In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 776 A Vague Hope

If it were two months ago, Liangzhou would naturally not have been able to come up with the money and supplies to repair the road.

But now Yang Zheng has conquered the entire Qingzhou and confiscated the property of almost all the landlords and powerful families in Qingzhou, seizing a large amount of gold and silver treasures from them.

These gold and silver treasures might not be enough to make the Yang family army extremely wealthy, but they should be enough to support the construction of a road.

“Yang Shuai seized countless gold and silver treasures in Qingzhou. Wei has already asked Yang Shuai if these gold and silver treasures can be used to pay for the expenses of road construction.”

"I see!"

Chen Dao suddenly realized that, as far as he knew, after Yang Zheng occupied Qingzhou, he had indeed confiscated the property of many landlords and powerful families, seizing a considerable fortune.

"Since Liangzhou can provide money and supplies, Chenjia Village has no reason to refuse!"

Chen Dao asked, "I wonder how Prefect Wei plans to cooperate?"

"Following the previous cooperation model between Chenjia Village and Taiping County, with Chenjia Village and Liangzhou each contributing half of the funds and grain, what does Mr. Chen think?"

Wei Zijie asked tentatively.

To be fair, his proposal was somewhat of a takeover of Chenjia Village. After all, the benefits of building this official road to Liangzhou far outweighed those to Chenjia Village, and asking Chenjia Village to contribute half the cost was a bit unreasonable.

However, there was nothing that could be done about it. Liangzhou was simply too poor. Although Yang Zheng had seized a lot of gold and silver treasures in Liangzhou, he couldn't possibly spend them all on one road, could he?

"no problem."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Dao agreed.

If this road can be completed, it will also benefit Chenjia Village, as its goods can be transported more smoothly to Yongliang County and then sold to every corner of Liangzhou.

In other words, Chenjia Village can gain access to the market in Yongliang County and even the entire Liangzhou. Under these circumstances, Chen Dao naturally has no reason to refuse.

Moreover... the construction of this road can also solve a problem currently facing Chenjia Village, namely the resettlement of those one thousand temporary workers.

Chen Dao originally planned to make about 300 of the more than 1,000 temporary workers permanent, and let the rest go home. This would undoubtedly disappoint many of the temporary workers who worked hard for Chenjia Village.

However, if a cooperation could be reached with Wei Zijie to build an official road, then this would not be necessary.

These workers could all be promoted to permanent positions and then be specifically responsible for building the official road from Chenjia Village to Yongliang County.

"I have another request, Mr. Chen. I wonder if you would be willing to grant it?"

"Please say."

"Wei hoped that when this official road was being built, Chenjia Village could recruit as many workers as possible from Yongliang County."

Chen Dao knew the principle of work relief, and Wei Zijie was certainly aware of it as well.

The construction of this official road was jointly funded by Chenjia Village and Liangzhou, and Wei Zijie naturally wanted to seek some benefits for the people of Liangzhou.

Even if only a few hundred people are recruited by Chenjia Village as workers, it would be a great benefit to Liangzhou. After these hundreds of people are recruited by Chenjia Village as workers, they can get rid of poverty, and the lives of their families and relatives will also be improved, indirectly allowing more people to live a prosperous life.

"Uncle Hou."

Chen Dao did not agree directly, but looked at Chen Hou, the project manager of Chenjia Village, and asked, "What do you think?"

After a moment's thought, Chen Hou replied, "The official road from Chenjia Village to Yongliang County is much longer than the road to the county seat. It will require about two thousand workers, and we will need to recruit about one thousand more."

"Prefect Wei, are you satisfied with this number?"

Chen Dao looked at Wei Zijie and said.

"Of course I'm satisfied!"

Wei Zijie nodded with a smile. He had only intended to secure a few hundred worker positions for Yongliang County, but now that Chenjia Village had offered a thousand, how could Wei Zijie not be satisfied?

Thus, the matter was settled: Chenjia Village and Liangzhou would jointly fund the construction of a brick and stone official road leading from Chenjia Village to Yongliang County.

The original 1,000 workers who built the official road for Chenjia Village will all be transferred to become formal workers of Chenjia Village and will then be specifically responsible for building this official road.

In addition, Chenjia Village will recruit 1,000 workers from Yongliang County to make up a total of 2,000 people, so as to complete the construction of this official road as soon as possible and make the commercial exchanges between Chenjia Village and Liangzhou smoother.

Next, Wei Zijie remained in the meeting room to discuss the specific details of the road repair with Chen Dao.

Chen Hou left the meeting room and rushed to the outskirts of the village to inform the workers of the good news.

It was noon, and the workers were all gathered in the canteen for lunch, which saved the trouble of gathering the workers.

Chen Hou went straight to the crowded food stall and said loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet and listen to what I have to say."

As soon as he finished speaking, the noisy sounds in the canteen instantly disappeared, and all the workers turned their attention to Chen Hou.

"It's Steward Chen Hou."

"I wonder what Steward Chen Hou wants to say? Is he going to fire us?"

"Are they going to announce that we've been officially hired?"

"..."

The workers whispered among themselves, speculating about Chen Hou's intentions.

"Xiao Liang."

Zhao Shitou whispered to Zhao Xiaoliang beside him, "This project is almost finished. Does that mean we won't be able to work for Chenjia Village anymore?"

When Zhao Shitou said this, the disappointment on his face was clearly visible. When Chenjia Village hired them to work, they had said that they were all temporary workers and that they could not continue to work for Chenjia Village after the project was completed.

During his time working for Chenjia Village, Zhao Shitou was able to eat three meals a day, each one filling, with occasional meat, and he also received 500 coins a month in wages...

This made Zhao Shitou feel like he was living in paradise, so when he realized he was about to lose his job, he was extremely depressed.

"No, we still have a chance to become permanent employees."

Zhao Xiaoliang was comforting himself rather than Zhao Shitou, even though he had been working hard to find an opportunity to become a formal worker in Chenjia Village.

But he wasn't the only one with this idea; almost every worker recruited by Chenjia Village shared it. As a result, everyone worked very hard, and Zhao Xiaoliang couldn't see even one person slacking off.

Under these circumstances, Zhao Xiaoliang felt that his chances of getting a permanent position were probably very slim.

Even so, Zhao Xiaoliang still harbored a sliver of hope, dreaming that he could become a formal worker in Chenjia Village and enable himself and his family to live a prosperous life...

"We'll definitely get promoted."

Zhao Wan clenched his fists, praying silently in his heart.

Not only Zhao Wan, but also the workers eating in the canteen were extremely uneasy, fearing that Chen Hou would say that the project was over and they would not be allowed to continue working.