roccoschili Chapter 62, So what if I bullied you?
Chapter 62, So what if I bullied you?
Lin Zhou is clearly bullying people. When this got to the Ministry of Works, the craftsmen there also had tempers. They couldn't openly say whose project it was. Even if a few people knew it was Qin Hui's project, they wouldn't say anything. They would just stick to their guns and say they didn't know anything. Did the Prime Minister think he could kill them all?
Their superiors did try to persuade them, but to no avail. The artisans from the Ministry of Works wouldn't listen and collectively quit.
No matter what, they simply won't do it! No one can persuade them; unless Prime Minister Qin comes in person, they won't take the job.
This put Cao Wenda in a real bind. At this critical juncture, he could only tell a few familiar and trustworthy people that it was the Prime Minister's project. He really didn't dare to publicize this bribery project to the outside world.
This really drove him crazy. In one night, he almost cursed Lin Zhou's ancestors for eighteen generations. While cursing, he also had to carry things to apologize to the master craftsman.
But none of the master craftsmen paid him any attention. These craftsmen who were paid by the emperor were very stubborn. Before they were buried in the underground palace, they all thought they were someone important.
Around 10 p.m., Cao Wenda dejectedly entered Lin Zhou's shop. Inside, he saw four people eating hot pot at a table. A small copper pot stood upright, lamb was dipped in the broth, and then some chive sauce and minced garlic—it looked delicious…
Looking at him, he's been up and about since dusk, without a drop of water or a single grain of hot food. This only fuels his anger.
He threw what he was holding onto the counter next to him with a thud, which clearly expressed his dissatisfaction.
Lin Zhou turned around, exclaimed "Oh!" and quickly went forward to greet him: "Isn't this Brother Cao? Come on, come on, have something to eat."
Cao Wenda turned his head to look at the three people still on the table, even the lowly servant Ying Ge was there. He was even angrier. He glanced at Lin Zhou and said in a gruff voice, "Brother, you're having a good time. I've been running around for you, and you're just indulging in a drunken stupor here."
"My friends brought over some books to edit today, so I'm going to entertain them."
The people he was talking about were Lu You and his wife. They had had enough of living at their mother's house, so they moved here overnight. Right now, the two of them were drinking a little wine, their faces flushed, and they were enjoying their time together.
"well……"
Cao Wenda sighed. At that moment, Lin Zhou waved his hand and said, "Brother Ying, go and prepare a bowl and chopsticks for Brother Cao so that he can have something hot to eat."
Dragging Cao Wenda to the table, the exhausted old Cao now looked somewhat helpless: "I've sold all my face, you've really offended the Ministry of Works. Now they absolutely refuse to take your orders. What are we going to do?"
"You didn't tell them that was...?"
"This is something that can be made public?" Cao Wenda rolled his eyes. "You really don't know your place."
"Don't those master craftsmen know?"
"They know and they say they don't, what? Are you expecting them to confront the master?"
Lin Zhou thought about it and felt it made sense. This was a traditional skill. When it came to things that couldn't be made public, they could just say they didn't know anything and pass the buck. They couldn't afford to offend these working dogs, and Qin Hui didn't have time to be pretentious with these people.
Moreover, even if he had this intention, Cao Wenda would not let him know about it. Wouldn't that be tantamount to saying that Cao Wenda is a good-for-nothing who can't even handle this simple matter?
"Damn it." Lin Zhou slapped his thigh, then shoved a piece of mutton onto Cao Wenda's plate. "You're not planting crops just because you hear cicadas chirping? Brother Cao, you've been wronged by this, I'll take care of it! I don't believe it."
"Don't you dare go looking for those people from the south of the city. Those roughnecks know nothing. Oh dear, if they destroy my furnace, you'll be fine, but I'll lose my head!"
Cao Wenda's face was wrinkled like a dried chrysanthemum, completely losing his usual smiling tiger appearance, leaving only a face full of sorrow.
"Don't worry, I'll take responsibility for whatever happens, no matter how big," Lin Zhou said, patting his chest. "At worst, we'll just run away."
Cao Wenda, who had just taken a bite of mutton, almost choked to death. He covered his mouth and coughed several times, saying, "My ancestors! Please spare me!"
At this moment, Lu You, who had been silent until now, spoke up: "I do have a few classmates who are skilled in this. I can ask them to help me."
"Can it work?" Cao Wenda asked curiously, "Who is this person?"
"He is Shen Gai, the great-grandson of Shen Kuo, the scholar of the Longtu Pavilion and author of Dream Pool Essays. He is currently working at the Imperial Examination Hall, and he will definitely come."
"Oh? Young Master Shen is your classmate?"
"Exactly."
Cao Wenda's eyes lit up immediately: "May I ask who you are?"
"My name is Lu You, Lu Wuguan."
"Oh... who was the Deputy Transport Commissioner of the Jingxi Railway back then?"
"My father."
Cao Wenda glanced at Lin Zhou, who seemed only interested in eating, and said with great dissatisfaction, "Why didn't you tell me you knew someone like this sooner?"
"What kind?" Lin Zhou looked up, looking completely bewildered.
Cao Wenda immediately lost interest in communicating and waved his hand, saying, "Forget it... but you should keep this in mind."
Lin Zhou wiped his mouth: "If I can hire one craftsman from the Ministry of Works, I can hire ten men from outside. No matter how skilled a hundred men are, can they work as well as a thousand? You originally planned to hire five hundred, but now I'm hiring five thousand. How could that delay the project? Don't worry."
"You decide what to do. My life and fortune are all in your hands." Cao Wenda had no choice but to try anything as a last resort. If all else fails, he'll think of something else later.
"Alright, I'll go to the South City to recruit people first thing tomorrow morning." Lin Zhou rolled up his sleeves: "It's just money, right? If the money's right, everything's negotiable."
"Grandpa, I'm calling you Grandpa now, so please don't go looking for people from Nancheng."
"Isn't that cheap!"
Faced with this situation, what could Cao Wenda say? In the past, he would have slapped him long ago, but now he was truly helpless and could only let Lin Zhou do as he pleased.
The next morning, Lin Zhou indeed brought Lu You to the South City early, where the two found Xu Shang, the Black Panther.
"How many? Five thousand people?" Xu Shang craned his neck. "Where am I supposed to find five thousand people for you?"
"Any more? I need to work." Lin Zhou rubbed his nose. "It needs to be finished within seventeen days, meals included, half a string of cash per person per day. Then we might need about three hundred people as furnace workers. It depends. Building a house is simple, but furnace work requires some skill. We need smart people who can be taught."
"Half a string of cash per person per day, plus meals?" Xu Shang was stunned. "That's 2,500 strings of cash per day, plus food, around 3,000 strings. Seventeen days... 50,000 strings? Do you have that much money?"
"Damn, who do you think you are? Here's the deposit." Lin Zhou slapped 20,000 guan of silver in front of him: "This is a big deal. Anyway, the construction period is seventeen days, more is better than less. I can accept a budget of around 100,000 guan."
Who is Black Panther? He is a powerful figure in the underworld of Lin'an. Upon hearing this request, he immediately realized that his good brother Lin Zhou had some kind of government order, and the budget for him was around 100,000 guan.
"Give your brother a heads-up, what kind of job is it?"
Lin Zhou leaned forward and lowered his voice, saying, "Qin Hui's steel mill produces 300,000 tons of refined steel a month. I provide the technology, they provide the money. I deliberately offended the Ministry of Works. I figured I should keep the profits within the family. Giving the money to others is the same as giving it to those poor brothers. As long as they can produce work for me, I don't care who you pay. You can also provide the materials. Ten thousand or one hundred thousand is fine. Money is no object when we're rushing to meet the deadline."
"Damn it..."
Xu Shang stood up and spat fiercely on the ground. He glanced at the poor folks in Nancheng, took a deep breath, and said, "Cheers!"
"A deposit of 20,000 strings of cash. The more people you find, the better. Include the people who cook for the construction site and the people who do the purchasing. Count them all in." Lin Zhou looked up and glanced around, then pointed to the yellow dog at the door: "Put Big Yellow in there too, consider it a guard fee."
"You son of a bitch...you call yourself a dog?!" Xu Shang's eyes widened. "That's Qin Hui's business! You're doing this? Are you out of your mind?"
"Ah... I see." Lin Zhou frowned. "Let's add a few more, five hundred dogs in total. Fifty coins per dog per day. We'll have to be careful about people stealing, right? What's wrong with dogs? Work deserves payment. You'd better spend this 100,000 strings of cash clean. Brother Xu, you can't be incapable, can you?"
"Bullshit."
Xu Shang, hands on his hips, began to breathe rapidly: "I'll tell my seventy-year-old mother to go pick vegetables!"
"Hey! That's more like it!" Lin Zhou slapped his thigh. "Old men and women, children and dogs, we'll arrange everything for them. Let's get the work done and make the money in a high-profile way!"
"Are you alright?"
"They should thank me!" Lin Zhou tossed his chin. "But bro, let me tell you, if the money's gone and the job isn't done well, then there's trouble."
Xu Shang patted his chest and assured him, "You can rest assured about this. I'll be there every day to supervise the work!"