GBP Chapter 30 Pain, yet pleasure
Chapter 30 Pain, yet pleasure
The old lady immediately became curious and asked, "What are your orders, sir?"
Yang Shaofeng said, "I need to set up a workshop and I need some skillful and hardworking women to work there. I will pay them wages every month. I will have to trouble you, madam, to help me talk to the aunties and grandmas in other communities and ask them to help me select some people."
The old lady sighed and said, "Don't worry, sir. I'll make sure you get some skillful, hardworking, and obedient people. I just don't know how many people you need."
Yang Shaofeng secretly calculated for a moment and said, "We'll probably need about a hundred, but there's one thing: we need to pick a few from each village and community."
The situation in Ningyang County is now quite complicated, and has even deviated from Yang Shaofeng's original plan.
In Yang Shaofeng's initial plan, the able-bodied men of the eight communities and sixteen villages were responsible for reclaiming wasteland and turning over the land, while the women were responsible for helping to weed, sorting and bundling wild vegetables and grasses. The young widows in the widow village were responsible for making dumplings or managing shops. The rest of the people were assigned to the lighter workshop to produce lighters.
Based on the calculation that each woman can produce ten lighters a day, a dozen or so young widows can produce more than a hundred lighters a day. After the autumn harvest, more women can be brought into the workshop to work, and the output of lighters can be further increased.
At first, things were progressing according to Yang Shaofeng's plan. Whether it was spring plowing, the steamed bun shop, or the workshop where the young widows produced lighters, everything was moving forward in an orderly manner.
However, when Limpy Wu brought back the deposit given by Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, the nature of the matter completely changed.
Xu Da and Chang Yuchun each gave ten taels of silver, which is equivalent to twenty thousand cash. At the price of twenty cash per lighter, two thousand cash is only enough for one thousand lighters. A dozen or so young widows can make and deliver them in less than ten days.
So, did Xu Da and Chang Yuchun need a thousand lighters?
Obviously not.
Since the exact quantity is not specified, the more the better; since the exact delivery date is not agreed upon, the sooner the better.
Simply put, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun asked Yang Shaofeng to make as many lighters as possible in the shortest amount of time.
So here's the problem: the able-bodied young people in the eight communities and sixteen neighborhoods inside and outside the city are busy clearing land and spring plowing. When summer comes, they are also busy taking care of the crops. Whether it's thinning seedlings or watering, the young people are so busy that they have no time to do anything else.
The women of the eight communities and sixteen villages were also busy, either helping the young and strong to weed, or sorting and bundling wild vegetables and grasses. Even the young widows in the widow village were busy making dumplings or managing their shops, and they were basically all too busy to take care of anything else.
The only way to produce as many lighters as possible in the shortest amount of time is to expand the scale and select a hundred or so skillful and hardworking women to participate in the production of lighters.
In short, Limpy Wu unintentionally became the top salesman and inexplicably secured two large orders that could make him a lot of money. Magistrate Yang Shaofeng set up a workshop for this, recruited workers, and worked like crazy to produce the goods.
It's painful, yet pleasurable.
……
The next morning, after the heads of the eight communities and sixteen villages of Ningyang County arrived at the county government office, Yang Shaofeng went straight to the point and said, "I have summoned you here because I have a few things to instruct you on."
"First, I have already had all the lighters produced during this period prepared. When you go back later, you will receive them according to the number of households in each village and community. Each household will receive one. Remember to use them sparingly. There is not much kerosene left. If you run out of kerosene, I will not be responsible for you."
"Secondly, I want to open a workshop that specializes in producing lighters. I have already asked Granny Wang from Jia Sanlu to help me find some skillful women to work in the workshop, about a hundred or so."
"When Aunt Wang and the others are selecting people, you must make it clear to the parents-in-law and husbands of the selected women that I am sending them to work in the workshop. They may not be able to take care of their families for a while, so please ask your families to be more understanding."
"Third, you still need to keep an eye on the spring plowing. You must not slack off. If anyone in the village is not farming properly, just go and talk to Brother Limpy Fifth and ask him to come forward and hold them accountable."
"Fourth, when you get back, tell the people that the work of growing wild vegetables and fodder cannot be stopped. It will definitely be tiring, but we must start farming and making money first. We can talk about resting when winter comes. We must make sure that the people have food to eat and money to buy things during the winter."
"Fifth," Yang Shaofeng snapped open the lighter cap, then closed the switch, and looked at the flame, saying, "We're about to leave spring and enter summer. Think about it, how many rains have there been throughout this entire spring?"
As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, the heads of the eight communities and sixteen neighborhoods were dumbfounded.
The first few questions are easy to answer.
For the people of Ningyang County, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng distributed land to everyone and helped them earn money by selling fodder. Even the widow village, which had always been neglected, was properly taken care of by him. He was a true benevolent official. Now, he needed a hundred or so women to work in the workshop, and everyone just needed to obediently follow his orders.
Even if the women go to work in the workshop and may not be able to take care of their families, everyone can understand, and even those who don't understand can accept it.
Could such a kind and benevolent man possibly harbor some malicious intentions to harm others?
The last question, however, left the heads of the eight communities and sixteen villages feeling terrified.
Since the beginning of spring, and since Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, took office, it has been almost three months.
In these nearly three months, the number of times it rained in Ningyang County can be counted on one hand.
It's less than five times in total!
The more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became. The head of Jia Village mustered his courage and asked, "Does the master mean that there might be a drought this year?"
Yang Shaofeng shook his head slightly and said, "It's not that I think there will be a drought, but rather that you think there will be a drought? If there is a drought, to what extent? How much will it affect the autumn harvest?"
All the village heads and community leaders frowned deeply.
In three months, there have only been three or four rain showers. Combined with the thin layer of snow that fell last winter, this year seems destined to be a dry one.
"What the hell!"
Liu Sanshier, the head of Liumiao Village, rushed to the open space outside the county government hall with a face full of despair and shouted to the sky: "We just got land! We just cleared the wasteland! God, open your eyes! Why is it so hard for us common people to live!"
Just as Liu Sanshier was crying out to the sky, the head of Jia Yilu had a sudden thought.
The magistrate mentioned the possibility of drought, but he didn't seem very worried. This was very strange, unless the magistrate simply didn't care about the lives of the common people.
However, judging from the actions of the magistrate since he took office as the magistrate of Ningyang County, he is clearly a good official who loves the people like his own children. How could he be the kind of bad official under the rule of the Tartars who doesn't care about the lives of the people?
and so……
Thinking of this, the village head tentatively asked, "Does Your Excellency have any ideas?"