Along the road to the south gate of Hezhou City, more than fifty villagers turned back every step and said goodbye.
Xu Mu stood quietly in the dim night, silent for a long time.
"Xu, Xu Lang, they're leaving." Jiang Caiwei stood by and spoke in a low voice.
"know."
Heaving a sigh of relief, Xu Mu turned his attention to the military merit book again.
The official who recorded the records was also an old official, which made Xu Mu feel like he was in another world. He thought of that iron-clad figure at the top of Wangzhou City.
"A total of eighty military merits were paid to the farmland and the distributed silver salary." The old official dipped his pen in his mouth and his voice was slightly hoarse.
Xu Mu frowned calmly. This was really a bit of bullying. Putting aside the house, the salary distributed was only twenty taels of silver. How could he use eighty military merits?
They are both old and official officials, but their qualities of self-awareness are completely different.
Zhao Qingyun's expression changed in shock. Just as he was about to take a few steps closer, he was stopped by Bao Zhou with some excuses and made some nonsense remarks.
"Remember." Xu Mu exhaled deeply.
In an instant, he actually figured out that the transaction with Guanfang was not a business, but to be honest, it was more like a filial piety.
"Master Xu is optimistic that the military merits are great, and the young men and old men in the officialdom are not deceived." The old official wrote steadily without any delay, "There are still twenty military merits, sixty-three pieces of armor, and a total of seven
Ten pieces of equipment, fifteen horses... Count you three hundred and seventy-four taels."
After he stopped writing, the old official did not forget to add another sentence: "Children are not deceived."
"Brother Bao, why is this wrong? More than half of it." Zhao Qingyun frowned.
"By the way, I hope Master Xu will take care of it. It's such a big city in Hezhou, and there are hundreds of thousands of refugees. We still have to fill the gap, build wooden sheds, and build the city and pave the roads."
"Master Xu, please take pity on these refugees."
Xu Mu sneered in his heart, fearing that if he was pitiful, the money would fall into the official's pocket.
"If you don't do it, these weapons and armor are unregistered. If you leave Hezhou City, they will be considered as privately made ironware. According to the great disciplinary law, those who make privately made ironware will be sentenced to death."
The old official raised his head, with a serious expression on his wrinkled old face.
"I've had it." Xu Mu said coldly.
Again, it's not that these officials and soldiers are making things difficult for him, but that Daji, who is rotten to the core, has begun to drink human blood.
"This is the best." The old official rubbed his head comfortably and began to write again.
"The five horses that Master Xu wants are notarized, as well as ten pairs of robes and armor, and ten scimitars, and an additional fifty taels of silver need to be paid. After this conversion, what Master Xu deserves is three hundred and twenty taels.
.It’s unlucky to keep those 40 taels or so, so just give them away.”
The old official stood up, began to hum a tune, walked into the official residence and returned. After a while, he came out with a small box of silver.
"Master Xu, please take it. These are the treasury's silver, just three hundred taels. There is another silver bag here, just twenty taels."
Xu Mu couldn't believe it after all, so he opened the wooden box and counted it, and found that it was missing a hundred taels.
Everyone present twitched their mouths.
The old official stood up hurriedly and thumped his head twice, "Ouch, I took the wrong one. I'll go and order Master Xu to exchange it for a whole box."
After coming and going, Si Hu bit the big ingot of silver and finally stepped aside holding the silver box in his arms.
"Don't worry, Master Xu. I will take care of the villagers' affairs." Bao Zhou seemed very happy. "I will send someone to get more dry food and water later to send Master Xu on his way."
Listening to these words, Xu Mu always felt his scalp getting cold.
"Thank you, Mr. Bao. These things have been prepared a long time ago. I will go back to Hezhou the next day and have a big drink with Mr. Bao."
"That's easy to say." Bao Zhou smiled sadly. Seeing that Xu Mu was a little confused, he simply turned around and hurried back to the official residence.
"Master Xu, I can't help you." Zhao Qingyun sighed. He had a hundred military achievements and so many Beidi people's supplies, but he only got three hundred taels of silver in exchange.
"If not, then Centurion, I will return it to Lord Xu Fang!"
Xu Mu could hear that although there was guilt in Zhao Qingyun's tone, it was more of a fear.
I was afraid that Xu Mu would really agree.
"Brother Zhao, please keep it." Xu Mu smiled and shook his head, "You and I will live and die, as I said before. I hope that one day I can hear the good news that Brother Zhao defeated the enemy."
"Don't worry, Master Xu. In my whole life, I, Zhao Qingyun, have been at odds with the Di people. All I want in this life is to serve the country and the people!" Zhao Qingyun looked solemn and became extremely serious.
"Okay! You didn't see the wrong person."
"Master Xu, you and I are brothers. We are going to the inner city the next day. You must send me a letter to let me know that you are safe."
"Of course. Brother Zhao has been promoted to a partial general. He will inevitably lead his army to fight with the enemy in the future. Please be careful."
"Mr. Xu Fang, I hope that the people at the border will be safe. It's a pity that I decided to fix the eighth camp at the border. I don't know why, but now there is no news."
Under the vast night.
Zhao Qingyun paused, took two steps forward, and gave Xu Mu a bear hug.
"In that case, I'll take my leave first." Xu Mu sighed.
"Brother Xu, take care of yourself."
Standing in the night, Zhao Qingyun did not persuade him and knew why Xu Mu left overnight. Three hundred taels of silver was enough to turn many people into fanatics.
As soon as the carriage of Xu Mu and his entourage left the south gate of Hezhou, Zhao Qingyun shouldered his two swords and stood coldly on the top of the south gate.
I stood all night.
…
The inner city does not refer to a single city, but a collective term. Within the Daji territory, along the 8,000-mile Ji River, the more than 20 prosperous cities gathered together are collectively called the inner city.
The inner city also includes Changyang, the capital of the Daji Kingdom.
Moving from Hezhou to the inner city is a journey of at least more than 2,000 miles. Even if it is accessible all the way, it will take more than a month anyway.
"Brother Mu, why don't you stay in the city for one night?" Si Hu rubbed his stomach and said with some discomfort, "My face is still hurt, I'm hungry and hurt."
"We can't live there." Xu Mu shook his head, "If you leave the city late, you will be detained by others and they will plot your money."
Jiang Caiwei at the back carefully handed over some multigrain steamed buns. After Si Hu took them, he called out "Sister-in-law" several times before starting to eat them.
"Chen Sheng, take the two riders further forward, find a stable place to camp, and pay attention to explore the road."
"Don't worry, boss."
In response, Chen Sheng led two figures, hung up the lantern, picked up the knife, and ran half a mile away.
Looking away, Xu Mu's expression remained solemn.
At this time, we should be twenty miles away from Hezhou. People like Bao Zhou would have no choice if they wanted to calculate the money.
However, the road is long and the night is dark, so no one can tell whether there will be any little ones who have cut the path or not.
"Brothers, please turn on the lantern. The road ahead is dark, so I will light it up."
"My boss, I know!"
Five or six knights on horseback, carrying swords, were walking slowly around the carriage. When they heard Xu Mu's words, they all turned on their lanterns and shouted in unison.