Chapter 287 Recruiting Craftsmen
After Zhou Congguang moved into the fourth courtyard of Beicheng and became a neighbor of Lu Mingzhi, he was like a mouse falling into a rice jar, so happy that he almost squeaked.
On the first day, he tentatively asked Manager Ye to buy him some materials, one of which was fine iron that required very high forging technology, and he was a little worried that he could not get it.
Manager Ye was the exclusive manager assigned to him. Like Manager Yao of Lu Mingzhi next door, he was specifically responsible for meeting all his needs.
About a day later, the materials he wanted were delivered. He even took a few pieces of fine iron to test them. The fine iron was forged very well and completely met his requirements.
If blacksmith Xiao Yang knew what he said, he would definitely grumble. The fine iron he forged after spending half the night forging must be good.
Some time ago, he and his father made a thing called a curved plow for a man and a woman, which caught their eyes and they became interested in it.
Some time ago, government officials came to their blacksmith shop and persuaded them to open a shop in Houcheng.
Blacksmith Xiao Yang didn't want to go. Their shop in Xiangping had been running well for years, and there was no need to move. Besides, he was free in Xiangping. Who knew if he went to Houcheng, would the government assign him a lot of work?
But his father, Blacksmith Yang, disagreed. After listening to the conditions offered by the other party, he thought they were good and guaranteed a good income, so he decided to go north to Houcheng.
As soon as his father made the decision, the other party immediately took out money and gave them a certain amount of moving compensation.
Therefore, they moved from Xiangping to Houcheng. In Houcheng, their blacksmith shop was three or four times larger than before. In addition to taking on their own work, the government would also arrange some work for them.
His father told him to work hard, and he not only worked hard, he worked all night long. When he arrived in Houcheng, he earned more money, but he was also more tired.
Zhou Congguang, after using up his first batch of materials, requested twice as much. The next day, the materials arrived. He gazed at the materials piled in the empty room and contentedly plunged into his experiments.
Later, when he asked for materials, he was completely relaxed. He would just ask for the sufficient quantity of whatever he wanted and was no longer stingy.
His teacher was right. The Lu family was kind people, especially Lu Er and Lu Songli.
And another good thing here is that if he can't find the finished product of what he wants, he will ask if he can make it himself, and they will provide the materials he needs.
Master Zhan and Wei Wenqian saw all of this, but they were not in a hurry. They first visited Houcheng and the surrounding scenic spots.
That day, Zhan Ruoshui and Wei Wenqian took some food and went to Xiangping. When they arrived in Xiangping, they bought some daily necessities and went to visit someone in Xiangping Military Village.
Gu Zhang's original wife was under the care of Mo Lianfeng. After Mo Lianfeng was promoted, he promoted his subordinate Lin Zhong to take over his original position.
Therefore, Gu Zhang is now under the management of Lin Zhong.
Lin Zhong agreed to the request of Zhan Ruoshui and his disciples after their arrival without much difficulty, and he also accepted the gifts they gave.
He had witnessed how his superior, Mo Lianfeng, rose to prominence in the forest. Even if he didn't know how to do anything else, surely he could just copy and imitate? He should just follow suit. He shouldn't treat those exiled to the military settlement with contempt, nor should he be too harsh on them. Otherwise, he might accidentally offend someone he shouldn't, and once they rose again, they'd be finished.
So, Zhan Ruoshui and Wei Wenqian met Gu Zhang smoothly.
Gu Zhang was very happy to see Zhan Ruoshui, "Why did you come to Liaodong County?"
Master Zhan said modestly, "My disciple's family invited me graciously, but I refused. Plus, I haven't seen my disciple for a long time, so I came."
Wei Wenqian was laughing secretly on the side. It was obvious that the teacher was moved by the promise made by Junior Brother Lu's second sister to take care of the round-trip fare.
Gu Zhang asked casually, "Is your young disciple still Sheng Peiguang? Is he also in Liaodong County?"
Zhan Ruoshui shook his head. "Sheng Peiguang is no longer the youngest disciple. The youngest disciple now is Lv Mingzhi. I accepted him later. He and his family are now in Houcheng."
Lu? Family, Marquis City, these words appeared together, and Gu Zhang couldn't help but pause, "Could it be that your little disciple is the son of the new county governor, Lord Lu?"
"yes."
Gu Zhang was very excited. He had never expected that after going around in circles, he would meet people he knew.
He immediately said, "Junior Brother Zhan, please come and see me again before you leave Liaodong County."
"OK."
Master and disciple Zhan Ruoshui did not stay long. After they finished talking and gave the things they brought to Gu Zhang, they left the Xiangping military camp.
After meeting his old friend, Zhan Ruoshui felt a little depressed. His senior brother also had a miserable life and no one knew when he would be able to come out. All this was because the thing he had studied before was too dangerous.
The master and disciple had just returned from the outer city when they were spotted by the sharp-eyed Jiang Yizhou, who was at the teahouse at the time. He quickly called them over and invited them in for tea. It happened that they were also thirsty, so they sat down to rest their feet and drink tea, not in a hurry to return to the house.
"The Liaodong Chamber of Commerce has posted a notice!"
As a shout rang out, the crowd rushed towards the headquarters of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce.
The headquarters of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce is actually located not far from the county governor's office, and not far from the teahouse where Master Zhan Ruoshui and his apprentice are currently resting and drinking tea.
The illiterate people hurriedly asked the intelligent-looking young man at the bottom of the list, "Hey, young man, what's written on the red list?"
The young man was the one assigned by the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce to explain the situation to the locals. He cleared his throat and said, "There are two job openings listed on the red notice. The first is for folk craftsmen. Those with proven skills will receive an annual salary ranging from ten to three hundred taels of silver. In addition, they will receive thirty kilograms of rice, flour, and some oil and sugar each month."
Upon hearing this, many people exclaimed, "Is this true?" The treatment from above is too good.
“What is a folk craftsman?”
"Folk craftsmen are ordinary people with a skilled craft, such as potters, blacksmiths, weavers, carpenters, bricklayers, and so on." Seeing that some people still didn't understand, the person explaining it made it clearer, "For example, an experienced farmer who knows how to farm, or someone who is particularly good at tending to a certain crop."
"For example, she is very good at making clothes. The stitching on her clothes is very fine, and the clever ideas she puts into her clothes often make people's eyes light up."
After he explained it this way, everyone who heard it understood.
Someone asked, "My grandfather is very good at tending beans. He can harvest two or three bushels more per mu of land than others. Is this okay?"
"It should be possible. Let him try and sign up. It doesn't cost money to sign up anyway, and there's no penalty if he doesn't pass."
"Is it okay to be good at building houses?"
"Can."
"Is this all right? Is being good at knitting all right?"
"Is it okay to be good at fish farming?"
"You can sign up, come and try it."
Jiang Yizhou murmured, "A thousand gold coins are enough to buy horse bones."
Lv Songli has always believed that there are many experts among the common people, and that there is no shortage of wise people among the common people. Her move is to collect and summarize this experience and wisdom, so that it can be applied to the planting and breeding industries in the coming year to increase their income and production.
"Fellow villagers, there's a second job opening. This second opening is for laborers. We're going to build a new prefectural government office in Houcheng. The wage for laborers is twelve coins per day, three meals a day, and enough food. The age requirement is between sixteen and thirty-six."
When the common people heard this, they immediately started talking about it.
“Will you really pay me?”
The wages weren't high, only twelve wen a day, and carrying heavy bags at the docks would earn you twenty wen a day. But the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce promised three meals a day, and full stomachs. That was a big draw.
They all eat two meals a day, one at noon. Only city dwellers or wealthy families can eat three meals a day.
"Where can I sign up for manual labor? I want to sign up!"
"I'll go back and call my son!"
"I'll let my brother do it!"
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