Chapter 14
Jiang Zhaoli frowned and stared at the smoky and foul place, his brows slightly gloomy, wondering if this was a gambling house or a dyeing shop.
Seeing this, Chuntao took a step forward, covered her lips and coughed twice.
When the people inside heard the sound, they immediately stopped what they were doing and followed the light to see a woman standing outside. The woman was wearing a narrow-sleeved, double-breasted top and a green pleated skirt. She had a slender figure and a pretty face, and was looking at them with an unexpected look.
The middle-aged man in a Tibetan-colored wide-sleeved robe was the first to react. He immediately straightened his body and cleverly hid the dice in his sleeve.
Jiang Zhaoli's gaze moved back and forth among the few people. There were six managers in total, plus a shop owner. Very good, all were present and were gambling inside.
The dyeing workshop is divided into six parts, each with a manager. They are the raw material sorting part, spinning part, weaving part, dyeing part, and bleaching and drying part. The owner of the workshop is responsible for the overall part and promptly delivers the prepared cloth to each shop, or promptly delivers the cloth in customized quantities from other shops.
"Who is the abbot?" Chuntao glanced at a few people and asked with a stern face.
"Replying to the second young lady, I am the abbot." The man in the dark robe stood up and bowed casually towards Jiang Zhaoli. His tone was flat and not very respectful.
Jiang Zhaoli stared at him, as if thinking of something. She pulled her lips into a smile, with something hidden in her eyes that others could not see: "I recognize you, Guo Daoquan. You followed my father for two years. Now, after ten years, you have become the head of the temple."
At first, he was an ordinary craftsman who followed his father to do odd jobs. After his father passed away, all the managers in the workshop or the people around his father were replaced, except him. He was only 35 years old, but he was in charge of the overall situation.
The reason why she was so impressed with Guo Daoquan was that she had caught him with her own hands when he was sharp-tongued and cunning. After that, he refused to admit it and turned the situation around with clever means. After her father passed away, his case was left unresolved. Unexpectedly, he became the abbot.
Guo Daoquan's face was filled with anger, as if Jiang Zhaoli had insulted his personality. He said with injustice, "Second Miss, are you saying that I got this position by unfair means? That's too unfair to me. The rules and regulations of the market are clear. Second Miss, you can go and see. I got here by my own ability."
"I won't talk about other things, but when it comes to weaving skills, no one in the workshop can compare to me."
"Second Miss, this is not the same as it was ten years ago, and I am no longer the handyman who knew nothing."
Jiang Zhaoli raised his eyebrows, looking at him with a trace of scrutiny and inquiry in his eyes, as if he wanted to analyze him thoroughly: "Is that so, Master Guo is a bit too arrogant, isn't he? When I came in just now, I saw several female craftsmen with excellent skills and proficiency. Why are there no women among these managers?"
When Guo Daoquan heard this, he and the other managers looked at each other as if they had heard a joke. They all sneered and mocked: "Second Miss, you are really joking. How can a woman take on such an important task?"
Jiang Zhaoli stared at the few people, his eyes were cold, and every word was precious: "Is that so? I am also a woman. According to what Master Guo said, I can't take on such a heavy responsibility? The laws of our dynasty have long stipulated that women can engage in independent economic activities and can also engage in politics and business. How come Master Guo seems to understand the law better than the Compilation Office?"
Guo Daoquan immediately bowed his hands and lowered his head: "I didn't mean that. Miss, you are worrying too much."
Although he said this, his tone lacked sincerity and remorse, and he had no idea that what he had just said was wrong.
Chuntao brought a chair from somewhere and placed it in front of Jiang Zhaoli. Jiang Zhaoli sat down, put his hands on both sides, tilted his head and said something to Chuntao. Chuntao nodded and did as she was told immediately.
Chun Tao ran to the courtyard, clapped her hands, and shouted to the busy figures in the courtyard: "Everyone, please stop what you are doing. Today, the new head of the family has established new rules that affect everyone. Everyone, please listen carefully."
Hearing this, everyone looked at each other and walked away, as lifeless as zombies. In a moment, the thirty craftsmen in the weaving workshop arrived one by one, all listening to this farce with expressionless faces.
Jiang Zhaoli narrowed her eyes, tapped lightly on the side of the chair with her delicate hands, a faint smile on the corners of her lips. It is said that a new official has three things to do when he takes office, so the first one should start with the dyeing workshop.
Guo Daoquan saw the situation and said kindly, "Second Miss, if you ask the craftsmen to stop their work, they will be late for delivery and you will have to pay for it."
After he finished speaking, he began to argue: "The Li family is pushing hard, and the Song family is pushing even harder. There are more than a dozen families in total, and they need to deliver the goods tomorrow. Every minute now is a waste of time."
In her words, she was saying that Jiang Zhaoli was delaying the work of the craftsmen. She waved her hand and glanced at him: "It's okay."
Guo Daoquan really thought that she didn't know the rules of the neighborhood. The Song family, the Li family and her Jiang family were old friends, and as long as she sent someone to pass the message, they would not make things difficult for her.
Besides, there was no need to rush the delivery time so much, usually half a month would be given. As far as she knew, the Song and Li families had arranged this batch of goods only ten days ago, and they were not in a hurry to get the goods, as there was some stock in the warehouse.
"Come here, bring us the account books of the expenditures of the workshop in recent years."
After getting married, she had been studying the account books in her room, and now she had a thorough understanding that someone in the weaving workshop had been falsifying the accounts in recent years and embezzling the tax silver that should have been paid to the court.
He didn't swallow much each time, only twenty taels of silver, but day after day, it became a large sum.
In just a moment, the account book was handed to Jiang Zhaoli. She glanced at Guo Daoquan and saw that he had a calm expression and was fearless.
She just glanced at it casually and handed the account book to Chuntao on the side, who stuffed the account book into her sleeve.
"Let me ask you, how much silver do the craftsmen earn every month?"
When the silver and money were mentioned, the craftsmen raised their heads slightly and glanced at the woman whom they had deliberately ignored until now.
She sat there dignifiedly, with majesty in her brows, staring at the person who was speaking with sharp eyes. Although her voice was not high, every word was clear and reached people's eardrums directly, shining on everyone like salvation.
A steward replied tremblingly: "Second Miss, one... five hundred coins per month."
Jiang Zhaoli frowned: "Ten years ago it was two taels, why is it only a little more than one tael now?"
"My dear, it's because the textile business has not made much money in the past few years, so..."
Jiang Zhaoli: "So you took it upon yourself to lower the monthly wages of the craftsmen." She smiled and asked, "How much do you make a month?"
"Replying to the second young lady, five...five taels." The supervisor's voice became lower and lower, and he lowered his head as if there was a thorn in his back, not daring to look at the man.
Jiang Zhaoli's tone suddenly became sharp: "Since the income is not good, why don't you reduce your monthly wages?"
The man stammered and was unable to speak.
The average annual income of the people in Luocheng was around twenty taels of silver, and they didn't even have a fraction of that of others. Thinking of this, Jiang Zhaoli became more and more angry.
When my father was alive, the monthly salary of these craftsmen was already two taels of silver. Now, ten years have passed, and the salary has not increased but decreased.
Jiang Zhaoli raised his head and pointed at one of the craftsmen with his finger slightly bent: "Tell me if what he said is true."
The craftsman took a timid step forward and replied in a muffled voice: "It is true."
Seeing this, Chun Tao immediately said in a serious tone, "The Second Young Lady is here today to make the decision for you. Just tell us your grievances and injustices. As the new head of the family, the Second Young Lady will not sit idly by, nor will she let you suffer injustice later. If you are unwilling to speak today, who will speak up for you after the Second Young Lady leaves?"
The craftsman shuddered and raised his head slightly, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. However, when he saw the steward staring at him, the light instantly dimmed again. He lowered his head, at a loss.
Jiang Zhaoli sighed, she stood up, and tried to use her emotions to awaken their consciences that had been dormant for ten years: "I believe that some of you must have followed my father. You all know who my father is."
"Are you Mr. Jiang's daughter?" someone hesitated for a while and then asked bravely.
Jiang Zhaoli nodded and looked directly at the man: "That's right."
"My father once told me that if you encounter injustice, you should take the initiative to tell others about it. If you still suffer injustice after telling others, then you should join forces to overthrow the injustice and become the masters of justice yourself."
Everyone looked at each other, talked a lot, and a long-lost smile of surprise and joy appeared on their faces.
"As expected of you, she is my daughter. Her personality is very much like my personality."
"In the past, only the master treated us as human beings and spoke up for us. Now that his daughter has become the head of the Jiang family, she might treat us like the master did."
"Let's believe it for once."
As they spoke, they knelt down, their shoulders trembling uncontrollably, their hands helplessly covering their faces, tears streaming down their faces: "Second Miss, we have had a hard time these years. In the beginning, we followed the master all the way, and we were considered the elders of this place. The master was very kind to us, greeting and visiting us from time to time. After the master passed away, there was no place for us in this place anymore, and our monthly salary was reduced from two taels to one tael, and later to five hundred coins. Now it's difficult to do the work outside, but everyone is just enduring it."
"They are worse than pigs and dogs. Not only did they deduct our money, they also threatened us that if we dared to tell anyone, they would kick us out of the Jiang family. We are old, if we leave the dyeing and weaving workshop, where can we earn money?"
"Yes, since the old man left, the Jiang Mansion has not said who will take over. The Jiang family has not come to the market for several years. Everything is left to them to decide, which has encouraged their ethos."
Jiang Zhaoli listened carefully, her anger growing. She glared at the stewards with a slightly cold look in her eyes, and said word by word, "What else do you guys have to say?"
"Second Miss, they are all craftsmen, so they naturally share the same hatred for the enemy. You cannot believe their one-sided words. You should also listen to what we have to say." said the steward.
Jiang Zhaoli pursed his lips, and glanced at their gradually broken faces. Instead of getting angry, he smiled: "You all don't accept it? Well, come and see what this is."
After receiving Jiang Zhaoli's signal, Chuntao took out an account book from her sleeve and threw it in front of Guo Daoquan. The account book recorded the monthly salary of the craftsmen and the evidence of their embezzlement of the craftsmen's money.
Jiang Zhaoli: "You secretly pocketed the money withheld from the craftsmen. I have sent people to investigate. In the money shop, you have extra money coming in every month.
Logically speaking, you only have five taels of silver a month. After deducting daily expenses, it should not be a problem to save three taels. However, your wives and children are all dressed in gorgeous clothes. I think the fabrics are definitely not something that can be purchased with three taels of silver."
Several people looked at each other in disbelief, wondering who had leaked the news. The account book was a record of the total monthly wages of the craftsmen in detail in order to facilitate the division of the spoils. They had been keeping it carefully, so how did it end up in the hands of Miss Jiang Er?
When the stewards saw that the truth had been revealed, they panicked and knelt down to beg for mercy.
Jiang Zhaoli glanced at the managers who were filled with remorse and sneered, "Since you have been diligent in the past few years, I will not report you to the authorities. However, the money you withheld from the craftsmen will be counted as your wages when you leave the dyeing workshop. You don't have to come tomorrow. Remember, the Jiang family will never encourage evil practices."
After she finished speaking, she looked at the craftsmen present and slowly said, "From today on, the monthly salary of craftsmen will be increased to five taels, and each person will receive two years' wages. Those with outstanding performance can compete for the position of manager, and the monthly salary of the manager will be increased to eight taels."
"The rules for the election of managers remain the same, the best ones will be given priority."
The rules of the election were left by her father. Everything depends on ability and there is no need to change them.
Everyone looked at each other, waving five fingers in front of their faces in disbelief, and was stunned for a long time. Not only were they paid for their wages, but they were also given five taels of silver every month. It was something they had never dared to imagine. What was even more exciting was that they could also run for manager, and there was no limit on gender.
After leaving the dyeing workshop, Jiang Zhaoli looked back at the door which was still tightly closed, but now there was a gap between them.
Through the gap, she could vaguely see the joyful faces of the craftsmen. She suddenly realized that something seemed different, and the door was no longer as depressing and cold as it had been when she entered just now.
This was what they deserved. She was just putting things back on track. Why were they looking at her with tears in their eyes and gratitude?
Suddenly, she remembered what Yin Su had said to her. Madam Jiang, have you ever seen the unpalatable taste of gnawing on tree bark, grass roots, or even eating soil?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com