Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1507 The right to work!
In the private room of Chenji Teahouse, Ye Mingsheng was drinking tea leisurely. Although the Longjing tea of ​​Chenji Teahouse was not as good as the imperial product, it was also very good and better than most of the tea on the market.

Just as Ye Mingsheng was sipping tea, Wang Li brought the timid little girl into the room and came in front of Ye Mingsheng.

"Your Excellency, Wang Xiaocui has brought it to you!"

After saying this, Wang Li saw that the little girl was standing there in a daze without any reaction, so he winked at the little girl. However, the little girl did not react at all. Seeing this, Wang Li could only touch the girl lightly.

The little girl then quickly knelt down and said:
"I, Wang Xiaocui, pay my respects to Censor Zhang!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:

"Get up!"

"Thank you, Censor Zhang!"

After receiving Ye Mingsheng's instruction, Wang Xiaocui stood up from the ground, but she still kept her head down, not daring to make any eye contact with Ye Mingsheng. Looking at the timid and shy little girl, Ye Mingsheng also comforted her and said
"Don't be afraid, Wang Xiaocui. I have no ill will towards you. I am just following the orders of the Censorate to ask you some questions and understand some of the situation. Don't feel any psychological burden. Just answer whatever I ask and be honest!"

After hearing what Ye Mingsheng said, Wang Xiaocui seemed to feel relieved and nodded immediately.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng also asked:

"Wang Xiaocui, how old are you this year?"

"I'm fifteen now!"

Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised to hear this. In his opinion, Wang Xiaocui was only about twelve or thirteen years old. He never thought that she was already fifteen years old. It seemed that she was still lacking in nutrition and did not develop well.
"Wang Xiaocui, who are the people in your family?"

Wang Xiaocui said without hesitation:
"I have a father, a mother, a younger brother, and a younger sister!"

"What does your father do?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Wang Xiaocui hesitated for a moment and did not answer directly. Instead, she looked at Wang Li on the side. Wang Li also looked a little embarrassed, but still said:
"Reporting to Censor Zhang, Wang Xiaocui's father joined the Ji-Yu Army in order to earn a living. During the war, his leg was shot by a musket and he was taken prisoner. Fortunately, the generals of the Fengwu Army were kind-hearted and saw that it was not easy for a cripple like him, so they let him go without holding a grudge!

"Wang Xiaocui's father walked with a limp and couldn't do any farm work at home. When he heard that there were a lot of opportunities to make money in Yijing, he brought his family to Yijing!"

"Wang Xiaocui's father has a disabled leg and can't do much, so he can only find a job as a night watchman at a freight station outside the city!"

Hearing Wang Li's detailed knowledge of Wang Xiaocui's situation, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but say:
"Are you all related by the surname Wang?"

Wang Li smiled bitterly and said:
"Imperial Censor Zhang, I am Wang Xiaocui's uncle!"

"Oh! In that case, they came to Yijing to seek refuge with you?"

Wang Li smiled bitterly and nodded when he heard this.

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng asked again:
"Is her mother at home looking after the child?"

Wang Li sighed and said:

“Your Excellency, the housing prices in Yijing are high. Not only is food expensive, but even drinking water costs copper coins. Her father only earns three taels of silver a year, which is not enough to support life in Yijing. So her mother also found a job as a female worker in a textile factory in the south of the city…”

Hearing that Wang Xiaocui's father only earned three taels of silver a year, Ye Mingsheng frowned and said:
"Doesn't the Work Law stipulate that the minimum annual income for Yijing workers is five taels of silver? How come Wang Xiaocui only earns three taels of silver?"

Wang Li explained helplessly:

"They offer five taels of silver, but five taels of silver is for healthy people without disabilities. Her father has a leg disability and can't find a job in Yijing. In order to get this job, I can only say that I take less!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly when he heard this, then looked at Wang Xiaocui and said:
"Your mother can earn five or six taels of silver a year as a maid, and your father can earn three taels of silver a year. This year, your family can also earn eight or nine taels of silver. Why do you still go out to work?"

"My brother is sick and needs medicine, which is very expensive!"

At the end, the fifteen-year-old girl's eyes showed helplessness and a bit of powerlessness.

Wang Li also added:

"Wang Xiaocui's brother was born prematurely. He has been in poor health since birth and needs to take medicine every month. The annual medical expenses are at least seven or eight taels of silver. In recent years, almost all of her family's money has been used to treat her brother's illness!"

"In fact, the reason why his father brought his family to Yijing was, on the one hand, to seek refuge with me, and on the other hand, because he thought Yijing was a big city with good doctors who could treat his son."

Hearing Wang Li's introduction, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but think of his brother-in-law An Tianyu. An Tianyu was also a premature baby and had poor health since childhood. He also had a sensible and capable sister. The difference was that An Tianyu was born in a marquis's mansion and had no worries about food and clothing since childhood, and his family had no shortage of money...

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but touch the little girl's head with pity, and then asked Wang Li beside him:

"Did you arrange for her to work here?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Wang Li didn't know what to say, and at this time Wang Xiaocui on the side summoned up the courage to say:
"My uncle didn't want me to work here, it was the young lady who asked me to stay!"

"Oh? Is the lady you are talking about Chen Xiangling?"

"Yes! Miss, she is a very good person. I will be grateful to her for the rest of my life!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng looked at Wang Li and continued to ask:
"This is how the same thing?"

"In order to make a living, Xiao Cui's mother planned to let Xiao Cui work as a maid in the theater, but her father thought that it would be difficult for a girl to get married if she worked as a maid in the theater, so he wanted her to work in our teahouse. Our teahouse had never hired women before, so I felt that I couldn't set this precedent!" "Later, the young lady learned about this and felt that Wang Xiao Cui was a teacher and her family was really in financial difficulty, so she made an exception and let Wang Xiao Cui work here. Who knew that day, two tables of guests started scolding Xiao Cui!"

At the end of his words, Wang Li couldn't help but sigh, looking quite helpless.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng looked at Wang Xiaocui and said:
“How much can you make here?”

Wang Xiaocui thought for a moment and said:

"The young lady told me that I get paid seven taels of silver a year, just like everyone else, and I also get red envelopes during the Chinese New Year!"

“Do you like working here?”

Regarding this question, Wang Xiaocui did not hesitate at all and said decisively:

"I like working here. Not only can I get paid in the teahouse, but I also get free food and lodging every day. The food in the teahouse is great. I can eat enough white rice, and sometimes I can even eat meat. At home, I can only eat black steamed buns..."

Hearing this answer, Ye Mingsheng nodded with satisfaction and said:
"very good!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Wang Li's heart was moved, and a red envelope appeared in his hand from somewhere, and he was about to quietly put it into Ye Mingsheng's hand and said:
"Imperial Censor Zhang, please say a few good words for us when you return! It's just a small token of your appreciation, I hope you will accept it!"

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Looking at the red envelope in his hand, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help laughing. Seeing Ye Mingsheng like this, he thought that Ye Mingsheng was dissatisfied. Just when he was about to say something, Ye Mingsheng threw the red envelope to him and said lightly:
"Focus on your business! Don't think about these useless things!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Wang Li also realized his mistake and bowed repeatedly and said:
"I am so sorry, Censor Zhang. I was blinded by greed. Please forgive me!"

At this moment, Wang Xiaocui on the side summoned up the courage to say to Ye Mingsheng:
"Master Censor, can I still stay and work in the teahouse?"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:
"You are a good girl. As long as you are willing to work here and your employer is willing to hire you, you can stay here to work. This is your right!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Wang Xiaocui's eyes immediately lit up, and she said happily:

"Thank you, Your Excellency the Censor! Thank you, Your Excellency the Censor!"

Amid Wang Xiaocui's repeated thanks, Ye Mingsheng's investigation ended. Ye Mingsheng let Zhang Hu pay the bill and left Chenji Teahouse.

Walking on the streets of Yijing, thinking about what had just happened, Ye Mingsheng suddenly had an idea and asked Zhang Hu beside him:

"Zhang Hu, what do you think about letting women work?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Zhang Hu hesitated for a moment and said:
"I am really stupid and don't understand what you mean, sir."

"Let women work, for example, as waitresses in restaurants and teahouses, doctors or civil engineers, or be prostitutes. What do you think?"

Realizing what Ye Mingsheng was saying, Zhang Hu seemed to be hesitant to speak. He wanted to say something but didn't dare to open his mouth.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng also said:
"Say whatever you think!"

After getting Ye Mingsheng's permission, Zhang Hu dared to speak openly:
"If women are allowed to do these things, won't everything be in chaos? This will cause women to be in charge and the house will fall apart!"

"Women should stay at home to take care of their husbands and children. If they are allowed to come out, will there be any moral principles in the world?"

Hearing what Zhang Hu said, Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything but just shook his head, then walked towards the vegetable market.

To be honest, Wang Xiaocui’s story just now touched Ye Mingsheng deeply. He could feel that work made Wang Xiaocui’s life better. At least in Chenji Teahouse she could eat well and have enough food!

So for a moment, Ye Mingsheng wanted to encourage women to work. In fact, under his rule, many women had already come out to work. Of course, these were mainly in textile factories. The textile factories employed many female workers, who were the main force in the production of cloth and silk in Daqian...

However, Zhang Hu's words brought Ye Mingsheng back to reality and made Ye Mingsheng realize that ideas like Zhang Hu's are now the mainstream ideas among the people, and the conservative forces in Daqian still dominate, so some things need to be done step by step and not too hasty!
So in view of this reality, Ye Mingsheng feels that his main approach to the issue of women's employment is to follow the two principles!

In short, I don’t support it, but I don’t oppose it either!

On this basis, Ye Mingsheng decided to strengthen the rule of law. Things like male customers harassing female waiters must be dealt with seriously, so as to promote the development of Daqian as much as possible and make people's lives better!
Half an incense stick later, Ye Mingsheng arrived at the vegetable market and immediately began to find out the prices of the items. Before, when Ye Mingsheng was reading the memorial, he saw one thing. Because the Chinese New Year is coming soon, according to traditional customs, everyone wants to eat something good during the Chinese New Year.

Even families in financial difficulties will try their best to eat dumplings on New Year's Day, so the amount of meat used by Yijing increases dramatically during this period!

Therefore, some businessmen wanted to monopolize the pork market at this time, hoarding it in the hope of making a fortune. Through various means, they got almost 80% of the pork in Yijing into their hands, and then wanted to raise the price of pork in Yijing...
However, their actions also alarmed Yijing prefect Liu Ning.

After learning that some people wanted to monopolize the pork market during the Chinese New Year, Liu Ning immediately met with these merchants and asked them to immediately stop these illegal activities.

These businessmen did not carry out Liu Ning's interview and request at first, but wanted Liu Ning to be flexible. To this end, they also wanted to give Liu Ning a big red envelope so that Liu Ning, Yi Jing's parents G, would turn a blind eye.

But Liu Ning did not accept it, but continued to ask these people to stop immediately and let the pork price return to normal market levels.

Seeing that Liu Ning refused to agree, this group of people began to think of other ways. These businessmen had the ideas and courage to dominate the pork market. Each of them was a wealthy and powerful businessman, otherwise they would not have the money to buy pork!

These big businessmen, who are able to do such big business, naturally have backgrounds and backers, otherwise the business would not be so big, so these people began to ask others to persuade Liu Ning. These people said that they were making money from those PMs, and it would not affect you, Magistrate Liu, so you don’t need to care so much!

As long as you don't take it too seriously this time, I'll owe you a favor. I will repay you in the future!

There were several people who came to Liu Ning to ask for favors, and these people were all very influential, but Liu Ning still did not give in, and still said that as the prefect of Yijing, he would never allow anyone to manipulate the price of pork to make huge profits, and he would not give face to anyone!
I am being magnanimous by not taking action against you now. If you continue to dominate the market, I will have no choice but to take action. You people don't force me················