Chapter 202
202
After Cheng Yeran finished the meeting with the landlords, he asked his lawyer to take people to the outskirts of the city and several county towns to hold meetings and hire farmers to farm. Now was not the farming season, so he planned to first hire them to build the farm and the necessary schools, canteens and clinics. In addition to farming, they also had to raise livestock, so livestock sheds were essential.
The lawyer first went to the outskirts of the city to inform the farmers there. They heard that the landlord's land had become Mr. Cheng's, and that Mr. Cheng would employ them in the future. They were very frightened. Although the landlord had withheld their wages in the past, he at least gave them food to eat. How could the officials give money to the people? Normally, they worked for the officials for free.
They also heard that even the landlords and some wealthy businessmen in the city gave money to the officials. How could the officials give them money? Maybe we'll even beat them.
They just treated it as corvée labor, and were allowed to be whipped, as long as they were given food to eat and did not starve to death.
As a result, on the first day of work, no officials came with whips to urge them to work. Instead, they were given work tasks to do. They couldn't help but feel relieved, and some even started to be lazy.
A meal was provided at noon, and a part of the meal was selected from the husbands and wives of these people. The rest could also help work. One more person working meant more wages. However, they did not believe that Lord Cheng would pay them, so they did not ask their wives to come.
After they had hot meals at noon and received their wages in the evening, they regretted their decision and wished they had called the whole family over.
But they still had doubts. They looked at the wages in their hands and felt confused. Would they really get paid? Am I dreaming? Or we only have money today, use the money to attract more people to come and help Mr. Cheng with his work. When too many people come, they won't have to pay. But even if they don't pay, they can still eat stew with meat slices, which is also cost-effective. Call the whole family to work tomorrow.
But soon someone noticed that the amount of money each person had was different. Some had only one or two cents, while others had more than ten cents.
The steward sent by Cheng Yeran said, "Master Cheng said that the more you work, the more you get. I have noted down who does the most work and who does the least. Those who do the least get the least. Master Cheng also instructed that those who work hard should be selected from among you to be stewards. Stewards will get more money. You must perform well."
Everyone held the copper coins in their hands, and the aroma of food wafted from afar. It was said that the meals were free in the first month, and would be charged after that, but the price was very cheap, and they were full of enthusiasm.
The next morning, the farm manager saw many people coming with their families, some with their 70-year-old mothers, and others with their four-year-old children.
When they arrived, they were about to pick up tools to work, but the steward hurriedly stopped them: "Master Cheng said that we need men and women aged between fourteen and fifty. Those who don't meet the age requirements should go home immediately and stop wasting time. Even if you stay, you won't be paid or fed."
After hearing this, those people were dejected and wanted to leave, but then they heard the steward say, "This house you built is a school. Master Cheng said that all children in the family can be sent to the school to study. There is no tuition fee, and two meals are provided. It's up to you whether you come or not."
These farmers all had children at home. After looking at their own hungry children who were pale and skinny, they sped up the construction of schools and canteens.
Those farmers who owned their own land saw that they received money and had food to eat every day, and they also wanted to work on the farms, but those farms only recruited those who did not have land, and they were reluctant to sell their land, so they were extremely envious.
But they also heard that regardless of whether or not they were from a farm, they could send their children to school and have free meals.
They are also looking forward to the school being completed soon.
The school was built earlier than expected, everyone made a lot of money, and the children were sent to school. Cheng Yeran found a teacher to teach the children.
In addition to the school, they also build barns, farm fences and other constructions, and receive money every day.
Cheng Yeran said that they would be paid on a daily basis in the first month and on a monthly basis in the second month. They had no objection. They could have enough food every day, saved some money, and their children were all in school. They completely believed that Cheng Yeran was a good official who cared about the people.
At the same time, the cement plant and several school factories in the city are almost completed.
Before, he had let those prisoners work. They had to wear shackles and be watched every day while working. Cheng Yeran also specially arranged for them to work next to ordinary workers, eat next to them, and especially when it was time to get their wages, they were also next to them.
Those who were sent to prison originally had a good life. They had free meals every day, a place to live, free soap and clothes, and they were given work to do and received a penny a day. Although the pay was little, they had no worries about food and shelter, and they had nowhere to spend the money. After staying in prison for a few years, they could still save some money.
But when they saw that those ordinary workers did the same work as them every day, but ate better than them, with white flour buns and meat dishes, and their daily wages were dozens of times theirs, they felt unbalanced.
I originally thought that those workers all had backgrounds, they were relatives of the manager or even relatives and friends of government officials, but later I found out that they were just ordinary people.
Anyone who is unemployed can go to the government office to register. The government office has a special department to help assign jobs and you can choose. People who have skills and can read and write have more options. People who have no income and cannot read and write can also find physical labor jobs. The wages are not low, but it is too tiring.
Many parents see that those with skills can earn more money and can even become teachers in schools to teach people skills, so they also think about sending their children to school.
When the technical school in the city starts, everyone will take their children to the school to register. The registration fee is not high. The people in the city have made money recently and don’t mind the tuition.
Especially for subjects like clothing production technology, there is no tuition fee. After graduation, students can go directly to work in Shen Yuntang's clothing factory. Shen Yuntang is the husband of Mr. Cheng. Working in his factory has better benefits and is like getting on the big ship of the Cheng family and having a backer. But when they heard that only girls and boys are recruited, those who wanted to send their boys to study were full of jealousy and injustice, but families with girls and boys were overjoyed.
But they are also worried that if they send their children there to study, they will just be old enough to work in a garment factory and then they will be old enough to get married. Wouldn't it be a waste of money, and in the end the money would be earned by the in-laws?
However, there are age restrictions for entering schools and working in garment factories. Some families who love their daughters and sons have already sent their children to school. The school also has a limited number of places. After all, there are limited classrooms and a limited number of sewing machines. A maximum of 100 people can be admitted.
Just when some parents were hesitating, the quotas were filled. Later, the marriage age for girls and boys in the city was raised to 18 or 19. They could go to work in a factory at the age of 15 and earn dozens of taels of silver after working for three years. Moreover, it was easier for girls and boys who worked in a garment factory to find a husband. Those families who hesitated and thought it was a waste of money to send their daughters and boys to school regretted it now.
After the schools and factories were built, there were more job opportunities in the city and the crime rate decreased. People who had previously gone to jail to get enough food now found decent jobs outside and earned money to support themselves.
The sugar factory also produced the first batch of white sugar, and the glass factory also produced
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A batch of colorful glass bottles.
Five-color glazed bottles is the name given to the glass bottles by Cheng Yeran. These bottles are not perfume bottles but white sugar bottles. They are not for sale but for giving as New Year gifts to the emperor.
He told the people at the sugar factory that the first batch of sugar would not be sold after it was produced, but would be sent to the palace to be presented to the emperor. If the emperor approved of the taste, then their white sugar would become famous.
Cheng Yeran had used the emperor to advertise his products many times before, and this time he used the same old trick for white sugar. Moreover, this thing was indeed a good thing, and by presenting it to the emperor, the emperor would still remember his kindness.
When Old Du from the sugar factory heard that the white sugar was going to be presented to the emperor, he watched the workers making it every day, fearing that any mistake would bring harm to his entire family.
Cheng Yeran comforted him: "The emperor is not that scary. His Majesty will like our white sugar. If he is happy, he will give you a lot of rewards. His Majesty is a generous person."
Old Du broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this. Lord Cheng was indeed a big shot. When he spoke of the Emperor, it was as if he was mentioning an old friend. He was not afraid at all. But he was different. He was just an ordinary person and could not be as calm as Cheng Yeran. From the day Cheng Yeran told him, he had been living in fear. He did not feel slightly relieved until the sugar was loaded on the truck and transported to Beijing. However, he did not relax completely, for he was afraid that the Emperor would get sick from eating the sugar and their whole family would suffer.
Lao Du was very anxious every day and couldn't sleep. His mind was full of the emperor's furious look. What if the emperor thought that the candy was not presentable, or someone deliberately framed him and put some poison in his candy, then their whole family would be finished. He felt a little resentful towards Cheng Yeran. Why did he cause him so much trouble?
…
On the other hand, the emperor just received a gift from Cheng Yeran during the New Year. He knew that Cheng Yeran always had some wonderful ideas, but since he went to such a poor place, what good things could he send to him?
When he opened the box and saw the colorful glass bottle, he was amazed by it.
He had used the perfume made by Cheng Guo Ye Ran before. The perfume bottle was crystal clear and very beautiful, and the perfume inside also smelled good.
This glass bottle is different from the last one. The bottle body has exquisite patterns and more brilliant colors, and it seems to be filled with something.
He opened the bottle and found tiny white particles inside.
"What is this?" asked the emperor.
The eunuch at the side answered: "The person sent by Lord Cheng to deliver the New Year gift said that it contains white sugar."
After looking at the gift list, the emperor realized that what Cheng Yeran gave was not the exquisite bottle, but the white sugar inside.
"White sugar, this name is very good." The emperor had never seen such fine sugar before. He tasted some and found it sweeter than the sugar he had eaten before. "It always surprises me."
This time, Cheng Yeran brought a total of ten cans of sugar. The emperor kept one can for himself, gave five cans to the empress, princes and favored concubines, and the rest were rewarded to the ministers.
The ministers who received white sugar from the emperor were all ministers who were highly valued by the emperor. At first, they were a little surprised when they heard that the emperor had sent them a can of sugar. Normally, the emperor was very generous and sent them valuable things, but this time he only sent them a can of sugar. What was his intention?
They opened the box with a lot of questions in their eyes, and saw the colorful glazed sugar jar inside. Their eyes widened in surprise. His Majesty's gift of candy was fake, and this jar must be real!
They couldn't let go of the jar, and after opening it, they were surprised again by the white sugar inside. They immediately went to check the origin of the sugar, and found out that it was a gift from Cheng Yeran to the emperor, and it was already on sale in the capital.
Yuanbao originally wanted to visit Cheng Yeran before the New Year, but Cheng Yeran told him not to go for the time being and asked him to open a shop first and then send a batch of goods to him to sell during the New Year.
Yuanbao saw in the letter that his cousin said he wanted to sell candy, and the candy was in a glass sugar jar. If someone else asked him to sell candy, he would definitely be disdainful, thinking that there was nothing good about selling candy. But since his cousin said he wanted to sell candy, then this candy was not ordinary candy.
After he received the goods, he was really dazzled.
My cousin brought two kinds of candy, one in a glass jar and the other in paper wrapper.
The prices of the two kinds of sugar are very different. With the glass jar, a jar costs one hundred taels of silver, while the sugar without the glass jar only costs two qian of silver per bag.
This price clearly tells everyone that the expensive part is the glass jar.
Even though each can cost 100 taels, it was sold out in an instant. Yuanbao made a fortune during the Chinese New Year, and he was beaming with joy. He was very generous and said that he would treat everyone to a drink on the 15th day of the first lunar month and to the lantern festival as well.
He called Liu Ya, Lin Yu and Ye Gou, and asked them to bring their families to the Jinyu Tower for a dinner.
Fu'an has been staying in the general's mansion since he married the wild dog. After he found that the wild dog was not that scary, he took care of the wild dog's food and daily life every day. Unexpectedly, the wild dog was also taking care of him. He dressed the wild dog in clothes in the morning, and the wild dog also dressed him, combed his hair, and sometimes fed him. He found that the wild dog especially liked to watch him eat, and also liked to make some beautiful clothes for him to wear, and wore different clothes for him every day.
Sometimes the wild dog would bring him some food or new toys bought from outside and watch him eat and play. He always felt that the wild dog treated him like a child, and the two of them did not seem like a couple.
They had been married for several months, but had never slept together. Fu'an was still quite afraid of sleeping together, but since the other party didn't mention it, he didn't care.
On weekdays, Yuanbao would go to the general's mansion to find them, have a meal with them and chat. Ye Gou would occasionally feed him food in front of Yuanbao and Lord Yang, and would even rub his head, which made him very embarrassed.
This time, when he heard that Yuanbao invited them out for a party and also wanted to invite the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, General Shao and the General's wife, he was shy and didn't dare to go. He was also afraid that Wild Dog would make some intimate gestures towards him in front of those people, so he didn't dare to go out.
He is a little autistic and feels most comfortable staying at home. Taking a step outside would cause him great pain. Talking to strangers or sitting with them is like torture. However, he has a people-pleasing personality and could not refuse Yuanbao, so he had to agree to go out with him.
There were a lot of people on the way there. Today everyone came out to participate in the lantern festival. It was very lively and bustling. Listening to these noises made him breathe hard, especially when he arrived at the Jinyu Tower and saw people coming and going in the building. There were many people on the first floor crowded by the fence to watch the newly selected girl group perform singing and dancing. He felt even more uncomfortable and moved closer to the wild dog. Only by staying with familiar people and smelling familiar smells could he feel a little more at ease.
A person squeezed past him, and he was so scared that he immediately reached out to pull the stray dog's sleeve, wanting to hold the other person and ease the discomfort of contact with a stranger, but he ended up pulling the stray dog's hand. He hurriedly withdrew his hand, suddenly raised his head to look at the stray dog, and watched the other's reaction in fear.
Although the wild dogs would help him put on his clothes on weekdays, he usually wore his inner clothes. The wild dogs would help him put on his clothes, and he would tie his belt and waistband himself. The two of them still did not have much close contact.
Holding hands is already a very intimate act. Will the wild dog dislike him?
The wild dog was also looking at him. He was not good at making facial expressions, and his face remained calm as usual, but he was very excited in his heart, as if the cat at home had patted his hand with its paw.
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