Chapter 14                                                                                                                             �

Zhou Mengchen did not want to repair the entire Yangjianyuan. However, it is still necessary to clean up a two-small courtyard. However, now, Zhou Mengchen estimated that the repair cost is more.

Zhou Mengchen said to Zhao Jiu: "Now that Yangjiyuan is rebuilt, it is the court's moral government and your opportunity. I am short of manpower now, so are you willing to be an official?"

Zhao Jiu was naturally willing to do so. He knelt down and bowed, but was caught by Zhou Mengchen and said, "You are now an official, so you don't have to do this. How can you keep doing this under my hands in the future? It's so troublesome."

Although Zhao Jiu did not kneel down, he still seemed to be unable to stand straight, his legs bent slightly, as if he was ready to kneel down at any time, and said, "Master, what is said. Master said."

Zhou Mengchen said, "Now there are these things to tell you."

"In life, there is nothing more than food, clothing, housing and transportation."

"You have been temporarily resolved, so you don't worry. Now let's just wear it. Anyway, there is still a while before winter. You don't worry, you don't have to travel, but this one can't live. Although the air is warm today, this kind of open-air sleep will get sick."

"It's a big deal if you get infected with the epidemic."

"So, among these two rows of houses, it seems like they can be repaired. If they cannot be repaired, they are being demolished and rebuilt."

Zhao Jiu said: "What the master said is."

Zhou Mengchen said: "Before, you said you were an old carpenter. How much does it cost to do this work?"

Zhou Mengchen asked the carpenter about repairing the house, and it seemed that some of them were wrong. In fact, it was not the case, because ancient houses were different from modern houses. In ancient China, houses were made of wooden houses. There were so many things about building houses, carpenters worked much more than masons.

It can even be said that the carpenter is responsible for the frame, beams, columns, and load-bearing of the entire house. The mason does more hard work.

Zhao Jiu calculated for a while and said, "If you say it to me, it won't cost much. There are a lot of bricks, tiles and wood in the ruins of the Yangjiyuan, but a lot of them were picked up by neighbors. This is why some materials need to be added. As long as the master buys some wood, I can bring these people to repair these houses."

"As long as there are handy tools."

Zhou Mengchen was relieved when he heard this and said, "You estimate the price."

Zhao Jiu calculated, opened his palm and said, "Five liang."

Zhou Mengchen said, "Okay." Then he stretched out his hand and asked Zhou Dazhuang for a ingot of silver. He handed it to Zhao Jiu, saying, "This is five taels of silver. I'll leave this matter to you."

The reason why Zhou Mengchen gave Zhao Jiu so generously was that Zhou Mengchen believed in his ability to look at people.

Zhao Jiu himself has a high prestige among these people. Moreover, Zhou Mengchen cannot give Zhao Jiu a future. A clerk is definitely not favored by Zhou Mengchen, but it is very different for an old man like Zhao Jiu. He can only be on the court list. Whether he is a clerk or not, he is considered to be a food for the emperor.

It is a great thing for the people at the bottom.

In addition, Zhou Mengchen also valued Zhao Jiu's character.

Zhao Jiu still took in so many children under such difficult circumstances. Moreover, Zhao Jiu is a carpenter. In other words, although he is old, it is OK to support himself. After all, this is Wuchang, where there are many big and small jobs, Zhao Jiu can have a full meal when he does odd jobs.

But he chose this path.

Perhaps, Zhao Jiu, who grew up in the Yangjiyuan, has long regarded the Yangjiyuan as his home.

He also regards what the Yangshiyuan did back then as his own belief.

Zhou Mengchen himself needed someone to help him take care of internal affairs of the Malay House.

Zhou Mengchen had no intention of dealing with chores in the Macao Massacre. However, these things cannot be handled without anyone. No matter how you look at Zhao Jiu, they are suitable candidates. If he has any problems, Zhou Mengchen would rather have problems now. Five taels of silver are a lot. Although Zhou Mengchen is tight now, he doesn't take it seriously.

Zhao Jiu took the silver tilted with his hands and said, "Please rest assured, I will do these things properly."

Zhou Mengchen seemed to remember something and said, "First repair the wall, you can't let people enter and exit casually, but you should leave a corner gate for me in the southwest direction."

Zhou Mengchen actually didn't care about walking more roads, but he was worried about Miss Li. If he reached the main entrance, he would have to walk a small alley.

After all this, Zhou Mengchen looked at the sky and went home. Before leaving, he asked Zhou Dazhuang: "Ms. Li?"

Zhou Dazhuang said, "Let's go."

"Oh." Zhou Mengchen seemed to say casually.

Zhou Mengchen came early the next morning.

Zhao Jiu has arranged for dinner and is ready to start construction.

As Zhao Jiu said, the rice they ate was wild vegetable porridge, mixing the old rice with unknown wild vegetables, even so, it was very thin. Take out a bowl and you can see large pieces of wild vegetable leaves, but not much rice. Just to save food.

Zhou Mengchen looked at it and said to Zhao Jiu: "I have been doing it all these days when I repair the house." Let people always have to eat enough to work.

But in this way, the food is not enough.

Zhou Mengchen had to buy another batch of food.

When Zhou Mengchen came back again, Zhou Mengchen saw Miss Li again in his eyes, and she was treating these people with her maid.

Not everyone in the Yangjianyuan can work. There are also a considerable number of people with one or another. She is also busy. Zhou Mengchen could only take a break from the busy schedule and looked at Miss Li from a distance. While taking the pulse of these people, the little maid wiped the sweat from her face with a handkerchief.

Zhou Mengchen withdrew his gaze, and he also had his own things to do.

Miss Li seemed to sense something and turned to look at it. But the eyes of the two of them crossed, and no one noticed it.

That is insufficient labor. This is the most troublesome thing for Zhou Mengchen.

There were four or five hundred people in the maid house in a few days, but half were old people and most were children, and there seemed to be very few women. Under normal circumstances, women's lifespan was higher than men. But it was different in this era, because if the standards of future generations were based on the standards of the Ming Dynasty, there were very few people who died in their lives.

All kinds of accidents, killed, starved, or died of illness. Especially people are more likely to die of illness under long-term and negative conditions.

Therefore, this advantage is not obvious, especially at the bottom.

If ordinary people can still have basic guarantees. However, among the beggars and refugees who are wandering outside, women are less physically and strong, so it is difficult for them to survive. Girls can also be sold as commodities, but little boys may not be willing to ask for them.

This is also among the elderly and children who fall into the nursing home, and there are very few women.

And there are fewer elderly people than children.

Because many people in the Ming Dynasty did not live on the day they became elderly people. Before liberation, the average life expectancy was only over thirty years old.

At most, there are children in the yangyuan, and they are children over seven years old and under ten years old.

Those who are too young can't live at all. If they are older, they can be used as an adult.

Therefore, there are quite a few people in this yangyuan, some elderly people are like Zhao Jiu, and some are quite experienced. However, there are not many people who can do physical work.

This method can be solved with money.

But Zhou Mengchen regarded the money in his hands as capital. If he could move less, he would move less.

Zhou Mengchen observed for a long time, but found that many of these houses had basic frameworks and were still complete. If even the beams and pillars were collapsed, there would be no value for repair. It would be better to demolish and rebuild them. What is most needed is to carry various bricks and tiles to the house from below.

Zhou Mengchen found Zhao Jiu. In a moment, he drew a sketch, either, or various pulley sets.

Zhao Jiu said that he had good skills, and Zhou Mengchen had some doubts before. But now, he had seen it. As long as he knew what Zhou Mengchen wanted to do, he would do it in two ways. With the wooden pulley, it was not as useful as the pulleys that Zhou Mengchen had seen in later generations. But it was much more convenient.

After raising the pulley set, it is much easier to lift materials from below and into the room.

Although most of this construction team are elderly and children, they are barely able to operate.

But Zhou Mengchen calculated in his mind that within one or two days, Zhou Mengchen had already spent more than a dozen taels of silver. In addition, he had to spend one after another, and only fifty taels of capital was left in his hand.

"I have to find a way to make money." Zhou Mengchen said in his heart.

Zhou Mengchen stopped watching from Yangjiyuan.

Instead, find ways to make money.

Zhou Mengchen felt that there were countless ways to make money in his heart, but no matter what method, it was based on the reality of the Ming society, or it was a castle in the sky. He had been awake for three years, but in these three years, he had been mourning for his father most of the time, and learned about this era from books and the words of others.

This certainly increased Zhou Mengchen's understanding of this era. However, these materials are all second-hand materials.

What Zhou Mengchen has to do now is to take a good look at the Xiongcheng of Wuchang, carefully observe the business environment in Wuchang City, analyze the business process, and see where there are opportunities that can be used and find business opportunities.

However, all this is reflected in action, which is shopping.

Wuchang City is very big.

There are nine city gates.

There are bustling markets all over the city, including the five-mile long street outside Zhou Mengchen's house.

It’s just that there are many things in familiar places that are difficult to find. So Zhou Mengchen did not start from the doorstep now, but went outside the city.

That is, the beginning of Huanghuji.

This is the famous Yangtze River Inner Port, known as one of the three famous Yangtze River rocks, together with Yanziji, Yueyang Chenglingji, and is also a famous scenic spot, which is the location of the Yellow Crane Tower. It is not too unfamiliar to Zhou Mengchen.
Chapter completed!