In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 634 Zhao Xiaoliang

"of course not."

Chen Dao replied with a smile.

The construction of the road from the county seat to Chenjia Village will not only benefit the county seat, but also bring great benefits to Chenjia Village.

After all, Taiping County is the first and only stop for Chenjia Village's goods to be exported. Only when the road to the county is unobstructed can Chenjia Village's goods be sold without any hindrance. That's why Chen Dao agreed to build this road with Xu Zhiwen.

"That's good."

Xu Zhiwen breathed a sigh of relief, then said, "I'll have to trouble everyone in Chenjia Village to take good care of this road construction."

The road construction project should definitely be led by Chenjia Village, since Xu Zhiwen doesn't have any experts in construction under his command.

On the contrary, Chenjia Village, due to the large amount of construction work in the village, has a very skilled construction team. Xu Zhiwen believes that entrusting the road construction to the Chenjia Village construction team will definitely allow them to complete the road quickly and well.

"Isn't Lord Xu afraid that my Chenjia Village might embezzle your road repair funds?"

Chen Dao said half-jokingly.

"Xu can still trust Chen Xiaoyou's reputation."

Xu Zhiwen stroked his beard and said that Chenjia Village, or rather Chendao, was much richer than him, Xu Zhiwen, and would not covet his little bit of money for road repair.

"Fine!"

Chen Dao turned his head and asked Chen Houdao again, "Uncle Hou, how many people do you estimate you'll need for the forest development and road construction?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Hou did not answer immediately, but instead looked at Xu Zhiwen and asked, "Lord Xu, how long will it take to repair this road?"

"Of course the sooner the better."

Xu Zhiwen thought for a moment and said, "It can't be later than three months."

"Well."

After silently calculating in his mind, Chen Hou gave his answer: "I estimate that at least a thousand people will be needed, including 300 for forest development and 700 for road construction."

"Then a thousand people."

Chen Dao made the decision and instructed Chen He: "Village Chief, you will be in charge of recruiting workers. You must recruit a thousand people within three days."

"no problem."

Chen He readily agreed. Although 1000 people seemed like a lot, it was actually not difficult to recruit them.

After all, Chenjia Village's reputation had already spread throughout Taiping County. Everyone in Taiping County knew that Chenjia Village offered good working conditions, and the people were very willing to work for Chenjia Village.

"But Brother Dao, is the pay for this job supposed to be the same as the 800 coins a month we get for our village?"

"Give me five hundred coins."

Chen Dao thought for a moment and said that the villagers were given 800 coins because they were "long-term workers," while the thousand people to be recruited soon would be considered temporary workers.

Temporary workers and long-term workers cannot be treated the same, otherwise the villagers will inevitably feel resentful.

"In addition to the 500 coins per month, a lunch will be provided every day. Add that to the list."

"to make."

…………

…………

the next day.

As dawn broke, Zhao Xiaoliang from Mutou Village, with his strong willpower, left his warm bed.

"It's so cold today!"

Zhao Xiaoliang shivered as he crawled out of his warm bed. Although Qingzhou didn't experience the heavy snowfall of Liangzhou due to the cold disaster, the weather in Qingzhou was already quite chilly at the end of July. Even a young man like Zhao Xiaoliang, who was in good health, had to wear thick clothes.

After washing his face with cold water, Zhao Xiaoliang left his house, intending to go to the city with his fellow villagers to do some odd jobs.

Although the autumn harvest has just ended and Taiping County has just ushered in a bumper harvest, sitting idle and living off one's savings is not in the nature of the people of Qingzhou; hard work is their normal way of life.

Even during periods when they can't farm, they need to find odd jobs to earn money, otherwise their families will struggle to make ends meet.

As soon as Zhao Xiaoliang stepped out of his house, two young men approached him. They were Zhao Shitou and Zhao Wan, his companions who had agreed to go to the county town to work together.

"Xiao Liang, let's go."

"it is good."

So the three of them walked side by side, leaving Mutou Village and heading towards the county town.

"The situation on the official roads is much better now."

Walking on the relatively empty official road, Zhao Shitou said in a casual tone, "In the past, we were always afraid when we went to the city, worried that some bandits would suddenly appear. Now we haven't heard any news about bandits for a long time."

"Where would any bandits dare to cause trouble in Taiping County now!"

Zhao Xiaoliang said with a smile, "Last time, Magistrate Xu and Chenjia Village cooperated and slaughtered the bandits outside the city. The grass on their graves is almost as tall as me. Now, who would dare to rob and plunder in our Taiping County?"

"Yes!"

Zhao Wan, standing nearby, chimed in, "Magistrate Xu is truly a good official. If it were an official from the past, I would be thanking my lucky stars if he didn't even raise taxes, let alone suppress bandits."

"That's right! If it weren't for Lord Xu, how could we live such a good life?"

Zhao Xiaoliang nodded repeatedly. Like the vast majority of people in Taiping County, he was very grateful to Magistrate Xu Zhiwen.

Xu Zhiwen's suppression of the bandits outside the city provided the people with a stable environment for farming. In addition, Xu Zhiwen also significantly reduced the grain tax for the people of Taiping County. These two points alone were enough to make the people of the county grateful to Xu Zhiwen.

"Xiao Liang, do you think we can find some odd jobs in the city today?"

After a moment of reflection, Zhao Shitou changed the subject and asked a question.

This wasn't the first time the three of them had come to the city to work; they had been there for over ten days in a row, and in those ten days, they had only been able to find work about half the time.

There's no other way; it's currently the off-season for farming, and most people who can't farm choose to go to the city to work. Under these circumstances, the supply of labor in the county town naturally exceeds the demand.

"Hard to say."

Zhao Xiaoliang shook his head and said, "There are too many people going to the city to work lately. Whether you can find odd jobs depends entirely on luck."

After saying that, Zhao Xiaoliang couldn't help but say with some regret, "It's a pity that the weather is too cold now. If we could plant wheat in winter as usual, we wouldn't need to go to the city to work and suffer the rudeness of those merchants."

It's inevitable that migrant workers like Zhao Xiaoliang will suffer some mistreatment, since not all employers in this world respect the working class like Chen Dao does.

In fact, most employers treat their workers very harshly. Although they may not beat or scold them, verbal abuse and cold treatment are inevitable.

After all, in the eyes of some employers, farmers like Zhao Xiaoliang are just begging for food, and they don't need to treat people like Zhao Xiaoliang kindly at all.

Of course, Zhao Xiaoliang has also encountered many good-natured employers, so he doesn't have to suffer every day while working.

"Speaking of growing wheat, I recently heard something about it."

As if remembering something, Zhao Wan suddenly said, "A couple of days ago when I was working in the city, I heard someone say that there seems to be a type of wheat in the county that can grow in winter."