Cheng Wanwan and Zhao Xiancheng went to the Ping'an County Yamen with a huge sum of money.
When 110,000 taels of silver are placed together, the scene is quite exciting.
County Magistrate Wei said very ashamedly: "In recent times, I have traveled to all the counties in Huzhou and met with all the county magistrates, but I only raised more than 6,000 taels of silver. I am really ashamed of the people of Suigong."
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said: "How much money can a county magistrate have? He can persuade everyone to raise six thousand taels of silver. This is enough to show that Mr. Wei is capable."
She had a good relationship with Magistrate Shen before and knew very well that these ordinary counties were actually very poor, which was why she did not go to various counties to "beg for alms".
But when Mr. Wei went, he really had to pay six thousand taels of silver. You can imagine how many obstacles this child had hit.
Magistrate Wei was indeed in tears.
This canal is led by Ping'an County. The starting point is in Dahe Town, and the dock is also built in Dahe Town. Other counties feel that this matter has little to do with them, so they all stand by and watch. Even if he mentions the name of the Suigong people, these people They are also unwilling to pay. After all, their county is already short of money. Why can't they keep the money for the welfare of their own people? Why should they give it to Ping'an County in vain?
Later, it was he who told these county magistrates that if they did not participate in the construction of the canal in Ping'an County, ships in these areas would have to pay tolls to use the canal in the future, and merchant ships in the area would have to pay enough money to pass through... Those county magistrates passed by After weighing various interests, he was reluctant to pay, and finally collected 6,000 taels of silver, of which Magistrate Wei added another 2,000 taels with his own private property.
"The money is almost in place and construction can start at any time." Cheng Wanwan said, "I won't care about the rest of the matter. Mr. Wei, please be more considerate."
County Magistrate Wei hurriedly said: "People in Suigong, don't worry, this matter will become the most important event in Ping'an County this year, and people in Suigong will not be disappointed."
After Cheng Wanwan left, he immediately contacted the Cao family in Hekou County and rented a Cao family merchant ship to go to Nanyang City to pick up tens of thousands of victims.
When the merchant ship was heading to Nanyang City, he stayed up all night and worked with his master to determine the resettlement site for the victims.
The first phase of construction is currently underway. The entire river section is divided into three points, with each point housing more than 3,000 victims. Fortunately, it is summer and there is no need to build temporary shelters. The workers work during the day and sleep on the spot at night. Three meals a day are provided and wages are paid. A day's wage is 40 cents.
What he meant was that either twenty-five cents a day included three meals, or forty cents a day included no meals.
But Sui Gongren said that digging canals is hard work, and the workers must be fed and drunk, otherwise no one will work if they get sick.
If the subsequent money is not enough, Sui Gongren will think of another way.
There are people who worry about money matters, so Magistrate Wei is not so fussy about it.
On the first day of July, tens of thousands of victims from Nanyang arrived in Hekou County and were led on foot to Dahe Town.
They have all heard about Dahe Village becoming Dahe Town, and they have longed for everything here. As far as they know, it has only been a few months since Dahe Village proposed to be changed into a town, and they always feel that there will still be traces of the former countryside. , but after arriving, they discovered that everything here was completely different from what they imagined.
The houses are neatly arranged, the roads are spacious and clean, the markets are lively, the people are smiling, and everything is full of life.
Looking in the distance, you can see the farmland that is growing well. The rice in the field is yellow and orange. It is very pleasant to look at. Everything looks beautiful.
Zhao Xiancheng called everyone to a meeting in an open space, mainly to talk about the details of the canal construction, and arranged different work contents according to each person's strengths. After all the work contents were arranged, the more than 10,000 people were divided into three groups. , the first group is in Dahe Town, and the remaining two groups are in two other resettlement sites.
"Today is mainly about arranging work, getting familiar with the work content, and getting the tools!" Zhao County Prime Minister said loudly, "Everyone goes to the east warehouse door to get the tools and sign, and then goes to the west open space to wait for the meal. After the meal, everyone has a good rest. Tomorrow Work officially starts in the morning.”
All the victims were shocked. They were given food before they even started working. Dahe Town was really generous.
Everyone lined up to pick up tools, including shovels, shovels, hoes, axes, dustpans, and bucket trucks... All kinds of tools were made by the craftsmen in Dahe Town who rushed to work and stayed up late. Of course, some people didn't have them temporarily. It doesn't matter if you get the tools. Once the work starts, there will be a lot of work on site. Even if you don't have tools, you can still divide into more than a dozen types of work.
After receiving the tools, everyone began to wait for dinner.
Dahe Town has hired more than thirty women in the village to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for the workers. These women often help Cheng Wanwan prepare banquets at home and have long been familiar with the process of making big pot meals.
Several large pots were set up, dry firewood was delivered, the meals were prepared, and cooking began in the open air.
There are five pots steaming rice at the same time, and the other is the largest iron pot for cooking. After a while, the aroma spreads everywhere.
"Oh my God, it smells so good. I seem to smell the smell of meat."
"Stop talking nonsense, how can there be meat? It would be good if you can eat dry food."
"Yeah, for the past month, I've been drinking porridge every day, and I haven't had enough to eat every day. I don't dare to ask for too much. Just a little bit of food is enough. After eating, I'll have the strength to work."
In fact, the treatment of these victims was very good. The prefect never gave up on them. They were provided with two meals of porridge for free every day. Although they were not full, they did not starve to death.
Dahe Town also provides them with the opportunity to make money. I heard that forty pennies a day can make them one tael of silver a month. If they work for half a year and get six or seven taels of silver, it will be enough to make their lives easier.
Compared with other disaster victims, they are very happy and dare not ask for more.
Even if the food is a little bad, it doesn't matter. Anyway, it's forty pennies a day. It's okay to spend two pennies to buy a bun to fill your stomach.
Just when everyone was thinking about it, the fragrance became stronger and stronger, making people salivate.
“It smells like meat, it’s really meaty!”
"I think it's meat too. It's too delicious. My mother, it's been a long time since I've eaten meat."
"I can't help it anymore. I really can't help it anymore. Let me go over and take a look!"
A man stood up and walked towards the temporary kitchen, but was pulled by Huang Wei.
Huang Wei, the man who led the way for Mrs. Huang, said with disapproval: "Zhao Xian Cheng said that after coming to Dahe Town, you must obey the rules of Dahe Village. Anyone who messes around will be expelled. Go out, is it possible that you don’t want the 40 cents worth of work for this day?”
The man took a sip and said, "It smells so good..."
How can it not be fragrant? Because it contains braised pork.
This was Cheng Wanwan's order. It was the first meal for the victims. She told her that she must cook a delicious meal to make these victims full of hope for the future.
Dahe Town prepared three dishes and one soup, braised pork, stir-fried wild vegetables with lard residue, stir-fried winter melon, and bone and jade bamboo shoot soup.
Mrs. Wen put the last dish into a huge dinner plate, wiped the sweat from his head and said, "Let them get the tableware and eat."
