The Daily Life of Farming and Raising Children in Ancient Mountain Residences

Chapter 216: Hiring Workers

Through the window lattice, the young Prefect of Shezhou saw a group of people dressed in coarse cloth garments. The cloth looked sturdy, and the edges of the garments hinted at the presence of fur inside. There were nine people in total, the oldest appearing to be around twenty-three or twenty-four years old, and the youngest around eight or nine. Most of them were adolescents. They were each taking turns to dip their pens in ink and write on the registration list.

Many of them seemed especially excited as they dipped their pens and wrote. Aside from that, their demeanor showed no signs of trouble, and even the youngest wrote with a commendable style.

Are they truly scholars?

The Prefect and the Chief Official exchanged glances, both displaying some surprise.

There are so many scholars among common folk?

After the people had left, the two of them walked out from the back hall to check the registration list. The handwriting was actually quite legible, with one person’s writing even being notably good. Looking at the addresses listed, there was a row from Daxing Village.

Daxing Village? The young Prefect thought for a moment and suddenly realized, “The village closest to the city gate among the ones the Wang family donated? Has it been settled?”

“Should be,” the Chief of Finance replied, as his reports did not always include such detailed information, so the Chief Official was not very clear and did not think much of it. His attention fell on Wang Yunzheng’s name, noticing the line of characters afterwards, and pointed out, “This one is a member of the Wang family, and he came to register by himself.”

He mentioned this casually, but what pleased him more was that the number of registrants had reached thirty-six. Although the quota was still not full, the shortage was not so significant now. There were still nine days left. He then asked, “Sir, will the publicizing continue?”

“Yes, of course. Now is the time to recruit talents. Why should we be constrained as we are now? This is also the Emperor’s intention.”

—

In Daxing Village, Shen Lie and the others had entered the city. Seeing the bright sun, Sang Luo did not hurry to the fields but instead took a bamboo basket and led Shen Ning to the creek behind their family’s Yongye Field.

“Sister-in-law, can tree bark really be made into paper?”

Paper is so precious that she couldn’t imagine it being made from tree bark.

Sang Luo glanced at her and smiled, “Isn’t the cloth you’re wearing made from ramie? Why can’t paper be made?”

Shen Ning tilted her head, “Cloth is woven on a loom. Can paper really be woven like that?”

She still couldn’t quite picture it.

Sang Luo herself wasn’t entirely sure if her method would work, but she was certain that paper could indeed be made from materials like tree bark, straw, ramie, and bamboo.

“Let’s give it a try. It only takes some time, and the materials are all around in the mountains. Trying it won’t hurt. If it works out, the benefits later on will be immense.” Not to mention, besides writing paper, she also wanted the freedom of toilet paper.

Shen Ning didn’t know what her sister-in-law was contemplating and laughed when she heard that the materials were abundant in the mountains. About a month ago, when Second Brother was clearing the mountain path and brought back firewood, Sister-in-law saw it and took her and Second Brother to select several branches. The bark was stripped off, leaving only the bare sticks for burning, which did not delay their use at all.

“Try it. If it works out, could our family set up a stall to sell paper and pens? The pens we make now are no worse than those bought outside.”

Sang Luo smiled, pleased with the twelve-year-old girl. Compared to when she was nine, she was not only filled with knowledge but also had a head full of practical ideas.

“There’s no need to wait for the paper to be ready. Aren’t you already doing well with making pens? If the state school opens, you and the girls can just keep trying.”

Hearing this, Shen Ning’s eyes lit up. “I’ll go and try once the fields are done.”

Shen Ning’s instinctive response made Sang Luo ponder.

Having fields is good, but she and Shen Ning spent most of their time in the fields. Though she wasn’t particularly tired and her health was fine, why should she always be doing this? Why not try something different?

“No need to wait. Later, I’ll find someone to ask and hire two people to help. We’ll need people for the mountain land anyway, so we might as well hire them now.”

Shen Ning was momentarily stunned but then became delighted. No young girl enjoys wielding a hoe in the fields every day; even playing with a wooden stick is more fun.

She clung to Sang Luo’s arm and pouted, “Sister-in-law, you really care for me.”

“I care for myself.”

The two women chatted and laughed as they reached the creek. Eight small bundles of paper mulberry bark were tied in the flowing water, with the other ends of the ties fastened to stones. Each tie had a small wooden tag with simple lines that Shen Ning couldn’t understand.

Sang Luo picked up two bundles to check, calculating that they had been soaking for about thirty-two days.

For the first experiment, she used paper mulberry bark, partly because paper has an elegant name, and the mulberry tree is everywhere, so it became her first experimental subject.

Using the method for processing ramie, she stripped off the outer layer of bark, leaving the middle fiber layer. She divided it into eight bundles, four of which were directly soaked in the creek, and four were dried before soaking.

Looking now, there was not much difference between the dried and undried bark, but the color had changed from light green to a yellow slightly darker than rice paper after a month of soaking.

Sang Luo took two bundles each of the directly soaked and dried, placed them in a basket after draining the water, and said, “Alright, let’s head back. We’ll test these samples first.”

Since each household in Daxing Village had plenty of land, and each original household had substantial fields, the houses in Daxing Village were relatively dispersed. There was no need to avoid people, so she built four temporary stoves with stones behind the house, placed four large earthen pots with water on them, and threw in a portion of the soaked bark into each pot. She left the bamboo tags near the corresponding stoves and instructed Shen Ning to start the fire and cook.

The house had many jars and pots, all collected by the boys from the village every evening from nearby abandoned villages. Several water jars were also brought back. Each family had accumulated a lot, which was just right for Sang Luo’s needs.

While Shen Ning tended the fire, Sang Luo went inside to get a large bag of wood ash. After the water boiled, she added wood ash to each of the four pots, with two pots containing bark that had been dried and two pots with undried bark, then covered them and began cooking.

She didn’t know if cooking was necessary for papermaking, but when she lived in the mountains, the old lady who taught her weaving said that to make soft and white fabric, it needed to be boiled with wood ash and water for a long time, and then repeatedly washed.

The fibers of the soaked bark were still quite stiff, so boiling was necessary. Wood ash was a good thing, so she planned to divide the four batches of bark into two each: one boiled in water and one boiled with wood ash, and see the difference.

With the same paper mulberry bark, these were the four methods. She explained what needed attention to Shen Ning and, with the fire under control, she entered the house, took out a roll of bamboo slips, and wrote down the second-step processing methods for each of the four samples.

Once the ink dried and everything was packed away, she closed the door and told Shen Ning, then left to find workers in nearby villages.

—

Sang Luo was in the inner part of Daxing Village, passing by the various fields. First were the fields of Shen Jin’s brothers, and then the Chen family.

Mrs. Chen saw Sang Luo coming out and called from afar. Hearing that she was looking for workers, Mrs. Chen was surprised, “No need. Our fields will be done in three to four days. When the time comes, our whole family will help you for a few days. There’s no need to spend money hiring people.”

Sang Luo shook her head, “It’s not just for one or two days; we also need to manage the mountain land.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Chen became energized, “A Luo, how will you manage the mountain land? Are you planting yams?”

“Yes, but not entirely. I plan to plant some other things as well, but I haven’t decided on the details yet. I’ll figure it out as I organize.”

“Alright.” Mrs. Chen put down her hoe, “Let’s go. I know where there are strong workers in the nearby village. I’ll accompany you to find them.”

Unlike Sang Luo, who spent her idle time reading and practicing with a long stick, Mrs. Chen had become very familiar with the neighboring villages after moving out of the valley. She knew who had how many sons and daughters and their ages.

—

After confirming that Sang Luo needed to hire two workers, Mrs. Chen asked Chen Dashan a few questions and then led Sang Luo out of the village.

They didn’t go to the nearby villages where Feng family and Zhou Laizi lived but headed in the opposite direction, towards the first batch of neighbors who had been resettled after leaving the village.

On the way, Mrs. Chen said, “I’ll take you to a family that’s absolutely suitable. Their surname is Zhao. They’re a very practical family. The important thing is that the family lives together in four houses, and they don’t have children who are adults yet. I remember there are six or seven boys aged thirteen to sixteen, and a few younger ones. They can definitely provide strong labor.”

“That’s absolutely perfect! It couldn’t be more fitting!”

But Sang Luo never expected the scene that unfolded.

The Zhao family, consisting of four brothers and three boys around fifteen, who were originally heading out to work in the fields, suddenly turned and headed straight for Daxing Village with their tools. Seven of them went off in one group, leaving Sang Luo behind, being held back by the elderly Mrs. Zhao. The seven, including the father and sons, had already set off.

There were also a few boys aged twelve or thirteen at home who heard that they were going to help Master Shen. As soon as their father left, they quickly followed, almost being stopped by their mother: “There are no tools left. Don’t go and cause trouble.”

Mrs. Zhao watched happily and, holding Sang Luo’s hand, smiled warmly, “Sang daughter-in-law, don’t refuse. You don’t know how you’ve saved many lives of ours. Without your guidance on detoxifying konjac, teaching us how to grow yams and make tofu, we wouldn’t have known how to survive these years or make it safely out of the mountains. We wouldn’t have settled so well with so much land provided by the court. It’s just a few acres of land to till. We’ll get it done in two days. If you need more tools, we can bring more. With so many people at home, we’ll help for two days without delaying our own work.”

Sang Luo was both amused and helpless. She had shared some knowledge with the nearby villages, and whenever there was new food, she received news. She hadn’t expected that asking for help with farm work would turn out like this.

She could only explain, “Grandmother, I appreciate your kindness, but I truly need to hire people. It’s not just a day or two; the labor force at home is insufficient. Shen Lie has been tasked by the Department of Household Affairs to find people in the mountains to explain the court’s policies and lead them out. He can’t take care of home. We still have mountain land to manage. I can’t have your family working for nothing.”

She didn’t mention the matter of studying or exams, which was still uncertain.

The old lady knew that Shen Lie and Chen Dashan were helping the court and that they had secured such good positions with the court’s assistance. She turned to the more familiar Mrs. Chen and asked, “Are there still people in the mountains? Are there any who haven’t come out yet?”

Mrs. Chen knew the situation well. She only hid the matter of studying. The exams were on the ninth day of the lunar month. If Shen Lie and Shen An passed, they would go to study. If they didn’t pass, Shen Lie would still have to go into the mountains, making it hard to manage home.

She nodded, “Yes, there are still people to be found. The nearby villages are mostly empty now, but there may be some further away. The court is also asking Ah Lie and Dashan to look elsewhere. Honestly, it’s not in vain. The court also provides benefits, giving us some mountain land.”

Mrs. Zhao said, “That’s right. The deep mountains are so dangerous. Without their guidance, how could we have come out so safely? We wouldn’t have made it.”

Mrs. Chen was pleased to hear this and laughed, “Exactly. If it were just a few acres, there’d be no need to go out of the village to look. Ah Lie and his apprentices are here, and we neighbors are here too. We came out early, and those with more labor at home will finish the work in a few days. When the time comes, we’ll all help. If you need workers, we’ll gladly come and help. The wages are reasonable, and we’re willing to help.”

Mrs. Zhao thanked her and turned to Sang Luo, “Alright then, don’t worry about asking for help with those few acres. Consider it our way of repaying you. The boys are also happy to help. You can observe how well they work these days and see if they meet your expectations. If they do, you can use them for future work. As for their rations, they’ll be fine with two meals a day.”

The old lady was speaking honestly. At this time, what was lacking at home was food. Families with many members who could manage the land work would be happy to accept a job that provided sufficient food.

Sang Luo had considered this before. She had an impression of the Zhao family and, as Mrs. Chen said, they were indeed very reliable. She smiled and said, “Thank you in advance. I do want to hire two people. The work is varied—both mountain and field work. We’re not sure about the future conditions yet. The payment will be monthly. If you eat with us, we’ll provide two meals a day, and the wages will be three hundred wen per person per month. If you provide your own food, the wages will be the same, plus ten liters of soybeans and ten pounds of cured or fresh meat. However, there’s no pork at the moment, so whatever we hunt in the forest will be what we provide.”

Mrs. Zhao and the four daughters-in-law nearby were stunned. “What? That much?”

Three hundred wen for wages was already substantial. Ten liters of soybeans, along with some wild vegetables, could just about fill a grown laborer. But the key point was the ten pounds of meat.

The old man Zhao, who had been silent until now, also looked over.

Their family wasn’t new to this situation. They had already entered the city and seen that food prices were high, especially meat, which could be traded for grains. Though they hadn’t inquired in detail, ten pounds of meat could be worth about forty to fifty pounds of soybeans.

Old man Zhao instinctively took a couple of steps closer but then stopped, “Sang daughter-in-law, this is too much. Meat can be traded for grain in the city.”

Sang Luo nodded, “I know, but a lot of this work is heavy. You can trade some for grain and keep a few pounds for yourselves to replenish your strength.”

In peaceful times, pork cost eighteen wen per pound. Ten pounds of meat would be one hundred and eighty wen, ten liters of soybeans forty wen, and three hundred wen for wages, totaling five hundred and twenty wen. Hiring a laborer for a month at this rate was quite cost-effective.

She knew that food and meat prices were high now. Rice and millet were grown in the valley and weren’t enough even for themselves. Soybeans were something they had grown plenty of on the mountain, so twenty liters a month was feasible. As for meat, she was less concerned about it. Shen Lie always brought back plenty whenever he went into the mountains, so feeding her family and the Shen brothers was not a problem. This was the least of her concerns when it came to compensation.

Old Man Zhao saw that she had finished speaking and nodded, “Alright. Then, Sang daughter-in-law, you can pick two people tomorrow once the land is plowed. We’ll bring our own food and just need a way to heat it up. We’ll definitely work hard for you.”

Sang Luo smiled, “That’s settled then.”

Old Man Zhao nodded repeatedly, “Yes, it’s settled, it’s settled.”