Brother Zhao's expression changed instantly, and his right hand subconsciously pressed his niece's little hand.
The sudden change made everyone present feel shocked. Although the little girl's hand hurt from being pressed, she had been timid since she was a child and did not dare to speak out. Only tears welled up in her eyes.
Brother Zhao quickly noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the room. He twitched his face twice and covered it up with a dry smile: "This, this is what uncle needs to live in peace and quiet, and I can't give it to you. Be good, don't cry anymore, come and take a look. What did uncle bring you? Open your mouth, ah..."
Brother Zhao quickly let go of his rough palm, carefully squeezed his niece's little hand and rubbed it. Suddenly he remembered that he still had candy on him, so he quickly took it out, opened the paper bag, picked up a small piece and put it on his niece's face. little mouth.
The little girl only felt a piece of cold stuff put into her mouth, and then she felt a sweet and mellow taste. Her eyes suddenly softened, and even the pain in her palms disappeared instantly. The little mouth carefully wrapped the candy and asked vaguely: "Uncle, what is this?"
Brother Zhao smiled, touched her little face, and said with a smile: "Sugar."
"Is this candy?" The little girl closed her eyes slightly and felt it for a while, then opened her big eyes and looked at the paper bag in the uncle's hand. There were dozens of pieces of the same size in it.
Seeing the longing look on his nephew's face, Brother Zhao smiled and took out another piece and handed it to him, "You want to eat it? Come on, I'll give you a piece too."
The nephew looked happy and wanted to reach out to take it, but Father Zhao next to him slapped his hand back. He scolded: "What do you want to eat?"
He snatched the paper package from Brother Zhao's hand, took a closer look, handed it to the second brother, and ordered: "Take it to your third aunt and exchange it for a chicken. The two strong men will send your eldest brother a thousand miles away." Come back, we must support them no matter what."
"Okay, dad." Zhao Laoer nodded and agreed without saying anything more. He reached out to take the paper bag and was about to get up and go out.
"Wait a minute." Boss Zhao immediately stopped his younger brother, took the paper bag back from his hand, and asked his father with a wry smile: "Dad, what are you doing? This is what my son brought back for the children. Give it to them.”
As he said this, he handed the paper bag to his nephew.
But Father Zhao grabbed his hand, opened the paper bag, and sighed, "Then give one to the baby, one for each brother and sister. You don't know, this candy is very valuable in the countryside, and these candy chickens can I’ve got a few chickens back. Rather than being ruined by two little ones, it’s better to get some chickens back.”
Father Zhao reluctantly looked into the paper bag, found the smallest one and stuffed it into his grandson's mouth.
Just such a small piece made my grandson smile, and his face was filled with a happy smile.
Brother Zhao didn't want to continue to stop him when he saw it. Instead, he sighed and said, "Dad, after all these years, is it still so difficult at home?"
Father Zhao glanced at his eldest son. He was a little surprised that his son, who also left his hometown, came back after decades and asked such stupid questions, "Have you forgotten the situation at home? It's not always like this. ?"
As he spoke, he sighed, and Father Zhao sighed: "Fortunately, life has been relatively peaceful these years. Although life is tight, I can still survive with a full meal and a hungry meal."
Brother Zhao looked up at the other two brothers in Shanziying in confusion, then turned to look at his father and couldn't help but ask: "Dad, the taxes from the imperial court have not been high in recent years. Why is life at home still so difficult?"
Brother Zhao was in Shanziying. While staying in the capital, he had heard from others more than once that the emperor had issued decrees more than once to live with the people and encourage them to reclaim wasteland and cultivate land. The wasteland reclaimed by oneself does not need to pay taxes for the first five years. Even if taxes are paid from the sixth year, the amount paid is not much. One acre of land is only worth seven buckets of grain, but an average acre of land can harvest about three dan of grain, and a good paddy field can even harvest four dan. This ratio is less than 30%, which is considered very cheap.
After all, if you don't have land, it would be good to get 20% of it by renting other people's land.
Father Zhao sneered and said: "You are not in the countryside, so you don't understand many things. When our county pays taxes, it is naturally the court's requirement to pay seven dou of grain for one acre of land. But you think, you get seven dou of grain?" Will I be able to pay the tax if I go?"
"Can't you? What else can you do?" Brother Zhao couldn't understand. It was clearly stipulated by the court that the tax was to pay seven buckets of grain. How could he still not be able to pay the tax if he took seven buckets of grain?
Seeing his eldest son's somewhat innocent expression, Father Zhao rubbed his rough and dry fingers and sneered: "Do you know what Linjian Kick Dou is?"
"What is this?" Brother Zhao obviously didn't know and asked after being stunned for a moment.
Seeing his son's dull look, Father Zhao felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart.
When he saw his son for the first time just now, he recognized him. However, Brother Zhao's appearance of being capable and neatly dressed still put a lot of pressure on Father Zhao. He knew without even thinking that the eldest son must have made his fortune outside. Although he was also happy for his son, the pressure from his son's aura always made Father Zhao feel uncomfortable.
This is not only true of him, but also of others, including his second son and second wife. When the family faced Brother Zhao, they all acted very reserved. Whenever Brother Zhao took the initiative to speak, they would never dare to raise their heads and ask.
"This is an old rule. Every year when the grain is paid, the grain director will place a wooden bucket in an open space. The person who pays the grain must use his own grain. Filling the wooden bucket does not count. , until it reaches the top of the mountain and can no longer hold it, it is not counted as ten thousand. Then the grain chief will run over quickly and kick the wooden bucket, and countless grains will be shaken to the ground. Now this The amount of grain in the bucket is the tax you pay. Tell me, if you only take seven buckets of grain, can you pay the tax?"
Brother Zhao didn't expect that this was the case, and couldn't help but ask: "Where is the food on the ground?"
"Grain on the ground?" Father Zhao sneered twice and explained coldly: "Of course it comes from the grain."
Brother Zhao thought for a moment and then asked doubtfully: "There are more than seven buckets of food in that bucket. Will the extra food be returned?"
"What else can I give back? The extra grain in the bucket belongs to the county government." Father Zhao put his palms in his hands and smiled bitterly, his tone full of helplessness.
Brother Zhao immediately took a few deep breaths. He didn't know why the Marquis of Zhenhai insisted on letting these people return to their hometown to serve as grain chiefs and li chiefs. In his opinion, being able to leave the military camp alive was already a great kindness. He had never thought about becoming a grain commander. Moreover, he only thought that being the grain chief would be responsible for collecting grain and then escorting him to the county government office, but he did not expect that there were so many twists and turns involved.
As Mr. Zhao spoke, he couldn't help but show envy in his eyes, and explained to Brother Zhao: "The Li family here is the grain chief of our first class. Look at how many years ago the Li family has grown from an ordinary commoner. The family has become a famous and wealthy family in the surrounding area."
Brother Zhao couldn't help but look weird after hearing this. He wanted to tell his father that from now on, the Li family would no longer be the head of grain. Now the grain chief of this group is his son.
Seeing his father saying that, he wanted to exchange the candy for the chicken.
Brother Zhao quickly stopped his father with a smile, and while taking off the package from his back, he explained to his father: "Dad, in recent years, my son has made a lot of money outside. It's just selling chickens. There's no need to take it." Exchange the sugar for it, and we’ll just sell it.”
After saying that, he took out three copper coins from the package, which he had exchanged for treasure banknotes in the county town. Although the treasure notes have long been spread all over the world, they are only recognized in the county. Many people are illiterate and have no chance to see treasure banknotes.
Just thinking of this, Brother Zhao mentioned in the county town that he had exchanged three coins for copper coins and planned to go home to spend them.
Three strings of money, a total of three thousand Wen.
Father Zhao's family had seen so much money at once. It was not until Brother Zhao put the money in his hand that Father Zhao came to his senses. He immediately raised his head and laughed and said: "Okay, it seems that you have lived a good life outside in the past few years, so we can rest assured."
Father Zhao is afraid that his boss will not have a good life outside. In this case, it may be difficult to get rid of the guilt he feels towards his boss. Now seeing that the boss is not only back, but also taking out so much money at once, it is obvious that he will not be hungry or cold while outside. This is enough, what more can ordinary people ask for? Do you still want to eat meat every day? If he could eat meat every day, he would want to join the army.
But Brother Zhao hadn't finished yet. He took out a neat and thick stack of treasure notes from the package and handed it to his father.
Father Zhao did not take it immediately, but stared blankly at the thing in front of him, feeling an indescribable sense of exquisite beauty. Subconsciously, he raised his head to look at the boss and asked blankly: "What is this?"
Brother Zhao smiled and explained: "This is treasure money, the most magical and best money in the world."
"Is this...money?" Mr. Zhao blinked hard at the treasure, trying to see it more clearly.
These things are obviously paper, how could they be money?
"Of course it's money." Brother Zhao smiled and took out a piece, placed it in front of his father's eyes and explained: "Moreover, with just one piece, if you get it to the county town, you can exchange it for the same amount of money, or even dozens more." Wen, there are people willing to change."
"Can it really be changed?" Father Zhao widened his eyes and said in shock.
Brother Zhao nodded, raised his finger and pointed at the copper coins in his father's hand, and explained with a smile: "The three guan coins in my father's hand are what the child exchanged in the county today. The three guan coins weigh about twenty kilograms, dad." You don’t think that the child will carry these three pieces of money back from the capital, do you?”
"It's not impossible to carry it back..." Father Zhao weighed the weight of the copper coins in his hand, but he didn't quite agree with what the boss said. I'm carrying money, no amount is too heavy.
After muttering, Mr. Zhao suddenly came back to his senses and looked at the thick stack of treasure money in the boss's hand in shock. One piece can be exchanged for dozens of pennies, so how much can such a thick stack be exchanged for?
"How many copper coins can these...these treasure notes in your hand be exchanged for?"
Brother Zhao turned his wrist twice, glanced twice, and said calmly: "It's only about two hundred sticks."
After saying that, he placed all the treasures on Dad's legs, and he couldn't help but refuse. He said casually: "Dad, please keep these for safekeeping from now on."
More than two hundred dollars... This is a wealth that Mr. Zhao has never dared to dream of in his life, and has never dreamed of.
But now the wealth was placed lightly on his legs, but he felt that it was extremely heavy, and his legs were so tight that he did not dare to move at all.
With a long sigh, he carefully gathered the banknotes one by one and returned them to the boss. He said with a wry smile: "You should keep it yourself. This is the first time we have seen this banknote. If we don't keep it well, something goes wrong." That would be a big loss. You are not young, and it may not be easy to get married in the future. If you don’t have enough dowry, no one will be willing to marry you. You might as well save it and buy a betrothal gift when you get married and start a family later."
Saying it was not well kept is just an excuse given by Mr. Zhao. He felt that so much money could not be left in his hands. If it was these three copper coins, he would just take it. He would take it with peace of mind, and treat it as the boss honoring him as his father.
But he really didn't dare to take more than two hundred gold coins.
"Father, just take it." Brother Zhao stubbornly pushed the treasure banknote to Dad, and took out the last thing from the package and said: "There is also this, but it should be regarded as an heirloom of our family, Dad Also keep it together."
A dagger that is not long, but the handle and scabbard of the dagger are made of gold, and are inlaid with red, green, yellow and other colored gems.
Brilliant and exquisite.
Anyone who sees it knows it is a treasure.
Father Zhao didn't think much about it just now, but now that he saw the boss taking out such a treasure, his expression changed and he asked with some worry: "Boss, tell me honestly, where have you been these years? What have you done? ? Where did you come from with these things?"
"Dad, didn't I tell you that my son has joined the army these years and is in Shanzi Camp." Brother Zhao smiled. Although he felt that his father's question seemed unnecessary, he still explained calmly. .
"Nonsense!" Mr. Zhao immediately became angry, "How can you be so rich as a top soldier? If so, everyone in the world would join the army."
Father Zhao's worries are naturally based on his reasonable logic. If you can earn so much money and have such precious family heirlooms by joining the army, then it's not like 'a good man should not be a soldier'.
"Dad, can my child still lie to you?" Brother Zhao spread his hands helplessly.
Seeing that his father still didn't believe it, Brother Zhao had no choice but to explain to his father: "...the child was fighting with the Mongolian people on the grassland. Dad, you don't know, but there are people in the court who killed the Mongolian Tatars." The reward is ten sticks for killing a Mongolian Tatar. In addition, our Shanzi camp won the battle and the emperor rewarded us. Moreover, the money we received is not the most in Shanzi camp. If you don’t believe it, you can ask Ask these two colleagues of the child."
Father Zhao glanced at the two people and knew that if the boss was lying to him, then even if he asked the two people, it would be useless. The two of them must have discussed with the boss a long time ago how to speak.
However, the boss told the story about him going into the grassland to kill the enemy very vividly, and it didn't look like he was making up the story at all, nor did it look like a lie.
Father Zhao slowly began to believe in his boss, but he still had doubts. He pointed at the dagger and asked: "Then what's going on with this treasure? Don't tell me, this is also a reward from the imperial court."
Brother Zhao smiled and said with a relaxed look: "This is not a reward from the imperial court. It was found from the body of a Mongolian Tatar when the boy killed him on the battlefield. Later, the boy wanted to hand this thing over. I gave it to the Marquis, but after looking at it, the Marquis said it might be something belonging to a tribal leader in the grassland, and asked the child to take it back to me as a memory and as a family heirloom."
"Marquis? Do you know a marquis?" Although Father Zhao has limited experience, he has heard of the drama of conferring a title on a marquis and becoming a prime minister. However, people like the Marquis were too far away from him in the past, and he never had the chance to meet him.
Now I suddenly heard that my son had met a real Marquis, and was rewarded with this treasure by the Marquis. Suddenly I felt very proud, and the ancestral graves felt like smoke was coming out.
"Of course, Marquis of Zhenhai, Shanziying was originally under the command of the Marquis." Brother Zhao nodded subconsciously, and then said pleasantly.
"We really didn't expect that you would have such a good fortune, that you would be able to go on an expedition with a Marquis and even meet the Marquis." Father Zhao shook his head and sighed.
A big shot like the Marquis was really far away from him. He had never thought in his life that there was someone in his family who could meet the Marquis. This alone is enough for him to brag about for a lifetime.
Suddenly, Mr. Zhao came to his senses, clapped his head with an annoyed hand, and said apologetically to the other two people in Shanziying: "Looking at our memory, we are so busy talking about it. Brother, hurry up and find the money." Your third aunt brings back a chicken... No, let's buy two. Also, ask your second uncle if he has any wine at home, and if so, give him money to buy it back."
The second brother went out happily with hundreds of coins, and soon bought back the chicken and wine. The second daughter-in-law had already boiled the water when he went out. As soon as she got the chicken, she bled it, plucked its feathers, and started cooking.
After the two people from Shanzi Camp had eaten, they were invited to a room to lie down. The two of them were already a little tired, and soon after they lay down, they started breathing steadily and evenly.
On the other hand, Brother Zhao, perhaps because he was meeting his family for the first time, kept talking to his father and brother about his experience with great energy. When he mentioned the wonderful things, his nephews and nieces couldn't help but their eyes lit up.
Especially the nephew, for the first time he had a vague understanding of the outside world described by his uncle, and he was eager to go out and see it with his own eyes.
Brother Zhao also noticed his nephew's strangeness, smiled and touched his head, raised his eyes and said to his father and brother: "Although the dog is a bit older, it's still time to start studying. Why don't you let him in?" He has to work at home, so let’s find a private school nearby for him to study.”
