The late Ming Dynasty in the living room

Chapter 14 How about taking them to see something good?

No one in the entire refugee camp dared to show off to Axiu. As for letting Axiu fall behind?They don't even dare to think about it.

The team spontaneously separated into a channel, and Axiu jumped in line openly. The refugees on both sides took the opportunity to say good things about free money.

"Axiu seems to have grown a little taller."

"Not only have I grown taller, I've also become more beautiful."

"Axiu is such a good boy, well-behaved and sensible."

Old man Zhao glared at them: He has grown taller in just two or three days?Do you think Axiu is a bamboo shoot?

Although Liu Scissors and a few tailors inside were also working, they were somewhat feeble, and of course they still had a lot of complaints in their hearts.

At this time, Old Man Zhao and Liu Ji led Axiu in. Old Man Zhao said: "First measure our Axiu. After the measurement is done, we will make some clothes for her first. Ours is not in a hurry."

Liu Ji quickly added: "The best materials must be used, and the style of the clothes must be drawn first, and can only be made after Mr. Fang has seen it."

Liu Scissor didn't say anything. He knelt down and started to measure Axiu's height with a cloth ruler.

But I heard Lao Cai complaining behind me: "No one is doing this kind of business. To make clothes, you have to agree on the wages first and then order the money. Also, you have to have the cloth first!"

Liu Ji was in charge of making clothes for the refugees. Liu Ji scratched his head and asked, "How do the masters calculate the money when making clothes in the shop?"

Lao Cai didn't care about that much and said directly: "Ordinary style clothes cost five taels of silver per piece. If you pay per day, it will cost [-] taels of silver per day."

"So expensive!"

Liu Ji was startled. He had heard someone say that the best Songjiang cotton in the county only cost six cents. This was the result of constant price increases in recent years.

It turns out that you, the tailors, only need five cents of silver to make a piece of clothing? (Manual fee only)

Liu Scissors shook his head. Five coins of silver was still expensive, and it didn't matter how much the price of rice had gone up.

This was the current situation in northern cities at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The price of rice was extremely high, and the wages of workers (craftsmen) were extremely expensive.

During the Wanli period, one tael of silver could buy two stones of rice. However, in the 15th year of Chongzhen, the price of rice in Shuntian Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture has reached nine taels and nine dollars per stone. If it goes to a place affected by war and drought, the price will be even worse. .

Li Qing, an official of the Ming Dynasty, mentioned in his private notes that the highest rice price in Shandong reached 24 taels per stone, in Huazhou, Shaanxi, 23 taels per stone, and in Henan, the highest rice price reached 150 taels per stone...

So the wages Lao Cai said were not too expensive, otherwise he, his family, and his workers would all have to go drink the northwest wind.

As for what ordinary people should do with such expensive wages... Ordinary people make their own clothes!Those who hire tailors are from wealthy families in the city.

Naturally, wealthy people didn't care about the wages, but Liu Ji was shocked.

Fortunately, it was just a shock. Mr. Fang had no shortage of money.

Moreover, Mr. Fang also told him: the price should be higher than elsewhere, so that more people will come.

So after confirming that Liu Scissor and Lao Cai had not deceived him, he nodded readily: "Then the price will be calculated based on the price of several masters, calculated on a daily basis. In addition, we will also add a two-dollar silver subsidy, three dollars a day. There must be meat in the meal.”

Lao Cai and Liu Scissors naturally didn't believe it. They looked at each other and didn't speak.

So Old Man Zhao, who had been watching for a while, reminded Liu Ji: It's time to blind them.

Liu Ji also nodded in agreement, smiled at the tailors and said, "I know you guys are worried, so I invited some masters to come with me, and I will take you to see something good."

Apart from a broken bowl and a stick, what other good things can a bunch of refugees have?Liu Scissors was full of doubts.

And there was Lao Cai, who kept saying that he had a lot of things going on in his store and asked the homeless men not to play with him anymore.

After a while, these people came back in despair.

Lao Cai's eyes turned red, and he lowered his voice and asked Liu Scissors: "Is that really silver?" Liu Scissors smiled bitterly and said, "Can it be fake? I cut off a piece with my own hands to check."

Liu Scissors has been depressed since last night. Due to Pang Tiande's reputation, he had already made plans to work for two days in vain.

Who would have known...these refugees really hide a mountain of silver!

At this time, he thought of Pang Tiande and felt that Pang Tiande was really a good person.

You know, there are only a dozen or so large households in the county, and the business of their tailor shops is also declining day by day.

Even though Liu Scissor's craftsmanship was well-known, he had already sent away his assistants, leaving only two free apprentices to help.

Now it's better. Not only did the people here take the initiative to give him more money, they also made hundreds of clothes... Liu Xiangsheng has been a tailor for more than [-] years, and he has never encountered such a generous employer.

He has already planned to bring the two apprentices over tomorrow. Not only will he earn an extra salary, but he will also save them from having to live and eat in the store for free!
People are in high spirits during happy events. Liu Scissor immediately stood up, walked to the door and shouted: "Who is coming next? Come in quickly!"

……

"Okay, Brother Zhao, please speak first."

A dozen sheds have been set up in the refugee camp outside Laishui County, and this is the largest one among them.

The shed is filled with irregular tree stumps, and now there are about 20 people sitting on these tree stumps.

Fang Yu sat in the middle and called Old Man Zhao by name.

Old Man Zhao cleared his throat and said: "There are currently 418 people in the camp, including 387 refugees, 24 hired tailors and helpers, 3 hired cooks, and 2 brick kiln masters."

"The other two are people under the city gate order, and they are also helping dig trenches in the camp." (The two protecting the pot)

“All the shacks in the temporary camp were built yesterday, and there are three projects that are still in progress: the relocation of refugees, two brick kilns, and the leveling and compaction of land for homesteads.

There are three projects that are about to start: the water storage tank, the drainage ditch from the moat to the Juma River, and the transplantation of trees in residential areas. "

After Fang Yu's tireless "training", Old Man Zhao finally got used to the current reporting method.

Ancient people either liked to exaggerate or equivocate when reporting something.

This is true even when court ministers report to the emperor.

For example, in the most serious military reports, they like to use the phrase "killing the enemy without calculation". The specific number of people killed and how many captured is never specific.

The funniest thing is this phrase from the late Qing Dynasty, which has a very high frequency of appearance: "One shot can corrupt dozens of miles."

How far a shot can go, how much damage it can do within a certain range, what is the interval between shots... they don't have any of these most important data.

Make things clear and provide detailed data to reflect progress. Fang Yu now requires them to do these two things.

Well, what is going on now is the work report meeting.

Although there are only so many people and so many things in the entire refugee camp, Fang Yu still hopes that the management can be formalized.

"What's the difficulty?" Fang Yu asked.

Old Man Zhao replied: "The main reason is the lack of people and materials."

Fang Yu looked at Liu Ji again and said, "Liu Ji, how many clothes have been made for the refugees?"

Liu Ji wanted to stand up, but he restrained himself. He was really not used to sitting and talking to Mr. Fang, and always felt that this was a bit rebellious.

(End of this chapter)