Chapter 78 Running a village workshop still costs more money
What's most important in winter?
If Ye Li were to answer, there would only be two words: Warm!
The windows of the newly built house open indoors, so even if there is a strong wind outside, it won't affect the bedroom.
The stove for the kang (a heated brick bed) was also located in the bedroom. Every time the kang was heated, not only the kang itself would get hot, but the bedroom would also be filled with heat.
The bedroom is small and tends to retain heat.
The heat can linger for a long time.
Although the overall effect is not as good as central heating, Ye Li is already satisfied compared to the freezing cold outside.
However, besides the warmth of the indoor space, Ye Li has another requirement: free access to hot water.
Although Ye's father boiled hot water for him every morning when he got up, the day was so long that he would need hot water at some point, such as to make a hot drink or wash his hands. How could he manage without hot water?
If you want hot water freely, under the current conditions, the only solution is to buy coal.
After paying off his debts, he asked Jiang Tong to go to the county town with him to buy coal the next day.
Coal is more expensive than firewood. A load of firewood weighing a hundred pounds can only sell for a dozen or so coins—it will be more expensive in winter, selling for twenty coins or more.
But coal costs three coins per pound!
In this era, coal mining relied entirely on manual labor, resulting in low yields and difficult extraction.
There are no coal mines around Beiyang County; all the coal is transported from other places.
Therefore, the price of coal has been fluctuating between two and three yuan for many years.
Ordinary people simply can't afford to burn it.
But with Ye Li's current financial resources, even at a price of three coins, he could buy more than three hundred catties a day just from the workshop!
If you burn ten catties a day, your income from that day can last for a month.
Compared to the variety of food, this expense is really nothing.
These days, the most expensive everyday items are still refined foods such as meat, sugar, rice, and flour.
Therefore, he waved his hand and bought three hundred catties of coal.
After buying the coal, he was finally able to enjoy a life with hot water available at any time.
Block the stove's vents regularly, but don't seal them completely, lest you extinguish the coal.
This half-burning state saves coal. Just fill a small iron pot with water, put it on the stove, and let it warm for half an hour, then you'll have hot water.
If you want to drink it hot, remove the cover from the vent.
With the stove blazing, it won't be long before you can hold a bowl and enjoy hot tea or a hot drink.
Having solved this problem, Ye Li immediately went to the county town to find a carpenter to make furniture.
The new house is empty, and it's inconvenient to do anything.
There was nowhere to put the clothes that were taken off at night, so they could only be piled up at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed).
The kang (heated brick bed) was empty, and there was no prop to assist Jiang Ji in his various encounters—the high stool couldn't be moved onto the kang.
Even a small living room needs a storage rack for miscellaneous items.
Now his writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstone, and other miscellaneous items are all placed on the tall wooden table in front of the window, making a very messy place.
Moreover, a high stool is just a stool; it's not as comfortable as a chair with a long back. Now that he can practice writing a few words and read a couple of pages of travelogues, he needs to get a comfortable chair.
In addition, if Jiang Mai wants to practice calligraphy, he has to go to his small living room.
There's no table in this kid's room.
He will be going to study at a private school next year. Now that the family is better off, we need to buy him some new clothes.
You need two sets of writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, right?
Things like wardrobes, bookshelves, and desks definitely need to be arranged.
As for Jiang Ya's room, we'll arrange it in two years, since Jiang Ya doesn't stay there now anyway.
Jiang Tong couldn't handle these large items, and Ye Li needed them urgently, so he could only find the old carpenter in the county town.
The materials don't need to be very good; nowadays, most furniture made in the home is made of elm or poplar.
However, he had many items to make, more than ten in total, both large and small, so the deposit alone was more than one tael.
Once the deposit is paid, a day's income is gone.
But the sooner you buy it, the sooner you can enjoy it; this money is well spent!
As for the puppies, that matter has also been resolved.
Liang Liang, Liang Erxiang's nephew, brought two three-month-old puppies. He had bought them in the next village. When they arrived, Ye Li wanted to pay for them, but Liang Erxiang refused.
Ye Li didn't insist; Liang Erxiang could repay the favor.
Furthermore, Liang Liang has been helping to purchase eggs for the past six months. Jiang Liu and Jiang Yu gave him discounts, and because of the large quantity, he has actually earned quite a bit in the past six months.
Both puppies are Chinese rural dogs, with yellowish-brown fur, small and thin, weighing only a little over five pounds.
Ye Li named them Wangcai and Shoucai.
The meaning is common but good.
At that time, people were much more casual about raising dogs than raising pigs or chickens, and most of them were reluctant to feed them grain directly.
Local dogs are free-range; they can run around and find their own food or eat their own poop.
Although Ye Li had no love for small animals, he still hoped that they would grow up to guard the house and yard. Therefore, Ye Li fed them leftovers or corn and soybean cakes.
Father Ye hesitated to speak about this.
But seeing that Jiang Ya and Jiang Mai would hold and play with them, Father Ye was completely speechless.
We can't let them eat poop before they get close to Jiangmai and Jiangya.
And so Ye Li's life got back on track.
I sleep until I naturally wake up every day, and after waking up, I go to the shed to filter the soybean pulp.
Make tofu.
After breakfast, he had nothing to do all day.
He only needed to clean his bedroom and living room; Ye A-di took care of all the other housework.
Because Ye's father also had nothing to do, just like him, he was only responsible for making tofu.
After finishing his housework, Uncle Ye would still pick up his needle and thread to make shoes for Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya.
He wasn't interested in these things, so he could only take turns cooking with Father Ye.
Ye's father has worked hard all his life, and now that he's here, he can't treat him like a maid.
And then there's Jiangmai and Jiangya. They're just kids; you can only spoil them, not pamper them.
Therefore, the two little ones also have to help with some housework on a daily basis.
But overall, life was boring.
With long days ahead and no internet, he could only try to pass the time.
Or practice writing a few characters.
Or give Jiang Ya a makeover.
But it didn't take long; he boiled some water for the little guy to wash his hair and take a bath.
Jiang Ya was overjoyed. Being small, he really enjoyed the weightless feeling of floating in the bathtub.
After washing him, Ye Li rubbed mutton fat all over his body, making his little body and face smooth and white.
He's gained some weight; his face is round, and his belly is round, so it feels really nice to rub.
However, Jiang Mai refused to bathe with Jiang Ya again, citing the rule that boys and girls should not sit together at the same time due to their age of seven.
In the summer, the two of them would take showers in the shed every day.
But Jiangmai had to go back to school after the New Year, so the little guy became particular about it.
Ye Li didn't say anything about it.
Although he considered the young man to be male, the indigenous people believed they were two different genders.
If it were a man and a woman, then it would indeed be inappropriate for them to shower together.
He then boiled hot water for Jiang Mai separately, so that Jiang Mai could take a bath by herself.
You don't need to soak in the bath every day.
He's still bored, so bored he's practically growing moss.
So in the afternoon, he went to the shed to listen to people gossiping about everyday matters.
Previously, he always wanted to get rid of the job of frying tofu puffs, feeling that the job was like a dog leash binding him.
But now that he's truly free, he can't help but gravitate towards the stove again.
The conversation revolved around marriage.
Now Yezaopo has become a well-known wealthy village, and men and women of marriageable age like Jiang Liu and Jiang Tong are in high demand.
However, Jiang Liu wanted to find a son-in-law, and her requirements were high. Although Yezaopo was wealthy, it was not wealthy enough to be able to choose a concubine.
Those reliable, tall, and strong young men are all the main laborers in their families. If they were to marry into the family, wouldn't that be like water being washed away? Their parents would have raised them for nothing.
Even if those young men were willing to come to their parents' house, their parents wouldn't let them go.
Furthermore, such young men have no trouble finding a wife, unless their family is extremely poor.
Unfortunately, despite Jiang Dahe asking several matchmakers to help him look for a suitable candidate, there is still no one suitable.
Jiang Liu, however, was not in a hurry.
She now has two sources of income: preserved eggs and tofu puffs, giving her plenty of confidence.
Moreover, having witnessed the love between Ye Li and Jiang Ji, she was unwilling to settle for less.
Ye Li listened with great interest to these topics because they involved people she knew.
But just chatting is boring.
He moved the stove to the other side of the shed, and he also had a blacksmith make an iron mesh so that when the water wasn't hot enough, everyone could bake bread slices and peanuts on the mesh.
You can also put a sweet potato or potato into the stove.
Before Jiang Ji started school, he prepared walnut powder for Jiang Ji and then shared some with Liu Yi and Tang Yu.
Afterwards, he made a full ten jin, sent five jin to Jiang Ji, and kept the remaining five jin for his own family to drink.
We can't just focus on Jiang Ji; there are elderly and young children in the family, and they can't afford to lack nutrition.
Of course, he was also included.
He wouldn't let himself go without a good mouth.
He wasn't one to keep everything to himself; everyone in the workshop except Zhao Feng was family.
But Zhao Fengren was a good person, cheerful and hardworking, so when he boiled water on the stove to make walnut powder, he also made a bowl for everyone in the workshop.
The walnut and black sesame powder is finely ground and contains added cane sugar, making it a rare delicacy for those who rely on whole grains as their staple food.
Everyone praised how delicious it was.
After being praised, they worked even harder and more diligently.
The work is easy, and now they even "eat and take bribes," so if you don't do your best, you'll really be letting Ye Li down.
In Ye Li's past life, the biggest fear for small companies was nepotism. Once relatives started causing trouble, the company would be in danger.
But the employees in his small workshop were all afraid of not doing enough work, and always felt guilty about taking the thirty coins a day.
Having such a conscientious employee was Ye Li's good fortune, so he was generous. Since he had nothing better to do anyway, he had Ye buy over a hundred catties of walnuts, rice, and sesame seeds and made thirty catties of walnut powder in one go.
This walnut powder is a benefit for everyone.
When Jiang Dahe and Jiang Tong are grinding soybeans in the middle of the night, you can make a bowl of it for breakfast.
While everyone is frying tofu puffs in the afternoon, you can also have a bowl of this as afternoon tea.
In the dead of winter, a bowl of hot grain porridge warms you from head to toe, from body to heart.
Besides walnut powder, Ye Li also makes other foods.
With two little ones, Jiangmai and Jiangya, at home, and now that we have hot water, he no longer resists washing and scrubbing.
When he went to the blacksmith to order iron mesh, he also had an iron plate made.
When he got back, he put the iron plate on the stove under the shed.
This stove was built specifically for frying tofu puffs outdoors in the summer, but it's now empty.
Put the iron plate on it, and it'll do for now.
A griddle has many uses; it can be used to fry tofu, and also to make mini egg rolls or sesame crisps.
Egg cookies require whipping egg liquid, which is too tiring, so he made a simplified version of mini egg rolls and sesame crisps.
These two dishes are extremely easy to make. Just mix the egg liquid and flour, pour the batter onto the griddle, and you're done.
These three dishes received unanimous praise from everyone.
Zhao Feng sighed inwardly, "Ye Li is really willing to give up so much!"
Even the cheapest tofu, Ye Li uses a lot of lard and seasonings, not to mention the pastries made with white flour.
When she returned home, she told everyone in her family about it, which prompted Jiang Fuzheng's family to praise Ye Li for her generosity.
When Jiang Fuzheng brought his mule over to work again in the middle of the night, he didn't turn around and leave as he used to.
He had important matters to discuss with Ye Li.
Ye Li had previously shown him the cost of tofu puffs, and he was able to calculate how much money Ye Li could earn in a day just from making tofu puffs.
But Ye Li's earnings are Ye Li's earnings. Now that his youngest daughter-in-law is eating and drinking extravagantly at Ye Li's place every day, how can he take the mule's five-cent rent again?
So he waited and waited, until he and Ye's father started filtering the soybean dregs, and until Jiang Liu and Jiang Yu also came over to filter the soybean dregs, before Ye Li finally got up slowly.
He wasn't surprised, after all, he had seen how Ye Li was when she first married into Yezaopo.
After Ye Li washed her hands and came to the shed to filter the soybean residue, he talked to her about the rent.
Ye Li was taken aback, and her mind cleared up a bit: "Eating and drinking excessively?"
"Yes, the Mantang family eats and drinks well here every day. If what she eats were in copper coins, it would cost more than five coins. The rental fee for this mule will be waived from now on."
Jiang Fuzhengdao.
Ye Li: "..."
He felt very guilty.
Can you really call it a big feast if it's just sizzling tofu and mini egg rolls?
His small workshop had no holidays, no overtime pay, and no other benefits, yet the workload doubled compared to the beginning. Calling him a heartless boss wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Jiang Fuzheng had waited for him for so long on purpose, so that he could avoid paying for the mule rental...
What a fine clan chief and village head!
Shouldn't other benefits be included in this arrangement?
Let's not talk about social security, but we should at least get something during holidays, right?
Just as he was pondering this matter, Zhang Shi approached him again.
It turns out that the news of his family's treatment had spread throughout the entire village through Jiang Fuzheng's family.
During the off-season, villagers can't stay idle at home and love to visit each other and chat.
Jiang Fuzheng's family told others about these trivial matters, which made Zhang Shi extremely envious.
How can there be such a good thing in the world when you can get a high salary, eat and drink well, and have an easy job!
To win over Ye Li, Zhang Shi brought two roosters this time.
Ye Li refused to take it, so he threw it down and left!
He wasn't necessarily asking Ye Li to make any promises; he was just asking for a favor, and he understood the ways of the world.
This left Ye Li both amused and exasperated. She felt obligated to help, but she hadn't yet decided whether or not to hire anyone.
But Zhang Shi wasn't the only one who did this.
Villagers from other areas, such as Aunt Lü and Aunt Qiumei, couldn't resist visiting, and each brought something with them.
Meat, flour, cloth—all sorts of things are available.
They didn't expect to actually get into the workshop with just these skills; they just wanted to make their presence known so that if Ye Li needed to hire workers, she would have to consider them first.
They never slack off; they do whatever Ye Li tells them to do!
On this day, when Ye Liang drove the oxcart over, Liu Yi was sitting in the oxcart.
Business in town was getting worse and worse, and Ye Wen had nothing to do at home, so Liu Yi followed Ye Liang here and handed over all the town's business to Ye Wen and Tang Yu.
In fact, Ye Liang and Liu Yi had a very good relationship.
Liu Yi was several years younger than Ye Liang. Despite his mother's objections, he insisted on jumping into the Ye family's quagmire.
Therefore, Ye Liang truly loved Liu Yi to the core.
However, in the past six months, the two have spent very little time together, as making money has been the priority.
But business in the town has dropped by half compared to before, and sometimes even more than half.
Now Liu Yi has started selling tofu puffs and preserved eggs directly.
So Liu Yi thought that instead of spending time in town with Tang Yu and the others, it would be better to send Ye Wen instead.
In this way, Ye Wentang and Yu can spend more time together, and he and Ye Liang can stay together a little longer.
Liu Yi was simply there to keep Ye Liang company. Ye Liang would stand by the stove for three hours straight, and Liu Yi felt sorry for Ye Liang, so he wanted to take turns frying the food with him.
He came for three days in a row, but he didn't mention joining the workshop, so Ye Li brought it up himself.
He called Liu Yi to his small living room and told her about it.
It's just a matter of paying an extra thirty coins in wages.
Since it's my brother-in-law, he'll definitely receive preferential treatment.
But Liu Yi shook his head immediately after hearing his words: "The workshop has enough manpower right now, how can I take wages for nothing?"
"Even though you earn a lot, if you want the workshop to keep running for a long time, you can't let me take your wages for nothing."
"Once I set a precedent, how can others not have their own thoughts?"
Ye Li: "..."
He felt a warmth in his heart.
This is my brother-in-law!
He smiled and said, "Brother Yi, actually we don't have enough manpower in the workshop. Everyone's workload has doubled since the beginning. I'm planning to build a new stove. If you join us, the others will be able to do less work."
But Liu Yi hesitated and said, "I heard from your older brother that everyone in the village wants to join the workshop. If I cut in line, wouldn't that make you offend people?"
"You're my brother-in-law, what's with cutting in line when we're all family?"
Although he had promised to consider the villagers, now that his brother-in-law also had this need, he would definitely arrange for Liu Yi to enter the workshop first.
Liu Yi frowned and did not agree: "Let me discuss it with your elder brother."
Ye Li: "..."
Or should he actually expand production?
Actually, several small business owners have recently wanted to increase their daily order volume. Seven or eight kilograms a day is simply not enough to sell!
If this number doubles, then it should be about right.
However, this would also significantly increase the workshop's profits.
He currently earns nearly forty taels a month from selling tofu puffs, preserved eggs, and beverages.
If production is expanded, it would be easy to earn sixty or seventy taels!
That's nearly a thousand taels a year!
That's a bit eye-catching.
He initially wanted to set up a workshop, partly to be lazy and partly to make money.
At that time, Jiang Ji's future was uncertain, and studying would cost a lot of money.
His house was dilapidated and drafty, so he wanted to build a heated attic.
In addition, his Engel coefficient was so high that he dared not eat or drink excessively, not to mention that he later learned that Jiang Ji owed more than eight taels of debt.
There were expenses everywhere, and all he could think about at the time was making money. He didn't think about anything else.
Later, Jiang Ji suggested that he first get his own family involved to set up the workshop, and he agreed.
In this way, the envisioned village workshop turned into a family workshop, and all the risks were borne by his family.
Now that the money is coming in so quickly, he's starting to back down.
I just want to keep a low profile and survive.
But the villagers, including Liu Yi, all have a need to work in the workshop.
Moreover, he has many expenses.
Jiang Ji is studying in the county town, and Jiang Mai will also be attending a private school next year. He wants to buy a small courtyard house in the county town.
That way, Jiang Ji can come back every day.
He's not so idle that he grows hair all day long—living in the county town, at least he can go out for a stroll!
However, housing prices in Beiyang County are not low.
The county school is located in the northeast corner.
The private school, however, was located in the south of the city.
He had to choose a courtyard located between the two places.
Jiang Ya will definitely not want to stay home alone at that time.
Therefore, there must be three bedrooms.
Including the kitchen, storeroom, cowshed, well, and other facilities, this yard is definitely not small.
It can't be too remote either; we need to consider whether it can be sold in the future.
Therefore, a courtyard like this would cost at least three or four hundred taels of silver.
He wanted to buy it sooner, but with his current income, he would have to save for a year!
Jiang Mai will be going to school next year, and the tuition, book fees, and extra meal expenses will easily cost at least twenty or thirty taels of silver.
It feels awful to have money but not dare to earn it freely.
...
Or, like the egg-shaped plant, he could tie the entire village to the workshop.
I've only ever heard of prefects and magistrates who wiped out entire families, but in peaceful times, especially with the Grand Canal Commissioner stationed in Beiyang County, a magistrate probably wouldn't dare to massacre a village, right?
When the whole village gets rich, his family won't stand out anymore.
Unable to make up his mind, when he once again rode in Jiang Tong's oxcart to deliver food to Jiang Ji, he told Jiang Ji what he was thinking and asked Jiang Ji to help him think it over.
This time, he brought a simplified version of Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles.
It's quite fitting for the occasion.
This kind of soup couldn't be eaten standing at the entrance of the county school, so Jiang Ji led him back to the dormitory, leaving Jiang Tong to guard the oxcart alone.
Since Jiang Ji enrolled in school, Hou Linsheng has never come to stay with him.
This dormitory became Jiang Ji's private room.
It was already dark when Jiang Ji entered the room and lit the candles.
The room wasn't big; each kang (heated brick bed) was for a single person, and there was a simple desk and a simple cabinet at the head of the kang.
Jiang Ji brought over Hou Linsheng's stool, and he and Ye Li sat down at the table.
The rice noodles are served in a jar, and the various side dishes and leafy greens have already been blanched.
The rice noodles were covered with a thick layer of oil, and Ye Li had also wrapped the jar in a small cotton blanket, so the chicken soup remained piping hot throughout the journey.
The rice noodles inside were soaked for too long, which greatly reduced their texture.
But Jiang Ji didn't mind.
This was his first time eating rice noodles.
He picked up his chopsticks and stirred it, and the rich aroma immediately filled the small, cool room.
After taking a bite of the rice noodles, he couldn't help but give Ye Li a thumbs up: "Delicious."
The texture is very delicate, like noodles, but with an added smoothness.
"Have a sip of soup." Ye Li handed him a spoon.
He took it, scooped up a spoonful of soup and put it in his mouth. The soup was slightly spicy with a hint of sourness, delicious and appetizing.
He couldn't help but take Ye Li's hand with his other hand and said softly, "You've worked so hard, doing all this."
Ye Li smiled upon hearing this: "Drink up, I have something to tell you."
"What is it?" Jiang Ji asked curiously.
"Everyone works very hard, so I wanted to give them some perks."
"The nearest festival is the Winter Solstice, which is almost a month away. It's too far. I want to collect everyone's birthdays. If anyone has a birthday, I'll give them some rice, flour, and meat."
Ye Li explained.
Jiang Ji thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay."
This is a good thing.
Yes, it's possible.
“My second uncle’s birthday is coming soon. In previous years, my second aunt would boil two eggs for him, but he always gave them to Xiaomai.”
“Okay.” Ye Li noted it down: “I will prepare some rice, flour and pork a day in advance. This will be issued in the name of the workshop. We are the younger generation. We won’t talk about it since we weren’t married before, but we have to prepare a birthday gift for our second uncle this time.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ji replied, "Of course."
However, looking at Ye Li's face, his thoughts drifted far away.
Both he and Ye Li were born in spring.
That is, the month the two got married.
I don't want to think about the past, but next year is Ye Li's birthday...
Well, there are still a few months left; he needs to save some money on the side.
Ye Li, unaware of his thoughts, brought up the matter of expanding production.
“...Although our village is small, it still has more than 20 households. Uncle Jiang is still the village head. I will take less of the profits. When everyone is rich, we will not stand out.”
After listening, Jiang Ji pondered for a moment and said, "Go back and ask Uncle Jiang; he knows more than we do."
He and Ye Li were too young and had little contact with the people in the county government. For such an important matter, they had to consult with Jiang Fuzheng.
“Okay.” Ye Li also had that plan.
As the two were talking, only the broth remained in the jar of rice noodles.
Ye Licui Jiang Ji concludes.
By the time Jiang Ji finished the last spoonful of soup, he was already sweating.
Eating such a delicious meal in the dead of winter is so comforting!
However, after finishing the meal, Ye Li should leave.
He couldn't help but grab Ye Li's hand again.
The cold and lonely candlelight suddenly became warm and cozy, just like being at home, because of Ye Li's arrival.
Ye Li was also reluctant to part with it.
Fortunately, Jiang Ji has been enrolled for more than half a month, and there is only one week left before the holiday.
So he winked at Jiang Ji and said, "The kang table I asked for has been made. Let's try it out when you get back."
Jiang Ji was taken aback when he heard this. "Try the kang table?"
But the next moment, remembering the purpose of the high stool, he immediately took a deep breath to suppress the image in his mind.
I can't think about it!
Otherwise, he probably wouldn't be able to control himself and would follow Ye Li back to the village!
His reaction made Ye Li smile instantly.
Ye Li didn't care that his mouth was greasy from eating rice noodles, and she threw herself into his arms and kissed him: "Good husband, give me a kiss."
Jiang Ji: "..."
Okay, just one kiss, only one kiss!
It was a quarter of an hour later when he dropped Ye Li off at the county school gate.
Seeing this, Jiang Tong, who was not far away, tugged at his thick coat, then jumped off the oxcart and bounced a few times.
The two of them finally came out.
He was freezing outside!
However, this time Jiang Ji saw him.
Jiang Ji escorted Ye Li to the oxcart, then said apologetically to him, "Brother Datong, I was talking to Ye Li and forgot the time. I've kept you waiting for so long."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Tong immediately shook his head: "Anyway, I'm free, you guys talk."
He used to be an apprentice (grandson) in the Wang family and knew nothing about human affairs.
For the past six months, I've been focused on making money.
Therefore, he didn't notice Ye Li and Jiang Ji's overly red lips at all.
As for her slightly red cheeks, they must have been from the cold weather.
Ye Li coughed lightly and said, "Jiang Ji, you should go back."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ji nodded: "Okay."
So Ye Li got on the oxcart. This time, he and Jiang Ji were very calm and not clingy at all.
Upon returning to the village, Ye Li went to bed early. Worried that he was sleeping too soundly, he asked his father to wake him up the next morning.
With Ye's father there, he successfully met Jiang Fuzheng, who had come to deliver the mules to work, in the early hours of the second day.
This matter should not be publicized until it is accomplished.
So he and Jiang Fuzheng stood a few meters away from the shed, and he lowered his voice to tell Jiang Fuzheng about his plans and concerns.
If a village workshop is set up, one person from each household will work in the workshop.
That workshop can produce up to 600 jin a day!
The profit per catty is five and seven fen, so six hundred catties would be three thousand four hundred and twenty fen!
If it's 3,420 coins a day, then it's 102.6 taels a month!
One hundred taels a month!
Even after deducting wages, his monthly profit is still seventy taels!
But he was willing to take only fifty taels.
The remaining twenty taels were divided into three parts.
A portion is set aside as welfare expenses, such as holiday allowances and year-end bonuses, all of which are paid from here.
A portion was distributed to everyone as wages.
He currently lacks the financial resources to build a village workshop.
Since it's a village-level workshop, it can't be run like it is now with just a shed. It will definitely need to be built into a spacious courtyard, and every household will have to contribute money.
Since this workshop was crowdfunded, he planned to pay everyone high wages.
The last portion was saved up to establish a clan school, dig wells for the village fields, and purchase irrigation tools, such as dragon-bone waterwheels.
The people of Yezaopo all share the surname Jiang. Although their relationships have become distant and indifferent, they are still outwardly considered to be from the same clan.
These days, the only way for a clan to grow and prosper is through education.
When there are more talented people in the clan, they will no longer hesitate and fear this or that.
Jiang Fuzheng hadn't expected him to have such a grand plan, and his expression shifted between joy, seriousness, and excitement.
After he finished speaking, he immediately said, "The county magistrate nowadays is still considered honest and upright."
"The disaster twenty years ago, though a natural one, was mainly caused by the local officials embezzling disaster relief funds. After the current emperor quelled the bandits, he took ruthless measures and killed a number of corrupt officials, which greatly improved the atmosphere in the officialdom."
“Especially since our Beiyang County is a place where wealth accumulates, and many people pay attention to it, ordinary officials would not cause a tragedy of family ruin and death for a few hundred taels.”
Besides, they have many other ways to make money.
In the county town, which of the car dealerships, security escort agencies, and trading companies that deal in goods from the north and south doesn't make more money than a tofu puff workshop?
Even without getting involved in the canal transport, the officials in the county government would have made a fortune just from these industries.
There's no need to say these things to Ye Li.
However, he was extremely satisfied with Ye Li and Jiang Ji.
Despite their youth and the fact that they had earned a considerable amount of money and achieved academic success in a short period of time, the couple did not become arrogant; instead, they became even more cautious.
They also plan to fund the establishment of a clan school!
Clan school, clan school!
As the clan leader, how could he not be excited?
With this couple around, how could Wild Jujube Slope not prosper!
As for wells and waterwheels, as a farmer, he was extremely happy with them!
Suppressing his excitement and calming his mind, he added, "Besides, Xiao Ji is a scholar, which is a protective charm. To touch a scholar, one must first report to the provincial education commissioner to strip him of his academic title, which is quite troublesome."
"At that time, I'll just drink with the officials in the county government."
"You should set up this workshop if you want to, don't have any worries."
"However, you've distributed too much profit. Twenty taels isn't enough; ten taels a month will suffice."
"Ten taels?" Ye Li was somewhat unsure.
“That’s right, ten taels is enough. Don’t forget you also set aside an extra thirty taels for wages, so that makes forty taels in total.”
"If you give up twenty taels, that'll be fifty taels in total! How can we possibly spend all of that?"
"We can gradually accumulate the clan school, well, and farm tools."
As Jiang Fu was speaking, he began to explain the costs and benefits to Ye Li.
If each person's wage is thirty coins per day, then it would be nine hundred coins per month.
Each family contributes one person, and including the Ye family, there are thirty people in the workshop.
The monthly wage expenditure was twenty-seven taels.
If you want a village school to be grand, then make it entirely of blue bricks.
Because there are few people in the village, the courtyard doesn't need to be very big. Including the lecture hall and the teacher's residence, it would only cost about twenty or thirty taels to build.
Villagers did not need to pay tuition to attend school; the teacher's monthly salary, even for a scholar, was only three taels of silver.
Of course, if the teaching level is high, then three or four ounces won't suffice; it will be more like four or five ounces.
Let's calculate based on the minimum expenditure: three ounces.
For birthday gifts, let's say there are three people celebrating their birthdays each month, and the budget for each person is 200 coins, so that's 600 coins a month.
Twenty-seven taels + three taels + six hundred cash, so the fixed monthly expenses are thirty taels and six mace.
Ye Li offered a discount of ten taels, leaving a balance of nine taels and four mace.
If this is the amount for one month, then it would be 112 taels and 8 mace for one year.
Not every month has a festival; there are more festivals in the twelfth lunar month.
Moreover, the New Year is the biggest holiday, so the benefits should be more generous.
But how thick can it get?
Based on seven festivals a year, and each employee's festival gift costing 200 coins, the total cost for celebrating a festival would be 6 taels.
Seven equals forty-two taels.
One hundred and twelve taels and eight mace minus forty-two taels leaves seventy taels.
Use these seventy taels to build a village school, buy farm tools, and dig a well. Once you have all that, you'll have seventy taels left over and nowhere to spend it.
Therefore, Ye Li only needs to give a discount of ten taels per month.
This is more than enough to spend!
Jiang Fuzheng's words were reasonable and logical, leaving Ye Li with no room for rebuttal.
Ye Li burst into laughter instantly.
Ten taels can be saved in a month!
Once the workshop is up and running, he can earn sixty taels a month just from making tofu puffs!
“Uncle Jiang, Jiang Ji and I trust you completely. With your words, we really will run the village workshop this way.”
“Go ahead and do it. It’s a great thing for our village. I’m even more eager than the two of you to get this workshop built.”
Jiang Fuzheng smiled, not paying any attention to the slight doubt in Ye Li's words.
It's always better to be cautious!
“Alright, then gather the villagers today to discuss this matter,” Ye Li said cheerfully.
We'll try our best to set up the village workshop as soon as possible!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
