The husband's son-in-law

After several rains, the temperature suddenly became much colder.

Li Da wore two layers of unlined clothing. He got up early and punched the garden in the courtyard. This was learned from the bodyguard, and he said it was simple and could strengthen his body.After playing for a while, he heard footsteps behind him, and knew Fu Bao was coming without turning his head, and immediately smiled.

"Fubao come to fight with grandpa?"

"Grandpa Fufu is here!"

The grandfather and grandson spoke together, and when the words fell to the ground, Fu Bao came running in a thin padded coat, called grandpa, and began to straddle his legs in a dignified way, and then raised his arms.

Seeing this, Li Da didn't tease Fu Bao anymore, he punched first, and then he warmed up after the punching.Fu Bao raised his arms, clenched his small hands into fists, his fleshy face was serious, and when he punched, his mouth was still hecking.Li Da knew that he learned it from the bodyguard.

The grandfather and grandson fisted for a moment.

Li Da put away his legs and feet, and this morning's warm-up activities are over. Fu Bao followed suit, kicking his legs, shaking his hands and arms, and bouncing twice in the same way. Then he raised his smile and said in Zhaozhou : "Grandpa, good morning!"

"Good morning, Fufu." Li Dazhao didn't learn Zhaozhou dialect well, but he also used Zhaozhou dialect mixed with Mandarin, "Let's go have breakfast."

The food was set up in the flower hall.

Fu Bao followed his grandfather to the flower hall, saw his father, and ran to his father's place happily.

Li Zhouzhou touched Fubao's hand, his palm was hot, and said, "Wash your hands and face first and eat." Seeing the unlined clothes his father was still wearing, he said, "Father, it's getting colder, so we still have to put on cotton wool. Yes." It's not good if you have a cold.

"It's not cold. It's the end of November. If it's snowing in our Xiping Village, there will be a few patters of rain here. It's a bit wet, but it's not cold. Waiting."

It is said that spring covers autumn frost, Li Da watched, the autumn frost in Zhaozhou can freeze until winter.

After a while, the grandpa and grandson came out after washing their hands. The food was still hot and could be eaten.Li Zhouzhou made a shrimp meat bun for Fu Bao, and Fu Bao obediently thanked his father, and then made a red bean paste bun for his father, obediently said: "Fu Bao doesn't eat Fu Bao, and the red bean paste bun is sweet. Teeth are easy to break."

Li Zhouzhou: "..." It was a joke.

"You ate the shrimp meat bun. If you can eat it, then eat a red bean paste bun. The pastry at noon will be reduced by half." Li Zhouzhou said.Anyway, the buns are made small, so it is common for Fubao to eat two in the morning.

When Fu Bao heard what Dad said, he immediately said happily: "Fu Bao can eat it! Dad is the best!"

After breakfast, Xiaoji was waiting at the door. This child was brought by the Lin family. He was older than Fubao, more than five years old. When he first entered the mansion, he was thin and small, and looked slightly shorter than Fubao. He has grown in size, he has gained weight and is a little fleshy, but he looks much healthier.

Xiaoji waited obediently at the door.

After Fu Bao finished his last bite, he saw his little friend coming, and looked up at Dad: "Daddy, I want to play with Xiao Ji."

"Aunt Chun follows you two, be careful."

Fu Bao obediently said yes, and got off the chair, "Grandpa, Dad, Fu Bao is going to play."

"Go, go." Li Da's eyes were full of kindness.

Fu Bao happily ran out, Xiao Ji saluted at the door, and before he finished saying hello to the young master in Zhaozhou dialect, Fu Bao held his hand, "Let's go find the treasure! Xiao Ji, hurry up!"

Li Chun followed behind, trying to tell young master Fubao to be careful not to run or fall, but he stopped.Madam said, Fubao likes to run around and play freely, and it's okay if he falls, as long as he doesn't go to dangerous places.

Don't go to the lakeside or the high places of the rockery.

As soon as the wife said, the young master Fubao would not go to these two places, and said that he would go when he was five years old.

Fubao took Xiaoji and ran away for a while, remembering that his father said that he would have a stomachache if he was full and ran away, so he stopped and walked with Xiaoji, saying: "Xiaoji, are you going back tomorrow? Home?"

"Yes, sir."

"It's great, you can see your daddy tomorrow." Fu Bao misses daddy, "I haven't seen daddy for a long time, and I can't ask daddy, daddy misses daddy too."

Xiaoji is young and mature, and said: "My lord has important things to do."

"What's the big deal?" Fu Bao didn't know what the big deal was.

Xiaoji didn't know either, he heard from his mother and family members, and now the young master Fubao asked, Xiaoji couldn't tell, a little embarrassed, Fubao saw it and said, "I'll ask him when Daddy comes back. , Xiaoji, let's go play flying chess, I'll teach you."

The two went to play flying chess.Li Chun followed closely behind and watched. Although Xiaoji was young, she had to be on guard.

The servants in the side hall collected the bowls and chopsticks.

Li Zhouzhou was about to go out to the shop today, Li Da said: "You remember to take someone with you, by the way, how about looking for a carpenter?" Without waiting for Zhou Zhou to reply, he said: "It is true that once you can spin more Of yarn?"

"What Xianggong said will definitely come true." Li Zhou Zhou Xin.

Li Da was originally a layman in weaving and spinning, but he heard Zhou Zhou said that he was looking for a carpenter, so he knew it by just asking. When passing through the spinning machine, one thread is used at a time. He asked if he could spin a few more threads. He was regarded as a layman and looked foolish.

"Zhao'er said so, it should be possible." Li Da's tone was not as sure as Zhou Zhou's, and said, "You didn't ask the details?"

Li Zhouzhou: "Sanggong doesn't know much. He told a story that the spinning machine was kicked down, how many times did it turn horizontal and vertical?" Some of them didn't even believe half of it, so they laughed and said, "It's okay, Dad, I'll look for it slowly and let the craftsmen think more about it."

"Let's do it. Be careful when you go out, and take people with you." Li Da urged.

"I know dad."

Li Zhouzhou took two people out, got into the carriage, and first went to Li Ji Luzhu's shop.

Li Ji Luzhu opened more than half a month ago, and the business of the store was handed over to Li Xia and Su Jiayu. One of them was in charge of the front and the other was in charge of the back. They recruited people to work.What I made was the food in Ninh Ping Prefecture, such as marinated pork ribs, pork feet, pig heads, chicken and duck, etc., the price is a little more than two or three renminbi more expensive than Ninh Ping Prefecture, which is the state city anyway.

The business of the shop is very hot. It just opened, and as soon as the sign was hung up, the merchants in Zhaozhou City heard the news and came to support it. Now that more than half a month has passed, it is reasonable to say that the enthusiasm for the support should have faded, but there is not much. It's booming.

The diners who come to buy these days are not only various merchants in Zhaozhou City, but also some ordinary people.

Li Zhouzhou let the two take turns to take charge of the front and the back, so they are not sure to die.In Beijing before, the four members of the Su family all studied with Guanshi Liang. At that time, Xiaoshu said that it was not such a trouble, and that whoever did what should be assigned.

But he thinks that the four are still young, all of them are half-grown children. When they have no conditions, they are ignorant and do not understand in the village. Now that they have the opportunity to learn from Guanshi Liang, they will all go. Anyway, they will be the ones who learn or not. ability.

Later, Xianggong was transferred to Zhaozhou, and when Li Zhouzhou wanted to take them with him, Xiaoshu said happily: "Fortunately, these four have studied for a year and a half, and know how to keep accounts, how to distribute materials, how to manage people, and how to receive guests. Although it’s not that smooth and proficient, it’s better than new ones that you don’t know at all, brother Zhou Zhou, you can take it and use it directly.”

Li Zhouzhou didn't expect his family to come to Zhaozhou before, but anyone can do handyman cleaning. He called the four children to Beijing. If they have the conditions, they will learn.

It's the same for Li Xia now.

Li Xia is a loyal person, and it is because of his loyalty that Li Zhouzhou is willing to pay more attention to cultivating him. If there are more business transactions in the future, he must have someone at hand who can directly use them, instead of just picking them.

If there is a deficiency, then practice there.The people of Lixia are a little bit wooden, they just accept it.

When Li Zhouzhou chatted with the Xianggong, the Xianggong asked him: "What kind of life did Uncle Wang live in the village? It's not that I guess the man before Li Xia beat Li Xia, but that Uncle Wang wanted to save money to buy fields and land. The house is full of plans, but who in the Wang family is willing to listen to Uncle Wang?"

"Uncle Wang has no self-confidence. If his parents-in-law refute him a few words, why bother, waste money, and live a dishonest life thinking about something all day long, you can get rid of all your plans."

Take Uncle Wang and Li Xia to compare and you will know why Li Xia is dead.

Because no one cares about Li Xia's thoughts, when growing up at home, all he needs to do is to work and be obedient, and he also has to be disgusted by eating too much and not looking good. After getting married, he changed from listening to his parents to listening to a man and everyone in the house. It would be good if the local work is obedient and can give birth to babies.

After a long time, Li Xia had no ideas of her own.

After the shop opened, Li Zhouzhou came up with this system in which two people take turns managing people and affairs, so that they can train and learn from each other.

The carriage heard the backyard door of the shop, and Li Zhouzhou went in. Today, brother Yu is in charge of the back, and he heard the subordinates say that his wife is here, and he has finished explaining the work, so he hurried out.

"Cousin!"

Brother Yu is young and soft, he is not as good as Li Xia in the back, and now he is handy in going to the front to greet business.Now it's time to work hard and study hard.

Li Zhouzhou and Brother Yu went to the courtyard lounge and saw how messy it was, and there was still a smell.

"The window is open."

Brother Yu hurriedly opened the window, and the delighted 'cousin' also became the 'boss', obediently stood up and accepted the punishment.

"I see that everyone is working hard. Uncle Xia and I are the only ones in this room to rest. They want to sit and chat for a rest. I agreed without delaying my work."

Li Zhouzhou said: "There is a staff lounge. You are in charge of people. You are young. If the rules are messed up at the beginning, no one will listen to you in the future. If you beg for mercy a few times, you will not be able to wipe your face. Small things will be replaced by big ones. In the future I can't control it anymore."

"Think about Guan Liang's affairs. For my sake, he knew that you were related to me. How did he do it?"

Su Jiayu's being so soft also has a relationship with Li Xia. Li Xia recognizes her identity too much, sticks to herself as a slave of the Li family, and treats the Su family as half a young master. Su Jiayu agrees that the employees come here to rest, drink tea and chat. Li Xia didn't say anything and left it to Su Jiayu, it wasn't a big deal anyway.

Li Zhouzhou spoke a little more seriously, "If you can't control people and can't do shop business, then go back to the mansion to replace Li Chun and let Li Chun come over." He didn't threaten to send Su Jiayu away.

"Boss, I know I was wrong, give me another chance." Su Jiayu begged.

Li Zhouzhou: "Don't cry, if you cry, go home."

Su Jiayu held back her tears.Li Xia stood at the door, not knowing whether to enter or not, Li Zhouzhou saw it, let him in, and said solemnly: "Li Xia still has you, and you and Su Jiayu are my staff in charge in this Li Ji, if you treat him as the young master Admit it, I'll give Su Jiayu your contract of sale."

"Don't kneel!" Li Zhouzhou said.

Li Xia was about to kneel as soon as his legs softened, but he insisted on standing still, "Li Xia only recognizes his wife and Li's family."

"Both of you are brothers from the village. You know better than anyone else what your brother's way is. I can give you a chance, but you have to rely on yourself. If I don't need it, Brother Yu Then you should go back to the village and listen to the family getting married, who is up to you?"

"Li Xia, there is no shortage of waiters around me, and I need people who help me with the business of the shop, understand."

Li Xia bit her lips, "I know Madam, Li Xia will learn."

"Yeah." Li Zhouzhou nodded, seeing Brother Yu and Li Xia's still-shocked faces and swearing firmly, he said, "You two are in charge, there are not many other things in Zhaozhou City, and there are many who can work and want to get paid." It’s people, and I’m not saying that you should be mean to the workers, there should be rules in the shop, if you do well, you’ll get a bonus;

After finishing speaking, Li Zhou and Zhou Yi saw that both of them had the shock of 'I can still let the workers go' on their faces, and couldn't help: ...

After finishing the speechless expression, Li Zhouzhou naturally thought of Xianggong.

"You are in charge, otherwise what are you in charge of?"

Li Zhouzhou saw that the two had opened up their minds, so he didn't say much about it, and asked: "Is there any carpenter to ask?" Ask if there is any carpenter with dexterity and brains who wants to make things.

"A lot of people came to ask, saying that his family knows carpentry, and some of them left their addresses." Li Xia was in charge during this time, and immediately took the notebook with the address.

Li Zhouzhou looked through it, and found that they were all carpenter shops in Zhaozhou City. He knew that this shop was still the business of the Huang family, and this shop was doing business with the Wang family——

After getting involved with merchants in Zhaozhou City, if the machine is really figured out, the carpenter will be the first to stick to his master.Li Zhouzhou closed the notebook, and he couldn't do it, so he gave the list to his husband and asked the yamen to do it.

I don't know when the husband will come back.

The other end is Minzhangfu County.

Gu Zhao was facing the patches of rubber forest, his eyes were shining, and he couldn't help touching the tree trunk with his hands in relief. Behind him stood the magistrate of Minzhang and a group of subordinates, watching the expression and behavior of the new lord, if this tree It's okay to change to a woman, but now it's just a tree, what's so good about it?

I heard that the new Shangguan paid money by building roads, what's wrong?The county magistrate Minzhang murmured in his heart.

Gu Zhao couldn't put it down, and said to Meng Jianyun next to him, "Write down all the rubber trees."

Meng Jianyun replied that he had remembered everything.

Gu Zhao turned his head and saw that those burly men were looking at him with 'crazy' faces, coughed seriously and said: "This tree is of great use, and the people of Minzhang County will rely on it for their prosperity in the future."

Then he saw these burly men change from 'the new Shangguan is crazy' to 'corrupt officials who cheated them of money with a broken tree', the change was really frank.

Gu Zhao: ...

When he was in Zhaozhou, Mr. Chen told him that Minzhang was poor, full of miasma, and there were so many trees.The county magistrate of Jiting, the previous prefecture, also reminded him that the people of Minzhang are tough.Gu Zhao also remembered it at the time, but he thought that because of poverty, it must be because of the barbaric human nature.

It wasn't until later that he realized that his thinking was a little shallow.

Minzhangfu County is one of the very few places where local people are used as county magistrates.Because in the past 31 years, the county magistrates who were transferred to Minzhang successively died after staying for five years at the longest, and only three months at the fastest. up.

There were not ten dead, but there were nine county magistrates. Mr. Chen reported to the court and asked the court to continue to send people, but this place has already become famous in the south, and it is a place where the imperial examination masters are frightened. , and will never come.Later, this place became an uninhabited area, and I was in a panic for a year and a half.

Finally, one year, when Mr. Chen saw that there was a Minzhang candidate in the list of candidates for the examination, he immediately made a decision, wrote an invitation letter and handed it in, and asked the current Minzhang county magistrate to be the magistrate.

The chief secretary of Nanjun ignored Zhaozhou and directly approved it.

It is equivalent to saying that the county magistrate of Minzhang's academic qualifications are Juren, and he did not go to Beijing to participate in the palace examination.

This means that it can be used in a remote and barren place like Zhaozhou. In any other prefecture, candidates must go to Beijing to take the Jinshi examination.

The county magistrate of Minzhang has been in office for more than ten years, and the age written on it is 43.The previous Magistrate Jiting was about the same age, and the image of Magistrate Minzhang in Gu Zhaolai's mind was about the same as that of Magistrate Jiting, a middle-aged man, either thin or chubby, with a beard, and of medium height.

The people here are not tall.

Gu Zhao, who is 1.8 meters seven, walks anywhere in Zhaozhou, and he is half his upper body higher than the crowd, which is particularly obvious.

When he saw the county magistrate Minzhang, Gu Zhao fell silent.

Not only the magistrate of Minzhang County, but also the government servants of the entire prefecture and county are all about 1.8 meters tall. Whether they are big and round or thin and capable, they all have beards. They don't have knives on their waists, but they each carry their own weapons. What, there are mace, hammer, iron gun.

If it weren't for the county magistrate Minzhang bowing and introducing himself, Gu Zhao felt that he had been robbed by bandits.

"There are bandits here who rob houses. Your Excellency, you should not move around during the day and night. If no one follows you wherever you go, I will not be able to pay for it," said the county magistrate Minzhang.

Gu Zhao: ...

The magistrate threatened him?

It can be seen that the county magistrate of Minzhang is not like that either.After Gu Zhao asked Minzhang about the harvest, the other party also answered one by one. Although he spoke directly, with a slightly higher voice, and sounded a bit arrogant, he said what he had to say and answered in detail.

There are many forests in Minzhang, and one area is full of forests and swamps, accounting for almost one-half of the entire prefecture and county. Therefore, the population is the least among the five prefectures and counties, and it is also the poorest and most backward - with little arable land.

In fact, all five prefectures and counties have this problem, but Minzhang is the most serious.

The people here make a living, the staple food is all kinds of mushrooms and taro, the supplementary food is rice, and the meat is pork, chicken and duck. Almost all the local people have basic skills: digging fungus taro, hunting and setting traps to catch some prey.

The key point is that the geographical location of the prefecture is slightly higher. Except for the small corner along the coast, the three sides are either surrounded by mountains or surrounded by trees, which are surrounded by the middle.

It was inconvenient for Gu Zhao to ride a horse when he came, so Ji Ting's yamen servant took them through a small road, the terrain was a little gentler, they couldn't ride a horse, they led the horse along.

It is difficult to build roads.

But there is one good thing. The towns and villages under Minzhang Prefecture are very compact, forming a small circle around the prefecture. Unlike Jiting Rongguan, some villages are too remote, and they are close to the sea to facilitate fishing. go to sea.

The distance between the village and the prefecture is too far, and it is not easy to build roads.

If the Minzhang is built, it will be much more convenient for the villages and towns, just to open up a road to Jiting and Zhaozhou City.Gu Zhao thought for a while, in fact, there is no need to open the Jiting and Minzhang bus first, just go to Zhaozhou.

The rubber harvested from the rubber tree is transported to Zhaozhou, and Minzhang is used as the raw material production place. It would be nice to set up a processing factory between Zhaozhou and Minzhang, and it can form a triangle shape with Jiting next door.

"Build the road? Or the road to Zhaozhou? My lord, you—" Minzhang county magistrate hurriedly braked halfway through speaking, and swallowed the swear words. Swiping back and forth on the Kanyu map, he said: "This is a mountain, we can't let the people of the whole prefecture and county dig the mountain?"

Gu Zhaodang didn't hear that the county magistrate wanted to scold him for being mentally ill. Since he stopped and didn't say anything, he didn't ask. It’s not a mountain.” Although there is a detour.

But it is much smaller than digging a mountain.

"This one can be walked, but there are many detours. Why spend so much time, we Minzhang people can still have money to spend in Zhaozhou." Minzhang county magistrate felt that there was no need to build roads. Highway robbers."

Gu Zhao looked at the tall and strong magistrate Han, "Then you will suppress the bandits."

Minzhang County Magistrate: ...

"Then there are still trees? This, this, and this, there are trees in all three sections."

"Dig it and move it away." Gu Zhaoshi looked affirmatively, looking at the county magistrate Minzhang, "The road must be repaired."

The face of Minzhang County Magistrate was livid and ugly, Gu Zhao confronted him, his momentum was not inferior, and he even pressed down steadily, saying, "Do you know about Minzhang County Magistrate?"

"...I know." The county magistrate Minzhang's reply leaked from between his teeth, which shows that he has tolerated this Shangguan to the extreme.

Gu Zhaodang didn't see it, and said: "This road is very important, and there are also roads leading to three rubber forests in Fuxian County that need to be repaired..."

Once the explanation was over, the magistrate of Minzhang panted like a cow and agreed, and then he yelled curses in local dialect when he went out.

Meng Jianyun had a stern face, and wanted to charge, but Gu Zhao stopped him, "What are you doing? You don't even look at your body, can you punch a few times more than the county magistrate of Minzhang?"

"But my lord, this person just scolded you." Meng Jianyun stopped and came back, but the expression on his face was still the same, but there was a little bit more complaints about his small body in his eyes. If he was also tall and strong, how could he endure this? The county magistrate of Minzhang is not rude to adults.

"I didn't understand—" Gu Zhao looked at Xiaomeng's cynical look, and said, "Just scold, if you can do something."

He changed the subject again, "You are small in stature and not as strong as him, but it is also your advantage. You are flexible and quick, but you lack some training. When you are fine, you should consult the bodyguard and learn some self-defense."

"But don't use this to bully others."

Meng Jianyun said he knew.

"If my family didn't buy you, Xiao Meng, you can say that when you meet an official like me, you want the people to dig trees and cut down trees, build factories and build roads, and ask the squires for money. What do you think?"

Meng Jianyun pursed his lower lip, but said honestly, "I think you must be a bad guy."

"...You are honest." Gu Zhao smiled and was not angry. Xiao Meng is like this. Whether it is him or his family members, even if it is Fu Bao who is three years old, as long as you ask Xiao Meng, Xiao Meng will not be angry. Will lie, will only tell the truth.

"But I know you are not such an official, my lord." Meng Jianyun had seen corrupt officials. When he was a refugee, he was arrogant and ruthless. The high-ranking officials who came to help the servants hated him.

Gu Zhao looked a little serious, and said: "Remember one sentence, if you want to be rich, you must first build roads. The people in Zhaozhou are poor and difficult, so I naturally know that when I came to Zhaozhou, I saw a lot of things that can be exchanged for money. , but if the road is difficult, how to send it out for money?"

"The people of Zhaozhou are trapped here and have never seen the outside world. They don't think that precious things are valuable and rare if others see them outside."

Meng Jianyun said: "Anyway, there are always rich people who are willing to buy a rarity, and they are not short of money."

On the day of the snowstorm in Ningxi, a group of refugees couldn't eat enough, were hungry, couldn't wear warm clothes, and didn't dare to sleep soundly, fearing that they would die if they closed their eyes.Meng Jianyun also felt at the time that it was snowing everywhere in this cold weather, they were suffering, everyone should be similar.

Until they sold their bodies and entered the mansions of various families, even if they walked around the outer courtyard, they could see the difference.Some people's lives are cheap like grass in the snow, struggling to survive and being trampled on by others, while some people are born rich and noble, have no worries about food and drink, and wearing gold and jade is money that poor people can't earn in a few lifetimes .

When I arrived at Li's house, I saw many more along the way to Zhaozhou.

"Poor people should earn more money from rich people." Meng Jianyun said.

Gu Zhao couldn't help laughing, "You are kind of..." The prince and general Xiang Ning seemed kind.But that would be a long way off. Xiaomeng is still young and has a lot of cynicism, so he should take care of it.

"From today onwards, I will practice calligraphy for half an hour outside, and I will practice calligraphy for an hour when I return to Zhaozhou." Gu Zhao arranged homework for him.

Meng Jianyun: ...Gritting his teeth, it should be true.

He doesn't like to read and write, he would rather ride horses and walk over mountains with Mr. Gu.

Stayed in Minzhang for a few more days, and 2000 taels of silver were handed over to the county magistrate of Minzhang. What Ling Xian thought was that the people suffered under such hard work.

It can be seen that he is a person with people in his heart.

Gu Zhao proposed to build roads in Rongguan that day, because he was afraid that the magistrate of Rongguan would oppress the people under the ground like skinning skins, and would not let them rest or give them money, and building roads would become a bad thing like torture.But when he arrived in Minzhang, he felt that the county magistrate of Minzhang wanted to fool him. In order to keep the people not tired, he would do foreign work for him and do superficial errands.

"...the money is given to you, and the people are recruited for labor to cut and dig trees. The trees don't need to be transported, they are neatly put aside, and they should be flat." Gu Zhao can arrange it easily, and there is no limestone in Minzhang. , this road is not in a hurry, the preliminary work is in place first.

"take it easy."

The county magistrate of Minzhang saw that there was money, so his attitude was slightly better.

Just give the money.

Stop scolding this official.