vstars Chapter 156 Money Flows Like Water
Chapter 156 Money Flows Like Water
"Cough cough..." Zhou Chang was awakened by a puff of smoke.
The moon was setting slowly in the west, and the sky was faintly turning pale.
Last night, Zhou Chang really spent the whole night on the stands of the West School Field, waking up intermittently.
Yesterday evening, after being busy all day, the imperial guards were finally exhausted and asked to go back to rest.
Zhou Chang knew that he couldn't stop, so he doubled the wages on the spot: "Work overnight, and I will give each of you another 20 taels of silver for one night."
It doubled again in an instant. This number was huge. For the fifty imperial guards and ten experienced people hired by the outside pharmacy, each of them earned forty taels a day, which was equivalent to one year's salary.
Although everyone was exhausted, they agreed for the sake of money. After a short break and dinner, they once again plunged into the busy work of refining oil.
Zhou Chang didn't dare to leave. Although she couldn't play a big role here, she always felt that she should share the joys and sorrows with everyone. If she left, she would not be able to control the progress. Therefore, despite Shouhou's repeated persuasion, she insisted on spending the night in the stands of the West School Field.
For this purpose, the skinny monkey moved rattan chairs and a large tea table from the official quarters of the imperial guards, and also took two more quilts.
Zhou Chang half-lying and half-leaning on the rattan chair, feeling dazed all night.
Shouhou and Gao Yuan also stayed with him, hugging each other under the quilt and spending another night there.
As for the people from the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Pharmacy, Zhou Chang was too lazy to pay attention to them. It was up to them to leave or stay, as they would not play a big role anyway.
"Monkey, the wind direction seems to have changed." Zhou Chang covered his mouth and nose and struggled to stand up from the rattan chair.
Although I didn't sleep for a few hours, I still felt sore in my back.
At this time, a gust of west wind blew, mixed with the bloody smell after killing the snake, and Zhou Chang suddenly felt nauseous.
The incense in the person-high incense burner next to it had long since burned out.
As for the dozen or so small incense burners of various colors that Fang She had sent over, they had already been taken away by the skinny monkey and placed in a large wooden box at the back of the carriage.
"Aren't we eating snake soup?" The skinny monkey was sleepy and smacking his lips. "Your Highness, what do you smell? Weren't we eating a full snake feast just now?"
Zhou Chang felt better standing up than lying down: "You are still dreaming, so it's a good time to get up and move around. Go find someone to change the incense."
"Yes," Monkey got up from the ground, turned around and told a young eunuch who was dozing against a pillar under the stand, "Go and ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs for more incense."
"Oh, yes." The young eunuch was startled and hurried to pick up the hat that had fallen on the ground.
Zhou Chang moved his body a few times and felt weak and the morning breeze was cold, so he sat back in the chair and rinsed his mouth with some tea he had left over from the previous night.
The skinny monkey quickly found another empty tea bowl and helped Zhou Chang spit out the mouthwash: "Your Majesty, I think you don't have to stay here in person. We have been here for two nights. If this continues, I think we can still hold on, but I'm afraid you can't."
Zhou Chang shuddered and his mind became much clearer.
I've been forced to work overtime and stay up late in my previous life, so this is nothing.
He spat out the overnight tea in his mouth and said, "It doesn't matter. Success or failure depends on today. It won't be too late to rest after today."
Looking across the entire West Parade Ground, although more than half of the fifty large pots were still emitting steam and the firewood underneath was not extinguished, the people working there had been working all night and were obviously extremely tired.
Many people couldn't hold on and lay directly on the sand in the playground, not knowing whether they fell asleep or fainted.
"Alas..." Zhou Chang felt sorry for it, but there was nothing he could do.
The rows of snake boxes at the corner of the east wall of the parade ground have all been opened, and all 3,000 snakes have been killed since yesterday.
"Let them take turns to rest and eat breakfast later," Zhou Chang made up his mind and encouraged himself, "but we can't stop. Today is the most critical day."
"Don't worry, Your Highness." The skinny monkey said as he cleared the tea bowls and tableware on the table, preparing to send them away and bring up new ones.
Although Zhou Chang didn't know how to make snake oil, he heard a general idea from the master sent by Manager Fu the day before.
On the last day, they have to boil all the snake oil again, then add the powder in a certain order, and boil it until the snake oil becomes a paste before bottling it. After bottling, the whole process is considered complete.
Zhou Chang was unsure as to when the person in charge of transporting the supplies from the Ministry of War would come to sign for them. He was in a daze for a moment and ate some sweet porridge and pastries served by the skinny monkey, then fell asleep again in a daze.
When I woke up again, it was bright outside and I heard footsteps coming from the south door of the playground. A group of people came in.
The commander of the imperial guards, Sun Chuliang, stepped onto the stand. He was stunned when he saw Zhou Chang, then he bowed and saluted: "Greetings, Your Highness Prince Yi. Are you staying here overnight?"
At this time, bedding, chairs and other items were still scattered in a mess on the stands.
"Why is Commander Sun here?" Zhou Chang rubbed his eyes and stretched lazily.
But no matter how hard he stretched, he felt as if all the strength had been drained from his whole body and he couldn't muster any energy. He was just holding up a human shape and placing himself there.
This was not the first time Zhou Chang had met Sun Chuliang, so he did not resort to false formalities.
The most important thing is that Sun Chuliang is the younger brother of Concubine Qin Sun.
Prince Yi is closest to the twelfth prince Feng Suo, so naturally he feels somewhat close to Concubine Qin Sun and Sun Chuliang.
"Your Highness, I heard from Tang Mao yesterday that there is an urgent need for manpower here, so today we have transferred another 30 people from the imperial guards who just changed shifts." Sun Chuliang had heard Tang Mao's report last night, but he did not expect that Prince Yi would actually stay here overnight in order to speed up the work. Now that he saw it with his own eyes, he was shocked.
Zhou Chang didn't think much of it, but when he heard that another thirty people had arrived, he was pleasantly surprised: "Great, General Sun, I don't lack anything else now, but I lack manpower. Quick, let the brothers get to work right away, and you can also replace those who are too tired to take a break. Give these people who come later twenty taels of silver even if there is no one here today, and tell them to work hard."
"Of course. This batch of snake oil is being sent to the front line for the soldiers' urgent use." Sun Chuliang said decisively. After he finished speaking, he turned around and went down the stands to make arrangements.
Just as Sun Chuliang left, a group of people came from the west gate. The leader was Zhong Yu again, followed by Fu Ming.
Zhong Yu and Fu Ming went up to the stands to meet Zhou Chang.
"Your Highness, we have brought another twenty people today. They are all experienced or semi-experienced. There are also old masters from the Yuan family who are helping us. We have found all the people we can find. These are the only ones who can be gathered temporarily." Zhong Yu reported.
"Great." Zhou Chang stood up from his chair happily. He counted on his five fingers and found that there were only fifty more people. "Tell them that each person will be paid 20 taels of silver. No matter how long it takes, as long as it is completed before the Ministry of War comes to hand over today."
"Yes." Zhong Yuye estimated that it was about right and retreated first.
Fu Ming stepped forward again and whispered, "Your Majesty, would you like me to count the money so that we can sort out the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue?"
Zhou Chang glanced at the lower south side of the platform, where the temporary shed built by Qian Liang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was located. "Manager Fu, after deducting the Yuan family's snake money and the visible labor costs, the rest can be counted as our medicinal materials."
Money is like flowing water, the key is to make it flow to your own home. "Take one step at a time, if it doesn't work, die halfway;
If you write one chapter, it counts as one chapter. If you really can’t do that, write half a chapter.”