Facing the stubborn old man in front of him, Chen Xiaomu was helpless. After thinking for a moment, he came up with a compromise: "Old man, do you think this is a good idea? I will buy your sword as a personal favor, okay?"
Wu Ziniu shook his head: "No, I don't want Master Chen's money, I just want Master Chen to accept the sword!"
Chen Xiaomu wondered: "Old man, I really don't know anything about swordsmanship. If you give such a good sword to me, wouldn't you waste a good sword in vain?"
Wu Ziniu was startled, and suddenly said: "Master Chen, this sword of Lao Chan's does not require superb swordsmanship at all. It can easily kill swordsman masters. If you are willing to accept it, Lao Chan will teach you how to use it."
"This... okay!" Chen Xiaomu thought for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.
"So, Mr. Chen agreed to accept this sword?" Wu Ziniu said in surprise.
Chen Xiaomu smiled and said: "Yes, old man, can I help you up now?"
"No, no, although I am old, my body is very strong!" After saying that, before Chen Xiaomu could reach out to help him, Wu Ziniu stood up from the ground quickly.
"But! Old man, I still want to ask you something." Chen Xiaomu muttered.
"Ahem! Mr. Chen's words are serious. No matter what you ask for, it's just what I can do. I won't refuse." Wu Zi replied readily.
"Okay then." Chen Xiaomu said bluntly: "I would like to ask my old man to come out and work for the court."
"What? Ask me to come out?" Wu Ziniu thought he heard wrongly.
Chen Xiaomu nodded heavily, and then repeated it again: "Yes, I would like to ask my uncle to come out to do something."
"But, but, Mr. Chen, this old man is almost eighty. Even if he forges a sword, I'm afraid he won't be able to keep up with the strength!" Wu Ziniu faltered with a look of embarrassment on his face.
Chen Xiaomu smiled slightly: "Old man, you can accept a disciple! Otherwise, wouldn't it be a pity that no one will pass on your skills to you?"
Wu Ziniu stroked his beard and nodded frequently: "Well, Mr. Chen, this is a good idea!" Then he pulled Zhang Heiniu over and said cheerfully: "Sir Chen, I think this black boy has a good heart and is big and round. He is a good material for blacksmithing, please give me proof, I will accept him as my disciple first."
Chen Xiaomu was instantly amused by the old man, and quickly stopped him and said, "Old man, do you want people to voluntarily accept disciples? This is the yamen officer I just recruited today. If he is willing to accept you as his teacher, I will have no problem with it! You see how?"
When Wu Ziniu heard this, he immediately turned to Zhang Heiniu and said with a smile: "Hei boy, you are lucky today. I think about how many people lined up back then to ask relatives and friends to ask me to be their teacher, but I didn't even agree. Now, The old man wants to take you as his disciple, why don't you hurry up and become a master!"
Zhang Heiniu didn't even think about it. He was stunned for a moment, stretched out his hand to scratch his head, and said with a smile: "Old man, I just want to ask, how much money can I get in a month if I become my disciple?"
"What?" Wu Ziniu exploded when he heard this, and said angrily: "I said you got an advantage and acted like a good boy. I just confiscated your apprenticeship fee as a teacher. You actually want the teacher's money? How can you do this in the world? A good thing?"
''But, but, even a small child needs money to support his family! " Zhang Heiniu stammered and argued.
Wu Ziniu said with a straight face: "Hei boy, please tell me if you are willing to become a teacher and learn skills?"
Zhang Heiniu said in embarrassment: "Old man, how can a young man settle down and learn skills when he has no money to support his family?"
"You...!" Wu Ziniu was blocked for a moment and had nothing to say. The key was that he himself had no money. Although his granddaughter Yao Sanniang got back more than a thousand taels of silver notes from the court today, how could he get his granddaughter's money? The money supports his apprentice's family.
Chen Xiaomu saw the two of them stagnant, so he came out to smooth things over. He first asked Zhang Heiniu, "Zhang Heiniu, do you want to learn crafts from Mr. Wu?"
Zhang Heiniu frowned and clasped his fists: "Reporting to your lord, as the saying goes, a craftsman will not die of hunger in a famine year. Of course, the young one is willing to learn the craft from the old man, but right now, the young one cannot let the whole family go to the northwest to drink wine just because he wants to learn the craft. Wind?"
Chen Xiaomu chuckled: "Okay, as long as you have this intention, you don't have to worry about the following things."
Then, Chen Xiaomu turned to Wu Ziniu, reached out and took out two silver notes from his arms and handed them over: "Old man Wu, do you think this is good? You always take these two thousand taels of silver to build an ironworks workshop down there, and you can get more by the way." Find some manpower. As for the wages, according to the current market conditions, the wages of experienced skilled workers can be doubled. What do you think?"
"Ah! This...this!" Wu Ziniu was so shocked by Chen Xiaomu's sudden request that he was trembling and speechless.
Chen Xiaomu smiled brightly, walked to Wu Ziniu, put the banknote into his hand, and said: "Old man Wu, try to find as many people as possible. If the money is not enough, you can come to me at Princess Qingfeng's mansion to get it."
I saw Chen Xiaomu pulling Zhang Heiniu and laughing loudly: "Zhang Heiniu, you little black boy, why don't you come and see the master soon?"
Zhang Heiniu rubbed his hands and stammered: "Tong, Lord Tongxuan, no, I don't know that every month...?"
Chen Xiaomu waved his hand to interrupt him, and at the same time stretched out three fingers: "No less than three taels per month, what do you think?"
"Hehe, hit, hit." Zhang Heiniu responded repeatedly with a silly smile on his face, and then he knelt down in front of Wu Ziniu with a "plop", clasped his hands in fists, raised them above his head, and shouted: "Master is on top, please be my disciple. bye."
"Haha!" Everyone watching was instantly amused by Zhang Heiniu's miserly expression. Even Wu Ziniu himself couldn't help but laugh along.
After Zhang Heiniu finished bowing three times, he bent down and pulled him up, and said with a smile: "Disciple, I am a poor teacher, so I won't give you any gifts, but you cannot avoid the apprenticeship ceremony. I know that you are also poor and cannot afford the money for the apprenticeship ceremony. I understand this, so I will deduct the apprenticeship ceremony from your salary this month!"
"Ah!" Zhang Heiniu's face darkened, and he said with a bitter look on his face: "Master, please don't charge too much?" Then he stretched out a finger: "No more than one tael of silver, you think. ?"
When everyone heard this, they laughed harder and harder. Wu Ziniu couldn't help but glanced at Zhang Heiniu: "You black boy really loves money as much as life!" Then he waved his hand: "Okay, today you are lucky, I will be my teacher." For the sake of Mr. Chen, I will waive your apprenticeship ceremony!"
Hearing this, Zhang Heiniu felt happy and hurriedly asked: "Master, you must keep your word!"
Wu Ziniu ignored him, turned to Chen Xiaomu and smiled bitterly: "Master Chen, look at what kind of apprentice I have got! He is a complete miser!"
Chen Xiaomu comforted him with a smile and said: "Old man Wu, I will send out this Heiniu apprenticeship ceremony for him." After saying that, he took out a silver note from his body and stuffed it into Wu Ziniu's hand. Wu Ziniu hurriedly pushed it out. , said politely: "Mr. Chen, I can't accept your money. Besides, you and this black boy are not related, so why should you pay him this apprenticeship ceremony?"
Chen Xiaomu grabbed Wu Ziniu's hand with a smile, put the banknote into his hand, patted his hand and said: "Old man Wu, I hope you can build an ironworks workshop as soon as possible. This is better than anything else. Since these silver coins are Zhang Hei's Niu’s apprenticeship fee is also the bonus I’ll pay you in advance!”
Wu Ziniu clasped his hands and said, "Mr. Chen, you can rest assured. I promise you that within three days, the largest blacksmith shop in New Capital will be on fire to strike!"
"Okay, okay!" Chen Xiaomu said happily: "It's getting late, old man Wu should go back and rest early." Then before Wu Ziniu could say anything again, he turned around and told Zhang Heiniu: "Heiniu, it's cold and the road is slippery. , Why don’t you send your master home to rest quickly?”
"Hey, hey!" Zhang Heiniu nodded and bowed, agreed, and awkwardly took Wu Ziniu's arm. Wu Ziniu naturally couldn't help but say a few more polite words to Chen Xiaomu, and then left with the help of Zhang Heiniu.
I originally thought that the group of people in front of the government office came with Wu Ziniu and were his disciples. However, after Wu Ziniu left, he discovered that none of the people in the group followed him. Chen Xiaomu was about to speak. When he asked, Zhuo Yihe first pointed to the two notices posted on the wall outside the government office and said to him: "Sir Chen, these villagers who have been displaced to Kyoto due to the war are the ones who ordered these two notices to be posted by you. Invited."
"Oh!" Chen Xiaomu heard the sound and walked up to the group of people and asked, "Do you have a leader? Let the leader speak out."
Hearing this, the group of people started chattering: "Master, Master, Sir, the common people heard that the government is recruiting people to work, and they want to find something to do so that they can earn some money to support their families."
Chen Xiaomu raised his hands and said loudly: "Everyone, please don't mess up and listen to what I have to say first, okay?"
It was like opening a gate to release water, and the gate suddenly fell down again. When everyone heard the sound, they immediately stopped talking and returned to the quiet state just now.
Seeing everyone looking at him helplessly, Chen Xiaomu said: "First of all, let me tell you that it is true that the government recruits people to work, and the more people, the better. For those who have skills, their wages will be doubled according to the current market price. In terms of settlement, the better your craftsmanship, the more multiples you will get. Some of them have particularly good craftsmanship. There is no upper age limit. If you are interested, you can go to Princess Qingfeng Mansion to sign up tomorrow, and someone will be arranged to receive you there."
As soon as Chen Xiaomu finished speaking, someone in the crowd couldn't wait to ask: "Master, Cao Min is a carpenter, can you bring all the brothers from home to work together?"
Chen Xiaomu nodded: "Of course, if you bring more people, you can be the leader."
"Master, is this true?" the man said in surprise.
Chen Xiaomu smiled and said, "I never tell lies."
At this time, another person said urgently: "Sir, there are craftsmen here who specialize in helping people build houses. I wonder if I can find work here?"
When Chen Xiaomu heard this, he said happily: "I am currently in need of craftsmen who can build houses. Please bring them here as soon as possible tomorrow. The more, the better!"
"Master" a thin old man emerged from the crowd and asked timidly: "My nickname is Shen Qiu. I have been a cobbler in my hometown for most of my life. Now I wonder if I can find something to do here? "
Chen Xiaomu laughed and said: "Old man, go back and gather manpower. I am short of too many cobblers right now. I will take as many as I can."
"Hey, hey, thank you for your kindness!" The old man responded repeatedly, and suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to Chen Xiaomu. Before Chen Xiaomu could react, Ma Liu stood up and squeezed back into the crowd.
