Chapter 71: Autumn Wind (I)
The people who came to ask for the horses talked a lot, but they couldn't even get into Huo Chong's donkey farm. Not to mention calling the government, they didn't even have evidence to prove their identity.
Seeing that this group of scammers had such limited abilities, Huo Chong was somewhat disappointed and had someone stop them outside the donkey farm while he continued to deal with the affairs of the donkey farm.
Rabbit meat has been distributed to everyone. What remains is to re-determine the amount of sunflower oil to be used based on the planting conditions of sunflowers this year. Last year, a total of more than 20 acres of sunflowers were planted. I don’t know if it’s because the seeds were not carefully selected or the planting method was not good. In short, one acre of land can only produce less than 200 kilograms of sunflower seeds. On average, one acre of sunflower can only produce 60 kilograms of oil.
Although a pound of rapeseed oil is sold for 50 coins on the market, 60 pounds of sunflower oil can barely be counted as three taels of silver. It is more profitable than farming, but it is still far from what Huo Chong expected. If possible, Huo Chong expects one acre of sunflowers to produce 100 pounds of oil.
Huo Chong was afraid of something going wrong, so he didn't dare to sell the sunflower oil that had never been seen in the area. He could only consume the oil himself. The food provided to the canteen naturally used more sunflower oil.
After some arrangements, the canteen's menu was adjusted to eat fried foods such as fried dough sticks and vegetable dumplings instead of steamed bread in the morning. Lunch also had to include a few stir-fried dishes.
Of course, this is not just talk. That night, golden pancakes with a browned surface were spread out in the canteen. Because of the abundant use of oil and the aroma of chopped Shandong green onions, all the employees, farmers, and hired workers who came to the canteen to eat kept drooling.
The staff in charge of directing the queue maintained order while looking at the chefs eagerly like the guys who came to get food. The chefs spread the pancakes according to the method taught by Huo Chong while looking at Huo Chong anxiously.
Huo Chong was also exhausted , so he gave up his seat to a master chef and said to everyone with a smile: "Just use oil like this. Without so much oil, the golden silk cake will not taste good."
Zhang Tieshan, the head cook, asked anxiously, "Master Huo , if we use oil like this, what will we do if we don't have enough oil?"
"Let's do it for everyone these days, and we'll talk about other things after a few days." Huo Chong replied.
Dinner had just finished here, and the employees and hired workers of various levels who ate in the cafeteria left satisfied. The gatekeeper ran over to report to Huo Chong, "Master Huo, those troublemakers went to the government office."
"Let them go!" Huo Chong said with a smile. If these people want to sue, then that's great. As the saying goes, the gate of the government office faces south, and if you have a reason but no money, don't come in. If they are willing to spend money to sue, Huo Chong will not lose anything.
The next morning, before daybreak, the oil pan was already set up. The dough that had been fermented the night before was taken out, first dipped in oil and rolled, then cut into strips with a knife dipped in oil, two strips of dough were twisted together, the two ends were pinched off, and put into the oil pan. With a crackling sound, the fermented dough gradually expanded and floated out of the oil from under the oil pan.
The dough sticks are fried thoroughly, cooled to an edible temperature, and paired with pickles and porridge, which makes them particularly delicious.
The employees and workers seemed to be unaccustomed to this high-fat food, but Huo Chong enjoyed it very much. For a moment, he even felt like he was back in the 21st Century Breakfast Shop.
After breakfast, I finally felt the fullness of my stomach. Ever since returning to this bird era, Huo Chong always felt that his appetite seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, but his stomach was bloated and he still felt hungry. The satisfaction and fullness brought by the high-fat and high-salt food last night and this morning were so comfortable.
During the morning meeting, the foremen who had eaten the same breakfast looked refreshed. Huo Chong arranged the next work plan with satisfaction, especially emphasizing the standardization of various work orders.
After hearing Huo Chong's story about the accident in Zhangdian where the rabbit killing almost led to the extermination of the rabbit farm, most of the foremen here began to condemn the unreliability of the people in charge.
Huo Chong waved his hand. "As long as there is a possibility of error, it is only a matter of time. I want everyone to complete the work order and sign for review. It doesn't mean that there will be no mistakes. But after a mistake is made, you will know where it is. Once you know where the mistake is, you can fix it."
"Mr. Huo, we will be careful." A foreman said immediately.
Huo Chong answered decisively: "If you are careful, you will handle the work order carefully."
Now everyone was silent. After a while, a foreman whispered, "Master Huo, we don't know many words."
Huo Chong did not give these guys any chance to shirk their responsibilities. "Since you don't know many words, let's hold a night school to teach them how to read. Also, you must learn all the words written on the worksheet. You can use those words to write the worksheet, and you will understand it at a glance!"
But even after Huo Chong had said this, some people still wanted to refute him. Huo Chong smiled and said, "Everyone can become a foreman. Can it be difficult for everyone to recognize a few words? I think everyone can do it!"
The foremen were barely suppressed here, but the gatekeeper came running to report, "Master Huo, Captain Li is here."
"Please come in." Huo Chong replied. Looking at the guard's back, Huo Chong was a little confused. Could it be that the Qing government really came to make things difficult for these unruly people?
When Captain Li saw Huo Chong, he was very polite. "Master Huo, yesterday a few hooligans came to the government office and sued you for harboring stolen goods."
Huo Chong just asked Li to sit down and didn't answer. Li continued, "Master Huo, Magistrate Lu sent me here to ask you how you want to resolve this matter."
This statement is really interesting. Huo Chong asked in return: "I wonder how Magistrate Lu thinks this matter should be resolved?"
Captain Li sighed, "County Magistrate Lu said that this matter concerns Mr. Huo's reputation. It's best to handle it impartially."
"Official business?" Huo Chong was very surprised by this.
There are many rules for handling official affairs in the government. It can mean exiling a person three thousand miles away from home if he sues an official. It can also mean dismissing an official who has behaved badly.
As for how the Qing Dynasty law actually explained the matter, it depended on which articles the government was going to choose as the basis for the verdict. If Huo Chong felt that the case was not appropriate, he would continue to file a complaint with the prefecture government until the verdict was overturned or made into an ironclad case.
There are many twists and turns in this process. But there is one thing that is correct. The officials of the Qing Dynasty basically eat up the plaintiff and then the defendant, and they must squeeze the plaintiff and the defendant dry.
Thinking of this, Huo Chong said to Captain Li, "Captain Li, please take me to see Magistrate Lu. Those unruly people framed me, I can't let them succeed!"
