I, Sun Shan, and the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1208: The Yamen is Zhou Bapi

Sun Shan inspected carefully and found that the progress was too slow. The service period would be over in a day or two, so more workers had to be recruited to do the work.

The guano can be transported via a zip line, and the road must be built simultaneously.

I looked at the men, women and children in Da Niao Village, who came to work for free for the guano workshop.

If this workshop doesn't open soon, it will be a shame to their expectations.

Sun Shan said to Sun Dingnan, "Brother Nan, you don't need to come here to build roads in the future. Your main task is to keep good records in the account book. Don't worry about anything else."

Seeing Sun Shan being so serious, Sun Dingnan still didn't quite understand why he couldn't come over to help.

But he did what the master said: "Yes, master, I know."

It’s not that Sun Shan disagrees with coming to build the road, but everyone has their own responsibilities and there is no need to do more work.

It is good enough to do your own part well, so as not to be distracted by doing more and lose track of priorities.

Sun Shan chatted with the village chief for a few more words and said with concern: "Village chief, don't worry about the work. We will hire someone to repair the road in a few days. Don't worry, the guano workshop will be built soon."

After a pause, he added: "When the time comes, we will definitely give priority to recruiting men from Otori Village."

This is the issue that the village chief is most concerned about.

I come here to work voluntarily just to show my ability, and I hope that when Sun Shan recruits, he will think of Da Niao Village first.

After hearing what Sun Shan said, the village chief was so happy that he almost flew away.

He thanked excitedly: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir. The fact that Da Niao Village can meet a good official like you must be due to the fact that we did a lot of good deeds in our previous lives."

Seeing that the village chief was about to make another long speech of thanks, Sun Shan quickly left.

He is very busy and has no time to chat with the village chief.

Back at the Guano Workshop, Sun Shan approached Master Wang and said, "Master Wang, the road is being repaired too slowly. We need to hire people to repair it. Our workshop must pay for this."

Mr. Wang already knew what Sun Shan meant, so he nodded and said, "Okay, hire more people to help. Even if the wages are a little lower, many people will come to do it."

Mainly because it’s the slack season during farming season, everyone is very idle.

Yuanlu County is not like those places with docks where one can work as a porter.

We finally have a big workshop and need to hire people to work.

As long as the street poster is posted, haha, many people will beg to come and do the job.

Mr. Wang is a businessman, so naturally he wants to exploit the workers' surplus value completely, so he will press for the highest wages.

It’s up to you whether you want to work or not. If you don’t want to work, get out. The pay is so little, so if you want to come, stay with me. If you don’t want to come, get out of here.

When Sun Shan heard Master Wang say that he wanted to withhold the wages, he actually had some objections, but he thought about the balance in the account book.

Finally, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll leave everything to you."

Two days later, when the service was about to end, County Magistrate Wang finally came over from the government office.

Let the younger brothers directly announce the recruitment matters.

The laborers heard that the road needed to be repaired, but they would be paid.

10 wen a day, including lunch. Dinner was arranged by myself, and sleeping was still in the shack during the military service.

One of the clerks said, "Those who want to work come here to register, and those who don't want to work and want to go home go to the other side to register."

As soon as the recruitment notice was announced, it immediately attracted a lot of discussion.

The servant whispered, "10 cents a day, isn't that too little?"

I usually do odd jobs, such as helping to build houses, helping landlords harvest rice, etc., usually 20 cents a day, including lunch.

Nowadays, the wages in the government office have been halved to only 10 cents. This is too little.

And the lunch was definitely not enough. They knew the government's working style very well, it was a typical Zhou Baopi.

Laborer B said angrily, "That's right. It's only 10 cents a day. You'd be a fool to do it. Road construction is so hard. I have to leave early and come back late. If it weren't for the regulations, I wouldn't do it."

Servant C asked, "What are you doing? Are you all planning to go home?"

The yamen runner has already said that if you want to continue working, you can register with him. If you don’t want to work anymore and choose to go home, you can register with another yamen runner.

It’s just that everyone is in a wait-and-see state, and no one goes to register at either place.

The laborer Ding said honestly, "I'll do it. 10 cents is 10 cents, it's better than going home. Not only do I not make any money back home, but I also have to eat. At least here I get a meal, even if I can't get enough, it's better than eating at home."

Mr. Wang took advantage of the servants' mentality.

It is very difficult to find a job nowadays. If you can’t find a job, not only will you have no income, but you will also have expenses.

Haha, coming to the guano workshop to build a road, not to mention the 10 cents, the free lunch is already very attractive.

Mr. Wang wanted to just give him food without paying, but doing so would not only affect his reputation, but also be bad for his reputation, regardless of whether Sun Shan agreed or not.

In particular, the matter of recruiting workers was handled by County Magistrate Wang, and the servants would definitely say that the Wang family were vampires.

Alas, the eldest aunt in Chenzhou Prefecture said that not only Sun Shan wants to accumulate fame, but their Wang family also needs to.

The Wang family is different now. There are scholars, there are juren, and maybe there will be jinshi in the future.

And they are locals, so we can't be too harsh on them.

They had not realized this problem before, but since Sun Shan came, the Wang family began to pay attention to their reputation.

In particular, Sun Shan and the Wang family are very similar, as both were just starting out.

Sun Shan is so far-sighted, and the Wang family must not lose out.

Mr. Wang paid more attention to Sun Shan's every move than County Magistrate Wang, taking the essence and discarding the dross, and learning from him.

The servant Ding said he wanted to stay, and the other servants were moved.

Yes, that's right. 10 cents is indeed not much, but I can't stand being idle and having no work to do.

From now until the New Year, I will still have a few hundred coins, and I can also buy some new clothes for my little girl at home.

If you don't do it, you won't even have a few hundred coins.

Not only that, but they also have to eat and live at home, which makes the girl at home eat less.

So the servant Wu said repeatedly: "Sir, I will stay and do it. I want to build the road."

Afraid of being late and not being noticed by him, he hurried over to register.

But it was still a step too late, as many laborers were already queuing up to register.

Suddenly, a servant asked, "Sir, can you let us go home for a while? Dinner is not included. We need to bring some dry food back."

Road construction is hard work. After eating at noon, you have to eat at night.

The dry food I brought with me was almost gone, so I had to go home and bring some more.

The yamen runner said very reasonably: "Don't worry, we will let you go back. You came from the same village, so go back to the same village."

After a pause, he added: "After you go back, prepare some dry food and come back together with the people from the same village. Please note that you must come back within the specified date. If you are late, we will not need you here."

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Someone else asked, "Sir, can my brother come?"

I've been working for more than half a month and I'm really tired, so I want my younger brother to take over.

The bailiff waved his hand and said, "As long as your brother is a strong man, we will be fine. We don't want weak ones."

So it's time to change shifts.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief again.