The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 415 Target: Ten Million
The name Daning originated in the early Ming Dynasty. At its largest extent, it stretched from Datong in the west to Liaoyang in the east, covering the northern part of the capital region, the southeastern part of the Gobi Desert, and western Liaoning.

Later, the sides were shrunk.

Later, when the Great Zhou Dynasty was established, it was enfeoffed as the fiefdom of the Prince of Beijing. Thirty years ago, it was defeated by the Donghu and forced to retreat to the border again, turning this place into a chaotic land.

Neither the Hu people nor the Zhou people can expect peace.

However, in the past few years, agricultural reclamation teams and ranch teams have been migrating in one after another, and no amount of suppression can stop them. They are like a "locust swarm" that blots out the sky, which is as despairing as this.

The cold days are arriving earlier and earlier each year.

Winter hasn't even arrived yet, but the weather has already started to get very cold.

A howling wind blew from the north outside the tent.

Only tents secured with tree stumps can withstand strong winds. Ropes pull the thick felt taut, yet it still sways rapidly in the howling wind. The coal stove doesn't burn coal, but rather dried cow dung.

The water in the copper kettle slowly heated up, and a little steam began to rise.

It's much warmer inside the tent now.

Three little faces peeked out from under the covers on the bed, their cheeks red from the cold during the day, but they were sleeping soundly. The woman who was sewing by the bedside put down her work, leaned over, and reached out to tuck the blankets around the children.

The youngest child is the most restless when sleeping.

The woman sat back down, picked up her needle and thread again, and examined them carefully under the dim oil lamp, complaining to her husband as she did so.

The man, who looked to be in his early thirties, had a face full of wrinkles and wore coarse cloth clothes. His overcoat was hanging on a wooden stake as he bent over twisting ropes. Hearing his wife's voice, he subconsciously looked up and couldn't help but laugh, "The little rascals are dreaming. They probably won't wake up even if there's thunder outside."

"They were too tired from playing all day."

The woman said worriedly, "You spoil them too much; you don't even let them do any work."

"They can play for a few more days." The man's gaze lingered on the children's faces as he sighed, "At most half a month, they'll be going to Datong."

"Is it confirmed?"

The woman stopped, her sorrowful eyes becoming moist.

"Yes."

"The Jiedushi government has reached an agreement with the merchant guild. The children will be sent to Datong, and the Jiedushi government will help with their adoption and care, while the merchant guild will provide money and food." The man sighed, as if trying to convince himself, "If it weren't so dangerous here, how could I bear to let the children leave?"

The woman choked up.

The couple watched their child quietly.

“We work for the trading post and we get eight qian of silver a month. In addition, we get a subsidy of three qian of silver, which is two liang and two qian a month. We also get a food allowance of three qian. In three to five years, when we have money, we will bring our children here.”

The man said earnestly, "A family should always be together. Even if life is tough, it's better than being separated."

The woman felt a little better after that.

Although life at the trading post outside the pass was tough, there was always something to look forward to.

A regular worker costs seventeen taels of silver a year, while disaster victims inside the pass don't need wages. As long as they can eat, plenty of people are eager to come and work, and they can work all year round without rest.

On the contrary, the regulations of the Datong Military Governor's Office stipulated that employees should be given six days of leave each month, plus holidays for various festivals, which meant that nearly 30% of the days in a year were given off.

Sending the workers' children to Datong for a safer environment will still cost the business.

The benefits of leaving the country are good.

However, too many rules and regulations are also the biggest source of dissatisfaction among businessmen.

To the south of Daning lies the capital region, the most prosperous and wealthy city in the north, teeming with high-ranking officials and nobles, and also the largest market in the north. If a large tract of pasture were cultivated in Daning, how much profit could be made?

Therefore, many merchants have their eyes on Daning.

Not only did Juzhongchang from Datong come, but many other time-honored brands also came.

“One cannot be stubborn. The usually wise Mr. Zhou has gotten stuck in a rut and can’t get out of it. But our Juzhongchang doesn’t belong to him alone. We can’t let it be ruined in his hands. But we can’t ignore the lesson of the Zhou family’s past.” Zhang Hui personally stepped forward.

He was in charge of developing Daning, establishing more than twenty trading posts and recruiting more than three thousand workers to graze livestock for the trading company in Daning.

However, having learned from the experience in the Hetao region, they do not intend to distribute the land this time, but the Jiedushi government has already made labor regulations.

The land was distributed to the herders, and they worked for themselves; no one could tell them how they worked.

They are now employed, and there must be regulations governing employment.

Because it's considered a long-term overseas assignment, extra subsidies are needed, plus food expenses, etc., making the labor costs too high, several times higher than in the mainland.

"The military governor came to Datong in person and defeated Jose as soon as he arrived. Even Erttun surrendered. After that, Da Ning had no power that could threaten the military governor's office. The arm could not twist the thigh."

Li Dexing shook his head.

In the past, Zhou Shiming was powerful and did many things for the Jiedushi Mansion. He was also the first to support many regulations.

With his leadership, these regulations were easily implemented.

He and Zhang Hui banded together for mutual support and resisted Zhou Shiming. Who would have thought that things would turn out so unexpectedly, and the Zhou family and the Jiedushi Mansion would end up in such a state? However, the Jiedushi Mansion was still humane and followed the rules, and did not take advantage of its power to seize the Zhou family's property.

This is also one of the reasons why everyone is most satisfied with Wang Xin.

"Go and see Wang Xin."

Zhang Hui made up his mind: "More than 3,200 people, their wages alone amount to more than 54,000 taels of silver per year, and they take 30 to 40% of the year off. This is not hiring people to work, it's supporting lords. We must make the governor give us an explanation."

"it's not good?"

Li Dexing hesitated.

There are still benefits involved; it would be even worse if things fell apart.

However, Li Dexing was willing to let Zhang Hui give it a try. Wang Xin was not the kind of person who would turn his back on someone. Even with the Zhou family's attitude, Wang Xin did not punish them.

Zhou Shiming is not a fool.

Despite their hatred for Wang Xin, they wouldn't easily give him any leverage.

As long as Wang Xin follows the rules and Zhou Shiming doesn't make any mistakes, he can't easily do anything to him.

This year's sweet potatoes will definitely not be planted in time; we'll have to wait until next spring.

Planted in March or April, they can be harvested in four or five months, or even five or six months. If they persist for less than a year, by this time next year, hundreds of thousands of people will have a few more sweet potatoes in their porridge.

Eating ordinary porridge and rice year after year will lead to malnutrition and lack of energy for work.

Adding sweet potatoes greatly improves the situation.

Although it is still far from enough, it can sustain people.

By the year after next.

He himself had the ability to save millions of disaster victims. In addition, if he could reform Shanxi without falling out with the imperial court and regulate resources through effective allocation methods, then it would not be a problem for two or three million disaster victims to receive medical treatment.

The number of disaster victims during the late Ming Dynasty snowballed to tens of millions.

This number is terrifying, especially considering the indirect impact after it snowballs, affecting the entire population of the north. Despite such a huge burden, Wang Xin still believes that as long as he gives himself another three to five years, he can get through the natural disaster smoothly.

"Sweet potatoes are a new crop, and the people don't recognize them, let alone know how to grow them."

Wang Xin finally met the Xue family's caravan.

The Xue family's caravan would arrive in three days. Wang Xin happily summoned the centurions of the various agricultural reclamation teams and told them that they would be planting new crops next year. He laughed and said, "In the next few months, each team will have to learn how to cultivate sweet potatoes."

(End of this chapter)