September of the third year of Longqing.

The golden wind blows across Jeju Island, and unknowingly, it dyes the maple trees, camphor trees and other trees on Halla Mountain into rich colors of golden, light yellow and dark green.

The oranges all over the mountains are red, the cattle, sheep and horses are fat, and the crops are ripe. It is the most pleasant harvest season in Tamra Island.

The servants and refugees of the Li Dynasty on the island also had rare smiles on their faces. Although all the harvests had nothing to do with them, at this time of year, the masters would always let them have a full meal. Not only were there plenty of coarse grain rice balls, but they could even see minced fish in the brown rice porridge, and occasionally some smoked horse meat.

This year, the masters made it unprecedented and let them eat cold noodles and soybean paste soup, which are top-notch delicacies that cannot be eaten even during the Chinese New Year.

It was said that the Celestial Empire had rented two plots of land on the island to build a port warehouse or something. Not only did they pay a hefty rent, they also purchased a large amount of various materials from the island masters, making them all rich.

This guess should be more reliable, because if you stand on the southern foot of Halla Mountain and look towards the sea, you can see the new long wall.

Many refugees who were grazing in the mountains witnessed the whole process of the wall growing taller and longer every day. It was a hundred times faster than when they built the county town!

When the Dajing County City, which was only 400 meters in radius, was rebuilt, it took more than a year for the servants of the entire county, under the leadership of the craftsmen, to complete it.

It took only a month to build this ten-mile long wall before their eyes. It was much higher than the county wall next to it.

They originally thought that Dajing County was the third largest city in the world after Jeju Mucheng and the capital, and they were very proud of it.

Now, against the backdrop of the high walls, the great county town suddenly became cramped and shabby, which made them very sad.

But soon, they felt a stronger sense of pride again because of the high walls.

Although this great city wall was built by the Celestial Empire, our dynasty is the son of the Ming Dynasty, so this city wall is equivalent to ours!

But besides being proud, they also wanted to see what the Chinese were doing inside the wall. How lucky and honored it would be if they could be selected to work for the Chinese like those lucky ones.

In fact, their freedom was only restricted by the rulers of the Li Dynasty. The three gates on the long wall were open during the day, and the guards did not stop any islanders from entering. Moreover, the notice board next to the door clearly stated that everyone was welcome to come here to legally do business, work and settle down.

Oh, by the way, this place is now called 'New Port City'.

~~

The city of Xingang within the long wall is far from prosperous, and can only be described as a busy construction site.

There are more than 10,000 workers working hard in the entire Xingang city.

The main force of the construction was the engineering team that Jiangnan Group transferred from Chongming Island. They had built cities and dikes before, so they were quite experienced. And most importantly, they had been integrated into the system of Jiangnan Group, so their obedience and initiative in work were unparalleled.

In this regard, Zhao Hao's employee rank system played a huge role. Thousands of temporary workers were promised when they signed up that as long as they performed well, they could be converted to regular employees when the Xingang City project was completed. Once converted, they could enjoy the benefits of regular employees, such as medical insurance, promotion based on seniority, and other favorable conditions. Naturally, they would work hard.

The regular employees who serve as group leaders and team leaders dare not be careless at all, for fear that they will be demoted or even fired if they make a mistake.

In this age where birth, aging, sickness and death are all uncertain, the sense of security that Jiangnan Group provides to its employees is enough to make them willing to give everything for it.

~~

In addition to the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, there were also two thousand official slaves and exiles of the Li Dynasty who were sent to work for the Jiangnan Group as agreed.

From the moment these people stepped into this long wall, they became overseas employees of Jiangnan Group.

The title of "overseas workers" sounds very fashionable, but both the salary and welfare benefits are much lower than those of temporary workers from the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, they had to hand over 70% of their income to the officials of the Li Dynasty. However, these official slaves and exiles were already very content.

Many people who had been slaves for generations had never had their own income. When they received a stack of small silver coupons from the emperor after working for a month, they didn't know how to spend it.

The Ming Dynasty employees who were in charge of managing these overseas workers were dumbfounded. For the first time, they realized that there were people in this world who really didn't know how to spend money.

In fact, these Chinese employees are making a fuss about nothing. Even if the overseas employees have never eaten pork, they have never seen a pig run. They just can't accept that pieces of paper can be used as money.

Even in the Jiangnan area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, there are still people in the countryside who do not recognize silver notes. If they give copper coins to these overseas workers, do you think they know how to spend them?

The Ming employees told these poor people of the Li Dynasty that they could use these silver notes to buy things in shops in Xingang City and eat in restaurants...

However, there is no Jiangnan Bank on the island yet, so it is not possible to exchange it for silver for the time being.

Fortunately, although Xingang City is still a large construction site and the streets and municipalities are under construction, there are nearly 10,000 Ming Dynasty workers in the city, which would have been a high-income job in the Joseon Dynasty. Naturally, it attracted many Joseon Dynasty merchants to open restaurants, shops, bathhouses, casinos, brothels, etc.

However, the casino was cleared out not long after it opened. Young Master Zhao specifically instructed that Xingang City should severely crack down on gambling. Not only should public gambling be banned, but underground casinos should also be severely cracked down by the Xingang Police Station.

Xingang City is a place that is beyond the reach of the laws of the Li Dynasty. The City Hall Arbitration Tribunal can directly sentence you to death...

~~

Those hired workers of the Li Dynasty listened to the words of the great masters of the Celestial Empire, but still did not dare to set foot in the shops opened by people of their own dynasty.

Because in other places, the shops opened by people from the Li Dynasty prohibited them, the untouchables, from entering. And they were not sure whether the masters of this dynasty would recognize such small pieces of paper.

So they all rushed to the canteen of Jiangnan Group, because in addition to free meals, the canteen also sold some fruits, meat, wine and other things.

When they timidly handed the silver coupons in their hands to the Tianchao saleswoman behind the counter, the saleswoman refused to take the money and asked them what they wanted to buy.

The workers were dumbfounded, but it was not that they could not understand Chinese at all.

In fact, half of them were descendants of Han people who were exiled during the Yuan Dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China, so they naturally spoke Chinese in their daily lives. Moreover, most of the ancestors of the official slaves were high-ranking officials of the Joseon Dynasty. Even if their generation could not study Chinese in depth in the classroom, they could at least speak Chinese roughly through osmosis.

"What can we buy?" They really hadn't bought anything.

"As long as you have enough money, you can buy anything." The saleswoman pointed to the labels on the shelf behind her and said, "A roast chicken is 20 cents, a pound of braised beef is 30 cents, a pound of pork head is 30 cents, a pound of beef offal is 15 cents, a pound of pork offal is also 15 cents, and pig intestines are 80 cents..."

In addition, there are various seafoods, which are very cheap because they are all caught nearby.

As for drinks, the rice wine and white wine shipped from the Ming Dynasty are expensive, while the local rice wine is cheap... but in short, they are all reasonably priced. This place was originally designed to improve the meals of employees, not to make money. Naturally, the products are of good quality and low price, very affordable, and basically sold out every day.

Although the hired workers of the Li Dynasty did not have much money, only about two or three hundred coins, they could still buy a dozen roast chickens or thirty smoked fish, which was enough for them to improve their family's originally very hard life.

When they tremblingly handed over the silver coupons in exchange for roast chicken, smoked fish and rice wine, which they had hardly been able to eat even during the Chinese New Year, the employees of the Li Dynasty felt as if they were in a dream.

It was not until someone pinched them hard and they burst into tears that they realized they were not dreaming. They hurriedly put the remaining silver notes carefully away, put the food they bought in their arms, and rushed back to the county town to enjoy it with their families.

~~

At night, in a village outside Dajing County, a tiny light was on in a low thatched hut.

A hired worker's wife and two children stood around the roast chicken he bought, staring in amazement for a long while.

"Eat, why are you standing there?" The hired worker named Chezhuzi touched his two sons' heads and said, "This is the roast chicken your grandfather talked about."

"I saw them eating it when I was working at Jiang Bazong's house." His wife also said with a shocked look on her face: "I watched from the side for a long time, hoping to make Jiang Bazong feel guilty and give him some chicken heads and chicken feet to bring back for the children to taste."

As she spoke, she said with a grudge: "Hey, the food his family eats is cleaner than what a dog would eat!"

"Haha, don't envy him, we have food to eat too." Che Zhuzi was so generous that he gave two chicken legs to his twin sons Che Zhan and Che Zhen and said, "Remember, this is what Dad earned for you!"

"Yeah! Thank you, Dad!" Looking at the admiring eyes of his two sons, Che Zhuzi felt that she was so great.

Only a few of the official slaves could marry, let alone have children and eat roast chicken. I am simply the number one official slave in the universe... Oh no, I am now an employee of the Celestial Empire, huhahaha!

Che Zhuzi thought happily again that the captain also told them that when they become regular overseas employees in the future, their salary will be increased to 1,000 wen per month. And the share between them and the government will become 50-50. That means they can earn 500 wen per month.

If they can continue to work hard for the company, they may even have the opportunity to become Ming citizens and become formal employees of Jiangnan Group. At that time, they can completely get rid of their status as slaves of the Li Dynasty and become part of the Celestial Empire.

By then, I would no longer have to share the hard-earned wages with the masters of the Li Dynasty... Oh no, by then I would be the master of the Celestial Dynasty, and they would still be my shitty masters!