Chapter 94

readx;

The foundations of the nine earth buildings have already been laid. Building earth buildings requires a large amount of labor, but what Liu Jun is not short of right now is labor. Among the more than a thousand people he brought from the county, several hundred have been recruited into the Nine-Headed Bird Team for closed training, while the remaining seven or eight hundred men, women, and children have nothing to do.

Liu Jun's workshop is still far from starting, so he decided to assign all these people to the construction site. Anyway, Liu Jun wouldn't let them work for free. He arranged for his father-in-law to manage the labor points system. Different tasks were assigned different points, and the points were given based on the work done each day, the time spent, and the results achieved. One point was worth one liter of rice, and ten points were worth one dou (about 10 liters) of rice, which, at the current rice price, was equivalent to eight fen of silver. This was already the amount of silver that skilled craftsmen could earn in a day. An average woman could earn four to five points a day, and a half-grown child could earn two to three points.

If a whole family worked at the construction site for a day, they could earn ten to twenty liters of rice. One dou of rice weighs about 13 pounds, so they could earn about 20 to 30 pounds of rice a day, which was a very high income. Therefore, as long as it didn't rain, the newly relocated refugees would all go to work together to earn rice.

Lu Weizhang's labor point recorders were very fair and wouldn't record points arbitrarily. Lu Weizhang was also very generous, settling the points and distributing the rice on the same evening. Although the rice was cheaper than polished rice, it was still rice. A family could eat two to three liters of rice a day, which was enough, and working one day would provide enough food for several days.

However, a four-story earth building wouldn't be built quickly. While the earth building was still under construction, several rows of wooden houses had already been built nearby. These wooden houses were single-story, connected row houses, similar to dormitories. Each house was not large but had one hall and four rooms, which was enough for a family to live in.

Most of the immigrants had already been assigned their new wooden houses. These houses were considered the property of the Nine-Headed Bird, and the refugees lived in them as tenants, paying a small rent each month.

A public toilet and public bathhouse had also been built, along with a large canteen. The immigrants working at the construction site had no time to cook, so they ate at the canteen every day, where the food was cheap and practical.

Additionally, a small courtyard had been built, which served as a school. Liu Jun paid some old scholars to teach the children in the area to read and write. The school was free, and it even provided lunch for the children.

Not only the refugees sent their young children to school, but the merchants and residents on the street also sent their children. Running a school didn't cost much, but it earned the gratitude of many people, which Liu Jun was happy to do.

The original Tiger Pass had a street with many shops. Now, with the addition of several hundred militiamen and over a thousand family members and workers, the area had become even more bustling. People started calling it Tiger Fort or Tiger Town. With more people, there were more business opportunities, attracting many merchants to sell or even open shops here.

Liu Jun took the opportunity to have the craftsmen build a new row of shops, all wooden houses, extending the street from a few dozen steps to several dozen more, adding many new shops. Liu Jun rented out these shops and warehouses, making a small profit.

Zhang Shan even suggested building a wall around the street and residential area, enclosing the entire area. This would make it a real Tiger Fort, with the inner city being the original Tiger Pass and the outer city being the new area. With two layers of walls, it would be safer and more stable, attracting more merchants and residents.

Liu Jun agreed with the plan but listed it as the second phase. The priority now was to build the earth buildings first, and then the outer wall.

Zhao Shun had been busy with the workshop, figuring out how to separate the various processes of bird gun manufacturing and establish a production line according to Liu Jun's ideas.

He worked late every day and only returned home in the evening. His home was one of the rows of wooden houses behind the street.

The wooden houses had wooden roofs covered with tree bark and a layer of thatch. Each house had a similar layout: a hall upon entering, not much larger than a regular living room, but large enough to fit about four eight-person tables. Behind the hall was a small kitchen with a clay stove and a water tank. On both sides of the hall were two rooms, each small enough to fit a bed and a cabinet. This was also considering that some families were larger and needed separate rooms.

Compared to the shacks they lived in before, these wooden houses were like heaven and earth.

Zhao Shun's wife also worked at the construction site during the day. Although men now earned five taels of silver and one dou of rice a month, she didn't stay at home to enjoy it. She went to the construction site to carry soil and earned several points a day. Her son, who had been ill, had recovered and was now lively again. He was sent to the school, where he was taught by scholars and provided lunch, saving the couple a lot of trouble.

"Eat more meat."

Dinner was prepared by Zhao Shun's wife. There were vegetable shops on the street selling chickens, ducks, fish, and various vegetables at reasonable prices. Today, she bought a live carp and a pound of pork, making a very rich dinner and even a pound of yellow wine for her husband.

The couple served fish and meat to their children, watching them eat happily, which filled them with immense satisfaction.

"Master, this life is almost unimaginable," Zhao Shun's wife sighed.

"Yes, we've met a great benefactor," Zhao Shun said, sipping the yellow wine. He used to love drinking, but since leaving Jinan, he hadn't tasted alcohol for a long time. Now, living in this comfortable and clean wooden house, with a lamp lit, a red-braised carp and stir-fried pork on the table, and drinking yellow wine, it felt like he had returned to his life in Jinan.

Before fleeing, he didn't realize how good that life was. But after the hardships of the past half year, he finally understood how wonderful that life had been.

"Lord Liu is a great benefactor. Master, you must work hard for him and not let him down," Zhao Shun's wife said. She still remembered that night when she sat in the low, damp, and hot shack, holding her feverish and unconscious son, feeling utterly heartbroken and hopeless.

Now, it felt like a new life.

"Have a good meal," Zhao Shun said, pouring more wine for his wife.

Wang Qian returned with the Night Patrol Team, pulling several carts.

Liu Jun hurried out to meet them, "How did it go? Did you bring everything back?"

Wang Qian smiled and nodded, "No problems at all. The goods are all intact, and we brought everything back."

Hearing this, Liu Jun finally breathed a sigh of relief. The account was already in the red, and this money was crucial for their survival. With the silver safely transported back, he felt much better.

They moved the boxes of gold and silver, as well as jewelry, pearls, and antiques, into Liu Jun's study. Liu Jun checked each box, and indeed, nothing was missing.

"The gold and silver can be used directly, but be careful with the jewelry and antiques," Zhang Shan reminded. The gold and silver had been recast by the bandits, so there were no traces. However, the jewelry and antiques had original owners and were stolen goods. If not handled properly, they could cause trouble.

"Let's keep the jewelry and exchange the gold first."

In the Ming Dynasty, silver was the primary currency, while paper money and copper coins had collapsed and were in chaos. People generally used silver. Although gold was more valuable, it was not directly circulated and needed to be exchanged for silver.

Liu Jun was not comfortable with so much gold and decided to go directly to his father-in-law.

Lu Weizhang's business was substantial, mainly focusing on money and rice shops and southern goods stores.

A money and rice shop was essentially a money shop that also sold rice.

Since the reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, paper money had begun to depreciate, and the government relaxed the ban on using silver, allowing it to circulate openly. After that, private money became diverse, with copper coins of different weights and qualities, leading to significant price differences and fluctuations. This led to the rise of exchange businesses, with many shops specializing in copper coin exchange, known as money shops, money stores, money houses, exchange shops, money markets, money tables, and money stalls, varying in scale.

Later, money shops expanded their operations, not only exchanging copper coins but also gold and silver, and even selling rice. Besides exchange, they began to offer storage, lending, and even issued banknotes.

Lu Weizhang's money and rice shop was a large-scale money shop that also sold rice.

Liu Jun trusted his father-in-law and directly invited Lu Weizhang over, then placed a thousand taels of gold in front of him.

"This is a thousand taels of gold. I plan to exchange them for silver. What is the current exchange rate at your shop?"

Lu Weizhang was surprised to see a box of gold in front of him, the golden glow dazzling. He was puzzled about where Liu Jun got so much gold but didn't ask. After examining a gold bar for a long time, he nodded, "The quality is good, this one is about ten taels."

"The current market rate for gold to silver is one to thirteen," Lu Weizhang said, then continued, "But with the world becoming more chaotic, gold is becoming more valuable. A few decades ago, the ratio was one to seven, then one to eight. Since Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, the ratio has been increasing. Last year it was one to twelve, and this year it's one to thirteen. I estimate it will rise to one to fifteen or even higher in the next two years."

In prosperous times, antiques are valued; in chaotic times, gold is valued. Liu Jun understood this. Just as copper coins had become less valuable over the years, and more silver was needed to exchange for copper, gold, as a precious metal, was more valuable for preserving wealth than silver.

"One to thirteen, can you help me exchange this gold?" Liu Jun asked.

"Exchanging now would be a loss. Wait a bit longer, and it will be more valuable," Lu Weizhang advised.

"I need it urgently."

Lu Weizhang didn't ask where Liu Jun got the gold or why he needed it urgently. He said, "Alright, although the market rate is one to thirteen, it's often hard to find buyers. Since you want to exchange, I'll give you one to fourteen. For a thousand taels of gold, I'll give you fourteen thousand taels of silver. But it will take three days to gather the silver."

"No problem," Liu Jun smiled, appreciating the favorable rate from his father-in-law.

"I also have some antiques and paintings. Can you help me sell them? The price is negotiable," Liu Jun added, not wanting to trouble his father-in-law with multiple requests.

Lu Weizhang's eyes narrowed, guessing the origin of the gold. With a thousand taels of gold and now antiques and paintings, it was clear that these were not stolen but obtained during the bandit suppression. Although they were stolen goods, Lu Weizhang remained calm and nodded with a smile.

To a true merchant, there are only goods, not stolen goods!

...

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends