The leader's strong man

Seeing the yamen servants appearing, the villagers quickly stood up and lined up in a line, for fear that these tyrannical yamen servants would give you two whips if they didn't like you.

But they hadn't lined up yet, and the seven or eight yamen servants were even more obedient than them, and obediently got off their horses as soon as they got close.

The village chief hurriedly went up to meet him, hehe said with an apologetic smile: "Please come to this trip, come, come, have some tea!"

"Under Zhang Da," the first yamen servant with facial features and solid body replied politely: "This is my job, I dare not take it for granted."

Hearing what he said, the villagers were all taken aback.I thought, could it be that what Er Gouzi said is true?Mr. Zhang has rectified the yamen, and the yamen servants have changed a group of people?These yamen servants look quite unfamiliar!

The village chief smiled more kindly, and quietly stuffed a money bag to the yamen servant by pouring tea: "If you want it, you want it. Today is the Er Niu case. Thank you for your hard work to collect evidence."

It's okay if he didn't mention it, but when he mentioned it, the yamen servant was in a cold sweat, and hurriedly pushed the purse back: "I will act in accordance with the court's laws and come here to collect taxes, so I won't gossip. Hurry up and let the villagers pay the money, I am still in a hurry to go to the next village!"

After finishing speaking, he pretended to glance at Gu Jiuyuan inadvertently, then quickly looked away and sat down behind the long case prepared by the village chief, opened the booklet he brought, and called his companions to register together.

The attitude of these yamen servants is unexpectedly peaceful, which is very different from those yamen servants who follow Liu Ye's lead and domineeringly beat, scold and hurt people at every turn. The villagers are all overjoyed.

Looking at these yamen servants looking at Gu Jiuyuan from time to time, everyone became even more skeptical about the suggestion that Gu Jiuyuan had helped Erniu's family.

The black-clothed guardian's face softened slightly.These yamen servants collect taxes honestly. It seems that Mr. Zhang has done a good job as a parent officer, so he can turn over to the leader.

A man with several members in his family asked cautiously: "My lord, how much is the poll tax this year?"

"55 Wen per person for men and women aged 120 and above to [-] years old."

Hearing this, the villagers breathed a sigh of relief again, took out money and went up one by one to report their names, pay the money and press their fingerprints.

Everyone came with ready money, and the yamen servants just kept their heads down. There were 230 and five households in Shuigou Village, and they were almost registered in more than half an hour.

Seeing this, Guan Yan wanted to queue up at the back, but Gu Jiuyuan took his purse and glanced at him meaningfully: "I'll go."

Guan Yan couldn't agree whether he wanted to, Gu Jiuyuan took a long leg, and Shi Shiran walked to the back of the line.

The round-faced yamen servant who was registering and registering was suddenly shrouded in a cloud of shadows. He froze for a moment and looked up. His eyes were suddenly shocked by Gu Jiuyuan's terrifying combination of beautiful and ugly face. His complexion changed suddenly, and his facial features also changed. Then twist up.

"Ahem..." The leader of the yamen hastily coughed twice to remind him.

The round-faced yamen servant hurriedly looked away, swallowed and asked, "Household, householder, what's your name?"

There are two booklets spread out on the table, one is for registering the names of taxpayers, and the other is for Hongtong County’s household registration book, which clearly states that the head of a certain household in Shuigou Village, Date of birth, how many people are under the account, what is the relationship, and what is the age.

Gu Jiuyuan's thin lips parted lightly: "Guan Yan."

The round-faced yamen servant looked up Guan Yan's name in the household registration book, and said with trepidation: "Guan Yan, male, 26 this year, unmarried, has to pay a tax of 120 cash per person."

Gu Jiuyuan took 240 papers and put them on the table: "Give it to me and him."

The round-faced yamen servant was stunned, and turned his head to look at the leader Zhang Da, his eyes were begging for help.

This young man is not in the household register, so he is obviously not from Shuigou Village. How can he register?

Zhang Da was also taken aback by Gu Jiuyuan's actions.

The yamen servant did not write for a long time, Gu Jiuyuan tapped on the word "Guan Yan", the head of the household in the household registration book with his fingertips as translucent as white jade, and said softly: "Just write my name and his together. .”

Hearing this, Zhang Zhang's big head had a flash of inspiration, thinking that he understood what Gu Jiuyuan meant, he raised his chin to the round-faced yamen servant, and winked: Do as he says!

The round-faced yamen servant pulled the corners of his mouth and asked nervously: "You, you, who is your last name? What is your birth date? What is your relationship with the head of the household?"

Seeing that Gu Jiuyuan hadn't finished registering after standing there for a while, Guan Yan was a little worried, stood up on his knees, and moved over with his limp body.

As soon as he approached, he heard Gu Jiuyuan report his name and date of birth. When he walked to Gu Jiuyuan and stood still, he happened to hear Gu Jiuyuan answer what was the relationship between the yamen servant and the head of the household.

Gu Jiuyuan said: Family.

The two words were gently uttered from the young man's mouth, but they hit Guan Yan's heart hard. Guan Yan's heart trembled violently, and he turned to look at Gu Jiuyuan with his eyes wide open.

The young man's expression was as usual, and when he noticed his gaze, he also turned his head, staring at him with dark eyes as deep as a pool, and slightly raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a shallow but obviously pleasant smile.

The round-faced yamen servant scratched his head. The relationship with the head of the household should be great-grandfather, uncle, brother, nephew, and the like. What kind of relationship is this family...?

The round-faced yamen servant murmured in his heart, but he didn't dare to ask Gu Jiuyuan again. He calculated the age of the two of them, and directly filled in "brother" in the column of relationship with the head of the household. When Guan Yan looked down, Gu Jiuyuan had already become his official The elder brother in the sense of level.

Gu Jiuyuan raised his eyebrows, his eyes were a little subtle.

Guan Yan looked at the word Gu Jiuyuan on the household registration book in amazement, and obviously couldn't understand how Gu Jiuyuan became his elder brother just to help him pay taxes!

Can this household registration information be written indiscriminately?

Of course, household registration information can't be written indiscriminately, but who would let the other party have a big background, let the county magistrate give them orders, and dare not offend them at all?Besides, the household registration is registered every three years, and this year happens to be a three-year period. At that time, the newly added population of the villages under the jurisdiction of Hongtong County will be reported, and the procedures that should be completed will be completed. There will be no problems at all, and there will be more Let the individual pay taxes to the court!

The round-faced yamen servant thought to himself, stopped writing and closed the household registration booklet.

The head tax of Shuigou Village was collected smoothly, and the person who was suspected to be the person Shangfeng asked them to pay attention to was detected. The official and private affairs were all done, and Zhang Da, the leader of the yamen, said something to the village chief and left with his brothers.

A group of people got on their horses, and when they left Shuigou Village, the round-faced yamen servant asked Zhang Da: "Boss, is that young master really the person behind the scenes?"

"Wang Erniu is from Shuigou Village. This young man happens to be in Shuigou Village. He asked us to naturalize him. Who else is there?"

"...Then you want to report back to your lord?"

Having said that, Zhang Da tightened the reins in his hand, pinching the horse's belly to stop the horse.He said to several people with a serious expression: "You must not reveal a word of this young master's information! If your lord asks, just pretend that we haven't found anyone suspicious!"

Several people are puzzled.

Zhang Da asked a few people in a cold voice: "Do you think it's better for the adults to be serious about managing the affairs now, or to let the subordinates run amok and make the yamen a mess?"

The round-faced yamen servant said without hesitation: "Of course it's better now." They were suppressed by Liu Ye and others before, unable to resist and unwilling to help the tyrant, so they resigned and went home. Master Zhang sent someone to invite them two days ago back.

"That's right." Zhang Dashen agreed, "My lord's temperament, if he is not forced to be anxious, he will not be able to show the majesty of an official. As long as the lord does not know where the people behind him are, he will not dare to relax... ..." If you don't dare to relax for a day, you will always work hard as a parent official. Over time, you will develop a good habit of caring for the people. By then, the lives of the people in Hongdong County will be better and better!

Several people suddenly realized that they were somewhat grateful to Gu Jiuyuan in their hearts.

No matter what the purpose of this son is, it can be regarded as helping them!

Zhang Da immediately told the round-faced government servant to settle the matter of Gu Jiuyuan's settlement in Guan Yan's house, but Guan Yan, who was forced to have an extra brother, was still a little at a loss.

With one hand on Guan Yan's shoulder, Gu Jiuyuan hugged his shoulder and said in a low voice, "My brother will be A Yan's man in the future."

"Is Ayan happy?"

His voice carried a very suggestive meaning, Guan Yan couldn't help trembling, feeling a sense of taboo in his heart.

He doesn't have an elder brother, let alone an elder brother who will be an ox and a horse for him!

Seeing that his face was slightly flushed and his eyes dodged, the smile on Gu Jiuyuan's lips deepened little by little: "Why doesn't Ah Yan speak? Or does Ah Yan prefer to be called master and servant?"

The Guardian, who watched the two from a distance, fell into self-doubt again. Is there something wrong with his eyes?Why does he always feel weird between the leader and Mr. Guan Yan?Even this simple shoulder-to-back hook feels an unusual intimacy?

"Go back!" Guan Yan brushed away Gu Jiuyuan's hand grabbing his shoulder, and strode back with a sullen face.

Gu Jiuyuan was not in a hurry to catch up with him, and slowly fell behind him.

Guan Yan had to slow down before taking two steps. When he realized that there was no one around him, he looked back and saw that Gu Jiuyuan was walking leisurely one step away from him.When he caught his line of sight, the young man's quiet black eyes lit up with starlight, and his thin, well-shaped lips lifted up, and he smiled slightly.

Guan Yan's expression was in a trance for a moment.

Not long ago, he swore to Dr. Liu that the truth was not what he thought, but he broke his promise after only a few months. Not only was he bewitched by male sex, but the other party planned to live in his house...

At the moment when he was in a daze, Gu Jiuyuan had already walked beside him: "Didn't you mean to make moon cakes? Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, if you don't make them, it will be too late."

Guan Yan suddenly came back to his senses, with annoyed expression in his eyes.He was sick for two days and almost forgot about it!

Gu Jiuyuan reached out to support him: "Don't worry, I'll do it with you."

Returning home in a hurry, Guan Yan went straight to the kitchen.I don't have time to purchase and prepare other fillings, so I can only make whatever I have at home.

Putting the wild chestnuts, red beans, sesame seeds, peanuts, bacon, salted duck eggs, etc. that he picked up from the mountain that day on the table, Guan Yan glanced at Gu Jiuyuan, Gu Jiuyuan raised his eyebrows, and asked with great interest, "How to do it?"

"I'll knead the dough, and you help me prepare the stuffing." Guan Yan pointed at the chestnut and said, "Wash the chestnut and cut it into a cross knife, boil it in boiling water until the knife edge splits, remove the shell while it's hot, steam the meat and press it into a puree , and then add sugar and stir-fry to make sand."

"The same goes for red beans, boil them until they are soft and rotten, then mash them, add sugar and fry them to make red bean paste."

"Sesame seeds and peanuts are fried separately, and the peanuts have to be peeled and crushed..."

Gu Jiuyuan wrote down one by one, this step sounds quite cumbersome, I didn't expect that such a small moon cake would take so much thought.

Watching him light up the fire and cook the red beans in an orderly manner, during which time he washed the chestnuts and cut them into crosses, his posture was leisurely and calm, and his gestures were elegant, Guan Yan blinked and suppressed the heat in his heart.

Since his parents passed away, he has not made moon cakes with anyone for many years.

The man lowered his eyes and pursed his lips, and suddenly fell silent. Gu Jiuyuan asked casually, "What is Ah Yan thinking?"

"My father and mother." Guan Yan kneaded the dough with lard in his hands, and said in a very calm tone, "My mother likes sweet stuffing, and my father likes salty stuffing. Every Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, they always compete for the best. Come on, it’s very rare for me to be caught in the middle. But they are stubborn, and after tasting the mooncakes made by each other, they still look disdainful, and they will question me again after I finish eating the mooncakes they hate..."

"Then Ayan likes sweet or salty?"

"At that time, I was still young, and I felt sweet when I ate sweet, and I also felt sweet when I ate salty."

The man's eyes were nostalgic. Although Gu Jiuyuan had never seen him when he was a child, he could still feel the love of his parents, his family and harmony when he was a child, and he felt happy in his heart whatever he ate.

"Well, I didn't pay much attention to my appetite in the past. It didn't matter what I ate, as long as I could keep up my hunger and maintain my strength." Gu Jiuyuan looked at him and said softly, "After meeting Ayan, I only know how it tastes like sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty."