Chapter 54: Solutions
"Feng Zhang, you are here, come in quickly." Lord Zhang greeted him repeatedly.
Su Fengzhang hurriedly bowed and went in. Wen Zhu wanted to leave, but was pulled in by Lu Mingchuan.
Mr. Zhang was also a straightforward man. He motioned for him to come forward, then pointed to a booklet and said, "Take a look first."
Su Fengzhang looked down and saw the progress of the water control project in recent days. He had excellent calculation ability and he knew at a glance that the current progress was a bit slow.
"You two take a look too." Seeing that Su Fengzhang had almost finished looking, Lord Zhang spoke.
Wenzhu and Lu Mingchuan huddled together to read. Although they were good at studying, their mental arithmetic skills were obviously very average. After reading for a long time, they could not make any sense of it and just looked at Lord Zhang in confusion.
Lord Zhang sighed and thought to himself that talents cannot be found easily. It would be enough if he could find one among three.
Ignoring the two of them, Lord Zhang looked directly at Su Fengzhang: "Do you have a solution?"
Su Fengzhang gave a wry smile and said helplessly, "Master Zhang thinks too highly of me. This is truly beyond my ability."
There are only so many people here, and the work they can do every day is really limited. He can't create an excavator out of thin air. Even if he wants to invent cement, he can't remember the formula.
Upon hearing this, Lord Zhang was immediately disappointed. He sighed and said, "The higher-ups asked us to complete the project in a month, but half a month has already passed and we've only done a third of it. If we can't finish it on time, I'm afraid we'll all be in trouble."
Lu Mingchuan was anxious: "Sir, this...this is not enough people. What can we do? Should we impose more labor service?"
Before Master Zhang could say anything, Wenzhu retorted, "What nonsense are you talking about? Can corvée labor be imposed arbitrarily?"
"Then what do you say we should do? If the construction is delayed, we will all be held responsible. With that person's personality, we will definitely not get any benefits. This is too unlucky." Lu Mingchuan was terrified.
"Okay, stop arguing." Lord Zhang yelled impatiently, shutting them up.
Su Fengzhang suddenly thought of a solution and said tentatively, "It's not that there isn't a solution."
"Why don't you tell me quickly?" Lu Mingchuan muttered.
Su Fengzhang didn't care about his attitude and looked at Mr. Zhang with a smile: "This method is actually very simple. It is to get more people involved. With more people, things will naturally be done faster."
The other three thought it was a good idea, but were immediately disappointed when they heard this.
Lu Mingchuan snorted coldly, "Brother Fengzhang, how is your method any different from forced labor? I thought you had some good idea, but this is the result."
Wenzhu also said, "Yes, we can't do this recklessly. This year's river management has already required more corvée labor than in previous years. If we add more, I'm afraid the local people will complain."
Mr. Zhang still had some confidence in him and asked, "What's the story here?"
Su Fengzhang explained, "If we force people to do labor service, it's certainly not an option. Regardless of whether the people are willing, I'm afraid the imperial court won't be able to provide enough money and food. Furthermore, even if we wanted to, the Fifth Prince and Prefect Fang wouldn't agree."
"But if the local people volunteer to help, His Royal Highness the Fifth Prince and Prefect Fang would also be happy to see it happen."
Lu Mingchuan asked curiously, "How could the people willingly serve as corvee laborers? Do you think they are stupid?"
"If you don't speak, no one will think you're dumb." Wen Zhu retorted, then looked at Su Fengzhang, "Fengzhang, keep talking."
"Under normal circumstances, the people would naturally be unhappy," Su Fengzhang said with a smile, "but if there's profit to be made, it's different. People are driven by profit."
Even Lord Zhang was puzzled and asked curiously, "What profit can be made from dredging the river?"
Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "For ordinary people, it is indeed unprofitable, but it is different for the people around us."
"On the way here from Qingzhou Prefecture, I saw that most of the surrounding fields were barren. The nearest village was a mile away. I asked the officials and found out that this area had been severely affected by a flood. The houses had collapsed, and the fields had become barren. They had been soaked in water for too long, and some of the soil had even caked."
"It's not just the situation nearby; the entire Qingzhou area is experiencing this situation. The floods have taken the lives of countless people and also stripped away the fertility of the farmland, turning the once fertile land into barren."
"Among the laborers here, several are from nearby villages. They said this year's harvest might not be good, so they're just trying to do the labor. Firstly, it saves one person's food rations, and secondly, it also allows them to earn some money for the court."
"That's true," Lord Zhang explained. "This labor service covers a wide range of areas. The court is afraid of causing chaos, so the common people who come to serve will receive one or two taels of silver as resettlement allowance."
"Although the Fifth Prince is a man... he is not greedy. This money can be distributed to the people."
Wen Zhu was confused and asked curiously, "Feng Zhang, are other people also coming here for the money and ignoring their own affairs at home?"
"Even if they are willing to come, we can't afford the extra money. The number of labor quotas is fixed." Lu Mingchuan was not optimistic about this method.
Su Fengzhang shook his head and said, "What I mean is, since there's a shortage of fertilizer in the Qingzhou area, it's difficult to buy Renzhonghuang in Qingzhou Prefecture right now. If there was free fertilizer, wouldn't the people rush to take it home?"
"Where do we get fertilizer?" Lu Mingchuan became even more confused.
But Master Zhang suddenly realized what was happening and said in surprise, "You mean the silt in the Qingjiang River?"
Su Fengzhang nodded and smiled, "Yes, this silt has been deposited for a long time. When I went down to dig it out just now, I found a lot of rotten leaves and water plants in it. The fertility of the silt is definitely not as good as real fertilizer, but for the people who are short of fertilizer, these things are very rare and free of charge."
"This, can you use mud to farm?" Wen Zhu asked in surprise.
"Extracting fertile mud from ponds and canals for fertilizer is one of the greatest ways to improve the soil," Master Zhang read out a sentence and nodded. "The ancients also used this method."
But he soon frowned again: "I'm afraid that even if we tell them, the people may not believe us."
Lu Mingchuan also nodded. "Yes, the people are ignorant. If we directly tell them that silt can be used as fertilizer, they probably won't believe us. They might even think we are asking them to work for nothing."
In fact, isn't it just making people work in vain? Lu Mingchuan didn't believe that silt could be used as fertilizer. He felt that Su Fengzhang really dared to say anything. If silt was useful, the farmers would know it.
"It's really hard for the people to believe what you say directly," Su Fengzhang added. "In fact, since ancient times, many skilled farmers have known that lotus pond mud can fertilize the fields, but using mud from the Qingjiang River is rare."
"So we have to think of a good way to make the people believe and come willingly," said Su Fengzhang.
Lord Zhang looked up at him, and couldn't help but sigh once again in his heart that the young were formidable: "Do you have any good ideas?"
Su Fengzhang smiled slightly and whispered in their ears.
As he spoke, Wenzhu's eyes became brighter and brighter. He clapped his hands and said, "That's a good idea."
Lu Mingchuan glanced at Master Zhang's changing expression and said hesitantly, "Isn't this a lie?"
Wen Zhu said, "How can this be considered a lie? We are just doing it for the sake of convenience. Ultimately, the people are the ones who benefit."
Master Zhang was a little hesitant, but thinking of the progress bar weighing on his head, he quickly said, "In that case, I'll leave this matter to the three of you. Make sure you do it well and don't cause any major chaos."
Early the next morning, Su Fengzhang asked the supervisors to tell the laborers that all the excavated silt should be piled in one place and not thrown around randomly. When the supervisors asked the reason, they were vague.
The most irritating thing was to leave the sentence unsaid. Soon someone asked Lu Mingchuan to come over. Su Fengzhang got along well with them, but for some reason, both the supervisor and the laborer were a little reserved in front of this person.
Lu Mingchuan was different. After a few days of working there, he got along well with the supervisors, but he didn't talk to the laborers that way.
When they asked, Lu Mingchuan secretly revealed a piece of information: "The news from Qingzhou Prefecture says that silt can fertilize the fields and is a good thing. Let them collect it well. When the soldiers come to collect it, they can sell it to the landlords and make a fortune."
Seeing that he had let the cat out of the bag, Lu Mingchuan said again, "Don't say I said that."
He muttered mysteriously, "Actually, we can sell some of it privately. This silt is free anyway, and no one can remember how much there is. Can the prefect really weigh it one by one?"
After he said this, the supervisor was indeed tempted. This time, the Fifth Prince acted decisively and ruthlessly. He dealt with several officials who had embezzled money and grain right from the start, scaring them so much that they dared not act rashly.
Life is hard without money, but it’s good to have a way out in front of us now.
The supervisor wanted to release a bunch of them secretly, but the news could not be concealed, and within a day all the local laborers knew about it.
They whispered to each other in private, half believing and half doubting. Some thought it was unreliable and that silt could not be a good thing, but some thought it made sense and that what the prefect wanted must be something useful.
The next day, the government really sent people to transport a batch of silt away. Although those people looked disgusted, the laborers saw it and really believed it.
It’s okay for those who live far away, I just feel it’s a pity that I didn’t know it earlier.
The family in the neighboring village became interested and sneaked out that night to deliver the message.
They are familiar with the local area and have no problem running back and forth in one night. More importantly, the supervision here is not strict and the supervisors turn a blind eye to it.
On the third day after the news spread, a lot of people suddenly came to the riverside, each carrying a load and a hoe, looking very aggressive.
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