"Why are so many people here?" Trump said.
The Shaanxi accent answered: "I didn't know. Some time ago, I heard someone say that Fu County recruits masons from all over the country at high prices. I thought I could make money, so I asked my wife to pack the tools and rush over."
"You are not from Fu County. No wonder your accent is a bit strange." A local stonemason said arrogantly.
A foreign man with a Fujian accent sounded uncomfortable and deliberately said disparagingly: "In a poor and poor place like Fu County, you can't find any good masons. All the people who came this time are evaluated in the county, county or middle school." A person who has reached the top level must be a master at worst."
Zheng Quchi, who was listening to them at the back: "..."
Oh, I'm sorry, the worst is not the master level, but her, a common and poor local carpenter.
Now I dare to join the masonry team to make money, but I haven't been rated at any level. Please give me some advice.
Just when Zheng Quchi was amusing himself and teasing himself, a man from nowhere bumped into Zheng Quchi deliberately.
She felt something was wrong, so she turned around and looked over.
She saw a wretched man with a beard staring at her.
……do not know.
However, Zheng Quchi felt that this man looked at her in a strange way, like a pervert, so he quickly hid aside.
But she saw him coming over reluctantly and calling her in a low voice.
"Hey, ruler."
She was startled and turned her head sharply: "Who?"
There are only a few people who know her real name is Zheng Quchi and call her by her nickname "Chizi", but this wretched bearded man is not one of them.
"Me, you can't even recognize me? We haven't seen each other for more than a month." He pointed at his nose and muttered dissatisfiedly.
This embarrassing and irritable tone, coupled with the fact that the other party directly called her by her real name, Zheng Quchi suddenly had a suspect. She asked tentatively: "Shan Bian?"
"Of course it's me." He winked at her and nodded vigorously.
Zheng Quchi raised his head and looked at the head of his thick hair, surprised.
No, where is his dysentery? Why did his hair grow out after not seeing him for more than a month?
"ruler……"
Stop it!
She stopped his screams with her eyes. She glanced around and saw that other people were also talking. She didn't pay attention to them, so she gritted her teeth and said, "Why did you sneak in again?"
Shan Bian was now a bearded man with extremely thick hair. He covered his mouth with his palms and told her: "You have to come with me if you have a mission, but we will talk about it later. Let's first hear about this large-scale massacre in Fu County." What is the purpose of recruiting craftsmen?"
When Zheng Quchi heard the word "task", he felt like he had a stress disorder, his back stiffened and his face turned green.
As soon as he arrived, she knew trouble was coming.
She is really just here to do some hard work to earn money for the family, not to cause trouble.
But they refused to let her go, and this bullshit "mission" followed her wherever she went!
This time, the masons were all gathered in the spacious square blocked off by Luzhai. The other people were dispersed or blocked outside. They gathered together and waited for a while, then saw the county magistrate leading a group of people coming in force.
When masons meet an official, they naturally have to salute the county magistrate, but this does not count as a formal occasion with criminals. They do not have to kneel down and only bow their hands.
At the back of the team were the work officer Muke, whom Zheng Quchi knew, and the recruitment officer Zhang Er.
Judging from the appearance, the county magistrate does not look like an honest official. He has a fat head, big ears, small eyes, and fat lips. He looks like a typical corrupt official.
He said in a drake voice: "Take out the official deed and stamp their fingerprints on it."
The left and right chief clerks and county magistrates received orders.
The main book rolled out an official document with some content written on it. He took out the clay seal and asked the craftsmen to put their handprints on the face.
These rituals were not performed when building the camp before. Is the recruitment so formal this time?
The masons obviously knew something about the market. Once they signed their fingerprints, they would unconditionally accept all the agreements in the official document, so they all hesitated about the contents of the official document and hesitated to move forward.
"I wonder what the official document is?"
"Yes, if you just stamp your fingerprints like this, will it..."
The thin county magistrate said: "It's just some rules and regulations that have been established by convention. Don't worry, all the contents and regulations are legal and legal."
Seeing this, the county magistrate opened his small eyes slightly, his shrewd light flashed past, and he loudly said: "As long as you stamp this fingerprint, you can receive a regular amount of money."
I saw government officers and soldiers lined up holding trays, with a small mountain-like pile of copper plates inside. The visual impact of seeing so much money at once was enough to make the eyes of craftsmen who had been poor their entire lives shine and their heads spin.
As the saying goes, birds die for food and people die for wealth.
Their minds were completely corrupted by money, and they had no reason or unnecessary doubts. They hurriedly pressed their fingerprints to get the money without even reading the contents of the official document.
Of course, if the county magistrate deliberately deceives and fools, it will be difficult for the masons present to escape the money trap. After all, they basically do not know how to read. Even if someone can barely read a few scattered words, they will not be able to read the entire text. A deed.
In this way, they pressed their fingerprints one after another, and soon it was Zheng Quchi's turn.
She was not so reckless, but quickly read the contents of the official document before pressing her fingerprints, and then she dispelled the suspicion in her heart.
Oh, it turns out they were asked to go to Guixanling in Fu County to build the city wall.
The ancient city wall was a tall and thick wall built around the city for defense.
At first, she suspected that they were so secretive and secretive because they planned to let them build some kind of mausoleum secretly, so they needed to sign some kind of confidentiality agreement to make it so serious and formal.
Looking at her now, she is worried.
Thinking that she would get the money right away, she happily pressed her fingerprints and handed it to the man next to her, but she saw him staring at the official document without taking the next step.
If they were delayed for a long time, others would look in their direction. Zheng Quchi urged him: "What are you doing?"
Shan Bian frowned and suddenly said loudly: "So the county magistrate recruited us to repair the city wall called Qianren Tomb in Fu County?"
When Zheng Quchifu heard the adjective "Thousands of Tombs", her nerves suddenly jumped. She looked at the red handprint she had just stamped on the official document and said in a trembling voice: "What is Thousands of Tombs?"
Isn't that what she understands?
But Shan Bian's words were like a stone that stirred up a thousand waves. The masons who had not been immersed in the temptation of money before were shocked.
"What are you repairing? The city wall of Thousand Tombs?! Is it on the Ghost Ridge?"
The locals reacted immediately.
"How is it possible?! How can we possibly cultivate it?"
Zheng Quchi looked left and right, and pulled Shan Bian, who obviously knew the inside story: "What's going on? Why did they react so loudly?"
Shan Bian glared at her: "Are you really not aware or are you pretending not to know? To build the city wall in Guixanpo's terrain is like asking the craftsmen to follow a trip to the Yama Palace. Didn't you know that you fell to death in the first place? How many craftsmen have there been?”
"Repairing a city wall in such a steep and uneven place is simply an impossible task. I heard that at least thousands of stonemasons died before it could be built, but now it has to be rebuilt again. Guess what we have done this time How many people have to die?"
Others looked ugly: "No wonder the government is willing to spend so much money. It turns out this is the money to buy our lives."
"I quit!"
Seeing the excitement among the people, they couldn't accept it for a while. The county magistrate had already expected it and reassured him: "Don't be excited. Don't be excited. If you want to leave, I won't stay. But first, I want to explain two points."
"First, although we are repairing the city wall near Guixunling, it is just rebuilding the old land, which is naturally not as difficult and dangerous as reclamation. Second, this time our county specially invited two craftsmen, Yuan Sui and Yin Xiao, from Jixia Academy Master, these two are good at city wall planning and preventive fortifications. Just follow their arrangements, and the large number of casualties among craftsmen like before will never happen."
His persuasion was right in line with the Reclamation Festival and made the previously excited masons calm down a lot.
Shan Bian was also weighing and hesitating.
Zheng Quchi nudged his side: "What is Jixia Academy? This is the second time I've heard of it. It sounds like it's pretty powerful."
Shan Bian also had a deep understanding of Zheng Quchi's "ignorance".
"Jixia Academy is an academy jointly organized by the seven countries. It specializes in seven major tasks. As long as the craftsmen who come out of it must be at least a second-class craftsman."
"What is the second level of craftsman in Ye country?"
In Ye country? Shan Bian showed disdain on his face: "How can Ye country retain people? All the powerful people have gone to other countries. Jixia University is naturally powerful. How many palaces and temples with unique craftsmanship are all made by them. Have you ever heard that if students make it, they will lose if they lose?"
Oh, this name is no longer unfamiliar to her. After all, she just met this person a few days ago. He wanted to buy her tiger skin, but he was cut off by the bully Yu Wensheng.
"I heard it."
"The leader of the craftsmen, he studied at Jixia Academy."
"What is a craftsman leader?"
"I can't explain these things to you for a while. In short..." He looked guilty and lowered his voice to the point where it was almost inaudible: "Our Mo family and Gongshu are not going to deal with each other. You should pay more attention, disciple of Gongshu." They can be found in all walks of life, but anyone with the word "craftsman" embroidered on the corner of their shirt is a disciple of Gongshu."
ha?
Zheng Quchi was confused.
The Mo family and the public losers don't deal with each other. Does this have anything to do with her?
She didn't do anything and she became an accomplice? This Mo family is simply a place of all evil. She has never been so determined to break away from this organization and never have any contact with it till death.
She said: "Those of us from the countryside should never have the opportunity to meet those masters."
"That's not necessarily true. Your family...well, that's all. These things really have nothing to do with us for the time being. Let's listen to what they are saying."
"Your family"...why did he suddenly mention "your family"?
What exactly is he trying to say? Does Shan Bian also know some truth about the family feud between Sang Xuanqing and the Mo family?
After the county magistrate dispelled most of the masons' concerns, their eyes fell on the golden copper plate again, and they could no longer move their legs.
Of course they knew that this fortification would be risky, but in their line of work, if they wanted to make a lot of money, they couldn't just settle for a stable job.
"Since you have people from Jixia Academy as your backing, just do it if you're afraid of it!"
"Yes, I can earn much more by doing this job than before by traveling around the country."
In the end, eight or nine of these masons were left behind. A few of them gritted their teeth and chose to leave because their families couldn't afford the risk.
This time, in addition to the skilled masons recruited, thousands of laborers were also recruited from the surrounding counties. Naturally, they had no money. Only those who were rated as craftsmen would receive special treatment in Ye State. .
If there are fortifications in the county, such people will be forcibly summoned, but they will pay. If they are in other counties or counties and do not meet the service conditions of the local place of residence, then it has to be based on their personal wishes.
Therefore, all the masons in Fu County have to work, while the masons recruited from other places with money can have a way out.
Afterwards, Zheng Quchi made a rough assessment of his previous actions.
"Am I... throwing myself into a trap?"
Renxian County only recruits masons, but she was lucky enough to find a way to get herself into the mason team by relying on connections. Finally, she was packaged with other masons and sent to Qianren Tomb to build the city wall.
Shan Bian's expression was even sadder than hers: "Forget it, for the sake of the mission, I have to throw myself into a trap!"
He reluctantly pressed his fingerprints. The contents written all over the official document can actually be summed up very concisely in the following four words - life and death are self-sufficient.
——
This time the craftsmen went on the road, which was different from last time. There was no carriage to pick them up. They lined up and walked on the mountain road. After climbing for nearly an hour, they came to a temporary resting shed and saw the officers and soldiers waiting to assemble.
They first counted the number of people. When it was Zheng Quchi's turn, he was surprised at first, and then glanced at her with a funny and strange look, probably because he disliked her small body.
Zheng Quchi has long been accustomed to this kind of discriminatory look. She has a good attitude and thinks that when she sees a dwarf in the land of giants, she should not take a second look at him.
She decided that when she ate later, she would have to increase her food intake by 20%. She was still growing. With Brother Bisang's height, she didn't believe that her genes would mutate and she would always be this short!
Along the way, officers and soldiers led the way, maintaining order on the road and climbing over mountains and ridges.
Zheng Quchi saw that each of these craftsmen carried more or less one or two things.
But she and Dan Bian were the only ones with empty hands and breeze on their sleeves.
Their products are usually made of iron. Iron is a controlled product. Not only is it expensive, but it cannot be obtained in large quantities through ordinary channels.
Therefore, Zheng Quchi thought that the government would assign them to the masons, but looking at their attitude, could it be possible that they had to prepare these tools by themselves?
She quickly asked Shan Bian, "You didn't bring any tools?"
Shan Bian seemed to be aware of this problem: "I've never done masonry work, so how do I know what to bring?"
Zheng Quchi thought for a moment: "Just two hammers, steel drills, hammers, chisels and the like."
"I don't have any of these. At worst, when the construction starts, the two of us will be responsible for moving the rocks. Besides, after taking these things, you will be able to do quarrying?"
He doesn't know these things anyway. He is not an omnipotent craftsman who can shine in any field.
(End of chapter)
