There were more and more workshops in the capital, and the number of people seeking a living outside the capital continued to increase. These people needed a place to live. However, in the current capital, most of the workshops didn't provide special accommodation, or there were only a few houses. It was difficult to meet the living needs of a large number of craftsmen.
They didn't specially prepare enough housing mainly because land was precious. If a portion of the land used to build workshops was allocated to build housing, then the scale of the workshop would undoubtedly be reduced. This didn't seem to be cost-effective for the businessmen who invested.
Sometimes, when many craftsmen didn't have a place to live, they would often adopt a strategy of using one house for two purposes. During the day, the people in the workshop would work. When it was dark, they would casually pull out a few planks to live in. The living conditions of these people could be said to be extremely simple, but at least they had a place to live. It was considered good, and it was better than sleeping on the streets.
However, it was more troublesome for some people who had families. It wasn't a problem for one person to make do with living in the workshop, but if they brought their family to live with them, it would be difficult. It was simply unrealistic, and there would even be a considerable safety hazard.
This also led to a phenomenon, and that was, workshops that could provide living conditions had a great advantage when recruiting workers. On the other hand, workshops that couldn't provide living conditions were at a disadvantage when recruiting workers. Even if the wages were higher, it would be difficult to attract craftsmen to work.
Of course, there were also some workshops that would deliberately recruit craftsmen who had a place to live in the capital, and directly reject craftsmen from outside the capital.
Through this phenomenon, Ang Lee felt that he had found a way to solve the living difficulties in the capital. That was to start a movement to encourage workshops to build dormitories. Or, when selling land, the imperial court would offer certain conditions. Those who were willing to build enough dormitories would be given a certain discount on the price of the land, or the small piece of land used to build the dormitories would be given away for free. This would encourage more investors to build enough dormitories, and thus solve the living difficulties of the poor in the capital.
When Ang Lee told his idea to Yan Ruyu, Yan Ruyu praised Ang Lee very much. She felt that Ang Lee's idea was very good and feasible.
"Husband, not only can we offer such conditions when we sell land in the future, but if the existing workshops are willing to build houses, the imperial court should also reward them."
Yan Ruyu said.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "That's right. Madam's words are too good. It should be like this. Now, the problem of the poor in the capital is mainly the problem of the migrant workers. As long as the problem of these migrant workers is solved, there won't be much left. The housing problem in the capital can be considered solved. The people will no longer have to worry about not having a place to live."
At the thought of all the people having a place to live in the future, Ang Lee was very happy. This idea was reasonable and no one could oppose it. Even if there were objections, the imperial court would carry it out. A large number of workshop investors were building houses in their own territory. It wasn't like they were going against anyone. Therefore, when it was carried out, there weren't any practical difficulties. Some people wanted to take advantage of the loopholes, but they couldn't.
Previously, when the imperial court built cheap rental houses, the nobles could let their servants rent them and then sublet them to the poor to earn the price difference. However, these workshop houses obviously didn't meet this condition. The houses that the imperial court was in charge of naturally had a lot of corruption problems. Even if the managers knew that someone was earning the price difference, they generally didn't dare to say anything and just pretended not to know.
The houses in the workshops were prepared for the craftsmen who worked. Outsiders couldn't get in at all. Moreover, this was related to the vital interests of the workshop investors. Naturally, they wouldn't let outsiders use their houses to make money. This was simply daylight robbery. Even the nobles who couldn't be offended couldn't do it. In front of vital interests, anyone would be stimulated.
Therefore, no matter how you looked at it, this idea was very suitable. Since the imperial court would be obstructed from building houses, they might as well break it up and let countless workshops be responsible for building houses for the craftsmen to live for free. As long as all the workshops could solve the housing problem of the craftsmen, then the housing problem in the capital would basically be solved.
Of course, this was only Ang Lee's initial idea. As for how to implement it, he still needed to carefully consider it. In particular, there were many details that needed to be thought through clearly. This was because once there was a mistake, it might bring great losses to the entire plan.
Ang Lee had to discuss these issues with many knowledgeable people. After eating the wild boar meat, Ang Lee was ready to go back and discuss with trusted people how to make a detailed plan and how to deal with resistance.
At this moment, the fragrance of meat was already coming from the valley. At this time, eating meat was the most important thing. Tang Er and Shuang 'er were hungry, and the children in the valley were definitely very greedy. However, because they didn't know that there were so many people here when they caught the wild boar, the wild boar meat didn't seem to be enough to eat. If it wasn't enough, they could only let everyone have a taste.
"Alang, the wild boar meat is ready. Where should we eat it?"
Old Zhao asked.
Ang Lee looked around and said, "Let's eat in this yard! Just set up a big table. Haha! "
After saying that, he walked to a big yard. This yard was the largest and only one in the valley. The rest of the yard was the living area of the wild boar. There was a fence in the middle to prevent the wild boar from going to the place where people gathered and doing harm.
"Go, go, go, what are you looking at? Go back!"
Old Zhao asked people to prepare the food while whispering to the children in the yard. He asked the children to go back to their houses and not stand in the yard.
"Old Zhao, why are you chasing them away? These children must be hungry. Let them all come over!"
Ang Lee said.
Hearing Ang Lee say so, Old Zhao naturally had to let the children come over and stand next to Ang Lee.
"Alang, these children are not sensible and their bodies are not clean. I'm afraid they will dirty your eyes."
Old Zhao said.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "It's okay, it's okay. Anyway, there is enough food. We can't finish it. Let them have a taste. Isn't that good?"
After saying that, he looked at the children. These little guys were of different ages. Some were older, and some were very young. No matter whether they were older or younger, they were all dirty and did not look very good. At first glance, he could tell that they were a little malnourished, or that they ate a little less meat.
Although the Tang Dynasty was getting richer and richer, the wealth of the empire was in the hands of a very small number of people. The prosperity of the empire did not benefit everyone. In other words, 80% of the wealth was divided by a very small number of aristocrats and businessmen, while the remaining 20% was available to the vast majority of the poor. Therefore, the lives of the common people were only a little better than before. It was impossible for them to eat meat at any time and in big mouthfuls. Moreover, people had their own plans. Even if these people made a little money, they would probably think about saving it temporarily and then prepare for a rainy day in the future. Or if they saved a lot of money, they could use it to buy a house and have a fixed home. In short, people who were used to being poor would save a little money even if they had a little money for a while. They would not spend it extravagantly or too much to improve their material lives.
The common people who were used to eating pickled vegetables would feel that their lives had been greatly improved if they could add vegetables and tofu to every meal. They would feel that their lives were better. However, it was still difficult to meet a person's nutritional needs for a day with only these. Without enough nutrition for a long time, a person would become sallow and emaciated, which was the so-called malnourishment.
"Come on, wipe your nose clean."
Ang Lee found that one of the children was still having a runny nose. What was worse was that he did not clean his runny nose. Every time the runny nose dripped down, he would suck it in hard. When the runny nose dripped down, he would suck it in again. It looked really disgusting.
Seeing this, Old Zhao hurried over to help. He asked the children to wash their bodies quickly, especially to clean their noses.
Soon, four or five plates of wild boar meat were served. These were all delicacies cooked in different ways. Each plate was very delicious. Of course, because the ingredients were good enough, these were all wild boar meat. No matter how they were cooked, they would be delicious.
In addition to wild boar meat, wild rabbit meat, wild chicken, and a lot of vegetables were also served. The table was full of twenty or thirty plates. This was a lot more than the dozen plates that Ang Lee had requested. It could be seen that they had put in a lot of effort.
"Not bad, not bad, Shuang 'er, what do you want to eat? Don't be shy! Just put it in the bowl in front of you. "
Ang Lee said.
Shuang 'er was a little embarrassed. She held the chopsticks and didn't know what to do.
Seeing this, Tang Er picked up a lot of delicious food for Shuang 'er and then picked up a lot for himself. In this way, the two children ate happily.
"Shuang 'er, is it delicious?"
Ang Lee asked with a smile.
Shuang 'er's eyes narrowed into slits. She was eating too seriously and couldn't answer, but her eyes were enough to answer.
The two little guys were eating happily. Ang Lee looked back and saw that the children who were cleaning their bodies not far away were all looking over. Some of them were even drooling. Obviously, they also wanted to eat meat, but they also knew that the meat was not for them.
"Meat, meat, meat."
The youngest child opened his mouth several times, obviously wanting to eat. However, Old Zhao went up and tapped the kid's head, telling him to be obedient and not to mess around.
In the end, the kid cried out in grievance. He cried so sadly that no matter how much he scolded, he couldn't stop crying.
"Hahaha! This kid is crying quite fiercely. "
Ang Lee looked at Yan Ruyu with a smile and said, "Madam, believe it or not, I can make him stop crying with just one move."
Yan Ruyu smiled and said, "How would I dare not believe it? It's just a matter of a piece of meat."
"Haha! Madam knows my heart. "
Ang Lee smiled and directly took a plate of wild boar meat over. He said to the child, "Don't cry. If you don't cry, there will be meat to eat. If you cry again, there won't be meat to eat. Choose for yourself!"
This move was naturally very effective. When the kid saw that there was meat to eat, he immediately stopped crying and reached out to grab the meat to eat.
The other older children were naturally restless. However, with Ang Lee standing here, they didn't dare to act rashly.
"Don't fight for it. Everyone take a piece. If it's not enough, there's more on the table."
Ang Lee said with a smile and then went back to eat the wild boar meat.
The size of the wild boar was relatively large. Even if it was an underage wild boar, its size wasn't small. After slaughtering it, it would still be around twenty to thirty jin. With so much meat, it should be enough for these children to enjoy. As for the people working in the valley, there was no other way. They probably wouldn't be able to eat it.
Tang Er and Shuang 'er couldn't eat much at all. Most of the wild boar meat was actually distributed to the children of the poor families. Although there were twenty to thirty jin of meat, these children really could eat. They actually ate it all. Each of them was so full that they couldn't move.
Shuang 'er and Tang Er also ate a lot and were more full, especially Tang Er. Although he ate the least, he still ate 50% more than usual.
"Shuang 'er, you really can eat. I didn't expect that a little girl like you can eat more than me."
Tang Er looked at Shuang 'er in surprise and said.
Shuang 'er smiled awkwardly and stuffed another quail egg into her mouth. Her mouth was full of grease and she was very happy.
In fact, it wasn't that Tang Er couldn't eat as much as Shuang 'er. It was because after Tang Er was full, he didn't want to continue eating. Eating 50% more rice was torture. Shuang' er and these children might not have a bigger appetite than Tang Er, but because it was rare to encounter delicious food that they couldn't eat normally, once they encountered so many delicious foods, they would desperately eat. Even if they were full, they would still eat a few more portions. After this meal, who knows when they would be able to eat such delicious food next time?
Just like the wild beasts in nature, every time they ate, they would eat until they were full. After a meal, they would usually be full for three to five days, or even a week or two before they had the chance to eat again. If they didn't eat more, how could they last for such a long time?
Ang Lee and Yan Ruyu almost didn't eat. They actually watched these children eat and drink. After eating, Ang Lee took the three of them to the valley for a walk. It could be considered as digestion, so that the food in Tang Er and Shuang 'er's stomach could be properly digested.
"My stomach hurts. I can't walk."
Shuang 'er just walked a few steps and couldn't walk anymore. It was obvious that she had eaten too much just now.
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