Chapter 254: Raising Wages
“Alright then, since we’re not in a rush to make money from this city, let’s do it properly. By the way, what do you think of the auction house blueprint? I made a few modifications based on your description of the one in Feng City.”
Yu Luo took the blueprint from Yu Haojie and examined it carefully. She had to admit, when it came to design, her father was a professional.
“It looks much better than the one in Fengcheng. From now on, we’ll hold auctions during the daytime to avoid using open flames for lighting, reducing fire hazards. The roof covering isn’t necessary either—this way, we get more natural light. If it happens to rain, we can just postpone the auction indefinitely. That way, visitors will stay here longer and spend more money.”
Yu Haojie put the blueprint away and glanced at his daughter with surprise, raising an eyebrow. “I never expected my daughter to be so business-minded. Fine, I’ll handle the city’s development plans, but you’ll be in charge of making money.”
“Mm, father has to manage all the people under him, which is already a lot of work. I’ll take care of these smaller matters and handle the planning.”
Three days later, the city gates were fully constructed. The city was divided into an inner city and an outer city, with the outer city spanning over a hundred miles, completely enclosed by walls. The inner city covered more than 200,000 square kilometers, leaving plenty of room for future development—it wouldn’t be something completed in just a year or two.
Yu Luo gathered Zhang Hu, Storm, and the others to discuss their next steps.
“As of now, the coal mining operations are running smoothly. The extracted coal is just enough for our brick kilns, lime kilns, tile kilns, and porcelain kilns. I’m not planning to use the coal for profit yet—after all, with nearly twenty thousand people in our settlement, coal consumption will skyrocket in the winter.
Now that the city walls are done and the crops are planted, we have a few things to take care of before the autumn harvest.”
“Miss, just give the orders! The brothers have plenty of strength, and with nearly twenty thousand people, we’ve got all sorts of skilled workers—cooks, barefoot doctors, bricklayers, carpenters, you name it.”
Over the past month, Yu Luo had Zhang Hu and the others keep an eye on Storm. She had to admit, his leadership was impressive. Among the thousands of men under his command, none were slackers—they worked diligently every day.
This made Yu Luo feel a little guilty.
After all, compared to the exiled families who had followed her here, who earned two taels of silver per month, Storm’s men did much harder labor, yet they only received one tael.
For this reason, Yu Luo, Yu Haojie, and Ye Jiamei sat down and discussed the issue of wages. They decided that an adjustment was necessary.
“The previous month’s wages—did Zhang Hu and Tao Ming distribute them properly?”
“Yes, they were paid in full. The brothers were overjoyed, saying that you and the lord are incredibly trustworthy. The wages were given right on time, and the food is excellent. Back at the mines, we only got two coarse grain buns a day. Now, we at least get one meat dish daily—everyone is beyond happy!”
“As long as they’re satisfied. Once our vegetables, grain, and livestock operations expand, everyone’s quality of life will improve even further. I called you here today to discuss raising wages.”
Storm was taken aback. “Miss, are you saying you want to increase our wages?”
“Yes. From now on, I plan to raise each worker’s pay by another 100 wen per month. If everyone continues working hard, I’ll keep increasing it. Also, I’m raising your monthly salary to 20 taels. The 300 men under your command will now receive 8 taels per month, and the lower-level supervisors will get 3 taels each.”
“Miss! That—that’s too much!”
Before Storm could even express his gratitude, Zhang Hu couldn’t sit still. He immediately interrupted, his face full of concern.
Setting aside Storm’s salary increase, just raising wages for the 300 trained fighters was a huge expense. Previously, they only required 300 taels per month, but now it had jumped eightfold to over 2,000 taels. That meant an additional 20,000 taels per year—without even factoring in the rest of the workers!
Yu Luo wasn’t angry at Zhang Hu’s reaction. She knew he was sincerely looking out for her.
But keeping people loyal required more than just kindness—money was the real key.
“Zhang Hu, I’ve thought this through. As long as everyone stays loyal and works hard, I’m willing to increase wages by not just eight times, but even a hundred times if necessary.
Don’t worry. In two months, when the vegetables, watermelons, and grapes are ready for harvest, we’ll have an abundance of food and profits.”
If Yu Luo had kept this to herself, Zhang Hu might not have reacted so strongly. But after hearing her mention watermelons and grapes, he felt even more doubtful.
“Forget whether or not the watermelons will even bear fruit—those grapevines likely won’t produce anything this year either. Miss, just be careful not to overextend yourself. Providing food for 10,000 people is already an incredible feat. No one else could even afford to take care of them.”
This time, it wasn’t Zhang Hu speaking but Zhang Xiaoliang, who was blunt as ever.
Upon hearing their concerns, Storm, who had been overjoyed at the prospect of higher wages, suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
“Miss, they’re right—the wages might be a bit too high. Perhaps we should lower them? No one would complain.”
Yu Luo thought for a moment before shaking her head. “No. Since I’ve already made the decision, I won’t go back on my word. And Storm, don’t take Zhang Hu and his brother’s words to heart—they’re just being realistic.
That said, I do have the ability to pay you all. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be handing out a single copper.”
“Yes, yes, of course! Miss is right, and Zhang Hu’s brothers are just speaking the truth. If it weren’t for Miss, many of us would have starved to death by now.”
“Alright. Besides increasing wages for the general workforce, I’m also giving a raise to the coal miners. Their job is the dirtiest and most exhausting, so their pay will increase to 2 taels per month. The kiln workers will get 1.5 taels.”
“Understood. On behalf of everyone, I thank you and the lord!”
“One more thing—I need you all to complete the buildings on these blueprints within two months. Do you think that’s feasible?”
As she spoke, Yu Luo handed Zhang Hu a stack of architectural plans.
At first, Zhang Hu looked at the designs for the shops and didn’t seem particularly surprised. But when he saw the blueprints for the auction house and the dormitories with heated floors, his expression changed drastically.
“This… this is…”
“These are the dormitories I’m building for the workers. Right now, most of them are single men, so shared housing isn’t an issue.
By getting these built quickly, we can ensure they have a place to stay before the winter sets in. The wilderness is one of the harshest places in the cold season—those tents won’t be enough to keep them warm.
These dormitories will have underground heating. Every day, coal will be burned in the tunnels beneath the floors, keeping the rooms warm so no one will freeze.”
