The boy who was speaking was about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was quite tall, but a bit thin, with a square face and big eyes. He probably hadn't spoken so much in public before, as his face was a little flushed. He was holding the hem of his clothes with both hands, looking a bit reserved, but his eyes were very sincere when he looked at Xie Yushu!
A round-faced boy next to him chimed in.
"That's right, Master even gave us new clothes and new bedding. We are all poor people and have never been taken seriously by anyone. Master, you bought us and gave us food, clothing and shelter. You are our benefactor. Even if you don't give us any reward money, we will still work hard for you!"
The others also expressed their gratitude in turn.
Xie Yushu waved her hand, indicating that they could sit down and continue listening.
Continue
"Alright, everyone understands. It's fate that we've come together. You haven't let me down, so I naturally won't treat you unfairly. Next, I'll talk about the personnel allocation."
Here, I would like to formally announce to everyone that from today onwards, our manor will be officially named Yuquan Manor. I am the manor owner, and you can call me the manor owner from now on. This is Qu Xiaodie, who will serve as the chief steward of the manor and oversee all affairs of the manor. You can report directly to her if you have any questions.
Meanwhile, three management offices were set up within the resort. Wang Wu remained in charge of worker management, responsible for the allocation of workers' work and the management of crops in the resort.
Secondly, there is the matter of guard management. Seven days later, after the road is paved, I will select and train a group of guards. Boys and girls between the ages of fourteen and twenty can participate in the selection. Those selected can become ordinary guards and special-grade guards after training.
Ordinary guards receive 500 copper coins per month, while captains receive 700 copper coins.
A top-class guard receives one tael of silver per month, while a captain receives one tael and two mace per month.
The commander of the guards is in charge of all guards, oversees all security and protection duties inside and outside the manor, and is responsible for guard dispatch. His monthly salary is two taels of silver.
The commander of this guard will be tentatively named Zhang Xiaohu.
After Xie Yushu finished speaking, she turned to Zhang Xiaohu, the first boy to stand up and speak.
"According to feedback from Aunt Su and Manager Wang, you have performed well recently. You are proactive and meticulous in your work and take care of your colleagues. We hope you will continue to work hard, correct your shortcomings, and do a good job in this position."
Zhang Xiaohu never expected to be in charge; he was so excited he was incoherent. He stood up, his face flushed, and said...
"Thank you, Master. No, thank you, Lord of the Manor. I will definitely study hard and do a good job as the guard commander. I...I..."
Zhang Xiaohu wanted to say something more, but then he couldn't find the words and nervously scratched his head.
"Okay, I understand what you mean. Please sit down!"
Xie Yushu asked Zhang Xiaohu to sit down and then continued...
"Two captains will be selected from the guard team, one to manage ordinary guards and one to manage special-class guards. Do you have any recommended or self-nominated candidates for these two positions?"
The team leader earns two hundred more copper coins per month than regular team members, but the position must be filled by someone who is proactive, diligent, responsible, and compassionate.
After Xie Yushu finished speaking, everyone looked at each other, no one daring to utter a sound. After looking around a few times, Zhang Xiaohu stood up and pointed at the round-faced boy who had been talking with him earlier.
"Master, his name is Zhou Liuyi. He's quite hardworking, and he comes from a hunter's background. He's agile and smarter than me!"
The round-faced boy stood up upon hearing this.
"Master, I'm not as good as Brother Tiger says, but if you trust me, I'll definitely work hard and not let you down! If I go back on my word, may I be struck by lightning!"
"Okay, then count as one. There's another one. Does anyone recommend you? Or you can recommend yourself if you're confident in your abilities."
No one said a word!
Aunt Su hesitated for a moment and said
"Mancang is good. He's honest and meticulous. I remember when we first started cooking without a big kitchen, he would watch the fire go out before leaving."
When Mancang heard Aunt Su mention him, he stood up somewhat embarrassed and said...
"If the owner trusts me, I am willing to do my best to lead the team in guarding the manor!"
"Then count you in too."
The remaining team members have seven days to consider whether or not to participate in the selection process.
The last one is financial management, which is what you call the bookkeeper. This will be temporarily handled by Aunt Su. The management personnel are basically decided like this.
Development plans for the next year or so.
Manager Wang, before planting next spring, you are responsible for leading people to reclaim all the wasteland and hillsides. Plant half corn and half sorghum on the flat land, and plant half peach trees and half grapes on the hillsides. Leave a small section of the hillside to plant other fruits such as apples, pears, and plums. You can arrange it as you see fit.
The three guards we just selected, you are responsible for purchasing a batch of thorn trees, leading people to plant them around our manor, and then trimming them into a wall once they have grown.
Starting next spring, our resort will continue to improve and even expand. We hope everyone will work together, cooperate effectively, and jointly build our beautiful home.
"I will obey the Master's orders!"
"Okay, the last thing to do in today's meeting is to change the name."
Since I brought you back, we've only met twice, and I haven't had a chance to get to know you properly.
I just took a look, and there are already three people with the name Zhang San alone. There are also names like Er Gou, Gou Sheng, Zhao Di, Pan Di, Er Ya, and San Ya, and quite a few others. It's hard to distinguish them, and they don't sound good either. So, everyone with these kinds of names needs to change them.
In our mountain resort, everyone is human. Although we have different statuses, we are equal in terms of human dignity. From now on, names like "Gou Sheng" and "Zhao Di" are not allowed. Anyone with such a name should come up and choose a name for themselves.
As Xie Yushu spoke, she wrote down more than a dozen characters, including spring, summer, autumn, winter, wind, clouds, rain, snow, sun, moon, mountains, and rocks, and asked the row of people who stood out to each choose one character to take back as their name.
Then, regarding the newly appointed Zhao Xiaohu, Mancang and Zhou Liu...
"You three need to change your names too. Zhao Xiaohu will become Zhao Hu, Zhou Liuyi will become Zhou Yi, and Mancang, what's your surname?"
“I don’t have a surname. My mother died when I was born, and my father died of illness a few days later. My grandparents said I was a jinx and wouldn’t let me take their surname, so they gave me a nickname.”
"Then let's keep the surname Xie and name him Xie Zhong."
"Thank you for bestowing this surname upon me, Master, but I fear it might bring misfortune upon you."
"The Zhuangzi doesn't care about that. We act uprightly and sit properly, so there are no taboos!"
"Thank you, Master Xie. Now I am a person with a surname!"
Xie Zhong replied, his voice choked with emotion.
"Starting tomorrow, everyone will gather here between 2 and 3 pm to learn to read and do simple arithmetic with Aunt Su. You will need to be able to recognize and write all the arithmetic up to 100 and 500 commonly used characters, including your own name."
"yes!"
"Alright, meeting adjourned. Nanxing, come here. From now on, you'll be working for me!"
"yes!"
Upon hearing this, Nanxing's eyes lit up, and she immediately ran over, looking aggrieved.
"Master, I thought you didn't want me anymore!"
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