After listening to Steward He's account about the conscription, the shopkeeper Wu here has not yet expressed his position, but the more he thinks about it, the more angry he becomes, he slams the porcelain wine bowl on the table, and says angrily: "I can't see our master live a comfortable life for two days, it's really a bastard thing!" Hmph, such a remnant, I don't think this Ming government will last long! ”

"Wine talk, wine talk."

Seeing that the middle-aged old man was angry, the two "old decay" on the side hurriedly comforted the old man with a few words of persuasion and calmed the old man.

After being relieved, the shopkeeper Wu groaned, and felt that it was better to be with the plate, after all, Hejiazhai is an old friend and an old customer, and he can't see the old customer unlucky, right?

So the shopkeeper Wu told the inside story of the conscription.

The matter of conscription has developed to the present, and seeing that the people who have been conscripted have been sent to Huangpu Port before and after, everyone will inquire a little in the county office, and it will be clear who is pushing behind it.

This new force swept away the armed forces in the county overnight, and even in the face of the hardest cottages, the Cao soldiers and horses took them down without mercy, showing strong combat effectiveness.

If you can capture the hardest cottage, you can also capture an ordinary farm, and everyone understands the hidden meaning. In addition, after all, the levy and conscription are a legitimate and powerful political matter of the government, and they are both soft and hard, so no one dares to obstruct this matter. After thinking about it clearly, the big families around the county finally honestly cooperated in the matter of conscription.

When Shopkeeper Wu told all this, the two of the He family suddenly realized: it turned out that the two biggest things that happened to the He family recently were actually done by the same group!

The He family suffered from poor information. He Tong and the others knew about the suppression of bandits and the conscription, but they didn't connect the two things together.

"Why am I so kind, my own food and troops are sent to quell the bandits, and I am waiting here."

People are like this, Master He was full of good feelings about the suppression of bandits before, but once he found out that Mr. Cao had infringed on his interests, he immediately changed his face: "In this way, this Lord Cao sent troops to Zengcheng, I'm afraid that the purpose is not pure...... Hmph, that's a plunder, isn't it? Such a ridiculous thing, the court actually let this generation do it, Gu Tai, this faint official, is really damned! ”

"Good my Master He, I can't help it, I can't help it!"

Hearing that Master He was making a lot of nonsense, for fear that this young and vigorous man in the landlord class would work against Mr. Cao, and the shopkeeper Wu, who was caught in the middle, was suddenly in a hurry, and hurriedly stretched out his hands and shook it wildly: "Today is different from the past, and these words will never be mentioned again!" ”

Shopkeeper Wu, who knew the inside story, then hurriedly analyzed the current situation for Master He, introduced in detail the strength of Mr. Cao in the political and military worlds, and strongly advised Master He not to try to touch the stone with eggs: "The Zhao family and the Salt Gang Master Ma in the south of the county were both charged with banditry before, and they were destroyed overnight, and the family was about to be transferred to Yizhou." ”

"Master He, now the situation is always improving, a little profit, let it go, take a step back and open the sky, but don't have to fight with the imperial generals...... Maybe people will be picking a baby! ”

After the guidance of the shopkeeper Wu, He Tong, who was originally indignant with the strength of wine, came to his senses and realized the crux of the problem: this time the strength of the government is surprisingly strong, and it is no longer the previous only way to send messengers to collect grain, but in fact, it looks like there is nothing to do with the big households.

After thinking about this, He Tong also suppressed his previous thoughts of "delaying it a little longer to see the situation", and planned to follow the advice of the shopkeeper Wu and send the number of conscripts far exceeding the number of previous years to the county government first.

After learning of Mr. He's plan, the shopkeeper Wu praised the other party again and again for having the courage to bend and stretch, he was naturally the most reluctant to see his own customers step on the thunder, now the channel is king, how difficult it is to develop an old customer.

Shopkeeper Wu has a deep understanding of the current situation in Zengcheng. He is a person who has been deeply exposed to the soft and hard power of the Cao family, in his opinion, it is best not to do anything against this chief soldier, in comparison, it seems to be in the clouds, but if you follow it, you may be able to get some benefits.

It turns out that Wu's feelings are accurate. In the long years before and for a long time to come, those who had endured the strange rules laid down by the Travelers at first enjoyed the benefits afterwards and had a head start in the new realm.

....................

That evening, everyone was in high spirits and talked about a lot of topics. In the end, the shopkeeper Wu and the He family drank until late at night, and finally they were all drunk and rested without delay.

The next morning, after bidding farewell to his old friend, Shopkeeper Wu rode a black donkey and led the caravan to leave Hejiazhai easily.

This time when he came to the mountains to deliver goods, Shopkeeper Wu not only met his old friend, consolidated the sales channels of his own firm, and conveyed information to help his old friend recognize the form, to a certain extent, it can be regarded as a favor for Mr. Cao, and everyone was very happy - all of this made Shopkeeper Wu very satisfied.

After the caravan left the mountain, it went down the mountain along the forest path that it was afraid to walk in the past, and came to the Paitan ferry safely. After that, the team rented a boat and went all the way down the river, it took two days to come, and it only took half a day to return, and before closing the city gate at night, they entered Zengcheng County, which is close to the river and water.

Today's Zengcheng county was rebuilt in the Yongle period. In the past, there was an old county town in the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, but now after hundreds of years, the abandoned old city has long been turned into ordinary cottages and farmland, and there is no trace of the past.

Baiji groceries, which hang a walnut black lacquer plaque, are located at the entrance of Dacai City, the county seat, and belong to the prime commercial area.

After the shopkeeper Wu returned to the firm, he first instructed the guys who came out to quickly weigh the goods brought into the warehouse, and then he handed over the money and account books brought back with the shopkeeper who was sitting in the firm, and finally, he dragged his tired body back to his home not far from the firm.

Wu's shopkeeper's house is a courtyard with four tiled houses, and there are Spring Festival couplets pasted in front of the door, which obviously looks like a middle-class family.

In addition to his wife and a pair of children, there are also relatives who came to the countryside to run to him, so the four rooms are crowded and not rich.

After returning home, Shopkeeper Wu washed up hastily and rested.

The next morning, after he got up full of vitality, he first drank a bowl of fish porridge, and then after cleaning up himself, he went straight to the Bai family's mansion in the west of the county.

The owner of Wu's shopkeeper, Bai Juren Bai Shenming, is the owner of the mansion.

After entering the house, he didn't wait long, Bai Juren, who was slightly chubby and had a very generous demeanor, greeted him and took the shopkeeper Wu to the study.