Chapter 685: Slave Auction (4)

Zhigui expressed his congratulations to Yu in an extremely cheerful tone, and the two officials beside him also recorded Yu's name and the price he offered on the registration book next to the serial number of that group of Slaves; afterwards, the Ministry of Revenue would collect grain from these officials according to this ledger.

Because Lan had been pregnant for quite a long time, it was now difficult for her to go out; it was mainly Sui who told Lan that at her current stage, she should minimize going out as much as possible. Huaxia was not going through such a difficult time right now that it required a woman with a protruding belly to run around all day long, so she should just rest well at home, and after the baby was born and she had recuperated for a month, she could do whatever she wanted.

Therefore, Yu had also come here alone today; otherwise, Lan would certainly have been very happy, as she would be able to eat delicious meals at any time in the future.

As for the subsequent Chef Slaves, they were traded with great tacit understanding according to the rank of the officials; the higher the official's rank, the better and more Slaves they could bid for, though the overall prices were all about the same, as any higher would actually not be cost-effective.

And the reserve price set by Baifeng had already completely exceeded the value those Slaves should have originally had; it was only because they had undergone training, otherwise, how could an ordinary Slave be worth such a high price.

After the Chef Slaves were auctioned off, the next group was those of slightly lower value, whom Baifeng called Steward Slaves; their ability was that they could do anything from helping to deliver letters to arranging the master's daily life, and they were very few in number, with each household only able to get one or two, and they were all sold individually.

After that came the very ordinary Slaves, in whom everyone did not have too high an interest, but since their households also needed them, they were willing to bid for them, so that they could dismiss the tenant farmers responsible for those tasks there and replace them with Slaves.

And the tenant farmers could then go on to engage in other work, such as farming or manual labor; Huaxia did not lack job positions for them, and in fact, Baifeng hoped even more that the tenant farmers could go to farm or go to construction sites, so that they could learn more skills. For Huaxia, being able to absorb more useful people from among the tenant farmers was better than letting them serve Nobles at home.

By noon, the Slave auction activity was more than half over, and many people delivering meals had arrived at the campsite; the Slaves of each household brought the food made at home to the venue. Baifeng did not intend to let them rest at noon, as finishing the auction in one go would make everyone feel relaxed, and the Slaves had been standing there for so long, so it was better to finish quickly.

Everyone finished their meal in a hurry, and the auction continued; the subsequent Slaves were auctioned in groups of dozens, as they were the Slaves used for farming. Every household had private fields, and after bidding for the Slaves, the output from the private fields would soon be able to offset the cost of purchasing the Slaves, and everything after that would be pure profit, which was more cost-effective than using tenant farmers, so everyone's enthusiasm rose a bit more again.

When the auction ended, everyone, following Baifeng standing up, also hurriedly stood up to stretch a long stretch, moving their sore and weak bodies; although the harvest today was great, sitting for a whole day like this was really uncomfortable, especially since it was quite cold, far less comfortable than sitting in an office.

Because Baifeng had no other business, he left the venue first, and the other officials also followed behind Baifeng to go home; as for the Slaves they had bought, naturally, Soldiers would deliver them to their doorsteps, and as for how they settled the Slaves, that was their own family business.

The most hardworking people all day were those Soldiers, who were busy from morning until night without even a moment to sit down, but fortunately, those who participated in this operation could all receive a half-month long vacation, and they could leave the military camp to have a good rest. Their entire Winter was spent moving back and forth between the military camp and the Slave camp, which could be said to be very hard work, and it gave them a feeling of returning to the New Recruit Company.

The Slaves were led away from the campsite in groups, and the entire venue instantly became empty; subsequently, a group of hired tenant farmers rushed to the campsite, began to dismantle the Tents, and then piled the Straw used by the Slaves together and burned it with a fire.

The campsite was built in the farmland, and after such a long period of tossing, this piece of land was not much different from wasteland or dead land; when Spring began, it would need to be deeply plowed thoroughly, and at the same time, the ash and feces produced by those Slaves throughout the Winter could be used as fertilizer to be applied to this land to see if the fertility could be restored somewhat, though the possibility of reduced production was still very high.

After gazing at Huaxia City for an entire Winter, the Slaves finally crossed the city gate and entered the city; having had the experience of Lema City, their shock regarding Huaxia City was not too excessive. A Winter of learning had actually made them develop a bit of a sense of belonging to Huaxia, feeling that living in Huaxia as a Slave, living in such a powerful country, could not be considered a bad thing.

Moreover, they had the opportunity to become a real part of this place and could shed their Slave status; although they did not know how long that time would be, their minds could not think that far ahead, but at least there was an opportunity, and it was not completely without hope.

The first thing those officials who bought Slaves did when they returned home was to look for a place for the Slaves they had bought to live; unfortunately, the houses they had built were indeed a bit nice, and although it seemed a bit wasteful to let Slaves live in them, they had no other choice for the time being—it was not that they were wronging the Slaves, but wronging themselves.

At the same time, they also learned that the Ministry of Works had a sufficient number of bunk beds, and they could purchase the stock immediately. At this point, how could they not guess that this was a whole set of business? The Ministry of Works did not have time to build houses for them, but simple wooden double bunk beds could be quickly produced in sufficient quantities by apprentices following an assembly-line method.

The Ministry of Works had long since received this task, and them not resting during the Winter was already the norm; fortunately, what they could receive was the best salary and treatment in Huaxia, which was why they could continue to work at their posts without complaint when most people were resting.

In order to transport the heavy wooden beds, they also had to hire many tenant farmers, and the Ministry of Works would also arrange for one person per household to guide the installation; after all, bunk beds that were already installed were not only large in volume but also difficult to transport, but if they were dismantled into parts, it would be very simple, and the assembly-line workmanship could also ensure that every part could fit together, as the specifications were all the same.

It could be said that Baifeng, on the single matter of Slaves, earned several portions of money from these wealthy families of Huaxia; although the money given to the tenant farmers would not enter the National Treasury, it could ensure that the lives of the tenant farmers could be a bit better. During most of the Winter, the tenant farmers had no source of income, and now for work like this, the tenant farmers were all scrambling to do it.