Chapter 150: Just Five Coins
There were more than 200 people in Liujia Village, and thirty or forty strong men were conscripted to work. The originally lively little mountain village suddenly became quiet, and Qin Yao was a little uncomfortable with it.
Moreover, there were six fewer workers in the manufacturing plant.
When Carpenter Liu came to the door with an anxious look on his face, Qin Yao slapped her forehead. She hadn't thought about this in the past three days. She was only busy watching how Liu Ji was tenaciously preparing to survive.
"What should we do now? Without so many people, we won't be able to deliver the goods in mid-October. There's less than a month left. You should think of a solution quickly."
Carpenter Liu was busy helping his son find someone to replace him in the past two days. His family needed one person, but they didn't get the quota of six taels of silver per person in Kaiyang County, so they had to pay a high price of ten taels of silver to hire someone to replace him.
Fortunately, he followed Liu Dafu and Old Man Liu, and the three of them got ahead of the others. Those who arrived in the afternoon couldn't even find it at double the price.
However, according to Carpenter Liu, if the price was really raised to twenty taels of silver per person, he wouldn't mind taking the risk and giving it a try.
Twenty taels of silver are not easy to earn. Besides, although being a laborer transporting grain is hard, it is much better than being a soldier on the battlefield. If I am lucky and meet a reliable soldier, the probability of coming back alive is very high.
But now that all those who have been recruited for labor service have left, there is no point in him talking about this anymore.
However, he was worried about the shortage of staff in the manufacturing plant. He was so upset that a blister appeared at the corner of his mouth. It hurt when he opened his mouth wider to eat.
Qin Yao poured a bowl of boiled water for him and herself, and said, "Recruit more people."
She was also missing a quarry worker, Liu Qi, the eldest grandson of the village chief.
Every family has its own problems. The village chief's wife, Liu Qi's grandmother, was seriously ill, and the money from selling the grain during the autumn harvest was all spent on medical expenses.
The village chief was the first person to get the news, so it shouldn't be difficult to reduce two places.
But in the end, there was only one substitute spot left, and Liu Qi took the initiative to sign up.
Because it was already difficult for the family to afford another ten taels of silver to find someone to replace him.
Fortunately, he is tall and strong with a steady temperament. The village chief has asked someone to take care of him, so he should be able to get some care in the future.
Carpenter Liu was in a much worse situation. He lost five workers all of a sudden. Fortunately, Yunniang was a woman and didn't have to do corvée labor. He had this experienced worker in the team. Otherwise, he would be more than anxious.
"Where can we recruit people now? All the men in Zijing Mansion have gone to work as laborers. There is still a wave of wheat to be planted before winter comes. How can we recruit people with a bunch of old and young women and children?"
Carpenter Liu spoke in a hurry and accidentally pulled the corner of his mouth, causing him to hiss and breathe in cold air.
Qin Yao asked him to drink a few sips of water, thought for a while, and said, "If we can't recruit men, then we can recruit women. Making waterwheels is not a heavy job, and women can do it too."
As for the lack of quarry workers on her side, she had to do it herself.
This work is too strenuous for women, and the team is made up of men. They also have to go into the mountains, making them uncomfortable working.
Qin Yao is now thankful that the few people who were doing the polishing are still there, at least a complete production line can be preserved.
"Then let's give it a try?" Carpenter Liu no longer insisted on his previous idea. As long as the goods can be delivered on time, male and female workers are the same.
So, the two of them borrowed a gong, rang it all over the village, and shouted that they were recruiting workers. There were no restrictions, as long as anyone was willing to work hard.
Mrs. Zhou jumped out and asked, "Can I do that too?"
Qin Yao hurriedly pulled her over and said, "Okay, of course, sister-in-law, you are so capable, carpentry is nothing to you!"
When Mrs. Zhou heard this, she smiled and said, "You are talking nonsense. How can you be so good? You can only do some embroidery. I have never touched carpentry before."
"It's okay, it's okay." Carpenter Liu explained hastily, "We've already prepared the wood for you. Just follow them and piece the pieces together!"
Having said that, Carpenter Liu was once again thankful in his heart that the assembly line Qin Yao had set up was great. Everyone only needed to learn one process to get started.
Now I am not afraid of suddenly replacing people, as I can become familiar with it after two days of practice.
"Then let's try it?" Mrs. Zhou asked with a smile to the women in front of her who seemed embarrassed.
No matter how busy you are at home, if you want to make money, you have to find a way to take time out.
Previously, everyone envied the workers who were selected by the manufacturing factory, especially Yunniang, who took home more than three cents of monthly salary last month, which made her parents-in-law very happy and they told everyone that their family had married a treasure.
Now the opportunity is right in front of them, and Madam Qin and Carpenter Liu are encouraging them to join, so why not give it a try? There is no loss anyway.
He had said before that they would have a meat meal every ten days, and occasionally when Madam Qin came into the city, she would bring back large bones to make soup for everyone's meal.
If nothing else, it's worth going just for a meal.
Seeing that the young girls and wives in the village were interested, Qin Yao immediately brought her sisters-in-law He and Yunniang over and asked them to promote the business to everyone.
So, with the encouragement of the two, the five vacant carpenters in the manufacturing plant were quickly recruited.
The original male workers adjusted their positions and took charge of the first process, and then left the remaining assembly, painting and other tasks to the female workers to complete, and the assembly line finally ran smoothly.
Seeing that the problem had been solved and the goods could be delivered as scheduled in mid-October, Qin Yao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, her own work increased. After collecting all the stones needed for the remaining orders, at the urging of Old Man Liu, she picked up the hoe and started a new round of turning the soil.
Winter wheat needs to be planted. Even if she doesn't want to take care of it, she has to plant the seeds first, at least there will be some harvest.
After the conscription of laborers, the Liu family had little money left from selling grain this year.
The stored food at home cannot be moved unless it is absolutely necessary, so no matter how hard it is, we have to plant the winter wheat and dare not stop.
I am afraid that next year there will be some tax to be levied, or there will be corvée labor to build water conservancy projects, and I will have no money to buy someone to replace me, so I will have to abandon farming for a few months to perform the corvée labor.
Farmers who depend on the weather for their livelihood cannot afford any hardship, so they can only take good care of their fields and cultivate them carefully.
While Qin Yao was busy planting wheat with the villagers, the laborers who were setting out to transport grain had already left Zijing Mansion.
The 3,000 conscripted laborers were divided into three groups and two routes to escort food and fodder.
There are two main reasons why Zijing Mansion was chosen.
First, Zijing Prefecture had a bumper harvest this year and had sufficient grain reserves.
Secondly, Zijing Prefecture is very close to the border, and food and fodder can be transported to the border with the lowest loss and at the fastest speed.
I can only say, this is fate.
The laborers recruited from Liujia Village were dispersed as soon as they arrived in Kaiyang County.
When Liu Ji saw the situation, he felt it was not good. In a hurry, he only had time to slip a few copper coins into the hands of the officer in charge of escorting them.
But maybe because the money was not enough, or because the other party felt that a mere five cents was extremely provocative, he was assigned to work under a very ferocious soldier.
When Liu Ji's name was called for the first time and his eyes met with that soldier's, he had a premonition that the journey ahead would be very difficult.