Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Leaving the factory, Zhou Maoxue and the others rode in a carriage towards the Tang family's mansion.

They had already agreed to bid farewell to Tang Bohu and return to their normal lives.

By the time the carriage arrived at the mansion, it was already past noon.

As soon as Zhou Maoxue and the others got off the carriage, they saw three carriages parked in front of the Tang family's mansion, and people were constantly moving things.

The original Tang family's butler was standing at the door, looking around.

Zhou Maoxue immediately stepped forward, made a 'nine-one' gesture with his fingers, and asked, "May I ask if Brother Tang is currently at home?"

The butler also made a 'nine-one' gesture and then said with great joy, "Oh, you've finally returned too! Our master isn't here."

"What do you mean? Did someone come back before us?"

"Yes, several hundred people have already returned."

"Then where is Brother Tang? And what's the situation with these people at the door?"

Mentioning this topic, the butler's face showed a worried expression: "Oh, don't even mention it. In the past few days, people have been coming here one after another, telling the master that they were withdrawing from the Xingsheng Society. The master couldn't bear the blow and decided to disband the Xingsheng Society and return to his hometown."

"That's why I'm left here to wait and notify anyone who comes looking for him, so they won't come back and not find him."

As the butler spoke, he looked at the workers carrying things to the side and sighed: "During this time, the master sold the ancestral home to make things easier for you in the future. I didn't expect it to end up like this. The buyer is moving in now, and I'll be leaving in a couple of days."

Zhou Maoxue was shocked: "The Xingsheng Society disbanded, and the ancestral home was sold! He returned to his hometown?"

"Yes, he did."

"How could it be like this..." The four scholars were greatly saddened.

Although things didn't work out, Brother Tang was indeed wholeheartedly serving everyone; how could he end up in such a state?

"Then where is his hometown? I'll go home and send the silver to him so that Brother Tang can redeem the ancestral home when he receives the money."

The butler's expression was tangled, and he sighed again: "Gentlemen... the people who came before also said the same thing, but my master instructed me not to take your money."

"No! Since you are the Tang family's butler, how can you not know how to be flexible? Brother Tang spent a lot of silver for us. We are just repaying the money now. How can there be any reason in this world not to repay a debt?"

The butler closed his eyes and nodded, then took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and showed it to them: "Alright... this is my master's address. Just send the silver here."

"Hey, what's with this piece of paper?" Zhou Maoxue felt something was wrong.

The butler said: "I haven't been back to my hometown for a long time, and my memory is not good, so I had the master write it down. You are all very smart people and should be able to remember it."

"We can remember it! Then thank you, Butler, goodbye!" Zhou Maoxue's doubts were dispelled, and he cupped his fist and turned to go home.

As the four scholars left, the workers carrying goods at the door looked at the butler and said loudly.

"Hey, old man! We've been moving these broken empty boxes back and forth inside and outside. When are we going to finish moving them?"

The butler turned around and entered the house, glancing at him: "Just move them when I tell you to move them. If you're tired, take a break. Move them again when someone comes!"

In the study, Fang Zheng Yi had his legs crossed on the table, constantly shaking them.

He held a delicate snack in his hand, chewing slowly.

He sighed, feeling that life was good.

The butler rushed in, immediately straightened his expression, clasped his fist, and bowed: "Sir, another group has arrived!"

Fang Zheng Yi nodded slightly and said slowly: "Alas... scholars, they really don't have perseverance. I painstakingly helped them arrange a bunch of scripts, but not a single one of them lasted for half a month."

They can't even turn in much of their salary. How am I going to give bonuses to the Embroidered Uniform Guards at the end of the year?

The butler smiled and said: "Sir, your trick is really brilliant. A few hundred scholars, in bits and pieces, can still cheat about ten thousand taels..."

"It's tuition, pay attention to your wording," Fang Zheng Yi said unhappily.

Wang Shuo seemed to have said something.

You have to be careful of the bad people in this world; they are all trying their best to teach you to be good, so that they can do bad things as they please.

Fang Zong obviously didn't have this awareness. He sincerely felt that he was doing a good thing.

A group of scholars who went astray; he went to great lengths to correct them, and what's wrong with collecting some labor fees and tuition along the way?

Moreover, he could also take the opportunity to verify the results of the transformation.

Whoever sends more silver, that means whoever has more conscience.....

"Go out, take good care of them. There shouldn't be many people coming later, right?"

"There aren't many people left. It's estimated that it will only take a day or two. This humble servant will go now," the butler said, leaving the study.

Not long after, Li Yuanzhao rushed in like a whirlwind.

Seeing Fang Zheng Yi leaning back in his chair, dozing off.

He didn't stand on ceremony, picked up the teapot in front of him, and gulped it down.

He let out a long sigh and said: "Outrageous, Lao Fang! This prince is heartbroken!"

Fang Zheng Yi sat up straight and asked: "What's wrong, Your Highness?"

"Didn't I go to visit the factory? It's the same as yesterday. As soon as those scholars leave and your people disperse, they stop acting and turn back into black factories," Li Yuanzhao said angrily. "In order to make up for the previous shortfall in working hours and workload, they generally make the workers work fourteen or fifteen hours a day. Isn't that forcing people to death? They live worse than forced labor."

Fang Zheng Yi chuckled: "Don't compare it to forced labor; black factories are much more humane than forced labor."

"Our Da Jing has regulations that forced labor can only be a maximum of six shichen a day!" Li Yuanzhao said.

Fang Zheng Yi curled his lips in disdain.

He always dismissed this kind of argument.

Regulations are regulations; forced labor really abuses people to death, and there is no room for resistance.

If you're not happy with working in a factory, just leave and go home to farm.

Forced labor is different. What if the regulations say six shichen?

In later generations, people often praised Lao Zhu and Lao Ying as loving the people like their own children.

Some third-rate historians even said that they had historical materials to show that the Qin Dynasty did not have tyranny, and the wages for building the Great Wall were high.

That's all nonsense.

Which job recruitment website doesn't offer good conditions?

What they say publicly is of course all nice words, but what actually happens when you start working is another matter.

If you don't complete the Great Wall KPI set by Emperor Shi, see if Brother Ying, who loves the people like his own children, will whip you or not.

Seeing that Li Yuanzhao still had an indignant expression, Fang Zheng Yi decided to comfort him.

"Your Highness, calm down. You have to look at problems from multiple angles, and you have to learn to look at problems dialectically. It is true that overtime in black factories is hateful, but it is not without its advantages."

"Think about it. If a worker is required to work fourteen or fifteen hours a day, if they persist, then what does that mean?"

Li Yuanzhao frowned: "It means they are physically strong, it means they are hardworking, what else can it mean?"

"Wrong, it means that no one in the world works overtime anymore; we have eliminated the overtime system."

......