Chapter 113: Manor Renovation and Kang Building
Luo Wen held 20 cents in hand and he felt great.
For the past two years, Luo Wen had been serving as a guide for the merchants. His work as a guide was quick and easy. Even though he often couldn't secure himself a deal for days, he still liked it. He threw himself at Lu Lin and his group as soon as they set feet on the territory of Sha County.
"Luo Wen, you saw the new County Magistrate, didn't you?" A man with a blind eye asked with a smile.
There was a terrible scar on one of his eyes. It was from one of his battles.
Luo Wen nodded, "That's true, I guided him the way to his residence. He seemed to be frightened by the way the county yamen looks."
The blind man smiled and said, "These county officials care about nothing but filling their own pockets with public funds. I really don't know why the higher-ups have to send people."
Sha County was originally poor in resources, and there were often enemies attacking them. In the past, Sha County had a county magistrate who hated being stuck in Sha County, he wanted to transfer to a wealthy place, and he fattened himself by drinking the people's life-blood in the hope of bribing his higher-ups. However, the people in Sha County were not easy to mess with. They had killed that magistrate.
Luo Wen shook his head, "I don't know! We are all happy with our general, I don't understand why the Imperial Court keeps sending new magistrate."
"Uncle Tian, you are well-informed, do you know where this new official comes from? I think he is here with his family!" Luo Wen asked.
The blind man smiled. His scarred face looked even more terrifying.
"Our new County Magistrate is not simple. I heard that he didn't get this position through passing the examination, he spent several thousand taels of silver instead," the blind man showed a meaningful smile.
Luo Wen frowned and asked, "The official title is bought?"
The blind man nodded and said, "Yes! If you have money, you can make the devil push the millstone for you. This new magistrate is a big businessman. With money in hand, he started to think about pursuing an official career. This county is probably going to be a disappointment for him though. Our county is improvised, and we have General Ji who swears to uphold justice for us. Chances are this new magistrate was anxious to get things on the cheap and bought the cheapest position available."
Luo Wen rolled his eyes and said, "I think this new county magistrate looks like a good official."
The blind man looked at Luo Wen with a faint smile and said, "You can distinguish between good officials and bad officials?"
Luo Wen grinned and said, "This county magistrate has a good temper. And he gave me 20 cents after I took them to his residence."
The blind man pursed his lips and said, "He's just a newcomer, so he is eager to establish a good name. let's wait and see whether he is really a good official afterhe has a stable foothold in our county."
......
After Lu Lin bought the official position, he sold the commercial house and residence in the town, he dismissed several employees, now he had about 1700 taels of silver in hand.
He was confident they could live comfortably for a while with that amount of money.
Lu Lin asked the Qins to look for help in repairing the house, and soon Qin Yi found a group of people.
Although the people in Sha County were very intimidating, people always had to make a living. Lu Lin offered them a high salary, so naturally, a lot of people were willing to work for him.
Qin Yi came back and secretly told Lu Lin that the labor fees in this place were cheaper than Forest Town. Originally, the villagers didn't show any interest when Qin Yi told them it was the magistrate who was hiring, but many people were willing to come after he mentioned that they would get paid on a daily basis, and the pay was generous, 25 cents per day.
It was almost late autumn. Lu Lin was eager to repair the house. Sha County was so poor that there was only a dilapidated inn in the entire county. Lu Lin was eager to move into the residence for winter.
"Uncle Qin, you're amazing! You found so many people within such a short amount of time," Lu Lin said.
Qin Yi smiled and said, "Thanks to Luo Wen. That boy looks very smart, I think he is a diamond in the rough!"
Qin Yi inquired about Luo Wen's background and found that the boy was pitiful. His father was killed in the war, and his mother was weak with sickness. The two of them always suffered hunger and cold.
Children of poor families managed household affairs early. Luo Wen, young as he was, he often ran around in the county, looking for work. Unfortunately, he couldn't find much work due to his young age.
When Qin Yi went to the countryside looking for help, he met Luo Wen. When Luo Wen heard that he wanted to find a group of people to repair the house, he volunteered to help out, but he charged a small fee.
Qin Yi had made some money over the years, he was willing to pay a small fee as long as Luo Wen could find him the right people. He was a bit frustrated that many people had turned him down as soon as mentioned he was hiring for the magistrate.
After meeting Luo Wen, it went much smoother.
Luo Wen seemed to be gifted with rare eloquence, he was just so natural when convincing people. With him being the middleman, Qin Yi soon hired a group of people.
......
Lu Lin bought a large number of bricks and the tiles to renovate the house. Although the County M magistrate's manor was out of repair, it was still very spacious with three residence areas.
Chen Xiao Mai also went to help with the renovation.
Chen Xiao Mai raised a large box that weighed dozens of kilos like a feature, startling others who offered to help him to carry it.
Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mai and guessed that Chen Xiao Mai and Chen Xiao Mi had the same gift in carrying heave stuff.
Chen Xiao Mi was judged and despised by the villagers back then due to his strength. Lu Lin narrowed his eyes and sent Chen Xiao Mai away with an excuse.
Chen Xiao Mai who was looking for some compliment from Lu Lin got so disappointed, he just ran away unhappily with his cheeks puffed up.
Even though they had hired a lot of helpers, Lu Lin did not just sit around and order people around.
Chen Xiao Cai and the rest of them had all endured hardships when they were younger and they were all capable of hard work. Although the past two years had been better for them, it was not hard for them to work like a horse.
The first day went on great, they even managed to finish the work earlier than scheduled, the workers left the manor in the evening.
"Old Zhou, what do you think about this new County Magistrate?" Wang Er asked.
Old Zhou narrowed his eyes and said, "I can't tell for now."
Wang Er scratched his head and said, "I think this magistrate is not bad! He offered us such a nice lunch."
Lu Lin firmly believed that eating was the best time to connect feelings, so he was never stingy in treating his employees.
They had just come to Sha County, so he didn't have any good resources. However, he did find some meat and Chinese Yam for lunch, he put a generous amount of both in the porridge and treated the workers to a hearty lunch.
The workers didn't get to enjoy such nice food very often, they gulped down everything in the bowl.
Old Zhou Zhou Yuan He looked helplessly at Wang Er and said, "He has won your heart with just a meal?"
Wang Er scratched his head and said, "This is the first time that we are treated with such nice food, there was meat in the porridge, actual meat mince!"
"From what the county magistrate said, it seems like he plans to build kangs," Zhou Yuan He said.
Wang Er said excitedly, "I've heard of kangs before, they are amazing in winter! Our new county magistrate looks like he knows a lot and he is very good at enjoying life!"
"From the way our county magistrate talks and behaves, I do think he knows a lot."
"If this new County Magistrate really knows how to build kangs, we might as well just learn from him, it's such a coveted skill. If we learn this, winters shouldn't be so hard for us and our families."
Lu Lin was clever in making schedules and he was nice to the workers, the house was renovated within just a few days.
Lu Lin built kangs in the main hall, left and right wing-rooms, spare bedrooms.
The workers thronged into the room right after Lu Lin and Xiao Mi finished the first kang, some of them had even crawled up on the kang and felt it.
Lu Lin was well aware that the workers were all curious about the kang and they were anxious to try it. Lu Lin decided to make a fire in the kang so the workers could really feel how the kang works even though it was not very cold yet.
When Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi first built kang in the Big Stone Village, soon the villagers from other towns hired people from the Big Stone Village to build kangs for them. More and more people learned the skills and more and more villagers all over the towns had built kangs over the years, however, most people in Sha County had never heard of kang due to limited news resource. Of course, it was also possible that the people in this place were too poor, they were unable to afford building a kang, a lot of villagers didn't even own a house.
Lu Lin thought that more people in Sha County would know about lang after he was done with the renovation.
At dusk, the workers got off work after they got paid.
"Our new County Magistrate is really good! He is really paying us at the end of every shift, we never need to remind him or anything."
"What's more, he and his family all look very approachable, they don't look down upon us."
"Yeah! To be honest, when I first heard that our county magistrate bought this title, I just assumed he must be a profiteering merchant who cared about nothing but money."
"That kang he built is so amazing. I sat down on it today and it was so warm. How I wish I could build a kang for my family in winter."
"I heard it from the young master Xiao Cai that this kang is good for rheumatism. I wonder if it is true."
"It should be true. I think this young master Xiao Cai doesn't look like a liar."
"That's going to be great, we have so many veterans who are suffering rheumatism and arthritis, winter is like a trial for them."
Chen Xiao Cai didn't put on any airs. He soon became friends with the workers who came to help. Everyone had a good impression of Chen Xiao Cai.
......
At the border patrol camp.
"General, the new county magistrate has arrived."
Ji Cheng Kang asked lightly, "Is that so? What's his background?"
"A businessman. I heard that he spent 3,000 taels of silver to buy this official position."
Ji Cheng Kang shook his head and said, "All businessmen are dishonest, he must be one of those who works solely for personal gain."
"The imperial court is short of money. Otherwise, he won't be able to buy official titles. However, when he understands the situation in Sha County, he will naturally withdraw after learning of the difficulties," Liu Yun showed a snicker, he was sure that Lu Lin would regret his life choice.
Ji Cheng Kang narrowed his eyes and said, "As long as he doesn't bully the people, we can let him stay here. The Imperial Court will send new people here if we chase him away, it will be troublesome."
"You are right, general. This new county magistrate seems to be quite rich. As soon as he arrived, he found a lot of people to repair his house. The workers are all quite satisfied with their work experience there, they get paid daily," Liu Yun said.
Ji Cheng Kang nodded and said, "If he is an honest man, we can leave him be."
"Yuan He went to work for Lu Lin," Liu Yun said.
Ji Cheng Kang sighed and said, "This guy is too stubborn."
Zhou Yuan He was originally a soldier in the army, he was crippled in the war. He left the army and built a house in Sha County. He had been in a state of utter poverty since that. Ji Cheng Kang visited him a few times and tried to give him some relief, but he was refused by Zhou Yuan He. Zhou Yuan He felt that he could support himself and didn't need Ji Cheng Kang's help.
Ji Cheng Kang had a lot of salary, so it was not hard for him to support Zhou Yuan He. However, Ji Cheng Kang always shared his salary with his comrades in the same army, sometimes he struggled to make ends meet himself.
"Yuan He said that the new county magistrate can build kang," Liu Yun said.
Ji Cheng Kang frowned and said, "Kang? I've only heard of such a thing. I heard that it can help to resist the bitter cold. I wonder if it is true. A lot of the soldiers who brave the wind and dew in the army are suffering arthrophlogosis."
"Yuan He and his friends have already learned the skills. General, shall we build some kangs in our patrol camp?" Liu Yun suggested.
Ji Cheng Kang nodded and said, "That's a good idea."