As the sun rose, Li Xing'er finished her chores at home and prepared to go to the ancestral hall to work.
As soon as she stepped out, she was stopped by the aunt next door. After making sure no one was around, she tugged at her sleeve and asked furtively, "Xing'er, you work in the workshop at the ancestral hall. Did you say how much you're paid?"
Li Xing'er shook her head, and the aunt immediately looked like she knew it. "I guessed it was like that. How could you be so silly? You didn't even know if you'd be paid or not, and you still went to work."
“Auntie, the village head said before that wages would only be paid after a full month of work.”
"You believe that? If the village head had money, why wouldn't he send his grandson to study in the county? Why wouldn't he build his own house?"
Li Xing'er felt that this was unlikely and wanted to explain.
“This workshop wasn’t opened by the village head, it was opened by Meng Zhao. Everyone knows she made money selling food in the county. Besides, the village head’s daughter-in-law works there. If it were a scam, why would she let her own family members work there?”
The aunt, who boasted of having lived a few more years and seen many people, was quite disdainful.
"Everyone keeps their money well hidden when they make it. Nobody does it as openly as hers. If they really made money, they would share it with you."
Li Xing'er, having worked with Meng Zhao these past few days, felt that she wasn't that kind of person and spoke up to defend her.
“People who sell food in the county also buy vegetables in the village.” She glanced at the person sideways after saying that. “Auntie, I remember you also went to Meng Zhao’s house to sell eggs. Didn’t you always settle the payment on the spot?”
After saying that, he left directly, not wanting to listen to her discouraging words.
After Li Xing'er left, the man spat behind her, "Pah, she really doesn't appreciate kindness. She deserves to be sold out and still pay the money back."
Not many people actually say these things, but the ancestral hall and workshop are under tight control, and people are not usually allowed to enter.
We have no idea what exactly is being made here, what it's used for, or who it's being sold to.
Gradually, rumors began to spread.
At first, the workers pretended not to hear, but as time went on, they inevitably felt uneasy. However, they did not neglect their work, knowing that they would know by the end of the month.
Thanks to Meng Zhao's series of improvements, the production speed in the workshop has increased significantly. Before the end of the month, the first batch of 3,000 jin has already been prepared.
However, Meng Zhao did not dare to stop and continued to ramp up production, making sure to have enough stock for at least a month to withstand risks.
The weather was gradually turning cooler, and the mountain mornings were especially cold. A gust of wind blew by, and Meng Zhao, who had just gotten up, couldn't help but shiver, instantly waking up.
Today was the day Chunfenglou was to pick up the goods, so it wasn't appropriate to let them go directly to the ancestral hall. Meng Zhao arranged for people to transport the goods to the village head's house early. When Meng Zhao arrived, everyone was busy loading the carts.
"Thank you all for coming so early today."
"This is nothing. When I worked for landlords, I had to get up before dawn to work. I'm used to it."
That wasn't a lie. If they worked for the landlord, they would be working from dawn till dusk, worse off than animals, let alone receive a word of thanks for their hard work.
Although no one complained, Meng Zhao still felt it was somewhat inappropriate. The workshop had just been built, and many rules and regulations had not been established, nor had wages and benefits been clearly explained.
In the future, there should still be a clear start and end time for work, and any extra work should be considered overtime.
The goods were carried out of the ancestral hall in packages, passing through the village, and many villagers could see them.
"These are the products made in the workshop near the ancestral hall. What are all these packages?"
"I heard it's made from potatoes. Haven't you seen Yumei and a group of people peeling potatoes by the river all day long?"
"What is this for? Can it be sold? If we can't make money from it, then all our efforts will be in vain."
"That's right. Money isn't so easy to earn. It's not as good as my son. I spent money to send him to the county to be an apprentice. Although he didn't get paid for the first two years, once he learned a skill, he won't have to worry about food and drink."
After everyone had moved the things to the village head's house and put them away, people from Chunfenglou arrived.
Chunfenglou, as expected of a large and powerful family, sent five or six donkey carts with long and wide platforms, clearly designed for hauling goods.
The leader was a waiter from Chunfenglou named Chen Xiaowu. Although it wasn't time to deliver the goods yet, a small portion had already been delivered ahead of schedule, mainly for Chunfenglou to research new dishes.
Because he had made two trips, Xiao Youzhi would send him over whenever he had something to say to Meng Zhao.
The two greeted each other and then began loading the goods.
Meng Zhaoyue's eyes grew increasingly envious as he looked at the donkey carts; the donkeys were all glossy and large.
Currently, starch workshops rely on manual labor for everything from collecting potatoes to operating stone mills and rollers. This is not only laborious but also slow. If donkeys were used instead, the efficiency would increase dramatically.
Meng Zhao liked it more and more as she looked at it, and made up her mind to save money. She had to save money so that she could also become a member of the car-owning class (donkey cart).
In a cash-on-delivery transaction, Chen Xiaowu handed Meng Zhao a money bag containing the first month's payment, a full 75 taels.
Meng Zhao and the village head exchanged a glance and both felt relieved. The previous deposit of 100 taels was mainly used to buy raw materials and pay the deposit for potatoes.
Although they still had a considerable amount left, they hadn't dared to spend more. Now that they had the payment for the goods, they were finally less anxious.
After seeing Chen Xiaowu's convoy off, Meng Zhao and the village headman began to do the accounting. The first thing they did was pay the taxes, as the commercial taxes were not too high at the moment.
However, this may not be the case in the future. Once the imperial court starts a war, it will need to spend a lot of money. People's livelihood is the foundation of the country, and the imperial court will not easily take action. Therefore, merchants will be the first to be taxed.
Meng Zhao had read the original work, and it was largely as she had imagined. There were only two ways to resolve this danger: the first was to have connections in higher positions, which she couldn't currently do.
The second method is not to be too greedy, but to offer appropriate benefits. Meng Zhao took out a list of worker benefits that he had previously compiled and showed it to the village head.
The village head took the paper and was stunned by the numbers on it. "The wages are so high?"
Meng Zhao nodded. In her mind, if an ordinary family of four had someone working in her workshop, then that person's wages should at least be enough to ensure that the family of four could have enough to eat and wear.
If two members of their family work in her workshop, they can meet their basic needs for food and clothing, as well as other requirements such as building houses, buying livestock, medical treatment and medicine, and providing education for their children. This is a good situation.
Exploitation is never a sustainable solution, so wages must be paid in full.
As the person who most wanted the best for the entire village, the village head naturally wouldn't raise any objections.
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