The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 429

Seeing that no one had any objections, Chu Li began to get down to business.

"The wages for coal miners start at 500 cash per person per day, and will increase depending on their performance. This wage is twice that of other coal miners in the market. If you have any objections, please raise them."

After saying this, Chu Li stopped and waited for feedback from the others.

Among all workers, coal miners earned very high wages, generally between two and three hundred coins per day. After all, coal mining was a highly profitable industry, and mining was a high-risk profession in those days.

Of course, these wages were all official. In reality, many Shanxi merchants used a lot of unpaid labor to save costs, and they were lucky if they could even get enough to eat.

When Zhou Chu and his group first entered Datong City, they encountered the Wang family's evil servants capturing escaped undocumented workers.

For those Shanxi merchants, every unlicensed worker could save them a lot of money. Coal mining was an industry that required a large number of people, and the biggest cost was labor.

Zhou Chu only increased the wages of the workers who would go down into the mine to about twice that of other coal miners. The key point was not the amount of wages, but that the money should actually be paid to the workers.

This is the most important thing. Once there's too much money, it's inevitable that some people will try to take advantage of it and deceive their superiors.

"This is unnecessary. Coal miners' wages are already very high. As long as they are paid in full, that's fine."

One of the princes couldn't help but say.

"Yes, as long as we can make sure that the money gets into their hands, these coal miners will have no problem supporting their families."

Another prince echoed this.

Some of them had been in Zhangjia Village for many days, while others were enjoying themselves in Shaoxing City. In any case, many of them had realized that Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, cared a great deal about the common people.

When they said this, they naturally had to consider the workers' perspective and try to persuade Chu Li, since this involved their vital interests; if they paid the workers more, their profits would be less.

“I don’t think it’s too high. It’s dangerous for these coal miners to go down into the mine. If a mining accident happens, their whole family will lose their breadwinner. Moreover, there is a lot of dust in the coal mine. Even without a mining accident, many coal miners are prone to health problems. This price is very reasonable.”

These words were spoken by Zhu Xianrong. These days, he has been working in Zhangjia Village every day and has thoroughly experienced the hardships of the people at the bottom of society. He never imagined that the lives of the people at the bottom of society could be so difficult.

Things he used to discard in his life were extremely precious to these people; every meal was hard-earned.

These past few days have made Zhu Xianrong begin to examine his past self. He realized that he was truly a young man who didn't know the taste of sorrow and forced himself to write poems about it.

Only when he truly faced the lives of these ordinary people did Zhu Xianrong realize how pretentious he had been and how affected his brothers and sisters had been.

Zhu Xianrong has been thinking a lot these days, thinking about the rulers of all dynasties. In their eyes, these real common people have never been considered common people. In the eyes of the dynastic rulers, the landlords and gentry are their common people.

Aside from the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Emperor, the only other person Zhu Xianrong knew who could truly see the suffering of ordinary people was Lord Zhou Chu.

It was precisely because of these things that Zhu Xianrong admired Zhou Chu even more. If it was admiration before, it was now more of a worship. He even wanted to follow Zhou Chu and learn from him, just like Hu Zongxian and others.

This thought came from the bottom of his heart. He saw a lot in Zhou Chu. Besides the halo that originally belonged to Zhou Chu, there were many qualities that Zhu Xianrong couldn't quite explain. These qualities made him and the other students, including Hu Zongxian, want to follow Zhou Chu.

“That’s right, the price isn’t high. Each of these coal miners has a family to support. Although their wages are higher than other workers, they face great danger.”

Zhu Siying also stepped forward and spoke.

After Zhu Siying finished speaking, several other princesses stood up and echoed her words, including Princess Mu Yunping from the Mu Prince's Mansion.

Of course, many people disagreed, and for a time, everyone was caught up in a debate.

Seeing that the argument was getting more and more heated, Chu Li clapped her hands to signal everyone to be quiet.

"Gentlemen, regarding the issue of wages for coal miners, Lord Zhou's intention is that there is no room for negotiation. If you find this unacceptable, you may return your money in full."