Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 33 What happened in Qingyue Village

The huge hall now looks deserted.

Since the sister-in-law left with some people, many houses have become vacant.

Li Yu finally freed up his hands to recruit troops.

He first calculated the money in his book and found that there were more than 1000 taels left.

However, it is enough to last for a while.

"Xiaowu, come here for a moment."

Xiao Wu, who was busy planing wood to make a bench, quickly put down his work.

"How is your grandma doing in the kitchen? Are you still used to it?"

"She is very good. The neighbors are envious of her. She takes care of three meals a day and gets one tael of silver every month."

"I want to recruit some men from your village to join the hall."

"It's great, they want it."

"Come on, let's go to the village and have a look."

……

A mile, a quick walk.

Qingyue Village, a few broken fishing nets are hanging out at the end of the village.

Several old men with cloudy eyes squatted on the ground in tattered clothes and bare feet.

Seeing the stranger next to Xiao Wu, they opened their mouths in fear, but in the end they did not dare to speak.

The ground is uneven and there are thatched houses on both sides.

To say that a house is a bit exaggerated, some can only be regarded as a shack.

The herringbone building structure has people huddled inside.

It had just rained and the ground was pulpy.

Poultry feces, fish scales, and mud mixed together, giving off a stench.

The sun shines again, and the taste is amazing!
Li Yu held his breath and tried not to look at his feet.

I walked to a small river extending from the stone lake and found the clan leader of these Dan people, Wei Jun's family.

It's a bit inappropriate to say he is the clan leader.

According to Xiao Wu, Wei Jun was chosen as the leader by default just because he was strong, loyal and knew a few words.

When dealing with the government, he always takes the initiative.

Dan people are untouchables, this is the consensus of everyone.

There are many theories about their origin.

The mainstream theory is that the Baiyue and Minyue people in Fujian are a fishermen group formed by being excluded from mainstream society because of the war.

Some Dan people came to Zhejiang and settled in Jiangsu.

……

"Brother Wei, Mr. Li is here to see you."

A dog barked wildly, but was stopped by its owner Wei Jun.

Li Yu looked at this strange building, wondering whether it should be called a "ship" or a "house."

Maybe it would be more vivid to call it a houseboat.

Several wooden piles were driven against the river bank, and the boats were built on them to serve as houses. The villagers called them "Lianjia boats."

"Hello, Mr. Li." Wei Jun bowed his hands and saluted.

"Clan Chief Wei is too polite."

The cabin is the bedroom, and the bow is the kitchen.

A woman set up a small stove on the bow of the boat and boiled tea.

Among the Dan people, this is already a matter of paying attention to people.

The skin is dark, and the legs are short and curved, that is, somewhat bow-legged.

This is caused by living in a low cabin for a long time and fishing.

Wei Jun is no exception, but his upper body muscles are extremely developed.

"Here comes the tea." The woman brought two bowls.

A coarse porcelain bowl with three gaps was placed in front of his family.

A thin porcelain bowl with only one chip was placed in front of Li Yu.

Li Yu lowered his head and found that the woman was barefoot and her pants were rolled up to her knees.

Suddenly a little embarrassed.

The social atmosphere of the Qing Dynasty was conservative, and if a woman from a good family exposed her feet and calves outside, it would be tantamount to losing her moral integrity.

"Mr. Li, you don't need to mind. We people are generous by nature and don't care about red tape."

"Our women here are just like men. Whatever men can do, they can do the same."

At this time, Li Yu took a closer look and discovered.

There was a younger woman on the other side of the boat, also dressed in the same way.

The muscles are unusual and extremely developed.

I saw her reach out and pick out one of the ducks raised at the stern of the boat, brush it a few times and then disembowel it.

"The daughter of the Dan family is so charming. She doesn't like red clothes but prefers armed weapons." Li Yu couldn't help but sigh. …

This unintentional compliment attracted Wei Jun's different eyes.

"What business does Mr. Li have here with us? Just ask, as long as we can do it, we will definitely help."

"Two taels per month, in charge of food and lodging, and recruiting people!"

Wei Jun's eyes lit up and he turned to look at Xiao Wu.

Xiaowu came from the village, so he wouldn't deceive the villagers.

"It's true, the hall is short of manpower right now."

"This is a good thing. As long as people want it, I, the patriarch, have no reason to stop it."

Wei Jun stood up, drank all the tea, and picked up a gong.

when~when~when~
After three long, widely spaced gongs, he sat down again.

Li Yu guessed that this was a signal from the convener.

After a while, everyone came.

Visual inspection showed that there were no less than 50 people there, not counting those fishing on the lake.

"Mr. Li recruits people to do work. Each person has two taels and takes care of the food. This is a good thing. People who have no work can come and try." Wei Jun's voice was loud.

This is a chivalrous and generous man.

Li Yu silently defined him in his heart.

The recruitment criteria are simple and crude, they must be strong, under 25 years old, able to lift 150 kilograms of stone locks, and swear allegiance to the church.

Eight people were booked that day, and Wei Jun said that when all the fishing boats came back, there would be more people to sign up.

Li Yu recorded the names and ages one by one.

He found that everyone in Qingyue Village except Wei Jun was illiterate.

The illiteracy rate in the Qing Dynasty was appallingly high.

This is still in the economically prosperous Jiangnan!
If it is in Yunnan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places, I am afraid it will be more serious.

His guess was later confirmed by Zhang Youdao, the magistrate of Yuanhe County.

Zhang Youdao is from Tongren Prefecture in Guizhou Province. He said that there is only one private school in the entire county!
The list of people in the county who have read books is not enough to fill a piece of paper.

Those who can roughly recite the Four Books and Five Classics and can write calligraphy are the perfect qualifications for county examination scholars.

……

Zhang Zhixian lamented that his hometown was too poor to run a private school.

However, Li Yu had a different experience. The imperial court was deliberately maintaining a large illiterate population, and opening private schools required government approval.

After all, the more books you read, the more you have on your mind.

The foolish people's rhetoric in the imperial court may not be able to deceive them anymore.

Now, all it takes is a small group of scholars.

Use the imperial examination to trap the white-bodied group, use official career to trap the group with fame, use the steel knife to eliminate the group with too many ideas, and use local autonomy to trap the gentry group.

Showing kindness and power at the same time, you can control it to death.

dawn the next day.

Another group of gangsters came.

Wait until dawn and the door opens.

They just entered the hospital and waited for Li Yu to choose.

With yesterday's eight people, Li Yu was much more picky.

Only 6 people were left, but those who failed were given a meal.

In this meal, each person consumed 2 kilograms of rice, half a kilogram of meat, and 5 steamed buns.

There's no oil or water in the belly, that's all.

After eating, the villagers expressed their gratitude and left.

Their reluctant eyes are heartbreaking.

……

Li Yu assigned residences to the remaining 14 people, as well as hall records.

Then, he ordered people to boil water quickly.

Give them a good wash, especially those dirty braids.

Out of some considerations, Li Yu gave these people half a month's wages in advance.

Each person has one tael of silver, and he personally distributes them one by one.

Winning people's hearts cannot rely solely on sincerity, sometimes you need tricks.

If you don't want to follow the routine, just eat the knife.

At first, he was worried that with so many people leaving, the village would be short of labor and would be in trouble for its livelihood.

However, Wei Jun told him that with the wages sent home, the livelihood of the entire village was much better than before.

This is a misunderstanding of thinking.

Slowly, he discovered that Qingyue Village was just a microcosm of the entire world.

(End of this chapter)