Bai Zhihan took out the boots he had made for Zuo Shaoyang and showed them to Zuo Gui and Liang, saying that they had been done, and Liang asked Zuo Shaoyang to try them on, of course, the size was just right. A room of people praised Bai Zhihan again, Zuo Gui and Liang saw that Bai Zhihan was so ingenious, Lan Xin was wise, there was work in his eyes, he didn't have to tell himself to take care of people, he saved a lot of heart, he really liked it more and more, and he couldn't wait to force his son to marry her immediately, but his son looked at Bai Zhihan and was neither hot nor cold, and his speech was neither yin nor yang, so he didn't dare to mention this matter at this time.

In the evening, the medicine cabinet came listlessly, said hello and sat down, and asked Zuo Shaoyang what the new medicine was.

Zuo Shaoyang invited him to the concoction room to talk. The two entered the room. Zuo Shaoyang closed the door and said in a low voice: "Uncle Zhu, how many people are in your family?" - Slaves are not included. Just loved ones. How many? ”

"Eleven, why are you asking this?"

"And how much food do you have at home?"

Zhu Medicine Cabinet looked at him: "What do you want?" Let me exchange the recipe for my food? Don't think about it! Now if you put a recipe that can turn stones into gold in front of me, I won't agree. I'm leaving! "I wish the medicine cabinet to turn around and leave.

"I wish Uncle Wait!" Zuo Shaoyang hurriedly said, "I don't want to exchange the recipe for your food, but, this, I wish you were very good to me before and helped me a lot." Now that you are in trouble, I also want to help you, and ask you this, just to see how much food you still need, and I still have some surplus food at home, which I can sell to you. ”

"Is that true?" Zhu Medicine Cabinet turned around sharply and stared at him, breathing rapidly.

"Of course, what am I lying to you about at this time?"

Zhu Medicine Cabinet said urgently: "How much grain do you have?" ”

"How much food do you still lack?"

"There is a lot of shortage, my family of eleven people, several sons, daughters-in-law, and grandsons, now there are only six buckets of grain. I have experienced many wars, and I know in my heart that in a big battle like this, the enemy has put on this posture of only besieging but not attacking, and I am afraid that it will not be over in three or five months. Therefore, there must be at least three months of food. I've calculated that it will take at least fifty-six buckets. After deducting the remaining six buckets at home, there is a shortage of fifty buckets of food. - Do you have 50 buckets of rice? I'll trade it with you! ”

Zuo Shaoyang thought to himself, according to the limit of one person and one bucket of rice, there are only eleven people in the Zhu medicine cabinet, and they can only have eleven buckets of rice at most, and they themselves have six buckets, so they can only sell him another five buckets at most. If you sell too much to him, you will harm him.

Zuo Shaoyang sneered: "I don't have so much food. ”

"And how many do you have?"

"Five buckets. -- After deducting our family's own rations, there are only five buckets left. ”

Zhu was very disappointed in the medicine cabinet, but there were also a lot of five buckets of rice, and he said urgently: "Then sell it to me, okay?" ”

"Okay, I invited the old man to come here to discuss this matter, to see if I can help you a little, I can only help so much, I'm sorry."

"That's already good, thank you so much!" I wish the medicine cabinet a strong hand of thanks, "I'll go back and get you money?" How much is a bucket? Fifteen runs? ”

"No, four hundred and seventy!"

"What?" Zhu Yao Cabinet smiled bitterly, "Xiao Langzhong, don't make fun of the old man at this time." Now the price of rice outside is fifteen yuan, and there is nowhere to buy it! ”

"What I said is true, I bought it at the time for 470 yuan, and sold it to you according to the capital."

Seeing that his expression was not like a joke, Zhu Medicine Cabinet looked at him and asked, "Is what you said true?" ”

"Hmmm! Uncle Zhu, you helped me a lot, to be honest, it wasn't you who bought my recipe at that time, and I didn't have the money to buy food. Let's help each other, I don't have any more food to sell you, that's all. It should be enough to hold on for a while. ”

Zhu Yao's eyes were red, and he choked up: "Xiao Langzhong, thank you so much, you are our life-saving benefactor!" ”

"I wish the old man a serious word, don't save what you have in your mouth for others to eat. It's not enough, and then we'll think of another way. ”

"Good! Don't worry, I've come here with strong winds and waves, and this famine won't starve me! Hehehe" Zhu medicine cabinet took out the money bag from his arms, and handed it all to Zuo Shaoyang: "Oh, there are about five taels of scattered silver in it, I can't let you suffer too much, all for you!" ”

Zuo Shaoyang took it, poured it on the table, chose a small ingot and two taels, and took a small piece of broken silver of about three coins, and put the rest back in the bag and handed it back to the medicine cabinet: "I said that I will only collect the principal." ”

Zhu Yaojie was stunned for a moment, took the money bag, and laughed: "Okay!" Good brothers! It's a man! The old man remembers to owe you a favor! ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled and said, "Uncle went out, don't say that he bought food from me." ”

"This nature, you saved me, how can I harm you. Rest assured! ”

"Okay, you wait outside, I'll get you food."

"Okay!" Zhu medicine cabinet out of the concoction room, came to the lobby, and talked to Zuo Gui. I bought five buckets of grain at once, which temporarily relieved my urgent need, and I bought it from the book, and I was very happy in my heart, and I spoke a lot more easily, and laughed from time to time.

Zuo Shaoyang closed the door, took out a bag of five buckets of rice from the cellar, and filled it in a back basket. opened the door and asked Miao Peilan to help send her home. Zhu didn't even say no, took off his coat and wrapped the rice bag, carried it on his shoulder, and after thanking him, he carried the food and left.

Zuo Shaoyang handed over the money to his mother and collected it. asked Miao Peilan to help carry five buckets of rice in a basket, and followed him to Zhao Sanniang's house. Zhao Sanniang's father-in-law couldn't wait, and he was very happy to see them coming, and went through the procedures for the transfer of land and property at the moment. begged Zuo Shaoyang for a while, asking to buy more food, Zuo Shaoyang only said that there was no surplus food at home, so he took Miao Peilan to say goodbye and returned to the pharmacy.

By this time, it was already dark, and it was time to change.

Zuo Shaoyang closed the door and invited the second elder to the bedroom to discuss things.

Zuo Shaoyang said: "Only thirty-five buckets of surplus grain have been sold, and there are one hundred and sixty-seven buckets left. Our family, my brother-in-law's family, Peilan's family, and Zhi'er's family, a total of 20 people, can only have 20 buckets of grain if they follow the quota of the requisition order. A total of 147 buckets of grain exceeded the standard. What to do? ”

Father Zuogui was silent, brushing his white beard and thinking.

The Liang family was the most timid, and he was very satisfied with the wealth he had now, and said to Zuo Gui: "Master, or, sell these grains to the army when the time comes." Anyway, we have already changed Guizhitang and the grocery store next door, as well as a tea shop, thirty acres of land and twelve dollars, which is enough, and we can't be too greedy, otherwise, the officers and soldiers will know how much surplus food we have, and we will cut off our heads and seize our homes, but there will be nothing! ”

Zuo Gui is also a very contented person, so he nodded slowly and looked at Zuo Shaoyang: "Zhong'er, what do you mean?" ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled bitterly: "That's right, we have made a little bit of national disaster with a cheeky and black heart, and we have already earned back our capital, and now it is the safest thing to sell the surplus grain to the army, but has the second elder thought about it?" If we sell all the 147 buckets of grain that exceeded the quota to the army, what will we eat in the future? ”

Zuo Gui and Liang were both stunned.

Zuo Shaoyang said again: "I asked Fan Heimian, and he said that this battle will only last for a few months!" Hengchang Medicine Store Zhu Old Man also judged so. Don't say too much, even if it's three months. According to the limit, one bucket of rice per person, one bucket of rice is normally only enough for Chengren to eat for half a month, and the maximum is ten days if the labor is strong. Let's calculate according to the minimum lower limit, only drink one bowl of gruel a day to hang our lives, and we are afraid that it can only last for a month at most. With two months left, how are we going to live? Can't survive? What else do you want to do with all this property, your house, and your money? ”

Zuo Gui and Liang didn't expect this just now, they both had a big heart, glanced at each other, and nodded together.

Father Zuo rubbed his beard and said, "The imperial court may send reinforcements to defeat the rebels, right?" ”

"Impossible!" Zuo Shaoyang shook his head and said, "At least in three months, it's impossible!" ”

"Why?"

Zuo Shaoyang has thought about this question many times, and said in one breath: "Brother-in-law said, now the northern Turks are attacking the border on a large scale, and the imperial army is sent to the north to deal with the Turks, and the rebels sent this time are all temporarily drawn from all over the old, weak, sick and disabled garrisons, if the imperial court can still send a surplus army, it will definitely be sent, the emperor is wise and martial, can fight well, and also knows how to prioritize, the Turkic invasion must be ahead of the scale this time, so the emperor sent all the main forces to the north to deal with the Turks, The rebels only have tens of thousands of people, and they are not yet able to invade more places, let alone fight the capital, so the emperor just sent these tens of thousands of officers and soldiers with poor combat effectiveness from all over the country to conquer and suppress, and the purpose is not to defeat the rebels, but to contain the rebels. Wait until the Turks are defeated in the north, and then withdraw to deal with the rebels. As far as I know, the Turks are mainly cavalry-based, very good at sports tactics, and their numbers are also at a disadvantage compared to our Datang, so they should not directly fight with my Datang officers and soldiers. The Tang army could only look for the enemy and annihilate it, so it would be more time-consuming. Therefore, in a few months, it was impossible for the imperial army to defeat the Turks, and it would not be possible to come and suppress the rebels. ”

Zuo Gui and Liang were dumbfounded. Zuo Gui said: "Since this is the case, what should I do?" ”

Zuo Shaoyang gritted his teeth and said: "It's very simple, if you want to sell grain to officers and soldiers, all of us will starve to death if we have twenty of us; But if you want to keep the food, once it is discovered by the officers and soldiers, you will be executed! Which one do you think you should choose? ”

Zuo Gui and Liang looked at him stupidly.

Zuo Shaoyang said in a low voice: "Anyway, the left and right are one death, it's just a matter of a few days earlier and a few days later, it's better to fight to the death and hide the grain!" Take a gamble! Even if you cut off your head, it's better than starving to death! ”

Zuo Gui stroked his beard and nodded slowly.

Liang was lucky, and cowered and said: "The city is full of tens of thousands of people, and the officers and soldiers can't watch everyone starve to death one by one, right?" Maybe the officers and soldiers will collect the food and see that everyone is going to starve to death, so they will give everyone food to spend their lives? ”

(To be continued)