Chapter 3022: Benhuo III
When Shutong and Cui Yuan left, they couldn't help but look at the yamen runners and city gate officials with sympathy. When they knew that their young master had secretly paid hangers-on to promote the recruitment of workers and land distribution, they wondered if they would regret what they did today.
Cui Yuan closed her fan and patted him on the head, "Drive your car carefully and keep your eyes open."
He said frankly, "This idea was proposed by Lord Bai. He also said that he would hold up the sky if it fell. What does it have to do with me? Don't criticize me in your heart."
The servant covered his head and said, "I didn't say that, young master..."
Cui Yuan planned to visit every county and stay for a few days. When he was heading to the next county, someone had already arrived in Beihai County.
They stood at the city gate and looked up at the gate of Beihai County. They always felt that it looked more dilapidated than any county they had visited before.
However, since they had already arrived here, they couldn't leave, so they formed a group and entered the city.
They were dressed in rags, and many of their straw sandals were broken from walking, while some were simply barefoot.
These people were skinny and some of them were carrying children on their backs. They stood on the street in a daze, not knowing where to go.
But they looked around and found that the streets of Beihai County were quite clean, and there was not a single beggar in sight.
Everyone was delighted and couldn't help but look at the young man in the lead.
The young man was also very thin, and his clothes were tattered, but his face and neck looked cleaner than the others. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Since they say Beihai County is recruiting people to distribute land, then we should go to the county government office."
"Let's go to the county government office..." Many people hesitated and refused to leave. "What if they don't divide the land and arrest us and make us tenants?"
They have been refugees for some years, and some counties will recruit them for political achievements, but they will not allocate land to them. Instead, they will directly register them in the household registration and then take them to find some landlords. If they are noticed, they will be recruited as tenants.
But the rent they had to pay was quite high, and even then they still couldn't eat enough, not to mention that they didn't even have a house. Their life was worse than that of refugees.
Some people are so thin that even the landlords look down on them, and in the end they have to beg on the streets. However, they are already registered as residents and pay taxes every year, so they often have to run away and become refugees.
So they were very single and said, "At worst, we can just run away."
"We're not always so lucky. Didn't those guys from Daqiao Village escape last time? They were dragged straight into service. I don't know if they're still alive now."
The young man gritted his teeth and said, "Old Three and I will go first. You wait on the street. If it's a scam, just run away. We are strong and fast, so it will be easier for us to escape. We will meet outside the city then."
Everyone agreed.
So the young man took two people and went to the county government office while asking for information. The others found a place to sit on the street corner. Three of them brought children with them, and they simply put the dirty children in front of them and let them beg for things.
I haven't found dinner yet...
The three men arrived at the county government office, but stood at the bulletin board, looking around and didn't dare to go forward.
The three of them didn't dare to go forward, so they could only hide behind the bulletin board. When they looked up, they saw the densely packed words posted on it, and they didn't recognize a single word.
The young man sighed, "If only I could learn to read, maybe I wouldn't have to go up there."
The two guards standing guard at the county government gate had already spotted the three men. Seeing them peeking in and then taking in the tattered cloth strips that barely covered their bodies, they stepped forward, their swords in hand, and shouted, "What are you three doing?"
The three were startled and wanted to turn around and run, but the yamen runner had already asked, "Is this a beggar from our county or from another county?"
The young man stopped his retreat, swallowed his saliva and asked, "Can't there be beggars in the county?"
"Why are you a beggar when you have both hands and feet? County Magistrate Bai is in urgent need of help. Where did you beg before?"
The young man immediately said, "We are from other counties. We heard that Beihai County is recruiting workers and distributing land to refugees, so we came here."
"Dividing the land? It's not easy for you to divide the land, but recruiting workers is not difficult. Come in with me."
The three of them exchanged glances, then followed the yamen runner inside. They cautiously looked around and asked, "So, no land to be divided?"
"Our county magistrate said that even for settlement, we have to choose outstanding people. The land in our Beihai County is reserved for hardworking and capable people, so it's not easy to distribute land, but it's not difficult to find work. Our county is short of people right now."
"I wonder what kind of work it is?"
"What kind of work can you do?" The yamen runner looked at them with disdain and said, "You can only farm. Let's go."
After entering the county government office and turning left, I happened to run into Chief Clerk Song. "Chief Clerk Song, are you going out?"
Song Zhubu stopped and saw the three young men. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Are they here to take a job?"
"Ah, I'll take him to see Zhao Li right away."
The corners of Song Zhubu's mouth slightly turned down. Bai Shan handed the task of recruiting statistics to Zhao Ming. Because he was given an important position, everyone in the county government respected him as Zhao Li. However, there were many yamen runners and clerks with the surname Zhao in the county government. Song Zhubu felt that if this continued, he would have to give up his position as Zhubu to Zhao Ming.
Seeing that Song Zhubu didn't say anything, the yamen runner waved to the three young men, "Hurry up, hurry up, it's getting late. If you don't count now, you won't even be able to have dinner in time."
When the three young men heard this, they immediately followed.
Zhao Ming was in a small room with only a table and a chair. There was a hanging curtain behind him, but it was of no use for the time being.
Seeing the three people, Zhao Ming opened the book and asked them, "What's your name, when were you born, and where are you from?"
After learning that they were refugees, he asked, "When and why did you become refugees? Where did you wander before coming to our county? What did you do for a living?"
Then he asked, “What talents do you have?”
The first question was fine, but the last one left all three young men stunned. "What is talent?"
"Can you do carpentry, build houses, repair bridges, or break bricks?" Zhao Ming said. "If you can't do those, then you can plant rice, wheat, vegetables, and raise pigs, ducks, chickens, cows, and sheep, right?"
The three of them nodded repeatedly, "We know how to farm, and we also know how to raise chickens and sheep."
Zhao Ming nodded and said, "What else? Doesn't anyone know how to do something special? Even bamboo weaving counts."
The three shook their heads.
Zhao Ming wrote them down truthfully, but the leading young man hesitated for a moment and asked, "Sir, is there any difference between carpentry and farming?"
"The wages are different," Zhao Ming said. "Those with special talents will get higher wages from the county government."
"How much does that kind of land cost?"
Zhao Mingdao: "Twenty cents."
The young man's eyes lit up and he asked, "Do you cook for yourself, or does the county government pay for it?"
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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