Chapter 2547 Touched
A big difference between the way Huangzhuang employs people and Zhou Man and others is that they don't need to be very selective.
Because no one can bully Huangzhuang.
Those belong to the emperor's family. How many common people outside would dare to cheat them?
Therefore, if you hire long-term or short-term workers, you don't have to be too cautious. However, tenant farmers have many restrictions, and you will need them for at least one year after signing the contract.
The laws of the Great Jin Dynasty stipulated that once a tenancy contract was signed, in order to protect the interests of the tenant farmers, the landlord could not terminate the contract before winter.
This is to prevent some unscrupulous landlords from finding an excuse to terminate the contract and drive the tenants away after the tenants have started farming, which could be fatal.
Therefore, when looking for tenant farmers, even if it is a royal farm, one must be more careful.
Bai Erlang got the idea from the two people, so he took Mingda out every day. First, he asked the manager to gather all the existing tenants and told them that they would provide seeds as usual this year, but the rent would be reduced from 60% to 40%. In other words, in a year, they could get 60% of the land output.
The tenant farmers were overjoyed and could hardly believe it.
The steward's heart was filled with mixed emotions, but his face was beaming with joy. He shouted, "Her Royal Highness's wedding is a blessing bestowed upon you. From now on, you must serve the princess well and be loyal to her. If anyone dares to do anything that harms the imperial estate or the princess, I will be the first to not forgive you!"
After finishing his lecture, he bowed and went to ask Princess Mingda for instructions, saying with a smile, "Your Highness, do you have anything else to say?"
"No, you can let them go. It's spring now, and the land needs to be leveled." Mingda looked at Bai Erlang when he said this. Seeing him nod slightly, he continued to talk to the steward, "Let them remove the weeds first and level the land. If they work hard this year, I will only charge 40% of the rent next year."
The manager hesitated to speak, as he had a lot to say, for example, the farm would not make any money, and the master might even be in debt.
But when his eyes fell on the prince consort standing beside him, he held back. He had also realized in the past few days that the princess didn't understand farming, but this prince consort seemed very familiar with her.
Some things may convince the princess, but may not convince the prince consort.
So the steward swallowed his words and agreed silently.
Princess Mingda was delighted. It was the first time she had handled something outside so smoothly. "One more thing,"
Mingda said, "We don't need to hire laborers for the section of road we're responsible for. We'll pay for the road repairs ourselves."
The steward opened his mouth wide, "How much does this cost?"
A servant resembles his master. Apparently, this man, like the emperor, is also a money-thrifty person.
Mingda, however, was not short of money. He waved his hand proudly and said, "Don't worry about this matter. Just send someone to tell Magistrate Xun that he doesn't need to issue the labor order for our imperial farm."
As for the person to build the road, she had another choice.
"Since you're going to see Magistrate Xun, please also tell him that the imperial farm will not need any laborers for spring plowing and autumn harvest this year. We can hire the people we need ourselves."
The steward was puzzled and asked fearfully, "Does the princess dislike the rough work of the servants, their careless work, and the waste of land?"
While talking, he quietly went to see Bai Erlang.
Mingda shook his head slightly. "No, the busy farming season is approaching, and everyone is busy. How can I waste manpower? Let them take care of their own family affairs, and we will hire someone ourselves."
Bai Erlang then took over and said, "The princess and I have calculated that this time we should hire some temporary workers, so we'll hire 120 people, both men and women."
Both men and women can sow seeds and plant rice seedlings.
The steward finally had something to say, and hurriedly said, "My Lord, men are better than women. After all, farming is hard work, and you have to pull the plow."
"So we're planning to buy thirty oxen. Once we have the oxen, all we need are plow operators," Bai Erlang said. "Pay attention to them while they're working. Take note of the diligent and meticulous ones. When the spring harvest is over, ask them if they'd like to be permanent farmhands. If they're willing, keep thirty to fifty of them. Even better, if they're from a family, take note of them and hire them directly as tenants next year."
"Oh, right. There are a lot of people coming. Choose two areas and build two rows of sheds, spaced farther apart. One row for men and one row for women."
The steward was quite shocked, "Prince Consort, Prince Consort, where did we get so many cows?"
"I bought it. Don't worry. There are thirty of them. Not a single one will be missing. They are all over two years old."
It can be put into use directly, and one cow can be used as two strong laborers.
Steward: ...
He silently noted these things and then bowed and left.
Mingda was very excited. He couldn't help but reach out and hold Bai Erlang's hand in public and asked, "Do you want to take charge of the other imperial farm in Yongzhou as well?"
That imperial farm was bigger and had better land.
Bai Erlang is indeed ambitious, but both his master and Bai Shan Zhouman have said that when doing something for the first time, one should not take too big a step. He is not sure whether these methods will work on Huangzhuang.
So he said to Mingda, "We'll talk about it next year. For now, the imperial farm will remain as it is."
Mingda could only nod regretfully.
Mingda and Bai Erlang handed the road construction task to Zhou Wulang, and paid him to undertake this section of the project. He would hire people and be responsible for the workers' food, drink, defecation, and various tools, while the two of them were only responsible for paying the money.
The reason why she would rather spend money than hire the laborers from Liyang County for free was because Princess Mingda wanted to change the impression given by the imperial farm. At least in the future, the imperial farm under her personal management would not hire laborers from the county government.
County Magistrate Xun received two pieces of good news in a row. He felt complicated for a moment, but more of a surprise.
The reason why he didn't take the initiative to speak was that he wanted to see Princess Mingda's attitude. If she asked for the person, everything would remain the same. If she didn't speak, then the matter could be let go.
To be honest, having royal property under your jurisdiction is not a very happy thing.
Because the imperial farm did not pay taxes and occupied the land for free, even the slaves there were not required to pay rent or taxes. Not only did the tax revenue decrease, but their labor was also taken away.
Because Yongzhou City has two imperial farms, the labor service seems to be heavier than that in other provincial cities. Fortunately, they have a large population, otherwise the labor service would be even heavier.
He thought it was a great thing that Princess Mingda did not require people to build roads, but he did not expect that she would actually say that there would be no need for labor service for spring plowing and autumn harvest.
Magistrate Xun was so surprised and delighted that his eyes were red with emotion. He couldn't help but hold his master's hand and said, "No wonder the officials in the court love Princess Mingda so much. She is truly a kind and generous person."
Then he gritted his teeth again, "Compared to that guy from Wannian County, he's not worthy of his name. Pah, he's from the Guo family, too shameless. He actually wants 100,000 yuan from me for such a long journey."
Master: "Sir, are you going to give it to me or not?"
Xun County Magistrate closed his eyes sadly, lowered his head helplessly and said, "Give it to me!"
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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