One villager said sourly, "How did they manage to scrape together enough money to build a brick house?"
The family explained, "It's nothing much. We just made some money last year by following in the footsteps of the Chen family, and we also have a fire pit. We managed to build it by scraping together what we could from here and there."
An older man said, "Since you've saved so much money, why don't you use it to hire people to clear the land? Then you won't have to worry about going hungry once you've produced enough grain."
Now, the families who had said they wanted to build brick and tile houses fell silent.
Their ideas were different. Now they had food and didn't have to go hungry. Clearing land and growing grain was something that could be done in a lifetime, so there was no need to rush and they could take their time.
However, building a brick house is something that might not be possible in a lifetime. Now that they have the opportunity and labor is cheap, they must seize this opportunity.
Of course, there was an element of gambling in their bets. They were betting that the fern root powder factory wouldn't go bankrupt, that they wouldn't have to worry about food, and that the planning and construction of Anping Village would bring more benefits to everyone.
Of course, most importantly, following in the footsteps of the Zhou family is always the right thing to do.
The remaining families had more conservative ideas. They were afraid that there wouldn't be enough food in the future, so they all wanted to hire more workers to clear land and grow grain. Although they had thought about building new houses, they definitely wouldn't build brick and tile houses.
The village chief was very supportive of the families who wanted to build brick and tile houses.
He was very happy that some villagers were able to build houses with blue bricks and tiles, which showed that he was a good leader. When word got out that the villagers were able to build houses with blue bricks and tiles, he felt very proud.
Old Man Chen also suggested building a private school in the village. There was a teacher in his family workshop who had fled here from famine. He planned to settle down in Anping Village with his family, and all that was left was to go through the formalities at the government office.
The schoolteacher brought up the matter with him. He wanted to settle down in Anping Village. If the village chief agreed, he was willing to teach the children in the village, only needing to pay a small amount of grain as a token of his willingness.
As soon as the matter was brought up, the village chief immediately agreed happily, and the villagers all agreed as well.
This is great news! Their child will be able to read a few characters in the future. Who wouldn't be happy?
Of course, the happiest person was Old Man Chen. The Chen family's income was not bad now. He had planned to send his younger children to school after the New Year, but his good son and Xiao Tian were too young. He was reluctant to send them to school for early education, but he knew that these two boys were good students and could not afford to delay their studies.
With this matter settled, the village chief proposed building a pig farm in the village.
Running a pig farm was something I never dared to dream of before. In the past, the village chief greatly envied those villages that could afford to run pig farms. Even though it was a joint effort by the whole village, it was still quite remarkable.
Now, their village is gradually becoming wealthier, and he wants to gather everyone's strength to start a pig farm. Although the chances are not great, he still wants to try.
As soon as Old Man Chen heard the village chief say that he wanted to raise pigs, he immediately shouted, "I agree! My family will provide three piglets."
Everyone was surprised and looked at Old Man Chen with suspicion, as it was the first time they had seen him so generous.
The village chief asked, "Are you also planning to build a pig farm?"
Old Man Chen boasted, "Of course, and my pig farm will be bigger than the pig farm in the village."
With Old Man Chen leading the way, the village chief said, "My family will also produce three piglets."
Although the village chief's family also had a small factory, they had also built an inn, so they didn't have much food or money left. But the Chen family had already produced three chickens, and he didn't want to lose face.
One after another, other families also spoke out.
In the end, with many hands making light work, they managed to get a total of thirty piglets.
A few days later, just as dawn broke, wealthy families in Luoshan County urged their servants to quickly load the cooked porridge onto the carts, and then set off in a grand procession towards the outskirts of the city.
Outside the city, large numbers of refugees from nearby states lay or stood.
At the city gate, a large number of soldiers surrounded the area, with one layer of soldiers carrying spears, another layer carrying broadswords, another layer of archers, and a final layer of a few cavalrymen, making the city gate completely impassable.
This defense was built to ensure the safety of the wealthy households in the city when distributing porridge, and also to ensure the safety of the people in the city. If people a mile away caused trouble, the city gates would be closed to prevent refugees from entering the city and causing trouble.
This year, more refugees flocked to Luoshan County than last year, and there were quite a few disturbances, but fortunately, they were quelled without serious incident.
What could keep so many people in check, besides the fearsome female assassin, was the act of distributing porridge.
There are an unusually large number of refugees this year, but there are also an unusually large number of people distributing porridge.
The heavy city gate slowly opened.
The refugees began to stir, but were gradually calmed down by the private guards of each household.
Outside the city gate, nearly a hundred queues had formed. The guards of wealthy families inside the city maintained order, kicking out anyone who dared to cut in line, dragging those who dared to push and shove and cause a disturbance to the back of the queue, and beheading anyone who dared to incite trouble.
For the sake of the city's safety, the wealthy will not show any mercy.
The county magistrate also turned a blind eye, but when it was necessary to be ruthless, he had to be ruthless.
Besides the intimidating effect of beheading, the first few criteria also held weight in the minds of the refugees. Being kicked out meant having to queue up again, and the distance to receiving porridge seemed endless. Being pushed to the back was also an ordeal.
Soon, the stewards of each wealthy household skillfully went to the refugee teams they were assigned to, and set up tents to distribute porridge within a hundred-meter radius of the soldiers.
The officers and soldiers let in twenty people at a time to line up, and only after five people had been taken in did they let the next five people in.
Each family also assigned 20 strong guards with clubs to watch over this small group.
The wealthy residents in the city were afraid of death, but they couldn't resist the temptation, so they kept strict checks at every level.
The first person in line to receive porridge quickly received a bowl and then underwent questioning.
Those who had previously worked as laborers at the city gates were randomly selected from those who passed the tests inside the city and were then assigned to work.
Those with problems should be detained and handed over to the authorities.
In addition to the porridge they received, refugees outside the city could choose to work in the city. Their basic wage was eight hours, two black steamed buns, and a bowl of thin porridge. For extra hours, they could exchange one bowl of wild vegetable soup for one hour and one black steamed bun for two hours.
The refugees entered the city in the morning and were sent out when the city gates closed in the evening. It was very difficult to do extra work hours, and the work hours were not accumulated and were reset to zero after a day.
These methods originated from Anping Village, and were adopted by the county town and many other places that recruited refugees for work. They all agreed on a very consistent and tacit understanding: how much grain to give, neither too much nor too little. Giving too much would attract thieves, and giving too little would make people unwilling to work.
This method, similar to work-for-relief, was successfully implemented due to the circumstances. If the county had not been affected by the disaster, the fern root powder factory would not have been established, and fertile fields would have turned into wasteland. No one would have been willing to follow Chishan Village's example.
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