With so many victims, if nothing was done about it, the good reputation Qingping Manor had just built would be tarnished. "I understand. I'll take care of it. You can go do your thing."
No house, no food, no money? Then she will give it to you!
The next day, Kang Yueran went to Heshunyuan and invited four partners and Deng Fengxian, the general manager of Heshun Trading Company.
The six people sat in the tea room, which was decorated by Kang Yueran. She took out tea leaves, made tea, and poured a cup for each person.
Let's get to the point! "I think you all know that nearly 10,000 disaster victims have gathered near the Heshun Wharf. Yesterday, dozens of them stopped Niu Dayan, wanting to go to work at the wharf.
Niu Dayan told me that those people were not unreasonable and seemed to be honest people, so he asked me to think of a solution.
Before Kang Yueran finished speaking, the others became nervous.
Zuo Bai's eyelids jumped. "Boss Kang, you're not planning to recruit all the people to work at the docks, are you? We really can't use so many people."
Mu Lian nodded quickly. "With so many people, how much food do they need to eat every day? Master Kang, we really can't afford it!"
Kang Yueran smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, just listen to me. People have already settled near the dock. If we force them to leave, I'm afraid the Heshun Dock will be ruined before it's even built."
Meng Dechang said helplessly: "This is not our fault. If there were only a few hundred or a thousand people, we would consider it a good deed for ourselves if we helped them, but there are too many people. If we take care of these people, what if more people come?"
Kang Yueran said, "Don't worry, don't worry, listen to me first. Here's what I think. Let's separate these people according to their household registration.
For example, there are one hundred households in Changming County, and each household has two males. After these two hundred males return to the village with their families, they go to each village in order to rebuild their own houses.
We will pay for the wood to build the house and the food for the two hundred men, and each man will receive a hundred coins a month as wages and eighty catties of grain, which they can take home to support their wives and children."
Seeing the other people's eyes widened, Kang Yueran quickly explained, "But! The houses are divided into only two types: five-room adobe houses and ten-room adobe houses.
Let them choose for themselves, and then sign the contract. If they choose five, two males from each family will work for us for a year; if they choose ten, they will work for us for two years, with food and lodging provided, and a monthly salary of 500 wen.
After the deadline, if you do a good job and are willing to stay, we will increase your monthly salary; if you don't do a good job, we can either extend the deadline or take back the house."
He Yifan said: "This is equivalent to us paying the wages in advance."
Zuo Bai said: "It costs six or seven taels to build a five-room earthen house. Add one hundred coins for labor and food, and you'll get fourteen or fifteen taels.
The coolies earn one tael of silver a month, and we deduct five hundred wen from them, so for two people that's twelve taels a year. It's not much to pay!"
Mu Lian asked, "Do we need so many people? There are already a thousand at the dock."
Kang Yueran said, "I will withdraw the more than 600 people in Kaoshan Village next year. I bought Baekdu Mountain and plan to make porcelain. Before, there were too many rotting corpses on Baekdu Mountain, and I was afraid of contracting an epidemic, so I didn't start the work."
Meng Dechang said, "With so many disaster victims, we should be able to build houses and settle their families before the New Year. After the New Year, we can start working. I think Mr. Kang's idea is good."
The other three also supported it, "Okay, that's it!"
He Yifan said, "We can pay the money, but we also need to let the court know about this matter to prevent some people from denying their responsibility later."
Few people dare to deny their mistakes, and most people are still very honest, but it is still necessary to be on the safe side.
Zuo Bai reminded him, "We have to explain this to the imperial court. We can't allow disaster victims to come to Heshun Wharf anymore."
Deng Fengxian said: "Then I will find someone to print the contract in the next two days." Engraving is very troublesome, but there are quite a few contracts needed this time, so engraving and printing is faster.
He Yifan nodded and said, "Then go ahead!" Deng Fengxian was the manager of his family.
Meng Dechang finished the tea in his cup and said, "Let's go and see His Royal Highness Prince Ping and Lord Guo."
Mu Lian also drank the tea in the cup and asked, "Master Kang, is your tea also from the south? How much is it? I also want to buy some to put in the teahouse. Can you help me contact someone?"
There was a large amount of tea in Kang Yueran's space. "The tea was roasted by my master. I'll ask him how much he has left and how much it costs. I'll tell you after you ask."
He Yifan said, "I want to buy some for myself, and leave some for me."
Zuo Bai and Meng Dechang also asked to buy tea.
Kang Yueran agreed to all of them. "My master seems to have a tea plantation in the south. There should be a lot of tea. I'll ask him to ship more over here."
The five of them went to the government office together and asked someone to invite Guo Tong over.
He Yifan stood up and repeated what Kang Yueran had said.
Guo Tong clapped his hands and laughed, "Brilliant! Master Kang, you're really smart. To be honest, I'm worried about the disaster victims. Liao Changsheng has hurt the people's hearts. If I force them to go home again, I'm afraid they'll be in chaos."
Chai Shijing also admired Kang Yueran for coming up with this idea. He looked at Kang Yueran tenderly and asked, "You have helped the court solve the problem. Have you thought about what reward you want?"
Kang Yueran had already made up his mind, "Our Heshun Company has helped the imperial court resettle so many disaster victims. I wonder if we could ask His Majesty to write a plaque for our company?"
Zuo Bai laughed three times. "Yes, yes, yes, Your Highness Prince Ping, please say a few kind words to me."
The plaque is good. It is hung at Heshun Wharf. Not only merchants, but even officials appointed by the imperial court cannot offend them at will.
He gave Kang Yueran a thumbs-up and praised him sincerely, "Master Kang is truly a god!"
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