"Your Highness, my youngest daughter has grown up to be quite good-looking..."
Zhou Huairen said boldly that, in theory, the girls in their family basically belonged to the Eastern Palace, but Li Chengqian had ignored them over the years, which was considered a grace for them, allowing them to marry on their own.
Now that my son has gone to the Imperial City Office, if my daughter can be a maid for His Highness, and if she gets lucky in the future and becomes a concubine, it will be very helpful to my son.
Li Xiang wanted to refuse as soon as he opened his mouth. Life in the palace was not something that ordinary girls could live. These girls in the palace were not happy originally. But Qian Ping next to him shook his head slightly. Li Xiang considered the current situation again. If Li Xiang refused, Zhou Huairen would probably have other ideas in his mind.
"Pick a day to send it to the East Palace!"
Li Xiang finally realized how the feudal landlords bullied men and women. Take Zhou Huairen's family for example. He was originally the steward of Empress Changsun, and all the family members belonged to Empress Changsun. After Empress Changsun's death, Li Chengqian inherited this status, and now it is Li Xiang's turn.
So in this era, if one does not study hard and become an official, he will never be able to break out of this vicious circle in his entire life. Take Zhou Huairen's youngest son for example. Although he is now an official of the ninth rank, he was not selected through the imperial examination, but was appointed by Li Xiang. So he will be a slave in Li Xiang's family all his life. Even if he has a son, he will not be able to escape this vicious circle unless his son can pass the imperial examination.
There was a concept of baoyi slaves in the Qing Dynasty. Although there was no such concept in the Tang Dynasty, such things were everywhere, and many people were scrambling to become slaves, because even being a slave was much more comfortable than being an ordinary person.
"Go outside the city."
After explaining the things here, Li Xiang got on the carriage and went outside the city to inspect the workshops.
Li Xiang left ten people for Zhou Huairen. These ten people were also exchanged by Li Xiang in the system. In the future, in addition to helping Zhou Huairen, they also have to watch carefully to get the treasure.
Li Xiang's first stop was the wine-making workshop, where he could smell the aroma of wine from afar.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
Niu Si and Hu Si were patrolling nearby on horseback. When they saw Li Xiang's carriage coming, they hurried over to pay their respects.
"Nothing happened these days, right?"
Li Xiang knew what was going on here. Half of the people in Chang'an City were keeping an eye on this place. This place was like a money printing machine, bringing Li Xiang hundreds of strings of cash every day.
"In reply to your Highness, ever since the Cui family suffered a loss here and your Highness sealed off the Fuyun Restaurant, although there are still some sneaky people nearby, they are all more than five miles away. We have ignored them according to your Highness's orders."
Niu Si answered honestly that they deployed a large number of patrol personnel nearby every day, and as long as the other party did not enter our cordon, they would pretend that they had not been there.
After entering the wine-making workshop, Li Xiang saw hundreds of people working here.
These people are not the craftsmen that Li Xiang exchanged from the system. Those craftsmen have now gone to various places. They want to select some places suitable for wine making in various places. Li Xiang does not want to sell wine only in Chang'an City.
Except for ten craftsmen who stayed in Chang'an, the rest had already set off. The people making wine were all slaves and death row prisoners bought by Li Xiang.
"Your Highness, please stop."
When Li Xiang was about to move forward, Hu Si stopped him. Some of these people were prisoners of war, and some were death row prisoners, so their safety was difficult to say.
A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Li Xiang also understood this principle, so he clapped his hands on the spot and asked everyone to gather together. There were about a hundred people in total.
"Your work enthusiasm doesn't seem high, so today I'm changing the rules here. Starting today, I'll pay you all your salaries. Of course, I know you can't spend the money since you can't leave this walled compound. But you can register your family's address, and I'll send someone to deliver the money every month. If you're alone, I'll put the money in your hands. On the last day of each month, whether you want to drink or find women, you can use the money in your hands to satisfy your needs. But no one can leak a single word of this, or no one will survive."
Li Xiang also realized that these people working here had no idea of tomorrow, so most of them were just idling around. This was also one of the reasons why the quality of the wine could not be improved, so Li Xiang had to let them see hope.
"Besides that, starting from today, as long as you behave well within three months, if you want to see your families, I will bring them with you if they agree. After ten years, if anyone is willing to leave here, I will give you freedom."
After Li Xiang finished these two sentences, the people at the scene immediately became excited. Their lives were originally dark and there was no hope at all, but they did not expect that Li Xiang could actually set them free.
"Who are you? Can what you say come true?"
Someone brave enough to say something, and was immediately whipped in the face.
"How dare you! This is His Royal Highness the Emperor's eldest grandson."
Niu San adjusted his whip. No one, including the person being beaten, showed any disgust. Instead, they all knelt down and kowtowed. His Royal Highness the Emperor's eldest grandson is the Emperor's grandson, and he is a true member of the Tian family. A word of his is a nail.
"Build some separate sheds nearby, and those who perform well can live in them. Their daily meals will be divided into different levels, and their salaries should be arranged accordingly. We can't let them live in a murky environment. We need to let them know that hard work will lead to progress."
Li Xiang pointed to the open space in the distance, and Niu Si wrote down everything.
"All slaves and condemned prisoners who come here from now on will follow the rules I just mentioned."
Niu Si's hands never stopped, and he was recording Li Xiang's words for half an hour. They all understood that after hearing these words from Li Xiang, the enthusiasm for work in each workshop would definitely increase.
The second stop of Li Xiang's inspection was the pig farm, which was also converted from a farm. You should know that in the Tang Dynasty society, the status of pigs was not high. Only ordinary people ate pork, and high-ranking officials ate beef and mutton.
Li Xiang came from modern society and naturally knew the value of pigs, so he asked people to start raising pigs. When our restaurant opens, these things will come in handy. No matter what business we do, we must make it the best in the country.