Chapter 63: It's All Yours

Both of their Wards are near the edge of the Neicheng, but they are still in the Neicheng, after all. There is also an inner city wall for defense.

The Outer City District is currently under construction and consists mostly of military wards, where the majority of the City Defense Army resides.

The Corpse Driver received work while in quarantine, and to facilitate his business, he was directly settled in the Outer City District.

Qingyi Daozhang has a little less competition.

After Wen Gu finished speaking about the current matters, he dismissed the meeting and let everyone go about their business.

Although the ward gates here were locked previously, specialized personnel would check them periodically and tidy up the houses that remained intact, so that people coming from the south could move in directly.

As for Qingyun Fang, Wen Gu's two residences can be lived in after a little tidying up; he is not picky about living conditions, and they are much better than the conditions on the road while fleeing.

The maidservant by the side of his aunt, Lady Shen, brought a batch of daily necessities to furnish Wen Gu's empty house.

For the Kitchen, in addition to dried fruits and smoked meat, there were also salt, Sugar, and candied fruits.

Although Wen Gu said he could refine coarse salt into fine salt and had stock on hand, Lady Shen still sent a jar over.

The Sugar was not white sugar, and in Wen Gu's eyes, it was far from refined enough, but it was already the high-quality grade used by the nobility.

Winter clothing was brought over box by box, and the charcoal for the Kitchen was also replenished.

Seeing his aunt being so generous, Wen Gu felt he must repay her well.

With give and take, the bond grows deeper.

Not staying idle, Wen Gu went to the other residence that had been tidied up—the Jingxing Qingyun Shequ Banshichu (X), the office for the affairs of the two Wards.

Personnel settled into the Ward need to be registered; not just their names and origins, Wen Gu drew up a form, and in addition to the basic information required by those above, he also tallied their specialties and preferred labor categories.

The paperwork was handed over to Cheng Zhi and He Xiaodi.

Zhou Shan stayed by Wen Gu's side to help.

Wen Gu plans to first build a collective dormitory in the Ward, where some laborers will be managed uniformly.

He discussed this with Zhou Shan, and Zhou Shan asked, "How will wages be settled?"

To settle disaster victims, based on the approximate number of people, those above provided some resettlement grain. How it is used is the responsibility of the managers of each Ward.

Settle directly with resettlement grain? Or with currency?

Copper coins or Iron coins? Gold or silver?

Nowadays, gold and silver are devalued, and large quantities of copper and Iron are used for defensive fortifications, with metal coins being melted down in large batches.

In the areas currently controlled by the Zhao Clan, including Xinzhou City, Shuo City, and other towns, paper currency is used instead.

Jiaozi Money Vouchers were issued in the past, so paper currency is nothing new, and similar practices exist in various places in the north today. It is just that they are not universally accepted.

"Large sums can use Jiaozi Money Vouchers, but what we need now is a substitute for small change and petty cash."

However, only the authorities can print Jiaozi Money Vouchers.

"Then... what is your intention, Ward Chief?" Zhou Shan asked.

"We won't touch money; we will print Grain Tickets! Only for use within our two Wards, Grain Tickets that can be exchanged for food!" Wen Gu said.

Zhou Shan thought about it and felt it was feasible.

Various private industries also issue their own voucher-like substitutes, and since these are only internal Grain Tickets, they won't touch any sensitive lines.

Grain Tickets are also meal vouchers; for people who have fled here, food is what they value most, and this is more reassuring.

Grain Tickets can be cleared daily to exchange for food. If you want to eat more, use more tickets; if you are reluctant to eat, use fewer tickets.

However, Wen Gu thought that at first, everyone would be uneasy, and the Grain Tickets they received would definitely all be exchanged for food immediately.

It doesn't matter; the grain allocated from above is enough for the time being.

As for the future, there will naturally be more grain to fill the granaries.

"Let's solve the Grain Ticket matter first."

Everyone is busy now and there isn't enough manpower, so Wen Gu will draw the first version of the Grain Tickets himself and make do with them.

Then he will have the blacksmith hurry to make a seal to save the day.

He casually drew a Grain Ticket design and had Zhou Shan take it to the blacksmith to carve a seal.

Looking around, Cheng Zhi and He Xiaodi went to register people; who else has read books?

Lady Liang of the Escort Agency?

Everyone who is literate must come to share the work!

And those people from the Escort Agency.

Look at how well they printed the escort emblem of the Huwei Escort Agency... ahem, perhaps they inherited the strengths of their late boss and also have a talent for carpentry.

We'll see when we look at the statistics table. Besides brute strength, that group should have other specialties. Don't just focus on selling labor; if there is an advantage, it must be utilized.

The remaining supplies in the group have already been distributed, and the escorts from the Escort Agency can last for some time with the supplies they received, even if they do nothing.

But the villagers and refugees who followed need to start working immediately.

They have two choices: one is to complete the tasks given by Wen Gu, and the Ward will pay them wages.

The second is to go outside to take on jobs; there are many places in the city under construction that require a large amount of manpower.

The people who followed were already quite timid, so they decided to stay in the Ward for now and take on the tasks given by the Ward Chief.

Given the current situation, they still trust Wen Gu, this Ward Chief, very much.

Right now, they are living in makeshift shacks, but if they gain a firm foothold and have the ability, they can buy the usage rights to a plot of land and build their own houses on it.

Xinzhou City currently encourages house construction, and the price is not considered high.

For refugees with nothing to their names, it is still very expensive, and they are unwilling to spend money on this.

The Escort Agency, however, appears wealthy and imposing; knowing they can buy land to build houses, they directly bought the usage rights to a plot of land and plan to build houses.

Anyway, they don't need to take on other jobs right now, and with all their strength having nowhere to go, they are using it all to build a branch of their own Escort Agency.

There is some stone and earth here, but no bricks or wood. Walls can be built with stone and earth, but timber is still essential.

Lin Biao took some people to stroll around the market and discovered that even with supplies in hand, they couldn't buy any.

Timber is currently in short supply; the nearby trees have almost all been cut down. There are woodlands further north of Xinzhou City, but they are at a distance, and due to limitations in manpower and transport, the quantity delivered each time is limited, and the goods are snatched up by wealthy families before they even arrive.

The good thing is that his cousin sent a retinue to deliver a batch of building materials for house repairs to Wen Gu, and under Wen Gu's instruction, Head Escort Lin Biao sought out that retinue to introduce a connection, only then managing to secure the timber for building houses.

Most of the stock in the hands of the people at the Escort Agency was used, and they even had to trade away two horses to secure it; even then, it was only because the other party gave face to Wen Gu, this cousin-young master, that they were allotted any, otherwise the Escort Agency would have had to wait until next year.

The escort guards felt it was very worth it.

With people and houses, even if it is just putting down roots here, their drifting hearts will be settled.

Huwei Escort Agency Xinzhou Branch, established here!

Wen Gu looked on, also satisfied.

The morale is very good, keep it up!

Sitting in the office, he continued to look at what other responsibilities he had as a Ward Chief.

The ward gates must be opened and closed at fixed times, and one must also pay attention to fire prevention within the ward.

Even though many courtyard walls are of stone and earth structure, there are also many flammable materials used inside.

Even with temporarily erected sheds, the bamboo poles, wooden sticks, and cloth can easily ignite if one is not careful.

Now that the epidemic is spreading everywhere, things that are ingested must be heated, and there are fire sources everywhere. Therefore, one must send people to patrol and pay attention to fire prevention.

Wen Gu had Xiao Liu lead people to patrol; unlike Zhou Shan who still had children to look after, Xiao Liu was just by himself, and he was currently in a state of high excitement, full of energy.

The urgent matters were finished being allocated first.

This day, Wen Gu was drawing a diagram in the office.

He wanted to build a collective dormitory within the ward, built into a large courtyard, with two heated brick beds built inside.

At this time, the maid by the side of his aunt, Lady Shen, came over again, bringing an illustrated catalog.

"Not knowing exactly which implements the Cousin-Young Master needs here, the Madam had a painter draw all of them down. Once you have chosen which ones you need, have Chang Shun make a trip."

The maid pointed to a young man standing respectfully to the side and said.

This Chang Shun was sent by Lady Shen, a person who runs errands between Jingxing Fang and Zhao Zhai.

After the maid left, Wen Gu picked a room for Chang Shun to settle in first, while he opened the catalog to see what was inside.

Inside the catalog, the large and small Danfang implements, though not exquisite enough due to being drawn in such a short time, and with varying styles as if drawn by multiple people, could still be seen in general. If it were an experienced person, they could fill in the rest mentally.

After looking through it, Wen Gu took the catalog to the opposite Qingyun Fang.

There was no Danguan yet, but Qingyi Daozhang had already taken in four young Daoist acolytes.

The courtyard where Wen Gu let him stay temporarily, the sweeping and miscellaneous chores, were all completed by the four young Daoist acolytes. The acolytes were happy to do it.

These four young Daoist acolytes were all villagers who had followed along later; they performed well on the road and could work, so they were taken a fancy to by Qingyi Daozhang.

Following by the Daoist Priest's side meant having food to eat, so they wouldn't starve to death. How many people competed, and only these four stood out.

When Wen Gu came over, two of the four acolytes were cleaning the courtyard, and the other two were pounding the shoulders and kneading the legs of the Daoist Priest.

Wen Gu glanced at the dog Daoist.

He certainly knows how to enjoy himself, but isn't he too idle?

"Ahem!"

Wen Gu walked over and raised the catalog in his hand: "What you wanted has arrived."

Qingyi Daozhang, who had been pretending to be asleep, immediately got up to take the catalog.

Just by flipping through it roughly, his eyes were already full of burning heat.

Wen Gu sat to the side: "At the beginning of the chaotic times, Uncle and Cousin beheaded quite a few rogue Daoists and evil monks who spread heresies to deceive the public; these are all implements left behind by them."

Qingyi Daozhang, flipping through the catalog: "Oh, good riddance!"

A bunch of useless trash, not having enough skill yet still insisting on swindling, isn't it deserved that they met such a miserable end!

Guarding these treasures and not even knowing how to utilize them! A waste of heavenly gifts!

The more he flipped through the catalog, the brighter Qingyi Daozhang's eyes became.

They are all mine!

He thought to himself: Sure enough, staying behind was the right choice; as for those unpleasant behaviors of the Gou Shusheng, forget it, just endure it and it will pass.

Seeing him flipping through it with such vigor, Wen Gu knew that the contents were indeed useful, so he said: "You pick five items first, choose whatever you want."

"Only five items?" Qingyi Daozhang was dissatisfied.

He had his eye on many items; choosing only five was too difficult, he couldn't bear to let them go.

After deliberating and considering, he picked up a brush and was about to draw circles to make his selection.

Wen Gu handed over another list: "This is what needs to be refined next."

The Daoist Priest took it and looked; the whole paper was full of salt, sugar, and coal.

Qingyi Daozhang: "..."

You dog!

You've already customized everything, yet you still let me choose whatever I want!

He was so angry he wanted to throw the catalog in his hand directly at the face of the Gou Shusheng, but looking at the gorgeous and diverse alchemy furnaces and great cauldrons on the catalog...

He... he was still damnably greedy for them!

Contradictory, conflicted, until he was expressionless. He looked at Wen Gu in silence.

Wen Gu pointed at the catalog in the other party's hand: "There are so many things, I can't get them all right now; you have to produce results first, then I can go and ask for the rest. Don't worry, as long as you want them, these are all yours."

(End of this chapter)