"What?! Five hundred!?"
Yan Dali's eyes widened. Wouldn't that rub his hands raw?
"Uncle Zhao, that's too much! I can only make two or three hundred pieces a day at most!"
"Do it if you want, otherwise get out!"
Zhao Zheng said coldly, "I hired you to work, not to be your master. If you think I'm exploiting you, go and see how landlords exploit their servants."
Wu Yueying, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but say, "I often work for the Zhong family. It used to be better. I could work for three or four hours and earn seven or eight copper coins. Occasionally, I could even get a meal."
"But now, after working five or six hours, all you get is a piece of bread or a bowl of rice bran porridge, and that's it. People are still scrambling to get a job."
Yan Dali clenched his fists, wishing he could just leave, but then he thought better of it and held back, saying timidly, "I'll do it, Uncle Zhao, please don't be angry!"
"Yueying, from now on, when I'm not home, you'll be in charge of the household. You'll be responsible for distributing their rations based on their workload."
We definitely can't let bad guys do it. The best way is to divide and manage them, and not give them the opportunity to band together.
"Yes, Uncle Zhao!" Wu Yueying nodded, feeling valued.
"Tie Niu, from now on you'll be Dali's team leader. If we hire any more farmhands at home, you'll be the foreman. I'm entrusting the task of supervision to you!" Zhao Zheng's voice was loud enough for Yan Dali to hear.
Upon hearing this, Yan Dali's face turned green.
What right does Liu Tieniu have to manage himself?
But he dared not refute it. Living under someone else's roof and being beholden to their food, was it so easy?
If he wanted to take advantage of the Zhao family's extinction, he had to gain Zhao Zheng's trust first.
"Yes, Uncle Zhao, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Liu Tieniu was overjoyed, his hand on the joystick went straight. Uncle Zhao really valued him the most.
Zhao Zheng nodded. In this way, Yan Dali became the person with the lowest status in the Zhao family.
With so many eyes watching him, it's much safer.
After dinner, Yang Zhaodi prepared to go back to her parents' home. Zhao Zheng, worried about her safety on the road, said, "Tie Niu, take Zhaodi home in a handcart. The sooner she goes and the sooner she comes back, the better. I'll give you an extra meal tonight!"
"Uncle, I'll take care of it. I absolutely won't let Sister-in-law Zhaodi take an extra step!" Having eaten well these past few days, Liu Tieniu's wounds have healed quickly, and they don't hurt anymore today.
Sending Yang Zhaodi here is a wonderful job.
Even if I am crippled, it would be a good thing to be able to stay by Zhao Di's side!
"Father-in-law, I can walk there myself," Yang Zhaodi said, blushing slightly.
"No, it's not safe." Zhao Zheng shook his head. These days, carrying more than ten kilograms of millet is too conspicuous. If he gets spotted, it's easy for something to happen.
The more remote and impoverished a place is, the less likely it is to have any rules or regulations.
"Some people from the Eighth Team are going to your mother's village to collect goods today. Go with them for safety. It would be best if you came back with them too." With that, Zhao Zheng asked Liu Tieniu to bring over a cart.
After thinking for a moment, she went back into the house and took ten chicken eggs and ten duck eggs, putting them into Yang Zhaodi's basket.
"Father-in-law, this is too much, really too much."
"Take it if you give it to me. When you get to your parents' home, please give them my regards!" Zhao Zheng smiled and said, "I'll have Tie Niu push you back today. In a few days, I'll go to the village to see if I can buy a donkey."
"Thank you, Father-in-law." Yang Zhaodi was deeply moved and climbed onto the cart with her basket on her back.
Liu Tieniu slipped the rope over his shoulder. "Sister-in-law Zhaodi, sit tight, let's go!"
Today, Team Eight is on daytime patrol. Zhao Zheng left one team to patrol outside the village, while the rest went out to collect goods.
Xu Youde found out, but dared not say a word.
In just a few days, Zhao's prestige in the small mountain village rose sharply.
Moreover, with Yao Yingxiong standing behind Zhao Zheng, Xu Youde dared not confront Zhao Zheng directly for the time being.
But Zhao Zheng understood that this was bound to happen sooner or later.
There were only a few landlords in Fugui Township, and each territory was clearly divided up.
Xu Youde is quite old, so why do people listen to him? It's because he's old and knows a lot.
Isn't it because the Zhong family is backing him?
In the small mountain village, at least one-fifth of the villagers were turned into tenants of the Zhong family by Xu Youde.
What Zhao Zheng needs to do next is to compete with the Zhong family for the remaining people.
Find a way to turn them into our own tenants!
He became the largest landlord in the small mountain village.
This is his core territory, and he absolutely will not allow anyone else to touch it.
So today, he's going to do something else!
He called Niu Dalei over, and also invited all the men from the sixth team.
Team 8 is living the high life right now, and Niu Dalei, the leader of Team 6, has been eating millet rice these past few days. Who in the team isn't envious?
"Old Zhao, just tell me what you need!"
Niu Dalei recently earned more than 300 coins and also exchanged two catties of millet and a foot of cloth with Zhao Zheng, which made him extremely happy.
He didn't intend for anyone to know, but his son went out and showed off, and now everyone in the village knows.
Of course, that's not the point.
The key point is that all the members of the six teams wanted to follow him to collect mountain goods, but without Zhao Zheng's approval, he dared not agree rashly.
I talked to Zhao Zheng about it yesterday, but he said he needed to think about it, and he was a little uneasy.
"You said yesterday that the members of Team Six wanted to buy mountain produce from me. I thought about it, and there aren't many villages around here, and it's the dead of winter now, so there's not much to buy. Having more people is a good thing for me, but it might not be so good for you!"
"So you mean..." Niu Dalei's heart sank.
The members of Team Six were also filled with disappointment.
"Besides the business of buying and selling mountain products, I have another business opportunity that your team members might be willing to take on..."
"What kind of business?" Niu Dalei asked excitedly, grabbing Zhao Zheng's hand. "Old Zhao, anything is fine as long as it makes money."
The members of Team Six were also getting anxious. "Captain Zhao, as long as we can make money, we'll work for you!"
"Yes, we're ready for anything, even hardship and fatigue!"
Zhao Zheng smiled, then gestured for everyone to quiet down.
"This business isn't particularly difficult, but it's not easy either, but it will definitely allow everyone to make a living."
"Even you, your families can participate, and they don't even have to leave the village!"
Upon hearing this, everyone in Team Six was shocked.
"Can our family members participate?"
"Doesn't that mean I can get double the pay?"
"Old Zhao, stop keeping me in suspense and tell me what kind of business it is!" Niu Dalei urged impatiently.
Zhao Zheng smiled faintly, "Doing business is fine, but I have to make this clear from the start: if anyone works for me and doesn't obey, I definitely won't continue employing them!"
"That's for sure. We should eat what the master provides and obey what the master says!"
Everyone nodded.
Zhao Zheng glanced at them, a slight smile playing on his lips. He knew very well that at least 60% of the villagers had borrowed grain from the Zhong family.
What Zhao Zheng had to do was find a way to win these villagers over to his side.