Seven days later, outside a wine shop in Wannian County, Chang'an City, several idle men in coarse linen clothes were sitting on a small table outside the wine shop, eating wine.
Several of them are masons from the nearby Liuye Alley. It is not yet spring, so there is not much work to build houses or repair roofs.
So they often meet up to drink at a small table outside the small wine shop at the entrance of the alley.
Zhang Wulang, the oldest, drank all the wine in the bowl in one gulp, put down the wine bowl, grabbed the wine jar on the table again, and poured a few times into the wine bowl.
After pouring for a long time, in the end, only half a bowl of wine was poured out.
Zhang Wulang glanced at his friends at the table, hesitated for a moment, picked up a small bowl of wine, and gave a little to each of the people sitting there.
"Come, let's drink this bowl together."
Several people laughed, picked up the wine bowl, touched it with Zhang Wulang, and drank it all in one gulp.
Zhang Wulang put down his wine bowl and shouted into the wine shop:
"Store clerk, check out."
As soon as he finished speaking, a dark-skinned boy ran out of the liquor store.
The boy was young, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a thin figure and a large robe that hung loosely on his body, but his eyes were exceptionally bright and somewhat spiritual.
The young man quickly walked to Zhang Wulang's wine table and asked with a smile:
"Uncle Wu, are you leaving so early today? Are you going to apply for jobs at Chunmingmen too?"
Zhang Wulang was a cheerful person and did not hide anything. He sighed and said:
"Sigh, it's hard to find work in the city recently. I don't have much food left at home. A jar of hangover worms is enough."
After saying this, Zhang Wulang reached into his arms, took out ten cents from it, and handed it to the swarthy boy.
"By the way, Xiao Liuzi, what's going on with the application you just mentioned?"
Xiao Liuzi took the money with a smile, and then explained to Zhang Wulang:
"Applying is a new word that has become popular in recent days. It probably means the same as applying for a permanent job."
"Fifth Uncle, haven't you heard about it recently? Chunmingmen has been very lively these days. It is said that a new high-ranking official from the Ministry of Industry is recruiting young people to repair the official road from Chang'an City to Lantian County. ?”
Zhang Wulang's eyes lit up when he heard this, he pulled the dark boy to the stool next to him and said:
"Uncle, I really haven't heard about this. Come sit down and talk to me. It's true that the Ministry of Industry is responsible for cultivating official roads, but what does this have to do with us? What are we applying for? It's not like you don't know , I just did hard labor last year!”
The young man has been working as a busboy in a wine shop for many years. There are two things he likes to do most. One is to listen to the drunken drinkers at the wine table talking about all kinds of new things happening in Chang'an City.
The second thing is to tell other drinkers the news they heard.
Especially the enjoyment, that feeling of being surrounded by other people, just like now.
The swarthy boy coughed, and when he saw the eyes of everyone at the table focused on him, a satisfied smile suddenly appeared on his face.
"Fifth Uncle, you don't know something. This time the road construction is not about labor service. It is said that an official from the Ministry of Industry bought some road construction rights from the court. Hey, I don't understand it very well anyway. Probably, it seems that the honorary You want to pay for the road construction yourself, I heard that they are recruiting people at Chunming Gate these two days."
When Zhang Wulang heard this, he patted the young man on the shoulder and said:
"Xiao Liuzi, don't mess around with your uncle. I just want to know how to go to Chunmingmen... What kind of long-term employment can make money?"
The swarthy boy rubbed his shoulders and said:
"Of course I can make money. Not only can I make money, but I can also take care of two meals!"
The eyes of everyone at the table suddenly lit up when they heard this. They hadn't worked for a long time, otherwise they wouldn't have gathered here to drink in broad daylight!
Zhang Wulang excitedly grabbed the boy's arm and shouted:
"Xiao Liuzi, are everything you said true? Is there such a good thing in the world? Do you have food to eat and money to take?"
The swarthy boy broke free from Zhang Wulang's big hand, moved the small bench again, and said:
"Of course, you know the little tiger in my alley, he applied for the job the day before yesterday, and after he received his salary yesterday, he was even showing off to me!"
"Uncle Fifth, how much do you think Xiaohu earns in a day?"
Zhang Wulang thought about it for a moment, and soon the thin figure of Xiaohu appeared in his mind. After thinking about it, Zhang Wulang stretched out two fingers and said:
"Twenty cents?"
Xiao Liuzi smiled and shook his head.
"Low."
"Could it be thirty cents?"
Xiao Liuzi shook his head again.
"Is it forty coins?"
Xiao Liuzi shook his head again.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Wulang stretched out his hand and was about to greet Xiao Liuzi, but Xiao Liuzi, who had been prepared, sidestepped and dodged.
Xiao Liuzi laughed, stood up, raised his chin, and said with a proud look on his face:
"A full fifty coins!"
It was as if he had earned the fifty cents.
Everyone present was shocked. Fifty cents a day, and two meals to take care of. Damn it, isn’t that a lot of money in a month? This job is so good.
Zhang Wulang and others looked at each other, then stood up involuntarily and said:
"Let's go to Chunming Gate and have a look."
After saying this, the group of people walked towards the square gate without looking back, leaving only a dark-skinned young man messy in the wind!
.......
Inside a newly established government office of the Palace Works Department.
A young man wearing a brand new green official uniform was sitting lazily on a chair with his legs crossed, drinking tea leisurely.
There is a slightly fat figure sitting next to the guest, lying in front of the desk, concentrating on writing something.
Perhaps it was because the obese boy's writing content was too important. Even in the cold spring season, the boy was still sweating profusely as he wrote.
These two people are none other than Qin Ming, the newly appointed director of the Roads and Bridges Department of the Ministry of Industry, and Yue Wang Li Tai, the right deputy director.
On the afternoon of the second day after Fang Xuanling petitioned to establish the Road and Bridge Department, Qin Ming received Li Er's order and became the chief official of this government office.
In the past, the position of chief official of the government office, which was directly subordinate to the Ministry of Industry, such as the Road and Bridge Department, would inevitably be competed for by hundreds of officials.
But this time it was a little surprising,
First, the Roads and Bridges Department has very little power. It only has two powers. One is responsible for cement road contracting, and the other is responsible for supervising and managing cement road construction and subsequent toll collection.
Secondly, after the first meeting of the first grade of junior high school, many officials went to the Ministry of Industry in the afternoon and inquired carefully about the cement cost, specific construction requirements, and all manpower.
Many ministers who originally had ideas about building cement roads, the first thing they did after returning home was to recruit all the accountants and craftsmen in the government.
However, after careful calculation, we found that the labor cost and time cost of building the official cement road were much higher than expected.
After all, let alone other things, just the iron tools for road construction, which cannot be gathered in a short time. In addition, there are various hidden costs such as skilled craftsmen, material transportation, etc., which many officials from the Ministry of Industry have not calculated. Among the cost of road construction.
Therefore, officials who were very enthusiastic about cement roads on the first day suddenly became indifferent on the second day.
Naturally, he will no longer fight for the future, and he is more important than the Qingshui Yamen's Road and Bridge Department Chief.
Coupled with the later recommendation of Shangshu Zuopu Shefang Xuanling and Minister of Industry, Qin Ming naturally became the chief official of the new government office of the Road and Bridge Department.
...
