Liu Ruyi's house is located in the southeast of the town, backed by the mountains, and less than a hundred steps away from the south gate of the town!
The house is not too big, only about two acres, and is divided into front and rear entrances. The front yard is very spacious. The main building is made of gravel and yellow mud. There is also a small martial arts field on the east side. The backyard is also slightly larger.
It seemed simple, but it was kept very clean, and several maids and servants stood by respectfully.
"Mr. Liu, these servants are all from innocent families in the town, and their hands and feet are quite nimble. If you are still not satisfied, I can find them for you!" The speaker was a man in his early thirties, with a tall figure.
He is not tall, and his body is also very thin, but his mouse eyes are shining with intelligence.
He is a hereditary flag officer in the town, his name is Wu San. He originally had two brothers above him, but his years were unlucky. There was a famine in the past few years, and his two brothers both starved to death in the chaos, so,
He took advantage of this, made up for the loss left by his ancestors, and finally had an iron rice bowl.
Wu San was mainly responsible for looking after homes and nursing homes in the small town, guarding a few dilapidated houses, and mainly serving these middle and low-level officers. He was not very successful! When he learned that Liu Ruyi was the commander of Jinan Guards, Ma Futong's relationship improved.
When I got here, I was greeted as soon as possible, with an indescribable attentiveness.
Liu Ruyi certainly understood his intentions. No one wanted to stay in Qingshui Yamen for the rest of his life!
"Brother Wu, thank you for your hard work! That's enough!" Liu Ruyi nodded calmly.
A flower suddenly appeared on Wu San's face, "Mr. Liu Qi, you are too polite. If you need anything, just ask me to do it! Although I don't have much ability, I still have some strength. I am willing to help."
General Liu, at your service!"
"Haha!" Liu Ruyi smiled slightly, took out a few pieces of silver from her arms, and threw them into Wu San's hands, "Brother Wu San, you are a smart man!"
Wu San took the silver and couldn't help swallowing a large mouthful of saliva in his throat. He gently weighed the weight of the silver and carefully hid the silver in his sleeves. Then he bowed respectfully to Liu Ruyi, "Mr. Liu Qi is indeed the right person."
Hero, I am willing to die for General Liu Qi!"
"There is no need to die! However, Liu really has a few questions and wants to ask Brother Wu for advice!" Liu Ruyi looked into his eyes with a smile.
Ten years before Chongzhen, silver had not depreciated so much!
For a junior officer like Wu San, who is at the lowest level and has no real power, the salary he can get in a year is definitely no more than ten taels! And the broken silver Liu Ruyi took out just now was five or six taels.
Much, this is definitely a huge sum of money for Wu San!
In this era, one tael of silver can support a family of five for a month.
"Mr. Liu Qi is such a bad guy. If you have anything to do, just ask him! He will definitely tell you everything he knows!" Wu San gave Liu Ruyi a deep bow and patted his chest to assure him.
"Brother Wu, you are too polite!" Liu Ruyi patted his shoulder with some deep meaning and walked slowly towards a secluded corner in the backyard.
Wu San's face lit up and he quickly followed Liu Ruyi.
…………
Uncle Fu was originally a housekeeper, and Lao Gui had been by Xiao Zixin's side all year round. He was very familiar with moving and cleaning up the house. With the two of them, plus the two great guys Xiao Liu'er and Huo Lang,
Some trivial matters in the backyard were quickly handled in an orderly manner.
There are about seven or eight rooms in the backyard. According to Liu Ruyi, the main house with the best location and the most sunshine is reserved for his mother Zou. Liu Ruyi occupies a room on one side of the main house.
In the slightly smaller big room, Xiao Zixin and Chun Yunu's rooms are located to the east of Liu Ruyi, which is more sunny. Except for two of the remaining rooms, they are reserved as guest rooms, and the rest are for maids and servants.
Uncle Fu, Xiao Liu'er and the others lived on both sides of the front yard because they wanted to avoid suspicion!
In a guest room, Liu Ruyi sat quietly on the main seat, while Wu San stood respectfully at one side.
"Brother Wu, according to you, most of the money and food in Caishi Town comes from that mine?" Liu Ruyi said expressionlessly.
"Yes! General Liu Qi! That mine was originally contracted by a merchant from Jiangnan, but the year before last, a fire suddenly broke out in that merchant's home, and his whole family was burned to death in the fire. The mine was contracted by Li
Hundreds of households took it over!" Wu San carefully explained.
"Oh?" Liu Ruyi glanced at him, "I see that there are quite a few mines and small coal mines in the mountains nearby. Why is this mine the most important?"
"Hey, Mr. Liu Qi, you are asking the right question!" Wu San sighed and said: "Mr. Liu Qi, supposedly there are quite a lot of coal mines and mines controlled by our guard, but those are
An empty shell means that there is something on the surface, but if you dig deeper, it will basically look like a bear!"
"Mr. Liu Qi, let me tell you the truth!" Wu San looked around carefully, then lowered his voice and said to Liu Ruyi: "Mr. Liu Qi, the mountains will not change and the water will change. That mine, the old people said
, that is the golden nest where the phoenix rests, you can dig out gold just by digging a few times!"
"Well?" Liu Ruyi frowned, but looked sharply at Wu San beside him, "Is this serious?"
"Mr. Liu, how dare I lie to you! I saw this with my own eyes, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it! Moreover, no one has ever come out to work in that mine, and no one knows what's going on there.
What on earth was being dug! It seems that small things bring great fortune. A few days ago, Huang Zongqi's youngest son was seriously ill. His mother-in-law asked him to go to the mountains to inform Huang Zongqi. Although he could not go inside,
, but when I saw with my own eyes a bag of golden beans hanging on Mr. Huang’s waist, the golden light was dazzling through the linen!” After Wu San finished speaking, his eyes were filled with fascination, as if the bag of golden beans was placed right in front of him.
In front of my eyes!
Liu Ruyi nodded. This mountain can definitely be said to be a treasure house. In later generations, there were many coal mines, quarries, lumber mills, and even several small-scale gold mines. What Wu San said should be true!
Money sticks to people's eyes, and anyone who sees this kind of chicken that can lay golden eggs will be tempted! It's not surprising that Li Baihu is greedy and takes it for himself!
However, now that Liu Ruyi has just arrived, he is right to say that he is alone and a bare-bones commander. Even if he has the intention, he may not be able to get any benefits!
It is better to be more realistic and focus on your most practical interests.
"This matter is not urgent!" Liu Ruyi smiled softly and changed the subject, "Brother Wu, how many military households are there in our Caishi Town right now? How many are under a certain name?"
When Wu San saw that Liu Ruyi had actually changed the topic, he couldn't help showing a hint of disappointment in his eyes, but he had no choice but to think for a moment and then said: "Mr. Liu, there are about sixty military households in our town.
There are about 100 households, but more than half of them belong to Li Baihu, and more than 20 households belong to Huang Zongqi, and the remaining ten households belong to Liu Zongqi!"
"Are there only a dozen households?" Liu Ruyi's face turned cold!
"Hey, General Liu Qi, it's a bad year right now. These military households are fleeing badly. Our side is pretty good. On the Qingzhou Guard side, it would be good if a hundred households can have more than a dozen households under their name!"
Seeing Liu Ruyi's face getting colder and colder, he hurriedly came forward and said carefully: "Mr. Liu, don't worry too much, these are just in the small town!"
"Oh? How many more are outside the town?"
Wu San stretched out his fingers and counted silently for a while, then said: "Mr. Liu Qi, supposedly all the villages in the south should be in your name, but two more were occupied by Li Baihu the year before last, and last year, they were occupied again.
The thieves slaughtered one, and now, General Liu Qi, you still have three Zhuangzi in your name!"
"What's the population?" This is what Liu Ruyi cares about most.
"This?" Wu San thought for a while, "Mr. Liu, there are about a dozen households in Yangjiatun, and maybe less than ten households in Zhangjia Beizhuang. Xujiazhuang, which is closest to the town, may be better, with about twenty households.
That should be all!"
Liu Ruyi nodded, there should be about fifty households, plus the dozen or so households in the town, the total would be sixty households. If each household has three people, then he should be able to have sixty strong men.
, except for the old and the weak, it shouldn’t be a problem to put together forty people! What’s more, in this era, there is no family planning. This is the most basic algorithm. I think the actual population should be more!
"How many civil war soldiers are there in the town now? How many belong to someone?" Liu Ruyi asked again.
"Fighting soldiers?" Wu San was stunned, then smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Liu Qi, there should be less than fifty soldiers in the town at the moment. More than half of them are servants of Li Baihu, and a dozen of them are Mr. Huang."
Qi’s servant, as for you?”
Wu San glanced at Liu Ruyi, but did not dare to continue talking!
"Just say what you have to say!" Liu Ruyi also saw through this man's temperament, and her tone became a bit stern!
"Yes!" Wu San bowed his head and said, "Mr. Liu Qi, it belongs to you, then, that means nothing."
"hehe!"
Liu Ruyi suddenly chuckled, and then laughed loudly. Wu San laughed so hard in the end that his whole body was cold!
"Mr. Liu, are you okay?" Wu San looked at Liu Ruyi in front of him in horror!
"Is everything okay?"
Liu Ruyi stood up suddenly, "Do you think something is wrong?"
"Yes, yes! Damn it!" Wu San slapped himself hard!
"Brother Wu, you are very good!"
Liu Ruyi ignored Wu San's reaction, took a deep breath, was silent for a while, and then said: "I, Liu, have always been clear about rewards and punishments. Brother Wu San, I will keep your love in my heart!"
"I don't dare!" Wu San looked overjoyed!
"Haha, there's no need to be formal!" Liu Ruyi patted him on the shoulder and then said: "Brother Wu, I have a small matter, and I would like to ask Brother Wu for help..."
…………
Wu Sanxing hurriedly accepted the order, but as soon as he stepped out of the door, Uncle Fu walked in quickly.
"Young Master, Li Baihu just sent someone over to invite you to a banquet at Baihu's official residence. Do you think so?" Uncle Fu said with some worry.
"Haha, let's make peace with him now that he's here! Now that he's spoken, I'm going to give him this face! Come on, let's go now!"
Liu Ruyi laughed and walked straight out the door, leaving Uncle Fu with a stunned look on his face!