"Is Meng Huaining troubled because of how to deal with these people?"
Meng Huaining gave a wry laugh and nodded, "They are, after all, commoners, and can't negotiate with the Barbarian Emperor for exchanging money for people like soldiers could. Given the current situation of the Barbarians, the Barbarian Emperor would be happy to see more commoners die, so that he could save some food."
This point was undeniable to Hu Cong as well.
He came here wanting to think of a way to help Meng Huaining share the burden.
"I do have a rough idea. May I ask Meng Huaining for his decision after I lay it out?"
Meng Huaining was racking his brains over this matter. Seeing Hu Cong had a solution, he hurriedly asked, "What good solution does Brother Hu have?"
Hu Cong said somewhat embarrassedly, "Meng Huaining must have heard that when I was in the capital, I had my own engineering team."
Hearing this, Meng Huaining seemed to have thought of something.
"Does Brother Hu mean to recruit these people as workers for your engineering team?"
Hu Cong nodded, "I do have this idea. I see these people are skin and bones, their days under the Barbarians must have been hard.
In another month, the construction here will be basically completed. I plan to make a living from construction in the future, so having a team is very necessary."
Meng Huaining knew Hu Cong's background well and was clear about many of his situations.
He just couldn't figure out why Hu Cong would choose those Barbarians of unknown origin and background instead of the many commoners of Da Shun when recruiting.
"Brother Hu, isn't it better to recruit the commoners of our Da Shun for your engineering team?"
Hu Cong smiled and continued explaining, "I will also recruit Da Shun commoners. Among those who are currently helping the Mo Family build houses, some have already caught my eye.
I am quite harsh, those who can't meet my standards definitely won't make it onto my engineering team.
Also, the design of these houses I'm building now is from Madam He Zhiran of the Mo Family. That she is willing to trust me with such a good design, I must also ensure it doesn't spread from my hands.
Recruiting these Barbarians does carry the risk of leakage, but Meng Huaining might not know, I have already discussed with Madam He earlier to help me formulate a kind of medicated pellet."
This pellet is not very toxic, but the antidote must be taken on time, so that I can control these people to be loyal to me."
As for the details of the medicated pellets, Hu Cong did not mention them to Meng Huaining.
He did go to He Zhiran earlier, hoping to cooperate with her to earn money through the construction of the courtyard houses.
After several discussions, the two had reached an agreement to split the profits fifty-fifty.
With money to earn, He Zhiran would not object. Besides, she never intended to hide the construction of the courtyard houses.
Since Hu Cong was willing, she was happy to help while earning profits herself.
Of course, she and Hu Cong also discussed the issue of the engineering team.
In the end, it was He Zhiran who came up with this slippery idea.
She could indeed formulate the kind of poison Hu Cong mentioned that requires taking antidotes periodically.
However, as a modern soul, she did not want to control ordinary people in this way.
Therefore, she developed a long-acting laxative.
This medicine is harmless to the human body. As the name suggests, the duration of "long-acting" is one hundred days.
Once someone takes this pellet, if they don't take a second pellet after one hundred days, they will feel slight abdominal discomfort in the first two days, and diarrhea symptoms will appear on the third day.
After a few bouts of diarrhea, all toxins in the body will be completely expelled.
Not only that, He Zhiran also added some detox ingredients in the pellets. It not only doesn't affect the taker’s body, but can even expel toxins accumulated in their body.
It can be said that this is not a poison at all, but a rare health elixir.
However, the taker would not be able to discover the properties of this medicine and would definitely think the poison broke out because they didn't get to take the next pellet.
With these pellets, Hu Cong was fully confident that he could make these workers absolutely loyal.
Meng Huaining was already having headaches over the issue of these Barbarians. Although Hu Cong’s solution was not perfect, it was still better than no solution.
"Brother Hu, whether they are Da Shun’s or the Barbarians’ commoners, it is good for them to stay and work for you, but I do hope you don't harm their health."
As a local parent official, he valued the lives of commoners more.
He could not assist a tyrant for his own benefit.
Hu Cong knew Meng Huaining cared about the commoners and quickly explained, "Meng Huaining can rest assured. Madam He is still quite confident in making medicine."
Meng Huaining believed He Zhiran wholeheartedly. Hearing Hu Cong mention again that the medicine came from her hands, he strangely felt much more assured.
"Since this is the case, Brother Hu can arrange it after these people wake up!"
Seeing Meng Huaining had no objection, Hu Cong lightly coughed with a fist against his lips.
"Cough cough... Meng Huaining, I need fifty people at most."
Meng Huaining was dumbfounded. There were at least three to four hundred living Barbarians in front of him. Hu Cong could only keep fifty people. How was that any different from not coming up with a solution?
Seeing Meng Huaining's expression, Hu Cong roughly guessed what he was thinking.
"Meng Huaining can rest assured that even if I can't accommodate more people here, I have a way to resolve it."
Meng Huaining raised his brows, "What good solution does Brother Hu have?"
"I understand Meng Huaining’s intention. You feel somewhat unresigned to let these people easily go back, yet they are commoners that can’t simply be killed."
Meng Huaining nodded repeatedly, "That's indeed the case."
Hu Cong went on to share his idea, "I see these Barbarians are not all lawless villains either. If they have food to eat their fill, who would be willing to come out and rob?
Later when they wake up, if Meng Huaining trusts me, please leave it to me."
Meng Huaining didn't know what good solution Hu Cong had.
As long as these people could be sent away smoothly and would no longer offend again in the future, he would be at ease.
"Alright, I’ll leave it to Brother Hu to handle."
Meng Huaining didn’t doubt Hu Cong’s capability at all. After all, someone who has been an official in court for many years must have the ability to handle affairs.
The effects of He Zhiran’s anesthetics didn’t last very long. The unconscious Barbarians began to wake up one after another after about an hour.
The Barbarians who just woke up were all completely blank-faced, completely unaware of what had happened, and were all tied up by their own waist belts.
Here, Meng Huaining had handed full authority to Hu Cong to handle things, so he did not react at all.
Those officials who had just rushed over also stood by Meng Huaining’s side at all times. They would not make any moves if their superior did not speak.
Hu Cong understood Meng Huaining’s intention and strode to the front of those people.
He pointed at those who were not knocked unconscious and said, "You explain to them what exactly happened."
It would be clearer if their own people did the explaining.
