The sky is slightly bright, the cold is pressing, and the Ziyang Temple at the southern foot of the shogunate mountain is still surrounded by bonfires and smoke.

Under the pedestal in front of Ziyang Temple, the last batch of two hundred young people selected from the homeless people were resting, each of them had just drunk two large bowls of rice porridge that could be erected with chopsticks, not only full of salt, but also a spoonful of pickles.

With the shout of the Xuanfang Dao Chief, the two hundred young men immediately stood up, consciously looked for their respective leaders and lined up in a line of ten people, standing solemnly in front of the Xuanfang Dao Leader who was not angry and arrogant, took a red cloth towel from the hands of several young Dao Masters and tied it around his neck, and then returned to the homeless people under the leadership of their respective leaders, and continued to fulfill the oath he had made to the Xuanfang Dao Leader and the gods of the sky.

These two hundred people were only a part of Zhu Daolin's selection from the ranks of displaced people overnight, and they were all poor people who fled with their parents, wives, children, or brothers and sisters, just like the 1,000 young people who had taken turns to eat and listen to the orders before.

At this moment, their wives, children, and sisters have been arranged around the house where the Daoists of the Ziyang Temple live, and together with the old and weak who were the first to be taken care of, they received the most generous treatment from the Daoists.

Therefore, these 1,200 young people from the displaced people are full of gratitude, they are willing to put in the effort, dare to face the danger, in exchange for the safety and clothing of their relatives, willing to face the Taoist of the Ziyang Temple and the gods of the sky and swear: "Obey orders, keep promises, go all out, and die!" ”

It was only at this time that the hanging hearts of the Daoists of Ziyang Temple, who had not slept all night, were slightly relieved, although the next placement and cash-for-work still required huge manpower and material resources, but everyone, including Daoist Xuanqing, knew in their hearts that Ziyang Guan had survived a disaster.

Near noon, the more than 20,000 displaced people who had been divided into 42 battalions had stabilized, and after half an hour of eating, they went to the designated places in battalions under the leadership of their respective leaders, and began to carry grass and trees, build thatched huts, dig latrines, and build roads, exchanging their own labor for a chance to live.

One of the battalions, 560 men, followed several young Taoist leaders to the lower reaches of the creek, picked up more than 500 corpses that had been concentrated there for several days, and carried them to a carriage at the three-way intersection in the south, where they were transported to the government-run crematorium by the officials and servants sent by the Shangyuan County Ya to the government-run crematorium for processing.

This prudent handling method is the result of Zhu Daolin's efforts to disagree with the public.

Originally, according to the intention of Daoist Xuanqing and others, all the corpses could be moved to the northeast of the Taoist temple and buried at the foot of a low hill, but as soon as it was proposed, it was strongly opposed by Zhu Daolin, and the reasons were very good and very tough:

First, we must not leave behind the lever that will one day be attacked and framed by some vicious people, let alone the hidden danger that epidemics may occur.

Second, since the incompetent government has unscrupulously driven more than 20,000 homeless people over, they have the responsibility to collect the bodies of the dead homeless, otherwise Lao Tzu will lead thousands of homeless people to move all the corpses to the Yamen of Yingtianfu and Shangyuan and Jiangning counties!

In contrast, the 10 battalions with a total of more than 5,200 elderly and weak women and children were undoubtedly the luckiest among the more than 26,000 displaced people, who not only received the best care from the Ziyang Guan Daoists, but also did not have to do any heavy work, but only had to wait patiently for two days for the construction of five rows of plank thatched houses, 50 stoves, and five public toilets in the special area to the west of the low hill, and they could all move in and survive the terrible winter.

In order to better implement the cash-for-work plan, Zhu Daolin, who had just drunk two bowls of porridge, once again gathered with the elders to discuss intensively.

Considering that the thatched hut will be completed in two days, there will be more than 10,000 displaced people who cannot be digested by the Ziyangguan construction site, Zhu Daolin, who has repeatedly considered the question of scratching his head all morning, then said a series of solutions:

"Master, two uncles, five uncles, I want to transfer about 8,000 displaced people to the west of the low hill in two days, or to level the land with the battalion as a unit, carry gravel, dig a two-mile-long aqueduct and build both sides with stones, and then transfer about 5,000 displaced people, expand and rebuild the road in front of the Taoist temple to the north bank of the Jinchuan River, the road surface is required to be three zhang wide, and the roadbed should also be built with stones. The remaining 8,000 people followed the more than 100 craftsmen sent by the ancestral court to build the two side halls of Ziyang Temple, so that not only could more than 20,000 displaced people be divided into three places for easy management, but also ensured that everyone had something to do within two months. ”

Daoist Xuanqing immediately consulted with the three senior brothers and agreed that Zhu Daolin's method was the best way at present.

The thoughtful second master asked, "Daolin, is there enough food?" ”

Zhu Daolin's biggest headache is food: "According to the analysis of the letter sent by the big shopkeeper this morning, after the four major grain merchants saw more than 20,000 displaced people flocking to my Ziyang Temple, they all thought it was profitable, not only did the price of grain rise by three layers, but also sacrificed the vicious means of restricting grain purchases, I still don't know if there is a bigger black hand behind these grain merchants......

"So far, the 30,000 quintals of grain that Yingjia General Manager has taken the lead in helping us buy are on the way, and they can be delivered in three days at the latest, but in the future, I am afraid it will be more difficult to buy grain, unless we are far away from the Jiangnan area controlled by the four major grain merchants in Jinling, and go to Jiangxi or Huguang to buy, otherwise the price of grain will rise higher and higher, I am afraid that we have money, and people will not sell it to us."

"That's the problem!" Master Bo Yuan Yue was worried, no matter how much 30,000 loads of grain were saved, it would not be able to allow 26,000 displaced people to survive this winter.

Fifth Master Uncle Xuanfang was angry: "Is there any royal law in these years?" If you can't do it, go to the government to make trouble! ”

Xuan Qing hurriedly waved his hand: "I have to make this decision as a last resort, I have finally established a good reputation, if I fall out with the government, I am afraid it will be difficult to recover it in the future!" ”

"Dao Lin is right, the four major grain merchants are extremely abnormal this time, for so many years, regardless of the government or the gentry from all over the country, very few people have offended my Daomen for no reason, and tens of thousands of tons of grain are not the same thing for the four major grain merchants in Jinling, but they are abnormal, and they suddenly attacked, which is incomprehensible!"

"I think, maybe someone is really making trouble behind the scenes, after all, the profits of the things that Dao Lin got back from the open sea are really amazing, and it is estimated that a certain powerful person has coveted it."

"Well, that's good! Daolin, can you guess who doesn't? "Second Master Bo Xuanji is very sensitive.

Zhu Daolin shook his head: "I can't guess for the time being, if someone really covets it, this person is definitely not an ordinary person, because the Ying family is a famous family with deep roots in the local area and even the entire Jiangnan, and the youngest daughter of the Ying family is the second wife of Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, who is extremely favored." ”

"Just imagine, in the face of such a powerful force, there are still people who ignore the face of the Ying family, and are not afraid of offending my Daomen, hiding behind the four major grain merchants to attack me, it can be seen that their forces are by no means under the Ying family."

Daoist Xuanqing and the others thought so, but there was nothing they could do about it, they thought about it, and finally pinned their hopes on Zhu Daolin, hoping that Zhu Daolin would enter the city as soon as possible to find out the situation and buy enough food as much as possible, even if it cost more money, they didn't care.

Although Zhu Daolin nodded, he had his own thoughts.

No matter how powerful the manipulators behind the four major grain merchants are, Zhu Daolin will not bow his head.

Now the whole Ming Dynasty is in turmoil, there is the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the north who unscrupulously broke through the pass and plundered in the south, there is a huge peasant uprising that swept the entire northwest in the west, Yunnan-Guizhou and Guangxi in the south, and even the western Fujian region of Fujian Province also had a huge miners' riot last month.

To put it mildly, the Ming Dynasty is about to die, no matter how strong the local heroes are?

Therefore, in such a turbulent and troubled world, Zhu Daolin is not afraid of fighting with anyone at all, since you are the first year of junior high school, Lao Tzu dares to do fifteen, and if you can't make a cheap profit, you will be disgusted to death, Lao Tzu also plays yin, let you shed your skin, and then say, it's a big deal to make a fish die and the net is broken, and Lao Tzu pats his ass and leaves, who can take me?

Seeing that Zhu Daolin had been silent for a long time, Daoist Xuanqing hurriedly urged: "You are talking!" ”

Zhu Daolin raised his head, smiled and suggested again: "In this way, the matter of grain is wrapped up in me, except for the 30,000 stone of the big shopkeeper, I will transport back 30,000 stone in half a month, and I will never worry the master and uncle." However, I implore my master and uncle to support me in making a tough stance to the outside world, so that some people can open their eyes and see that our Maoshan Shangqing faction is not so easy to offend. ”

Several elders were slightly surprised, and Fifth Senior Uncle Xuan Fang immediately asked, "Dao Lin, are you going to do this?" Do you want to find trouble with the four major grain merchants? ”

Zhu Daolin smiled: "No matter what the four major grain merchants are, the top priority should be to take the initiative, turn the passive into the active, and create the momentum first!" ”

"We lack everything now, that is, there is no shortage of silver, since there is no shortage of silver, then spend it generously, in the name of Ziyangguan and Zizhuyuan, in the name of Ziyangguan and Zizhuyuan, post hundreds of purchase notices outside the city of Jinling, buy a large number of fabrics, ready-to-wear, shoes and hats, bricks and tiles, stone strips, lime, wood, pig iron, coal, tools, rakes, horses, cattle and sheep, pork, oil and salt, tables, chairs and benches, etc., buy as much as you want."

"As long as you can buy all the things you can buy back, it's better to buy all these things in Jinling City and see how the four major grain merchants and the possible black hands behind them react?"

"How much silver does this cost?" Master Bo Xuanyue asked in surprise.

Before Zhu Daolin could explain, Daoist Xuanqing had already coughed lightly: "Hehe! I think it's a good way, the most important thing in the world is nothing more than two words, a right, a money, many times what money can do, the right may not be able to do, as for the silver, hehe...... Honestly, we really don't lack it! ”

"Not to mention that there will be one million taels of silver handed over to me to build the Ziyang Temple, just say that the remaining 250,000 yuan in my hands at the beginning, plus the previous period of selling ten large Western mirrors and a few sets of crystal wine utensils to get back 300,000, oh yes, there are also 60,000 taels of silver from selling a glass Guanyin to the bald donkey on Qingliang Mountain, 7788 adds up to 600,000 taels of silver, and then subtracts the 40,000 taels of silver consumed in the past few days, how can it be enough for a while!"

Xuanyue, Xuanji and Xuanfang, who heard Xuanqing reveal their family background for the first time, were extremely shocked, Xuanyue and Xuanji looked at each other dumbfounded, and the fifth junior brother Xuanfang was even more miserable, and he was petrified on the spot.