Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 67

Five days later, a lot of people arrived at the Zhang and Wang manors dressed in hemp clothes, and they carried sickles into the rice field and started harvesting. The harvested rice was immediately threshed by other people. The Zhang and Wang manors sent out some people to stand on the side to help weigh the grains.

Farm work was almost complete in other areas; the only task left was to plant common wheat into the soil. The market was once again crowded with people, but unlike before, the stalls that sold tea and snacks charged higher prices.

The workers had already said that all of their meals and water were taken care of by their employers, who were the owners of the grain shops. Now, the people who did business in the market were going to become rich.

"It's deliberate. They must have done it deliberately. The shop asked people to return quickly by horse, and the message was received at noon today. Once they paid the money, they started to increase the price of the things on the market. They're such a large manor, yet they're petty about this small amount of money. I really don't get it."

In the BetweenThe Water And Cloud Restaurant, in a room where the rice fields can be seen from through the window, a boss was drinking tea and complaining as he looked around.

"This is not a small amount of money. A bowl of tea that usually costs a coin will come with a few snacks, but now a bowl of tea alone costs three coins. We hired two hundred people and they drink tea like cows. Including the three meals in the morning, afternoon and evening, over ten taels of silver are used in one day. According to this situation, they will earn at least fifty taels in three days."

The other boss made clear calculations. Just this money alone was enough for him to pay for several ships to travel back and forth transporting grains. The Zhang manor was unwilling to suffer any losses and calculated everything. They bought over half of the grains in their fields and traded in 24 stores from the Capital city. Among the stores was a restaurant with two floors.

Boss Lu estimated that the seeds they bought this time were worth more than 14,000 taels. If they found other people to buy the remaining amount, they could still earn 3,000 to 4,000 taels of silver. If it was sold as normal grains, then it would be around 300 taels. However, the grains will be dehulled, while the seeds still have hulls.

Boss Jin, who was also waiting for his workers to work quickly, agreed with this statement, "Brother Lu is right. Of those 24 shops, only the two-floored restaurant is slightly more expensive, which costs about 4, 000 taels of silver. The total value of the other shops is just over 9,000 taels and an extra thousand of taels was reported. Even if the workers we hired eat to their hearts' content, how much could they possibly eat? It's not like we can get them to bring their own food and drink river water."

"Brother Jin is wrong to say that. Housekeeper Zhang said this himself a few days ago--- we get to earn some money from being the middleman of the transactions and that they will pay for half of the freight costs when we sell our grains to them, but they're trying to dig for money everywhere. The ships that they picked---I've already asked people about it, it's one and half times as expensive.

They were also the ones who selected the carriages and horses to transport the grains to their manor, and the price is also one and a half times higher. The wine they serve is usually not sold at the Between the Water and Clouds, and it's the same for the dishes. Doesn't this cost money? In addition, they don't need to harvest the plants themselves, so some manpower is saved. I heard that they sent their residents to the mountains to repair other places. "

The boss who was the first to speak listed each of the things that he felt displeased about this entire time.

Boss Jin shook his head, "We usually have to eat too. Did we ever eat any dishes that are not the best of the best? This table of food costs thirty to fifty taels. Counting everything, it would be a few hundred taels of silver. They're still the ones that are profiting."

Boss house was also displeased. It wasn't a lot of money. Dividing it between over ten people, each person would get a small share. The main reason was that they were constantly being schemed against, and people in the business trade only wants to scheme against others.

"Look, did all of the people from the Zhang and Wang manors who went to the mountain have come back? Why are there so many people? There are about 300 people with sickles in their hands. What are they going to do? Could it be that they want to help us harvest? "

While everyone was eating snacks and drinking tea, a man standing by the window pointed to the bottom and asked curiously.

Everyone got up one after another and looked down. Indeed, there were many people there. Judging from the uniform clothing they wore, they are undoubtedly the Zhang and Wang manors' residents. Only these two manors were grand enough to make the same clothes for their residents.

Those people carrying sickles rushed into the fields to start harvesting. After watching for a while, everyone was relieved that they were not collecting from the top-quality fields that the bosses had selected, and were harvesting from their own fields instead.

"So quick, that's way too quick. Look at the residents. One of them is as effective as two of our workers." Boss Wang said enviously when he saw the working speed of the people on the two sides.

"It's incomparable. If their residents want to, they can eat meat every two or three days. The workers we found were from elsewhere. Where would we get so much spare money from? They didn't harvest it earlier on or later on; why did they send their residents to work at the same time as our workers?"

Boss Lu was a bit farsighted, so he could see the difference in the physical builds of the people from the two sides. The Zhang and Wang manors' residents were also shirtless, and the flesh on their bodies was chunky. He looked at his workers, and they were just slightly better than being only skin and bones.

"Lunch time, lunch time." Just when all the bosses called over a waiter to order food, they heard someone shouting from below.

The people near the window looked down and saw a lot of people coming out of the market. Some were pushing carts and some were carrying baskets on their shoulders, all while shouting and beckoning to the hired workers in the fields.

"It's eating time. The people from the market are not bad; they delivered the food to them." The boss turned around and explained to other people who were looking over.

"Oh, then that can save walking time." Several bosses commented at the same time.

"Let me take a look." Seeing that there were only a few cold platters on the table, Boss Lu had no intentions of eating right away, so he leaned over and looked down. After looking, he said,

"There are quite a few items. Look at those rolling carts--- there are enough for five or six hundred people to eat. Oh, I get it now, the Zhang and Wang manors' residents will also eat together."

As soon as he finished speaking, the people who had gathered together to eat suddenly became hectic. Several of their hired workers quarreled with the food deliverers. They were far away, and the voices were mixed, so the bosses couldn't tell what was being said. Through the noise, they could vaguely hear the words For what reason?', the same amount of work is being done', I quit'.

"What's going on? Are they not given food? Waiter, go and ask." Boss Lu couldn't make sense of what was going on, and he shouted to the waiter who was at the door of the room waiting to serve them.

The waiter agreed, turned around and ran off. After a while, the Zhang and Wang manors' residents over there were already eating. Their own workers were still arguing by the time the waiter returned.

"Sir, there was a quarrel because of the different food. The workers you hired felt that the food was not as good as the food served to the Zhang and Wang manors' residents."

The waiter was panting while talking.

"The food you guys the market served to our workers was not cooked properly?" One of the bosses asked.

"No, there is millet rice, steamed buns made with sorghum flour, egg drop soup, and egg scrambled with chives. These are all cooked well." The server counted the food as he listed them off.

"And they still complain that the food is not good? Is it possible that this food is worse compared to what they usually eat? I don't think they want to be paid their wages anymore." The boss who asked the question earlier slapped the table with anger.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. Waiter, let me ask you, what are the Zhang and Wang manor's residents eating?" Boss Jin waved his hand to the angered boss and asked the waiter again.

The waiter began listing off again, "Refined flour pancakes, stir-fried shredded pork with green onions, boiled chicken, blanched bamboo shoots, minced meat on eggplant, a bowl of dried tofu shreds and pork soup that is topped with chopped fungus, and hot sauce. Two of the dishes can be added to the pancake as a filling and dipped into hot sauce, and the other two can be eaten however you want to."

As soon as the waiter finished talking, all the bosses didn't know what to say. No wonder the hired workers were dissatisfied. Just earlier, they were working together, but when it came to eating time, they were only given one dish and a soup, which did not cost a lot, while the other people were given pancake made from refined flour, and four dishes and a soup that was several times better.

As soon as the two side's foods were compared, the difference was apparent. Of course, the hired workers were displeased. The food is all from the market, so why should the two groups receive different treatment?

"Waiter, are the food eaten by the Zhang and Wang manors' residents also made in the market?" Boss Jin thought for a while and asked.

"Sir, no, it's just made using the stoves over there. People are harvesting rice in the field and lighting a fire nearby might lead to a fire outbreak. After the work is finished, it will be just in time for the food in the market to finish cooking and can be delivered over together." The waiter answered respectfully.

"This I'm not sure about. I'm guessing that it will cost about two taels of silver per person. After all, there is fungus in the soup, and they're each able to eat a lot. The hot sauce is not cheap, and there is also meat and a bunch of other things."

The waiter shook his head embarrassedly, and gave the price he came up with after thinking about it.

These bosses looked at each other and sighed. The one who was the first to speak in the morning said, "I was right, weren't I? They don't plan to let us transport these seeds back easily. It costs two taels of silver per person, and four hundred taels of silver for two hundred people. Can you pay that? Two days would be eight hundred taels."

Now everyone nodded and admitted this. If they forced their workers to eat the food prepared in the market, they would eat it, but it's hard to say how much effort they would put into working. If they also order the same food and have it delivered to the workers, wouldn't that cost a fortune?

"Brother Jin, what should we do?" One of the bosses asked.

"Waiter, go down there and let the market add in a meat dish---add in for ten coins worth per person. Also add in some rice--- three coins worth per person." Boss Jin couldn't come up with any better plan, so he had to resort to this.

However, the waiter said, "Boss Jin, how much is added depends on how many plates are used; it's sold by portions. What if they eat more? Could it be that you won't let them eat more? There are also dishes that were already prepared, and it seems that they can't be returned, right?