The weak scholar in the end of ancient times

Chapter 63 It’s all yours
Both of their districts were close to the edge of the inner city, but they were still inner cities after all, and there was an inner city wall for defense.

The outer city area is under construction and is mostly military quarters, where most of the city defense forces live.

The corpse drivers received the work while they were in quarantine, and in order to facilitate the work, they were directly placed in the outer city area.

Master Qingyi has a little less competition.

After Wen Gu finished talking about the current affairs, he adjourned the meeting and let everyone go about their own business.

Although the gates here were locked before, there would be someone to check on them from time to time and take care of the houses that remained intact so that people coming from the south could move in directly.

In Qingyunfang, Wen Gu's two houses can be used for living after a little cleaning. He is not picky about the living conditions, and they are much better than the conditions on the road of escape.

The maidservant of my aunt, Madam Shen, brought a batch of daily necessities to decorate Wen Gu's empty house.

In addition to dried fruits and bacon, the kitchen also has salt, sugar and candied fruits.

Although Wen Gu said that coarse salt could be refined into fine salt and he had some in stock, Mrs. Shen still sent a can over.

The sugar was not white sugar, and in Wen Gu's eyes it was far from refined, but it was already of high-quality grade used by nobles.

Winter clothes were brought in boxes, and the kitchen charcoal fire was also replenished.

Wen Gu saw that his aunt was so generous, so he had to repay her well.

There is give and take, and the feelings are deeper.

Wen Gu was not idle and came to another cleaned-up house - Jingxing Qingyun Community Office (×), the office for the affairs of the two districts.

The people who were resettled into the workshop needed to be registered, not just their names or origins. Wen Gu drew a format table that, in addition to the basic information required, also counted the types of workers with specialties and preferences.

The paperwork was handed over to Cheng Zhi and He Xiaodi.

Zhou Shan followed Wen Gu to help.

Wen Gu planned to first build a collective dormitory in the block, where some of the workers would be managed uniformly.

He discussed this with Zhou Shan, who asked, "How will the wages be settled?"

To resettle the victims, the government provided some food according to the approximate number of people. How to use it was the responsibility of the managers of each district.

Should we settle directly with resettlement grain? Or with currency?
Copper coins, iron coins, gold and silver?
Now that gold and silver have depreciated, large amounts of copper and iron are used for fortifications, and metal coins are melted down in large quantities.

Today, the areas controlled by the Zhao family, including Xinzhou City, Shuocheng and other towns, use paper money instead.

Jiaozi notes were issued before, so paper money is not new. Similar practices are now common in various parts of the north. They are just not widely used.

"Large coins can be exchanged with Jiaozi coins, but what we need now are substitutes for small coins and loose change."

However, only the official can print Jiaozi money notes.

"Then... what do you mean, Headmaster?" Zhou Shan asked.

"We don't have anything to do with money. We print food coupons! Only our two neighborhoods use them, and they can be exchanged for food!" Wen Gu said.

Zhou Shan thought about it and felt that it was feasible.

Various private industries will also issue some ticket substitutes themselves, but these are food coupons for internal use and will not touch sensitive lines.

Food coupons are also meal coupons. What people who are fleeing now value is food, so this is more reassuring.

Grain coupons can be redeemed daily to buy food. If you want to eat more, use more coupons; if you can't afford to eat, use fewer coupons.

However, Wen Gu thought that everyone was worried at the beginning and would definitely exchange all the food coupons they received for food first.

It doesn’t matter, the food we pulled down from above is enough for the time being.

As for the future, there will naturally be more food to fill the granaries.

"The food stamp issue will be resolved in advance."

Everyone is busy now and there is a shortage of manpower, so Wen Gu drew the first edition of food stamps himself and used them as a makeshift.

Let Yu the blacksmith rush out a seal to help out.

He casually drew a picture of a food coupon and asked Zhou Shan to take it to Yu the blacksmith to engrave a seal.

Looking around, Cheng Zhi and He Xiaodi have gone to register. Is there anyone else who has studied?

Mrs. Liang from the Escort Agency?
Anyone who can read can share the work!
And those people from the escort agency.

Look at their Tiger Head Gang... well, the emblem of the Tiger Power Escort Agency is so well printed. Maybe they inherited the strengths of their late boss and also have a talent for carpentry.

We'll check the statistics later. Those guys probably have other strengths besides just strength. Don't just focus on brute force; use your strengths where they exist.

The remaining supplies in the team have been distributed. The supplies allocated to the escort agents will last for some time even if they do nothing.

But the villagers and refugees who followed needed to start working immediately.

They have two choices. One is to complete the tasks assigned by Wen Gu and get paid by the workshop.

The second is to take on jobs outside. There are many construction sites in the city, and a large number of manpower is needed.

The people who followed were rather timid, so they decided to stay in the block and take on the tasks assigned by the block leader.

Under the current circumstances, they still trust the head of the neighborhood, Wen Gu.

Now, they live in temporary shacks, but if they can get on their feet and have the ability, they can buy the right to use a piece of land and build their own house on it.

Xinzhou City now encourages house building, and the prices are not high.

For refugees who have nothing, it is still very expensive and they are unwilling to spend money on it.

The escort agency seemed to be wealthy and knew that they could buy land and build houses, so they directly bought the right to use a piece of land and planned to build houses.

Since they didn't need to take on any other work, they had no place to use their energy, so they used it all to build their own branch of the escort agency. They had some stone and earth, but no bricks or wood. The walls could be built with stone and earth, but wood was still necessary.

Lin Biaotou took his men to the market and found that they could not buy the supplies they had.

Timber is in short supply right now, and the nearby trees have almost been cut down. There is also woodland further north of Xinzhou City, but it is some distance away, and due to manpower and transportation limitations, the quantity delivered each time is limited. Every time the goods arrive, they are snatched away by the rich.

The good thing was that my cousin sent his attendant to deliver a batch of building materials to Wen Gu for house repairs. At Wen Gu's suggestion, Lin Biaotou asked the attendant for introduction and finally got the wood for building the house.

Most of the stock in the hands of the escort agency was obtained by sacrificing two horses, and this was only given to them out of respect for their cousin Wen Gu. Otherwise, the escort agency would have to wait until next year.

The escorts thought it was worth it.

With people and houses, even if I take root here, my wandering heart will be at peace.

The Xinzhou branch of Huwei Escort Agency is established here!
It's satisfying to review it.

Morale is good, keep it up!
Sitting in the office, I continued to think about my other responsibilities as the head of the neighborhood.

The gate of the block should be opened and closed regularly, and attention should be paid to fire prevention inside the block.

Even though many courtyard walls are made of stone and earth, they contain a lot of combustible materials.

Even temporary sheds, bamboo poles, wooden sticks and cloth can easily catch fire if not careful.

Now that the epidemic is spreading, everything that is eaten must be heated, and there are fire sources everywhere. So we have to send people to patrol and pay attention to fire prevention.

Wen Gu asked Xiao Liu to lead the patrol. Unlike Zhou Shan who had children to look after, Xiao Liu was alone. Now was a very emotional time and full of energy.

Assign the urgent tasks first.

That day, Wen Gu was drawing in his office.

He wanted to build a collective dormitory in the block, a large courtyard, and two kangs inside.

At this time, the maidservant beside my aunt Mrs. Shen came over again and brought a picture album.

"I don't know what kind of equipment my cousin needs, so Madam asked the artist to draw them all. After choosing what is needed, she asked Chang Shun to go there."

The maid pointed to a young man standing respectfully beside her and said.

Chang Shun was sent by Madam Shen to run errands between Jingxingfang and Zhao's house.

After the maid left, Wen Gu picked a room for Chang Shun to stay in first, and he opened the picture album to see what was inside.

The album contained alchemy room utensils of all sizes. Though the drawings, drawn in such a short time, were not very detailed and the styles varied, as if they were drawn by multiple people, the general idea could be made out. An experienced person could even fill in the blanks in their imagination.

After looking through it, Wen Gu took the album to Qingyunfang across the street.

There is no Taoist temple yet, but Taoist Master Qingyi has already accepted four Taoist children.

Wen Gu had borrowed this house for his temporary residence, and all the cleaning and chores were done by four Taoist boys, who were happy to do them.

These four young Taoist boys were all villagers who followed behind. They behaved well and were capable along the way, so they were noticed by Taoist Master Qingyi.

Following the Taoist priest, they would have food to eat and would not starve to death. There were so many people competing, but only the four of them made it.

When Wen Gu came over, there were four Taoist boys, two of them were cleaning the house and yard, and the other two were massaging the shoulders and legs of the Taoist priest.

Wen Gu glanced at the Taoist dog.

I know how to enjoy myself, but isn’t that too much free time?

"cough!"

Wen Gu walked over and raised the album in his hand: "Here's what you asked for."

Taoist Qingyi, who had been pretending to be asleep, immediately stood up and took the album.

Just a quick glance and his eyes were already filled with burning heat.

Wen Gu sat aside and said, "At the beginning of the chaotic times, my uncle and cousin killed many evil monks who were spreading lies and misleading the people. These are the tools they left behind."

Taoist Qingyi, who was flipping through the album, said: "Oh, good riddance!"

What a bunch of useless people, they don’t have enough skills but still try to cheat, don’t they deserve to have a miserable end?
You have all these treasures but don't know how to use them! What a waste!
The more he flipped through the album, the brighter Master Qingyi's eyes became.

It's all mine!

He thought to himself: As expected, it was right to stay. As for those unpleasant behaviors of the dog scholar, forget it, just endure it and it will pass.

Wen Gu saw that he was flipping through the books enthusiastically and knew that everything in them was indeed useful, so he said, "Pick five first, any of your choice."

"Only five?" Taoist Qingyi was dissatisfied.

He liked so many things, but it was too difficult to choose only five, and he couldn't let go.

After careful consideration, he picked up the pen and was about to circle his choice.

Wen Gu handed over another list: "This is what we need to refine next."

The Taoist priest took it and took a look. The paper was full of salt, sugar and coal.

Taoist Qingyi: "..."

damn thing!
You customized it all, and you let me choose randomly!
I was so angry that I wanted to throw the album in my hand at the scholar's face, but looking at the gorgeous and diverse alchemy furnaces and cauldrons in the album...

And... I'm still so jealous!

Conflicted and tangled, his face expressionless. He looked at Wen Gu in silence.

Wen Gu pointed at the album in the other person's hand and said, "There are so many things here. I can't take them all now. You have to produce some results first, and then I can ask for the rest. Don't worry, as long as you want them, they are all yours."

(End of this chapter)