"It's really a good weather for traveling. You are all here!"
Wang Dalu got up in the morning, had breakfast, and came to the living room.
Seeing that everyone was there, he stretched out and said hello to everyone.
"My king, today is your first tour of the area as the deacon of the North District, so you should be more solemn."
Wang Dalu nodded when he heard Old Turtle's reminder, looked at Li Jinbao and said.
"Are you ready? Where should we patrol first?"
"To answer your Excellency, today we will first inspect the mining area hundreds of feet away from the mountainside."
"Well, let's go then."
Wang Dalu led everyone early in the morning and walked along the mountainside towards the center of the mining area.
The higher they walked, the more turbid the surrounding air became. After Wang Dalu learned about it, he realized that the North District was a newly developed mining area, and there were many high mountain forests burning.
Everyone walked on this winding mountain road for nearly an hour before arriving at the North District Mine.
I saw a huge mine in front of everyone in the high mountains and vast land.
There were about five to six thousand people on the vast land stretching from the cave entrance to the front, waiting in line for Wang Dalu's inspection.
From time to time, there were sounds of painful whimpering and whipping and cursing.
About seven or eight people who looked like supervisors were waiting in front of the miners early.
These Northern District stewards, who were personally arranged by Lu Mi, were relatively prudent and prudent in their work. Under their management, the mineral resources in the Northern District were increasing day by day.
When Wang Dalu took office, he dared to humiliate and punish the stewards recommended from the other three districts. At first glance, he was a boss who was not stingy.
Seeing Wang Dalu and his entourage appear in the mining area, the stewards who had been waiting here early in the morning hurriedly walked forward and saluted, saying one after another.
"Meet Mr. Wang, welcome Mr. Wang to inspect the North District Mine!"
Wang Dalu personally helped the stewards up one by one and said with a smile.
"Everyone has worked hard these past few months, and I am here to thank you for your efforts."
As he spoke, he bowed to everyone.
Those stewards were so ambitious that they did not dare to let Wang Dalu pay homage to them.
He quickly stepped forward to support Wang Dalu's body before he bowed, and stopped him from saluting.
Wang Dalu was also not humble. He didn't really want to salute these stewards, he just wanted to test their attitude towards him.
He nodded.
"I have given an order to double the salary of all the managers within the next three months."
The stewards all praised Wang Dalu's generosity and kindness.
"Well, the purpose of my visit this time is to take a closer look at the physical condition of the miners and the progress of the mining tunnel."
One of the stewards immediately walked up to Wang Dalu and introduced him to the situation in the mining area.
The mineral deposits in the North District mine are very rich, even worse than those in the other three districts.
The miners here have also grown from 3,000 slaves and 2,000 peasants to 4,000 slaves and 3,500 peasants.
The current monthly output of raw jade ore in the North District Mine is equivalent to nearly 3,000 raw jade, and will continue to increase as the number of miners increases and the intensity of mining increases.
The mining area pays the Hou Chao every four months for raw jade, while other expenditures are temporarily withheld without Wang Dalu's permission.
Wang Dalu's eyes hurt when he looked at the dense account books.
This account book was made in triplicate, one copy was reported to Hou Chao, one copy was sent to the Nanshan City Lord's Mansion, and the last copy was kept at the North District Deacon's Mansion.
Wang Dalu turned over a few pages and then said to these stewards.
"Your accounts are indeed well remembered. Yes, I think the final fixed amount should be changed."
The stewards didn't know the reason, but they didn't dare to ask. They just waited for Wang Dalu's instructions.
"If you want me to see it, just remove half of it, and it will save you half of the calculations. What do you think?"
"this......"
These seven or eight people who managed to get into management positions are certainly not stupid, on the contrary, they are very smart.
It is perfectly normal for Wang Dalu to do some tricks in his accounts to withhold some of the wild jade and put it into his own pocket.
But what frightened them was that the newly appointed deacon had a huge appetite and wanted to withhold half of the minerals, which was absolutely impossible.
The stewards made eye contact with each other, and they all looked sad.
The manager who initially introduced the situation in the mining area to Wang Dalu could only bite the bullet and persuade him.
"Let me tell you, sir, the deacons in the mining area have always had a tacit understanding with each other, and they only intercept one percent of the wild jade, and at most no more than two percent."
Seeing that there was no anger on Wang Dalu's face, the steward mustered up his courage and said again.
"Your Excellency, you can't hide half of the wild jade from everyone's eyes. It's not easy to explain even to Baron Lu Yu."
Wang Dalu looked at the steward whose body could not stop shaking as he tried to persuade him, and said with an unruly and unquestionable tone in his voice.
"Baron Lu Yu is very poor, and I am even poorer. If anyone else stops me, just let them find me."
"From now on, I will ask Li Jinbao by my side to check the accounts every month."
Li Jinbao fanned his feather fan and bowed to the stewards.
"As students who serve under the master, they should only look up to the master's guidance. I hope that the stewards will not hesitate to teach me in the future."
Seeing that there was nothing they could do, those stewards had no choice but to follow Wang Dalu's instructions.
Wang Dalu saw that the seven to eight thousand miners were clearly divided into three groups.
Most of the people in the group were old men and teenagers aged 17 or 18, who were sallow and skinny. Most of them were wearing shabby burlap. They were all shivering and did not dare to look directly into Wang Dalu's eyes.
The group of people next to them were all big-bodied and round-waisted, with scars all over their bodies and a hint of cruelty on their faces. Their clothes were slightly better than those of the first group, which could barely cover most of their bodies.
The last group looked very energetic, with normal expressions. No fear showed in their eyes, but smiles on their faces, and they wore patched coarse cloth jackets.
Seeing that Wang Dalu was confused, the steward was busy introducing him to the differences between the three groups.
The first group of people are the children who were born to criminals who were assigned to the mines. Since most of their parents have passed away long ago, they are helpless and are collectively called criminals.
The second group of people are criminal prisoners who have been sent out one after another during this period and have not yet gotten rid of their bad habits.
The last group of people are farmers from the surrounding areas who come here to work every day to earn money to support their families.
Because the mineral resources are relatively large, the mine often recruits some farmers to engage in mining, and the remuneration is quite generous.
Wang Dalu looked at the so-called criminals with unbearable expression.
"This is my first inspection tour of the North District Mine since I took office. In order to encourage everyone to work hard in mining ores, I decided to distribute a set of coarse linen clothes to every miner in this mine. Everyone has a share."
The stewards were shocked when they saw that Wang Dalu, who just said he was poor and greedy for half of the mineral resources, actually wanted to buy coarse linen clothes for these lowly miners.
"Sir, what's the money for this Mai?"
A piece of coarse linen clothing only costs seven or eight pieces of gold, but the number of people is too large. The seven or eight thousand people add up to fifty pieces of gold.
They worked hard to manage the mine, and the total amount of money they could pocket was less than four pieces of raw jade every month. If Wang Dalu wanted to let a few of their managers invest in buying these clothes, he would really lose his wife and lose his troops.
How could Wang Dalu not know what they were thinking, but the few people in front of him were quite obedient, and he would rely on them to create wealth for himself in the future, he said with a smile.
"Take out 100 wild jade from the mine treasury and give it to you. If there is any left, you can divide it among you."
Several stewards knew that Wang Dalu had done this intentionally, and they all responded loudly with smiles on their faces.
Several stewards boasted about Wang Dalu's rewards and favors around these miners.
The miners knew that although the new deacon was young, he was willing to spend money to buy clothes for them, so they expressed their gratitude.
Among them, the smiles on the faces of the criminals were the deepest, Wang Dalu remembered them in his mind, and thought about them.