Zhong Wu soon left with his personal guards and scattered to various villages and towns in search of veterans of the Iron Forest Army.
Practice is the best way to practice. Mancang worked in Weizhou for more than two months and became very proficient in the basic blacksmithing operations.
Jin Feng looked at it for a while and left without finding any problems.
First we went to the newly built yard to look around, and then we went to the brick kiln factory.
After more than two months of accumulation, the open space by the river was filled with bricks, and two huge pits appeared out of thin air at the foot of the mountain.
This was dug out of the earth to make bricks.
At this time, the pit was full of men working with bare backs, and it was very lively.
The village chief stood on top of the pit to supervise the work. When he saw Jin Feng, he quickly came up to meet him.
"I haven't seen you for two months, and Uncle Liu seems to be more energetic!"
Jin Feng said with a smile.
"This is all thanks to you."
The village chief laughed so hard that he couldn't see his eyes: "I used to only eat two meals a day, which was not enough. Now Tiezi and I are working here in the brick kiln, and the three women in the family are spinning threads at your home, and we can eat three meals a day."
Having a full meal and sometimes eating meat will certainly make you feel more energetic.
It’s not just me, don’t you see that everyone is stronger than before?”
"That's good."
Jin Feng nodded with satisfaction, then pointed to the patches of bricks by the river and said, "It seems that everyone has been idle in the past two months and has done so much."
Before arriving, he was still worried that the men might be lazy while he was away, but he found that the number of bricks was much higher than he expected.
"Thanks to your Dongdong girl."
The village chief said: "After you left, she announced that the workshops and brickyards would no longer calculate wages on a daily basis. The more work you do, the more you will get. Dongdong would bring Liangzi to count and keep accounts for everyone every day.
As a result, everyone worked hard and worked much faster than before. I heard that there were people in the workshop who robbed spinning wheels in order to work longer."
After hearing this, Jin Feng couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.
Tang Dongdong deserves to be from a business family, and he does have a good management skills.
Piece-rate payment is indeed the best way to stimulate workers' enthusiasm.
"By the way, when you came here, you should have seen that many people in our village have bricks piled in their yards."
The village chief said: "I have to tell you this. Their children went to the back mountains to collect firewood and brought it to the brick factory to exchange for it. There are many in Dongdong."
"Uncle Liu, it goes without saying. Do I still believe you?"
Jin Feng said with a smile.
"I'm very happy that you believe me, but since you left the brick kiln in my charge when you left, I still need to make it clear what I need to say."
The village chief said: "I don't know what to say, but if trouble arises over this matter, wouldn't it be beautiful?"
"You're right."
Jin Feng nodded slightly.
There are a lot of misunderstandings that could just be cleared up, but if you don't tell them and I don't tell them, they will slowly turn into knots.
This is probably the wisdom accumulated by the village chief after half a lifetime.
Simple, simple, yet very effective.
"Village Chief, we have already accumulated a lot of bricks. If we make more bricks, we will have no place to put them."
Jin Feng said: "Tell everyone that after today's work, you won't make any more adobes."
"Okay, I'll go tell them later and tell them not to come tomorrow."
The village chief had already thought of this result, but he still felt a little disappointed.
There are many families in the village who rely on brick kilns, and their lives are getting better and better.
As soon as the brick kiln stopped, the men became idle, their daily wages of a few copper coins disappeared, and life returned to the way it was before.
But the village chief also knew that Jin Feng's decision was right. Enough bricks had been burned, and there would be no place to put them again.
"Village chief, the kiln burner still has to come, and the finished bricks must be burned out, otherwise they won't be available when it rains."
Jin Feng smiled and said: "If others are willing, they can help me build a house, and it only costs two copper coins a day."
"Isn't your house almost ready? Why do you need so many people?"
The village chief asked in confusion.
"I thought of other businesses and planned to build another workshop."
Jin Feng said: "After this workshop is built, everyone can go to work in the new workshop instead of burning the kiln."
Since Zhong Wu and the others were asked to recruit veterans, they couldn't be idle when the people came, so Jin Feng had already thought about it when he made the decision, and he wanted to continue to expand his financial avenues beyond the textile workshop.
"What are you going to do?"
The village chief asked curiously.
"It will be kept secret for now."
Jin Feng smiled and shook his head.
"Okay, then I won't ask."
The village chief also laughed.
He didn't care what Jin Feng did, as long as the men in the village had work to do and were paid.
"By the way, Uncle Liu, I may need to use the vegetable plot of my third aunt's house to build a new workshop. Please help me ask her and I can pay for it."
"Don't worry, leave it to me."
The village chief assured, patting his chest.
Jin Feng chatted with the village chief for a while and then went back.
Guan Xiaorou and Runniang had already started preparing lunch. Seeing Jin Feng enter the kitchen, Runniang glanced at Guan Xiaorou subconsciously, then covered her mouth and snickered.
"Run Niang, you are going to die, why are you laughing?"
Guan Xiaorou's face turned red immediately, and she pinched Run Niang in anger.
"Sister, please forgive me, I won't laugh anymore."
Runniang quickly begged for mercy.
He stopped smiling as he said this, but ended up laughing even louder.
"The head of the family..."
Guan Xiaorou had no choice but to act coquettishly and ask for help from Jin Feng.
When his wife asked for help, Jin Feng naturally couldn't ignore it. He patted Run Niang on the head and joked: "If you laugh at my wife again, be careful and I will deal with you!"
Although Runniang is married to Xie Guang, she is still a serious young lady. How can she bear this?
Immediately, like Guan Xiaorou, her face turned red, she took Guan Xiaorou's arm and said, "Sister Xiaorou, you don't care about Brother Guan Feng!"
"Okay," Guan Xiaorou rolled up her sleeves: "Master, let's go, let's take Runniang back and take good care of her."
After saying that, he reached out and hugged Runniang.
Runniang was so frightened that she hid in the firewood pile.
Jin Feng also has a black line on his head.
He finally discovered that taking a concubine for himself seemed to have become an obsession in Guan Xiaorou's heart.
After failing to win over Tang Dongdong, he turned to Runniang again.
Just now I was too embarrassed to see anyone, but when I mentioned this incident, I immediately turned into a female gangster.
Jin Feng believed that as long as he nodded, Guan Xiaorou would probably really carry Runniang back to the back room.
"Okay, stop making trouble."
Jin Feng pulled Guan Xiaorou with some distress.
He knew that the fundamental reason why Guan Xiaorou was so keen on taking concubines for him was her inferiority complex and lack of security.
This situation was too common in feudal society.
Especially in wealthy families, some wives and concubines are old and beautiful and no longer favored by their husbands, so they try their best to find new loves for their husbands, so as to regain their favor.
Jin Feng knew that this was a morbid mentality, but that was the social atmosphere of Dakang.
Regardless of whether they are men or women, they all believe that taking the initiative to take concubines for their husbands is the way to show the magnanimity of a real wife, otherwise it will be a jealous wife.
Guan Xiaorou has accepted this kind of thinking since she was a child, and it is difficult to change it for a while.