bookrebus Chapter 322 Refugees
Chapter 322 Refugees
"Not only do I want Hua Cailiang to die, I also want the entire Hua family to be buried with him. Over the years, the Hua family has exploited countless people's blood and sweat. Everyone in the Hua family has enjoyed wealth and glory. Since I want to deal with Hua Cailiang, no one in the Hua family can escape."
When Ye Jintang heard Xiao Mo say this, he couldn't help but feel that Xiao Mo's ruthlessness really made him suitable to be the emperor.
"According to the laws of our dynasty, the prince has the right to appoint and dismiss officials at will in his fiefdom. Does the prince want to cut the Gordian knot and use the power in his hands to solve the current problem immediately, or does he want to take it slow and find evidence of the Hua family's crimes, and then convince people with virtue and raid the Hua family in front of everyone."
"These two can be done at the same time. I have already sent Chang Xingwang to investigate the Hua family. I estimate that there will be news soon."
"Isn't the prince going to start with taxation?"
"As smart as you are."
The issue of tax silver in Yunliang County involved many cities, and Ningchuan City was naturally among them.
If we could find evidence of Hua Cailiang's embezzlement of taxes and silver, this alone would be enough to put him in jail. Once he is dead, it would be much easier to find evidence of other crimes.
"The entire Ningchuan City has been controlled by Hua Cailiang for more than ten years. It will be difficult for us to find evidence of his embezzlement of tax silver."
Even the small magistrate of Xiaoyunliang County could keep two sets of accounts, let alone Hua Cailiang.
"Why don't we go to the streets tomorrow and take a look? We won't be able to find out the answer if we ask the officials, but we can't live without food, clothing, housing and transportation. As long as we start with this, we will naturally be able to find out what Hua Cailiang did."
"Okay, I've never been to the shop I opened in the city, so let's go check it out today."
Gu Wan'er, Bai Ziyao and Manager Qiao came to Ningchuan City before Ye Jintang. They had already bought three shops and two workshops in the city.
Ye Jintang had another important thing to do. She had been in Ningchuan City for two days and had not yet given the medicinal herbs to Manager Qiao. This time they met, she had to deliver the herbs to avoid delaying the opening of Bencaotang.
Ye Jintang deliberately changed her identity when she went out. She didn't like being stared at when she went out.
"I haven't seen you for a long time. Brother Qinglin is still as charming as ever."
Xiao Mo stood in front of the dressing mirror, watching Ye Jintang transform into a handsome young man and couldn't help but laugh.
"Stop talking so much."
Coming out of the house, Ye Jintang was about to go out. She glanced at the west wing and saw that Xuetuan and Huoyan were not there. She asked Luzhu with a little surprise, "Where did the two little guys go so early in the morning?"
"There are many places to hunt near Ningchuan City. When I got up early this morning, I saw Xuetuan and Huoyan bringing back a wild rabbit. I guess they are going to play in the forest again."
"You need to keep a closer eye on them and don't let them go out and cause trouble. Xuetuan is so big, it would be bad if he scared other children."
"Yes, I will give the two little guys more meat at noon, and I will not let them go out in the afternoon."
"Ah."
Ye Jintang and Xiao Mo took a carriage to Ronghua Street in the East Market, which was the most prosperous commercial street in Ningchuan City. As soon as Manager Qi arrived, he bought a shop on Ronghua Street.
"The one in front with the word 'medicine' on it is our store."
Liuli, who was sitting next to Ye Jintang, was quite excited. As soon as the carriage entered Ronghua Street, she lifted the carriage curtain and introduced to Ye Jintang what business the shops on the street were doing.
"There are a total of six medicine shops on the entire Ronghua Street, one of which is right next to the clinic. We are in the middle, which is not too remote, but not the best either."
"It doesn't matter. Our pharmacy relies on quality and word of mouth. The location requirements are not that high."
"Yes, as soon as our medicine shop opens, it won't take long before everyone in Ningchuan City will know the name of Bencaotang."
Speaking of Bencao Tang, Liuli was very confident. All the way from the capital to Ningchuan City, no matter where Bencao Tang was opened, it would become popular in no time.
"We will be living in Ningchuan City permanently in the future, so we can sell more prescriptions in Bencaotang."
"As long as the queen's herbs are in the warehouse, I will immediately bring people to prepare other prescriptions."
In order to divert her attention, Liuli put almost all her thoughts into the pharmacy. Only such busy days could make her forget Shi Bin for a while.
While the two were talking, the carriage had stopped in front of the drugstore.
When Manager Qiao heard the noise, he came out of the pharmacy with Gu Wan'er.
"Please come in, sir."
Gu Wan'er walked up to Ye Jintang with a smile and started talking to him.
Everyone entered the shop together, where there were several carpenters working. The previous counter was too old, so they had to redo it.
"How many days will it take for the renovation inside the shop to be completed?"
"It was about the same from the 3rd to the 5th. The weather was so cold that the carpenter's hands were numb from the cold."
"Well, have you found the workers to make the herbal medicine packages?"
Ye Jintang looked at the layout of the pharmacy and asked about the progress.
"I was just about to talk to my employer about this. I'm having some problems hiring people."
As they were talking, Manager Qiao led Ye Jintang and his group to the second floor.
A room has been cleaned up on the second floor. There is a charcoal stove in the room, which is warm enough to boil water.
Everyone sat down and tea was served, and then Manager Qiao began to speak.
"After I bought the shop, I went to inquire about the wages of the workers. A literate guy gets 300 coins a month, and an illiterate but strong guy gets 200 coins a month. This wage is very cheap compared to other cities."
"Yesterday, the workshop was almost cleaned up, so I thought about hiring workers first, so I went to the brokerage to recruit workers. I just went there to ask a few guys, but before I could hire anyone, a broker came to talk to me and said that he had a lot of people there, and that the literate guys only cost 200 coins."
"When I heard that one person was paid 100 yuan less, I wanted to go and take a look. When I went over, I found out that these cheap workers were refugees who were exiled here."
"According to the laws of our dynasty, refugees with severe sentences are required to work in the mines, and receive five silver coins a month as wages. Refugees with light sentences are required to do hard labor, and receive ten silver coins a month as wages. The agents handed over those refugees who were supposed to do hard labor to us, and charged us 200 silver coins as wages. We don't know who took the extra money."
"Boss, I don't dare to make a decision on this matter. I need your decision."
Manager Qiao naturally knew Ye Jintang's identity, and he was a little unsure about how she viewed this matter.
"Do other workshops employ many refugees?"
"I've heard that many merchants use refugees to cut costs, but some prefer to use locals, saying that refugees often get sick and the death of a few refugees is not enough to pay the compensation."
"How much silver do you have to pay?"
"If a refugee hired from a pawnbroker dies in his employer's home, the employer must pay 20 taels of silver as compensation."
"Oh, what if he didn't die of illness?"
A terrible thought popped up in Ye Jintang's mind.
"No matter how they died, the employer only needs to pay 20 taels of silver as compensation. Many people are exiled to Ningchuan City every year, and the death of a refugee is not a big deal for the dental company."
Just as Ye Jintang thought, human life is the least valuable in Ningchuan City.