Peasant Woman's Decreed Life as a Wife

Chapter 2389: Chapter 2386: No One Backing Down

"Although their goods are not many, they are expensive. When prices are high, one can easily take advantage of it."

"Minister Deng, are you so sure that the goods from Great Chu cannot compete with those from Beirong?"

"Isn’t the Spirit Soap that Beirong previously brought out evidence? It’s not been long, and they have already seized the opportunity to learn how to sell to us."

"However, there is one point that Minister Deng seems to have overlooked." Li Chongjin did not react differently to the opposition; he remained calm and said lightly, "The territory of Beirong implies a lack of raw materials, and they even need to trade with us, Great Chu, to purchase suitable daily necessities."

"And if we control the people of Beirong, even if Beirong learns quickly, it would only affect a small part of Great Chu’s customers. Compared to this, naturally, Great Chu has the advantage." Li Chongjin retorted.

Grand Tutor Deng was at a loss for words. Indeed, he hadn’t considered this point. He gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, let’s not speak of foreign merchants. Can our own merchants in Great Chu not steal business from the government workshops?"

"This indeed needs thorough discussion." Li Chongjin did not argue further.

Grand Tutor Deng squinted with satisfaction, unwilling to give up.

The court was embroiled in endless debate.

Meanwhile, Ye Muyu was quite idle, having delegated many tasks to the stewards below.

With cooperative partners, there was no shortage of taels of silver.

Her orders were simple: all workshops in Yonghe should hire short-term laborers, not require contracts, with wages paid every half month.

This was determined based on some local situations.

Ye Muyu had people inquire. In the county, genuine short-term laborers generally settled payments daily.

But workshops couldn’t afford that; they needed to handle shipments, sales, accounts, and wage payments consistently to avoid breaking the financial chain.

However, because her recruitment was too novel, many were hesitant to try. One couldn’t blame the people, as local gentry owing silver was a common occurrence.

The people, having been deceived too many times, naturally hesitated to accept work easily.

But in the county, for some laborers, getting paid every half-month was quite common, unless they had been working at someone else’s shop for over a decade, had signed contracts, and the shop owner was a local with a good reputation—they would get paid monthly.

Ye Muyu could also choose to have the people sign long-term labor contracts with her, but the treatment for long-term laborers was noticeably poor, and unfair to most ordinary people.

Her original intention was to do good and gradually change the framework, so she couldn’t miss such a good opportunity, especially since she had already tried this in the capital with quite good results.

Naturally, a new employment contract emerged.

Though there would be troubles, Ye Muyu had Wang Qing display his family background; when necessary, connections must be leveraged to intimidate the petty villains.

Moreover, every shop had cooperative partners who signed contracts for at least a year.

Things were complex and plentiful.

Wang Qing was busy every day drinking tea outside.

And news sent to the capital was increasingly abundant, with stacks of envelopes.

Ye Muyu kept all the letters, giving advice after reading them, and then had nothing else to do.

In fact, Wang Qing was quite capable, and Ye Muyu was willing to delegate power; she read the letters mainly to understand the situation.