Three days later, Wang Yue and others built a simple cattle pen outside the pier. It was also at noon that day that Chen Xun and others returned from Lingshan Acropolis.
This time, in addition to bringing back a large amount of cattle, farm tools, rice and noodles, Chen Xun and others were also accompanied by many people with their families. Liu Yan counted more than 20 people.
These people were all dressed in shabby clothes. They were men and women, old and young. They were either bringing their families or carrying their own simple luggage. Some of the younger and stronger young people helped to carry rice and herd cattle.
Liu Yan called Chen Xun over and inquired about it before he found out that these more than 20 people were actually a group of refugees.
Liu Yan was surprised and happy, and asked why. It turned out that Chen Xun and others went to Lingshan Acropolis. In addition to buying back various supplies, they also randomly recruited five or six families of refugees in the city. They also asked people to post notices in the city, informing Dapan Dun that there was a need for settlement.
Unfortunately, there were many refugees gathered in Lingshan Acropolis at that time, and they were all suffering people who had suffered disasters in various parts of Shandong. When the refugees heard that Dapandun was recruiting people, many of them were excited. However, when they later heard that the village households were all going to join the military household, most of them backed down. In the end, only these five households were willing to come forward. Come.
But for Liu Yan, this was already an unexpected surprise, and Liu Yan immediately ordered the supplies to be moved into the pier.
After counting, Chen Xun and others bought a lot of things this time. In addition to ten cattle, there were dozens of bags of rice and noodles, as well as various dustpans, poles, baskets, hoes, plowshares, plow frames, etc. Ox yokes, sunbathing mats and other items were also piled all over the floor. Except for the cattle that are stored in the cattle pens outside, the rest are piled into the warehouse inside the mound.
Liu Yan inevitably did it himself, picking up pen, ink, paper and inkstone and registering them one by one.
At this time, several new households of refugees stood aside uneasily. Liu Yan comforted them for a while, and ordered two women to cook porridge for them. Then he asked Wang Yue to direct them to build underground shelters. Among the ten military households On the opposite side, the two sides face each other, which is equivalent to leaving a street.
The five families drank sweet rice porridge and immediately built a place for themselves to live. These families felt at ease. The previous ten military households now regarded themselves as old people, and their personal experiences made the new residents feel more at ease.
In today's Ming Dynasty, although being a military household is hard, it is better than starving to death. It seems that the general commander seems to have a good heart. Maybe he can live a better life here. The people in these households all had this thought in their hearts, and they also had some hopes for the future.
Liu Yan then called Chen Xun into the house and asked them about the details of their trip.
I saw Chen Xun taking out a list with crooked writing on it. Chen Xun asked the shop assistants to help write down these, so the handwriting on the list was different. Make a detailed list of the supplies purchased, the unit price, how much money was spent, how much is left, etc.
"My subordinates were worried that those guys were keeping accounts and defrauding me, so I tried to scare him and moved the team officer Wang out, so I felt more at ease."
Liu Yan smiled. Chen Xun looked like he was stationed in the army. The shop assistants in Lingshan Guard would not have tampered with this list. After all, Lingshan Guard City was a military fortress, and the shops inside all relied on the troops and horses of the guard station. No one in business is willing to make a one-time deal.
Chen Xun continued: "After my subordinates led people to the Acropolis, they went to rice shops and cattle shops to buy cattle and rice without taking a rest. Finally, according to the instructions of the commander, they bought a total of ten strong cattle and ten stones. I also bought a lot of rice, ten pairs of plows, baskets, hoes and other items for working."
At this time, Chen Xun talked about what he had seen during this trip, and said with some bitterness: "I could have bought more, but now Lingshan Guard's prices are so expensive, one hundred and fifty taels of silver, I can only buy these things, it's really There is no justice anymore!”
Liu Yan looked at the list while Chen Xun explained that in the current market, a bucket of rice costs five taels of silver, one stone of rice costs five taels of silver, and buying ten stones of rice costs fifty taels of silver. One third of the funds!
Liu Yan frowned. He still remembered reading a historical record from later generations. When the Ming Dynasty was prosperous, one tael of silver could buy two stones of rice. Even in normal times, one tael of rice usually only cost one tael of silver. Although the price of rice now is It has gone down, but it is still so expensive. It costs five taels of silver per stone, which is really outrageous.
There are also farm cattle. Nowadays, the price of large cattle in Lingshan Acropolis is generally more than 80 taels per head, and the price of calves is more than 50 taels per head. Buying ten cattle is already a discount, and it also costs 80 taels. Two silver coins.
Liu Yan remembered that the price of a cow in the early and middle Ming Dynasty was only three taels of silver. In the Wanli period, the price of a cow was only more than five taels. Now a large cow costs more than eight taels. The price of cattle has risen so sharply that the common people are still missing. Survived?
Chen Xun continued to explain that after they bought cattle and rice and flour, they went to a blacksmith shop to buy hoes, rakes, plowshares, wall plows, etc. In addition, I went to a bamboo shop to buy dustpans, poles, baskets and other items, all of which were much more expensive than in previous years.
In addition to the food and food provided by Chen Xun and the four Dunjun soldiers these days, when they came back, the 150 taels of silver given by Liu Yan had not much left.
At this time, Chen Xun couldn't help but cursed at the high prices of various commodities, scolding those profiteers who took the opportunity to drive up prices. Even charcoal this year was much more expensive than in previous years. They bought more than a hundred kilograms of charcoal and spent more than one tael of silver. , In normal times, these charcoal only cost five coins.
Liu Yan was speechless for a while, thinking that the one hundred and fifty taels of silver would be gone, and he couldn't help but cursed bitterly: "These profiteers are robbing money."
When Chen Xun came back, he went to a wood shop and bought a set of tables, chairs, and stools for Liu Yan. Liu Yan was a little surprised when he came back.
"My subordinates are still thinking about buying some more furniture for Commander A, but the prices are too expensive now and I really can't afford it."
Liu Yan smiled and said, "Brother Chen is interested."
In the next few days, Liu Yan continued to recruit people and prepare supplies. Perhaps it was because of Liu Yan's notices and propaganda at Wangjiazhuang, Xiahezhai Qianhu Station and Lingshan Acropolis that in the past few days, some military households and refugees came to outside Dapan Dun to seek refuge in farming.
Liu Yan also accepted all comers, and even recognized the military households who came to seek refuge as people from Shagou Dun, Huangshan Dun, and Fengshan Dun. However, Liu Yan still pretended not to recognize them and accepted them all. , and asked Wang Yue and Chen Xun to make arrangements.
"Hmph! It seems that the play that day worked."
Liu Yan did not take Shen Wenyun, Liu Dayu, and Liu Qunyi seriously, and at this time he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the construction of Dapan Dun.
However, as the population inside and outside Dapandun gradually increased, Liu Yan also felt more and more the importance of scribes. He could not let himself, the commander, do all the paperwork personally, so Liu Yan went to Wangjiazhuang again.
Two days later, a man wearing a green robe with a collar and a small official's uniform came to Dapandun. He was about thirty-two or three years old. He was tall and thin, with a sparse beard. His face was yellowish and malnourished, and his expression was troubled. There was a sense of vicissitudes of life and fatigue that could not be concealed. The clothes on his body were also very old, with a few patches exposed.
In Liu Yan's house, the man saluted and introduced himself: "Student Zhao Min, on the orders of the team leader Wang, came to Dapan Dun to report."
After finishing speaking, Zhao Min just stood there quietly without any other words.
This Zhao Min is the scribe Liu Yan asked for from Wangjiazhuang two days ago. At this time, there were three minor officials in Wangjiazhuang, one official and two cadians, and Zhao Min was one of them.
Officials in the Ming Dynasty were divided into several levels: Cuandian, Si Li, Dianli, and Lingli. Cuandian was the lowest level of officials. In the Ming Dynasty, it was very difficult for officials to be promoted. If everything goes smoothly, you can be promoted to a division official after serving as a cadre for three years, then for another three years to be a dian official, and for another three years to be the top official. The officials are still low-ranking officials. This is evident from the difficulty of promotion for officials in the Ming Dynasty.
Although the officials in each fort of the Ming Dynasty Guard are under the jurisdiction of the Guard Experience Department, their evaluation depends on the comments of each fort's seal officer. This has caused greater difficulties for the promotion of the officials, and their The salary and rice are also paid by the forts. The monthly salary is only a few bushels of rice, and it is often in arrears. Therefore, in the late Ming Dynasty, officials from various guard stations fled seriously. Even the officials who stayed were extremely poor and completely lost the dignity of scholars. .
This Zhao Min also often lived a hard life with full meals and hungry meals. In addition, he was quite marginalized by his colleagues in Wangjiazhuang. Therefore, when the team leader Wang Wenzhen came to ask who was willing to go to Dapan Dun, Zhao Min So he volunteered to come.
After Liu Yan saluted Zhao Min, he looked him up and down, and saw that although he described him as lost soul, his attitude was neither humble nor arrogant. In addition, he was an official after all, and he could write and calculate, so he felt happy in his heart. Keep him in mind.
So Liu Yan stood up and said with a smile: "It's a blessing for Liu Yan to get help from my husband. From now on, my husband will stay in the pier. From now on, I will pay him his monthly salary in full and will never withhold or default on it."
Then, Liu Yan called Wang Yue and told Wang Yue to find a room for Zhao Min to live in the pier first, and then move the brand-new set of tables and chairs bought by Chen Xun there, which will be used by Zhao Min in the future. .
Zhao Min couldn't help but feel slightly moved when he heard this, then he bowed his hands and said thank you, and followed Wang Yue down. He had heard of Liu Yan's name, and he couldn't help but be surprised when he saw that he was a warrior but also spoke elegantly.
Coming out of Liu Yan's house, Zhao Min followed Wang Yue and then looked at Dapan Dun carefully. I saw that Dapan Dun is relatively clean everywhere. This point alone is much better than Yandun elsewhere, even Wangjiazhuang cannot compare.
"This Dapan Dun is really a unique place!"
At this time, Zhao Min was already feeling vaguely excited. He had finally come to the right place. When Zhao Min followed Wang Yue to the room, Dunjun had already moved the tables and chairs, and the room was briefly cleaned, which showed that Liu Yan valued him.
"That's fine!"
Zhao Min originally thought of living a peaceful life in Dapan Dun, and had no other ideas. But now that he saw that Liu Yan valued him so much, and that the mental outlook of everyone inside and outside Dapandun was so positive, Zhao Min's lifeless heart began to beat.
"Maybe I can really do something in this big market."
Thinking of this, Zhao Min felt very motivated and was ready to show off his talents.
Unexpectedly, Wang Yue, who had just led the way, came back again and brought a stack of documents: "Haha, Secretary Zhao, right? These are the files and forms compiled by Chief A. From now on, Secretary Zhao will You are responsible, please put it away.”
Zhao Min looked at the thick stack of documents and listened to Wang Yue's explanation of the various documents drawn up by Liu Yan. The corners of his mouth twitched a few times, and he felt like he was on a pirate ship.
