amaotonovel Chapter 929 These Shandong bandits don't really follow the rules.
Chapter 929 These Shandong bandits don't really follow the rules.
The seventh year of the Hongwu reign, in the third month.
After enjoying several days of feasting on steamed lamb and steamed deer tail, three hundred second-generation noble cattle and horses, and three hundred cattle and horses of Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), were assigned by a certain black sesame dumpling to six hundred different farms to serve as the first farm directors.
As the future brother-in-law of the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, the only benefit Chang Mao received was being assigned to work near the Guide Coal Mine.
Then, Chang Mao was completely bewildered.
"You're telling me this is a farm?"
Chang Mao pointed to a large puddle in front of him, staring intently at Zhang Liyong, and shouted incoherently, "This is clearly just a puddle! Do you think your old man is blind?"
"Hey Zhang, we used to have some connections back in Ningyang County. You sneaked into Li Mingchen's house to steal persimmons, and it was Grandpa Mao who kept watch for you. Is this how you repay your Grandpa Mao?"
“You dog, begging and screaming, go find your brother-in-law and ask him to bring in this godforsaken, puddly guy as the farm manager.”
Chang Mao circled around Zhang Liyong and asked, "You wouldn't be thinking of having your grandfather conscript men from the Duke of E's mansion for you, would you?"
Zhang Liyong rolled his eyes and looked at Chang Mao expressionlessly, saying, "First of all, can we not mention the persimmon theft?"
"I, Zhang, am at least a scholar."
"How can something done by a scholar be called stealing?"
Besides, Li Mingchen is only in Ningyang these past few years. A few years ago, he would have been stealing dates from my house every year.
While inwardly complaining, Zhang Liyong pointed to the large puddle in front of him and said, "Secondly, I really didn't plan to have Master Mao conscript men for me from the Duke of E's mansion."
"Who do I, Zhang Liyong, think I would dare to scheme against the Duke of E's mansion?"
"Your Grandfather Mao thinks too highly of me."
Chang Mao continued to look at Zhang Liyong with suspicion.
Besides, what kind of scholar are you, Zhang Liyong?
Given that you get single-digit grades in most of your subjects?
Besides, others might not dare to scheme against the Duke of E's mansion, but those from Ningyang County might not.
If you, Zhang Liyong, had studied hard, you'd probably be scheming against your great-grandfather's future brother-in-law right now!
Chang Mao was internally ranting, while Zhang Liyong continued, "Finally, Mr. Mao, don't think I, Zhang, am being unreasonable. Actually, this place is really quite nice. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to the magistrate to have him bring you to Guide."
Chang Mao was a little confused by what he was being told, and it took him a while to realize what was going on: "Wait a minute, this is just a huge puddle of water covered with puddles, what good could it possibly be?"
Zhang Liyong rolled his eyes again.
“This large pond is relatively close to the western mining area.”
Do you know what the advantages are of living close to the mining area?
"Being close to the mining area means having a continuous supply of coal gangue—that rubbish can't be used for fuel, but it can be used to pave roads!"
"As long as you, Master Mao, have enough men to deal with the tower head and fill in the water-filled areas, I can provide you with enough coal gangue for you to use for paving roads."
"This is a benefit that other farms would only dream of."
Chang Mao still looked at Zhang Liyong with suspicion.
Is that how it is?
Is it that Grandpa Mao is being a bit ungrateful?
But why does your grandfather always have this feeling that he's being schemed against?
Zhang Liyong coughed and continued, "There's also the most crucial benefit."
"Think about it, Liaodong is such a cold place, and in winter, people have to stay at home and hibernate."
"But since the mining area is there, can the farmers and laborers under your Grandfather Mao's rule go to work in the mines and earn money?"
"A able-bodied young man earns sixty coins a day."
"In at most a year, the people on the farm under Master Mao's rule will become rich."
"This is a truly solid achievement."
"If it weren't for the fact that Grandpa Mao once kept watch for me and we were chased by dogs together..."
Chang Mao's face also darkened.
Can we not talk about being chased by a dog?
And what you're saying is, all you're really thinking about are the people and laborers under your master Mao's rule!
……
As six hundred cattle and horses scattered across six hundred farms in Liaodong, the once bustling Liaodong Provincial Administration Office fell silent once more.
Yang Shaofeng was busy spending time with Jin'er and Yu'er every day, while Heizhi Tangyuan was busy trying to make Chang Mou Nu happy.
As for Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong, and others, they spent their days dealing with memorials with long faces.
How many people and livestock froze to death in Liaoyang Prefecture? How many houses were destroyed? And how many ponds that had been cleared from the tower were filled with water again?
How many people froze to death in Shenyang? How many livestock froze to death? How many houses were destroyed? How many acres of farmland were destroyed?
Anyway, there are more than a dozen prefectures of varying sizes in Liaodong, and each prefecture has all sorts of problems, big and small.
The number of laborers who froze to death due to the snow disaster far exceeded Hu Weiyong's estimate.
"We lost quite a bit."
Hu Weiyong smacked his lips and looked at Li Shanchang, saying, "Prime Minister Li, we'll have to find a way to make amends later."
Li Shanchang glanced at Hu Weiyong and asked, "When it comes to finding replacement laborers, are you planning to hire Chang Heitan or those bandits from Shandong?"
Hu Weiyong curled his lip.
Looking for bandits from Shandong?
It's certainly possible to send Shandong bandits to make up for the labor shortage, but the problem is that these Shandong bandits don't really follow the rules.
Logically speaking, if an employer hires them to capture laborers, then all the laborers captured belong to the employer.
But these bandits were something else. They could capture a hundred laborers, keep eighty for themselves, and take the remaining twenty to give to their employers.
That's even worse than Chang Heitan, who came from a bandit background.
At least even the most critical critics only deducted 60%.
There was also a prince consort who didn't want to mention his name.
That guy actually kept saying that Shandong people are honest and straightforward.
Ah.
People from Shandong in the local area might be honest, but the bandits in Ningyang County are definitely not honest.
While internally ranting, Hu Weiyong looked at Li Shanchang and said, "Let's find the Duke of E. He's definitely better than those Shandong bandits."
Li Shanchang nodded, then handed another memorial to Hu Weiyong, saying, "Take a look at this memorial first."
Hu Weiyong took the memorial and glanced at it a few times, then looked at Li Shanchang with a bewildered expression.
"No, what do they need so many laborers for on their farm?"
"What does road construction have to do with their farm?"
"And what's with this farm using ponds for aquaculture?"
Hu Weiyong racked his brains but still couldn't understand how the well-planned farm reclamation and settlement program could gradually go in an incomprehensible direction after 600 oxen took office.