Xu Jin has never believed in officials with clean sleeves, but the Fan County Lord in front of him, Bo Zou Lian, may refresh his cognition.

Zou Zhubo is about fifty years old, and the nine-grade official robe he wears has been washed white, and the positions under his armpits are even patched, and his face is full of mottled wrinkles, like a poor old farmer in the countryside.

If this Zou Zhu's thin dress was not deliberately pretended, Xu Jin absolutely believed that this was a clean and honest official with clean sleeves, but if a country let a clean official live like this, it has to be said that it is the sadness of the country.

"Lord Xu, Lord Xiao is worried that the weather will change, so he specially ordered the officials to rush back to inform Lord Xu and step up the dispatch of 3,000 additional laborers to participate in the repair of the embankment." Zou Zhubo said and licked his dry lips, he had just rushed back from the embankment more than ten miles away, his official robe was covered with mud, and his back was also wet with sweat.

Grunt......

As soon as Zou Zhubo finished speaking, his stomach growled.

Xu Jin said with a smile: "This official still thought that the weather had changed and thundered, as the saying goes, the emperor is not short of hungry soldiers." Zou Zhubo went down to rest first to fill his stomach, and when he selected enough people, the official immediately led people to support the embankment. ”

Zou Zhu Bo's old face was slightly embarrassed, and he arched his hand and withdrew from the camp, and someone led him down to eat.

"This Zou Lian is a county lord, why is he dressed so shabby, and he is not ashamed, and the smell on his body can make people faint." Huang Jin let go of the hand covering his nose and inhaled a few sharp breaths of airway in an exaggerated manner.

"Grandpa Huang, let's go, let's go and select laborers!" Xu Jin said lightly, regardless of whether this Zou master's thin shabby dress was deliberately pretended, but it is a fact that he is hungry, if he can pretend to be a Qing official, it can be regarded as a strange flower.

At the moment, the refugee camp has a capacity of more than 20,000 people, so there is no shortage of labor, and if it is not for the sake of saving food, they can all be pulled to the embankment to help.

However, a considerable number of these people are women, children, and the elderly, and it is obviously not cost-effective to let these people work on the embankment, not to mention wasting food, and it will not help much, so the selection of laborers generally only selects young and strong men who can work.

Staying in the refugee camp, they can only eat two bowls of gruel a day to hang their lives, and they are so hungry that their chests are close to their backs, and working on the embankment not only has enough food to eat, but also gets half a liter of food every day, so the refugees are willing to work on the embankment, and at the same time, they can earn some food for their families to fill their stomachs.

So as soon as they heard that 3,000 laborers were going to be selected to go to the embankment, the whole camp was boiling, and they rushed forward to sign up, and some half-grown boys, as well as able-bodied women, rushed forward, hoping that they would be picked.

"Stinky girls, it's our men's business to go up to the embankment, what are you making a fuss about, and go cool while you go." A young refugee who was blocked by the women couldn't help but curse.

"Phew, who said that the girls can't go up the embankment, or let's compare our strength, Lord Qincha, we also want to go to the embankment, and the work is definitely not worse than the masters!" A stocky woman with a loud voice said loudly.

"Yes, yes, we work harder than men, Lord Qincha, give us a chance, I still have three babies to eat!"

"Lord-sama, please do a good job......

Xu Jin looked at the faces with vegetables on their faces, and couldn't help but sigh secretly, the flood was merciless, I don't know how many families were separated, and there were many mothers and children in this refugee camp, these people were the vulnerable group of refugees, and it was difficult to find a job in the city.

"Okay, Ben Qincha is not an unreasonable person, no matter men, women, old and young, as long as they can carry the weight of a stone, they can go up the embankment!"

As soon as Xu Jin said this, the audience instantly cheered and boiled!

At that moment, Xu Jin ordered someone to bring a stone-heavy sandbag for testing, regardless of men, women and children, as long as they could carry the sandbag and walk around, they would be hired.

The weight of a stone is about 120 catties, even if an adult man who is not used to rough work, he should be able to carry it, but don't forget, these refugees are not full, only drink two meals of gruel a day to hang their lives, it is not easy to carry 120 catties of sandbags, so the elimination rate of refugees in line is as high as 50%.

Fortunately, the number of refugees queuing up for registration was large, and 3,000 laborers were quickly selected, and more than 100 women were selected. Looking at the happy smiles on the faces of these selected women, Xu Jin's mood was also inexplicably good, and he was deeply touched that for the upper ranks, it may be the hope of survival for the poor people at the bottom.

"Lord Xu, it's already enough for three thousand!" Zou Zhubo reminded in a low voice.

Xu Jin waved his hand and said lightly: "Go on, select enough five thousand people, there are many people and great strength, it is good to repair the embankment as soon as possible!" ”

Although Zou Xiancheng felt that it was inappropriate, the Chrysostom of the Lord Qincha was opened, and he, a nine-rank official, could only do so.

Soon, the 5,000 laborers were finally selected, and Xu Jin was not in a hurry to set off, but ordered someone to open the pot to cook, and each refugee was given two large steamed buns, plus a large bowl of hot noodles. As the saying goes, sharpening knives does not mistake woodcutters, and only when they are full can they have the strength to work.

The selected refugees were eating steamed buns and drinking noodle soup in large gulps, and some of them were so happy that tears flowed out, and when life was so difficult, it was undoubtedly a kind of happiness to be able to fill their stomachs.

After the 5,000 refugees had their fill, they were all in high spirits and marched towards the Yellow River embankment southwest of Fan County under the leadership of Xu Jin.

Originally, the lord Bo Zou Lian was a little dissatisfied with Xu Jin's "delaying" time, but at this time, he had to admit that Xu Jin's decision to let the refugees eat enough and then set off was indeed quite wise.

After these refugees had eaten their fill, their feet seemed to be windy, and the journey of more than ten miles was almost completed in half an hour, and these refugees were still full of energy, carrying hoes, shovels and other tools, and they looked like "soldiers are confidants" and died, and they threw off the group of laborers on the embankment for nine streets.

"Lord Xu, less than two miles ahead is where the gap in the embankment is!" Zou Zhubo pointed to the place where the mist was steaming in front of him, and he could faintly hear the rumbling sound of flowing water, and a muddy yellow river had already appeared in sight.

Xu Jin glanced left and right, pointed to the slope overgrown with trees on his left hand side, and said loudly: "Chen Dazhuang, let the leaders of each team take people to cut trees over there, and each team will cut down at least ten trees, and all of them will be transported to the embankment." ”

Xu Jin divided the 5,000 laborers into 50 teams, each team of 100 people, with the first person in the team and the first nine people in the deputy team, who were responsible for directing and coordinating the work of the laborers in the team, so as to avoid a swarm of bees and coaxing, thereby reducing work efficiency.

So at this time, Xu Jin gave an order, and these refugees rushed to the hillside to cut down trees under the leadership of their respective team leaders. The women in the team estimated that in order to show that women were no worse than men, they all worked hard, a piece of wood of thousands of pounds, and ten women carried it on their shoulders. Seeing this, the men naturally refused to lag behind, ten girls carry a piece of wood, right, and our men are five, or it is not enough to show the strength of the masters......

Zou Zhubo looked at the five thousand laborers who were working like they were working hard, and couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect this kind of mixed way of men and women to have such a miraculous effect!" ”

Xu Jin smiled, men and women match, work without getting tired, this is the law summed up by later generations of capitalists!