After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

As Jiang Xiaoqi left Lin Feng's residence, a huge weight was finally lifted from her heart.

Next, we need to acquire a plot of land to build a workshop. We can't do this to two people at once, so we'll go back to that guy surnamed Lai. Having had the experience of dealing with him last time, that man dares not be unhelpful.

"Wenbin, you and Li Mo go to the brokerage tomorrow and find the lousy broker. Ask him to come over when I get off school."

"Yes, young master!" Wenbin didn't even ask what his young master wanted to do with the broker. This was the result of his grandfather's teachings: just do as your master says and don't ask questions you shouldn't ask.

Jiang Xiaoqi was very comfortable using Wenbin, so she let Li Mo follow Wenbin so that the two could influence each other and improve in a positive way.

Jiang Xiaoqi had just given Lin Feng a thousand taels of silver to gather manpower. Lin Feng was once a commander of a thousand men in the army, and he had many retired veterans and soldiers under his command.

He didn't know how the imperial court arranged these people, but if even a commander of a thousand men like Lin Feng had to make a living in a镖行 (escort agency), one could imagine the plight of the ordinary soldiers.

He wasn't just taking a chance; he had already made some judgments before he even went to find Lin Feng.

The next morning, Wenbin and Li Mo arrived at the brokerage firm. When the broker learned that it was someone sent by Jiang Xiaoqi who specifically wanted to see him, he hurriedly went out to greet them with a broad smile.

"What are your instructions, Young Master Jiang?" Lai Yaren's attitude was clearly obsequious.

“Our young master wants to acquire a piece of land to build a workshop. You should go to the Jiang residence at 7 PM to discuss this with him in detail,” Wenbin said.

"Alright, I will definitely be there on time and won't keep you waiting, young master," Lai Ya Ren readily agreed.

At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), Jiang Xiaoqi returned home from school and saw that Lai Yaren was already waiting at her door.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two did not go inside, but instead boarded the carriage that Lai Ya had brought. Wenbin and Li Mo followed them into the carriage, while Lin Feng rode along on horseback, heading out of the city to find suitable wasteland.

They traveled in silence, and the carriage soon drove out of the city gate and stopped at the foot of a mountain.

Jiang Xiaoqi got out of the car and looked around. The terrain here was open, and there was a stream flowing nearby. It was indeed a nice place.

Lai Yaren quickly stepped forward and introduced, "Young Master Jiang, this place is flat, with convenient transportation, and is surrounded by mountains and forests, offering excellent privacy. Most importantly, the price is also affordable."

Jiang Xiaoqi nodded, then turned to the man with the lame teeth and asked, "Is this the only place?"

"This place best meets your requirements. There are other places that are more open, but they are further in and too far from the main road."

There was another location not far from the official road, but it had too much sand and gravel, and the soil was too hard to dig trenches for, making it difficult to build a workshop there and requiring significantly more manpower.

Jiang Xiaoqi raised the corners of her mouth, knowing that Lai Yaren had done his homework in advance, and nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, then let's take this place. Thank you for your trouble, Lai Yaren."

After saying that, he gave Wenbin a wink, and Wenbin took out a ten-tael silver ingot and handed it to Lai Yaren. Lai Yaren was flattered and accepted it, then put it in his pocket.

"I have some other things to ask of Lai Yaren. Consider this money as a small fee for his trouble. I will thank you again after the matter is settled."

"Young master, please feel free to speak your mind. I am usually quite free and have plenty of time to run errands."

The implication of the lazy man's words was that if something was too difficult to handle, then forget it; but running errands was no problem.

Jiang Xiaoqi didn't expose him, because he really wouldn't be asked to do anything too important. He just didn't have anyone else to rely on in the prefectural city besides the Jiang family, so he tried his best not to bother the Jiang family.

"Help me find some people to build the workshop on flat ground, according to the structure of this blueprint," Jiang Xiaoqi explained to Lai Ya Ren in detail his general requirements for the workshop.

Lai Yaren nodded repeatedly, patting his chest and guaranteeing, "Young Master Jiang, rest assured, I will take care of it and make sure you are satisfied."

"I will have Master Wu from my family help you purchase the necessary materials. As for labor, you can hire workers nearby or find them from the brokerage firm. The wages will be set at twenty coins per day, without meals."

Lin Feng stepped forward at the opportune moment, nodded to Lai Ya Ren, and Lai Ya Ren returned the gesture with a bow.

In the prefectural city, the daily wage for recruiting workers is generally ten to fifteen coins. Some jobs include meals, while others do not. Jiang Xiaoqi's wage is higher than the market price. However, he cannot pay too much, as this would disrupt the market and cause unnecessary trouble.

"With such high wages, there will definitely be many people coming. Young master, your workshop can be set up in just over ten days."

Jiang Xiaoqi nodded. He was indeed anxious. The workshop would be built in just over ten days. During this time, he could purchase some clay and limestone to conduct a small-scale test to see if he could actually make lime, so as to avoid a complete failure later.

Fifteen days later, the workshop was completed. At this time, the people that Lin Feng had gathered also arrived in Xinghe Prefecture one after another.

After finishing school, Jiang Xiaoqi followed Lin Feng to personally settle these people. They lived in the staff dormitory built together with the workshop, with bunk beds for four people each, a style never seen before here.

The men who came with Lin Feng were all around thirty years old. Jiang Xiaoqi noticed that some of them had lost an eye, some were missing half an ear, and some were missing a few fingers.

He immediately understood that these were all wounded and disabled soldiers who had been discharged from the battlefield. Judging from their appearance, Master Lin had done some screening, since they were all minor injuries that wouldn't affect their work.

As for those with large disabilities, Lin Feng was afraid they would become a burden to the main family, so he didn't bring any of them. How do those people make a living now?

Thinking of this, Jiang Xiaoqi simply asked the question.

"Some of them were taken in by their families and raised by them. Those who had no families received a sum of money and made their own way in the world. Now most of them are not doing well."

Lin Feng sighed, seemingly for fate, and perhaps for his own powerlessness to help. They were all his soldiers, how could he not feel heartbroken?

"Master Lin, please take stock of the disabled soldiers under your command who have lost their ability to work. If they have families to take care of them, send each of them fifty taels of silver. If they have no one to rely on, ask them if they want to come to Xinghe Prefecture."

"Young Master? That won't do. Those are my subordinates, and it's my responsibility to manage them." Lin Feng didn't want to lead his men to rely on the young master; that's not something a real man would do.

Those who can work hard are fine; they should seize the opportunity to earn money given by the young master. But how can those who can barely take care of themselves be a burden to the young master?

"Young master, the clay and limestone have arrived. Where should we unload them?"

"Place it in the material storage room on the east side." After hearing this, Li Mo directed a group of people to pull the oxcart in and out and unload the goods.

“Master Lin, as you can see, the things I make in this workshop are extraordinary. Your brothers won’t just sit around eating when they come. Those who are nimble-handed can do the more difficult things, and I have my own arrangements for those who are not so nimble-handed.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Feng was somewhat tempted. He roughly knew what Jiang Xiaoqi was planning to do, and if that thing was really that magical, he would have no trouble making money.

Jiang Xiaoqi, of course, did not say the specific uses of lime, only that it reinforced the city gates to make them indestructible. For someone who was frequently engaged in warfare, this statement was quite tempting.

"Alright, I'll have someone gather the remaining brothers. That will only cause more trouble for the young master."

"Don't say that again. I'm a businessman; I don't do business at a loss," Jiang Xiaoqi said, raising an eyebrow.

Lin Feng: Young Master, I remember you're a scholar...