Zhou Qiang made all those who couldn't survive in Bailu Village go up to the mountains to farm.
The food Zhou Qiang gave them was enough for their family to survive.
This is an act of kindness.
Zhou Qiang's benevolence and righteousness spread throughout the village. In contrast, Lu Zilin. Lu Zilin's reputation was already stinky.
Bai Jiaxuan also called the villagers to the ancestral hall to discuss solutions together.
"The government collects a poll tax, which makes life difficult for everyone.
Some of them could no longer survive, but Zhou Qiang helped them by letting them go up to the mountains to farm, giving them a way to survive.
In the future, more people will be unable to survive.
Everyone talks about what to do. "
"Jiao Nong is revolting! Patriarch, please lead us to revolt!" Many people immediately encouraged Bai Jiaxuan to cause trouble.
Before, Bai Jiaxuan took the lead in making trouble.
This time, everyone also placed their hope on Bai Jiaxuan.
"If you want to start an uprising, you must first ask Lu Zilin and Lu Xiangyue. He is now a member of the government. Can he agree to our uprising?" Bai Jiaxuan kicked the ball to Lu Zilin, who was pretending to be deaf and dumb.
"Lu Zilin is a loser of the government, what's the use of asking him?" The villagers hated Lu Zilin.
"Be careful of Lu Zilin tipping off the news. Last time Lu Zilin tipped off Tian Fuxian."
"Drive Lu Zilin out!"
"Bai Xing'er, Sang Laoba, they all have to be driven out, they are all in the same boat!"
"Fart!" Lu Zilin finally couldn't help it, "If you want to cause trouble, I won't stop you.
But I sue you.
This head tax is different from the three extra loads of grain collected last time.
The poll tax is collected throughout the province.
Not to mention we Bailuyuan, even the entire Zishui County people, it is useless to join hands with farmers and start an uprising.
Anyone who dares to cause trouble will be arrested and shot.
If you don’t believe me, try it! "
Lu Zilin's Chi Guoguo words calmed the villagers.
No one dares to talk about the peasant uprising anymore, for fear of death.
Bai Jiaxuan smoked his pipe and said nothing.
Bai Jiaxuan didn't want to cause trouble either.
After making trouble once and going to jail once, Bai Jiaxuan was a little scared.
Bai Jiaxuan was a little scared to death.
Bai Jiaxuan is afraid that after death, no one will take care of the fairy grass, the baby, and my mother.
Zhou Qiang didn't say anything either.
He also doesn't support trouble.
Under the overwhelming trend, if Bai Jiaxuan is allowed to take the lead in making trouble, Bai Jiaxuan will undoubtedly die.
I'm afraid many of the villagers who followed him to make trouble would also be beaten to death.
After death, taxes will continue to be paid, and no one can escape.
Unless you hide in the deep mountains and old forests.
"Let's do this." Lu Zilin continued, "I know it's not easy for everyone. My Lu family will give ten buckets of food to the poor neighbors."
Lu Zilin didn't finish his words.
Zhou Qiang interrupted.
"Ten buckets?" Zhou Qiang's voice was very high, "The Lu family only gave ten buckets?
Mr. Lu, you are really good at picking!
You've been bringing food to your house a lot these days, right?
I saw a cart full of grain, and you secretly took it home in the middle of the night.
On the way, Widow Li was given a bag of grain.
Is this grain pulled from the safeguard?
What's going on with this food? "
As soon as Zhou Qiang finished speaking, someone continued: "It's not just one car, I've seen it twice.
Every time I send food to Widow Li’s family.
In the middle of the night, I even went in to have a cup of tea.
I don’t know what this cup of tea is for.
Lu Xiang, tell us, what did you do when you entered Widow Li’s house in the middle of the night? "
"What else can you do? It's just that little bit of nonsense!
Lame Master, how many carts of grain did Lu Zilin bring home? "
"It's the lame man. You must have seen it all, right?"
"Lame Master, tell me."
"This." The lame watchman looked at Bai Jiaxuan and saw Bai Jiaxuan nodded slightly, "This, I saw Lu Xiang pulling three carts of grain home. They were so full that the oxen were so strong that they could hardly pull them."
"Three carts of food? That's a lot!"
"This is Lu Zilin embezzling our food!"
"Lu Zilin, this bitch, will die a good death!"
"Hand it over, hand over the three carts of food to us!"
“Widow Li’s three bags of grain must also be taken out!”
Widow Li was more aggressive, and she hurriedly shouted: “Don’t talk nonsense!
Lu Zilin didn't give my family food, nor did he go to my house! "
“Widow Li, do you dare to do it or admit it?
Who in our village doesn’t know about your affair with Lu Zilin? "
"Lu Zilin's wife doesn't know!" someone immediately replied.
"Lu Zilin and his two children don't know either!"
"Lu Zilin's father must know!"
If no one had dared to say these words before.
Now, the Lu family has a bad reputation, and everyone wants to expose all Lu Zilin's bad deeds.
"Okay, stop talking nonsense." Lu Taiheng finally couldn't help but speak, "My Lu family will provide a cart of grain and hand it over to the clan for distribution by the clan leader."
When they heard that Lu Taiheng was willing to give out a cart of grain, everyone said nothing.
A cart of grain is not a small amount, and the Lu family is bleeding.
Lu Zilin was a little reluctant, but said nothing. Anyway, the wool comes from the sheep. If you take out one cart of grain now and embezzle two more carts later, you won’t suffer a loss.
Bai Jiaxuan then said, "My family also has a cart of food."
The Bai family's wealth is much less than that of the Lu family.
Bai Jiaxuan was married seven times before and almost emptied his family's savings.
After getting married, I didn’t make any money growing poppies, so my family didn’t actually have much money.
Bai Jiaxuan gave out a cart of grain, gritting his teeth.
"My family doesn't farm, so please contribute some money." Mr. Leng said. No matter what age or month, there is no shortage of money for doctors.
"What's that?" Zhou Qiang said, "Chief, this kind of support is not a long-term solution.
Lu Zilin's head tax is not collected every year or two.
From now on it will be collected every year.
We have to think of a way to increase everyone's income. "
"That's right, aid alone won't work. You have to think of a way." Several older people agreed with Zhou Qiang's statement.
Zhou Qiang continued: "Clan leader, isn't there still a shortage of people on my mountain?
How about this.
When there wasn't enough food at home, everyone went to the mountains to help me farm.
I dare not say anything else, but it can be done to prevent them from going hungry in the future. "
Zhou Qiang just finished speaking.
Someone immediately asked: "Xiaoqiang, can I go?"
"able."
"And me?"
"You can too."
"I want to go too."
In a short period of time, more than ten people wanted to go.
More people are ready to take action.
They all want to work more so that their families don't go hungry.
"Everyone, be quiet." Bai Jiaxuan shouted, "In this case, those who want to help Xiaoqiang farm will stay, and everyone else should disperse."
The old and the weak dispersed.
Qingzhuang stayed.
They all want to work here in Zhou Qiang.
"Come on, everyone, come and register with Mr. Leng." Bai Jiaxuan and Mr. Leng stayed behind.
Lu Zilin and Lu Taiheng left.
If they don't leave, they are always being pointed at.
Lu Taiheng's offering of a cart of grain could only restore the Lu family's notorious reputation.
Zhou Qiang found a way to survive for the people of Bailu Village.
This matter spread to other villages within a few days.
I heard that Zhou Qiang is recruiting people here.
People from other villages also came.
It’s not just the people in Bailu Village who can’t survive.
Bailucang, which Lu Zilin and Tian Fuxian are responsible for, takes up many villages.
The poll tax made it difficult for the people in these villages to survive, and they all wanted to find a way to survive.
On this day, Zhou Qiang’s house.
Zhou Qiang was drinking some wine and humming happily, "I saw Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide standing on the Dangyang Bridge, shouting loudly."
Pang An, the long-term worker, came over and said, "Boss, we have hired a lot of people recently. I think we have enough people farming in the mountains, so we don't need to recruit any more."
"Have you recruited enough?" Zhou Qiang handed over the management of farming on the hilltop to Pang An.
Pang An also tried his best.
Many things were arranged properly.
"Yes, we have enough manpower." Pang An was not a cunning person, so he didn't think about using more tricks.
"There are still many people looking for work, right?" Zhou Qiang asked.
"Yes, there are people coming from far away recently. It's all because of the poll tax. They can't survive anymore."
"In that case, let's continue recruiting people."
"What? Boss, why are we still recruiting people? We have hired people, but there is no work to do."
"Yes, continue to recruit people. I will go to the county town and cover a hilltop so that everyone can have work and survive."
"Boss, I'm afraid we won't be able to make much money in a year from the potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes we grow on the hillsides." Pang An reminded. He felt that Zhou Qiang would lose money if he farmed in the mountains.
"I know. However, potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes are a good job. Even if you can't make money, you can't lose much, so just think of it as giving everyone a way to survive."
"My boss, you are so kind and righteous."
Time passes year by year.
The poll tax was collected all the time.
The number of people who cannot survive is increasing year by year.
There are also more and more cases of people starving to death.
Lu Zilin relied on taking commissions and corruption to accumulate a mountain of food at home.
A lot of grain is almost moldy and has to be sold.
Just to whom do you sell it?
In the past few years, Lu Zilin’s grain has been sold to Zhou Qiang!
Not sold at a high price.
But lower than the market price.
What's going on?
The Lu Zilin family has too much food and needs to sell it.
However, when everyone was short of food, Lu Zilin did not dare to transport food to the county town to sell it.
Lu Zilin was afraid of being robbed on the road.
The only major food consumer in Bailu Village is Zhou Qiang.
Lu Zilin had to secretly discuss with Zhou Qiang and sell the grain to Zhou Qiang.
Zhou Qiang knew Lu Zilin's situation, took advantage of Lu Zilin, and took the opportunity to lower the price.
He bought Lu Zilin's grain at 20% below the market price.
Zhou Qiang’s family.
Lu Zilin came again to sell grain.
"Boss Zhou, I will sell you three more carts of grain, and the price will be the same as before." A few years later, Lu Zilin became somewhat wealthy. After being a villager for a few years, he was extremely wealthy.
However, the reputation of being rich and unkind cannot be removed.
Not only that, there were also many nicknames such as Dog Legs, Deer Paskin, etc., which were all given to Lu Zilin by the common people.
Not many people want to see the Lu family, including Lu Zhaopeng and Lu Zhaohai.
However, Lu Zilin still has friends around him, and there are still some like Widow Li who are close to the Lu family and want to take advantage.
"Luxiang, the prices are about to change. The road to the county seat has been rough recently, so my cost has been higher." Zhou Qiang said unhurriedly, and took the opportunity to lower the price.
"How much?" Lu Zilin asked, suppressing his anger.
"Let's lower it by another 10%." The price Zhou Qiang said was not outrageous.
Lu Zilin thought about it and said, "Okay, let's reduce it by another 10%. We still have the old rules and can't tell anyone about my selling food."
"That's not possible, Lu Xiang. How many years have we been working together? When did I say anything?" Zhou Qiang is very honest.
"In the evening, you have someone come over." Lu Zilin said the specific arrangements.
At Lu Zilin's house, a lot of food became moldy and needed to be sold.
But more people are living in dire straits.
Many people cannot survive.
In just a few years, the number of beggars has increased a lot.
Under such circumstances, Zhou Qiang rented more hills one after another.
You can't make much money by farming in the mountains. (If you can make money, it won’t be Zhou Qiang’s turn.)
Fortunately, Zhou Qiang found a way to sell potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes, and instead of losing money, he could make money.
After feeding a lot of people and still making a lot of profit, Zhou Qiang is already quite a man of his own.
Zhou Qiang did not sell the potatoes directly, but made them into French fries.
French fries are still sold at a high price.
Not sold to the poor.
Zhou Qiang earns money from rich people.
Foreigners also like to eat French fries and sell them to foreigners for a higher price.
Jerusalem artichoke is as simple as selling it as pickles.
Zhou emphasized that the taste of the blend is outstanding, and the sales of Jerusalem artichoke are also good.
However, the price of Jerusalem artichoke is very low and it is mainly sold to the poor.
Zhou Qiang fed many people and made a lot of money with his French fries and pickles.
Zhou Qiang's ability has spread over the past few years.
Who doesn’t know that there is a wealthy family named Zhou Qiang and Boss Zhou in Bailuyuan?
Zhou Qiang is not only benevolent and righteous, but also more capable.
Zhou Zhai.
Covers a large area.
The wall alone is very long and very high.
Inside the wall, there is a small peach orchard and a cactus.
Yes, Zhou Qiang planted cactus.
Influenced by Zhou Qiang, there are many villagers who follow the trend of growing cacti.
Why does Zhou Qiang grow cactus?
Cacti are drought tolerant.
Cacti are edible.
This is food for drought years.
A courtyard with two entrances and two exits.
The rooms in the front courtyard are neither big nor small. They are mainly used for dining, entertaining guests, and a side room for servants.
Zhou Qiang hired several servants, two men and two women, both older, old men and women, to manage the house.
The courtyard at the back is larger.
For the structure, you can refer to the layout of the courtyard house in the movie "Raise the Red Lantern".
Zhou Qiang's old house was taken care of by the family's permanent staff.
Zhou Qiang basically doesn't care about grinding tofu, making wine, etc.
Only when it comes to formula work, Zhou Qiang does it himself and doesn't let anyone else do it.
The front yard of Zhouzhai today is very lively.
Seven or eight matchmakers came.
They all heard about it and came to propose marriage to Zhou Qiang.
Several years passed.
Zhou Qiang is eighteen or nineteen years old.
Zhou Qiang's name has spread in Bailuyuan.
The richest family in Bailuyuan is the Zhou family.
This is recognized by everyone.
Zhou Qiang not only supported many people, but also made a lot of money.
Zhou Qiang not only has money, but also people.
Zhou Qiang has a guard with guns.
Doing business these days requires the protection of force.
Zhou Qiang's escort team consisted of fifty or sixty people. All of them had fired dozens or hundreds of bullets, and their marksmanship was pretty good.
Zhou Qiang let it out and wanted to find a wife.
Immediately many matchmakers came.
In the past year or two, some people have come to propose marriage, but Zhou Qiang used the excuse that he was not old to get married.
"Here, let me tell you the requirements." Zhou Qiang took a sip of tea and moistened his throat. "She must be a woman from a scholarly family. She must be virtuous, virtuous, knowledgeable, and of course beautiful in appearance. She must be no more than twenty-eight years old."
"Boss Zhou, why do you think you are from a scholarly family?"
"There must be a scholar or scholar in the family." Zhou Qiang's request was a bit high.
Under normal circumstances, if the family is a scholar or a scholar, the success is not too bad.
Such families generally would not marry into Bailuyuan. Their daughters would only marry into officials' homes in the county town.
Of course, Zhou Qiang's request was for Tian Xiao'e's sake.
Tian Xiao'e's father, for money, can sell Tian Xiao'e.
"Well, it's not easy to find." Sure enough, the matchmaker was in a dilemma.
"Go and find out. It can be done both inside and outside the customs. There is no rush. But she must be a woman from a scholarly family. The betrothal gift is easy to talk about. The wedding money given to you is also indispensable.
Everyone who comes today will take away an ocean. "
"Thank you Boss Zhou for the reward!" the matchmaker was happy.
(End of chapter)
