Sui and Tang Dynasties: Awakening the Supreme Skills at the Beginning

Everyone returned to Li Zhen's yard and started the meeting.

There were no stools, tables, or meeting rooms. A group of people crowded into Li Zhen's yard. Torches were stuck on the courtyard wall, making the yard as bright as day.

Most people were squatting, and some simply sat cross-legged on the ground.

Li Zhen was sitting at the door.

Next to them are Li Mantun, Uncle Wang, and brothers Wang Qingshan and Li Dahai.

A little further away are Wang Xiaoshan, Wang Xiaohu, and the Luo brothers.

Everyone arranged their seats according to their relationship with Li Zhen. Everyone knew who was closer to Li Zhen and who was less close.

More than forty villagers formed a large circle and surrounded Li Zhen in the center.

There were still people outside the yard who had not come in. Some of them were family members of the workshop team, and some were villagers who came to watch the fun.

After two days of work, the construction of the workshop can be said to be basically completed. We will buy grain and start brewing wine tomorrow.

Gathering together for a meeting, the team members are both excited and a little nervous.

Li Zhen is no longer the fool he used to be, but the richest man in Shenxing Town.

Who can easily open a shop or workshop in Chang'an City these days? Li Zhen did it.

Li Zhen walked to the center of the circle and smiled at the villagers, "Thank you for your hard work these past two days. If you have any problems with production, please come forward and tell us!"

Everyone looked at each other, but no one stepped forward to be the first to speak.

"We are all family. When you encounter a problem, don't just figure it out on your own. You must speak it out. Three heads are better than one!"

"Haha!" Everyone couldn't help but laugh at Li Zhen's witty remarks, and the atmosphere suddenly became relaxed.

"Since no one is saying anything, I'll name the names."

Seeing that no one spoke, Li Zhen began to call out names.

"Second Uncle, you are the shopkeeper, you speak first!"

Li Mantun walked to the center of the circle and saw the villagers around him looking at him, and he couldn't help feeling excited.

He thought for a moment and then said, "Zhen'er, everyone is having a hard time right now. Can you give everyone an advance on their wages to help them out first?"

The key question came up right at the beginning, and everyone couldn't help but feel nervous.

Dozens of villagers held their breath and looked at Li Zhen involuntarily.

Each member of the workshop team received two strings of cash every month, but since it was not the end of the month yet, their wages had not been paid, and their lives were still as hard as before.

Although they were able to eat their fill, their family members were hungry, which made them feel very uncomfortable.

Everyone was in a state of uncertainty, wondering whether Li Zhen would agree to this "unreasonable request"?

Generally speaking, outsiders are paid at the end of the month or after the work is done, and some even delay getting paid. Now they are asking Li Zhen to pay their wages in advance, which is a bit too much.

Li Zhen smiled slightly, "What do you think of the proposal made by Second Uncle? Is it good?"

"it is good!"

Everyone shouted.

"So what are you waiting for? Since everyone is applauding, let's send it out!"

Li Zhen took the lead in applauding Li Mantun.

clap clap clap...

Warm applause echoed throughout the yard.

Looking at the crowd applauding enthusiastically, Li Mantun felt a sense of pride.

"Da Hai, Er Hai, Qing Shan, come here to get the money and pay everyone."

Li Zhen turned and went into the house, taking out the copper coins that had been prepared long ago.

"From now on, wages will be paid in advance at the beginning of each month, and bonuses will be paid at the end of the month. That means we will pay twice a month!"

Dahai, Erhai and Qingshan hurried into the house and helped Li Zhen move the copper coins out.

The villagers were shocked!

Is it okay to pay wages in advance?

This is really unprecedented, I have never heard of it before!

Li Zhen is really kind-hearted. Following Li Zhen, you will definitely be right this time!

"Da Hai, you two guan!"

"Qingshan, you two kan!"

……

Holding the heavy copper coins, many villagers were moved to tears.

Farmers like them work hard all year but can only earn very little money. It is good enough if they can just have enough food and clothing!

I want to work in the city, but I can't find a suitable job without any skills. In addition, many places don't pay wages at all, just provide food. Although I can eat, what about my family? Can I watch them starve to death?

I have only worked for Li Zhen for two days and I have received so many copper coins. I don’t know what good deeds I did in my previous life to be able to meet Li Zhen, a living Bodhisattva.

"I neglected this matter. Fortunately, my second uncle brought it up!"

Li Zhen smiled and said, "If it weren't for Second Uncle's suggestion, the wages would definitely not be paid tonight. So if there are any problems in the future, everyone must bring them up in time so that we can work together to find a solution!"

The villagers present immediately nodded vigorously, and their enthusiasm for making suggestions was completely aroused.

Li Zhen smiled and said, "Who's next?"

"I, I'll do it..."

The villagers rushed to speak one by one.

Li Zhen pointed at one of the young men and said, "Gou Sheng, come here, speak."

The young boy Li Gousheng stood up, walked to the center of the circle, stamped his feet and rubbed his hands for a long time before hesitatingly saying, "Uncle Zhenzi, I... I haven't thought about it yet! Let me think about it again!"

"Hahaha!"

There was a burst of laughter.

"Go down, go down!"

Li Zhen waved his hands and scolded with a smile: "Everyone think about the questions first, and then stand in the middle. If you raise a good question, everyone will applaud. If you raise a bad question, you should also encourage it. After all, it is great to have the courage to stand up and speak!"

The villagers standing outside nodded in agreement.

"Let me suggest one!"

Wang Qingshan walked to the center of the circle and summoned up his courage to say, "These past two days, I've noticed that there are always sneaky people peeking at the door of our workshop. As the saying goes, we don't need to worry about thieves stealing, but we do need to worry about thieves thinking about stealing. I hope everyone can take precautions early to avoid any trouble."

All the villagers were silent.

The current Tang Dynasty is dominated by aristocratic families and the powerful.

The city of Chang'an is full of powerful people. If you don't have a strong background and open a workshop or shop in Chang'an, you will be eaten up by the powerful people without leaving anything behind.

Li Zhen applauded, "This question is very important!"

clap clap clap...

The people applauded loudly.

Wang Qingshan's heart beat faster and he looked around, feeling his heart pounding.

Even though he was 22 years old and had been the mayor of Shenxing Town, he had never encountered such a large number of people applauding him.

It feels so good, it's addictive.

Li Zhen walked to the center of the circle and shouted, "Fellow villagers, our workshops and shops also have backers. Not only that, but they are also very powerful! Don't worry!"

Li Zhen paused and looked at the people around him.

Everyone was concentrating, staring at Li Zhen in the center of the circle without blinking; the yard was completely silent.

Li Zhen cleared his throat and said loudly: "I cooperated with Mr. Pan of Baoyue Building in this workshop. We are responsible for production, and his Baoyue Building is responsible for sales. What do you think, is this backer strong?"

"hard!"

"Good fellow, Brother Zhen'er actually contacted the owner of Baoyue Tower. What do we have to fear then? Don't you think so?"

"I see! Now we feel relieved!"

Wang Qingshan scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.

Li Zhen added: "Although we are cooperating with Baoyue Tower, we cannot rely on Baoyue Tower for everything. We need to have our own defense. Starting tomorrow, the workshop team will increase the number of 10 people. They must be strong young men aged 16 to 25. They will spend two hours every night to have Luo Liang teach everyone how to protect themselves!"

"it is good!"

Everyone applauded enthusiastically and looked at Luo Liang.

Luo Liang stood up and said, "As long as everyone is willing to endure the hardship, I will teach everyone everything I know, and I will never keep anything to myself!"

“We are not afraid of hardship!”

“We are not afraid of getting tired!”

"We are only afraid of poverty!"

"As long as Brother Luo Liang teaches us self-defense, we won't be afraid no matter how tired we are, don't you think?"

Many young people stood up.

They had seen Luo Liang's kung fu. He could jump up a ten-foot-high wall with just one leap. This made them extremely envious.

"Come on, let's applaud Qingshan!"

"Clap clap clap!"

Li Zhen took the lead in applauding again.

After a long time, the applause stopped.

Li Zhen shouted, "Next one!"

"I come!"

Uncle Wang stood in the circle and said, "Brother Zhen'er, I think it's too expensive to go out to restaurants every morning and evening. Why don't we build a shed and make a canteen? This way, everyone can eat well and it saves money."

Li Zhen took the lead in applauding, "Uncle Wang's suggestion is very good!"

The villagers applauded warmly.

Li Zhen said, "Well, starting tomorrow, I will fund the construction of a large canteen. We will provide two meals a day, morning and evening. Each meal must be full and contain meat. Each person should get three taels of meat."

The villagers were shocked!

Two meals a day, eat enough at every meal, and three taels of meat every day!

Even the landlord wouldn’t dare to eat like this!

Li Zhen continued to make arrangements, "Uncle Wang, find five cooks. Starting tomorrow, each will receive one guan of money per month. First, set up a shed for cooking on the wasteland opposite my house. You will make the arrangements, and I will ask my second uncle for the money later."

Uncle Wang nodded.

When the villagers came to their senses, many of them were so moved that their clothes were wet with tears.

They didn't think about eating meat, let alone having a full meal every time. Three meals of porridge a day would be enough.

Li Zhen raised his hand again, "Now, let's applaud Uncle Wang again!"

clap clap clap...

Applause broke out, the villagers' palms turned red from clapping, and they looked at Uncle Wang with different eyes.

Uncle Wang had mixed feelings. He had only made a suggestion and did not expect that it would attract such attention from Li Zhen.

He originally wanted to save money, but this proposal obviously cost more money. Li Zhen didn't even blame him for being nosy.

This feeling of being treated as one of our own comes naturally from the bottom of my heart, and it feels so good!

"Does anyone have any other suggestions?"

Li Zhen asked again.

"Yes, I thought about it this time!"

Gousheng stood up again and said, "Uncle Zhen, I see that other people who do business all have accountants. We have a workshop and a shop, so we must have an accountant. Otherwise, we won't know how much money we earn and how much we spend, and it will be troublesome if something goes wrong."

"Ok!"

All the villagers present looked at Li Gousheng in unison, and no one wanted to beat him for asking such a question.

"This is indeed a big problem. Gousheng's suggestion is great. Let's applaud him!"

"Clap clap clap..."

Li Zhen took the lead in applauding, and the villagers quickly followed suit, and warm applause rang out again.

"Bang bang bang..."

With the encouragement from his fellow villagers, Li Gousheng's heart beat faster and his blood boiled.

Usually people in the village call him Gousheng or Dog. There have never been so many people applauding and encouraging him like today. He felt a sense of pride and felt great to join Li Zhen's workshop team. It helped him find the direction of his life.

Li Zhen said, "We have an accountant provided by Baoyue Tower, but we also need to have the ability ourselves. Everyone, is there anyone who can manage accounts?"

The villagers all shook their heads.

You can ask them to do work, but you can't ask them to keep accounts. They can't even use a brush.

“We can’t read!”

"If you can't read, you can't keep accounts!"

The villagers talked a lot.

"In that case, I will open a night school in a few days and hire a teacher to teach everyone how to read."

Li Zhen waved his hand and spoke.

"We country folk just need to know how to work, we don't need to read or write!"

Someone below retorted.

Li Zhen changed the subject and said, "I'm going to open a lot of shops in the future. When our business grows bigger, we will need a lot of people. Not only will we need workers, but we will also need managers and accountants."

"Correct!"

The villagers nodded repeatedly.

"As a shopkeeper, if you can't read, how can you sign contracts for people? As an accountant, if you can't write or do accounting, how can you keep accounts and pay employees?"

"If I hire someone else to take care of everyone, they won't be used to it, and I won't feel at ease. If I don't hire someone, I won't be able to handle it myself, and one person working two and a half nights won't be enough!"

"Yes, we can't invite outsiders. Outsiders are on the same page as us!"

"We should learn to read and write!"

"But it takes a long time to learn to write. Can a rough guy like us learn it?"

The villagers started talking again.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”

Li Zhen looked at everyone, "As long as everyone is willing to work hard, there is nothing that cannot be learned. We don't need to learn too much, just one word a day, which means more than 300 words a year. There is no need for everyone to take the imperial examination. As long as you can write contracts and do accounting, you can be an accountant!"

After hearing this, everyone gained confidence. It wasn’t too much to ask for!

"In two months at most, my own shop will be open. Whoever can read a lot and do accounting will be hired as the accountant or shopkeeper, and his salary and bonus will be doubled."

Now a person gets two strings of copper coins per month, and a bonus at the end of the month, which can be doubled to four strings of copper coins, double the bonus. This is the rhythm of getting rich!

"Brother Zhen, don't worry, we will definitely learn to write and count well!"

Many villagers were jealous.

Li Zhen waved his hand and shouted, "Does anyone have any suggestions?"

Everyone was silent.

"Well, since everyone has no objection, I declare the meeting adjourned!"