"I have a job now that can make you eat every meal and give you meat for every meal. Are you willing to do it?"

Yuan Yao asked in one sentence, and the refugees who had just received the hot porridge became excited again.

Although this mouthful of hot porridge is a delicacy for people who have been hungry for three days, after they eat several large bowls of hot porridge and feel full and satisfied, they begin to appreciate the taste of the hot porridge.

There was a hint of dissatisfaction.

It is said that when you are full and warm, you will think about lust. Although these refugees have not yet reached the time to think about lust, they still have the pursuit of delicious food.

After a mouthful of hot porridge, you will want to eat a bowl of white rice. If it has meat, it will be better.

Now when they heard Yuan Yao say that there was actually a job that would allow them to have enough to eat, they naturally showed great interest.

"My benefactor, tell me quickly what kind of job it is!"

"What kind of job are you asking about? Mr. Yuan, as long as you can keep me fed, I will do whatever you want me to do!"

"Yes, yes, as long as I have food to eat, I am willing to do anything!"

"Yes, Mr. Yuan, I am willing to do it even if it means going up a mountain of swords and into a sea of ​​fire!"

Many refugees now regard Yuan Yao as their reincarnated parent. In order to have enough food to eat, they are selling their lives to Yuan Yao.

"Old man, there is no need to go up the mountain of swords and the sea of ​​fire. I just want you to go up the mountain and dig some rocks."

As soon as Yuan Yao said these words, the refugees present were immediately stunned.

This group of refugees thought that Yuan Yao's so-called job was something dangerous, but they didn't expect that they were just digging rocks in the mountains.

These people don't have much money, let alone assets, but they have a lot of strength and a lot of energy. Seeing that Yuan Yao can take care of them three meals a day and have meat for every meal, they only need to go up the mountain to dig some rocks.

, naturally no one will refuse.

"My benefactor, if we just go up the mountain to dig out rocks, I, Lao Li, will be willing to help!"

"Yes, yes, we can't eat your rice porridge for nothing, Mr. Yuan, and I am the first one, Mr. Zhang!"

"And me! And me!"

For a time, the refugees who had eaten rice porridge responded in large numbers and planned to join Yuan Yao's army of coal diggers.

Seeing how enthusiastic these people were, how could Yuan Yao refuse.

"Okay, okay, come one by one, but digging rocks in the mountains is not an easy task. If you are too old or too young, you don't have to participate. Let's leave these manual labor to the young people."

Among the refugees present, most were old, weak, women and children. After all, young and strong young men might have some skills or means of making a living. At the very least, they could join a wealthy family and make a living.

Only the old, weak, women and children who had no means of livelihood were forced to flee.

It's not that Yuan Yao doesn't want these old people and children to participate in coal mining, it's just that coal mining is not suitable for people who are too old or too young.

What's more, Yuan Yao's recruitment of workers for coal mining is only secondary. His real purpose is to form a reserve force.

Recruiting young and middle-aged labor force to dig coal will give these people some strength, and at the same time send people for daily training. Once in wartime, they can quickly become a new army.

Only a small amount of grain was needed to allow them to dig coal for Yuan Yao, which not only made money, but also supplemented Yuan Yao's men with a strong source of troops and saved expenses.

Naturally, we need to recruit some young and strong people.

Of course, Yuan Yao did not reject all those who were older and younger. In addition to needing manpower to dig coal, he also needed some manpower to make briquettes, carry coal, and even cook as cooks.

All of these require manpower, but more young people are needed.

After entrusting all these recruitment matters to Tai Shici, things quickly went on in full swing.

On the first day alone, more than 3,000 people were recruited into the porridge factory.

If Yuan Yao hadn't ordered the recruitment conditions to be more stringent, he would have been able to recruit nearly 10,000 people on the first day.

But even so, the number of refugees who came really scared Yuan Yao. After all, it was only the first day, and the story of him giving porridge to the people had not yet spread completely.

After the news spreads for a few more days and there is free rice porridge in Shouchun Bagong Mountain, Yuan Yao believes that more people will come.

I'm afraid that tens of thousands of people will stay here all year round near Bagong Mountain. By then, the dozen or so porridge shacks here will not be enough.

In the afternoon alone, the refugees who came after hearing the news had already overcrowded the temple. In two or three days, the place will be full of people.

Fortunately, Yuan Yao was prepared. After selecting some people to recruit workers, he quickly moved these people and took them to the coal mine outside Shangcai County to start digging coal.

As a result, the number of refugees waiting for free rice porridge in Bagong Mountain has been greatly reduced.

Yuan Yao arranged for Tai Shici to stay in Bagong Mountain and be responsible for recruiting workers, while he himself took the workers he had recruited first and prepared to dig.

In Xiacai County, Yuan Yao has already found the location of the coal mine. The old blacksmith personally brought him here a few days ago to see it. The coal mine here does not even need to be dug deeply, and can be dug directly on the mountain.

So there is no need to make any preparations. Just build some wooden houses near the coal mine and start digging coal.

Yuan Yao allocated part of his manpower to build the wooden house, while the other part of the manpower started digging coal on the first day.

After more than a thousand people had been busy for most of the day, truckloads of coal were transported down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, there used to be a forest farm here.

Some loggers cut down trees here and piled them here. Later, after Yuan Yao arrived here, he directly spent a small amount of money to buy this forest farm.

Once here, it can serve as a temporary residence for workers.

Secondly, you can also temporarily place the prepared briquettes here to dry.

Once you have coal, the process of turning them into briquettes is actually very simple.

You only need to add some water to them and mix them into a quarter of the yellow mud, then stir them together, and then use a special tool to beat the briquettes out one by one.

After drying for another day or two, the briquettes that can burn and are smokeless and odorless will be ready.

Although it is easy to say and not difficult to do, this method is something that the ancients today cannot even think of.

Yuan Yao can definitely make the briquettes now, but he is not in a hurry.

Because the process of making briquettes is too simple, if it is easy to ask someone to make briquettes, he is worried that the process and method will soon spread.
Chapter completed!