King of Black Mist

"Dock workers, rickshaw pullers, carriage pullers, newspaper men, handymen, watermen, dung men, prostitutes, beggars."

Li Changzhou flipped through the documents in his hand to understand the living standards of these lower-class people.

Taking the newspaper husband among them as an example, the average income is 30 cents per day, the average monthly income is 9 yuan, and the average working time is 6 hours.

You may not die of hunger, but life is meaningless and hopeless. If you don’t have a house locally, you will have to rent a house for the rest of your life. You can only share a house with a group of people, and you will have no home of your own for the rest of your life.

The living environment is also very bad. Fires are not a concern, and sanitary conditions can kill people at any time.

Nowadays, the war is in chaos, and bandits are burning, killing and looting, which has caused a large number of people outside the city to leave the place where they have lived for generations and flock into the city dragging their families with them, exacerbating the situation.

These people can only rent houses in the city and have to work, and the women at home have to help with the work - even if they only earn one or two cents a month, because if they don't work, they will probably go hungry tomorrow and beg on the streets.

Take the coachman family as an example.

The average monthly income totals 28.38 yuan, including 27.66 yuan from the driver's salary and 0.72 yuan from family and other income. As long as the driver has an accident, the whole family will have to live on the street.

If the driver's car is rented, he will have to pay an additional 10.98 yuan per month (on average) for car rental, and the rest can be used as household expenses.

Summary: A life like an ox and a horse.

"Second Master, these are the data compiled in previous years. Recently, there have been changes due to wars and natural disasters. For example, porters, no one could have imagined that there would be a sea freeze this year." said Finance Minister Wang Moren.

"The only constant in the world is change." Li Changzhou put down the document.

He picked up the tea cup and took a sip, thinking deeply while drinking.

Regarding how to unify Songcheng, which was torn apart and was forcibly held together by the giant bear of the Li family warlord, he did not intend to ask anyone for advice and would figure out a way to do it himself.

Brainstorming is good, but it's a waste of time, and he doesn't care about success or failure.

The Treasurer said nothing, silently waiting for him to speak.

Li Changzhou did not have any management experience, but after reading "A Dream of Red Mansions" he learned about a method to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, which he applied to the current situation, which is to increase jobs and reduce the risk of unemployment.

By the way, there is also a cash-for-work program.

"you--"

As soon as Li Changzhou opened his mouth, the Chief Financial Officer immediately bent forward and made a listening gesture.

"Gather all the unemployed porters, not just porters, but all unemployed people, to build houses."

"Build a house?" the Chief Financial Officer asked doubtfully.

Li Changzhou didn't say much, asked the servant to bring pen and paper, and drew the workers' dormitory on the spot.

Taking into account the time and cost, the dormitory is simple and simple, with only one room and a small area. There is only one window and one door. The bathhouse and toilet are shared.

During the drawing process, I was inspired and drew another canteen.

"Can you understand this?" he asked the finance minister.

"Second Master, do you want to hire these workers and build dormitories for them?" the Chief Financial Officer asked tentatively.

Li Changzhou nodded.

"Second Master," the Chief Financial Officer said in a tactful tone, "The Commander-in-Chief has given you a lot of money. It is certainly enough to use it to pay wages and build dormitories, but most of the money is used here, and other places——"

He did not continue.

It doesn't matter if you use them all. Li Changzhou will leave as soon as he completes his mission, but this kind of recklessness will not increase his "ability".

"Of course I won't pay alone." Li Changzhou said.

It's nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure.

"The government will approve the land for free. It should be as close to the pier as possible. The dormitories are rented out to workers. The rent is lower. The rent is 1 yuan per room per month. The monthly rent for those with kitchens is 1 yuan and 50 cents.

"Also, starting from today, notify all newspapers and periodicals in Songcheng, as well as newspapers and periodicals in other cities that can be notified, to publicize the hardships of the lower class citizens of Songcheng, write about the worst, take more photos, and then write about my project, and request all walks of life If you ask for help, the donation channel must be clearly stated, and the donation method must be convenient.”

The Chief Financial Officer nodded repeatedly, and then simply used pen and paper on the table to write down what Li Changzhou said.

After finishing writing, he asked: "Second Master, I know the dormitory. Is this canteen intended to be a workers' canteen, focusing on quantity and satisfying hunger?"

"Yes." Li Changzhou nodded, "We will run it ourselves. The canteen can hire family members from the workers' dormitories to work."

"Okay!" The Chief Financial Officer wrote a few more words.

Li Changzhou pondered carefully, thinking about what else he hadn't thought of, and then thought of two more things.

1. The qualifications for renting a house must be strictly controlled. Only those who work as servants, coolies, vendors, small businessmen and poor women in Songcheng are allowed to rent. If there is only one person, they must share the rent with others to maximize the use of space;

Second, handle disputes in the dormitory around the dormitory while ensuring their safety.

"Let's put these things aside for now." Li Changzhou said, "I don't care about education or the economy right now. I only focus on this. You can finish it for me, and it must be done as soon as possible. Hire as many people as you can."

"Second Master, don't worry!" the Chief Financial Officer clasped his fists, "How dare I neglect something that benefits the country and the people."

"Well, let's do it now."

The Chief Financial Officer bowed, and under the guidance of his servant, walked out. When he reached the door of the living room, he suddenly stopped.

"Second Master," he raised his voice slightly, "I would like to thank you on behalf of the workers in Songcheng!"

He bowed deeply, then stood up and left quickly.

Li Changzhou smiled inwardly. After Wang Moren came in, he didn't say a word to flatter him, but he said something different when he left.

Is he an upright official, or is he an upright official acting out?

In the blink of an eye, he forgot about it.

"Liu De."

"Second Master." Liu De took a step forward.

"You go find the accountant, and I will give you a note to buy some peony and hire the dock workers at the gate of the Marshal's Mansion to move it. On May 3rd, I will hold a peony charity ball at the Marshal's Mansion, inviting celebrities from Songcheng. Show up and ask them to donate towards building the dormitories.”

"Yes!" Liu De took the approval slip and quickly went down to find the accountant.

Li Changzhou was left alone in the living room. He tapped his fingers and thought about how to deal with the bosses and gangs in the city.

With these people around, no matter how high the workers' wages are, they will be stripped of their skins.

Leaders, gangs, martial arts schools, and even some officials in the government and some officers in the army, these people form a chain of interests. I am your subordinate, and you are my backer. If you want to solve the problem in a bloodless way, both It’s time-consuming and there’s no hope.

After thinking about it for a while, he asked someone to write down his plan for building a dormitory on paper, and then walked out of the Marshal's Mansion.

It was already noon, and the porridge shop had already started serving porridge.

Many people in ragged clothes lined up to receive porridge with bowls in hand.

Seeing an extremely handsome young man coming out of the Marshal's Mansion, Wu Yaman knelt down after saying "It's the Second Master!"

"Get up!" Li Changzhou said with a hint of scolding, "Having a full meal is more important than kowtow to anyone!"

"Thank you, Master! Thank you very much, Master!"

"Nanny, please kowtow to the second master and thank him for giving us food!"

Li Changzhou walked into the porridge shop and checked the porridge bucket. It was very thin and there were no side dishes. He took a bite and found that it had the fragrance and sweetness of rice soup.

A reporter from a newspaper was frantically taking pictures on one side, their spotlights flashing non-stop.

Li Changzhou didn't intend to show off. He confirmed that there was no problem with the porridge. He didn't spoon it himself and returned the spoon to the servants in the mansion.

Ask people to post the "Built Dormitories" notice where the workers eat porridge.

"What did you write?"

"I can't read."

"Hey, Lao Song, you have read books before, come and see what is written?"

"Let me see, um - build workers' dormitories and hire workers at 6 cents a day. The rent of the dormitories is one yuan a month. Only workers, handymen and women who work in the city can live here. The canteen is recruiting workers."

Every time Lao Song reads a sentence, some people doubt whether it is true or false.

Lao Song read again: "The wages will be paid on the same day. If you get a penny less, hit me!"

"It's Mr. Li!"

"Master Li said this last night!"

"It's true, it's absolutely true! There's really work to be done! And you don't have to pay for it!"

"More than that! I'm working for Mr. Li. Let me see which gang dares to collect protection money!"

Everyone reacted and marveled, with expressions of ecstasy on their faces.

"Lao Song, where can I sign up?" Some people asked urgently. Many people had no income and relied on porridge shops to survive.

"Let me take a look. It says that the Ministry of Finance will come to recruit people soon. Those who are strong will contribute, and those who are skilled will provide skills. Women can also go to the construction site to be responsible for cooking, and the salary is 20 cents."

"mother"

"Go ahead, mother is fine alone."

"An Nuan, I'll go to the construction site in a few days. You take care of the child."

"I'll go with you too. When the children are older, leave them alone. It's only 2 cents a day!"

While everyone was talking, they looked expectantly at Li Changzhou in the distance, as if they wanted to confirm something. Every time Li Changzhou nodded, the fire in their eyes became brighter.

Six men hesitated for a while and then came over.

"Second Master, thank you for saving my life!" The six people came over and knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Li Changzhou recognized them as the leaders of the workers in front of the Liyuan gate last night.

"Thank you. You can do something for me." Li Changzhou didn't let them get up.

"Please give me your instructions!" The man who cried the most last night immediately raised his head and answered.

"When it comes to building dormitories, the remuneration is fixed. That is to say, no matter how much you do, you will get a small amount of money. I will give each of you a salary of 3 yuan a day. You can supervise those people for me."

The six of them were stunned for a moment. They were not doing anything here, they were here to receive a reward!

"Second Master, we don't need any money, just take care of the food. We will do it for you for free!"

"Yes, although we are lower-class people, as long as you say a word, Second Master, we can do anything!"

"This money is not given to you for free." Li Changzhou interrupted them, "If you supervise it carefully for me and complete the project one day earlier, you can save me thousands of dollars."

When the six people heard what he said, they didn't know what to say for a while.

"Second Master," said the man in charge, "we will do it if you ask us to do it, but three yuan a day is too much!"

"Yes, Master, if you must give us money, we can just give you 60 cents a day."

Li Changzhou smiled: "You think these three yuan are easy to get? If you work one more day, the workers will get one more day's pay. If you urge them to work faster, you won't be hated by others? That's it, get up."

The six people looked at each other and finally had no objection. From the bottom of their hearts, they really needed money urgently.

"Don't worry too much," Li Changzhou said. "The dormitory will be built a day earlier, and everyone can have their own room a day earlier. And I have said that I will ensure that you all have jobs. In the worst case, I will build roads and docks." , I’d better hire you to do the work.”

The six people were completely relieved and vowed to supervise the workers for the second master.

Li Changzhou chatted with them for a while, getting to know their lives in detail.

In addition to having no work to do, having their heads cut off and being charged protection fees regularly by gangs, their biggest worry is how to hide their money.

Although the money is small, the living environment is poor and the public security is also poor. There are always gangsters and thieves.

"Don't worry," Li Changzhou said about his plan. "A police station will be set up in the workers' dormitory. By the way, do you six want to become police officers? Will you be responsible for the disputes in the dormitory from now on?"

"We...be the police?"

"Can we be police?"

"No, no, Second Master, we can't do it!"

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Li Changzhou ignored them and turned to Liu De on the spot: "Call the police station and take them to buy police uniforms today and train them on the basics of being a police officer."

"Okay." Liu De nodded.

"Police." The six of them muttered to themselves, unable to believe it.

But overnight, they went from starving to death to police officers eating from the public.

In their eyes, the police are superior people who will not be bullied by any gangs. The hooligans will turn away in fear when they see them. Their wages are paid on time and in quantity.

"I asked you to be policemen because you have experienced hard times and know what workers are worried about, where they need to be vigilant, and how to deal with things that are best for the workers." Li Changzhou explained.

The six people knelt down again, this time not only to do something for Li Changzhou...

"Second Master, if you just say a word, we will block the muzzle of the gun! No matter how big the waves are in the sea, we will jump in and pull out the goods!"

"I want you to live a good life. What good will it do me if you die? Get up."

After hearing them talk about Hailiang, Li Changzhou asked about Hailiang again, but this time he heard some different information.

"Second Master, I think the freezing sea is not caused by the weather, but by monsters!"

"Ah Hai, stop talking nonsense! Where did the monster come from!"

"No, you tell me." Li Changzhou motioned to the man named A Hai to continue.

"I saw this with my own eyes. It was not long after the sea freeze started, and some cargo came into the port every day. In order to grab the work quickly the next morning, the six of us slept directly on the dock. That night, I was frozen I really couldn’t sleep, so I wandered around the pier, and I saw a huge monster!”

"Did you see what it was?" Li Changzhou asked.

Ah Hai touched the back of his neck sheepishly: "It looks like a squid or a fishing net. It was dark and I couldn't see clearly."

"It's just a fishing net." said the person named Zhao among the six.

"Second Master, sometimes there are people drying fishing nets on the pier." said a man named Ah Xiong. This man was the one who cried the most last night and was also the leader of the six people.

"No!" Ah Hai was relatively young, and his face immediately turned red when someone retorted, "I have been unloading goods at the dock since I was twelve years old. Don't I know if it is a fishing net? What a monster!"

Li Changzhou was thoughtful.