However, she did not want to accept everyone who came to settle in Hongshupo without any conditions; there had to be certain requirements for their character.
Living in the same village, if even one or two people had bad character, they would disturb the entire village, making it chaotic and unpleasant.
However, Du Min mentioned that those who had previously participated in the well-digging fundraising also wished to move their entire families to Hongshupo.
Because they could use the well for a long time, moving there would make life much more convenient. Furthermore, the young mistress of Hongshupo was actually planting trees in Hongshupo, and these trees had actually survived. This shocked them immensely.
They heard that Hongshupo was also planning to try growing crops, and they increasingly believed that this miracle would happen.
With such development momentum, Hongshupo would surely become better and better in the future. These investors in the well were more far-sighted than ordinary people, so they decisively chose to move to Hongshupo to reside.
Du Min tallied the numbers: a total of four households, including Deng Dalong's family and Xiao Huazi's family from Hongliu Village, Wang Dafa's family from Caomiao Village, and Zhou Donggua's family from Huangsha Village.
The water from the well in Huangsha Village was decreasing, while Zhou Donggua could bring back half a bucket of clean water from Hongshupo daily. Li Guaizi's arrogant demeanor had been thoroughly suppressed.
Zhou Donggua said he was moving to Hongshupo to live, and Li Guaizi dared not voice any objection.
Bai Sheng originally disliked Li Guaizi immensely, but fortunately, Zhou Donggua was a good person and could keep Li Guaizi in check, so she did not interfere.
The new residents were still located west of Lu Ye's house, adjacent to the homes of the seven members of the planting team. Bai Sheng still provided them with bamboo and wooden planks, taking IOUs.
Considering that Li Qiang and Lu Fengshou had been behaving well recently, Bai Sheng also lent them a considerable amount of bamboo and wooden planks, having them build their houses uniformly on the west side.
There were a septic tank and latrines on the east side, so Bai Sheng planned to plant some trees nearby to cultivate a forest, and then plant crops outside the forest, making fertilization more convenient.
A path would be laid from the doorstep to the latrine, with maple trees planted on both sides of the path.
The new families in Hongshupo worked during the day and built their houses at night. They were all building their new homes bit by bit. Although it was arduous, everyone felt incredibly happy in their hearts.
Wang Dafa from Caomiao Village had previously run a small business in town and possessed some business acumen. Bai Sheng planned for him to help manage the various products of Hongshupo in the future, providing him with a livelihood.
Currently, for Bai Sheng, the most important tasks were planting trees and growing crops. Planting trees could protect against sandstorms and safeguard the crops.
And the larger her grain business became and the longer it lasted, the more people would suspect the source of the grain. She had to plant grain as soon as possible to legitimize the grain from her spatial dimension.
According to Bai Sheng's tree-planting method, most of the trees planted by Yang Ming survived. Bai Sheng planned to expand the planting area.
First, windbreak forests needed to be planted. The trees for windbreak forests not only had to grow fast but also tall. Poplar trees were very suitable because poplars are deciduous trees, and their fallen leaves could improve the soil quality on the sandy land.
As the planting area expanded, more manure and soil would be needed, requiring the construction of more septic tanks and an increase in composting.
She truly felt a severe shortage of labor.
Just as Hongshupo was bustling with activity, Ji Chenghuo arrived, bringing his elderly mother and his luggage.
He said that to better record the initial data of Hongshupo's construction, he wanted to track and document the entire process and personally participate in the practice.
The King of Yu had directly dismissed his position as a judicial officer of the ninth rank. Now, he was an imperial envoy of the seventh rank.
Henceforth, he and his mother would reside in Hongshupo for two years.
Bai Sheng was very pleased; another person had come to help with the work.
As soon as Madam Ji arrived, Granny Zhong pulled her into the circle of elderly sisters. While knitting, they chatted, and there was no opportunity for them to feel bored or lonely.
Ji Chenghuo, on the other hand, was taken by Bai Sheng to plan the planting of the windbreak forest.
From soil preparation to watering, Bai Sheng explained everything to Ji Chenghuo. However, to truly master the method, it was best to practice alongside Yang Ming.
Ji Chenghuo put on a straw hat, rolled up his sleeves and trouser legs, and went to find Yang Ming's planting team.
The long sand dike in Hongshupo happened to run from east to west. In winter, the northwest wind blew, and in summer, the southeast wind blew. Following these wind directions, with Hongshupo as the center, windbreak forests began to be planted in the northwest and southeast directions.
For future stable development, after dinner, Bai Sheng gathered all the core personnel together and held a grand meeting for the first time.
Bai Sheng began by saying, "Hongshupo needs to accelerate its construction, and there are many tasks to be done. The number of workers to be hired is enormous. Without reasonable overall planning and stable rules and regulations, it will inevitably become more chaotic and difficult to manage.
Therefore, the purpose of calling everyone here today is mainly to re-discuss and plan personnel allocation, attendance systems, wage systems, holiday systems, reward and punishment systems, and so on, to formulate long-term development goals and establish stable, long-term systems.
By planning to guide the direction and using systems to manage people, we can not only do all kinds of work well but also save time and effort, making things much easier.
Feel free to offer any suggestions. All reasonable ones will be considered and adopted."
Ji Chenghuo did not intend to speak. For such an important meeting, he had to take good minutes.
Bai Sheng presided over the meeting. Lu Ye certainly had to be the first to support it. He stood up and said, "Regarding the allocation of labor, I suggest dividing them into heavy physical labor and light physical labor based on physical strength. The wages for heavy physical labor should be appropriately increased. Only then can the motivation of heavy laborers be improved."
Everyone nodded, agreeing that this was indeed the way to go.
Du Min stood up second and said, "Regarding the attendance system, I think it should be managed by groups. Each group should select a leader responsible for managing the group members, and departmental supervisors should manage the leaders. This is both time-saving and efficient. Furthermore, the division of tasks should be clear, so that no one is overworked while others are slacking off."
Ji Chenghuo nodded repeatedly, "Excellent, excellent!"
Feng Pingyuan cleared his throat and said, "Regarding rewards and punishments, it has always been a difficult issue. Everyone is working together, so how do we know who is doing more work and who is doing less, who is outstanding, and who is slacking off?
I believe that in addition to assigning work specifically to individuals or groups, a performance evaluation and supervision team should be established to ensure fairness and impartiality, thereby enhancing everyone's motivation."
Everyone agreed with this.
Before Yang Ming stood up to speak, he specifically glanced at Bai Sheng. He particularly hoped that the young mistress would approve of him. "I think the reward for planting trees in the future should be based on how many trees survive, not how many are planted.
Otherwise, some people will only pursue the quantity of trees planted without paying attention to the survival rate, which not only wastes saplings but also consumes costs.
In addition, after the saplings are planted, they must be protected from damage by wild animals and human sabotage. Therefore, I suggest establishing a forest ranger team."
"This idea is very well-considered!" Bai Sheng praised. "The survival of every tree is not easy, and we must protect them well."
Yang Ming was very excited and sat down with a flushed face. Because his body was too stiff, he almost tipped the stool over.
Madam Yang helplessly looked at her younger brother.
After hearing Yang Ming's words, Ma San immediately thought of another problem. After scratching his head, he also stood up and said, "Hongshupo is getting better and better, but the number of refugees outside is increasing, and many villagers are envious and want to cause trouble. Coupled with rampant bandits, the safety of Hongshupo needs to be taken seriously.
I suggest forming our own security team, selecting some strong and robust men for training, so that we can deal with any danger if it arises."