Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 342: Full of Expectations and Joy

Idle prisoners in the prisons of Shangjing City can be used by Hualei to help him open up wasteland for a year. Hualei does not need to pay money, but needs to provide two meals a day for these prisoners.

As for the specific number of prisoners, Rong Jin had already secretly counted it for Hua Lei. The average was about three hundred people per day, no less than two hundred, but no more than five hundred.

After all, there are still many official fields in the capital, and many things such as digging canals, opening rivers and paving roads are done by these prisoners. So the exact number of people that can be given to Hualei at that time may vary, but it should be about 80%.

Looking at the note personally given by Emperor Shengwu in Rong Jin's hand, Hua Lei was beaming with joy. It was really a timely help.

Although I need to provide two meals a day, I don't have to pay monthly wages, which saves a lot of money. It is equivalent to having three hundred people's free labor every day, and I don't need to spend a lot of money to buy so many slaves for the time being.

Seeing Hua Lei's beaming face, Rong Jin also smiled. It seemed that Sister Hua was very satisfied with having her grandfather go to Emperor Shengwu to ask for this oral order.

In fact, what he didn't know was that by doing this he also coincidentally catered to the wishes of Emperor Shengwu.

In fact, Emperor Shengwu saw that Hualei had not taken any action for such a long time, and was worried that Hualei would be like the others and would not be ready to open up the wasteland. So after Lord Pei mentioned it briefly, he agreed to it.

Anyway, the prisoners in prison are idle anyway. If they are not given flowers to use, they will be rushed to dig canals or something.

It is winter now, and relatively speaking, there is less work to do in digging canals. There are many people in prison who eat white rice every day. Now they are given food by Hualei, who can also provide them with meals every day, which can be regarded as a disguised way to reduce the burden on the Ministry of Justice and the government offices.

Seeing that Emperor Shengwu was so straightforward, the cunning old Marquis Pei took advantage of the situation and proposed that the Ministry of Works could provide some tools needed by these prisoners.

They are just ordinary shovels, rakes, sickles and so on. Of course, Hualei only has the right to use these tools but not the ownership. All the tools belong to the Ministry of Industry.

Although Emperor Shengwu was somewhat hesitant, he considered that if iron farm tools were not provided, Hua Lei, a minor official of the sixth rank, would not have the authority to order so many iron farm tools. So for the sake of his future plan of making money, Emperor Shengwu nodded in agreement.

Anyway, iron farm tools can be used for more than ten or twenty years if used properly, so there is no big loss in lending them to Hualei for a year. In this way, Hualei not only got a group of people for free, but also got the right to use a group of tools for free.

However, these farm tools will not be delivered directly to Hualei, but will be distributed by the manager of the prison according to the number of prisoners every day. This will save Hualei the trouble of looking after the farm tools, and she will not be held accountable if they are lost.

Lord Pei was very considerate of Hualei. In this way, the king was full of expectations, and the minister was happy, and the matter was settled.

Now that she had the manpower and tools, Hua Lei began to prepare without hesitation. The next day, she took the note from Emperor Shengwu and asked Uncle Fu to accompany her to the Ministry of Justice in the capital to ask for the person.

Lord Pei had already helped to make arrangements in advance, so Hua Lei was not worried. Moreover, Rong Jin had already told her in advance that he would wait for her at the office today, so Hua Lei was even less worried.

So, Hua Lei witnessed Rong Jin's eloquence, or "sweet talk", for the first time in the Ministry of Justice.

In her impression, Rong Jin has always been a person who is frugal with words and doesn't like to talk much. But looking at this person in front of her who speaks eloquently, quoting from classics and talking incessantly, Hua Lei was very surprised.

Is this still the Rong Jin I know? He is indeed the third place winner chosen by Emperor Shengwu, not a dandy who got his fame for nothing.

So, after Rong Jin's endless flattery and sweet bargaining, Hua Lei added fuel to the fire and encouraged the situation.

Originally, they only wanted to provide 300 people before the New Year, but the head of the prison, Mr. Wen, finally agreed. In the two and a half months before the New Year, the prison provided about 450 people every day to help Hualei on the barren mountain. The personnel arrived ten days later.

By the beginning of next spring, the number of staff may be reduced because the official fields will be really busy then, but Lord Wen has also guaranteed that at least 250 people can be provided with flower buds every day.

What needs to be done and how it will be assigned will be decided by Hualei, but the Ministry of Justice will send a manager to manage this group of pioneers.

Hualei is very satisfied. She would strive to get as many workers as possible, and as many days as possible. After all, these are free labor, which Hualei needs very much. The more the better.

After signing an agreement with the top leader, Mr. Wen, Hua Lei left the prison office of the Ministry of Justice with satisfaction. Of course, before leaving, Hua Lei asked Uncle Fu to quietly put two silver ingots of twenty taels into his hands, which surprised him and made him smile. This was his monthly salary for most of the past six months.

I didn't expect that I would get a sum of money just for executing an order from above. It was really a pleasant surprise. You know, managing and guarding prisoners here, there is very little extra income all year round. It seems that I should try to allocate more manpower to this generous Mr. Hua in the future.

After receiving the silver, Lord Wen had already made up his mind. At the same time, he looked at Pei Rongjin, who "knew nothing", with great satisfaction. Well, this kid has vision and good suggestions. He is a promising talent.

Hualei, who paid a small amount of money, was also very satisfied. She knew very well that if she didn't spend small money, she wouldn't make big money. So she always followed this principle very well.

After leaving the office of the Ministry of Justice, Hua Lei did not go home, but took Fu Bo to the Miscellaneous Department of the Ministry of Works to get tools such as shovels, rakes, and sickles.

Although she didn't need to pick it up directly, she still had to go and sign based on the quantity and type of tools she needed.

Soon, Hua Lei arrived at the Miscellaneous Department under the Ministry of Industry. Coincidentally, she met Bai Yunhe here, whom she hadn't seen for a long time.

Since the last time he came to her farm to discuss cooperation on wool sweaters, Hua Lei met him three or four times, also about wool sweaters.

Later, because of the Spring Examination, Bai Yunhe went to study in the Six Ministries and was very busy, so the two never met each other.

When Hua Lei saw Bai Yunhe today, she was a little surprised. She found that Bai Yunhe seemed to have changed a lot. Of course, it might also be related to Bai Yunhe's neat dark blue official uniform. When studying in the Six Ministries, each intern had a special set of official uniforms, which were very neat and rigid.