Chen Fan returned the Feng Zhixue, and went out of the Taoist temple with Xiao Qing, and met Hou Feng who had been waiting at the gate of the mountain. When Hou Feng saw Chen Fan, he said, "Lang Jun, we made an appointment with the escort agency to leave early today. I went there just now and told them to leave later. Will Lang Jun still leave today?"
"Let's talk about this after lunch. The eldest brother is here. I wonder what his plans are? By the way, when did the eldest brother arrive? Also, if we set off today, will we be able to make it to Danyang?"
"Dalangjun arrived last night, and there were five people accompanying him. From here to Danyang, I inquired and found that it is about three hundred miles away. Since we have to take a carriage, even if we go very fast, it will probably take three or four hours. ."
"Then let's set off tomorrow. After dinner, you go to the escort agency and tell them that today's time will be as it is and we'll set off tomorrow."
"Yes, Langjun."
"There is one more thing. Lang Jun will definitely be happy to hear it."
"Oh, has the news of Faqing's defeat come?" Chen Fan's heart moved, and he thought of Faqing's uprising for no reason, and couldn't help but ask.
"Lang Jun's clever plan is indeed true. The news I just received this morning is that Dean Lu asked Shi Zhongkai, who came to deliver the news last time, to come over. It is said that he was defeated three days ago. Fa Qing's troops were completely defeated. Except for Faqing being captured, most of the important generals who participated in the uprising were either killed or captured. Faqing's uprising can be considered a complete failure."
"Oh, let's exchange the money this afternoon." Chen Fan was secretly happy to finally have some money.
"Okay. As soon as Dean Lu heard the news, he asked Shi Zhongkai to send a message, so that Lang Jun could cash in his bet quickly. If he waits for you to cash in again, it might be too late for the casino to default on his debt."
"Yeah." Chen Fan nodded. In fact, before Chen Fan set out today, he planned to hand over the gambling receipt to Master Huang and let Master Huang handle the matter. Now of course, there is no need to bother and he can cash it out immediately.
After returning home from the Taoist temple, the eldest brother saw Chen Fan returning. Before Chen Fan could speak, he stepped forward and asked with concern: "Fa Sheng, how are you?"
"Fortunately, I worried my brother. I entered the country all at once last night. Before I knew it, time flew by so fast." Chen Fan couldn't explain the specific situation, so he explained what Master Jia said about entering the country and moving out.
"It's good that everything is fine. It seems that you have achieved some success in practicing Taoism. How about it, I came in time, right?" The eldest brother asked a little complacently.
"Of course, brother, you have the perfect time to come and see me off."
"That's necessary. This time I'm here, but I've brought you two helpers. These two people are from farmers. They have raised ducks at home, and they are good at cooking. If you want to make roast duck, you can let these two people To help you, Zhou Chong and Zheng Yuan, you two, come over and meet my brother-in-law."
"I've met Chen Langjun." The two came over and said in unison.
"Are you Zhou Chong, are you Zheng Yuan?" Chen Fan guessed based on the order of the eldest brother's shouts and the feedback from the two.
Sure enough, the two men answered, "Yes."
"How many years have you been a soldier?" Chen Fan asked gently.
"I am four years old." "I am three years old." Zhou Chong answered first, followed by Zheng Yuan.
"Oh, you all look young. Have you been a soldier for so long?"
"I joined the army when I was eighteen." "Me too."
"Where are you from?"
"I'm from Gusu, I live near Taihu Lake, and I'm from Xiaoyang Village." Zhou Chong replied
"I am also from Gusu, from Fengtai Village, which is close to Yangcheng Lake and not far from Xiaohe Village." Zheng Yuan said.
Chen Fan is not a nagging person, but he will have important things to explain to these two people in the future. Some situations must be understood clearly, and some ugly things must be said first.
"Very good. When you come to my place, I think my eldest brother has probably told you that he will let you live in Xiaohe Village. Firstly, he will help me take care of the house. Secondly, he will ask you to make roast duck. This is how I make it. It is obtained from ancient records, and I will tell you the method, and then you can just follow the instructions and figure it out."
"Yes, Langjun." The two agreed.
"Come to my place and I will give each of you one hundred and fifty Wen for food per month. You will get some food for yourself in the future."
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Lang." After hearing this, the two of them seemed to be relieved.
"Besides, you have just arrived and the place you live in is a bit shabby. I will give each of you an extra three hundred coins so that you can buy some items you need for daily life."
"Thank you sir."
"Well, there is something I must make clear to you. I will teach you the roast duck recipe and it is up to you to figure it out, but it must not be leaked. In the future, if you leave me, you will not be allowed to engage in this job. Can you agree?"
"Yes, Lang Jun." Both of them agreed immediately without hesitation.
Chen Fan was also quite satisfied with the attitude of these two people, and then said: "Fortunately, you are all from Gusu. If you don't serve as soldiers in the future, you can work with me. When the roast duck is cooked in the future, I will give it to you every month." The salary is two hundred cash per person, and there will be additional bonuses depending on how good the business is."
"Thank you, Mr. Lang." The two men couldn't help but smile on their faces.
"You're welcome, that's what you deserve. This is Hou Feng, my guard. If anything happens in the future, he will be responsible for telling you. In addition, he will also be responsible for handing over to you specific matters regarding Xiaohe Village. What's the matter? If you don’t understand, ask him for advice." Chen Fan pointed at Hou Feng beside him and said. Hou Feng has not left Chen Fan since he came back.
"Yes, Sir." The two of them bowed to Chen Fan, then bowed to Hou Feng who was next to Chen Fan, and said, "Thank you."
"It doesn't matter. I'll find you after dinner." Hou Feng nodded and agreed.
"Okay, you go and do your work first, Zhang Ke, come here." The eldest brother answered from the side.
As the elder brother shouted, a young man who looked about twenty-five or six years old came over.
"I have met two gentlemen." The man named Zhang Ke came over and greeted the elder brother directly without waiting for him to say anything.
"No need to be polite, you and your younger brother should have met each other before. Fasheng, this is specially sent here by my mother. He and Hou Feng are both from the Shen family. Their name is Zhang Ke. They have been here in Hudu for five years." , come here this time and ask him to go back to Jiankang with Hou Feng. He has lived in Jiankang for a while and is very familiar with it. I will go to Jiankang with you this time and have many helpers."
"Okay, thank you big brother, and also thank my mother for me."
"You are welcome."
"Zhang Ke, who are your relatives in Jiankang?" Chen Fan realized that he didn't know the people around him very well. For example, who are Hou Feng and Achun's relatives? What thoughts and plans do they have?
"I have a second brother who is in Jiankang now. He is following my uncle. I plan to go and have a look this time."
"What about your parents?" For someone his age, his parents should still be alive, Chen Fan guessed.
"In my hometown Wuxing with my eldest brother."
"Okay, I'll help you this time."
"Yes, it's a blessing for a villain to be able to help." The smart man named Zhang Ke said. It seems that he doesn't know much about martial arts, but his speaking ability is much better than Hou Feng.
"Hou Feng, please greet Zhang Ke and let's eat right away."
"Okay, Lang Jun." Hou Feng took Zhang Ke to the side.
"Brother, do you have anything else to explain?"
"Yes, here are two letters, one for the two uncles. You can take them with you. In addition, here are ten taels of silver for you to use on the road. Go to the two uncles' houses and buy some gifts." After that, the eldest brother said Hand the letter and money to Chen Fan.
Chen Fan smiled, took the letter from the eldest brother and said, "I will take the letter with you. Brother Yinzi, you can keep it and take it back."
"Why are you not short of money now?" The eldest brother looked at Chen Fan and asked.
"Well, I went to the gambling house to place a bet, but I didn't expect the result to come out today. If I win the bet, I will get a sum of money, which can solve an urgent need." Chen Fan didn't think that he would hide his gambling from his elder brother. After all, he was Xiao Qing and Master Huang knew that Hou Feng had gone to do it. In addition, when Shi Zhongkai came in the morning, his eldest brother should have been there. Since he couldn't hide it, there was no need to lie.
Sure enough, the eldest brother smiled slightly and said: "Then I will collect this money, and you can be considered a wealthy owner now."
Chen Fan smiled and said: "Brother, before I had no money, many things couldn't be done. Now that I have money, many things can be done."
"What are Fa Sheng's plans?"
"I want to build a farm in Gusu first, raise some ducks, and start a roast duck business. At the same time, I want to build a farm in Hudu where I can grow some grain, raise some pigs and chickens, and prepare more granaries. Gather some food, at least 100,000 catties."
"One hundred thousand catties? Fa Sheng, do you know what is the most difficult thing about this?"
"I know, it's a flow. One hundred thousand kilograms of grain, if you want to buy it now, only fifty kilograms, but it's not easy to store. Every year, the old rice has to be replaced with new rice. The old rice has to be disposed of, and the new rice has to be transported in. This is a troublesome thing. But I have already thought about it. Chen rice is used to raise pigs and chickens, and people in Zhuangzi can also consume part of it. The stored grain of 100,000 jins cannot be less, which is enough to feed a thousand people for three months. It is really No, the extra food will be donated to your navy. It will last for two or three months. I would like to save more. Given our strength, saving 100,000 kilograms of food is the limit at present." Chen Fan said Come to think of it, one hundred thousand kilograms, which sounds like a big number, will be gone very quickly if you try to eat it. However, I think every wealthy family will do this to store grain. The grain they store will be used by the people around them. As long as it lasts for a year.
"Okay, it's up to you. Have you chosen the address of this village?"
"No, this is what I want to ask you to do, brother. I wonder, brother, have you finished drawing the sea map?"
"Not yet. The distribution of reefs along the coast is quite complicated. I did this myself for my brother, and it's not easy to leave it to others, so it's a bit slow, but it's fast. I estimate it will be completed in another month."
"The place to build a farm in Gusu should be in Xiaohe Village. Brother, if you have time, go and see if there is any large land for sale. If there is one or two hundred acres of land for sale, that would be ideal."
"Why are Fa Sheng preparing to plant crops?"
"No, it will be used to build a workshop. In addition to the roast duck, there are also my chess eggs. In addition, we can also build a winery."
"Build a winery?"
"Yes, the grain we store can be used to make wine. This wine is a good thing. Besides drinking it, it is also flammable. If you prepare more, it can also have miraculous effects when used in battle."
"Okay, just do what you want according to Fa Sheng."
The two of them had finished their discussion and the food had been prepared. After Chen Fan finished eating in a hurry, he told Hou Feng a few words about what he had to do in the afternoon and gave Hou Feng the bet slip. The eldest brother also wanted to go when he saw it, so Chen Fan naturally I took my eldest brother and went to rest.
After taking a nap, Chen Fan woke up and came out of the wing. He saw that his elder brother had come back and was sitting in the hall. There was this bundle on the desk next to him. No need to guess, it must be silver. The eldest brother saw Chen Fan coming out and said with a smile: "I got the money back, two hundred taels of gold. The casino received a bonus of twenty taels of gold. It's quite dark. What are you going to do with the money?"
"Where are A Qing, Hou Feng and the others?"
"Aqing went to the Taoist temple, and Hou Feng, Zhang Ke, Zhou Chong, and Zheng Yuan went to Xiaohe Village. There are two guards guarding the hall at the entrance."
"Fifty taels of gold is given to Ah Qing. He paid thirty taels of gold to buy this house. The other ten taels of gold are the capital for this gambling. Without these ten taels of gold, there is no capital to win, so I give him another ten taels. Think of it as profit."
The eldest brother nodded and said: "This is what it should be. The house is in your name. If you didn't have money before, you just took it. Now that you have money, you should pay it back."
"Bring thirty taels to your family. The village in Hudu will be run by the family. If you don't have money, you can't do it. Brother, take the other sixty taels of gold and set up a farm in Gusu. I will ask your help to build the workshop. The rest is With the money, I plan to see if I can buy a bigger house nearby. The place I live in now is still a bit small. The main reason is that I need a place to store wine, roast duck and chess eggs in the future. Xiaohe Village is a bit far away after all, and there is no place in the city. It’s not convenient to move around the place, so it would be better if we could build a shop or a winery.”
