Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"None of you understand what I'm saying?"

He asked other people uncertainly, trying to avoid Grandpa Qin's gaze.

As a result, everyone shook their heads with amusement, clearly unable to muster any empathy for the inexplicable emotional impact.

"I……"

For a moment, Young Master Ma felt like a clown, putting on a show in front of a group of despicable people.

"So, Young Master Ma, what exactly do you want with us? Although I, Old Qin, can't understand what you're saying, I can still guess why you're here today."

They must need our help. Why don't we just say so? We're all from the same village, we'll help if we can, right?

Upon hearing this, the workers immediately raised their arms and shouted, "Yes!"

"Is Young Master Ma facing some difficulties? We'll definitely help if we can; we're all from the same hometown."

Grandpa Qin's words to the workers were full of joking tone, and his encouragement instantly resonated with all the workers present.

At this moment, Young Master Ma felt an overwhelming sense of defeat. Despite his twenty years of studying Confucian classics, his influence was less than that of an old man. If word got out, it would be utterly humiliating.

"Okay! I'll just say it!"

Young Master Ma simply spoke his mind.

"Everyone, stop doing this. Can you handle this hard and tiring work?"

"Look at the present. At this time of year, everyone should be at home enjoying family time, not suffering the pain of separation..."

"Wait a minute," Old Master Qin immediately stopped him. "I think Young Master Ma has misunderstood. We can go home every day, and even those who live far away can go back once a month."

If all else fails, you can bring your family to live nearby; it's not as troublesome as Mr. Ma thinks.

After all, there's no need to miss someone after just a day or two apart. That would be like a baby who's just been weaned, wouldn't it?

Young Master Ma almost choked on his breath. This old geezer was calling him a giant baby?

Suppressing the urge to twist Old Man Qin's head off, he asked again, "But even so, how will you eat and drink? Will they provide meals?"

"It's time to eat!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a group of cooks pushed several cooking carts in the distance, banging on the rice buckets on the carts with iron ladles.

The workers smiled and lined up, waiting to receive their meals.

A short while later, Grandpa Qin returned to Young Master Ma's side with a bowl overflowing with white rice and a plate of braised pork, vegetables, and eggs, and began to eat heartily.

"Working here, we are provided with two meals a day. We have to take care of our own breakfast, but the railway bureau provides lunch and dinner. As for how good the food is, it certainly can't compare to what you, Young Master Ma, are eating."

Railway workers, regardless of the era, primarily engage in heavy physical labor, so their meals must be rich in oil and nutrients.

Looking at the fresh white rice and the juicy braised pork, Young Master Ma felt a burning pain in his cheeks, as if he had just been slapped.

Putting everything else aside, even his own farmhands have never eaten such food. No wonder people don't want to work for him anymore.

He decided to struggle a little longer and shouted, "Are you satisfied with just having food to eat? What's the difference between you working for free and being forced into labor?"

As it turns out, fate seems to be deliberately working against Young Master Ma today.

No sooner had he finished speaking than another ironic twist occurred.

A foreman suddenly rushed over, holding a stack of envelopes and shouting, "Today is payday! Here are your pay slips!"

"Come to me later to collect your wages. After your shift ends tonight, go to the accounting office to collect your wages for this month."

"it is good."

Upon hearing that they would be paid, the workers eating on site beamed with joy.

Only Young Master Ma's face turned green, and he felt as if his other cheek was starting to hurt.

Qin Da also took the envelope and said while eating, "Oh dear, after working for a whole month, it's only twelve taels of silver, tsk tsk tsk."

Upon hearing this, Young Master Ma could no longer hold back and almost roared out, "Wake up! Even if you have food, drink, and money to make here, what about the land back home?"

"You're all out working, so who's going to farm the land back home? If no one grows crops, what will we eat?"

Upon hearing this, one of the three idiots spoke up first: "You don't need to worry about that, because my family doesn't own any land."

"Shut up, I wasn't talking to you!"

Young Master Ma had almost lost his temper, staring directly at Old Master Qin and demanding, "I'm asking you, what will we do when the food runs out? What will we do when the land is abandoned?"

Just as Grandpa Qin was about to answer, Young Master Ma was patted twice on the shoulder.

"Who goes there, daring to..."

Just as he was about to turn around and get angry, he saw a well-dressed businessman with a mercenary air standing in front of him, bowing and scraping.

Here comes another slap in the face.

"My name is Li Wangcai, and I am the manager of Li's Farming Team. Our company accepts all farmland exceeding fifty mu for cultivation, harvesting, and operation, offering affordable prices and guaranteed yields."

Even in years of disaster, we can guarantee 70% returns. Rest assured, our account is backed by strong financial resources.

They collaborated with fertilizer and seed factories founded by the Duke of Zhenguo, and were awarded the honor of being the "Number One Cultivator in the World" with a personal inscription from the Empress.

If the Ma family's land holdings are insufficient, we can accept land-sharing projects. We'll take on any land exceeding fifty acres. Look at these workers!

They can only work because they've hired the secret farming team; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to rest easy. Why don't you consider it…?

Young Master Ma's face turned ashen.

Since the establishment of the farming team in Sichuan, almost half of his family's more than 4,000 mu of land has been abandoned.

The Ma family was unwilling to accept the changing times and the transformation from landlords to factory owners, nor were they willing to pay for farming teams to manage their land, let alone improve the wages of their long-term laborers. As time went on, life naturally became difficult.

When times became difficult, the Ma family began to harbor resentment towards the imperial court and the Empress, and eventually joined forces with the rebels.

He's here today to incite a workers' strike and disrupt the railway project.

To his utter surprise, these workers, whom he usually looked down upon, now understood what it meant to be "paid according to one's work," and no one paid him any attention, which infuriated Young Master Ma.

"Utterly foolish, utterly foolish!"

He pointed at the workers all over the place and scolded them with a look of disappointment and frustration.

“Those who only care about their immediate interests and ignore the big picture will ultimately only rot in the mud.”

Upon hearing this, Old Man Qin chuckled, put down his chopsticks, and walked over to him: "Hey, you surnamed Ma, what are you doing here today? I can tell what kind of shit you're going to take the moment you stick your butt out."

It's nothing more than your land being neglected and you're unwilling to pay for it, so you expect us to go back and work for you for free, isn't it?

Do you think we're so stupid that we'd turn down such good treatment and work ourselves to the bone for your family every day?

Listen to me, get lost. Your howling won't do any good. We're just roughnecks who want to live our own peaceful lives.

"If anyone makes things difficult for us, we won't be polite!"

After he finished speaking, Old Master Qin's eyes were incredibly sharp, which startled Young Master Ma.

"You... Hmph, you're hopeless!"

Not daring to clash with Grandpa Qin, fearing he would be beaten by the workers, Young Master Ma left as if fleeing after uttering a single sentence.

But as soon as he left the construction site, he was immediately pinned to the ground by two officers.

"Insulting His Majesty in public? Looks like you've gotten bolder! Come with us."