After listening to Chen Zuocai's words, the pearl divers all showed smiles on their faces, no matter what, Nan'anhou Mansion is indeed very reputable, at least everyone has heard of Nan'anhou, knowing that this is a good marquis, and there is no need to think about other things.

Although the weather is very hot, the deeper you dive, the colder the bottom of the sea becomes, and if you don't prepare in advance, you will cause damage to your body, and you will even cramp underwater, and then you will be in big trouble.

Some people even apply medicated oil to their bodies and then move and pat, which seems to have a better effect.

When everyone was preparing, the soldiers of the government army began to behead those who were sure to be pirates, and then some of the people pushed the carts and pushed away the beheaded corpses, and more people were still identifying something in the corpses, because of the hot weather and the smell, so people covered their mouths and noses with wet cloths.

A pearl diver had a straightforward personality and shouted to a Minzhuang at the moment: "What treasures can be hidden in these corpses?" Even if there were, it wouldn't be worth rummaging through so many people, right? ”

"Looking for what baby?" Someone among the people of the Eastern Domain replied, "Let's find out if there are any of our own people in the corpse pile." ”

"Ahem, it's not worth it." Pearl divers: "The left and right are buried in a big pit, the Xiang army was killed a lot in Zhangzhou that year, and then it was not with the dead people, pirates, dug a pit and buried it." ”

"That's the officials over there who don't pay attention to it, but that's not the case here." Minzhuang walked out of a clerk and said with a serious expression: "The bodies of the soldiers who died in the war should be cleaned, changed, and placed in coffins, and then buried with military salutes. They fought for us, lost their lives, and we cut off their heads and buried them with pirates. Even the recruited Minzhuang boatmen are losing their lives for us, so don't you treat their corpses well, and talk about being good to their families? ”

"That's what I said."

First of all, the government army and the people nodded and agreed with the words of the officials, and a group of pearl divers were stunned, and finally a middle-aged man sighed: "We people, if we die, we will give some money to burn and bury, and many of them will not be able to be caught directly under the sea." Compared with others, our lives are really cheap. ”

"You do things for us, there is a real accident, and we will treat it as one." As soon as the official said a word, someone said on the side: "The prince is here." ”

Everyone's faces showed a happy look, the officials were the same, the pearl divers looked at each other, many people had curiosity on their faces, and some admiration, but such as the people of the Eastern Domain, who heard that Nan'an Hou came over with such a happy look, of course the pearl divers did not.

A pearl diver muttered: "We poor people are good to the poor, and at most we respect those talented people, who are scholars." Those who are officials say that Wenqu Xing is descending to earth, and we may not look very smart. If they want to be really smart, how can they not govern the place well? The Xungui clan is just a Qi king to protect the territory and the people, and so is the Nan'an Hou, but respecting the Nan'an Hou like this, everyone is really happy, we are still seeing it for the first time. ”

Many pearl divers have the same opinion as this person, and it is true, no high-ranking official or dignitary of the Great Wei Dynasty has ever been so heartily loved and welcomed.

Even if it is the King of Qi, he has the first reputation in the clan, and he is indeed very popular with the military and the people, but when people see the King of Qi coming, at most they bow down, with a respectful look on their faces.

The identities of the two sides are too far apart, and Nan Anhou obviously subverts the previous perception of pearl divers.

Nan Anhou rode a big green horse, the gray-white round-necked narrow-sleeved robe, which was cut from fine cotton, breathable, and not too hot, even so, when he rode a horse in the afternoon and jumped off the horse, Xu Zixian's face was also obviously a large bead of sweat, and the robe on his body was also wet.

After getting off the horse, he was not polite, and walked directly to the corpse pile, and said to the people as he walked: "The identification work needs to be strengthened, the weather is too hot, and if you are tired and faint, you can bury them together, it will be too miserable." ”

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The pearl divers also laughed, Nan Anhou wore ordinary robes, which was not unusual, and many dignitaries would deliberately wear less expensive robes in order to shorten the distance between them and the people.

But their clothes will be cut to fit better, and their gestures will not be deliberately flaunted, but their demeanor and demeanor, as well as those overly fair faces, will obviously expose their noble identity, which will invisibly make people awe-inspiring and distance away, but Nan Anhou is not like this, his expression is as usual, he speaks coolly, and there is no deliberate affinity of the nobles, which invisibly makes people feel closer.

But when Xu Zi first passed by the corpse of the fallen soldier who had been identified, he gave a military salute first, and then walked slowly and solemnly.

All of this is extremely moving, and Nan Anhou's respect for the fallen soldiers and the people is from the heart, and no one will doubt this.

Many people have tears in their eyes when they see it, and they are so moved that many men may not have shed tears since they grew up, but at this moment, they are all moved and red-eyed, but they just can't help crying out loud.

During this time, everyone's nerves were undoubtedly too tight, thinking that before they were mostly the most ordinary farmers, but now they have to find their former partners among more than a thousand corpses, and identify those hideous corpses one by one. The corpse that was burned to death was much more terrifying than being killed by a sword, and when they saw Nan'an Hou Xu Zixian's performance, everyone felt that what they had done before was quite worthwhile, and there was nothing to complain about.

Xu Zi walked in front of the stunned pearl diver first, paused for a moment, and then said: "Treatment or something, I have talked very clearly with you, right?" ”

After everyone was stunned for a while, a pearl diver stepped forward and said, "I have already given a sum of money before, saying that if the salvage is good, he will give us another reward." ”

"I'll give you a generous reward." Xu Zixian nodded and said, "As Nan'an Hou, I just want to say one thing, I know that you are all good men who exchange your lives for money and hope that your family will live a better life." The only thing I have to say to you is to be careful in everything, and not to trade money for your life with me. When the time comes, come up, float slowly, don't rush up all at once, you all know that you will get sick that way, don't dive too deep, don't dive too many times, don't be alone more than three times a day, so that you can live longer. I know that you are the poorest people who have no land or even a home, otherwise you would not have done this kind of life-long work. I am short of people here, you stay here for a few days to see, if you want to come, bring your family to invest together, will give you acres of farming, will live a good life, not used to farming, as a craftsman, worker, or herding sheep and ducks to fish, I am very short of people here, will not make you have no work to starve, here, it is much better than you take money for life. ”

None of the pearl divers present thought that Xu Zixian would actually tell them this.

They are indeed the lowest group of people, not that they are untouchables, there are some untouchables everywhere, they are the remnants of the previous dynasty, the traitors who were once traitors at the time of the founding of the country or the descendants of some wicked people, sentenced to prostitution, happy households, these people are real untouchables, and they will be in charge of lowly karma for all their lives and future generations, which is a punishment for their ancestors.

The pearl divers are not untouchables, but they also live quite miserable, they are the poorest of the poorest, from penniless to poor, all depend on the sky and luck.

Some people die on their first dive and have nothing to gain except for the loss of their lives. Many people are sick in middle age, have no strength, have difficulty breathing, and then die quickly.

If you have a field to plant, or be a fisherman, as long as you can support yourself, your wife and children, of course, it is much better than being a pearl diver.

Soon the chorus of the pearl divers rang out, and many of them agreed to come down and promise to take a look at the island.

These people at the bottom are not as stupid as they think, they want to see it on the ground, study it, and see what the situation is like on the island. They are poor, and the poorer they are, the harder it is to change, because every change may be a ride on the family's relatively stable life.

The rich are easily transformed, and they will wonder why the poor cling to their defects, but how can they understand and understand that every change in the poor means a change in the future life of the whole family, even including the tragic result of the separation of wives.

Xu Zixian obviously understood and understood, and asked these people to take a look and believe that they would make the right decision.

After Xu Zi left first, many pearl divers began to move their hands and feet, preparing to get on the boat to the wreck, and then get off the boat to retrieve things.

On the way to the ship, a pearl diver suddenly said, "Now I understand why the people of the Eastern Domain have so much respect for Nan'anhou." ”

The rest of the pearl divers all nodded, their faces moved.

Xu Zixian's words, as soon as he heard it, he knew that it was not a perfunctory entertainment, but a very serious concern, and even willing to help them settle down their families.

Nan'an Hou is not only concerned, in fact, this prince is quite clear about the process and hazards of pearl diving, which is what really moves pearl divers.

A large number of small boats carried the pearl divers to the wreck, and some began to jump out to the surface of the sea, ropes tied around their waists. This is a group of extremely strong people, thin and weak, but the will is extremely strong, they began to dive deep into the water ten or twenty meters down, to the bottom, these people feel terrible, everywhere is the wreckage of the sunken ship, you can see the cruelty and tragedy of the naval battle, the big ship and the small boat are mixed together, the gap is sandwiched with the corpse of people, the form is terrifying.

Everywhere there were sunken weapons, armor, and a mess of business, and the pearl divers began to grope their way underwater, as they had been instructed beforehand.

……

"The Nan'an army of the Eastern Domain defeated the bandits, beheaded more than 20,000 ranks, the pirates were scattered, and they have fled back to Luzon from the sea of the Eastern Domain?" A large number of pearl divers were recruited from the sea and put on ships and left, and the news immediately spread throughout the Minqing area, and then passed to Fuzhou.

The city of Fuzhou is dozens of miles away from the mouth of the Minjiang River, and more than 100 miles away from the Minqing seaside and islands where Nan'anhou Mansion recruits pearl divers, and the distance is even farther.

From the coast of Minqing to the Eastern Domain, the distance is less than seventy miles, and you can make a round trip within a day, which is the closest place.

By the time the news reached Fucheng and reached King Zhao's ears, most of the time had passed.

King Zhao is entertaining guests in the elegant hall, and some civil officials who are willing to serve in Fujian Road are mostly six or seven official positions, and their careers are unfavorable, hoping to open a breakthrough here in King Zhao.

In addition, there are some fourth-grade and fifth-grade high-ranking Xiangjun, and these people are frequent visitors to Zhao Wangfu, and they come to report almost every day.

King Zhao's way of domination is to tie the knot under him, he has a lot of income, and his ambitions are lofty, so he treats the generals of the Xiang army quite well, not to mention the ordinary rewards, and almost responds to requests.

The armies of several Xiang armies were in command, and whenever the military salary was insufficient and the army was about to mutiny, they ran to Zhao Wangfu to ask for help, and most of them were able to succeed.

This time, He Deqing, Liu Jie and other armies were all in command, because the Xiang army was repeatedly transferred during this period, and the farthest was transferred from the mountains of Shao Wujun to Fuzhou or Zhangzhou to garrison, and the military salary of the Xiang army was actually not low, two yuan per month, if it was in full, it would be like the net income of a peasant family of ten acres of land for about two years.

However, it is quite obvious that the military salary of the Xiang army will be deducted a lot, and the amount will be insufficient, fake money, inferior money, food expenses will be deducted, training funds will be embezzled, ordnance will be sold, and shoddy, this is the norm, and even the two governments are well aware of it.

If they are stationed at the doorstep, the Xiang army can barely support it, but if they mobilize an expedition and walk down hundreds of miles, the food is poor, and the military pay is insufficient, so they will naturally complain about hardship, and there is even a risk of mutiny.

Several generals of the Xiang army came to complain, hoping that the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion could temporarily allocate a sum of money and distribute it to the soldiers of the Xiang army to boost morale.

For this reason, King Zhao can only write a note. The son gave Zhao Debang, the transfer envoy, and ordered him to try, and he took these civil and military officials to set up a banquet in the elegant hall, and everyone drank together and waited for news.

Suddenly, this surprising news came, King Zhao was first startled, the wine glass in his hand fell on the table, and the wine spilled on the table, he was a little dazed at the first time, and then stared at the eunuch who reported the news with angry eyes.

The eunuch sensed King Zhao's anger, lowered his hand, lowered his head, and whispered, "Slave Meng Lang." ”

"You're too Meng Lang." King Zhao reprimanded quite angrily: "Unconfirmed, there are rumors in the market, and I dare to talk about such a scene, it's a bastard." ”

Everyone was quite uneasy, the civil officials present were fine, but the generals were a little blind and at a loss.

They came to King Zhao's Mansion to ask for more benefits, under the pretext of course, pirates invaded the territory, and the expenses were huge after the military boom. Many people have already divided some of the benefits in advance, and the money has been moved home, and if they say that the pirates have fled and the garrison can be withdrawn, then their excuse is ridiculous.

King Zhao was particularly annoyed, of course he also used the excuse of allocating soldiers and horses, and made a profit in the treasury of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, although the prince has many official villages, King Zhao still has a lot of blood-sucking business, such as pawnshops and money villages, and the money in the seal comes quite quickly, but no one dares to owe money to Zhao Wangfu, in fact, Zhao Wangfu has quite a lot of industries from a lot of bankrupts, their acres and family homes are deprived, many people in Fujian know it, but who has a way to take King Zhao?

When the king of Qi was alive, he looked down on the king of Zhao, this kind of economic means is one of the important reasons, a prince who can force the people to go bankrupt and repay debts, the wind is too ugly to hear, and people really look down on it, who can believe that such a prince will be the pillar of the country, the mainstay?

At present, more than 10,000 forbidden troops have been dispatched on Fujian Road, and more than 100,000 troops have been mobilized to be on alert, and troops are stationed everywhere. King Zhao and Lin Douyao also regarded the danger of the Eastern Domain, and they felt that it would be good to be able to keep Fuzhou and Quanzhou, but even Zhangzhou might not be able to hold it.

As a result, such news suddenly came, but how could King Zhao not be annoyed and ashamed, and even unwilling to believe it?

But the more he didn't want to believe it, the more King Zhao faintly felt in his heart that more than eighty percent of this thing was true. If something happened to the Eastern Domain, how could the people of Nan'an Hou Mansion go to sea to the Minqing area to recruit pearl divers? As for the reason for recruiting pearl divers, it is also very simple, of course, it is to clean up the battlefield with sunken ships, the logic is clear, the chain is tight, and no one can believe it.

King Zhao's heart seemed to sink to the bottom, the brilliant lights in front of him and the aroma of wine and food came from a strange place, and he was closed in a closed space, only the boundless darkness swallowed him, suffocating him, unable to extricate himself.

"Your Highness doesn't need to believe such nonsense." He Deqing, the commander of the military capital, said with a pale face: "It must be the pirates who send people to release rumors, so that our army will be deceived, shake the morale of the army, and neglect the defense, so that they will have an opportunity." ”

A civil official in his fifties also shook his head and said: "Xia Guan has been an official for more than 20 years, and the trouble of piracy is also well known, Nan'an Hou is able to lead the army, but he can fight Qishan bandits with thousands of soldiers and horses, in the face of Yan Qi, Liu Dan and other giant thieves, can hold a corner of the Eastern Domain, and if they don't let them fight the whole island, it is very powerful, if you want to defeat the group of thieves and behead more than 20,000 levels, this lie is too big, and it is a joke to spread." I would like to suggest that Lord Lin be appeased, and immediately send a note to strictly prohibit the spread of such unwarranted rumors in the streets! ”