Under the cow ridge, the sound of hammering and trumpeting could be heard one after another.
A total of more than ten people are chiseling and grinding stones and carrying them to the river for stacking. Once the rocky beach on the other side is leveled, the harvested stones will be loaded onto ships and transported there.
These masons are all semi-amateurs.
How can there be so many professional jobs in a small town?
They usually make a living by farming, and working as a mason is purely a part-time job to earn extra money.
Even amateur masons are relatively powerful and not as easy to bully as ordinary tenants.
Therefore, Mr. Huang was very gracious. As long as they went into the mountains to quarry stone, each of them would be given ten cents of wages per day, and he would also be provided with one dry meal and one meal of porridge.
"It's time to eat, it's time to eat!" the foreman shouted.
Meal time is around ten o'clock every morning and around four o'clock every afternoon. We only eat two meals a day, which is a common practice in remote villages, but not like three meals in Qianshan.
More than a dozen masons sat together, picked up their rice bowls, and immediately exploded.
A stonemason named Huang Shun yelled: "Didn't you say you eat meat once every five days? It's all pickles!"
The foreman sneered: "It's good to have food to eat, but you still want to eat meat?"
There was a commotion at the inn last time, and Huang Zunde was also a little scared. It was not that the tenants would rebel, but that the tenants would cause trouble again, not only delaying Mr. Zhao's construction period, but also losing face with Mr. Zhao.
Therefore, the tenant farmers who leveled the rocky beach only had one person from each family to work on the work, while the rest of the family could go about the spring plowing.
The workers who go into the mountains to quarry stone and log wood not only have the treatment of ordinary tenants, but also can eat meat every five days.
On the first day when the order was issued, everyone actually saw the meat, although the portion was very sparse.
It happened to be the sixth day. They were supposed to eat meat, but there wasn't even a hint of oily smell. They were actually allowed to eat pickles!
Mr. Huang said to eat meat, just eat meat?
The domestic slaves responsible for the logistics and food, and the foremen responsible for supervision, don't they take the opportunity to make money?
After layers of deductions, only pickles are left.
The masons were eating brown rice and pickles, their faces full of anger.
Quarrying in the mountains is hard work. One meal is dry, one meal is watery, and you can only eat pickles. How can you feel full? It's like working hungry every day.
Moreover, they are all strong laborers in the family. Without them, spring plowing will be delayed.
"Uncle Yao, have you heard? Mr. Zhao, who comes from out of town, pays more than ten cents a day." A stonemason said in a low voice.
Uncle Yao is called Huang Yao. He is quite senior, but he is actually only in his twenties.
Huang Yao had seen the world, and was sent to the county every year to collect grain, which was to escort the village's land tax to the county government. One year, he was retained by the county magistrate and helped build the city wall for half a year.
In the past six months, I didn't earn much from my wages, but my father starved to death, and my mother chose to hang herself in order to save food.
Huang Yao asked: "How much salary did Mr. Zhao give?"
The stonemason said: "Master Zhao gave one thousand taels of silver and eight hundred taels to buy the rocky beach. Master Huang was responsible for leveling the river beach. The other two hundred li were paid to the quarrymen and lumberjacks, and Master Zhao bought the stones.
, the cost of the wood is calculated separately.”
The masons were immediately shocked. Mr. Zhao is really rich!
A stonemason said: "Our quarrymen and those who cut down trees were given two hundred taels for their wages alone?"
"Isn't that right?" said the stonemason before. "The wages originally set by Mr. Zhao were 80 cents a day for the quarrymen, 60 cents a day for the lumberjacks, and 50 cents a day for the rocky beach. Now it's good, our quarrying wages are only 10 cents a day.
Wen, 5 wen a day for cutting down trees, but there is no wages at the rocky beach!"
Another mason said: "I have also heard from people that Mr. Zhao does not have a deadline to expedite the work. I advise Mr. Huang to finish the spring plowing before starting work."
"Then why is Mr. Huang so anxious?"
"I'm in a hurry to get some money. The warehouse hasn't been built yet, so Mr. Zhao took out a thousand taels. The remaining money must be several thousand taels?"
"The dog's skin is yellow!"
"Mr. Zhao is really a good man. I heard that the tenant who was injured went to send money to apologize overnight. How could he dare to bully our locals when he comes from other places? It's all Mr. Huang who is causing trouble!"
"Oh, don't say it anymore, this is fate. We are born with a cheap fate!"
"..."
Before the meal was finished, the foreman started to push it again, and everyone could only eat it in their mouths.
In the afternoon, a stone suddenly rolled down, and a stonemason couldn't get away from it. The tibia of his calf was crushed and broken.
This is a very common workplace injury for quarries.
The foreman took his time and asked Huang Yao to carry the injured man to the river and wait for the boat to arrive before sending him home.
The remaining masons continued working.
While waiting for the boat, Huang Yao asked: "Li Si is injured, how to calculate the cost of soup and medicine?"
The foreman asked back: "He was injured and paid for the decoction and medicine himself. What does it have to do with Mr. Huang?"
Huang Yao stopped talking and only clenched his fists.
…
Inn.
Huang Zunde even changed his title, and asked angrily: "Brother Zhao, why did you go to apologize in the middle of the night and then lied about the salary?"
Zhao Han looked confused: "What wages? I didn't mention my wages."
"Then did you apologize to the tenants in the middle of the night?" Huang Zunde asked.
"Yes," Zhao Han explained, "I am a foreigner, and I will do business in Huangjia Town in the future, so I can't offend all the tenants. My father often said that doing business with anger will make money, and if you hurt someone, you can make money.
How harmonious are you? If we build a warehouse in the future, if the locals make trouble every day, how can our Zhao family's business be done?"
Huang Zunde reluctantly believed it, and said sadly: "You are confused. What are you afraid of these cheap guys? If they dare to cause trouble, we will beat them!"
Zhao Han sneered: "Of course you, Mr. Huang, dare to fight. How dare I, a foreigner? I offended the local people so much that I burned down my warehouse in the middle of the night. I'm afraid I won't even cry, and I won't even be able to find out who it is."
Do it.”
Huang Zunde could not refute.
Zhao Han added: "Brother Huang, you have never traveled far to do business. You don't know how difficult it is here. Why did I give you so much money? Didn't I just want to make good friends with the local gentry? Do you really think I am?"
Are you taking advantage of a prodigal?"
"Brother Zhao is joking. I didn't defraud you. How can you be taken advantage of?" Huang Zunde was a little embarrassed and accepted this statement.
Zhao Han continued: "My Zhao family also has a warehouse in Quanzhou. Just because I offended the gangsters in Quanzhou, tens of thousands of taels of goods were burned to nothing."
Huang Zunde's heart ached when he heard this. Tens of thousands of taels of goods were burned.
Zhao Han sighed: "Brother Huang, you beat people during the day, and I will give you money at night. Is this easy for me? It's midnight, is it not good to sleep with your arms around the maid?"
Huang Zunde asked doubtfully: "You really didn't mention the wages?"
"Why should I ask for wages? I'll have enough to eat." Zhao Han said depressedly.
Huang Zunde said goodbye and left. He always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure it out.
Even if Zhao Han secretly instigated the tenants, he must have a plan.
But Zhao Han was given a thousand taels of silver, so what could he do by inciting the tenants? There was no profit to be gained!
After thinking about it, Huang Zunde still chose to believe it because Zhao Han had no reason to talk about wages.
It must be that the tenants were resentful for delaying spring plowing, and someone was deliberately spreading rumors!
After Huang Zunde returned home, he immediately sent more domestic slaves to serve as supervisors. Even when eating, workers were not allowed to sit together and had to be separated by more than three steps to eat.
Huang Zunde can't afford this money alone.
The land expropriation involved three large families, all members of the Huang family. Hundreds of slaves were dispatched that day, and the three families worked together to make up the numbers. Huang Zunde could only provide more than sixty.
Including the maids and cooks, the number of slaves in Mr. Huang's house was barely over a hundred.
…
The eighth day of construction on the river beach.
The resentment and anger have reached a critical point. Since private communication is not allowed on the construction site, it can be described as a road with eyes.
Moreover, the treatment of workers in Rock Beach has become increasingly worse.
There were more supervisors, and more people were deducting profits. The porridge provided every day was like water. The workers didn't have enough to eat at all. When they got home at night, they had to cook their own meals.
"boom!"
A tenant carrying gravel suddenly fainted and fell to the ground.
"Why did you faint again?" the foreman frowned.
Another supervisor said: "I'm afraid I'm being lazy."
The foreman was amused: "You are so lazy, you eat so much every day and you will feel faint even if you do heavy work every day."
Several of the supervisors were laughing, hoping that a few more would die from exhaustion.
These tenants are all strong laborers at home. Once they die from exhaustion at the construction site, they will definitely not be able to pay rent this year.
The overseers were all Mr. Huang's confidants, and they could persuade the owners to seize the tenants and transfer them to their own families for farming. There was only so much land in the town, and the more tenants died, the more farmland would be freed up.
The tenant, who was faint from exhaustion, was carried to the side and lay there for a while.
I had just woken up and was about to drink water when the supervisor whipped me away: "You are still lazy, go to work!"
It means beating, urging, and it is best to be exhausted.
One of the paddy fields cultivated by this person has a pretty good harvest. This person is exhausted to death. If he just waits for the rent to be owed this year, and if he takes the opportunity to stir things up, he will definitely be taken away from the land next year.
The environment is dangerous and if the same kind is dead, it can be divided and eaten!
The workers stopped their work and looked at the supervisor angrily, but they did not dare to rebel.
"What are you looking at? I'm asking for a beating!" the foreman shouted.
The accumulated anger was suppressed again, and everyone could only immerse themselves in work.
Suddenly, Zhao Han, Xiaohong and Xiaocui walked slowly towards the construction site, followed by two innkeepers.
The foreman hurriedly greeted him, nodded and bowed and said, "Ms. Zhao, why are you here?"
Zhao Han smiled and said: "Let me check the progress."
The foreman patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Zhao, I promise to work quickly. If anyone dares to disobey, I'll whip him to death!"
The supervisors agreed one after another.
Zhao Han loudly advised: "My fellow villagers, if you don't look up when you see me, it's better not to hit people. I'm a businessman, and I pay attention to being friendly and making money. If you beat people up, what kind of kindness can you still have? Everyone hates me."
"
Many nearby tenants heard this and thought that Mr. Zhao was a reasonable man, but Mr. Huang in this town was very bad.
Zhao Han asked the two innkeepers to put down the wooden barrels they picked up, and shouted loudly: "Countrymen, come here. You have worked hard, and I have prepared some tea to reward you."
The foreman did not dare to stop him, and quickly flattered him: "Ms. Zhao is really kind and righteous." After saying that, he yelled at everyone, "Why don't you come here and have tea!"
The tenants gathered around, taking bowls and waiting to drink tea.
Zhao Han smiled warmly and expressed concern and condolences: "How are you all doing? Don't worry, you are working for me and I promise not to let you suffer."
Everyone looked at each other.
Suddenly, a tenant knelt down and cried bitterly: "Mr. Zhao, help me!"