Chapter 645 The Canal Construction Officially Begins
Cheng Wanwan and County Magistrate Zhao carried a large sum of money to the Ping'an County government office.
When 110,000 taels of silver were placed together, the scene was quite thrilling.
Magistrate Wei said with great shame, "Recently, I have traveled to all the counties in Huzhou and met with all the county magistrates, but I have only managed to raise a little over six thousand taels of silver. I am truly ashamed before Lady Sui."
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "How much profit can a county magistrate make? The fact that he was able to persuade people from all over the place to raise six thousand taels of silver is enough to show that Lord Wei is capable."
She had previously been on good terms with Magistrate Shen and knew very well that these ordinary counties were actually very poor, which was why she didn't go to the counties to "beg for alms".
But when Lord Wei went, he actually got six thousand taels of silver. You can imagine how many times the child was turned down.
Magistrate Wei's life was indeed filled with bitter tears.
The canal was spearheaded by Ping'an County, starting in Dahe Town, where the dock was also built. Other counties felt that this matter had little to do with them, so they all stood by and watched. Even when he brought up the name of Sui Gongren, these people were unwilling to pay. After all, their counties were short of money. Why couldn't they keep the money to benefit their own people? Why should they just hand it over to Ping'an County for nothing?
Later, he told these county magistrates that if they did not participate in the construction of the canal in Ping'an County, ships from these areas would have to pay tolls when passing through the canal, and merchant ships from the area would also have to pay a lot of money when passing through... After weighing various interests, the county magistrates reluctantly paid up the money, and finally scraped together 6,000 taels of silver, of which 2,000 taels were added by Magistrate Wei himself with his private property.
"The funds are almost in place, and we can start construction at any time," Cheng Wanwan said. "I won't worry about the rest; Lord Wei, please keep a close eye on things."
Magistrate Wei hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Lord Sui Gong, this matter will be the most important event in Ping'an County this year, and we will certainly not let you down."
After Cheng Wanwan left, he immediately contacted the Cao family in Hekou County and rented their merchant ship to go to Nanyang City to bring over tens of thousands of disaster victims.
As the merchant ships headed to Nanyang City, he stayed up all night working with his advisor to determine the resettlement sites for the disaster victims.
The first phase of construction has begun. The entire river section is divided into three points, with each point accommodating more than 3,000 disaster victims. Fortunately, it is summer now, so there is no need to build temporary housing. The workers work during the day and sleep on the spot at night. The construction site provides three meals a day and pays wages of forty coins a day.
His meaning was either 25 coins a day including three meals, or 40 coins a day without meals.
However, Sui Kyoto said that digging the canal was hard work, and the workers had to be fed and watered well, otherwise no one would be able to work if they got sick.
If there isn't enough money later, Sui Gongren will find another way.
With someone else taking care of the money, Magistrate Wei wasn't so stingy anymore.
On the first day of July, tens of thousands of disaster victims from Nanyang arrived in Hekou County and were then led on foot to Dahe Town.
They had all heard about Dahe Village becoming Dahe Town and had long yearned for everything here. As far as they knew, Dahe Village had only proposed becoming a town a few months ago, and they always felt that it would still retain the shadow of the old rural area. But when they arrived, they found that everything here was completely different from what they had imagined.
The houses are neat and tidy, the roads are wide and clean, the market is bustling and lively, and the people are all smiling, full of vitality.
Looking into the distance, you can see farmland growing well, with rice paddies turning a beautiful golden yellow, a truly delightful sight. Everything seems perfect.
County Magistrate Zhao convened a meeting in an open space to discuss the details of the canal construction and assigned different tasks based on each person's strengths. After all the tasks were arranged, the more than 10,000 people were divided into three groups. The first group was in Dahe Town, and the other two groups were in two other resettlement sites.
"Today's main task is to arrange the work, familiarize ourselves with the job content, and collect the tools!" Magistrate Zhao shouted. "Everyone, go to the east warehouse entrance to collect your tools and sign for them. Then go to the open space on the west side to wait for your meal. After lunch, everyone should rest well. We will officially start work tomorrow morning."
The disaster victims were shocked. They hadn't even started working yet, and they were already being fed. Dahe Town was indeed very generous.
People lined up to receive tools: shovels, spades, hoes, axes, winnowing baskets, wheelbarrows... All kinds of tools were made by the craftsmen of Dahe Town working overtime and staying up all night. Of course, some people did not receive tools for the time being, but that was okay. There was plenty of work to do once the work started. Even without tools, more than a dozen jobs could be assigned.
After receiving the tools, everyone waited for dinner.
Dahe Town recruited more than 30 women from the village to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for the workers. These women often helped Cheng Wanwan's family prepare banquets and were already familiar with the process of cooking communal meals.
Several large pots were set up, firewood was transported over, the food was prepared, and cooking began in the open air.
Five pots were used to steam rice at the same time, and another large iron pot was used to stir-fry vegetables. Before long, the aroma spread everywhere.
"Oh my god, it smells so good! I think I smell meat."
"Stop talking nonsense. How could there be any meat? We'd be lucky to get a bowl of rice."
"Yes, for the past month, I've been drinking thin porridge every day. I'm never full. I don't dare ask for too much. Just a little bit of rice is enough. It gives me the energy to work, right?"
The treatment of these disaster victims was actually quite good. The prefect never abandoned them and provided them with two meals of thin porridge every day for free. Although they were not full, they did not starve.
There were also opportunities to earn money in Dahe Town. It was said that they could earn forty coins a day, which would amount to one or two taels of silver a month. If they worked for half a year, they could earn six or seven taels of silver, enough to make their lives better.
Compared to other disaster victims, they are very fortunate and dare not ask for more.
Even if the food is a bit bad, it doesn't matter. It's only forty coins a day, so I can just spend two coins to buy a steamed bun to fill my stomach.
As everyone was lost in their own thoughts, the aroma grew stronger and stronger, almost making their mouths water.
"It smells like meat, and it really tastes like meat!"
"I think it smells like meat too. It smells so good! Oh my god, how long has it been since I've had meat?"
"I can't take it anymore, I really can't, I need to go check on him!"
A man got up and headed towards the makeshift kitchen, but Huang Wei pulled him back.
Huang Wei, the man who led Cheng Wanwan to Huang Niangzi's place, said disapprovingly, "County Magistrate Zhao said that after arriving in Dahe Town, we must abide by the rules of Dahe Village. Anyone who misbehaves will be expelled. Do you not want this forty-coin a day job?"
The man sucked in his saliva: "It smells so good..."
How could it not smell delicious, because it has braised pork?
This was Cheng Wanwan's order; it was the first meal for the disaster victims. She instructed that a delicious meal must be prepared to give these victims hope for the future.
Dahe Town prepared three dishes and one soup: braised pork, stir-fried wild vegetables with pork cracklings, stir-fried winter melon, and pork bone and bamboo shoot soup.
Ms. Wen placed the last dish onto a large plate, wiped the sweat from her brow, and said, "They can come and get their utensils now."
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