On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the fifth year of Jianji, Zhou Dalang arrived in Bianzhou just as Queen Zhe's carriage left Luoyang.
He returned with more than 300 township party members from the same county and took several cartloads of property as a deposit.
In addition, I still have a few military coupons with me, which I can exchange at Yousi - I came back late, and the good silks may have been redeemed by others, leaving only some miscellaneous silks.
But even so, it's enough to make people happy.
More than 300 people were the lucky ones who survived and received rewards. When they return home this time, they must first drag the old woman back from the fields and play with her hard to vent their anger, and then take the rewards to the market.
Change something up.
Well, it’s time for my wife and children to change into new clothes.
The old ox at home can no longer pull the plow, so I went to the government to report it, killed it and sold it for meat, and asked someone to tan the hide to see if it could be armored. Then I bought a new ox from somewhere else and brought it back from the crop field.
Making a living is impossible without cows.
Some farm tools should be repaired. Before the expedition, the rake was broken, and the mother-in-law was still cutting the ground with a knife, alas.
The eldest daughter is fifteen years old and it's time to get married. The father must prepare some dowry, not too shabby.
If you have some money left, buy some things and send them to the homes of your comrades who died in the war.
When we went out together, some people came back, and some people didn't come back. It was never a big deal, and I felt panicked.
In fact, the village warriors have no special ideas. They always focus on their own small life, and they don't mind doing some good deeds when they have enough food and clothing. For fellow villagers, who knows if their own family will be in trouble next time? Zhanzhen
Only God knows who will live and who will die.
Zhou Dalang sat in the wine shop at the head of the village, looking at the gray wilderness in the distance, feeling strangely calm in his heart.
To be honest, he regretted it a bit. But after agreeing to General Li, he could no longer regret it, not to mention having already accepted the reward of one penny from him.
When I return home this time, I have to take care of the house and garden, and then move my family to Yingzhou.
This is a very troublesome thing, and he is very afraid of trouble.
Sad!
It was still cold outside, so the restaurant owner wore a sweater and ordered the waiters and cooks to quickly cook the bean paste.
Bean paste is bean porridge, and after it is cooked, ointment is added, which is used for sacrifices.
The shop owner himself held a poplar branch inserted into the door, pointing to the southeast.
After the penetration, he was still mumbling: "The Wang family's husband is so lucky that he actually saw the Silkworm God in his dream."
"Shop, is there really a silkworm god?" Zhou Dalang asked curiously after hearing this.
"It's true!" the store owner said mysteriously: "Wang Dalang said that the woman stood in the southeast corner of his house and said that as long as she made white porridge, added meat on top, inserted chopsticks and offered sacrifices, the silkworms would be abundant.
Not eaten by rats."
Zhou Dalang smiled.
He believed this before, but now he doesn't.
I have killed someone, but the person cursed him before he died, with a fierce look in his eyes. Months have passed, and no ghost of the victim has come to claim his life. If he comes and kills him with a single blow, what is there to fear?
The way of ghosts and gods is nothing more than this.
He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of mutton from the pot and started chewing it.
There were still some vegetable leaves floating in the pot. He asked just now and found out they were Dawan alfalfa.
Farmers grew this food to feed livestock, but gradually some people discovered that people can also eat it, and the taste is not bad. So some farmers processed the "hay" before winter and used it as winter vegetables, which is also a sight.
And while he was eating, the bean paste was also cooked over there. The shopkeeper held a bowl in his hand and climbed up the ladder to the second-story attic. While eating, he muttered: "Climb high to get the bean paste."
Rat brain, do you want to come or not? Wait for me for three years."
"What is the store doing?" Zhou Dalang asked.
"Chasing rats for silkworms." The store owner sat on the attic floor and said, "Our Bianzhou is different from the west. We have always been raising silkworms. Did you see the sweater on my body?"
"I saw it." Zhou Dalang smiled and said, "I have one too. It's windy and cold in the north. When fighting, it's really uncomfortable to have no sweater."
"Although there is a lot of land in Bianzhou, there are also a lot of people. Each household does not have much land, and it is divided into pieces and cannot be connected together. Here, we can't cultivate and herd together like Henan Prefecture and Ruzhou, and rotate farming and animal husbandry.
Yeah. Our sweaters are all bought from the west, so we have to exchange them with silk." The store owner said, "When I didn't have a sweater before, I didn't think it was that bad. But once I put it on, I never want to take it off in winter.
It’s so inseparable.”
The village heroes who were sitting around drinking soup and eating meat laughed.
Who says it’s not? Whoever wears a sweater knows the benefits of a sweater. From now on, every family with enough money will probably have to get one, otherwise how will they survive the winter?
"Speaking of which, I have to thank Jin Shang." The store owner added: "When Xia Bing came to Bian, the little old man was scared to death. He was so scared that he shivered and closed his doors. He didn't dare to go out. He could only walk through the door.
I peeked out through the crack to see if the army had passed. When the war subsided and Prince Liang's Mansion changed its owner, I found that it was just like that. I am actually a good person. Some idiots arranged for him to molest Princess Liang, so I wanted to scold him.
We love each other and have children, so you want to make trouble? Princess Liang is also a good person, a really good person. It’s great that she can enjoy happiness by following me.”
"That's too far away." The shopkeeper smiled and shook his head, and added: "Before I came to Bianzhou today, Qin Zongquan once attacked Bajiao Town. It was also very thrilling. Men and women in the countryside fled one after another, not wanting to be arrested and restrained.
The king of Liang repelled it and the situation was stable for some years until the king of Xia came again. Fortunately, it ended soon. Holy sage, you got us such cheap things as sweaters, so the winter is no longer difficult.
You may have never heard how many old people die every winter because they cannot bear the frost and cold. Oh my god, he is really saving us."
Xu was in an excited mood and the shopkeeper's words were a little confusing, but Zhou Dalang was still a little moved after hearing this.
I heard someone say on the road that sweaters from Henan Province are generally imported from Heyang, Henan Prefecture, Ruzhou, Zhengzhou and other places.
Although the progress of the east-west first-class national highway is slow, it has been built from Luoyang to the east to Bianzhou. From Luoyang to the west, it leads to Xin'an County - which happens to be the destination of Zhou Dalang and others, and also their home.
This national road is what Saint Li majored in.
There are rumors in the countryside that some prime ministers were opposed to practicing this way because it was too expensive. But the saint insisted and reduced the expenses in the palace.
His dragon robe was from the first year of Jianji. He had worn it for several years. He had mended it and never wanted to throw it away.
He only ate a few dishes at a meal and used all the money he saved to build roads.
The most outrageous rumor is that the saint dismissed thousands of beauties in a certain palace to save money and food to build roads.
Zhou Dalang didn't know whether the rumors were true or not, but he knew that this road was of great use.
Many goods that are difficult to transport, such as pottery, briquettes, etc., can now be transported easily. The prices of such goods in the market have dropped significantly - not only the transportation cost has dropped, but because of the improvement of roads, more people are willing to
Workshops were opened to produce, which in turn led to a drop in prices.
Without this road, the best way to transport sweaters from Henan and Zhengzhou to Bianzhou is to take the waterway. However, waterways cannot cover all places, especially many densely populated counties are far away from the Yellow River, and the rivers are frozen in winter.
French transportation.
The saint is really doing things for the people. Compared with Li Cunxiao and others I met in Youzhou, the difference is huge.
In this world, if the likes of Li Keyong, Li Cunxiao, and Lu Yanwei are allowed to steal power, then except for the martial arts people, the lives of the common people will be miserable. Because they only know how to take, but do not know how to cultivate people's power.
The saint also collects taxes and recruits troops, but he first fattens the people and then collects taxes, so that people will not be unable to survive.
"Shopkeeper, if you are allowed to return to Liang Wang Quanzhong's rule now, would you like that?" Zhou Dalang suddenly asked with a smile.
The shopkeeper was startled, looked at Zhou Dalang suspiciously, and said, "What are you saying..."
"No problem, just ask casually." Zhou Dalang waved his hand.
"Forget it." The store owner was silent for a long time and said: "The King of Liang has helped us survive, but after all, he is not as good as the King of Xia. From now on, it will be fine if the children of King Xia and Princess Liang inherit the throne."
The village heroes burst into even louder laughter.
Someone scolded: "You old man, what are you thinking about? Empress Zhe comes from a famous family in Guanxi, Shushen has good manners, when will it be Princess Liang's turn?"
"I want good things. If the Zhang family succeeds, wouldn't the next step be to drive all the people from Guanxi and us out of Zhili and Henan?"
"The Queen is going to Beiping Mansion. Zhang, a weak woman, may be shot to death with an arrow from behind."
"Hahaha! Good kill!"
The shop owner was a little angry when he heard the noise made by these villagers, so he simply stayed in the attic and refused to come down.
Zhou Dalang listened with a smile and did not express any opinion.
In fact, in his opinion, these are all meaningless. It's just a fight of temperament. Can it really drive away all the second-generation people in Guanxi, Zhili?
What he really cares about is that the world, which is getting better and better, should not be destroyed by vulgar warriors like Li Cunxiao.
If all of this had happened, then the owner of the wine shop where he was now might have been kidnapped, tortured day and night, and squeezed out money.
The martial artist rushed in in a chaotic manner and was able to move all the iron pots away.
No one is building roads, and prices are rising.
No one was knitting sweaters, and the old man froze to death in the thatched house with drafts everywhere in the winter.
Even the store owner himself, who is already fifty years old, will probably have to carry a long spear and fight in formation - no, by that time, the warriors may not even be able to use a weapon like a long spear, and they will have a wooden gun.
Not bad.
"Eat quickly and go home after eating." Zhou Dalang put down his chopsticks and stood up.
Everyone looked at him in astonishment. Some people joked: "Are you in such a hurry to go back and hug your mother-in-law?"
Zhou Dalang smiled and said: "I am anxious to go to Yingzhou to get promoted and make a fortune."
Everyone was envious again, and they all thought that Zhou Dalang had met a noble man. When he went to Liucheng, he became the commander of the team. In a few years, he would not be able to become a deputy general and command a battalion. If he conquered Khitan by then, he would still have a chance to make meritorious deeds. Oops.
, why didn’t I think of giving it a try at the beginning?
Zhou Dalang didn't say much to them. He always felt that the people and things he encountered since this expedition made him feel different.
Perhaps, besides money and wealth, we can pursue something different.
