Chapter Forty-Five: Wages Are Too High

After explaining everything clearly to Erniu, Xiao Ding took a new sheet of paper and began to sketch the plan for the house he was about to build.

This house was intended only as a temporary residence; once the properly planned homes were constructed, it would serve as a warehouse. Therefore, it only needed to be built on the site designated for the warehouse in the planning map.

Xiao Ding calculated the rooms required and found he needed eight in total: one for Tian Dabao and Mrs. Li, one for Xiao E and Xiao Zhu, one for Xiao Fu, one for himself and Erniu, one for Tang Yunzhi, another for Xiao Ya and Zhao Laixi, plus a kitchen and a stable.

For the time being, there was no need to build a separate bathhouse; the kitchen could simply be made larger, and a small room could be partitioned within it. The family used bathing tubs, and it was convenient to heat water in the kitchen.

For building materials, Xiao Ding planned to buy finished bricks and tiles in town, which would save a lot of time. Making adobe bricks with molds would be far too time-consuming.

He had no worries about timber; his own wasteland was full of it, and the western mountain forests contained countless trees—all unclaimed land, free for use. In this era, the land was vast and people few; no one managed the forests, and no one understood the concept of reckless logging.

For clay, Tian Dabao mentioned that villagers usually dug at the base of the mountain behind the village, choosing soft soil and digging downward until they reached the yellow clay layer. Yellow clay was quite sticky and ideal for building houses. Xiao Ding could follow this method without concern.

As for doors and windows, Xiao Ding thought of Zhao Laixi, who was learning carpentry from Second Uncle. Zhao Laixi could make them, and Xiao Ding could lend a hand.

There was no glass in this era; windows were covered with paper. Xiao Ding knew that the main ingredient of glass was silicon dioxide, just like sand. In fact, sand could be heated to a certain temperature to liquefy into glass, though not as pure. Unfortunately, there were no furnaces or crucibles in this era, and wood fires couldn't reach the necessary temperature.

The primary reason for building this house was to survive the winter. For heating, Xiao Ding recalled the earthen kangs used in the northern regions of later times—a convenient and practical method. He decided every room could have a heated kang for winter warmth.

However, with eight adjoining rooms—six for residents—if each had a kang, plus the kitchen, would that mean seven chimneys?

To have all the smoke go through one or two chimneys required advanced construction techniques to ensure proper airflow and prevent smoke from escaping. Xiao Ding was certain he lacked such skills, and the villagers had never seen a kang, let alone built one.

After some thought, Xiao Ding decided to construct a fire wall along the rear of the seven rooms, allowing the smoke from each fire to merge into the wall, then vent through three chimneys outside. The fire wall could extend into the stable, ensuring it wouldn’t be too cold for the animals.

By now, Erniu had finished washing and returned to the shelter. She took a bronze mirror from the thatched hut, along with yesterday’s share of rouge, powder, and jewelry...

The little wolf, Grey, had also arrived at the shelter entrance, wagging its tail at Xiao Ding. It hadn’t gotten wet last night, since Xiao Ding had dug a hole in the haystack for it to use as a den.

Seeing the sketch was nearly complete, Xiao Ding left the shelter to wash up in the backyard.

In the yard, he found the little red horse and the donkey soaked from the rain. Xiao Ding hurried back inside to fetch a few dry cloths and wiped their wet fur.

After breakfast, Xiao Ding decided to head to town to order bricks and tiles, and to consult a mason about building the house.

Tian Dabao said that Uncle Niu Er from the village was actually a mason; most villagers sought him out for building.

There were no professional construction teams in this era. Villagers would usually invite one or several masons to lead and supervise, with everyone else pitching in. Rural work wasn’t difficult; after a few times, everyone knew how to do it. Some families didn’t even need to hire help—if they had enough brothers, they could do all the work themselves.

Although Xiao Ding knew Uncle Niu Er, he didn’t know where he lived. Tian Dabao said he would take care of finding him.

Xiao Ding looked at the muddy road after the rain and then at Tian Dabao’s lame leg. He shook his head and said, “Let Xiao Fu take me to Uncle Niu Er’s house to discuss.”

Xiao Fu led Xiao Ding to Uncle Niu Er’s house. Uncle Niu Er had just finished breakfast and warmly welcomed them inside.

His home was a typical adobe house, simply furnished and clearly not wealthy.

Xiao Ding explained his purpose, and Uncle Niu Er was delighted to have work. It was the slack season; villagers only farmed the thin fields south of the village, with just one crop a year, so after the autumn harvest, they were idle. Some went to the town for work, others to Master Xue’s estate as temporary laborers, but Master Xue already had many permanent hands and servants, so demand for temp workers was low.

Xiao Ding asked about the daily wages for masons and laborers. Uncle Niu Er replied honestly, “Here, masons get twenty-five coins a day, ordinary laborers twenty coins.”

Xiao Ding thought to himself how cheap labor was in this era—twenty coins a day barely bought a pound of pork, no wonder poverty was so widespread.

“Here’s the thing, Uncle Niu Er: I won’t just be building this one house. After this, I have many more houses to build, plus walls, courtyards, roads, reclaiming wasteland and mountains—there’s plenty of work, enough to keep you busy for at least half a year...”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, wonderful! If you pay a bit less, it’s fine. I’ve always gotten along well with your father...” Uncle Niu Er was overjoyed at so much work.

“Uncle Niu Er, you misunderstood me—I don’t mean to lower your wages. Hear me out...” Xiao Ding quickly explained.

“Ah, go on then...” Uncle Niu Er looked at Xiao Ding in confusion.

“My point is, there’s a lot of work and I’ll need many hands. I’d like you to take charge and act as supervisor, help me recruit masons and laborers—the more, the better. I’m not afraid to spend money. I’ll pay you fifty coins a day, other masons forty, and ordinary laborers thirty-five.”

“That much? That’s too high! Even the county pays less than that!” Uncle Niu Er couldn’t believe it and wondered if Xiao Ding was acting foolish again.

“It’s not too much. We’re all neighbors, and I won’t treat anyone unfairly for helping me. But I do have requirements for the higher wages,” said Xiao Ding.

“Whatever they are, just tell me...” Uncle Niu Er said.

“First, the quality must be guaranteed. Second, the deadline must be met,” said Xiao Ding.

“Don’t worry, absolutely no problem!” Uncle Niu Er promised, beating his chest.