Zhu Guoxiang stayed in the cottage for one night, and then went back to Shangbai Village.

Zhang Guangdao brought a woman to visit: "Brother Zhu, this is Brother Yao's Hun family." ”

The woman was very young, not yet twenty years old, and she was quite handsome.

She held the child in her arms, and immediately knelt down and said, "Thank you to the owner of the village......"

"Call me the village chief," Zhu Ming interrupted directly, and said to Zhang Guangdao, "You can also call me the village chief." ”

The woman bowed and said, "Thank you to the village chief for his life, and for sending my child back." ”

Zhu Ming smiled and advised: "In the future, I will give you ten acres of dry land, and let Third Brother Zhang help recruit tenants." ”

"Thank you, village chief!" The woman rejoiced.

Zhu Ming asked Zhang Guangdao again: "How did the cottage build houses before it?" ”

Zhang Guangdao replied: "It is the same as the government levying and issuing conscription, and no wages are paid, only rations." ”

Zhu Ming had a plan in his heart, he could hire the villagers to work, and use the salary to further enhance his prestige.

The sixth month of the lunar calendar is quite easy, and it is relatively busy to plant rice - early rice fields need to be irrigated, and medium rice fields need top dressing.

But most of the land here is dry land, and the farmers are idle, so they can call some to work.

The matter is ordered, and the chief of the armor is responsible for recruitment.

A total of 30 young men were selected, and the next day they went up the mountain to clean up the charred ruins.

They were frowning when they worked, although Zhu Ming announced that he would give money, but no one was willing to believe it.

Zhu Ming was riding around on a cornucopia, and the thirty young men were working while peeking at the "overseer" master, and their eyes revealed more fear.

In the evening of the same day, while it was time to eat, Zhu Ming announced: "The salary is settled every day, and I come to receive the money after eating." ”

Seeing half a basket of iron coins being carried out, the young men finally stretched their brows and showed joy one by one.

I didn't care about eating, so I all came over with my rice bowl and waited.

Zhu Ming smiled and said to Bai Sheng, "Pay your salary." ”

The first young man to receive the salary rushed to Zhu Ming: "Thank you for the reward!" ”

Zhu Ming corrected: "First, don't call the village owner, call the village head." Second, it's not a reward, it's your wages. I'm different from the bandits, I work for me, and I get as much money as I do. When you go down the mountain, you can tell your neighbors. ”

The young men were overjoyed, and for a moment, they forgot about their previous leader.

Is a bandit a fart?

It's still Village Elder Zhu!

Before the reward was over, Tian Er ran over to report: "Village chief, someone in Shangbai Village is looking for you." ”

"Bring him here." Zhu Ming said.

It was Lu An, the son of the housekeeper, who came to pass the word: "Zhu Xiucai, the envoy will come to our village tomorrow, and the master will ask you to go down the mountain tomorrow." ”

"Is there any other arrangement?" Zhu Ming asked.

Lu An replied: "Our family slaughtered pigs and sheep, and prepared a lot of food, and Zhu Xiucai went there before noon." That Lu Tixue didn't know when he would come, but he said that he would definitely arrive tomorrow. ”

"Understood," Zhu Ming said, "It's just here that there is dinner, you can eat and then go back to your life." ”

Zhu Ming has no expectations for that Lu Tixue.

It's really a little unreliable, and I traveled to the mountains and rivers for three days in a row, and suddenly I had to come to inspect the Eight Elements Scholars.

He led the horses to the storehouse, where grain and money were piled up.

There is not much grain, and less than 2% of the land of six or seven square kilometers is paddy fields. Most of the remaining dry land belongs to mountainous areas, and it is difficult for farmers to live on their own, and they used to have to pay taxes and taxes to the village owners.

But there is a lot of money!

Mainly by robbery and smuggling.

The income from private tea is not enough, and robbery is a million profits. The batch of horses that were robbed last year were all good horses.

The Great Song Dynasty bought horses in the northwest frontier, and the later it was, the more expensive it became. By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the frontier purchase price was more than 10 guan, which was still the most common war horse. If it is transported to Kaifeng, there are more than 40 ordinary war horses, and more than 100 good horses.

The thieves robbed more than 40 official horses, and sold the stolen goods through the small white staff, and the price of the horses ranged from 20 to 40 yuan each, and this transaction alone was recorded in the account of thousands of yuan.

These money, a few leaders took the lion's share, and they hadn't spent much yet, and it was all cheap for Zhu Ming and his archers.

"Xianggong, the meal is ready." A woman came over and said.

This woman's name is Aunt Lu, the daughter of the first chief Lu Wang, sixteen years old, mediocre, unmarried, and full-time to take care of Zhu Ming's daily life.

There are also four servants, who are responsible for sprinkling sweeping, chopping wood, lighting fires, cooking, etc., all of which were left by the Yang brothers. The population here is not large, but the bandit leaders enjoy it and live the life of a landlord.

There is one thing that is very magical, Zhu Ming dismissed the servants of the leaders and let them go home to work, leaving only four messengers for himself. These servants were not happy, because they could barely eat enough if they stayed in the village, but they were very likely to go hungry when they returned to their homes.

Zhu Ming handed over the cornucopia to the slave to feed, and went back to the house to eat.

This is the house of Yang Jun, the owner of the village, the area is very small, including the thatched house, there are only twelve houses in total. Moreover, the thatched houses, utility rooms, etc., are all thatched roofs, which are particularly shabby compared with the old white staff's foreign homes.

Rice, a plate of greens, a small pot of stewed chicken.

This is already very rich, after all, there is not enough food in the mountains.

Aunt Lu stood next to her and waited, and Zhu Ming didn't ask her to come over to eat at the same table. When you are a newcomer, you must maintain a sense of distance in order to increase your authority.

Of course, after all, it is the people around you, and you still have to use a little means to envelop it.

"Auntie," Zhu Ming always felt that this title was very awkward, "Don't you have a serious name?" ”

Aunt Lu said: "I will be called Auntie, and my sister will be called Erniang." ”

Zhu Ming thought for a while and said, "Ripple and grass, you will be called Lu Fangling in the future." ”

Aunt Lu didn't know what it meant, but she felt that the name was good, and said happily: "Thank you Xianggong for naming me." ”

Zhu Ming had no interest in this mediocre peasant girl, and said, "If you have a good man, you can bring it to see." If you are loyal and honest, I will be a matchmaker for you to get married, and let him live in to help with things. ”

"I ...... I haven't gotten along yet. Aunt Lu said shyly.

"We'll talk about that later."

Zhu Ming still lacks a housekeeper, although Bai Sheng is smart and clever, his identity is similar to that of a personal assistant, mainly responsible for some external things.

Zhang Guangdao is the deputy village head, and his next task is to go to the mountains to recruit escapees.

After a full meal, Zhu Ming went back to the bedroom to rest, and ate the leftover stewed chicken to a few servants. The servants were overjoyed and gathered around to devour.

It's all quite pitiful, like this in ancient times.

When President Zhu comes, he will be able to carry out a large-scale production campaign.

As soon as he slept until dawn, Zhu Ming arranged the affairs and took Bai Sheng down the mountain.

The main battleship of the bandits is still there, the hull is several meters long, and the speed is quite fast, and it will arrive at Shangbai Village before noon.

After walking a short distance, I saw a villager and hurriedly greeted him warmly: "Little Zhu Xianggong!" ”

Yes, the titles have been changed, Dean Zhu is Zhu Xianggong, and Zhu Ming has become Little Zhu Xianggong.

Zhu Ming greeted him with a smile as usual: "Second Uncle Deng is serving the rice field?" ”

Seeing that Zhu Ming was not putting on a show, the villagers said happily: "I want to top fertilize tomorrow, and I pulled out the grass today." ”

"Then you get busy first." Zhu Ming said.

went straight to Shen Yourong's house, but only Mrs. Yan was at home.

Mrs. Yan was also more enthusiastic, and she had to boil water to make tea, but Zhu Ming refused, and her family didn't need to be so polite.

Zhu Ming said: "I have a house to live there, and my wife can move there next year." ”

Mrs. Yan was a little worried, and asked, "There are all bandits there, but they are still very fierce?" ”

"It's all obedient, just like the villagers here." Zhu Ming said.

Grandma Yan is still a little worried, she is afraid that her grandson will go to the thief's den and will slowly learn badly.

Zhu Ming didn't force it, and began to do homely work.

Not long after, Zhu Guoxiang came back from the field and went to the house to change into clean clothes.

"The envoy hasn't come yet?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I only said that I would come today, and I didn't understand what time it was, and the Bai family didn't know how to entertain them." ”

Zhu Ming complained: "It's also a foolish official who doesn't know how to arrange plans." ”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "If you really want to study Taixue, you can send one out of the lake pen." For the sake of the lake pen, the mention of learning will definitely be more positive. ”

"Send it," Zhu Ming said, "I asked Li Hanzhang, Taixue has a full quota of 3,900 students, and many students will not be able to graduate for several years." The old students will not leave, and the new students can only wait for vacancies, even if I am approved for admission this year, it will take two or three years to wait for vacancies. After all, Yangzhou is too remote, and there is really a shortage, and it is also Gyeonggi and Jiangnan Shizi who are on the first wheel. ”

Zhu Guoxiang went back to the house to get the lake pen, and chatted: "When will you get that set of armor?" It's been more than three months, and I'm afraid it's rusty and moldy. ”

"It's not rusty, the leather may be moldy, and I'll go back to the cottage in a few days." Zhu Ming said.

The father and son were chatting here, and Bai Dalang suddenly came to visit.

This guy has a sad face, and he doesn't treat the Zhu family's father and son as outsiders, and complains as soon as they meet: "The official who mentions the school is a big official, and there is no statute for doing things." I sent a small boat upstream to wait, and when I saw the official ship, I came back to report the news. It's past noon, and there's no news at all. My family has killed pigs and sheep, and I still hesitate and don't know when to get out of the pot. ”

"Hahahaha!" Zhu Ming laughed.

The three of them waited until half an afternoon, and the servants of the Bai family finally rushed and shouted: "The envoy is here, the envoy is here!" ”

But it should have arrived in the morning, and when the official boat was halfway there, Lu Tixue suddenly felt that the scenery on both sides of the strait was beautiful, and took a group of officials and scholars to climb the mountain.

The father and son followed Bai Dalang and walked quickly to the riverside to greet them.

Bai Zongwang had inconvenient legs and feet, and he also came over in a bamboo seat, looking at the fleets coming from far and near.

Even ordinary villagers were forcibly called to welcome them.

Being a big official is so majestic, just a scholar, like an emperor on patrol.

When the fleet docked, the first to come down was the soap officer, holding a sign and banging a gong to open the way.

Lu Tixue was surrounded by many scholars, strode to the shore, and asked, "Where is Zhu Ming, the scholar of the Eight Elements?" ”

Zhu Ming hurriedly stepped forward, he still remembered that he was seriously injured and pretended to be weak: "Zhu Ming will be the last to learn, meet Lu Tixue!" ”

"Okay, a talent."

Lu Tixue was quite satisfied, he heard that Zhu Ming led troops to suppress bandits, and he was worried that he would be born five big and three rough, which would be too unelegant.

Bai Zongwang and Zhu Guoxiang also stepped forward to salute, just waiting to welcome Lu Tixue into the village.

Lu Tixue was a nervous person, and suddenly said: "I heard that the thief village was captured the day before yesterday, and come with me to take a look." ”

"This ...... Go at this time? "Xiang Zhixian complained bitterly.

Bai Zongwang is also 10,000 alpacas running wildly, his pigs and sheep have already been cooked, but the envoy wants to go to the cottage for some reason.

Lu Tixue said with a smile: "It's better to choose a day than to hit the day, and I'll go today." ”

Everyone was speechless.

(Thanks to the penguin elder for his golden cuteness, thanks to the tree like this 12, the shadow of light, Vera 0205, cute to hug, shark rise, dragon soaring alliance leader reward.) ）

(Needless to say, my brain is dizzy, and I myself was stupidly crying by myself.) ）

(End of chapter)