Seeing that many people on the other side of the Li River were busy and many houses were up, Du Zhongxiao said to Su Song: "The world is bustling, all for profit; The world is crowded, all for profit. Tai Shi Gong's words are really full of the world. We are going to set up an iron prison here, and before the brigade has come, there are such merchants on the other side of the river. When the army arrives and officially opens, it will be a prosperous town. ”

Liu Xin, the chief bookkeeper on one side, said: "The other side of the river was originally the land of Qian Yuan's foreign family, which was planted in idle land a few days ago and was chased for 700 yuan in tax arrears. He couldn't come up with the money for a while, so he had to pay off the land and borrow money from another family. Now the one who has built a house on the other side of the river is He Yuanwai. He saw that this area would inevitably be prosperous in the future, so he took the place first, and then it would cost a lot of money just to collect rent for a month. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "This family has brains, and he deserves to make money." The other rich landowners in the countryside were bent on opening furnaces to smelt iron, thinking that the money would come easily. They still don't know what the iron supervisor is going to do, open the furnace, who knows if it will make money in the future? ”

As he spoke, he shook his head again and again. This is the iron-smelting center planned by Du Zhongxiao, which shoots two capitals to the north and Jingxiang to the south, how can small Yehu be allowed to mess up the market? In order to prevent chaos, all the minerals on the banks of the Li River, from the mountains and forests on the ground to the underground, were sealed and no private mining was allowed. A few days ago, what silkworms were placed in the mountains, or what ancestral graves and the like, all of them were investigated, and without exception, they were all imaginary things. Since the fine of the clerk's family is 700 yuan, no one has taken advantage of the name and wants to make a profit from the yamen.

Looking at the mountain behind him and the Li River in front of him, Du Zhongxiao said: "I have burned a lot of bricks and tiles these days, and it's time to build a house." On the other side, He Yuanwai has a vision, and the terrain here is open, the river level is gentle, and it is just right to establish villages and towns. On the other side of the river, it was used as the residence of the iron supervisor craftsmen in the future. Taking advantage of this period of slack farming, some errand soldiers were recruited from nearby villages to level this section and prepare to build houses. ”

Liu Zhuo hesitated for a while before he said: "Judgment, there are not many households in this county, because of the construction of the railway superintendent, there are already a lot of errands this year. If it is levied again, I am afraid that the people will complain. Why don't you wait, and then do it when the fiber box army comes? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's good to start early, it's best if they have a house to live in when they arrive, and they will open the mine and build a furnace wholeheartedly." In this way, if you count the servants served by the households under your rule, it will be counted as one ding and twenty days a year. If it is exceeded, it will not be levied, and if it is insufficient, it will be levied. ”

Liu Juan said: "The subordinates mentioned that most of the households in this county have exceeded this matter. The shortcomings are mostly in remote mountainous areas, and it is inconvenient to send errands. ”

This was a surprise to Du Zhongxiao, who thought for a while and said, "In this way, there are really more errands this year. In this way, if you post the list, you still have to levy it, but in addition to the yamen to manage the rice, if you come to serve for more than 20 days a year, you will be paid every day. ”

Twenty or thirty days a year is the legal amount of errand service in the imperial court, which varies slightly from place to place. For an agrarian society, servitude, along with taxes, was a heavy burden on the peasants. In addition to this month-long or so errand service, there are other tasks such as repairing bridges and paving roads, repairing canals and embankments, etc., which are not counted. This was unpaid labor assigned by the imperial court, and the peasants had to bear it.

The peasants were largely unengaged in commercial activities, lacked currency, and the imperial court shared on them mainly practical taxes and unpaid labor. This is the basis that supports the regime, not to mention this era, the development of industry in later generations continued for a long time. When the burden on the rural areas was heavy, volunteer labor, along with retention, was a heavy burden on the peasants. Volunteer work is just a change of name for the errand worker.

For errand service, the yamen had two practices. One is to set a minimum limit, and if the minimum limit is not met, a fine will be levied. When the amount of work exceeds the minimum limit in a year, the extra work is not compensated, and the peasants are excessively exploited. There is also a maximum limit, and if the limit is not reached, no punishment will be imposed, which is equivalent to the society trying not to carry out large projects, which is often said to be light and thin. If the maximum limit is exceeded, wages will be paid if the civil labor force is requisitioned, and the labor will be changed from unpaid labor to paid labor.

For thousands of years, the first was the most common, and the second was very rare. In this era, the employment of some official projects is actually a variant of the second type, but there is no system.

Agricultural production is characterized by uneven work throughout the year, with a large amount of leisure time, which is also the basis of the errand labor system. As long as there is no excessive exploitation and appropriate compensation, it is equivalent to finding work for peasants during their slack time, and it will not cause a heavy burden.

When the commercial economy was not developed, the peasants had very few ways to obtain money, and the rural trade was actually dominated by physical trade. Not to mention this era of underdeveloped productive forces, even thousands of years later, the economically underdeveloped regions are still the same. The direct distribution of currency to the peasants participating in the project actually has a stimulating effect on the economy, which not only ensures that the peasants increase their income, but also promotes the development of related industries.

Liu Zhuo lowered his head and silently calculated, and said: "There are more than 6,000 households in this county, if you can really send money, it will not be difficult to recruit more than 3,000 strong people." A month or two should be enough to build houses and roads. Just how much money is paid per day? Where does the money come from? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "According to the market price, thirty wen per person in the countryside should be enough." According to the calculation of two months, the camp and field affairs took out 8,000 yuan, and the rest of the money was counted as materials, and the place where the craftsmen lived was built as soon as possible. ”

Liu Zhu arched his hand: "Although thirty Wen is not much, as long as it is cash, the people will be happy, and it is not difficult to recruit people!" ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded, understanding what Liu Zhu meant. One person has thirty wen a day, and there are two ways to send it. One is to really give money, and the other is to keep accounts, and deduct it when the autumn tax is collected. In this era, the officials are accustomed to paying and turning, but I am afraid that when the time comes, not only will not only not a penny be paid to the people who work, but even the deduction will not be expected.

It was found that the temptation of money to the peasants was great, and it was not difficult for a large county with 6,000 households to recruit thousands of people. It is entirely feasible to take advantage of the summer to the autumn harvest for a month or two to try to build houses and open up roads.

In the month from Du Zhongxiao to Ye County, the surrounding survey has been completed, the planning has been done, and the infrastructure construction is waiting. Time is running out to build the house and road before the slender man arrives, and when they come, the mine can be officially opened.

The field work of the camp has made some money in the past few months, and it has to be taken out if it is squeezed out. Wait until the 500,000 promised by the imperial court arrives after some time, and then go back to make up for it. The money in the inner treasury will not be sent directly to the iron supervisor, according to the official document from the third division, it is a newly minted iron money from Jiangnan Road, and when it is released to Beijing in the autumn, part of it will be transferred to Ye County.