Ji Yuan had delegated these trivial matters to Manager Zhao Tong, only asking about them daily.

Zhao Tong had to pay wages every ten days, and his heart ached each time. He actually didn’t want to hire more people, but Steward Ji had specifically instructed that as long as people came, they should accept all comers without exception.

After they worked, keep the diligent and capable ones, and expel the cunning and lazy ones.

So seeing Zhang Dayan and the others, although he was mentally calculating the grain and copper coins that would be spent each day, he still took them on.

Zhang Dayan and his group stayed and worked for two days, ate two days of full meals, and slept on warm heated beds. Thus they confirmed that this work was viable—the Zhao family wasn’t cheating people.

So after discussing among themselves, they decided to have Zhang Dayan and the village chief’s son return to call more people, bringing all those in the village who could work, while the rest stayed here.

Then five days later, when Zhao Tong saw them again, the two had led nearly a hundred people.

Zhao Tong: …

This matter even alerted Ji Yuan.

Ji Yuan came personally. Seeing their sallow, emaciated faces, with several almost unable to stand, he had people bring up two buckets of porridge.

As soon as the porridge was brought up, it was quickly distributed. Each person got a bowl though, and their complexions improved slightly.

Ji Yuan stood beside Zhang Dayan and asked, “Are your village’s circumstances already this difficult?”

Zhang Dayan ate porridge while saying, “Not good. This year is too cold. We saved too little grain. Since winter began, five people in our village have died. Just a few days after the winter solstice, three froze to death in one night. We don’t know if they froze to death or starved to death.”

Ji Yuan frowned.

Zhang Dayan sighed. “Looking at it, next year’s prospects won’t be good either. The village elders all say that this year there’s little snow but the weather is bitterly cold. Next year, there’ll probably be drought.”

Ji Yuan looked thoughtful.

At this time, Zhao Hanzhang was also squatting in the wilderness, deep in thought. Around her squatted many workers, all holding bowls.

The vegetable soup in the bowls still steamed. They ate one sip of soup with one bite of steamed bun, occasionally carefully raising their heads to look at Zhao Hanzhang.

This was their first time seeing the County Mistress. As expected, just as everyone said, she was a kind and gentle young lady.

But for some reason, no one dared be disrespectful before her.

Zhao Hanzhang came back to her senses and asked the uneasy strong man beside her, “So you want to bring your cousin’s whole family to our Xiping?”

The strong man, Jiao Dalang, had his head nearly buried below his knees, very anxiously saying, “If it’s not possible then…”

“It’s fine,” Zhao Hanzhang narrowed her eyes. “You can bring them. Doesn’t your village still have empty houses? Bring them and temporarily settle them in the empty houses. They can first take work in Xiping County. After spring begins, if they still decide to stay, come to the county office to register.”

She continued, “It’s too late for this year, but if they come to the county office to register, they can be allocated some farmland. If they’re worried about taxes and don’t want allocated land, they can also work long-term for the county office. The monthly treatment will be the same as the refugees who came to join us.”

Jiao Dalang’s eyes brightened, filled with indecision. After seeing the treatment Zhao Hanzhang gave the refugees, they all wanted to become long-term workers.

But as farmers, land was their lifelong obsession. He didn’t really want to give up land to become a long-term worker.

But being a commoner now was truly hard. The taxes were too heavy. They had fields and land, but after a whole family’s hard labor and paying taxes, not much grain remained.

Zhao Hanzhang could see Jiao Dalang’s conflict. She smiled slightly. “This year I exempted your autumn tax. Next year’s taxes I’ll also collect based on the year’s conditions, with some reductions. Don’t worry.”

Zhao Hanzhang still preferred them to be commoners. Although using them as long-term workers was more convenient, she more hoped they could recuperate in Xiping and improve their lives through their own efforts.

Jiao Dalang received Zhao Hanzhang’s confirmation and immediately asked their minor steward for leave that day, running home to find his father. “Father, the County Mistress said Cousin and his family can come. They can temporarily live in our village. If they truly decide to settle in our Xiping, next year they can even be allocated land.”

Father Jiao immediately stood up upon hearing this. “Then what are you standing there for? Quickly go find your aunt and uncle.”

Shangcai had a very difficult year. Since the winter solstice, with household grain reserves decreasing, the villagers inevitably felt anxious.

Just at this time, they heard that neighboring Xiping County was building reservoirs and irrigation channels. At first, they sympathized with those people, thinking they were too miserable, having to perform corvée labor in such cold weather.

But later they heard it wasn’t corvée labor but work-for-relief. Those who went to work could not only eat their fill but also receive wages daily.

Everyone quietly waited for a while. Some people even went to visit relatives next door and saw those relatives actually cooking thick wheat porridge, with some eating steamed buns every meal.

They heard those buns were mixed with wheat bran, wheat flour, and bean flour, appearing brown-yellow in color but tasting quite good.

Much better than their meager wheat porridge per meal.

They heard those buns were distributed by the county office. Each person’s rations were fixed, so some saved portions to bring home for the old and weak in their families.

Thus, the people of Shangcai County were all very jealous and envious of Xiping County people.

When marauding troops ravaged Xiping County, killing many people, they had sympathized with them, wondering if they could survive this winter after being robbed of so much. Who knew that in winter they were living even better than them.

“Why are you running?”

“I heard people came to Qian Jin’s house.”

“Relatives coming to borrow grain?”

“They’d need grain in Qian Jin’s house to lend. It’s his cousin from Xiping. I heard he came to take him to work.”

“Really? Can we Shangcai people also go work there?”

“Maybe not for others, but Qian Jin should be fine. After all, he has his own relatives to bring him.”

“If you put it that way, I can too. Qian Jin and I are one family. Aren’t Qian Jin’s relatives my relatives?” That person finished speaking, pushed open the door, and went out, shrinking his neck as he jogged toward Qian Jin’s house.

With this logic, the whole village was related to Jiao Dalang. Couldn’t the entire village go?

Sitting in the Qian family, Jiao Dalang was dumbfounded. He was surrounded by people and had great difficulty escaping. He said in distress, “When I came, I only said I’d bring my cousin and his family. I didn’t say I’d bring so many people. If you all want to go, I don’t dare guarantee our County Mistress will take everyone.”

But some villagers’ focus wasn’t on this, but rather, “Can you really eat your fill working there and still receive wages?”

“Yes, I dig irrigation channels for ten coins a day.”

“Does your county still accept refugees?”

“Yes, all the refugees passing through who are willing to stay, our County Mistress keeps them. But you must be diligent. Anyone who’s cunning or lazy—our County Mistress will either confiscate their wages directly or arrest them to push millstones.”

Why, despite Zhao Hanzhang distributing grain and wages, did everyone still fear her somewhat?

It was because the laws she promulgated were also very strict. Anyone who intentionally slacked off or caused trouble, once caught, would at minimum have wages deducted, or at worst be directly arrested to push millstones or pound rice. The latter, being punishment, came with no wages.

Few people dared to easily provoke Zhao Hanzhang. If there were any, most were already in the mill, or had been sent to who knows where.