Xiaoyao Nongjiazi

Of course, ill-gotten gains are not within the scope of the Fu Yunzhu's absorption. The money earned by the caravan belongs to Fucheng, and Zhong Qingran will not take it by force.The key point is that Zhong Qingran is the biggest creditor of the people of Fucheng, including the Fucheng government, who owe him a lot of money.Before the debt is paid off, whether it is official income or the wages of the people, part of it will be intercepted and used to repay the debt.Going around, the final destination of the money is still Zhong Qingran, and he is not the only one who has benefited. How could he not do something that is a win-win situation?

If it was just like this, Zhong Qingran would not dare to do it.He made such a decision because of Fucheng's excess production capacity.In addition to the temporary shortage of food, which needs to be supplemented by digging wild vegetables in the mountains, hunting and fishing in the sea, in other aspects, especially workshops, there are really many who can’t even start work every day. It’s not because the workshop’s capital chain is broken, but If this is done, the products produced cannot be digested by the people of Fucheng alone.

Since they can't eat it internally, then focus on other tribes, which can not only collect funds, but also allow the people to pay off their debts, killing two birds with one stone, why not Zhong Qingran?

"Wow!"

There were a few loud eagle cries in the air, Zhong Qingran listened attentively, and the cries were cheerful, as if he saw a long-lost relative or friend, he knew without thinking that it was Dianbai and Minglei playing around.

Zhong Qingran put down his pen, got up in a "chuckle", and walked out quickly. When he arrived in the courtyard, he saw Mrs. Tong picking out the few beans left in the corridor, and said with a smile on his face: "Grandma, Mingyu is back, I'll go to meet her. "

"Mingyu is back? Then go quickly." Tong stopped picking beans, put the dustpan away, and dusted off the dust, "I'll go to the kitchen and cook something delicious for tomorrow. Yu washes the dust."

"Grandma, don't be tired, let Wang Ma do the rest." Zhong Qingran walked fast and big, but within two or three sentences, he had already turned the corner, leaving only his voice floating in the courtyard .

Mrs. Tong shook her head, and muttered a few words softly: "Oh, this young couple is really, they haven't seen each other for a few days, it seems that they have been separated for a few years, how can I say it, look at my stupid , um, now that I think about it, this is supposed to be 'Xiao Bie Sheng's Newly Married'?"

While muttering, Tong Shi walked to the front yard.The servants of the Zhong family are not allowed to enter or leave the main courtyard at will without being summoned by their master. It is not yet lunch time, and there is no one in the main courtyard except for Tong Shi and Zhong Qingran. Now, Zhong Qingran has also gone out, and only Tong Shi is left alone. At first glance, I thought it was some lonely farmyard.

As soon as she came out of the main courtyard, Mrs. Tong saw the girl who was busy in front of the door of the inverted room, so she stopped and didn't go forward, and said directly: "Cuiying, ask Mama Wang to go to the street to see if there is any There is no fresh seafood and wild game, let her pick some and buy some, after this matter is settled, you will come to the stove to help."

"Yes, old lady, the servant girl will go right away." Cuiying replied crisply, and turned to go to the backyard.

Today’s Zhong’s backyard is no longer the same as it was when it was patronized by people. The glass greenhouse has been erected again, and various crops are growing lushly inside. Behind the greenhouse is a stable and cattle shed. It used to be full of large animals, but now Most of them have been transferred to the cattle and horse farm, and the remaining ones are mainly used as vehicles for the Zhong family to travel.

The Zhong family didn't have many servants, and they couldn't even live in the inverted room in the front yard.Tong's rule is that as long as the servants finish their duties, they can rest on their own. She will not interfere, but they are not allowed to go out without the consent of the masters.

With this regulation, it is very convenient for Tong to find someone. Even though she did not see Mrs. Wang in the front yard, she is not worried at all.

Both the front yard and the main yard have corridors leading to the back yard. Cuiying's legs and feet are very agile, and within a short while, she found Wang Ma in the greenhouse.

"Cuiying, why are you here?" Wang Ma straightened up, "The masters called me?"

"Wang Ma, don't worry about this. The old lady asked you to buy some fresh seafood and wild game." Cuiying explained quickly, and said, "I think it's a good thing that the old lady is smiling. Hurry up and finish the errand, maybe there will be a reward."

Seeing that Cuiying had finished explaining in a hurry, she turned around and left, Mama Wang didn't dare to delay, she tidied up the things, put them back in their original places, went back to the room, took the silver and went to the street.

Although food in Fucheng is in short supply, besides the government-run grocery store, there are also some shops on the street, most of which set up stalls on the ground at will to sell some surplus items at home. If they are finished, or are reluctant to eat, they will be sold on the street.

There are not many stalls, because many of them are sold directly to grocery stores, and they set up stalls to sell themselves, but they just want to earn more money. After all, government-run grocery stores are not shantangs, and they have to be promising, otherwise they open shops , but also to pay the expenses, then it doesn’t make much sense to open this shop. In business, grocery stores will not bully others, but they can’t force them to take money to help the people. What’s the matter, at least they have to earn back the wages of the shop assistants no?

The grocery store has a good business. Apart from the items purchased from the common people, the most attractive thing is the government-run items such as sea salt whose distribution rights are in the hands of the government.

Generally speaking, the price of the government-run grocery store is relatively affordable. Generally, the common people will go first to the grocery store to have a look. If there is no one they like, they will go to other stalls.

In this way, wouldn't the stall's business plummet?In fact, the big guys are not fools. They dare to set up their own stalls to sell, which shows that the products sold in their stalls are very competitive. Either the quality is better than that of the grocery store, or there are few or even none in the grocery store.

Since the establishment of Fucheng, it has been full of money and calculations. It has only just started a year ago. The social class has not yet solidified. Home, the stall business can be done, besides, if you really can’t sell it, isn’t there a way out of the grocery store?

Today is not a festive season, and there are no guests at home. The old lady suddenly asked her to buy some high-quality ingredients, and Wang Ma became more careful. After some calculations, she found that there was no wife in the house. Could it be that the young lady is going home?She raised her head and squinted her eyes to look at the sky. She didn't know if she didn't see it, but she really discovered something when she looked at it.In the blue sky, there seemed to be two small black dots. Wang Ma didn't think it was because she was facing the sun and staring at the sun for a long time, causing her eyes to be dazzled.

Knowing that it was probably the young lady who was about to lead the team back to the city, Wang Ma had an idea.The Zhong family has few masters and is easy to serve, she doesn't want to lose this good job, just for this reason, she does her best to serve the masters well, so that her life can be guaranteed.

You know, there are many servants and wives under the name of the Zhong family, and the master is kind, so there are countless people who want to serve in the Zhong family's house. She doesn't want to be beaten back by the master because of an errand that went wrong.The work in the house is so easy, and the food is not bad. Such a good thing is hard to find even with a lantern.This person, who is used to living a light life, and then goes back to living a hard life, how many people can endure it?

Wang Ma opened her eyes wide and carefully selected seafood and wild animals.There is no shortage of vegetables in the house, there are chickens, ducks and geese, there is no need to buy these, these sea crabs are quite big, they look good, the young masters like them, so they bought them.Yo, is that loach?It's really rare to see this alive and kicking, and you may not be able to buy it even if you want to buy it on weekdays, so buy it quickly, so that the masters can taste something new... So, after a long time, Wang Ma finally got the ingredients together, He walked back home like the wind under his feet.

Seeing her, Mrs. Tong smiled more and more on her face, and praised: "Wang Ma is neat in her work. I think these are all good. I will make these at noon, and eat the rest at night."

The Zhong family doesn’t have so many rules. The Zhong family’s food is usually bought by themselves, and there are not many opportunities to use Wang Ma and others. This is one of the reasons why Wang Ma is so dedicated. She doesn't have to worry about being squeezed out of her seat for no reason.Thinking of her being a cook in the original master's house, her cooking skills of making dim sum and side dishes would not be inferior even if she was a cook in a restaurant, and she didn't know who was in the way. Being sold to the border town, this is a place of bitter cold that I never thought of before.

The people in the border towns are relatively rich, so it’s hard to talk about slaves. If you’re lucky, it’s more likely that you were sold as a coolie. That’s really bad luck for eight lifetimes.Wang Ma is not young, but she never thought of dying. Even though she traveled a long distance, was stained with dust, and was weak due to poor food and drink, she still cheered up and kept her eyes open to find a possible buyer. , was unexpectedly bought by the two young masters.

Back in the day, when Wang Ma learned the destination of their group, it was impossible to say that she had no regrets.But she knew that it would be too stupid to go against the wishes of her master, and few escaped slaves would end well, let alone running away in the Northland, which was about to enter winter, basically announcing the end of their lives.

As for those servants who repented before the battle, Wang Ma was not optimistic at all.Knowing that the road ahead is full of dangers, and only a very small number of people were taken back by Manager Su, it can be seen that most people have sharp eyes.That is Hanhai Prefecture, which is almost isolated from the world, so you can enter as you want, and get out as you want?

Buying more than a thousand people at one time, such a large sum of money, if there is no one to rely on, wouldn't the money spent be in vain?Even Wang Ma, a servant who has no other skills other than cooking skills, knows that if there is such a safe road leading to Hanhai Prefecture, it will inevitably attract the covetousness of all countries. It is obvious that this matter is a secret and must be hidden People do it.Those who thought they had made a wise choice probably would regret it, Wang Ma thought unkindly.

Wang Ma's guess was right. Steward Su and Zhong Qingran avoided others, so how could they leave a loophole?Those servants who were taken away by him are now working in the mine. Steward Su has not made trouble, but in a place like the mine, the people will only work for a few years when they are in the prime of life, and go home after saving enough money. In this way, it is also easy to fall to the root of the disease.

The problem is, they are slaves. Manager Su's meaning is very clear, there is no need to abuse them. The only thing is that these people are not allowed to meet with outsiders, let alone let anyone go. After entering the mine, they must stay in the mine for the rest of their lives. In the field, there is one less person, and the only manager of the mine is to ask.Without hope, the days of those people can be imagined. How many people can survive the hopelessness?

If Wang Ma knew, she would sympathize with him at most, and she would not say anything else.The road is chosen by oneself, who is to blame for their end today?Just like Wang Ma herself, if she didn't go all out and fight for that chance, how could she have such a good life?

Wang Ma is a cook. She is in Zhong's house, but she doesn't have many opportunities to display her talents. She is not in a hurry to express herself. She will do whatever the masters ask her to do. One point, don't be taken advantage of by others, and her position will be stable.

Wang Ma never thought that the master's family would have such ability to open up a huge family business in Hanhai Prefecture, and be in charge of the life and death of the people in a city.At present, it seems that the master of the Zhong family has few children, there are no disputes, and the servants get along peacefully. There is no such intrigue scene where you step on my foot today and I punch you tomorrow.

It's not easy to find a good master like the Zhong family. She must take good care of the Zhong family, and she must not let anyone with evil intentions in.Once the main family loses power, these servants will end up miserable.This is different from the troubles of ordinary rich and noble families. As the highest leader of Fucheng, the Zhong family has only two possibilities. Either they will always be on top, or they will be crushed into the dust, and there will be no chance to stand up. The servants who work for the Zhong family will also have no good results. , especially those who have to be reused.

Another point that makes Wang Ma feel uneasy all the time is that there are too many rules in Fucheng, which are incompatible with the current customs.When Wang Ma learned that all the servants could redeem themselves, there was a huge wave in her heart.She also has a day to become a good citizen. In the past, she never dared to think about this kind of situation.

In this world, how many people are willing to be slaves and handmaids?Wang Ma is not alone, she doesn't care whether she is a pariah or a good citizen, but she still has a son, with such an opportunity in front of her, how could she not be moved?Wang Ma never thought that she would leave the Zhong family to make a living on her own. There were only two people in her family, who had no power or power, and had no place to sue if they were bullied. With her back to the master's family, her life was guaranteed.Now that her son is free, she will be able to live with some subsidies, and she will have no regrets if she asks for a daughter-in-law someday.

But if the Zhong family collapses, huh, huh, Mama Wang can guess without any experience, all the rules will be overthrown and re-established, maybe even stricter than the rules of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the day when good people become pariahs is just around the corner.

There are quite a few people who hold the same idea as Wang Ma, especially those who have shed their lowly status and become ordinary people. Will you have eyes to object?What's more, the Zhong family's position is stable, so whoever wants to rebel can rebel?

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

In other words, Zhong Qingran came to the stable, rode on Treading Snow and drove towards the south gate.Seeing this, several of his personal guards hurriedly got up, hurriedly called the horses to follow behind, and waited until they left Jiqingfang before catching up.

Zhong Qingran raised his head and looked at the two eagles soaring in the sky. He estimated in his heart that the distance here was about the same, so he blew a loud whistle.Dianbai and Minglei heard it, and responded with a long cry.But in an instant, the two eagles changed from two small black spots to the size of a palm, and in an instant, they doubled in size. The horses galloped less than a mile, and Dianbai and Minglei circled above Zhong Qingran's head.

Dianbai chirped a few times cheerfully, and after receiving Zhong Qingran's response, he immediately swooped down, and when he was less than one foot away from Zhong Qingran, he suddenly slowed down and stopped on the palm of Zhong Qingran's outstretched hand.Dianbai took the hooked beak affectionately, and pecked Zhong Qingran's palm lightly a few times.

Zhong Qingran hadn't seen Dianbai for several days, and seeing it behave like this, he couldn't help but chuckled.But when he thought of these two eagles and their arrogant nature, he didn't know what to say.They only get close to him, flatter him, and show a friendly side only at this time and when they are feeding. At other times, they are so arrogant that they will not talk to him easily.Fortunately, although Dianbai and Minglei have awkward tempers, they listen to him very much. It's okay to be petty. Who told him not to be the savior of these two eagles?

When Dianbaihui and Minglei got together, Zhong Qingran knew that Jian Mingyu and his party had already entered Fucheng's sphere of influence. As expected, after walking a few miles further, the two met face to face.

Zhong Qingran and Jian Mingyu walked side by side, looked sideways, and saw that everyone was in good spirits, so they asked: "How is your trip? It seems that everything has been done?"

Jian Mingyu responded with a smile, telling what happened along the way.

Zhong Qingran was engrossed in listening to it, but after hearing it, his brows furrowed unconsciously.

"What's wrong?" Jian Mingyu smiled slightly.

"Nothing, your voice has changed, when did it happen?"

"Has there been a change? No one has told me, and I don't know."

How could Zhong Qingran not understand what Jian Mingyu said.If it hadn't been about his own body and he hadn't noticed it, it would be impossible not to notice it with Jian Mingyu's keen five senses.

"Mingyu, I didn't expect you to grow faster than me." Zhong Qingran smiled deeply.It stands to reason that Jian Mingyu suffered from childhood and his development would slow down. Even though life has improved in the past few years, he has not caught up with the progress of his peers so quickly.However, this is a good thing. Entering the voice-changing period means that the second development is not far from full adulthood.Jian Mingyu is like this, Zhong Qingran must be coming soon, "I will prepare some medicine for you later, so that you don't hurt your throat."

The two were talking and laughing, and the others were winking, falling far behind them.It is better to do less moral things like disturbing young couples. If you do too much, you may be struck by lightning.

After walking for a while, the family members of the caravan gathered together and surrounded Jian Mingyu and his party. The chattering made Zhong Qingran's forehead hurt. How could he feel wronged? Both escaped from this noisy land.

The buzzing disappeared, and Zhong Qingran was relieved, so he raised the rein and slowed down the horse, and walked slowly with Jian Mingyu.Fortunately, it is only early summer, and the sun is not shining on people, otherwise, Zhong Qingran would not be in such a mood, he would have rushed home a long time ago, nestled in a cool place at home, unwilling to move.

Speaking of sunshine, Zhong Qingran has regrets. There are only two seasons in Fucheng, summer and winter, and spring and autumn are almost negligible.Summer is good, but winter is too hard. The ice age that lasted for nearly half a year is a headache to think about. If there is no glass greenhouse, the people of Fucheng will not be able to live a good life.

The land in Hanhai Prefecture is relatively barren. So far, the surveyed soil quality is the best for medium-grade fields. There is not even an acre of high-grade fields. The middle-grade and low-grade fields are almost half-divided. This is still the use of fertile soil in the mountains to fertilize the fields If not, the situation will only get worse.

It's no wonder that the population of Hanhai Prefecture has been unable to develop.You must know that although the small and medium tribes are oppressed and bullied by the big tribes, the big tribes are not. They can develop their own tribes to their heart's content.The situation is not ideal. The largest tribe, Fengcheng, has a population of less than [-]. Putting aside all human factors, the land in Hanhai Prefecture is barren and the productivity is too backward. This is the fundamental factor restricting population development.After all, manpower is limited. When food production cannot keep up with population expansion, staff will be reduced due to hunger.

The solution is not that no one has thought about it, and dividing into clans is the best way to deal with it.Hanhai Prefecture has a vast territory. When a tribe reaches the limit of carrying capacity, it is the most ideal method to divert the population.The question is, how many people have the courage to live a happy life and live a life of being exploited by bandits in the backcountry?

The leaders of the tribe are used to enjoying it, letting commoners be the leaders of the branch, but they are not willing, and after hundreds of years, the current pattern has been formed.Today, among these large and small tribes, there are only a few tribes that have separated from the big tribes.This is also one of the reasons why small and medium tribes can buy slaves from large tribes. No leader knows how valuable the population is in Hanhai Prefecture.It is precisely because they know that the large tribes will sell some hungry people to earn property, but at the same time control the number. They don't want to let the small and medium tribes grow too big and threaten their status.

As soon as Jian Mingyu entered the main courtyard of Zhong's family, he smelled the strong aroma of vegetables, and a smile flashed in his eyes.

Hearing the movement, Tong went out to check, saw Qingran and Mingyu, and said with a smile: "Mingyu, it's hard work, go take a bath first, then go to see the old man, talk to him, and then go to you Let the in-laws go there, and when they come back, they can just have lunch."

"Okay, grandma." Jian Mingyu readily agreed, and turned to Zhong Qingran, "Qingran, I brought back some special products of the tribe. Set aside some for parents and uncles, and put the rest aside for me to deal with later."

"You don't need to deal with this trivial matter. I'm just idle right now, so hurry up and go to your work. Look, I'm sweating." Zhong Qingran took the initiative to take care of this matter, and waited to see Jian Mingyu enter the room with hot water. Then he said to Tong Shi, "Grandma, it's still early for lunch, don't be so anxious, take a break first, I'll go and see if the things have arrived."

"Okay, wait for me." Tong took off her apron, wiped her hands, and said with great interest, "Come on, grandma will take a look with you, I want to see what the special products of Hanhai Prefecture look like. "