Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Old Knife, the Cripple, and the Blind
A one-armed man, a lame man, a scarred face, and blind in one eye, the three of them were all looking at Li Zhang with five eyes at this time, and Li Zhang was also looking at them, but he was a little depressed at this time, because he wondered if Lu Wu didn't hear clearly, he was looking for a nursing home, not to help the disabled find employment.
"Uncle Wu, won't you help introduce me?" Although Li Zhang had some doubts in his heart, he didn't show it on his face, but stepped forward with a smile and said hello.
"These are all my old brothers, the injuries on their bodies are all left by the Khitans back then, don't look at their age, but they haven't fallen behind, the one-armed one is called the old knife, and the remaining one is called the lame one and the other is called blind, you just look at it!" Lu Wu pointed at the three of them and introduced them casually.
When Li Zhang heard that the injuries on the bodies of these three people were all left by the Khitans, he couldn't help but be in awe at the moment, so he solemnly saluted and said: "Since the three are all brothers of Uncle Wu, they are also my elders, and in the future, I will be called Uncle Dao, Uncle Cripple and Uncle Blind!" ”
"Little Brother Li doesn't have to be polite, just call me Lao Dao in the future, Brother Wu also told us before, twenty yuan a year, the lives of our three brothers will be handed over to you!" I saw an old knife with one arm stand up at this time and said, although he only has one arm left, he is tall and standing like a mountain, and he looks very generous, and he should be the leader of the three.
How do you divide twenty yuan for three people? Li Zhang was also a little puzzled when he heard this, but he didn't ask directly, but smiled again: "Twenty times a year is not much, but there are many people in my family, are the three of you confident that you can keep your family safe?" ”
"Da Lang, my old brothers are all people who have killed people on the battlefield, and later after retiring from injuries, they usually make a living by walking darts, but now that they are older, they want to find a job to live a little bit, with their skills, it is nothing to be a small nursing home!" I saw Lu Wu interject again at this time, and he also saw that Li Zhang was a little suspicious of Lao Dao's ability, so he opened his mouth to explain.
The old knife is also a good person, and naturally he also heard the meaning of Li Zhang's words, only to see him smile at this time, and then looked at the blind behind him, that is, the one-eyed scarred face, and then saw the other party's right hand wave, a cold light flashed in front of Li Zhang, and then only heard the sound of "呀", a finger-long dart nailed to the wall, and a gecko with a broken tail was struggling desperately.
"The blind dart is a must, absolutely where to fight, a good fist and kick for a lame man, as for my ......" When the old knife said this, he suddenly pulled out the waist knife on Lu Wu's body, and threw a few knife flowers out of the knife like lightning, Li Zhang only felt that the other party's knife was extremely fast, and he couldn't even see the shadow of the knife clearly.
"Good martial arts, no wonder Uncle Wu would recommend a few of you!" Li Zhang immediately praised loudly, in fact, he didn't know martial arts at all, but at this time, he could also see that the skills of the old knife were quite good, and it was quite cheap to be able to invite three masters in twenty times.
"See, if it weren't for my affection, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to invite my old brothers even if you spend more money!" Lu Wu also smiled proudly at this time, what he said was also the truth, the three of them had been out for many years, and they had originally returned to their hometown near Chang'an to retire, but he was invited out again.
Li Zhang was also convinced at this time, and immediately complimented Lu Wu a few words, and it was almost three days at this time, so Li Zhang arranged for Lao Dao and a few people to rest first, but unfortunately the place at home was not big, so he could only grieve them and Douzi and others for a night, but Lao Dao They didn't care, and went to sleep after eating something.
However, Lu Wu didn't go to rest, and Li Zhang's father and son also didn't leave, and after Lao Dao and the others left, Lu Wu asked in a deep voice: "How is it, what official positions did the imperial court seal you, have you seen the queen?" ”
"Brother Wu, the imperial court asked people to take care of the Jingcang grassland, but you also know that I don't know a few big characters, how can I have the ability to manage such complicated accounts?" Li Yonghe was the first to shout with a bitter face at this time, when he was on the road just now, he was about to die of sorrow.
"I know the place in Jingcang Grassland, it's indeed a good errand, but the relationship is a little complicated, you don't have experience in this area, but it's not a big problem, I can find a few experienced old officials to help you, it's better not to go through the hands of others for this thing, and you don't know much about it, this is indeed a big trouble." Lu Wu also frowned when he heard this.
"Uncle Wu, I have a way to do it." Li Zhang said with a smile at this time.
"What can you do?" Lu Wu also asked in surprise at this time, and Li Yonghe also looked at him.
"Beans they have been following me to learn bookkeeping, and now they can stand alone, since the accounts can't go through the hands of others, then just pick one out of the beans and let him help manage the accounts." Li Zhang said with a smile.
"Nonsense, how can a child be allowed to take care of such complicated accounts in the pasture?" Lu Wu said a little angrily when he heard Li Zhang's words.
"Uncle Wu, don't underestimate the beans, I'll go get something over, you can take a look at it!" Li Zhang ran to the counter as he spoke, and then took out an account book in the store and handed it to Lu Wu, he used to be in charge of the accounts, but now Li Zhang also began to slowly hand over these things to Douzi and them, after all, he couldn't put his energy on these two small shops.
Lu Wu took the account book and opened it, and found that the bookkeeping method inside was completely different from what he knew, and even some strange symbols and tables, and finally it was under Li Zhang's explanation that he slowly understood these accounts, and at this time he found that Li Zhang's account was not only simple, but also every account was clear, and the entry and exit were even clearer, which was even clearer than the accounts in the yamen.
"Uncle Wu, you can hand over all kinds of chores in the grassland to the old officials you are looking for, and as for recording the accounts, you can hand them over to Douzi, it's a big deal that I just take the time to help them check, there will definitely be no mistakes!" Li Zhang said very confidently at this time.
After doing business for so long, Li Zhang has seen a lot of other people's accounts, but I have to say that the era of the Great Song Dynasty is too backward in terms of accounts, and the bookkeeping is directly written in words, not even a table, and if you want to check the accounts, you have to count them one by one, sometimes the entry and exit items do not match at all, and the bookkeeping methods he casually brought from later generations are stronger than the current ones.
"Are you sure you can't go wrong?" Lu Wu asked a little uncomfortably at this time.
"Uncle Wu, you can take this account book away and let the knowledgeable take a look, and you will know when the time comes!" Li Zhang said confidently again, although his account book is written in Arabic numerals, it is marked with Chinese characters next to it, so ordinary people can understand it.
Seeing that Li Zhang was so confident, Lu Wu and Li Yonghe couldn't help but glance at each other, and then Li Yonghe finally said tentatively: "Either let Da Lang find someone to try, if not, replace him, anyway, I, the new official, have just taken office, and it is understandable to make some mistakes." ”
"Well, let's do it first, after all, there are really no people around us, so we can only use this method for the time being!" Lu Wu finally nodded at this time and said, other officials take office with a group of entourages, but Li Yonghe is not prepared for this at all, and the time to take office is urgent, and it is not easy to find someone who can be trusted, so he can only do this first.
After talking about Li Yonghe's errand, Lu Wu asked Li Zhang again, but when he learned that Li Zhang actually went to Zishantang to accompany the prince to study, he immediately patted his thigh with joy and said: "This is the real good thing, Dalang, you will have a good relationship with the prince after you go, and you will be much more productive than your father in the future!" ”
"A good thing is a good thing, but reading is ......" Li Zhang said in the end but it was a bitter face, in his previous life, he had read for more than ten years, and he had long been tired of reading, and although he had suffered a lot when he entered the society, he still felt much stronger than when he was studying, but now he has to read like he did in his previous life, and he mainly memorizes those classical Chinese, which makes him also have a sense of gloomy future.
"Reading is a good thing, and the prime minister personally taught you, this kind of good thing can't be asked for by others, let's settle the house in these three days, and go to Zishantang in three days, maybe you will have the opportunity to pay homage to the prime minister in the future and become the first prime minister of your old Li family!" Lu Wu said excitedly again at this time.
"A relative is the prime minister? Why does this feel so unreliable? Li Zhang muttered in a low voice when he heard Lu Wu's words, of course, he didn't dare to let Lu Wu hear this.
This night, Lu Wu and Li Zhang's father and son discussed until the second half of the night, and then hastily made up for sleep, and the next morning, Li Yonghe and Li Zhang's official farewell was sent over, with this confession, it also means that Li Zhang's father and son broke away from the civil nationality and officially had an official body, and the official body represents a series of privileges, such as they can rent a cheap official house, and the court also sent a few sets of clothes to wear on faceless occasions and so on.
The official house must be rented, because there are too many people in the family to be crowded in the store all the time, and the housing price in Kaifeng is too high, even if Li Zhang earns some money, but he can't afford it for the time being, so early the next morning, Li Zhang's father and son and Lu Wu went to the official house, the so-called official house, in fact, is built by the imperial court, specially rented to the courtyard of officials, the area is large and small, and officials of different levels, the size of the yard that can be rented is not the same.
In the end, Li Zhang and they fell in love with a set of two-entry official houses, in addition to the front hall and backyard, there are two rows of side rooms on both sides, which is enough for Li Zhang and his family to live, so they rented it, and then they began to move, and the business in the store also needs to be completely taken over by the ugly lady and Huozi, and as a result, Li Zhang has been busy enough in the past three days.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, Li Zhang finally settled down at home, Li Yonghe was also ready to take the beans and a few old officials found by Lu Wu to Jingcang Grassland to hand over, and Li Zhang was about to go to Zishantang to start his life as a companion, which made him feel anxious and a little expectant.