I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 50 Repairing ditches

Mingxia Town, kiln brick workshop.

The brick furnace runs day and night, and the workers stack the baked bricks neatly on the mule cart.

"Be gentle, be gentle, this is something the princess wants. If it's missing or broken, no one can bear the consequences!"

After hearing this, the workers became more cautious.

After the twenty carts of blue bricks were loaded, the manager went to the kiln to meet the owner and personally escorted them to Mingxia Manor.

Sun Zhuangtou has been busy these past two days assigning manpower, deciding who will dig the soil, who will transport the mud, who will dredge the sand, and which companies will be responsible for building which sections of the ditch. All of this needs to be arranged in advance, and he has been so busy that he has had several blisters on the corners of his mouth.

Song Kai poured him a bowl of heat-clearing herbal tea. Sun Qing tilted his head back and drank it in one gulp. His whole face wrinkled up because of the bitterness.

The anger in my heart has really subsided a lot.

"Village head, village head!" a man shouted outside the door.

"What are you yelling about? I've already told you who does what. Manager Song and I have our own arrangements. Ask whatever you want. If you keep asking, I'll go down to the river and dig mud!"

Damn it, it was because he had been too nice to these tenants in the past that they had become so bold that they dared to point fingers at him even for something as big as repairing the canals.

The man shrank back, not daring to think any more, and said honestly, "The people from the brick kiln are here to deliver the bricks."

After saying that, he ran away.

"So fast?" They had placed an order for 10,000 yuan, and it was already cooked in just two days?
Sun Qing was puzzled and followed Song Kai to the village gate. The brick kiln manager hurriedly came to meet him, bowing deeply, "I am Shenyang, the brick kiln manager. Greetings to the two managers."

"You're too polite, Steward Shen," Song Kai helped him up and said with a smile, "I didn't expect your master's family to act so quickly."

"How could the brick shop not pay attention to what the princess wants? My master deliberately postponed other work to complete the order for Mingxia Manor first," said Manager Shen humbly. "Originally, my master wanted to deliver it himself, but the stone cylinder the princess wants is at a critical moment, and he dared not leave the kiln, so he could only send this humble servant to deliver it."

"Before I left, the master repeatedly told me to explain the reason. I hope Manager Song and Village Head Sun will forgive me."

The tenants standing not far away waiting to move bricks lowered their heads and whispered to each other.

"The bricks from the Shen family kiln in Mingxia Town are quite well-known in Lanzhou City. I heard that the owner of the kiln is a branch of the Shen family."

"Which Shen family?"

"Of course it's the Shen family, one of the five great families in Lanzhou City."

"Hiss! No wonder it's so amazing! Ten thousand bricks were fired in less than two days."

Some tenants were disdainful, "So what if he's powerful? Don't you still have to be respectful in front of the princess?"

Everyone looked at the brick kiln manager who had been bending over to talk to Sun Zhuangtou and Manager Song. "That's right. The wealthy family from the neighboring manor ordered 3,000 blue bricks from the Shen family kiln a month ago, and they haven't been fired yet."

Seeing that the tenants were getting more and more unreasonable, Village Head Sun walked up to them and said unhappily, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and unload the bricks from the mule cart and deliver them to the designated location!"

The tenants quickly shut up and rushed forward to unload the truck.

The brickworks manager was still talking about the stone tube, "It has been fired into a rough shape, but the temperature is still not right. Just a few more fires and it will be almost done."

"Don't worry, take your time and make sure the quality is up to standard," Song Kai said gently, "otherwise we will have to follow the contract."

The manager of the brick kiln shop nodded repeatedly, saying that ten times the compensation was nothing, but he was afraid of angering the princess.

His master is not valued by the direct line of the family. If he offends the princess and Prince Xuan's Mansion again, he will be in great trouble.

He watched the tenants unload all the bricks from the mule carts, making sure there were no broken pieces before he led them away. After Sun Qing and Song Kai discussed the matter, they both felt there was no time to lose and said to the tenants, "Go back and tell everyone that work will officially begin tomorrow morning."

The tenants happily told each other the news.

The next morning, Sun Qing took the list, divided the young men into groups, and led them to their respective positions.

The tenants took their hoes and shovels and worked hard.

The Sunzhuangtou family and Song Kai and his son were responsible for guiding and supervising the tenants' work, and the morning passed quickly.

Song Kai looked up at the sky and nodded to Sun Zhuangtou.

The village head, Sun Zhuangtou, struck the gong with a deafening roar. The overseers, members of the Sun and Song families, heard the gong and shouted to the tenants working, "It's lunch break time! Stop!"

What? The tenants were confused.

"There is an hour-long lunch break at noon. Go back and have a meal and rest. Come back to work at the appointed time in the afternoon," Song Dalang reminded. "Don't be late. If you are late, you will be fined!"

There was not much work to do in the fields after the autumn harvest, so the tenants went out to find work with the tacit consent of Sun Zhuangtou. However, those people wanted to exploit them to death and did not even allow them to eat for more than a quarter of an hour.

The princess hired them to repair the ditches, which was close to home and they could have a hot meal when they got home. They were already very satisfied. Who would have thought that they could even take a nap?
The tenants all found it incredible.

Seeing that the tenants were hesitant and dared not leave, Song Dalang had to drive them all back home.

Tian Jia was humming a little tune she had made up. Her fingers were thick but flexible. She whizzed through the hemp rope and had woven a pair of straw sandals in a moment.

This was woven for the man in her family. The man was responsible for transporting mud, and his shoes would naturally wear out if he walked a lot. She had to make a few more pairs quickly to save the man from working barefoot.

Boss Tian came in and asked, "Is there any food?"

Tian's wife replied, "Yes, Jinhua made bean rice this morning." Then she realized, "Why are you back?"

Could it be that the village head had chased him back? When the Tian family thought about it, they felt like the sky was falling.

Jinhua and Yinhua sat on the kang and learned how to weave shoes from their mother. The fear and worry in their mother's words made them feel sad too.

Boss Tian was speechless. "Can't you just wait for me to be well, Mr. Sun? It was the village head who said there would be an hour of lunch break every day at noon, so we should come back to eat and rest."

"Really?" Tian Jia's suspicion.

"Really?" Boss Tian didn't blame his wife for making a fuss. No one would believe this matter no matter where he told it.

"Oh, what a good thing!" Tian Jia was so happy that she didn't know where to put her hands and feet. She called to her two daughters, "Jinhua and Yinhua, why don't you go heat up some rice for your father and cook two more dishes!"

Jinhua and Yinhua hurried to the kitchen.

Next door, Tian Laoer had lunch with his wife and daughter. He wanted to go to the fields, but was strongly dissuaded by his wife and daughter. So he gave up and lay down on the kang. "Remember to call me in advance. If you are late, you will be charged."

Niu Niu sat on the kang and responded seriously.

After eating and drinking their fill and resting for an hour, the tenants were full of energy. When the afternoon came, they grunted and started working again.

After observing for a few days, Song Kai found that the tenants took an hour's break at noon, which not only did not delay their daily work, but also helped them to complete a lot of the work in excess.

The tenants were even extremely grateful to the princess.

(End of this chapter)