The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

Sun Shan inspected the work carefully and found that the progress was too slow. The construction period would be over in a day or two, so more workers had to be recruited.

The guano can be transported via a zip line, and the road must be built simultaneously.

I looked at the men, women and children in Da Niao Village, who came to work for free for the guano workshop.

If this workshop doesn’t open soon, it will be a disappointment to their expectations.

Sun Shan said to Sun Dingnan, "Brother Nan, you don't need to come here to build roads anymore. Your main task is to keep good records in the account book. Don't worry about anything else."

Seeing Sun Shan being so serious, Sun Dingnan still didn't quite understand why he couldn't come over to help.

But he did what the master said: "Yes, master, I understand."

It’s not that Sun Shan disagrees with coming to build the road, but everyone has their own responsibilities and there is no need to do more work.

It is good enough to do your own part well, so as not to be distracted by doing more and lose track of priorities.

Sun Shan chatted with the village chief for a few more words and said with concern, "Village chief, don't worry about the work. We will hire people to repair the road in a few days. Don't worry, the guano workshop will be built soon."

After a pause, he added, "When the time comes, we will definitely give priority to recruiting men from Dayiao Village."

This is the issue that the village chief is most concerned about.

I came here to work voluntarily just to show my ability, and I hope that when Sun Shan recruits, he will think of Da Niao Village first.

After hearing what Sun Shan said, the village chief was so happy that he almost flew away.

He thanked excitedly, "Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much, sir. For Ooniao Village to have such a good official like you, we must have done a lot of good deeds in our previous lives."

Seeing that the village chief was about to make another long speech of thanks, Sun Shan quickly left.

He is very busy and has no time to chat with the village chief.

Back at the guano workshop, Sun Shan approached Master Wang and said, "Master Wang, the road is being built too slowly. We need to hire people to repair it. Our workshop must pay for it."

Mr. Wang already knew what Sun Shan meant. He nodded and said, "Okay, hire more people to help. Even if the wages are a little lower, many people will come to work."

It’s mainly because it’s the slack season for farming and everyone is bored.

Yuanlu County is not like those places with docks where one can work as a porter.

We finally have a big workshop and need to hire people to work.

As long as the street poster is posted, haha, many people will beg to come and work.

Mr. Wang is a businessman, so naturally he wants to exploit the workers' surplus value completely, so he will squeeze the wages as much as possible.

It’s up to you whether you want to work or not. If you don’t want to work, get out. The pay is so little. If you want to work, come with me. If you don’t want to work, get out of here.

When Sun Shan heard Mr. Wang say that he wanted to withhold wages, he actually had some objections, but then he thought of the balance in the account book.

Finally, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll leave everything to you."

Two days later, when his service was about to end, County Magistrate Wang finally came from the government office.

Just let the younger brothers announce the recruitment matters.

The laborers heard that the road needed to be repaired, but they would be paid.

10 wen a day, including lunch. Dinner was arranged by myself, and I slept in the same shack as during the military service.

One of the clerks said, "Those who want to work come here to register, and those who don't want to work and want to go home go to the other side to register."

As soon as the recruitment notice was announced, it immediately attracted a lot of discussion.

The servant whispered, "Ten cents a day, isn't that too little?"

I usually do odd jobs, such as helping to build houses, helping landlords harvest rice, etc., usually 20 cents a day, including lunch.

Nowadays, the wages in the government office have been cut in half to only 10 cents. This is too little.

And the lunch was definitely not enough. They already knew the government's working style very well, it was a typical Zhou Paopi style.

Laborer B said angrily, "That's right. It's only 10 cents a day. You'd be a fool to work here. Road construction is so hard. I have to leave early and come back late. If it weren't for the regulations, I wouldn't do it."

Servant C asked, "Why aren't you all working? Are you all planning to go home?"

The yamen runner has already said that if you want to continue working, you can register with him. If you don’t want to work and choose to go home, you can register with another yamen runner.

It’s just that everyone is waiting and watching, and no one goes to register at either place.

The laborer Ding said honestly, "I'll do it. 10 wen is 10 wen, it's better than going home. Back home, not only is there no money to earn, but I also have to eat. At least here I get a meal, even if I can't eat enough, it's better than eating at home."

Mr. Wang took advantage of the laborers' mentality.

It is very difficult to find a job nowadays. If you can’t find a job, not only will you have no income, but you will also have expenses.

Haha, coming to the guano workshop to build a road, not to mention the 10 cents, the free lunch is already very attractive.

Mr. Wang wanted to just give him food without paying, but regardless of whether Sun Shan approved or not, doing so would also be bad for his reputation.

In particular, the recruitment of workers was handled by County Magistrate Wang, and the laborers would definitely say that the Wang family were vampires.

Hey, the eldest aunt in Chenzhou Prefecture said that not only Sun Shan wants to accumulate fame, but their Wang family also needs to.

The Wang family is different now. There are scholars, there are juren, and maybe there will be jinshi in the future.

And they are locals, so we can't be too harsh on them.

They had not realized this problem before, but since Sun Shan came, the Wang family also began to pay attention to their reputation.

In particular, Sun Shan and the Wang family are very similar, both of them are just starting out.

Sun Shan is so far-sighted, and the Wang family must not lose.

Mr. Wang paid more attention to Sun Shan's every move than County Magistrate Wang, taking the essence and discarding the dross, and learning from him.

The servant Ding said he wanted to stay, and the other servants were tempted to do so.

Yes, that's absolutely right. 10 cents is indeed not much, but I can't stand being idle, and I can't stand not being able to find work.

From now until the New Year, I will still have a few hundred coins, which can be used to buy new clothes for the girl at home.

If you don't do it, you won't even have a few hundred coins.

Not only that, but he also had to eat and live at home, which made the girls at home eat less.

Then the servant Wu said repeatedly: "Sir, I will stay and do it. I want to build the road."

Afraid of being late and not being recognized by him, he hurried over to register.

But it was still a step too late, as many laborers were already queuing up to register.

Suddenly, a servant asked, "Sir, can you please let us go home for a while? Dinner is not provided, and we need to bring some dry food back."

Road construction is hard work. After eating at noon, you have to eat at night.

The dry food I brought with me was almost gone, so I had to go home and bring more.

The yamen runner said very reasonably, "Don't worry, we will let you go back. You came from the same village, so go back to the same village."

After a pause, he added, "After returning, prepare some dry food and come back together with the rest of the village. Remember, you must return within the specified date. If you are late, we won't need you here."

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Someone else asked, "Sir, can my brother come?"

I've been working for more than half a month and I'm really tired. I want my younger brother to take over.

The yamen runner waved his hand and said, "As long as your brother is a strong man, we will do. We don't want weak ones."

So it's time to change shifts.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief again.