bestfiction Chapter 408: Speaking of Coal Mines
Chapter 408: Speaking of Coal Mines
"Girl Yue, I'm telling you the truth. We can't spare even ten people, let alone fifty."
Li Mengyue was not disappointed, this was within her expectations.
You have to know that the area of the reservoir she wants to build is not small, and widening the river and connecting it to seven villages is another huge project.
Not to mention in this backward era, even in the post-era with advanced technology and various tools, it would take at least more than a month to complete such a large project.
It can be seen how tight the two months she gave was and the possibility of completion was zero.
But when she assigned the tasks and explained the construction period, all seven village heads and villagers knew that it could not be completed.
But they knew clearly what the outcome would be and raised this issue with her. When she did not give in and relaxed the time limit, none of the seven village heads and villagers raised any objection. Instead, they tried their best to cooperate.
Li Mengyue was fully aware of all of this, but she had no choice. She wanted to continue with the next task and ensure that the refugees in the two prefectures could survive. She had to do this.
Because only when the river channel on the Qingshan Town side is open and the reservoir is built, there will be a successful model, allowing people above to see that building reservoirs is not all about labor and money, but can also bring unexpected results.
The reason why she didn't go to County Magistrate Yang and ask him to dredge the entire river in Wuning County was because she knew that even if she said it, it wouldn't have much effect.
Even though County Magistrate Yang was a good official who never oppressed the people, he always cared about the people.
But no matter what, he would not let all the people in the county directly participate in digging the canal. Even if he was willing, he could not afford so much wages.
Even though she didn't know the specific tax amount in Wuning County, it would definitely not be much. In this case, the county's fiscal revenue could not support the construction of water conservancy projects. How could he agree?
Another point is that she doesn't just want Wuning County to build water conservancy projects, but wants the seven counties of Qingshan Prefecture to do so.
But she knew that it couldn't be done all at once and she needed to take it slowly.
The reservoirs in the seven villages are a benchmark and an example that gives people hope, so we must do our best.
She would not be stingy with money and food. After all, only by revitalizing Wuning County first could the surrounding counties see hope.
Now she has no shortage of food and has a source of income. Even if the share of the profits she gets from the Qian family is not enough, she can still withdraw one million taels from the Qian family's bank for emergency use.
Thinking of this, Li Mengyue felt a sense of urgency. She couldn't wait any longer and had to use the refugees as soon as possible.
"Grandpa Village Chief, you must select fifty people. I have another important task for them to do."
"Girl Yue, it's over here at the reservoir."
"Grandpa Village Chief, please listen to me first. I can tell you for sure that this winter will be several times colder than previous years and will last longer. Everyone knows that the most difficult thing about winter is not only the lack of food, but also the lack of heating."
"Compared to previous years, life in our village and the other six villages has improved a little, but it's just enough to fill our stomachs. Even so, if we don't stock up enough food and firewood before winter comes, I'm afraid many people won't survive."
After Li Mengyue said this, not only Village Chief Li, but also the other six village chiefs were frightened and couldn't believe it.
It’s not that they didn’t believe what Li Mengyue said, they just believed it too much.
But their lives are only a little better now. The key point is that they have just experienced a locust plague. If another natural disaster comes, they don’t know what will happen.
"Yue girl, let's notify the villagers to stock up on firewood. We must store enough firewood for heating before winter comes."
As he spoke, Village Chief Li stood up and walked out. The other six village chiefs also stood up and prepared to go back to ask the villagers to stock up firewood.
"Village leaders, please don't be impatient. I haven't finished yet."
At this time, Village Chief Li and the other six village chiefs stopped. Village Chief Li in particular felt a little embarrassed. He just remembered what Li Mengyue had said about picking fifty people.
He was so anxious to ask the villagers to collect firewood that he forgot this important thing, so he went back.
"Girl Yue, I'm afraid I still cannot agree with your suggestion to withdraw fifty people. We are already short of manpower. If we lose another fifty people, we will definitely not be able to complete the task of building the reservoir. And now we have to get firewood. I'm afraid everyone won't even have time to sleep."
Li Mengyue looked at Village Chief Li, then at the other six village chiefs, and seeing that no one spoke up first, she agreed to select fifty people.
Then she realized that she had pushed the big guy too hard, which was against her original intention.
No, she couldn't go on like this, otherwise everyone would be exhausted and she wouldn't have anywhere to cry.
"Grandpa Village Chief, listen to me. If the fifty people selected really have important things to do, they will be paid ten cents a day."
"Miss Li, this is not a matter of money. It's just that we are short of manpower." Village Chief Ji said helplessly.
"I know all of this. Aren't we already trying to find a solution? You don't have to worry about the manpower issue. I'm afraid you might even think there are too many people when the time comes."
"What do you mean, Miss Li? Why do you say that?" Village Chief Wang asked.
"Let me first explain why we need fifty people, and then I'll talk about the problem of having too many people."
After hearing this, the seven village chiefs had no objection, although they had a lot of things to do.
But they know that Li Mengyue is in control of the general direction, and they know that if they want to live a good life in the future, they can only follow Li Mengyue's footsteps.
Anyway, they also knew exactly when they had this belief, but once they were convinced that Li Mengyue was the person who could lead everyone to wealth, they no longer had any doubts or were unwilling to deny it.
Li Mengyue was concerned about the refugees at the city gate and didn't want to waste any more time, so she told them about the coal mine.
"Grandpa Village Chief, you know, I bought the small hill in our village and the land at the foot of the hill."
"Of course, the land deed was issued by my government. Not only that, the county magistrate also gave me an extra 500 acres of land."
After Village Chief Li finished speaking, several village chiefs nearby took a breath. They knew that Li Mengyue had thousands of acres of land, but it was either wasteland or small hills. Fruit trees were planted on the small hills, and the wasteland at the foot of the hills was used to raise ducks. As for the 500 acres of land, it was said that they were all planted with medicinal herbs.
But even so, none of them took it to heart.
Because there are also a lot of wasteland in their village, which no one has bought and has been left overgrown with weeds. They also hope that someone will buy the wasteland in their village to increase the village's income, but they also know that it is impossible, so they can only envy Village Chief Li.