During the decisive battle, the tribes in the north of Shuozhou surrendered quickly, but there were several tough battles in the west, and many of the unarmored soldiers who came back later were disabled.

In mid-November, it snowed heavily in Guanyang City, and while the river was not frozen, many people went to the county to sell goods and purchase.

The streets and alleys of Guanyang are full of people selling firewood, dried vegetables, and agricultural sidelines, and some farmers who have stored refined grain are also carrying rice and noodles into the city to sell them at this time. After selling these, I went to the shop to buy oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, sugar and all kinds of daily groceries.

As soon as the river freezes and the river road is impassable, they really have to completely cat's winter and wait for the New Year.

The small boats that deliver goods from the Guanyang Alliance to the general stores in various villages are also busy from morning to night, with a large number of truckloads coming in and out, and the docks are much busier than usual.

Those who are anxious have already started to do New Year's goods.

The road is difficult to walk in winter, and Lu Xu also sent away the last batch of apprentices who learned to cook, so let's wait for the next year.

Lu Xu cooked Malatang, came out of the shop, shivered from the cold, and discussed with Tan Shishi when to stop the boat.

"Let's wait until the river freezes completely." Tan Shishi was shivering from the cold at the dock, and insisted on killing and cutting fish.

Lu Xu asked him to move to the city shop, but there was not enough place to shop, and it was not very warm if he didn't light a brazier, so Tan Shi didn't go.

He rubbed his hands and stomped his feet from time to time, "I heard that there was another one from the west in the north village yesterday, did you say that Brother Hu and they were also injured and delayed, and they haven't come back for so long." ”

Lu Xu nodded: "Maybe Brother Tiger and they will follow the general to the capital to receive the reward." ”

The two of them were smiling, but they looked west with the same heavy heart.

Separated by thousands of mountains and thousands of ravines, I don't know what happened to Qiu Hu and them.

Just as they were preparing to break the ice's sledgehammer, Jingzhong, thousands of miles away, quarreled over how to settle the surrendered troops and prisoners, and how to fill the population of the northern counties.

It is the ambition of every emperor to expand the territory, but how to settle and manage it after the development has become a huge problem in front of him.

No one wants to go to the barbarian realm.

What if in a few years they rebel again?

The loss of official position is small, and the loss of life is big, and even if there is a small life to escape, there will be no future in the DPRK and China.

The officials did not want to go, and the people did not want to go.

That is the realm of the barbarians, and now there are still a large number of barbarians, they don't care whether the side has descended or not, and now they are also the people of Daqi, and the long battle of more than ten years alone is enough to make people fearful.

The elderly emperor sat on the dragon chair and listened to the courtiers arguing, but he could not come up with a feasible plan, and even talked about emptying the treasury, with countless casualties, whether it was cost-effective to earn back the land of the barbarians.

The people of the DPRK and China are panicked, but thousands of miles away are calm and waveless.

As far as the common people are concerned, this year is a special year, the victory is won, the family is reunited, there is no need to worry about conscription, and every family is happy to celebrate the New Year.

As soon as the month of Layue, the county school and academy were on vacation, and Lu Xu's shop was also ready to close.

Now the river is frozen, and it only melts at noon, and when they sail in the morning and evening, they have to break the ice with sticks and stone hammers.

Lu Xu can see that the money is inexhaustible, and he must rest.

Taking advantage of Lu Zhou and Yan Junqi's holiday, he also hung up a sign early to close down.

The neighbors who want to save something bought it early, take it home and move, want to eat it in the pot and steam it, although the taste is not as good as the freshly made, but it can also be eaten.

If you are hungry, then you will have to go to the restaurant, Lu Xu will not do it, Zhuyunlou can still open the door, they have been open until the twentieth day of the lunar month, and even Lu Xu's fried fritters and pie business have been picked up, but everything is more expensive than Lu Xu.

Lu Xu purchased a bunch of miscellaneous items that were not available in the village, and gave red envelopes and New Year's gifts to Lu Yong and the dog.

The two of them have to come to the shop from time to time to take a look this month, so that no one loses anything for a long time, and Lu Xu's iron pot is expensive.

"Come, two fish for one person, two chickens, a basket of eggs, a pig's leg, a can of oil, a stack of cloth, you don't have any children, I won't buy sugar for you, buy anything else by yourself, the remaining rice and noodles in the store will be divided between the two of you for a while, anyway, there is not much." Oh, your red envelope, your ......"

Lu Xu sent the two thick red envelopes to Gouzi and Lu Yong respectively, "Lu Yong has been working for a long time, you have done it for a short time, and your red envelopes are thinner." ”

The dog nodded violently, yes, it's okay not to give him a red envelope.

Lu Xu gave each of them a salary, "This is the salary of the Layue store, the store will be handed over to you, and if it is stolen, you will find Brother Luo to report to the official." ”

The two laughed, "I promise not." ”

Saying that, Yan Junqi and Lu Zhou also bought pen, ink, paper, and inkstones and came back, and Lu Xu asked them to put the things on the cart and transport them to the dock together in a while.

After settling them, Lu Xu took Yan Junqi and Lu Zhou to the stone to calculate the dividends.

The accounts are too complicated, he can't figure it out alone, and he still has to rely on Yan Junqi.

They sat in a circle, listening to Yan Junqi read to them little by little, how much money each business makes, how much to keep for the next year to buy shops and build ships, how much can be used to divide the money, and how much each person gets......

When the money is sent to them one by one, everyone really feels that they have really made a lot of money!

They happily went to buy New Year's goods one by one, most of them still have to go back to the mountains for the New Year, they haven't been home for a year, and this time they can finally have a fat year when they go back.

Lu Xu asked Tan Shishi, "Are you going back?" ”

Tan Shishi shook his head, "I'll wait for Brother Hu." ”

Lu Xu asked Liang Shanbao again: "Shanbao, what about you?" ”

Liang Shanbao: "I'll go back." ”

Tan Shishi: "Brother Shanbao wants to carry back the New Year's gift to Uncle Qiu and my family." ”

Lu Xu nodded, "Take advantage of the good weather to walk, you have good companions on the road, walk slowly, and don't stay in the mountains if you can." ”

Liang Shanbao smiled: "Don't worry! ”

They often walk mountain roads.

Lu Xu didn't say much more, "Let's settle the new account when we come back for the New Year, and the shop will be closed early if the weather is bad." ”

Tan Shi nodded, "I don't have much stock left." ”

Lu Xu nodded: "If you are bored during the New Year, you will go to Lu Yong's house, and I will talk to him." If there is anything to do, you can go to the yamen to find Luo Shen, who is also on duty in the county yamen for the New Year. ”

Tan Shishi smiled, "Okay." ”

After explaining everything, Tan Shishi moved half a basket of frozen pears for Lu Xu.

The fruit has long been sold out, and the rest of it is all set aside for the New Year to give welfare gifts to the New Year.

Lu Xu was not polite, he moved the boat all the way, this time he didn't need Tan Shi to send it again, Lu Xu and they took advantage of the fact that the ice in the middle of the river was thin at noon, and rowed back by themselves.

"See you in the spring!"

"See you in the spring!"

Lu Xu raised his hand and waved high.

Lu Zhou stood on the deck and said goodbye to the stone, thinking about what his brother said, don't drag the text, speak bluntly, Lu Zhou said in a serious voice in advance: "Brother Shi, I wish you a safe and healthy New Year, prosperous business, everything goes well, and everything goes as you wish." ”

Tan Shishi smiled even more heartily, and took out the newly obtained silver and stuffed it to Lu Zhou, "Good luck!" ”

"Good luck!!"

Chapter 91: Birthday

In the wax moon, it is the coldest time of the year.

They have no air conditioning, no heating, no honeycomb coal and coal, and they rely on wearing cotton jackets to burn firewood for heating.

Fortunately, they were next to the mountain, and the third and fourth uncles had a lot of firewood stored after the autumn harvest.

This year, they all had extra income, and they didn't pick up firewood to sell in the town like in previous years, they kept it all for their own use, and they also sent a lot to Lu Xu's family.

In the winter, there are many people who come to Lu Xu's house to find Yuan Manniang to learn embroidery, and there are also many people who go to Lu Xu to pick firewood, and at this time he has a yard of firewood stacks in his backyard, that is, he is so cold that he doesn't want to stretch out his hand, and he even has to do some psychological achievements when he goes out to carry firewood.

Their Lu Rui is different, wearing a new padded jacket made this year, like a small furball, jumping all over the yard. He is energetic, from opening his eyes in the morning to sleeping at night with his eyes closed, he does not move for a moment, this run, that run, his hands and feet are hot, and he can play sweat for a while.

Yuan Manniang thought he was dirty, so she took the old clothes and made him three smocks, which will be enough to wear.

Lu Xu called out to him, "Rui'er, go and pull a piece of wood." ”

Lu Rui: "Wood! ”

Lu Xu: "Yes, find a big one, burn-resistant." ”

The little round ball ran to the backyard, and dragged the firewood down from the low wooden stack, but his little strength was limited, and all he could pull was the branches, and he compared the ones he dragged down, none of them were burn-resistant, and he wanted to look back at his brother, the yard was empty.

Lu Rui ran back two steps, thought about it and ran back, went around to the back of the wood stack, and pushed it hard, but the wood stack was a little crooked and did not fall.

He gathered his strength, took out the strength to bump into other children in the village, hit the stack of wood with his shoulder, held his breath, kicked the ground, and pushed...... Crash.

A corner of the stack collapsed.

Lu Rui walked around, picked up the largest piece of firewood from the fallen firewood, and dragged it back with both hands.

Lu Xu heard the movement, opened the curtain, and saw his Lu Rui dragging a wooden piece with a diameter of about ten centimeters with both hands and dragging it back, pouting his buttocks, his feet slippery, and his strength to eat milk was used.

Lu Xu: "Sideways, push!" ”

Lu Rui looked back at him.

Lu Xu gestured to him, "Turn around and push here sideways." ”

Lu Rui let go, looked down at the wood and thought about it, went around to the side, raised his foot and kicked it.

The wood moved.

Roll forward a foot away.

Lu Rui chased after him, bent over and pushed his buttocks, and the wood moved again.

He said "hey" and giggled at Lu Xu with bright eyes, and began to roll wood all over the yard to play.

Gotcha, kick his ball, and find a toy again!

Lu Xu wrapped his clothes and resigned himself to carrying firewood.

Passing by Lu Rui, Lu Xu stepped on the log, checked that there were no thorns on it, used a firewood knife to smooth the uneven edges, and then pushed it to Lu Rui to play.

"You're not too cold, let me touch the claws." Lu Xu put the small round ball under his armpit, and grabbed Lu Rui's little hand from his small sleeve, heh, white and clean, soft and hot, look at the sleeve again, a layer of soil!

Lu Xule was broken, "You are quite clever, you know how to push with sleeves." ”

Lu Rui babbled and smiled at him, showing him little paws, Lu Xu slapped him on the buttocks, and helped him straighten his hat, "Let's play." ”

Lu Rui was playing with the wood, and when he saw Lu Xu going to pick up firewood again, he came over to pick it up, and he didn't know who he learned it from, and he kicked and dragged it with his hands behind his back, and he kicked and dragged it like a little old man, and he didn't like it for a long time, so he ran to play with him again.

Lu Xu's hands were cold, and he bundled two bundles enough, and lifted them back, one bundle for Yuan Manniang to put at the door, and the other bundle was carried back to his house.