Now, with favorable timing, location, and people, and with benefits to be shared, it's much easier to implement.
Not everyone who receives porridge can get a job. Currently, only those who are strong and skilled can get in, and even then, they are selective.
The elderly, women, and children never considered going to the city or village to earn food; they were content to just accept porridge, as the competition was too fierce.
The magistrate looked down at the refugees from the city wall and swallowed hard. It was a pity; he had already used up all the grain in the yamen and couldn't recruit any more people.
Now, the government office has been repaired, construction is underway in the city, and there is enough labor to reclaim wasteland. If it weren't for the lack of money and food, he would have liked to recruit another batch of people to reinforce the city walls.
The nouveau riche in the city then became smug. Although they had no status or power, they had money and food!
They recruited refugees to cultivate the land and cut down trees to exchange for watermills and factories in the Chen family.
Now that the Chen family's watermill production has increased, they can exchange it for a certain amount of wood. Those without raw materials can only continue to wait in line through a lottery system.
The factories in the city quickly absorbed the local poor, and the factory owners made a fortune.
At the beginning of the month, the imperial court issued another official document.
Each government office was to re-register the local population and land within one year. Those who did not return to their original place of residence after one year would be treated as displaced persons and sent to the army.
Inside the county government office, the magistrate sighed countless times. There was no disaster relief grain; he would have to pay for it himself.
The advisor remarked from the side, "It seems even the imperial court is poor."
The magistrate agreed, saying, "Yes, but thankfully, the situation for the disaster-stricken people in the county has been resolved. We just need to stabilize the refugees outside."
Suddenly, a guard came over and said that someone was requesting an audience.
The magistrate and his advisor exchanged a knowing smile; another easy target was about to be taken advantage of.
In the past few days, merchants from other places have been coming into the city one after another, all of them for bracken root powder. They have also brought caravans, and the influx of a large amount of supplies has alleviated the shortage of supplies in the county.
Many merchants learned that the county magistrate paid special attention to Anping Village, and they all assumed that the county magistrate had grasped a lot of the business opportunities in Anping Village that had not been exposed to outsiders. So they would send gifts to visit and sound him out.
Adhering to the idea that "it's stupid not to make money," the magistrate and his clerk worked together to deceive outsiders and sell the publicly available blueprints at high prices, making a considerable amount of money.
This wasn't something the county magistrate started; everyone in the county was doing it. He was just following the trend.
Merchants who own factories in the county are especially adept at deceiving people.
Locals all do this, but because it's considered undignified, everyone tacitly avoids mentioning it. Whenever someone asks, they say that things from Anping Village are priceless and you can't get anything without connections, and then they exaggerate the watermill as if it were a divine object from heaven.
Once they've convinced you enough, they'll mysteriously claim they've obtained the blueprints and then sell them at a high price.
At first, when ordinary people said they had obtained the blueprints, some out-of-town merchants didn't believe them, while others did. However, some people were ripped off because they asked for too high a price, causing widespread panic.
Later, I realized that without connections, those who wanted to make a fortune wouldn't live to enjoy it, while those who made a small fortune were unwilling to accept it and lived in constant fear.
So they joined forces with influential local merchants and wealthy households. The merchants were responsible for luring people there, while the local influential people were responsible for selling the blueprints at high prices. Once they got the money, they would give the merchants a reward. As long as the sale was successful, the reward would usually be no less than twenty taels of silver. This was the rule.
The village chief of Anping Village discussed it with Old Man Chen and came forward to make this rule. If people want to use their village's products to cheat outsiders and make a lot of money, they will pretend not to see it and will not cause any trouble. However, they cannot ruin the reputation of their village, nor can they oppress the ordinary people too much.
The common people benefited from Anping Village's involvement, and whenever they met outsiders, they would enthusiastically praise Anping Village's products.
And those businessmen were sensible enough to share a little bit of the profits with their partners after getting such a good deal.
On this day, a large wave of outsiders poured into Anping Village. Most of them stayed at Liu's Restaurant, some stayed at the inn run by the village chief, and even some people stayed at the small innkeepers in the village.
This incident sparked another round of gossip among the villagers.
An older woman said enviously, "I heard that Liu's Restaurant has a lot of guests this time. Business is really good!"
A woman agreed, saying, "That's right, that's right. But apart from the Liu family, the other families in our village that have built inns have been doing quite well these past few days. I heard that those out-of-towners are very generous with their money, and they even give them tips when they're happy."
Others were also discussing it.
One person said, "Wow! This is really making money while lying down. I guess it won't be long before we've made back our initial investment."
Another person said mysteriously, "Did you know that besides the cost of accommodation, we can also earn a lot from food? Although most merchants eat at Liu's Inn, some people also eat our local farm dishes."
An uncle said, "I've heard that many guests at the village chief's inn like to order fried tofu dregs as a snack. Not only that, but they often take a big bag of both fried and unfried tofu dregs with them when they leave."
An older woman said, "Old Cai's vegetables at the end of the village are selling quite well. A few days ago, they even bought all of my vegetables. They used a whole old room in their house specifically for heating the kang (a traditional heated brick bed) and growing vegetables. I didn't expect them to use it all up in one go."
Since everyone experienced building sheds to grow potted vegetables, their thinking has been broadened. After the Chen family's heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) came out, some people wondered if they could grow vegetables in a warm environment. Unexpectedly, they actually succeeded.
Soon, growing vegetables on heated brick beds became popular in the village. Vegetables were in short supply in winter, and the Liu family bought them at high prices. Several guesthouses in the village also bought them at the same price as the Zhang family.
In addition, the village chief issued a special notice to temporarily prohibit villagers from selling vegetables outside the village. This was not only because the village did not have enough vegetables to consume, but also because he wanted to attract people from other places to the village.
Now is the time when vegetables are in short supply, and those who want to try something new have to come to Anping Village. When people come, they have to spend money, and that's how the village makes money.
The village chief explained the benefits to the villagers, and everyone agreed.
In the designated area in the village for parking horse-drawn carriages, several large horses were grazing, their nostrils puffing out hot air, while a few little children stood not far away, staring intently at the horses.
Although they had been watching for several days, the children still couldn't get enough of it. Some of the bolder ones even reached out their little hands to touch the horse's head.
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