hsntnovel Chapter 1955 Li Shen's Values Are Problematic
Chapter 1955 Li Shen's Values Are Problematic
The study door was pushed open and Wu Meiniang came in, with Xiangxiang holding a bowl behind her.
"Your Highness, I heard that you are drunk, so the princess asked me to come and take care of you. Here is the hangover soup, Your Highness, drink it while it's hot."
As he said this, he took the hangover soup from Xiangxiang and handed it to Li Shen.
Li Shen sat up, gulped down the hangover soup, handed it back, and then lay down again:
"Mei Niang, come and rub my head. I am indeed a little drunk."
Li Shen found that he started to have headaches after drinking alcohol. He didn't know the reason. It was better when he drank fruit wine, but he would have headaches when he drank white wine, especially low-alcohol white wine.
Wu Meiniang obediently got on the bed, put Li Shen's head on her thighs, and began to rub Li Shen gently.
"By the way, where did you just talk about?"
"Your Highness, we have already discussed the next meeting." Wang Xuance replied.
"Yes, let's talk about something else. Is Mingli used to it these days?" Li Shen looked at Pei Mingli and asked.
Pei Mingli has also been down for some time and is now in charge of some things independently. Wang Hongfu is now mainly responsible for the construction of the research institute and football betting matters.
Pei Mingli stood up and saluted and replied:
"Your Majesty, I am quite used to it. Shopkeeper Wang is very caring towards me. If there is anything I don't understand, Shopkeeper Wang will answer it for me."
He has been an official for a long time and can handle many things quickly.
"Well, you'll get used to it. I heard that you are in charge of the construction of the football field now. I wonder how long it will take to complete the construction of the football field?"
Li Shen nodded and asked.
"Your Majesty, it is estimated that it will be completed in three months at most. Manager Wang has recruited many local people. He said that there was a severe drought in Guanzhong this year.
The people were unable to farm and had to stay idle at home. In order to increase their income and to complete the work as quickly as possible, the number of workers was doubled.
People from the villages around Chang'an came here to work and supplement their family income. There were tens of thousands of people."
Pei Mingli bowed again and replied, but he felt that doing so was not good for Prince Ji's Mansion.
It was only after he went there that he realized that the Prince Ji's Mansion was recruiting laborers, not corvée labor, and that they had to be paid, and the wages were not low.
Although Wang Hongfu had good intentions, the cost of recruiting tens of thousands of workers at one time was astronomical. The money spent on building the football field might not be as much as the workers' wages.
He looked up and observed Li Shen's expression, wanting to see if Prince Ji would be unhappy. After all, he had spent a lot of extra money.
Li Shen frowned, but what he said was different from what Pei Mingli thought:
"Why does it take another three months? Didn't I say that the sooner the better? Since tens of thousands of people are not enough, then let's do a hundred thousand. Anyway, the people are at home and have nothing to do.
In this way, at least one person in every household around Chang'an City will be able to work, and the money earned will be enough for them to live on this winter."
"This..." Pei Mingli was a little speechless. It turned out that King Ji did not blame the large number of people and high cost, but blamed the small number of people hired and the long construction period.
"Your Highness, we have already recruited enough people. Even if there are more people, there is no place to accommodate them." Pei Mingli could only say helplessly.
No matter how many people there are, what work can they do if there is not even a place to stand?
"That's fine, but you have to keep an eye on it. Although I want it to be fast, the quality must be guaranteed. I have to assign people with responsibilities. If something collapses,
All the supervisors will be beheaded." Li Shen said to Pei Mingli seriously that ruthless measures must be taken to deal with shoddy construction.
A model of collective responsibility was adopted. If the foreman cut corners, the supervisor could not have been unaware of it. The best punishment for the crime was public beheading.
Let others see the consequences of fooling themselves.
"Yes, I will supervise the workers and pass on the prince's order when I return." Pei Mingli immediately accepted the order.
This kind of thing is not uncommon in the court, but no one is as strict as Prince Ji.
"No, just supervising is not enough. Later, Xuan Ce, you will write a decree from the king and stamp it with the seal of the Ji Palace.
Take it back to Mingli, gather all the foremen and supervisors tomorrow and read it to them, and post it in a bright place so that they will know clearly when they die. "
Li Shen thought about it and felt that he should be more serious and let everyone know, so that he would not kill anyone and they would say they didn't see or hear anything.
"Yes." The two of them saluted and accepted the order. Pei Mingli felt King Ji's determination. It seemed that he must warn these people after returning that King Ji was serious about killing people.
"By the way, how much is the salary?" Li Shen then asked about the salary.
"Your Highness, according to the order set by Shopkeeper Wang, ordinary laborers get 300 coins per month, craftsmen get 500 coins per month, and foremen get between 800 and 100 coins per month."
"Only three hundred coins?" Li Shen felt that it was too little. What could three hundred coins do? It was not even enough for a cup of tea or a foot wash.
Just when he wanted to express his opinion, Wang Xuance said:
“Your Highness, three hundred wen is already a lot. The wages of ordinary people for work are usually between one hundred and fifty wen and two hundred and fifty wen, which is considered high.
The Ji Wang Mansion pays 300 coins per month, which is already a favor from the prince.
Some of the guys in the city don’t have this many.”
"But...but I always gave one string of silver in the past." Li Shen said helplessly.
"One string of money? One month?" Pei Mingli opened his mouth in surprise and couldn't help asking.
"Yes, now the laborers building the Qinghai Road cement road are paid one kan of money." Li Shen nodded.
Pei Mingli was really speechless after hearing this. This Prince Ji was truly a prodigal son. He only paid the laborers one string of money a month. He had so much money to burn.
No wonder there was a recruitment event in Prince Ji's Mansion in Chang'an a few years ago. I heard that there were more people coming to Chang'an than those fleeing.
The city of Chang'an entered a state of emergency, the city gates on all sides were closed, and the imperial guards all went up to the city to be on high alert, thinking that the rebels had reached Chang'an.
Later I found out that it was because Prince Ji’s Mansion wanted to recruit workers for road construction that such a big fuss was made.
It turned out that it was because the salary paid by Prince Ji’s Mansion was too high.
A normal family would earn only three or four strings of cash a year, and that was assuming there were at least three adult males, women and children in the family.
In recent years, due to the rise in grain prices, it may be a little more, but it is only about seven or eight strings of cash.
The laborers in Prince Ji's mansion earned one string of money a month, which was twelve strings of money a year, enough to support a family. What was Prince Ji thinking?
"Do you want to add a little more? I think three hundred coins is a bit too little." After hearing Wang Xuance's words, Li Shen was a little hesitant.
He had been lectured by Wang Hongfu and Wang Xuance before, saying that he had given too much.
This time, Wang Hongfu decided on his own to give 300 coins to each person without Li Shen's consent.
"Your Majesty, I think three hundred coins is not a small amount. In a year, it is three strings of six hundred coins, and this is the salary of one person."
Pei Mingli tried to persuade him.
(I found some typos, but you didn’t notice them. Please mark them so I can correct them. Good luck everyone)