Hearing that the minister's money could be used at will, Shang Chengden was overjoyed. In this way, the cost of repairing the well and reservoir in Shangzhai has been settled. And in this way, he also seems to have a lot of money, and he is more relaxed in buying New Year's goods for the sergeant in Shangzhai, and he is not afraid that no one is willing to go to Shangzhai to send materials during the New Year's Festival, so he can pay more money to hire people; Frontier soldiers who travel on business can also receive more subsidies. In addition to these, maybe there can be some surplus, and the border soldiers in the middle village can also get a bargain.

He was thinking about the cost of doing a few things, and the more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help but stand up and take two steps. Only then did I find out that Guan Xian was sitting and talking with him for a long time, and he didn't even invite others to drink tea.

"Look at me, I forgot to pour you tea." He hurriedly took a clean tea bowl on a few cases in the corner of the house, first poured some tea soup and lowered the cup, poured the residual water on the ground at his feet, and then poured most of the hot tea soup to Guan Xian, and said, "Ziduan, you have done me a great favor." ”

Guan Xian hurriedly stood up and took the tea soup with both hands, thanked him and just sat down with the teacup, when he suddenly heard Shang Cheng say this, he hurriedly stood up again, and said respectfully: "What the adults ask, it is the duty of Xian; Responsibility, do not dare to be careless. Xianshi didn't dare to be an adult's false praise. ”

Shang Cheng didn't explain, and said with a smile: "You sit." You don't have anything important to do, do you? Seeing Guan Xian shaking his head, he was not in a hurry to talk about his own business, so he walked to the door of the ear room first and looked at the sky outside, it was so dark that he couldn't see his fingers in the morning. He called the orderlies and asked him to go to the room to see if there was anything to eat, just get something to fill his stomach, turned to Guan Xian and said, "Tell us about it." That's it, I want to send some New Year's goods to Shangzhai, what do you think is more appropriate? How can we spend less money and let everyone have a comfortable and happy year? ”

Guan Xian blinked at Shang Cheng with a pair of delicate slender eyes, and for a moment he didn't understand why his boss suddenly asked about this. To spend less money and make people comfortable, this is really difficult for some strong people. But after all, he is a disciple of a rural gentry, and he knows some of the "tricks" of being an official and the thoughts of officials, and he immediately understands after a little while: Shang Cheng is eager to make a name for himself, but he is reluctant to spend all the "fat" of the minister's fee handed to his mouth, so he has the idea of "spending a little money to do big things". He thought for a moment and said slowly: "What people pay attention to during the New Year is only food and clothing, and the other is the courtesy and courtesy. The clothes of the soldiers in Shangzhai are all supplied by the imperial court, and adults don't have to worry about it; The military village is full of sergeants, at most, there is a place to move around, and there is no need to worry too much about the weight of the gifts. The only thing that is tight is the word 'eat'. It's just that it is too consumable to send fine food from the village, and it is difficult to store it there, and some of the feelings that the gains outweigh the losses are not as good as this, and the adults can buy live sheep and live cattle in the surrounding villages and send them over, so that they can dispose of them by themselves. These are living creatures, easy to transport, and not much consumption on the road......"

Shang Cheng was happy to hear this, slapped his thigh and smiled: "That's it." It's still Ziduan's flexible mind, I can't think of such a good idea, just know how to make the soldiers eat and drink well. He stroked the scars on his face, thought about it along Guan Xian's train of thought, and said, "You can also buy some fine snacks in Zhongzhai, get some roast chicken sauce and goose, and send them over with cattle and sheep." Well, these don't need too much, when the soldiers in the village have a dinner, put two plates of dim sum on each table to share the chicken, and make a decoration. ”

It was the first time Guan Xian heard the new word "dinner", he was a little surprised, he said it twice, and after a little thought, he understood, looked up and smiled: "My lord's expression of 'dinner' is novel and chic, but the image is appropriate. The New Year's goods sent to Shangzhai are enough for ten cows and sheep, plus the rest of the dim sum cooked food, at most twenty heads......"

"There are also pack horses chewing and pack man's foot strength, which must also be ten times up and down."

Guan Xian is a flurry. The cost he calculated already included these things, but Shang Cheng proposed to prepare ten times, and he really couldn't figure out how two or three people could do something that could cost such a big expense. He glanced at Shang Cheng quietly, and then said, "...... The sergeants of the middle and lower villages are also subordinates of the adults. ”

Shang Cheng said with a smile: "Then also send them cattle and sheep for dinner." They can't be told that I, the captain, favor one over the other. However, there is only one sentry stationed in these two places, and they can't all follow the rules of Shangzhai. One by one, then a whistle sends a cow and five sheep; Dim sum or something is the same as Shangzhai. ”

Guan Xian sat in a chair and arched his hand and said, "My lord is so considerate of his subordinates, which shows that he is kind. He had already made up his mind in his heart, paused, and said, "When the adults first came to West Malaysia, they got rid of the bandit of Dujiadian for the villagers, and everyone admired the kindness of the adults, but they never had the opportunity to thank the adults." Although Xian is not talented, he can also say a word on behalf of the villagers in the nineteen villages: these cattle and sheep do not need to be paid by the military village, and everyone is willing to serve the court and share the worries of the adults. ”

Shang Cheng shook his head and said, "This can't be done. Ding is Ding Mao is Mao, each is its own thing. It is the duty of the garrison to suppress bandits and pacify the people, and it is our duty to appease the place, and we cannot just take the things of the villagers for nothing. What's more, a battalion of border troops actually let a nest of bandits plague Ximazhi for such a long time, it makes people blush when they say it, the villagers didn't point at our noses and scold the bastard stupid, we should be content, where can we accept the rewards of the villagers? Even if you receive the rewarded cattle and sheep, how can you eat them in your mouth with peace of mind? He waved his hand to prevent Guan Xian from speaking, and continued to take care of himself, "Don't disturb the people, this is the rule of the garrison." Cattle and sheep must be bought at the current price, and they are not allowed to be forcibly levied at the official price. I'll go and say hello to Lao Jiang, and I'll leave this matter to you. You put down everything at hand, do this first, and do it tomorrow, and strive to do it before the Chinese New Year's Eve. Shangzhai things are also arranged by you, before the fifth day of the first month, the New Year's goods must be delivered to Shangzhai. ”

Guan Xian hurriedly stood up and agreed.

Shang Cheng smiled and encouraged him: "This is the first time you have done an errand alone, don't mess it up, don't embarrass your eldest brother, and don't embarrass me." All expenses are planned to be lenient, and my soldiers cannot be wronged; But I should also save as much money as possible, and I will also use the money for the faction. He smiled again. There is another one, you also have to remember to spend the money one by one, don't change the way and stuff it back for me. On the fourth day of junior high school, I will go to your house to pay New Year's greetings to your mother, if your brother dares to stuff me with money and things, be careful that I will spend you one by one. ”

Guan Xian was originally doing such a plan, but now that Shang Cheng said it, his face couldn't help but turn red and white, and he was cramped for a long time before he said: "Xian'an dare? ”

"If you don't dare." Shang Cheng took the list of urgently needed materials listed by the Shangzhai commander and handed it to Guan Xian, and said, "You can take a look at the things on this first, go back and check with the inventory, and make a detailed report." The rest of the things are not in a hurry, but the charcoal quilt must be prepared as soon as possible, and strive to be sent together with the New Year's goods. ”

Guan Xian was startled by the dense things on the piece of paper when he took the order, and thought it was a military supply that was about to be needed, and he was thinking about whether to talk to Shang Cheng about the difficulties first, so as not to smash the errand and eat the hanging, and heard Shang Cheng say that he didn't need to prepare it all right away, so he put his mind at ease and said with a smile: "If the adults only ask for charcoal to be served, I can still guarantee that the charcoal in the surrounding families is rich, and it is something that can be burned with it, a penny and a catty, and how much it is a matter of talking." He shook the piece of paper and smiled, "It's only 5,000 catties of charcoal, and it can be prepared in half a day." The jacket is no problem. The Yamen of the Beizheng Border Army had just sent fifty sets of winter clothes, and they were all sent to Shangzhai. Only the futon is troublesome, and even if there is cotton, it is impossible to make it temporarily. However, sheepskins can be collected. The villages slaughtered a lot of sheep before the year, and there are many sheepskins, in previous years, it was good to wait until the spring leather merchants came to collect, we can collect some and send them to Shangzhai. This thing can be padded and covered, and it can be made into a jacket to wear with a little handwork, which is actually more practical than a cotton futon. ”

Shang Cheng laughed and said, "Good idea! Depend on you, and take the sheepskins! You can buy some big needles and threads by the way, and write a letter to the commander of Shangzhai for me when you send things to Shangzhai, and ask him to hand over the matter of making sheepskin futons and sheepskin jackets to the women of those border households, and pay them for their work. Something suddenly occurred to him. There's one more thing you can do for me. You shall pay money from my money, and buy twenty pounds of sugar, two hundred eggs, and two stones of fine grain, and send them with the pack caravan. In the letter, I explained clearly to the Shangzhai side, which I gave to the border family who had a nursing baby at home. "Thinking about it, I still don't think it's appropriate to deal with it like this. He pursed his lips and stared at the flickering oil lamp, his dark eyes burned in the light, and his heart suddenly became confused and trance, and he fell his head hard before he took his mind back, and said: "Let the commander of Shangzhai send out the milk baby and his mother from the border household, and place them in Zhongzhai." Men over the age of 55 and women over the age of 50 from several side households also sent to Zhongzhai. ”

Shang Cheng said a word, and Guan Xian lowered his head and agreed. Although he was full of doubts in his heart, he didn't understand why Shang Cheng suddenly attached so much importance to the mother and son of a pair of border families, and why he suddenly became so kind to these lowly people, but he still didn't ask the reason very knowingly.

After talking for a long time, Shang Cheng felt a little dry in his mouth, drank most of the cold tea soup in one gulp, and felt that his stomach was empty and uncomfortable; The orderly who went to the room to get food has not been seen so far. He frowned and was about to make a run by himself, when Bao Kan walked in with two large bowls in one hand and a large clay pot in the other. The orderly followed him with a wooden barrel. A strong smell of scrambled eggs immediately wafted from the small ear room.

Shang Cheng didn't care about speaking, and before Bao Kan put a pot of scrambled eggs on the table, he had already grabbed a pair of chopsticks and quickly pulled a big clip, threw it in his mouth with his face up, didn't chew much, and swallowed it after turning around in his mouth. After two or three chopsticks in a row, he asked, "Where's the bun?" You didn't even say bring me two buns? Don't have it in the room? The vegetable dumplings are also made. He took a large bowl full of hand-kneaded dough sheets from Bao Kan's hand, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the smell of sesame oil made his face happy. He was not busy eating the noodles, he first took a sip of hot soup, let the oily soup roll in his mouth, and then swallowed it slowly, smacking his lips and saying, "It's so fragrant......"

Bao Kan took another bowl of noodles and gave in to Guan Xian, seeing that Guan Xian shook his head and said that he had already eaten it, he squatted on the threshold, held the bowl and pouted and said: "You are also a seven-grade official, and you also have dumplings and dumplings all day long." Isn't it a shame to say it? ”

Shang Cheng had already snorted half a bowl, gestured with chopsticks and said to Guan Xian: "Third child, let's eat some together, Lao Bao's skills in making noodles are good, the key is that he is willing to put oil, unlike others, the noodles made of clear soup and little water, taste like paste." As he spoke, he beckoned the orderly to go and get another pair of chopsticks.

Guan Xian stared at the sea bowl in his hand, which was not much smaller than the basin, his eyes were a little straight, and he shook his head and said that he had already eaten it.

The dough sheets in the bowl were also halfway down. He wrapped his mouth and said vaguely: "You are the same as Guan Laosan and us soldiers, and you don't even want your life when you see oil meat?" People are scholars, and people who don't get tired of eating and eating can't be the same as us. Swallowing the contents of his mouth, he looked up at Shang Cheng and said, "Speaking of which, adults also read and write, how can they eat like hungry wolves?" ”