Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

Lu Qinghe took the list and looked at it.

"A thousand sets of medicine-decocting equipment?"

There are enough stoves to cook medicine at the same time for a thousand people.

Gu Mingyue glanced at him.

"Please expedite the preparations, sir. We need to prepare to open for business."

"After all, the Yitang is doing good deeds that benefit the country and its people, so please don't worry about the quantity."

Lu Qinghe opened his mouth, as if to say something.

But thinking about the medicinal herbs for epidemic prevention, he cautiously shut his mouth.

Before he was assigned to the Gu family's daughter's side, the prince had given him instructions.

"Let her do whatever she wants, as long as it's not about throwing money around, don't stop her. That girl has some ideas, let her use them."

Lu Qinghe accepted the list, stood up, and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"I will take care of it tomorrow morning."

Gu Mingyue watched his back disappear through the doorway, then slowly exhaled.

She knew that Lu Qinghe had become suspicious.

All seventeen medicinal herbs were for treating epidemics. The stockpiling of 30,000 to 50,000 jin (approximately 15,000 to 25,000 kg) clearly indicated this wasn't for business.

This shrewd person couldn't possibly miss it.

But she had no other choice.

The epidemic waits for no one.

The next morning.

Before dawn, a notice was posted on the brick wall at the entrance of Powa Alley.

The first person to see the notice was an old man who collected swill.

He put down the carrying pole, leaned closer, squinted at it for a long time, and asked the person standing next to him.

"What did they write this time?"

"Pujitang is hiring general laborers. No restrictions on age or gender, residents of Powa Lane will be given priority. Daily wage is fifty cash, lunch included. Condition: Must follow instructions."

The old man's eyes suddenly lit up.

"What? Fifty coins a day! And meals included!"

The people in Powa Lane only earn eighteen coins a day carrying sandbags.

Working at the docks is exhausting, and if you run into a heartless foreman, you might even get docked two coins.

Fifty coins, including a meal?!

The news quickly spread throughout Powa Lane.

Less than half an hour after the notice was posted, a group of people gathered at the entrance of Yitang Shop, peering into the courtyard.

The group mustered their courage and went inside. They saw someone at the table taking notes of names, so they quickly went back to call for help.

Then, groups of two or three women, leading children and carrying cloth bundles, poured out from the depths of the alley as if they were going to a market.

A young woman carrying a baby on her back walked the fastest. The baby cried as it bounced on her back, but she didn't bother to comfort it. She squeezed to the front of the table and asked:

"How about women too?"

"Yes." Gong Huo replied without looking up.

"Where is the old man?"

"The notice says that there are no age or gender restrictions. Anyone who can work is welcome."

By noon, the long table that Gong Huo had set up at the entrance was already packed with a large crowd.

Gu Mingyue stood at the window on the second floor of the shop, looking down at the crowd below.

"Gong Huo".

"exist!"

"Divide into teams of ten. Choose someone who can read to be the team leader. If you can't read, that's fine too, as long as you can count to one hundred."

"Each team receives a bundle of bamboo tags with the Pujitang branding mark. One tag is recorded for each day's work, and wages are collected at the end of the month based on the tag. Losing a tag will result in a deduction from wages."

"The shop's name is branded on the slips, so it can't be counterfeited. But I still want to remind you that anyone who tries to forge these slips will be immediately dismissed and never hired again."

The area downstairs fell silent instantly. Everyone could hear clearly, and their respect for the rules of Pujitang grew even stronger.

Gong Huo took a bamboo skewer and started shouting for people to line up.

More than 300 people were divided into 30 small teams.

Gu Mingyue assigned tasks to each team.

Teams one through ten were responsible for carrying lime.

There were 3,000 jin of lime piled up in the backyard warehouse. It needed to be divided into small cloth bags, each weighing five jin, stacked neatly, and stored according to the area.

Teams 11 to 20 were responsible for clearing the alleyways.

They didn't need to dig the drainage ditch from the entrance to the end of the alley; that was done by the craftsmen Lu Qinghe hired.

But they have to clean up the trash.

Teams 21 to 30 went door-to-door to assist with the cleanup.

Because all the people recruited this time are residents of Powa Lane, this work is relatively easy to carry out.

Gu Mingyue stood upstairs and explained the requirements one by one.

"Every household in this alley has carried out a thorough cleaning and sanitation campaign. The necessary materials are provided by the charitable organization. Lime, window paper, nails, and wood ash are provided in whatever quantity is needed."

"Request that the window paper be re-papered, and that the loose door panels be nailed back on."

"Scrape the grime around the stove clean, and paint the damp and moldy walls with lime water. Drag out all the old rags and rotten straw from under the bed and burn them."

At this point, someone in the crowd muttered something under their breath:

"If I burn it, what will I sleep on? I've been saving that straw mat for two years..."

"The things that were burned will be repaired by the charitable organization."

Gu Mingyue's voice wasn't loud, but it steadily drowned out the hushed whispers below.

"Each household should be provided with new straw and coarse cloth bedding according to the number of people's hair, and they should go back and sew it themselves."

"The manure bucket is no longer allowed to be placed next to the stove."

Everyone looked at each other.

This is the first time they've encountered a job posting that also considers your lifestyle.

Besides, their houses in Powa Lane are pitifully small.

The stove and the bed are only three steps apart. If the manure bucket is not placed next to the stove, where should it be placed?

You can't exactly run to the end of the alley in the middle of the night, can you?

A loud-voiced man shouted, "Where do we put it?"

"They were all moved to a designated location at the end of the alley. The charitable organization funded the construction of a public toilet and cesspool, which is located at the corner of the alley."

"Starting today, all household waste bins will be stored in a centralized location, and a designated person will collect them daily. This position will also be filled from among you, with a separate monthly salary."

There was a moment of silence below.

Then the loud-voiced man was the first to react: "How much is the monthly salary for cleaning out the latrine buckets?"

"3 taels."

"So many?!"

"I'll do it!" the man raised his hand. "I don't mind the stench!"

"I can do it too! That's three taels of silver!"

This kind of job has become quite sought after.

Gu Mingyue's gaze swept over the crowd, her expression calm.

"Neighbors who haven't joined Pujitang, you can try to persuade them. Each household that completes the rectification according to Pujitang's standards will receive an extra thirty coins as a bonus."

This really caused an uproar among the crowd.

Thirty coins.

That's enough to buy five pounds of brown rice, enough to feed the whole family for three days.

"We'll do whatever the boss says!"

"Yes! Everything will be done according to Pujitang's requirements!"

"Aunt Zhang! Your door has been crooked for six months, it needs to be nailed shut today!"

"Old Qian, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and go back and tidy up that pile of junk in your yard!"

Everyone was full of energy and quickly got to work.

……

Lu Qinghe returned in the afternoon.

He has already ordered all the equipment according to the list.

He rubbed his sore calves and rode the gray donkey back to the ancestral hall.

The cloth bag slung over his shoulder was bulging, filled with all sorts of purchase receipts.

The donkey stopped at the alley entrance.

Because a group of people were running around in the alley ahead.

Some were dismantling doors, some were throwing garbage outside, and some were delivering materials door-to-door.

In the already uneven alleyway.

Piles of gravel and yellow earth were on both sides, and seven or eight men, shirtless, were shoveling mud into a row of bamboo baskets.

Even the little children lined up laughing as they carried the trash out.

The entire alleyway looked like it had been turned upside down.

Everyone was working with great enthusiasm.

Lu Qinghe stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

What happened?

What did the Gu family's daughter do this morning while he was away?