Quyang, Sifang Inn, at the beginning of the shift.

Huo Bao went downstairs with an empty teapot, and the girl and her companion were downstairs, entertaining a guest who was staying overnight.

"Two hundred and fifty wen a room? It's just this broken store, why don't you go and grab it? Compared with the polite Huo Bao and others, this person is like a villain.

The girl was not annoyed, and said good-naturedly: "I don't have a room for 100 yuan without food." ”

The man reluctantly took out a string of money and threw it on the counter: "Here, don't live in the store, this is the money for a meal." ”

The girl reached out and picked it up, and said with a smile: "Chenghui is forty wen, and there is still ten wen." ”

The guest rolled his eyes and snorted coldly: "The big store, do you still care about these pennies?" ”

The guest's voice was loud, causing passers-by to see the excitement, and there were many people standing at the door unconsciously.

The girl said happily: "Then give the guest a discount of ten wen?" ”

"That's pretty much it!" The guest took his seat and urged him to eat.

A few people standing at the door, all of them looked weak, and they also entered the door and asked, "Little sister, we only buy food?" ”

"Medium, uncle, hurry forward!" The girl should be cool.

It was also forty dollars each, and there were a few who had no money and wanted to be credited, and the girl did not entangle with them, but stepped back and let the guy deal with them.

"The shop is small and thin, and there is no credit, if the guest officer does not have enough money, go to the front street yamen, and call people to pass the ditch there, and eat and live. Now that food is expensive, there is no place to buy it, even if you have money. Our host is kind, seeing that the inns and restaurants in the city are closed, and everyone has no place to settle in the city, so they bite and support the ......" The former sentence refers to the guests who want to pay on credit, but the latter sentence is said to the guests who have already sat in the house.

The few who had no money touched their stomachs and left, and the girl and her companion went to the back kitchen.

Huo Bao picked up the teapot and followed.

"Little brother!" The girl greeted her.

Huo Bao saw that they were eating for takeaway, and there should be no shortage of food, so he said: "We have a lot of food, can we discuss some with you, add some food, and the food money will be paid for separately." ”

"We will have steamed buns and porridge, and there is nothing to do." The girl said.

"Just the steamed buns, and ten more steamed buns." Huo Bao took out two pieces of broken silver and handed them over.

The girl immediately answered: "This is one or two taels of silver, which is converted into 1,200 yuan, and then for three days, three meals a day, and ten steamed buns are added to each meal?" “

"That's good, thank you." Huo Bao Dao.

The girl's eyes were smiling, and she personally helped Huo Bao fill up the tea.

Huo Bao went upstairs with tea, and when he walked down the stairs and looked down, he happened to look at a table of guests by the window.

One of the two was replaced by Hou Xiaoming, and the other was the little fat man Zhu Er.

After Huo Bao went upstairs for a while, the guy brought ten steamed buns and a plate of dried radishes.

After a while, there was movement outside.

Someone opened the house opposite.

"How do you open this? The north house is very wet, and there is no one locked across the room? Zhu Xiaoer's voice.

"That room was booked by the guest opposite, and the three of them booked two adjacent rooms." The girl's eloquent explanation.

"So be it." Zhu Xiaoer was reluctant at first, and then curious: "Who are you?" Why do you come to greet people? What about shopkeeper Deng, why didn't you see shopkeeper Deng? ”

"My grandfather is out, and I'll help look after the store." The girl is brittle.

As the door slammed and footsteps faded away, silence returned to the door.

After a while, someone tiptoed the door in, it was Zhu Xiaoer.

"Quyang now has no county order, and there is no county governor, just a county lieutenant. But this county lieutenant was not a county lieutenant before, he was a fast catcher under the county lieutenant, and he was born as a son-in-law, called Deng Jian. When the white-shirted army occupied Quyang last month, the county commander and the county commander all ran away, and the county lieutenant was killed. Deng Jian led his subordinates to gather the county soldiers and drove the white-shirted army out again. Since then, he has taken the 'county lieutenant' and occupied this Quyang. ”

"It is not only a tax to enter the city from outsiders, but it is not allowed to enter but not to leave; Even for the residents in the county, the rules are strict. All the adult males went to the barracks, and the food of each family was copied, and they received their daily rations with their household registers. ”

"Many people in the county have run out of food, and they all say that Deng Jian is a living Bodhisattva."

"The rich households in the county hated Deng Jian to death, and there was an old man who put up a stand and went to the yamen to reprimand Deng Jian for 'lawlessness'. Deng Jian didn't pay attention to it at the time, and turned around and dragged the old man's children and grandchildren to the barracks. ”

"The city gate tax began to be collected at the end of last month, and the number of barracks cannot be found, but it can be inquired that the population of Quyang County before was nearly 8,000 households."

Zhu Xiaoer said a lot in one breath.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

8,000 households, to say the least, is a population of 30,000, and all adult males are included in the military register, which is about 10,000 county soldiers.

"Isn't this a rebellion? What's the difference with the White Shirts? Huo Bao was puzzled.

"I didn't expect this Qu Yang to be a hard bone, and there are only about 2,000 people under the third brother...... Shui Jin was worried.

Huo Bao also wondered in his heart that this concentration of grain and rationing system had the prototype of "communism" in later generations.

That Deng Jian is a bold one.

In the war-torn season, and in the midst of disasters and famines, this forced expansion of troops and forced requisition of grain is indeed a way to fortify the city and protect itself.

If he hadn't done this, he wouldn't have stabilized Quyang County.

However, as the old man accused, Deng Jian's matter was "illegal" and would not be recognized by the upper echelons and gentry, which was a dead end.

"Hurry back and tell the third brother, don't fight Quyang first, hit somewhere else first, and come back when you turn around." Shui Jin couldn't sit still and got up.

"Don't be impatient, wait for the news of the Great Sage." Huo Bao Dao.

This waits from the first shift to the second half of the night.

Hou Xiaoming only then touched the inn, his clothes were in tatters, and his face was also black, looking like a beggar.

"Twenty-three thousand, all young and strong...... However, they are also in trouble, there are many people and little food, and they are about to run out of cooking, and the new ones in the camp are only given a bowl of porridge and a few grains of rice! Hou Xiaoming was obviously hungry, and after saying what was important, he picked up the steamed bun and devoured it.

After eating three steamed buns in one go, and drinking most of the pot of tea, Hou Xiaoming relieved himself.

"Hungry, the newcomers are complaining, and the idea is running out; The old man was not happy, and many people scolded the county lieutenant behind his back. There are many of them, and there is no serious practice in them. Everyone stayed inside because they were afraid of the guards with real knives and guns, and more for a bite to eat. If you really cut off cooking, I'm afraid you're going to blow up the camp! ”

As soon as Hou Xiaoming finished speaking, another scout came back.

"That county lieutenant led the troops out of the city, hundreds of foot soldiers, and more than twenty carts."

Huo Bao squinted, is this going to "find food" outside the county?

The northern half of Quyang County was swept by the White Shirts last month, and the village was almost empty; It's the southern half of the pull, and some of them haven't been affected.

"Uncle Bao, this is an opportunity, should we do something?" Huo Bao's eyes lit up, and he said softly: "There are few of us, and we can't make a splash when we go in the barracks." Why don't you tie up his family first? Wait for him to come back so that I can blackmail him into talking to us! ”

Everyone looked at Huo Bao.

This method is disgraceful, but it can be used well.

Huo Bao didn't answer immediately, but walked to the door, listened to the movement outside, and turned around.

"It's late!"