The tea drinkers interrupted, "Besides, we heard that Lord Hai was going to inspect Suzhou, so the local gentry decided to give up all the land they had occupied for many years."

"Oh?" Hai Rui asked curiously, "There are also gentry who voluntarily give up their land? This is really new."

"There are so many new things in Kunshan, this is just the beginning." The tea drinkers laughed and said, "After our master came, the common people have more jobs. Who would be willing to work for the landlord in the wind and rain for a year and end up with nothing to eat?"

"The landlords feel that farming is boring..." The tea shop owner refilled Hai Rui's cup and said, "The big families in our clan are discussing renting their fields to Kunkaisi for a long term so that they can free up their energy to focus on business."

"Oh?" Hai Rui was more and more surprised as he listened, and asked Captain Peng to take out a dozen copper coins and treat the guests to tea and snacks. Then he asked, "Isn't Suzhou in a recession recently? Some time ago, there was a commotion because of the unemployment of weavers. How come Kunshan has more jobs?"

Although Hai Gong is a god, he still has no idea about the magic of large-scale infrastructure.

"Didn't I say it? Because of our master!" Although the tea drinkers didn't understand what large-scale infrastructure was, they could clearly feel the changes in the past six months.

"Since we started building the levee, there has been so much work to do in our county!"

"Don't we get paid for repairing the dike?" When Hai Rui was repairing the Xin'an River dike in Chun'an County, he asked the people to bring their own dry food.

"That's all old news. When our county was building the first phase, we were provided with enough food." The tea drinkers said, "When it comes to the second phase, Kunkaisi will give us the starting salary."

"Ah?" Hai Rui couldn't help but feel ashamed. It was true that if you compare yourself to others, you will die. If you compare yourself to others, you will throw away goods. What he did in Chun'an was really unfair to his fellow villagers. "How much is the monthly fee?"

"It's hard to say. There are subsidies and rewards. Rice, flour, oil, salt and other things are distributed every month, which is more than one or two taels of silver." The old men said enviously: "And the meals are provided as before, which is pure profit. In good years, you can't find such work."

"Many families have three or five members working together," a tea drinker pointed at the tea shop owner and said with a smile, "For example, his three sons, two daughters-in-law, and his wife are also cooking at the construction site. They must be very happy with the money they make."

"It's all hard-earned money." The tea shop owner smiled from ear to ear and said, "Work hard this winter, and I'll find a wife for the third child next year."

Hai Rui understood. This was exactly what the guy had said when he and Zhao Hao were arguing... crossed it out and changed it to "during the debate."

Zhao Hao said that when people are extremely thirsty, the first glass of water they drink is the most thirst-quenching and useful. But after you drink past the point where you are no longer thirsty, it is useless to continue drinking, and you will feel more and more uncomfortable. This is the diminishing marginal utility of water.

The same is true for the allocation of social wealth. Money has many uses, and according to its importance, it can be roughly divided into four levels: survival use, living use, spiritual use, and squandering use.

As people gain more money, they will gradually use it for unimportant purposes, which is also a manifestation of diminishing marginal utility.

Obviously, when social resources are relatively limited and the gap between the rich and the poor is too large, appropriately tilting resources toward the grassroots people will have the greatest benefit to the entire society.

This is exactly what Lao Tzu said, 'The Way of Heaven is to reduce the surplus and make up for the deficiency'!

Hai Rui once again clearly felt that Zhao Hao's words, "Whether a society is stable or not depends on the efficiency of the allocation of social resources," were indeed very reasonable.

Kunkaisi could have used the people of Kunshan for free and reaped all the benefits, but it was able to take out a portion of its profits to distribute to the people, allowing wealth to be more efficiently allocated throughout the county and to achieve higher marginal utility, which really makes people look at it with new eyes.

Unfortunately, everyone understands the principle of letting water flow to raise fish, but everyone still wants to eat all the food for themselves. How many people are willing to make concessions on their own initiative?

I'm afraid that if it weren't for the relationship with Zhao Shouzheng, Kunkai Company or Jiangnan Company would not be so generous, right?

At this time, Mr. Zhao, who was in Xishan and had not yet gotten off the boat, sneezed loudly. In fact, I am a noble person, a pure person, a person who has escaped from vulgar tastes...

~~

Seeing that no one was taking care of the business, Hai Rui simply stopped acting and sat down next to a few tea drinkers to chat.

He then asked, "I heard that the third phase of the project will be completed as early as this month. Will there be good things like this next year? It won't last long."

"Don't worry about it, old man. The master has already said that next year the county will have to build roads and bridges, dig canals and dredge silt. After these works are completed, Kunkaisi will still have 200,000 to 300,000 acres of land waiting to be cultivated."

The tea drinkers said without any worries: "We have planted mulberry trees and cotton on the land. In the future, we will have to raise silkworms, pick cotton, reel silk and gin cotton, right? Won't this all require manpower? Kun Kaisi has guaranteed that if you work for them, you will only earn more than you do now, not less."

"Besides, Kunkaisi has also accepted work in Chongming. If they want to earn more, they can go and repair the seawall. I heard that those who go there are paid as craftsmen, starting at two taels per month." The tea drinkers laughed and said, "Is Kunkaisi worried about not getting any projects? If they do accept a project, won't our people lead the work?"

"It seems that the people of Kunshan will no longer have to beg for food, and will live better than those in other places." Hai Rui nodded and exclaimed.

"Of course." The tea drinkers were very proud. "Let's see who will have the nerve to call us beggars again!"

"Okay, okay." Hai Rui nodded, stroking his beard, and then asked slowly, "But if you all go to work for Kunkaisi, who will farm for the rich families? Will the gentry agree to this?"

"Hey, don't worry about them, old man." The tea drinkers laughed and said, "They always get the most benefits. They are too happy to make money with Kun Kaisi. They don't care about that little piece of land anymore."

"What do you mean?" Hai Rui became more and more curious, having completely forgotten the original purpose of this trip.

"For such a large project, there are more than 100,000 workers. Food, drink, defecation and urination are all profitable businesses!" The tea shop owner said, "There are also auxiliary materials for repairing the embankment, such as wheelbarrows, shoulder poles, raincoats, gloves, shovels... dozens or hundreds of items, none of which are valuable, but once the quantity is added, they all become money."

"Hmm." Hai Rui nodded and said, "Isn't this all handled by that Jiangnan Company?"

"Hey, you know a lot?" The tea drinkers suddenly became alert. "Could it be that the Xu family sent someone to get information?"

"Pfft..." Hai Rui almost spit out his tea, and waved his hands with a wry smile, "How could that be? I have a friend who works at Jiangnan Company."

I'm not lying, this is little Zhao Hao.

"Oh, the old man looks upright, and he doesn't look like one of those bad guys from the Xu family." The tea drinkers let him go, and it was no secret. They told him that starting from the second phase of the project, Jiangnan Company gradually withdrew from the logistics supply work, and Kunkai Company outsourced it through bidding.

ps. The first of three consecutive updates.