Chapter 22: The Good Life (10)
In front of him is a group of honest people living at the bottom of feudal society. They don't know a single word, and they can't understand it. When you don't have any prestige in their hearts, don't talk big, talk big, and look forward to a better future. Because they only approve of the most practical things, which are the food in their mouths, the clothes on their bodies, the crops in the fields, and the cattle in the fields. Whoever can let them eat and dress warmly, and see some meat during the New Year's Festival, then you are their day, and they will not hesitate to rebel with you. This is the simple and lovely toiling masses of the Central Plains. Zheng Yu said this deeply.
"Ladies and gentlemen, fathers. Courteous! Below is Zheng Yu, the new owner of the village. You can call me Young Master or Zheng Gongzi in the future. I just took over this Zhuangzi from Master Liu Yunliu, and like everyone, I am also poor. Counting on this Zhuangzi to support his family. To put it in layman's terms, I will stir horses and spoons with everyone in a Zhuangzi in the future. So this Zhuangzi is mine, and it belongs to everyone. Well done, then hello, I'm good, everyone, Young Master Ben won't treat you badly. If someone is lazy and slippery, and is greedy for small gains, it will be against everyone, once you find out, don't blame Young Master Ben for being polite. All right. Without further ado, the first benefits of Honjo are distributed today. I'm sure you already know the big butler, Mr. Toyama. After a while, everyone went to his place to register, and each person received two white masks and a mutton stew according to their heads. A bowl of rice porridge, one for each person, regardless of size. After eating, the chief housekeeper will read out the rules of the village to everyone, and those who are willing to stay will be registered, and those who are unwilling will receive a piece of food, and the road will go to one side of the sky. That's all for dinner!! The crowd rushed up, fortunately, when they arrived at the three cauldrons, they consciously lined up in a long line, Zheng Yu saw this scene and said: "Yes, there is no robbery, and the children can be taught." ”
When the villagers came closer, the lids of the three cauldrons were lifted, and there was a burst of exclamation! The white mask was the size of a bowl. A large pot of stewed vegetables, full of oil, just side dishes have vermicelli, weed, radish three kinds, large pieces of mutton burst out of the aroma, there are a lot of quantities. Look at the white rice porridge again, where is it still porridge, it is not an exaggeration to call it rice, let alone insert chopsticks, and insert a wooden stick into it for fear that it will not be poured. The hearts of the villagers are so hot, just with the weight of these three pots of food, can this main family be bad? Do it well, the hard days are coming to an end. Zheng Yu did this just to invite the villagers to eat the first meal so that everyone could eat well, but he didn't want to play a role in buying people's hearts, an unexpected gain!
Everyone had eaten almost, and they sat in the shade against the wall until they hiccuped. At this time, Mr. Gou stepped forward, holding a pamphlet in his hand, and opened the way.
"Taking advantage of everyone's time to rest, I will tell you about the rules of our Zhuangzi, which is related to everyone's vital interests, listen carefully, and ask on the spot if you don't understand. First, all those who stayed in the village were registered and became the first batch of official villagers, and each household was divided into 15 acres of land in addition to the existing cultivated land at home. There is no need to pay unexpected taxes from the imperial court for three years. That's it for the time being.,In the future, meat and cloth will be welfare.,There are other rewards for those with special skills.。 Second, the villagers have the obligation and responsibility to contribute to the construction of the farm during the slack time, and the owner of the farm is paid according to the amount of labor. Third........ Fifteenth, anyone who violates the rules of the village will be fined and confiscated his personal finances, and at worst, he will be expelled from the village and never allowed to return to the village. "A temporary 15-point reward and punishment system has been established, which will be added or subtracted in the future according to the situation.
While Mr. Gou was reading the rules, the villagers were also buzzing with each other and discussing with each other. "What? Another fifteen acres of land, no need to pay rent!! "What? In the future, benefits will be issued during the New Year's holidays""What? Do you still have money to earn by working in Zhuangzi? "The villagers are a little bit unconvinced, how can there be such a good thing in the world? If this is true, a fool will break the rules. But for the sake of the three-pot meal, everyone believes it for the time being, so let's see the after-effects. When the farmer is registered, the official farmer will distribute five buckets of grain to each household on the spot. Those who have craftsmanship can receive two and a half more buckets after confirmation. The last remaining suspicions of the villagers who received the grain have basically disappeared.
The villagers were happy, Zheng Yu began to worry, money, money is needed everywhere! What about yourself? Now the poor are almost pants. Thirteen households were quickly registered, and not a single family was willing to leave, which was to be expected. Unexpectedly, there were seven families of craftsmen who had fled from other places, a total of nine craftsmen, two masons, three blacksmiths, three carpenters, and one person who used to burn porcelain. That's a lot of money!! Zheng Yu's frustration was greatly alleviated. With a wave of his hand, one person was rewarded with a hundred dollars. Several people knelt down and kowtowed gratefully, and were pulled up by Zheng Yu and Mr. Gou one by one, and warned that this was a violation of the Zhuang rules, and this time it was excusable, and we must pay attention to it next time. Several people nodded yes.
In the afternoon, Zheng Xing led the villagers to clean up and strengthen all the houses in the village, which was a big project and had to be carried out for a few days. Especially the small yard where the host lives. Since receiving the benefits, the kind and simple villagers have always wanted to contribute more to the main family.
Zheng Yu, Mr. Gou and Zheng Tai came to a gazebo built for temporary rest, Zheng Yu said.
"Uncle Yuanshan, do you know what glass is?"
"Glass? The young master also knows about this?? I have seen it in the palace, it was a tribute to the palace by the Semu people, it was two cups, it is said to be extremely expensive, and the emperor also used it for large banquets. ”
"What does Uncle Yuanshan look like in the glass? I mean, what about transparency, is there any variety? ”
"It's very transparent, how can there be no variegation? It's green, and the best glass is also green, what's wrong? ”
"Uncle Yuanshan, I know that I have always been able to make colorless pure transparent glass, what do you think is the value?"
Mr. Gou was taken aback. Pure transparent glass that is colorless in the heart? I haven't seen it, but your immortal master can see it, right?
"Priceless, there is no appearance on the market at all, how do you know how much it is worth!"
"Okay, let's do it now, this is the required materials and production process, the materials can be found by the Jingshi, Zheng Tai, you go and bring a few villagers, go and buy these materials now, not too much." Let's experiment first. ”
Taking advantage of the time when Zheng Tai went to buy materials, Zheng Yu took Mr. Gou and a few villagers to complete the preparation of the stove, clay molds, fuel, etc.
It didn't take long for Zheng Tai to come back with a cart of materials, avoiding everyone and finding a relatively hidden place, Zheng Yu started his glass-making business with great anticipation.