At Bai's Ancestral Hall, after the village chief Bai Guili told the men, the men told their families, so naturally the women were not unhappy.
But everyone also has doubts in their hearts.
I used to cut stones, but I had never heard of food and accommodation being included, and you were also asked to come back only once a month?
And pay such a high salary?
Why is this?
There was a mother-in-law who felt uneasy. When she told her men about it, the men also became frightened: Isn’t this going to cost them their lives?
When Bai Guili was mentioned by the men, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. After much thought, he simply went to Chen Qingshan's house to ask someone.
Prince Shang was there, and so was Hu Yanlie. After hearing Bai Guili's words, the two bosses first looked at each other.
As time went by, the Yuan Jade mine found in Xuanwu Kingdom was only known to the world for only two months at most.
So once the Mirror Guards arrive and the Imperial Guards are added, secrecy won't be important.
After pondering for a moment, Prince Shang still chose to tell the truth: "The Yuan Jade mine was discovered in the quarry, and everyone will no longer be able to enter and exit freely."
"So if everyone is willing to go in and dig Yuan Yu, the wages will be greatly increased, but there will definitely be no freedom."
Village chief Bai Guili was stunned: "Yuan...Yuan Jade Mine?!"
"Well. It's not appropriate to publicize this matter at the moment. You can go back and tell the villagers privately. If anyone is unwilling to dig Yuan Yu, you can withdraw." Prince Shang nodded and added some cautions.
The tone of the instructions was gentle.
The village chief Bai Guili stepped on the cotton field and went to the ancestral hall. He beat the gong again and called all the men in the village over, telling them the important relationship and the reason.
The men were also shocked!
Yuan Yu is actually wrapped in this white stone?!
This time I went, not to chisel stone, but to chisel Yuan Yu?!
No wonder I had to go home!
No wonder food and accommodation are included!
No wonder the wages are so high...
Bai Guishui, the uncle of Baishan who had been shrinking behind the crowd before, suddenly said: "I don't have tools, what should I do?"
Bai Guili looked at Bai Guishui, who had no food at home and was lame: "The tools will be provided at the mine. The tools will be given out when you start work and collected when you finish work. We don't have to worry about it."
Bai Guishui breathed a sigh of relief.
He has no money to buy tools anymore.
Bai Guili didn't show it on his face, but he knew it in his heart: Bai Guishui was desperate. One of his two sons ran away. His own leg was broken before. Although he was later reattached using local methods, he was lame.
If he doesn't do anything, he will have to wait to starve to death.
Well, as the village chief, I can't just watch him starve to death but not allow him to do things to earn money.
The men carried their clothes and bedding on their backs and happily went to mine to earn silver beans, while the women were left at home washing, cooking and taking care of the children, gossiping with Qiao Chu when they had time.
But on the first day of work, Bai Guili was called by Meng Hu.
Meng Hu looked serious: "That Bai Guishui from your village has been digging for a long time and only has 20% of what others have. You tell him to go back! We don't want him."
Bai Guili was also stunned: 20%?
This white water is real water!
But when he came back to his senses, Bai Guili could only smile bitterly and explained Bai Guishui's situation. Now Meng Hu was stunned: "You mean, he is the former husband of Si Niang?"
Bai Guili nodded.
Si Niang is now cooking in the mine, and because of her quick hands and feet, she has already started to get paid.
Nowadays, due to the increase in the number of men who need to eat and live in the mines, the workload of cooking has increased sharply, and Si Niang's wages have increased again.
Meng Hu nodded suddenly: "If I were a silk lady, I would rather set up a female household on my own than this waste."
But in the end, he didn’t say anything more about asking Bai Guishui to leave.
This can be regarded as a way of saving face for Bai Guishui.
However, Bai Guili was stunned for a moment by Meng Hu's words: He just didn't talk about Si Niang's independence as a female household, he only talked about Si Niang's reconciliation with Bai Guishui.
Unexpectedly, Meng Hu actually knew that Si Niang had established a female household on her own?!
Aren’t the junior officials below responsible for this?
Does the captain care about this?
After thinking about it, Bai Guili asked Meng Hu: "Captain Meng, Si Niang has been working here these days, hasn't it caused you any trouble?"
Meng Hu waved his hand and chuckled: "How could it be? Si Niang is very diligent in her work!"
To be honest, when Si Niang first came here, she looked like a shriveled loofah. She was lifeless, skinny and dark.
But during this period of time, I ate with the men in the health center. I just ate a few more full meals, and my wrinkled and shriveled appearance suddenly relaxed like a water-saturated loofah!
Not only does she look more energetic, but she also looks fairer and younger.
It's that shyness... that always makes Meng Hu jealous.
Meng Hu smiled even more happily, and was about to let Bai Guili leave when he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Then Bai Guishui came to the mine, didn't he come for Si Niang?"
Bai Guili was stunned, he really didn't know.
After all, they were once a family. If Bai Guishui could change his ways, it would be possible to let Si Niang back again.
After all, with Bai Guishui now looking like he is about to starve to death, it is estimated that no girl from the family would be willing to marry him, and even a widow would find it difficult to consider him if she remarries.
When Meng Hu saw that Bai Guishui didn't speak, he understood and immediately darkened his face: "Go and tell Bai Guishui that if he works honestly in the mine, I can reward him with a bite of food..."
"If he goes to pester Si Niang and prevent Si Niang from cooking for everyone with peace of mind, don't blame me for being rude."
Bai Guili was shocked in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. He bowed and agreed: "Don't worry, I will definitely warn him and prevent him from doing anything wrong!"
After leaving the guardhouse, Bai Guili returned to the newly built dormitory, found Bai Guishui who lived in the back, called him out, and scared him first.
"The captain said you have done too little, only 20% of others, and he doesn't want you to come."
"If you want to stay, I can only give you two hundred silver beans a month. If you are willing, you can stay. If not, you can just leave." After Bai Guili finished speaking, he looked at Bai Guishui's reaction.
Bai Guishui has been feeling uneasy since he finished work, because he himself knows that he has done much less than others.
But he had no choice. His legs were lame and his movements were slow. Those who moved quickly swarmed towards the easiest part to chisel. By the time he limped over and hurried over, they had already chiseled several pieces!
What's more, everyone is used to it. He has never done physical work. It's great to have so much after being tired for a long time!
Now when I heard what Bai Guili said, I felt at ease. Without saying a word, I nodded and agreed: "I'm happy."
It is better to die of exhaustion than to die of hunger, not to mention that he has an old woman and a young son Bai Wei at home, both of whom are waiting for food.
Bai Guili was surprised to see him agree readily. He originally thought he would be chirping.
After thinking for a while, Bai Guili asked: "Did you see Si Niang when you were eating today..."