Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 636 Go among the masses (Please subscribe!!)
After all the officials sent by various government offices were driven away, Ouyang Lun's ears finally quieted down.

But not long after, the Minister of Works Shan Anren, the Vice Minister of Revenue Guo Zi, and the Commander of the Tax Inspection Bureau Mao Youde walked in together.

"The humble official Shan Anren (Guo Zi, Mao Youde) pays homage to His Majesty the Prince Consort!"

Ouyang Lun was lying on a rocking chair at the moment. He slightly raised his eyelids to look at the three people, and then closed his eyes again. "Tell me what's the matter. Don't repeat what you just sent your men to say. If you can only repeat the question, why do I need you here?!"

Upon hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Shan Anren immediately became nervous, while Guo Zi and Mao Youde remained calm. After all, they had been scolded by Ouyang Lun many times and were forced into this.

The Minister of Industry, Shan Anren, quickly spoke up, "My Lord, although the financial transfer payment you arranged is a good thing, it can't immediately solve the problem of construction site delays!"

Ouyang Lun opened his eyes and looked at Guo Zi, "Didn't you transfer the money to the Ministry of Industry?"

"I have transferred the money to the accounts of the poor provinces overnight! I still have the relevant documents here!"

Guo Zi said quickly.

"Is it because other provinces didn't give you money?" Ouyang Lun turned to look at Shan Anren and continued to ask.

"The provincial government has also given money to the Ministry of Industry!" Shan Anren nodded repeatedly, then showed a helpless look, "But the key is that it is useless for me to have money in my hands. I can't recruit workers. Without so many people to do the work, the construction period is still going to be terrible!"

"You have money but still can't recruit people?!" Mao Youde said, "It's obvious that you, Minister Shan, didn't pay enough. Listen to me, increase the wages by 30%. If that's still not enough, then increase it by 50%, or even double it!"

"As long as the money is paid, someone will definitely come!"

Shan Anren smiled bitterly, "Master Mao, working on a construction site is not exactly the same as doing business. I would like to significantly increase the workers' wages, but the budget is limited. I can increase it a little, but if I increase it too much, the provincial governments below will not give me the money, and the Ministry of Revenue will not approve it. Do I have to pay for it myself?"

"Even if I wanted to do this, my salary is just a drop in the bucket!"

"Mr. Shan is right. The Ministry of Households currently has basic regulations on workers' wages. We will never approve such a large increase that disrupts the market." Guo Zi shook his head.

"Ahem, I was inconsiderate. Sorry!" Mao Youde himself was a businessman. He just forgot the rules and regulations of officialdom. If the construction site was contracted by him alone, the problem of labor shortage would definitely be solved according to his method.

Hearing this, Ouyang Lun also understood and nodded slowly, "Minister Shan, I know where your problem lies. This is also something I didn't think through properly!"

"The main reason for your labor shortage is due to the population migration in those provinces. The young and middle-aged people were sent to northern Zhili, southern coastal provinces, and Hong Kong Village to make money. The number of local young and middle-aged people decreased, resulting in a lack of people to work on your construction site."

"Normally speaking, according to my plan, it won't be long before the situation in various provinces improves and the population slowly returns. It's just that your construction site is on a tight schedule and some can't wait."

"If that's the case, have you thought of any solution?"

Ouyang Lun did not directly tell his method, but looked at Shan Anren and asked back.

"This..." Shan Anren thought and hesitated for a moment, then said, "My Lord, I actually thought of a way at that time! But I gave up after trying it once."

"Tell me about it, let's discuss it together, maybe I can help you perfect the method."

As expected, Ouyang Lun had a good impression of Shan Anren. He was capable and principled, and was not interested in court factional struggles. To use the words of his previous life, Shan Anren was a technical official!

Such capable technical officials are often the favorites of leaders because they can really solve problems and will take the initiative to think of solutions.

"Since the Prince Consort asked me to speak, I will speak directly."

"When there was a shortage of workers at various construction sites, I went to conduct an on-site investigation. The results of the investigation showed that it was indeed caused by the loss of young and middle-aged people. Although working on a construction site is considered a good income locally, compared with the developed provinces in Northern Zhili and the southern coastal provinces, the work on the construction site is not only more tiring and more dangerous, but the wages are also not as high as those in Northern Zhili and the southern coastal provinces!"

"As time went on, most of the local young and middle-aged people left!"

"However, I have discovered that not all young and middle-aged people want to leave their hometowns! They would rather earn less and stay in their hometowns to manage their own small piece of land!"

Hearing Shan Anren's words, Guo Zi hurriedly said: "Master Shan, since there are still young and strong people left in the local area, you can directly recruit them to work!"

"Wouldn't this solve the dilemma of not having enough workers and having to shut down the construction site?"

"I thought the same thing at the time and planned to recruit these people to the construction site, but soon I couldn't go on."

Shan Anren said helplessly.

"Why? The treatment at your Ministry of Household Affairs' construction site is quite good, with food and accommodation provided, and all the monthly wages can be saved. Only a fool would not come!" Guo Zi asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"I just said that the reason those people didn't go to Northern Zhili and the southern coastal provinces was that they didn't want to leave their hometown. The reason they rejected me was the same. They felt that the construction site was too far away and it was inconvenient to go home!" The helplessness on Shan Anren's face became even more intense.

"What! You think it's too far?" Guo Zi was completely stunned.

"That's right. These young and middle-aged people don't even want to leave the village. Most of our construction sites are in prosperous state capitals and county towns. Even if they are in the same province, once the construction starts, they can't go home for ten days or half a month."

“So these people are not willing to come either.”

"I asked local officials to do the work, and many of them were directly driven out. They couldn't even enter the village gate. Those villages often have only one or two surnames. They are related and extremely united. They are like a clan. The clan rules are more important than the laws of the Ming Dynasty!"

"It can be said that they are not interested in anything. Moreover, most of these villages are remote and deep in the mountains, and they are not easy to find. Alas."

Shan Anren shook his head as he spoke. It was obvious that he had really gone to look for those villages, and he had suffered a great loss!

Guo Zi and Mao Youde, who were listening nearby, also shook their heads.

"Those villages are like independent kingdoms. Outsiders cannot enter at all, let alone interfere in their own affairs." Guo Zi shook his head.

"When I was doing business, I also went to those remote and closed villages. Some of them were okay and the hospitality was warm, but some villages were extremely depressing once you entered them, and you dared not stay there for long. Lord Shan, you are really good at targeting them!"

Mao Youde continued: "This is totally unworkable."

"Who said it won't work? That's because you didn't use the right method!" Ouyang Lun spoke slowly. Hmm! ?

When they heard Ouyang Lun's words, the three people at the scene immediately looked at Ouyang Lun with extremely complicated expressions. On the one hand, they had a clear understanding of how difficult those villages were to deal with, and on the other hand, they had no doubt about Ouyang Lun's ability.

But when these two things were put together, they didn't know how to believe it.

"My Lord, do you really have a solution?"

Shan Anren was stunned for a moment, then he immediately reacted and asked excitedly.

"Of course there is a way."

Ouyang Lun nodded, but still did not directly tell the solution. Instead, he looked at Guo Zi and Mao Youde and said, "You two have been listening for a long time. How can you just listen? Tell me your solution! Don't tell me it can't be done!"

"The meaning of your existence is to get things done!"

"Yes!" Guo Zi and Mao Youde nodded repeatedly, and then began to think.

"My Lord, I know those villages very well. They will definitely not do it if we ask them to send people. Even if the government issues a conscription order, they will most likely not execute it. My suggestion is to take the army to directly plunder these villages and take all the people to the construction site!"

"Anyway, we'll provide them with good food and drink. Once they discover the benefits of the outside world, maybe they won't go back!"

Guo Zi said.

Hearing this, Shan Anren hurriedly shook his head, "Master Guo, this won't do. The people in these villages are also the people of our Ming Dynasty. The prince consort has abolished corvée long ago. If this matter gets out, it will damage the people's hearts in the Ming Dynasty court!"

"Moreover, most of the villagers are strong and good at riding and shooting. If we send troops to attack them head-on, there will inevitably be conflicts, and there will definitely be casualties. This will be a big deal. Moreover, the residents of those villages are very familiar with the local terrain, and the army will not be able to move at all if they go in!"

"If these villagers rebel, we will all be held responsible."

Ouyang Lun naturally wouldn't agree and rolled his eyes. "Old Guo, I asked you to use your brain, not to throw it away. The army is used to defend the country, not to suppress the people. What's the difference between what you are doing and tyranny?"

"You can shut up now!"

"Oh" Guo Zi was scolded and could only lower his head obediently.

At this time, Mao Youde spoke up, "My Lord, Minister Shan, my suggestion is to find a way to contact the village chiefs and clan leaders of these villages, in short, the people who are in charge, and promise them huge benefits. As long as we can deal with these village chiefs and clan leaders, they will naturally deal with the villagers below!"

"This method doesn't work either. I have approached the village heads and clan leaders, but they simply ignored me. No matter how I explained to them that these projects are good projects that benefit the country and the people and can bring benefits to their villagers, they still don't want to pay attention to me!"

Shan Anren shook his head and said, "I still think that we need to get these villagers to voluntarily come out and help us build together!"

After saying that, Shan Anren looked at Ouyang Lun.

He had tried every method he could think of. After discussing for so long, he still couldn't think of a suitable solution. Now he could only place all his hopes on Ouyang Lun.

Guo Zi and Mao Youde also looked at Ouyang Lun. They were also very curious about what method Ouyang Lun would use to solve this matter.

Seeing this, Ouyang Lun naturally understood what these people meant, and said calmly: "Why are you panicking? Since I said there is a way to deal with this matter, then there is naturally a way!"

"As for the people in these villages, Minister Shan is right. These people are also the people of our Ming Dynasty. We must not use violence. We must persuade them with reason and appeal to their emotions!"

“I think it can be divided into two steps!”

"The first step is to find out how many villages there are, how many villagers there are, and their internal power structure! Find out the hobbies and interests of every person in charge!"

"The second step is to issue an order in the name of the court to build houses and roads for them!"

Ok? !

When Shan Anren, Guo Zi and Mao Youde heard this, they were all stunned.

"My Lord, don't we need people? Why do we have to pay people to build houses and roads for them?"

"Yes, if we do this, we won't have enough people!"

“And the budget is going up!”

None of the three understood Ouyang Lun's intention.

"Humph! You guys only care about your own gains and losses. How can those villagers think of anything else?" Ouyang Lun rolled his eyes at the three of them. "What I'm doing is called, come from the masses, go to the masses!"

"In fact, even if you don't say it, I am also interested in improving the backward conditions in the countryside. You asked me before why we should build roads to the village gates. Now let me tell you that the people have the same standards in their eyes. If you build roads and bridges, they will at most applaud and think that the court is doing a good job. That's all!"

"But when we build the road to their doorsteps, the villagers will feel that the court is doing things for them and that the court cares about the people. Then they will remember your kindness and have a stronger sense of belonging to the word 'Da Ming'!"

"Once you have a sense of belonging, won't other things be easier to talk about? People don't like to suffer losses, but they also can't stand others being too nice to them. Normal people will think about repaying them!"

"For the third point, when the time is right, we will come up with a relocation policy. We will build concentrated villages in places with more convenient transportation for them to live in. We will arrange schools, clinics, grocery stores, and fertile farmland for them!"

"With the land, these people will be able to settle down, and your Ministry of Industry will need more and more workers!"

"Of course, this will take some time. In the short term, please contact several large construction companies in Beizhili and ask them to bring people to support us. Try to postpone the construction period if possible and coordinate everything well!"

"As long as you do this well, it will be an achievement that will go down in history!"

"The people will also remember your contributions!"

(End of this chapter)