Traveling through ancient times: living a different life

Ever since telling Jiang Shaoxuan about movable type printing, the two of them started working on it after they came back.

First, a spacious place outside the city was selected as the site for the printing factory. With the help of the great god, the Fifth Prince, a piece of land was quickly purchased.

After completing the formalities, we will now build the factory building and the workers' dormitories. We will publicly recruit construction teams to repair the buildings and select the best ones. After comparing several companies, we selected a company with a good reputation in the county. This team has three master craftsmen and four junior craftsmen, with only 20 helpers.

Bi Yue talked to them about some things about repairing the house and showed them the blueprints. They asked them to repair it according to the requirements on the blueprints. After the price was agreed upon, the two decided that the master chef would be paid 15 taels of silver per month, the junior chef would be paid 10 taels, and their own workers would be paid 5 taels of silver per month. If there was not enough money for others, the owner would hire more people. However, these workers would be arranged and deployed by them.

Jiang Shaoxuan and Biyue definitely agreed. In order to build the factory within a month, they decided to recruit 200 workers first. So they posted a notice to recruit some young and strong men in the city.

If you have experienced hands who know how to build a house, it will be even better. The wages can be higher than those of ordinary helpers, at least not less than 5 taels of silver per month. The wages of ordinary workers are 80 wen per day. After the notice is posted,

The young and middle-aged people in the city and those in the surrounding villages heard the news and all came to the gate of the county town. There were big words written on the square: "Register here". Many people gathered here, some to register and some to watch the fun. It was so crowded that there was no way to get through.

Jiang Shaoxuan found a few literate guards to register the workers here, and the other 20 or so guards were responsible for maintaining order.

The team was divided into three groups, and 200 people were recruited in one day. In addition, eight middle-aged women who could cook were recruited to prepare three meals a day for the workers on the construction site. Their wages were the same as those of the helpers.

These women all lived in the county town so that it would be convenient for them to go to and from work and have a place to stay. The eight women who were chosen were so happy that they were grinning with joy.

We arrived at the construction site early the next morning and started leveling the ground, pulling weeds, and digging the foundation. The site was bustling with activity.

Because three simple stoves had to be repaired on the first morning, there was no time to make breakfast, so the Fifth Prince arranged for the guards to buy hundreds of steamed buns and steamed buns in the city, as well as two large buckets of porridge. The people who worked were all young and strong men with good health and certainly good appetites.

In order to ensure that they have enough food and eat well so that they will have motivation to work, not only is there a rich breakfast, but there are also meat dishes at noon and in the evening. The masters and helpers on the construction site eat such good porridge and meat buns in the morning, which motivates them to work harder. This boss is so kind that he not only provides three meals a day, but also pays them such high wages.

Jiang Shaoxuan arranged 20 guards to supervise the construction site.

Bi Yue posted a notice in the city again, recruiting skilled craftsmen. Movable type printing requires burning characters and engraving. The wages of these craftsmen are very high, five taels of silver a month, and there are bonuses? After the notice was posted, many people came to sign up.

So they bought a small courtyard next to the general's mansion and used it temporarily to recruit craftsmen to experiment with the blanks of movable type.

Those who registered had to pass Bi Yue's assessment first, and only those who were admitted would stay. Among the selection of more than 40 people, 10 people were retained and asked to sign a contract.

While working here, you cannot reveal the information here to your family or friends. Once discovered, the entire three clans will be punished. The person who signed the contract knew that this person was the current fifth prince. Each craftsman was given an instruction manual on how to make the model characters.

They began to make the clay in the yard according to the detailed instructions.

Then Biyue and Jiang Shaoxuan went to the nearby area to look for clay. After a few days of hard work, the workshop outside the city was gradually built. A month later, the construction site was completed.

The printing factory was also repaired according to Bi Yue's requirements. The helpers working here saw the Fifth Prince and Bi Yue coming to inspect the construction site, and they all asked if they wanted to hire workers.

Bi Yue said to them, "After the workshop is repaired, we will definitely need to hire workers. We will start by recruiting 100 people. Registration will start at : tomorrow morning. If there is a need later, we will contact you later."

Everyone working on the construction site cheered. Biyue asked them to line up, set up tables, read out names and began to pay everyone. Everyone went home happily with the money to inform their relatives and friends to sign up tomorrow morning.

At the hour of Mao the next morning, many people were standing at the door. The guards opened the door, put out a long table and chairs, writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, and began to register. They asked for names and places of origin. There were 100 people, and the registration was full in one morning. Those who arrived in the afternoon were not able to register and left in disappointment. They could only wait for the next recruitment to try their luck again.

The guards told those who signed up that they would start work in three days and just needed to bring some spare clothes. The quilt factory would provide them with food and accommodation. The first month's salary would be one or two taels of silver, and the salary would increase after three months.

The workers who had signed up were overjoyed when they heard this, while those who had not signed up were very regretful. They should have come and waited at the door yesterday night so that they would not have missed such a good job.

During these three days, Bi Yue was not idle. In the workshop, she placed orders for all the tools she needed in the system. After these days of skilled operation, the ten craftsmen also knew how to make movable type and set up the layout. Everyone was looking forward to it.

Jiang Shaoxuan and Biyue discussed and decided to print some Thousand Character Classic and Hundred Family Surnames first, which were enlightenment books for children. They also sent guards to several counties ahead to buy white paper and bring it back in a horse-drawn carriage.

After asking about the price, Bi Yue realized that the paper was quite expensive. Although the cost of printing had been reduced, the expensive paper still prevented books from being popularized throughout the country. It seemed that the papermaking technology had to be promoted to fundamentally solve the problem.

The movable type printing was progressing in an orderly manner. After the first batch of children's enlightenment books were printed, they were much cheaper than the previous handwritten books. Bookstores were opened in the first few counties, specializing in selling various printed books. Ordinary people bought them for their children to read and study. Not only were the prices cheap, but the handwriting was also very clear. The feedback from them made Biyue and the Fifth Prince very happy.

The Fifth Prince wrote a thick memorial and a secret letter about everything that happened here, and sent guards to the capital at full speed to report to his father, the Emperor, what had happened here. He told his father everything clearly, and praised Bi Yue greatly in the letter, telling the Emperor that she was a disciple of an immortal and had great magical powers, and asked his father to reward her greatly in the future and not to treat her lightly.

Bi Yue had no idea about these things. Jiang Shaoxuan was trying to take credit for himself to his father.