There's been quite a stir in the imperial court lately. Emperor Kangxi has set up a special imperial examination, but the chief examiner has yet to be appointed. Several prominent figures in the court are keeping a close eye on this matter!
Furthermore, after returning from Jiangnan, Kangxi had all the sons of the Fifth Prince and his predecessors enter the court, and the Third Prince was in the Ministry of Rites, so the Third Prince's side paid special attention to this matter.
Given the Third Prince's qualifications, it was naturally impossible for him to be the chief examiner. However, after the Third Prince entered the Ministry of Rites, several people defected to him, so the Third Prince naturally wanted to have his own people do it.
The eldest prince had no connections in the Ministry of Rites, and he wasn't about to be outdone, so he wanted to get involved as well. The crown prince was even less likely to remain inactive.
Therefore, the Ministry of Rites was unusually bustling.
Kangxi watched his sons running around and getting a headache. The only one he could somewhat approve of was Yinzhen, who was straightforward and good at doing things, but inflexible and stubborn.
Thinking about this, Kangxi felt that he was not very lucky. He had quite a few sons, seven of whom survived, but looking at these seven sons, he was not satisfied with any of them.
Everyone has these little quirks, which are just annoying to look at.
On Youqing's side, the glass workshop has moved out of Beijing, and everything is progressing very smoothly.
Chengying had already prepared the one million taels of silver that Youqing wanted. Everything was ready, and Youqing told Kangxi about it.
"I'm planning to build a cement road?"
When Emperor Kangxi heard her mention repairing roads, specifically cement roads, he was initially surprised, but after a moment's thought, he understood.
"The ones who repaired the capital?"
Youqing turned around: "Yes."
"Is the silver enough? If not, I have some more."
Youqing shook her head: "I don't need yours, it's enough."
Emperor Kangxi: "Tell me directly if you need anything."
"Um"
After finishing that matter, they started talking about something else.
"I heard that your glass workshop has been moved out of the capital?"
Youqing nodded: "It's not very convenient to use materials in the capital, so moving it out is a good thing."
It reduces costs and allows for expansion.
...
"Master, these are the road repair plans I've come up with. Please take a look and see if they're feasible?"
Chengying learned from Youqing that she should write a plan or proposal for everything she did.
Youqing flipped through it.
The document above contains a budget and information about personnel.
Instead of hiring from the government offices, Cheng Ying planned to use local farmers. Most of these people were idle during the off-season, so having a job with room and board and wages would be the best thing for them.
"Okay, but it'll get cold soon, so give everyone an extra set of thick cotton-padded clothes, so they don't get sick from the cold."
Winters in the capital are notoriously harsh. Poor families often wear the same cotton-padded clothes for years, with the cotton filling hardened into lumps, but they won't change them. After all, cotton is expensive, and every family has many children, so they prioritize their children's needs.
"Yes, Master."
...
A gong rang out, drawing everyone together: "We're hiring! We're hiring!"
Winter is just around the corner, and the crops in the fields don't need constant supervision. Many farmers from the surrounding areas of Beijing will gather near the city's tourist market, hoping to find short-term jobs or some manual labor, hoping to earn more money and have a good New Year.
At this point, someone asked, "Young master, how do you do this move?"
The man said, "We need to hire 300 people to build the road. We need strong people, and those who have been doing farm work all year round will be given priority."
When the news of "road construction" came out, everyone was stunned, and groups of people started discussing it together.
After a while, he finally had the courage to ask, "There must be some mistake! I haven't heard of anyone in the capital building roads these days, and besides, who would need so many day laborers to build a road?"
Wealthy families usually only need their own servants to repair the road in front of their houses. Even if they don't have enough servants, they don't need to hire so many workers.
Three hundred people—that's the kind of people the government usually needs to build roads. But the government only uses its own people to build roads; they don't use ordinary people.
Upon hearing this, everyone responded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, it can't be a scam, can it?"
Then everyone started talking at once, and the scene quickly became chaotic.
"Everyone be quiet. Do you still want to hear what I have to say? Do you still want to hire people? Quiet down."
These people certainly want to hire workers, since it's related to whether they can have a good New Year.
Then it quieted down.
"Here's the thing, our master, the owner of the glass shop, has decided to repair roads on the main thoroughfares of the capital. We need a lot of people, so we're recruiting 300 people today. We'll continue to recruit as we start work, so you can rest assured, it's not a lie."
In Beijing, if someone didn't know about glass, they were considered out of touch. Everyone highly valued glass, and if an ordinary family could install a few panes of glass in their house or buy a small glass mirror, it would be something that would make the surrounding people extremely envious.
They also knew that the owner of the glass was the current Empress.
Now that no one dares to use the Empress's name to do anything fake, then this matter must be true.
Three hundred people, that's quite a lot!
"I'm signing up, I ......"
Then the first person spoke up, followed by the second, and the crowd immediately surrounded the person who was recruiting.
"...Don't push, take it one at a time, slowly."
"May I have your name."
"Yang Tiezhu".
"Okay, next one."
...
"Don't cut in line, go to the back."
"Who is it? Stop pushing, you're stepping on my shoes."
...
The recruitment process was chaotic, like a war zone. When all 300 people were recruited, those who were hired were overjoyed, while those who weren't were somewhat disheartened.
"Listen up, everyone. Those who have been hired, come with me. Those who haven't been hired, don't be upset. Our master said that we'll need more people in the future. Come and take a look when you have time. We'll be hiring again."
"Really? They've already recruited 300 people, can they still recruit more?"
"Of course you can! Alright, everyone disperse!"
These words served as a small guarantee, and those who hadn't been recruited dispersed.
The remaining three hundred people left with the man who had just recruited them, and he led them to a large mansion.
"These houses are for ten people each, and they are fully equipped. You can stay here at night until the road construction is finished. You can get your food from the canteen. I'll show you where the canteen is later. You will receive fifty coins every day from the start to the end of the road construction. That's all I have to say. Construction will start the day after tomorrow. You can stay here or go home before construction starts. Okay, that's all. Do you all understand?"
Everyone was incredulous upon hearing this. My goodness! Free food and lodging, plus fifty coins a day! The Empress is really showing kindness! Road repair is just physical labor, and for a moment they all felt a little guilty.
One person asked incredulously, "Really? They provide food and lodging and pay so much wages? It sounds like a scam."
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