Chapter 309: Taking Them Down a Notch
Editor: Atlas Studios
Fan Zijin took out the roster that Qi Haoran had given him and said, “As there are too many people, I can’t make arrangements for them all. I’ve arranged for those women and some old people to enter the workshop, but the workshop can take in at most 3,000 people.”
Fan Zijin looked at Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling and said, “This is under the circumstances that the rabbits are fat and can be put up for sale in autumn. If not for the sudden increase in orders, I wouldn’t even be able to take in even 2,000 people at the workshop. Those young and strong men will go dig for stones to build houses and try to let everyone move in before the temperature drops.”
Fan Zijin had wanted to say “before the first snow arrives”, but he remembered that there were not even a few drops of rain this year, let alone snow.
“Those male young teens have all gone to the mountain to help carry the stones, but there are still more than 2,700 people idle there. All of them are children under the age of 12, both male and female. Among them, there are 1,952 people under the age of eight.”
From this, it could be seen how different the ages of the people they brought back this time was.
Some of them were orphans, but most of them had fled with their mothers or grandparents. All of their fathers had abandoned their families.
Some children’s mothers followed their husbands, but most mothers couldn’t bear to part with their children. Therefore, the mothers took their children with them and fled with their in-laws. As these people were old and weak, they walked together on the way. Fortunately, they encountered Yuan Hui, who had just escaped the control of the silver mine.
The benevolent Yuan Hui decided to first bring these people to the silver mine.
“Ah Ling, how many people can you take in?” Fan Zijin turned to look at Mu Yangling.
These people had nothing to do for the entire winter. Even if they could provide them with food, clothes and various daily necessities, it required money. The army could not provide for them all, so he arranged for them to enter the workshop. This allowed him to save costs, and they could also obtain more capital to survive.
Mu Yangling calculated in her heart and said, “Hand everyone to me. I’m expanding the cattle farm, which means I’m going to need to build more cowsheds. I also need some young and strong men there. As for kids around 12 years old, they can go and cut the pasture since it isn’t tiring.”
Fan Zijin immediately said, “Then there are still 600-odd elderly aged 52 years old and above. You can make arrangements for them too.”
Mu Yangling was stunned. “Didn’t you arrange for them to enter the workshop?”
Fan Zijin said with a headache, “Since your cattle farm needs them, take them away. I still have to get someone to keep an eye on them in the workshop to prevent them from stealing the rabbit meat. You can’t imagine how many ways they have come up with to steal a piece of rabbit meat.”
Mu Yangling frowned slightly. “When did you become so kind? If you don’t restrain them, the workers in the workshop will probably follow suit in the future.”
“They’re old and thick-skinned. No matter what I punish them with, they’ll accept it with a smile. The workshop punishes thieves three times the amount of silver, but these elderly don’t own anything valuable. Even their food and clothes are provided for by us. The only thing they have is their life. Surely I can’t kill them for stealing?”
A cold glint flashed across Qi Haoran’s eyes. He sneered and said, “You shouldn’t spoil them.Just give the order. Whoever dares to steal anything again will be chased out of the workshop, and their family will never be hired again. And, they will be ranked last when it comes to being allocated a house.”
Qi Haoran felt that he had treated them quite well. Although he could not guarantee that they would get to eat dry food every meal, they could eat until they were 70% full. Wasn’t that better than them being on the run previously?
“Hand them to me. I’ll let them cut the pasture. Surely they won’t even steal the pasture, right?” If they really did steal pasture though, Mu Yangling felt that she probably wouldn’t mind.
This way, more than 3,000 people surged into Mu Yangling’s cattle farm. A few soldiers carried a few large wicker baskets up. The scythes inside were ordered by Mu Yangling previously, and some were bought yesterday. Finally, they managed to gather so many.
Looking at the chaotic crowd, Mu Yangling did not say a word.
The children were a little nervous, but the 600-odd elders who had been kicked out of the workshop at the last minute were very resistant. They were doing well in the workshop, but they were suddenly sent to this place. They used to work indoors, but now they had to work outdoors. Furthermore, instead of working with fragrant rabbit meat, they now dealt with inedible pasture. Their expressions did not look good.
Mu Yangling got someone to bring a chair over. She sat there and read a book about agriculture. The children were still chattering uneasily at first, but when they saw that Mu Yangling was ignoring them, they gradually quietened down.
As for the elders, they became even angrier and spoke louder. Seeing that it was almost noon, Mu Yangling put away her book and turned to Zhang Wu, who was standing behind her. “Let’s go back and eat.”
Mu Yangling carried the chair back.
The 3,000 people immediately widened their eyes and watched as Mu Yangling ignored them and walked away.
The children who had finally gotten this job were anxious. They vaguely sensed that they were being despised because they were too noisy. One of the children glared at the old people. “You’re all bad people! Bad people!”
Some of the elders’ faces were green and red.
Mu Yangling, Zhang Wu, and Zhang Liu went back and heated up the pancakes to eat. Looking outside worriedly, Zhang Wu said in a low voice, “Miss, if they get impulsive…”
Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “There’s nothing but grass and grains in the cattle ranch. What’s there to be impulsive about?”
As they had just moved in and Qi Haoran’s horse farm was just next door, they went to his place to eat. They planned to officially move in after these people left. Hence, other than an empty three-entrance house and a row of cowsheds with 100 calves, there was nothing to eat here.
Mu Yangling quickly finished the pancake in her hand and took a sip of water before getting up. “Alright, I’ll go see if they’ve toned down.”
Mu Yangling pitied them, but she would not be soft-hearted enough to be bullied. She knew that they were pitiful and that some of their actions were forced by life, but that did not mean that she would accept it.
When Mu Yangling stood in front of the crowd, the 3,000 people gradually quietened down. Mu Yangling looked at the elders on the left and sneered. “Why? Why have you stopped talking?”
The elders’ faces turned red, and Mu Yangling’s face turned cold. She looked at them with murderous eyes and said, “I respect you as elders, but you have to respect me as the boss. I promised Qi Haoran to help settle you down. I don’t want your gratitude, but you have to perform your duty well. Otherwise, hmph, I’m not as good-tempered as Fan Zijin. Remember, if you can’t do your job well, I won’t keep you on my ox farm. You can go wherever you come from. If you anger me, I’ll hand you all over to Qi Haoran. His temper is even worse than mine. Although there are very few people above the age of 50 in the army, it’s not that there aren’t any. If I remember correctly, you all belong to military households now, right?”
The elders’ faces turned pale, and the indignation on their faces instantly disappeared. That’s right. They now belonged to military households, which meant their lives were in Qi Haoran’s hands. If they really angered him, what if he dragged them into the military camp?
These old bones of theirs really could not endure that kind of a torture.