Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 218 Recruitment

It was impossible to fly. In order to be able to go back as soon as possible, Song Chunlin was busier than before. He had to choose a suitable piece of land to grow grapes and find a reliable person to guard the vineyard. This person also needed Song Chunlin's help to review the knowledge of grape growing.

Song Chunlin couldn't find such a person for a while, so he could only go to the Ministry of Agriculture to mark out the land. When the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture heard that he wanted to plant grapes, they all showed subtle expressions.

One of the younger officials asked him, "Young Master Song, have you ever grown grapes before?"

Song Chunlin nodded, but then shook his head. He had indeed grown grapes before, but that was in space. The experience of growing grapes in there was almost equivalent to no experience. How could anything planted in the land inside die?

Can this kind of experience be called experience?

Of course not.

Song Chunlin scratched his head, thinking about how to describe his experience of planting crops that he had never planted before.

The official watched him fall into deep thought, and he also closed his mouth and fell into deep thought.

Wasn't this kid good at farming before? He even came up with some good stuff to increase soybean yields, but now he looks a little stupid?

And that was grapes. He had only heard of grapes in the Western Regions, and people in the Western Regions kept a close eye on grape seedlings. Could this kid just plant them? Where did the seedlings come from? They couldn't send troops to the Western Regions to steal them.

Song Chunlin apologized, then went back quickly, combined the information he had found, and wrote a brief plan, which focused on the soil conditions for grape planting, pest and disease control, and went into detail about how to build the grape racks, the frequency of fertilizing and watering, etc. Because it was relatively superficial, after the officials from the Ministry of Agriculture circulated it, everyone remained skeptical about whether these grapes could be successfully planted.

"Young Master Song, your, um, what... business plan, um, business plan, we have already seen it. We know nothing about growing grapes, and we can't see what it means. But according to my humble opinion, if Young Master Song really wants to grow grapes, you can give it a try, but the yield in the first year cannot be guaranteed."

Song Chunlin expressed his understanding. What the official said was very pertinent. Any new thing needs time to be accepted. Song Chunlin did not expect a good harvest in the first year. It was enough for the fruits to bear normally. The yield was not important.

After the grape planting was agreed upon, the officials allocated him a large piece of land. Song Chunlin saw that there were no villages around the land and it was rather desolate, but the terrain was flat and not far from a water source. Song Chunlin was very satisfied.

Now that he had the land, Song Chunlin did not ask Gu Fengyue to pick people up, but went directly to the city gate to recruit able-bodied men.

Having just experienced a great war, although Bai Ta City was not breached, it was also badly damaged. Specifically, the places where able-bodied men were recruited mostly included the young and the old, and even some women and children. Song Chunlin looked at those women, some holding children, some with gray hair. There were also some young men mixed in with the men. When they saw someone recruiting workers, they would rush to the front and snatch the work from the men.

But there are not many places hiring workers in the city right now, so these people often can’t find any work to do the whole day. No work means no wages, and without money, they will have to go hungry today.

Song Chunlin walked a little closer. A middle-aged man nearby saw him coming and asked Song Chunlin with a simple smile on his face whether this young man came here to recruit workers.

Seeing that he seemed to have some prestige among this group of people, Song Chunlin asked him if he could help find a dozen people with quick hands and feet.

"I don't care about age or gender, as long as you can work. The work is not hard. It's just digging a shallow hole and planting some seedlings. Lunch is included. I'll be full. The salary is 30 copper coins a day. Can you find it?"

When he heard that Song Chunlin actually provided meals, and not only meals, but also ensured that they were full, he realized that no matter whether it was really that, it was good enough to have something to eat. The middle-aged uncle was not picky, and he even gave them thirty copper coins. You have to know that they only got twenty copper coins for moving goods for a whole morning, which was hard work. Compared with digging holes and planting crops, the latter was easier.

He quickly picked out a few younger-looking men, and when his eyes swept over the group of women and children, he also picked out a few young women and boys, as long as they could work. Anyway, the young master said that he was not picky.

Soon he selected sixteen people, including himself, a total of seventeen people. Song Chunlin watched him count the number of people. There were both men and women among these people, and they were about the same age. There were only two boys, who looked like brothers. They were probably in their twenties, and they were already the youngest in the group. The oldest was a woman, who was about forty years old, with a weather-beaten face, a sturdy build, and cracks on her hands. It seemed that she was used to doing hard work.

Song Chunlin was quite satisfied with these people. He told them about the work they were going to do and the salary. When they heard that a meal was included and there was thirty copper coins, a smile appeared on their gloomy faces.

"Oh, is that really so many?"

"It would be great if it were true. I wonder if I can take the food back. My little girl hasn't had a full meal for a long time."

Song Chunlin cleaned his ears and rented three ox carts. On the carts were the digging tools and a small number of grape seedlings that he had taken out in advance.

People here didn't know what grapes were. They looked at the seedlings and whispered to each other, discussing what they were.

The vineyard is far away from Baita City and far away from the official road. Gu Fengyue brought the soldiers to divide the area in advance and used a row of simple wooden fences to enclose the vineyard.

He was standing in the field and saw Song Chunlin and his men coming over from afar. When those who were called in to work saw that there were still soldiers here, they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts, and many of them looked gloomy.

Song Chunlin didn’t understand. This group of people didn’t seem to have a good impression of soldiers. What should he do?

However, the uncle and his men were very trustworthy. Although they were not very happy, they still called people down and distributed tools consciously. The shovels were basically distributed to the men, and the uncle asked them to be responsible for carrying the seedlings, and they could plant them directly after the holes were dug.

Song Chunlin asked them to dig holes according to specific row spacings. The density should be slightly denser than planting fruit trees. The uncles worked very hard, and the women behind them were no less capable. Even the two young men were working very hard in carrying the seedlings.

A group of people divided the work and cooperated with each other. The person in front dug the hole, the people behind threw the seedlings into the hole, and the person at the back was responsible for covering the soil.

Song Chunlin didn't bring many seedlings, only about 500 of each variety at most. Seeing how efficiently they worked, Song Chunlin felt that they would be almost done with the planting in four or five days.

Gu Fengyue stood beside Song Chunlin and asked him if he was the one recruited at the city gate. Song Chunlin said yes.

"Do they really hate being in the military?"

Gu Fengyue groaned: "Well, it's not that I hate them, it's also possible that I simply don't want to see them."

"why?"

"Didn't you ask before why there are so few young and strong men in the city? That's because Baita City is the largest city in Haihe and has the largest population, so the conscription here will give priority to the young and strong men here. In the past few years, small-scale harassment on the border has never stopped, and many young men have been killed. Rather than saying that those people don't like to see these soldiers, it's better to say that they don't dare to see these soldiers."

Song Chunlin looked at the people working hard in the fields. No wonder, every household in the whole city was mostly populated by elderly people and children. It turned out that they were really drafted into the army.

"This is how it is in border areas. It is a rare thing to live a long and peaceful life."

Seeing that it was almost afternoon, Song Chunlin looked at the fields and saw that the work was almost done, so he waved his hand and drove an ox cart back. Not long after, he came back with the ox cart. There were several large wooden barrels on the ox cart, which were filled with freshly cooked steamed buns, side dishes and pork rib soup. Everyone could also get a juicy young cucumber.

Gu Fengyue hurriedly called his soldiers to come and eat, while the others watched and did not move, until Song Chunlin asked them to line up, then everyone slowly stood up.

The middle-aged man was the first in line. He originally thought that they could only eat leftovers, but unexpectedly, the soldier in charge of serving food gave him two large white flour buns, a bowl of pork rib soup, and even a green thing that looked a bit like a melon.

The rest of the people also had the same configuration. There were quite a few ribs in the pork rib soup, and there was still a lot of meat on the ribs.

The two brothers were the youngest and were the last in line. They were pleasantly surprised to find that even after the distribution, there was still a lot of food left in the big wooden barrels. It seemed that what the young master said was right, and there was really enough food here.

The two people seemed to have thought of something, their eyes lit up, but soon went out again.

It was already good enough that the young master had fed them, so how could they still think of packing up some food to take back?

Song Chunlin was chewing on spareribs as he moved among the people eating, constantly telling them, "Eat quickly. If you're not full, there's more over there. Only when you're full can you work well for me."

Everyone laughed when they heard his words. As for the food, it didn't matter if the young master didn't pay. After all, there weren't many masters who could feed their workers these days, let alone give them an extra thirty copper coins.

Of course they were full, not only that, but there was even some left. After the meal, everyone finished their work, and Song Chunlin and Gu Fengyue gave them money together.

"There are seventeen of you in total. I'll give them to you all and you can divide them among yourselves, or should I give them to you one by one?"

The middle-aged uncle laughed and said, "Please distribute it among them, young master. This will be fairer."

Song Chunlin thought the same, so he nodded and counted the coins for everyone one by one. He counted very quickly and accurately, which stunned the people around him.

Soon the money was distributed, but everyone had not left yet. They all surrounded Song Chunlin. The uncle asked Song Chunlin a little embarrassedly:

"Young Master, do you need anyone to work for you tomorrow?"

Do you want to renew the contract? Song Chunlin immediately became serious: "Of course I want to. If you don't have work tomorrow..."

Before Song Chunlin finished speaking, someone in the crowd shouted:

"No, no, young master, I don't have any work tomorrow!"

"Me too!"

Everyone raised their hands and said that they were very free tomorrow and hoped that Song Chun would take them with him before leaving.

Song Chunlin smiled with his eyes curved and raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

"Ahem, if you don't find work tomorrow, just wait at the city gate. I'll come to pick you up at the same time tomorrow or today. Don't forget."

Everyone said again: "We will never forget, we will never forget!" How could they dare to forget such a good job? Not only can they eat their fill, they can also have meat to eat, and in the end they can get money. Such a good job would be hard to find even with a lantern.

Everyone happily collected their wages, thinking that their families would be able to have a full meal tonight.

There were also a few elderly ladies who came over embarrassedly and asked Song Chunlin if they could pack up the remaining food to take home.

Those people seemed to feel that their demands were excessive, so they lowered their heads, almost rubbing them to the ground.

"We also know that this request is excessive. The young master is kind-hearted. He gave us a way to survive and let us have enough food. I haven't had a full meal for a long time. Now I am flattering you and asking for leftover food. It is indeed a bit wrong, but...but we have children at home who are crying for food. The children haven't eaten meat for a long time. If the young master is willing, can you share some of the broth with us and let the children taste meat? That would also be good."

The others echoed the sentiment one after another. They all felt ashamed, as it was obviously the first time they had done such a thing.

Song Chunlin looked at the remaining ribs in the big wooden barrel. He had a lot of frozen meat in his space, so he was willing to put it in the soup. There were still more than a dozen ribs as long as fingers left at the bottom of the big wooden barrel. Song Chunlin thought about it, pretended to take out a stack of oil paper from his arms, fished out the ribs, put three in a bag, and gave a steamed bun as a gift. The steamed bun was frozen, and it would not taste good after being steamed and heated again. Song Chunlin thought that he couldn't eat it anyway, so he might as well do a favor, and it was shameful to waste food.

Song Chunlin wrapped the food in oil paper, making seven or eight bags in total. There were some left after each of the people got one bag. Song Chunlin looked at the two guys standing in the corner and waved for them to come over.

"Here, there are two left, just enough for each of you."

The young man took the oil paper package flattered. The food was still a little warm and passed through the oil paper to their fingertips. The younger one couldn't help but tear up.

"Thank you very much, young master. Thank you very much, young master." The two men bowed deeply to Song Chunlin, and Song Chunlin avoided them with a smile.

The uncle was asked to help drive the ox cart back. It happened to be on their way, and Song Chunlin had rented the ox cart for ten days. The uncle and his friends only needed to drive the cart to the carriage and horse shop, and Song Chunlin would drive it out himself the next day. Song Chunlin himself rode back on horseback with Gu Fengyue.