..."
Yao Chunnuan listened all the way and found that the management of prisoners in Yichun was quite humane.
Prisoners were not given any leave and were required to respond unconditionally if summoned by the authorities. If they performed significant service during their service, they would receive corresponding rewards.
There are generally two ways to choose from for daily tasks. The first is to receive a specified amount of tasks.
Once you complete your assigned tasks, you can rest. This system exists to motivate prisoners to work harder, by setting a daily workload for them. This eliminates the possibility of slacking off. Of course, the workload is not light, almost based on a person's daily limit.
The second way of working was to work with the main group, working together, eating and resting together, and working until it was time to go back. This was similar to the production teams of later generations, working together and finishing together. The difference was that in later generations, slacking off would at most result in a few scoldings from the production team leader. But here, if you were caught slacking off, you would be whipped by the inspector, and you would still have to continue working after being whipped.
Next, Chen Jin announced that since the city walls of Yichun needed to be reinforced, their recent work would mainly be to store river sand.
The silt needs to be dug from the river, then screened and transported to a designated location for storage for future use.
Among this group of prisoners, the men were responsible for digging sand from the river, while the women were responsible for screening and transporting it.
After he finished speaking, Chen Jin announced, "Those who want to receive tasks come over here, and those who don't want to receive them can start working."
"Let's go get some work, three of us," Yao Chunnuan suggested as the three of them gathered together. What was the point of working with a bunch of old, weak, and disabled people, constantly toiling like mules all day long?
"Luo Suyi and I have no problem, but can you?" Xiao Jieming didn't care which way of working he chose.
"Don't worry, I have a way."
Yao Chunnuan decided to actively show off and get the three of them out of the spotlight. Based on the information she had, Chen Jin, the small-time leader, was a decent person. Firstly, the current official was better than the current manager. Secondly, while he didn't seem to have a bright future, that also meant there wasn't much competition, didn't it? Besides, the other personal soldiers, no matter how promising their futures were, were limited. They still depended on their immediate superior.
Since Yao Chunnuan said so, Xiao Jieming and Luo Suyi naturally had no objection.
The three of them came to Chen Jin and said they wanted to take on a mission. When his eyes glanced at her belly, his brows knitted tightly. A pregnant woman...
He said with a stern face, "You know, if you choose to accept the mission, the male prisoners must dig ten baskets of river sand a day, and the female prisoners must sift out ten loads of sand a day. And it must be of qualified quality."
She thought it was a bad idea. The clothes she wore were a bit too tight around the waist, and her belly was slightly protruding. She had hoped the person in charge would give her some lighter work because she was pregnant. But when she saw so many old and weak prisoners, she knew it was hopeless.
Yao Chunnuan said, "We know."
Seeing that they were determined to do so, Chen Jin stopped trying to persuade them.
Yao Chunnuan asked whether it was allowed for the three of them to work together.
There were only so many missions anyway, so Chen Jin didn't object to their cooperation. He just emphasized again, "It's up to you. But by tonight, if you don't complete the mission today, I will give each of you ten lashes and deduct one day's rations. I will show no mercy!"
After the prisoners made their choices, they were given tools. Each of them was given a tool, a shovel or something similar for the men, and a bamboo sieve for the women.
Among the forty or fifty prisoners, in addition to Yao Chunnuan and his team who chose to accept the mission, the Zeng brothers and Li Taohua also made the same choice.
The other prisoners were neither envious nor jealous. They were all young men and women in their twenties, young and strong, and there was no comparison. Muttering to themselves, they obediently began to work at the urging of the supervisor.
The older male prisoner, holding a shovel and rolling up his trouser legs, slowly went into the water.
As soon as their feet touched the water, they couldn't help but shudder. "I wonder how long this sand digging work will take?"
"It will probably take quite some time, after all, the four walls of Yichun need repairing and reinforcement."
Hearing this, they all smiled bitterly. If these old bones of theirs were to remain in the water for ten days or half a month, they would probably have a hard time this winter. Fortunately, it was autumn and winter, the off-flood season, and the river had thinned out a lot, exposing the river channels on both sides, making it easier for the male prisoners to dig sand.
Yao Chunnuan grabbed the bamboo sieve, scooped a bucket of dry river sand into it and tried to sieve it. She found that it was very tiring to do so. She needed to constantly shake her arms and bend over. If she sifted out twenty baskets of sand, her waist would probably be broken.
She took another look at the prisoners who had already started working, and she found that these prisoners were very honest in their work. Whether it was digging sand, sifting sand, or transporting sand, it was all done with manpower, without even any semi-automatic tools.
Yao Chunnuan held the bamboo sieve, thinking about how to modify it to make it more labor-saving and easier to use.
To outsiders, she seemed to be in a daze, but Li Taohua's sarcastic voice interrupted her train of thought.
"I heard that you've been living a comfortable life all this time thanks to your cooking skills? But this isn't a road, no one is going to let you do less work just because you're a good cook!"
Yao Chunnuan tilted her head, somewhat puzzled as to where her hostility towards her came from.
In the eyes of some people, living better than them is a sin.
Li Taohua's hostility stemmed from their shared fates. She, too, was exiled while pregnant, but the journey posed a miscarriage, leaving her with injuries. After arriving in Yichun, she endured a difficult period alone, but only after reuniting with the Zeng brothers did her life begin to improve.
Yao Chunnuan, on the other hand, was incredibly lucky. It was said that she enjoyed good food and drink throughout her exile, and didn't even need to wear shackles. When she arrived in Yichun, she even had two friends to look after her. This comparison made Li Taohua feel incredibly uncomfortable.
Yao Chunnuan didn't know this reason, and if she did, she would be speechless. Is this hostility towards her just because of this? She should resent her own incompetence. Is blaming others for the mistakes excessive?
Yao Chunnuan was too lazy to argue with her. It was completely meaningless. As long as she lived a good life, she could be happier than anyone else.
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