Wei and Jin cooks

Ji Yuan left all these trivial matters to Zhuangtou Zhao Tong, who only asked about them every day.

Zhao Tong had to pay wages every ten days, which made his heart ache. He actually didn't want to recruit people, but Mr. Ji specifically told him that as long as people come, he will accept them all.

After doing the work, keep the diligent and capable ones and drive out the cunning and cunning ones.

So when he saw Zhang Dayan and the others, although he was mentally calculating the extra grain and copper coins he would have to spend every day, he still accepted them.

Zhang Dayan and the others stayed and worked for two days. They had enough food for two days and slept on a warm kang, so they were sure that they could do the job and that the Zhao family was not cheating anyone.

So they discussed it and decided to ask Zhang Dayan and the village chief's son to go back and call for people who could work in the village, while the rest would stay here.

Then Zhao Tong met the two of them five days later, leading nearly a hundred people behind them.

Zhao Tong:......

This incident also alarmed Ji Yuan.

Ji Yuan came over in person and saw that they were sallow and thin, and some of them could hardly stand, so he had two buckets of porridge brought up.

The porridge was quickly distributed as soon as it was served, but everyone ate a bowl, and their faces barely improved.

Ji Yuan stood next to Zhang Dayan and asked, "Are the lives of your village already so difficult?"

Zhang Dayan said while drinking porridge: "It's hard to live this year. It's too cold this year and there's not much food left. Five people died in our village after winter started. A few days ago, we froze to death in one night just two days after the winter solstice." Three years later, I don’t know whether he froze to death or starved to death.”

Ji Yuan frowned.

Zhang Dayan sighed: "I don't think the weather will be very good next year. The old people in the village said that there will be less snow this year, but the weather will be cold and cold. Next year, there may be a drought."

Ji Yuan was thoughtful.

At this time, Zhao Hanzhang was squatting in the wilderness and meditating. There were many helpers squatting around her, all holding bowls in their hands.

The vegetable soup in the bowl was still steaming. They sipped the soup and the steamed buns, occasionally looking up at Zhao Hanzhang cautiously.

This is the first time they have seen the county queen. She is indeed a kind-hearted and kind-hearted girl as everyone said.

But for some reason, no one dared to be presumptuous in front of her.

Zhao Hanzhang came back to his senses and asked the uneasy strong man next to him, "So you want to bring all your cousins ​​and their family to our Xiping?"

The strong man Jiao Dalang's head was almost buried under his knees, and he said uneasily: "If it doesn't work, then..."

"Okay," Zhao Hanzhang squinted his eyes and said, "You can bring them here. Don't you still have vacant houses in your village? Bring them over and temporarily settle them in the vacant houses. They can first get work in Xiping County and then start working in the spring. If you still decide to stay, report to the Yamen."

She said: "It's too late this year, but they can be allocated some fields if they come to the government office to report. If they are worried about taxes and don't want to allocate the fields, they can also work as long-term workers for the county government. The monthly salary is the same as that of the refugees who came here." .”

Jiao Dalang's eyes lit up and he was confused. After seeing the treatment Zhao Hanzhang gave to the refugees, they all wanted to work as long-term workers.

But as farmers, land is their lifelong obsession, and he doesn't really want to give up the land to do long-term work.

But it is really hard to be a good citizen now. The taxes are too heavy. They have land, but after the hard work of the whole family, there is not much food left after the taxes.

Zhao Hanzhang saw Jiao Dalang's confusion and smiled slightly: "I will exempt you from the autumn tax this year. I will also collect next year's tax according to the weather. I will reduce or reduce it as appropriate. Don't worry."

Zhao Hanzhang still hopes that they will be good citizens. Although she is more comfortable as long-term workers, she still hopes that they can recuperate in Xiping and improve their lives through their own efforts.

Jiao Dalang got Zhao Hanzhang's approval, and went to ask for leave from their little steward that day, and ran home to find his father, "Father, the county king said, my cousin and the others can come over and live in our village temporarily. I really decided to settle in our village." Once the West is leveled, we can still get land next year.”

When Father Jiao heard this, he immediately stood up and said, "Why are you still standing there? Go find your aunt and uncle."

Shangcai's life has been very difficult this year. Since the winter solstice, the food stored at home has become less and less, making the villagers a little anxious.

At this time, they heard that reservoirs and canals were being built in Xiping County next door. At first, they sympathized with the people there and felt that they were suffering too much, serving in such a cold weather.

But later I heard that instead of serving in the army, the county government was providing work-for-relief. Those who went to work not only had enough to eat, but also received wages every day.

Everyone waited quietly for a while, and some people went to visit relatives next door. They saw those relatives cooking very thick wheat porridge, and some people ate steamed buns with every meal.

I heard that the steamed buns are made from a mixture of wheat bran, wheat flour and soybean flour. They look brownish-yellow, but they taste pretty good.

It's much better than eating a little bit of wheat porridge for one meal.

I heard that the steamed buns were distributed by the county government, because everyone’s rations were fixed, and some people had some left over to take home for the elderly and the weak at home.

As a result, the people in Shangcai County were jealous of the people in Xiping County.

At that time, the rebels were raging in Xiping County and many people died. They still sympathized with them, thinking that they had been robbed of so many things and wondered if they could survive this winter. Unexpectedly, they lived better in winter than they did. Even better.

"Why are you running?"

"I heard someone came into the house with money."

"Relatives come to borrow food?"

"Then you need money to bring in food. You can borrow food from home. He's his cousin in Xiping. I heard he's here to take him there to work."

"Is it true? We people from Shangcai can also go there to work?"

"It may not be possible for others, but it should be possible if money comes in. After all, my relatives are here to take care of it."

"If you say that, then I can do it. Qian Jin and I are from the same family. Aren't the relatives of Qian Jin's family my relatives?" As soon as the man finished speaking, he opened the door and went out, hunched his neck and trotted towards Qian Jin's house. Go.

If you say this, then the whole village has been married to Jiao Dalang, wouldn't the whole village be able to go?

Jiao Dalang, who was sitting in Qian's house, was stunned. He was surrounded by people and it took a lot of effort to get out. He said distressedly: "When I came here, I only said I would take my cousins ​​with me, but I didn't say I would take them with me." With so many people, you all have to go, and I can’t guarantee that our county will accept them all.”

But the focus of some villagers is not here, but on, "Where can I really have enough food and get paid by working there?"

"Okay, I dig ditches for ten cents a day."

"Does your county still accept refugees?"

"Yes, we will keep all the refugees who are passing by, as long as they are willing to stay. However, they must be diligent. If anyone cheats and cheats, our county will directly confiscate the wages, or directly arrest them for grinding."

Why is it that everyone is still a little afraid of Zhao Hanzhang even though she is giving out food and wages?

It is because the laws she promulgated are also very strict. If anyone is deliberately lazy, or creates trouble, etc., once he is caught, his salary will be deducted, or he will be taken away directly to grind mills or grind rice. The latter is because he is punished, so there is no such thing. For wages.

Few people dared to provoke Zhao Hanzhang easily. If there were, most of them were already in the mill, or were taken away to someone unknown.

See you tomorrow