As everything moves forward in a day of harmony and joy, discordant voices emerge.

These days, the people stationed in Bingshan are in full swing, and of course they have alarmed the old man Zhang of Zhangjiabao and this village across the road from this village.

Although Zhangjiabao outside the old man Zhang is only separated from the garrison mountain village, the two borders are heaven and earth, one side is the thatched hut is low and poor, the other side is the fort wall is tall and tightly defended, the old house of the Zhang family in the fort, that is really the Huatang continuous, carved beams and painted buildings, the water pavilion song platform is continuously covered, behind the house, the stables and livestock pens are lined up in arrays, the tall granaries are endless, shuttled between them, it is the maids and servants, the slaves and villains are in groups, and the sheng song feast is endless day and night, The people who come and go in the old house of the Zhang family are rich and noble people who are fresh clothes and angry horses, and even the county order of Namizhi is also the guest of the Zhang family, and the officials of the government are even more low here, and they dare not be arrogant and domineering.

Zhang Lao Yuanwai was originally in the local area, that is, everyone is a family, a hundred years of landlords, to Zhang Lao Yuanwai's family, but also used all kinds of means, or ingenuity, or robbery, almost turned the good fields around the garrison mountain into his own private property, that is, there is no way for those military households who are in a group, so he hates to be bored, and from time to time he has to find some opportunities to calculate.

At this time, natural disasters and man-made disasters continued, and the displaced people in various places continued, and those displaced people fell to death in the ditches and starved to death, and the living gathered in groups in the mountains and forests, relying on opening the estates of the rich and powerful to plunder the grain, and there were no less than dozens of people near and far.

But the guard system created by Taizu has been abolished, and the original provision of 1,200 soldiers for one guard, or escaped, or turned into a general tenant family, even if there are only four or five hundred people left, it is really useless or nowhere to go, with the poor grain that may be distributed in March and May, it may be a year and a half to get rid of the poor grain, one by one is not as good as the beggars on the street, their wives and daughters have long become prostitutes who lean on the door, or flowers who ask for food, counting on them to guard and exterminate the pole thieves? It is better to believe in the benefits of sows from going up to the tree, so it is already a common phenomenon for landlords around the country to be strong or to form villages for self-protection, or to recruit family members to defend themselves. Zhang's family members have a century-old net worth, and their only son has opened a lot of business in Yan'an, and the chain has become Xi'an Taiyuan, Beijing, Jiangnan, that is, Mongolia, and the Mantars outside the customs are all colluding with each other, and it is nothing more than a day to make money.

With the financial resources to build a manor fort on a large scale, dozens of hundreds of years, this Zhangjiabao is as strong and tall as a small county town, at this time also raised nearly 100 villagers, connected with their own people's children, day and night guard protection, and also served as a place of the land Baolizheng, usually a group of evil slaves roaring in and out, urging tenants and people, issuing usury and exploitation, as if this place is a tyrant.

Now looking at the great drought in the world, thousands of miles of red land, this is almost past the spring ploughing season, and he is anxious to plant thousands of acres of fertile land, although this is a tenant's business, but the tenant you add his ninety percent of the rent, but he has no output is in vain, not to mention that there are a large number of thousands of acres of land on the riverside that he relies on the tenants' free labor and free care to be abandoned.

On this day, he was standing in the yard looking at the sky in the company of his good grandson, looking at the blue sky and still not having any clouds, and suddenly heard a burst of noisy cheers from outside the village, frowning at the moment, and said in his heart: "Why are these mud legs so heartless, when do they still have the heart to cheer, and suddenly it occurred to me that these mud legs who can't eat are most willing to hook up with the pole and open the big households to share the grain finance, but don't be robbed by the pole." ”

Thinking of this, his face changed greatly, and he hurriedly called the housekeeper to go out to have a look, and also asked everyone to prepare early.

The housekeeper was also worried when he heard the noise outside, and he was afraid that the people would call a pole to attack the fort, which would be a fatal thing, so he hurriedly asked people to close the castle door and climb the castle wall to look outside.

The second housekeeper climbed the city wall, raised his eyes, but breathed a sigh of relief, all he could see, were the men and women of the garrison mountain, old and young, were sweating like rain digging ditches in the fields, and there were many children shuttling like butterflies, and the sound of cheerful laughter spread all over the heavens and the earth.

What's going on? Why did the mud legs go crazy digging ditches in such a dry weather? I can't think of it, and the town can't think of it.

climbed down and hurriedly ran back to the Zhang family's mansion, bowed his head and reported to the master: "Don't worry, sir, it's just that the poor legs of this village are digging ditches and ditches there, and they are noisy and shouting, not some pole robbery." ”

"Digging a ditch? In this dry weather, are you full of food? What is the use of digging ditches? Old man Zhang asked in wonder.

The second housekeeper hurriedly flattered: "What the master said is that it is just that the people are ignorant and do some useless work." ”

"That's not right." The big housekeeper is the master of this old man, and there is nothing taboo about speaking in front of this old man, frowning and saying: "The little people are stupid, but it's not so much, there must be something strange during the period." ”

Old man Zhang nodded when he thought about it with a cane, things were weird, and he turned back to the big housekeeper and said: "The second family is right, come on, find a word and give the clever one to go outside to see, what is going on, find out and understand, and come back to report immediately." ”

In fact, the second housekeeper also knows that things are strange, but this should not be said by himself, the best realm of patting sycophants is to always let your boss say the best answer you know, note, it is the best, but it is not necessarily the most right, the big butler is the boss of the second butler, and this sycophant must be shot like this.

As soon as he exited the second door, the third housekeeper was already waiting outside the door, and without waiting for the order, he said to the second housekeeper who raised his head with his chest up and was arrogant: "This matter is not hard for the second gentleman, I will go and run it myself." ”

The second housekeeper is very happy, look at his ** good subordinates, have vision, and they are also deeply sycophant.

nodded and said: "Go, I'll wait for your news, be detailed, don't annoy the owner and provoke a beating and scolding when you come back for no reason." You, too, are shrewd, but you still do things well. ”

Seeing that the third butler was sincerely frightened, and then bowed and retreated, the second butler went to the room with a smug smile and waited for news. it? Not necessarily, but for subordinates, while praising them, they must not forget to knock, or they will not be able to open the roof for three days?

As soon as the third housekeeper walked out of the gate of Zhang's mansion, he immediately became arrogant, where is there still a little groveling in the house? With his face up, he nodded and called a few family members, and said loudly to a few family members: "Come on, follow me out of the village, and see what those mud-legged moths are doing." ”

"Okay." The family members who were called over shouted happily one by one, and roared out of the village in front and back.

Out of the village is a good opportunity for these family members who are short and low in their voices in the Zhuangzi to shake their majesty, which one is not overjoyed?

A line out of the village, everywhere they went, the construction site that was originally in full swing immediately became silent, and the eldest girl and little daughter-in-law immediately made birds and beasts scattered, and they avoided going home, and tied up the courtyard door tightly, and they were afraid of the disaster.

The rest of the honest people all shrunk their necks one by one, standing on the side of the road, with low eyebrows and cold eyes, waiting for the third master's scolding and questioning.

A family member saw a man although he was respectful on the surface, but there was a trace of anger in his eyes, and he stepped forward with a whip at that time, and whipped it fiercely on the man's thin and shabby clothes, making the already shabby clothes even more bloody cuts, the man just wanted to raise his head to argue, and was immediately pulled by a thin old man beside him, the old man hurriedly stepped forward, bent his body lower and said: "The little old man has seen the third master, the third master has something to say to me, my child was stunned, collided with the third master, and asked the third master to forgive, I'm going to accompany you on behalf of my child. ”

The third housekeeper stopped the family who wanted to raise his hand again to fight, stepped forward and said with a smile: "Which one am I, but it is Zhang San from the Zhang family's lower room, they are all villagers, and they are exempt from accompanying them." ”

In the wolf den of the Zhang family, this third housekeeper is an outlier, so I can say something, if there are a few other masters, the son of the Zhang family will have a broken head and bleed, or light, and if one is not good, he will be thrown into the Zhangjia water prison, that is a place where there is no return, Zhang Laosan hurriedly bowed and thanked him.

The third housekeeper shook his hand and said, "Let me ask you, on this dry day, you are not waiting for rain at home, but what are you doing digging ditches here?" Could it be that the water of the river, which is more than ten feet away from the embankment, will flow to your house on its own? ”

Seeing the third old man's move, Zhang San hurriedly bent his body lower and said: "Back to the third old man, we are digging a ditch now to prepare for the water-lifting windmill that Zhang Laoshi's family is about to install, Zhang Laoshi said that as long as his family has installed the windmill, he can not use manpower, day and night to lift the river water to the platform, watering our farmland, and at that time, we can plow and sow seeds." ”

When the third housekeeper heard this, he almost made a fuss with himself.

What the? You don't need manpower, you can lift the river day and night to the platform? Is there such a good thing in the world? Zhang Laoshi himself knows that an old carpenter with a lot of money, don't be nonsense.

After carefully asking to understand, all the carpenters in the village have participated in the construction of the windmill, and they know whether this thing is true or not.

hurriedly went back to report to the master, it was a reward for merit.

Regardless of the prestige, he hurriedly rushed back to Zhangjiabao with his family to report the news.

Zhang Laosan looked at the family who was roaring away, and hurriedly called his son who was still angry: "Hurry up, go to Zhang Laoshi's house to report to the master, and say that King Zhang Yan sent someone to ask about the windmill." ”

"Well, I'll go right away." The man dropped his shovel and ran away like a gust of wind.

Zhang Laosan looked at Zhangjiabao as gloomy as hell, and said with anxiety in his heart: "I was remembered by the Zhang family, I really don't know what will happen." ”