Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1752 Dock Workers
After listening to the report from Zhao Yingjie, the prefect of Taogang, Ye Mingsheng went to the dock. Looking at the dockworkers coming and going, Ye Mingsheng randomly picked up an old man in his fifties.

Led by the constables, the old man walked up to Ye Mingsheng. Although he didn't know who Ye Mingsheng was, seeing so many officials and constables surrounding him, he could tell that Ye Mingsheng must be a high-ranking official. So, he was at a loss for what to do when he faced Ye Mingsheng.

Just then, the constable Li Shenghe, who was standing nearby, realized:
"Kneel down before His Majesty!"

Upon hearing this, the old man seemed to awaken from a dream and immediately knelt down, kowtowing to Ye Mingsheng, and said:
"This humble servant greets Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said upon hearing this:

"Get up!"

The old man, who had just stood up from the ground, still dared not make eye contact with Ye Mingsheng, and stood there with his head down, looking extremely apprehensive.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng spoke up to comfort him:

"Old man, don't be afraid. I've come to you for no other reason than to ask you some questions. Just answer me truthfully, and I'll give you a bag of grain!"

Although still somewhat apprehensive, the bag of grain clearly held great appeal for the old man, finally emboldening him to look up at Ye Mingsheng and say:
"Your Majesty, are you really going to give me a bag of grain?"

Hearing the old man's question, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but chuckle. It was then that Zhao Yingjie, the prefect of Taogang, who was standing to the side, spoke up:
"You blind commoner, how dare you question His Majesty? How can you question His Majesty's golden words?"

Zhao Yingjie's rebuke startled the old man, who nearly knelt down again. Fortunately, Zhang Hu, knowing Ye Mingsheng disliked seeing others kneel, immediately helped him up, preventing him from falling again.

Seeing that the old man still seemed somewhat skeptical, Ye Mingsheng directly gave the order:
"Get this old man a bag of grain, and choose a big bag to fill it with more grain!"

"Yes!"

At Ye Mingsheng's command, a large sack, half a person's height and filled with grain, was brought to the old man. Seeing the sack full of grain, the simply dressed old man's eyes immediately lit up.

Upon seeing this, Ye Mingsheng also said:
"How's this bag of grain? Are you satisfied?"

"Satisfied, satisfied! Your Majesty, I will answer any questions you ask honestly!"

Sensing the old man's longing for food, Ye Mingsheng smiled and asked:

"What's your name, sir? How old are you?"

"Your Majesty, my name is Wang Dazhi, and I am thirty-seven years old!"

Upon hearing the old man with a full head of white hair and dark, rough skin say he was thirty-seven years old, Ye Mingsheng was somewhat surprised and asked in return:
"Are you really thirty-seven?"

Wang Dazhi nodded with absolute certainty and said:

"That's right! I really am only thirty-seven years old! If you don't believe me, you can ask our manager, Wang Dayou. We're from the same village, we've been playing together since we were kids, we know each other inside and out!"

Although Wang Dazhi spoke with absolute certainty, looking at him, Ye Mingsheng couldn't believe he was only two years older than him. He thought Wang Dazhi looked at least fifty, which was why he had addressed him as "old man" earlier. Thinking about this, Ye Mingsheng became a little serious and immediately gave the order:

"Call their manager over here..."

Soon, a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties walked over. After greeting Ye Mingsheng, Ye Mingsheng pointed directly at Wang Dazhi and asked him:

"What's his name? How old is he?"

Although Wang Dayou was momentarily puzzled as to why this high-ranking official would suddenly ask such a question, under Ye Mingsheng's sharp gaze, he dared not lie and answered truthfully:
"His name is Wang Dazhi, and I think he's thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old!"

Ye Mingsheng didn't dwell on whether the other man was thirty-seven or thirty-eight. Instead, he sized up Wang Dazhi. He knew that Zhao Yingji and Ma Zhenchuan must have made preparations, so he had randomly selected Wang Dazhi from among the passing workers. Therefore, Wang Dazhi's words should have some truth to them. Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng asked:
"Wang Dazhi, why do you look so old?"

"Your Majesty, I was born with premature graying of hair, so I naturally look older!"

Upon hearing this answer, Ye Mingsheng looked at Wang Dayou beside him and asked again:
"Your name is Wang Dayou. How old are you this year?"

"Your Majesty, I, Wang Dayou, am thirty-five years old this year!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng was at a loss for words. Wang Dazhi looked to be over fifty, but was actually only thirty-seven; Wang Dayou looked to be over forty, but was actually only thirty-five…

Both of them looked prematurely aged, appearing nearly ten years older than their actual age, which made Ye Mingsheng wonder what had happened to them.

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng continued to ask:
"What time do you start work each day? What time do you finish get off work?"

"We stop working when it gets dark at 3:45 AM. We have a short lunch break around noon. Sometimes, if we need to rush by boat, we'll light torches to move goods at night. In short, the hours aren't very fixed. We just have to work when there's work to be done!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng silently began to calculate in his mind. Based on his experience, it usually gets dark around 3:45 PM in spring and autumn in Qilu, around 1:15 PM in winter, and in summer it doesn't get dark until 7:00 PM at the latest. So, these workers would have to work for five or six hours a day!
Realizing this, Ye Mingsheng's expression became somewhat complicated. He knew that being a dockworker was extremely tiring work; few who did it lived past fifty. Many broke down after only a few years, essentially risking their lives for money because they were poor and lacked skills. Composing himself, Ye Mingsheng asked again:
"How many years have you two been working at the docks?"

“We haven’t been working for many years. We used to farm at home. Later, when Taogang started construction, they needed laborers. They said we could earn money working as laborers in Taogang, so we came to Taogang to work as laborers. After Gaogang was completed, they needed dockworkers at the dock, so we stayed and worked as dockworkers.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng continued to ask:

"So how much do you earn in this line of work? Is the payment made monthly or annually?"

"Some settle accounts monthly, and some settle accounts annually. We currently settle monthly, which is about 700 cash a month. If we settle annually, we'll get a little more, about 800 cash a month, which is about 10 taels of silver a year. But we're worried that if we settle annually, they might default on their payments and delay paying. So we've chosen to settle monthly for now..."

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng asked again:

"So, for situations like the one you just mentioned where you have to work overtime at night, do you get overtime pay?"

Upon hearing the words "overtime pay," a hint of unease flashed across the face of Zhao Yingjie, the prefect of Taogang, while Wang Dazhi asked with some curiosity:

What is overtime pay?

"This is the overtime pay you deserve!"

Upon hearing this answer, Wang Dazhi shook his head without hesitation and said:
"It's already pretty good that the monthly wage of 700 coins can be paid on time. There's no extra wage. But if you work overtime at night, you might get a good meal the next day, like a meal of white flour or some rice, flour, or cooking oil!"

"What if you get injured while working?"

"It depends on where you're injured and how serious it is. If it's a minor injury, just bear with it and find a doctor to get some medicine to apply. If it's serious, the foreman might take pity on you and give you a few hundred coins. But some ruthless foremen won't give you a single penny and will just fire you..."

Although his words were somewhat cruel, Wang Dazhi spoke with a completely normal expression, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him. He seemed to be used to such things and was completely numb to them.

To be honest, most of what Wang Dazhi said was within Ye Mingsheng's expectations, so it didn't move Ye Mingsheng much. However, Wang Dazhi's numb demeanor really touched Ye Mingsheng.

Although he still had a few questions he wanted to ask, seeing Wang Dazhi like this, Ye Mingsheng suddenly lost his mood for some reason, and then waved his hand, indicating that the two of them could leave.

Upon seeing this, Wang Dazhi happily carried the bag of grain he had received, while Wang Dayou looked at the bag of grain with envy, his eyes occasionally glancing towards Ye Mingsheng, seemingly hesitant to ask Ye Mingsheng for a bag of grain. However, under the cold gazes of the constables and officials, he wisely abandoned the idea and slunk away.

With a heart full of emotions, Ye Mingsheng led the group to wander aimlessly around the dock. After about an incense stick's time, Ye Mingsheng suddenly noticed that after finishing their unloading work, the dockworkers were all heading in the same direction. Ye Mingsheng was curious and followed them. When they arrived, Ye Mingsheng discovered that it was a canteen, where hundreds of workers were gathered waiting for their meal.

Upon seeing Ye Mingsheng and the other officials, they all seemed somewhat at a loss, just like Wang Dazhi had been earlier. At that moment, Zhao Yingjie, the prefect of Taogang, perhaps wanting to curry favor with Ye Mingsheng, suddenly spoke up loudly:

"His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty has arrived! Why haven't you all knelt to greet him...?"

As soon as Zhao Yingjie shouted, hundreds of laborers around the canteen, who were waiting to eat, immediately knelt down one after another. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but glance at Zhao Yingjie. In the G field, some people enjoyed the thrill of having great power and having others kneel down and submit, but Ye Mingsheng did not have this fetish. In the Daqian under his leadership, he also intentionally or unintentionally reduced the frequency of kneeling and replaced it with a cupped-hand salute.

During this inspection, Ye Mingsheng requested that there be no grand ceremony or large-scale reception. He preferred a low-key trip and inspection so as not to disturb everyone's normal production and life.

At this moment, Zhao Yingjie also felt Ye Mingsheng's gaze, but he was completely unaware that Ye Mingsheng had silently given him a low score in his mind. He was smugly thinking that he had good judgment and fantasizing that he was appreciated by Ye Mingsheng and would soon rise to the top and reach the pinnacle of life.

Although the current situation was not what Ye Mingsheng wanted, since it had already come to this point, Ye Mingsheng stepped forward, first asking everyone to rise, and then spoke:

"It's a pleasure to be here in Taogang! You builders of Taogang have all worked so hard! Now, please enjoy your meal!"

Ye Mingsheng knew very well that for these ordinary laborers, the food in the pot was far more important than anything he, the emperor, could say. Besides, it was already November, and the temperature had plummeted. If the food in the shed wasn't eaten quickly, it would get cold soon. So, nothing was more important than eating now…

At Ye Mingsheng's request, the workers immediately focused on eating. Ye Mingsheng also went to the large pots in the canteen to see what the workers were eating that day.

Although there were seven or eight large pots in the kitchen, there were only two kinds of food.

One type is a black steamed bun made with buckwheat and sorghum, and the other is a stew of radish and cabbage.

Besides, there were also some small jars in the food stall, filled with pickled vegetables like dried radish and pickled mustard greens.
Seeing the workers around him wolfing down their food, Ye Mingsheng remained silent for a while before getting himself a meal and starting to eat.

Because these are freshly steamed black breads, they taste better than those that have cooled down. They are not as rough, but they are still hard to swallow if eaten on their own. They are just right when dipped in the broth from stewed radish and cabbage.

However, this radish and cabbage stew was made very poorly. There was almost no oil in the dish. Although it was called radish and cabbage stew, it was more like boiled radish and cabbage in plain water. At most, there was a bit of salt in the dish. However, it was stewed until it was quite tender, and you could eat it without any problem even if you closed your eyes and ate it in big mouthfuls.

Relatively speaking, the dried radish and pickled mustard greens tasted alright, but perhaps they were reluctant to add salt, so as pickles, they were a bit bland. At this moment, watching Emperor Ye Mingsheng taste their work meal, the laborers were all dumbfounded, looking at Ye Mingsheng in disbelief.

At this moment, Zhao Yingjie came to Ye Mingsheng's side and whispered a reminder:
"Your Majesty, we have prepared the banquet..."

(End of this chapter)