“Old folks, get up quickly! Everyone else, get up too!”
Jin Feng really had not expected something like this to happen. He quickly jumped down from the roadbed and helped an old man to his feet.
“Sir, you should hurry back to the command post. There are too many people here. Even if we pull them up until dark, we still will not finish.”
The escort company commander was leading people to stand guard around Jin Feng while advising him.
He had been following Jin Feng in Xichuan City all along and knew very well what Jin Feng had done.
He had killed so many powerful nobles. If someone mixed in with the common people and stabbed Jin Feng while he was close, that would be the end.
Zhang Liang would definitely skin him alive.
“Sir, it really is too chaotic here. Let us go.”
Beiqian Xun, who usually spoke little, also pulled Jin Feng’s arm.
This time, raising grain for disaster relief was not only because he could not bear to see the common people freeze or starve to death. There was also a selfish motive.
Jin Feng wanted to use this opportunity to make the name of Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce and Jinchuan Money House famous.
Once they had fame, business would be much easier in the future.
“Alright!”
Jin Feng also understood that the concerns of the company commander and Beiqian Xun were reasonable, so he did not object. Under the protection of the escorts, he returned to the road.
He looked back at the crowd of people kneeling on the ground and felt a thousand emotions in his heart.
The staff at the money house were basically all bought back by Zhu Linglong from the tooth shop. Almost all of them were unmarried.
When the common people learned about this, every day someone came to propose marriage. It got to the point where the money house could not carry out normal work.
Zhu Linglong had no choice but to follow Guan Xiaorou’s method. She went through the back door with Qing Xinyao and registered all the girls as Jin Feng’s concubines. The male workers were all made household slaves.
So far, his plan had been very successful.
The common people not only knew about Jinchuan Money House but were also filled with gratitude towards it.
Now the girls and young men working at the money house had become very desirable matches. Every day someone came to ask if they were married yet.
In fact, both the ninth princess and Qing Xinyao felt that what Zhu Linglong said made sense, but Jin Feng ultimately did not agree.
Zhu Linglong had no choice but to have someone hang a sign at the grain borrowing stations of the money house. It read, “If you come again to propose marriage and affect the normal work of the money house, your borrowing qualification will be cancelled!”
The common people were now relying on borrowing grain from the money house to survive. Once that sign was hung, no one came to propose marriage anymore.
This time Jin Feng happened to be in Xichuan. When he learned about it, he quickly stopped it.
“Sir, wealth moves people’s hearts. The money house deals with money and grain every day. It must be in the hands of our own people. Once everyone becomes family with you, no one will have crooked ideas.”
Zhu Linglong had advised Jin Feng at the time, “Anyway, you would not really do anything to the girls. It would not affect their normal work. Later, if they want to marry, they can just apply for a divorce, right?”
Whether it was the common people repairing roads and building bridges or those building canals for the ninth princess, none of them received wages.
They were only given three meals a day and a bit of grain as payment for work.
It was not that Jin Feng was greedy and unwilling to give the common people more reward. It was just that the money in his hands was limited, and grain prices in Jiangnan kept rising. He could only do this to save more people.
Although this matter was not big, it made Jin Feng feel the sincerity of the common people.
In Great Kang there were no machines. Digging canals and transporting soil all relied on human labour. Everyone was already very tired from work. If they were not truly grateful, who would go out of their way to propose marriage?
What happened today touched Jin Feng even more deeply.
That was still the wage from his university days. Later he heard the price had gone up again.
If one had some skills and did technical work like rebar worker or carpenter, one could earn three or four hundred, even four or five hundred a day. If one contracted the work oneself, one could earn even more.
In Jin Feng’s view, the work the common people were doing now was too heavy, while the reward he set was too little.
In his previous life, to earn more money, Jin Feng had worked as a temporary labourer on construction sites during summer holidays.
Because he had no skills, he could only do odd jobs like pushing cement.
Although it was very tiring, he earned one hundred and eighty a day.
After returning to the road, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he took out an iron horn from Da Liu’s saddlebag.
Recently Wei Datong had been using an iron horn to speak at meetings with the common people. So when they saw Jin Feng like this, they knew he had something to say and quieted down without needing to be told.
“Fellow villagers, everyone get up!”
Before coming to the worksite, he had felt a bit uneasy in his heart, afraid the common people would curse him.
Who would have thought that not only did they not curse him, but they even kowtowed to him and called him greatly compassionate.
This made Jin Feng feel very uncomfortable inside.
“Old sir, you speak too highly. It is only right and proper to work for pay. You have worked, so you should receive reward. There is no need for this. Moreover, the grain for digging the canal was allocated by Her Highness the Ninth Princess. The Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce is only distributing it on her behalf.”
Jin Feng said, “To be honest, I feel ashamed. The princess and I have limited ability. You are doing such heavy work, yet we only gave this little pay. The princess and I have let you down!”
“Sir, please do not say that.”
Jin Feng held up the horn and shouted, “I am just a young man. Doing this is shortening my life!”
“Mr Jin, if not for you, this old man does not know where he would have died. This is a life-saving kindness. Kowtowing is only right!”
The old man whom Jin Feng had helped up earlier said while wiping tears.
The other common people also chimed in agreement.
“Sir, hurry and leave. If you do not go now, you will not be able to leave!”
The escort company commander saw more and more common people gathering this way and said anxiously.
The old man waved his hands repeatedly, “In the past, repairing roads, building bridges, digging canals were all corvée labour. Not only was there no pay, but people had to bring their own dry food and tools. You not only provide meals but also give grain to this old man so he can support his grandchildren. This old man has lived more than half a lifetime. This is truly the first time I have seen a great benevolent person like you and Her Highness the Ninth Princess!”
“Yes, sir. If not for you and the princess finding us work, my whole family, old and young, would have starved to death!”
“Now my wife and I both work on the site. We can eat our fill ourselves and still earn grain to support my old mother and children.”
The last time she had seen such a scene of ten thousand people bowing together was when she followed the emperor to a sacrifice. The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue, to please the emperor, had organised over ten thousand common people to participate. They called it “ten thousand people praying for blessings”.
The ninth princess knew very well that the so-called ten thousand people praying for blessings that time was basically just another corvée. The ministries had forced the common people to go.
Afterwards, who knows how the common people cursed the emperor.
“Let us go!”
Jin Feng waved to the surrounding common people and left under the protection of the escorts.
The ninth princess followed behind, looking at Jin Feng’s back with complicated eyes.
What is the direction of the people’s hearts?
This is the direction of the people’s hearts!
If she were not a princess and if the emperor were not her father, the ninth princess would definitely have long urged Jin Feng to rebel!
But things were different now.
The common people bowing to Jin Feng came from genuine gratitude in their hearts.
Which was heavier and which was lighter was clear at a glance.
In fact, if she had not stopped him this time, Jin Feng would already have killed the county magistrate and rebelled.
She had arrived in time this time, but what about next time?
If she wanted to completely cut off Jin Feng’s thoughts of rebellion, there was only one way!
Make Jin Feng one of her own!
Thinking of this, the ninth princess’s eyes suddenly became firm.
