Miao Chu

Chapter 184 Warehouse
After eating this breakfast, almost everyone who had come to apply felt a little relieved.

If the breakfast at Baiguan is this generous, then I suppose the wages won't be delayed.
Some people even felt a little upset: Why wasn't I scheduled for lunch? After all, breakfast isn't a proper meal, lunch should be better taken care of, right?

After the meal, the group washed and put down the dishes, rolled up their sleeves, tied their legs, and began to get to work.

The area each team was responsible for had been clearly defined early on. The digging locations were marked with stones, lime was used to mark the lines, and Chang Teng was given a measuring tape to measure how deep to dig.

Each team broke down the tasks and distributed them to each group. Everyone accepted them without a word and immediately started working, some wielding hoes and others using shovels.

It rained for months in Huazhou. Even though the weather has cleared up in the last few days and the ground looks almost dry, the hoes can't go very deep before getting stuck in the wet mud.

After finally digging it open, we reached out to shovel, but the mud, which had been soaked in water for a long time, was mixed with some gravel, making it particularly difficult and strenuous to shovel.

Before long, everyone on the "riverbed" was covered in sweat.

Around the time of the Beginning of Summer, when the sun is high in the sky for a long time, people feel hot just from being in the sun, let alone working continuously, especially doing such physically demanding work that cannot be done with any shortcuts.

They're used to doing it, so they naturally know to bring water.

The gourd and water bag were placed in a cool place to make the water cooler, but after a couple of sips, the thirst and heat were only slightly relieved. After working for a short time, the person was covered in sweat again, so the water was essentially wasted.

We have to be careful, otherwise, it's not close to the river, and it would be a waste of time to go back and forth. After a long period of rain, the river will still be a muddy mess, and we won't be able to drink it directly.

Within just an hour or two, some people started complaining.

"Sigh, I should have brought two gourds of water! These gourds look pretty big, but they seem to have been gone in just a few sips!"

Someone echoed him: "Exactly! It wasn't this hot yesterday, how come the sun suddenly became so unreasonable!"

Most of the people in the same group knew each other, and one acquaintance kindly said, "My dad gave me his water bag. It's a big water bag, and there's still quite a bit left. I'll pour some for you later!"

"Fine, just bear with it. There's still half a day. If you drink yours, what will you drink?"

The water really doesn't last long.

The large water bag deflated in just half a day. With plenty of time to spare, it seemed unlikely to last until noon. Even if it did, it would still take another half an hour to walk back.

The young man with the water bag couldn't help but suggest, "I saw a village on the way here. Why don't we go there with our gear and fill up some water?"

Someone countered, "Three or four miles? Don't think it's short. It takes almost half an hour to go back and forth. Not only will you be tired from walking, but you'll also miss work, which will be hard to make up for!"

"We can't just not drink water, can we?"

"Swallow your saliva and you'll learn your lesson tomorrow. Bring more water."

"My mouth is dry, where did the saliva come from!"

"It's all that damned heaven's fault! It turns sunny one minute and rainy the next, not only flooding the crops but now tormenting us!"

"Say less, the more you talk, the drier your mouth gets!"

As everyone was complaining, the patrolman approached and called out from afar, "The kitchen has brought drinks; those who want water, go get it yourselves!"

As he spoke, he pointed in two directions.

"There are both in front and behind, just look for the one covered by the umbrella."

A group of people stood on tiptoe and squinted in the sun to see, and sure enough, they saw a canopy in front and a canopy behind.

The young man with the water bag immediately said, "I'll go fetch water, I'll fetch water for everyone!"

Being young, he picked up a large dustpan filled with soil, haphazardly gathered up the gourds and water bags from the ground, shrugged his shoulders, wiped the sweat from his chin and behind his ears, and ran away.

Before long, the man returned carrying a basket. He walked up to the group with a look of surprise on his face and exclaimed, "This kitchen! They actually gave us boiled water!"

Upon hearing this, everyone grabbed their gourds and returned, then gulped down two mouthfuls, all of them astonished.

"It's actually perilla-infused water!"

"Perilla leaves aren't worth much, but they even added salt! That's quite generous!"

"Whether it's valuable or not, something is better than nothing!"

"Firewood costs money too, doesn't it?"

"Drink it quickly, or the kitchen manager will kick you out in a couple of days!"

Perilla is warm in nature and pungent in taste. It can relieve summer heat and dampness, and is more thirst-quenching and fatigue-relieving than ordinary water. It also contains salt. After taking a few big gulps, although your strength may not return immediately, it will make you feel much better.

After drinking some water, the group of people got back to work, huffing and puffing.

Song Miao, who was in charge of the kitchen, had naturally calculated the costs before making this arrangement.

At this moment, there are more than twenty female cooks under her command, all of whom are experienced. Once they understand what they need to do, as long as the tasks are properly assigned, there are almost no mistakes. Because they know each other well, they can even fill in for each other if they encounter any difficulties.

Those who chopped vegetables did their job of chopping vegetables, those who kneaded dough did their job of kneading dough, those who tended the fire did their job of tending the fire, and those who chopped firewood did their job of chopping firewood. They did everything according to Song Miao's instructions. There was no nonsense. They worked diligently and the whole kitchen was very efficient. They were busy but not chaotic.

To get things done in this world, you essentially need to manage three things: people, things, and tasks.

Now that people are easier to manage and things are under control, Song Miao has a little more leeway in choosing ingredients.

She bought only the seasonal and cheapest vegetables, and used the leftovers to buy meat and eggs regularly, along with the portion allocated to her.

At this time, the kitchen's expenses came from various sources. In addition to the silver and grain allocated by the imperial court for the relief of refugees and the repair of dikes, there was also a portion of silver and grain from the Huazhou government, and a portion of subsidies that Han Li obtained from Cen Dezhang.

This last part was originally intended for recruiting civilians and purchasing grain. However, the Zhang and Yuan families, who lived near Weizhou, managed to gather all the grain and manpower with very little, and allocated the remainder directly to the kitchen.

With tight deadlines, heavy workloads, and insufficient manpower, the only way to motivate the existing staff to work as hard as possible, besides coercion, is through incentives.

The budget is fixed, allocated based on the number of people working on the river, plus this additional subsidy. However, once the money is in hand, how it is distributed is entirely up to the individual, as long as it is reasonable.

Having a little meat to eat every five days, even just a small piece, is a great benefit for people who make a living through physical labor.

A small subsidy, plus a full meal, is enough to attract and retain both refugees and genuine laborers.

The greater the turnover of personnel, the more difficult it is to manage. If we can retain the existing workforce as much as possible, we can reduce the time needed to familiarize ourselves with the work and speed up the progress of digging the canal.

Song Miao was here proposing dishes for the construction site based on the cheap seasonal vegetables, while Wang Shuji, however, came to the "New River Channel" early in the morning with his subordinates and nephew.

Yesterday, Cen Dezhang personally visited, and the so-called handcuffing incident was naturally dropped. He asked to see how the water affairs in Huazhou were being handled, and Cen Dezhang readily agreed, even arranging for his men to receive him.

Wang Shuji refused, saying that this was not official business, but he had come to take a look anyway.

After some back and forth, they finally asked a minor official to run the errand for them.

Wang Shuji arrived early, tied up his horse, and walked along the river, observing and asking questions as he went. He would occasionally have his nephew write down certain details, and sometimes he would ask the official for questions. It took Wang Shuji almost half a day to travel just a few miles. He had just asked someone where Han Li was when he saw a small group of people pushing a cart in the distance.

"what is that?"

My nephew ran off and then ran back, saying, "The kitchen staff has brought lunch!"

Wang Shuji knew that it was Miss Song, the young lady in charge of the kitchen at the official post station, and he had seen the fifty-two rules she had made, as well as a simple set of regulations.

The words themselves are quite impressive, but what is written on paper is quite different from what is actually used in practice.

He had managed fortifications involving hundreds or even tens of thousands of people, so he knew that when the number of people was large, the food was no longer a matter of skill. After all, no matter how good the cooking skills were, one person could not cook for thousands of people. It also depended on the ability of the person in charge.

Upon hearing his nephew's reply, Wang Shuji immediately felt a desire to investigate, and said, "Let's go and take a look!"

He walked forward and first stood aside to look at the queue—it wasn't exactly orderly, but it wasn't chaotic at all.

The meal service announcements are given in sequence, and it takes time for people to arrive, plus there's a slight interval in between, making it easy for the two people serving the food to manage.

There was only one line at this meal distribution point, with rice buckets and vegetable bowls lined up in a row. People would get their staple food first, and then walk down to get their vegetables, without having to backtrack.

The staple food is rice with beans.

Two large pots of various beans and mixed grains were cooked. Although the food was a bit rough, it looked very filling.

There were two dishes. One was dogwood tofu. There wasn't much dogwood in it, but the tofu was different from ordinary soft tofu. It looked like it had been lightly pan-fried, with a slightly yellow outer layer and very few bits of minced meat.

A dish of stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, white stems and yellow leaves, this dish can be stored for a long time and looks delicious.

It also came with a drink, which was mung bean water. It was very thin, as if the mung beans had just taken a hot bath in it, but it was definitely not plain water.

Wang Shuji looked around and saw a woman packing a cart and loading things onto it not far away. He walked over, greeted her, and asked, "What kind of food is this today?"

The woman immediately recognized him; he was the one who had helped Song Miao stop the constables yesterday. She quickly stood up straight and greeted him, calling out, "Master Wang."

She briefly described today's meal, concluding, "Miss Song said that this mixed rice with beans had too much coarse rice in it. Although it could fill you up, it would definitely make your throat ache, so she ordered this dogwood tofu to be served. She had us fry the tofu with a little egg, and it smelled amazing. Besides rapeseed oil, she also added a little lard and some minced pork. When eating, you press the tofu down with chopsticks and mix it with the dogwood bean sauce and spicy soup. The tofu inside is tender, and when it's mixed into the rice, it goes down your throat with the rice all at once. You can't taste the coarseness at all!"

Wang Shuji was hungry and didn't want to hear how to cook, but he could only listen with a wry smile.

Seeing someone not far away who had finished eating and was drinking mung bean soup, he walked over, squatted down, and asked, "Brother, how was the food? Did you eat your fill?"

The man was engrossed in drinking when he glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye. He saw that the man had sparse hair and beard, and was dressed in a dusty, dirty cloth shirt. Although he didn't think the man looked like a laborer, he assumed that the man was a refugee who had fallen on hard times and had no choice but to come looking for work. Without thinking much of it, he casually said, "It's delicious, very flavorful. It's just a little small. I'm just a little full. I wish there was more!"

A person drinking mung bean soup nearby chimed in, "This meal is all real grain, though not much, it's quite generous!"

The man in front urged again, "Brother, hurry up, or there will be a long line and you might be left with only the bottom dish."

Wang Shuji agreed and got up, but walked to the other side and asked a few more people.

The clerk wanted to follow, but was stopped by his subordinate. He finally managed to get forward and, seeing Wang Shuji's interest, said, "Sir Wang, why don't I tell the kitchen to prepare your meal quickly?"

Wang Shuji waved his hand and said, "As an official from outside the region, I won't waste your river affairs' food money."

He added, "I want to see the kitchen—I know a young lady there, I can go find her myself."

The minor official dared not agree and obediently led the way.

The group quickly arrived at the kitchen.

At this moment, the house was being swept and cleaned. Just as Wang Shuji was about to enter, a woman who was mopping the floor spotted him and shouted, "Hey, don't come in!"

The clerk behind him hurriedly stepped forward and said, "This is Mr. Wang from the Sixth Route Transportation Office. He wants to come and see where the person in charge of your kitchen is."

Just as he was about to step inside, several people suddenly jumped out from both sides.

"Don't step in! Don't come in! You can't just wander into the kitchen!"

"Miss Song said that unrelated people can only enter the kitchen if they are personally supervised by an official from the government or one of the supervisors of the construction project. If you want to see this so-called lucky official, why don't you wait until Miss Song comes and tell her yourself?"

"We finally got this job, and we're counting on it to make a living. Please don't blame us, sir!"

They all talked at once, giving a long and enthusiastic response.

Song Miao was tidying up in the back room when she heard the commotion outside. She gave the instructions to the others and went out. She saw several people standing outside the kitchen. One of them looked very familiar, so she called out and asked, "Is that Master Wang?"

After exchanging greetings and learning that the other party had come to inspect the kitchen, she stood briefly at the door with her entourage and explained, "The floor inside has just been washed and mopped, and since Master Wang wears cloth shoes, they might be slippery. Why don't you just take a look from the doorway?"

Wang Shuji agreed, "When in Rome, do as the host says. I am a guest now, and this is the young lady's territory, so I will do as you please."

They then asked her about the staffing situation, how it was allocated, and whether any problems had been encountered.

Song Miao answered each question one by one, and then explained again how the kitchen was arranged, how the flow of movement was planned, and why she did it this way.

After answering, he even led people to see the warehouse next door.

After reviewing everything, Wang Shuji was quite satisfied. He asked, "I noticed they had two dishes for lunch, including bean rice. I asked a few people, and they all said it tasted good. Is it really that good? What was the cost price?"

Song Miao laughed and said, "The taste is probably just average, but everyone is easy to talk to. As long as we can have a hot meal and some side dishes, no one will complain."

After exchanging a few more words, Wang Shuji called out to his nephew and asked, "Did I bring my invitation?"

The latter quickly retrieved it.

Wang Shuji took it and handed it to Song Miao personally, saying, "Think about what we talked about yesterday, young lady. This is my calling card. When you come to the yamen, the yamen will have someone to receive you. With your abilities, you won't be treated unfairly at the shipping company!"

Song Miao accepted it with both hands and thanked her politely.

Having personally invited him twice, showing sufficient sincerity, Wang Shuji naturally didn't try to persuade him further and left with his men.

In the following days, batches of new recruits brought in by Aunt Ma and others memorized the rules and took their places. The previous twenty or so people also naturally became small leaders.

Meanwhile, more and more people were on the river. When Song Miao received the schedule for the next day, there were more than 2,800 people eating.

Early in the morning, before dawn, she and Dabing arrived at the kitchen.

The door opened, and everyone was doing their jobs. Suddenly, someone strode out of the adjacent warehouse.

"Miss Song, do you have a moment? Something seems off in the storeroom."

The newcomer looked anxious; it was Zhang Si Niang.

(End of this chapter)