[Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child, First Day of Coal Mine Operation]

Lin Ze closed his eyes, enjoying the attentive service of the four Maids, without saying a word.

The Maids maintained their enthusiastic service, but their hearts were growing increasingly uncertain.

They knew that their request was somewhat excessive. Asking Master to arrange jobs for their entire families, even if they truly became Master's concubines, making such a request would still be inappropriate.

Therefore, Fei Hua had said it in a joking tone, not expecting Lin Ze to actually agree to her request.

However, as Lin Ze remained silent, the movements of the four Maids began to stiffen, fearing that they might anger Lin Ze because of it.

"Master, it is this servant who is greedy. Please punish this servant."

Finally, Fei Hua, who had first suggested that Lin Ze take care of her family's employment, couldn't hold back and wanted to kneel down to admit her mistake.

But before she could speak, Lin Ze slowly opened his mouth and said, "You can bring five members of your families here. Tomorrow morning, accompany Master to Maple Forest Township. In addition, each of the other servants' families can send two people. I will arrange some easy tasks for you."

Of course, he wasn't tempted by the sugar-coated bullets from the Maids to agree to arrange jobs.

Arranging jobs for the servants' families was something he had planned from the beginning. The purpose was to win their hearts and make them his trusted confidants.

Of course, he couldn't give it too easily.

Things that are too easily obtained are not cherished, so Lin Ze first only threw out a portion of the job openings, without directly satisfying all the servants' needs.

The next job openings would depend on the performance of these people to decide whether to give them or not.

"Thank you, Master."

The four Maids were immediately overjoyed and knelt down to thank him.

Not only did Lin Ze not blame them, but he also actually gave them some job openings. This immediately moved the hearts of several Maids who were very concerned about their families. They felt a strong sense of gratitude towards Lin Ze, thinking only of following Lin Ze for the rest of their lives.

"The jobs are given to you, but since you have made such an excessive request, you must have prepared yourselves to accept punishment."

Lin Ze stood up with a sneer, drawing out his belt.

Before long, there were sounds of soft weeping.

The next morning, Lin Ze unusually skipped his morning exercise.

After eating breakfast, he drank a large bowl of Ginseng Soup brewed with ten-year-old Ginseng.

With slightly weak legs, Lin Ze then got into the carriage and left the city, taking his family's servants and their families with him, heading towards Maple Forest Township.

On the way, Lin Ze kept breathing in and out, mobilizing his Inner Breath to circulate throughout his body to restore his energy.

It wasn't until the carriage arrived at the Black Stone Village Coal Mine that Lin Ze felt himself recover from the fatigue of a night of labor.

Those Maids last night were really too stubborn, not begging for mercy no matter how he disciplined them.

The young and vigorous Lin Ze couldn't stand this stimulation, and couldn't help but directly discipline them all night, until dawn before the four recognized their mistakes.

"Fortunately, my current body is young and strong enough. If it were the weak body from my previous life, I would probably have died suddenly by now."

Jumping down from the carriage, although Lin Ze felt that his physical condition had not yet returned to its best, at least on the surface, there were no obvious problems.

He felt that after resting for a while, he should be able to return to his best condition.

"Put it all in the warehouse."

Lin Ze instructed the servants.

Behind Lin Ze's carriage followed many other vehicles transporting supplies.

These included rice, flour, vegetables, and meat for the many miners at the Coal Mine, as well as pots, pans, mining picks, and everything else that would be needed.

After the items were inventoried and stored, Lin Ze began directing everyone to work.

A total of sixty family members of Lin Ze's servants were introduced to work at the Coal Mine, most of whom were women and children, reaching forty-two.

The other eighteen were boys in their early teens.

This was normal; able-bodied laborers were the pillars of a family. If the families of these indentured servants had many able-bodied laborers who could generate income, they wouldn't have been reduced to selling themselves to subsidize their families.

Lin Ze didn't mind these people. The women and children were assigned to the kitchen to cook, with room and board provided and a monthly salary of two hundred Wen.

Although there weren't many miners at the moment, the scale of the miners would inevitably expand to thousands in the near future, and then these forty-odd cooks might not be enough.

The teenagers were directed by Lin Ze to guard supplies with the adult servants, buy puppies to raise as dogs, and patrol around the mine to see if there were any unusual situations.

The treatment was similar to that of the women and children, with room and board provided, and a slightly lower monthly salary of only one hundred Wen.

In the future, these people would be the backbone of the Mining Guard. When they grew up, Lin Ze would naturally give them a raise.

As Lin Ze assigned these tasks, everyone looked at Lin Ze with gratitude, because these jobs were indeed easy and well-paid, which was a good deal in this era.

The monthly salary wasn't high, but room and board were already very good. They didn't ask for much, as long as they could live by their own efforts.

Just as Lin Ze had arranged the people he brought, Zhang Da Yu, the village chief of Black Stone Village, came with a large group of young men.

Some of these young men were from Maple Forest Township, and others were from nearby villages.

In addition, those scholars who had received the notice and came to the Coal Mine to find work also arrived. Compared to the more than six hundred miners, there were only twenty-odd scholars.

"Folks, there aren't so many twists and turns when you work for me. The more you do, the more you get paid."

"For every twenty pounds of coal you dig, you get one Wen. There's no upper limit. In addition, for every five hundred pounds of coal you dig, you get a Meal Ticket that you can use to eat a meal in the cafeteria. Every meal has meat. As long as you have the ability, you can earn four or even five taels of silver a month here."

"In addition, the extra Meal Tickets can also let your family members enjoy eating meat with you."

"Do you understand? If you understand, go to the warehouse to get mining picks, baskets, and carrying poles, and then start working."

Lin Ze didn't engage in any fancy mobilization. He simply and directly repeated the benefits of working here three times.

With the blessing of Inner Breath, Lin Ze's voice clearly spread to everyone's ears.

"Understood."

The miners answered loudly and enthusiastically, and then, guided and helped by the Mining Guard and Lin Ze's servants, they began to collect tools one by one to mine coal.

In Lin Ze's simple words just now, these miners had already seen the hope of achieving a better life through their own efforts, and they naturally became enthusiastic at this moment.