Chapter 2544 Labor
Most of the conscripted laborers had never seen the village chief Zhou Man, but some of them happened to be at the market that day and had seen her once.
Many people stopped what they were doing and secretly looked up at her.
Manbao looked at the progress and was very satisfied. She went to check on the food. Zhou Wulang said, "The staple food is steamed buns and pancakes. We have three meals a day, and each meal has some meat."
There is not a lot of meat, just enough to ensure that they have oil and water. Zhou Wulang has been doing shopping for his own restaurant, and he can buy a lot of meatless bones every day. He stews them into soup and blanchs some vegetables, and the taste is also very good.
The main thing is that he is willing to add salt.
Salt gives strength, and he also has meat. The dissatisfaction in the hearts of the drafted laborers had long disappeared. After thinking about it, they felt that serving the village chief was not bad. They would work for ten days now, and another ten days after the autumn harvest when there was no farming. Then this year's labor time would be completed.
When I served in the county government, the food was not as good as it is now.
Manbao looked at it and was very satisfied. He said to Zhou Wulang, "If you don't have enough money, ask Lijun for more meat."
Zhou Wulang nodded in agreement.
Manbao then went forward to watch the laborers repairing the road. Seeing that they had all stopped what they were doing, she nodded slightly and said, "I know that with spring plowing approaching, you all have some objections to serving at this time. That's why I, along with County Magistrate Xun, have specially selected laborers from three hundred households. We'll be responsible for repairing this section of the road, starting from the top, middle, and bottom. We can definitely finish it in ten days."
She said, "After the road is built, your eggs, vegetables, fish and shrimp caught in the river, etc. can be sent to the new city in the shortest time. These things may not be sold at the market and may only be exchanged for very cheap things, but in the new city, you can sell them for a higher price."
"Not to mention that after the road is completed, more scholars and merchants will travel between the capital and Yongzhou. At that time, even if we set up a stall on the roadside to sell buns and steamed buns, we can make money."
The servants were stunned. One of them couldn't help asking, "Village Master, who buys these things from a roadside stall?"
"Yes, can't they buy it in Yongzhou or the capital?"
Manbao looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle and said wistfully, "There are always some people in this world who wake up late for some reason and miss breakfast..."
Bai Shanren on the side laughed and said, "Why not just sleep in?"
The servants listened very carefully. The words were a bit complicated and although they didn't quite understand them, the cleverer ones had already thought about it. After the road was repaired and the spring plowing was finished, they made some steamed buns and brought them over to try.
If you can’t sell it, just keep it for yourself.
After Manbao's speech, everyone's enthusiasm rose to a new level and they worked more vigorously.
The village chief was right. She didn’t often walk on this road, but they did. This road was built for them.
Manbao nodded in satisfaction, mounted his horse, and headed for the next section of the road. A short distance ahead, he saw another hundred people. There was only the foreman here, who had long seen the movement over there. When Zhou Man arrived, he immediately ran up to him and saluted, "I pay my respects to the village chief."
Manbao dismounted and said with a smile, "Get up. How is your work on this section of the road going?"
He had been a foreman for many years, but this was the first time he had seen a village chief come to inspect the quality of the road. However, he had experience, so he immediately led his men to the road they had just repaired for Zhou Man to see. "The bottom layer is paved with gravel, and the top is piled with yellow mud. We rolled the stone roller back and forth twice to make the road surface very solid. If you don't believe me, just stamp your feet and you will know."
Manbao didn't stamp her feet. She led the horse for a walk on the road and found that there was not much dust raised. She nodded with satisfaction and said, "It's okay. The soil is not very loose and can last for a few years."
Generally, official roads need to be repaired every few years.
Bai Shan poked the road with his toes, nodded, and went forward with Manbao to watch them lay stones and loess.
Manbao looked at it and asked, "Where did you get this soil from?"
The foreman said, "Half was dug from the expanded road, and the other half was dug from the ditch as instructed by the village chief."
This will also clear the ditch at the same time.
Manbao nodded in satisfaction and asked, "How many years has it been since the canal in the nearby village was cleared?"
"It's been three or four years," the foreman said. "There's a large water conservancy project, and the laborers at the imperial farm are needed every year, so the canal and water conservancy work here hasn't been a priority."
Manbao was stunned. "Does the imperial farm also require labor from the county?"
"Yes," the foreman said with a flattering smile, "He's the Emperor. If His Majesty wants someone, how could the County Magistrate refuse?"
The emperor is too lazy to care about such matters.
Manbao felt that she had to talk to Mingda later, as she couldn't compete with her for the person.
But the last time I passed by the imperial farm, there weren't many people there. So, what will they do when it comes to spring plowing?
Mingda was also worried about the manpower issue at this time. When Zhou Man and County Magistrate Xun's men started to move, Mingda realized that she was short of staff in her imperial farm.
Not to mention spring plowing, we can't even provide the labor for road construction.
She couldn't help but ask the steward of the imperial farm, who looked miserable, "Where did you get the manpower for spring plowing and autumn harvest in previous years?"
"The servants and tenants in the village will do it first, and then the county will send some common people to help."
Mingda asked, "Is it considered a military service order?"
"Yes, it's a conscription order."
Mingda couldn't help but ask, "But doesn't the conscription order mean to avoid spring plowing and autumn harvest?"
"Oh, your highness, the imperial farm recruits laborers for spring plowing and autumn harvest. If we can avoid them, then why would we recruit them?" The steward said, "To be able to work for the royal family is a blessing they have earned through several lifetimes. They are grateful beyond measure."
Bai Erlang, who was standing by, looked at him and asked, "Have you settled the wages for the servants?"
Otherwise, how could they be grateful?
"No," the imperial farm steward said sullenly, "Your Ma-san, I've never heard of conscripts being paid."
Why should they be grateful? "Is it because your food is good?"
“They bring their own dry food.”
Huh, Bai Erlang was shocked. This was not even as good as the service order from the county government.
Bai Erlang became interested, stroking his chin, thinking, "So are they truly grateful, or are they pretending? Or is it just the steward's imagination?"
Mingda also became curious and asked, "Does the imperial farm need to recruit conscripts for labor service when it's short of manpower?"
"Yes, it's been like this throughout the dynasties," the imperial farm steward seemed to have noticed something and quickly explained, "Your Highness, our Emperor is so generous that he didn't allow them to move directly into the imperial farm. Instead, he only conscripted them into labor service. In the previous dynasty, Emperor Ai would have directly enclosed any piece of land he liked, and all the people inside would have become royal property."
"But it is also a blessing for them to be able to eat the royal food."
Shirojiro:......
Even Mingda, a member of the royal family, thought this was unreasonable. Who wouldn't be a good citizen and think being a slave is a blessing?
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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